A Grammar of the Tinellbian Languages

High Lulani

Conjunctions
Particles

Demotic Lulani

Indefinite Pro-forms

The indefinite pro-forms are sets of deictic words which can be placed into a table.

	object		place	action	manner	state
	noun	determiner	place	action	manner	state
proximate	mari mR	-mari mR	majja / miru Mw . m;j	marila mRl	madusi mES	marika mRk
distal	kasi kS	-kasi kS	kasuja kzj	kalisa kLs	kadusi kES	kasika kSk
interrogative	sama sm	-diku D$	satta s;t	sulla z;l	lara lr	saqqa s;q
negative	cu’i yi	-cu y	qa’i qi	buni ON	-
universal	’aba ab	-’aba ab	batuja bej	’abala abl	-
existential	’umi uM	-mi M	mituja Mej	’amila aMl	fana fn

proximate:

object noun: mari mR

object determiner: -mari mR

place: majja m;j / miru Mw

action: marila mRl

manner: madusi mES

state: marika mRk

distal:

object noun: kasi kS

object determiner: -kasi kS

place: kasuja kzj

action: kalisa kLs

manner: kadusi kES

state: kasika kSk

interrogative:

object noun: sama sm

object determiner: -diku D$

place: satta s;t

action: sulla z;l

manner: lara lr

state: saqqa s;q

negative:

object noun: cu’i yi

object determiner: -cu y

place: qa’i qi

action: buni ON

universal:

object noun: ’aba ab

object determiner: -’aba ab

place: batuja bej

action: ’abala abl

existential:

object noun: ’umi uM

object determiner: -mi M

place: mituja Mej

action: ’amila aMl

manner / state: fana fn

Proximate forms have referents physically or psychologically near the speaker, whereas distal forms are used when the referent is far away. Interrogative forms are used in questions, and negative forms are used in negative sentences. Universal means “all” or “every”, and existential means “some” or “any”.

The existential markers are also used in complements.

ʔusu li xaha ’umi ru padissu.

.uz / L / xh / uM / w / pD;z.

ʔusu li xaha ’umi ru padissu.

1intfirst person intransitive comcomplementiser name something prs;gnopresent gnomic learn.

“I learned what her name is.”

Object Noun

Object nouns are pronouns. Unlike some personal pronouns, these are not marked for animacy, and are thus used to represent people, animals or things.

Mari ra’u ’aggami. / Mari ra’u linu.

. mR / ru / LI.mR / ru / a;gM.

mari ra’u ’aggami. / mari ra’u linu.

This prs;stapresent stative police. / This prs;stapresent stative tree.

“This (person) is a police officer.” / “This (object) is a tree.”

Fu kusama kuffa diru? / Fu kusama kuffa qikanni?

.v / $sm / >;f / Qk;N .v / >sm / >;f / Dw.

fu ku-sama kuffa diru? / fu ku-sama kuffa qikanni?

2trasecond person transitive datdative-what give money? / 2trasecond person transitive datdative-what give dog?

“To whom did you give the money?” / “What did you give the dog”

This latter example exploits the ability to swap dative and object for motive verbs.

Reduplicated indefinite pronouns with suffixed -ta t and are used for emphasis.

sama samata?

sm / smt

sama sama -ta?

what what-and?

lit.: “what and what?”

“what the…?”

cu’i cu’ita

yi / yit

cu’i cu’i -ta

nothing nothing-and

lit.: “nothing and nothing”

“nothing and no one”

qa’i qa’ita

qi / qit

qa’i qa’i -ta

nowhere nowhere-and

lit.: “never and nowhere”

“never ever”

’aba ’abata

ab / abt

’aba ’aba -ta

everything everything-and

lit.: “everything and everything”

“absolutely everybody”

Object Determiner

Object determiners act as determiners. In most cases, derivations from the object noun forms are obvious.

takacu

tky

taka -cu

sound-nothing

“no sound”

manafamari

mnfmR

manafa -mari

country-this

“this country”

lulanimi

WlNM

lulani -mi

queen-some

“some monarch”

kulu’aba

$Wab

kulu -’aba

fork-every

“every fork”

nullidiku

I;LD$

nulli -diku

mountain-what

“which mountain?”

’usu’aba filli’abata

uzab / F;Labt

’usu -’aba filli -’aba -ta

1intfirst person intransitive-every 2intsecond person intransitive-every-and

“every me and every you”

Place

Place pronouns are used for locations in any, some or all of: space, time, reality and gingla. They can function as adverbial adpositions,

Xudda majja dasi da.

.Z;d / m;j / dS / d.

xudda majja dasi da.

Elephant here consume water.

“The elephant drank water here” / “The elephant is drinking water now.”

or as nouns.

Filli kalusatta tihu?

.F;L / kWs;t / TV.

filli kalu-satta tihu?

2intsecond person intransitive ablablative-where move?

“Whence came you?”

As opposed to majja m;j here or now, the word miru Mw here and now is used for a specific point in all four categories of dimension.

Gaca miru ji dissu’ahati.

.gc / Mw / J / D;zahT.

gaca miru ji dissu’ahati.

Minister now prs;negpresent negative feel_happy

lit.: “The minister is not happy here, now, on this plane, or in this reality.”

“The minister is not happy under these circumstances.”

Action

The action terms are pro-verbs, which can be used to replace ordinary verbs in sentences.

Sabba sulla qixa?

.s;b/ z;l / Qx.

sabba sulla qixa?

father;2gen do_what prs;Dyn?

“What does your father do?”

Manner

Manner pro-forms are used to refer to the way in which an action is undertaken. They function as modal adverbs in active sentences, i.e.: sentences with overt or implied auxiliaries of activity.

Kimilli jannikiluqu kadusi ’ili cani?

.KM;L / j;NKWA / kES / iL / cN.

kimilli janni-kiluqu kadusi ’ili cani?

King move-walk that_way really prs;dynpresent dynamic?

“Does the king really walk that way?”

State

State pro-forms are used as modal adverbs in stative sentences, i.e.: sentences with overt or implied auxiliaries of state.

Filli (ra’u) saqqa?

.F;L / ru / s;q.

filli ra’u saqqa.

lit.: “What state are you in?”

“How are you?”

They can also function as deteminers.

Mari ra’u gajitafana.

. mR / ru / gJtfn.

mari ra’u gajita-fana.

This prs;stapresent stative treasure-somehow

“This is some kind of treasure.”