Proto-Kunnu-lūjungo
Proto-Kunnurūjungo | |
---|---|
Pronounced: | /-kunːu*ruːdʒuŋːo/ |
Timeline and Universe: | |
Species: | Human |
Spoken: | |
Total speakers: | |
Writing system: | |
Genealogy: | |
Typology | |
Morphology: | Agglutinative |
Morphosyntax: | Ergative |
Word order: | SOV |
Credits | |
Creator: | Qwynegold |
Created: | April 2010 |
Phonology
Phoneme inventory
Consonants | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bilabial | Labiod. | Alveolar | Post-alv. | Velar | Glottal | |||||||||||
Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | |||||||||||||
Plain Plosive | /p/ | [b] | /t/ | [d] | /k/ | [ɡ] | ||||||||||
Asp. or Gem. Plosive | /pː/ | /pʰ/ | /tː/ | /tʰ/ | /kː/ | /kʰ/ | ||||||||||
Plain Fricative | /f/ | /s/ | /z/ | /ʃ/ | /ʒ/ | /h/ | ||||||||||
Long Fricative | /sː/ | |||||||||||||||
Affricate | /ts/ | /tʃ/ | /dʒ/ | |||||||||||||
Rhotic | /*r/1 | |||||||||||||||
Lat. Approximant | [l] | |||||||||||||||
Long Lat. Approximant | [lː] |
1The exact quality of the rhotic is unknown.
Monophthongs | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front | Back | |||||||||
High | /i/ | /y/ | /u/ | /uː/ | ||||||
Mid | /e/ | /ø/ | /o/ | /oː/ | ||||||
Low | /ɑ/ |
Diphthongs | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front-Front | Front-Back | Back-Front | Back-Back | |||||||
High | [jy] | /ju/ | /juː/ | /wi/ | /wy/ | /wuː/ | ||||
Mid | /je/ | [jø] | /jo/ | /joː/ | /we/ | /ue/ | /wø/ | /wo/ | ||
Opening Low | /jɑ/ | /wɑ/ | ||||||||
Closing Low | /ɑi/ | /ɑu/ |
Allophony
- The velar nasal is long if intervocalic, and short otherwise.
- The short unvoiced plosives are voiced if intervocalic.
- The liquid is a rhotic at the beginning of a word and before /w/, but [l] in other positions.
- [jy] and [jø] are allophones of /jo/ resp. /joː/, and are only found in a few suffixes to accommodate for vowel harmony (see the next section).
Vowel harmony
Proto-Kunnurūjungo has front-back vowel harmony. In the list below, front vowels have been marked with blue and back vowels with red. There are also neutral vowels, which are /u, uː, ju, juː, wuː/. Each suffix is by default front or back (unless it is neutral), and if the suffix is attached to a word of the opposite affinity, the vowels in the suffix will change according to this list (note that not all vowels make matching pairs, for example the opposite of /ue/ is /wo/, but the opposite of /wo/ is /wø/).
- ɑ → e
- e → ɑ
- i → u
- o → ø
- oː → wy
- ø → o
- y → u
- ɑi → i
- ɑu → i
- ue → wo
- jɑ → je
- je → jɑ
- jo → jø
- joː → jy
- wɑ → we
- we → wɑ
- wi → wuː
- wo → wø
- wø → wo
- wy → oː
Phonological constraints
The syllable structure of Proto-Kunnurūjungo is (O)V(C) where C is any short consonant and V is any single vowel or diphthong. /j/ and /w/ do not count as consonants, but as a part of a diphthong.
The geminated or long consonant can only appear intervocalically, and count as being in two syllables at once. The onset of such a consonant belong to the same syllable as the vowel preceding it, while the release of the consonant belong to the same syllable as the vowel following it.
Romanization
A a, B b, Ch ch, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, Kh kh, Kk kk, L l, Ll ll, M m, N n, Ng ng, Nn nn, O o, Ō ō, Ö ö, P p, Ph ph, Pp pp, R r, S s, Sh sh, Ss ss, T t, Th th, Ts ts, Tt tt, U u, Ū ū, Ü ü, W w, Y y, Z z, Zh zh
Letter | Pronunciation | |
---|---|---|
A a | ɑ | |
B b | b | |
Ch ch | tʃ | |
D d | d | |
E e | e | |
F f | f | |
G g | ɡ | |
H h | h | |
I i | i | |
J j | dʒ | |
K k | k | |
Kh kh | kʰ | |
Kk kk | kː | |
L l | l | |
Ll ll | lː | |
M m | m | |
N n | n | |
Ng ng | ŋ | |
Nn nn | nː | |
O o | o | |
Ō ō | oː | |
Ö ö | ø | |
P p | p | |
Ph ph | pʰ | |
Pp pp | pː | |
R r | *r | |
S s | s | |
Sh sh | ʃ | |
Ss ss | sː | |
T t | t | |
Th th | tʰ | |
Ts ts | ts | |
Tt tt | tː | |
U u | u | |
Ū ū | uː | |
Ü ü | y | |
W w | w | |
Y y | j | |
Z z | z | |
Zh zh | ʒ |
The voiced plosives and the lateral are represented in the romanization, even though they are not phonemic.
Grammars
Morphology
Verbs
There are two kinds of verbs in Proto-Kunnurūjungo, stative and active. The stative verbs describe the state of something, for example mūzōng - be hungry, k'yokyak'ya - like, etc. Many of them are words that only exist as adjectives in English, for example sūttallosan - be red.
Final verbs
Voice
In the following table, the affixes marked with blue go together with front vowel words, and the ones in red with back vowel words. If a word has only neutral vowels, the affix that stands first in the morphology column will be used. The same goes for all other tables in this article.
Voice | Morphology | Example |
---|---|---|
Unmarked | -∅ | pot'yak' ubōtta p'yowochyang - I eat an apple pot'yak' tallūda kweding - I hear a song |
Active | -(t)to1 -(t)tö1 |
pot'ya p'yowochyattong - I eat pot'ya kwedittöng - I hear |
Passive | k'ūdi VERB-t'ūk2 | ubōtta pot'yat k'ūdi p'yowot'ūk - an apple becomes eaten by me tallūda k'ūdi kwet'ūk - a song becomes heard |
Middle | -tk'ūja -tk'ūje |
*** |
Causative | -k'ye2 -k'ya2 |
pot'yak' myatto ubōtta p'yowochyak'yang - I make him eat an apple pot'ya myatto kwedik'yeng - I make him hear |
1A single t is used after consonants.
2The last syllable of the verb is deleted before this suffix is added.
Simply put, the unmarked voice is used in transtitive sentences and the active voice in intransitive, but see the sections Transitive sentences and Intransitive sentences for more details. Verbs that are inherently intransitive end with the same suffix that is used for marking active voice. When these verbs are used with the causative voice or imperative mood, this suffix is deleted as if it was a part of the word stem.
Tense and aspect
Proto-Kunnurūjungo has arguably four basic tenses (past, present, frequentative and habitual); and three tenses (remote past, future, remote future) and two aspects (progressive and perfect) that are expressed by periphrastic or other means, plus several combinations of the aforementioned.
In the following table, where all allowed combinations of tenses and aspects are displayed, the frequentative has been grouped together with the aspects for ease of representation. The V marks the place for voice suffixes other than causative, C for the causative suffix, and the M for mood suffixes, if there are any.
Tense | Aspect | Morphology | Example (using the verbs opk'ūja (sit) and kwedi (hear)) |
---|---|---|---|
Remote Past | - | -V/C-oCo1-M -V/C-öCö1-M |
opk'ūjojo - sat a long time ago kwedödö - heard a long time ago |
Past | - | -V/C-o-M -V/C-ö-M |
opk'ūjo - sat kwedö - heard |
Present | - | -V/C-ng-M | opk'ūjang - sits kweding - hears |
Future | - | k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C | k'ūdi-M opk'ūja - will sit k'ūdi kwedi - will hear |
Remote Future | - | k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C | k'ūdik'ūdi opk'ūja - will sit in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwedi - will hear in the far future |
Habitual | - | -V/C-∅-M | opk'ūja - usually sits kwedi - usually hears |
Remote Past | Progressive | udodo-V-M VERB-C-ppi udodo-V-M VERB-C-ppu |
udodo opk'ūjappu - was sitting a long time ago udodo kwedippi - was hearing a long time ago |
Past | Progressive | udo-V-M VERB-C-ppi udo-V-M VERB-C-ppu |
udo opk'ūjappu - was sitting udo kwedippi - was hearing |
Present | Progressive | ut-V-M VERB-C-ppi ut-V-M VERB-C-ppu |
ut opk'ūjappu - is sitting ut kwedippi - is hearing |
Future | Progressive | k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-ppi k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-ppu |
k'ūdi opk'ūjappu - will be sitting k'ūdi kwedippi - will be hearing |
Remote Future | Progressive | k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-ppi k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-ppu |
k'ūdik'ūdi opk'ūjappu - will be sitting in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwedippi - will be hearing in the far future |
Remote Past | Perfect | ut-V-M VERB-C-oCo1 ut-V-M VERB-C-öCö1 |
ut opk'ūjojo - had sut a long time ago ut kwedödö - had heard long ago |
Past | Perfect | ut-V-M VERB-C-o ut-V-M VERB-C-ö |
ut opk'ūjo - had sut ut kwedö - had heard |
Present | Perfect | ut-V-M VERB-C-ng | ut opk'ūjang - have sut ut kweding - have heard |
Future | Perfect | k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-ng | k'ūdi opk'ūjang - will have sut k'ūdi kweding - will have heard |
Remote Future | Perfect | k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-ng | k'ūdik'ūdi opk'ūjang - will have sut in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kweding - will have heard in the far future |
Habitual | Perfect | ut-V-M VERB-C | ut opk'ūja - have/had usually sut ut kwedi - have/had usually heard |
Remote Past | Frequentative | -V/C-dödö-M -V/C-dodo-M |
opk'ūjadodo - sat around long ago kwedidödö - repeatedly heard things long ago |
Past | Frequentative | -V/C-dö-M -V/C-do-M |
opk'ūjado - sat around kwedidö - repeatedly heard things |
Present | Frequentative | -V/C-ding-M -V/C-dung-M |
opk'ūjadung - sit around kwediding - repeatedly hear things |
Future | Frequentative | k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-di k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-du |
k'ūdi opk'ūjadu - will sit around k'ūdi kwedidi - will hear things repeatedly |
Remote Future | Frequentative | k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-di k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-du |
k'ūdik'ūdi opk'ūjadu - will sit around in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwedidi - will hear things repeatedly in the far future |
Habitual | Frequentative | -V/C-di-M -V/C-du-M |
opk'ūjadu - usually sits around kwedidi - usually hears things repeatedly |
Remote Past | Progressive-Frequentative | udodo-V-M VERB-C-dödöppi udodo-V-M VERB-C-dodoppu |
udodo opk'ūjadodoppu - was sitting around long ago udodo kwedidödöppi - was repeatedly hearing things long ago |
Past | Progressive-Frequentative | udo-V-M VERB-C-döppi udo-V-M VERB-C-doppu |
udo opk'ūjadoppu - was sitting around udo kwedidöppi - was repeatedly hearing things |
Present | Progressive-Frequentative | ut-V-M VERB-C-dingöppi ut-V-M VERB-C-dungoppu |
ut opk'ūjadungoppu - is sitting around ut kwedidingöppi - is repeatedly hearing things |
Future | Progressive-Frequentative | k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-dippi k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-duppu |
k'ūdi opk'ūjaduppu - will be sitting around k'ūdi kwedidippi - will be hearing things repeatedly |
Remote Future | Progressive-Frequentative | k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-dippi k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-duppu |
k'ūdik'ūdi opk'ūjaduppu - will be sitting around in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwedidippi - will be hearing things repeatedly in the future |
Remote Past | Perfect-Frequentative | ut-V-M VERB-C-dödödö ut-V-M VERB-C-dododo |
ut opk'ūjadododo - has sat around long ago ut kwedidödödö - has heard things repeatedly long ago |
Past | Perfect-Frequentative | ut-V-M VERB-C-dö ut-V-M VERB-C-do |
ut opk'ūjado - has sat around ut kwedidö - has heard things repeatedly |
Present | Perfect-Frequentative | ut-V-M VERB-C-ding ut-V-M VERB-C-dung |
ut opk'ūjadung - have sat around ut kwediding - have heard things repeatedly |
Future | Perfect-Frequentative | k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-ding k'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-dung |
k'ūdi opk'ūjadung - will have sat around k'ūdi kwediding - will have heard things repeatedly |
Remote Future | Perfect-Frequentative | k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-ding k'ūdik'ūdi-V-M VERB-C-dung |
k'ūdik'ūdi opk'ūjadung - will have sat around in the far future k'ūdik'ūdi kwediding - will have heard things repeatedly in the far future |
Habitual | Perfect-Frequentative | ut-V-M VERB-C-di ut-V-M VERB-C-du |
ut opk'ūjadu - have/had usually sat around ut kwedidi - have/had usually heard things repeatedly |
1The C stands for a consonant that is the same as the previous consonant in the word.
The habitual, which is used for expressing that someone does something on regular basis, can't be used together with any tense. It is usually understood to mean present tense, but if need be, one can specify past meaning with the adverb öttöt (before), and future meaning with the adverb allogau (intends to).
The frequentative can have the meaning of just doing something repeatedly, or doing something repeatedly and in several locations. For example myosyak'yadung can either mean "to jump around", or "to jump up and down at the same spot".
Mood
Mood | Morphology | Examples |
---|---|---|
Conditional | -(o)ppo -(ö)ppö |
opk'ūjappo - would sit kwedippö - would hear |
Energetic | -(s)sa -(s)se |
opk'ūjangsa - does sit too! kwedingse - does hear too! |
Hortative | -wat -wet |
opk'ūjwat - let's sit kwetwet - let's hear |
Imperative | deletion of last syllable | opk'ū - sit! kwe - hear! |
Optative | -gaut -git |
opk'ūjagaut - may he/she sit kwedigit - may he/she hear |
Volitive | -auk -ik |
opk'ūjauk - let him/her sit down then kwedik - let it be heard then |
Conditional-Energetic | -(o)ppossa -(ö)ppösse |
opk'ūjappossa - I wish someone would sit kwedippösse - I wish someone would hear |
Hortative-Energetic | -watsa -wetse |
opk'ūjwatsa - let's sit down! kwetwetse - let's hear! |
Imperative-Energetic | deletion of last syllable + (s)sa deletion of last syllable + (s)se |
opk'ūssa - you sit down, allright? kwesse - would you hear? |
Optative-Energetic | -gautsa -gitse |
opk'ūjagautsa - may he/she sit! kwedigitse - may he/she hear! |
The conditional is used for marking the "then" part of an "if...then" statement. But sometimes it is used on both the "if" and the "then" part simultaneously. The conditional can only be used together with the simple past, past frequentative and habitual tenses. Any aspect together with past tense can be used however.
The energetic mood is used when expressing what oneself actually believes to be the case, despite of what anyone else thinks. It can be used together with any tense and aspect.
The hortative denotes the meaning of "let's". It can be used together with simple present and present frequentative, but no other tenses or aspects.
The imperative mood is used for making commands. It is not used together with any particular voice, tense or aspect, except that it can be used with the frequentative, in which case the present frequentative suffix is added after the last syllable of the verb has been deleted. The adressee, which is optional, can be put before the verb in the vocative case.
The optative can be used for expressing a wish in one of these cases:
- The wish is not up to any person to make come true, for example "may it not rain tomorrow".
- The wish is directed at someone who is not present and contactable at the time being, for example "may the king not raise the taxes again" said by someone who has never met, and probably never will meet, the king.
- The wish is dependent on a large group of people, like the society or mankind. As an example: "let's all work together to make the world a better place to live".
The optative can only be used together with the present simple, present frequentative and habitual tenses. Any aspect together with present tense is also allowed.
The volitive mood has two similar uses. One is used to express that one doesn't approve of, or like, the state of affairs, but reluctantly accepts it because nothing else can be done. The other use expresses that one doesn't really wish for something to happen, but lets it happen anyway because one can't be bothered to do something about it. This mood can only be used together with the present simple, present frequentative and habitual tenses. Any aspect, except for perfect, can be used together with the present tense.
The combination of the conditional and energetic moods has two different uses. One means that one wishes current things to be in a certain way instead of how they are now. The other use means that one wishes for something to happen; either wishing it very intently, or being hopeful or optimistic about it happening. This mood can be used with the same tenses and aspects as the simple conditional.
Combining the hortative mood with the energetic adds a persuasive tone to the proposal made. It can be used together with the same tenses and aspects as the simple hortative.
Using the combination of imperative and energetic is paradoxically more polite than using the imperative alone. In this case, the energetic mood makes the statement more of a suggestion than a command. The tenses it can used together with are the same as for the simple imperative.
Together with the optative, the energetic has simply a more intensifying meaning. This can be used with the same tenses and aspects as the simple optative.
Non-finals
Infinitives
Type of infinitive | Morphology | Example |
---|---|---|
Active Infinitive | -∅ | p'yowochya - to eat kwedi - to hear |
Passive Infinitive | -ūk'p'o k'ūbösen -ūk'p'ö k'ūbösen |
p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūbösen - to become eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūbösen - to become heard |
Active Inessive Infinitive | -öppi -oppu |
p'yowochoppu - when eating kwedöppi - when hearing |
Passive Inessive Infinitive | -ūk'p'o k'ūdöppi -ūk'p'ö k'ūdöppi |
p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūdöppi - when becoming eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūdöppi - when becoming heard |
Active Instructive Infinitive | -ōt -wüt |
p'yowochōt - by eating kwetwüt - by hearing |
Passive Instructive Infinitive | -ūk'p'o k'ūtwüt -ūk'p'ö k'ūtwüt |
p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūtwüt - by becoming eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūtwüt - by becoming heard |
Active Progressive Infinitive | -ba1-C -be1-C |
p'yowobappu - in the middle of eating kwebeppi - in the middle of hearing |
Passive Progressive Infinitive | -būk'p'o1 k'ūdibe-C -būk'p'ö1 k'ūdibe-C |
p'yowobūk'p'o k'ūdibeppi - in the middle of getting eaten kwebūk'p'ö k'ūdibeppi - in the middle of getting heard |
Active Deverbal Noun | -bosan1 -bösen1 |
p'yowobosan - the act of eating kwebösen - the act of hearing |
Passive Deverbal Noun | -ūk'p'o k'ūbösen -ūk'p'ö k'ūbösen |
p'yowochūk'p'o k'ūbösen - the act of getting eaten kwedūk'p'ö k'ūbösen - the act of getting heard |
1The last syllable from the verb stem is deleted before this suffix is added.
Nouns
Number
The singular form of nouns is unmarked, while the plural is marked with the suffix -k. If the noun ends with a consonant, a vowel, usually ō or wü (depending on vowel harmony), is inserted before the -k suffix. There are many irregular plurals though, that will use o, ö or wū instead.
Case
Case | Suffix | Examples |
---|---|---|
Core cases | ||
Ergative | -ak' -ek' |
kutsongak' - dog-ERG keppek' - cat-ERG |
Nominative-Absolutive | -a -e |
kutsonga - dog-NOMABS keppe - cat-NOMABS |
Adpositional cases | ||
Distributive | -k'illet -k'ullat |
syazolyak'ullat - every day keppik'illet - each cat separately |
Distributive-Temporal | -oppot -öppöt |
syazolyoppot - at daytime |
Essive | -tta -tte |
kutsongatta - as a dog keppitte - as a cat |
Genitive | -t | kutsongat - dog's keppit - cat's |
Instrumental | -ōp' -wüp' |
kutsongōp' - with a dog kepwüp' - with a cat |
Prolative | -kp'ō -kp'wü |
pōngokp'ō - by sea kikkukp'wü - by rooftop |
Locational cases | ||
Ablative | -(ō)t'k'ya -(wü)t'k'ye |
kutsongat'k'ya - from the dog keppit'k'ya - from the cat |
Elative | -pk'a -pk'e |
kutsongapk'a - from the inside of the dog keppipk'e - from the inside of the cat |
Exessive | -tk'a -tk'e |
kutsongatk'a - (turn) from a dog (into something else) keppitk'e - (turn) from a cat (into something else) |
Adessive | -di -du |
pōngodu - by the sea kikkudi - on the roof |
Inessive | -ppi -ppu |
pōngoppu - in the sea kikkuppi - in the roof |
Allative | -dö -do |
pōngodo - to the sea kikkudö - to the roof |
Illative | -(nn)at -(nn)et |
pōngonnat - into the sea kikkunnet - into the roof |
Translative | -k'p'o -k'p'ö |
kutsongak'p'o - (turn) into a dog keppik'p'ö - (turn) into a cat |
Comitative | -ttō -twü |
kutsongattō - (together) with his/her dog keppitwü - (together) with his/her cat |
Other | ||
Abessive | -kki -kku |
kutsongakku - without a dog keppikki - without a cat |
Vocative | -∅ | kutsonga - hey you dog! keppi - hey you cat! |
Adpositional cases
If the distributive case is used together with a word that stands for some kind of time period, it has the meaning that something is done during each of those periods. If used with any other kind of noun, it has the meaning of each of those separately. For example the sentence k'yapya k'yowa k'ōm sangok'ullat means "do this assignment in pairs", where the word for pair (sango) carries the distributive case.
The distributive-temporal case is only used together with words relating to time. It has the meaning that something is done during that time, but unlike the simple distributive case it doesn't necessarily mean that it is done during every such time period.
The essive case has the meaning of as or if. For example kyot'pyatta syazolyatta sidöding - during a cold day one freezes, or nogapwatta ōno k'yowopk'yudappo - as a rich man I wouldn't do work.
If the genitive case is used on a word that ends with a consonant, a vowel is inserted before the suffix. This is the same vowel as the one used in the plural form.
The prolative has the meaning of "by which medium". For example rōtta hugokp'ō kūt'kōnang - the boat travels by river.
Locational cases
The ablative, adessive and allative cases have in common that they describe a position that is on top of, or near the marked noun. The elative, inessive and illative cases on the other hand describe a position that is inside.
The exessive and translative cases describe either that something turns into something else, or that something changes from one state into another. The exessive is the source and the translative is the result.
Syntax
Transitive sentences
In Proto-Kunnurūjungo transitive sentences are ergative while intransitive sentences are nominative. In transitive sentences, the subject takes ergative case and the object nominative-absolutive if the unmarked or causative voice is used.
Pot'y-ak' | ubōtt-a | p'yowochya-∅-ng |
---|---|---|
1SG-ERG | apple-NOMABS | eat-UNM-PRES |
I eat an apple. |
In causative sentences, the person who is caused to do something gets the allative case. This person goes between the subject and the direct object. The causer, causee and direct object are all optional, but at least one of the three must be in a given sentence.
Pot'y-ak' | myat-to | tallūd-a | kwe-k'ye-ng |
---|---|---|---|
1SG-ERG | 3SG-ALL | song-ABS | hear-CAUS-PRES |
I make him hear a song. |
In passive sentences, the agent, which is optional, comes between the patient and verb. The patient gets absolutive case and the agent genitive.
Ubōtt-a | pot'ya-t | k'ūd-e p'yowo-t'ūk |
---|---|---|
apple-NOMABS | 1SG-GEN | PASS-PAST eat-PASS |
The apple got eaten by me. |
Intransitive sentences
In intransitive sentences, any voice except for the unmarked voice can be used. The subject or object gets the absolutive-nominative case.
Pot'y-a | p'yowochya-tto-ng |
---|---|
1SG-ABS | eat-ACT-PRES |
I eat. |
The same rules apply for the causative as in transitive sentences.
Pot'y-a | myat-to | p'yowochya-k'ya-ng |
---|---|---|
1SG-ABS | 3SG-ALL | eat-CAUS-PRES |
I make him eat. |
Evidentiality
Evidentiality can be expressed with a pronoun in the genitive case followed by one of three evidentiality verbs in the instructive infinitive form. The pronoun specifies according who, and the verb what kind of evidentiality. This construction precedes the main verb (or auxiliary + main verb construction).
Person | Evidentiality type | Morphology |
---|---|---|
1st | Inferential | pot'yat t'yamchyōt |
2nd | Inferential | p'ot'yat t'yamchōt |
3rd | Inferential | myatōt t'yamchōt |
1st | Reportative | pot'yat kwetwüt |
2nd | Reportative | p'ot'yat kwetwüt |
3rd | Reportative | myatōt kwetwüt |
1st | Direct Knowledge | pot'yat k'ofōk'ōt |
2nd | Direct Knowledge | p'ot'yat k'ofōk'ōt |
3rd | Direct Knowledge | myatōt k'ofōk'ōt |
Impersonal | Direct Knowledge | k'ofōk'ōt |
The inferential has the meaning of "seen by me/you/someone else" and reportative "according to what I/you/someone has heard". The direct knowledge evidential is used about any other evidence, including non-visual sensory. This evidential can also be used impersonally, which is marked by the absense of a pronoun. The impersonal direct knowledge can have the meaning "they say that..." without any clarifications of who "they" are, or it can have the meaning that something is supposed to be common knowledge, "anyone knows it". All second person evidentials are very seldomly used, and when they are, the pronoun is usually replaced by the name of the adressee in genitive case.