Gweinic Language Family

Whoops. I mailed it half-finished and unsaved. The following details are
those of Early Lahabic.
NOMINATIVE:
The animate nominative plural ending is derived from a syllabic m and
therefore has the form -m after vowels and -a after consonants. The animate
agentive suffix, -ra, however, derives from syllabic r, which was
desyllabicised before another syllabic consonant or a vowel. Therefore the
animate nominative plural developed thusly:
ROOT + r<syl> + m<syl> -> ROOT + r + m<syl> -> ROOT + r + a
The nominative is used as the subject of the sentence
The son ate the (individual piece of) fruit.
Khemiteimon tyadadrakhe so'labato'r.
[k_he.'mi.tej.moz t_ja.'dad.ra.k_he so:.la.'ba.to:r]
eat-IND-3SGIMPF son-ANAG-ANNOMSG fruit-INAG-ANACCSG
IND=indicative
IMPF=imperfect
AN=animate
AG=agentive
NOM=nominative
IN=inanimate
ACC=accusative
'Fruit' is inanimate because individual parts of an organism (such as legs)
are considered inanimate.
GENITIVE:
The genitive case is used to indicate a state of possession that is
alienable or non-reciprocal, and place or time of origin.
guardian of the house
Possesion:
ghauidrakhe medwe'labwoz
[g_hau.'id.ra.k_he me.'d_we:.la.b_woz]
guard-ANAG-ANNOMSG -INAG.GENSG
GEN=genitive
The use of the genitive here implies that (1) the guard is not performing in
an official capacity (2) the guard does not have a large personal investment
in the house and thus he probably does not own it
Another example:
the guardian of the son
ghauidrakhe tyadadrakwoz
[g_hau.'id.ra.k_he t_ja.da.dra.k_woz]
guard-ANAG-ANNOMSG -ANAG.GENSG
In this case, the guardian would not be the legal guardian of the boy, as
that would imply a closer relationship.
Place/Time of Origin
the Dhabra from the town
dhabrakhe (tol) gwounouombwoz
[d_hab.ra.k_he gwou.nou.om.b_woz]
earthman.ANAG.NOMSG town.GENSG
the fruits of (this) season
so'labaze' metyamabwoz
[so:.la.'ba.ze: me.'t_ja.ma.b_woz]
fruit.INAG.INNOMPL season.INAG.GENSG
PL=plural
DATIVE:
The dative/benefactive case is used for the indirect object, beneficiaries,
inalienable or reciprocal possession, the second element of reflexive
pronouns.
Indirect Object:
The son gave the fruit to the daughter.
Dyama'meimon tyadadrakhe so'labato'r thale'drakwa.
[d_ja.'ma:.mej.mon t_ja.'dad.ra.k_he so:.la.'ba.to:r t_ha.'le:d.ra.k_wa]
give-IND-3SGIMPF son-ANAG-ANNOMSG fruit-INAG-ACCSG daughter-ANAG-DATSG]
This sentence could also be interpreted as:
Inalienable Possession:
The son gave the fruit to his daughter
Benefactive/Beneficient:
The son gave the fruit for the benefit of the daughter.
The son gave the fruit to the daughter (who existed for his benefit)
The use of the dative case in the benefactive sense reflects a reciprical
interdependency difficult to translate into English.
Thus the phrase:
the guardian of the son
ghauidrakhe tyadadrakwa
[g_hau.'id.ra.k_he t_ja.da.dra.k_wa]
guard-ANAG-ANNOMSG -ANAG.DATSG
DAT sg
indicates that guardian has a legal, moral, or physical link with the son
which is intimate.
Reflexive:
I see myself
tyaieneimaz nakhe nakwa
[t_jaj.'e.nej.maz 'na.k_he na.k_wa]
ee-IND-1SGPRES me.ANNOMSG me.ANDATSG]
PRES=present
LOCATIVE:
The locative case is used for place and time at which and vocative. The
locative case appears without a preposition only in its vocative use and as
the subject of compound verbs.
Place/Time at Which:
in the river
ho'l se'bi'rapo
[ho:l se:.'bi:.ra.po]
in river-INAG-INLOCSG
Despite its appearance, the root of the word for of river is [se:bi:r]
rather than [se:bi:]. Another example:
at a point during that season
ho'l khopo metyamapo
[ho:l me.'t_ja.ma.po 'k_ho.po]
in season.INAG.INLOCSG kho.INLOCSG
I shall explain kho- later.
Vocative:
Son!
Tyadadrakwa!
[t_ja.'dad.ra.k_wa]
son-ANAG-ANDATSG
ACCCUSATIVE:
The accusative case is used for the direct object of a transitive verb, and
time during which.
Direct Object:
The son ate the (individual piece of) fruit.
Khemiteimon tyadadrakhe so'labato'r.
[k_he.'mi.tej.moz t_ja.'dad.ra.k_he so:.la.'ba.to:r]
eat-IND-3SGIMPF son-ANAG-ANNOMSG fruit-INAG-ANACCSG
Time During Which:
throughout the whole season
na metyamato'r khoto'r
[na me.'t_ja.ma.to:r 'k_ho.to:r]
through season.INAG.INACCSG kho.INACCSG
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