Chapter 19 Subordinate clauses
Complement clauses
A complement clause is a clause used as the object of another predicate. In "I know that they left," the departure is the thing known. Phi encloses that content with one of two matched pairs.
Embedded statements: tha ... tho
tha opens an embedded statement and tho closes it before the main predicate. The pair reports propositional content rather than exact wording.
mia tha shia to wepu tho sano.
1SG DECL.COMP 3SG PST go DECL.COMP.CLOSE know.
mia tha sileta sulae nai tho sano.
1SG DECL.COMP sun warm be DECL.COMP.CLOSE know.
shia tha thia so kamo tho haolu.
3SG DECL.COMP 2SG FUT arrive DECL.COMP.CLOSE speak.
The embedded clause keeps ordinary word order and its own tense. After tho, the surrounding clause resumes with sano or haolu. Without the closer, the listener could not tell which predicate governs the framed content merely by waiting for a pause.
Nesting
A declarative frame may contain another declarative frame. Each tha requires one tho, and the innermost pair closes first:
mia tha thia tha shia to wepu tho to haolu tho sano.
1SG DECL.COMP 2SG DECL.COMP 3SG PST go DECL.COMP.CLOSE PST speak DECL.COMP.CLOSE know.
The first tho completes "that they left." The past haolu then completes "you said that they left," and the second tho returns the sentence to mia ... sano. Nesting is regular, though a second sentence may be kinder to working memory when the frames begin to breed.
Embedded yes-or-no questions: pha ... pho
pha turns a question with yes and no as possible answers into the object of a larger clause. pho closes that question before the main predicate.
mia pha shia to wepu pho phaelo.
1SG INT.COMP 3SG PST go INT.COMP.CLOSE feel.
shia pha mia so kamo pho ma sano.
3SG INT.COMP 1SG FUT arrive INT.COMP.CLOSE NEG know.
shia pha mia to nila pho to thilou.
3SG INT.COMP 1SG PST see INT.COMP.CLOSE PST inquire.
The embedded question never takes wa. wa frames a direct question addressed to someone; pha ... pho makes the unresolved yes-or-no proposition part of a statement.
Embedded content questions
A content question already contains the gap-word that identifies what is unknown. The interrogative stands where its answer would stand, and no pha ... pho frame is used.
mia sua to wepu sano.
1SG who PST go know.
mia ne sulae kua nai ma sano.
1SG NAME sulae where be NEG know.
shia thela peloru thuroa shelomu.
3SG how flower grow understand.
The surrounding clauses are statements. sua, kua, and thela occupy the unknown roles inside their embedded content, while the final predicates say what the matrix subjects know or understand.