A Grammar Of Lao

Mouton Grammar Library A Grammar of Lao ≥ Mouton Grammar Library 38 Editors Georg Bossong Bernard Comrie Matthew Dryer Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York A Grammar of Lao by N. J. Enfield Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin. 앝 Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the 앪 ANSI to ensure permanence and durability. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Enfield, N.J, 1966⫺ A grammar of Lao / by N. J. Enfield. p. cm. ⫺ (Mouton grammar library ; 38) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-3-11-018588-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Lao language ⫺ Grammar. 2. Tai languages ⫺ Dialects ⫺ Phonetics. 3. Tai languages ⫺ Variation ⫺ Laos. 4. Tai languages ⫺ Variation ⫺ Thailand. 5. Tai languages ⫺ Variation ⫺ Cambodia. 6. Tai languages ⫺ Grammar, Comparative. 7. Structural linguistics. I. Title. II. Series. PL4236.1.E64 2007 495.9119182421⫺dc22 2007035644 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. ISBN 978-3-11-018588-1 ISSN 0933-7636 ” Copyright 2007 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin. All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in Germany. For my love Preface To understand language, nothing compares with the task of trying to work one’s way through the wings of a grand mansion like Lao. It brings unforeseen adventures. Mapping out the lay of the land, one quickly realizes that this house harbors hidden chamber after hidden chamber, secret stairwells, false walls, doorways papered over, whole basements and rooftops undiscovered, mazes, gardens, chapels, cellars and rabbit warrens, it goes on and on without end. So, to repeat a clich´e, but a well deserved one: this grammar is incomplete. It is a progress report on a life long project. It is a partial description, an imbalanced description, and in ways an inadequate description. But one has to stop somewhere if the work is to emerge. One way in which this description merely approximates the phenomenon of interest is through abstracting, following standard descriptive linguistic practice, from social variation inherent in the language. Lao—like any language—is a dynamic, social, variable, changing system of sounds, words, idioms, constructions, and strategies. Lao speakers find themselves in a wide range of social situations which will differently determine how they formulate the things they say: the constructions they employ, the words they select, the way they pronounce those words, among many other points of variation. Speakers respond artfully to local contexts and their social exigencies, applying and negotiating multiple sets of communicative convention, both