Kunke

General Description

Kunke is a nominative-accusative SOV language which combines:

1. trial number

2. inverse number marking

3. orientation prefixes

4. areal prefixes.

5. disjoint prefixes

Number and Orientation

Number

Number	Direct	Inverse
	-0	-aah

Orientation

Orientation	Vertical	Horizontal	Squatting
	osi-	osuw-	hii-

Commentary

Kunke has inverse number marking. Each stem is inherently singular, dual, or plural. The inherent number, called direct, is zero-marked and lexically determined. Both non-inherent numbers, called inverse are indicated by the inverse number suffix '-aah'. Stems consist minimally of an orientation prefix and a root.

The basic meaning of the root 'nasah' is 'long wooden thing' and it is inherently singular; thus 'osinasah' means 'tree', 'osinasahaah' 'trees (dual or plural)', 'osuwnasah' 'stick', 'hiinasah' 'branch'.

'Ruwsa' 'eyes' is inherently dual. 'Siuyosuwsuwsa' means 'eyes (dual). 'Siuyosuwsuwsuayaah' means 'eye(s) (singular and plural)'. 'Siuyosizhuwsa' means 'downward eye; modesty', 'siuhiizhuwsa' 'upward-glancing eyes; insolence'.

'Runwu' 'water' is inherently plural. 'Osuwsunwu' means 'water (flat)', 'osizhunwu' means 'water (vertical)', and 'hiizhunwu' means 'water (squatting)' 'Osuwsunwuyaah' means 'drop of water (in river)', 'osizhunwuyaah' 'raindrop', and 'hiizhunwuyaah' 'waterfall (because of the shift from horizontal to vertical').

Possessive Prefixes

Possessive Prefixes	Generic	1st	2nd	3rd	Reflexive	Reciprical	Areal	Disjoint	Inverse Disjoint
	siu-	nue-	iih-	asa-	uwi-	aek-	eur-	aas-	uos-

There are possessive prefixes in Kunke. One of them, 'siu-', seen above in words such as 'siuyosuwsuwsa' ‘eyes (du)’, is used with inalienably possessed objects, such as body parts and relatives. It is frequently used to create nouns.

'nue-' is the first person prefix.

'iih-' is the second person prefix.

'asa-' is the third person prefix. It is often replaced by the options below.

'uwi-' is the reflexive third person prefix. First and second reflexives use 'nue-' and 'iih-'.

'aek-' is the reciprocal person prefix.

'eur-' is the areal third person prefix, used when the possessor is areal, spatial, or temporal.

'aas-' is the disjoint prefix. The disjoint prefix replaces 'asa-' (and only 'asa-') when both the possessum and the possessor are both in the direct (zero-marked) form and are not identical.

'uos-' is the inverse disjoint prefix. The inverse disjoint form replaces 'asa-' (and only 'asa-') when the possessum is inverse and the possessor is direct.

A disjoint prefix to replace 'asa-' when the possessum is direct and the possessor is inverse does not exist.

Thus:

'osizhena' ‘daughter’ from 'osi-rena':

'siuyosizhena' ‘daughter’

'nueyosizhena' ‘my daughter’

'iihosizhena' ‘your daughter’

'asayosizhena' ‘his/her/their daughter’

'uwiyosizhena' ‘his/her/their own daughter’

'aekosizhenayaah' ‘each other’s daughters’

'euzhosizhena' ‘area daughter; foundling; prostitute’

'aasosizhena' ‘his/her/their daughter (possessum is direct)’

'uososizhenayaah' ‘his/her/their daughter (possessum is inverse)’

Genitives

Genitive	Alienable	Inalienable
	-ia	-iko

There are two genitive suffixes, one alienable '-ia', the other inalienable '-iko'. A piece of jewelry owned by the warrior’s daughter would produce 'iihosizhenayia hiikuaw' ‘your daughter’s jewelry’, but her neck, 'ruta', would produce 'iihosizhenayiko siuyosizhuta' ‘your daughter’s neck’.

Verbal Structure

Kunke verbs have the following structure:

switch reference-(disjoint)-subject-root-object-tense.

Switch reference

Switch Reference	Remote Past	Past	Present	Future
Same Subject	une-	ohru-	uuh-	hue-
Different Subject	uno-	our-	uuw-	oha-

Switch reference does not apply to the first verb in a series of clauses. The switch-reference prefixes encodes tense as well as change of subject.

Verbal Plurals

Verbal Affixes	Generic	1st	2nd	3rd	Reflexive	Reciprocal	Areal	Disjoint
Singular	ook-	nue-	iih-	asa-	uwi-	aek-	eur-	aas-
Duoplural	hue-	iti-	wao-	iho-	uwi-	aer-	iar-	uos-

Verbs are inherently singular and, unlike nouns, have explicit duoplural forms for numbers and persons. The singular forms are the same as the possessive prefixes listed above, except for the Generic. The duoplural forms are different, except for the Reflexive, which is the identical in singular and duoplural.

If the subject is different from that of the previous sentence, the verbal disjoint prefix must follow the the switch reference prefix.

An areal suffix after the verb root refers to the number (singular or duoplural) of the direct object. A verbal disjoint suffix after the verb refers to the number (singular or duoplural) of the omitted direct object.

Tense Suffixes

Tense Suffixes	Remote Past	Past	Present	Future
	-iet	-iur	-iun	-ihu

Sentence Examples

Examples under corrective maintenance

osihoshet osuwsena ihoyosuwasayiet aasosuwwehsi uneyihosisoyeuzhiet

osihoshet osuwsena iho-osuw-asa-iet aas-osuwwehsi une-iho-siso-eur-iet

warrior housemaid 3pl-see-RPST DJT-house RPST.SAME-3pl-seize-AREA-RPST

The warriors saw the housemaid and seized her house.

osihoshetaah osuwsena ihoyosuwasayiet uososuwwehsi uneyihosisoyeuzhiet

osi-horhet-aah osuw-rena iho-osuw-asa-iet uos-osuwwehsi une-iho-siso-eur-iet

warrior-INV housemaid 3pl-see-RPST INV.DJT-house RPST.SAME-3pl-seize-AREA-RPST

The two warriors saw the housemaid and seized her house.

osihoshetaah osuwsena asayosuwasayiet asayosuwwehsi uneyasasisoyeuzhiet

osi-horhet-aah osuw-rena asa-osuw-asa-iet asa-osuw-wehsi une-asa-siso-eur-iet

VERT-warrior-INV SQU-daughter 3sg-see-RPST 3-HORZ-building RPST.SAME-3sg-seize-AREA-RPST

The warrior saw the housemaid and seized her house.

osihoshet osuwsenayaah ihoyosuwasayiet asayosuwwehsi uneyihosisoyeuzhiet

osi-horhet osuw-rena-aah iho-osuw-asa-iet asa-osuw-wehsi une-iho-siso-eur-iet

VERT-warrior SQU-daughter-INV 3pl-see-RPST 3-HORZ-building RPST.SAME-3pl-seize-AREA-RPST

The warriors saw the housemaids and seized their house.

osihoshetaah osuwsenayaah ihoyosuwasayiet asayosuwwehsi uneyihosisoyeuzhiet

osi-horhet-aah osuw-rena-aah iho-osuw-asa-iet asa-osuw-wehsi une-iho-siso-eur-iet

VERT-warrior-INV SQU-daughter-INV 3pl-see-RPST 3-HORZ-building RPST.SAME-3pl-seize-AREA-RPST

The two warriors saw the housemaids and seized her house.

osihoshetaah osuwsenayaah asayosuwasayiet asayosuwwehsi uneyasasisoyeuzhiet

osi-horhet-aah osuw-rena-aah asa-osuw-asa-iet asa-osuw-wehsi une-asa-siso-eur-iet

VERT-warrior-INV SQU-daughter-INV 3sg-see-RPST 3-HORZ-building RPST.SAME-3sg-seize-AREA-RPST

The warrior saw the housemaids and seized their house.

osihoshet osuwsena ihoyosuwasayiet aasosuwwehsi unoyuosihosisoyeuzhiet

osi-horhet osuw-rena iho-osuw-asa-iet asa-osuw-wehsi uno-uos-iho-siso-eur-iet

VERT-warrior SQU-daughter 3pl-see-RPST 3-HORZ-building RPST.DIFF-PL.DJT-3pl-seize-AREA-RPST

The warriors saw the housemaid and someone else (duoplural) seized her house.

osihoshet osuwsena ihoyosuwasayiet aasosuwwehsi unoyaasasasisoyeuzhiet

osi-horhet osuw-rena iho-osuw-asa-iet asa-osuw-wehsi uno-aas-asa-siso-eur-iet

VERT-warrior SQU-daughter 3pl-see-RPST 3-HORZ-building RPST.DIFF-SG.DJT-3sg-seize-AREA-RPST

The warriors saw the housemaid and someone else (singular) seized her house.

osihoshet osuwasiwaah ihosisoyiazhihu

osi-horhet osuw-asiw-aah iho-siso-iar-ihu

VERT-warrior HORZ-field-INV 3pl-seize-AREA.PL-FUT

The warriors will seize the fields’

Lexicon

asa - (sg) asa 'to see'; hiiyasa 'observation'

asiw (sg) -'area of agriculture'; asiw 'to cultivate'; osiyasiw 'vine trellis'; osuwasiw 'field'; hiiyasiw 'vineyard'

hoshet (< hor-het) (pl) - osihoshet 'band of warriors'; osihoshetaah 'warrior(s)'; euzhosihoshet 'mercenaries'

kuaw (pl) - 'collection of shiny things'; osikuaw 'necklace'; osuwkuaw 'diadem'; hiikuaw 'jewelry'; hiikuawaah 'piece of jewelry'

kunke (pl) - kunke 'to speak'; osikunke 'the Kunke speaking community'; osikunkeyaah 'a speaker of Kunke; dialogue participant'; osuwkunke 'Kunke-speaking ancestors'; osuwkunkeyaah 'an ancestor; tradition (communication between living and late participants);

nasah (sg) - 'long wooden thing'; osinasah 'tree'; osinasahaah 'trees'; osuwnasah 'stick'; hiinasah 'branch'

rena (sg) - 'girl, daughter'; osizhena 'daughter'; osuwsena 'housemaid'; euzhosizhena 'foundling; prostitute'

runwu (pl) - 'water'; runwu 'be wet, make wet'; osizhunwu 'rain'; osizhunwuyaah 'raindrop'; osuwsunwu 'water'; osuwsunwuyaah 'drop of water (in river)'; hiizhunwu 'spray'; hiizhunwuyaah 'waterfall(s)'

ruta (sg) - 'round protrudance'; ruta 'to protrude, intrude, enter'; osizhuta 'neck'; osuwsuta 'nose, ear'; hiizhuta 'limb'

ruwsa (du) - 'eye'; siuyosizhuwsa 'modesty'; siuyosuwsuwsa 'eyes'; siuyosuwsuwsa 'eye(s) (sg/pl)'; siuhiizhuwsa 'insolence'

siso (du) - 'seize, grab with both hands'; siso 'to seize'; osisiso 'a lifting'; osuwsiso 'a pulling towards'; hiisiso 'a reaching in and pulling out'

wehsi (sg) - 'building'; wehsi 'to build'; osiwehsi 'tower'; osuwwehsi 'building'; hiiwehsi 'buttress'