Re: Name Prefixes

On Mon, Sep 18, 2000 at 06:21:15PM -0400, Nik Taylor wrote:
> In Watakassí, names must be preceded by an element called a Name Prefix,
> which is used to indicate that the following word is a name, they are
> used for both proper names, and names of kinds.  Cases go on both the
> prefix and the name.  The prefixes are (the numbers in parenthesis are
> gender numbers):
[snip]

Very interesting! In both Mandarin and Malay, there are "articles" (that's
what Malay grammar books call them) that behave somewhat similarly to your
prefixes. For example, in Mandarin:
1)      i1  bu4       che1
        one <article> car  --> "a car"
2)      liang3 pi1       ma3
        two    <article> horses --> "two horses"
3)      i1  zhe1      kou3
        one <article> dog --> "a dog"

These articles can be used in both definite and indefinite contexts: (1)
above is indefinite, "a car"; if it's changed to "na4 bu4 che1" it becomes
"that car".

Now in Malay:
1)      sebatang  pokok
        <article> tree/branch --> "one* tree" or "a tree"
        (* "sebatang" = se- (unit prefix) + batang (actual article)
2)      sebuah    rumah
        <article> house --> "one house" or "a house"
3)      seekor    kancil
        <article> mousedeer --> "a mousedeer"

What's interesting is that some of the "articles" actually have a root
meaning: batang = stick, or something long; ekor = tail (so "seekor
kancil" is literally "one tail of mousedeer"!)


T