Béu : Chapter 2 : The Noun: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:TW_415.png]]
[[Image:TW_415.png]]


== ..... The 7 types of word==
== ..... The 5 basic word types==


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All words belong to one of the following 7 categories ...
All words are derived from these 5 basic types. Actually the '''fengi''' "particle" have so many subtypes (often single particles are a subtype to themselves) that it is a bit of a fudge to say that '''béu''' has 5 basic types. Maybe more honest to say that '''béu''' has 4 groups of words and the behaviour (syntactically) of any word in these 4 groups depends on which group it is in.


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1) '''feŋgi''' = particle ... this is a sort of "hold-all" category for all words (and affixes) that don't neatly fit into the other categories. Interjections, numbers,  pronouns, conjunctions, determiners and certain words that would be classed as adverbs in English, are all classed as '''feŋgi'''.
1) '''fengi''' = particle ... this is a sort of "hold-all" category for all words (and affixes) that don't neatly fit into the other categories. Interjections, numbers,  pronouns, conjunctions, determiners and certain words that would be classed as adverbs in English, are all classed as '''fengi'''.


An example is '''Í''' .. the preposition indicating the dative.
By the way ... all affixes are counted as a type of '''fengi'''.


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An example is '''wò''' .. the preposition indicating the oblique case.
 
[[Image:TW_517.png]]


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2) '''seŋko''' = object
2) '''kenʒi''' = an object


An example is '''bàu''' ... "a man"
An example is '''bàu''' ... "a man"
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5) '''maŋga''' = verb
5) '''manga''' = a verb in its base form (citation form). When used "actively" it will take its '''r'''-form, '''u'''-form or '''i'''-form.


An example is '''twá''' ... "to meet"  (the concept of "meet" disassociated from any arguments, tense, aspect or whatever).  
An example is '''twá''' meaning  "to meet" or "a meeting"  (the concept of "meet" disassociated from any arguments, tense, aspect or whatever).  


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6) '''maŋgas''' = a noun derived from a verb. A  '''maŋgas''' represents one instance of the activity denoted by the  '''maŋga'''.  For example ...
[[Image:SW_062.png]]
 
'''twás''' ... "a\the meeting" : '''nò twás''' ... "a\the meetings"


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7) '''saidaus''' = a noun derived from an adjective. The  '''saidaus''' means one object possessing the property denoted by the  '''saidau'''.
== ..... Kenʒi==


An example is  '''nelaus''' = a/the dark blue one : '''nò nelaus''' = a/the dark blue ones
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'''kenʒi''' can mean "noun". It can also mean "noun phrase" (NP).


[[Image:TW_516.png]]
.


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Probably the most "basic" of the basic 5 ... tangible and discrete.


The '''maŋgas''' and  '''saidaus''' are transparently derived from the  '''maŋga''' and  '''saidau''' so there is no need to list them separately in a dictionary.  
The noun can take six types of modifiers. These six types must come in a certain order ...


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== ..... Seŋko==
[[Image:SW_070.png]]


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'''seŋko''' is a noun or a noun phrase
In the above diagram, an descending arrow followed by a bar indicates a closed set. A descending arrow by itself indicates an open set. Branching arrows indicate multiple possibilities.


It can have up to 8 elements.
The head of the NP can be referred to as '''kenʒita'''. Usually it is called this by lay people and by linguists when the concept is first brought up. However, thereafter it is usually referred to as '''húa''' meaning "head".


Below is shown these elements and the order in which they occur.
'''kenʒita''' is '''kenʒi''' plus the diminutive suffix. '''kenʒi''' can also take the augmentative suffix -'''uma'''. '''kenzuma''' "extended noun phrase" is a normal  '''kenʒi''', with either a relative clause (RC) appended to the right or a partitive appended to the left hand side


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The words highlighted in red convert the noun phrase (or indeed the sentence in which the NP is embedded) into a question. A blue circle indicates the only mandatory element. But even these elements can be dropped on occasion ... when they are understood from context or the preceding conversation. When we have one adjective, and the head is understood, '''ɘ''' can be substituted for the head, '''kɘ''' if the head is plural.


[[Image:TW_569.png]]
'''ɘ gèu''' = a/the green one : '''kɘ gèu''' = a/the green ones


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These two particles can also be used with other noun modifiers, however not always mandators with non-adjective modifiers.


Elements 1, 2, and 7 have restricted membership, if fact element 1 has only one possibility, the word '''só'''. The words with red background convert the noun phrase (or indeed the sentence in which the NP is embedded) into a question. A blue circle indicates the only mandatory element. Branching arrows indicate multiple possibilities.
'''ɘ nái''' = which one : '''kɘ nái''' = which ones


..
'''kɘ dí''' = these ones : '''ɘ dè''' = this one


=== ... The head===
However '''nái''', '''dí''' and '''dè''' can constitute NP's by themselves. A bit like English


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Looking at the chart above might give you a false impression of '''béu''' noun phrases. The number of modifiers within a noun phrase is usually only one or two. When there is two, they must occur in a certain order, hence the necessity of the chart above. I don't think it would be easy to process a noun phrase with six modifiers, probably some of them would be shunted off into a RC with an initial copula. A noun phrase can take multiple RC's. They can stand beside each other in a sort of apposition.


3) ... the head
I should make one further point here. The particles '''ú''' "all" and '''jù''' "no" can appear to the left of the head. They can also appear in the quantity slot.


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=== ... The adjective===
=== ... Quality===


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4) ... the adjective
More than one adjective is allowed in this slot. For example ... '''bàu gèu tiji''' = the little green man


More than one adjective is allowed. For example ... '''bàu gèu tiji''' = the little green man
'''kái''' meaning "what type" can also appear in this slot. In which case it turns the whole noun phrase (or sentence) into a question. For example ...


'''kái''' "what type" can appear in this slot. In which case it turns the whole noun phrase (or sentence) into a question. For example ...
'''bàu gèu kái''' = what kind of green man ? ... (NP question)


'''bàu gèu kái''' = what kind of green man ? ... noun phrase question
'''há bàu gèu kái glà timpori''' = what kind of green man hit the woman ? ... (sentence question)
 
'''há bàu gèu kái glà timpori''' = what kind of green man hit the woman ? ... sentence question
 
Numbers can go in this slot also. When in this slot they are ordinal numbers. This is opposed to where the number comes before the head, in which case it is a cardinal number. For example ...
 
'''há bàu hói glà timpori''' = The second man hit the woman
 
'''há hói bàu glà timpori''' = The two men hit the woman
 
..


Now when you have multiple adjectives they will have a certain order depending upon their sub-category.
Now when you have multiple adjectives they will have a certain order depending upon their sub-category.
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This is the same as English ... for example, you always say "the third big black dog" and never "the black third big dog".
This is the same as English ... for example, you always say "the third big black dog" and never "the black third big dog".


'''béu''' uses the exact same order as in English but reversed timewise. For example ...
'''béu''' uses the exact same order as in English but the other way around.


'''béu''' has two adjectives that come in this slot that are worth mentioning. They might have claims to particle-hood, but I guess their appearance in this slot marks them as adjectives. No reason that they can't be both.


{|
1) ... '''ló''' = "other"
|-
! waulo || àu || jutu || léu
|-
| dog || black  || big || third
|}


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The semantics of this word remind me of the semantics of '''tuge'''/'''jige'''. With the relative quantifiers the speech participants have agreed on the number/amount relevant to the situation. '''tuge'''/'''jige''' are used to change this value. Similarly '''ló''' is used in a situation where the speech participants have agreed on the population (of whatever noun category) under consideration but one of them wants to expand this population.  


Or, you can say, '''béu''' has exactly the same order as English, in terms of proximity to the head.
2) ... '''laubo''' = enough


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=== ... The locative===
=== ... Quantity===


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5) ... the locative. For example ... '''bàu gèu tiji pobomau''' = the little green man on top of the mountain
This slot is very interesting ...


A locative comprises of a noun plus one of the nine affixes ....  '''pi la mau goi ce dua bene komo ?e'''
[[Image:SW_071.png]]


The locative is a type of adjective.  
The above chart is split into ''definite'' and ''vague'' sections. All the items under ''definite'' represent an integer (or "the empty set" or "the full set"). The items under ''vague'' represent an approximate number/amount. This section is further divided into ''discrete'' and ''non-discrete'' (i.e. countable.non-countable).


Also a noun plus the affix '''fi''' can appear in this slot. This is not giving information about "location" but rather "origin". It is classed as a locative nevertheless.
'''yè''' modifies both discrete and non-discrete. It means a moderate amount ... some value between zero and "all". It does NOT mean "indefinite" ... "some man" is '''bàu èn''', not '''*bàu yè'''.


Note ... if the noun taking the affix is a noun phrase ... well it is not possible to use the affix but you must use the stand alone term (see the section "the Case system" later on in this chapter). For example ...
This word can be used to mark plurality (together with '''iyo''' and '''hài''') for those nouns that can not be pluralized in themselves. For example ... '''húa''', "head" : '''húa yè''', "heads".


to say "the little green man on top of the big mountain" =>  '''bàu gèu tiji máu pobo jutu'''  
'''jí jí''' and '''jía''' are about equally common and mean the same thing. However '''jía''' tends to be used in more formal situations and '''jí jí''' in less formal.


The above is called an ENP (extended noun phrase) ... it comprises  '''bàu gèu tiji''' (NP 1) +  '''máu'''  +  '''pobo jutu''' (NP 2)
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Also '''dá''' "where" can appear in this slot. In which case it turns the whole noun phrase (or sentence) into a question. For example ...
'''láu''' (how many) can appear in this slot. In which case it turns the NP (and hence the clause containing the NP) into a question. For example ...


'''bàu gèu dá''' = where is the green man ?
'''bàu jutu láu''' = "How many men are big ?" or "How many big men ?" ???????????  


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=== ... The genitive===
The chart above shows only the terms used for ''absolute'' quantity ????????????????? It does not cover, what I call ''relative'' quantity. Let me explain ...


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Imagine the speaker and the hearer both have an idea of the number/amount relevant to a situation but one of them wants to change this number/amount. The amount he wants to change this agreed number/amount by, I call the ''relative quantity''. It can be positive or negative. When positive we use the word '''tuge''' "more" ... when negative we use the word '''jige''' "less" '''*'''. For example ...


6) ... the genitive. For example '''jwado gèu nambomau yó jene''' = Jane's big green bird on top of the house
'''turi waudo tuge''' = more dogs came
{|
|-
!  t-u-r-i  || waudo || tuge
|-
|  come-{{small|3PL-IND-PST}}  || dog || more
|}


Note that the particle '''yó''' is usually dropped when the possessor is next to the head. However as other elements intervene, the likelihood that '''yó''' is used increases.
These to particles can be modified by some (most) of the terms given in the chart above. They can be modified by any of the terms hi-lighted in orange.


If '''mín''' (who) is used instead of '''jene''' in the above ... then we would have a question ...
[[Image:Sw_060.png]]


'''jwado gèu nambomau yó mín''' = Whose big green bird on top of the house ? = Whose's the big green bird on top of the house ?
For example ... '''bía tuge ima''' = two more beers please"


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Note : actually '''jía''' and '''tundu''' are not applicable to '''kenʒi'''. They are only applicable to '''olus'''
 
=== ... The determiner===


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7) ... the determiner
'''*''' These words might be derived somehow from '''jutu''' "big" and '''tiji''' "small" ... along with the comparative suffix -'''ge''' '''**'''.  
 
There are three determiners ... '''dí ''' (this)  and '''dè''' (that). For example ...
 
'''bàu gèu tiji pobomau dé  ''' = that little green man on top of the mountain.
 
The primary meaning is for comparing two objects that can be seen. Perhaps accompanied by gestures, '''dé ''' will be appended to the further of the two objects and by way of distinction, '''dí ''' will be appended to the nearer one. Used very rarely compared to "this" and "that" in English.
 
'''nái''' (which) can appear in this slot. In which case it turns the whole noun phrase (or sentence) into a question. For example ...
 
'''bàu gèu tiji nái''' = which little green man ? ... noun phrase question
 
'''bàu gèu tiji nái glà timpori ''' = which little green man hit the woman ? ... sentence question
 
Also '''lò''' "other" appear in this slot ...  '''bàu gèu tiji lò''' = "the other little green man" or "another little green man"


Note ... '''dían''' = "here" or "to here", '''dèn''' = "there" or "to there" ... (not '''*dà dí''' and '''*dà dè''')
The comparative suffix can be appended to any adjectives. For example ... '''jini''' "clever" => '''jinige''' "cleverer" : '''hau?e''' "beautiful" => '''hau?ege''' "more beautiful"


There is also a superlative suffix ... -'''mo'''. So '''jinimo''' "cleverest" amd '''hau?emo''' "most beautiful"


( '''dí''' and '''dè''' can represent direct speech. The appear in conjuction with one of the quotative verbs '''swé''' or '''aika'''. '''dè''' refers back to an utterance already spoken, '''dí''' to an utterance that is imminent (see Ch 3.7 ??? )
'''**''' There is an independant word '''gé''' which might be related to the comparative suffix. It is a particle that always comes in twos. For example ... '''gé tundu ... gé bói''' "the more the merrier".


----
Sometimes you coma across '''bù tuge''' "no more". This should be analysed as a contraction of '''bù ?ár tuge''' "I don't want more".


One little rule ... if a genitive is present, the determiners '''dí''' and '''dè''' can not be included. However '''dían''' "here" and '''dèn''' "there" can occur in the "locative" slot and we get the same meaning. If a genitive is absent, we do not get '''dían''' and '''dèn''' in the locative slot. Also if '''ló''' or '''nái''' are present '''dí''' and '''dè''' can not be included but '''dían''' "here" and '''dèn''' "there" can occur in the "locative" slot.
'''***''' Perhaps '''wóin''' is related to the verb '''gwói''' "to pass by" plus the past participle -'''in'''.


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=== ... The numerative===
=== ... Ownership===


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2) ... the numerative
Basically you can just stick a personal name, a pronoun or any NP in here and the head noun will be considered owned by the object inserted here.  


These are ...
Sometimes, the particle '''yó''' precedes the object inserted.


'''jù''' "no" ... '''ʔà''' "one" ... '''hói''' "two" ... '''léu''' "three" ... '''iyo''' "few" ... '''ega''' "four" '''oda''' "five" ..... '''hài''' "many" .... '''tautaita''' "1727<u>10</u> and '''ú''' "all"
For example '''jwado gèu yó jene''' = Jane's big green bird


The two "selectives"  ...  '''ín''' "any" and '''èn''' "some"  go in this slot as well.
Note that the particle '''yó''' is usually dropped when the possessor is next to the head. However as other elements intervene, the likelihood that '''yó''' is used increases.


Only one word is allowed in the numerative slot (be it a selective or a numerative).
If '''mín''' (who) is stuck in this slot ... then we have a question. For example ...
 
..


'''láu''' (how many) can appear in this slot. In which case it turns the whole sentence into a question. For example ...
'''jwado gèu yó mín''' = Whose big green bird ? = Whose's the big green bird ?


'''láu bàu (r) pobomau''' = How many men (are) on top of the mountain ? .... '''*'''
There can be ambiguity with some '''kenʒi''' possessing a genitive. For example ...


With more complex '''seŋko baga''' it is usual to break it up in order to specify exactly which element is being questioned. For example ...
Does '''waudo bàu dí''' mean "the dog of this man" or "this dog of the man" ?


'''láu bàu gèu tiji pobomau nài doikura''' = " How many little green men on the  mountain that are walking? " ... would be re-phrased as ...
To get around this, we have a special rule ...


'''wò bàu gèu tiji pobomau _ láu doikura''' = w.r.t. the little green man on top of the mountain, how many are walking ? ... or ...
"If anything is in the ownership slot, '''dí''' and '''dè''' never appear in the determiner slot. Instead they appear as '''dían''' "here" and '''dene''' "there" in the locative slot"


'''wò bàu tiji pobomau nài doikura _ láu r gèu''' = w.r.t. the little man on top of the mountain who are walking, how many are green ?
Note ... sometimes ownership as such is not what is of interest, it is if a person has actual physical possession. In this case '''yó''' is not used. But the object takes '''pila?o''' 2.


Note ... in the 2 examples above, '''fì''' can be substituted for '''wò'''. However '''wò''' is more felicitous.
'''jwado gèu là''' ''Long John Silver'' '''catora''' = The big green bird (on Long John's shoulder presumably) is chatting away.


'''*''' Notice that in English and '''béu''' the copula can be dropped. In '''béu''', when we drop the copula, what is left is analized as a NP (as opposed to a clause).
Actually segments showing actually physical possession like the example above, go in the locative slot which we will cover next.


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=== ... The relative clause===
=== ... Location===


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8) ... the relative clause
Ordinal numbers appear in this slot. The ordinal numbers are ...


Relative clauses "RC" work pretty much the same as English relative clauses. The relativizer is '''nài''' (that, who). Here are some examples ...
[[Image:SW_066.png]]


'''yiŋkai nài doikoryə''' = the girl that has walked
You will notice that there are two words for first ... '''da?a''' and '''dahua'''. They are both equally common, but '''da?a''' tends to occur in the presence of '''dima''' or '''duya''' while '''dahua''' tends to occur in the presence of '''dauci'''.
 
'''bàu nài glás timporyə''' = the man whom the woman has hit
 
'''glá nàis bàu timporyə''' = the woman who has hit the man
 
'''bàu nàin glás fyori yiŋkaiwo''' = the man to whom the woman told about the girl
 
'''glá naiji bàus bundoryə nambo''' = the woman for whom the man has built a house
 
All the '''pilamo''' can be appended to the relativizer to specify what roll the noun would have in the relative clause if it was a simple clause.


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=== ... The emphatic particle===
Proper locatives comprise a noun plus one of the 9 '''pila?oi''' ....  '''pi la mau goi ce do bene komo ni'''. For example ...


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'''duzu pobomau''' = The oryx on the mountain


1) ... the emphatic particle is '''só'''.
Also '''pila?o''' 14 turns up in this slot. These items are strictly not giving information about "location" but rather "origin". They are classed as a locatives nevertheless. For example ...


'''só''' is used where we would use what is called  "right dislocation" in English. For example ...
'''bàu glazgofi''' = a/the man from Glasgow


'''bàus só glán nori alha''' = It is the woman to whom the man gave flowers.
If the location consists of more than one word, the usual rule applies and the '''pila?o''' appears as a preposition ...


'''bàus só glán nori alha @''' = Is it the woman to whom the man gave flowers ?
'''duzu máu pobo jutu''' = The oryx on the big mountain


'''só''' might be used in exasperated when somebody can not see something. For example ...
There is a tendance that  the longer the locative item, the more likely the locative item will be shunted into a relative clause ...


{|border=1
'''duzu nài r máu pobo hau?e jutu''' = The oryx on the big beautiful mountain
|align=center| '''só dí'''
|align=center| "this one !"
|align=center| '''só dè'''
|align=center| "that one !"
|-
|align=center| '''só nò dí '''
|align=center| "these ones!"
|align=center| '''só nò dè'''
|align=center| "those ones !"
|}


This can also used as a sort of vocative case ... not obligatory but can be used before a persons name when trying to get their attention. For example ...
'''nài r máu pobo hau?e jutu''' is a relative clause. We will cover RC's in a bit.


'''só jene''' = Hey, Jane
All prepositions that are not '''pila?o''' lead to the location being shunted into a relative clause. For example ...


'''só gì''' = Hey, you
'''polga?o nài r fiagan gwai''' = "the sailing boat which is among the islands" or simply "the sailing boat among the islands"
 
There is an adjective intensifier '''sowe''' "very" ... no doubt related to the above.


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== ..... Olus==
Also '''dá''' "where" can appear in this slot. In which case it turns the noun phrase into a question. For example ...


..
'''bàu gèu dá''' = where is the green man ?


In this category are such uncountable things such as "water" '''moze'''.
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[[Image:TW_780.png]]
Addendum ... To keep things simple I refrained from mentioning this before but time can also be expressed in this slot. For example "the turmoil '''jé''' 1300's". Actually location AND time can both be in this slot at the same time. For example "the anger '''pí''' Iceland '''jé''' 1950's ...".


A NP with '''olus''' as head is similar to a NP with '''seŋko''' as head, except the numerative is banned. It can be replaced with "measure phrase" if the quantity of the substance is defined.  
..


'''hói hoŋko''' = two cups ... is a typical "measure phrase"
'''*''' Probably derived from '''uci''' "tail".


So ... an example of a NP with '''olus''' as head ...
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'''hói hoŋko ?azwo pona''' = "two cups of warm milk"
=== ... Determiner===


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Also are uncountables such as "cabbages" '''malfufa''' or "children" '''toti'''. These have a sort of "collective" meaning. With a change of the final vowel these words become countable. The uncoutable noun vowel can bee '''e u a i''' or '''o''' but the countable vowel is always -'''ai'''
There are five of these ... '''dí ''' (this), '''dè''' (that), '''nái''' (which),  '''èn''' (some) and '''ín''' (any) . For example ...


..
'''dí''' and '''dè''' are called demonstratives in the WLT. They will be covered in the section after next.


{| border=1
'''nái''' turns the whole noun phrase into a question. For example ...
  |align=center| '''malfufa'''
  |align=center| cabbages
  |align=center| '''malfufai'''
  |align=left| a cabbage
  |-
  |align=center| '''toti'''
  |align=center| children
  |align=center| '''totai'''
  |align=left| a child
  |-
  |align=center| '''wazbu'''
  |align=center| distance
  |align=center| '''wazbai'''
  |align=left| 3,680 m  (the unit of distance ... the '''béu''' km or mile)
  |}


..
'''bàu gèu tiji nái''' = which little green man ? ... noun phrase question


[[Image:TW_783.png]]
And of course, if a NP represents a question, any clause containing this NP will also be a question. For example ...


So there a bunch of concepts that have a dual identity ... sometimes appearing in their '''olus''' form, and sometimes appearing in their '''seŋko''' form.
'''bàu gèu tiji nái glà timpori ''' = which little green man hit the woman ? ... a clause AND a question


..
'''èn''' "some" appear in this slot ...  '''bàu gèu tiji èn''' = "some little green man" ...... indefinite


Remember that all collectives take singular pronouns and, if they are A or S arguments, produce an -'''o'''- in slot 1 of the verb (as opposed to -'''u'''-).
'''ín''' "any" appear in this slot ...  '''bàu gèu tiji ín''' = "any little green man" .............. super indefinite


..
There is one little rule to remember ...


Actually there is a prefix -'''kai''', that can ''theoretically'' change any '''seŋko''' into an '''olus'''. In practice it is not used that much ... although you do hear it a lot prefixed to animal names ... like when talking about characteristics which are common to an entire species. For example ...
"Only one item is allowed in this slot, so if you want an indefinite as well as a demonstrative, the demonstrative is shunted off to the locative slot and given the form '''dían''' or '''dene'''."


'''sadu''' "elephant" ... '''kaizadu''' "the elephants" or "elephants".  
I guess this is logical in a way. '''dí''' and '''dè''' were originally associated with pointing. But when the object is indefinite, how can you point ? "here" or "there" is about as definite as you can get.


..
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== ..... Saidaus==
=== ... Side-note re demonstratives===


..
..


'''saidaus''' is a noun or noun phrase derived from a adjective.
'''dí''' "this" and '''dè''' "that" are two words that orientate and focus the hearer's attention on an object (or location '''*''') in the speech situation. These words are called demonstratives in the WLT.


..
According to Holger [ Diessel (1999:57) ] ...


[[Image:TW_569.png]]
i) A demonstrative can be construed as an argument in its own right. That is, it can constitute a NP without any additional elements.


..
ii) A demonstrative can co-occur with a noun in a NP. That is, it can be a noun modifier.


You can see that the elements that surround the head are the exact same elements that surround '''seŋko''' head.
iii)'''*''' A demonstatives can function as a verb modifier. It specifies (the) location (where something happens **).


There is one tiny difference though. The word '''sowe''' "very" which usually modifies adjectives can if fact become an adjective itself and modify a '''saidaus'''. For example ...
'''*''' Perhaps in a more earlier version of the WLT "location" and (iii) would not be included in the definition of determiner. English and '''béu''' conform to this earlier version of the WLT. However I think it is a good idea when considering all the world's languages, to use this wider definition of "demonstrative".


'''gèu''' = green, '''gèu sowe''' = very green => '''gèus''' = a/the green one, '''gèus sowe''' = a/the very green one ... whereas '''sowe''' never modifies '''seŋko'''.
"**" Perhaps in a language where a copula is not routinely used "where something happens" would not necessarily be appropriate.


..
And here are examples of the above three functions (in English) ...


Actually '''saidaus''' can be derived from "locatives" and "genitives" as well. For example ...
a) ''This'' is excellent.


'''pobomaus''' = the one on top of the mountain
b) ''That'' guy is an idiot.


'''yós jene''' = the one belonging to Jane
c) ''Here'' we do things differently.


..
Diachronically, these three functions can run into each other. Function (a) and function (b) are particularly close. They have the exact same form in English, but no confusion can occur, because "this/that:b" can be deduced to be inside a NP by the rules of English grammar. Most languages in the world (70%) have identical forms for "this/that:a" and "this/that:b". Of the languages that do not have identical forms, the difference can be quite subtle. For example in Thai นี่ [ '''nii''' falling tone ] is "this:a" and นี้  [ '''nii''' high tone ] is "this:b". ........... [see WALS 42A]


By the way ... determiners and relative clauses can also stand by themselves, but they are unmodified when they do so.
Some languages lack (a). For example, in Korean, to express "this:a" you must say "ce il" meaning "this thing". So (b) used instead of (a)


..
Some languages lack (b). They would say something like "the guy here" instead of "this guy". So (c) instead of (b)


== ..... Maŋga==
Some languages lack (c). They would say something like "this place we do things differently" instead of "here we do things differently". So (b) instead of (c.)


..
[ And while we are talking on this area, perhaps we should mention 3rd person pronouns (see WALS 43A). Some languages lack 3rd person pronouns. They cover this function by saying something like "this" or "that guy" ...  A further point of interest (well, I find it interesting anyway) is that the English ''he'' and ''here'' are cognates. Going back to a P.I.E. form meaning (a) or (b). ''-r'' was a ProtoGermanic adverbial suffix. ]


This corresponds to what is called the "infinitive" in the Western Linguistic tradition or the "masDar" in the Islamic Linguistic tradition.
'''béu''' patterns pretty much like English (and the pattern of English is not atypical of the world's languages) ...


Let us take '''solbe''' meaning "to drink" as an example of a '''maŋga'''.
'''dí''' = "this:a" : '''dè''' = "that:a"


Now phrases can be built up around '''maŋga'''. For example ...
'''dí''' = "this:b" : '''dè''' = "that:b"


'''solbe saco''' = "to drink quickly" or "drinking quickly"
'''dían''' = "this:c" (i.e. "here") : '''dene''' = "that.c" (i.e. "there")


or ... adding more elements ...
I was originally thinking of just appending the '''béu''' adverbial suffix -'''is''' to produce (c). But rejected that idea in order to get more phonological contrast between ...


'''solbe moze sacowe''' = "to drink the water quickly" or "drinking the water quickly"
(A) "this:c" and "that.c", (B) "this/that:a/b" and "this/that:c"


Note that what is the S or O argument in an active clause, in a '''maŋga''' phrase, must immediately follows the '''maŋga'''. Also because '''saco''' no longer immediately follows the  '''maŋga''', it must be explicitly tagged as an adverb be the -'''we''' suffix.
With '''dían''' there is a hint that it might be derived from '''dí''' plus '''pila?o''' 15. And also with '''dene''' ... a hint that it might have the same origin. But who can tell. These things are lost in the mists of time.


or ... adding even more elements ...
..


'''solbe moze sacowe hí jono''' = "John drinking the water quickly" or "for John to drink the water quickly".
=== ... Further uses of '''dí''' and '''dè''' ===


Note that what is the A argument in an active clause, in a '''maŋga''' phrase, comes last and has the particle '''hí''' in front of it. (the particle '''hí''' is probably related to the particle '''há''' somehow)
..


Note ... other clausal elements ( dative object, time, adverb, instrument, reason, purpose) can be added ... in our example they would come between '''sacowe''' and '''hí'''.
If we first hear a plural noun articulated in a conversation, the most likely meaning we would assigned to it would be the universal set. For example '''moltai.a'''. There is a more explicit means to express the universal set. For example ... '''kài moltai''' = "doctor.kind" but this construction is seldom used.


And we can expand the '''maŋga''' phrase even more ... it can become the head of what we defined before as the '''seŋko''' phrase.
An example of usage is ... '''moltai.a súr jini''' = "doctors are clever"


OK ... now lets zoom in a bit. To zoom in we need to take in or give out some narrative. So now we hear the following ....


[[Image:TW_779.png]]
<b>Next week British junior doctors will withhold many services in protest against the long hour expected of them</b>


OK ... after hearing that ... '''moltai.a dè''' would be taken to mean "British junior doctors"


The '''seŋko''' phrase is slightly modified in that the numerative slot and the genitive slot must be empty.
OK ... lets hear a further bit of narrative ...


In the example we are using '''sacowe''' "quickly" can be taken out of the heart, and placed in the '''seŋko''' phrase as '''saco'''. In the adjective slot of course.
<b>Much to the disgruntlement of the senior doctors who will have a hard week ahead of them making up for the short fall. </b>


Also you have a choice as to where you can place any locative. A locative can be placed in the locative slot of the '''seŋko''' phrase, or they can be placed in the heart, just before '''hí'''. For example ...
OK ... after hearing that ... '''moltai.a dè''' would be taken to mean "British senior doctors". So, what '''dè''' refers to doesn't persist long, Our perspective is continually changing.


'''solbe moze sacowe nambofi hí jono''' = "John drinking the water quickly in the house" or "for John to drink the water quickly in the house".
[ I can't help thinking that the proximate/obviate system existing in Plains Cree would be very useful. You could keep track of two protagonists through a discourse without reverting to full NPs. But I guess there are cognative reasons why it is difficult to use. Well, if it was easy to use, it would be far more wide-spread. It must be very useful. ]


Note ... in a '''maŋga''' phrase, we can not show definiteness by placing an argument before or after the verb (well actually only the S A and O arguments can be tagged for definiteness in this way). All arguments are assumed to be definite if bare, if the have '''èn''' "some/a" in front of them, they are indefinite.
This is in normal discourse. However if some objects are physically pointed out '''*''' when first introduced (and presumably they stay in sight for the duration of the discourse) what '''dí''' and '''dè''' referred to would persist.
 
So we can see that '''dè''' points back in time. It brings to the top of consciousness, the last set of doctors talked about.


..
..


All '''pilamo''' can be appended to '''maŋga''' ... but most don't make much sense ... however  -'''tu''' and -'''la''' appear often.
In a narrative many objects are encountered. If a newly introduced object is marked by '''dí''' it means that the object is important to the narrative and you will shortly be getting more information about it. The process is not exactly the inverse of '''anaphora'''. But one is compatible with "information given in the past leading to easy identification of which object in particular we are talking about. The other is compatible with "in the near future I will give you information about this object and you will be able to identify which object in particular I am talking about as well as I can"


'''tore doikatu''' = "he/she came on foot" or  "he/she came by walking"
'''béu''' and English are exactly the same in this respect.


The -'''la''' usuage produced an adjective meaning ... "verbing" at the moment of speach. As with all adjectives it can either be part of a NP or it can be a copular complement. For example ...
'''*''' Not necessarily by using a finger ... a gesture with the head ... or even the orientation of the eyes can suffice.


'''bàu doikala''' = a/the walking man
..


'''bàu r doikala''' = a/the man is walking
== ..... Kenzuma==


Note ... '''bàu r doikala''' means exactly the same as '''bàu doikora'''.
..


..
'''béu''' also has what I call an extended noun phrase. An extended noun phrase is a normal NP with either a partitive appended to the LHS, or a RC appended to the RHS.


== ..... Maŋgas==
The example below shows an extended noun phrase '''kenzuma''' with both a partitive AND an RC ...


..
..


Similar to '''maŋga''' but defining a specific instance of the action rather than the action in general. Derived from '''maŋga''' by appending -'''s'''. If the '''maŋga''' is not vowel final, -'''os'' is appended.
[[Image:SW_090.png]]


'''solbe''' = "to drink" or "drinking"  : '''solbes''' = the drinking


'''dàin''' = "to kill" or "killing" : '''dainos''' = the killing, the assassination
{|
|-
! || uya ||  wì  || yiŋkai  || ofa || nài || tunheu-h || doik-u-r-a
|-
| ..... ||three  ||  of  || girl || five || {{small|REL}} || townhall-{{small|DAT}} || walk-{{small|3PL-IND-PRES}}
|}
..... Three of the five girls that are walking to the townhall.


..
..


[[Image:TW_781.png]]
=== ... The relative clause===


..
..


For '''maŋgas''' the wider NP can contain numeratives. For example ...
The '''béu''' relative clause is pretty similar to the English relative clause. However not exactly so.


'''hói solbes moze sacowe hí jono''' = "those two times that John drank the water quickly"
A relative clause is a clause that modifies a NP of course. I think the best way to explain how the '''béu''' RC  works is to give three examples. Each example will demonstrate a subtype of RC. In each example I will reconstitute the plain clause (PC) underlying the RC by looking at the NP and the RC.


In fact, if you come across "times that"in an English text, inevitably it is translated by  "numerative" + '''maŋgas'''.
(1)


..
{|
|-
! yiŋkai || ofa ||nài  || doik-u-r-a
|-
| the girl || five ||  {{small|REL}}  || walk-{{small|3PL-IND-PRES}}
|} => the five girls who are walking


It might be difficult for an English speaker to grasp the difference between '''maŋgas''' and  '''maŋga'''. In English the semantic difference is often expressed using the definite article. For example ...
NP = '''yiŋkai ofa''' : RC = '''nài doikura''' => PC = '''yiŋkai ofa doikura''' "five girls are walking" ....... notice that '''nài''' is binned.


'''solbe moze hí fanfa''' = a horse drinking water
In the above PC  '''yiŋkai''' is absolutive.


'''solbes moze hí fanfa''' = the drinking of the water by the horse
(2)


'''maŋgas''' and '''maŋga''' both can appear as S, A, O, CS and CO arguments ... depending of course on whether we are talking about one specific act or the action in general.
{|
|-
! bàu || nài-h || glá-s || fy-o-r-i || yiŋkai-wo
|-
| the man ||  {{small|REL-DAT}}  || women-{{small|ERG}}  || tell-{{small|3SG-IND-PAST}}  || girl-{{small|ABOUT}}
|} => the man to whom the woman told about the girl


However it is always '''maŋga''' that appear as verb complements. For example ...
NP = '''bàu''' : RC = '''nàih glás fyori yiŋkaiwo''' => PC = '''bàuh glás fyori yiŋkaiwo''' ............ notice that '''nài''' is again binned. Also -'''h''' has to find some other word to stick on to.


In the above PC '''bàu''' is dative.


1) ... '''blèu''' = to hold ..... '''laila''' = to sing, singing ..... '''jenes blor laila bòi''' = Jane can sing well.
(3)


2) ... '''cùa''' = to depart ... '''timpa''' = to hit, hitting ...  '''jonos cori timpa jene''' = John stopped hitting Jane
{|
|-
! gwai.a || nài  || polg-ai-r-a || fía || ?ode
|-
| the islands ||  {{small|REL}}  || sail-{{small|1PL.INC-IND-PRES}} || between || them
|} => "the islands that we are sailing between"


3) ... '''tomo tumori doika jene''' = Thomas forced Jane to walk .... [ note '''doika jene''' is one element an must stay in this order ]
NP = '''gwaia''' : RC = '''nài polgaira fía ?ode''' => PC = '''polgaira fía gwaia''' ......................  '''nài''' is again binned. Also '''?ode''' is discarded. The NP must be positioned behind '''fía''', the preposition that governs it.
 
4) ... '''tomo tumori timpa jene hí jono''' = Thomas forced John to hit Jane ... [ note '''timpa jene hí jono''' is one element an must stay in this order ]


In the above PC '''gwaia''' is not absolutive, also not adorned by a '''pila?o'''. Instead it exists in a prepositional phrase. For this reason, a pronoun '''?ode''' is needed in the RC to represent the NP


..
..


For example ... the '''maŋga''' "to walk" '''doika''' is a complement to the verb '''tuma''' below ...  
I believe that Arabic structures its RC in a similar way to the above.


'''tomos komo jwuba jene tumori''' = Thomas squeazed Jane's left buttock
..


OK ... you should all be experts in RC's now. You just run backward the 3 NP + RC => PC processes.


..


doika jenen''' = John forced Jane to walk
This is discussed in greater detail in CH5.


Note ... when the object of '''tuma''' is a '''seŋko''' it means "squeaze".  
..


[Question for my future self ... It seems like  '''maŋga''' and  '''maŋgas''' are in complementary distribution ... could I have gotten away with having only one form ? ]
=== ... The partitive===


..
..


'''pilamo''' can be appended just as to a normal NP but some are not appropriate. None of the '''pilamo''' of location are appropriate. The preposition form '''há''' is used to show ergativity.
A few sections back I mentioned '''ló''' ... the '''béu''' equivalent to "other/others/the other/another/the others".


One '''pilamo''' that is often found with '''maŋgas''' and that is -'''pi'''. For example ...
'''ló''' is used where the speech participants have agreed on the population (of whatever noun category) under consideration but one of them wants to expand this population.  


'''jono doikore tunheun lailaspi''' = John walked to the civic centre earlier today singing.
This expansion is a bit like "a shot in the dark", the speech participant requesting additional items usually is in the dark as to that additional items are available. Because of this, there is only one word '''ló'''. I mean, if the speech participant requesting additional items had an idea about what additional items were available, he could add more detail along with his request. Perhaps we would have '''donu''' meaning "another with a bell", '''doni''' meaning "another with a whistle" ... well O.K. I am being a bit facetious ... but you understand what I am getting at.


This doesn't mean that he sang all through his journey ... just that part* of the journey was accompanied by singing. (* the part that we are considering)
Now '''ló''' is used to expand the population under consideration ... to increase the scope of the conversation ... to sort of "zoom out".


..
Now sometimes it is necessary to "zoom in". For instance suppose you heard "three of the doctors decided to stop off at the pub on the way home" within  larger narrative. After this point, these three doctors could be referred to as ''they''. The main-protagonists/subject/topic have been reduced from eight to three. Zooming in is not a shot in the dark. The population under consideration is a known concept. The usual method is to specify the "new scope" plus the "original scope" in some sort of construction. The languages of the world all have methods for zooming in ... usually some quite simple construction, often involving a particle which has evolved from "from"/"out of". '''wì''' is the particle used in '''béu'''. Some examples of its use ...


English is very untidy when it comes to verbal nouns. Consider ...
'''ú wì moltai''' = all of the doctors


1) The killing of the president was an atrocious crime.
'''yè wì moltai''' = some of the doctore = several of those doctors = a number of those doctors


2) Killing the president was an atrocious crime.
'''jù wì moltai''' = none of the doctors


You can see that one form "killing" is used in 2 different constructions. By the way ... "killing" in (1) is considered more noun-like.
'''tontu wì moltai dí''' = the majority of these doctors


'''a?a lú tuge wì moltai dè''' more = one or more of those doctors


'''hài wì moltai dè''' = many of those doctors


In English there are various means to derive nouns from a verb. For example ... "discover" + "y" => the discovery ... "destroy" + "?tion" => the destruction ... "run" + ∅ => the run
'''ima ín wì moltai dè''' = any two of those doctors


In '''béu''' there is two ways.
'''moltai wì bawa dí''' = the doctors out of these men


[ Note ... '''ú wì moltai''' = "all of the doctors" is pretty similar to '''ú moltai''' and '''moltai ú''' ... similarly these expressions with '''jù'''. Nothing really to worry about. You have similar flexibility in many languages (including English). Perhaps '''ú wì moltai''' stresses that no "zooming" is happening. Perhaps '''ú moltai''' is used for generic statements such as '''ú moltai r jini''' "all doctors are clever". Perhaps '''moltai ú''' is used in non-generic statements such as '''moltai ú ture tìa pà''' "all the doctors came to my home this morning" ]
..
..


== ..... Saidau==
I suppose the nearest equivalent of '''wì''' is "of". However '''wì''' has not so many functions as "of". For "belonging to", '''yó''' is used. For "relating to"/"connected with". '''wò''' is used.
 
[Still thinking if '''wì''' should be involved with "a glass of milk"/"a heart of gold"]


..
..


The '''saidau''' has two uses in the '''béu'''. It can either be part of a NP or it can be a copular complement. For example ...
Pronouns are used in partitives in the same way as NP's.


'''bàu gèu''' = a/the green man
'''a?a wì pài''' = "one of us"


'''bàu r gèu''' = a/the man is green
'''ima wì onde''' = "two of them"


'''gèu''' above is a simple adjective '''saidau baga'''. Adjective phrases '''saidau kaza''' exist as well.
'''há ima wì onde glá timpura''' = "two of them are hitting the woman"


First there are a number of particles which are placed after an adjective to modify its degree.
[ I guess English is a bit stange w.r.t. plural pronoun. I mean ... why not "*two of they are walking" {following the pattern "they are walking"} instead of "two of them are walking" ]


Foe example '''gèu sowe'''
----


Secondly nearly every verb can produce an adjective by the suffixing of '''la''' to give the "present participle". For example '''doika''' "to walk" or '''kata''' "to cut" produce '''doikala''' "in the process of walking" and '''katala''' "in the process of cutting". When derived from a transitive verb the object can be icluded as well. For example '''katala lazde''' "in the process of cutting the grass".  
Two other numeratives that we haven't mentioned yet are '''tontu''' "the majority"/"most" and '''tonji''' "the minority".


Note ... (original) objects can take these participles as well. For example ... '''lazde jwola kata''' "grass being cut" ... '''jwola kata''' is classed as an adjective phrase '''saidau kaza''' as well.
'''ton''' = bit/part/section ... '''tontu''' <= '''ton jutu''' ... '''tonji''' <= '''ton tiji''' ... '''toŋko''' = to seperate ???


..
..


Note .... '''bàu katala lazde''' = '''bàu nài katara lazde''' .................. however the first ... '''bàu katala lazde''' is nearly always preferred.
== ... 16 useful little words==


Also note ... '''pà r katala lazde''' = '''(pás) katara lazde''' .............. however the second ... '''katara lazde''' is nearly always preferred.
..


 
{| border=1
In both cases the briefer version is chosen.
  |align=center| '''jupu'''
  |align=center| nobody
  |align=center| '''upu'''
  |align=center| everybody
  |- 
  |align=center| '''juku'''
  |align=center| never
  |align=center| '''uku'''
  |align=center| always
  |- 
  |align=center| '''juda'''
  |align=center| nowhere
  |align=center| '''uda'''
  |align=center| everywhere
  |- 
  |align=center| '''jufen'''
  |align=center| nothing
  |align=center| '''ufen'''
  |align=center| everything
|}


..
..


And a further note ... "I saw a man cutting the grass" is an English clause. I think Dixon analyses "the man cutting the glass" as a complement clause ??? This sees a bit strange to me. The '''béu''' equivalent .... '''bwari bàu katala lazde''' is just analyzed as Verb '''bwari''' ... Object '''bàu''' and Adjective Phrase '''katala lazde'''
The above are obviously eroded forms of '''jú pú''', '''ú pú''', ... etc. etc.


..
..


{| border=1
  |align=center| '''pu.en'''
  |align=center| somebody
  |align=center| '''pu.in'''
  |align=center| anybody
  |- 
  |align=center| '''kyu.en'''
  |align=center| sometime
  |align=center| '''kyu.in'''
  |align=center| any time
  |- 
  |align=center| '''da.en'''
  |align=center| somewhere
  |align=center| '''da.in'''
  |align=center| anywhere
  |- 
  |align=center| '''fenen'''
  |align=center| something
  |align=center| '''fenin'''
  |align=center| anything
|}


== ..... Feŋgi==
..


..
The above are obviously eroded forms of '''pú èn''', '''pú ín''' etc. etc. They are all two syllable words, and of course as two syllable words lack tone.


The '''feŋgi''' or particles are too diverse to say anything meaningful about them here. We will learn them one by one as we go though the ten chapters.
The words in the first column above can be made plural by adding '''yè''' ... '''pu.in yè''' = some people, '''kyu.en yè''' = sometimes, etc. etc.


..
..


But just to fill out this section a bit,  I will give you two sets of pronouns. One set being the pronouns in their unmarked form'''*''' and the other ... the pronouns in their ergative form'''**'''.
'''upu''' and '''ufen''' can be followed by '''uwe''' to show that the group is acting (or undergoing an action) collectively.  


Here, for a transitive clause, "that which initiates the action" is called the A argument, and "that which is affected by the action" the O argument. Also, for an intransitive verb, the noun is called the S argument. It is convenient to make a distinction between all three cases. I follow RMW Dixon in using this terminology.  
'''a?awe''' can be added to show that the group is acting (or undergoing an action) individually.


In most languages the S argument is marked the same way as the A argument. However in some languages the S argument is marked the same way as the O argument. These are called ergative languages. '''béu''' is one of these ergative languages. About a quarter of the world languages are ergative or partly ergative.  
..


Below are the '''béu''' pronouns for the S and O arguments. This form can be considered the "unmarked form".  
== ..... Olus==


..
..


{| border=1
'''olus''' can mean "noun". It can also mean "noun phrase" (NP).
  |align=center| me
  |align=center| '''pà'''
  |align=center| us
  |align=center| '''wìa'''
  |align=center| inclusive
  |-
  |align=center|
  |align=center|
  |align=center| us
  |align=center|  '''yùa'''
  |align=center| exclusive
  |-
  |align=center| you
  |align=center| '''gì'''
  |align=center| you
  |align=center| '''jè'''
  |-
  |align=center| him, her
  |align=center| '''ò'''
  |align=center| them
  |align=center| '''nù'''
  |-
  |align=center| it
  |align=center| '''ʃì'''
  |align=center| them
  |align=center| '''ʃì'''
    |}


..
Whereas '''kenʒi''' refers to countable nouns, '''olus''' is the term used for uncountable nouns (also called mass nouns).


NOTE ... Pronouns differ from nouns in that their tones change between the ergative and the unmarked form. For a normal noun it is sufficient that -'''s''' is suffixed. For example ...
The expansion of '''olus''' by various modifiers is quite similar to '''kenʒi''' ...


..


{|
[[Image:SW_091.png]]
|-
! bàu-s ||align=center| glá || timp-o-r-yə
|-
| man-{{small|ERG}} |align=center|woman||align=center| hit-{{small|3SG-IND-PRF}}
|} ==> The man has hit the woman


Of course numbers, '''iyo''' and '''hài''' are not appropriate (quantity slot)


{|
Also the items in the determiner slot are a bit "iffy". For example '''moze dí''' is perhaps '''kài moze dí''' with '''kài''' elided.
|-
! bàu ||align=center| glá-s || timp-o-r-yə
|-
| man ||align=center| woman-{{small|ERG}}|| hit-{{small|3SG-IND-PRF}}
|} ==> The woman has hit the man


..
..


Below are the pronouns in the ergative form.
So ... an example of an  '''olus''' ...
 
'''hoŋko ima wì ?azwo pona''' =  "two cups of warm milk"


..
..


{| border=1
A few hundred words have a dual existence ... in one guise '''olus''' in another guise  '''kenʒi'''.  With final vowel '''e u a o''' or '''i''' (the last one is especially common) they have a collective meaning. For example ...
  |align=center| I
  |align=center| '''pás'''
  |align=center| we
  |align=center| '''wías'''
  |-
  |align=center|
  |align=center|
  |align=center| we
  |align=center| '''yúas'''
  |-
  |align=center| you
  |align=center| '''gís'''
  |align=center| you
  |align=center| '''jés'''
  |-
  |align=center| he, she
  |align=center| '''ós'''
  |align=center| they
  |align=center| '''nús'''
  |-
  |align=center| it
  |align=center| '''ʃís'''
  |align=center| they
  |align=center| '''ʃís'''
    |}


..
..


'''jè''' and '''jés''' are the second person plural forms.
{|
! bodi ||align=center|  ng-o-r
|-
| birds || fly-{{small|3SG-IND}}
|} =>small birds fly ................. [notice the third person singular agreement on the verb]


There is one other pronoun ... the reflexive pronoun '''tí'''. This is always an O argument. Notice that it is the only O argument with a high tone.
..


'''*''' In the Western Linguistic Tradition, these "forms" are called "cases". The English word case used in this sense comes from the Latin casus, which is derived from the verb cadere, "to fall", from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱad-.  The Latin word is a calque of the Greek πτῶσις, ptosis, "falling, fall". The sense is that all other cases are considered to have "fallen" away from the nominative (considered the unmarked form in Latin).
However with a change of the final vowel to '''ai''' these concepts become countable.
 
'''**''' By the way, there are 17 marked forms in '''béu''' ... the ergative being just one of these 17.


..
..


== ..... Word Categories==
{|
! bodai ||align=center|  lail-o-r-a
|-
| a small bird || sing-{{small|3SG-IND-PRES}}
|} => a small bird is singing


..
..


I have heard of people constucting languages and their main aim from the start was to create a language that contained only nouns or only verbs or what have you. I have always considered this a bit silly ... however it appears that I have arrived at such a position myself ... well at least as to the non-derived (basic form) of the words'''*'''.
Which can be made plural by putting a number in front (or one of the other numeratives).


..
..


[[Image:TW_777.png]]
{|
!  bodai ||align=center| uya || lail-u-r-a
|-
|  small bird || three || sing-{{small|3PL-IND-PRES}}
|} => three small birds are singing


..
..


Now the base form of my verbs is the '''maŋga''' which you can consider an "infinitive" or a "verbal noun". "MaSdar" if you will. To get a finite verb [called a "hook word" in '''béu'''] it must go through a derivational process [see Ch 3.1 for more information].  
Here are some more of these concepts treated in this way ...


Now the adjectives are an interesting case. Take for example '''nelau''' "dark blue". This would be translated into English as "dark blue" or "dark blueness" which is a noun. Now in most languages you can identify a part of speech by the environments in which it occurs. For example, in English, the word that follows "the" must either be an adjective or a noun. In '''béu''' there is only ''one'' way to tell if a non-derived word is '''saidau''' as opposed to '''seŋko''' or '''olus''' ... the word '''sowe''' "very" can only follow '''saidau'''.
..


The above is interesting ... but not a big deal. '''saidau''' embraces concepts that are commonly expressed by adjectives in other languages (well there are some languages that have a very restricted set of adjectives ... but a ''typical'' language has a fairly comprehensive invertory of words under the adjective category). '''béu''' treats adjectives in a similar way to Thai ... no difference in form between "blue" and "blueness"'''**'''.
{| border=1
  |align=center| '''yinki'''
  |align=center| crumpet
  |align=center| '''yinkai'''
  |align=left| a young unmarried woman, an attractive girl, a virgin
  |-
  |align=center| '''toti'''
  |align=center| children
  |align=center| '''totai'''
  |align=left| a child
  |-
  |align=center| '''wazbo'''
  |align=center| distance
  |align=center| '''wazbai'''
  |align=left| 3,680 m  (the unit of distance ... the '''béu''' km or mile)
  |-
  |align=center| '''malkufa'''
  |align=center| cabbages
  |align=center| '''malkufai'''
  |align=left| a cabbage
  |-
  |align=center| '''alha'''
  |align=center| flowers
  |align=center| '''alhai'''
  |align=left| a flower
  |}


As a theoretical basis I am following Basic Theory as forwarded by RMW Dixon in his trilogy of the same name. I don't consider '''béu''' to  diverge from Basic Theory. Just some of my categories are sub-categories of Basic Theory categories.
.. [[Image:TW_793.png]]
 
'''*'''We are ignoring grammatical words (often called particles) in this discussion. Actually everyone of them is like its own category ... well when to come to giving rules for usage.
 
'''**'''Well this is not totally true. Just as in Thai you can say "khwaam rew" for speed (literally "quality fast") you can say "quality??" '''saco''' for speed in '''béu'''. But "quality??" is often dropped. It depends on the situation.


..
..


== ... The case system==
Words derived using the suffixes '''mi'''/'''mai''' also pattern with these dual identity words. For example ... '''beumai''' = "somebody with knowledge of the '''béu''' language and/or culture" : '''beumi''' = "the entire body of people with knowledge of the '''béu''' language and/or culture"


..
..


In total there are 17 cases (if you were to include the unmarked case as well the total would be 18). They are called the '''pilamoi'''.
Remember that all collectives take singular pronouns and, if they are A or S arguments, produce an -'''o'''- in slot 1 of the verb (as opposed to -'''u'''-).
 
These are attached to a noun and show the relationship of that noun with respect to the rest of the sentence.


..
..


The word '''pilamo''' is built up from ;-
There is a particle '''k+''', that when put in front of a '''saidau''' or a '''kenʒi''' gives an '''olus'''


'''pila''' (v) = to place, to position, to correctly align
You hear it a lot prefixed to animal names ... like when talking about characteristics which are common to an entire species. For example ...


'''pilamo''' ( n) = the positioner
'''sadu''' "elephant" ... '''k+ sadu''' "the elephants" or "elephants" ... as in '''k+ sadu r jodo jini''' "the elephant is an inteligent animal"


..
'''gèu''' "green" .......... '''k+ gèu''' "the green ones"


Probably the most important case is the ergative (the 11th case). In English it is the order of the verb and the arguments that shows who is the doer and what is the "done to". Namely the A and S argument come before the verb and the O argument after ...  [ English is a non-ergative language and hence the A and S argument get treated in the same way.]


In '''béu''', to show who is the doer and what is the "done to", the suffix -'''s''' is appended to the A argument. For example ...
{|
|-
! k+ sadu || r || jodo || jini
|-
| elephant-kind || {{small|COP}} || animal || clever
|}


..
Note ... '''k+''' is in free variation with '''kài''' "sort/type/kind"


'''glás bàu timporyə''' => The woman has hit the man ..... (with "the man" being the O argument)


'''glá bàus timporyə''' => The man has hit the woman ...... (with "the man" being the A argument)
'''**''' Birds smaller than pidgeons are '''bodai'''. Birds that are pidgeon size and above are '''jwado''' ... '''jwado''' is '''kenʒi'''.
 
'''bàu doikora''' => The man is walking ........................... (with "the man" being the S argument) ... [ '''béu''' is an ergative language and hence the O and S argument have the same form.]


..
..


[[Image:TW_745.png]]
== ..... Saidau==


..
..


The '''pilamoi''' are either realized as either affixes or as prepositions.  
The '''saidau''' (adjective) has two uses in '''béu'''. It can either be part of a NP or it can be a copular complement. For example ...


Whether the '''pilamoi''' appears as an suffix or a preposition depends on '''seŋko''' '''*''' ... if '''seŋko baga''', then the affix is used ... if '''seŋko kaza''', then the preposition is used.  For example ...
'''bàu gèu''' = a/the green man


'''nambodua''' = beyond the house
'''bàu r gèu''' = a/the man is green


'''dùa nambo yó yinkai hauʔe''' = beyond the house of the pretty girl
'''gèu''' above is a simple adjective. Adjective phrases exist as well.


'''*''' or in other words, if the NP is only one word one uses the suffix, and if the NP is more than one word one uses the preposition }
An important particle that increases the degree of an adjective is  '''sowe'''. For example ... '''gèu sowe''' "very green"


..
..


[[Image:TW_563.png]]
These adjectives can become nouns by froning them with '''ə''',  '''kə''' and '''kuwai'''.


[[Image:TW_731.png]]
'''ə gèu''' = a/the green one


[[Image:TW_682.png]]
'''kə gèu''' = a/the green ones


[[Image:TW_658.png]]
'''kuwai gèu''' = greenness


[[Image:TW_568.png]]  
 
[ NOTE : I don't think the schwa is visually distinct enough. From now on I will use a plus sign to depict the schwa ]




'''+ gèu''' = a/the green one


Note on the script ... If they are realized as affixes then, in the '''béu''' script uses a sort of shorthand. That is the affix is represented as one letter.
'''k+ gèu''' = a/the green ones


..
'''kuwai gèu''' = greenness


Earlier we have seen that when 2 nouns come together the second one qualifies the first.


However this is only true when the words have no '''pilamo''' affixed to them.  If you have two contiguous nouns suffixed by the same '''pilamo''' then they are both considered to contribute equally to the sentence roll specified. For example ...
OK ... that's better.


'''jonos jenes solbur moze''' = "John and Jane drink water"


In the absence of an affixed '''pilamo''', to show that two nouns contribute equally to a sentence (instead of the second one qualifying the first) the particle '''lé''' should be placed between them. For example ...
'''+''' and '''k+''' are historically derived from '''?à''' "one" and '''kài''' "type". Actually they are in free variation with their historical counterparts ... a bit like "either" in English can have two pronounciations. When you want to emphasize, you would of course use the phonetically heavier version.


'''jenes solbori moʒi lé ʔazwo''' = "Jane drank water and milk"
'''kuwai''' is a word meaning  property/characteristic.


'''jonos jenes bwuri hói sadu lé léu ʔusʔa''' = John and Jane saw two elephants and three giraffes.
Actually these 3 words are also productive with "locatives" and "genitives" as well. For example ...


[ Compare the above two examples to '''á jono jene solbori moze''' = Jane's John drank water ... i.e. The John that is in a relationship with Jane, drank water ]
'''+ pobomau''' = the one on top of the mountain


This word is that is never written out in full but has its own symbol. See below ...
'''+ yó jene''' = the one belonging to Jane


..
..


.. As parts of speech
[[Image:TW_918.png]]


..
..


'''pilamoi''' of location phrases (i.e. nouns with 1 -> 8 or 15) can be considered adjectives if they come after a noun and adverbs if they come after a verb. They must come after a noun or a verb. Sometimes they come after the copula<sup>*</sup>. In this case they are adjectives. Now often the copula is dropped ... but if this dropping results in any ambiguity it can be readily "undropped".
The above chart shows the main derivational pathways in '''béu'''. Only pathways 2, 3, 4 are relevent to this section.


'''pilamoi''' of motional phrases (i.e. nouns with 13, 14, 16 or 17) can be considered adverbs. They can come in any position because it is understood that they are qualifying the verb.
..
 
'''pilamo''' phrases defining sentence rolls (i.e. nouns with 9, 10, 11 or 12) can come anywhere. They are considered nouns.


<sup>*</sup> [ Notice that in English, you can either say ... "a bird is in the tree" or "in the tree is a bird"
Note ... '''+ gèu sowe''' = "a/the very green one" ...  '''sowe''' never modifies a '''senko'''.


In '''béu''' only '''jwado r ʔupaiʔe''' is valid ... also note that in this case '''jwado''' is not definite because it is left of the verb. That rule doesn't work with the copula. ]
By the way ... determiners and relative clauses can also stand by themselves, but they are unmodified when they do so. (Note to self : are you sure about this ?)


..
..


== ... Questions==
== ..... Pila?o==


..
..


English is quite typical of languages in general and has 8 content question words ... "which", "what", "who", "whose", "where", "when", "how" and "why".
In total there are 17 cases plus the unmarked case (the absolutive case). The absolutive is not called a case in the '''béu''' linguistic tradition : instead it is called "noun base"


[ Note ... there was also a "whom" until quite recently ]
These 17 cases are called '''pila?o'''.


These are the most profound words in the English language. (When I say "profound" I am talking about "time depth" ... these words are very very old)
These are attached to a noun and show the relationship of that noun with respect to the rest of the sentence.


However these question words have over the mellenia been sequestered to support other functions. For example "who" can  be used to ....
..


1) Solicit a response in the form of a persons identity
The word '''pila?o''' is built up from ;-


2) As a relativizer particle ... for example ... "The man who kicked the dog"
'''pila''' (v) = to place, to position, to correctly align


3) As a complement clause particle ... for example ... "She asked who had kicked the dog"
'''pila?o''' (n) = the positioner


4) In the compound "whoever" which is an indefinite pronoun.
..


Only in the first example is "who" asking a question.
Probably the most important case is the ergative (the 11th case). In English it is the order of the verb and the arguments that shows who is the doer and what is the "done to". Namely the A and S argument come before the verb and the O argument after ...  [ English is a non-ergative language and hence the A and S argument get treated in the same way.]


..
In '''béu''', to show who is the doer and what is the "done to", the suffix -'''s''' is appended to the A argument. For example ...
 
'''béu''' is quite rich when it comes to question words. It has ten  ...  


..
..


{| border=1
'''glás bàu timporI''' => The woman hit the man ............... (with "the man" being the O argument)
  |align=center| '''nén nós'''
  |align=center| what
  |-
  |align=center| '''mín mís'''
  |align=center| who
  |-
  |align=center|  '''láu'''
  |align=center| "how much/many"
  |align=center| ....... appears to the left of a noun or adjective
  |-
  |align=center| '''kái'''
  |align=center| "what kind of"
  |align=center| ....... appears to the right of a noun
  |-
  |align=center| '''dá'''
  |align=center| where
  |-
  |align=center| '''kyú'''
  |align=center| when
  |-
  |align=center| '''sái'''
  |align=center| why
  |-
  |align=center|  '''nái'''
  |align=center| which
  |align=center| ....... appears to the right of a noun
  |-
  |align=center|  '''ʔai?'''
  |align=center| "solicits a yes/no response"
  |align=center| ... always utterance final
  |-
  |align=center|  '''ʔala'''
  |align=center| which of two
  |align=center| ... between the two sentence elements ... one must be chosen
  |}


..
'''glá bàus timporI''' => The man hit the woman ................. (with "the man" being the A argument)


If you hear any of these words you know you are being solicited for some information. These words have no other function apart from asking questions. [ ??? ]
'''bàu tìah doikori''' => The man walked home ........................... (with "the man" being the S argument) ... [ '''béu''' is an ergative language and hence the O and S argument have the same form.]


..
..


Notice that there is no one word for "how" in the above table. This is expressed by the 2-word expression '''wé nái''' "which method".
[[Image:SW_063.png]]
 
On the other hand, '''béu''' has single words where English requires the 2-word expression "how much" and the 3-word expression "what kind of"


..
..


'''nós''' and '''mís''' are the ergative equivalents to '''nén''' and '''mín''' (the unmarked words). The dative forms are '''í nén''' and '''í mín'''.
There is a regular relationship between preposition and affix, apart from (11) which is highly irregular, (16) which is irregular and (17) which is very slightly irregular. When suffixes they all are usually written using a single consonant. No confusion can arise as normally consonants are illicit word finally. However there is no abbreviated forms for (15) and (17). Of the 17 consonants, ? and n are not involved in these abbreviations.


..
..


English is among the 1/3 of world languages which fronts a question word. [ see http://wals.info/feature/93A#2/25.5/151.2 ] '''béu''' fronts 5 of its 10 question words ... '''nén mín sái dá''' and '''kyú'''.
The '''pila?o''' are either realized as either affixes or as prepositions.  
 
Now '''láu kái''' and '''nái''' are stuck within'''*''' their NP  (refer back to the diagram in the section titled '''seŋko''') and the elements in a NP are fixed. Well it is possible that '''láu''' could come sentence initial but not '''kái dá''' and '''nái''' as they are positioned to the right of the mandatory head.


[ Actually '''dá''' can appear inside a NP ... where it refers to the position of the noun OR it can be outside the NP ... in which case it refers to where the action takes place ]
Whether the '''pila?o''' appears as an suffix or a preposition depends on whether you have a N (noun) or a NP (noun phrase). If you have N the affix is used, if you have NP the preposition is used.


As for the other 2 question words ... '''ʔai?''' always come sentence final ...  and '''ʔala''' comes between two elements of the same class (these elements subject to the usual ordering rules)
'''tiadua''' = beyond the house


Here are some examples of these words in action ...
'''dùa tìa yó yinkai hauʔe''' = beyond the house of the pretty girl


..
..


Statement ... '''bàus glán nori alha''' = the man gave the woman flowers
[[Image:TW_940.png]]


Question 1 ... '''mís glán nori alha''' = who gave the woman flowers ?
[[Image:SW_092.png]]


Question 2 ... '''í mín bàus nori alha''' = the man gave flowers to who ?
[[Image:SW_093.png]]


Question 3 ... '''nén bàus glán nori''' = what did the man give the woman ?
[[Image:SW_094.png]]


Question 4 ... '''í glá nái bàus nori alha''' = the man gave the flowers to which woman ?
[[Image:TW_568.png]]


Question 5 ... '''á bàu nái glán nori alha''' = which man gave the woman flowers ?


Question 6 ... '''alha kái bàus glán nori''' = what type of flowers did the man give the woman ?


Question 7 ... '''láu alha bàus glán nori''' = how many flowers did the man give the woman
Note on the script ... If they are realized as affixes then, in the '''béu''' script uses a sort of shorthand. That is the affix is represented as one letter.


Question 8 ... '''bàus glán nori alha ʔala cokolate''' = Did the man gave the woman flowers or chocolate ?
..


Question 9 ... '''bàus glán nori alha ʔai?''' = Did the man gave the woman flowers ?
Earlier we have seen that when 2 nouns come together the second one qualifies the first.


Question 10 . '''ʔír doika ʔala jaŋka''' = Do you want to walk or run
However this is only true when the words have no '''pila?o''' affixed to them. If you have two contiguous nouns suffixed by the same '''pila?o''' then they are both considered to contribute equally to the sentence roll specified. For example ...


..
'''jonos jenes solbur moze''' = "John and Jane drink water"


Occasionally you hear '''nenji''' or '''minji''' as questions. These are just '''nén''' + '''jì''' and '''mín''' + '''jì''' => "for what" : "for who". The expected answer to both these questions is a NP.
In the absence of an affixed '''pila?o''', to show that two nouns contribute equally to a sentence (instead of the second one qualifying the first) the particle '''lé''' should be placed between them. For example ...


"how" is expressed as '''wé nái''' which means "which way" or "which manner"
'''jono lé jene maumur''' = "John and Jane sleep"


'''*''' These 4 words often stand alone. But when they do, they are still considered within a NP ... only that the rest of the NP has been dropped.
Compare the above two examples to '''jono jene maumor''' = "Jane's John sleeps" ... that is "the John that is in a relationship with Jane, sleeps".


..
..


== ... Question words => Particles==
.. As parts of speech


..
..


The norm is for a language to have 7 = > 10 question words. Questions are usually short and simple. For example ... "<u>where</u> is he ?"
'''pila?o''' of location phrases (i.e. nouns with 1 -> 8 or 15) can be considered adjectives. They must come after a noun or a verb.


Now where in the above question has the meanings ...
'''pila?o''' of motional phrases (i.e. nouns with 13, 14, 16 or 17) can be considered adverbs. They can come in any position because it is understood that they are qualifying the verb.  


a) A place
'''pila?o''' phrases defining sentence rolls (i.e. nouns with 9, 10, 11 or 12) can come anywhere. They are considered clause arguments.


b) The speaker doesn’t know which place
----


c) This is a question … answer me !
(Note to self : move the below to a different section)


Now it is not surprising that these simple questions get enbedded longer constructions. For example ... "she asked <u>where</u> is he"
<sup>*</sup> [ Notice that in English, you can either say ... "a bird is in the tree" or "in the tree is a bird"


Now in the above ... longer construction, (c) does not apply : it is not a sentence. However (a) and (b) still apply.
In '''béu''' only '''jwado r ʔupaiʔe''' is valid ... also note that in this case '''jwado''' is not definite because it is left of the verb. That rule doesn't work with the copula. ]


Now there is a tendency to add an element to disambiguate the question word from the indefinite. In English this has been done by adding -"ever".
----


Hence we get constructions like ... "you can go wherever you want"
'''jenes solbori moʒi lé ʔazwo''' = "Jane drank water and milk"


Now the above construction is useful ... "wherever you want" is a place, but it is not specified as such ... a bit like a variable in mathematics.
'''jonos jenes hecuri sadu ima lé ʔusfa uya''' = John and Jane saw two elephants and three giraffes.


This derivation of a indefinite from a question word, while not universal, is very very common .... [ see http://wals.info/feature/46A#2/28.3/152.6 ]
This word is that is never written out in full but has its own symbol. See below ...


I wanted to reflect this feature in '''béu'''. However I did not want to add an element to the question word to derive the indefinite as the indefinite is as useful and as common as the question word. So I settled on having (some) indefinites the same as question words, differing only by tone.
..


In the previous section we listed 10 question words. Of these 10, I have given 6 an equivalent indefinite word.
== ..... Maŋga==


..


{| border=1
These are verbs. In particular '''maŋga''' = "the infinitive form of the verb" or "verbal noun". They call it "maSdar" in Arabic.
  |align=center|  '''láu'''
  |align=center| "how much/many"
  |align=center|  '''làu'''
  |align=center| as, so
  |-
  |align=center| '''kái'''
  |align=center| "what kind of"
  |align=center| '''kài'''
  |align=center| like, as
  |-
  |align=center| '''dá'''
  |align=center| where
  |align=center| '''dà'''
  |align=center| where
  |-
  |align=center| '''kyú'''
  |align=center| when
  |align=center| '''kyù'''
  |align=center| when
  |-
  |align=center| '''sái'''
  |align=center| why
  |align=center| '''sài'''
  |align=center| because of
  |-
  |align=center|  '''nái'''
  |align=center| which
  |align=center|  '''nài'''
  |align=center| "relativizer"
  |}


..
I shall call it "base verb".


=== ... nài===
In the BLT ('''béu''' linguistic tradition) the base verb is considered "dead" or "inactive". Only when a suitable "tail" is added does it become "alive" or "active".  


..
So "finite verb" is called '''maŋga ?algu'''. The infinitive form of the verb is simply  '''maŋga'''


In English, one of the functions of "who" is as a relativizer ... a particle that introduced a relative clause. For example ....
(By the way ... '''?algu''' = alive) ... the next Chapter is all about  '''maŋga ?algu'''.


"The man who ate the chicken got sick"
..


Also in English, one of the functions of "that" is as a relativizer. For example ....
In '''béu''' the base verb is a noun. This is different to most languages in the world. In most languages, verbal nouns are derived from verbs. For example ... destroy => destruction : verb => noun whereas in '''béu'''. For example ... '''twá''' : "a/the meeting" => '''twarua''' : "I intend to meet".
 
"The chicken that was eaten must have been off"


..
..


In '''béu''' there is only one relativizer, which is '''nài'''.  
English is very chaotic as to the various means it derives nouns from verbs. For example ... "discover" + "y" => the discovery ... "destroy" + "tion" => the destruction ... "run" + '''∅''' => a/the run. Whereas '''béu''' is as orderly as it is possible to get.  


'''nài''' takes case affixes the same way that a normal noun would. For example ...
OK ... lets get started ...


pi ... the basket '''naipi''' the cat shat was cleaned by John.
'''solbe''' = "to drink"


la ... the chair '''naila''' you are sitting was built by my grandfather.
Now the '''manga''' can amalgamate with other elements. For example ...


... mau / goi / ce / dua / bene / komo ...
'''solbe saco''' = "to drink quickly" or "drinking quickly"
 
tu ... '''báu naitu ò''' is going to market is her husband = the man with which she is going to town is her husband ... '''kli.o naitu''' he severed the branch is rusty


ji ... The old woman '''naiji''' I deliver the newspaper, has died.
...and adding more elements ...


-s ... '''báu nàis timpori glá_rò  ʔaiho''' = The man that hit the woman is ugly.
'''solbe moze sacois*''' = "to drink the water quickly" or "drinking the water quickly"


wo ... The boy '''naiwo''' they are all talking, has gone to New Zealand.
'''solbe moze sacois''' and  '''solbe saco''' are examples of '''maŋguma''' ('''maŋga''' plus the augmentive  -'''uma''')


-n ... the woman '''nàin''' I told the secret, took it to her grave.
Actually a  '''maŋguma''' can get as involved as a clause can. With arguments to the left of the head considered definite and arguments to the right, indefinite. But there is one difference. The ergative argument is marked by the particle '''hí''' rather than '''há''' or -'''ta''' or -'''s'''.


fi ... the town '''naifi''' she has come is the biggest south of the mountain.
so adding even more elements ...


?e ... '''nambo naiʔe''' she lives is the biggest in town = the house in which she lives is the biggest in town
'''hí jono solbe moze sacois hí jono''' = "John drinking the water quickly" or "for John to drink the water quickly".


-lya ... the boat '''nailya''' she has just entered is unsound
This is as involved as I will go. But note that other clausal elements ( dative object, time, adverb, instrument, reason, purpose) can be added. As in normal clauses there is a tendancy to add them to the RHS.  


-lfe ... the lilly pad '''nailfe''' the frog jumped was the biggest in the pond.
Now the '''maŋguma''' is basically a noun ... as is '''kenʒi''' and '''olus'''. And as with '''kenʒi''' and '''olus''' more modifiers can be added.


..
..


The relativizer '''nài''' always follows a noun or a pronoun.  The third person pronouns plus relativizer are shown below ...  
[[Image:SW_095.png]]I don't know the '''béu''' name for this. Actually I don't know the English name for this.


'''ʃì nài'''  :  '''ʃís nài'''    :  '''ò nài'''    :    '''ós nài'''  :    '''nù nài''' :  '''nús nài'''
The items in the determiner slot are quite rare compared to '''kenʒi''', but they are licit. There can be nothing in the quantity slot or the ownership slot.


In English we have what is called a headless relative clause. '''béu''' does not have this. An English headless relative clause would be translated using one of the six forms above. For example ...
The "number + '''wì'''" modifier is quite rare. It means "so many iterations of the action". For example ...


'''ʃì nài bw-r r ʃì nài m-r''' = "what you see is what you get"
'''uya wì hí pà solbe moze''' = (the) three times I drank water


..
..


There are 5 nouns that are associated with 5 of these above question word / indefinite pairs. '''làus''' = amount, quantity : '''kàin''' = kind, sort, type : '''dàs''' = place : '''kyùs''' accasion, time : '''sàin''' = reason, cause, origin
Adjectives can be a bit confusing. For example '''saco''' "quick" would be used immediately after '''maŋga'''. But if not immediately after '''maŋga''' but within the '''maŋguma''', it should take the form '''sacois''' (-'''is''' being the adjective => adverb suffix). But is it is outwith the '''maŋguma''' in the quality slot it will be '''saco'''. Got it ?
 
These 5 nouns are never followed by '''nài'''. The table below is interesting. It shows the logical equivalence of a hypothetical expession (on the LHS) and the logical equivalent actually used (on the RHS).


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'''*làus nài''' => '''làu'''  
In the example we are using '''sacois''' "quickly" can be taken out of the heart, and placed in the '''senko''' phrase as '''saco'''. In the adjective slot of course.


'''*kàin nài''' => '''kài'''  
In a similar vain you have a choice as to where to put a locative. A locative can be placed in the locative slot or it can be placed in '''maŋguma'''. No change of form for the locative ...


'''*dàs nài''' =>  '''dà'''
'''solbe moze sacois tiapi hí jono''' = '''solbe moze sacois hí jono tiapi''' = "John drinking the water quickly in the house" = "for John to drink the water quickly in the house".


'''*kyùs nài''' => '''kyù'''
OK ... so much for '''maŋguma'''.
 
'''*sàin nài''' => '''sài'''


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There are two adjectives associated with these question word / indefinite pairs. '''laubo''' meaning "enough" and '''kaibo''' meaning "suitable".
Now we have already introduced the  '''pila?o'''. The '''pila?o''' are totally compatible with '''kenʒi'''. Nearly totally compatible with '''olus'''. However only two '''pila?o''' fit in with '''maŋga'''. These are '''pila?o''' 2 and 9 ... '''là''' and '''tú'''. When fitted to '''maŋga''' they produce an adjective and an adverb respectively.


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=== ... sài ===
We'll talk about and adverbial construction first ...


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'''tore doikatu''' = "he/she came on foot" or  "he/she came by walking"


'''sài''' = because of
'''tore tú doika saco''' = "he/she came by walking quickly"


'''dari solbe sài ò''' = I started to drink because of her  ..................................................  '''sài ò'''  can be considered an adverb of reason.
Notice that the particle '''tú''' acts as it normally does and appends to the end of a single word, but stands alone to the left of a multi-word phrase.
 
Note ... '''sài''' means "because of" ... '''sài gò''' means "because"


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=== ... kyù ===
And the adjectival constuction ...


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'''kyù''' = when
'''toili gìn naru kyù twairu''' = I will give you the book when we meet ............................  '''kyù twairu'''  can be considered an adverb of time


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=== ... dà ===
{|
|-
! bàu || doika-la
|
| man || walk-{{small|1SG-IND-PRES}}
|}


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{|
|-
! bàu || r  ||doika-la
|
| man || {{small|COPULA} ||walk-{{small|P2}}
|}


'''dà''' = where
Also '''là''' appears often in conjunction with '''manga'''


'''pà twahu dà yildos twaire''' = meet me where we met in the morning ...............................  '''dà yildos twaire'''  can be considered an adverb of place.
The '''là'''-constuction acts as an adjective. An adjective meaning "XXX-ing" at the (relevant ???) moment of speech". As with all adjectives it can either be part of a NP or it can be a copular complement. For example ...


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'''bàu doikala''' = a/the walking man


=== ... kài ===
'''bàu r doikala''' = a/the man is walking .... [Note ... '''bàu r doikala''' means exactly the same as '''bàu doikora''']


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'''là''' differs from most other '''pila?o''' in that, with a '''manga''', it never stands alone. For example ...


'''kài''' = like, as .... means "in the manner specified" and is used in front a clause.
'''bàu doikala sacois''' = a/the quickly walking man .... [Note ... the affix -'''is''' is appended to '''saco''' to show it is connected to '''doika''' and not '''bàu'''] instead of '''*bàu là doika saco'''


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In a '''là'''-constuction, everything has the same order as a MP ... the only difference is that -'''la''' is appended to the '''manga''' and '''hí''' XXX is dropped. Well  '''hí''' XXX represents the A argument and the A argument is the thing being described by the '''là'''-constuction, so no need to exist inside the construction.


1) [ John smokes '''kài''' a chimney ]
This '''là'''-constuction can be called the present participle. The present participle has the meaning "in the process of XXXing".For example ...


2) [ She will use deceit as before ]
'''doika''' "to walk" =>  '''doikala''' "in the process of walking"


3a) '''gì r gombuʒi kài jono''' = you are argumentative like John
'''kata''' "to cut" => '''katala''' "in the process of cutting".


3b) '''gì r làu gombuʒi jonowo''' = "you are as argumentative as John"
When derived from a transitive verb the object can be included as well. For example '''katala lazde''' "in the process of cutting the grass".


4) [ The kidnappers released him as agreed ]
[ Note ... '''bàu katala lazde''' "the man cutting the grass" means the same as '''bàu nàis katora lazde''' "the man who is cutting the grass" ... however the first is nearly always preferred ... well it is shorter ]


5) '''tomo r kài jono''' = Thomas is like John
[ Also note ... '''pà r katala lazde''' means the same as '''(pás) katara lazde''' ... however the second is nearly always preferred ... well it is shorter ]


6) '''tomos kludor kài jonos''' = Thomas writes like John ............................................................. all the above  can be considered adverbs of manner.
O arguments (in an equivalent active clause) can be modified by the '''là'''-construction as well. For example ... '''lazde jwola kata''' "grass being cut" ... '''jwola kata''' being classed as an adjective phrase ('''jwòi''' meaning "to undergo").


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Note ... all the above should be actually two clauses but because of truncation ... [ a chimney ] <= [ a chimney smokes ] ... [ before ] <= [ she used deceit before ] ...  [ John ] <= [ John is argumentative ] ...  [ agreed ] <= [ all parties agreed ] ... [ John ] <= [ John is ] ... these constructions often appear as if only a NP follows '''kài'''.
'''maŋga''' ... as well as appearing as arguments in a clause. That is S, A, O, CS and CO, also appear as complements to auxiliary verbs.


Usually for particles that can either be followed by a NP or a clause, I add '''gò''' after the particle when a clause follows. This is to prevent errors in comprehention. For example '''jì''' means "for" and is followed by a NP (usually a person). I have '''jì gò''' meaning "in order that" ...  '''jì gò''' being followed by a clause. In '''béu''' the first word of a clause is often a noun. If I had '''jì''' meaning "in order that" there might be misunderstanding (albeit temporary). English does this also in many constructions [ I should go into this more fully ??? ]. Of course I could have a totally different particle for "in order that" but I wanted to emphasis the semantic overlap between these to constructions.
One such auxilliary is '''tuma''' meaning "to squeaze" or "to force". [ when it means "to squeaze" it is followed by a '''kenʒi''' and is acting as a normal verb, when it means "to force" it is followed by a '''manga''' and is acting as an auxiliaryl verb ]


But there is no chance of misunderstanding when '''kài''' is heard ... it is always followed by a clause. Even in (5) what we have is a clause. The clause is '''jono r''' (with the '''r''' dropped). Actually '''kài''' means "in the manner or roll specified" ... the last bit added to include cases like (5).


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In these constructions, there is a very strong tendency (almost a rule) that the '''maŋga''' is on RHS of  '''maŋguma'''. However if an ergative (A) argument is present, that element can instead be on RHS. Also a very strong tendency fot the O aurgment to directly follow the '''maŋga'''. There is a fairly strong tendency for the S argument to directly follow the '''maŋga'''.  


Note ... '''kài''' can not be followed by an adjective.
So ...


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Thomas forced John to hit Jane => '''tomos tumori timpa jene hí jono''' or '''tomos hí jono timpa jene'''


=== ... làu ===
Thomas forced Jane to walk => '''tomos tumori doika jene'''


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[By the way ... as an example of '''tuma''' being a normal verb ... '''tomos jwuba komo jene tumori''' = Thomas squeazed Jane's left buttock ]
 
'''làu''' means "to such an extent or degree" and is used in front of adjectives. The below are all single clauses.


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7) '''jono r làu bòi jenewo''' = "john is as good as jane"
Two other examples of '''maŋga''' with auxilliary verbs (why not) ...


8) '''tomo r làu''' fat _ '''plùa bù blòr doika''' = "thomas is so fat that he can not walk"
1) ... '''mbe''' = to hold ..... '''lelpa''' = to sing, singing ..... '''jenes mbor lelpa bòi''' = Jane can sing well. ['''lelpai''' = a song ?]


9) '''ʔazwo pona làu hói hoŋko''' = two cups of hot milk  
2) ... '''glù''' = to depart ... '''timpa''' = to hit, hitting ... '''jonos glori timpa jene''' = John stopped hitting Jane


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There are three main usages for this particle. The three examples above demonstrate these three usages.
One notable use of the '''maŋga''' is emphasis, where the '''manga''' is used right next to the same word in '''r'''-form. For example ...
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To say something like "john is as good at writing as jane" you have to use '''ʔà''' (or '''ʔàbis''') ... see the next section.
{|
|-
! daw-o-r-u || dàu
|-
| die-{{small|3SG-IND-FUT}} || death
|} = He/she will die a death => He/she will die for sure


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Note that 3) and 8) do not mean the same thing ... '''kài''' defines a multi-characteristic concept (thing or action) while '''làu''' specifies position'''*''' on a uni-characteristic scale. ['''*''' or "degree" or "amount"]. So '''làu''' introduces only a quantity and '''kài''' intruduces a quality or manner.
{|
|-
! lay-o-r-i || lái
|-
| live-{{small|3SG-IND-PAST}} || life
|} = He/she lived a life => He/she had a full life


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[[Image:TW_621.png]]
{|
|-
! maum-a-r-i || mauma
|-
| sleep-{{small|1SG-IND-PAST}} || sleep
|} = I slept a sleep => I had a deep and satisfying sleep


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I find the above table interesting. It is skewed ... OK '''pí wé nài''' ("in the manner that") can be used but it hardly ever is. Usually '''kài''' = "in the manner that". Why is it skewed ? My answer is ...
Now '''maumori mauma''' and '''daw.oru dàu''' are strange. Normally both verbs are strictly intransitive. But here there are transitive. Seemingly sometimes '''béu''' allows


"For everyone the most important things around them are other people. And the most important "attribute" of a person is "how" they behave."
a) intransitive => transitive
b) A argument => absolutive form
c) O argument = '''maŋga'''


Hence '''kài''' has supplanted '''pí wé nài'''.
'''pà maumari mauma''' is the answer to '''mìn maumari mauma'''  
 
Also notice that any adjective outwith a NP has to be introduced by the copula, hence '''sàu kài''' instead of simply '''kài'''.


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Note ... '''nù r làu jutu saduwo''' and '''nù r jutu kài sadu''' do not mean the same thing ...  '''nù r làu jutu saduwo''' would be said when you have one specific '''sadu''' "elephant" in mind.
'''*''' Another way to say this is '''solbe saco moze**'''  


So '''nù r làu jutu saduwo''' => "they're as big as the elephant" ... '''nù r jutu kài sadu''' would be said when you are talking about elephants in general. So => "they're as big as elephants"
'''**''' If '''saco''' doesn't immediately follows the '''manga''', it must be explicitly tagged as an adverb by the -'''is''' suffix. The exact same rule as for (finite)clauses.


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----
Note ... "I saw a man cutting the grass" is an English clause. I think Dixon analyses "the man cutting the glass" as a complement clause ??? This sees a bit strange to me. The '''béu''' equivalent .... '''hecari bàu katala lazde''' is just analyzed as Verb '''hecari''' ... Object '''bàu''' and Adjective Phrase '''katala lazde'''
 
----


===  ... The same or not the same===
== ..... Feŋgi==


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'''ʔài''' = "same"
The '''feŋgi''' or particles are too diverse to say anything meaningful about them here. We will learn them one by one as we go though the ten chapters.


'''bù ʔài''' = "different"
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Note ... for "the other", NP before the verb : for "another", NP after the verb)
But just to fill out this section a bit,  I will give you two sets of pronouns. One set being the pronouns in their unmarked form'''*''' and the other ... the pronouns in their ergative form'''**'''.


1a) ''' jono lé jene sùr ʔài bèn ''' = "John and Jane are the same" ... logically the ''' bèn ''' is unnecessary, but it is often included ... euphony.
Here, for a transitive clause, "that which initiates the action" is called the A argument, and "that which is affected by the action" the O argument. Also, for an intransitive verb, the noun is called the S argument. It is convenient to make a distinction between all three cases. I follow RMW Dixon in using this terminology.  


1b) '''jono r ʔài jenewo''' = "John is the same as Jane"
In most languages the S argument is marked the same way as the A argument. However in some languages the S argument is marked the same way as the O argument. These are called ergative languages. '''béu''' is one of these ergative languages. About a quarter of the world languages are ergative or partly ergative. The ergative system ...


The above two examples are ambiguous as to whether John and Jane are the same w.r.t. one characteristic or the same w.r.t. all characteristic.
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2a) '''jono lé jene r ʔài jutuwo''' = "John and Jane are the same size"
{|
|-
! bàu || lé || glá || maum-u-r-i
|-
| man || and || woman||align=center| sleep-{{small|3PL-IND-PAST}}
|} ==> The man and the woman slept


2b) '''*jono r ʔài jenewo jutuwo''' = "John is the same as Jane, sizewise" = "John is the same size as Jane"


The above is not allowed ... there is a rule saying that you can't have two consecutive -'''wo''' endings. So 2b) has to be re-assembled as ...
{|
|-
! bàu-s ||align=center| glá || timp-o-r-i
|-
| man-{{small|ERG}} || align=centre|woman|| hit-{{small|3SG-IND-PAST}}
|} ==> The man hit the woman


'''jono r làu jutu jenewo''' .... see Ch2.11.1


[Note '''jutuwo''' is derived from '''jutumiwo''' but the '''mi''' "ness" is invariably dropped.
{|
|-
! bàu ||align=center| glá-s || timp-o-r-i
|-
| man ||align=centre| woman-{{small|ERG}}|| hit-{{small|3SG-IND-PAST}}
|} ==> The woman hit the man


'''ʔàibis''' = similar
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'''ʔài dù''' = exactly the same
Below are the '''béu''' pronouns for the S and O arguments. This form can be considered the "unmarked form".


'''ʔaimai''' = similarity
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'''lomai''' = difference
[[Image:SW_119.png]][[Image:SW_108.png]]


To say something like "John is as good at writing as Jane" we can not say '''*jono r làu bòi jenewo kludauwo''' [ ??? ] [ two consecutive -'''wo''' no good ? ]
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You must use a sort of topic comment construction.


'''wo kludau bòi_jene r ʔài jonowo''' or '''wo kludau bòi_jene lé jono r ʔài '''
'''mpau''' includes the listener in the "we", '''pài''' excludes the listener from the "we" and '''jè''' indicates a plural "you".


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The proper way to use '''?o''' is to use it for all non-humans. But in actually practice, some people might "elevate" the status of a family pet and call it '''òn''' or '''ʃì'''.


=== ... Good, Better, Best===
'''onde''' is used for "they" when they are all male, '''ʃide''' is used for "they" when they are all female, '''ʃinde''' is used for "they" when they are mixed, and '''?ode''' is used for "they"when they are all non-human.


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'''làu''' is part of a larger paradigm ... the comparative paradigm ... demonstrating with the help of '''bòi''' ("good")  ...
Below are the '''béu''' pronouns for the A argument  ... the "ergative form".


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{| border=1
[[Image:SW_120.png]]
  |align=center| >>>
  |align=left| '''boimo'''
  |align=left| best
  |-
  |align=center| >
  |align=left| '''boige'''
  |align=left| better
  |-
  |align=center| =
  |align=left| '''làu bòi'''
  |align=left| as good
  |-
  |align=center| <
  |align=left| '''boizo'''
  |align=left| less good
  |-
  |align=center| <<<
  |align=left| '''boizmo'''
  |align=left| least good
  |}


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The top and the bottom items are the superlative degree and so have no "standard of comparison".
NOTE ... Pronouns differ from nouns in that their tones change between the ergative and the unmarked form. For a normal noun it is sufficient that -'''s''' is suffixed. For example ...


The fourth one down is used less frequently than the second one down. This is because its sentiment is sometimes expressed by negating the third one down. For example ...
From now on I will call the ergative form the '''s'''-form, and the unmaked form the base form.


'''gì bù r làu bòi pawo''' = "you're not as good as me" can be used instead of  '''gì r boizo pawo''' "you are less good than me"
..


[ actually '''gì r boizo pawo''' would be the normal way to express this sentiment. But '''gì bù r làu bòi pawo''' would be used, for example,  as a retort to "I'm as good as you" ]
There is one other pronoun ... the reflexive pronoun '''tí'''. This is always an O argument. Notice that it is the only O argument with a high tone.
 
The superlative forms are found as nouns more often than as adjectives. That is '''boimo''' and '''boizmo''' are rarer than '''boimos''' and '''boizmos'''. (see table below)


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'''boimos''' =  the best : '''bàu boimo''' = the best man
'''*''' In the Western Linguistic Tradition, these "forms" are called "cases". The English word case used in this sense comes from the Latin casus, which is derived from the verb cadere, "to fall", from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱad-. The Latin word is a calque of the Greek πτῶσις, ptosis, "falling, fall". The sense is that all other cases are considered to have "fallen" away from the nominative (considered the unmarked form in Latin).  
 
'''boizmos''' = the least good : '''bàu boizmo''' = the least good man
 
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[ you are argumentative like John but you are even worse ] ... explain this more
'''**''' By the way, there are 17 marked forms (cases) in '''béu''' ... the ergative being one of these.


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Latest revision as of 21:00, 26 June 2020

TW 415.png

..... The 5 basic word types

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All words are derived from these 5 basic types. Actually the fengi "particle" have so many subtypes (often single particles are a subtype to themselves) that it is a bit of a fudge to say that béu has 5 basic types. Maybe more honest to say that béu has 4 groups of words and the behaviour (syntactically) of any word in these 4 groups depends on which group it is in.

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1) fengi = particle ... this is a sort of "hold-all" category for all words (and affixes) that don't neatly fit into the other categories. Interjections, numbers, pronouns, conjunctions, determiners and certain words that would be classed as adverbs in English, are all classed as fengi.

By the way ... all affixes are counted as a type of fengi.

An example is wò .. the preposition indicating the oblique case.

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2) kenʒi = an object

An example is bàu ... "a man"

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3) olus = material, stuff

An example is moze ... "water"

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4) saidau = adjective

An example is nelau ... "dark blue"

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5) manga = a verb in its base form (citation form). When used "actively" it will take its r-form, u-form or i-form.

An example is twá meaning "to meet" or "a meeting" (the concept of "meet" disassociated from any arguments, tense, aspect or whatever).

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SW 062.png

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..... Kenʒi

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kenʒi can mean "noun". It can also mean "noun phrase" (NP).

.

Probably the most "basic" of the basic 5 ... tangible and discrete.

The noun can take six types of modifiers. These six types must come in a certain order ...

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SW 070.png

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In the above diagram, an descending arrow followed by a bar indicates a closed set. A descending arrow by itself indicates an open set. Branching arrows indicate multiple possibilities.

The head of the NP can be referred to as kenʒita. Usually it is called this by lay people and by linguists when the concept is first brought up. However, thereafter it is usually referred to as húa meaning "head".

kenʒita is kenʒi plus the diminutive suffix. kenʒi can also take the augmentative suffix -uma. kenzuma "extended noun phrase" is a normal kenʒi, with either a relative clause (RC) appended to the right or a partitive appended to the left hand side

The words highlighted in red convert the noun phrase (or indeed the sentence in which the NP is embedded) into a question. A blue circle indicates the only mandatory element. But even these elements can be dropped on occasion ... when they are understood from context or the preceding conversation. When we have one adjective, and the head is understood, ɘ can be substituted for the head, kɘ if the head is plural.

ɘ gèu = a/the green one : kɘ gèu = a/the green ones

These two particles can also be used with other noun modifiers, however not always mandators with non-adjective modifiers.

ɘ nái = which one : kɘ nái = which ones

kɘ dí = these ones : ɘ dè = this one

However nái, dí and dè can constitute NP's by themselves. A bit like English

Looking at the chart above might give you a false impression of béu noun phrases. The number of modifiers within a noun phrase is usually only one or two. When there is two, they must occur in a certain order, hence the necessity of the chart above. I don't think it would be easy to process a noun phrase with six modifiers, probably some of them would be shunted off into a RC with an initial copula. A noun phrase can take multiple RC's. They can stand beside each other in a sort of apposition.

I should make one further point here. The particles ú "all" and jù "no" can appear to the left of the head. They can also appear in the quantity slot.

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... Quality

..

More than one adjective is allowed in this slot. For example ... bàu gèu tiji = the little green man

kái meaning "what type" can also appear in this slot. In which case it turns the whole noun phrase (or sentence) into a question. For example ...

bàu gèu kái = what kind of green man ? ... (NP question)

há bàu gèu kái glà timpori = what kind of green man hit the woman ? ... (sentence question)

Now when you have multiple adjectives they will have a certain order depending upon their sub-category.

This is the same as English ... for example, you always say "the third big black dog" and never "the black third big dog".

béu uses the exact same order as in English but the other way around.

béu has two adjectives that come in this slot that are worth mentioning. They might have claims to particle-hood, but I guess their appearance in this slot marks them as adjectives. No reason that they can't be both.

1) ... ló = "other"

The semantics of this word remind me of the semantics of tuge/jige. With the relative quantifiers the speech participants have agreed on the number/amount relevant to the situation. tuge/jige are used to change this value. Similarly ló is used in a situation where the speech participants have agreed on the population (of whatever noun category) under consideration but one of them wants to expand this population.

2) ... laubo = enough

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... Quantity

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This slot is very interesting ...

SW 071.png

The above chart is split into definite and vague sections. All the items under definite represent an integer (or "the empty set" or "the full set"). The items under vague represent an approximate number/amount. This section is further divided into discrete and non-discrete (i.e. countable.non-countable).

yè modifies both discrete and non-discrete. It means a moderate amount ... some value between zero and "all". It does NOT mean "indefinite" ... "some man" is bàu èn, not *bàu yè.

This word can be used to mark plurality (together with iyo and hài) for those nouns that can not be pluralized in themselves. For example ... húa, "head" : húa yè, "heads".

jí jí and jía are about equally common and mean the same thing. However jía tends to be used in more formal situations and jí jí in less formal.

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láu (how many) can appear in this slot. In which case it turns the NP (and hence the clause containing the NP) into a question. For example ...

bàu jutu láu = "How many men are big ?" or "How many big men ?" ???????????

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The chart above shows only the terms used for absolute quantity ????????????????? It does not cover, what I call relative quantity. Let me explain ...

Imagine the speaker and the hearer both have an idea of the number/amount relevant to a situation but one of them wants to change this number/amount. The amount he wants to change this agreed number/amount by, I call the relative quantity. It can be positive or negative. When positive we use the word tuge "more" ... when negative we use the word jige "less" *. For example ...

turi waudo tuge = more dogs came

t-u-r-i waudo tuge
come-3PL-IND-PST dog more

These to particles can be modified by some (most) of the terms given in the chart above. They can be modified by any of the terms hi-lighted in orange.

Sw 060.png

For example ... bía tuge ima = two more beers please"

Note : actually jía and tundu are not applicable to kenʒi. They are only applicable to olus

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* These words might be derived somehow from jutu "big" and tiji "small" ... along with the comparative suffix -ge **.

The comparative suffix can be appended to any adjectives. For example ... jini "clever" => jinige "cleverer" : hau?e "beautiful" => hau?ege "more beautiful"

There is also a superlative suffix ... -mo. So jinimo "cleverest" amd hau?emo "most beautiful"

** There is an independant word gé which might be related to the comparative suffix. It is a particle that always comes in twos. For example ... gé tundu ... gé bói "the more the merrier".

Sometimes you coma across bù tuge "no more". This should be analysed as a contraction of bù ?ár tuge "I don't want more".

*** Perhaps wóin is related to the verb gwói "to pass by" plus the past participle -in.

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... Ownership

..

Basically you can just stick a personal name, a pronoun or any NP in here and the head noun will be considered owned by the object inserted here.

Sometimes, the particle yó precedes the object inserted.

For example jwado gèu yó jene = Jane's big green bird

Note that the particle yó is usually dropped when the possessor is next to the head. However as other elements intervene, the likelihood that yó is used increases.

If mín (who) is stuck in this slot ... then we have a question. For example ...

jwado gèu yó mín = Whose big green bird ? = Whose's the big green bird ?

There can be ambiguity with some kenʒi possessing a genitive. For example ...

Does waudo bàu dí mean "the dog of this man" or "this dog of the man" ?

To get around this, we have a special rule ...

"If anything is in the ownership slot, dí and dè never appear in the determiner slot. Instead they appear as dían "here" and dene "there" in the locative slot"

Note ... sometimes ownership as such is not what is of interest, it is if a person has actual physical possession. In this case yó is not used. But the object takes pila?o 2.

jwado gèu là Long John Silver catora = The big green bird (on Long John's shoulder presumably) is chatting away.

Actually segments showing actually physical possession like the example above, go in the locative slot which we will cover next.

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... Location

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Ordinal numbers appear in this slot. The ordinal numbers are ...

SW 066.png

You will notice that there are two words for first ... da?a and dahua. They are both equally common, but da?a tends to occur in the presence of dima or duya while dahua tends to occur in the presence of dauci.

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Proper locatives comprise a noun plus one of the 9 pila?oi .... pi la mau goi ce do bene komo ni. For example ...

duzu pobomau = The oryx on the mountain

Also pila?o 14 turns up in this slot. These items are strictly not giving information about "location" but rather "origin". They are classed as a locatives nevertheless. For example ...

bàu glazgofi = a/the man from Glasgow

If the location consists of more than one word, the usual rule applies and the pila?o appears as a preposition ...

duzu máu pobo jutu = The oryx on the big mountain

There is a tendance that the longer the locative item, the more likely the locative item will be shunted into a relative clause ...

duzu nài r máu pobo hau?e jutu = The oryx on the big beautiful mountain

nài r máu pobo hau?e jutu is a relative clause. We will cover RC's in a bit.

All prepositions that are not pila?o lead to the location being shunted into a relative clause. For example ...

polga?o nài r fiagan gwai = "the sailing boat which is among the islands" or simply "the sailing boat among the islands"

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Also dá "where" can appear in this slot. In which case it turns the noun phrase into a question. For example ...

bàu gèu dá = where is the green man ?

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Addendum ... To keep things simple I refrained from mentioning this before but time can also be expressed in this slot. For example "the turmoil jé 1300's". Actually location AND time can both be in this slot at the same time. For example "the anger pí Iceland jé 1950's ...".

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* Probably derived from uci "tail".

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... Determiner

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There are five of these ... dí (this), dè (that), nái (which), èn (some) and ín (any) . For example ...

dí and dè are called demonstratives in the WLT. They will be covered in the section after next.

nái turns the whole noun phrase into a question. For example ...

bàu gèu tiji nái = which little green man ? ... noun phrase question

And of course, if a NP represents a question, any clause containing this NP will also be a question. For example ...

bàu gèu tiji nái glà timpori = which little green man hit the woman ? ... a clause AND a question

èn "some" appear in this slot ... bàu gèu tiji èn = "some little green man" ...... indefinite

ín "any" appear in this slot ... bàu gèu tiji ín = "any little green man" .............. super indefinite

There is one little rule to remember ...

"Only one item is allowed in this slot, so if you want an indefinite as well as a demonstrative, the demonstrative is shunted off to the locative slot and given the form dían or dene."

I guess this is logical in a way. dí and dè were originally associated with pointing. But when the object is indefinite, how can you point ? "here" or "there" is about as definite as you can get.

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... Side-note re demonstratives

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dí "this" and dè "that" are two words that orientate and focus the hearer's attention on an object (or location *) in the speech situation. These words are called demonstratives in the WLT.

According to Holger [ Diessel (1999:57) ] ...

i) A demonstrative can be construed as an argument in its own right. That is, it can constitute a NP without any additional elements.

ii) A demonstrative can co-occur with a noun in a NP. That is, it can be a noun modifier.

iii)* A demonstatives can function as a verb modifier. It specifies (the) location (where something happens **).

* Perhaps in a more earlier version of the WLT "location" and (iii) would not be included in the definition of determiner. English and béu conform to this earlier version of the WLT. However I think it is a good idea when considering all the world's languages, to use this wider definition of "demonstrative".

"**" Perhaps in a language where a copula is not routinely used "where something happens" would not necessarily be appropriate.

And here are examples of the above three functions (in English) ...

a) This is excellent.

b) That guy is an idiot.

c) Here we do things differently.

Diachronically, these three functions can run into each other. Function (a) and function (b) are particularly close. They have the exact same form in English, but no confusion can occur, because "this/that:b" can be deduced to be inside a NP by the rules of English grammar. Most languages in the world (70%) have identical forms for "this/that:a" and "this/that:b". Of the languages that do not have identical forms, the difference can be quite subtle. For example in Thai นี่ [ nii falling tone ] is "this:a" and นี้ [ nii high tone ] is "this:b". ........... [see WALS 42A]

Some languages lack (a). For example, in Korean, to express "this:a" you must say "ce il" meaning "this thing". So (b) used instead of (a)

Some languages lack (b). They would say something like "the guy here" instead of "this guy". So (c) instead of (b)

Some languages lack (c). They would say something like "this place we do things differently" instead of "here we do things differently". So (b) instead of (c.)

[ And while we are talking on this area, perhaps we should mention 3rd person pronouns (see WALS 43A). Some languages lack 3rd person pronouns. They cover this function by saying something like "this" or "that guy" ... A further point of interest (well, I find it interesting anyway) is that the English he and here are cognates. Going back to a P.I.E. form meaning (a) or (b). -r was a ProtoGermanic adverbial suffix. ]

béu patterns pretty much like English (and the pattern of English is not atypical of the world's languages) ...

dí = "this:a" : dè = "that:a"

dí = "this:b" : dè = "that:b"

dían = "this:c" (i.e. "here") : dene = "that.c" (i.e. "there")

I was originally thinking of just appending the béu adverbial suffix -is to produce (c). But rejected that idea in order to get more phonological contrast between ...

(A) "this:c" and "that.c", (B) "this/that:a/b" and "this/that:c"

With dían there is a hint that it might be derived from dí plus pila?o 15. And also with dene ... a hint that it might have the same origin. But who can tell. These things are lost in the mists of time.

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... Further uses of dí and dè

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If we first hear a plural noun articulated in a conversation, the most likely meaning we would assigned to it would be the universal set. For example moltai.a. There is a more explicit means to express the universal set. For example ... kài moltai = "doctor.kind" but this construction is seldom used.

An example of usage is ... moltai.a súr jini = "doctors are clever"

OK ... now lets zoom in a bit. To zoom in we need to take in or give out some narrative. So now we hear the following ....

Next week British junior doctors will withhold many services in protest against the long hour expected of them

OK ... after hearing that ... moltai.a dè would be taken to mean "British junior doctors"

OK ... lets hear a further bit of narrative ...

Much to the disgruntlement of the senior doctors who will have a hard week ahead of them making up for the short fall.

OK ... after hearing that ... moltai.a dè would be taken to mean "British senior doctors". So, what dè refers to doesn't persist long, Our perspective is continually changing.

[ I can't help thinking that the proximate/obviate system existing in Plains Cree would be very useful. You could keep track of two protagonists through a discourse without reverting to full NPs. But I guess there are cognative reasons why it is difficult to use. Well, if it was easy to use, it would be far more wide-spread. It must be very useful. ]

This is in normal discourse. However if some objects are physically pointed out * when first introduced (and presumably they stay in sight for the duration of the discourse) what dí and dè referred to would persist.

So we can see that dè points back in time. It brings to the top of consciousness, the last set of doctors talked about.

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In a narrative many objects are encountered. If a newly introduced object is marked by dí it means that the object is important to the narrative and you will shortly be getting more information about it. The process is not exactly the inverse of anaphora. But one is compatible with "information given in the past leading to easy identification of which object in particular we are talking about. The other is compatible with "in the near future I will give you information about this object and you will be able to identify which object in particular I am talking about as well as I can"

béu and English are exactly the same in this respect.

* Not necessarily by using a finger ... a gesture with the head ... or even the orientation of the eyes can suffice.

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..... Kenzuma

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béu also has what I call an extended noun phrase. An extended noun phrase is a normal NP with either a partitive appended to the LHS, or a RC appended to the RHS.

The example below shows an extended noun phrase kenzuma with both a partitive AND an RC ...

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SW 090.png


uya wì yiŋkai ofa nài tunheu-h doik-u-r-a
..... three of girl five REL townhall-DAT walk-3PL-IND-PRES

..... Three of the five girls that are walking to the townhall.

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... The relative clause

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The béu relative clause is pretty similar to the English relative clause. However not exactly so.

A relative clause is a clause that modifies a NP of course. I think the best way to explain how the béu RC works is to give three examples. Each example will demonstrate a subtype of RC. In each example I will reconstitute the plain clause (PC) underlying the RC by looking at the NP and the RC.

(1)

yiŋkai ofa nài doik-u-r-a
the girl five REL walk-3PL-IND-PRES

=> the five girls who are walking

NP = yiŋkai ofa : RC = nài doikura => PC = yiŋkai ofa doikura "five girls are walking" ....... notice that nài is binned.

In the above PC yiŋkai is absolutive.

(2)

bàu nài-h glá-s fy-o-r-i yiŋkai-wo
the man REL-DAT women-ERG tell-3SG-IND-PAST girl-ABOUT

=> the man to whom the woman told about the girl

NP = bàu : RC = nàih glás fyori yiŋkaiwo => PC = bàuh glás fyori yiŋkaiwo ............ notice that nài is again binned. Also -h has to find some other word to stick on to.

In the above PC bàu is dative.

(3)

gwai.a nài polg-ai-r-a fía ?ode
the islands REL sail-1PL.INC-IND-PRES between them

=> "the islands that we are sailing between"

NP = gwaia : RC = nài polgaira fía ?ode => PC = polgaira fía gwaia ...................... nài is again binned. Also ?ode is discarded. The NP must be positioned behind fía, the preposition that governs it.

In the above PC gwaia is not absolutive, also not adorned by a pila?o. Instead it exists in a prepositional phrase. For this reason, a pronoun ?ode is needed in the RC to represent the NP

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I believe that Arabic structures its RC in a similar way to the above.

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OK ... you should all be experts in RC's now. You just run backward the 3 NP + RC => PC processes.

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This is discussed in greater detail in CH5.

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... The partitive

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A few sections back I mentioned ló ... the béu equivalent to "other/others/the other/another/the others".

ló is used where the speech participants have agreed on the population (of whatever noun category) under consideration but one of them wants to expand this population.

This expansion is a bit like "a shot in the dark", the speech participant requesting additional items usually is in the dark as to that additional items are available. Because of this, there is only one word ló. I mean, if the speech participant requesting additional items had an idea about what additional items were available, he could add more detail along with his request. Perhaps we would have donu meaning "another with a bell", doni meaning "another with a whistle" ... well O.K. I am being a bit facetious ... but you understand what I am getting at.

Now ló is used to expand the population under consideration ... to increase the scope of the conversation ... to sort of "zoom out".

Now sometimes it is necessary to "zoom in". For instance suppose you heard "three of the doctors decided to stop off at the pub on the way home" within larger narrative. After this point, these three doctors could be referred to as they. The main-protagonists/subject/topic have been reduced from eight to three. Zooming in is not a shot in the dark. The population under consideration is a known concept. The usual method is to specify the "new scope" plus the "original scope" in some sort of construction. The languages of the world all have methods for zooming in ... usually some quite simple construction, often involving a particle which has evolved from "from"/"out of". wì is the particle used in béu. Some examples of its use ...

ú wì moltai = all of the doctors

yè wì moltai = some of the doctore = several of those doctors = a number of those doctors

jù wì moltai = none of the doctors

tontu wì moltai dí = the majority of these doctors

a?a lú tuge wì moltai dè more = one or more of those doctors

hài wì moltai dè = many of those doctors

ima ín wì moltai dè = any two of those doctors

moltai wì bawa dí = the doctors out of these men

[ Note ... ú wì moltai = "all of the doctors" is pretty similar to ú moltai and moltai ú ... similarly these expressions with jù. Nothing really to worry about. You have similar flexibility in many languages (including English). Perhaps ú wì moltai stresses that no "zooming" is happening. Perhaps ú moltai is used for generic statements such as ú moltai r jini "all doctors are clever". Perhaps moltai ú is used in non-generic statements such as moltai ú ture tìa pà "all the doctors came to my home this morning" ] ..

I suppose the nearest equivalent of wì is "of". However wì has not so many functions as "of". For "belonging to", yó is used. For "relating to"/"connected with". wò is used.

[Still thinking if wì should be involved with "a glass of milk"/"a heart of gold"]

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Pronouns are used in partitives in the same way as NP's.

a?a wì pài = "one of us"

ima wì onde = "two of them"

há ima wì onde glá timpura = "two of them are hitting the woman"

[ I guess English is a bit stange w.r.t. plural pronoun. I mean ... why not "*two of they are walking" {following the pattern "they are walking"} instead of "two of them are walking" ]

Two other numeratives that we haven't mentioned yet are tontu "the majority"/"most" and tonji "the minority".

ton = bit/part/section ... tontu <= ton jutu ... tonji <= ton tiji ... toŋko = to seperate ???

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... 16 useful little words

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jupu nobody upu everybody
juku never uku always
juda nowhere uda everywhere
jufen nothing ufen everything

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The above are obviously eroded forms of jú pú, ú pú, ... etc. etc.

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pu.en somebody pu.in anybody
kyu.en sometime kyu.in any time
da.en somewhere da.in anywhere
fenen something fenin anything

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The above are obviously eroded forms of pú èn, pú ín etc. etc. They are all two syllable words, and of course as two syllable words lack tone.

The words in the first column above can be made plural by adding yè ... pu.in yè = some people, kyu.en yè = sometimes, etc. etc.

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upu and ufen can be followed by uwe to show that the group is acting (or undergoing an action) collectively.

a?awe can be added to show that the group is acting (or undergoing an action) individually.

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..... Olus

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olus can mean "noun". It can also mean "noun phrase" (NP).

Whereas kenʒi refers to countable nouns, olus is the term used for uncountable nouns (also called mass nouns).

The expansion of olus by various modifiers is quite similar to kenʒi ...


SW 091.png

Of course numbers, iyo and hài are not appropriate (quantity slot)

Also the items in the determiner slot are a bit "iffy". For example moze dí is perhaps kài moze dí with kài elided.

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So ... an example of an olus ...

hoŋko ima wì ?azwo pona = "two cups of warm milk"

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A few hundred words have a dual existence ... in one guise olus in another guise kenʒi. With final vowel e u a o or i (the last one is especially common) they have a collective meaning. For example ...

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bodi ng-o-r
birds fly-3SG-IND

=>small birds fly ................. [notice the third person singular agreement on the verb]

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However with a change of the final vowel to ai these concepts become countable.

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bodai lail-o-r-a
a small bird sing-3SG-IND-PRES

=> a small bird is singing

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Which can be made plural by putting a number in front (or one of the other numeratives).

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bodai uya lail-u-r-a
small bird three sing-3PL-IND-PRES

=> three small birds are singing

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Here are some more of these concepts treated in this way ...

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yinki crumpet yinkai a young unmarried woman, an attractive girl, a virgin
toti children totai a child
wazbo distance wazbai 3,680 m (the unit of distance ... the béu km or mile)
malkufa cabbages malkufai a cabbage
alha flowers alhai a flower

.. TW 793.png

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Words derived using the suffixes mi/mai also pattern with these dual identity words. For example ... beumai = "somebody with knowledge of the béu language and/or culture" : beumi = "the entire body of people with knowledge of the béu language and/or culture"

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Remember that all collectives take singular pronouns and, if they are A or S arguments, produce an -o- in slot 1 of the verb (as opposed to -u-).

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There is a particle k+, that when put in front of a saidau or a kenʒi gives an olus

You hear it a lot prefixed to animal names ... like when talking about characteristics which are common to an entire species. For example ...

sadu "elephant" ... k+ sadu "the elephants" or "elephants" ... as in k+ sadu r jodo jini "the elephant is an inteligent animal"

gèu "green" .......... k+ gèu "the green ones"


k+ sadu r jodo jini
elephant-kind COP animal clever

Note ... k+ is in free variation with kài "sort/type/kind"


** Birds smaller than pidgeons are bodai. Birds that are pidgeon size and above are jwado ... jwado is kenʒi.

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..... Saidau

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The saidau (adjective) has two uses in béu. It can either be part of a NP or it can be a copular complement. For example ...

bàu gèu = a/the green man

bàu r gèu = a/the man is green

gèu above is a simple adjective. Adjective phrases exist as well.

An important particle that increases the degree of an adjective is sowe. For example ... gèu sowe "very green"

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These adjectives can become nouns by froning them with ə, kə and kuwai.

ə gèu = a/the green one

kə gèu = a/the green ones

kuwai gèu = greenness


[ NOTE : I don't think the schwa is visually distinct enough. From now on I will use a plus sign to depict the schwa ]


+ gèu = a/the green one

k+ gèu = a/the green ones

kuwai gèu = greenness


OK ... that's better.


+ and k+ are historically derived from ?à "one" and kài "type". Actually they are in free variation with their historical counterparts ... a bit like "either" in English can have two pronounciations. When you want to emphasize, you would of course use the phonetically heavier version.

kuwai is a word meaning property/characteristic.

Actually these 3 words are also productive with "locatives" and "genitives" as well. For example ...

+ pobomau = the one on top of the mountain

+ yó jene = the one belonging to Jane

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TW 918.png

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The above chart shows the main derivational pathways in béu. Only pathways 2, 3, 4 are relevent to this section.

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Note ... + gèu sowe = "a/the very green one" ... sowe never modifies a senko.

By the way ... determiners and relative clauses can also stand by themselves, but they are unmodified when they do so. (Note to self : are you sure about this ?)

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..... Pila?o

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In total there are 17 cases plus the unmarked case (the absolutive case). The absolutive is not called a case in the béu linguistic tradition : instead it is called "noun base"

These 17 cases are called pila?o.

These are attached to a noun and show the relationship of that noun with respect to the rest of the sentence.

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The word pila?o is built up from ;-

pila (v) = to place, to position, to correctly align

pila?o (n) = the positioner

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Probably the most important case is the ergative (the 11th case). In English it is the order of the verb and the arguments that shows who is the doer and what is the "done to". Namely the A and S argument come before the verb and the O argument after ... [ English is a non-ergative language and hence the A and S argument get treated in the same way.]

In béu, to show who is the doer and what is the "done to", the suffix -s is appended to the A argument. For example ...

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glás bàu timporI => The woman hit the man ............... (with "the man" being the O argument)

glá bàus timporI => The man hit the woman ................. (with "the man" being the A argument)

bàu tìah doikori => The man walked home ........................... (with "the man" being the S argument) ... [ béu is an ergative language and hence the O and S argument have the same form.]

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SW 063.png

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There is a regular relationship between preposition and affix, apart from (11) which is highly irregular, (16) which is irregular and (17) which is very slightly irregular. When suffixes they all are usually written using a single consonant. No confusion can arise as normally consonants are illicit word finally. However there is no abbreviated forms for (15) and (17). Of the 17 consonants, ? and n are not involved in these abbreviations.

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The pila?o are either realized as either affixes or as prepositions.

Whether the pila?o appears as an suffix or a preposition depends on whether you have a N (noun) or a NP (noun phrase). If you have N the affix is used, if you have NP the preposition is used.

tiadua = beyond the house

dùa tìa yó yinkai hauʔe = beyond the house of the pretty girl

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TW 940.png

SW 092.png

SW 093.png

SW 094.png

TW 568.png


Note on the script ... If they are realized as affixes then, in the béu script uses a sort of shorthand. That is the affix is represented as one letter.

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Earlier we have seen that when 2 nouns come together the second one qualifies the first.

However this is only true when the words have no pila?o affixed to them. If you have two contiguous nouns suffixed by the same pila?o then they are both considered to contribute equally to the sentence roll specified. For example ...

jonos jenes solbur moze = "John and Jane drink water"

In the absence of an affixed pila?o, to show that two nouns contribute equally to a sentence (instead of the second one qualifying the first) the particle lé should be placed between them. For example ...

jono lé jene maumur = "John and Jane sleep"

Compare the above two examples to jono jene maumor = "Jane's John sleeps" ... that is "the John that is in a relationship with Jane, sleeps".

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.. As parts of speech

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pila?o of location phrases (i.e. nouns with 1 -> 8 or 15) can be considered adjectives. They must come after a noun or a verb.

pila?o of motional phrases (i.e. nouns with 13, 14, 16 or 17) can be considered adverbs. They can come in any position because it is understood that they are qualifying the verb.

pila?o phrases defining sentence rolls (i.e. nouns with 9, 10, 11 or 12) can come anywhere. They are considered clause arguments.

(Note to self : move the below to a different section)

* [ Notice that in English, you can either say ... "a bird is in the tree" or "in the tree is a bird"

In béu only jwado r ʔupaiʔe is valid ... also note that in this case jwado is not definite because it is left of the verb. That rule doesn't work with the copula. ]

jenes solbori moʒi lé ʔazwo = "Jane drank water and milk"

jonos jenes hecuri sadu ima lé ʔusfa uya = John and Jane saw two elephants and three giraffes.

This word is that is never written out in full but has its own symbol. See below ...

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..... Maŋga

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These are verbs. In particular maŋga = "the infinitive form of the verb" or "verbal noun". They call it "maSdar" in Arabic.

I shall call it "base verb".

In the BLT (béu linguistic tradition) the base verb is considered "dead" or "inactive". Only when a suitable "tail" is added does it become "alive" or "active".

So "finite verb" is called maŋga ?algu. The infinitive form of the verb is simply maŋga

(By the way ... ?algu = alive) ... the next Chapter is all about maŋga ?algu.

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In béu the base verb is a noun. This is different to most languages in the world. In most languages, verbal nouns are derived from verbs. For example ... destroy => destruction : verb => noun whereas in béu. For example ... twá : "a/the meeting" => twarua : "I intend to meet".

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English is very chaotic as to the various means it derives nouns from verbs. For example ... "discover" + "y" => the discovery ... "destroy" + "tion" => the destruction ... "run" + ∅ => a/the run. Whereas béu is as orderly as it is possible to get.

OK ... lets get started ...

solbe = "to drink"

Now the manga can amalgamate with other elements. For example ...

solbe saco = "to drink quickly" or "drinking quickly"

...and adding more elements ...

solbe moze sacois* = "to drink the water quickly" or "drinking the water quickly"

solbe moze sacois and solbe saco are examples of maŋguma (maŋga plus the augmentive -uma)

Actually a maŋguma can get as involved as a clause can. With arguments to the left of the head considered definite and arguments to the right, indefinite. But there is one difference. The ergative argument is marked by the particle hí rather than há or -ta or -s.

so adding even more elements ...

hí jono solbe moze sacois hí jono = "John drinking the water quickly" or "for John to drink the water quickly".

This is as involved as I will go. But note that other clausal elements ( dative object, time, adverb, instrument, reason, purpose) can be added. As in normal clauses there is a tendancy to add them to the RHS.

Now the maŋguma is basically a noun ... as is kenʒi and olus. And as with kenʒi and olus more modifiers can be added.

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SW 095.pngI don't know the béu name for this. Actually I don't know the English name for this.

The items in the determiner slot are quite rare compared to kenʒi, but they are licit. There can be nothing in the quantity slot or the ownership slot.

The "number + wì" modifier is quite rare. It means "so many iterations of the action". For example ...

uya wì hí pà solbe moze = (the) three times I drank water

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Adjectives can be a bit confusing. For example saco "quick" would be used immediately after maŋga. But if not immediately after maŋga but within the maŋguma, it should take the form sacois (-is being the adjective => adverb suffix). But is it is outwith the maŋguma in the quality slot it will be saco. Got it ?

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In the example we are using sacois "quickly" can be taken out of the heart, and placed in the senko phrase as saco. In the adjective slot of course.

In a similar vain you have a choice as to where to put a locative. A locative can be placed in the locative slot or it can be placed in maŋguma. No change of form for the locative ...

solbe moze sacois tiapi hí jono = solbe moze sacois hí jono tiapi = "John drinking the water quickly in the house" = "for John to drink the water quickly in the house".

OK ... so much for maŋguma.

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Now we have already introduced the pila?o. The pila?o are totally compatible with kenʒi. Nearly totally compatible with olus. However only two pila?o fit in with maŋga. These are pila?o 2 and 9 ... là and tú. When fitted to maŋga they produce an adjective and an adverb respectively.

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We'll talk about and adverbial construction first ...

tore doikatu = "he/she came on foot" or "he/she came by walking"

tore tú doika saco = "he/she came by walking quickly"

Notice that the particle tú acts as it normally does and appends to the end of a single word, but stands alone to the left of a multi-word phrase.

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And the adjectival constuction ...

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bàu doika-la man walk-1SG-IND-PRES
bàu r doika-la man COPULA} walk-P2

Also là appears often in conjunction with manga

The là-constuction acts as an adjective. An adjective meaning "XXX-ing" at the (relevant ???) moment of speech". As with all adjectives it can either be part of a NP or it can be a copular complement. For example ...

bàu doikala = a/the walking man

bàu r doikala = a/the man is walking .... [Note ... bàu r doikala means exactly the same as bàu doikora]

là differs from most other pila?o in that, with a manga, it never stands alone. For example ...

bàu doikala sacois = a/the quickly walking man .... [Note ... the affix -is is appended to saco to show it is connected to doika and not bàu] instead of *bàu là doika saco

In a là-constuction, everything has the same order as a MP ... the only difference is that -la is appended to the manga and hí XXX is dropped. Well hí XXX represents the A argument and the A argument is the thing being described by the là-constuction, so no need to exist inside the construction.

This là-constuction can be called the present participle. The present participle has the meaning "in the process of XXXing".For example ...

doika "to walk" => doikala "in the process of walking"

kata "to cut" => katala "in the process of cutting".

When derived from a transitive verb the object can be included as well. For example katala lazde "in the process of cutting the grass".

[ Note ... bàu katala lazde "the man cutting the grass" means the same as bàu nàis katora lazde "the man who is cutting the grass" ... however the first is nearly always preferred ... well it is shorter ]

[ Also note ... pà r katala lazde means the same as (pás) katara lazde ... however the second is nearly always preferred ... well it is shorter ]

O arguments (in an equivalent active clause) can be modified by the là-construction as well. For example ... lazde jwola kata "grass being cut" ... jwola kata being classed as an adjective phrase (jwòi meaning "to undergo").

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maŋga ... as well as appearing as arguments in a clause. That is S, A, O, CS and CO, also appear as complements to auxiliary verbs.

One such auxilliary is tuma meaning "to squeaze" or "to force". [ when it means "to squeaze" it is followed by a kenʒi and is acting as a normal verb, when it means "to force" it is followed by a manga and is acting as an auxiliaryl verb ]


In these constructions, there is a very strong tendency (almost a rule) that the maŋga is on RHS of maŋguma. However if an ergative (A) argument is present, that element can instead be on RHS. Also a very strong tendency fot the O aurgment to directly follow the maŋga. There is a fairly strong tendency for the S argument to directly follow the maŋga.

So ...

Thomas forced John to hit Jane => tomos tumori timpa jene hí jono or tomos hí jono timpa jene

Thomas forced Jane to walk => tomos tumori doika jene

[By the way ... as an example of tuma being a normal verb ... tomos jwuba komo jene tumori = Thomas squeazed Jane's left buttock ]

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Two other examples of maŋga with auxilliary verbs (why not) ...

1) ... mbe = to hold ..... lelpa = to sing, singing ..... jenes mbor lelpa bòi = Jane can sing well. [lelpai = a song ?]

2) ... glù = to depart ... timpa = to hit, hitting ... jonos glori timpa jene = John stopped hitting Jane

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One notable use of the maŋga is emphasis, where the manga is used right next to the same word in r-form. For example ...

daw-o-r-u dàu
die-3SG-IND-FUT death

= He/she will die a death => He/she will die for sure

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lay-o-r-i lái
live-3SG-IND-PAST life

= He/she lived a life => He/she had a full life

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maum-a-r-i mauma
sleep-1SG-IND-PAST sleep

= I slept a sleep => I had a deep and satisfying sleep


Now maumori mauma and daw.oru dàu are strange. Normally both verbs are strictly intransitive. But here there are transitive. Seemingly sometimes béu allows

a) intransitive => transitive b) A argument => absolutive form c) O argument = maŋga

pà maumari mauma is the answer to mìn maumari mauma

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* Another way to say this is solbe saco moze**

** If saco doesn't immediately follows the manga, it must be explicitly tagged as an adverb by the -is suffix. The exact same rule as for (finite)clauses.

Note ... "I saw a man cutting the grass" is an English clause. I think Dixon analyses "the man cutting the glass" as a complement clause ??? This sees a bit strange to me. The béu equivalent .... hecari bàu katala lazde is just analyzed as Verb hecari ... Object bàu and Adjective Phrase katala lazde

..... Feŋgi

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The feŋgi or particles are too diverse to say anything meaningful about them here. We will learn them one by one as we go though the ten chapters.

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But just to fill out this section a bit, I will give you two sets of pronouns. One set being the pronouns in their unmarked form* and the other ... the pronouns in their ergative form**.

Here, for a transitive clause, "that which initiates the action" is called the A argument, and "that which is affected by the action" the O argument. Also, for an intransitive verb, the noun is called the S argument. It is convenient to make a distinction between all three cases. I follow RMW Dixon in using this terminology.

In most languages the S argument is marked the same way as the A argument. However in some languages the S argument is marked the same way as the O argument. These are called ergative languages. béu is one of these ergative languages. About a quarter of the world languages are ergative or partly ergative. The ergative system ...

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bàu lé glá maum-u-r-i
man and woman sleep-3PL-IND-PAST

==> The man and the woman slept


bàu-s glá timp-o-r-i
man-ERG woman hit-3SG-IND-PAST

==> The man hit the woman


bàu glá-s timp-o-r-i
man woman-ERG hit-3SG-IND-PAST

==> The woman hit the man

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Below are the béu pronouns for the S and O arguments. This form can be considered the "unmarked form".

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SW 119.pngSW 108.png

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mpau includes the listener in the "we", pài excludes the listener from the "we" and jè indicates a plural "you".

The proper way to use ?o is to use it for all non-humans. But in actually practice, some people might "elevate" the status of a family pet and call it òn or ʃì.

onde is used for "they" when they are all male, ʃide is used for "they" when they are all female, ʃinde is used for "they" when they are mixed, and ?ode is used for "they"when they are all non-human.

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Below are the béu pronouns for the A argument ... the "ergative form".


SW 120.png

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NOTE ... Pronouns differ from nouns in that their tones change between the ergative and the unmarked form. For a normal noun it is sufficient that -s is suffixed. For example ...

From now on I will call the ergative form the s-form, and the unmaked form the base form.

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There is one other pronoun ... the reflexive pronoun tí. This is always an O argument. Notice that it is the only O argument with a high tone.

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* In the Western Linguistic Tradition, these "forms" are called "cases". The English word case used in this sense comes from the Latin casus, which is derived from the verb cadere, "to fall", from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱad-. The Latin word is a calque of the Greek πτῶσις, ptosis, "falling, fall". The sense is that all other cases are considered to have "fallen" away from the nominative (considered the unmarked form in Latin).

** By the way, there are 17 marked forms (cases) in béu ... the ergative being one of these.

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... Index

  1. Introduction to Béu
  2. Béu : Chapter 1 : The Sounds
  3. Béu : Chapter 2 : The Noun
  4. Béu : Chapter 3 : The Verb
  5. Béu : Chapter 4 : Adjective
  6. Béu : Chapter 5 : Questions
  7. Béu : Chapter 6 : Derivations
  8. Béu : Chapter 7 : Way of Life 1
  9. Béu : Chapter 8 : Way of life 2
  10. Béu : Chapter 9 : Word Building
  11. Béu : Chapter 10 : Gerund Phrase
  12. Béu : Discarded Stuff
  13. A statistical explanation for the counter-factual/past-tense conflation in conditional sentences
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