A phrase consists of a noun and its modifiers, which in Jan29 are limited to genitives and relative clauses. Genitives usually precede the word containing the noun, while relative clauses usually follow. Since the noun, of course, is always part of a word, a phrase can't stand by itself. In the following sections, the symbol =??? will stand in for the verb part.
A relative clause contains a word whose noun part is the pronoun Rel=; in a simple relative clause, this word is the only word in the clause. More complicated relative clauses will be covered later.
| UP-cat=??? Rel=white Rel=2 | "the 2 white cats" |
The possessor takes the genitive case (=Gen, =r) and usually precedes the possessum it modifies.
| 1S=Gen cat=??? | "my cat" |
The partitive construction uses the genitive of a definite noun or pronoun (the whole) modifying an indefinite pronoun of the same gender (the part). If the part is plural, it may be modified by a quantity.
| 3P-cat=Gen US-A=??? | "1 of the cats" |
| 3P-man=Gen UP-H=??? Rel=2 | "2 of the men" |
| NP=Gen UP-H=??? | "some of us" |
| coffee=Gen US-I=??? | "some of the coffee" |
The simplest clauses consist of a phrase and a verb:
| xaufaporca. | xaufa=porc-a |
|---|---|
| "The dog is large." | dog=large-Dur |
| UP-cat=old-Dur Rel=white Rel=2 | "The 2 white cats are old." |
| NP=Gen UP-H=hungry-Dur | "Some of us are hungry." |
Other clauses may have more than one phrase=verb combination. There are 5 kinds of verbs with respect to what the noun part's role is and what other verbs or cases tend to appear with them in a clause.
Here are some examples of the first 4 kinds:
| xaufatini liporca. | xaufa=tin-i | li=porc-a |
|---|---|---|
| "The large dog ran." | dog=run-Aor | Rel=large-Dur |
| ñôkolma festalo. | ñôko=lm-a | festa=lo |
|---|---|---|
| "The cat is in the house." | cat=in-Dur | house=Loc |
| pecnowari jûmèn tas teknêkopti. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| pecno=war-i | jûmè=n | ta=s | teknê=kopt-i |
| rock=throw-Aor | boy=Agt | Sub=Rsl | window=break-Aor |
| "The boy threw the rock, breaking the window." | |||
| feniki jûmèk. | fè=nik-i | jûmè=k |
|---|---|---|
| "I saw the boy." | 1S=see-Dur | boy=Img |
There are at least 2 kinds of trivalent verbs, the "give" kind and the "tell" kind. The verb "give" is usually accompanied by a recipient phrase with the allative case (=All, =se) and a donor which usually has both the ablative case (=Abl, =mi) and the agent case.
| sarèn nami jûfise mocaxlasti. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| sarè=n | na=mi | jûfi=se | mo-caxla=st-i |
| man=Agt | Rfx=Abl | girl=All | IndS-book=give-Aor |
| "The man gave the girl a book." | |||
The verb "tell" is usually accompanied by a recipient phrase with a perception verb and an agent phrase for the speaker. The theme is what's told and is usually a subordinate clause.
| Mêrin foqoni tafri soprasolpi. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mêri=n | fè=qon-i | ta=fr-i | sopra=solp-i |
| Mary=Agt | 1S=hear-Aor | Sub=say-Aor | picture=fall-Aor |
| "Mary told me that the picture fell." | |||
| Jânon Mêruqoni tafri ñôkolma festa=lo. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jâno=n | Mêri=qon-i | ta=fr-i | ñôko=lm-a | festa=lo |
| John=Agt | Mary=hear-Aor | Sub=say-Aor | cat=in-Dur | house=Loc |
| "John told Mary that the cat was in the house." | ||||
| Tâmon 'aufri. | Tâmo=n | '-au=fr-i |
|---|---|---|
| "Tom said it." | Tom=Agt | 3S-X=say-Aor |
In the subordinate clause, Rfx= refers to the speaker and Cor= to the hearer. Other perception and information verbs can be used.
| Mary=Agt John=see-Dur Sub=write-Aor Cor=Gen Rfx=mother-Id |
| "Mary wrote to John informing him that she's his mother." |
The copulas of identity and definition aren't verbs, but derive verbs from nouns. The base noun can still be modified by genitives and relative clauses, provided that the word's noun part isn't a common noun.
| Faidôxaufame. | Faidô=xaufa-me |
|---|---|
| "Fido is a dog." | Fido=dog-Def |
| Jânor Mêrimamate. | Jâno=r | Mêri=mama-te |
|---|---|---|
| "Mary is John's mother." | John=Gen | Mary=mother-Id |
| Tâmosarete lika cûnika. | Tâmo=sarè-te | li=ka | cû=nik-a |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Tom is the man you're looking for." | Tom=man-Id | Rel=Tar | 2P=see-Dur |
Ordinal numbers are verbs regularly derived from cardinal numbers.
| DP-man=1-Ord-Dur Rel=Prox | "These men are 1st." |
Superlatives are verbs regularly derived from adjectival verbs. They modify definite nouns.
| Fido=dog-Id Rel=big-Sup-Dur | "Fido is the biggest dog." |
| 1P=see-Dur cat=old-Sup-Dur | "We saw the oldest cat." |
Subordinate clauses begin with a word whose noun part is the pronoun Sub=, the usage being determined by the verb part.
| Sub=Tar | taka | purpose clause |
|---|---|---|
| Sub=Rsl | tas | result clause |
| Sub=Ins | tane | means clause |
| Sub=Cau | tatko | "because" clause |
| Sub=Tmp | tâ | temporal adjunct clause |
| Sub=Img | tak | perceived or imagined events |
Other cases and verbs are possible with Sub=.
| woman=see-Dur Sub=Img city=destroy-Aor | "The woman saw the destruction of the city." |
| Tom=Agt NR-deer=hunt-Hab Sub=Tar Cor=eat-Hab | "Tom hunts deer for food." |
Purpose clauses can be used as the complements of auxiliaries.
| John=want-Dur Sub=Tar Cor=see-Dur elephant=Img | "John wants to see the elephant." |
| 3S=want-Dur Sub=Tar John=see-Dur elephant=Img | "They want John to see the elephant." |
A purpose clause by itself is used for imperatives, hortatives, and jussives.
| taka cimîci | ta-ka | ci=mîc-i |
|---|---|---|
| "Come here." | Sub=Tar | 2S=Prox-Aor |
A resultative is a secondary predicate specifying the result of the host clause's action. In Jan29, result clauses are used for resultatives (as well as for result clauses proper).
| 1S=Agt Sub=Rsl cat=in-Dur house=Loc | "I put the cat in the house." |
| Mary=Agt metal=pound-Aor Sub=Rsl Cor=flat-Dur | "Mary pounded the metal flat." |
Note that noun results don't use Sub=:
| 3P-wiseman=smash fragment=Rsl | "The wisemen got smashed to pieces." |
A depictive is a secondary predicate specifying the state of one of the host clause's arguments at the time of the host situation. A depictive may be introduced by tâ, but this is optional. Note the use of Rfx= to refer to the agent and Cor= to refer to the patient.
| John=Agt meat=eat-Aor (Sub=Tmp) Cor=raw-Dur | "John was eating the meat raw." |
| John=Agt meat=eat-Aor (Sub=Tmp) Rfx=nude-Dur | "John was eating the meat nude." |
Different conjunctions are used for "before" and "after"; the same conjunction is used for "during" and "when", the difference being indicated by aspect.
| Mary=leave-Aor after John=Agt US-I=eat-Aor | "Mary left after John had eaten." |
| Mary=leave-Aor before John=Agt US-I=eat-Aor | "Mary left before John ate." |
| Mary=leave-Aor when John=Agt US-I=eat-Dur | "Mary left while John was eating." |
| John=Agt US-I=eat-Dur when Mary=leave-Aor | "John was eating when Mary left." |
For dynamic verbs, the durative aspect is progressive, while for static verbs, it's stative and normally used in non-present contexts as well as the present. This is because the aoristic aspect is inchoative for static verbs, denoting entry to the state.
| John=drunk-Dur party=Tmp | "John was drunk during the party." |
| John=drunk-Aor party=Tmp | "John got drunk during the party." |
Changing a case can sometimes change the meaning of a verb:
| 1S=see-Dur John=Img | "I saw John." |
| 1S=see-Dur John=Tar | "I was looking for John." |
page started: 2013.Feb.02 Sat
current date: 2013.Feb.06 Wed
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
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