Difference between revisions of "Pronouns and proverbs"
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These have noteworthy grammatical behaviour in several ways. Most notable is the fact that the plural forms, while formed using the [[collective plural]] CVVCV# pattern, are in fact true plurals; ''noono'' and ''maama'' can both be used with groups of only two. Since these are formed with the CVVCV# pattern, the plural forms of the [[oblique case]]-marked forms ''noro'' and ''mara'' are ''nooro'' and ''maara'', not *''noonoro'' or *''maamara''. ''Su'' behaves like all other Mirja nouns, and ''suusu'' is a collective plural and not a true plural. | These have noteworthy grammatical behaviour in several ways. Most notable is the fact that the plural forms, while formed using the [[collective plural]] CVVCV# pattern, are in fact true plurals; ''noono'' and ''maama'' can both be used with groups of only two. Since these are formed with the CVVCV# pattern, the plural forms of the [[oblique case]]-marked forms ''noro'' and ''mara'' are ''nooro'' and ''maara'', not *''noonoro'' or *''maamara''. ''Su'' behaves like all other Mirja nouns, and ''suusu'' is a collective plural and not a true plural. | ||
''Su'' behaves unusually in that it requires no overt [[topic marking]] | ''Su'' behaves unusually in that it requires no overt [[topic marking]]—it's assumed to be the topic unless there's some reason to suspect otherwise. This is mostly for historical reasons, as etymologically the topic marker is itself ''su'', derived from left-dislocations plus ''su'' as the resumptive pronoun. It is possible (and common) to mark ''su'' with the contrastive topic marker ''-s'', however (resulting in ''suthy''). | ||
== Interrogatives == | == Interrogatives == | ||
Revision as of 08:33, 30 May 2023
Personal pronouns
Mirja has a small set of personal pronouns.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | no | noono |
| 2 | ma | maama |
| 3 | su |
These have noteworthy grammatical behaviour in several ways. Most notable is the fact that the plural forms, while formed using the collective plural CVVCV# pattern, are in fact true plurals; noono and maama can both be used with groups of only two. Since these are formed with the CVVCV# pattern, the plural forms of the oblique case-marked forms noro and mara are nooro and maara, not *noonoro or *maamara. Su behaves like all other Mirja nouns, and suusu is a collective plural and not a true plural.
Su behaves unusually in that it requires no overt topic marking—it's assumed to be the topic unless there's some reason to suspect otherwise. This is mostly for historical reasons, as etymologically the topic marker is itself su, derived from left-dislocations plus su as the resumptive pronoun. It is possible (and common) to mark su with the contrastive topic marker -s, however (resulting in suthy).
Interrogatives
Mirja has a short list of interrogative pronouns and proverbs. Notably, all interrogative words (both pronouns and proverbs) are of the pattern CV́CCV̀.
[LIST?]
Question words in a sentence do not preempt question marking on the verb:
ma-rV-*
2sg-OBL-TOP
halli
who
karu-t-wwe
be.visible-PAST-Q
'who did you see?'
Interrogative proverbs, though, often drop question marking when they'd otherwise be entirely uninflected:
su
3
tavva-go-wwe
do.what-IRR-Q
'what is he going to do?'
su
3
tavva
do.what
'what is he doing?'
As a natural property of question words, interrogative pronouns are always in focus and cannot be topics. It is, however, possible to choose between simply using an interrogative pronoun as is or outright marking it as the focus. Focus marking on interrogatives creates an interpretation where the action of the verb is very explicitly already discourse-active, while leaving the interrogative unmarked allows an interpretation where the action of the verb is either discourse-new or being reactivated somehow. Perhaps the best way to think about this is in terms of focus domains—an unmarked interrogative allows other material in the focus domain with it, while a marked one does not.
halli
who
sima-ku-t-e-wwe
drive.car-to.there-PAST-INV-Q
'who went there?' (perhaps a follow-up question after 'who stayed here?')
halli-t
who-FOC
sima-ku-t-e-wwe
drive.car-to.there-PAST-INV-Q
'who is it that went there?' (in a context where 'people going there' is already being talked about)