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Vadi: Difference between revisions
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Vadi is an analytic language and has very few bound affixes, but even these have been determined by some linguists as clitics. Their status as bound clitics versus unbound morphemes remains unclear, but those that indicate position or direction continue to be represented as clitics in glosses, following J.F. Schumann's practice. | Vadi is an analytic language and has very few bound affixes, but even these have been determined by some linguists as clitics. Their status as bound clitics versus unbound morphemes remains unclear, but those that indicate position or direction continue to be represented as clitics in glosses, following J.F. Schumann's practice. | ||
===Nouns=== | ===Nouns=== | ||
====Gender==== | |||
Vadi nouns for the most part do not mark for gender, but there appear to be remnants of gender marking on special singulative forms, interestingly confined body parts: | |||
{| class="bluetable lightbluebg" | |||
|+ '''Postpositional Clitics''' | |||
|- | |||
! Body Part | |||
! Singulative | |||
! Non-Singulative | |||
|- | |||
! Head | |||
| jidari | |||
| jidar | |||
|- | |||
! Eye | |||
| kulúri | |||
| kulun | |||
|- | |||
! Ear | |||
| támika | |||
| taka | |||
|- | |||
! Hair | |||
| varláka | |||
| varlat | |||
|- | |||
! Lips | |||
| túnturi | |||
| tuntu | |||
|- | |||
! Tongue | |||
| nipázi | |||
| nipáz | |||
|- | |||
! Finger | |||
| patáka | |||
| pata | |||
|- | |||
! Hand | |||
| uzáka | |||
| uzap | |||
|- | |||
! Penis | |||
| niátari/niátak(a) | |||
| niat | |||
|- | |||
! Testicle | |||
| vúlari/vúluka | |||
| vula | |||
|} | |||
The singulative forms seem to roughly correspond with animacy, although exceptions appear, as in ''uzáka'' instead of expected ''uzap(r)i'' "hand". | |||
Unfortunately, these body parts are the only ones attested from the Scriptum. The last two body parts listed were extracted from letters that became especially laced with various vulgar ad hominems between the two litigants. Note also that the two last terms have both the presumptive animate and inanimate forms. The inanimate forms were as proxy pronouns for the addressee (implying impotence), while the animate forms were appear as proxy pronouns for the addresser, whose passages were threatening physical violence. | |||
====Number==== | ====Number==== | ||
Number exhibits a two-way distinction in nouns: singular and non-singular. Singular number is explicitly marked with the determiner ''han/ha'', while plural and collectives are unmarked. Nouns beginning with a vowel are preceded by the allomorph ''han'', while ''ha'' appears before nouns beginning with a consonant. | Number exhibits a two-way distinction in nouns: singular and non-singular. Singular number is explicitly marked with the determiner ''han/ha'', while plural and collectives are unmarked. Nouns beginning with a vowel are preceded by the allomorph ''han'', while ''ha'' appears before nouns beginning with a consonant. | ||