Page 411 - A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI _ PhD Dissertation 2020 TU

granted for a long time that rigid SV languages (SVO, SOV) exhibit the inverse order
VS in EPCs (Hetzron, 1971, 1975; Givón, 1976b,c, inter alia). Though Bhojpuri is a

flexible SOV language, it also exhibits the inverse order VSO or OVS in EPCs that
have already been discussed in Chapter 8.1.1. Moreover, Bhojpuri tends to front the
indefinite subject as discussed in (3a).

(iii) The semantic predicate of the EPC
The existential verb in the EPC has no lexical-semantic contents, it is

semantically bleached (Givón, 2001b:258). In Bhojpuri some other predicate is
present with the indefinite subject clauses under the same intonation contour of the

EPC. It is most commonly either a REL-clause, an adjective, a LOC-phrase, a noun
complement, a genitive or an associative phrase preceding the the indefinite subject in

Bhojpuri as shown in (4a-f).
(4) a. REL-clause

त ओह म" का होत रहे &क िब?कुल कृिष कायD से जुड़ल एगो :चलन रहे ।
tʌ oɦ mẽ kɑ ɦot rʌɦe ki bilkul

tʌ oɦ mẽ kɑ ɦo-ʌt rʌɦ-e ki bilkul
COND DIST LOC what be-IMPF live-3.PST COMP completely

krisi kɑryʌ juɽʌl eɡo prʌcʌlʌn rʌɦe
krisi kɑryʌ juɽ-ʌl ek-ɡo prʌcʌlʌn rʌɦ-e

agriculture work join-INF one-CLF practice live-3.PST.NH
'What used to happen in it that it was a practice uniquely attached with
farming.' (03.234)

b. Adjective

कौनो 1ांितकारी बात त ओ म" रहे ना ।
kɔno krɑntikɑri bɑt tʌ o mẽ rʌɦe nɑ

kɔno krɑnti-kɑri bɑt tʌ o mẽ rʌɦ-e nɑ
any revolution-ADJ matter COND DIST LOC live-3.PST.NH NEG

'There was no revolutionary matter in that.' (04.072)
c. LOC-phrase

फलना के खेत म" िप+ी के गाछ रहे ।
pʰʌlnɑ ke kʰet mẽ piʈʈʰi ke ɡɑcʰ rʌɦe

pʰʌlnɑ ke kʰet mẽ piʈʈʰi ke ɡɑcʰ rʌɦ-e
someone GEN farm LOC cake GEN tree live-3.PST

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