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Section

4.17 Morphosyntax 1: Telugu

Each of the following words in Telugu (a Dravidian language spoken in India) is translated into English by an entire sentence. Each word is complex, that is, composed of several morphemes. Analyze the words by identifying the morphemes occurring in each word, and answer questions A-C.

The phonetic values of the symbols used can be determined from the chart in appendix 3. An exact understanding of the value of the phonetic symbols is not necessary to carry out the analysis required for this exercise. For example, the d with a dot under it (4 )can be understood simply as a "different kind of d" that appears in Telugu but not in English.

The verbal morphology of Telugu is very complex, a fact that is not reflected in

this exercise.
	Telugu form	English gloss
1. ceppeenu		"1	told"
2.	ceppincunu	"I cause (someone) to tell"
3.	cuustaam	'We will see"
4.	ceppeem	"We told"
5. ceppanu		"I	will not tell"
6. nawincum		"We cause (someone) to laugh"
7.	cuustunnaadu	"Me is seeing"
8.	ceppceyi	C 'They told"
9.	kodataanu	"I	will beat"
10. paadataanu		"I	will sing"
11. ceppeeru		"YOU(pl*)told'?
12. ceppavu		"You (sg.) will not tell"
13. ceppeevu		"You (sg.) told"
14. ceppam		"We will not tell"
15. ceppcedu		"He told"
16. cuuscedu		"He saw"
17. cepparu		"You (pl.) will not tell"
18. kodatunnaayi		"They are beating"
19. ceestunnaanu		"1 am doing"
20.	ahgutaam	"We will ask"
21. ceeseenu		"I did"
22. adugutaadu		"He will ask"

Questions

A.In the spaces below, list the Telugu morphemes that correspond to the English words on the right.

l. Verbs
Telugu morpheme	English gloss
a.	"tell"
b.	"sing"
C.	"see"
d.	"laugh"
e.	"ask"
f.	"beat"
g.	"do"
2. Person marking of subjects
Telugu morpheme	English gloss
a.	"I"
b.	"you	(sg.)"
C.	"he"
d.	"we"
e.	"you	(pl.)"
f.	"they"
3. Others
Telugu morpheme	English gloss
a.	past tense
b.	present tense (-ing form in English
	gloss)
C.	future tense
d.	negative future tense
e.	causative

B.List the order in which the morphemes occur in the Telugu words. (For example, in ceppcmu, which morpheme comes first? The verb? The subject? Tense?) Use terms such as causative, tense, subject, verb.

C . Translate the following English sentences into Telugu.

1.You (pl.) are singing.

2.They will not laugh.

3.You (sg.) will cause (someone) to ask.

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Questions

A.In the spaces below, list the Swahili morphemes that correspond to the English words on the right.

1.	Subjects
	Swahili morpheme	English gloss
	a.	"I"
	b.	G ' y(sg~.)"~
	C.	"he/she"
	d.	"we"
	e.	"you (pl.)"
	f.	"they"
2.	Objects
	Swahili morpheme	English gloss
	a.	"me"
	b.	"you (sg.)"
	C.	"him/ her"
	d.	"US"
	e.	"you (pl.)"
	f.	"them"
3.	"Tenses"
	Swahili morpheme	English gloss
	a.	present
	b.	future
	C.	past
	d.	recent perfective ("have just X'd")

4. Verbs
Swahili morpheme	English gloss
	"write"
	"ask"
	"read"
	"see"
	"know"
	"hit"
	"kiss"

B.List the order in which morphemes occur in the Swahili words given in examples 1-20. Use terrns such as verb, subject, and object.

C.Bonus. The morphemes for second person plural subjects and third person singular objects involve a certain phonological complication: as examples 21-25 show, each morpheme appears in two different forms, and the shape that occurs in a particular word can be predicted from the phonological environment (the surrounding sounds) in which the morpheme appears.

The forms in 24 and 25 contain another present tense marker, -a-, which indicates that the action of the verb either is an established state or is generally the case. The English present tense is very close in meaning to the Swahili tense marked with -a-.

21.	nilimwandika	"I wrote him/herW
22.	tulimwona	"We saw him/herV
23.	unamwuliza	"You (sg.) ask him/herV
24.	mwamwandika	"You	(pl.) write him/herM
25.	mwasoma	"You	(pl.) read"

Considering examples 21-25 and referring back to examples 1-20, describe the environment that conditions the appearance of each of the two forms in the most general statement you can devise.

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