Difference between revisions of "Wamesa/Grammar"

Revision as of 23:32, 8 February 2017

Wamesa Pronouns

The Wamesa pronouns are as follows:

Person ............Cardinal Form

1 p. sg. . . . . . yau

2 p. sg. . . . . . au

3 p. sg. . . . . . i

1 p. du. in. . . . nan(d)u

1 p. du. ex. . . . amu(n)

2 p. du. . . . . . man(d)u

3 p. du. . . . . . san(d)u

1 p. tr. in. . . . tatoru

1 p. tr. ex. . . . amatoru

2 p. tr. . . . . . metoru

3 p. tr. . . . . . setoru

1 p. pl. in. . . . tata(t)

1 p. pl. ex. . . . ama(t)

2 p. pl. . . . . . mia(t)

3 p. pl. hum.. . . sia(t)

3 p. pl. non-hum.. si

Human-ness Done

In Wamesa, morphemes indicate whether something is a human <hum> or non-human <nohum>. However, this only affects the 3pl forms of a word.

• eat<v><p3><pl><hum> ↔ setapi
• eat<v><p3><pl><nohum> ↔ siapi
• talk<v><p3><pl><hum> ↔ setikaviora

"They (human) use it to talk over there"

• blue<adj><p3><pl><nohum> ↔ siverawana

"They (nonhuman) are blue"

Wamesa Verbs

Wamesa verbs (<v>) conjugate in a way similar to the pronouns:

Person ............Prefix (Infix) Form

1 p. sg. . . . . . i-, y-

2 p. sg. . . . . . bu-, -u-

3 p. sg. . . . . . di-, -i-

1 p. du. in. . . . tu(n)-

1 p. du. ex. . . . amu(n)-

2 p. du. . . . . . mu(n)-

3 p. du. . . . . . su(n)-

1 p. pl. in. . . . ta(n)-

1 p. pl. ex. . . . ama(n)-

2 p. pl. . . . . . me(n)-

3 p. pl. hum.. . . se(n)-

3 p. pl. non-hum.. si

As such, they ought to be tagged with one of <p1>, <p2>, and <p3>, and one of <sg>, <du>, and <pl>.

Inclusivity Done

Inclusivity (<incl>, <excl>) in Wamesa affects 1du and 1pl (1sg is always exclusive by nature), and indicates whether the listener is included in the narrator's group.

Inclusivity in Verbs

• cut<v><p1><du><incl> ↔ tupera
• cut<v><p1><du><excl> ↔ amupera
• cut<v><p1><pl><incl> ↔ tapera
• cut<v><p1><pl><excl> ↔ amapera

Inclusivity in Pronouns

In addition to conjugating with verbs, inclusivity can affect the use of pronouns:

1 p. du. in. . . . nan(d)u

1 p. du. ex. . . . amu(n)

1 p. pl. in. . . . tata(t)

1 p. pl. ex. . . . ama(t)

Number Done

Wamesa pronouns, and verbs undergo alternation as a result of number. When indicating the number of nouns, articles are attached, rather than changing the actual form of the noun. The same goes for when adjectives are converted into nouns by adding articles to them. The Wamesa system includes singular (<sg>), dual (<du>), (trial (<tr>),) and plural (<pl>).

Number in Pronouns

Pronouns in their cardinal form undergo alternations based on number. Take, for example, the <p2> pronoun in <sg>, <du>, and <pl> forms:

2 p. sg. . . . . . au

2 p. du. . . . . . man(d)u

2 p. pl. . . . . . mia(t)

Sometimes, there are multiple forms of each number, depending on other factors. As we see below, inclusivity and human-ness play a part in the form of pronouns:

1 p. du. in. . . . nan(d)u

1 p. du. ex. . . . amu(n)

3 p. pl. hum.. . . sia(t)

3 p. pl. non-hum.. si

There are actually trial forms of all three persons, as below. These forms are remnants from old Austronesian influence. However, these are very rare and conjugate as <pl> forms when with a verb.

1 p. tr. in. . . . tatoru

1 p. tr. ex. . . . amatoru

2 p. tr. . . . . . metoru

3 p. tr. . . . . . setoru

Number in Verbs

Verbs conjugate based on the number of persons acting.

eat<v><p2><sg> ↔ buapi

eat<v><p2><du> ↔ murapi

eat<v><p2><pl> ↔ metapi

Sometimes, number morphemes are infixes:

cut<v><p2><sg> ↔ puera

cut<v><p3><sg> ↔ piera

Wamesa Articles Done

There are two types of articles in Wamesa - definite and indefinite - but they behave slightly differently than in English. Perhaps most importantly, they can attach to adjectives to turn the resulting phrase into a noun.

Definite Articles

The definite article (<def>) in Wamesa has a few forms: pai for <sg>, pasanu for <du>, and pasiat for <pl>. Some examples are as follows:

• child<n><def> ↔ antum-pai

"The child"

• fish<n><def> ↔ dian-pai

"The fish"

• eye<n><du><def> ↔ re-pasanu

"The two eyes"

• Windesi people<n><def> ↔ Windesi-pasiat

"The Windesi people"

Exception:

• person<n><du><def> ↔ sinitu-pa

Indefinite Articles

The indefinite article (<indef>) in Wamesa is pesi. Examples below:

• man<n><indef> ↔ muan-pesi

"A man"

• big<adj><indef> ↔ baba-pesi

"Something big"

pesi is almost always inert, but it occasionally found in its dual and plural forms:

• woman<n><du><indef> ↔ babin-pesi-sanu

"Some two women"

• night<n><pl><indef> ↔ diru-pesasi

"Some nights"

Intensity Done

Intensity in Wamesa is usually handled by reduplication on the verb. To indicate intensity, verbs reduplicate a portion of their stem, usually a single, coda-less syllable. Verbs can either be intensified (<int>), or regular intensity.

• go quickly<v><p1><sg> ↔ ira saira

"I go quickly"

• go quickly<v><p1><sg><int> ↔ ira sasaira

"I go very quickly"

• hot<adj><p1><sg> ↔ yau imase

"I'm hot"

• hot<adj><p1><sg><int> ↔ yau imamase

"I'm very hot"

Intensity of a situation is also handled by reduplication in the verb. In fact, sometimes multiple parts of a sentence can be altered to add intensity.

• leech<n><v> ↔ riopai piau

"There is a leech"

• leech<n><int><v> ↔ ririopai piau

"There are many leeches"

• leech<n><v><int> ↔ ririopai sipau

"there are very many leeches" (verb is intensified)

• leech<n><int><v><int> ↔ ririopasi sipau

"There are extremely many leeches" (verb and noun are intensified)

Possession Done

Possession affects nouns in Wamesa. The nouns undergo alterations depending on whether they belong (<poss>) to <p1>, <p2>, or <p3>; <sg>, <du>, or <pl>.

• mouth<n><p1><sg><poss> ↔ sore-pat
• mouth<n><p2><sg><poss> ↔ soremi
• mouth<n><p3><sg><poss> ↔ soreni
• mouth<n><p1><pl><incl><poss> ↔ tansoremi
• mouth<n><p1><pl><excl><poss> ↔ amansoremi
• mouth<n><p2><pl><poss> ↔ mensoremi
• mouth<n><p3><pl><poss> ↔ sensoremi

Irregularity

Sometimes, possession is handled with separate words. This evokes an archaic feeling, as the words come from old Austronesian influence. For this reason, these possessives are found in hymns and the like:

• Lord<n><p2><poss> ↔ nomu Sjen
• elder brother<n><p2><poss> ↔ nemu babai
• orphan<n><p2><poss> ↔ memu antum

Aspect

Wamesa includes a few aspects.

Habitual Aspect

Habitual aspect in Wamesa is subtle. It is marked by the prefixes i-, ri- and ti- for <sg>, <du>, and <pl>, respectively, and is often equated to the imperfect tense in English. In Wamesa, however, it has little to do with tense, and more to do with the fact that the situation is habitual or spanned a long time:

• {{morphTest|

Causative Aspect

Causative aspect is handled by the prefixes on-, ron- and ton- for <sg>, <du>, and <pl>, respectively, which are actually just elided forms of the conjugations of the verb one, to cause.

"Yet" Aspect

The affix pa (not to be confused with the determiner) is used to mark the "yet" aspect:

• {{morphTest|stone<n> fall<v><yet>|

Participials Done

In Wamesa, the prefix be- attaches to stems (usually adjectives), to indicate that the actor is in the state of being whatever is marked, or transitioning into the state of being whatever is marked. It shall be tagged with <>.

• sick<adj><part> ↔ bepota

"Being sick"

• sick<adj><part><def> ↔ bepota-pai

"The sick one"

• sick<adj><v><p3><sg> ↔ piota

"He is sick"

• sick<adj><part><v><p3><sg> ↔ biepota

"He is getting sick"

This construction also seems to be used for resultatives:

• cut<v><p3><sg> Inuri to pieces<> ↔ pieran Inuri bierabibam

"He cut Inuri to pieces" (Inuri became in pieces)