Re: Weekly Vocab #1.1.3 (repost #1)

On Sat, Sep 09, 2006 at 02:20:06PM -0400, Roger Mills wrote:
> Carsten Becker wrote:
> > 2.  Adanyareng(-tay) rentamley ayena nay edanyareng(-tay)
> >     evaena.
> >     That-one.A(.EMPH) (be) medicine.P 1s.GEN and
> >     this-one.A(.EMPH) (is) 2s.GEN
> >
> > If I should introduce _-tay_ or _tay X_ to work like
> > Indonesian(/Malay?) _-lah_*? It'd be very practical
> > for sentences such as 2 in fact where there is no verb and
> > no trigger. Does Indo./Mly.(/Kash?) use "to be" there?
>
> Basically, no for all. You _could_, but it would be very
> formal/bookish I suspect.
Yes, in Malay, using "to be" there would sound very bookish, and almost
pedagogical:
	Itu  ialah ubat     saya.
	That is    medicine 1ps

(The possessive is implied in the 1ps pronoun by word order.)

The common phrasing would be:
	Itu  ubat     saya.
	That medicine 1ps

Or, more informally,

	Itu  ubatku.
	That medicine:1ps

(Ubatku == contraction of ubat + aku.)

Or, if you're into slang, Ubat itu saya punya. (OK, this is more
Malaysian pidgin 'market speak' (bahasa pasar) than "correct" Malay.)


T

--
Those who have not appreciated the beauty of language are not qualified
to bemoan its flaws.