Pronominal Prefixes I1: Difference between revisions
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* There is an extra ''ka-'' which only shows up in third person singular in present tense. You'll hear it all the time, so you need to know it. |
* There is an extra ''ka-'' which only shows up in third person singular in present tense. You'll hear it all the time, so you need to know it. |
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* Just like "go" has an irregular past tense "went" (not "goed"), Kunwok ''re'' (go) has an irregular past tense ''wam'' (went). |
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Here it is again, in tabular form: |
Here it is again, in tabular form: |
Revision as of 10:32, 29 March 2022
Pronominal Prefixes: intransitive singular
When we refer to action by a single individual, we use the singular prefixes.
nga- (I) is for first person singular, e.g. ngare (I go), ngawam (I went).
yi- (you singular) is for second person singular, e.g. yire (you go), yiwam (you went).
∅- (he/she/it) is for third person singular, e.g. kare (he/she/it goes), wam (he/she/it went).
- The ∅- means nothing, a zero prefix.
- There is an extra ka- which only shows up in third person singular in present tense. You'll hear it all the time, so you need to know it.
- Just like "go" has an irregular past tense "went" (not "goed"), Kunwok re (go) has an irregular past tense wam (went).
Here it is again, in tabular form:
Nonpast | Meaning | Past | Meaning | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
ngare | I go | ngawam | I went | nga- is the first-person singular, I |
yire | you (sg) go | yiwam | you (sg) went | yi- is the second-person singular, you (sg) |
kare | he/she/it goes | wam | he/she/it went | - (no prefix) is the third-person singular, he/she/it |
Here are more examples, this time for bidbun (climb) and mankan (fall).
Nonpast | Meaning | Past | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
ngabidbun | I climb | ngabidbom | I climbed |
yibidbun | you (sg) climb | yibidbom | you (sg) climbed |
kabidbun | he/she/it climbs | bidbom | he/she/it climbed |
Nonpast | Meaning | Past | Meaning |
ngamankan | I fall | ngamankang | I fell |
yimankan | you (sg) fall | yimankang | you (sg) fell |
kamankan | he/she/it falls | mankang | he/she/it fell |
You might like to try writing and saying these prefixes with a range of other intransitive verbs, e.g. dowen (be unwell), durndeng (return), nalkbun (cry), yerrkan (sit), dolkkan (stand).