Béu : Chapter 4: Difference between revisions

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== ..... Punctuation and page layout==


The letters in a word are always contiguous, that is there is always a line running right through the word. Writing is firstly from top to bottom and secondly from left to right.


Between words there is a discontinuity (you can not really call it a space). See the figure below ...
db-g7
 
..
 
[[Image:Words-together.png]]
 
..
 
There is only one punctuation mark in '''béu'''. It is called the "sunmark". It is used where a where there is a time gap in the spoken words. This can be a requirement of the grammar. See figure below ...
 
..
 
[[Image:TW_195.png]]
( '''suna''', '''dunu''', '''celai'''' ... or "orange, brown, pink" ... it is a requirement of '''béu''' grammar, that there is a pause between items on a list)
 
..
 
Or it can just be because the speaker must stop to breathe in a bit.
 
Very occasionally you see a symbol as show on the RHS of the above figure. This "double-sun-mark" is used for pregnant pauses (often used for comic effect).
 
In a normal narrative, everything is written in "textblocks". See figure below ...
 
..
 
[[Image:Blocktext.png]]
 
..
 
Textblocks fit in between "rails" about 4 inches apart. The width of a block should be between 60% and 90% <sup>*</sup> of the block height. Of course it is best to start a new block when the scene of the narrative changes or there is some discontinuity of the action, but this is not always possible.
 
There is no way to split a word between two lines (as we can do in the West by using two hyphens). If a line (or should I say column) ends in a "sunmark", the next column will begin with a sunmark.
 
The first text block starts at the top left (as you would expect). The second textblock starts below where the first text block stops. In fact the vertical space between the stop and the start of the two textblocks is equal to the horizontal "interblockspace" (see the figure above).
 
When you come to the end of the page (you will have some sort of margin of course and not go all the way to the edge), you simply continue the block on the LHS of the next rail (or page).
 
There are two sizes for books. For all hardback books the size is about 8 inches by about 11 inches. For all paperback books the size is about 5 inches by about 8 inches. They are stored as shown in the figure below.
 
..
 
[[Image:Books.png]]
 
..
 
Unlike books produced in the West, these books are held with the spine horizontal when being read. The hardback page has two "rails" per page (i.e. three dark lines).
 
On the paperback book, the title is written on the spine and on the front of the book. On the hardback book the title is written on the front, also there is a flap that slides into the spine. However when the book is stored on a shelf, it is pulled out and hangs down. Hence the hardback books can be easily located, even when they are in the bookshelf.
 
In every textblock, one word is highlighted. It is usually a noun and the more iconic the better (for example Elephant or Mouse are highly iconic). This word is highlighted in a red colour. Sometimes an active verb is highlighted. These are highlighted in a green colour. Sometimes an adjective is highlighted ... orange colour. Sometimes an infinitive is highlighted ... pink colour
 
A book will be divided into chapters. A chapter will have a number and usually a title as well. Either at the end of the book or just after the chapter, there will be a page, in which all the highlighted words for a chapter are listed in order. Instead of referencing things by page number, things are reference by chapter and textblock (indictated by the highlighted word(s) ).
 
Any particular word in a book can be reference by 5 parameters ...
 
1) "title of book"
 
2) "title of chapter" (or "number of chapter")
 
3) the textblocks position (i.e. textblock number 5) plus the highlighted word(s)
 
4) the number of the sunmark (the number zero is used if the word being referenced is before the first sunmark
 
5) the number of the word
 
 
Also when direct dialogue is quoted ... the words of the first protagonist is highlighted in yellow ... those of the second in blue ??
 
-----
 
<sup>*</sup> Occasionally very narrow blocks can not be avoided. And of course in mathematical/scientific tracts the tracts are all over the place ... interspersed with diagrams and what have you.
 
== ..... When a noun qualifies another one==
 
A) When the relationship between the nouns is one of ownership (usually a thing owned by a person), the thing comes first and it is followed by the person, with the person taking the '''pilana''' of location.
 
B) When the relationship between the nouns is "part to the whole", with the noun denoting the whole taking the '''pilana''' of location.
 
C) When the relationship between the nouns is a kinship relationship the attribute noun takes the '''pilana''' of location.
 
D) When the relationship between the nouns is of an attribute ( see page 265 ) the attribute noun takes the '''pilana''' of location.
 
F) When the relationship between the nouns is association, the attribute noun takes the '''pilana''' of location.
 
------------
 
E) "above the house" = '''atas nambo''' ... for the same reason, people get their knickers in a twist about this one. However these "locative words" are a bit different as they are hardly ever used alone (maybe in the past they were, that is if '''béu''' had a past). If they are uttered without in isolation these days the invariably have '''ka''' suffixed.
 
M) "cup of water" = cup '''moze''' ... people get their knickers in a twist about this one. "cup" must be the head, but surely water is more important. That is, semantically "water" is the "head" but syntactically "cup" is the head.
Well in the '''béu''' linguistic tradition we get around this by ???
 
Z) There is one more case to talk about. If something is made out something, then we use the preposition '''mò''' meaning "out of". For example ....
 
a cup of gold ???
 
Think about other situations in which we can use this partative case (look at Finnish).
 
== ..... How to bring a word into focus ==
 
Actually there is a way to focused elements in a statement which mirrors the way to focus elements in a question. We use '''cà''' for this.
 
Statement 1) '''báus glaye timpi alhai''' = the man gave flowers to the woman
 
Focused statement  2) '''báus glaye cà timpi alhai''' = It is the woman to whom the man gave the flowers.
 
Any argument or in fact the verb itself can be focused in this way.
 
== ..... How to ask a polar question ==
 
..
 
A polar question is a question that can be answered with "yes" or "no".
 
To turn a normal statement into a polar question (i.e. a question that requires a YES/NO answer), we stick the particle '''ʔái''' on the end of the sentence.
 
'''ʔái''' is neutral as to the response you are expecting.
 
To answer a positive question, YES or NO ( '''ʔaiwa àu aiya''' ) is sufficient.
 
To answer a negative question positively, YES ( '''ʔaiwa''' ) is enough.
 
To answer a negative question negatively, you must give an entire clause.
 
For example ;-
 
Question 1) '''glà (rà) haube ʔái''' = Is the woman beautiful ?  .......... If she is beautiful, answer '''ʔaiwa''', if she isn't answer '''aiya'''.
 
Question 2) '''glà ká haube ʔái''' = Isn't the woman beautiful ? ........ If she isn't beautiful, answer '''ʔaiwa''', if she is answer '''ò rà hauʔe'''. (notice that the copula must be used in this case)
 
The above method questions the entire clause. However if you want to question one element in a clause, then you front that element and have '''ʔái''' immediately after.
 
Statement 1) '''báus glaye kyori alhai ''' = the man gave flowers to the woman
 
Straight question 2) '''báus glaye kyori alha ʔái''' = did the man gave flowers to the woman ?
 
Focused question 3) '''glaye ʔái báus kyori alha''' = Is it the woman that the man gave flowers to ?
 
Focused question 4) '''báus ʔái glaye kyori alha''' = Is it the man that gave flowers to the woman ?
 
Focused question 5) '''alha ʔái báus glaye kyori''' = Is it flowers that the man gave to the woman ?
 
Focused question 6) '''kyori ʔái báus glaye alha''' = the man GAVE flowers to the woman ? (a possible situation ... the speaker has previously thought the woman had stolen the flowers)
 
..
 
== ..... How to ask a content question ==
 
..
 
English is quite typical of languages in general and has 7 content question words ... "which", "what", "who", "where", "when", "how" and "why".
 
A corresponding set of '''béu''' question words are given below.
 
..
 
{| border=1
  |align=center| what
  |align=center| '''fái'''
  |-
  |align=center| who
  |align=center| '''mín'''
  |-
  |align=center| when
  |align=center| '''kyú'''
  |-
  |align=center| where
  |align=center|  '''dea'''
  |-
  |align=center| how
  |align=center|  '''fáu'''
  |-
  |align=center| why
  |align=center| '''mái'''
  |-
  |align=center| how much
  |align=center| '''faili'''
  |-
  |align=center| how many
  |align=center| '''faino'''
  |-
  |align=center| what type of
  |align=center| '''faikai'''
  |}
 
..
 
 
In English as in about 1/3 of the languages of the world it is necessary to front the content question word.
 
In '''béu''' these words are usually also fronted. They must come before the verb anyway. If they come after the verb, they mean "somebody/something", "somewhere" etc. etc.
 
The '''pilana''' are added to the content question words as they would be to a normal noun phrase.
 
Here are some examples of content questions ...
 
Statement 1) '''báus glaye kyori alha''' = the man gave flowers to the woman
 
Question 2) '''mines glaye kyori alha''' = who gave flowers to the woman
 
Question 3) '''báus minye kyori alha''' = to whom did the man gave flowers
 
Question 4) '''báus glaye fái kyori''' = what did the man give to the woman
 
'''lí''' = amount
 
'''nò''' = number
 
5) '''báus ye fái gla ? kyori alha''' = to which woman did the man give the flowers
 
6) '''báus kyori ye á gla alha''' = the man gave flowers to some woman
 
7) '''báus kyori ye gla alha''' = the man gave flowers to a woman
 
 
..
 
== ..... How A O and S arguments are identified==
 
In this section we discuss pronouns and also introduce the S, A and O arguments.
 
'''béu''' is what is called an ergative language. About a quarter of the world languages are ergative or partly ergative. So let us explain what ergative means. Well in English we have 2 forms of the first person singular pronoun ... namely "I" and "me". Also we have 2 forms of the third person singular male pronoun ... namely "he" and "him". These two forms help determine who does what to whom. For example "I hit him" and "He hit me" have obviously different meanings.
 
..
 
In English there is a fixed word order, which also helps to tell who did what to who when the participants are given as nouns instead of pronouns. In '''béu''' the order of the verb and the participants are not fixed as in English.
 
..
 
'''glàs baú timpori''' = The woman hit the man
 
'''glà baús timpori''' = The man hit the woman
 
It can be seen that "'''s'''" is added to the "doer" of the action.
 
..
 
However consider the clause below ...
 
..
 
'''glà doikor''' = The woman walks
 
It can be seen that the "doer" does not have an attached "'''s'''" in this case.
 
The reason is that "to walk" is an intransitive verb while "to hit" is a transitive verb
 
It is the convention to call the doer in a intransitive clause the S argument.
 
It is the convention to call the "doer" in a transitive clause the A argument and the "done to" the O argument.
 
A language that has the S and O arguments marked in the same way is called an ergative language
 
If you like you can say ;-
 
In English "him" is the "done to"(O argument) : "he" is the "doer"(S argument)  and the "doer to"(A argument).
 
In '''béu''' '''ò''' is the "done to"(O argument) and the "doer"(S argument) : '''ós''' is the "doer to"(A argument).
 
..
 
== ..... Transitivity and the useful word "á" ==
 
..
 
In '''béu''' a verb is either transitive or intransitive. There is no "ambitransitive verbs as in English.<sup>*</sup>
 
For example ... in English, you can say ... "I will drink water" or simply "I will drink"
 
The second option is not allowed in '''béu''' ... as "drink" is a transitive verb, you must say "I will drink something" = '''solbaru á'''
 
Well actually you can, the '''á''' can be dropped ... just as easily as the '''pás''' is dropped. The point is that the listener "knows" that there are always 2 arguments. The same can not be said in English when you here "he drinks" ... it could mean that the subject habitually drinks alcohol, in which case we have only one S argument.
 
For another example ... in English, you can say ... "the woman closed the door" or simple "the door closed".
 
The second option is not allowed in '''béu''' ... as "close" is a transitive verb, you must say "something closed the door" = '''pintu nagori ás'''
 
(Actually there is another option for expressing the above ... you can change any transitive verb to an intransitive verb ... '''pintu nagwori''' = "the door was closed"
 
..
 
If an argument is definite in '''béu''' it is usually comes before the verb, and if indefinite it usually comes after the verb.
 
Now the word '''é''' is by definition indefinite. It actually means "somebody" OR "something". What happens if this word is put before the verb.
 
Well something quite interesting happens ... '''é''' changes into a question word meaning "who" or "what"
 
For example ... '''és pintu nagori''' = Who/what closed the door
 
For another example ... "what will I drink"  = '''é solbaru'''
 
And yet another one ... "who drank the water" = '''és moze solbori'''
 
..
 
<sup>*</sup>Actually you can tell the transitivity of a verb (for a word of more than one syllable) by looking at its last consonant. If the last consonant is '''j b g d c s k''' or '''t''' then it is transitive. If it is '''ʔ m y l p w n''' or '''h''' it is intransitive.
 
There is about 300 words that have an intransitive form as well as a transitive form, only differing in their final consonant. The relationship between these final consonants is shown below. '''x''' means "any vowel".
 
 
{| border=1
  |align=center| transitive
  |align=center| intransitive
  |-
  |align=center| '''-jx'''
  |align=center| '''-lx'''
  |-
  |align=center| '''-bx'''
  |align=center| '''-ʔx'''
  |-
  |align=center| '''-gx'''
  |align=center|  '''-mx'''
  |-
  |align=center| '''-dx'''
  |align=center|  '''-yx'''
  |-
  |align=center| '''-cx'''
  |align=center| '''-wx'''
  |-
  |align=center| '''-sx'''
  |align=center| '''-nx'''
  |-
  |align=center| '''-kx'''
  |align=center| '''-hx'''
  |-
  |align=center| '''-tx'''
  |align=center| '''-lx'''
  |}
 
..
 
NB ... '''y''' and '''w''' are usually not allowed to be the second element in a word ... but in these special words, they are.
 
..
 
== ..... Independent specifiers==
 
..
 
'''koiʒi''' actually means "preface" as in "the preface to the book"
 
Also means forewarning or harbinger ... as in "that slight tremor on Tuesday night, was '''koizi''' of the quake on Friday"
 
All words that can occur to the right of the head in a NP are called '''nandaua koiʒi''' or ... when talking about grammar ... usually just '''koiʒia'''
 
These words include the numbers from 1 to 1727, the words "few" and "many", and the words below.
 
..
 
{| border=1
  |align=center| '''jù'''
  |align=center| no
  |-
  |align=center| '''í'''
  |align=center| any
  |- 
  |align=center| '''é'''
  |align=center| some (singular)
  |-
  |align=center|  '''éu'''
  |align=center| some (plural)
  |-
  |align=center|  '''ù'''
  |align=center| all
  |-
  |align=center|  '''yú'''
  |align=center| each/every
  |}
 
..
 
These words can also constitute a NP in themselves. When they do that, the table below gives their translations into English.
 
..
 
{| border=1
  |align=center| '''jù'''
  |align=center| nobody/nothing/none
  |-
  |align=center| '''í'''
  |align=center| anybody/anything
  |- 
  |align=center| '''é'''
  |align=center| somebody/something
  |-
  |align=center|  '''éu'''
  |align=center| some people/somethings
  |-
  |align=center|  '''ù'''
  |align=center| everybody/everything
  |-
  |align=center|  '''yú'''
  |align=center| everybody/everything
  |}
 
..
 
NB ... It should be remembered that '''é''' and '''éu''', in certain circumstances can mean "what" or "who"
 
== ..... More about the '''pilana''' ==
 
==='''-pi''' or '''pì'''===
 
'''meu (rà)''' "basket"'''pi'''
 
While the original meaning was about space, this '''pilana''' is very often found referring to time.
 
I read the book hour'''pi''' => I read the book in an hour
 
I gets dark '''pi''' ten minutes => It get dark in ten minutes
 
She qualified as a doctor '''pi''' five years
 
One can get from Glasgow to London day'''pi'''
 
I'm coming to Sweden '''pi''' next month
 
-------------------
 
'''meu (rà)''' top'''la''' basket'''n''' = The cat is on top of the house
 
'''meu (rà)''' interior basket'''n''' = the cat is in the basket
 
----------------------------
 
==='''-la''' or '''lá'''===
 
mat (rà) floor'''la''' => the mat is on the floor ... notice "the mat"
 
'''twor''' mat floor'''la''' => there is a mat on the floor ... notice "a mat". Also the verb '''two''' is usually sentence initial, at least when introducing something new.
 
'''meu''' (rà) top'''la  nambon''' => The cat is on top of the house
 
Notice that "top'''la nambon'''" is allowed, I should mention this somewhere.
 
 
'''twor ble pàn''' = I have (some) money
 
'''ble twor pàn''' = I have the money
 
'''tworka ble pàn'''  =  I don't have any money .... Note that it is also possible to say '''twor yà ble pàn''', but the first method is definitely preferred.
 
'''ble tworka pàn'''  =  I don't have the money
 
---------------
 
bird '''(rà)''' top '''nambon''' = The bird is above the house
 
Notice that in the above example "top" is considered a specifier ... "top '''nambo'''" forms a tight compound.
 
The eight specifiers of location are above, below, right, left, this side (with respect to the speaker, of course), the far side
 
 
'''yè''' and '''fí''' are not used for locations. Instead the transitive verbs "arrive" and "leave" are used in a SVC.
 
Also the words "come" and "go" covered by "arrive" and "leave".
 
When not talking about location, '''yè''' and '''fí''' are used.
 
For example ...
 
She gave food to the beggar = ...... beggar'''ye'''
 
The beggar got food from the woman = ...... waman'''fi'''
 
Verbs such as hear and tell use these '''pilana''' also.
 
Also such sentences as ...
 
I was made to sing by the guard = I receive sing guard'''fi'''
 
He made the prisoner sing = He give sing prisoner'''ye'''
 
Also such sentences as ...
 
He went from being very rich, to very poor, within six months
 
use '''yè''' and '''fí'''
 
==='''-ye''' or '''yè'''===
 
'''kyiwa toili oye''' = give the book to her
 
This is the '''pilana''' used for marking the receiver of a gift, or the receiver of some knowledge.
 
However the basic usage of the word is directional.
 
'''*namboye''' = "to the house"
 
distance'''ye nambon''' = "as far as the house"
 
"limit"'''ye nambon''' = "up to the house" ... this usage is not for approaching humans however ... for that you must use "face".i.e. "face"'''ye báun''' = right up to the man
 
 
-----------------------
 
'''yèu''' = to arrive  ... '''yài''' a SVC meaning "to start" ... '''fái''' a SVC meaning "to stop" ???
 
-----------------
 
==='''-fi''' or '''fí'''===
 
'''nambofi''' = "from the house"
 
'''fí "direction" nà nambo''' = "away from the house" i.e.you don't know if this is his origin but he is coming from the direction that the house is in.
 
'''fí "limit/border" nà nambo''' = all the way from the house
 
'''fí "top" nà nambo''' = from the top of the house ... and so on for "bottom", "front", etc. etc.
 
he changed frog.'''fi'''  '''ye''' prince handsome = he changed from a frog to a handsome prince
 
-----------------------
'''fía''' = to leave, to depart ... '''fái''' a SVC meaning "to finish"  .... then '''bai''' cound mean continue and '''-ana''' would be the present tense ???
 
-----------------
 
==='''-lya''' or '''alya'''===
 
Sometimes called the "Allative case". Can be said to translate to English as "onto".
 
The '''x''' means that the previous vowel is repeated.
 
'''xxx yyy zzz''' = put the cushions on the sofa
 
-----------------------
 
==='''-lfe''' or '''alfe'''===
 
The ablative
 
==='''-s''' or '''sá'''===
 
that Stefen turned up drunk at the interview sank his chance of getting that job
 
'''sá tá ........ '''
 
==='''-ce''' or '''cé'''===
 
The instrumental is used for nouns that represent the instrument ("with"), the means ("by") or the agent ("by").
 
John writes with a pen
 
banu = to learn
 
banuge = by learning
 
 
 
book was written '''page''' = The book was written by me
 
'''andage''' = manually
 
I work as a translator ??? ... I work '''sàu''' translator ??
 
'''gé ta ... '''
 
==='''-ho''' or '''hò''' ===
 
The commitive
 
"in the company of", often used with the personal pronouns ;-
 
{| border=1
  |align=center| with me
  |align=center| '''paho'''
  |align=center| with us
  |align=center| '''yuaho'''
  |-
  |align=center|
  |align=center|
  |align=center| with us
  |align=center| '''wiaho'''
  |-
  |align=center| with you
  |align=center| '''giho'''
  |align=center| with you (plural)
  |align=center| '''jeho'''
  |-
  |align=center| with him, with her
  |align=center| '''oho'''
  |align=center| with them
  |align=center| '''uho'''
  |-
  |align=center| with it
  |align=center| '''ʃiho'''
  |align=center| with them
  |align=center| '''ʃiho'''
    |}
 
-----------------------
'''tùa''' = to use, to wear ... '''tàu''' a SVC meaning ??
 
==='''-ji''' or '''jí'''===
 
The benefactive. Sometimes used with '''gomia'''
 
banu = to learn, banuji = in order to learn
 
==='''-wo''' or '''wó'''===
 
Not used for the locative sense of about, it has the sense "with respect to" more. Used for example when have the word '''halfa''' = to laugh.
 
1) '''pà halfari''' = I laught
 
2)  '''pà halfari jonowo''' = I laught at John
 
Is 2) a transitive verb ? Semantically transitive maybe ... but (in English and in '''béu'''), John is introduced by a preposition ... so I guess 2) is not transitive ???
 
2)  '''pà halfari jonoye''' = I taunted John
 
Used for marking the "theme" as in such sentences as the one below.
 
'''gala caturi jonowo''' => The women were talking about John
 
'''jonowo''' ... = as for John ....
 
==='''-n''' or '''nà'''===
 
The locative or the possessive. Basically if the noun is human, it is the possessive : if the noun is non-human, it is locative.
 
'''nambo jonon (rà) hauʔe''' = John's house is beautiful
 
'''jono (rà) nambon''' = John is at home
 
==Index==
 
{{Béu Index}}

Latest revision as of 00:28, 4 December 2015

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