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====Subject Prefixes==== | ====Subject Prefixes==== | ||
Subject prefixes exist for each of the persons in singular and plural, | Subject prefixes exist for each of the persons in singular and plural with separate masculine and other prefixes in the 3rd singular only. There is also an indefinite subject meaning "someone, something" when the actual subject is unknown or not relevant, and an impersonal subject, which effectively acts as a placeholder when there is no apparent agent. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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! 3o | ! 3o | ||
| ''hi-'' | | ''hi-'' | ||
|- | |||
! Ind. | |||
| colspan="2; | ''tśi-'' | |||
|- | |- | ||
! Imp. | ! Imp. | ||
| colspan="2; | '' | | colspan="2; | ''e-'' | ||
|} | |} | ||
Subject prefixes are only used to mark the subject of the verb or predicate and are mandatory even where the subject is otherwise specified. They may be added to verbs, nouns or adjectives. When added to nouns, the ''-i-'' of the prefix is lost to preserve the declension vowels (e.g. ''ki-eput'' > ''keput''). When added to verbs or adjectives the form is ''ki-'' etc, with epenthetic ''h'' added before a stem-initial vowel, e.g. ''kisuntsu'' "I was sleeping", ''hi'''h'''ets'' "it is salty". | Subject prefixes are only used to mark the subject of the verb or predicate and are mandatory even where the subject is otherwise specified. They may be added to verbs, nouns or adjectives. When added to nouns, the ''-i-'' of the prefix is lost to preserve the declension vowels (e.g. ''ki-eput'' > ''keput''). When added to verbs or adjectives the form is ''ki-'' etc, with epenthetic ''h'' added before a stem-initial vowel, e.g. ''kisuntsu'' "I was sleeping", ''hi'''h'''ets'' "it is salty". | ||
The impersonal subject places focus on the verb and/or its object. It may be used with transitive verbs to create a passive sense, e.g. ''esuneenamen'' "he was seen" (i.e. "X saw him"). With an intransitive verb it can be translated with the dummy subject "there" (or "it" with weather etc.), e.g. ''etipa'' "there was runnning", ''esili'' "it is raining". | |||
====Object Prefixes==== | ====Object Prefixes==== |
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