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| == ..... When a noun qualifies another one==
| | {{Deletion|Staigard|Well I have moved all the data somewhere else}} |
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| 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.
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| B) When the relationship between the nouns is "part to the whole", with the noun denoting the whole taking the '''pilana''' of location.
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| C) When the relationship between the nouns is a kinship relationship the attribute noun takes the '''pilana''' of location.
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| D) When the relationship between the nouns is of an attribute ( see page 265 ) the attribute noun takes the '''pilana''' of location.
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| F) When the relationship between the nouns is association, the attribute noun takes the '''pilana''' of location.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Well in the '''béu''' linguistic tradition we get around this by ???
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| 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 ....
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| a cup of gold ???
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| Think about other situations in which we can use this partative case (look at Finnish).
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| == ..... How to bring a word into focus ==
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| 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.
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| Statement 1) '''báus glaye timpi alhai''' = the man gave flowers to the woman
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| Focused statement 2) '''báus glaye cà timpi alhai''' = It is the woman to whom the man gave the flowers.
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| Any argument or in fact the verb itself can be focused in this way.
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| == ..... How to ask a polar question ==
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| ..
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| A polar question is a question that can be answered with "yes" or "no".
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| 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.
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| '''ʔái''' is neutral as to the response you are expecting.
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| To answer a positive question, YES or NO ( '''ʔaiwa àu aiya''' ) is sufficient.
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| To answer a negative question positively, YES ( '''ʔaiwa''' ) is enough.
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| To answer a negative question negatively, you must give an entire clause.
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| For example ;-
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| Question 1) '''glà (rà) haube ʔái''' = Is the woman beautiful ? .......... If she is beautiful, answer '''ʔaiwa''', if she isn't answer '''aiya'''.
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| 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)
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| 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.
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| Statement 1) '''báus glaye kyori alhai ''' = the man gave flowers to the woman
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| Straight question 2) '''báus glaye kyori alha ʔái''' = did the man gave flowers to the woman ?
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| Focused question 3) '''glaye ʔái báus kyori alha''' = Is it the woman that the man gave flowers to ?
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| Focused question 4) '''báus ʔái glaye kyori alha''' = Is it the man that gave flowers to the woman ?
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| Focused question 5) '''alha ʔái báus glaye kyori''' = Is it flowers that the man gave to the woman ?
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| 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)
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| ..
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| == ..... How to ask a content question ==
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| ..
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| English is quite typical of languages in general and has 7 content question words ... "which", "what", "who", "where", "when", "how" and "why".
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| A corresponding set of '''béu''' question words are given below.
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| ..
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| {| border=1
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| |align=center| what/who
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| |align=center| '''é'''
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| |align=center| where
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| |align=center| '''én'''
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| |align=center| when
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| |align=center| '''eku'''
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| |align=center| how
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| |align=center| '''ewe'''
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| |-
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| |align=center| what type of
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| |align=center| '''emo'''
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| |-
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| |align=center| why
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| |align=center| '''ega'''
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| |-
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| |align=center| how much
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| |align=center| '''eli'''
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| |-
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| |align=center| how many
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| |align=center| '''eno'''
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| |}
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| ..
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| '''é''' is the word most commonly used and it is usually plain from context whether a human or non-human argument is being considered. However there are two more words that are occasionally used. These are '''ebu''' "who" and '''eʃi''' "what".
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| In English as in about 1/3 of the languages of the world it is necessary to front the content question word.
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| 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.
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| The '''pilana''' are added to the content question words as they would be to a normal noun phrase.
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| Here are some examples of content questions ...
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| Statement 1) '''báus glaye kyori alhai''' = the man gave flowers to the woman
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| Question 2) '''és glaye kyori alhai''' = who gave flowers to the woman
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| Question 3) '''báus eye kyori alhai''' = to whom did the man gave flowers
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| Question 4) '''báus glaye é kyori''' = what did the man give to the woman
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| The above question words (apart from '''é''' itself) can be considered just examples of the common process of prefixing '''e''' to a noun, to give the meaning "which x" or "some x".
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| '''kyù''' = occasion, time
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| '''myò''' = kind, type
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| '''gà''' = because
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| '''lí''' = amount
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| '''nò''' = number
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| 5) '''báus é glaye kyori alhai''' = to which woman did the man give the flowers
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| 6) '''báus kyori é glaye alhai''' = the man gave flowers to some woman
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| 7) '''báus kyori glaye alhai''' = the man gave flowers to a woman
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| Of course an interesting question is "in what way does 6) differ from 7).
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| ..
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| == ..... How A O and S arguments are identified==
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| In this section we discuss pronouns and also introduce the S, A and O arguments.
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| '''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.
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| ..
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| 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.
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| '''glàs baú timpori''' = The woman hit the man
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| '''glà baús timpori''' = The man hit the woman
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| It can be seen that "'''s'''" is added to the "doer" of the action.
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| ..
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| However consider the clause below ...
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| ..
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| '''glà doikor''' = The woman walks
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| It can be seen that the "doer" does not have an attached "'''s'''" in this case.
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| The reason is that "to walk" is an intransitive verb while "to hit" is a transitive verb
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| It is the convention to call the doer in a intransitive clause the S argument.
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| It is the convention to call the "doer" in a transitive clause the A argument and the "done to" the O argument.
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| A language that has the S and O arguments marked in the same way is called an ergative language
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| If you like you can say ;-
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| In English "him" is the "done to"(O argument) : "he" is the "doer"(S argument) and the "doer to"(A argument).
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| In '''béu''' '''ò''' is the "done to"(O argument) and the "doer"(S argument) : '''ós''' is the "doer to"(A argument).
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| ..
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| == ..... More about the '''pilana''' ==
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| ==='''-pi''' or '''pì'''===
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| '''meu (rà)''' "basket"'''pi'''
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| While the original meaning was about space, this '''pilana''' is very often found referring to time.
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| I read the book hour'''pi''' => I read the book in an hour
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| I gets dark '''pi''' ten minutes => It get dark in ten minutes
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| She qualified as a doctor '''pi''' five years
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| One can get from Glasgow to London day'''pi'''
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| I'm coming to Sweden '''pi''' next month
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| -------------------
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| '''meu (rà)''' top'''la''' basket'''n''' = The cat is on top of the house
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| '''meu (rà)''' interior basket'''n''' = the cat is in the basket
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| ----------------------------
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| ==='''-la''' or '''lá'''===
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| mat (rà) floor'''la''' => the mat is on the floor ... notice "the mat"
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| '''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.
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| '''meu''' (rà) top'''la nambon''' => The cat is on top of the house
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| Notice that "top'''la nambon'''" is allowed, I should mention this somewhere.
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| '''twor ble pàn''' = I have (some) money
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| '''ble twor pàn''' = I have the money
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| '''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.
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| '''ble tworka pàn''' = I don't have the money
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| ---------------
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| bird '''(rà)''' top '''nambon''' = The bird is above the house
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| Notice that in the above example "top" is considered a specifier ... "top '''nambo'''" forms a tight compound.
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| The eight specifiers of location are above, below, right, left, this side (with respect to the speaker, of course), the far side
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| '''yè''' and '''fí''' are not used for locations. Instead the transitive verbs "arrive" and "leave" are used in a SVC.
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| Also the words "come" and "go" covered by "arrive" and "leave".
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| When not talking about location, '''yè''' and '''fí''' are used.
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| For example ...
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| She gave food to the beggar = ...... beggar'''ye'''
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| The beggar got food from the woman = ...... waman'''fi'''
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| Verbs such as hear and tell use these '''pilana''' also.
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| Also such sentences as ...
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| I was made to sing by the guard = I receive sing guard'''fi'''
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| He made the prisoner sing = He give sing prisoner'''ye'''
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| Also such sentences as ...
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| He went from being very rich, to very poor, within six months
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| use '''yè''' and '''fí'''
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| ==='''-ye''' or '''yè'''===
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| '''kyiwa toili oye''' = give the book to her
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| This is the '''pilana''' used for marking the receiver of a gift, or the receiver of some knowledge.
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| However the basic usage of the word is directional.
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| '''*namboye''' = "to the house"
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| distance'''ye nambon''' = "as far as the house"
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| "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
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| -----------------------
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| '''yèu''' = to arrive ... '''yài''' a SVC meaning "to start" ... '''fái''' a SVC meaning "to stop" ???
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| -----------------
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| ==='''-fi''' or '''fí'''===
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| '''nambofi''' = "from the house"
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| '''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.
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| '''fí "limit/border" nà nambo''' = all the way from the house
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| '''fí "top" nà nambo''' = from the top of the house ... and so on for "bottom", "front", etc. etc.
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| he changed frog.'''fi''' '''ye''' prince handsome = he changed from a frog to a handsome prince
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| -----------------------
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| '''fía''' = to leave, to depart ... '''fái''' a SVC meaning "to finish" .... then '''bai''' cound mean continue and '''-ana''' would be the present tense ???
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| -----------------
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| ==='''-lya''' or '''alya'''===
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| Sometimes called the "Allative case". Can be said to translate to English as "onto".
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| The '''x''' means that the previous vowel is repeated.
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| '''xxx yyy zzz''' = put the cushions on the sofa
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| -----------------------
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| ==='''-lfe''' or '''alfe'''===
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| The ablative
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| ==='''-s''' or '''sá'''===
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| that Stefen turned up drunk at the interview sank his chance of getting that job
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| '''sá tá ........ '''
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| ==='''-ge''' or '''gé'''===
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| The instrumental is used for nouns that represent the instrument ("with"), the means ("by") or the agent ("by").
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| John writes with a pen
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| banu = to learn
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| banuge = by learning
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| book was written '''page''' = The book was written by me
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| '''andage''' = manually
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| I work as a translator ??? ... I work '''sàu''' translator ??
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| '''gé ta ... '''
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| ==='''-ho''' or '''hò''' ===
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| The commitive
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| "in the company of", often used with the personal pronouns ;-
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| {| border=1
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| |align=center| with me
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| |align=center| '''paho'''
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| |align=center| with us
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| |align=center| '''yuaho'''
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| |-
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| |align=center|
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| |align=center|
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| |align=center| with us
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| |align=center| '''wiaho'''
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| |-
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| |align=center| with you
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| |align=center| '''giho'''
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| |align=center| with you (plural)
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| |align=center| '''jeho'''
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| |align=center| with him, with her
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| |align=center| '''oho'''
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| |align=center| with them
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| |align=center| '''uho'''
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| |align=center| with it
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| |align=center| '''ʃiho'''
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| |align=center| with them
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| |align=center| '''ʃiho'''
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| |}
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| -----------------------
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| '''tùa''' = to use, to wear ... '''tàu''' a SVC meaning ??
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| ==='''-ji''' or '''jí'''===
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| The benefactive. Sometimes used with '''gomia'''
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| banu = to learn, banuji = in order to learn
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| ==='''-wo''' or '''wó'''===
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| 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.
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| 1) '''pà halfari''' = I laught
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| 2) '''pà halfari jonowo''' = I laught at John
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| 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 ???
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| 2) '''pà halfari jonoye''' = I taunted John
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| Used for marking the "theme" as in such sentences as the one below.
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| '''gala caturi jonowo''' => The women were talking about John
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| '''jonowo''' ... = as for John ....
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| ==='''-n''' or '''nà'''===
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| The locative or the possessive. Basically if the noun is human, it is the possessive : if the noun is non-human, it is locative.
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| '''nambo jonon (rà) hauʔe''' = John's house is beautiful
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| '''jono (rà) nambon''' = John is at home
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| == ..... Index==
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| {{Béu Index}}
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