Difference between revisions of "Mixe/Grammar"

Revision as of 19:09, 1 March 2022

Useful resources

• mto-Spanish vocabulary
• mto Phonotagemics
• paper / mto text and interlinear glosses
• paper on orthography - some examples; useful for "translating" between various texts, ipa, etc
• Master's thesis on applicative constructions

Main parts of speech

• determiners and demonstratives

  Demonstratives can function both as pronouns and as noun modifiers (ie. determiners). When determiners, they are reduced to a single CV syllable.

  • jä<det><def> ↔ jä (the, those)
  • xii<dem> ↔ xi (that)
  • xii<prn> ↔ xii (that)
  • yë'ë<dem> ↔ yë (these)
  • yë'ë<prn> ↔ yë'ë (these)
  • ja'a<dem> ↔ ja (that (distant))
  • ja'a<prn> ↔ ja'a (that (distant))
• verbs
• nouns

  Nouns are divided into three classes: simple, derived, and compound.

  • xëk<n> ↔ xëk (bean)
  • 'ök<n> ↔ 'ök (dog)
  • kumöön<n> ↔ kumööntömpä (citizen)
  • jäyu<n> ↔ jäyu (person)
  • limösnä<n> ↔ limösnä (alms) (very likely a Spanish loan)
• adjectives

  Adjectives can occur before or after the noun phrase they modify. When they precede the NP, they are unmarked. When they occur after the NP, they are part of a relative clause introduced by the relativizer juu'<rlt> ↔ juu'. Number isn't marked on adjectives, nor is aspect. Adjectives can also be reduplicated to express intensity.

  • poo'p<adj> ↔ poo'p (white)
  • mu'uk<adj> ↔ mu'uk (wild)
• aspectual proclitics
  • të<pro><perf> ↔ të
  • kë<pro><cfct> ↔ kë
• aspectual enclitics
  • nä<enc> ↔ nä
  • nu<enc> ↔ nu
  • tä<enc> ↔ tä
  • äni<enc> ↔ äni
  • m<enc> ↔ m
• auxiliaries
  • kä'ä<aux> ↔ kä'ä (negative auxiliary)
  • xip<adj> ↔ xip (in there)
  • yëk<n><pl> ↔ yëk-käätä (black bulls)
• numerals
• post-positions

Sets of alternations or systems (grammar points)

Nouns

Verbs

Verbs are generally of the form: person.prefix - stem - time/aspect.suffix p.303. Like other Mixe-Zoquean languages, mto verbs are characterized as independent or dependent, which we respectively tag <idt> and <dep>. (Note that the Apertium tag <ind> marks indefiniteness, not independence.)

• näjcx<v><idt><p2> ↔ mnäjcxp (you are going)
• vaꞌan<v><p3><fut> ↔ vyaꞌanüt (he/she will say/tell)

There are 20 possible morpheme positions for any given verb. These morphemes mark and include aspect/mood, person, negation, modals, intensifiers, valence-changers, the verb stem, adverbial, plural, inverse, still/also, completive vs incompletive vs irrealis, dependent vs independent, and aspectual enclitics (an enclitic is something like n't in English). Apertium has tense/aspect tags, but none that seem to line up with the aspects used in mto. So, we tag nonobligatory aspect morphology <asp> (for now, but I haven't yet determined whether we need to tag this). <o_sg1> is a standard Apertium tag, denoting second person singular object. <a_sg1> is first person singular agent. <its> denotes intensifier morphology. < ins > is instrumental. <inv> is inverse. <cpl> is completive aspect. <icpl> is incompletive aspect. <lex> is a lexical affix (e.g MOUTH). <apl> is applicative. <irr> is irrealis mood. <inc> is inceptive. <des> is desiderative.

• näjcx<v><p3><pl><decisive><asp><fut> ↔ ñäjcxtinuvat (they also will go)

• vop<v><o_sg2><dep><its><ins><inv><pl><asp><cpl> ↔ mtuntukvojpjitinï (they already hit you a lot with)

• jöy<v><o_sg2><idt><its><its><ins><lex><apl><prs><inv><pl><irr><idt> ↔ mjää’ktuntuk’äjöyävääjnjïtup (wants to buy it from you once again)

• kots<v><tv><a_sg1><idt><neg><its><apl><icpl><idt> ↔ nkätunkojtsjip ((people say) I really don't give advice to)

• kotsnäx<v><tv><a_sg3><idt><inc><des><icpl><idt> ↔ kyotsnäx’ukvä’änuväämp (he/she wants to start talking)

Verbal morphology is mostly agglutinative, but some morphemes fuse, likely for phonological reasons.

• E.G 'y-' (p3) + 'näjcx' (go) = 'ñäjcx'
  • ñäjcx<v><p3> ↔ he/she goes
  • NOTE: my current understanding is that ñäjcx can't stand alone. That is, it requires further morphemes to be grammatical.

Base verb forms

mto verbs fall into two categories: invariable and variable. Invariable verbs have regular base forms that don't change when they co-occur with other morphemes. Variable verbs, however, are irregular and do change depending on surrounding morphemes. Specifically, their forms may be dependent on morphology expressing inverse, aspect, mode, and valence-changing.

• nöm<v> ↔ run
  • nöm<v><imp> ↔ nöm
  • nöm<v>{<irr><idt> ↔ nöm
  • nöm<v><irr><dep> ↔ nöm
    • nöm<v><imp> ↔ nömï (run!)
  • nöm<v><cpl><idt> ↔ nööm
  • nöm<v><icpl><idt> ↔ nööm
    • nöm<v><p2><idt><icpl_idt_iv> ↔ mnöömp (you run)
    • nöm<v><p2><idt><cpl><idt> ↔ mnööm (you ran)
  • nöm<v><icpl><dep> ↔ num
  • nöm<v><cpl><dep> ↔ nujm

• pat<v> ↔ go up
  • pat<v><imp> ↔ pat
  • pat<v><irr><idt> ↔ pat
  • pat<v><irr><dep> ↔ pat
  • pat<v><imp> ↔ pajt
  • pat<v><irr><idt> ↔ pajt
  • pat<v><irr><dep> ↔ pajt
  • pat<v><icpl><dep> ↔ pet
  • pat<v><cpl><dep> ↔ pejt

• 'oo'k<v> ↔ die
  • 'oo'k<v><imp> ↔ 'oo'k
  • 'oo'k<v><cpl><idt> ↔ 'oo'k
  • 'oo'k<v><icpl><idt> ↔ 'oo'k
  • 'oo'k<v><irr><idt> ↔ 'oo'k
  • 'oo'k<v><irr><dep> ↔ 'oo'k
  • 'oo'k<v><cpl><dep> ↔ 'ëë'k
  • 'oo'k<v><icpl><dep> ↔ 'ëë'k

Person markers and tense/aspect markers depend on transitivity, whether it's in the "conjunctive" or "disjunctive" mode, and (for transitive verbs) whether a subject or object is being referred to.

Mto is an inversely hierarchical language, meaning that a verb can't agree with more than one argument at a time, regardless of transitivity. An intransitive verb agrees with its subject. A transitive verb agrees with whichever of its arguments is highest on the following hierarchy of person features: 1st>2nd>3rd(proximate)>3rd(obviative) (Gúzman, 35). When a verb has more than one 3rd-person referent, the more salient is called proximate, and the less salient obviative.

Transitivity

Verbs are intransitive by default. They are transitivized with a person-indicating prefix. [p.304]

Other verb morphology (probably most useful for transducer stuff)

When surface and underlying form differ, the underlying form is indicated like so: /form/.

Morphology for intransitive verbs (lack of <tv> = intransitive)

• Imperative verbs
  • Imperative <imp>: -ï

    nöm<v><imp> ↔ nömï run!

    pat<v><imp> ↔ patï rise!

    nëjkx<v><imp> ↔ nëjkxï go!

• Verbs in independent constructions
  • Incompletive <idt><icpl>: -p

    nöm<v><idt><icpl><p2> ↔ mnöömp you run/you're running

    pat<v><idt><icpl><p2> ↔ mpajtp you rise/you're rising

    nëjkx<v><idt><icpl><p2> ↔ mnëjkxp you go/you're going

  • Completive <idt><cpl>: /-W/ → Ø

    nöm<v><idt><cpl><p2> ↔ mnööm you ran

    pat<v><idt><cpl><p2> ↔ mpajt you rose

    nëjkx<v><idt><cpl><p2> ↔ mnëjkx you went

  • Irrealis <idt><irr>: -up

    nöm<v><idt><irr><p2> ↔ mnömup you will run

    pat<v><idt><irr><p2> ↔ mpatup you will rise

    nëjkx<v><idt><irr><p2> ↔ mnëjkxup you will go

• Verbs in dependent constructions
  • Incompletive <dep><icpl>: /-I/ → Ø (construction: kä'ä=m_) -I seems to sometimes show up phonetically, but generally doesn't. I haven't yet figured out how to predict when it will or won't be pronounced. Guzman notes that she uses uppercase letters for reconstructed morphemes. Might be that this is a silent morpheme that affects surrounding morphology. Or maybe it's better analyzed as a fusional feature. I.e. to form a dependent, incompletive, intransitive verb form, you don't add a <tv><dep><inc> morpheme; rather, the verb stem itself "changes" to reflects this.)

    nöm<v><dep><icpl><p2> ↔ mnum you (don't) run/you're (not) running

    pat<v><dep><icpl><p2> ↔ mpet you (don't) rise/you're (not) rising

    nëjkx<v><dep><icpl><p2> ↔ mnïjkx you (don't) go/you're (not) going

  • Completive <dep><cpl>: /-jI/ → Ø

    nöm<v><dep><cpl><p2> ↔ mnujm you didn't run

    pat<v><dep><cpl><p2> ↔ mpejt you didn't rise

    nëjkx<v><dep><cpl><p2> ↔ mnïjkx you didn't go

  • Irrealis <dep><irr>: -ït

    nöm<v><dep><irr><p2> ↔ mnömït you will not run

    pat<v><dep><irr><p2> ↔ mpatït you will not rise

    nëjkx<v><dep><irr><p2> ↔ mnëjkxït you will not go

Morphology for transitive verbs <tv>

• Imperative <tv><imp>: -ï

  pää't<v><tv><imp> ↔ pää'tï find it!

  këë'ts<v><tv><imp> ↔ këë'tsï break it!

  pöx<v><tv><imp> ↔ pöxï cut it!

• Independent constructions
  • Incompletive <tv><idt><icpl>: /-py/ → -p

    pää't<v><tv><idt><icpl><a_p2> ↔ mpäätyp you find it

    këë'ts<v><tv><idt><icpl><a_p2> ↔ mkïï'tsp you break it

    pöx<v><tv><idt><icpl><a_p2> ↔ mpujxp you cut it

    • Inverse <tv><idt><icpl><inv>: /-ju-py/ → -jup

      pää't<v><tv><idt><icpl><inv><o_p2> ↔ mpäätjup (he) finds you

    • Applicative + inverse <tv><idt><icpl><inv><apl>: /-ïx-ju-py/ → -ïx-jup

      pää't<v><tv><idt><icpl><inv><apl><o_p2> ↔ mpäätïxjup (he) finds (it) for you

  • Completive <tv><idt><cpl>: /-W/ → Ø

    pää't<v><tv><idt><cpl><a_p2> ↔ mpäät you found it

    • Inverse <tv><idt><cpl><inv>: /-ju-W/ → -ju

      pää't<v><tv><idt><cpl><inv><o_p2> ↔ mpäätju (he) found you

    • Applicative + inverse <tv><idt><cpl><inv><apl>: /-ïx-ju-W/ → -ïx-ju

      pää't<v><tv><idt><cpl><inv><apl> ↔ mpäätïxju (he) found (it) for you

  • Irrealis <tv><idt><irr>: -up

    pää't<v><tv><idt><irr><a_p2> ↔ mpää'tup you'll find it

    • Inverse <tv><idt><irr><inv>: /-ju-up/ → -jup

      pää't<v><tv> ↔ mpää'tjup (he) will find you

    • Applicative + inverse <tv><idt><irr><inv><apl>: /ïx-ju-up/ → -ïx-jup

      pää't<v><tv><idt><irr><inv><apl><o_p2> ↔ mpää'tïxjup (he) will find (it) for you

• Dependent constructions
  • Incompletive <tv><dep><icpl>: /-I/ → Ø

    pää't<v><tv><dep><icpl><a_p2> ↔ xpää'ty (he) does (not) find you

    • Inverse <tv><dep><icpl><inv>: /ju-I/ >> -jï

      pää't<v><tv><dep><icpl><inv><o_p2> ↔ mpää'tyjï (he) does (not) find you

    • Applicative + inverse <tv><dep><icpl><inv><apl>: /ïx-ju-I/ → -ïx-jï

      pää't<v><tv><dep><icpl><inv><apl><o_p2> ↔ mpää'tïxjï (he) does (not) find (it) for you

  • Completive <tv><dep><cpl>: /-jI/ → Ø

    pää't<v><tv><dep><cpl><a_p2> ↔ xpääty you did (not) find it

    • Inverse <tv><dep><cpl><inv>: /-ju-jI/ → -ji

      pää't<v><tv><dep><cpl><inv><o_p2> ↔ mpäätji (he) did (not) find you

    • Applicative + inverse <tv><dep><cpl><inv><apl>: /ïx-ju-jI/ → -ïx-ji

      pää't<v><tv><dep><cpl><inv><apl><o_p2> ↔ mpäätïxji (he) did (not) find (it) for you

  • Irrealis <tv><dep><irr>: -ït

    pää't<v><tv><dep><irr><a_p2> ↔ xpää'tït you will (not) find (it)

    • Inverse <tv><dep><irr><inv>: /-ju-ït/ → -jït

      pää't<v><tv><dep><irr><inv><o_p2> ↔ mpää'tjït (he) will (not) find you

    • Applicative + inverse <tv><dep><irr><inv><apl>: /ïx-ju-ït/ → -ïx-jït

      pää't<v><tv><dep><irr><inv><apl><o_p2> ↔ mpää'tïxjït (he) will (not) find (it) for you,