Wamesa/Grammar

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. 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

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

Number

There are three numbers in the Wamesa number system: singular (<sg>), dual (<du>), and plural (<pl>).

Wamesa Inclusivity

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.

* cut<1du><incl> ↔ tupera

* cut<idu><excl> ↔ amupera

* cut<1pl><incl> ↔ tapera

* cut<1pl><excl> ↔ amapera

Wamesa Articles

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<sg>, pasanu<du>, and pasiat<pl>. Some examples are as follows:

* child<def> ↔ antum-pai

* fish<def> ↔ dian-pai

* eye<du><def> ↔ re-pasanu

* < > ↔

Indefinite Articles

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

* man<indef> ↔ muan-pesi

* big<indef> ↔ baba-pesi

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

* woman<du><indef> ↔ babin-pesi-sanu

* night<pl><indef> ↔ diru-pesasi

Wamesa Nouns

Number

The Wamesa number system extends past just the pronouns to encompass the nouns as well. Singular, dual, and plural still exist and affect nouns.

Wamesa Verbs

Wamesa verbs 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

babin-pesi-sanu = some two women re-pasanu = the two eyes