a K'tle sentence (long)

Hi!

Most likely, some people will want to use this as a translation exercise, as it
contains two {nominalized clauses}, a (relative clause), and a [secondary
clause], and maybe only that, but others may be interested in the analysis.

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ko^macioza atatipzo kompe^n oka mezazi^naz canni tok'me heazto o^ten
mali^a.

"We're ready for the arrival of the _kompe_ who Maria said murdered John in
the house."
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 ko^-ma-cioz-a              {    a-ta-tip-zo      kompe^-n
1XP-INV-be_ready_for.IPF-3S { 3P-here-go/come-NOM kompe-P

(   o-ka
( REL-ANIP

{      me-zazi^n-a-z        canni [          tok'-me  heazto  ] }
{ COR.DIR-murder.PRF-3S-NOM John  [ 3S.DIR.inside-ADP house.S ] }

             o^-te-n    mali^a ) }
3S.DIR.IND.tell-RET-IND Maria  ) }

Interlinear Tags:

1XP	1st person exclusive plural
3S	3rd person definite singular
3P	3rd person definite plural
ADP	agent-coreferencing depictive
ANIP	animate plural (adjectival)
COR	coreferential person
DIR	direct -- see notes
IND	3rd person indefinite or unspecified
INV	inverse -- see notes
IPF	imperfective aspect
NOM	nominalizer (not nominative!)
P	plural (noun)
PRF	perfective aspect
REL	relative pronoun
RET	retrospective aspect
S	singular (noun)

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Some General Notes

The genders are animate and inanimate.

Since K'tle uses a hierarchical alignment, non-monovalent verbs have both
*direct* and *inverse* forms.

Direct forms of transitive verbs specify the agent with the prefix and the
patient with the suffix; inverse forms do the reverse. Ditransitive verbs are
similar, with the recipient acting like a patient.

Relational verbs denote the property of some "subject" in terms of
some "object". When direct, the suffix specifies the subject and the prefix, the
object. When marked as inverse, the reverse is true.

The basic form of a dynamic verb is perfective, but the basic form of a stative
verb is imperfective.

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Word-by-Word

* ko^macioza: "We're ready for it."
As _ciot_ is stative, this form is imperfective, which in the absence of
temporal adverbs or other indications has present tense. The object is marked
as being definite here, since the addressee should know which event is being
referred to.

* atatipzo: "that they come here"
Since it's the head of a nominalized clause serving as the object of
_ko^macioza_, it must be future, due to the semantics of _ciot_.

* kompe^n: (an animate noun whose precise meaning is unknown)
This is the agent of _atatipzo_ and is definite, since 3P is used.

* oka: "who"
This agrees with _kompe^n_ in gender and number.

* o^ten: "she said"
This is the main verb of the relative clause. The patient is unspecified and the
theme is what was said, normally marked indefinite with reported speech.
Since _o^ten_ is retrospective, the result of speaking (presumably an
accusation) is still in effect. 3S is used for the agent, since it's a proper noun.

* mali^a: "Maria"
This is the agent of _o^ten_.

* mezazi^naz: "that they murdered him"
This is the head of a reported clause. Since the reporting clause is
retrospective, it must refer to a time prior to that of the reporting. The prefix
_me_ refers to the head of the relative clause and indicates it's role within the
relative clause. 3S is used for the patient, since it's a proper noun.

* canni: "John"
This is the patient of _mezazi^naz_.

* tok'me: "while inside it"
The time is that of the alleged murder. The form giving the location of the
agent of the host verb is used here.

* heazto: "house"
This is the object of _tok'me_ and definite, since 3S is used.

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Word Order

There aren't many absolute rules of word order; the only one that applies here
is that the first word in a relative clause must be the relative pronoun. There
are a few principles, however:

* Components of a construct should be contiguous. This is almost absolute,
and none of the exceptions occur here.

* A manifest topic appears at the start of a main clause (none here).

* A contrasted or emphasized component appears at the end of its containing
clause or phrase.

* The word within a relative clause bearing the _me_ prefix should come as
close to the relative pronoun as possible, barring other needs. This is the
reason _mezazi^naz_ appears where it does.

* In secondary and adjectival clauses (excluding relative clauses), and in noun
phrases, the least marked order usually has heads preceding dependents.

* There are some other rules involving disambiguation which aren't relevent
here.

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