Difference between revisions of "Noun cases"
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We do know that the case markers may have several forms. We do not know the rules for determining which sorts of words get which case marker variants, though anyone with some college-level linguistics study in phonology and morphology should be able to make some intelligent guesses. Hopefully a full grammar will be published sooner rather than later. | We do know that the case markers may have several forms. We do not know the rules for determining which sorts of words get which case marker variants, though anyone with some college-level linguistics study in phonology and morphology should be able to make some intelligent guesses. Hopefully a full grammar will be published sooner rather than later. | ||
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=== Agentive === | === Agentive === | ||
As of 2009 December 26, we have two attested forms for this case, '''-l''', as in '''oe-l nga-ti kam<ei>i''' ''I see you'' ({{Corpus UGO}}), and '''oe-ri tìngay-ìl txe'lan-it t<iv>akuk''' ''let the truth strike my heart'' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Hunt Song). | As of 2009 December 26, we have two attested forms for this case, '''-l''', as in '''oe-l nga-ti kam<ei>i''' ''I see you'' ({{Corpus UGO}}), and '''oe-ri tìngay-ìl txe'lan-it t<iv>akuk''' ''let the truth strike my heart'' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Hunt Song). | ||
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=== Patientive === | === Patientive === | ||
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Finally, the form '''-it''' is attested once, in '''oe-ri tìngay-ìl txe'lan-it t<iv>akuk''' ''let the truth strike my heart'' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Hunt Song). | Finally, the form '''-it''' is attested once, in '''oe-ri tìngay-ìl txe'lan-it t<iv>akuk''' ''let the truth strike my heart'' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Hunt Song). | ||
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| + | === Genitive === | ||
| + | As of 2009 December 26, there are two attested forms of this case. In addition to the endings, we are told that the genitive ending may cause changes in the noun stem ({{Corpus LL}}). We currently see this clearly in genitive pronouns, '''po''' > '''peyä''', '''nga''' > '''ngeyä''' ({{Corpus LL}}, {{Corpus UGO2}}). | ||
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| + | The form '''-yä''' seems to be used after words ending in vowels, as in '''oe-yä tukru-l''' ''my spear'' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Hunt Song), '''tompa-yä kato, tsawke-yä kato''' ''rhythm of the rain, rhythm of the sun'' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Weaving Song). | ||
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| + | The '''-ä''' form appears to occur after consonants, as well as the syllabic resonant '''rr''', and after diphthongs ending in '''y''': '''trr-ä sì txon-ä''' ''of day and night'', '''ayzìsìt-ä kato''' ''rhythm of the years'' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Weaving Song), '''tìftia kifkey-ä''' ''study of the physical world'' ({{Corpus SciMag}}). | ||
[[Category:Morphology]] | [[Category:Morphology]] | ||
Revision as of 20:32, 26 December 2009
From Frommer's Language Log guest post we know that there are six noun cases, and that most of them have several forms. This is the list of known forms the cases can take, based on the existing text Corpus.
| Case | Known Endings | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subjective | (no suffix) | subject of intransitive verb | |
| Agentive | -l, -ìl | oel, tìngayìl | subject of transitive verb; called ergative in many languages |
| Patientive | -t, -it, -ti | katot, txe'lanit, ngati | direct object of transitive verb; called accusative in many languages |
| Genitive | -ä, -yä | txonä, oeyä | may cause modifications of the noun stem |
| Dative | -ru | ngaru | indirect object |
| Topic | -ri, -ìri | oeri, fìskxawngìri |
Discussion
Unlike several of the verb infixes, for which Frommer has identified some forms and meanings, the noun case markers have been determined entirely by analysis of the existing corpus with some help from the word list from the ASG and our knowledge from the Language Log post (LL) about what the cases are.
We do know that the case markers may have several forms. We do not know the rules for determining which sorts of words get which case marker variants, though anyone with some college-level linguistics study in phonology and morphology should be able to make some intelligent guesses. Hopefully a full grammar will be published sooner rather than later.
Agentive
As of 2009 December 26, we have two attested forms for this case, -l, as in oe-l nga-ti kam<ei>i I see you (UGO), and oe-ri tìngay-ìl txe'lan-it t<iv>akuk let the truth strike my heart (ASG, Hunt Song).
Patientive
As of 2009 December 26, we have three attested forms for this case. The first discovered is -ti, which came out in UGO, the very important greeting, oe-l nga-ti kam<ei>e. This form, however, is currently only seen in ngati.
More frequently seen in the corpus is -t, as in kato-t täftxu oe-l I weave the rhythm (ASG, Weaving Song) and awpo-t set ftxey ayngal now (you) choose one (ASG, Hunt Song).
Finally, the form -it is attested once, in oe-ri tìngay-ìl txe'lan-it t<iv>akuk let the truth strike my heart (ASG, Hunt Song).
Genitive
As of 2009 December 26, there are two attested forms of this case. In addition to the endings, we are told that the genitive ending may cause changes in the noun stem (LL). We currently see this clearly in genitive pronouns, po > peyä, nga > ngeyä (LL, UGO2).
The form -yä seems to be used after words ending in vowels, as in oe-yä tukru-l my spear (ASG, Hunt Song), tompa-yä kato, tsawke-yä kato rhythm of the rain, rhythm of the sun (ASG, Weaving Song).
The -ä form appears to occur after consonants, as well as the syllabic resonant rr, and after diphthongs ending in y: trr-ä sì txon-ä of day and night, ayzìsìt-ä kato rhythm of the years (ASG, Weaving Song), tìftia kifkey-ä study of the physical world (SciMag).
