English Simplified Version of first lines of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
A single rich man must+Mod want+MV a wife. "My dear Mr. Bennet," said+MV his
wife to him one day, "have+Aux.Asp you heard+MV that Netherfield Park is+MV sold?"
Detailed information about verbs:
must --- Modal verb, takes a nominative subject and a non-finite clause ("want a wife")
say --- Verb of Communication, takes a nominative subject, oblique PP ("to him") and a finite clause ("have you heard … sold").
hear --- Verb of Perception, takes a nominative subject and a finite clause ("that Netherfield Park is sold")
be --- Verb of Existence or Copula Verb, takes a nominative subject and a property, which is an adjective in this case.
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Nepali
------
"A single rich man must+Mod want+MV a wife. My dear Mr. Bennet",
"eutta abibahit dhani manche lai [shirmati ko khacho] huNcha.
a single rich man Dative wife Genitive requirement be.Pres.
Verbal Complex: khacho huNcha
requirement be.Pres
Literally: A requirement of a wife is to a rich man.
Nepali: modality of necessity is expressed via Noun+Verb `be'
person who needs something: dative
thing needed: genitive
South Asian in general: modality of necessity is expressed via Noun+Verb `be'
person who needs something: often in the dative
thing needed: usually in normal object case
Alternative translation:
ek abibaahit dhani maanche-le swasni caha-nu par-cha
one single rich man-ERG wife want-INF fall-3SG.PRES
MV Modal.Must
want: person wanting: Ergative
thing needed: normal object marking (unmarked)
must: combines with a verb in the infinitive
South Asian: if there is an active agent wanting something: often in ergative
Ergative: for volitional, desired actions
Dative/Genitive: for experiences, necessity
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Urdu
Aik kanwarey amir admi ko [bivi ki lazmun zaroorat] hoti hai.
one single rich man Dative wife Genitive.F.Sg necessary necessity be.Impf.F.Sg be.Pres.3.Sg
Noun V Aux.Tense
Necessity: expressed via a N+V combination, N+`be'
person needing something is dative
thing needed is genitive
Aik din Mr. Bennet ki bivi ne Mr. Bennet ko kah-a,
one day Genitive.F.Sg wife Ergative Dative say-Perf.M.Sg
MV
kia aap ne sunna ke NederLand park [bik ga-ya hai]?
what you.Hon Ergative hear that be.sold go-Perf.M.Sg be.Pres.3.Sg
MV MV Light Verb Aux.Tense
say, Verb of Communication, takes an ergative subject, a dative goal (Mr. Bennet) and a finite clause
hear, Verb of Perception, takes an ergative subjects and a finite clause
be.sell, takes a nominative subject (is an intransitive unaccusative verb)
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Pashto
Yaw laghaR mAldAr saRi tA da yawe xaze zururat wi
one single rich man.Obl for a one.Obl wife.Obl need be.Pres
Need: expressed via N+be
person needing: postposition 'for' (like dative)
thing needed: in oblique object "case"
yawA waraz da haghe xaze haghe ta wuwael
one.F day.F this that wife him to/for say.Past
MV
ta awridali di chi nedarfilD pArk [xarTs Sawe de?"]
you hear.Perf.F be.Past that sold become be.Past
MV Aux.Tns MV LV Aux.Tns
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Sinhala
Thanikada dhanawath pudgalayekuta birindak athy-awasyaya
single rich person for/to wife.a must-want
Modal: expressed via morphology on main verb
person wanting/needing is "dative"
thing wanted is normal object marking (unmarked)
[Nederfield uyana vikuna athi=bawa ] dannawa-da?”
park sell.Past Confirm know-Question.Particle
MV Auxiliary(?) MV
Matrix Verb: know
embedded clause: "that the park was sold"
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Tamil
thniththrukkum
single
panakkAran
rich man
ovvoruvanukkum
every.person
manaivi
wife
oruththi
one.Fem
avaciya-ppadukiral
must-want.F
MV+Modal+Tense
----
[
Netherfield
thOttam
estate
vitpanaiyAkivittathaik
sell.Past.Confirmed
]
kElvippattIrklA?”
hear.Question.Past