Béu : Chapter 10 : Gerund Phrase
..... The language structure
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The way béu is analysed and the linguistic traditions that have grown up around béu are quite different from the Western Linguistic Traditions.
... The 7 word categories
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In the béu linguists tradition all words belong to one of the following 7 categories ...
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1) feŋgi = particle ... this is a sort of "hold-all" category for all words (and affixes) that don't neatly fit into the other categories. Interjections, numbers, pronouns, conjunctions, determiners and certain words that would be classed as adverbs in English, are all classed as feŋgi.
An example of a feŋgi is só .. the preposition that shows a noun is ergative case.
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2) maŋga ... an indiscrete verbal noun. I guess "infinitive verb" is the nearest translation we can get. Or maybe the Arabic term "masDar" would be better. Anyway I have been using the term maŋga from the beginning of this document as I have been too lazy to type out "infinitive verb" innumerable times.
An example of a maŋga is twá .. "to meet" or "meetings"
Note ... maŋga are not tangible and not discrete. However by affixing s to any maŋga it becomes discrete. For example ...
twás .. "a meeting" ..... (a game, a thought, a song, a run)
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3) maŋgas = a discrete verbal noun. (see above)
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4) saidau = adjective
An example of a saidau is nelau .. "dark blue"
Note ... saidau are not tangible and not discrete. However by affixing s to any maŋga it becomes discrete (and tangible also by the way). For example ...
nelaus = a/the dark blue one
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5) saidaus = a noun derived from an adjective. (see above)
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6) olus = material, stuff ... tangible but not discrete.
An example of a olus is moze ... "water"
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7) seŋko = object, ... tangible and discrete.
An example of a seŋko is bàu .. "a man"
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In the nandəli .. "dictionary" there are only 5 categories marked. This is because all maŋgas are regularly derived from maŋga and all saidaus are regularly derived from saidau. However the feŋgi can be subdivided into various subclasses.
Note ... the last three categories represent tangible things.
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... seŋko => seŋkas
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seŋkas means a noun or a noun phrase ... ( the noun being tangible and discrete).
Below are all the 7 possible elements in the order in which they must occur.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| ----------------------- | --------------- | -------- | ------------- | ------------ | ------------ | --------------- | ------------------- |
| emphatic particle | numerative | trunk | adjective | locative | genitive | determiner | relative clause |
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.. the trunk
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3) ... the trunk ... this is usually a seŋko but can be a saidaus. For example ... bàu = a/the man : gèus = a/the green one
Two feŋgi can also occur in this slot ... the pronouns dì and dè . Of course the determiners are disallowed when dì and dè are in this slot ???
??? Other pronouns ???
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.. the adjective
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4) ... the adjective
More than one adjective are allowed. For example ... bàu gèu tiji = the little green man : gèus baugo tiji = the little manly green one
To make a question, put kái in this slot. For example ... bàu gèu kái pobomau = what kind of green man on top of the mountain
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.. the locative
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5) ... the locative. For example ... bàu gèu tjii pobomau = the little green man on top of the mountain
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.. the genitive
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6) ... the genitive. For example jwado gèu nambomau yó jene = Jane's big green bird on top of the house
Note that the particle yó is usually dropped the possessor is next to the trunk. However as other elements intervene, the likelihood that yó is used, increases.
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.. the determiner
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7) ... the determiner
There are two determiners ... dí "this", or dé "that". For example ... bàu gèu tiji pobomau dé = that little green man on top of the mountain.
The primary meaning is for comparing two things that can be seen. Perhaps accompanied by gestures, dé will be appended to the further of the two and by way of distinction, dí will be appended to the nearer.
To make a question, put kái in this slot. For example ... bàu gèu tiji nái = which little green man
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.. numerative
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2) ... the numerative
I call it the numerative because there are one or two elements allowed besides numbers.
All numbers can go in this slot of course. Also the particle nò which means number can go in this slot. In fact his is the common way to indicate plurality for mono-syllables.
ʔà (one) is used to indicate indefiniteness. So also ...
ʔà = some (for singular noun)
ʔài (the plural of ʔà perhaps) is used to indicate indefiniteness for plural nouns = some (for singular noun)
ʔà ʔà = any (singular)
ʔài ʔài = any (plural)
Also we can have ...
| ú | all | jù | no | ||
| hài | many | yahai | a moderate number | iyo | few |
| haige | more | iyoge | less | ||
| haimo | most, a/the majority | iyomo | least, a/the minority |
haige and iyoge can also be qualified by a number (to qualify exactly how much the increase or decrease should be). In béu the number comes last. For example ...
haige hói = two more
TO SORT ... down
Most of the above can not be used with a number. Only haige í ù and jù can be used when there is a number in the number slot.
Also í and ù can not be used with number one ʔà (one).
Also sometimes in this slot, you come across the term é nò. This is just a shorthand way to say é lù nò ... that is "indefinite and plurality unspecified"
TO SORT ... up
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. the emphatic particle
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1) ...the emphatic particle
The emphatic particle is cù.
This can also used as a sort of vocative case ... not obligatory but can be used before a persons name when trying to get their attention. For example ...
cù jene = Hey, Jane
cù gì = Hey, you
cù is used where we would use what is called "right dislocation" in English. For example ...
bàus cù glán nri alha = It is the woman to whom the man gave flowers.
bàus cù glán nri alha @ = Is it the woman to whom the man gave flowers ?
cù might be used in exasperated when somebody can not see something. For example ...
| cù dì | "this one !" | cù dè | "that one !" |
| cù nò dì | "these ones!" | cù nò dè | "those ones !" |
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. the relative clause
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8) ... the relative clause
Relative clauses "RC" work pretty much the same as English relative clauses. The relativizer is hù. Here are some examples ...
yiŋkai hù doikra = the girl that has walked
bàu hù glás timpra = the man whom the woman has hit
glá hùs bàu timpra = the woman who has hit the man
bàu hùn glás fyri yiŋkaiwo = the man to whom the woman told about the girl
glá huji bàus bundra nambo = the woman for whom the man has built a house
All the pilana can be appended to the relativizer to specify what roll the noun has (or would have if you like) in the clause.
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In the same way that English has restrictive relative clauses and non-restrictive relative clauses "NRRC", so has béu.
a) yiŋki hù r doikala nambon sùr hauʔe = the girls that are walking home are pretty
b) yiŋki _ hù r doikala nambon _ sùr hauʔe = the girls, that are walking home, are pretty ... (a pause (gap), I represent by "_" )
In the b) the relative clause is giving us extra information about the girls.
[ Some thoughts ... I guess a RC is a bit like an adjective and it directly qualifies a noun. A NRRC is a bit like the second element in apposition. It is giving us extra information about the noun (which might otherwise be given in a separate utterance). Both NRRC and the second elements in apposition are isolated using pauses. ]
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In English you get what is sometimes called a headless relative clause "HRC" or a free relative clause ... I guess "free from a noun" is the thinking behind the second term.
"What you see is what you get" is an example of a HRC ... well two examples to be precise.
We have exactly the same in béu ...
hù bwáir or hù màir = what you see is what you get
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bàu gèu tiji pobomau nái = which little green man on top of the mountain.
bàu gèu tiji pobomau kái = what type of little green man on top of the mountain.
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The inclusion of nái kái and láu incur some restrictions in the over all NP.
If either nái kái or láu is present then the specifier slot must be empty.
If nái is present then the number slot must be empty.
If kái is present then the adjective slot mu
[ Related to dí and dè are the two nouns dían (here) and dèn (there). Although nouns, they never occur with the locative case or the ergative case. ]
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So ... so far we have got to ... head + adjective + determiner + RC For example ...
bàu gèu tiji pobomau láu hù doikora = how many little green man on top of the mountain are walking ?
But actually this ... though legal ... is a bit awkward. Both because it is a bit of a mouthful but logically it is a bit strange. If you hear this you wonder "are there little green men on top of the mountain" BOTH walking and not walking. If there are only "little green men on top of the mountain walking" ... why is the "walking mentioned at all.
In actual fact ... if there are only "little green men on top of the mountain walking" ... then the question would be ... bàu gèu tiji pobomau láu
If there was "little green men on top of the mountain" walking AND not walking ... then the question would be ...
wò bàu gèu tiji pobomau _ láu doikora = w.r.t. the little green man on top of the mountain, how many are walking ?
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The relativizer is hù. This is affixed with the pilana to show what roll the missing argument plays in the clause.
hùs _ hùn_ hutu _ huji _ huwo _hufi
dè hù ʔáir or dè hù màir = that which you want is that which you get
hù ʔáir or hù màir = what you want is what you get
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Another important word category is helgo .. "finite verb". That is .. a verb in its r.form, s.form, u.form or i.form.
So helgo are derived from manga. [related words ... helga = "to live" and helgi = "alive"]
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A seŋko can be expanded by the addition of other elements to a seŋkas "a noun phrase". Actually it means "noun OR noun phrase", so the entries in a dictionary might be designated seŋko but in most discussions about grammar one comes across, simply seŋkas.
An example of a seŋkas is bàu nelau dè .. "that blue man"
A maŋga can also be expanded into a seŋkas. For example ... twá mutu dè .. "that important meeting".
Furthermore a maŋga can also be expanded into what is called a maŋkas*. Maybe best translated as "gerund phrase". The structure of a maŋkas can be derived from the structure of helkas ... Oh wait a minute, we haven't said what a helkas is yet ...
Just as a maŋga can be expanded into a maŋkas, by adding elements ... and the seŋko into a seŋkas ... a helgo can be expanded into a helkas .. "a clause".
OK ... now that we know what a helkas is we can go back to the maŋkas. Mmmhhh ... maybe the best way to explain it is just to do an example ...
falaja jonos jene timpuri pobomau "John hit Jane in the afternoon on top of the mountain" .... this is a helkas
The corresponding maŋkas would be jono timpa jene pobomau falaja ... "John's hitting Jane in the afternoon on top of the mountain"
The above maŋkas could appear in a clause as S, O or A argument.
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There is something also called a colwaikas ... a bit of an amalgam of a seŋkas and a maŋkas. But this is quite a marginal construction. We won't worry about it at the moment.
.* Actually it means "gerund OR gerund phrase", so while the entries in a dictionary are designated maŋga, in most grammatical writing, you just comes across the term .. maŋkas.
Determiner can take its place ... also pronouns.
dè r bòi = that (one) is good
nò dè r bòi = these are good
"noun" nái = "which one ! " ??? ..
... olus => oluskas
TO THINK ABOUT
three bags rice brown
three bags big (full) wrt rice brown
... maŋga => maŋkas
... helgo => helkas
..... More details about maŋkas and colwaikas
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As we know, the main elements in a helkas are free. That is the S, A and O arguments can appear either side of the verb. However in other areas word order is not so free. For example in copula clauses. Also maŋkas does not have free word order. So how exactly is it done ... how do we derive maŋkas which has fixed word order from seŋkas which has free word order. Well the element that is marked on the helkas by the vowel just before the "r", comes immediately to the left of the maŋga. Also note that even though this is often dropped in seŋkas it can not in maŋkas*. The O argument (naked noun) of the helkas must come immediately after the maŋga in the maŋkas. Any other peripheral arguments are stuck on at the end.
The helkas = solbari saco he? moze pona = I drank some cold water very quickly
Derived maŋkas = pà solbe moze pona sacowe ... which can be an argument in another helkas or copula clause ...
pà solbe moze pona sacowe r kéu = my drinking the cold water quickly was bad
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.*Well actually it is dropped in certain circumstances. For example ...
ʔár solbe moze = I want to drink water
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If you see a maŋga surrounded by other elements, how do you know if you have a maŋkas or a seŋkas. Well in the maŋkas the manga can not be plural or have any possessors for one thing. For another thing a maŋkas can only take a subset of the pilana. While a seŋkas can take all 17 pilana a maŋkas is restricted to 7 ... là, máu, gòi, tú, jì, só and wò.
dói = month, doiwe = monthly
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..... Beyond the pilana
- This chapter should follow the pilana by about 2 chapters **
This chapter shows how to express things when a finer graduation is needed than can be expressed by the pilana. It also goes into how the pilana are used in greater detail.
Previously we have mentioned the first 8 pilana which are used for specifying location. Now there are two other words that are important for specifying location, namely tài and jáu (meaning , “in front of” and “behind”).
We must be careful here. In English usage “behind” can mean “at the far side of" as well as "at the backside". The same with “in front of” (but to a lesser extent). In béu, tài and jáu can only be used with objects that have a well defined “front” and “back”. Typically these objects are humans but tài and jáu can also be used with … for example “a house”. They can not be used with object which lack a front and a back. For instance they can not be used with "mountain".
Now no pilana can be a noun in its own right. They must always appear either suffixed on to a noun or standing in front of a NP. Now béu usually likes to drop the topic. But how can we drop the topic when we need no give a location with respect to a certain noun (which is the topic).
In English, we sometimes can have "above", "below, "in front", "behind" occurring alone. Consider ...
"They were in dire straits, in front the deep blue sea, behind the murderous viking raiders"
In the above sentence "in front" and "behind" can be considered nouns.*
pilana 1 - 8 plus tài and jáu only occur in front of a NP or suffixed to a noun.
However they can become nouns in their own right if they are suffixed to the particle dá (place). For example …
| pida | the interior |
| mauda | above, topside |
| goida | the underneath |
| taida | the front |
| jauda | the backside, the back |
| lada | the surface |
| ceda | this side |
| duada | the far side |
| beneda | the right |
| komoda | the left |
*An alternative analysis is to consider "They were in dire straits, in front the deep blue sea, behind the murderous viking raiders" as an abbreviation for "They were in dire straits, in front of them the deep blue sea, behind them the murderous viking raiders"
Earlier we told you that a pilana positional phrase can be considered either to be an adjective or a adverb. However using the above table we can produce nominal equivalents of them.
dapi nambo (sòr) detia = the interior of the house is elegant OR inside the house in elegant
(??? to think about further)The above can sometimes occur as ...
dapi nambowo (sòr) detia but this is unusual. It might possibly happen if the NP is complex. For example ...
dapi wò nambo jutu dè (sòr) detia (Note wò here is not defining a roll in a sentence, but a roll in a NP) .... NNNNNNNNNNNNN
Actually "They were in dire straits, in front the deep blue sea, behind the murderous viking raiders" can be translated into béu .... EITHER using datai and dajau OR nutai and nujau.
da is an interesting particle. It never occurs as a word it its own right. But as well as appearing as a component in the table above it appears as a suffix meaning "place" or "shop".
If béu had a history, you would speculate that it once was a noun with a meaning something like "place". But it hasn't.
Note ... the word for "here" dían and "there" dèn could also have a connection.
And compare dí "this" and dè "that" ... it is all very mysterious.
Note ... pilana 15 does not combine with da-. However there is a particle dan : it is equivalent to the English word "than". For example ...
jene (sòr) yubauge dan jono = Jane is stronger than John
Again ... all very mysterious.
Occasionally you get them joined to -ʔau. For example …
piʔau = interior surface
là can also be joined to -ʔau. For example …
laʔau = on it
Note ... piʔai wò nambo means exactly the same as nambopi. Invariably the terser form is used.
9) -ye ... yé ... The dative. Some usage example ...
He made the prisoner sing = He give sing prisonerye
I tell jane that ... i to jane tell that .... THIS IS SIMILAR TO "TO GIVE"
glá nòr flovan beggarsye = she gives food to the beggars
nauya toili oye = give a book to her
Note ... the béu way is similar to English. For example ... toili nauya ò = give the book to her
This is the pilana used for marking the receiver of a gift, or the receiver of some knowledge.
However the basic usage of the word is directional.
namboye = "to the house"
yé wazbo nambo = "as far as the house" ... (literally "to the distance of the house")
yé limit/border nambo = "up to the house" ... for objects
doikori yé face báu "he has walked up to the man" ... for people
10) -vi ... fì ... The ablative. Some usage example ...
mari laula guardfi = I was made to sing by the guard
I hear from Jane that .... Similar to English ... you can not miss out "from", even with Jane directly behind the verb
The beggars mor flovan glavi = the beggar get food from the woman
nambovi = "from the house"
fí "direction" nambo = "away from the house"
fí "limit/border" nambo = all the way from the house
fí nambomau = from the top of the house
Note ... two appended pilana are not allowed ... so *nambomauvi is not allowed
lori sàu yemevi yé prince handsome = he changed from a frog to a handsome prince
11) -tu ... tù ... The instrumental/comitative. Some usage example ...
kli.otu = John opened the can with a knife
jenetu = John went to town with Jane
Also used when something is achieved through a certain action ...
banu = to learn
banutu = by learning
Two particles are related to this pilana
tuta = because ... when because is followed by a clause
tuwo = because ... when "because" is followed by a NP.
Note ... duva = hand, arm .... duvatu = manually
Usuage ??? mountain cloud.ia = the cloudy mountain
mountain tù many rain clouds = the cloudy mountain ??? (Note tù here is not defining a roll in a sentence, but a roll in a NP) .... NNNNNNNNNNNNN
12) -ji ... jì ... The benefactive. Usually it refers to a person. However it often also occurs with an infinitive. Some usage example ...
banu = to learn
banuji = in order to learn
jari tweji ò = I have gone (in order) to meet him ... in this case it is not stated whether the "meeting" was successful or not
jari twé ò = I have gone and met him ... this is a verb chain
13) -wo ... wò ... The respective. Some usage example ...
pà halfar = I laugh LAUGH ???
pà halfar jonowo = I laugh at John
Can be used to show motion w.r.t. something .... "I lower the boy down the cliff face" ... here "down" = wò
Used for marking the "theme" as in such sentences as ...
gala catura jonowo = the women are talking about John
Also when fronted, it gives a topic of a topic/comment sentence. For example ...
jonowo ... = as for John ....
14) -n ... nà ... The locative
at
15) -s ... sá ... The ergative
só tá ........ = that Stefen turned up drunk at the interview sank his chance of getting the job
16) -lya ... alya ... The allative. Some usage example ...
xxx yyy zzz = put the cushions on the sofa
17) -lfe ... alfe ... The delative
xxx yyy zzz = the frog jumps off the lily pad
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..... More on verb chains
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............ He is lowering John down the cliff-face to the ledge => ós gora jono cliff gìa ledgeye ??
I dragged the dog along the road ??
joske pòi nambo = let's not let him go into the house ... there are 2 verbs in this chain ... jòi and pòi
jaŋkora bwá nambo dwía = he is running out the house (towards us) ... there are 3 verbs in this chain ... jaŋka, bwá and dwé
doikaya gàu pòi nambo jìa = Walk (command) down into the house (we are in the house) ... there are 4 verbs in this chain ... doika, gàu, pòi and jòi
Extensive use is made of serial verb constructions (SVC's). You can spot a SVC when you have a verb immediately followed (i.e. no pause and no particle) by another verb. Usually a SVC has two verbs but occasionally you will come across one with three verbs.
*Well maybe not always. For example jompa gàu means "rub down" or "erode". Now this can be a transitive verb or an intransitive verb. For example ...
1) The river erodes the stone
2) The stone erodes
With the transitive situation, the "river" is in no way going down, it is the stone. Cases where one of the verbs in a verb chain can have a different subject are limited to verbs such as erode (at least I think that now ??). Also the verbal noun for jompa gàu is not formed in the usual way for word building. Erosion = gaujompa
gaujompa or gajompa a verb in its own right ... I suppose that this would happen given time ??
I work as a translator ??? ... I work sàu translator ??
"want" ... "intend" ... etc. etc. are never part of verb chains ?? ..........................................
........... Unbalanced
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Now all the above were examples of "one off" or "balanced" verb chains ( "balanced" in the sense that all the verbs have about the same likelihood ). A more common type of verb chain is one in which some common verb is appended to a clause to give some extra information. Examples of these verbs are ... "enter", "exit", "cross", "follow", "to go through", "come", "go", etc. etc. etc.
................. enter and exit
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When in verb chains, these 2 verbs tend to be the main verb. They are used where "into" and "out of" are used in English.
pòi = to enter
féu = to exit
nambo féu tə = to come out of the house
nambo pòi jə = to go into the house
nambo pòi tə = to come into the house
nambo féu jə = to go out of the house
féu nambo tə = to come out of a house
féu nambo jə = to go into a house
pòi nambo tə = to come into a house
féu nambo jə = to go out of a house
nambo féu jaŋki tə = to run out the house (towards us)
féu nambo jaŋki tə = to run out a house (towards us)
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............... across & along & through
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When in verb chains, these 3 verbs tend to be the main verb.
kwèu = to cross, to go/come over
plèu = to follow, to go/come along
cwá = to go/come through
komwe kwèu = to cross the road
komwe kwèu doika = to walk across the road
kwèu komwe doiki = to walk across a road
kwèu komwe doiki tə = to walk across a road (towards the speaker)
plèw and cwá follow the same pattern
Note ... some postpositions
komwe kwai = across the road = across a road
pintu cwai = through the door = along a road
Above are 2 postpositions ... derived from the participles kwewai and cwawai
komwe plewai = along the road
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............ come and go
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When in verb chains, these 2 verbs tend to be the auxiliary verb.
Obviously they often occur as simple verbs.
"come", "go", "up" and "down" are often stuck on to the end of an utterance ... like a sort of afterthought. They give the utterance a bit more clarity ... a bit more resolution.
The below is nothing to do with verb chains, just a bit to do with the usage of dwé and jòi.
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HERE------------>--------LONDON
londonye jòi = to go to London ... however if the destination immediately follows jòi -ye is dropped*. So ...
SIMILAR TO ADVERBS + GIVE ... LIGHT GREEN HI-LIGHT
jó london = to go to London
jó twì jono = to go to meet John (twe = to meet ??)
* In contradistinction, when a origin comes immediately after the verb dwé "to come" the pilana -fi is never dropped.
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HERE----------<---------LONDON
tè londonfi = to come from London
tè jonovi = to come from John
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.............. ascend and descend
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When in verb chains, these 2 verbs tend to be the auxiliary verb. They are used where "up" and "down" are used in English.
bía = to ascend
kàu = to descend
CLIMB ʔupai kə = to climb down a tree
ʔupai CLIMB kə = to climb down the tree
CLIMB ʔupai bə = to climb up a tree
THROW toili kə = to throw down a book ???
These are also often inserted in verb chains to give extra information. The usually precede "come" and "go" when "come" and "go" are auxiliary verbs in the chain.
jò kə pə nambo = to go down into the house
jaŋkor kə pə nambo jə = he runs down into the house (away from us)
jaŋkor pə nambo kə tə = he runs down into the house (towards us)
The two above sentences could describe the exact same event. However there is some slight connotation in the latter that the descending happened at the same time as the entering (i.e. the entrance of the house was sloping ... somewhat unusual)
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.............. here and there
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awata = to wonder
jaŋka awata = to run around
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............. bring and take
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kli.o = a knife
kli.o ʔáu jə = to take the knife away
kli.o ʔáu tə = to bring the knife
ʔáu kli.o jə = to take a knife away
kli.o uʔau jə nə jono = take the knife and go give to John
kli.o uʔau tə nə jono = bring the knife and give to John
If however the knife was already in the 2nd person's hand, you would say ...
ute nə jono kli.o = come and give john the knife ... or ...
ute nə kli.o jonon = come and give the knife to john
Note ... the rules governing the 3 participants in a "giving", are exactly the same as English. Even to the fact that if you drop the participant you must include jowe which means away. For example ...
nari klogau tí jowe = I gave my shoes away.
Note ... In arithmetic ʔaujoi mean "to subtract" or "subtraction" : ledo means "to add" or "addition".
Note ... when somebody gives something "to themselves", tiye = must always be used, no matter its position.
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....... for and against
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HELP = to help, assist, support
gompa = to hinder, to be against, to oppose
FIGHT = to fight
FIGHT jonotu = to fight with john ......... john is present and fighting
FIGHT HELP jono = to fight for John ... john is present but maybe not fighting
FIGHT jonoji = to fight for John ...........probably john not fighting and not present
FIGHT gompa jono = to fight against John
..
.......... to change
..
lái = to change
kwèu = to turn
lái sàu = to change into, to become
kwèu sàu = to turn into
The above 2 mean exactly the same
Note ...
paintori pintu nelau = he has painted a blue door
paintori pintu ʃìa nelau = he has painted a door blue
..
??? How does this mesh in with clauses starting with "want", "intend", "plan" etc. etc. ... SEE THAT BOOK BY DIXON ??
??? How does this mesh in with the concepts ...
"start", "stop", "to bodge", "to no affect", "scatter", "hurry", "to do accidentally" etc.etc. ... SEE THAT BOOK ON DYIRBAL BY DIXON
..
... Parenthesis
..
béu has two particles that indicate the start of some sort of parenthesis. In a similar way to a mathematical formula, where brackets mean that the arguments within the brackets should be evaluated first, the two béu particles indicate that the immediately following clause should be processed (by the brain) before arguments outside of the parenthesis are considered.
..
. tà ... the full clause parenthesis particle
..
This is basically the same as "that" in English, when "that" introduces a complement clause. For example ...
"He said THAT he was not feeling well"
Notice that "he was not feeling well" is complete in itself, it is a self-contained clause.
..
. hù ... the gap clause parenthesis particle
..
This is basically the same as "what" in English, in such sentences as ...
"WHAT you see is WHAT you get"*
Notice that "you see" and "you get" are not complete clauses, there is a "gap" in them.
The phase "WHAT you see", (to return to the mathematical analogy again) may be thought of as a "variable". in this case, the motivation for using a "variable", is to make the expression "general" rather than "specific". (Being general it is of course more worthy of our consideration). Other motivations for using a "variable" is that the actual argument is not known. Yet another is that even though the particular argument is known, it is really awkward to specify satisfactorily.
EXAMPLE
Another way to think about the hù construction, is to think of it as a "nominalizer", a particle that turns a whole clause into a noun. To use the example from just above ....
"see" is an intransitive verb with two arguments. To replace one of these arguments by ʔà is like defining the missing argument in terms of the rest of the clause i.e. it changes a clause into a construction that refers to one argument of that clause.
. Gap clause particles in other languages
There is no generally agreed upon term for the type of construction which I am calling "gap clause" here. Dixon calls it a "fused relative", Greenberg calls it a "headless relative clause". I don't like either term. A fused relative implies that a generic noun (i.e. "thing" or "person") somehow got fused with a relativizer. This certainly never happened although this type of clause can be rewritten as a generic noun followed by a relativizer. As for "headless" relative clause ... well I think the type of clause that we are dealing with is in fact more fundamental then a relative clause, so I would not like to define it in terms of a relative clause.
My thoughts on this type of clause are ...
Well "what" was firstly a question word. So you have expressions like "Who fed the cat"
Then of course it is natural to have an answer like "I don't know who fed the cat"
Now the above sentence is similar to "I don't know French" or "I don't know Johnny".
Now you see the expression "who fed the cat" fills the slot usually occupied by a noun in an "I don't know" sentences.
So "who fed the cat" started to be thought of as a sort of noun.
Now from the "know (neg)" beachhead*, the usage would have spread to "know" and also the such words that have "knowing" as an essential part of their meaning. Words such as "remember", "report" etc. etc.
*I call "know (neg)" a "beachhead"**. A beachhead is a usage(and/or the act or situation behind that usage) that facilitates the meaning of a word to spread. Or the meaning of an expression to spread. A beachhead can be defined simply as an expression, but sometimes some background as to the speakers environment has to be given. For example suppose that one dialect of a language was using a word to mean "under", but this same word meant "between/among" in all other dialects. Now suppose you did some investigating and found that all other dialects of this language was spoken on the steppes and their speakers made a living by animal husbandry. However the group which diverged from the others had given up the nomadic life and settled down in a lush river valley. In this valley their main occupation was tending their fruit orchards.
It could be deduced that the change in meaning came about by people saying ... "Johnny is among the trees". Now as the trees were thick on the ground and had overspreading branches, this was re-analysed to mean "Johnny is under the trees". Hence I would say ...
The beachhead of word "x" = "between" to word "x" = "under" was the expression "among the trees" (and in this case a bit of background as to the "culture" of the speakers would be appropriate). ... OK ? ... understood ?
For an expressing to become a beachhead, it must, of course, be used regularly.
ASIDE ... I have thought about counting rosary beads as a possible beachhead that changed the meaning of "have", in Western Europe, from purely "possession" to a perfect marker. This is just (fairly ?) wild conjecture of course. (The beachhead expression being "I have x beads counted" with "counted" originally being a passive participle)
I am digressing here ... well to get back to "who fed the cat". We had it being considered a sort of noun. Presumably it was at one time put directly after a noun in apposition (presumably with a period of silence between the two) and qualified the noun. Then presumably they got bound closer together, the gap was lost, and this is the history of one form of relative clause in English.
**Actually I would have liked to use the term pivot here. However this term has already been taken.
From the dictionary
Beachhead (dictionary definition) = 1. A position on an enemy shoreline captured by troops in advance of an invading force
Beachhead (dictionary definition) = 2. A first achievement that opens the way for further developments.
There are 4 relativizers ... ʔá, ʔái, ʔáu and ʔaja. (relativizer = ʔasemo-marker)
ʔasemo = relative clause.
It works in pretty much the same way as the English relative clause construction. The béu relativisers is ʔá. Though ʔái, ʔáu and ʔaja also have roles as relativisers.
The main relativiser is ʔá and all the pilana can occur with it (well all the pilana except ʔe. ʔaí is used instead of * ʔaʔe).
The noun that is being qualified is dropped from the relative clause, but the roll which it would play is shown by its pilana on the suffixed to the relativizer. For example ;-
glà hù bàus timpri sòr hauʔe = The woman that the man hit, is beautiful.
The same thing happens with all the pilana. For example ;-
the basket hupi the cat shat was cleaned by John.
the wall hula you are sitting was built by my grandfather.
the woman hùn I told the secret, took it to her grave.
the town hùfi she has come is the biggest south of the mountain.
the lilly pad hulfe the frog jumped was the biggest in the pond.
the boat hulna she has just entered is unsound
báu hùs timpori glá ʔaiho = The man that hit the woman is ugly.
nambo huʔi she lives is the biggest in town = the house in which she lives is the biggest in town
báu hutu ò is going to market is her husband = the man with which she is going to town is her husband
kli.o hutu he severed the branch is rusty
I shot waulo è waulo yana fyakasri pà polison = the man whose dog I shot, reported me to the police
I shot waulo è yana fyakasri pà polison = the man whose dog I shot, reported me to the police
Note ... we have no direct translation of "whose".
The old woman huji I deliver the newspaper, has died.
The boy huwo they are all talking, has gone to New Zealand.
*Altho' this has the same form as all the rest, underneath there is a difference. n marks a noun as part of a noun phrase, not as to its roll in a clause.
As you see in above, ʔa in the form * ʔaʔe is not allowed. Instead you must use ʔaí.
The use of ʔái and ʔàu as relativizers are basically the same as the use of "where" and "when" in English. These two can combine with two of the pilana.
?aifi = from where, whence
?aiye = to where, hence
?aufi = from when, since
?auye = to when, until
The use of ʔaja basically is a relativizer for an entire clause instead of just the noun which it follows.
For example ???????
WITH SPACE AND TIME
PLURAL FORM
..
... the NP with the present participle core ??
..
Now the phrase jono kludala toili is a noun phrase (NP) in which the adjective phrase (AP) qualifies the noun jono
(Notice that in the clause that corresponds to the above NP, jonos kludora toili (John is writing the book), jono has the ergative suffix and the 3 words can occur in any order : with the NP, jono does not take the ergative suffix and the 3 words must occur in the order shown.)
bwí = to see
polo = Paul
timpa = to hit
jene = Jenny
bwri polo timpa = He saw paul hitting something ... (bwri polo timpala é)
bwri pà timpa ò = He saw me hitting her
bwri tà timpara ò = He saw that I had hit her
bwri jene timpawar = He saw Jenny being hit ..... (bwri jene timpwala)
Now the question is where is this special NP used. Well it is used in situations where English would use a complement clause. For example with algo meaning "to think about",*
1) algara jono = I am thinking about John.
2) algara jono kludau toili = I am thinking about John writing a book.
Note ... According to Dixon, the standard English translation of 2) would be "I am thinking about John's writing a book" which I find quite strange even though English is my mother tongue. I have decided to call this sort of construction in béu a special kind of NP, while Dixon has called the equivalent expression in English the "-ing" type of complement clause. I think this is just a naming thing and doesn't really matter.
*"to think (that)" is alhu in béu. alhu also translates "to believe".
..
..... Nouns and how they pervade other parts of speech
nambo
nambo meaning house is a fairly typical non-single-syllable noun and we can use it to demonstrate how béu generates other words from nouns.
nambodu
Not many nouns can be used as verbs. However when an action is associated to a certain noun, usually, with no change of form, it can be used as a verb. For example lotova means bicycle and you get lotovarwi meaning "I used to ride my bicycle". For the infinitive, du must be affixed to the basic form.
The meaning given to the verb nambo is arrived at through metaphor, it is not so straight forward as the bicycle example.
The use of all tools can be expressed in a similar manner to lotova.
nambon
Sometimes in English a bare noun can be used to qualify another noun (i.e. it can act as an adjective). For example in the phrase "history teacher", "history" has the roll usually performed by an adjective ... for example, "the sadistic teacher". This can never happen in béu, the noun must undergo some sort of change. The most common change for nambo is it to change into its genitive form nambon as in pintu nambon "the door of the house". Other changes that can occur are the affixation of -go or -ka. These are used with certain nouns more than others. They are not used that much with the noun nambo so I haven't included them in the chart above. You could use the forms nambogo or namboka if you wanted tho' (they would mean "house-like"). Maybe you would use one of these terms in a joke ... it would stike the listener as slightly odd however.
nambia
This is a very common derivation. Nearly all nouns can take this transformation.
nambia is an adjective meaning "having a home". And its use as a noun is quite common as well, in which case it would probably be translater as "a home owner"
nambua
Also a very common derivation. The opposite of nambia.
nambua means homeless or the homeless
Note that although ia and ua are exact opposites, the usage of the words produced from these affixes do not completely mirror each other. It all depends oner what the base word is.
For example, in this case, the form nambia is a bit rarer than nambia. Also nambua is used more often as an adjective than as a noun, while nambia is used more often as a noun than an adjective.
nambuma
Many of the worlds languages have a suffix that has this roll. Called an "augmentative" in the Western linguistic tradition. Does not really come into play in English but quite common in béu. As well as some basic forms that appear regularly in their augmentative version, any noun can receive this affix. But of course it will stick out if it is not commonly used.
nambita
The opposite of nambuma. Called an "diminutive" in the Western linguistic tradition. In béu it is often used to show that the speaker feels affection for the noun so transformed. There is no trace of the opposite for the augmentative : nobody would use the augmentative to show repulsion.
nambwan
The form changes that produce nambia, nambua, nambuma, nambita, *nambija are *nambeba affected by deleting the final vowel (or diphthong) and then adding the relevant affix. However with this change of form this is not always possible to delete the final vowel (example). In this example it is possible. In fact it is possible if the final consonant of the base word is j, b, g, d,c, s, k, t, l or m.
By the way nambwan means domestic or domesticated. Nearly always when you come across the word it is referring to animals.
Other derivations that are not possible with nambo
I have already mentioned nambogo and namboka which while possible, are not at all common. Also I will mention three other derivations that are quite common however can not occur with nambo.
1) -ija is affixed to the names of animals and give a word meaning the young of that animal. For example;-
huvu = sheep
huvija = lamb
mèu = cat
meuja = kitten
2) -eba is an affix that produces a word meaning "a set of something" where the base word is considered as a central/typical member of that set. For example;-
baiʔo = spoon
baiʔeba = cutlery
= chair
= furniture
nambeba could represent a set comprising (houses, huts, skyscrapers, apartment buildings, government buildings etc etc.), however this is already covered by bundo (derived from the verb bunda "to build").
báu
..... -uʒi and -go
Note that wan tends to be affixed to nouns while uzhi gets affixed to verbs.
| to play | lento | playful | lentuʒi |
| to rest/relax | loŋge | lazy | loŋguʒi |
| to lie | selne | untruthful by disposition | selnuʒi |
| to work | kodai | diligent | koduʒi |
If the verb is monosyllabic, then -go is used instead of -uʒi.
Sometimes it is hard to tell if a word is basically a verb or a noun.
For example eskua is the gomia of a verb which means "to be angry". However it is also a noun meaning "anger".
However we can say that it is basically a verb as eskuʒi "bad tempered" !!!
How do we say "angry" ???
..... Number of categories
So now we can say, béu has ...
1 wepua
2 mazeba .......................... and 2 demonstratives
3 plova ......... participles ........ ʔinʔanandau or whatever words
4 teŋko ........ evidentials ........ relativizers or ʔasemo-marker
5 seŋgeba ..... modals ..... and 5 specifyana
6 ʔanandau ... question words
7 cenʔo ......... subject marked on the verb
9 ??? .............. personal pronouns
12 pilana (noun cases),
15 "specified"
16 gwoma (tense/aspect verbal affixes).
best to have 10 ??? conjunctions ???
The complement clause construction ???
wí = to see polo = Paul timpa = to hit jene = Jenny
wori polo timpa andai = He saw paul hitting something
wori pá timpana ó = He saw me hitting her
wori jene bwò timpa = He saw Jenny being hit
wori polo timpa jene = He saw Paul hitting Jenny
wori pà timpa jene = He saw me hitting Jenny.
In the above constructions the word order must be as shown above.
TO THINK ABOUT
Now we have said before that béu has free word order, however this really only applies to the verb in R-form (R) and the S argument in an intransitive clause, and the R, A and O in a transitive clause. When you have a verb in gomia-form (G), in the subjunctive form (Sub) or in the imperative form (Imp), you must have these elements in the following order ;-
S G : S Sub ... the last of these (S -S ) is quite unusual. Maybe can have S I ... but then S must be in vocative case
A G O : A Sub O : Imp O ... expand this and make it look good. Maybe can have A I O ... but then A must be in vocative case
In the béu linguistic tradition, a clause that has one R verb in it, or one N verb, or one I verb is called aʒiŋko baga or a simple clause. Any clause that has an R verb plus an G or N, verb is called a aʒiŋko kaza or a complex clause.
..... To think about
Further uses of the "s" form of the verb. That is the subjunctive.
Also used in dependent clauses with the meaning ...
that xxx should yyy.
Used after "want/hope/believe ?" if the subject is different. If subject is the same then the verb is in the gomia form.
hear, see, think, like, remember, know, believe | use tà + full verb with FACT complements.
hear, see, like, remember | use gomia with ACTION complements (English would use "-ing")
Sometimes when English would use the "to" construction, béu would use the -u participle | remember
Some rubbish
gwoi = to jump (involuntarily), to give a start
gwamoi = to make somebody jump, to give somebody a start
doika = walk
damoika = to manage, to run ......... damoikanai = "the management" or "the managers"
poma = leg
pomas = to kick, pomari = I kicked
pomaswan = liable to kick, fond of kicking
pomonda = good to kick
klonda = worth seeing
To fix up this bit.....Of course we can make two clauses, and have the second clause one element inside the first clause. To do that you must use the particle tà. Equivalent to one of the uses of "that" in English. tà basically tells you that the following clause should be treated like a single element, like a single noun.
I should mention sá tà ...
solbe = to drink
heŋgo = to live (or it could mean "a life")
soŋkau = to die (or it could mean "death")
glabu = person
moze = water
moʒi = steam
heŋgola = alive, living
soŋki = dead
..... Examples of prepositions
move these somewhere else
ilai = between
geka = without
mú = outside of
muka = outside
pika = inside
pòi = to enter or to put in
poi.a nambo = go into the house
wi.a toilia di toilicoipi = put these book in the bookcase ... wi.a toilia di toilicoin ... yeah, I like the second version
toilia di TAKE.ia poi.a nambo = take these book into the house
toilia di TAKE.ia nambo.pia jene.kye.a = take these book into the house and give to Jane
TAKE.iya toilia di nambo pireu jene kyireu = take these book into the house and give to Jane
méu = to exit or to take out ... I guess cat must be mèu
miwa nambo báin = come out of the house, get out of the house
.... -GO
| pronounced | operation | label | example |
| -go | noun => adjective, plus adjective => adjective, plus verb => adjective | "ish" | gla.go = effeminate, hia.go = reddish, bla.go = quarrelsome |
-go
gó = to resemble, to be like
gó dó = to be the exact image of
gla.go = effeminate, hia.go = reddish, bla.go = quarrelsome
Sometimes the -go derived words have negative connotations, as in gal.go
There is a suffix -ka (notice it is not considered a pilana), that often has a positive connotation, sometimes making a couplet with a -go derived word. For example ;-
gla.ka = womanly
kài = to appear, to seem
kò = appearance
..... Opposite meaning, same word class
The prefix for adjectives is "u"
taitau = many
utaitau = few
mutu = important
umutu = unimportant
The prefix for adverb is "u"
nan = for a long time
unan = not for a long time
The prefix for nouns is "u"
mezna = to fight
meznana = combatant
umeznana = non-combatant
As in English, not found that often. Sometimes found in rule books.
However the prefix for verbs is "ku"
| kunja | to fold | kukunja | to unfold |
| laiba | to cover | kulaiba | to uncover |
| fuŋga | to fasten, to lock | kufuŋga | to unfasten, to unlock |
| benda | to assemble, to put together | kubenda | to take apart, to disassemble |
| pauca | to stop up, to block | kupauca | to unstop |
| sensa | to weave | kusensa | to unravel |
| fiŋka | to put on clothes, to dress | kufiŋka | to undress |
| tasta | to tangle | kutasta | to untangle |
Note ... if they verbal prefix was simply u, then the same word would mean both "non-folding" and "unfolding"
kunja = to fold
kunjana = "folding" (an adjective) or "one that folds" (a noun)
kukunjana = "unfolding" or the "unfolder"
ukunjana = "non-folding" or "one that doesn't fold"
..
Index
- Introduction to Béu
- Béu : Chapter 1 : The Sounds
- Béu : Chapter 2 : The Noun
- Béu : Chapter 3 : The Verb
- Béu : Chapter 4 : Adjective
- Béu : Chapter 5 : Questions
- Béu : Chapter 6 : Derivations
- Béu : Chapter 7 : Way of Life 1
- Béu : Chapter 8 : Way of life 2
- Béu : Chapter 9 : Word Building
- Béu : Chapter 10 : Gerund Phrase
- Béu : Discarded Stuff
- A statistical explanation for the counter-factual/past-tense conflation in conditional sentences
