Hortative.

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Hortative.

The suffix ÁÔ£ laamI treat this suffix as if it were one unit; historically it is probably derived from the verbal noun forms that end in Ç§ al plus ÈÞ£ aakum `it will become', i.e. Ø½Ô´§ + ÈÞ£ pookal + aakum `going will become'. Since ÈÞ£ aakum is now reduced to È£ aam and the verbal noun forms in Ç§ are rare in ST, I prefer the analysis presented here. is added to the INFINITIVE (cf. § xxx below of the verb. Examples: Ø½Ô´ÁÔ£ poohalaam `let's go', ½Ô¡´ÁÔ£ paakkalaam `let's see'. This form is homophonous with the modal ÁÔ£ laam `one may (do something)'. The semantic difference becomes obvious when an answer is given---the affirmative answer to the hortative is ¶ÀÕ sari `all right, okay', while the affirmative answer to the modal is È¾Ô£ aamaam `yes'.

Question:: Ø½Ô´ÁÔ¾Ô? poohalaamaa? `Shall we go?'
Answer:: ¶ÀÕ sari `Okay, let's.'
Question:: Ø½Ô´ÁÔ¾Ô? poohalaamaa? `May (I) go?'
Answer:: È¾Ô£ Ø½Ô´ÁÔ£ aamaam, poohalaam `Yes, you may.'

In the hortative, the addressee is understood as included in the exhortation. Therefore, if used without deleted pronoun, the inclusive 1st person plural ¼Ô¾ naama must be chosen. If used with the exclusive ¼Ôõ´ naanga it cannot mean `let's' but only `one may'. Thus:

Question:: ¼Ô¾ Ø½Ô´ÁÔ¾Ô? naama poohalaamaa? `Shall we go?'
Answer:: ¶ÀÕ sari `Okay, let's.'
Question:: ¼Ôõ´ Ø½Ô´ÁÔ¾Ô? naanga poohalaamaa? `Is it all right for us to go, may we go? '
Answer:: È¾Ô£ aamaam `Yes, you may.'

Vasu Renganathan
Sat Nov 2 21:16:08 EST 1996