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Re: What do you think of the "feel"?

From:Chris Bates <chris.maths_student@...>
Date:Monday, August 22, 2005, 21:32
ic'a:makhina'a
>>/itS_>a:mak_hina?a/ >>ic'a:-ma-khi-na-'a >>house-plur-pos-3rd.fem-3rd.inanim >>(Those) houses of hers/theirs >> >>
> >So the first personal suffix is a possessive, >and the second is a demonstrative? > > >
THe first is a possessive yes. The 2nd is just a person/gender agreement marker... nouns mark both their gender and person, and adjectives agree in gender and person with their noun. So for instance while uma-n (=woman-3rd.fem) is woman, umahi (=woman-2nd.sing) is something like "you woman".
>>>>Aŋmak 'inliba'i:qi >>>>/aNmak ?inliba?i:G\i/ >>>>Aŋma-k 'in-liba-'i:qi >>>>Man-3rd.common 3rd.common.past-steal-comp. >>>>That damn man stole (it)! >>>> >>>> >> >> >> >>Where does the pejorativation come in? >>And what does "comp." stand for here? >>Not comparative, I reckon... >> >> >> > >
It's a mood. I don't know what to call it... comp is short for complaint. It's basically more anger than pity, unlike the other pitying mood. THere's quite a few different mood suffixes, which indicate the emotional state of the speaker towards the action mostly, although there're also imperative affixes etc in the system.
>>>>ninikhuŋumba >>>>/ninik_huNumba/ >>>>nin-ikhu-ŋumba >>>>1st.sing.past-see-cond >>>>I would see (it) >>>> >>>>ŋ'umalhu! >>>>/N_kumaKu/ >>>>ŋ'u-c'u-lhu! >>>>Run-dual-imp >>>>You two, run! >>>> >>>> >> >> >> >>So some verbs get person/number marking >>as a prefix, some as a suffix? Or is it the >>second person dual that is always a suffix? >> >> >> > >
Person is always a prefix, but number is a suffix. So for instance, "you all go" is huhama'a h-uha-ma-'a 2nd-go-plur-ind Notice that the person is a prefix, but the plural marking is a suffix. These plural suffixes are compulsory even when the prefix itself indicates the number, so for instance changing it to "we go" we have guhama'a g-uha-ma-'a 1st.plur-go-plur-ind But that example above has an imperative mood suffix, and imperatives don't take person agreement, although they do still take number agreement. THat's why there's only the dual suffix, and no prefix.
>>>>Aŋmamak ic'a:khida'a 'inlibamanimi' >>>>/aNmamak itS_>a:k_hida?a ?inlibamanimi?/ >>>>Aŋma-ma-k ic'a:-khi-da-'a 'in-liba-ma-nimi' >>>>man-plur-3rd.common house-poss-1st.sing-3rd.inanim >>>>3rd.common-take-plur-pit. >>>>Poor me, the men took my house (away from me) >>>> >>>> >> >> >> >>Is [nimi] / "pit." a piteosity attitudinal affix? >> >> >> > >
Yes. It indicates (usually self-) pity or sympathy.
>>>>niŋ'u'a, aŋmamak ic'a:khida'a chirna'inlibama'a >>>>/niN_ku?a aNmamak itS_>a:k_hida?a tS_hirna?inlibama?a/ >>>>nin-ŋ'u-'a, aŋma-ma-k ic'a:-khi-da-'a chirna-'in-liba-ma-'a >>>>1st.sing.past-run-ind, man-plur-3rd.common house-pos-1st.sing-3rd.inanim >>>>because-3rd.common-steal-plur-ind >>>>I ran away because the men stole my house >>>> >>>> >> >> >> >>Where does the "because" come in? >>Or is it inferred from context? >> >> > >
Because is the prefix chirna-. It's marked on the gloss, in because-3rd.common-steal-plur-ind but sorry if I didn't make that clear.