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Habyela: Difference between revisions
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===Case=== | ===Case=== | ||
There are only two cases, | There are only two cases, absolutive (unmarked) and genitive (marked with the suffix -qa). The genitive case also functions as an ergative marker e.g. | ||
/qənə̀bə-qa ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ ʔaɴɖà-ʔə/ | |||
dog-ERG man.PL bite-3PS.NONHUM.TEL | |||
The dog bit the men. | |||
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀bə ʔaɴɖà-ʔə/ | |||
man.PL-ERG dog bite-3PS.PL.TEL | |||
The men bit the dog. | |||
In the above sentence, it is clear that /-qa/ is functioning as an ergative marker and not a genitive marker, because the word for "dog" is not marked with a possessive suffix. Compare: | |||
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀baɴʈa ʔaɴɖà-ʔə/ | |||
man.PL-ERG dog.3PS.PL.POSS bite-3PS.PL.TEL | |||
The men's dog was bitten. | |||
====Fluid-S Marking==== | |||
Habyela is an active-stative language of the Fluid-S type https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active%E2%80%93stative_language. In addition to marking the subject of a transitive verb, /-qa/ is also used for the subject of an intransitive verb, as long as the action is volitional. Compare: | |||
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ paʔà-ʔə/ | |||
man.PL fall-3PS.SG.MASC.TEL | |||
The men fell (involitional, as in they accidentally fell over) | |||
vs. | |||
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa paʔà-ʔə/ | |||
man.PL-ERG fall-3PS.SG.MASC.TEL | |||
The men fell (volitional, as in they fell to the ground to hide or to duck something). | |||
==Adjectives== | ==Adjectives== | ||