Dative -ru

Started by Tirea Aean, December 25, 2020, 10:22:17 AM

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Tirea Aean

It came up on Discord about how we know that the -ti suffix has been defined as being usable no matter what sound the word ends with. The question was is -ru like -ti in this way? According to the chart at Horen 3.1.1, it's not, because it can't be used on words ending with consonant/pseudovowel. Yet Plumps has found that Karyu Pawl has said olo'ru and/or lì'fyaolo'ru. Here is what he had to say about this:

Quote from: Paul FrommerOK, about -ru with the tìftang:

Good catch! It's amazing how after all these years there are still things I haven't noticed about Na'vi!

A form like olo'ru sounds very natural to me, and I suspect you'd hear it on Pandora. So it's not a mistake. It's an exception to the chart in the Horen, which should be noted. I'll let Wm know about it.

Perhaps the way this exception arose is that the tìftang is a consonant that sometimes tends drop out in fast, casual speech. For example, if you're careful and correct in your pronunciation, you'll pronounce names like Mo'at and Lo'ak with a distinct glottal stop. But in fast casual speech, they can come out as simply Moat and Loak. If the glottal stop can also drop out at the end of word under these circumstances, then you could get oloru. And that could lead back to olo'ru.

So basically, -ru is not universally acceptable like -ti because -ru can't go on a word ending with any consonant except glottal stop.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays ma frapo!

Toliman

O.o... that is really good catch!

Quote from: Tirea Aean on December 25, 2020, 10:22:17 AM
Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays ma frapo!
Ngaru nìteng!

Vawmataw

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Traducteur francophone de Kelutral.org, dict-navi et Reykunyu

Tìtstewan

Seiyi irayo!

Aaand another little rule to remember, hrh. ;D

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Toliman

Quote from: Tìtstewan on December 25, 2020, 11:23:51 AM
Aaand another little rule to remember, hrh. ;D
Yeah, there is still something to remember ;D