Belizean Creole/Grammar

Regular Plurals

Plurals are formed by preceding or following the noun with a determiner.

• Nouns that refer to a specific limited set are pluralized by adding the word "dehn" after:
  • prafit<n><pl> ↔ prafit dehn
  • disaipl<n><pl> ↔ disaipl dehn
  • lai<n><pl> ↔ lai dehn
• Nouns that refer to a set of two are preceded by the word "too":
  • man<n><du> ↔ too man
  • son<n><du> ↔ too son
  • boy<n><du> ↔ too boy
• Nouns that refer to one set rather than another set are preceded by the word "dehn":
  • peepl<n><pl> ↔ dehn peepl
  • bred<n><pl> ↔ dehn bred
• Nouns that retain the English plural form are pluralized with a "z":
  • day<n><pl> ↔ dayz
  • werd<n><pl> ↔ werdz
  • ting<n><pl> ↔ tingz

Verb Tenses

Tenses are distinguished by use of an auxiliary added to the main verb.

• Past tense is formed by preceding the verb with the word "mi":
  • tel<v><past> ↔ mi tel
  • seh<v><past> ↔ mi seh
  • chreet<v><past> ↔ mi chreet
• Future tense is formed by preceding the verb with the word "wahn":
  • sayv<v><fut> ↔ wahn sayv
  • shoa<v><fut> ↔ wahn shoa
  • si<v><fut> ↔ wahn si
• Past future tense is formed by preceding the verb with the words "mi wahn":
  • geh<v><pf> ↔ mi wahn geh
  • hapm<v><pf> ↔ mi wahn hapm
• Past perfect tense is formed by preceding the verb with the word "don":
  • seh<v><pp> ↔ don seh
  • tel<v><pp> ↔ don tel
  • rayz<v><pp> ↔ don rayz

Pronouns

There are all personal pronouns, so I'd include <pers> as a subcategory tag. -JNW

Pronouns are distinguished by person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), number (singular, plural), and gender in third person (masculine, feminine, neuter).

• Reflexive pronouns are formed by adding the suffix "self" to the object pronoun:
  • mi<prn><p1><sg><ref><pers> ↔ miself
  • wi<prn><p1><pl><ref><pers> ↔ wiself
  • yu<prn><p2><sg><ref><pers> ↔ yuself
• Emphasis or clarification of pronouns is achieved by lengthening the final vowel:
  • mi<prn><p1><sg><pers><tn> ↔ mee
  • wi<prn><p1><pl><pers><tn> ↔ wee
  • yu<prn><p2><sg><pers><tn> ↔ yoo

It would make sense to have a tag distinguishing these emphatic pronouns from just the base pronouns. I'd use <tn> for this ("tonic" forms of pronouns). -JNW

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives are differentiated by proximity (proximal, distal) and number (singular, plural). Unlike demonstrative pronouns, demonstrative adjectives precede a noun.

• dis<det><dem><sg> ↔ dis
• da<det><dem><sg> ↔ da
• dis<det><dem><pl> ↔ dehn
• da<det><dem><pl> ↔ dehn

Linguistically speaking, these aren't adjectives, but are adjective-like words that form their own class of determiners. I would tag them with <det><dem>. -JNW

Reduplication

Adjectives can be duplicated for emphasis.

• • kwik<adj><advl> ↔ kwik kwik
  • big<adj><advl> ↔ big big
  • fool<adj><advl> ↔ fool fool

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are formed by preceding the pronoun with the word ¨fi" or ¨fo." Looks like there's some typos here. -JNW

• • ih<prn><p3><sg><m><pos> ↔ fi hihn
  • wi<prn><p2><pl><pos> ↔ fo wee
  • ih<prn><p3><sg><f><pos> ↔ fi shee

You'll want a separate tag to differentiate these from other pronoun forms, like <pos>. Also, how can you distinguish between fi and fo—is it either one, or does it depend on something phonological, or something else? -JNW

Degree Adverbs

Degree adverbs are formed by adding the suffix ¨-li to an adjective.

• • haad<adj><advl> ↔ haadli
  • egzsak<adj><advl> ↔ egzsakli
  • nay<adj><advl> ↔ nayli

Auxiliary Verb Negation

Auxiliary verbs are negated by adding an ¨n" to the end of the word.

• Past tense is formed by preceding the verb with the word "mi":
  • kud<vaux><neg> ↔ kudn
  • shud<vaux><neg> ↔ shudn
  • wud<vaux><neg> ↔ wudn

Looks like there's some typos with the syntax of your category labels. There should be no spaces after the colons, and two brackets at both the beginning and end of each category. -JNW