WWM Text #1: view article

WWM, with morpheme breakdown, gloss, translation, and notes!

tyaányani nganliátrrutway umú ityárlama
tyaánya-ni ngan-liátrru-tway umú i-tyarlama
last.year-G3Gender 3 (gender/class) 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-be.at.for.a.while-down.out on LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc-coastal.dry.forest.G8Gender 8 (gender/class)
'Last year I was in the coastal dry forest for a while.'
Notes:
-liátrru means staying somewhere for longer than a day
-down.out is used in the sense of 'this took place down and away from me now'
-the coast is conceptualized as a flat plane and thus 'on' is used

itwáwa nganttútma ngúlkatnyaay pakwárl
itwáwa ngan-ttút-ma Ø-ngúlkatnyaay pak-wárl
there 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-pluck-TRTransitive (valency)
has two arguments ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument-jasmine.flower.G8Gender 8 (gender/class) ABLAblative (case)
away from-vine.G8Gender 8 (gender/class)
'There, I plucked jasmine flowers from vines'

itwáwa watyútma tyúrttim
itwáwa wa-tyút-ma Ø-tyúrttim
there SSSame subject (switch-reference)
same subject used between clauses-chop-TRTransitive (valency)
has two arguments ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument-sugarcane.G8Gender 8 (gender/class)
'and chopped sugarcane there.'
Notes:
-the second 'there' is used to emphasize continuity
-SS links verbs with same subject, indicating that they happened at the same time or one after another

rrutíwa niwángarlwatirr wúuni umú irtaíni
rrutíwa ni-wánga-rlwatirr Ø-wúu-ni umú i-rtaí-ni
and.then G3Gender 3 (gender/class)-appear-up.in ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument-smoke-G3Gender 3 (gender/class) on LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc-ocean-G3Gender 3 (gender/class)
'Then, smoke appeared to me coming in on the ocean.'
Notes:
-since the action takes place on the coast, 'up.in' is relative to the coast
-the ocean is conceptualized as a plane and takes 'on'

niyíkurrutnyalwa waumúru rtán
ni-yíkurru-tnyalwa wa-umúru rta-n
G3Gender 3 (gender/class)-fall-down.in SSSame subject (switch-reference)
same subject used between clauses-surround DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
'It fell down towards me, surrounding me.'
Notes:
-'surround' takes a dative-marked patient as it's not marked for transitivity and thus can't take an absolutive-marked patient

rrutíwa pakwúuni ayíkurrutnyalwa áwa
rrutíwa pak-wúu-ni a-yíkurru-tnyalwa áwa
and.then ABLAblative (case)
away from-smoke-G3Gender 3 (gender/class) GXGender 10 (gender/class)-fall-down.in rain.GXGender 10 (gender/class)
'Then, rain fell from the smoke.'
Notes:
-'smoke' is fronted as it's the topic

tiyáangwawa
ti-yáangwa-u-a
NEGNegative (polarity)
not.INTRIntransitive (valency)
has one argument-be.pleasant-NEGNegative (polarity)
not-GXGender 10 (gender/class)
'It was not pleasant.'

thanyíman rnyayyangátha
tha-nyí-ma-n rnyay-ya-ngá-tha
GX1Gender 11 (gender/class)-hurt-TRTransitive (valency)
has two arguments-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent-lung-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.POSSPossessive (case)
owns, has.INALInalienable (possesson)
thing that can't be gained or lost-GX1Gender 11 (gender/class)
'My lungs hurt.'

nganytyátikwarlwatirr waúttha rtatyímlwa
ngan-tyátikwa-rlwatirr wa-úttha rta-tyímlwa
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-run-up.in SSSame subject (switch-reference)
same subject used between clauses-return DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location-high.savanna.G9Gender 9 (gender/class)
'I ran inland, returning to the high savanna.'
Notes:
-the direction marking on the verb is now relative to the speaker's current position as the part of the story where the speaker was on the coast has ended
-the direction is omitted from the second verb as it's already known

ea pangkúrl wa ngangwárla pattyárlama
ea pak-nyurl wa ngan-way-rla pak-tyárlama
so ABLAblative (case)
away from-day.G9Gender 9 (gender/class) DEFDefinite
"the" 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-avoid-NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident ABLAblative (case)
away from-coastal.dry.forest.G8Gender 8 (gender/class)
'So from that day, I avoid the coastal dry forest.'
Notes:
-DEF is used sparingly but here serves to emphasize that it's the day being talked about
-the NVOL and ABL are lexicalized with 'avoid'

nin ngarnrrwángwa ityímlwa
nin ngan-rrwangwa i-tyímlwa
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.FOCFocus (syntactic)
shows new or contrastive information 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-stay LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc-high.savanna.G9Gender 9 (gender/class)
'Me, I stay in the high savanna.'
Notes:
-'1S.FOC' is fronted since it's already the topic.
-the highlands are conceptualized as a three-dimensional object and doesn't take any overt preposition, locative case suffices
✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article

Comments