Ni aɬudan ni loho Recap

The Story

Tena ni aɬudan ni loho tɛŋɛteya dusena ŋɛha “da daɬo ɛnnavi baŋi tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na dɛmɛ” na dona nɛn lude kyala dantɨŋe. Hanna oŋŋe ŋyehe: sa tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na sa donava ludɨdɛn pɛstɛ giya. Aɬudan aŋe kyɛgɛ edatta. Ha dɛlɨdiya evena. Ha dɛlɨdiya evena iyɛ, dona ludɨdɛn ɛmmena o ŋɛha mɛha no. Linoda ha aŋe da mɛddatta. Ala loho aŋe kyɛgɛ edatta. Ha logɨdiya evena, nɛnsi dona ludɨdɛn opɛstɛ noya. Aɬudan deya omɛddustɛ: loho tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na.

An argument is being had by the north wind and the sun with each other “it is which of the two is stronger” when a traveler with a warm cloak came along. They came to an agreement: he is stronger (=) he who can remove the cloak from the traveler. The north wind is beginning the task. He sends out breaths over and over. The more he sends out breaths, the closer the traveler pulls the cloak to himself. Finally, he (the north wind) is finishing it (the task). Now the sun is beginning the task. She sends out light over and over, and so the traveler takes the cloak off. The north wind says this: the sun is the stronger.

Verbs

We learned nine verbs.

  1. aŋi (S) A →◯ D
  2. daɬa (S) A(D)
  3. duso S AD
    mɛdduso S A
  4. ɛmɛmɛ S A ↘↙
  5. evi S A ↖↗
  6. pɛsi (S) A →→
  7. sɛdɛ (S) A | (D)
  8. tɛndɛ (S) A(D)
  9. tɨŋi (S) AD
    dantɨŋi A
  imperfect [imp] perfect [prf] iterative [itr]
visual [vis] / Ø aŋi otni anna
non-visual [nvs] ambi ombɛ ambena
inferred [inf] alli otɨllɛ allena
reported [rep] aŋe oŋŋe aŋena
 
visual [vis] / Ø daɬa dattɛ danna
non-visual [nvs] dappi odappɛ dappena
inferred [inf] dalli odallɛ dallena
reported [rep] daɬo odattɛ daɬena
 
visual [vis] / Ø duso dustɛ dusna
non-visual [nvs] duspi duspɛtɛ duspena
inferred [inf] dusli duslɛtɛ duslena
reported [rep] dusu odustɛ dusena
 
visual [vis] / Ø mɛdduso mɛddustɛ mɛddusna
non-visual [nvs] mɛdduspi mɛdduspɛtɛ mɛdduspena
inferred [inf] mɛddusli mɛdduslɛtɛ mɛdduslena
reported [rep] mɛddusu omɛddustɛ mɛddusena
 
visual [vis] / Ø ɛmɛmɛ omɛtɛ ɛmena
non-visual [nvs] ɛmɛbi omɛptɛ ɛmbena
inferred [inf] ɛmɛli omɛttɛ ɛmlena
reported [rep] ɛmɛmo omɛntɛ ɛmmena
 
visual [vis] / Ø evi tavi evna
non-visual [nvs] ebi otabɛ ebena
inferred [inf] evli otavlɛ evlena
reported [rep] evo otave evena
 
visual [vis] / Ø pɛsi pɛstɛ pɛsna
non-visual [nvs] pɛspi pɛspɛtɛ pɛspena
inferred [inf] pɛsli pɛslɛtɛ pɛslena
reported [rep] pɛse opɛstɛ pɛsena
 
visual [vis] / Ø sɛdɛ sɛttɛ sɛnna
non-visual [nvs] sɛppi osɛppɛ sɛppena
inferred [inf] sɛlli osɛllɛ sɛllena
reported [rep] sɛdo osɛttɛ sɛdena
 
visual [vis] / Ø tɛndɛ tɛttɛ tɛnna
non-visual [nvs] tɛppi otɛppɛ tɛppena
inferred [inf] tɛlli otɛllɛ tɛllena
reported [rep] tɛndo otɛttɛ tɛndena
 
visual [vis] / Ø tɨŋi otni tɨnna
non-visual [nvs] tɨmbi ombɛ tɨmbena
inferred [inf] tɨlli otɨllɛ tɨllena
reported [rep] tɨŋe oŋŋe tɨŋena
 
visual [vis] / Ø dantɨŋi danotni dantɨnna
non-visual [nvs] dantɨmbi danombɛ dantɨmbena
inferred [inf] dantɨlli odantɨllɛ dantɨllena
reported [rep] dantɨŋe danoŋŋe dantɨŋena

Nouns

And 9 nouns

  motile sg motile pl sessile sg sessile pl
north wind (2) aɬudan aɬudna aɬudava aɬudnavi
breath (4) dɛleya dɛlɨdiya dɛle dɛli
traveler (1) dona donna donava donnavi
task (4) kyɛgeya kyɛgɨdiya kyɛgɛ kyɛgi
light (4) logeya logɨdiya logatan logi
sun (2) loho lonna lohava lonnavi
cloak (3) ludɨdɛn ludɨdi lude ludi
agreement (4) ŋyeheya ŋyehɨdiya ŋyehe ŋyehi
argument (4) tɛŋɛteya tɛŋɛtɨdiya tɛŋɛt tɛŋɛti

Everything Else

Three adjectives

  1. ɛnna two
  2. kɨtlɛ strong
  3. kyala warm

eight adverbs

  1. dɛmɛ doubt, open question
  2. edatta beginning
  3. giya able to, can, potentially
  4. iyɛ again, more
  5. liya separately, non-reciprocally
  6. mɛddatta finishing, ending
  7. mɛha inwards
  8. noya close, near, off

three adverbial conjunctions

  1. ala now, and now
  2. linoda finally, and finally
  3. tena what follows is a story

two clausal conjunctions

  1. na when, and at the same time
  2. nɛnsi and so, therefore

one phrasal conjunction

  1. ni…ni both…and

two modifiers

  1. na more modifies adjectives
  2. no more, close modifies adverbs

two prepositions

  1. nɛn along with, with, and
  2. o at, in, on

and nine pronouns.

  motile sg motile pl sessile sg sessile pl
1 ma manna meya mannavi
2 ha hanna haya hannavi
3 dɨdɛn dɨdiya di dɨdi
4 deya dɨdiya da dayi
  1. baŋi who, which
  2. du that
  3. ki this
  4. ŋɛha reflexive, reciprocal
  5. sa one, the one, this one, that one, the other one

I’ll be back after the new year. Have a great holiday!

Sentence 9

Aɬudan deya omɛddustɛ: loho tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na.

The north wind says this: the sun is the stronger.

The only new thing here is the verb mɛdduso, a prefixed form of duso. The mɛh- prefix disallows anything in the destination slot. So, it is not the north wind saying this to the sun, but the north wind saying this period. The second clause is then a subordinate renaming of the subject.

Here is the paradigm for mɛdduso along with duso for comparison.

imperfect [imp] perfect [prf] iterative [itr]
visual [vis] / Ø mɛdduso mɛddustɛ mɛddusna
non-visual [nvs] mɛdduspi mɛdduspɛtɛ mɛdduspena
inferred [inf] mɛddusli mɛdduslɛtɛ mɛdduslena
reported [rep] mɛddusu omɛddustɛ mɛddusena
visual [vis] / Ø duso dustɛ dusna
non-visual [nvs] duspi duspɛtɛ duspena
inferred [inf] dusli duslɛtɛ duslena
reported [rep] dusu odustɛ dusena
aɬudan
n.2.mt.sg
north-wind
deya
pn.4.mt.sg
this
omɛddustɛ
v.prf.rep
←→
loho
n.2.mt.sg
sun
tɛndɛ
v.imp.Ø
kɨtlɛ
adj.2.mt.sg
strong
na
mod
more

 
Thoughts?

Sentences 6, 7, and 8

Linoda ha aŋe da mɛddatta. Ala loho aŋe kyɛgɛ edatta.

Finally, he (the north wind) is finishing it. Now the sun is beginning the task.

The only new things in these two sentences are the adverbial conjunctions linoda finally, and finallyand ala now, and now.

So, sentence 8:

Ha logɨdiya evena, nɛnsi dona ludɨdɛn opɛstɛ noya.

She sends out light over and over, and so the traveler takes the cloak off.

Here we have a new noun logatan ray of light and a new clausal conjunction nɛnsi and so, therefore and a new adverb noya close, near.

motile sg motile pl sessile sg sessile pl
light logeya logɨdiya logatan logi

The adverb noya generally means close, near. With pɛsi it means off.

linoda
adv.conj
finally
ha
pn.2.mt.sg
he
aŋe
v.imp.rep
→◯
da
pn.4.ss.sg
it
mɛddatta
adv
finishing
ala
adv.conj
now
loho
n.2.mt.sg
sun
aŋe
v.imp.rep
→◯
kyɛgɛ
n.4.ss.sg
task
edatta
adv
beginning
ha
pn.2.mt.sg
she
logɨdiya
n.4.mt.pl
light
evena
v.itr.rep
↗↘
nɛnsi
conj
and so
dona
n.1.mt.sg
traveler
ludɨdɛn
n.3.mt.sg
cloak
opɛstɛ
v.prf.rep
→→
noya
adv
off

 
Thoughts?

Sentence 5

Ha dɛlɨdiya evena iyɛ, dona ludɨdɛn ɛmmena o ŋɛha mɛha no.

The more he sends out breaths, the closer the traveler pulls the cloak to himself.

The first clause is simple enough and adds the adverb iyɛ, which with an iterative verb means more. In the second clause we get a new verb ɛmɛmɛ (S A ↘↙), which is the opposite of evi:

imperfect [imp] perfect [prf] iterative [itr]
visual [vis] / Ø ɛmɛmɛ omɛtɛ ɛmena
non-visual [nvs] ɛmɛbi omɛptɛ ɛmbena
inferred [inf] ɛmɛli omɛttɛ ɛmlena
reported [rep] ɛmɛmo omɛntɛ ɛmmena

There are no new nouns or pronouns, but what is that o doing before ŋɛha (which is reflexive here – singular subject) in the destination slot? Well, for one thing, neither evi nor ɛmɛmɛ have a destination slot, so this must be a peripheral phrase. O is a preposition meaning at, in, on and is used with locations. So o ŋɛha is in/on/at oneself. This meaning is supported by the use of the abverb mɛha inwards.

Finally, no is a modifier more, close modifying the adverb mɛha.

ha
pn.2.mt.sg
he
dɛlɨdiya
n.4.mt.pl
breath
evena
v.itr.rep
↖↗
iyɛ
adv
more
dona
n.1.mt.sg
traveler
ludɨdɛn
n.3.mt.sg
cloak
ɛmmena
v.itr.rep
↘↙
o
prep
on
ŋɛha
reflexive
self
mɛha
adv
inwards
no
mod
more

 
Thoughts?

Sentences 3 and 4

Aɬudan aŋe kyɛgɛ edatta. Ha dɛlɨdiya evena.

The north wind is beginning the task. He sends out breaths over and over.

The subject aɬudan and the verb aŋi we’ve seen before. We add a new noun, class 4 kyɛgɛ task, trial, and a new adverb edatta. In the next sentence is another new noun, class 4 dɛle breath and a new verb evi (S A ↖↗).

First, the verb. Evi implies a moving out in multiple directions or an expansion. The form evena is inflected for iterative aspect and reported evidentiality. Iterative implies that the source ha referring to the north wind is making the subject dɛlɨdiya expand or move outwards over and over. The paradigm for evi:

imperfect [imp] perfect [prf] iterative [itr]
visual [vis] / Ø evi tavi evna
non-visual [nvs] ebi otabɛ ebena
inferred [inf] evli otavlɛ evlena
reported [rep] evo otave evena

Our two new class 4 nouns:

motile sg motile pl sessile sg sessile pl
breath dɛleya dɛlɨdiya dɛle dɛli
task kyɛgeya kyɛgɨdiya kyɛgɛ kyɛgi

Like giya from the previous sentence, edatta and its counterpart mɛddatta modify the verb. Edatta indicates that the action in the sentence is beginning, and mɛddatta that it is ending.

aɬudan
n.2.mt.sg
north-wind
aŋe
v.imp.rep
→◯
kyɛgɛ
n.4.ss.sg
task
edatta
adv
beginning
ha
pn.2.mt.sg
he
dɛlɨdiya
n.4.mt.pl
breath
evena
v.itr.rep
↖↗

 
Thoughts?

Sentence 2, part 2

Hanna oŋŋe ŋyehe: sa tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na sa donava ludɨdɛn pɛstɛ giya.

They came to an agreement: he is stronger (is) he who can remove the cloak from the traveler.

The second part of this sentence contains two parallel clauses. These rename the destination of the previous clause, and so are considered subclauses with null evidentiality.

Of the verbs, we have seen tɛndɛ ((S) A(D)) before, but pɛsi ((S) A →→) is new. pɛsi does not allow any destination, since the implied destination is away.

imperfect [imp] perfect [prf] iterative [itr]
visual [vis] / Ø pɛsi pɛstɛ pɛsna
non-visual [nvs] pɛspi pɛspɛtɛ pɛspena
inferred [inf] pɛsli pɛslɛtɛ pɛslena
reported [rep] pɛse opɛstɛ pɛsena

Now for sa. Sa is counted among the classless deictic pronouns, even though it is deicticly neutral. It can mean one, the one, this one, that one, or the other one depending upon the context. Here it is perhaps best glossed as one. The other two deictic pronouns are ki this and du that. Since these are classless, I am not sure if they should inflect for motility and number, just number, or neither. Thoughts?

The first subclause is familiar, though the standard of comparison has been left out, but the second has two different noun phrases in the S role, one motile sa and one sessile donava. I mentioned earlier that sources can be either motile or sessile and agentive sources (like sa) are motile. making dona into a sessile source implies a lack of intention or volition on the part of the traveler. So the motile source is making/causing the sessile source to send the subject ludɨdɛn away.

Finally, giya is an adverb (it modifies the verb) that adds the idea of able to, can.

sa
pn.mt.sg
one
tɛndɛ
v.Ø.imp
kɨtlɛ
adj.2.mt.sg
strong
na
mod
more
sa
pn.mt.sg
one
donava
n.1.ss.sg
(from) traveler
ludɨdɛn
n.3.mt.sg
cloak
pɛstɛ
v.Ø.prf
→→
giya
adv
can

 
Thoughts?

Sentence 2, part 1

Hanna oŋŋe ŋyehe: sa tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na sa donava ludɨdɛn pɛstɛ giya.

They came to an agreement: he is stronger (is) he who can remove the cloak from the traveler.

I’m splitting this sentence into two parts because the verb is a bit complicated. At first glance, it looks like tɨŋi ((S) AD) in the perfect reported. But, it is actually aŋi ((S) A →◯ D), which differs from tɨŋi only in the shape of its destination. That is, tɨŋi generaly takes nouns as a destination that one can point to, aŋi does not. Aŋi is concerned with internal structure. So going to the store would use tɨŋi tasu, but going about in the store would use aŋi tasu. In the perfect, tɨŋi and aŋi are indistinguishable, possibly because once one has finished a journey (which is what perfect is used for), the shape of the destination no longer matters.

  imperfect [imp] perfect [prf] iterative [itr]
visual [vis] / Ø aŋi otni anna
non-visual [nvs] ambi ombɛ ambena
inferred [inf] alli otɨllɛ allena
reported [rep] aŋe oŋŋe aŋena

As for the subject and the destination, hanna is the class 2 motile plural pronoun, and ŋyehe agreement is a class 4 noun.

  motile sg motile pl sessile sg sessile pl
agreement ŋyeheya ŋyehɨdiya ŋyehe ŋyehi
hanna
pn.2.mt.pl
they
oŋŋe
v.prf.rep
→◯
ŋyehe
n.4.ss.sg
agreement

 
Thoughts

Sentence 1, part 3

Tena ni aɬudan ni loho tɛŋɛteya dusena ŋɛha—da daɬo ɛnnavi baŋi tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na dɛmɛ—na dona nɛn lude kyala dantɨŋe.

An argument is being had by the north wind and the sun with each other—it is which of the two is stronger—when a traveler with a warm cloak came along.

And now for the last clause in Sentence 1. It is introduced by the clausal conjunction na when, not to be confused with the modifier na. Conjunction na denotes that the conjoined clauses are taking place at the same time.

The verb in this clause is dantɨŋi, again in the imperfect with reported evidentiality. Dantɨŋi is a modified form of the verb tɨŋi ((S) AD). The prefix dan– disallows anything in the S and D roles.

imperfect [imp] perfect [prf] iterative [itr]
visual [vis] / Ø tɨŋi otni tɨnna
non-visual [nvs] tɨmbi ombɛ tɨmbena
inferred [inf] tɨlli otɨllɛ tɨllena
reported [rep] tɨŋe oŋŋe tɨŋena
visual [vis] / Ø dantɨŋi danotni dantɨnna
non-visual [nvs] dantɨmbi danombɛ dantɨmbena
inferred [inf] dantɨlli odantɨllɛ dantɨllena
reported [rep] dantɨŋe danoŋŋe dantɨŋena

We have two new nouns in this clause: dona traveler, a class 1 noun, and lude cloak, a class 3 noun. The adjective kyala warm modifies lude.

motile sg motile pl sessile sg sessile pl
traveler dona donna donava donnavi
cloak ludɨdɛn ludɨdi lude ludi

That leaves nɛn, a preposition [prep] that defines the relationship between the main noun dona and the secondary noun phrase lude kyala. Nɛn marks a comitative association along with, with, and.

na
cnj
when
dona
n.1.mt.sg
traveler
nɛn
prep
with
lude
n.3.ss.sg
cloak
kyala
adj.3.ss.sg
warm
dantɨŋe
v.imp.rep

 
Thoughts?

Sentence 1, part 2

Tena ni aɬudan ni loho tɛŋɛteya dusena ŋɛha—da daɬo ɛnnavi baŋi tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na dɛmɛ—na dona nɛn lude kyala dantɨŋe.

An argument is being had by the north wind and the sun with each other—it is which of the two is stronger—when a traveler with a warm cloak came along.

The second part of the sentence, between the —’s, is a compound clause consisting of a main clause da daɬo – with a subclause ɛnna baŋi tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na dɛmɛ in the D role.

The verbs in these clauses have the same meaning, but differ in the types or shapes of subjects that they allow. Daɬa ((S) A –– (D)) requires horizontal or abstract subjects. Tɛndɛ ((S) A(D)) will take any subject that is not better served by daɬa or sɛdɛ ((S) A | (D), which takes vertical or human subjects). Here are the paradigms for all three of these verbs.

imperfect [imp] perfect [prf] iterative [itr]
visual [vis] / Ø tɛndɛ tɛttɛ tɛnna
non-visual [nvs] tɛppi otɛppɛ tɛppena
inferred [inf] tɛlli otɛllɛ tɛllena
reported [rep] tɛndo otɛttɛ tɛndena
visual [vis] / Ø sɛdɛ sɛttɛ sɛnna
non-visual [nvs] sɛppi osɛppɛ sɛppena
inferred [inf] sɛlli osɛllɛ sɛllena
reported [rep] sɛdo osɛttɛ sɛdena
visual [vis] / Ø daɬa dattɛ danna
non-visual [nvs] dappi odappɛ dappena
inferred [inf] dalli odallɛ dallena
reported [rep] daɬo odattɛ daɬena

There are no new nouns in these clauses.

There are two pronouns: da and baŋi. Da is a pronoun for class 4 nouns. Here are all of the third person pronouns for all four classes of nouns.

motile sg motile pl sessile sg sessile pl
1 ma manna meya mannavi
2 ha hanna haya hannavi
3 dɨdɛn dɨdiya di dɨdi
4 deya dɨdiya da dayi

Baŋi is like ŋɛha in that it does not inflect for noun class, motility, or number. It is an interrogative pronoun, and so is best glossed as who or which.

Ɛnnavi as a sessile plural adjective and the modifier [mod] na more modifying the adjective kɨtlɛ points to this being a comparative construction. The standard is the sessile source, and the parameter/adjective is the destination. The comparee is of course the subject.

Dɛmɛ marks doubt or an open question.

da
pn.4.ss.sg
it
daɬo
v.rep.imp
––
ɛnnavi
adj.2.ss.pl
(of) two
baŋi
pn
which
tɛndɛ
v.Ø.imp
kɨtlɛ
adj.2.mt.sg
strong
na
mod
more
dɛmɛ
adv
?

 
Thoughts?

Sentence 1, Part 1

Tena ni aɬudan ni loho tɛŋɛteya dusena ŋɛha—da daɬo ɛnnavi baŋi tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na dɛmɛ—na dona nɛn lude kyala dantɨŋe.

An argument is being had by the north wind and the sun with each other—it is which of the two is stronger—when a traveler with a warm cloak came along.

The first third of this sentence (the part before the first —) is a full clause by itself. It starts with the adverbial conjunction [adv.conj] tena to signal that what follows is a story. Furthermore, the verb is inflected with reported evidentiality indicating that this story was once told to the teller.

The verb in question is duso. The form dusena indicates both reported evidentiality and iterative aspect. Duso is glossed as S A ←→ D, as it indicates motion back and forth between a source and a destination. The subject [A] is whatever is moving back and forth, in this case tɛŋɛteya argument. The source [S] is the compound noun phrase ni aɬudan ni loho and the destination [D] is the reciprocal pronoun ŋɛha.

Verbs [v] inflect for evidentiality and aspect, but not for person or number. There are twelve forms for each verb, reflecting four possible types of evidentiality and three types of aspect. The full paradigm for duso is below.

imperfect [imp] perfect [prf] iterative [itr]
visual [vis] / Ø duso dustɛ dusna
non-visual [nvs] duspi duspɛtɛ duspena
inferred [inf] dusli duslɛtɛ duslena
reported [rep] dusu odustɛ dusena

Nouns inflect for motility and number. Furthermore, there are four classes of nouns: human or rational animates, non-human animates, inanimate objects and plants, and ideas and abstractions. The nouns in the source are both class 2 nouns. Class 2 nouns are assumed to be animate and therefore motile [mt] as subjects. The subject, though, is a class 4 noun, assumed to be sessile [ss].

motile sg motile pl sessile sg sessile pl
north wind aɬudan aɬudna aɬudava aɬudnavi
sun loho lonna lohava lonnavi
argument tɛŋɛteya tɛŋɛtɨdiya tɛŋɛt tɛŋɛti

Subjects must be motile, as they are the thing that is moving. Sources can be either motile or sessile. Agentive sources are motile. Destinations are always sessile.

Regarding the pronoun [pn] ŋɛha, it does not inflect for noun class or number and it can be either reflexive or reciprocal. The fact that the verb is in the iterative aspect and the source is plural indicate that this should be interpreted as reciprocal. We could force a reflexive interpretation by adding the adverb [adv] liya, so ni aɬudan ni loho tɛŋɛteya dusena ŋɛha liya the north wind argues with himself over and over and the sun argues with herself over and over.

Adjectives [adj] agree in motility and number with the nouns that they modify.

Finally, ni…ni is a phrasal conjunction [conj] both…and.

tena
adv.conj
story
ni
conj
&
aɬudan
n.2.mt.sg
north-wind
ni
conj
&
loho
n.2.mt.sg
sun
tɛŋɛteya
n.4.mt.sg
argument
dusena
v.rep.itr
←→
ŋɛha
pn
each other

 
Thoughts?