Mujai verb system
From: | Patrick Dunn <tb0pwd1@...> |
Date: | Tuesday, March 5, 2002, 3:08 |
What's the word for a verb system that marks for evidence rather than
tense or person?
Here's Mujai's system:
-kur indicates that a verb is transitive (takes an object) and that the
fact is well-known..
Gi masu.
He eats
Gi masukur sup.
He eats soup.
Without -kur, the verb is intransitive and expresses, as above, common
knowledge.
Paulu dans.
Paul dances.
-kuni indicates a transitive verb expressing a fact learned through
hearsay:
Gi masukuni sup.
(They say) he eats soup.
-ni is the intransitive form.
Paulu danzni
(They say) Paul dances.
-kurtu indicates an event of uncertain veracity, or something witnessed in
a dream, or something the speaker considers
metaphorical:
Gi masaukurtu sup.
(Perhaps, it seems as if) he eats soup.
-tu is the intransitive form.
Paulu danstu.
(Perhaps, it seems as if) Paul dances.
-kaa indicates a statement contrary to fact; it sometimes is used as a
formal negator. It is used with both transitive and
intransitive verbs:
Paulu danskaa
Paul (doesn't really) dance.
Gi masukaa sup.
He (doesn't really) eat soup.
-ngar indicates a statement discovered through divination, divine
revelation, or logical deduction. It is transitive. The intransitive
form is -gnaa. (-gnar and -gnaa change to -nar and -naa before alveolars
and -mar and -maa before labials and bilabials)
Paulu dansnaa
Paul (I deduce, god says) dances.
Gi masugnar sup.
He (must) eat soup.
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Prurio modo viri qui in arbore pilosa est.
~~Elvis
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