"R. Nierse" wrote:
> 1a waz wu-quc the boy walks
> 1b gogo yu-quc the girl walks
> 1c it bu-quc the horse walks
quc = walk
wu- = masculine (present?)
yu- = feminine (present?)
bu- = non-human (present?)
> 2a waz-ba duwa-quc the boys walk
> 2b gogo-bo duwa-quc the girls walk
> 2c it-bi ruwa-quc the horses walk
duwa- = human plural (present?)
ruwa- = non-human plural (present?)
-bV = plural, vowel harmony.
> 3a dun waz we-p'ec I see the boy
> 3b dun gogo ye-p'ec I see the girl
> 3c dun it be-p'ec I see the horse
du = I
-n = ergative
> 4a dun waz-ba deya-p'ec I see the boys
> 4b dun gogo-bo deya-p'ec I see the girls
> 4c dun it-bi reya-p'ec I see the horses
p'ec = see
we- = 1SingSubj/3SingMascObj
ye- = 1SingSubj/3SingFemObj
be- = 1SingSubj/3SingNonHumObj
deya- = 1SingSubj/3PlHumObj
reya- = 1SingSubj/3PlNonHumObj
> 5a waz-n gogo ye-p'ec the boy sees the girl
> 5b gogo-n waz we-p'ec the girl sees the boy
> 5c gogo-n du ye-p'ec the girl sees me
-n = Ergative
ye- = 3SingMascSubj/3SingFemObj
ye- = 3SingFemSubj/1SingObj
we- = 3SingFemSubj/3SingMascObj
Appears to be quite a bit of homophony
> 6a du wa-nac I (male) swim
> 6b du ya-nac I (female) swim
wa- = I (male)
ya- = I (female)
nac = swim
> 7a te ba?a-nac we swim
> 7b te badu-nac we both swim
> 7c gogo-bo-n waz-ba dedu-p'ec the girls see the two boys
> 7d waz-ba-n te dedu-p'ec the boys see us both
te = we
ba?a- = we
badu = we (dual)
Maybe ba-?a and ba-du?
> (help: there are three verb roots: uqu, ep'e and ana. -c indicates time)
Well, I answered those without only the data given, but given that,
there appears to be some infixes. Correction based on that data:
w- = Masculine Absolutive
y- = Feminine Absolutive
b- = Non-human Absolutive
-wa- = plural?
d- = Human plural Abs
r- = Non-human plural Abs
Odd that there are two plurals.
-ya- = 1SingHumErg
-?a- = 1DualHumAbs
-du- = DualAbs
Can't figure out the b- in _ba?anac_ and _badunac_
> Q 2
> Study how in this language the actants are marked in the verb, and how
> number. In answering this, make use of the symbols S (Subject of
> intransitive verbs), A (agent of transitive verb) and O (patient of
> transitive verb).
Obviously ergative, with marking for both absolutive and ergative,
however, third person ergative seems to be a zero-marking
> Q 2b
> Describe the class system of this language (pay attention to both singular
> and plural forms)
Singular distinguishes between at least Human-Masculine, Human-Female,
and Non-Human. No inanimate nouns appeared, so no way of knowing
whether "Non-Human" is really "Animate"
> What is the function of the case ending -n?
Easy, ergative.
> How is number coded in the noun and how in the verb; also treat the formal
> aspect; try in both cases to give a explanation of the distribution of the
> allomorphs
Nouns distinguish singular and plural, verbs
> Q 3b
> What are allophones?
How can the data given show allophones? Do you mean "allomorphs"? In
that case, for plural
-ba, -bi, -bo (by vowel harmony)
> Q 4a
> Which grammatical category is indicated by the morpheme that is extra in
> comparison to wuquc in 1a?
-lu = causative
> Translate 8b
The boys make me walk
> Q 4c
> What are the consequences of adding -lu for the valency of respectively
> intransitive and transitive verbs? (make use of the case endings too in
> your explanation)
When added to intransitive verbs, the causer is placed in ergative,
while causee remains absolutive, but when added to transitive verbs, the
former absolutive is made dative.
--
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