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Habyela: Difference between revisions
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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. | 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- | /qənə̀bə-qa ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ ʔaɴɖà-wɨ/ | ||
dog-ERG man.PL bite-3PS.NONHUM.TEL | dog-ERG man.PL bite-3PS.NONHUM.TEL | ||
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/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀bə ʔaɴɖà- | /ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀bə ʔaɴɖà-wɨ/ | ||
man.PL-ERG dog bite-3PS.PL.TEL | man.PL-ERG dog bite-3PS.PL.TEL | ||
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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: | 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- | /ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀baɴʈa ʔaɴɖà-wɨ/ | ||
man.PL-ERG dog.3PS.PL.POSS bite-3PS.PL.TEL | man.PL-ERG dog.3PS.PL.POSS bite-3PS.PL.TEL | ||
The men's dog was bitten. | The men's dog was bitten. | ||
The absolutive case is also used for indirect objects. If a sentence contains both a direct and an indirect object, the indirect object always comes first e.g. | |||
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀bə ʔasətɨ̀ dəna-wɨ/ | |||
man.PL-ERG dog bone give-3PS.PL.TEL | |||
The men gave the dog a bone. | |||
Reversing the direct and the indirect object yields nonsensical sounding sentences: | |||
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa ʔasətɨ̀ qənə̀bə dəna-wɨ/ | |||
man.PL-ERG bone dog give-3PS.PL.TEL | |||
The men gave the dog to a bone. | |||