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Ngehu: Difference between revisions
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==Word classes== | ==Word classes== | ||
===Nouns=== | ===Nouns=== | ||
Nouns in Ngehu are entirely uninflected and have only one form each, with no changes for number (plural or singular) or, with few exceptions, case. They may comprise a single monosyllabic root or be a compound of two or more noun roots together. | |||
==== | |||
Nouns make up the equivalent of most other parts of speech found in other languages. For example, instead of a class of verbs, Ngehu uses agent nouns with a copula particle. Thus, instead of saying "I '''write''' a book" with verb equivalent to 'write', the equivalent sentence is syntactically equivalent to the sentence "I '''am a writer of''' a book." Words such as "writer" or "one who knows" are glossed here as "write.<small>AG</small>" and "know.<small>AG</small>", with "<small>AG</small>" standing for "agent". The equivalent of adjectives are glossed with "<small>E</small>" standing for "entity", for example "small.<small>E</small>" is the gloss for a noun meaning "small entity" (i.e. small person or thing). | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="5" | '''''Na i <span style="color:blue">ngegyo ya</span> ndyolya.''''' | |||
|- | |||
|na || i || ngegyo || ya || ndyolya | |||
|- | |||
| 1s || <small>COP</small> || write.<small>AG</small> || <small>GEN</small>.each_other | |||
|- | |||
| "I" || "am" || "writer" || "of" || "book" | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="4" | ''We love <span style="color:blue">each other</span>.'' | |||
|} | |||
====Noun roots==== | |||
A large number of nouns are comprised only of a single, monosyllabic morpheme. These may have fairly broad meanings, such as '''ngo''' 'person', '''ndu''' 'low entity', 'entity which is below', '''lya''' 'flattish object' (typically 'leaf' but also 'feather', 'scale (of fish)', 'sheet of paper', 'page', 'blade (of knife)' etc.). | |||
====Compounding==== | ====Compounding==== | ||
Noun compounds come in two types: <small>NOUN</small>+<small>NOUN</small> and, much more uncommonly, <small>PARTICLE</small>+<small>NOUN</small>. | |||
=====<small>NOUN</small>+<small>NOUN</small> Compounds===== | |||
<small>NOUN</small>+<small>NOUN</small> compounds are always head-first. This means that the first element of the compound defines what thing the compound refers to, while anything that comes after it narrows the scope of the meaning. This is the reverse order from compounding in English. For example, the noun '''mbi''' 'large, terrestrial animal' and the noun '''mba''' 'house', 'building', can be combined to give either '''mbimba''' 'cat', or '''mbambi''' 'stable', 'pen', 'kennel'. A cat is essentially a "house-animal" and a stable, pen or kennel is an "animal-house", but the elements in each compound are the reverse order from those in English. | |||
Nouns that generally correspond to adjectives or verbs in translation may also be involved in compounds and these compounds may be a little bit harder to understand for learners. | |||
For example, from the word '''mbo''' meaning 'entity which stays, remains, keeps (a certain way) or waits' (gloss: stay.<small>AG</small>), the following compounds are derived: | |||
* '''mboho''' = patient.<small>E</small> (from '''ho''' 'good entity', thus literally a "good-stayer", "one who waits in some way characterised by something 'good'", a 'good-waiter') | |||
* '''mbomu''' = remember.<small>AG</small> (from '''mu''' 'knowing one', thus, literally a "knower-stayer", "one who stays knowing", "one who remains in regard to knowing") | |||
* '''mbozyo''' = stubborn.<small>E</small> (from '''zyo''' 'head', thus literally a "head-stayer", "one who stays in regards to the head") | |||
From the word '''da''' meaning 'large entity', the following compounds are derived: | |||
* '''dazwi''' = tall.<small>E</small> (from '''zwi''' 'high entity', thus literally a "high-big-one", "one that is large in terms of being high") | |||
* '''davyo''' = wide.<small>E</small> (from '''vyo''' 'side', thus literally a "side-big-one", "one that is large in reference to sides") | |||
* '''damwo''' = buxom.<small>E</small> (from '''mwo''' 'lump', 'bump', 'hill', 'breast', thus literally "one who is large in reference to bumps") | |||
* '''danggo''' = well.endowed.<small>E</small> (from '''nggo''' 'stick', 'rod', 'penis', thus literally "one who is large in reference to a rod") | |||
=====<small>PARTICLE</small>+<small>NOUN</small> Compounds===== | |||
<small>PARTICLE</small>+<small>NOUN</small> compounds are not common. The particle is restricted to being the first element as it must be stressed in order to indicate that it is part of a noun. The most common example are the words with '''do''', a conjunction essentially meaning "and then". A '''dongo''', literally an "and.then-person" is an offspring of someone, a son or daughter, a child of someone (even as an adult, cf. '''dingo''' 'child', meaning a non-adult person, from '''di''' 'small one' plus '''ngo''' 'person'). | |||
====Reduplication==== | ====Reduplication==== | ||
====Gendered nouns==== | ====Gendered nouns==== | ||
====Pronouns==== | ====Pronouns==== | ||
The | The pronouns in Ngehu are simply nouns and do not differ syntactically from other nouns in their use, although most of them do have a genitive contraction. Many of the pronouns are compounds. | ||
=====Personal===== | =====Personal===== | ||
| Line 242: | Line 285: | ||
| colspan="5" | ''I'm not going to kill (anyone) <span style="color:blue">myself</span>.'' | | colspan="5" | ''I'm not going to kill (anyone) <span style="color:blue">myself</span>.'' | ||
|} | |} | ||
=====Indefinite===== | =====Indefinite===== | ||
=====Interrogative===== | =====Interrogative===== | ||
The interrogative pronoun '''ma''' is equivalent to "who" or "what" in that it stands in for a noun or noun phrase which is being asked about. When used with another noun, it more or less means "which" or "what". To specifically limit the referent to a person or to a thing, '''ma ngo''' 'which person', 'who' or ''ma nu'' 'which thing', 'what' may be used. Both of these are also found as compounds: '''mango''' 'who' and '''manu''' 'what'. '''Ma''' has no inherent aspect, meaning that it may just as easily ask for a short-term nominal description of a referent (e.g. "eater", "sleeper", "entity which is here") as a longer-term description (e.g. "person", "father", "dog", "table"). Thus it can, in conjunction with the copula, also essentially mean "do what". | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | '''''Wa i <span style="color:blue">ma</span>?''''' | |||
|- | |||
| wa || i || ma | |||
|- | |||
| 2s || <small>COP</small> || what/who | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | ''<span style="color:blue">Who</span> are you?'' | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | ''<span style="color:blue">What</span> are you?'' | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | ''<span style="color:blue">What</span> are you <span style="color:blue">doing</span>?'' | |||
|} | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | '''''Hi e <span style="color:blue">ma</span>?''''' | |||
|- | |||
| hi || e || ma | |||
|- | |||
| DEM.<small>E</small> || <small>COP</small> || what/who | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | ''<span style="color:blue">What</span> is this?'' | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | ''<span style="color:blue">Who</span> is this?'' | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | ''<span style="color:blue">What</span> is this (person/thing) <span style="color:blue">doing</span>?'' | |||
|} | |||
Combination with other nouns in a noun phrase resolves ambiguity. | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="4" | '''''Wa i <span style="color:blue">hwa ma</span>?''''' | |||
|- | |||
| wa || i || hwa ||ma | |||
|- | |||
| 2s || <small>COP</small> || do.<small>AG</small> || what/who | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="4" | ''<span style="color:blue">What</span> are you <span style="color:blue">doing</span>?'' | |||
|} | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="4" | '''''Wa i <span style="color:blue">lu ma</span>?''''' | |||
|- | |||
| wa || i || hwa ||ma | |||
|- | |||
| 2s || <small>COP</small> || located.<small>E</small> || what/who | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="4" | ''<span style="color:blue">Where</span> are you?'' | |||
|} | |||
====Demonstratives==== | ====Demonstratives==== | ||