Re: definite/indefinite articles

----- Original Message -----
From: "H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh@...>


> Furthermore, Ebisedian has a habit of using nullar nouns instead of
> negating a sentence when a negation is desired. The nullar prefix actually
> comes *between* the regular part of the prefix and the name itself. E.g.:
>         ekaa'si (e- masc. singular prefix + -kaa'si the name)
>         --> emy'kasi (e- masc. prefix + -my'- nullar infix + -kasi the
>         shortened name)
>
> That's like saying "Mr.-No-Kasi".
Righto!  I love infixations.  Teonaht is replete with them.  Htindelrem,
"sing," with gerundive volitional suffix.  "She is singing," or she is
"with" singing, a kind of progressive:  bom htindelrem ly.  "with sing-ing
she."  Or: rev bom htindel ly:  -ing with sing she."   This gets shortened
in colloquial to "bom htindel ly."  She is singing.

> Here's an example of how this is used:
>         tww'ma eb0'   t3,       a'ne `ysal3'    uro  juli'r?    t3m3.
>         speak  I(org) thus(cvy) ?    Sally(cvy) this house(loc) -
>         "I asked, is Sally in this house?"
>
>         taw'ma jhit0'   t3,       my'sal3           uu'ri.    t3m3.
>         answer she(org) thus(cvy) No-Sally(nul,cvy) here(loc) -
>         "She answered, No-Sally is here." I.e., "no she's not here", or
>         "there's no Sally here."
I might steal this!  A high compliment in the CONLANG world.  Teonaht has a
nullar particle vo-/vy- that usually prefixes verbs and adjectives, but not
normally nouns.  It also negates through the older, more "elegant" _vera_,
which follows verbs, contrary to the usual position of adverbs:  Sally
htindel vera, "Sally sings not," but with zero copula:  Harym vera Sally."
Here not Sally (is).

> Literally, _my'sal3_ is something along the lines of "none-of-Sally". So
> you might translate the reply as "none of Sally is here". :-)
But I AM here, Teoh!!  Now! Some of Sally is here... she won't be in two
days, in which case she has to go nomail, because when she gets back from
California she will have a thousand messages in her mailbox and she'll be in
the pickle that Joao describes.   Harym li Saly tehhyn!   "The Sally is
indeed here."  ...ta vera li vaiSsali harym!  "...not that the no Sally is
here. ("the" needed to indicate a definite Sally, as opposed to anyone named
Sally.)  Hmmm.

Sally Caves
scaves@frontiernet.net
Eskkoat ol ai sendran, rohsan nuehra celyil takrem bomai nakuo.
"My shadow follows me, putting strange, new roses into the world."

Reply