User:Masako/pataka

Syntax

Complex sentences

Clause coordination

Clause-level conjunctions such as ku "and", ua "or", or ehe "but, however" are placed clause-initially. Note that these conjunctions cannot be used to connect noun phrases.

• tahi tohyo ku nahi pina

boy brave CL.CONJ girl intelligent

The boy is brave and the girl is intelligent.

• ima kihu saman ehe pakyotlai

now weather sun-ADJ however storm-IMM

Now the weather is sunny, but a storm will come soon.

Coordination of noun phrases

Non-subject noun phrases are coordinated using the conjunction ma "and" (sometimes "with").

• yomaye na ke tanka ma pato anya

day-PST 1sg O eagle CONJ duck see

I saw an eagle and a duck yesterday.

• kinti ke tsaka kamyo ma'a yosu sapotle ma siuem muya

squirrel O house 3pl.POSS with moss soft-REL and leaf.PL make

The squirrels make their nest comfortable with soft moss and leaves.

• ona ma ota kyosanku

mother and father fornicate-RECP

Mother and father have sex [with each other].

• ta ma'a na ke molihuelatli

2sg with 1sg O forest-LOC-MOT-FUT

You and I will go to the forest together.

Noun phrases can be presented as alternatives to each other with the conjunction ua "or; other". This conjunction can be used with both subjects and non-subjects. The conjunction ue "(exclusive) either X or Y" is used to delimit other nouns from the conjunction phrase.

• ta ke nasi ua poma inamyo

2sg O pear or apple eat-PERM

You may eat an apple or a pear.

• tsola ue otso itsikua mataye

fox either.X.or.Y wolf PROX-bird kill-PST

It must have been a fox or a wolf that killed this bird.

Contrastive coordination of noun phrases ("but") is achieved with ehe "but; however" (or me more informally) if the noun phrases appear in subject position.

• yomaye mita'u ehek mitana ke kutsu kapya

day-PST dog-MASC but-NEG O meat receive

The male dog but not the female dog received meat yesterday.

• na itlaka mek inaka unya

1sg PROX-man but-NEG PROX-woman know

I know this man, but not this woman.

Relative clauses

Relative clauses, i.e. subordinated clauses acting as an attribute to a noun phrase, are marked with the relativizer -tle (or -le if the last syllable has tl). A pronoun referring to the relativized noun is retained within the relative clause:

• na ka naka amyatle pesoue

1sg O woman liked-REL meet-VOL

I want to meet a girl who is friendly.

• naku nayo ke yakokua na tikuyetle inapua

sister 1sg.POSS O strawberry-all 1sg pick-PST-REL eat-PFV

My sister has eaten all the strawberries that I picked.

• kam tananitle ke teki tlalitli

3pl fight-nice-REL O enemy defeat-FUT

They who fight well will defeat the enemy.

Evidentiality

	affix	from
direct participation (dir)	-	-
sensory perception (sens)	-	-
inferred from evidence (evid)	-	-
assumption; guess (ass)	-ho	toho
hearsay; fiction (rep)	-tai	ata

The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via their senses. There were three such markers:

• -xx-, which denotes that the speaker witnessed the action visually;
• -xx-, which denotes that the speaker tasted or smelled the evidence and
• -xx-, which denotes that the speaker felt or heard the evidence.

The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers:

• -xx-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate and
• -xx-, which indicates that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received.

The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from indirect evidence. There were three of these markers:

• -xx-, which indicated that there was physical evidence;
• -xx-, which indicates that the information is general knowledge and
• -xx-, which indicates that the information is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations.

kalama

• kalama - speak; talk; utter
• kasa - house; home; abode, dwelling
• kawi - coffee
• kome - eat; consume
• ko - he, she [3sg]
• le - past tense [PST]
• lo - many (more than one) / -lo - plural [PL]
• loka - place; location
• ma - what; which
• maka - do; make; cause
• ne - no; not; negative [NEG]
• ni - you [2sg]
• o - direct object [DO]
• oma - mother; grand-
• opa - father; grand-
• sa - future tense [FUT]
• wa - I, me [1sg]
• waka - bovine; cattle; livestock
• yo - have; possess; hold / -yo - possessive; genitive
• yu - (be) in; at; on; by; near