plurals,

Started by Nawma_taronyu, March 16, 2010, 01:08:09 PM

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Nawma_taronyu

ok im having a hard time understanding the plurals.

Before plural marker         After plural marker
px, tx, kx                      p, t, k
p, t/ts, k                      f, s, h
'                                  Ø

i found this with which i am doing some practice myself with and have done as so

[elbow] -> [pxuntil -> MEPUNTIL] [me-p(x)until]

and have tried [spirit] -> [tirea -> (either or) aytirea or ayirea] -> AY-(t)irea (not exactly sure on that)

then theres [eye] -> [nari] not a clue on how to plural that?? help
Eywa'eveng ngeyä mì sìrey livu frakrr.
May Pandora always be in your life.



Rangtsulfätu

#1
Actually, it's not that hard. When you pluralize, all you need to do is add me+ (for 2), pxe+ (for 3) or ay+ (for more than 3 or when you don't know how many).

so:
nari (eye) -> menari (2 eyes) -> pxenari (3 eyes) -> aynari (many eyes)
vul (branch) -> mevul (2 branches) ->...

What you found is lenition, that means that the first letter changes when you add the plural prefix.

px -> p
tx -> t
kx -> k
p -> f
t/ts -> s
k -> h
' (glottal stop) -> deleted

so,
tirea (spirit) -> aysirea
pa'li (dire horse) -> ayfa'li
'eveng (child) -> ayeveng

I hope that helps you.
Oe skxawng lu!

Suteo plltxe san po tsun pivlltxe nìNa'vi ulte peyä ta'leng ean lu sìk. Ayoel omum nì'aw futa por syaw fko stìkx.

VathRas

Quote from: Swirä Akawng on March 16, 2010, 01:36:53 PM
tirea (spirit) -> aysirea
pa'li (dire horse) -> ayfa'li
'eveng (child) -> ayeveng

One more thing - when you use ay- prefix and lenition occurs, you can drop prefix:

tirea -> sirea (with lenition, but without prefix)
pa'li -> fa'li
'eveng -> eveng

But it's not obligatory.

Nawma_taronyu

Swirä Akawng yes that makes perfect sense thank you!!
Eywa'eveng ngeyä mì sìrey livu frakrr.
May Pandora always be in your life.



Nawma_taronyu

ok ok i think i got this right.

Me+ (2),    pxe+ (3),    ay+ (3+)

When it has letters px, tx, kx, p, t/ ts, k, ' replace as fallowes

Px ->  p    [ (arm) pxun -> mepun, me+(2)pun (x deleted)

Tx -> t      [ (night) txon -> ayton, ay+(3+) ton

Kx -> k     [ (tail) kxetse -> ayketse, ay+(3+) ketse

P -> f        [ (direhorse) pa'li -> pxefa'li, pxe+(3) fa'li

t/ ts -> s   [ (brother) tsmukan -> aysmukan, ay+(3+) smukan

' (glottal stop) -> deleted  [ (child) 'eveng -> ayeveng, ay+(3+) eveng
Eywa'eveng ngeyä mì sìrey livu frakrr.
May Pandora always be in your life.



Skxawng

Everything is correct except for ...

Quote from: Nawm_taronyu on March 16, 2010, 05:42:54 PM
Me+ (2),    pxe+ (3),    ay+ (3+)

Ay+ indicates 4 or more, though that might have been what you were indicating with 3+


"prrkxentrrkrr is a skill best saved for only the most cunning linguist"

omängum fra'uti

Ay+ can also indicate an unknown number.

(And possibly in some cases a known number, trying to get an answer from Frommer on one of his examples which uses ayoe where you'd expect moe.)
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