Minhast: Difference between revisions

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Although both the Preposed and Postposed-Wa structures bind adjuncts to clauses, an important determiner for the speaker in selecting which structure to use is the issue of scope. The Preposed-Wa structure has narrow scope, and governs only its adjunct and the clause immediately following it, whereas the Postposed-Wa structure has wide scope, governing not just its adjunct and the clause immediately preceding it; its scope governs all the clauses of a sentence. This difference is why the majority of evidential and modal particles are sentence-final; evidentials and modals are in the majority of cases used to cover the speaker's beliefs and attitudes and trustworthiness of the source, which applies to whole statements, but rarely for just individual segments of a given statement. Another important difference is that the Preposed-Wa structure can be preceded by a verb marked with =mā or other subordinating clitic. This means that the number of Preposed-Wa structures can occur for each and every clause in a sentence. Such is not the case with Postposed-Wa structures; only one Postposed-Wa structure can occur for a given sentence.

=== Possession ===

To express possessive phrases, Minhast uses the ligature particle ''min'' to link possessors with their dependent arguments, the possessum. Additionally, portmanteau pronominal affixes, identical in form to the verbal pronominal affixes, cliticize to the possessum. The Ergative clitic ''=de'', or more often its allomorphs ''=te'' or ''=t'', is the final element that binds to the NP, as depicted in the following diagram:

<center>[possessor] ''min'' [possessum + ergative portmenteau pronominal affix] = ERG</center>

The phrase ''tazer min erakmasside'', literally "a/the bird - its feathers", can be analyzed thus:

<center>''tazer min erak-mass=de'' >> bird CONN feather-3P.INANIM.ABS+3P.ANIM.ERG=ERG</center>

The portmanteau pronoun, ''-mass-'', simultaneously refers to the possessor head noun ''tazer'' (bird), marking it as singular and animate, and the possessum ''erak'' (feather) as plural and inanimate. Any case clitics used to specify the word's grammatical role are appended at the end of the NP, e.g. ''tazer min erak-mass=de=kī'' (on the bird's feathers).

The portmanteau affixes are also used in expressing direct pronominal possession, e.g. ''iššūtirekte >> iššū-tirek=de'' >> head-3S.INANIM.ABS+1S.ERG ("my head"), or ''sayyeltent >> sayyet-len=de'' >> sister-3FS.ABS+3MS.ERG=ERG ("his sister").

Possession may additionally be marked for distributed ownership, in which case the verbal Distributive affix ''-tar-'' is added to the NP, e.g. ''kamaktarskemt >> kamak-tar-skem=de'' "their swords, one sword per person", versus shared ownership, where the verbal Reciprocal affix ''-sart-'' is added, e.g. ''balassattirhakt >> balam-sart-tirhak-de'' "our [inclusive] land (that you, I, and others share).

In cases where a possessum occurs among two 3rd person NPs with the same gender, number, and animacy, the reflexive affix ''-šar-'' can be used to disambiguate which NP is the possessor. Hence, the sentence "Xaniš and Yuttam dropped their pencils. Xaniš reached down and retrieve his own pencil" would be rendered as ''Xaniš sut Yuttam irriyetaran rassibaru. Xaniš irriyet-šar-tirenn=aran'', as opposed to ''Xaniš irriyet-0-tirenn=aran'' would imply that Xaniš reached for Yuttam's pencil.

As expected, possessive NPs can mark tense and aspect, e.g. ''kassartiskemtenesapš'' >>''kar-sart-skem=de-nes-ab=š'' "the car which they will be owning together", or ''kariskemtar >> kar-skem=de=ar'' "their former car". Note that the tense and aspect markers come '''after''' the Ergative marker ''=de''.

In the case of nouns derived from nominalized VPs, the situation becomes even more complex. In particular, nominalized transitive verbs, which are able to encode agent-patient relationships, can secondarily express possessive relationships. An example would be ''astekkenarunaf''t, literally "they that begat me", a formal term for "my father". Here, the portmanteau affix ''-ekken-'' denoting the 3P.ERG and the 1S.ABS, paraphrases the possessive relationship using verbal syntax to describe agent-patient relations.

=== Degrees of Comparison ===

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 Although both the Preposed and Postposed-Wa structures bind adjuncts to clauses, an important determiner for the speaker in selecting which structure to use is the issue of scope.  The Preposed-Wa structure has narrow scope, and governs only its adjunct and the clause immediately following it, whereas the Postposed-Wa structure has wide scope, governing not just its adjunct and the clause immediately preceding it; its scope governs all the clauses of a sentence.  This difference is why the majority of evidential and modal particles are sentence-final; evidentials and modals are in the majority of cases used to cover the speaker's beliefs and attitudes and trustworthiness of the source, which applies to whole statements, but rarely for just individual segments of a given statement.  Another important difference is that the Preposed-Wa structure can be preceded by a verb marked with =mā or other subordinating clitic.  This means that the number of Preposed-Wa structures can occur for each and every clause in a sentence.  Such is not the case with Postposed-Wa structures; only one Postposed-Wa structure can occur for a given sentence.
+=== Possession ===
+To express possessive phrases, Minhast uses the ligature particle ''min'' to link possessors with their dependent arguments, the possessum.  Additionally, portmanteau pronominal affixes, identical in form to the verbal pronominal affixes, cliticize to the possessum.  The Ergative clitic ''=de'', or more often its allomorphs ''=te'' or ''=t'', is the final element that binds to the NP, as depicted in the following diagram:
+<center>[possessor]  ''min''  [possessum + ergative portmenteau pronominal affix] = ERG</center>
+The phrase ''tazer min erakmasside'', literally "a/the bird - its feathers", can be analyzed thus:
+<center>''tazer min erak-mass=de'' >> bird CONN feather-3P.INANIM.ABS+3P.ANIM.ERG=ERG</center>
+The portmanteau pronoun, ''-mass-'', simultaneously refers to the possessor head noun ''tazer'' (bird), marking it as singular and animate, and the possessum ''erak'' (feather) as plural and inanimate. Any case clitics used to specify the word's grammatical role are appended at the end of the NP, e.g. ''tazer min erak-mass=de=kī'' (on the bird's feathers).
+The portmanteau affixes are also used in expressing direct pronominal possession, e.g. ''iššūtirekte >> iššū-tirek=de'' >> head-3S.INANIM.ABS+1S.ERG ("my head"), or ''sayyeltent >> sayyet-len=de'' >> sister-3FS.ABS+3MS.ERG=ERG ("his sister").
+Possession may additionally be marked for distributed ownership, in which case the verbal Distributive affix ''-tar-'' is added to the NP, e.g. ''kamaktarskemt >> kamak-tar-skem=de'' "their swords, one sword per person", versus shared ownership, where the verbal Reciprocal affix ''-sart-'' is added, e.g. ''balassattirhakt >> balam-sart-tirhak-de'' "our [inclusive] land (that you, I, and others share).
+In cases where a possessum occurs among two 3rd person NPs with the same gender, number, and animacy, the reflexive affix ''-šar-'' can be used to disambiguate which NP is the possessor. Hence, the sentence "Xaniš and Yuttam dropped their pencils. Xaniš reached down and retrieve his own pencil" would be rendered as ''Xaniš sut Yuttam irriyetaran rassibaru. Xaniš irriyet-šar-tirenn=aran'', as opposed to ''Xaniš irriyet-0-tirenn=aran'' would imply that Xaniš reached for Yuttam's pencil.
+As expected, possessive NPs can mark tense and aspect, e.g. ''kassartiskemtenesapš'' >>''kar-sart-skem=de-nes-ab=š'' "the car which they will be owning together", or ''kariskemtar >> kar-skem=de=ar'' "their former car".  Note that the tense and aspect markers come '''after''' the Ergative marker ''=de''.
+In the case of nouns derived from nominalized VPs, the situation becomes even more complex. In particular, nominalized transitive verbs, which are able to encode agent-patient relationships, can secondarily express possessive relationships. An example would be ''astekkenarunaf''t, literally "they that begat me", a formal term for "my father". Here, the portmanteau affix ''-ekken-'' denoting the 3P.ERG and the 1S.ABS, paraphrases the possessive relationship using verbal syntax to describe agent-patient relations.
 === Degrees of Comparison ===