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Nkwu: Difference between revisions
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Words are built on a root morpheme called a ''base''. Bases are neither inherently nominal nor verbal and can be used freely with either kind of morphology with no change in meaning. | Words are built on a root morpheme called a ''base''. Bases are neither inherently nominal nor verbal and can be used freely with either kind of morphology with no change in meaning. | ||
===Personal | ===Personal Prefixes=== | ||
The first element added to both nominally and verbally inflected words is the personal | The first element added to both nominally and verbally inflected words is the personal prefix. These provide pronominal information about grammatical person, definiteness, specificity and rank, an inflectional dimension that will be further explained below. | ||
Personal | Personal prefixes may be divided up into simple and compound prefixes. Simple prefixes are only used for singular referents in the first and second persons. In the 3rd person, personal prefixes do not give information about number. This means that '''''n-''''' and '''''w-''''' explicitly mean "I" and singular "you" respectively and cannot be used for "we" or plural "you", whereas '''''l-''''', a third person prefix, could be used for either a singular referent ("he", "she" or "it") or plural referents ("they"). | ||
{| class="bluetable lightbluebg" | {| class="bluetable lightbluebg" | ||
|+ '''Simple Personal | |+ '''Simple Personal Prefixes''' | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Prefix !! Person !! Rank !! Definiteness !! Specificity | ! Prefix !! Person !! Rank !! Definiteness !! Specificity | ||
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|} | |} | ||
First and second person plurals are indicated essentially by combination of two simple | First and second person plurals are indicated essentially by combination of two simple prefixes. For example, the inclusive first person plural "we (including you)" is formed by combining the first person prefix '''''n-''''' with the second person prefix '''''w-''''', producing '''''nw-'''''. Exclusive first person plurals, "we (not including you)" are formed by combining the '''''n-''''' of the first person with the definite third person prefix of the appropriate rank, for example '''''nj-''''' means "we" in the sense of "he/they (dominant) and I". Second person plurals are similarly formed, with the exclusive 2nd person prefix '''''vw-''''' used only for cases when every member of the group referred to is being addressed. Additional members of the group being referred to who are not being addressed will be indicated instead with a combination involving the appropriately ranked third person definite prefix, such as '''''dw-''''' "you and he/they". Additionally, the prefix '''''ndjw-''''' combines both first and second persons with the third person, A-ranked prefix, thus referring to a large group of all grammatical persons and meaning roughly "we all", "people", "everyone" or "one". | ||
The following table shows all personal | The following table shows all personal prefixes. | ||
{| class=" | {| class="bluetable lightbluebg" | ||
|+ Simple and Compound Personal | |+ Simple and Compound Personal Prefixes | ||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |- style="font-weight:bold;" | ||
! colspan="3" | Simple Person | ! colspan="3" | Simple Person Prefixes: | ||
! colspan="3" | Compounded with 1: | ! colspan="3" | Compounded with 1: | ||
! colspan="3" | Compounded with 2: | ! colspan="3" | Compounded with 2: | ||
|- style="font-weight:bold;" | |- style="font-weight:bold;" | ||
| | | Prefix | ||
| Gloss | | Gloss | ||
| Translation | | Translation | ||
| | | Prefix | ||
| Gloss | | Gloss | ||
| Translation | | Translation | ||
| | | Prefix | ||
| Gloss | | Gloss | ||
| Translation | | Translation | ||
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{| class="bluetable lightbluebg" | {| class="bluetable lightbluebg" | ||
! | ! Prefix !! Gloss !! Designation !! Default Use in Isolation | ||
|- | |- | ||
| '''''dj-''''' || A / NOB || "Noble" || Referents of great social, financial or political standing who are likely to be able to bring about significant hardships on others due to means other than physical strength | | '''''dj-''''' || A / NOB || "Noble" || Referents of great social, financial or political standing who are likely to be able to bring about significant hardships on others due to means other than physical strength | ||
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A useful way to conceptualise the typical assignment of ranks is with the question "who would win in a physical fight"? Physically larger, stronger and more active referents are assigned a higher rank. The highest rank, A, the "noble" rank, indicated with the | A useful way to conceptualise the typical assignment of ranks is with the question "who would win in a physical fight"? Physically larger, stronger and more active referents are assigned a higher rank. The highest rank, A, the "noble" rank, indicated with the prefix '''''dj-''''', is an exception, dependent not on physical strength but rather social, financial or political power. A referent marked with '''''dj-''''' is not necessarily physically dominant over other referents, but a conflict with an A-ranked individual could lead to more significant consequences for lower ranked referents than the physical prowess of the A-ranked referent alone would afford them. "Weighty" abstract concepts may be referred to using '''''dj-''''' when there is no person in the discourse assigned to this rank. | ||
When groups are referenced under one prefix, the highest rank within the group is used by default. | |||
===Nominal Morphology=== | ===Nominal Morphology=== | ||