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Nankôre: Difference between revisions
→The Noun Phrase (NP)
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Possession is indicated by joining the possessor to the possessum with the connective ''si='', followed either by the verb ''ras'' to indicate inalienable possession e.g. ''Koykare si=naho ras'', "The boy's mother", or ''ocité'' for alienable possession, e.g. ''Koykare si=maska ocité''. If the possessor is lower in the animacy heirarcy, the inverse marker ''ta'/tah'' is prefixed to the verb, as in the improbable ''Maska si=koykare tah-ocité'', "The anthill's boy". | Possession is indicated by joining the possessor to the possessum with the connective ''si='', followed either by the verb ''ras'' to indicate inalienable possession e.g. ''Koykare si=naho ras'', "The boy's mother", or ''ocité'' for alienable possession, e.g. ''Koykare si=maska ocité''. If the possessor is lower in the animacy heirarcy, the inverse marker ''ta'/tah'' is prefixed to the verb, as in the improbable ''Maska si=koykare tah-ocité'', "The anthill's boy". | ||
''' | '''Comparatives and Superlatives''' | ||
Degrees of comparison are formed by placing the auxiliary verb ''soyka'' (to be big, i.e. to be more) or ''hatka'' (to be small, i.e. to be less) before a stative verb. Since two arguments are involved, namely the comparer NP and the compared NP, the phrase is structurally equivalent to a transitive clause, requiring an Agent and a Patient, and follows the rules governing the nominal animacy heirarchy. In the sentence ''Joe Sara soyka inupe tā itá'' (Joe is stronger than Sarah; lit. "Joe bigs strongs Sara"), ''soyka'' precedes the stative verb ''inupe'' (to be strong). Joe, being male, is higher in the animacy scale and so is assigned Agent status. If Sara were stronger, the Inverse affix ''tā-/tāh-'' surfaces, as in ''Joe Sara '''tā'''-soyka inupe tā itá'' (Sara is stronger than Joe). Other examples: | |||
Natosh | |||
''Joe Sara soyka soyka tā itá'' (Joe is taller than Sara; lit. "Joe bigs bigs Sara"). | |||
''Joe Sara tā-hatka nahamosh tā itá'' (Sara is less tan than Joe). | |||
''Joe Sara hatka hatka tā itá'' (Joe is smaller than Sara; lit. "Joe small smalls Sara"). | |||
''Natos Suhe soyka makit itá'' (Natosh [masc.] runs faster than Suhe [fem.]; lit. "Natosh big runs Suhe"). | |||
''Orôyo Paul tā-soyka soyka'' (The volcano is bigger than Paul; note that ''orôyo'' is less animate because it is a sessile object, hence the use of the inverse marker ''tā-''). | |||