The Digital Polyglot - Morphosyntax

Printable version of this page

How Many Words does it take to say . . . and other language curiosities.

Here are some examples of how different languages handle complex sentences. This is followed by selected examples of tongue twisters and other language curiosities. Homework questions are at the end.

1 On khochet poluchit' bol'shuju lodku.

1 On khoche et poluchi t' bol'sh uju lodk u

1 he want 3sg acquire Inf big Fem-Acc boat Fem-Acc

1 He wants to acquire a big boat.

2 Kto-to ne nashol sovsem khoroshee mesto spat'.

2 kto-to ne nasho l 0 sovsem khorosh ee mest o spa t'

2 someone not find Past Masc completely good Neut-Acc place Neut-Acc sleep Inf

2 Someone did not find a completely suitable resting place.

1 Aleefwaya ukukwata ubwato ubukulu

1 A lee fwaya uku kwata ubwato ubu kulu

1 3sg Prog want Inf have boat (Cl 14) (Cl 14) big

1 He wants to acquire a big boat

2 Umuntu taasangile apakutusha apalinga nganshi.

2 umuntu ta a sang ile apa ku tusha apa linga nganshi

2 person Neg 3sg find TPstP Loc 14 Inf rest Loc 14 satisfactory very

2 Someone did not find a completely suitable resting place.

2 utunyongandimi

3 utu nyonga ndimi

3 Cl 13 (plural, Diminutive) twist tongues (language)

3 tongue twisters

1 'Olo'o mana'o le tama i se va'a tele.
1 'Olo'o mana'o le tama i se va'a tele
1 Prog want art boy to IndArt boat big
1 The boy wants to acquire a big boat.

2 E le'i maua e se isi se nofoaga lelei.
2 E le'i maua e se isi se nofoaga lelei
2 Pres Neg-Past find Erg IndArt some IndArt resting place good
2 Someone did not find a completely suitable resting place.

2 Qasuiirsarvigssarsingitluinarnarpuq.
2 Qasu -iir -sar -vig -ssar -si -ngit -luinar -nar -puq
2 tired not cause-to-be place-for suitable find not completely someone 3/sg.
2 Someone did not find a completely suitable resting place.

How Many Words

Study the data sets in this section and answer the following questions:

1 What language typologies are illustrated in these sentences? (E.g. analytic, agglutinating, inflectional, polysynthetic). Explain with reference to specific features that you notice.

2 What word order patterns do these examples illustrate?

3 How is case marking handled in these different languages? What are the case markers for subject and object?

4 Other observations or questions?

VIEW/SIGN OUR GUESTBOOK

Faculty developer for phase one: Debra Spitulnik, Anthropology
Web designer for phase one: Josh Walker
Fieldwork contributors: Hal Odden, Debra Spitulnik, Josh Walker

Program in Linguistics Home Page
Anthropology Department Home Page
Linguistic Anthropology Home Page