Khasi and Wôpanâak/Lexical Selection
From LING073
Contents
wam-->kha
- meequn "feather, pen" => sner "feather", khulom "pen", khulom-sner "feather pen"
- if bird, arrow near meequn, select sner
- if write, paper, book near meedun, select khulom
- keesuk "sky, a day" => sngi "day, sun", bneng "sky"
- if color-word near keesuk, choose bneng
- if countable-word, plural near keesuk, choose sngi
- nupâus "sun, month" => sngi "day, sun", bnai "moon, month"
- if rise, set near nupâus, select sngi !!!Does Wôpanâak have words for rise and set?
- else default to bnai
Examples
- In "monatash keesukash" ("many days"), "keesuk" should be translated to "sngi"
- In "ayum God keesuk kah ahkee" ("God creates the heavens and the earth"), "keesuk" should be translated to "bneng".
kha-->wam
- kjat "foot/leg" => -ukhôt "leg", -seet "foot"
- default to -seet
- sngi "day, sun" => keesuk "sky, day", nupâus "sun, month"
- if what, which, long, short, PLURAL near sngi, select keesuk
- if rise, set (sep) near sngi, select nupâus
- OLD - for reference for later: ngi "we (1st person plural pronoun)" => neenawun "we (exclusive)", keenawun "we (inclusive)" This is reflective of a deeper grammatical ambiguity with regards to first person plural forms throughout the languages.
Examples
- In "bad ia ki sngi" ("and days"), "sngi" should be translated to "keesuk"
- In "ka sngi ka la mih la slem" ("the sun was up long ago"), "sngi" should be translated to "nupâus"