Clausal Topic + ket

A Clause Presented as the Topic

Level 6

Compare imbaga + actor + nga + content with ti imbaga + actor + ket or pause + content.

How It Works

A verbal report combines imbaga, its actor, and a nga-introduced content clause. In the alternative frame, ti imbaga plus its actor forms a nominal expression meaning “what someone said.” The content follows ket or a pause, without nga at this boundary.

Compare Imbaga ni Lina nga agawidka. “Lina said that you would go home” with Ti imbaga ni Lina ket agawidka. “What Lina said was that you would go home.” Lina remains the speaker; attached -ka identifies the person going home. An instruction reading is possible when context supplies it.

A comma represents the pause alternative. The content retains its own participants and aspect; the reporting actor need not perform its action. Constantino analyzes the content as the subject in an indefinite identification frame, following the reporting predicate. Thus, the catalog’s “topic” label should not imply that the initial reporting expression is his grammatical subject. Only the content-boundary linker is omitted.

Examples (3)

  1. Ti imbaga ni Lina ket agawidka.

    What Lina said was that you would go home.

    Ket presents the content. In an instruction context, agawidka can express what you are to do.

  2. Ti imbaga ni Ben, nagluto ni Ana.

    What Ben said was that Ana cooked.

    The comma represents a pause. Ben reports; Ana cooks.

  3. Ti imbaga ni Mila ket adda danum ditoy.

    What Mila said was that there is water here.

    The existential content keeps its own structure after ket.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Clausal Topic + ketLevel 6A Clause Presented as the Topic

Learn This First

After ti imbaga and its actor, present the content with ket or a pause.