Test Sentences, 127

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. Show the guests these shells, my son, and tell them their strange history.

Actually, not that complicated, just two clauses. We already covered vocatives, which tend to come in the source slot. And extraneous possessives like “their” are generally assumed rather than expressed.

164. koda, ŋidi dɨdi gɨlɨdi tɨŋi madɛlɛnavi mavnavi doŋinavi ki ladi ŋidi satteneya mɛɬodeya tɨŋi mavnavi sadnavi ki.

koda
son.MTsg
ŋidi
2P.MTsg
dɨdi
this.MTpl
gɨlɨdi
shell.MTpl
tɨŋi
tɨŋi.IMP
madɛlɛnavi
guest.SSpl
mavnavi
PS
doŋinavi
eyes.SSpl
ki
HORT
ladi
and then
ŋidi
2P.MTsg
satteneya
history.MTsg
mɛɬodeya
strange.MTsg
tɨŋi
tɨŋi.IMP
mavnavi
3P.SSpl
sadnavi
ears.SSpl
ki
HORT.

Questions?

Test Sentences, 126

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. I stood, a little mite of a girl, upon a chair by the window, and watched the falling snowflakes.

Where does Gary find these? Paraphrasing to very little girl, this requires two serial predicates, a relative clause, and then a second clause.

163. lene esɛdɛ laki ɨsa sɛttɛ tɛnɛ da notɛndɛ kotɬa olaya na le doŋi dolna tadanna tono.

lene
1P.MTsg
e-
very
sɛdɛ
sɛdɛ.IMP
laki
girl.MTsg
ɨsa
little.MTsg
sɛttɛ
sɛdɛ.PRF
tɛnɛ
chair.SSsg
da
REL
no-
near-
tɛndɛ
tɛndɛ.IMP
kotɬa
window.SSsg
olaya
upon
na
and
le
my
doŋi
eyes.MTsg
dolna
snow.MTpl
tadanna
falling.MTpl
tono
ono.PRF

Questions?

Test Sentences, 125

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. Think first and then act.

Good advice. This required a little thought, but eventually I decided on using ɛmɛmɛ in the sense of “make”. Make thought first then make action. The second ŋidi might be omittable.

162. ŋidi syeneya ɛmɛmɛ andaya ka ladi ŋidi muhɨdɛn ɛmɛmɛ ka.

ŋidi
2P.MTsg
syeneya
thought.MTsg
ɛmɛmɛ
ɛmɛmɛ.IMP
andaya
first
ka
CMD
ladi
and then
ŋidi
2P.MTsg
muhɨdɛn
action.MTsg
ɛmɛmɛ
ɛmɛmɛ.IMP
ka
CMD

Questions?

Test Sentences, 124

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. She was always shabby, often ragged, and on cold days very uncomfortable.

Hmm. Serial predicates and a second clause and some new vocabulary.

161. mava sɛdɛ paŋa nadi ɨlɨŋyi sɛdɛ gɛŋɛn ɨnavi na loni kyɨldi mava esɛdɛ kɨdla tɛpa dɛstɛ.

mava
3P.MTsg
sɛdɛ
sɛdɛ.IMP
paŋa
shabby.MTsg
nadi
all
ɨlɨŋyi
times
sɛdɛ
sɛdɛ.IMP
gɛŋɛn
ragged.MTsg
ɨnavi
often
na
and
loni
day.SSpl
kyɨldi
cold.SSpl
mava
3P.MTsg
e-
very
sɛdɛ
sɛdɛ.IMP
kɨdla
comfort.MTsg
tɛpa
without
dɛstɛ
I’m told

Questions?

Test Sentences, 123

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. Will you go with us or wait here?

This, on the other hand, is a different use of or. It is presenting alternatives, but the alternatives are clauses rather than noun phrases. baŋi has been used with noun phrases, but it is not appropriate for clauses as it is syntactically in the same class as amba some. The word bagɛbagɛ, on the other hand, is a combination of the words for yes and no. It means maybe.

160. bagɛbagɛ ŋidi lɛnnanɛn tɨŋi dɛmɛ bagɛbagɛ ŋidi sɛdɛ susi goɬi dɛmɛ?

bagɛbagɛ
maybe
ŋidi
2P.MTsg
lɛnna
1P.MTpl
-nɛn
with
tɨŋi
tɨŋi.IMP
dɛmɛ
Q
bagɛbagɛ
maybe
ŋidi
2P.MTsg
sɛdɛ
sɛdɛ.IMP
susi
here
goɬi
for a time
dɛmɛ
Q

Questions?

Test Sentences, 122

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. Be quick or you will be too late.

Look, a hypothetical prediction (or something, vocabulary was never my strong point)! Do X or (else) Y will happen. I thought for a minute or two about using baŋi, but that doesn’t really fit. Then I remembered kyɛɬ, which I have not yet had the chance to use.

159. ŋidi tɨŋi tandeya ki kyɛɬ ŋidi tɨŋi ɨdeba alam dɛga.

ŋidi
2P.MTsg
tɨŋi
tɨŋi.IMP
tandeya
quickly
ki
HORT
kyɛɬ
else
ŋidi
2P.MTsg
tɨŋi
tɨŋi.IMP
ɨdeba
late
alam
too
dɛga
FUT

Questions?

Test Sentences, 121

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. Tell the last part of that story again.

This is straightforward, but the next one isn’t so much, so this one is all by its lonesome. 🙁

158. ŋidi tene ha dabateya hodneya mɛdduso iyɛ iyɛ ki.

ŋidi
2P.MTsg
tene
story.MTsg
ha
PS
dabateya
part.MTsg
hodneya
last.MTsg
mɛdduso
out
iyɛ iyɛ
duso.IMP
ki
again

Questions?

Test Sentences, 120

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. In winter I get up at night, and dress by yellow candlelight.

You know, some of these sentences would never, ever, be uttered in conversation. So, winter lies, and I get up at night, and then I dress by torchlight.

157. bɨlɨs tada daɬa na lene tɨŋi syele olaya ladi lenada iɬyɨdi ɛmɛmɛ luke da logi.

bɨlɨs tada
winter
daɬa
daɬa.IMP
na
and
lene
1P.MTsg
tɨŋi
tɨŋi.IMP
syele
night.SSsg
olaya
upwards
ladi
and then
lenada
1P.MTsg.REFL
iɬyɨdi
clothes.MTpl
ɛmɛmɛ
ɛmɛmɛ.IMP
luke
torch.SSsg
da
PS
logi
light.SSpl

Questions?

Test Sentences, 119

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. Here under this tree they gave their guests a splendid feast.

This sentence gets two sources, one a purpose (the guests) and one a cause (they), and the feast is the subject.

156. lasnavi mavna keneneya gɛkɛdeya omɛt da mɛdɛ susi tadya dɛstɛ

lasnavi
guest.SSpl
mavna
3P.MTpl
keneneya
feast.MTsg
gɛkɛdeya
wonderful.MTsg
omɛt
ɛmɛmɛ.PRF
da
this
mɛdɛ
tree.SSsg
susi
here
tadya
under
dɛstɛ
I’m told

Questions?

Test Sentences, 118

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. Hurry, children.
  2. Madam, I will obey your command.

Ah, vocatives. I don’t think I will do anything special with vocatives. It’ll be clear in the intonation. But I keep going back and forth on whether daka ought to be in the destination slot or not.

154. hɨsna, ŋɨdna tɨŋi daka tandeya ka.

hɨsna
child.MTpl
 
pause
ŋɨdna
2P.MTpl
tɨŋi
tɨŋi.IMP
daka
path.SS
tandeya
quickly
ka
CMD

155. kyɛnɛ tatat lene tɨŋi syɨdɨtya dɛga.

kyɛnɛ
woman
 
pause
tatat
command.SSsg
lene
1P.MTsg
tɨŋi
tɨŋi.IMP
syɨdɨtya
obediently
dɛga
FUT

Questions?