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Nkwu: Difference between revisions
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{{private}} | {{private}} | ||
'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (endonym: '''''tembadu | '''{{PAGENAME}}''' (endonym: '''''tembadu yonkwu''''' [tɛˈmbɐɾʊ ˈjɔŋkwʊ]) is a language spoken by the Nkwu people of Bū. | ||
==Name== | ==Name== | ||
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The morphology of {{PAGENAME}} is agglutinative, with syntactic relationships within a sentence marked by prefixes and lexical derivation achieved by prefixes, infixes and suffixes on bases. | The morphology of {{PAGENAME}} is agglutinative, with syntactic relationships within a sentence marked by prefixes and lexical derivation achieved by prefixes, infixes and suffixes on bases. | ||
Words are built on a | Words are built on a stem called a ''base'', which may consist of a single root morpheme or many morphemes together. Bases are neither inherently nominal nor verbal and can be used freely with either kind of morphology with no change in meaning. | ||
===Personal Prefixes=== | ===Personal Prefixes=== | ||
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| colspan="7" style="background-color:#ffccc9;" | "we all", "everyone", "one", "people" | | colspan="7" style="background-color:#ffccc9;" | "we all", "everyone", "one", "people" | ||
|} | |} | ||
Speakers who merge /ⁿdʒ/ with /ⁿʒ/, pronouncing both as [nd͡ʒ] do not distinguish between '''''ndj-''''' (1+3A-) and ''''''nj-''''' (1+3B-) in speech. Likewise, the small minority of speakers who pronounce /ⁿl/ as [nd] do not distinguish '''''nd-''''' (1+3C-) from '''''nl-''''' (1+3D). These distinctions are retained in writing and, where necessary, may also be carefully pronounced. | |||
=====Rank===== | =====Rank===== | ||
Third person definite referents are assigned a ''rank'' any time they are referred to. These ranks are not permanent attributes of the referents but are rather context-dependent assignments within a discourse that depends on the speaker's perceived and expressed relations between the referent and other third person referents. When a single 3rd person referent is mentioned, the rank depends only on the speaker's perception of the referent, however when there are two or more referents, ranks may be assigned that would otherwise not be used in order to differentiate between multiple referents within a discourse and express their ranks ''relative to one another.'' | Third person definite referents are assigned a ''rank'' any time they are referred to. These ranks are not permanent attributes of the referents but are rather context-dependent assignments within a discourse that depends on the speaker's perceived and expressed relations between the referent and other third person referents. When a single 3rd person referent is mentioned, the rank depends only on the speaker's perception of the referent, however when there are two or more referents, ranks may be assigned that would otherwise not be used in order to differentiate between multiple referents within a discourse and express their ranks ''relative to one another.'' | ||
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===Nominal Morphology=== | ===Nominal Morphology=== | ||
Nouns are formed with the following structure: | Nouns are formed with the following structure: <code>[personal prefix]-[case prefix]-[base]</code>. The presence of a case prefix instead of a predicative prefix distinguishes nouns from verbs. | ||
The | |||
Other traditionally nominal categories such as number (plural and singular) are indicated by inflections of the base itself and thus apply equally to verbal morphology. These will be handled in the [[{{PAGENAME}}#bases|section on bases]]. | |||
{| | |||
====Case Prefixes==== | ====Case Prefixes==== | ||
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===Verbal Morphology=== | ===Verbal Morphology=== | ||
Finite verbs are formed with the following structure: <code>[personal prefix]-[predicative prefix]-[base]</code>. The presence of a predicative prefix instead of a case prefix distinguishes nouns from verbs. | |||
Other traditionally verbal categories such as tense, aspect and mood are indicated by inflections of the base itself and thus apply equally to nominal morphology. These will be handled in the [[{{PAGENAME}}#bases|section on bases]]. | |||
====Predicative Prefixes==== | |||
Finite verbs in {{PAGENAME}} can carry one of four predicative prefixes as show in the table below. | |||
{| class="bluetable lightbluebg" | |||
|- | |||
! | |||
! Independent | |||
! Adverbial | |||
|- | |||
! Absolutive | |||
| '''-i-''' | |||
| '''-u-''' | |||
|- | |||
! Ergative | |||
| '''-ai-''' | |||
| '''-au-''' | |||
|} | |||
The independent forms are used in independent clauses and dependent clauses introduced by a complementiser. The dependent forms are used in adverbial clauses. For examble, the independent verb form '''''timbuda''''' means "it is a house" whereas the adverbial '''''tumbuda''''' is more equivalent to "(with) it being a house". | |||
The absolutive and ergative forms of of the predicative prefixes indicate the case of the preceding personal prefix. Compare the following examples | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="9" | '''Nigu.''' | |||
|- | |||
| n- || i- || gu | |||
|- | |||
| 1- || PRED- || be.eaten | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="9" | "I get/got/will get eaten." | |||
|} | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="9" | '''Naigu.''' | |||
|- | |||
| n- || a- || i- || gu | |||
|- | |||
| 1- || ERG- || PRED- || be.eaten | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="9" | "I eat / ate / will eat." | |||
|} | |||
The ability to indicate either the absolutive or the ergative argument on the verb allows either one to be emphasised. | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="9" | '''Tigu tembu langeu''' | |||
|- | |||
| t- || i- || gu || t- || e- || mbu || l- || a- || ngeu | |||
|- | |||
| 3E- || PRED- || be.eaten || 3E- || ABS- || bug || 3D- || ERG- || cat | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="9" | "The bug got eaten by the cat." | |||
|} | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="9" | '''Laigu tembu langeu''' | |||
|- | |||
| l- || a- || i- || gu || t- || e- || mbu || l- || a- || ngeu | |||
|- | |||
| 3D- || ā- || PRED- || be.eaten || 3E- || ABS- || bug || 3D- || ERG- || cat | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="9" | "The cat ate the bug." | |||
|} | |||
===Morphology of Modifiers=== | ===Morphology of Modifiers=== | ||