Re: Name Prefixes
| From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, September 19, 2000, 1:10 |
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"H. S. Teoh" wrote:
> Very interesting! In both Mandarin and Malay, there are "articles" (that's
> what Malay grammar books call them)
In Chinese, those are usually called Counters. But they're not quite
the same. Counters are used between the noun and numbers and the like,
and are, if I'm not mistaken, obligatory with all nouns. The
name-prefixes are used only for things that are specific names. For
example:
Flassítas-ku nanamitás
Saw-him/her-I G2-runner
I saw a runner
Flassítas-ku nús Nanamitás
Saw-him/her-I man G2-Runner
I saw Runner (proper name)
Flassíl-ku lanamitás
Saw-it-I G5-runner
I saw a running animal
Flassíl-ku lá Lanamitás
Saw-it-I animal Runner
I saw a Runner (name of a species)
--
Dievas dave dantis; Dievas duos duonos
God gave teeth; God will give bread - Lithuanian proverb
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