ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies
ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies 

Causal marker pruh in Cambodian

DOI:10.30842/alp2306573716214
PDF, 547.14 kb
Dmitrenko S. Yu., Spatar N. M. Pokazatel prichinnogo znacheniya pruh v kkhmerskom yazyke. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 2020. XVI(2): 397–419.

The paper describes the most frequent causal marker in modern Cambodian, the function word pruh. It can mark clauses describing situations the speaker views as causing some other situations or introduce noun phrases also interpreted as a cause. The paper qualifies constructions with nominal expression of cause as derived from clausal cause constructions. The marker addressed can occur in its simple form (pruh) or in a range of compound forms (pi-pruh, pruh-tae, pi-pruh-tae). Clauses or noun phrases with pruh follow consequence clauses. Where preposition of clauses or noun phrases with pruh does take place, it is invariably marked and is often accompanied by a consequence marker (tɤ:p or ba:n-ciə) in the main clause. A plausible source for pruh is the ancient Cambodian noun with the basic meaning of ‘way, mode, method’ found as early as in pre-Angkor epigraphic monuments (as of VII A.D. in roḥ / ​roḥh / ​roh forms). According to the available evidence, the prefixal, functional use of the noun as a causal marker dates back to the Middle Cambodian period (XV-XVIII centuries) when it was probably borrowed by Tai and Laotian. It is only in Modern Cambodian that pruh comes to be used as the basic neutral causal marker that carries no specific overtones like those of subjective/objective or positive/negative cause. On the other hand, pruh can mark not only the cause proper, but also express other “causal range” meanings. Similarly to the function word thvɤ:-aoj, another frequent causal marker in Cambodian, pruh can co-occur with the causative marker thvɤ:-aoj found between preposed causal clauses/noun phrases and the main clause. Notably, pruh also can co-occur with other causal markers — in the first place, with daoj-sa: and tbət.

Keywords
Cambodian, syntax, causal marker
References
Dmitrenko, Spatari 2018
S. Yu. Dmitrenko, N. M. Spatari. Soyuz daoj-sa: v khmerskom yazyke: istoriya i funktsionirovanie [Conjunction daoj-sa: in Cambodian: history and functions. E. N. Kolpachkova (ed). Languages of Far East, Southeast Asia and West Africa. Proceedings of the XIII International Conference]. St. Petersburg: CSO, 2018. P. 65—73.
Elovkov 2006
D. I. Elovkov. Struktura khmerskogo yazyka. Fonetika, fonologiya, grammatika, leksika, semantika [Structure of Cambodian: Phonetics, Phonology, Grammar, Vocabulary, Semantics]. St. Petersburg: Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University Press, 2006.
Hanna 2012
W. J. Hanna. Dai-Lue — English Dictionary. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2012.
Pekelis 2015
O. N. Pekelis. Prichinnye pridatochnye. Materialy dlya proekta korpusnogo opisaniya russkoy grammatiki. Na pravakh rukopisi [Reason Clauses. Materials for the Project of Corpus Description of Russian Grammar. As a manuscript]. Moscow, 2015.
Zaika 2019
N. M. Zaika. Polipredikativnye prichinnye konstruktsii v yazykakh mira: prostranstvo tipologicheskikh vozmozhnostey [Polypredicative reason constructions in the world’s languages: Typological parameters]. Voprosy yazykoznaniya. 2019. No. 4. P. 7–32.
Baradat 1941
R. Baradat. Les dialectes des tribus sâmrê. Manuscrit de l’Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient. Paris, 1941 [unpublished manuscript].
Enfield 2007
N. J. Enfield. A grammar of Lao. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2007.
Haiman 2011
J. Haiman. Cambodian. Khmer. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2011.
Kamnuansin 2002
Sunee Kamnuansin. Kasong Syntax. Nakhon Pathom: Mahidol University, 2002.
Khin 1999
Khin Sok. La grammaire du Khmer moderne. Paris : Editions You-Feng, 1999.
Paillard 2013
D. Paillard About polyfunctionnality in Khmerː The case of daoy. [2013]. Available at: httpː//www.jseals.org/seals23/paillard2013polyfunctionnalityh.pdf (accessed on: 01.08.2020)
Pou 1992
Pou Saveros. Dictionnaire vieux khmer-français-anglais. Paris : Cedoreck, 1992.
Pou 2017
Pou Saveros. Un Dictionnaire du Khmer-Moyen. Phnom Penh: Institut Bouddique, 2017.
Varasarin 1984
Uraisi Varasarin. Les élements khmers dans la formation de la langue siamoise. Paris: SELAF, 1984.
Keywords
Cambodian, syntax, causal marker
E-Library.ruScopusCrossRefCyberLeninkaVAKERIH Plus