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KANZA LANGUAGE Mixed-Media Lessons for Adults Lesson 4 THE KANZA VERB EXPANDED (Part II) Stative Verbs As we have mentioned before, Stative Verbs are used to express state of being. Although they can be roughly equivalent to what we might think of as adjectives, some look much like regular active verbs. Here are some statives that resemble adjectives in other languages: tánga—big zhúje—red gízo—happy bláze—torn Here are some statives that could be confused with Kanza actives: blézanye—wilt, shrivel up, squint íxowe—lie hagíye—forget giní—recover, regain consciousness óphe—wish, grant a wish, get ones way Statives fit a new & different conjugation, <S>. Example of <S> Let’s look at one to see how they work. xla—thin, lean, skinny <S> anxlá waxlá waxlábe yixlá yixlábe xla xlábe Looks like the statives fit the big patterns but with different prefixes, which can be simplified as such: <S> 1S an— 2S yi— 1D wa— Example of Prefix-<S> Now let’s look at one where the locus is not at the beginning of the verb. It still fits the pattern. gízo—happy, be in good spirits gi-<S>wagízo wagízobe giánzo giyízo giyízobe gízo gizóbe The wa— prefix, like an— (ang— before vowels), always goes at the beginning of the verb. Translating Statives When translating statives, it is often useful to add ‘to be’ or ‘to have’ to the English form. nompéhi—hungry <S>-hi nompéanhi—I am hungry nompéyihi—You were hungry nompéhibe—They’re hungry Otherwise, they may not make much sense. Stative Verbs as Adjectives Sometimes a stative verb is used like an ‘adjective.’ When this happens, it is still a conjugated verb, but it’s not the main verb of the sentence. They will follow the noun they modify between the noun and its article. Mánhin páhi min ablín—I had a sharp knife. Knife sharp a I have/had Even in this example, the stative páhi ‘sharp’ is conjugated. If you remember, the 3S form of the verb exhibits no prefixes. We used 3S because we would say ‘the knife is sharp,’ a 3S form. Statives used as adjectives are conjugated for Person, but not generally for Number. How Do They Work? Translate the sentence below using the following dictionary information: íye—to see i-<A>kha—the (living, standing object or objects) sínga—squirrel shábe—brown <S> “You and I saw the brown squirrels.” Feel free to go back to other pages in the lesson for more information. But try to make a guess before moving on. Here We Go! We can start wherever we like. Let’s first come up with the “You and I saw…” part using the appropriate entry: íye—to see i-<A>- Well, we know that ‘you and I’ is the 1D form, which means it uses an– as a prefix. We also know that this prefix always goes first, even before locatives. Since it starts with a vowel, we know to use ang— instead. ‘You and I see/saw’ an— + íye = angíye But, since we know that the thing ‘you and I’ are seeing is plural (‘…squirrels’), we know to use –be to show a plural animate object. But since –be changes ‘e’ to ‘a’ on verb roots that end in ‘e,’ we have to change that last letter before adding –be. angíye + —be = angíyabe ‘You and I see/saw (them)’ Still Going! Next, we need to come up with the “…the brown squirrels” part using the appropriate entries: kha—the (living, standing object or objects) sínga—squirrel shábe—brown <S> Well, we know that nouns don’t change for plural, they go before their articles, and that a stative used as an adjective goes between the noun it modifies and its article. The stative is conjugated for Person but not for Number. The article can be used with either singular or plural nouns. Sínga shábe kha ‘the (standing animate) squirrel(s)’ Wow! Lastly, since we know that the general word order for Kanza is Subject-Object-Verb, we know that the main verb of the sentence goes last. The main verb is “…saw…”, so it will go at the end. So… Sínga shábe kha angíyabe. “You and I saw the brown squirrels.” Object Pronoun Prefixes Do you remember the Object Pronoun Prefixes we mentioned earlier? They are used to express the Person and Number of the part of the sentence that receives the action, the Object. By attaching these to a conjugated verb it is possible to show the total action of the sentence. For example, the English phrase “You looked at us” could be completely stated as one Kanza verb. wayáshtombabe—you looked at us Where Are They Located? They come right before the Subject Pronoun Prefixes. Just like the an— (ang—) Subject Pronoun Prefix for 1D, though, the 1D Object Pronoun Prefix goes at the very beginning of the verb. Where? How? In On/To By With Which Whom? Whom? Direction? What? Subject Object Pronoun Pronoun Prefixes Prefixes What’s Going On? How Many? In what way? So What Are They? The really great thing about the Object Pronoun Prefixes, is that they use the same set as the <S> Subject Pronoun Prefixes. Active Object or Stative Subject Prefixes an— wa— wa—be yi— yi—be — —be Anytime we use a transitive verb, one capable of accepting an object, these are included. What Do You Mean? Take any transitive Active verb, like k’in—to carry, pack on the back <A>. We use both sets of prefixes every time its used, even if no object is specified. ak’ín—I carry it ank’ín—you & I carry it ank’ímbe—we carry it yak’ín—you carry it yak’ímbe—you(y’all) carry it k’in—s/he/it carries it k’ímbe—they carry it When no object is specified, we can safely assume a 3S object due to the fact that the object pronoun prefix for the 3S form is blank ( 3S — ). Objects Specified When a subject is specified, include the objects according to the following chart: an— yi— — ‘me’ ‘you’ ‘her/him/it’ wa— ‘you & me’ wa—be yi—be —be ‘us’ ‘you (y’all)’ ‘them’ Remember, these are applied before the pronoun prefixes. The wa– goes at the beginning of the verb, before anything else. In a situation where two –be suffixes show up, only use one of them. Examples of Objects Specified Let’s see a few examples of verbs where both the subject and object are present. wayák’imbe—you carried us wa—be ‘us’ ya— ‘you’ k’in ‘carry’ Notice that this would be no different for 2P form! wayák’imbe—y’all carried us wa—be ‘us’ ya—be ‘y’all’ k’in ‘carry’ ank’ímbe—they carried me an— ‘me’ —be ‘they’ k’in ‘carry’ Notice that this would be no different for several other forms! ank’ímbe—we carried her k’in ‘carry’ — ‘her’ an—be ‘we’ ank’ímbe—you & I carried them k’in ‘carry’ —be ‘them’ an— ‘you & I’ Confused? Don’t worry. When the verb is in a sentence or part of something larger, more context may be available to tell you what is going on. It’s generally not too difficult. AMBIGUOUS Čedónga shábe khá angíyabe. This sentence is hard to translate on its own! buffalo brown the (standing sing. OR plu.) we-see/saw-it OR you-&-I-see/saw-them OR they-see/saw-me, etc. MUCH LESS AMBIGUOUS Mózhanejí angáye.—You & I went to the country. Country to-that-place you-&-I-go/went Čedónga shábe khá angíyabe.—You & I saw the brown buffaloes. buffalo brown the (standing) you-&-I-saw-them A Dead Giveaway Fortunately, there is a “dead giveaway” that’s very easy to spot and helpful in reducing ambiguity. When “I” is the subject and “You” is the object, instead of getting yia—, or something from another conjugation which may be even harder to pronounce, it collapses to simply wi—. And that’s what the wi— prefix always means! Wikúje ta minkhé!—I’m going to shoot you! Verbal Particles Another thing that can be helpful in figuring out what’s going on with the verb is the set of VERBAL PARTICLES. These are a series of little words that can follow the verb and explain some of the “In What Way” of the action. Frequently, these are matched up with the subject, which can help you decide who is performing the action or experiencing the state of being. Where are the Verbal Particles? They trail along as whole separate words behind the verb. Not every verb in every sentence will have particles, but they can definitely show up from time to time. Where? How? The Locatives The Outer Instrumentals In On/To By With Which Whom? Whom? Direction? What? Object Pronoun Prefixes Subject Pronoun Prefixes The Directives The Inner Instrumentals Verbal Particles What’s Going On? How Many? Suffixes Verb Root In what way? Types of Particles The particles can come in several forms. Potential—will do, would do Continuative—be doing Habitual—do all the time, do always Negative—not, don’t do Narrative—so they say, it’s done Imperative—do it/ do now! ta minkhé, hninkhé, akhá, etc. hnan, hnámbe -zhí suffix mozhí, azhí particle čhe -a suffix ya particle A few of these can be combined, too. Potential Continuative—will be doing, would be doing ta minkhé, etc. Negaive Potential Continuative—will not be doing, would not be doing mozhí ta minkhé, etc. Habitual Narrative—used to they say hnámbe čhe, etc. Particle Agreement Several of the particles must agree with the subject. The Continuatives dómbe—look at <D> minkhé—I am/was doing atómbe minkhé—I was looking at it. hninkhé—you are/were doing yashtómbe hninkhé—you’re looking at it. akhá—s/he/it is/was doing dómbe akhá—she is looking at it. abá—they are/were doing dombábe abá—they were looking at it. Other continuatives just agree with the article of the subject. The Habituals dómbe—look at <D> hnan—do always (all singulars and dual) atómbe hnan—I always look at it. hnámbe—do always (all plurals) yashtómbe hnámbe—Y’all always looked at it. Notice that hnambé takes the place of the –be suffix on the verb root. The Negatives dómbe—look at <D> atómbe mozhí—I didn’t look at it. mozhí—I don’t/didn’t do All other negatives just use azhí. Particles and Ambiguity Particles can cut through ambiguity arising from the subjectobject confusion. andómbabe Taken out of context, this can mean several things. you & I look at them we look at it we look at them they look at me But by adding a particle, the meaning becomes clearer. Andómbabe abá. (abá—they are/were doing) Andómbabe abá. They are looking at me. Potential Particle The potential particle ta is used as a sort of future tense marker. It really only indicates that there is a potential for action to occur. It is often combined with other particles to create specific conditions. Ble ta—I will go/I may go Ble ta minkhé—I will be going/I may be going Angáye tábe!—Let’s (you & I) go! The use of ta does not have a real bearing on the truth of what is to come. For example if someone says… Ble ta minkhé. … and then chooses not to go, that person has not lied. Continuative Particles The continuative particles, minkhé, hninkhé, akhá, etc., are used to show that the action is ongoing. When they spring up in conjunction with active verbs, be sure to put an ‘—ing’ somewhere in the English equivalent. Andómbe akhá.—She was looking at me. Other continuative particles can be used, so long as they match the definite article attached to the subject. Níka abá čedónga min dombábe abá. The men are looking at a buffalo. Continuatives and Statives Continuative particles are often used with statives as a reiteration of the subject, to add emphasis, or to show that the experience is ongoing. Ománzheya minkhé. I’m tired I’m experiencing it. I am tired. A sentence is perhaps just as valid and conveys much of the same meaning without the continuative particle, nevertheless, a particle often shows up in these sorts of situations. Narrative Particle The narrative particle čhe is used to show that the sentence is part of a narrative or story. It is sometimes combined with a habitual particle (either hnan or hnámbe) to show that the story is not firsthand information. Yátan hnámbe čhe.—I heard that they used to drink. It may be useful to think of these particles not only as storytelling devices, but also as a way to show that the action conveyed was not directly witnessed, possibly reported or told by someone else first. Causative Verb Sometimes what looks to be a suffix or particle can turn out to be a whole entire verb. One of these is the Causative Verb ye, not to be confused with ‘ye—to go.’ This verb, denoted with <C> in the dictionary. dábuze ye—dry something <C> This verb is used to show that the subject causes the action or state of being. For instance, in the above example, dábuze simply means dry from exposure to heat, like an dead animal’s flesh dries out in the sun. By adding the causative, we show that someone is actually causing this to happen, as in the process of making jerky. Causative Example Let’s see an example. ts’e—dead, die, be dead ts’éye—kill a person or animal Conjugating the first of these in the First Person would indicate “I die.” Conjugating the other in the First Person would indicate “I cause (someone) to die,” in other words, “I kill someone.” Causative Conjugation Causatives are marked <C>, but are really <A> conjugations. They are only marked differently because conjugation occurs at the causative, not at the other verb. dábuze ye—dry something <C> dábuze áye dábuze ánye dábuze anyábe dábuze yáye dábuze yayábe dábuze ye dábuze yábe They are conjugated as such even when they appear as verbal suffixes rather than full-blown particles. Multiple Verbs Some sentences will contain more than one total verb package. When this happens, the first one will be the unconjugated Subordinate Verb and the other will be the conjugated Main Verb. Nin Shóje ophá ahúbe čhe au. River Muddy follow IDIOM: The Missouri River SUBORD. they came MAIN narrative male-specific speech They came following the Missouri River. NOTE: In this example, ophá is a form of the verb ophé. The ‘e’ changed to ‘a’ probably to match the ‘a’ at the beginning of next word. This sort of thing just happens from time to time, but there is really no need to worry about it; it should never cause big problems. Adverbs Just like in English, some Kanza sentences will include adverbs modifying the verb. When this happens, adverbs go before the verb. Ományinka mínčxi waspé olímbe čhe au. Season one peacefully they dwelt narrative male speech They dwelt peacefully for one season. Summary In this lesson we have learned much, much more information about the Kanza verb. Some of this material would not be used commonly, but would be necessary for making good sentences beyond simple or rudimentary communication of facts, desires, and observations. A good way practice the material would be to think of complex verbal situations in English, and try to figure out how they would be expressed using the Kanza verbal system. Keep In Mind The Kanza language is just as useful and worthy of speech as any other. It is the responsibility of anyone who CAN use the language to actually USE the language. This includes reading and writing as well as listening and talking. WALK THE TALK! THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND INTEREST KANZA LANGUAGE PROJECT KAW NATION DRAWER 50 KAW CITY, OK 74641 (580) 269-2552 http://www.kawnation.com/langhome.html [email protected]