Amilin: Difference between revisions
Transitive and intransitive verbs, fixing example sentences
PraxisHelper (talk | contribs) (→Morphology: aspectual particles) |
PraxisHelper (talk | contribs) (Transitive and intransitive verbs, fixing example sentences) |
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|L l
|/l/
|May sometimes appear tapped or flapped as [ɾ] or [ɺ], especially before /w/.
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|M m
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* Imperative, optative, or jussive (any aspect): ''sen''
* Auxiliary: ''ko''; note that a verb phrase cannot end in an auxiliary verb, and so the final verb must use an aspectual particle other than ''ko''; this then acts as the aspectual particle for the entire verb phrase
==== Transitivity ====
All verbs are transitive in their base form. Typically the subject of a transitive verb will not undergo a change of state via the action indicated by the verb, while the object of the verb will. This semantic distinction has some effects on the grammar:
* There is no verb for possession - instead, the copula is used, with the possessor in the dative case (and usually clause-initially) and the possessee in the nominative case.
* To say one holds an opinion on something (e.g. "like" or "hate"), as this does not change the state of the thing in question, the copula is used with the opinion holder in the evidential case, marked by ''kosalo''.
To mark a verb as intransitive, the particle ''mo'' is used in the place of an object, where ''le''(''f'') would usually appear. This particle tends to appear at the very end of the clause. Intransitive verbs typically indicate a durative state of being rather than a imperfective/perfective action. Therefore the aspectual particle ''da'', when used with an intransitive verb, is taken to mean that the state of being no longer applies. For example:
* ''Gau ni gala'': I entertain/cheer up [someone].
* ''Gau da gala:'' I entertained/cheered up [someone - I may or may not still be entertaining someone else].
* ''Gau ni gala mo:'' I am happy.
* ''Gau da gala mo:'' I was happy [and am no longer].
== Example sentences ==
* ''Gausta ko titau da buyu kai uweli ta gau de sinya Mount Augusta.''
* '''
* We had walked from our homesteads to the [then-active] city of Mount Augusta.
* ''Pon sinya elai siba matikabi ni ta istuwi estu mo.''
* '''LOC city THIS NOM large
* In this city there were very many large buildings (lit. "more than a stack").
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