Noun cases

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Revision as of 08:43, 27 December 2009 by 98.155.42.111 (talk) (3rd attestation of ergative)
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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
Intransitive (no suffix) subject of intransitive verb
Ergative -l, -ìl oel, tìngayìl subject of transitive verb; called ergative in many languages
Accusative -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 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.


Ergative

As of 2009 December 26, we have three attested forms for this case, -l, as in oe-l nga-ti kam<ei>i 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).


Accusative

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 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).


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).