Difference between revisions of "Topic marking"

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(Created page with "Topic marking is a fundamental part of Mirja grammar, and participates in some fairly fundamental systems. There are two main topic markers in Mirja---the 'simple topic marker' and the 'contrastive topic marker'---and a couple of other things (such as ''-si'' 'also') also behave like topic markers. == Form of the topic markers == Mirja's most basic and simple topic marker---glossed as simply 'TOP'---usually surfaces only as a modification to the final consonant of the...")
 
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Topic marking is a fundamental part of Mirja grammar, and participates in some fairly fundamental systems. There are two main topic markers in Mirja---the 'simple topic marker' and the 'contrastive topic marker'---and a couple of other things (such as ''-si'' 'also') also behave like topic markers.
Topic marking is a fundamental part of Mirja grammar, and participates in some fairly fundamental systems. There are two main topic markers in Mirja—the 'simple topic marker' and the 'contrastive topic marker'—and a couple of other things (such as ''-si'' 'also') also behave like topic markers.


== Form of the topic markers ==
== Form of the topic markers ==


Mirja's most basic and simple topic marker---glossed as simply 'TOP'---usually surfaces only as a modification to the final consonant of the word it attaches to. Specifically, it takes whatever the last consonant of that word is and converts it to a voiceless fricative. The specific results are shown by the table below.
Mirja's most basic and simple topic marker—glossed as simply 'TOP'—usually surfaces only as a modification to the final consonant of the word it attaches to. Specifically, it takes whatever the last consonant of that word is and converts it to a voiceless fricative. The specific results are shown by the table below.
 
{|class="wikitable
! Original !! Topicalised
|-
| h m w || ɸ~w̥
|-
| v || f
|-
| t d n || θ
|-
| l || ɬ
|-
| r || ɾ̥
|-
| j || j̥~ç
|-
| k g || x
|-
| θ s ɬ ɾ̥ x || (segmental marker)
 
|}

Revision as of 16:50, 21 April 2023

Topic marking is a fundamental part of Mirja grammar, and participates in some fairly fundamental systems. There are two main topic markers in Mirja—the 'simple topic marker' and the 'contrastive topic marker'—and a couple of other things (such as -si 'also') also behave like topic markers.

Form of the topic markers

Mirja's most basic and simple topic marker—glossed as simply 'TOP'—usually surfaces only as a modification to the final consonant of the word it attaches to. Specifically, it takes whatever the last consonant of that word is and converts it to a voiceless fricative. The specific results are shown by the table below.

Original Topicalised
h m w ɸ~w̥
v f
t d n θ
l ɬ
r ɾ̥
j j̥~ç
k g x
θ s ɬ ɾ̥ x (segmental marker)