Béu : Chapter 7

..... The -ana suffix

This suffix, added to a verb, gives a noun. For example ...

kludau = to write

kludana = writer/author

..... Participles

There are three participles in béu. They are known as plova in the béu linguistic tradition.

A participle is an adjective that has been derived from a verb.

Taking kludau (to write) to demonstrate these participles.

1) kludi is an adjective meaning "written"

toili kludi = the written book ... and following the strong tendency for adjectives to get used as nouns in béu ... kludi => a thing that is written => a note

2) kludu is an adjective meaning "that must be written"

toili kludu = "the book that must be written" or "the book that should be written" ... and following the strong tendency for adjectives to get used as nouns in béu ... kludu => that which must be written => a (school) assignment

3) kludaula is an adjective meaning "writing at this moment". It is formed from the gomia and the "on" pilana

..... to start, stop, and try

to start drinking => láu solbelya

to stop drinking => láu solbelfe

to try drinking => sàu solbewo

We talk about drinking => catair solbewo We talk about trying to drink => catair wo sàu solbewo So in fact the gomia take 8 of the 12 pilana ???

..... The Imperative

In béu it is called "order"-form/shape.

This form is used for giving orders. With the s-form you definitely want some action to happen (and you don't expect a discussion about it).

Up until now, 7 protagonists have been expressed in every verb. With the s-form however only two protagonists can be expressed.

doikiwa = walk (when talking to one person)

doikewe = walk (when talking to more than one person)

Very occasionally the form doikawa is heard. When somebody has difficulty preforming some task the may "order" themselves to do it. But you could say this is an "unofficial" usuage.

..... The Subjunctive or the irrealis

In béu it is called "suggest"-form/shape.

You change the "r" to an "s" basically. Nothing comes after the "s". So there is no tense/aspect or evidentiality expressed on this verb form.

When this form is used in a main clause, you are gently urging some action (and you are definitely open to discussion about it).

For example ;-

doikain = Let's walk

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It is also used in the ibla/jú construction. When the first condition can now no longer be met and hence the second part can not be also.

ibla "ask"in pà jú "tell"an gì = If you had asked me, I would have told you

..... Verb chains

Even though the gomia can be considered proper nouns, they obey different rules of syntax compared to normal nouns.

They never have the -s suffix (perhaps they can have the sá preposition).

We have already discussed the type B noun phrase that they can part of.

They do not take all the pilana. However they occur with ge and ji quite a lot. Corresponding to "by" and "in order to/to".

He passed his exams "cheat".ge = He past his exams by cheating

He went to the river "swim".ji = He went to the river to swim. .... note that ye woold also be acceptible here as well

They also occur with n and ho however the meaning that these suffixes add are a bit different with gomia.

When n is added to gomia it means that the verb is a second or later verb in a verb chain. The tense, aspect and evidentiality is the same as the initial verb. Also the subject (i.e. S or A) is the same as the subject of the initial verb.

When ho is added to gomia it means that the verb is a second or later verb in a verb chain. The tense, aspect and evidentiality is the same as the initial verb. Also the subject (i.e. S or A) is the same as the object of the initial verb.

Examples of the usuage of n

bawas bura nambo laulan halfan => The men go home singing and laughing T ... N ... N

bawas bura nambo laulus lauloi halfan => The men go home singing songs and laughing T ... T ... N

bawas bura nambo laulus halfus jonowo => The men go home singing and laughing about John T ... N ... T

This is used when things happen at the same time and the subject of all the verbs is the same. Notice that the n-forms can come after the r-form verb.

It is not really important which verb comes first, perhaps the one considered the most relevant/important should come first.

The three verbs above sort of amalgamate into a single verb. The actions should be considered a single event.

In the examples above the three constituent verbs of the verb chain happen at the same time but this is not always the case. In the example below the constituent verbs happen one after the other.

awewa hufu b?n kyén jonoye (take sheep go give John) = Take the sheep and give it to John.

Examples of the usuage of ho

Verbs that commonly come at the end of a verb chain.

For example ...... gàu = to descend, jompai = to rub …. in verb chains, the person, tense/aspect and evidentuality must be the same on every verb, but the idea of transitivity is fluid ??? For example ... jompara shi gàuho = "I am rubbing it down", jompai = "a rubbing", gàu = "a desent", gàujompai = erosion (word building ??)

You would say "The rain erodes the mountain-range" rather than "The rain rubs the mountain-range down" because the "real" meaning of "rub" involves something solid against a something rigid.

I came and saw her => I.come see.n her N ... T

I came and to see her => I.come ji see her

I came and to see => I.come see.ji

I saw her and went => I.saw her go.n T ... N

..... To think about

Further uses of the "s" form of the verb. That is the subjunctive.

Also used in dependent clauses with the meaning ...

that xxx should yyy.

Used after "want/hope/believe ?" if the subject is different. If subject is the same then the verb is in the gomia form.

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hear, see, think, like, remember, know, believe | use tà + full verb with FACT complements.

hear, see, like, remember | use gomia with ACTION complements (English would use "-ing")

Sometimes when English would use the "to" construction, béu would use the -u participle | remember

Some rubbish

poma = leg

pomadu = to kick, pomari = I kicked

pomuʒi = liable to kick, fond of kicking

to play	lento	playful	lentuʒi
to rest/relax	loŋge	lazy	loŋguʒi
to lie	selne	untruthful by disposition	selnuʒi
to work	kodai	diligent	koduʒi

To fix up this bit.....Of course we can make two clauses, and have the second clause one element inside the first clause. To do that you must use the particle tà. Equivalent to one of the uses of "that" in English. tà basically tells you that the following clause should be treated like a single element, like a single noun.

I should mention sá tà ...

Note that in 2) and 4), gì would only be used if emphasis was wanted on "you".

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A discussion of English participles

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Now English has two participles. One, called the present participle has a meaning that extends over what we express by using 1) and 4).

The other, called the passive participle, corresponds to 3).

They appear as adjectives (of course, an adjective derived from a noun is the definition of "a participle"), they do not appear as nouns as in béu, however both are used in verb phrases to extand the shades of meaning that a basic verb can have. If you are a native English speaker and are given a clause out of context it is sometimes impossible to tell if the participle is acting as an adjective or as part of a verb phrase. We should go into this a little bit ... first the "active participle" ...

1) The writing man

2) The man is writing

3) The man is writing a book

In 1) "writing" is definitely an adjective. For instance you can substitute "green" for "writing" and the sentence makes perfect sense.

As for 2) ... well could be an adjective ... it passes the green-substitution-test.

For 3) ... No not an adjective "The man is green a book" doesn't make sense. The proper analysis of 3) is that "is writing" is a verb phrase (one that has given progressive meaning to the verb "write"). Now after we have figured this out we should have another look at 2). The proper analysis of this could be that "is writing" is a verb phrase. In fact there is no way to be sure and we would have to see the context in which 2) is embedded (and even then, there would be certain situations when either analysis could be valid. I would say that it is because of these situations in which either analysis is valid that let the original adjectival meaning spread and become a verbal meaning).

... now the "passive participle" ...

1) The piano is broken

2) The piano was broken

3) The piano was broken by the monkey

In 1) "broken" is definitely an adjective. For instance you can substitute "green" for "broken" and the sentence makes perfect sense.

As for 2) ... well could be an adjective ... it passes the green-substitution-test.

For 3) ... No not an adjective "The piano was green by the monkey" doesn't make sense. The proper analysis of 3) is that "was broken" is a verb phrase (one that has given passive meaning to the verb "break"). Now after we have figured this out we should have another look at 2). The proper analysis of this could be that "was broken" is a verb phrase. In fact there is no way to be sure and we would have to see the context in which 2) is embedded (and even then, there would be certain situations^* when either analysis could be valid. I would say that it is because of these situations in which either analysis is valid that let the original adjectival meaning spread and become a verbal meaning).

^*The five-week deadlock between striking Peugeot workers and their employer was broken yesterday when the management obtained a court order to end a 10-day sit-in at one of the two factories in eastern France, Sarah Lambert writes.

I would say either analysis is valid for the above sentence.

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solbe = to drink

heŋgo = to live (or it could mean "a life")

soŋkau = to die (or it could mean "death")

glabu = person

moze = water

moʒi = steam

heŋgana = alive, living

soŋki = dead

..... KENKO

keŋko = salt ... base form ... noun

keŋkua = salty ... adjective

keŋkia = salt-free ... adjective

keŋkari = I added salt ... verb (transitive)

keŋkos = to add salt

kenkoska = to not add salt

..... In, enter, put in

pì is a position, a position is a state, a state is an adjective (in béu anyway)

mù is a position

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pìs is a verb (to enter)

mùs is a verb (to exit)

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piwai is a verb (to put in)

muau is a verb (to take out)

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.... -MA, and -GO

pronounced	operation	label	example
-ma	adjective => noun	"-ness" or "-ity"	boima = goodness
-go	noun => adjective, plus adjective => adjective, plus verb => adjective	"ish"	gla.go = effeminate, hia.go = reddish, bla.go = quarrelsome

gèu	green	geuma	greenness
juga	wide	jugama	width
tumu	stupid	tumuma	stupidity
bòi	good	boima	goodness
mutu	important	mutuma	importance

-go

gó = to resemble, to be like

gó dó = to be the exact image of

gla.go = effeminate, hia.go = reddish, bla.go = quarrelsome

Sometimes the -go derived words have negative connotations, as in gal.go

There is a suffix -ka (notice it is not considered a pilana), that often has a positive connotation, sometimes making a couplet with a -go derived word. For example ;-

gla.ka = womanly

kài = to appear, to seem

kò = appearance

Beyond the simple clause

OK we have simple clauses such as ;-

donoru = She will walk ... intransitive

(ós) timpori pà = She hit me ... transitive

But often things are more complicated. First consider the verb "want".

When the object is a noun, we have a simple clause. But what if there is another verb in there. For example "I want to go home"

Well this would use the gelada form of "go" ;-

1) wantara dono nambye => I want to walk home .... The same as in English.

But what if we have different subjects. Well we would use the subjunctive form of the verb "to walk" ;-

2) wantara (gì) donin nambye => I want you to walk home (I have to go back and change the forms of the verb ?? subjuctive used to be "s" not "n", now "s" is imperative ??))

... notice that we do not use the infinitive as in English.

What about making things more complicated and having a transitive verb.

3) wantara timpa òs => I want to hit her ... (word order important or not ??)

4) wantara (gì) timpin òs => I want you to hit her

Now we have said before that béu has free word order, however this really only applies to the verb in R-form (R) and the S argument in an intransitive clause, and the R, A and O in a transitive clause. When you have a verb in geladi-form (G), in the subjunctive form (N) or in the imperative form (I), you must have these elements in the following order ;-

S G : S N ... the last of these (S -S ) is quite unusual. Maybe can have S I ... but then S must be in vocative case

A G O : A N O : I O ... expand this and make it look good. Maybe can have A I O ... but then A must be in vocative case

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In the béu linguistic tradition, a clause that has one R verb in it, or one N verb, or one I verb is called aʒiŋko baga or a simple clause. Any clause that has an R verb plus an G or N, verb is called a aʒiŋko kaza or a complex clause.

..... Getting the opposite by adding "u"

.... A prefix for adjectives

taitau = many

utaitau = few

mutu = important

umutu = unimportant

.... and a prefix for adverb

nan = for a long time

unan = not for a long time

.... and a prefix for nouns

mezna = to fight

meznana = combatant

umeznana = non-combatant

As in English, not found that often. Sometimes found in rule books.

.... but an infix for verbs

There is a reason why we do not simply prefix u to the verbs also.

kanja = to fold

kunjana = "folding" (an adjective) or "one that folds" (a noun)

ukunjana = "one that doesn't fold"

Suppose we did simply prefix u to the verb. Then "to unfold" would be ukanja, and hence ukanjana would be a noun meaning "one that unfolds". But if you look up a bit, you can see that this form (ukanjana) already has the meaning "one that doesn't fold". This would cause confusion.

kunja	to fold	kunjua	to unfold
laiba	to cover	laibua	to uncover
fuŋga	to fasten, to lock	fuŋgua	to unfasten, to unlock
benda	to assemble, to put together	bendua	to take apart, to disassemble
pauca	to stop up, to block	paucua	to unstop
sensa	to weave	sensua	to unravel
fiŋka	to put on clothes, to dress	fiŋkua	to undress
tasta	to tangle	tastua	to untangle

Note that in any other form but the geladi, the u changes to a w. For example ;-

fiŋkwori = he undressed

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