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Hnyengu: Difference between revisions
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The TAM system depends on the dialect. The dialects use roughly the same set of verb affixes, however different dialects use them to mark different things tense/aspect/evidentiality. | The TAM system depends on the dialect. The dialects use roughly the same set of verb affixes, however different dialects use them to mark different things tense/aspect/evidentiality. | ||
The grammar is fairly typical for the region | The syntax also depends on the dialect. Most dialects have SVO word order, except for the Eastern dialect which is syntactically ergative. In all dialects though, nouns can be brought to the front of the sentence as topics. | ||
The grammar is fairly typical for the region, secundative ditransitive alighment, postpositions, indirect objects coming before the verb, split ergativity (the details of which depend on the dialect), pronouns marked by verbal prefixes, a reciprocal voice marked by a reduplicative prefix, a large number of grammatical moods, and no obligatory plural marking. | |||
The phonology is also fairly typical for the region, with a three way aspirated vs. tenuis vs. voiced contrast in stops, a voicing contrast in sonorants consonants, moderately restrictive phonotactics, and a phonation contrast in vowels. | The phonology is also fairly typical for the region, with a three way aspirated vs. tenuis vs. voiced contrast in stops, a voicing contrast in sonorants consonants, moderately restrictive phonotactics, and a phonation contrast in vowels. | ||
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Grassman's Law also operates in the NW dialect, albeit in the opposite direction. All but the first aspirated consonant is deleted, so /pʰuˈɾepʰe/ - "to prepare" is /pʰuˈɾepe/. Also, /ɬ/ lenites to /ʎ/ rather than /l/ e.g. /ˈkʰoɬi/ - "coffee" becomes /ˈkʰoʎi/. | Grassman's Law also operates in the NW dialect, albeit in the opposite direction. All but the first aspirated consonant is deleted, so /pʰuˈɾepʰe/ - "to prepare" is /pʰuˈɾepe/. Also, /ɬ/ lenites to /ʎ/ rather than /l/ e.g. /ˈkʰoɬi/ - "coffee" becomes /ˈkʰoʎi/. | ||
==Noun Morphology== | |||
===Case=== | |||