Fifth Linguifex Relay/Siyayu Ürüküs

Introduction

Siyayu Ürüküs merges the object and the patient of low-volition intransitive verbs (Ø), but distinguishes the subject of a high-agency intransitive verb (S) and the agent of a transitive verb (A). Nouns follow their modifiers but precede any genitive relation. Pronominal affixes are an exception, they attach to the left. Phonetically reduced forms of pronouns and verbs must come in the second position in a sentence. Word order is relatively free with new information tending towards the front of the utterance.

There are two primary sets of pronoun morphs: the enclitics (su, qar, du, …) and the bound ones (nu, uyus, Ø). The distinctions are not equal, the enclitics distinguish singular and plural in addition to person, whereas the bound forms are the same for any number. Additionally, the third person is zero-marked in the bound form. A mild amount of suffixaufnahme is permitted.

Transfixes of vowels will be indicated in the gloss after a colon :, e.g. qizi ‘happiness’ glossed as happy:nmlz.II for the vowel transfix i-i.

Siyayu Ürüküs Text


guyudu


Mirindi qar sume ge uyusdümür ge nuzunud
uyusdimidi subu buyunu qiduzum kurum kurum
eʒek subu dimiste uuds ćüggüsdüü
kurum sume ge ürgündi gayan zinisme müüzürüqüm ge nuzunud
utusdi duzume buunuqum kurum kurum


– Duguril Guyurus

Interlinear Gloss


Guyudu
gu~yudu
inf~enjoy:inf
mirin-di qar-Ø su=me ge uyus=dümür ge nu=zunud
end:nmlz.II.-loc 2sg-obj 1sg=S this 2.anim=die:pres.II this 1.anim=know:pres.I
uyus=dimi-di su-bu bu~yunu=me Ø=qi<du>zum kurum kurum
2.anim.gen=fire-loc 1sg-dat inf~remain:inf=S 3p=<dat.appl>make_use again (and) again
eʒek su-bu dimi-s-te uud-s Ø=ćü<g>güs-dü-ü
for_this 1sg-dat fire-gen-A wisdom-gen 3p=<pfv>desire:pres.II-caus-gen.appl
kurum su=me ge ürgün-di ga~yan zini-s =me Ø=müüzürü-qüm ge nu=zunud
again 1sg=S this world-loc pl~leaf know:nlmz.II-gen =S 3p=bloom:irr.IV-fut this 1.anim=know:pres.I
utus-di duzu=me Ø=buunu-qum kurum kurum
time-loc 3pl=s 3p=remain:irr.II-fut again (and) again

Key to abbreviations


abbreviation gloss
1p First person
2p Second person
3p Third person
sg Singular
s Subject of intransitive verb
pl Plural
nmlz Nominalizer
I-V A certain noun or verb class (II is oft used to form abstract nouns)
anim Animate
irr Irrealis
fut Future tense
pres Present tense
obj Object of a transitive verb or low-volition subject of intransitive verb
loc Locative
inf Infinitive, a nominalized verb form with no finite inflections.
pfv Perfective aspect
dat Dative
dat.appl A dative applicative, transforms a verb's agent into a dative, while promoting the object to S
gen Genitive
gen.appl Promotes a N in the genitive to be the direct object of the verb.
A Agent of a transitive verb
caus Causative

Notes

  • DU
    The du-affix promotes the object to S and the agent to dative, deemphasising the agency of the original agent. Often carries a semantic benefactive tone.
  • ge-headed topical clause
    Pushes a phrase into a topic-comment structure.
  • kurum kurum
    Again and again, still, always, yet
  • The markers for A and S are enclitic and will attach to a whole NP.