Difference between revisions of "Noun cases"

From Learn Na'vi Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(→‎Discussion: reorg genitive discussion to include possibility of lenition as one of the possible stem modifications)
Line 49: Line 49:
 
=== Agentive ===
 
=== Agentive ===
 
As of 2009 December 26, we have three attested forms for this case, '''-l''', as in '''oe-l nga-ti kam<ei>e''' ''I see you'' ({{Corpus UGO}}), '''awpot set ftxey aynga-l''' ''now (you) choose one '' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Hunt Song). and  '''-ìl''' found in '''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 three attested forms for this case, '''-l''', as in '''oe-l nga-ti kam<ei>e''' ''I see you'' ({{Corpus UGO}}), '''awpot set ftxey aynga-l''' ''now (you) choose one '' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Hunt Song). and  '''-ìl''' found in '''oe-ri tìngay-ìl txe'lan-it t<iv>akuk''' ''let the truth strike my heart'' ({{Corpus ASG}}, Hunt Song).
 +
  
 
=== Patientive ===
 
=== Patientive ===
Line 59: Line 60:
  
 
=== Genitive ===
 
=== 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}}).
+
As of 2009 December 26, there are two attested forms of this case.   
  
 
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).
 
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).
  
 
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}}).
 
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}}).
 +
 +
In addition to the endings, we are told that the genitive ending may cause changes in the noun stem ({{Corpus LL}}).  We see this clearly in genitive pronouns, '''po''' > '''peyä''', '''nga''' > '''ngeyä''' ({{Corpus LL}}, {{Corpus UGO2}}).  The Weaving Song has several nouns in the genitive case which have also undergone lenition — '''Sì 'ekong te'lanä''' ''and the beat of the hearts'', ''' 'Ìheyu sìreyä''' ''the spiral of the lives'' ({{Corpus ASG}}) — but it is not clear if it is the genitive or some other grammatical process that has caused the lenition.
  
  

Revision as of 23:39, 28 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 , -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 almost 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.

Note that the names Frommer has chosen for the cases are not in accord with current linguistic terminology. What he calls the "agentive" is usually called "ergative," and what he calls "patientive" is usually "accusative."


Agentive

As of 2009 December 26, we have three attested forms for this case, -l, as in oe-l nga-ti kam<ei>e I see you (UGO), awpot set ftxey aynga-l now (you) choose one (ASG, Hunt Song). and -ìl found in 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.

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 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).

In addition to the endings, we are told that the genitive ending may cause changes in the noun stem (LL). We see this clearly in genitive pronouns, po > peyä, nga > ngeyä (LL, UGO2). The Weaving Song has several nouns in the genitive case which have also undergone lenition — Sì 'ekong te'lanä and the beat of the hearts, 'Ìheyu sìreyä the spiral of the lives (ASG) — but it is not clear if it is the genitive or some other grammatical process that has caused the lenition.


Dative

As of 2009 December 26, we have only the form -ru attested for the dative, and all examples are with nouns ending in vowels, oe-ru (numerous locations), ... nga Na'vi-ru yomtìyìng you will feed the people (ASG, Hunt Song).


Topic

As of 2009 December 26, we have two attested forms of the topic marker. We have -ri, so far only seen on oe, the first person pronoun, oe-ri ta peyä fahew akewong ontu teya längu my nose is full of his alien smell (LL).

The other form is -ìri, again with a single attestation, fìskxawngìri tsap'alute sengi oe I apologize for this moron (TO).