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====Essive==== | ====Essive==== | ||
====Subject Markers==== | ====Subject Markers==== | ||
Subject markers appear at the beginning of every phrase denoting a grammatical subject. They indicate not only that the following base phrase is the subject of the preceding predicate but also convey information about ''definiteness'', ''specificity'' and an inflectional dimension integral to Balog called ''status''. | Subject markers appear at the beginning of every phrase denoting a grammatical subject. They indicate not only that the following base phrase is the subject of the preceding predicate but also convey information about '''definiteness''' (whether the addressee is expected to know which exact entity), '''specificity''' (whether the speaker knows which exact entity) and an inflectional dimension integral to Balog called ''status''. | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" | ||
|+ Subject Markers | |+ Subject Markers | ||
|- | |- | ||
! colspan=" | ! colspan="2" | Status (Gloss) !! Definite<br>Specific<br>(DEF) !! Indefinite<br>Specific<br>(SPEC)!! Indefinite<br>Non-Specific<br>(NSPC) | ||
|- | |- | ||
! colspan=" | ! colspan="5" | <small>Entities</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
! "Powerful" !! (A) | ! "Powerful" !! (A) | ||
| '''''u-''''' || '''''uqu-''''' || '''''uhu-''''' | | <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''u-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''uqu-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''uhu-'''''</span> | ||
|- | |- | ||
! "Dominant" !! (B) | ! "Dominant" !! (B) | ||
| '''''a-''''' || '''''aqa-''''' || '''''aha-''''' | | <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''a-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''aqa-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''aha-'''''</span> | ||
|- | |- | ||
! "Intermediate" !! (C) | ! "Intermediate" !! (C) | ||
| '''''o-''''' || '''''oqo-''''' || '''''oho-''''' | | <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''o-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''oqo-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''oho-'''''</span> | ||
|- | |- | ||
! "Subordinate" !! (D) | ! "Subordinate" !! (D) | ||
| '''''e-''''' || '''''eqe-''''' || '''''ehe-''''' | | <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''e-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''eqe-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''ehe-'''''</span> | ||
|- | |- | ||
! "Powerless" !! (E) | ! "Powerless" !! (E) | ||
| '''''i-''''' || '''''iqi-''''' || '''''ihi-''''' | | <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''i-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''iqi-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''ihi-'''''</span> | ||
|- | |- | ||
! colspan="5" | Propositions | ! colspan="5" | <small>Propositions</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Propositional !! (P) | ! Propositional !! (P) | ||
| '''''ä-''''' || '''''äqä-''''' || '''''ähä-''''' | | <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''ä-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''äqä-'''''</span> || <span style="color:#0000FF">'''''ähä-'''''</span> | ||
|} | |} | ||
=====Status===== | =====Status===== | ||
All referents are assigned a '''status''' any time they are appear as the subject of a clause. Status is not a permanent attribute of a referent but rather a context-dependent assignment within a discourse that depends on the speaker's perceived and expressed relations between the referent and other referents. When a single referent is mentioned, the status used depends only on the speaker's perception of the referent, however when there are two or more referents, statuses may be assigned that would otherwise not be used in order to differentiate between multiple referents within a discourse and rank them relative to one another. | |||
A useful way to conceptualise the typical assignment of status is to use the question "Who would win in a physical fight?" as the deciding metric. Physically larger, stronger and more active referents are assigned a higher status than smaller, weaker referents. The highest status, A, the "powerful" status, indicated with the vowel '''u''', is an exception, dependent not only physical strength but rather social, financial or political power. A referent marked with '''u''' is not necessarily physically dominant over other referents, but a conflict with an individual could lead to more significant consequences for referents of lower status than the physical prowess of the A-statused referent alone would afford them. "Weighty" abstract concepts may sometimes be referred to with the A-status when there is no person in the discourse assigned to this status. | |||
======Pronouns====== | ======Pronouns====== | ||
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