Re: A question and introduction

>>From: Rune Haugseng <haugrune@...>
>>
>>My conlang Kemata marks negation on nouns (and pronouns), and makes a
>>distinction between these two:
>>
>>Gadbuvaire raidone.
>>gat-bu-0.v.ai.re  raido-ne
>>see-Ps-S.1p.M.Neg house-NISg
>>I don't see a house.
>>
>>Gadbuvai raidohune.
>>gat-bu-0.v.ai raido-hune
>>see-Ps-S.1p.M house-NISgNeg
>>I see no house (but something else).
>>
>>In the first case, the negation is marked on the subject, while in the
>>second it is marked on the object.
>>
This is somewhat similar to Indonesian, with two negatives _tidak_ for
verbs, adj., sentences; and _bukan_ for nouns and pronouns, most often in
statements like "X is not (a) Y"--

1a. saya tidak melihat gadis itu "I didn't see that girl"
1b.saya tidak melihat gadis-gadis "I didn't see (any) girls"
2a.Pak Sihombing bukan dokter "Mr. S. is not a doctor"
2b.Ia pendeta, bukan guru "he is a priest, not a teacher"
2c. Siapa tahu menjawab? Bukan saya.  "Who knows the answer? Not me."

You can't use bukan in 1a/b without changing the meaning; you can't use
tidak in 2a/b/c at all. (though possible 2c...saya tidak tahu "I don't know
(it)" )

1a.i saya melihat bukan gadis itu, tapi gadis lain (probably better saya
melihat gadis lain, bukan gadis itu) I didn't see that girl, but (rather)
another one ~ I saw another girl, not that one.

1a.ii  bukan gadis itu (yang) saya lihat "It wasn't that girl that I saw"
(implied: but someone else)
1a.iii gadis itu, bukan yang saya lihat "That girl isn't the one I saw"

It gets more complicated, and  is very difficult for a westerner to remember
the proper usage.
Even more difficult is the use in writing of both "tidaklah..."and
"bukanlah..." which are fronted, and produce sort-of cleft sentences, "It
isn't that...., It is not the case that...".  It's one bit of Indonesian
grammar that did not find its way into Kash.......

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