Japhug and English/ContrastiveGrammars
1. For clauses with transitive verbs, in Japhug the object generally precedes the verb (and follows the subject). In English however the object follows the verb.
- (jya) βzaŋsa tonɯpandʑi. → (eng) (They) made friends (with each other).
- (jya) βzaŋsa<n><ind> tonɯpandʑi<v><du> → (eng) They<prn><sbj><pl> made<vblex> friends<n><pl>
(Note: Japhug intransitive verbs require an object but not a subject, unlike in English.)
- (jya) kɯkɯra xuexiao ɲɯrganɯ. → (eng) Those (the children) like school.
- (jya) kɯkɯra<dem><prox><pl> xuexiao<n><ind> ɲɯrganɯ<v><sens><pl> → (eng) These<dem><prox><pl> like<vblex> school<n>
2. Japhug generally uses postpositions to express relative position (i.e., locative postpositions zɯ, tɕu and ri), whereas English uses prepositions.
- (jya) jonɯɕe tɕe, tʂu ɲɤmtsɯr. → (eng) They went, and on the road they were hungry.
- (jya) jonɯɕe<v><ifr><auto> tɕe<lnk>, tʂu<n> tɕu<post><loc> ɲɤmtsɯr<v><ifr> → (eng) They<prn><sbj> went<vblex>, and<lnk> on<p><loc> the<det><def> road<n> they<prn><sbj> were<vmodal><past> hungry<vblex>
a-mbro<n><px1sg> ɯ-jme zɯ kɤ-zo
- (jya) ambro ɯjme zɯ kɤzo. → (eng) Land on my horse's tail.
- (jya) ambro<n><px1sg> ɯjme<n><px3sg> zɯ<post><loc> kɤzo<v><imp> → (eng) Land<vblex> on<p><loc> my<adv> horse's<n><poss> tail<n>
3. The negation prefix and causative prefixes in Japhug would generally need to be expressed using separate words in English, like "not" or "cause to".
4. Japhug verbs can have number suffixes that agree with the subject, that can obviate an explicit object in the clause. An equivalent English clause would require an explicit object like "them" or "them both" to express the same thing.
5. (No hard rule) Certain adverbs in English (like "together") generally come after the verb, whereas their equivalents in Japhug generally come before.
