Re: Polysynth Question

On 3/26/07, Jeffrey Jones <jsjonesmiami@...> wrote:
> I'd like to see more of Miapimoquitch, especially the polysynthesis.
>
> BTW some of the characters in the surface-oriented transcription come up as
> boxes for me or at least what I'm guessing is barred  i.
>
> Jeff
>
Here are a few examples. The first two are sample sentences from the
reference grammar which illustrate lexical and directional suffixes.
Lexical suffixes are bound lexical elements which together with a root
form a base. This base may then be inflected for phase and number to
yield a stem. The lexical suffixes have various semantic functions;
they are used to indicate instruments, locations, indefinite or
generic objects and various other kinds of concrete "lexical"
meanings.

The first line is a surfacy transcription; based on your earlier
comments, you may or not be able to read it, so I've included a
phonemicization in the second line (you were interested in small
inventories anyway; the second line will give you a better idea of the
underlying inventory; <e> = <barred-i>). The third and fourth lines
give a morph-by-morph breakdown and glosses. The fifth line is an
idiomatic English translation.

waˈnoː ˈtaɣaˌʔuβihu
wanuu takaupihu

wa= nuu taka -upi -hu
1= down move -path -away

'I went down the road.'

waːˈnai ˈtatˌtaɣaˌtɨʃi
waanai tattakatesi

wa= anai ta- ttaka -te -si
1= up PAUC- move:U -foot -towards

'a few of us are coming up on foot'

The next sentence is part of a longer story that I've posted here
before. It illustrates the lexical and directional suffixes in use.

ˈisɨa ˈkaːˌsuɸˌtɨɣaˌtɨɣa aˈsɨwɨˌkɨŋgiː juˈnanai
ˈwɨpˌpɨɸˌtɨɣaˌtɨɣahu i aˈʔuɣai
isea kaasuptekateka asewekenki yunanai weppeptekatekahu i aukai

n- sea kaasu -pte -ka -teka a= se- -ek- wenki
TR- out.of remove:U -eye -UN -DIST DS= 3POSS- -COLL- eye

yu= n- anai weppe -pte -ka -teka -hu i a= ukai
AND= TR- upwards throw:U -eye -UN -DIST -away.from OBL DS= sky

'they were taking out their eyes and throwing them up into the air'

These sentences show all three kinds of reduplication in
Miapimoquitch: paucal reduplication copies an initial CV; distributive
reduplication copies a final CVCV or CVV; and collective reduplication
infixes a -Vk- sequence before the first vowel of the root.

Dirk