Habyela: Difference between revisions

495 bytes added ,  19 November 2015
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There are only two cases, absolutive (unmarked) and genitive (marked with the suffix -qa). The genitive case also functions as an ergative marker e.g.
There are only two cases, absolutive (unmarked) and genitive (marked with the suffix -qa). The genitive case also functions as an ergative marker e.g.


/qənə̀bə-qa ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ ʔaɴɖà-ʔə/
/qənə̀bə-qa ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ ʔaɴɖà-/


dog-ERG man.PL bite-3PS.NONHUM.TEL
dog-ERG man.PL bite-3PS.NONHUM.TEL
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/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀bə ʔaɴɖà-ʔə/
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀bə ʔaɴɖà-/


man.PL-ERG dog bite-3PS.PL.TEL
man.PL-ERG dog bite-3PS.PL.TEL
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In the above sentence, it is clear that /-qa/ is functioning as an ergative marker and not a genitive marker, because the word for "dog" is not marked with a possessive suffix. Compare:
In the above sentence, it is clear that /-qa/ is functioning as an ergative marker and not a genitive marker, because the word for "dog" is not marked with a possessive suffix. Compare:


/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀baɴʈa ʔaɴɖà-ʔə/
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀baɴʈa ʔaɴɖà-/


man.PL-ERG dog.3PS.PL.POSS bite-3PS.PL.TEL
man.PL-ERG dog.3PS.PL.POSS bite-3PS.PL.TEL


The men's dog was bitten.
The men's dog was bitten.
The absolutive case is also used for indirect objects. If a sentence contains both a direct and an indirect object, the indirect object always comes first e.g.
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀bə ʔasətɨ̀ dəna-wɨ/
man.PL-ERG dog bone give-3PS.PL.TEL
The men gave the dog a bone.
Reversing the direct and the indirect object yields nonsensical sounding sentences:
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa ʔasətɨ̀ qənə̀bə  dəna-wɨ/
man.PL-ERG bone dog give-3PS.PL.TEL
The men gave the dog to a bone.