Nankôre: Difference between revisions

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==== Nouns ====
==== Nouns ====


The nominal system, at first glance, appears very simple. They are not inflected for case, gender, or number, nor do adpositions indicate their directional or positional relationships. Nevertheless, the nominal system has a complex heirarchy of animacy, which although unmarked, is a semantic feature of the noun and pronoun. Where a given NP falls within the animacy heirarchy must be memorized in order to select the correct verbal form (see the section of Verbs for more details).
The nominal system, at first glance, appears very simple. They are not inflected for case, gender, nor do adpositions indicate their directional or positional relationships.  Number is distinguished only in pronouns. Nevertheless, the nominal system has a complex heirarchy of animacy, which although unmarked, is a semantic feature of the noun and pronoun. Where a given NP falls within the animacy heirarchy must be memorized in order to select the correct verbal form (see the section of Verbs for more details).


As earlier stated, nouns in Nankôre are not inflected, nor are case clitics attached to them to indicate case relations.  Transitive verbs take two NPs as core arguments. The case relations of the two arguments are determined by the position of the noun in the animacy heirarchy; the core argument that is higher in the animacy heirarchy is assigned the Agent role, and the other argument is assigned the Patient role.  However, an inverse affix ''tā-/tāh-'' is prefixed to the verb or its auxiliary to alter the argument structure by marking the lower-animacy argument as Agent.


Oblique arguments on the other hand are treated as adjuncts, and are thus bound to their clause with the connective clitic ''si='' or ''=si''.  Context alone determines the semantic role of the oblique.  Because obliques are considered adjuncts, they may not come between the core arguments and the verb, and therefore must appear either before or after the clause nucleus.  To illustrate, the sentence ''Maska=si ohipna koykare ekán itá'' (anthill=CONN twig boy twist PST), i.e. "The boy inserted the twig into the anthill", the noun ''maska'' (anthill) is the oblique argument and is marked with the clitic ''si='' to join it to the rest of the sentence.  Oblique arguments use the form ''=si'' preceding the clause nucleus, or ''si='' following the clause nucleus, e.g. ''Ohipna koykare ekán itá si=maska''.


Possession is indicated by joining the possessor to the possessum with the connective ''si='', followed either by the verb ''ras'' to indicate inalienable possession e.g. ''Koykare si=naho ras'', "The boy's mother", or ''ocité'' for alienable possession, e.g. ''Koykare si=maska ocité''.  If the possessor is lower in the animacy heirarcy, the inverse marker ''ta'/tah'' is prefixed to the verb, as in the improbable ''Maska si=koykare tah-ocité'', "The anthill's boy".
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The first group of pronouns are the simple independent pronouns.  The animacy of each pronoun is arranged in the following heirarchy:
 
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Plurality does not affect heirarchy across persons.  However, if two 3rd person pronouns are both serving as core arguments in a clause, animacy rules apply.


The first group of pronouns are the simple independent pronouns.  If used as a core argument, they appear in intransitive clauses only, and just before the clause-final particle ''itá''.  They may also be used to emphasize a noun, in which case the pronoun precedes the noun linked with the connective ''si='', as in ''tā si=naho'' (She/Her, the mother).
If used as a core argument, they appear in intransitive clauses only, and just before the clause-final particle ''itá''.  They may also be used to emphasize a noun, in which case the pronoun precedes the noun linked with the connective ''si='', as in ''tā si=naho'' (She/Her, the mother).


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As earlier stated, nouns in Nankôre are not inflected, nor are case clitics attached to them to indicate case relations.  Transitive verbs take two NPs as core arguments. The case relations of the two arguments are determined by the position of the noun in the animacy heirarchy; the core argument that is higher in the animacy heirarchy is assigned the Agent role, and the other argument is assigned the Patient role.  However, an inverse affix ''tā-/tāh-'' is prefixed to the verb or its auxiliary to alter the argument structure by marking the lower-animacy argument as Agent.
Oblique arguments on the other hand are treated as adjuncts, and are thus bound to their clause with the connective clitic ''si='' or ''=si''.  Context alone determines the semantic role of the oblique.  Because obliques are considered adjuncts, they may not come between the core arguments and the verb, and therefore must appear either before or after the clause nucleus.  To illustrate, the sentence ''Maska=si ohipna koykare ekán itá'' (anthill=CONN twig boy twist PST), i.e. "The boy inserted the twig into the anthill", the noun ''maska'' (anthill) is the oblique argument and is marked with the clitic ''si='' to join it to the rest of the sentence.  Oblique arguments use the form ''=si'' preceding the clause nucleus, or ''si='' following the clause nucleus, e.g. ''Ohipna koykare ekán itá si=maska''.
Possession is indicated by joining the possessor to the possessum with the connective ''si='', followed either by the verb ''ras'' to indicate inalienable possession e.g. ''Koykare si=naho ras'', "The boy's mother", or ''ocité'' for alienable possession, e.g. ''Koykare si=maska  ocité''.  If the possessor is lower in the animacy heirarcy, the inverse marker ''ta'/tah'' is prefixed to the verb, as in the improbable ''Maska si=koykare tah-ocité'', "The anthill's boy".


==== Verbs ====
==== Verbs ====
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