Tag: sodna-lɛni

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 A ↔ D
   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) A → D
   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

5. baŋi who, which
6. du that
7. ki this
8. ŋɛha reflexive, reciprocal
9. sa one, the one, this one, that one, the other one

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

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

 
Thoughts?

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.

 
Thoughts?

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.

 
Thoughts?

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.

 
Thoughts?

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.

 
Thoughts?

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) A → D) 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

 
Thoughts

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) A → D). 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.

 
Thoughts?

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.

 
Thoughts?

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.

 
Thoughts?