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Habyela: Difference between revisions
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A lot of syntax done
(A lot of syntax done) |
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dog-ERG man.PL RESTR.REL.NONHUM-bite-3PS.NONHUM.TEL=SR.SUBJ | dog-ERG man.PL RESTR.REL.NONHUM-bite-3PS.NONHUM.TEL=SR.SUBJ | ||
"The dog that bit the | "The dog that bit the men" | ||
The verbal prefix /wə-/ marks a restrictive relative clause, where the head noun is either human plural or nonhuman. The enclitic /ɟʷə/ indicates that the head noun is the subject of the verb. | The verbal prefix /wə-/ marks a restrictive relative clause, where the head noun is either human plural or nonhuman. The enclitic /ɟʷə/ indicates that the head noun is the subject of the verb. | ||
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"The water that I fell in". | "The water that I fell in". | ||
To say "on ...", Habyela speakers would say "...'s back" e.g. | |||
/saʔə̀ pʲatɕaɴʈa paʔà-qʷɨ/ | |||
grass back.3PS.NONHUM.POSS fall-1PS.SG.TEL | |||
I fell on the grass | |||
===Comparative Constructions=== | |||
/pʲatɕə/ - "back" can also take a possessive suffix to mean "more than ..." e.g. | |||
/qənə̀bəɴ-qa ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ pʲatɕaɴʈa ɫə̀-nama-wɨ/ | |||
dog.PL-ERG men.PL back.3PS.PL.POSS ATEL-bite-3PS.NONHUMAN | |||
Dogs sleep more than men do. | |||
==Demonstratives== | |||
Habyela's demonstrative system is very much like English. There is a two-way distance contrast, and no contrast between pronominal and adnominal demonstratives. | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
! !! Singular !! Plural | |||
|- | |||
| Near || jɨsə || jɨnə | |||
|- | |||
| Far || wɨsə || wɨnə | |||
|} | |||
==Syntax== | |||
Habyela sentences are strictly verb final. SOV is much more common than OSV. Noun phrases have the word order [Demonstrative] [Number] [Adjective] Noun. | |||
===Adverbs=== | |||
Adverbs are formed by reduplicating the last syllable of a bare root e.g. | |||
dəməqə̀ - loud | |||
dəməqə̀qə - loudly | |||
In a sentence, adverbs come immediately before the verb e.g. | |||
qənə̀bə dəməqə̀~qə ɫə̀-pənʷa-wɨ | |||
dog loud~ADV 3PS.NONHUMAN.ATEL-bark | |||
The dog barked loudly. | |||
==Copula== | |||
To combine two nouns A and B to make a sentence meaning "A is B", Habyela would say /A B-ça/ (if the subject is singular) and /A B-çaɴ/ (if the subject is plural). No matter whether or not A is singular or plural, the singular form of B is always used. For example: | |||
jɨsə banàw-ça | |||
this beach-COP.SG | |||
This is the/a beach | |||
jɨnə banàw-çaɴ | |||
these beach-COP.PL | |||
These are (the) beaches. | |||
Note that -ça(ɴ) is the suffix for a predicate adjective. So technically, Habyela is turning the second noun into an adjective. | |||
==Possession== | |||
Habyela has no verb corresponding to English "have". Where English speakers would say "A has B", Habyela speakers simply say "A's B" e.g. | |||
/ʔàɟʷɨnəɴ-qa qənə̀baɴʈa/ | |||
man.PL-ERG dog.3PS.PL.POSS | |||
The men have a dog (literally "the men's dog") | |||