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→Composite Words
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Cha composite word is a little phrase fused together into a word. The individual parts of a composite word relate to each other using the same morphemes as those used to link words in a sentence. | Cha composite word is a little phrase fused together into a word. The individual parts of a composite word relate to each other using the same morphemes as those used to link words in a sentence. | ||
Examples start with very simple words: ''te suno'' "time of light" --> ''sunoté'' "day, daytime"; ''se | Examples start with very simple words: ''te suno'' "time of light" --> ''sunoté'' "day, daytime"; ''se puni'' "hard plant" --> ''punsé'' "tree"; ''mel nuni'' "young woman" --> ''nunmel'' "girl"; ''han mí'' "moving vessel" --> ''mihan'' "car" and so forth. | ||
Here we need to stress a couple of very important points that are essential for understanding how composite words work in | Here we need to stress a couple of very important points that are essential for understanding how composite words work in Da. | ||
1. '''A composite word is not "equal" to the meaning of the phrase that was used to build it.''' ''Mel | 1. '''A composite word is not "equal" to the meaning of the phrase that was used to build it.''' ''Mel nuni'' means just that, a young woman; it does not mean "girl", while ''nunmel'' means "girl" but not "a young woman". '''Fusing a phrase into a composite word gives it additional idiomatic meaning.''' You can often guess what that meaning is, and thus deduce the meaning of the word; but, when in doubt, one should turn to a dictionary. | ||
The same goes about word creation: one cannot expect to throw a bunch of words together and hope to create a word that another | The same goes about word creation: one cannot expect to throw a bunch of words together and hope to create a word that another Da speaker will understand. | ||
In short, knowing etymology of composite words helps one memorize them and helps to understand a new word one has never heard before. But that does not mean one can skip the dictionary altogether. | In short, knowing etymology of composite words helps one memorize them and helps to understand a new word one has never heard before. But that does not mean one can skip the dictionary altogether. | ||
2. '''Composite words in | 2. '''Composite words in Da are not just a bunch of roots thrown together.''' The infixes and endings needed to link those roots together in a phrase are retained in the composite word, making its meaning much more clear. | ||
For example, the Cha word for "learn", '' | For example, the Cha word for "learn", ''sáttí'', is comprised of two root-words, ''sá'' "know" and ''tí'' "come, become". However, you don't simply put these two together and let everyone guess the relationship of the two (come knowing? come for knowledge?). Instead, you create a phrase, ''tí sát'' "come to know" and only then turn it into a composite word, ''sáttí''. | ||
On the other hand, the word for "buy" is composed of two roots, ''kasa'' "pay" and ''há'' "take". The relationship between those if different: you take things because you have paid for them. Therefore, the phrase that is used to describe this is ''há | On the other hand, the word for "buy" is composed of two roots, ''kasa'' "pay" and ''há'' "take". The relationship between those if different: you take things because you have paid for them. Therefore, the phrase that is used to describe this is ''há kasas'', and the word for "buy" is ''kasashá''. | ||
To have another example illustrating the importance of links between roots in a composite word, let us consider words '' | To have another example illustrating the importance of links between roots in a composite word, let us consider words ''derittí'' and ''dernaittí''. The first is composed from the phrase ''tí derit'', "become lower" and means "diminish". The second, however, has its root in the phrase ''tí nait deri'', "come down", and means "to descend". | ||
There are two easy rules describing how composite words are constructed in Cha: | There are two easy rules describing how composite words are constructed in Cha: | ||
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1. The word order is reversed. While in Cha the main word is usually the first, with adjectives following the nouns, objects and adverbs following the verbs etc, in the composite word the main root is always the last part. | 1. The word order is reversed. While in Cha the main word is usually the first, with adjectives following the nouns, objects and adverbs following the verbs etc, in the composite word the main root is always the last part. | ||
2. Adjectives, verbs and adverbs lose their endings | 2. Adjectives, verbs and adverbs lose their endings ''-i'' when they become a part of a composite word (supines do not lose the final '-i'!). Those endings, however, are most of the time easily reconstructed (adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs modify verbs). | ||
Let us give you a couple more examples: | Let us give you a couple more examples: | ||
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''tira saraotú'' "drive strangers away"<br /> --> ''saraotutira'' "guard" | ''tira saraotú'' "drive strangers away"<br /> --> ''saraotutira'' "guard" | ||
''hon saraotutira'' "guard animal"<br /> --> '' | ''hon saraotutira'' "guard animal"<br /> --> ''saraotutirahon'' "a dog" | ||
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''han | ''han mí'' "moving vessel"<br /> --> ''mihan'' "car" | ||
'' | ''mi koix'' "move through the height of air"<br /> --> ''koixmí'' "fly" | ||
''mihan | ''mihan koixmí'' "flying car"<br /> --> ''koixmihan'' "airplane" | ||
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