Difference between revisions of "Western Abenaki and English/Contrastive Grammar"
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[[Category:Sp23_ContrastiveGrammars ]] | [[Category:Sp23_ContrastiveGrammars ]] | ||
Revision as of 17:58, 3 May 2023
Contents
Animacy
Nouns and verbs are tagged with animacy, and there are different verbs depending on whether the subject/object are animate or inanimate.
Noun Animacy
this gets dealt with in lexical transfer -JNW
- Lobster
- ^sȣgaiwios<n><nn>/lobster<n>
- Apple
- ^aplesa<n><aa>/apple<n>
- Nuts
- ^pagȣnisal<n><nn><pl>/nut<n><pl>
Verb Animacy
To output "someone" vs. "something" or "him" vs. "it" is a good grammar point. Adding the English word when it's not present in abe is another grammar point. Be sure to write these up with the correct template - JNW
Verb animacy differs depending on the animacy of the subject and/or object.
- put aside
- beskaaka<vb><tv><aa><o_3sg_def_aa>
- beskato<vb><tv><nn><o_3sg_def_nn>
- see someone or something
- namiha<vb><tv><aa><o_3sg_def_aa>
- namito<vb><tv><nn><o_3sg_def_nn>
- one names him or it
- wihlômek<vb><tv><aa><o_3sg_def_aa>
- witôzik<vb><tv><nn><o_3sg_def_nn>
Plural Agreement
Adjectives and verbs must agree with the relevant noun in plurality
Adjective Plurality
This would be important for translation into abe, but it isn't for translation into eng -JNW
- pear (elongated apple) → pears (elongated apples)
- kwanogazid<adj> aples<n><aa><sg>
- kwanogazijik<adj><pl> aplesak<n><aa><pl>
- flat light → flat lights (the northern lights)
- abagigen<adj> wassakw<n><aa><sg>
- abagigenol<adj><pl> wassakol<n><aa><pl>
Verb Plurality
this is a lot like English, no? -JNW
- pears are
- kwanogazijik<adj><pl> aplesak<n><aa><pl> aoak<vb><iv><aa><pl>
- candlelights are present
- wassanmôganihlak<n><aa><pl> aimek<vb><iv><aa><pl>
First Person Possessive, First Person Subject
In Western Abenaki, the first person possessive marker is a prefixed n’. In English, this is simply the word "my." Similarly, a first person subject is marked on a verb with the same prefixed n’. In English, this is the word "I."
- N’cape - my coffee
- ^cape<n><nn><px1sg>/coffee<n><px1sg>$
- the "my" will be extracted in the Structural Transfer lab
- n’wlômawaldamen - I believe
- ^n’wlômawaldamen<vb><tv><nn><s_sg1>/believe<vb>
- The "I" will also be extracted
I see three useful grammar points here so far. See if you can come up with two more? -JNW
