Tapilula verbs: Difference between revisions
Poswob Rare (talk | contribs) (Created page with "Tapilula has an inventory of '''private verbs''': verbs whose meaning is dependent entirely on the noun class of the agent and patient of the verb. ==Private verbs== A...") |
Poswob Rare (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
==Private verbs== | ==Private verbs== | ||
All private verbs consist of a single syllable, always on the high tone (spelled ''`''). | All private verbs consist of a single syllable, always on the high tone (spelled ''`''). | ||
===Noun classes for agents=== | |||
Tapilula had an animacy hierarchy, such that only animate nouns could be the agent of any verb. Intransitive verbs are not considered to distinguish agent and patient in this language. Note also that there was no case marking in Tapilula; this was innovated independently in the daughter languages, and of those, only the genitive comes from the same morpheme in both [[Andanese]] and [[Gold language|Gold]] — the infix ''-ə̀h-''. | |||
====Parent noun class I: Humans and other sapient beings==== | |||
'''Humans''' are at the top of the animacy hierarchy in Tapilula and in all of its descendants, although most of the descendants divide humans into higher and lower forms. Some animals are also included in this class, and were included from the very beginning of the development of the system. | |||
The Human superclass is subdivided by gender and age, as well as for species in the case of the non-humans who are grouped with them as fellow sapients. The superclass includes: | |||
#Adult female | |||
#Adult male | |||
#Young female (maiden) | |||
#Children, babies; birds<ref>Depends on the primeval ''nu-'' of the bird class being identical with the first syllable of the primeval word for child, which was later extended to all humans.</ref>; fish; buildings occupied by humans | |||
#Epicene; pregnant women | |||
Note that birds, fish, and children are all in the same category, marked by ''nu-''. This is considered to be the categorical marker of the human parent class, but among humans, children are the only group who are not marked with an additional gender marker which supplants the species marker ''nu-''. Buildings are also included, but can only appear as agents when serving metonymically for humans who occupy them. | |||
====Parent noun class II: Land animals==== | |||
Large land animals that do not have gender distinctions are carried here. Since this is a habitat-based classification, seabirds such as penguins are ''not'' included, and neither are any other birds. | |||
Revision as of 17:11, 14 June 2017
Tapilula has an inventory of private verbs: verbs whose meaning is dependent entirely on the noun class of the agent and patient of the verb.
Private verbs
All private verbs consist of a single syllable, always on the high tone (spelled `).
Noun classes for agents
Tapilula had an animacy hierarchy, such that only animate nouns could be the agent of any verb. Intransitive verbs are not considered to distinguish agent and patient in this language. Note also that there was no case marking in Tapilula; this was innovated independently in the daughter languages, and of those, only the genitive comes from the same morpheme in both Andanese and Gold — the infix -ə̀h-.
Parent noun class I: Humans and other sapient beings
Humans are at the top of the animacy hierarchy in Tapilula and in all of its descendants, although most of the descendants divide humans into higher and lower forms. Some animals are also included in this class, and were included from the very beginning of the development of the system.
The Human superclass is subdivided by gender and age, as well as for species in the case of the non-humans who are grouped with them as fellow sapients. The superclass includes:
- Adult female
- Adult male
- Young female (maiden)
- Children, babies; birds[1]; fish; buildings occupied by humans
- Epicene; pregnant women
Note that birds, fish, and children are all in the same category, marked by nu-. This is considered to be the categorical marker of the human parent class, but among humans, children are the only group who are not marked with an additional gender marker which supplants the species marker nu-. Buildings are also included, but can only appear as agents when serving metonymically for humans who occupy them.
Parent noun class II: Land animals
Large land animals that do not have gender distinctions are carried here. Since this is a habitat-based classification, seabirds such as penguins are not included, and neither are any other birds.
- ↑ Depends on the primeval nu- of the bird class being identical with the first syllable of the primeval word for child, which was later extended to all humans.
