Example 41-79

noos naa poy maraa guvɛɛrnupa. diɲeeru pamaraa naa poy.
noos
1pl
naa
neg.fut
pooy
habil
maraa
pay
guvɛɛrnu-pa.
government-dat
diɲeeru
money
pa-maraa
inf-pay
naa
neg.fut
pooy.
habil
We can't pay the government. We can't pay the money.
Comment:
This example illustrates two habilitative ('can') constructions. The first is older, in which the tense-marked habilitative auxiliary precedes the unmarked verb; the second is calqued on Tamil, in which the tense-marked habilitative AUX follows an infinitive. /maraa/ is literally 'tie'.
Type:
naturalistic spoken
Source:
Smith 1974-5: 5373-4