Test Sentences, 64

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. The little boy’s father had once been a sailor.

This is relatively straightforward.

89. koda ɨsa ma soba sɛttɛ gɛdɛlɛ tilɛnya dɛstɛ.

koda
boy.MTsg
ɨsa
little.MTsg
ma
PS
soba
father.MTsg
sɛttɛ
sɛdɛ.PRF
gɛdɛlɛ
sailor.MTsg
tilɛnya
once long ago
dɛstɛ
I’m told

So let’s do another:

  1. I have lost my blanket.

Again, relatively straightforward. It is exactly like sentence 20 but with a source added to show some causality. Furthermore, the evidential bala is used rather than the zero-marked visual evidential as a way for the speaker (I) to distance her/himself from being deliberately responsible for the state of the blanket. That is I non-volitionally lost the blanket.

90. lene mudɨdɛn tɨŋi dovɨdɛn bala.

lene
1P.MTsg
mudɨdɛn
blanket.MTsg
tɨŋi
tɨŋi.IMP
dovɨdɛn
lost.MTsg
bala
I hear/sense

Questions?