Difference between revisions of "Khasi/Grammar"
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**{{morphTest|u soh-baiong{{tag|adj}}|'a black fruit'}} | **{{morphTest|u soh-baiong{{tag|adj}}|'a black fruit'}} | ||
**{{morphTest|u soh-iong{{tag|adj}}|'a plum (black)'}} | **{{morphTest|u soh-iong{{tag|adj}}|'a plum (black)'}} | ||
+ | *As can be seen, the versions without the 'ba-' prefix are more general. | ||
== Prepositions == | == Prepositions == |
Revision as of 00:25, 9 February 2017
Contents
Parts of speech
Nouns
Gender and Number
- Articles 'ka' and 'u' function respectively as the feminine and masculine singular articles. They typically come before nouns.
- ka khun<n><sg><f> ↔ 'daughter'
- u khun<n><sg><m> ↔ 'son'
- The gender of a noun cannot be shown by the article in the plural, as the plural article is 'ki', and it carries no gender. Instead, a marker-word is often attached to indicate gender, such as the most general 'kynthei' meaning female and 'shinrang' meaning male.
- ki lang-kynthei<n><pl><f> ↔ 'she-goats', 'ewes'
- ki lang-shinrang<n><pl><m> ↔ 'he-goats', 'rams'
- There are more specific terms for some words. These specific terms are often epithets describing a feature of a male or female of such a word. For example:
- ki massi-kyrtong<n><pl><m> ↔ 'bulls', 'male cows'
- massi<n> ↔ 'cow'
- kyrtong<adj><m> ↔ 'fat', 'strong'
- ki massi-kyrtong<n><pl><m> ↔ 'bulls', 'male cows'
Cases and Associated Pronouns
Khasi has no inflectional case system, but rather it distinguishes the different cases with pronoun use.
- Nominative
- The noun without any prepositions
- U briw u la wan<nom> ↔ 'The man came'
- Accusative
- Noun with and sometimes without 'ia'/'ya'/'ïa'
- U la shem ia u briw<acc> ↔ 'He found the man'
- Dative
- Takes 'ha', 'sha', or 'ia'/'ya'/'ïa' (to or as)
- U la ai ha nga ia ka kitab<dat> ↔ 'he gave me the book'
- ‘He gave me a book’ would be ‘he gave to I a book’
- Instrumental
- Takes 'da' (by, with)
- U la phot ia la ka kti da ka wait<ins> ↔ 'He cut his hand with an ax'
- Ablative
- Takes 'na' (from, as)
- U Hom u la mih na la ing<abl> ↔ 'Hom came out of his house'
- Genitive
- Takes 'jong' (of)
- Ka ing jong ka kymi<gen> ↔ 'His mother's house'
- Locative
- Takes 'ha' or 'sha' (in, at, to; as)
- Ka kymi ka don ha ing<loc> ↔ 'His mother is at home'
- Vocative
- Takes 'Ah!' (Oh) or 'Ko!' (my, our)
- Ah Blei!, Ko Kyra! <voc> ↔ 'Oh God', 'My/our Father!'
Diminutives
- In Khasi, diminutives show "endearment, smallness, inferiority, [and] contempt," according to H. Roberts.
- To form the diminutive in the singular, 'i' is typically used as the article.
- i briw <n> ↔ 'The little man'
- In the plural, additional particles are attached, such as '-ria,' '-rit,' '-rit,' 'khun' (child). They may also be used in the singular.
Morphology
Abstract Nouns
- Most abstract nouns are formed by adding the prefix 'jing' to a a verb or adjective or by applying the feminine singular article 'ka' to an adjective
- ka jingleh<n> ↔ 'action'
- leh<inf> ↔ 'to do'
- ka babha<n> ↔ 'the good'
- babha<adj> ↔ 'good'
- ka jingleh<n> ↔ 'action'
- Sometimes the 'ka' + adjective formation drops the 'ba' prefix found in an adjective
- ka suk<n> ↔ 'happiness'
- suk<adj> ↔ 'happy'
- ka suk<n> ↔ 'happiness'
- Some words formed like abstract nouns might actually be common nouns that used to be abstract nouns.
- ka jing khang <n> ↔ 'a door', lit 'a shutting'
Agentive Marker
- 'nong' attaches to verb to create a noun
- nongtuh <n> ↔ 'thief'
- tuh <inf> ↔ 'to steal'
- nongtuh <n> ↔ 'thief'
Other Prefixes
- According to Eugénie J. A. Henderson, "overt prefixes of less common occurrence include shi- ‘one'; mar- ‘facing, matching’; kat- ‘to such a degree’; kum- ‘like’; hang- ‘place where.’"
Verbs
- kyrhuh<vblex><pres><actv> ↔ 'roar'
- bam<vblex><pres><actv> ↔ 'eat'
Adjectives
- Adjectives agree with nouns.
- The adjectives typically begin with prefix 'ba'
- babha<adj> ↔ 'good'
- barit<adj> ↔ 'small'
- It may, however, not use 'ba.' In fact, there can be a difference in meaning associated with the 'ba-' prefix.
- u briw-bastad<adj> ↔ 'a learned man'
- u briw-stad<adj> ↔ 'an astrologer'
- u soh-baiong<adj> ↔ 'a black fruit'
- u soh-iong<adj> ↔ 'a plum (black)'
- As can be seen, the versions without the 'ba-' prefix are more general.
Prepositions
- jong<pr> ↔ 'of'
- ha<pr> ↔ 'in, to, at, on'
Pronouns
- nga<prn> ↔ 'I'
- ngi<prn> ↔ 'we'
Spellrelax
- With the 'jing' prefix, sometimes g is dropped. Furthermore, sometimes 'jing' is written as a separate word.