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Brief outline of the language
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 26 May 2017, 02:40.
[comments] trc
?FYI...
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Basic SOV, but obliques (indirect objects, instrumentals, etc) come after the verb
Direct-inverse alignment
1>2>3PROX>3OBV
No gender/plural marking at all
Verbs mark TR/DIR/INV/PERF
TR adds high tone to last syllable of root (replacing 1st syllable tone if present)
DIR unmarked
INV -(e)t
PERF particle be
as tse fabīl be
1 3 heal.TR.DIR
I healed him PERF
as tse fabīlet be
1 3 heal.TR-INV
He healed me PERF
as sotodof latāk be tes tse bātsi
1 forest-POS-deer arrow-VBZ.TR PERF therefore 3 die
I shot a deer and it died
as sotodof batsī be latāt
1 forest-POS-deer kill PERF arrow-INST
I killed the wood-deer with an arrow
as sotodof batsīt be gifit
1 forest-POS-deer kill-INV PERF antler-INST
The deer killed me with it's antler
Irrealis formed by reduplication of the last syllable of the verb stem;
as sotodof latatāk tes tse bātsi
1 forest-POS-deer arrow-REDUP-VBZ.TR therefore 3 die
If I shot a deer it would died
Relative Clauses formed with pronouns;
di kase def tībof
person run 3 fall
The running man falls
īli di tsidā be ka def asas dof
COP person hunt PERF fish 3.PROX 1-POS sibling
The man who caught the fish is my brother
as di tōl sopē be def bipōt be
1 person yam bring PERF 3.PROX talk-INV
The woman who brought the yam spoke to me
Adjectives and Adverbs
Directly succeed head. Sufix -o for adjectives and -a for adverbs (also derivational) either present or optional on many.
All Postpositions indicate motion. For location, the head becomes possessive and the postposition nominalised (and put in the lative case);
dētelatap sa
beach-LAT onto
down onto the beach
dētelata sasisip
beach-POS onto-NMZ-LAT
on the beach
action of tool > -ak
pfēk > pfēkak
knife > cut
diminutive > -i
pfēkak > pfēkaki
cut > knick
augmentative > -(V)tso
pfēkak > pfēkakatso
cut > cut off
iterative > -(V)ti
pfēkak > pfēkakati
cut > cut up
habitual > -(V)ba
pfēkak > pfēkakaba
cut > cuts (habitually)
frequentative > habitual + redup of whole verb
denotes regularity or commonality of action
pfēkakaba pfēkakaba
Abessive > -k
fōfok
bead-ABS
No beads/without beads
Postpositions can be nominalised > -(C)is
ēf > ēfis
up to > destination/movement towards
Patient of an action > -(V)kak
tibōf > tibōfokak
drop > dropped thing/murder victim
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