185
edits
(Correcting categories.) |
m (→Syntax: fixed example sentences.) |
||
Line 226: | Line 226: | ||
==Syntax== | ==Syntax== | ||
Wistanian follows a fairly rigid syntax and tight grammar for a number of historical reasons. Firstly, due to its pidginization with the Nati language, Taliv lost most of its irregularities and exceptions. Secondly, as the Katapu began to teach Wistanian, they had spread false information to "make more sense" of the language, which resulted in further simplification that was later adopted as standard. In Wistanian's infancy, it was almost engineered to be as efficient as possible. However, learners were still able to incorporate features from their native language into Wistanian, providing it with several of its current syntactical quirks (e.g., imperative word order was introduced by the Taliv learners). | Wistanian follows a fairly rigid syntax and tight grammar for a number of historical reasons. Firstly, due to its pidginization with the Nati language, Taliv lost most of its irregularities and exceptions. Secondly, as the Katapu began to teach Wistanian, they had spread false information to "make more sense" of the language, which resulted in further simplification that was later adopted as standard. In Wistanian's infancy, it was almost engineered to be as efficient as possible. However, learners were still able to incorporate features from their native language into Wistanian, providing it with several of its current syntactical quirks (e.g., imperative word order was introduced by the Taliv learners). | ||
Line 262: | Line 261: | ||
'''alalyi dari va din.''' | '''alalyi dari va din.''' | ||
alali-i dari '''va din'''. | alali-i dari '''va din'''. | ||
run - | run -PFV boy '''COP.REL three'''. | ||
"The three boys ran | "The three boys ran." | ||
===Word Order=== | ===Word Order=== | ||
Line 299: | Line 298: | ||
'''yigai auzi aa a?''' | '''yigai auzi aa a?''' | ||
yiga -i auzi '''aa a'''? | yiga -i auzi '''aa a'''? | ||
speak- | speak-PFV 3Sa.NOM '''ACC Q'''. | ||
"What did he say?" (Lit. "He said...?") | "What did he say?" (Lit. "He said...?") | ||
''' | '''ddaj yaun auv a?''' | ||
dda- | dda-a -j yaun '''auv a'''? | ||
go - | go -DUR-IRR 1P.NOM '''when Q'''? | ||
"When will we go?" (Lit. "We will go when/during...?) | "When will we go?" (Lit. "We will go when/during...?) | ||
'''yi | '''luj va yi ddal a?''' | ||
yi | luj va yi '''ddal a?''' | ||
boat COP 1s.POSS '''LOC Q'''? | |||
"Where is my boat?" (Lit. "My boat is located in...?) | "Where is my boat?" (Lit. "My boat is located in...?) | ||
Line 322: | Line 321: | ||
'''vigaj aa garauda baul.''' | '''vigaj aa garauda baul.''' | ||
viga-a | viga-a '''-j''' aa garauda '''baul'''. | ||
eat - | eat -DUR '''-IRR''' ACC food '''HON'''. | ||
"Please, eat the food, sir." | "Please, eat the food, sir." | ||
'''viga aa garauda.''' | '''viga aa garauda.''' | ||
viga-a | viga-a '''-∅''' aa garauda '''∅''' | ||
eat - | eat -DUR ACC food | ||
"Eat the food (as a rude demand)." | "Eat the food (as a rude demand)." | ||
Line 381: | Line 380: | ||
'''mala yaun gaun vizaniya aa ujadi.''' | '''mala yaun gaun vizaniya aa ujadi.''' | ||
mala -a | mala -a yaun gaun '''vizana-iya''' aa ujadi. | ||
fight- | fight-DUR 1P.NOM ACT '''come -STA''' ACC house. | ||
"We fight inside the house." | "We fight inside the house." | ||
* "fight we who have come into the house" | * "fight we who have come into the house" | ||
Line 388: | Line 387: | ||
'''yaun vizaniya aa ujadi.''' | '''yaun vizaniya aa ujadi.''' | ||
yaun '''vizana-iya''' aa ujadi. | yaun '''vizana-iya''' aa ujadi. | ||
1P.NOM '''come -STA''' | 1P.NOM '''come -STA''' ACC house. | ||
"We are in the house." | "We are in the house." | ||
* "We have come into the house." | * "We have come into the house." | ||
Many verbs do not need a directional adposition or modifier, since direction is already encoded in many verbs when they are transitive. For example, '''dda''' means "to go to", and '''buda''' means "to walk to". | |||
''' | '''dda yau aa luj.''' | ||
dda- | dda -a yau aa luj. | ||
go - | go.to-DUR 1S.NOM ACC boat | ||
"I | "I am going to the boat." | ||
'''nada | '''nada yau aa luj wi.''' | ||
nada-a | nada-a yau aa luj wi. | ||
walk- | walk.to-DUR 1S.NOM ACC boat ADE. | ||
" | "I am walking near the boat." | ||
'''nada yau aa luj igza.''' | |||
nada -a yau aa luj igza. | |||
walk.to-DUR 1S.NOM ACC boat DSTV. | |||
"I am walking away from the boat." | |||
==Morphology== | ==Morphology== |
edits