Abstract

This study investigates the phenomenon of verb agreement (subject-verb agreement) in Lasi and English. This study focuses only on transitive and intransitive verbs of simple tenses to analyze the subject-verb agreement in Lasi. The data have been collected through unstructured interviews with the Lasi natives. The X-bar theory of Haegeman (1994) has been applied as a theoretical framework. Descriptive and exploratory research designs (Creswell, 2014) are used in the study. The results of this study show that transitive verbs in Lasi agree with subjects in number, gender, and person in the present and future tenses, but not in the past. However, intransitive verbs do agree with their subjects in the past tense. English verbs show agreement with their subjects in the present simple tense, but their past and future tense inflections remain the same. The results show that Lasi allows omission of subjects in the surface structure; however, they are recoverable in deep structure.

Key Words

Lasi, English, Subject-Verb Agreement, Inflections, X' Theory

Introduction

The subject-verb agreement is a linguistic feature which means changes happen in verbs according to the subject. The subject-verb agreement refers to the study of different inflections in relation to syntax. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the subject-verb agreement in Lasi. Bukhari (1947) argues that the state of Lasbela lies in the west of Karachi. The main language of the people of Lasbela is Lasi which is one of the dialects of Sindhi. Zahid (2016) explains that Sindhi is a spoken language in the sub-continent. The number of speakers is almost 78 million; 25 million speakers speak Sindhi in India and 25 million speakers speak Sindhi in other different countries. Jumani and Lashari (2011) explained that Sindhi is a family member of Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Hindi. It's from right to left in written taking Perso-Arabic script. In contrast, western languages are written from left to write. The Sindhi/Lasi language is written in four scripts: Gurmukhi, Arabic, Roman scripts, and Devanagari (Ali, Z., 2016).

Cole (2001) suggests that morphologically, Sindhi is a rich inflectional and derivational language. Suffixes are added, subtracted, and replaced. Sindhi words always end in a vowel. According to Cole (2001), the basic word order of Sindhi is SOV, but the alternate word order is also possible in the spoken language without changing the meaning, so Sindhi is called free word order. For example:

Chhokry kitab parhyo.	SOV
Kitab Chhokry parhy.	OSV
Parhyo kitab chokry.	VOS
Chhokry parhyo kitab.	SVO
Kitab parhyo chhokry.	OVS
Parhyo chhokry kitab.	VSO
The boy reads the book.

 

Origin of Sindhi 

The Sindhi language is an old language of the world. Regarding the origin of the Sindhi language, different scholars have different opinions. Trump (2011) and Stack (2011) explain that the Sindhi language appears in the eleventh century. According to him, there are a lot of Sindhi words that show that Sindhi is derived from Sanskrit. According to Allana (2009), Sanskrit scholars' views also are that Sindhi has been taken from Sanskrit because there are a lot of similarities in phonetics and morphology are found between these two languages. Baloch (1962) views that Sindhi has been taken from Indo-Aryan Indus Valley languages. Sirajul Haq Memon (1964), cited in Allana (2009), argues that Sindhi has not been derived from Sanskrit, but on the other hand, Sanskrit was taken from Sindhi because the people of old Sindh had migrated to Mesopotamia and Babylonia. They had taken their language with them, and it spread there. Grierson (1919) expresses his views that Sindhi belongs to the northwestern group of the Indo-Aryan dialects.

 

The Sindhi Dialects

According to Pirzado (2009), there are six dialects of the Sindhi language: Siroli, Vicholi, Lari, Kohistani, Thareli/ Kuchhi and Lasi. The dialect Siroli is spoken northern area and upper part of Sindh. The word "Siro" means in Sindhi' Head' or upper. The dialect Vicholi is spoken in the central part of Sindh. The word "Vicholi" has been taken from the Sindhi word "vich-u" which means center or middle. This dialect is said to be a standard dialect. It is used in education, media, and literature. The Lari dialect is spoken in lower Sindh, including Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin and Indus Delta. The word Lar means sloping; it is applied to the lower Sindh. Kachi and Thareli are both mixed dialects. According to Baloch (2008) and Pitafi (2009), Sindhi is spoken in 12 various dialects used in Sindh and a few districts of Balochistan. Among them, the Vicholi dialect is considered the standard dialect of Sindhi.

 

Lasi     

Amin & Ali (2021) argue that the term Lasi is a geographical name that is used for all tribes that are locally living in Lasbela. There are five major tribes; Roonjha, Jamot, Burah, Shaikh and Angaria, including their brotheries which speak Lasi. According to the censuses report of 1998, Lasbela is divided into 9 Tehsils: Bela, Lakhara, Lyari, Uthal, Durreji, Gadani, Sonmiyani, Hub and Kanraj. Allana (2010) argues that many tribes have migrated from Sindh to Las in ancient times; they spread their culture and language here. According to him, in the times of Arab, Sumra and Summan had migrated to Las and resident Las. According to Grierson (1919), Lasi is the form of Sindhi language which is spoken in Las; it semantically and morphologically differs from Sindhi.

 

Problem Statement 

Greirson (1919) and Baloch (2008) have done very little work on the phonology and morphology of the Lasi dialect. According to them, Lasi differs phonologically and morphologically from standard Sindhi. In Lasi, like Lari dialect, words are shortened such as 'baar' (outside) for 'baahar'. Thus, in Lasi aspirated consonant becomes unaspirated like 'budo' for 'budho' (heard), and auxiliary 'tho’ becomes ‘to’ in lasi. The interrogative pronoun ‘chha=what’ is produced ‘chho’ in Lasi, and ‘chho’ means ‘why’ in Sindhi. However, this dialect has been morphologically and syntactically ignored all this while; there has not been any work so far (Veesar, & Mustafa, 2021).

This research study attempts to analyze and explore such differences and their possible effect on sentence structure (subject-verb agreement). This study examines the nature of the subject-verb agreement in Lasi compared with English. Lashari and Soomro (2013) argue that verbs in English show agreement in the present tense with their subjects in number and while Sindhi syntactically is exhaustive, its verb agrees with the subject in number, gender, person, tense, aspect, and mood in all tenses. The following examples show these differences.




 

Sindhi	Lasi	English
Maan likhaan tho.	Aaon likhan to.	I write.
Hoowa likhy thi.	Owa likhy ti.	She writes.
Uhy likhan tha.	Ho likhan ta.	They write.
Assan likhaon tha.	Ason likhon ta.	We write.

 




The above examples show that the verb is differently inflected for the person, number, and gender in Sindhi and Lasi. The inflection ‘tho’ changes into ‘to’ in Lasi, according to the gender, number, and person of the subject. However, the English verb is inflected with the morpheme ‘s’ or ‘es’ for third-person singular. For other subjects, plain form is used. The infection in the verb does not show the gender of its subject in English.

 

Objectives of Study

The study attempts to analyze the position of subject-verb agreement in different word ordering of Lasi sentences and to explore the verbs which do not agree with the subjects.

Literature Review

Morphology 

Rahman (2009) argues that morphology explains word formation and rules in the language. Morphology defines how morphemes are attached to words. Morphology also represents the variations within the words. According to Bauer (1983), Morphology is an element of linguistics that provides information about the internal structure of words. The basic unit of morphology is a morpheme. A morpheme is divided into two types: free morpheme and bound morpheme. A free morpheme can occur in isolation, while a bound morpheme cannot occur in isolation. Zahid (2016) and Surahio & Jumani (2016) divide free morphemes into lexical and functional morphemes and bound morphemes into derivational and inflectional morphemes. 

Das, P., & Barbora, M. (2020) explain that inflectional morphemes are those bound affixes through which new words with different forms but the same meaning are made from an existing stem. They are used to make plural or past tense. For example, plurals: buses–bus and past tense: die–died. Derivational morphemes create new words. It often belongs to a different syntactic category. They are used to make a noun from an adjective or an adjective from a verb. Example: an adjective to noun: happy– happiness. Adjective to a verb: commercial–commercialize. Varshney (1995) classifies morphemes into roots and affixes: root morphemes are those which are left after removing all affixes; they may be free or bound. Affixes are those morphemes that cannot stand alone. They are bound. For example, the English word 'unfaithful' has three morphemes: 'un,' 'faith' and ful. ‘Faith’ is a root while ‘un’ and ful are affixes. He further divided affixes into prefix, suffix, and infix. Prefix those bound morphemes that are affixed before the root, and suffixes are affixed at the end of the root. Infixes are affixed in the word. English has a rich derivational system of morphology; it has many derivational suffixes and prefixes. These suffixes and prefixes are added to a root and form a stem. English has meager inflection suffixes which are added to the stem and form a finishing word (Dixon, 2014).




Morphology of Sindhi

Cole (2001) argues that morphologically Sindhi is a rich inflectional and derivational language. Suffixes are added, subtracted, and replaced. Sindhi words always end in a vowel. Rahman (2009) suggests that Sindhi has two types of words: the first one is primary words and the second one is secondary words. Primary words are those that are not breakable. These words are said to be morphemes. For example, ‘rasto’ (path, way) and ‘hari’ (farmer). Secondary words are divided into complex words and compound words. Complex words are those which are made by combining prefixes or suffixes with root words for example root word ‘jjan’ (knowledge) combines with prefix (??) ‘ann’ (a prefix which negates the meaning) then it becomes ‘unjjan’ (layman) and when suffix ‘o’ attached with root word ‘jjan’ it becomes ‘jjano’ (scholar). Compound words are made by combining two same or different simple words without bound affixes. In Sindhi, derivational morphology is the result of the combination of a root word with a grammatical morpheme which forms a word with a different class. For instance, a noun is formed from a verb and an adjective is made from a noun. Sindhi derivational morphology is changed by affixes. The inflectional morphology in Sindhi is the result of the combination of a root with a morpheme which forms a word with the same class (Ali, Z., Bagddu, R.S., & Maimota, M.S., 2014; Ali, Roonjho & Brohi, 2021; Ali, Khan & Gulkhanda, 2021; Ali & Muhammad, 2021). According to Devi (2012), morphologically, Sindhi is a very rich language in terms of inflection morphemes and derivations morphemes as prefixes and suffixes. According to him, there are two categories of words in Sindhi: primary and secondary words. The primary lexemes are breakable. On the other hand, the secondary lexemes are categorized into compound words (the group of two or more than two primary words known as compound words) and complex words (the adding of affixes). Sindhi language Morphologically traits verbs trunks (stems), objective (impersonal) and reflexive (passive), and post-positions, nouns and verbs used along with suffixes pronouns.

Baig (2006) and Rahman (2009) argue that Sindhi nouns are either singular or plural. Baig gives the following principles for noun number inflection in terms of their gender and ending vowels:

1. The ending ?? inflection with singular feminine noun changes into ???? for a plural feminine noun.  

2. The ending ?? inflection with singular feminine noun changes into ?? for a plural feminine noun.  

3. The ending ?? inflection with a singular feminine noun changes into for plural noun.

4. The ending ?? inflection with singular feminine noun changes into ???? inflection for a plural noun.

5. The ending ?? inflection with singular feminine noun changes into ???? inflection for a plural noun.

6. The ending ?? inflection with masculine nouns changes into ?? inflection for a plural noun.

Subject-Verb Agreement in English

Haegeman (1994) argues that in English, the verb has two forms in the present tense and only one form in the past tense. Lashari and Soomro’s study (2013) also align with Haegeman. For example:

Singular	Plural
I eat.	Ali and Sam eat.
You eat.	You eat.
He/she/it eats.	We eat.

However, verbs in past and future do not change the form for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd person subjects. For example:

I walk.	We walked.
You walked.	You walked.
He or She walked.	They walked.
I will walk.	We will walk.
You will walk.	You will walk.
He/ she will walk.	They will walk.

 

The Verb Agreement in Sindhi

Baig (2006) uses the word ‘Nisbatoon’ or ‘Paryoog’ for the English word ‘agreement.' He divided verb agreement into three types: subjective construction, objective construction, and neuter construction. Subjective construction: the word ‘Kartar’ or ‘Karta’ means ‘Faail’ (subject) and the ‘Kartary’ means ‘Faailey’ (subjective). In this construction, the verb shows agreement with the subject and in its number, gender, and person. Objective construction: the word ‘karam’ means ‘mafaool’ (object) and Karmani means ‘mafaooly’ (objective). In such constructions, the verbs show agreement with the object. Neuter construction: in this type of agreement, the verb does not show agreement with the subject or object but remains neuter.

 

Research Methodology

This section refers to the research design, data selection, data collection, data description, data transcription, data analysis and X bar theory by Haegeman (1994). X’ Theory by Haegeman (1994) is used to draw a tree diagram to represent Lasi sentence focusing on verb phrase, especially on INFL and word order of sentence to see subject-verb agreement.

 

Research Design

This research work is qualitative in nature, using exploratory and descriptive research designs (Creswell, 2014; Kumar, 2011). These designs are used to explore and understand the nature and agreement of Lasi verbs. The study describes the Lasi verbs at first and then explores their forms and functions from the perspective of morphosyntax. 

 

Data Collection

In a qualitative method, an interview is a commonly used technique for collecting the data. An interview is a face-to-face verbal conversation between interviewer and interviewee; it may be through telephone or recording (Kumar, 2011). An interview is the most direct and straightforward method to collect detailed data regarding a particular problem. Interviews may be structured or unstructured; structured interviews are those through which the researchers ask preplanned questions, whereas unstructured are those through which the researchers do not ask preplanned questions (Kumar, 2011). The unstructured interview technique has been used to collect the data in this study. The data have been collected from the Lasi natives in the verbal form which are later transcribed and codified into non-verbal form.

Theoretical/Analytical Framework

The data have been analyzed through X’ Theory of phrase structure by Haegeman (1994). This theory was used to draw a tree diagram to represent Lasi sentences focusing on verb phrases, especially on INFL. The theory tells about the common in the phrase structure. According to the theory, one head is headed to all phrases. The head of the projection is a zero projection (XO). Head dominates words because heads have terminal nodes. X to for X'-projections are combined by Complements and X to for X'-projections are combined by adjunts. The specifier combines with the topmost X' to form the maximal projection XP.

In the above tree diagram, X stand for N, V, A OR P. The general format for phrase structure is summarized in the following PS rules:

Lasi is head-last and specifier-first language. Therefore, its basic phrase structure rule is:



Data Analysis and Discussion of Lasi Sentences

Sentences

This section deals with the analysis of different verbal inflections in Lasi to see the subject-verb agreement in tense, person, number, and gender. Subject-verb agreement is a linguistic feature that shows changes through subject variation. The analysis section discusses the inflections in transitive and intransitive verbs; these verbs are in indicative moods with simple tenses. It presents the structure of sentences (word order) to see whether the verb shows agreement with the subject in different word orders. The study adopts the X’ theory of Haegeman (1994) to make a tree diagram to see the subject-verb agreement and the sequential order of words in sentences.

 

Subject-Transitive Verb Agreement

The subject is the doer of the action in a typical clause (Haegeman, 1994). Transitive verbs are those whose meaning is incomplete without a direct object (Baig, 2006). The following examples analyze the inflections of intransitive verbs in present, past and future simple tenses to see the subject-verb agreement in Lasi.

 

Present Simple

Example 1: Gaon kheer dayti. (Cow gives the milk.)






Gaon	kheer	dayti
Cow	milk	gives
N (SUB)-sg-f	N (OBJ)	V (sg-f)

Figure 1

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram shows an agreement configuration between the subject and the head AGR (agreement). They agree with features such as number, gender, person, tense, and aspect. The above sentence presents a simple present tense. The sentence structure (word order) is SOV. The subject ‘gaon’ (cow) is singular in number and feminine in gender, and it has a nominative case because noun is not inflected in nominative case with any case marker; it remains in its original form (Rahman, 2009).

The verb ‘dayti’ (gives) is a transitive verb with two arguments, 'gaon=cow’ and ‘kheer=milk.' According to Allana (2010) and Alshammiry, K. (2016), a transitive verb requires a subject and needs an object because they make complete sense. The verb ‘dayti’ (gives) is derived from ‘deyan’ (to give). This form is infinitive and infinitive has been taken from the imperative form 'dy’ (give). The verb is inflected with the inflection ‘ti’ (agreement), which is phonologically produced ‘thi’ in Sindhi Baloch (2008), to show that the subject is singular in number and feminine in gender. It also indicates that the action has occurred in the present time. English uses ‘s’ or ‘es’ with verbs to show the number and person of arguments (3^rd person singular subjects) and a plain verb form with 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd person plural subjects. However, in Lasi, the verb is inflected according to gender, number and person of the subjects. For example, in the replacement of a singular feminine subject with the plural feminine subject, the inflection with the verb will be ‘tiyoon’ (agreement). With singular masculine subject, the inflection will be ‘to’ with the plural masculine subject, the inflection will be ‘taa.'

Example 2: Eyo parhaayto. (He teaches.)




Eyo	parhaay	to
He	teaches	agreement marker
SUB (3p-sg-m)	V (3p-sg-m)

Figure 2

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram shows that the AGR and [Spec, AGRP] agree in gender, number, person, tense and aspect. The construction of this statement explains that it is spoken in the present tense with SOV word order. The subject ‘eyo’ (he) is a third person pronoun having a masculine gender singular number with a subjective/nominative case.

The verb ‘parhaayto’ (teaches) is a transitive having a vivid subject and a hidden object in the surface structure of the sentence. The speaker did not use the object, but the context shows that the verb has an object argument. The verb ‘parhyto’ (teaches) is taken from the infinitive form ‘parhain’ (to teach) which is taken from the root form ‘parhaai’ (teach) which is further derived from the imperative ‘parh’ (read/study). This verb contains two inflections: the first inflection, ‘aay’ (agreement) in the verb ‘parhaay’ indicates that subject is the third-person pronoun. This inflection will change according to the persons of pronoun subjects. With the first-person pronoun subject, the inflection with the verb will be ‘yaan’ (agreement). Thus, with the second-person pronoun subject, the inflection with the verb will be ‘een’ (agreement). The last inflection ‘to’ (agreement) in the verb ‘parhaayto’ (teaches) shows the present simple tense; this morpheme also shows that subject is singular in number. With the changing of a singular subject into a plural subject, the inflection ‘to’ (agreement) changes in ‘taa’ inflection. This inflection also shows that subject is masculine in gender. Unlike English, where the verb does not agree in gender, but in Lasi verb agrees with the subject in gender as the changing of a masculine subject with the feminine subject, the inflection ‘to’ (agreement) with the verb ‘parhaAyto’ (teach) will change in ‘ti’ (agreement).

 

Past Simple Tense

Example 3: Chokare mobile bago. (Boy broke the mobile)




 

Chokare	mobile	bago
Boy (s-m-obl)	mobile (Nom)	broke
SUB (sg-m) obl	OBJ (sg-m)	V (sg-m)

Figure 3

Tree Diagram



The above sentence presented in example 3 is in the simple past tense. The structure of this sentence is SOV. The subject ‘chokare’ (boy) is inflected with the case marker 'e,' so it is in oblique case because in the accusative, dative, postpositional and genitive cases, nouns are inflected (Ali, Z., 2016). This inflected form is called the oblique case (Rahman, 2009). According to Baig (2006), ‘chokare’ (boy) is in the oblique case and ‘chokaro’ (boy) is the nominative case in Sindhi/Lasi. The verb ‘bago’ (broke) is transitive in Lasi because it has an object mobile. The verb ‘bago’ (broke) is derived from the infinitive verb ‘bajan’ (to break) and the infinitive ‘bajan’ is derived from the imperative form ‘banj’ (break). The inflection ‘o’ (agreement) with verb does not show the gender and number of subjects. With all subjects, either singular or plural and masculine or feminine same inflection ‘o’ (agreement) is used with the verb ‘bago’ (broke), as the verb is in the simple past tense. Verbs in simple past tense do not agree with subjects but with objects in Lasi/Sindhi (Ali, Z., 2016). The inflection ‘o’ (agreement) shows the gender and number of objects mobile because the transitive verb in past tense shows the agreement with the object. According to Ranjan (2016), the subject seems “ne” marker which is an ergative case marker. In the case of the perfective aspect, the verb is transitive, and the verb agrees with the nominative object DP. If the object is plural, the inflection ‘o’ (agreement)

changes into ‘aa’ (agreement) and with the feminine object, the inflection ‘o’ changes into ‘ee’ (agreement).

Example 4: En college ma dakhlo wato. (They took the admission to college)




En	college	ma	dakhlo	Wato.
They	college	in	admission	took (past)
SUB (obl- pl-m)	N	P	OBJ (nom-sg-m)	V (sg-m)

Figure 4

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram shows an agreement configuration between the object and the head AGR. They share features such as number, gender, and person. The above sentence presented in example 4 is in the simple past tense. The subject ‘en’ (they) is the third person plural masculine pronoun subject and has an oblique form because in Sindhi/Lasi ‘uhy’ (they) is nominative in the case and ‘en’ (they) is in an oblique case (Baig, 2006). The object ‘dakhlo’ (admission) is singular in number and masculine in gender, having an accusative case. The verb ‘wato’ took has come from the infinitive form 'wathan’ (to take), and the infinitive ‘wathan’ has come from the imperative form ‘wath’

take. The inflection ‘o’ (agreement) with the verb ‘wato’ (took) shows that the action has taken place in the past time. It also shows the number and gender of the nominative object 'dakhlo’ (admission). This inflection ‘o’ (agreement) changes to the gender and number of objects accordingly. For example, with the plural object, the inflection ‘o’ (agreement) with verb changes into ‘aa’ (agreement) inflection. Thus, with a feminine object, the inflection ‘o’ (agreement) with verb changes into ‘ee’ (agreement).

 

Future Simple Tense

Example 5: Putak madarsym chadindos. (I) will send/leave son in school)




 

(Null sub)	Puta	K	madarsy	m	chadindos
	son	to	School	in	will send/leave
SUB (null)	OBJ	P	N	P	V (1p-s-m)

Figure 5

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram shows an agreement configuration between the subject and the head AGR. They share features such as number, gender, and person. The above sentence of Lasi Language subject does not exist in the surface structure. The verb ‘chadeendos’ (will send/leave) verb is a transitive form with a hidden object and subject argument ‘puta’ (son). The verb ‘chadeendos’ has been taken from the infinitive form ‘chadan’ (to send/leave) and the infinitive has been taken root word ‘chad’ (leave). The inflection ‘dos’ (agreement) in the verb ‘chadeendos’ (will leave) is used to indicate that the subject is the first person pronoun. With the replacement of the

second person pronoun with the first-person pronoun subjects, the inflection will be ‘dohen’ (agreement). With the third person pronoun subject, it will be ‘do’ (agreement). The inflection ‘dos’ (agreement) shows that subject is singular in number. In the case of the plural subject, the inflection ‘dos’ (agreement) will change into ‘dasen’ (agreement). This inflection also shows that subject is masculine in gender because the suffix ‘dos’ (agreement) is used for masculine gender agreement and ‘dias’ (agreement) for feminine gender agreement in the future tense in Lasi/Sindhi (Zahid, 2016). 

Example 6: Diya Moosani ma parhandi. (Daughter will study in Moosani.)




 

Diya	Moosani	ma	parhandi
girl	Moosani	in	will study
SUB (s-f)	N	P	V (s-f)

Figure 6

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram shows the sentence in future simple tense with an SV order. The subject ‘diya’ (girl/daughter) is singular in number and feminine in gender and has a nominative case. The verb ‘parhandi’ (will study) is a transitive verb with a clear subject and a hidden object. The verb ‘parhandi’ (will study) is taken from ‘parhan’ (study) which is the infinitive form, and this infinitive took from the imperative form ‘parh’ (study/read). The inflection ‘di’ (agreement) in the verb ‘parhandi’ (will study) indicates the feminine in gender and singular in the number of subjects and it shows future simple tense too. In the case of the plural subject, the inflection ‘di’ (agreement) will change into ‘diyon’ (agreement) and in the case of the masculine subject, the verb ‘parhandi’ (will study) will terminate into ‘to’ (agreement) inflection.

 

Subject-Intransitive Verb Agreement

An intransitive verb is that which does not require a direct object (Ali, 2016). Following examples, analyze the inflections and conjugations in intransitive verbs to see the nature of the subject-verb agreement in Lasi.

 

Present Simple

Example 7: Achyto ho. (He comes.)




 

Achay	to	ho
comes	agreement marker	he
V (sg-m)		3rd PRO (SUB) sg-m

Figure 7

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram presents example 7 in the present simple tense. The structure of the above sentence is VS. The subject ‘ho’ (he) is singular in number, masculine in gender and has a nominative case. The verb ‘achyto’ (comes) is intransitive because it does not require an object argument. It has taken its root from the infinitive verb ‘achan’ (to come), and infinitive has taken its root from the imperative form ‘ach’ (come). The verb ‘achyto’ (comes) contains two inflections: the first inflection in the verb ‘y’ (agreement) ‘achyto’ (comes) identifies the third person of the pronoun subject. This inflection will change according to the persons of pronoun subjects. For example, in the case of second-person pronoun subject, the inflection ‘y’ (agreement) will change into ‘een’ (agreement), and in the case of first-person pronoun subject, this inflection will change into ‘an’ (agreement).

The second inflection, ‘to’ (agreement) with the verb ‘achyto’ (comes), is used to indicate the present simple tense; it also identifies the singular number of subject ‘ho’ (he). This inflection also changes according to the number of subjects. For example in the case of the plural subject, this inflection ‘to’ (agreement) changes into ‘taa’ (agreement. The inflection ‘to’ (agreement) with the verb ‘achyto’ (comes) also shows that subject is masculine in gender. This inflection ‘to’ (agreement) changes according to the gender of subjects in Lasi. For example, in the case of the feminine subject, the inflection ‘to’ (agreement) changes into ‘ti’ (agreement).

Example 8: Ahon wanjato. (I go)




 

ahon	wanjan	to
i	go	agreement marker
SUB (1p sg-m)	V (sg-m)

Figure 8

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram shows that the AGR and [Spec, AGRP] agree in gender, number, and person. The above sentence presented in example 8 is in present simple. The structure of this sentence is SV. The subject ‘ahon’ (I) is the first person pronoun having masculine in gender and singular in number, and this sentence is nominative in case. The verb ‘wanjanto’ (go) is intransitive because it does not require an object argument. So, it gives complete meaning without an object. The verb ‘wanjanto’ (go) is taken from the infinitive form ‘wanjan’ (to go) and the infinitive is taken from the imperative ‘wanj’ (go). 

The verb ‘wanjanto’ (go) contains two agreement markers or inflections. The first inflection ‘an’ (agreement) in verb ‘wanjanto’ (go) indicates that the subject is the first-person pronoun. This inflection changes according to the person of pronoun subjects. With the replacement of the first-person pronoun subject with the second-person pronoun subject, the inflection will be ‘een’ (agreement). Thus, for the third-person pronoun subject, it will be ‘y’ (agreement). While the last inflection with the verb ‘to’ (agreement) refers to the simple past tense, it also shows a singular number of subjects. This inflection changes according to the subject's number. If the subject is plural, the inflection ‘to’ (agreement) changes into ‘taa.' Apart from that, this inflection shows the masculine gender of the subject. In the case of the feminine subjects, this inflection changes in inflection ‘tiyon.'

 

Past Simple Tense

Example 9 Eyay Bajjiwya. (They ran away.)




 

Eyay	bajjiwya
They	ran away (past)
SUB (3p-p-m)	V (3p-p-m)

Figure 9

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram shows that the AGR and [Spec, AGRP] agree on gender, number and person. The structure of this sentence is SV. The subject ‘Eyay’ (they) is a third-person pronoun having masculine in gender and plural in number and has come without any case marker, so it is nominative in case.

The verb ‘bajjiwya’ (ran away) took from the verb which is infinitive ‘bajji wajan’ (to run away) and the infinitive verb ‘bajjiwanan’ (to run away) was taken from the root verb 'bajj’ (run). It is an intransitive verb. The inflection ‘wya’ (agreement) with the verb ‘bajjiwya’ (ran away) shows that subject is the third person pronoun subject. This inflection changes according to the persons of pronoun subjects. With the second person pronoun subject, the inflection with verb will be ‘yahoon’ (agreement); and with the first-person pronoun subject, the inflection with verb will be ‘yasen’. The inflection ‘ya’ (agreement) in verb ‘bajjiwya’ (ran away) shows that subject is plural in number, and it also shows the simple past tense. By changing the plural subject into a singular subject, the inflection ‘ya’ in the verb ‘bajjiya’ (ran away) will change into ‘yo’ inflection and with the changing of the masculine subject into the feminine subject, the inflection ‘ya’ will also change into ‘yon’ inflection.

Example 10: Mein wasyo. (It rained/ It is rained)




 

Mein	wasyo
rain	fell (past)
SUB (sg-m)	V (sg-m)

Figure 10

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram shows that the AGR and [Spec, AGRP] agree in person, number and gender. The above sentence presented in example 10 is past simple. The structure of this sentence is SV. The subject ‘Mien’ (rain) is singular in number and masculine in gender, having a nominative case. The verb ‘wasyo’ (rained) took from the verb ‘wasan’ (to rain) and it is infinite. The infinitive verb ‘wasan’ (to rain) is derived from the base form ‘was.' The verb ‘wasyo’ is intransitive because it does not require an object argument. The inflection ‘yo’ (agreement) with the verb

shows that the action has happened in the past; this inflection also shows that subject is singular in number. While for the plural subject, the inflection ‘yo’ (agreement) changes into ‘ya’ (agreement). This inflection indicates that subject is masculine.

 

Future Simple Tense

Example 11 Sumandos. ((I) will sleep.)




 

Null SUB	sumandos
Null SUB	will sleep (future)
SUB (null)	V (1p-s-m)

Figure 11

Tree Diagram



The above tree diagram shows a sentence having zero subject and zero object in the future simple tense with only (S)V in order. The verb ‘sumandos’ (will sleep) has been taken from the infinitive form ‘soman’ (to sleep) and the infinitive ‘soman’ (to sleep) is derived from the imperative form 'som’ (sleep). The phonological suffix ‘dos’ with the verb ‘somandos’ (will sleep) shows the future simple tense; it also indicates that the hidden subject is the first person pronoun ‘ahon’ (I). If a subject is a second person pronoun subject, the inflection ‘dos’ (agreement) will change into ‘dohen’ (agreement), and if the subject is third person, the inflection ‘dos’ (agreement) will change into 'do.' The inflection ‘dos’ (agreement) shows the subject is singular in number. In the case of the plural subject, the inflection ‘dos’ (agreement) will change into ‘daasen’ (agreement). This infection also shows the masculine gender of the subject because the suffix ‘dos’ is used for masculine gender agreement and ‘dias’ for feminine gender agreement in the future tense in Sindhi/Lasi (Ali, Z., 2016).

Example 12 Milanda goth wara. (Villagers will meet)




 

Milanda	gothwara
Will meet	villagers
V (pl-m)	SUB (pl-m)

Figure 12

Tree Diagram

The above tree diagram shows that the verb agrees in gender person and number with the subject. The statement structure is VS. The subject ‘goth wara’ (villagers) is plural in number and masculine in gender with a nominative case. The verb ‘melanda’ (will meet) has been taken from the infinitive form ‘melan’ (to meet) taken from the imperative form ‘mil’ (meet). The verb ‘melanda’ (will meet) is intransitive verb in this context in Lasi. The inflection ‘da’ (agreement) with verb ‘melanda’ (will meet) shows future tense of sentence. It also shows the first person of hidden pronoun subject. The inflection ‘da’ also shows the plural number of the subject. In case of singular subject, the inflection ‘daa’ will change into ‘do’. The inflection ‘da’ shows that subject is masculine in gender.  

Findings

X Bar Theory by Haegeman (1994) has been applied to draw tree diagrams to represent Lasi sentences focusing on verb phrases, especially on INFL, to see the nature of the subject-verb agreement. 




Number Agreement

The analysis of this study shows that in Lasi, the subject of the transitive and intransitive verbs in present tense occurs in the nominative case which determines the agreement. The inflections with transitive and intransitive verbs in indicative mood change according to the number of subjects. When the subject is singular, the verb terminates into sg- infliction ‘to’ (agreement) or ‘ti’ (agreement) but with a plural subject, the infliction ‘to’ changes into ‘taa’ (agreement); and inflection ‘ti’ (agreement) changes into ‘tiyon.' English uses inflections ‘s’ and ‘es’ to show plural subject (Aarts, 2011). 

 In past tense, when the subject is singular, the phonological inflection ‘o’ or ‘ee’ (agreement) is added with an intransitive verb. But in the case of the plural subject, the inflection ‘o’ changes into ‘aa’ and ‘ee’ changes into ‘yoon’ to show a number. However, the regular verb in English is only inflected with the morpheme' ed’ or ‘d’ for both singular and plural subjects in simple past tense (Haegemen, 1994). 




Gender Agreement

The inflections that show the number of subjects also show the gender of subjects. In the case of the masculine subject, the conjugation with the verb is ‘to’ or ‘taa,' but with the feminine subject, the conjugation ‘to’ changes into ‘ti’ and the inflection ‘taa’ changes into ‘tiyoon’ (agreement). The interesting finding is that transitive verbs do not agree with subjects in the past but with objects. However, intransitive verbs do agree with their subjects. Phonological inflections “o” and “aa” show the masculine gender of subjects, and “ee” or “yoon” show the feminine gender. The inflections 'o', 'aa,' 'ee’, ‘yoon’ also show 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person of the subject.

Tense Agreement

The findings of this study show that the inflections in transitive and intransitive verbs indicate the tenses in Lasi; these are tense markers. Tense markers indicate time and action are performed (Ali, Bagddu & Maimota, 2014). It is found that the inflections ‘ti', 'to,' ‘tiyon’ and ‘taa’ with transitive and intransitive verbs are present as simple tense markers.

Conclusion

X bar theory of phrase structure is used to see the nature of the subject-verb agreement and sentence structure (word order) in Lasi. It is found that in Lasi, the transitive and intransitive verbs show full agreement with their subjects in the present, future simple tenses, and intransitive verbs agree with their objects in the past. Transitive and intransitive verbs in Lasi are inflected with many inflections (agreement markers); these inflections indicate the number, gender, and person of subjects along with the tense of the sentence. The verb in Lasi contains two inflections: the first one shows the person of its subject whereas the last inflection in the verb indicates the number, gender, and tense. However, the verb in English has two forms of the verb in present tense and one form in the past tense Haegeman (1994).

The basic word order of Sindhi/ Lasi, according to Allana (2010), is SOV. However, the speakers violate the word order spoken without affecting the meaning and form of the sentence. The result of this study explains that transitive or intransitive verbs agree with their subjects in terms of person, gender and number at both pre- and post-verbal positions.

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