Kunke

Number and Orientation

Direct -0 Inverse -aah

Vertical osi- Horizontal osuw- Squatting hii-

Kunke has inverse number marking. Each stem is inherently singular, dual, or plural. For the numbers which are not inherent to that stem, the inverse number suffix <-aah> is added. Stems consist minimally of an orientation prefix and a root. The three orientation roots are <osi-> ‘vertical’, <osuw-> ‘horizontal’, <hii-> ‘squatting’. The basic meaning of the root <nasah> is ‘long wooden thing’ and it is inherently singular; thus <osinasah> means ‘tree’ and <osinasahaah> means ‘trees (dual or plural). <osuwnasah> means ‘stick’, and <hiinasah> means ‘branch’. <ruwsa> means ‘eye’ and is inherently dual. <siuyosuwsuwsa> means ‘eyes (du)’, <siuyosuwsuwsayaah> ‘one eye’, <siuyosizhuwsa> ‘downward eye; modesty’, <siuhii-zhuwsa> ‘upward-glancing eye; insolence’. <runwu> means ‘water’ and is inherently plural. <osuwsunwuyaah> means ‘drop of water (in river)’, <osizhunwuyaah> means ‘raindrop’, and <hiizhunwuyaah> means ‘waterfall (because of the shift from horizontal to vertical)’.

Possessive Prefixes

Generic siu-

1st nue-

2nd iih-

3rd asa-

Reflexive uwi-

Reciprocal aek-

Areal eur-

Disjoint aas-

Inverse Disjoint 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. The first, second, and third persons are represented by <nue->, <iih->, and <asa->, respectively. <uwi-> is the reflexive prefix. <aek-> is the reciprocal prefix. Then it becomes less familiar to speakers of European languages. <eur-> is an areal prefix, used when the possessor is areal, spatial, or temporal. <aas-> is the disjoint prefix, used when both the subject and the possessor are both in the direct zero-marked form and are not identical. <uos-> is the inverse disjoint form, used when the subject is inverse-marked, the possessor is not, and the possessor is not an individual included within the inverse-marked subject. Thus, from <osizhena> ‘daughter’ from <osi-rena>:

<siuyosizhena> ‘daughter’

<nueyosizhena> ‘my daughter’

<iihosizhena> ‘your daughter’

<asayosizhena> ‘his/her daughter’

<uwiyosizhena> ‘his/her/their own daughter’

<aekosizhenayaah> ‘each other’s daughters’

<euzhosizhena> ‘area daughter; foundling; prostitute’

<aasosizhena> ‘his/her daughter (but not of the subject)’

<uososizhena> ‘his/her daughter (but not of a singular subject)’

If the inverse-marked subject is inherently dual or plural, the inverse disjoint prefix can only reflect the non-singular meaning of the inverse-marked subject. Thus, if the subject is <osihoshetaah> ‘warrior/warriors (sg/du)’, from <osi-horhet>, <uososizhena> can only refer to a daughter of someone who is a not a part of the group of the two warriors who are the subject of the sentence; if she were the daughter of one of these warriors, one would use <asayosizhena>.

Genitives

Alienable -ia

Inalienable -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-subject-root-object-tense.

Switch reference

Same Subject

Remote Past une-

Past ohru-

Present uuh-

Future hue-

Different Subject

Remote Past uno-

Past our-

Present uuw-

Future oha-

Switch reference is zero-marked on a free-standing verb. Switch-reference encodes tense as well change of subject.

Verbal Plurals

Plural

Fir

Verbs, unlike nouns, have explicit plural forms for numbers and persons. The singular/dual forms are the same as the possessive prefixes listed above, but the first, second, and third persons plural are <-iti->, <-wao->, and <-iho->. Reciprocal is <-aer->. Someone is singular <-ook->, plural <-hue->. Plural areal is <-iar->.

Tense Suffixes

Remote Past -iet

Past -iur

Present -iun

Future -ihu

Sentence Examples

<osihoshetaah osuwsena ihoyosuwasayiet uososuwwehsi uneyihosisoyeuzhiet>

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

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

The two warriors saw the housemaid and seized her house.

(No, there are no numbers yet)

<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’