Conditionals
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Conditionals
There are three main types of conditional in Tsi.

General

This kind of conditional - perhaps the most common - can express both open and counterfactual conditionals. In Inscription Tsi the conditional clause is subordinated with the conjunction ib:

(1a) ka ŋáá ọχ ib pʰá ŋ|o aya-qǂòp
man teeth do.SUB if, right_hand finger off-cut
if he bit the man, then (they will) cut off a finger from his right hand
if he bit the man, then cut off a finger from his right hand [i.e. imperative reading]
if he had bitten the man, then (they) would have cut off a finger from his right hand

(2a) jèjè roomʰ Tsààd ašo-lʰi ọχ ib tša ŋ|o aya-axo-qǂòp-qǂòp
Jeje this.ANIM Tsat back-forehead do.SUB if, right_foot finger off-DST-cut-DIST
if Jeje should turn back towards Tsat, I will have each of the toes of his right foot cut off
if Jeje had turned back towards Tsat, I would have had each of the toes of his right foot cut off

In spoken Tsi ib is typically dropped unless it is emphasised. The protasis is distinguished from a normal sentence by SOV syntax and by a distinct rising intonation and a pause:

(1b) ka ŋááχ-ax (ib), pʰá ro ŋ|o ya-qǂòp
man bite (if) right_hand GEN finger off-cut
if he bit/bites the man, cut off a finger from his right hand
if he had bitten the man, (I'd) have cut off a finger from his right hand

(2b) jèjè-rų Tsààd-tʰų šo-lʰiχ-hąą-x (ib), tša ro ŋ|o-rą ya-'n xo-qǂòp-qǂòp ro
Jeje-this.AN Tsat-DIST.INAN back-head-HON-SUB if, right_foot GEN finger-PL off-3sg DST-cut-DIST DAT
if Jeje should turn back towards Tsat, I will have each of the toes of his right foot cut off
if Jeje had turned back towards Tsat, I would have had each of the toes of his right foot cut off

Inscription Tsi also permits a construction where the protasis is also subordinated with ib. This rules out an imperative reading:

(3) ka ŋáá ọχ ib pʰá ŋ|o aya-qǂòp-ax ib
man teeth do.SUB if, right_hand finger off-cut-SUB if
if he bit the man, then they will cut off a finger from his right hand
if he had bitten the man, then (they) would have cut off a finger from his right hand

Counterfactual

Although the general conditional structure can be used for hypotheticals as well, spoken Tsi does possess a conditional structure with an unambiguously counterfactual reading - i.e. where the fulfilment of the condition is definitively impossible. This construction involves copying the main verb in the negative, complete with auxiliaries:

(4) ya-q|ʰą dòχ bà pʰò ya-ddòχ bà-x, srii mzạ-mzạ bèd nyè bà ŋǃoo?
away-skin steal INAN NEG away-steal INAN-SUB, strong barter-AUG sell bring INAN, right?
If he had stolen the (terror-bird) skin, he would have sold it for a lot of money, no?

Hypothetical-propositional

This form of conditional is used exclusively with an interrogative apodosis and is usually best translated as 'say I did X'. Confusingly for the learner, this is not a distinct structure in and of itself but rather is structurally identical to a perfective statement of fact:

(5) ya-q|ʰą bèd bà zu yè?
away-skin sell INAN then what?
Say I did sell it - what then?
If I sold it, what would happen then?

(6) qa-'t ŋǃè ɢǃònù ro zu yè?
apart=2sg head split DAT
And what about if I split your head open?

Nominalisations

Sentences can be nominalised straightforwardly using the all-purpose subordinator içç. In spoken Tsi this is typically (though not exclusively) followed by 'thing'. Nominalised clauses overwhelmingly have verb-final order. They also overwhelmingly - unless they are very light (i.e. with few internal constituents) - appear after the main verb, unless that too is subordinate:

(7)  mdò rlàŋŋạ ɢǃòn-tʰo to-srob là lʰo bà-x içç hą
see squadron Qon=PROX up-tent raise be_around ANIM-SUB NOM thing
I saw that the groups of soldiers had camped around Qon

Tsi does not have a 'small clause' structure equivalent to English 'I saw the groups of soldiers camp around Qon'. However, the nominalisation structure does behave like a small clause in one quite specific way - despite the fact that the clause as a whole (which has no animacy) or often the inanimate noun is formally the object of the main verb, for the purposes of animacy agreement the subject of the nominalised clause is treated as the object of the main verb, as illustrated by 7 as opposed to 8:

(8) qbò bà k!ek ša-ša g|í içç hą
watch INAN stream flow INAN NOM thing
I watched the stream flowing

Nominalised clauses can also be subordinated to postpositions and serial verbs etc, and this is the main strategy for producing adverbial clauses of various kinds:

(9) ya-quuŋ dgo cçę-ç içç aŋŋo...
round-mud mix ANIM-SUB NOM in...
And while he was mixing mud….

(10) Ka-ro-'t maŋ dzo-x içç dži
man=that=2sg hit give-SUB NOM come_from
because the man hit you


There is another subordinator for direct speech, bạạ. This one is a simple quotative and does not impose any changes on the quoted speech (obviously):

(11) g!a ka-ro-'n maŋ dzo ạnnạ bạạ
shout man=that=1sg hit give 1sg QUOT
He shouted: 'that man hit me!'

Although içç can be used for expressions of desire, hope etc, spoken Tsi also has another subordinator, (a reduced version of 'want'), often used for such structures:

(12a)  pfųų tsa mdòt k!a-k!a ççe-ç fò
want ANIM wood chop ANIM-SUB NOM
I want to chop some wood

This is synonymous with the (perhaps more formal) structure.

(12b)  pfųų tsa mdòt k!a-k!a ççe-ç içç
want ANIM wood chop ANIM-SUB NOM
I want to chop some wood