Chechen and English/Contrastive Grammar
Contents
Gender of Pronouns
In Chechen, there is an extra subcategory tag "pers"; there is no distinction of male/female gender in pronouns; instead of distinction between subject/object/possessive, all pronouns are assigned case tags.
- (che) Ас → (eng) I
- (che) ас<prn><pers><p1><sg><erg> → (eng) I<prn><p1><mf><sg><subj>
- (che) иза → (eng) he
- (che) иза<prn><pers><p3><sg><abs> → (eng) he<prn><p3><m><sg><subj>
Copular Verb
In Chechen, copular verb has noun-class distinctions, and no number nor person distinction. But in English it's the opposite: number and person distinction exists but not non-class distinction.
- (che) сан цӀе Иван ю. → (eng) My name is Ivan.
- (che) сан<prn><pers><p1><sg><gen> цӀе<n><cl_j><abs><sg> Иван<np><ant><abs><sg> ю<v><cpl><pres><cl_j> → (eng) my<det><p1><mf><sg><pos> name<n><sg> is<vbser><pres><p3><sg> Ivan<np><ant><m><sg>
- (che) Ахьмадан машина керла ю. → (eng) Ahwmad’s car is new.
- (che) Ахьмадан машина<n><cl_j><abs><sg> керла ю<v><cpl><pres><cl_j> → (eng) Ahwmad’s car<n><sg> is<vbser><pres><p3><sg> new.
Word Order
English is a SVO language and Chechen is a SOV language, which means both lexical verbs and copular verbs occur sentence-finally.
- (che) сан цӀе Иван ю. → (eng) My name is Ivan.
- (che) сан<prn><pers><p1><sg><gen> цӀе<n><cl_j><abs><sg> Иван<np><ant><abs><sg> ю<v><cpl><cl_j> → (eng) my<det><p1><mf><sg><pos> name<n><sg> is<vbser><pres><p3><sg> Ivan<np><ant><m><sg>
- (che) Ас бепиг дина. → (eng) I made bread.
- (che) Ас<prn><pers><p1><sg><erg> бепиг<n><cl_j><abs><sg> дина<v><tv><pres><pf> → (eng) I<prn><pers><p1><mf><sg> made<vblex><past> bread<n><sg>
Progressive Construction
In English, the progressive construction has copular verbs preceding the progressive participle; in Chechen, it is the opposite.
- (che) со бепиг деш ву. → (eng) I am making bread.
- (che) со бепиг деш<v><tv><prog><ptcp> ву<v><cpl><pres><cl_v>. → (eng) I am<vbser><pres><p1><sg> making<vblex><pprs> bread.
- (che) цициг шура молуш ду. → (eng) the cat is drinking milk.
- (che) цициг шура молуш<v><tv><prog><ptcp> ду<v><cpl><pres><cl_d>. → (eng) the cat is<vbser><pres><p3><sg> drinking<vblex><pprs> milk.
Recent/remote Distinction in Past Tense
There is a remote/recent distinction within past tense in Chechen but it does not exist in English.
- (che) Заремас суна чай доьтти → (eng) Zarema poured me some tea.
- (che) Заремас суна чай доьтти<v><tv><past><rec> → (eng) Zarema poured<vblex><past> me some tea.
- (che) Заремас суна чай доьттира → (eng) Zarema poured me some tea.
- (che) Заремас суна чай доьттира<v><tv><past><rem> → (eng) Zarema poured<vblex><past> me some tea.