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#8Misanü by Salp
MisanüEnglish

So‘ay may ‘yahangu balünanchu ke nihirünga. Nyochine so‘ay cha? ‘Ülwa teyche. Dakwong ke dehirünga, ‘angdushoy nyelke‘uraha.

“You are warriors who are strong with your spears. Can you think for yourself? If you can, that is acceptable. While they measure their spears, show them your willingness to die.”

so‘ayma-ke‘yafi-angubal-ünang-t-i-ukeni-hirüng-a
2PLCOP-PLfight-AGENT4PL-be_strong-APP-INST-3PLPL2PL.GEN-spear-ACC
ni-ok-in-Aso‘aycha
2PL-CAP-think-INTR2PLQ
Ø-‘Ul-ü-AØ-teychi-A
3SG-COND-PV-INTR3SG-be_acceptable-INTR
dA-akü-u-ngkedA-hirüng-a,
3PL-measure-3PL-CVBPL3PL.GEN-spear-ACC
‘üng-dush-A-ini-el-ke‘u-ra-a.
show-3PL.DAT-3SG.ACC-IMP2PL-ACCEPT-die-INF-ACC

Lexicon:

  • -angu
    • suff. agentive
  • cha
    • ptcl. polar question
  • haküra, sakwa
    • v.t. to measure, to test
  • hirang, hirünga
    • n. spear
  • ke
    • ptcl. plural
  • ke‘ura, shike‘wo
    • v.i. to die
  • ma
    • ptcl. copula
  • may
    • ptcl. contraction of ma ke
  • so‘ay, so‘anya
    • pn. you.PL, y’all, yourselves (disjunctive)
  • teychira, shiteyche
    • v.i. to act, to function, to be correct, to be acceptable
  • yenda, shine
    • v.i. to think
  • wünangda, sünanga
    • v.i. to be strong, to be skilled
  • würa, swa
    • v.i. pro-verb (refers to earlier verb mentioned)
  • ‘angda, sü‘ünga
    • v.t. to show
  • ‘yafira, sa‘yahe
    • v.t. to fight

Grammar:

Mostly head-initial.
Verb-subject-object word order.
Copular sentences take the order subject-copula-predicate.

Verbs are given as infinite, 1SG>3SG in the lexicon. For example, the verb ‘take’ with the root -ba‘- would be given as ba‘la, süba‘a meaning “to take” and “I take it”.
Infinitives are formed with -ra after a vowel, -da after a sonorant, and -la after an occlusive.

Affix order: [subject] - [mood] - [root] - [voice] - [indirect object] - [direct object] - [converb] - [imperative]

Polypersonal affixes:

Subject:

1234
SGs(U)-k(U)-Øb(A)-
DU‘w(A)-‘am(A)-re-bere-
PLf(A)-ni-d(U)-bal-

Indirect object:

123
SG-ch--‘y--sh-
PL-fesh--nish--dush-

Direct object:

123
SG-(U)t-(U)‘-A*
PL-ufa-ünyü-u

* The 3SG direct object marker -A also goes on all intransitive verbs.

Other verb morphology:

el-acceptative/willing mood
ok-capacitative mood
‘ul-conditional mood
-chinstrumental applicative
-ngconverb meaning “when” or “as soon as”
-iimperative (subject affix left off)

Nouns are given as nominative, accusative.
The accusative suffix is -a, occasionally causing dissimilation in the previous vowel.
Particles come either before nouns or sentence-finally.

Relative clauses take no separate marking and simply come immediately after the noun they modify. They take 4th person as the subject.

Allophony:

  • The archiphonemes U A harmonize to i e, ü a, or u o, depending on which is the nearest in the root, e.g. A-chikam-U > echikamü. Sometimes they are deleted entirely if they are immediately adjacent to an identical vowel.
  • i and ü u desyllabicize to y w next to a vowel.
  • i ü u become e a o before syllable-final m n ng.
  • ng t k s f palatalize to ny ch ch sh h before i y ny ch sh ly. (nych is respelled as nch.)
  • s fortites to t syllable-finally.
  • Initial i e gain an onglide y.
  • Initial ü u o gain an onglide w.
  • Initial a gains a fricative onset h.