The Digital Polyglot - Morphosyntax

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Boy Meets Dog

These examples illustrate the different ways that languages handle word order, subject-object relations, topicalization, and transitivity. Because of its strong case system, Russian has very free word order, but SVO or SOV is typical. The first example below shows several different word orders, after which only SVO is listed.

1a Mal'chik udaril sobaku nogoj The boy kicked
the dog

1a Mal'chik 0 udari l 0 sobak u nog oj

1a boy Masc-Nom hit Past Masc dog Fem-Acc Foot Fem-Inst

1b Sobaku mal'chik udaril nogoj The dog the
boy kicked

1b sobak u mal'chik 0 udari l 0 nog oj

1b dog Fem-Acc boy Masc-Nom hit Past Masc Foot Fem-Inst

1c Nogoj udaril mal'chik sobaku Kicked the boy
the dog

1c nog oj udari l 0 mal'chik 0 sobak u

1c Foot Fem-Inst hit Past Masc boy Masc-Nom dog Fem-Acc

2 Sobaka udarila mal'chika nogoj The dog kicked
the boy

2 sobak a udari l a Mal'chik a nog oj

2 dog Fem-Nom hit Past Fem boy Masc-Anim-Acc Foot Fem-Inst

3 Mal'chik vidit sobaku The boy sees
the dog

3 mal'chik 0 vid it sobak u

3 boy Masc-Nom see 3sg dog Fem-Acc

4 Sobaka vidit mal'chika The dog sees
the boy

4 sobak a vid it mal'chik a

4 dog Fem-Nom see 3sg boy Masc-Anim-Acc

5 Sobaka spit The dog sleeps

5 sobak a sp it

5 dog Fem-Nom sleep 3sg

Boy Meets Dog

These examples illustrate the different ways that languages handle word order, subject-object relations, topicalization, and transitivity.

1a Umulumendo apantile imbwa The boy kicked the dog

1a Umulumendo a pant ile imbwa

1a boy (Class 1) 3sg (Class 1) kick TPstP dog

1b Imbwa, umulumendo aipantile The dog, the boy
kicked it

1b imbwa Umulumendo a i pant ile

1b dog (Class 9) boy (Class 1) 3sg (Class 1) 3sg (Class 9) kick TPstP

2a Imbwa ipantile umulumendo The dog kicked the boy

2a imbwa i pant ile umulumendo

2a dog (Class 9) 3sg (Class 9) kick TPstP boy

2b Umulumendo, imbwa imupantile The boy, the dog
kicked him

2b umulumendo imbwa i mu pant ile

2b boy dog (Class 9) 3sg (Class 9) 3sg (Class 1) kick TPstP

3 Umulumendo aamona imbwa The boy sees the dog

3 umulumendo a aa mona imbwa

3 boy 3sg (Class 1) Pres see dog

4 Imbwa yamona umulumendo The dog sees the boy

4 imbwa i aa mona umulumendo

4 dog 3sg (Class 9) Pres see boy

5 Imbwa nailala The dog is sleeping

5 imbwa naa i lala

5 dog TPstP 3sg (Class 9) sleep

Boy Meets Dog

These examples illustrate the different ways that languages handle word order, subject-object relations, topicalization, and transitivity.

1a1 Sa: a'a e le tama le solofanua. The boy kicked the horse.

1a1 Sa: a'a e le tama le solofanua
1a1 PstP kick Erg art boy art horse

1a2 Sa: a'a le solofanua e le tama. The boy kicked the horse.

1a2 Sa: a'a le solofanua e le tama
1a2 PstP kick art horse Erg art boy

1a3 'O le tama sa: a'aina le solfanua. The boy kicked the horse.

1a3 'O le tama sa: a'aina le solofanua
1a3 Noun art boy PstP kick art horse

1b 'O le solofanua sa: a'aina e le tama. The horse, the boy kicked.

1b 'O le solofanua sa: a'aina e le tama
1b Noun art horse PstP kick Erg art boy

2a1 Sa: a'a e le solofanua le tama. The horse kicked the boy.

2a1 Sa: a'a e le solofanua le tama
2a1 PstP kick Erg art horse art boy

2a2 Sa: a'a le tama e le solofanua. The horse kicked the boy.

2a2 Sa: a'a le tama e le solofanua
2a2 PstP kick art boy Erg art horse

2a3 'O le solofanua sa: a'aina le tama. The horse kicked the boy.

2a3 'O le solofanua sa: a'aina le tama
2a3 Noun art horse PstP kick art boy

2b 'O le tama sa: a'aina e le solofanua. The boy, the horse kicked.

2b 'O le tama sa: a'aina e le solofanua
2b Noun art boy PstP kick Erg art horse

3a1 E va'ai le tama i le maile. The boy sees the dog.

3a1 E va'ai le tama i le maile
3a1 Pres see art boy to art dog

3a2 'O le tama e va'ai i le maile. The boy sees the dog.

3a2 'O le tama e va'ai i le maile
3a2 noun art boy Pres see to art dog

4a1 E va'ai le maile i le tama. The dog sees the boy.

4a1 E va'ai le maile i le tama
4a1 Pres see art dog to art boy

4a2 'O le maile e va'ai i le tama. The dog sees the boy.

4a2 'O le maile e va'ai i le tama
4a2 noun art dog Pres see to art boy

5 'Ua moe le maile. The dog is sleeping.

5 'Ua moe le maile
5 PresIm sleep art maile

See Boy Meets Dog study sheet (handed out in class) for instructions.

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