Phonology[]
Grammar[]
Typology[]
Word order: SOV (cf. Syntax)
Alignment: NOM-ACC
Early Bokisig was the language spoken by the people of the Bokisig Confederation, and prescursor to Classical Bokisig; it was an SOV language using nominative-accusative alignment, with an asymmetric case system, split between animate and inanimate nouns, based on postpositions and suffixes. The verbal system heavily relied on converbs, which used switch-reference marking.
Nouns[]
Grammatical number[]
While Early Bokisig nouns have no grammatical gender, there has been the fairly recent development of forming inflected plurals by suffixing different collective nouns (according to semantic criteria) to nouns to make various differentiations in grammatical number.
Before this development, plurals were formed by reduplication of the first syllable, dropping the syllable coda, if any; this is no longer productive. In Early Bokisig, the reduplicated forms that are still used fall into one of two categories:
a) The reduplicated form may have acquired a new meaning – some examples below:
Singular noun |
Meaning |
Reduplicated |
Meaning |
|
“tas” |
“water” |
“tatas” |
“ocean” |
|
“sum” |
“beginning” |
“susum” |
“reason” |
|
“ʔud” |
“thread” / “string” |
“ʔuʔud” |
“net(work)” / “environment” / “nature” |
|
“ʔodatus” |
“gift” |
“ʔoʔodatus” |
“heritage” |
b) The reduplicated form is used as plural, e.g.:
/ɣuɣ/ = “eye”; /ɣu.ɣuɣ/ = “eyes”
/su/ = “place”; /susu/ = “places”
The innovative and productive number suffixes are listed in the table below:
Dual ending |
Used for: |
Original meaning of suffix: |
-za |
Body parts counted in pairs): ears, eyes, hands, legs etc. |
Two |
Paucal ending |
Used for: |
Original meaning of suffix: |
-daku |
Everything |
“a/one hand” |
For example: “sot-daku” = “some houses”;
“nam la-daku” = four food-PAUC = “only four portions of food” |
||
Plural endings |
Used for: |
Original meaning of collective noun that was suffixed: |
-sig |
Humans, plus some inanimates |
Gathering |
-te |
Herbivorous animals, domesticated animals |
Herd |
-kat |
Dangerous animals |
Pack |
-em |
Carnivorous animals usually not dangerous to humans |
Pack |
-ɣuz |
Most inanimates, in particular those where the individual number is no longer readily quantifiable once they are in a “pile” |
Pile |
-kom |
Plants, inanimates that are either in fixed locations or inanimates that stand upright, plus some other inanimates |
forest |
-ʔuʔud |
Objects of culture and speech, man-made entities, body parts not covered by “za” |
Net(work) |
-tun |
Spiritual entities, abstract concepts, inanimates used by humans in a clearly defined setting |
Circle |
-no |
Inanimates often used kept in containers |
Container |
Inserting “mɛka(hɛ)” (= “full”) between the root and the plural suffix derived from a collective word is a way to nominally express “the full collection of”, i.e. “all”:
kasaki-mɛka-sig |
sazon |
he |
priest-full-PL |
beard |
COP.INAL |
“All priests have beards”:
An adverbial way of expressing the same thing would be:
kasaki-sig |
sazon |
gabo |
he |
priest-PL |
beard |
all.ADV |
COP.INAL |
“Priests all have beards”
Cases []
Early Bokisig was an SOV language using nominative-accusative alignment, but without morphological marking of the accusative (nor the nominative case). Its case system was asymmetric to an extraordinary degree, split between animate and inanimate nouns.
Nouns take the following case suffixes:
ANIMATE |
|
INANIMATE | |
Case |
Suffix |
Case |
Suffix |
GENITIVE alienable |
hɛ |
INSTRUMENTAL |
du |
GENITIVE inalienable |
he |
LOCATIVE |
mɛ |
DATIVE |
o |
LATIVE |
bo |
ABLATIVE |
xi |
ABLATIVE |
mɛʔu |
A further important restriction is that only animate nouns can act as agent; inanimate are used with the instrumental postposition "-du", plus either an animate agent or the dummy agent "kiku”, as illustrated by the following examples:
ɣis.te-du |
ki.ku |
sig-hɛ |
sot-mɛ |
ɣuɣ.za.lig |
pɛlma-mɛ |
apple-INSTR |
‘DUMMY AGENT’ |
1PL.EXC-GEN.ALIEN |
house-LOC |
window |
break-PFV |
“Somebody broke the window of our house with an apple.”
This strategy, employing an unnamed dummy agent, here translated as “somebody”, is always used if an inanimate noun is to act as semantic agent. The example also illustrates that locative cases, primarily LOC, but also ABL, are used to express possessive relationships involving inanimate possessors.
Negation suffix[]
In addition to the verbal negation, nouns may be followed by the negative postposition “-sɛ” to indicate the scope of negation in more detail.
Tas-du |
sɛ |
kiku |
mu-he |
nuz |
sɛ-katma-mɛ |
water-INSTR |
NEG |
‘DUMMY AGENT’ |
1sg-GEN |
friend |
NEG-kill-PFV |
"It wasn't water that killed my friend"
Pronouns[]
Personal pronouns[]
1SG |
mu |
2SG |
dɛx |
3SG ANIM 3SG INAM |
ki ʔeʔe* |
1PL INC |
mu.’nɛ.dɛx |
1pl EXC |
’sig |
2PL |
dɛxdɛx |
3PL ANIM 3PL INAM |
kisig ʔeʔe* |
*Inanimate third person pronouns suffix “du” if they refer to an agent.
Examples:
ʔeʔe |
sasa |
sɛ |
lohe |
sigmɛ |
tagosom- munɛdɛx |
DEM |
language |
NEG |
difficult |
together |
learn-JUSS.1PL.INC |
"That language isn’t difficult, let’s study together!"
Copulas[]
There exist various copulas:
Usage |
English |
Proto-Boksig | |
he |
Inalienable possession |
I have big ears |
mu dodohɛ mil-za he 1SG big ear-DU COP.INAL |
Existential copula (generic statements) |
There are no animals on islands. |
ʔaleb das sɛ he island animal NEG COP.INAL | |
hɛ |
Alienable possession |
I have a big house. |
mu dodohɛ sot hɛ 1SG big house COP.AL |
Existential copula (statements about specific instances) |
There are no animals on that island |
(ʔe) ʔaleb das sɛ hɛ (DEM) island animal NEG COP.AL | |
kun |
Noun = noun constructions |
I am your father, Luke! |
mu dɛx-he bata kun, Luke 1SG 2SG-GEN.INAL father COP Luke |
Some further examples:
(ki) |
lum.bo.ki |
kun |
3SG.ANIM |
fisher |
COP |
He is a fisherman.
“kun” is the copula for “noun = noun” constructions; personal pronouns are frequently dropped.
(ki) |
ma.hɛ |
3SG.ANIM |
‘to be strong’ |
S/he is strong.
Stative verbs are used for predicative adjectives
(ki) |
mu-he |
ki.ʔud.ki |
kun |
3SG.ANIM |
1SG-GEN.INAL |
spouse |
COP |
He is my husband.
This uses the same construction as the “fisherman” example above.
(ki) |
mu-he |
sot |
mɛhɛ |
3SG.ANIM |
1SG-GEN.INAL |
house |
‘to be located in’ |
He is in my house.
A locative verb is employed here – that is, a stative verb that expresses the location “at / inside / near”, with the location as direct object.
Verbs[]
Verb types[]
All Early Bokisig verbs (including the verb-like adjectives) are derived from a combination of a noun and a suffixed dummy verb or copula:
DYNAMIC VERBS |
|
|
STATIVE VERBS |
||
Suffix |
Derived from / meaning |
Examples |
Suffix |
Derived from / meaning |
Examples |
-ma |
Dummy verb “to do”; this is simply the primary “catch-all” ending for dynamic verbs |
- “lama” = to prepare food; from “la” = “food” [+ “ma” = “do”] - sama = (archaic) "to speak"; from “sa” = “speech” […] - |
-hɛ |
From a copula that is in turn derived from the genitive marker for alienable possession; the two different stative verb types often form word pairs with a difference in meaning* |
- “behɛ” = “to be scared” - “tagohɛ” = “to know” - “ninhɛ” = “to be cold” (when a person freezes) - “habhɛ” = AUX for PROG; from “hab” = “middle” |
-som |
Dummy verb “to take / consume / experience” |
- “tassom” = “to drink”; from “tas” = “water” [+ “som” = “consume”] - “lasom” = “to eat”; from “la” = “food” […] - tagosom = “to study”; from “tago” = “knowledge” - “sasom” = “to listen”; from “sa” = “speech” […] |
-he |
From a copula that is in turn derived from the genitive marker for inalienable possession; the two different stative verb types often form word pairs with a difference in meaning* |
- “behe” = “to be scary”- “tagohe” = “to be wise” “ninhe” = “to be cold” (of weather, or cold to the touch) - “habhe” = “to entail something” (connected by ABL); from “hab” = “middle” |
Negation []
The general form of negation is to add the negative particle “sɛ” in front of the verb. In addition to this verbal negation, nouns may be followed by the negative suffix “sɛ” to restrict the scope of negation in more detail (see above).
Tense, aspect and mood[]
Tense and aspect[]
Tense and aspect are marked by suffixes on the verb; while the markers, each of which is specific to either tense or aspect, most often occur individually with a verb, they usually encode a specific combination of tense and aspect.
PFV -mɛ => perfective past
IPFV -ka => habitual present
PST -li => past in subordinate clause
IPFV + PST -kali => imperfective past
FUT -bolu => future
Imperative-jussive mood[]
The sole true morphological mood divorced from the tense-aspect suffixes is the imperative-jussive mood, which is formed by suffixing the personal pronoun to the verb, deleting “ma”; only “-ma”-verbs can be used in this mood.
Second person imperatives are straightforward, and simply imply a command to the addressee(s):
ton-dɛx! |
sɛ tondɛxdɛx! |
help-2SG |
NEG help-2PL |
“Help!” |
“Don’t help!” |
sotma |
dɛx-o |
nolishɛ-ʔul-ʔe |
mu-o |
mi.mil.’su.mɛ |
mɛʔuma-dɛx! |
live |
2sg-DAT |
‘be desirable’-[COND]-DS |
1sg-DAT |
here |
‘go away from’-IMP |
“Come with me if you want to live!”*
* Dative doubles as comitative.
By suffixing 1st person pronouns, jussive forms can be formed for the 1st person – with a change in meaning:
ton-mu |
sɛ ton-sig |
sɛ ton-munɛdɛx |
ton-mudɛx |
help-1SG! |
NEG help-1PL.EXC |
NEG help-1pl.INC |
help-1pl.INC |
“I hope I can help” / ”I want to help” |
“We don’t want to help” / “I hope we won’t have to help” |
“We don’t want to help” / “I hope we won’t have to help” |
“I hope we can help” / “We want to “help” / “Let’s help” |
sot |
nilok-dɛx |
house |
clean-IMP |
“Clean (your) house!”
Verbs of motion and locative verbs []
Verbs of motion encoding direction are formed by using the dynamic verbal ending “ma”, suffixed onto locative case postpositions (as well as combinations thereof); similarly, so-called “locative verbs” are formed by suffixing the stative endings “hɛ” and “he”, respectively.
Postposition / suffix |
Subject moves |
Verb of motion |
Subject is located |
Locative verb (currently / permanently) |
LOC |
at / inside / around |
mɛma |
at / inside / near |
mɛhɛ / mɛhe |
LAT |
towards, into, upwards |
boma |
in front of / on top of |
bohɛ / bohe |
ABL |
from, downwards |
mɛʔuma |
behind / at the foot of |
mɛʔuhɛ / mɛʔuhe |
“and” |
besides |
nɛma |
besides |
nɛhɛ / nɛhe |
INST |
through |
duma |
in the middle of |
duhɛ / duhe |
LAT+LOC |
over |
bomɛma |
over |
bomɛhɛ / bomɛhe |
LAT+”and” |
on top of |
bonɛma |
on top of |
bonɛhɛ / bonɛhe |
[truncated]ABL+LOC |
underneath |
ʔumɛma |
underneath |
ʔumɛhɛ / ʔumɛhe |
ABL+LOC |
on the underside of |
mɛʔumɛma |
on the underside of |
mɛʔuhɛ / mɛʔuhe |
A verb for putting something in a specific location can be formed by simply inserting “da” before the verbal suffix /ma/.
Converbs []
In Proto-Bokisig, converb suffixes were added to a verb infinitive to express coordinating and subordinating senses. All the converbs have different forms depending on whether the subject argument for the converb is identical to that of the finite verb (same subject, SS) or not (different subject, DS).
Different strategies are employed to differentiate between SS and DS on converbs:
a) Some converb suffixes have completely different forms; those are most often derived from different case endings, with the SS form being derived from a case restricted to inanimate nouns, and the DS form from a case sufffix for animate nouns.
Example: The causal converb uses “ʔo” from the dative case (only used with animate nouns) and “mɛʔu” from the ablative case (only used with inanimate nouns) endings for the SS and DS endings, respectively.
b) Other converbs use a base form suffix to express SS, and then suffix the additional DS ending to this base form. This DS ending is identical to the proximal demonstrative adjective “ʔe” (singular; the plural is “ʔeʔe”). It is important to note that the suffix agrees in number with the subject of the finite verb, and not that of the converb itself.
Simultaneous CVB “nɛ(ʔe[ʔe])” (derived from conjunction “nɛ” = “and”) []
/tagoki-sig |
donam-ɣuz |
toɣoma-nɛ |
xilsɛhɛ-ka-li/ |
student-PL |
‘wax tablet’-PL |
write-CVB |
quiet-IPFV-PST |
“The students were quiet while writing on tablets.”
/tagoki |
toɣoma-nɛ-ʔe |
tagohu |
xilsɛhɛ-ka-li/ |
student |
write-CVB-DS |
teacher |
quiet-IPFV-PST |
“While the student was writing, the teacher was quiet.”
/tagoki |
toɣoma-nɛ-ʔe-ʔe |
tagohu-sig |
xilsɛhɛ-ka-li/ |
student |
write-CVB-DS-PL |
teacher-PL |
quiet-IPFV-PST |
“While the student was writing, the teachers were quiet.”
As the DS marker derives from the demonstrative “ʔe(ʔe)”, which referred to the following noun phrase (i.e. the argument of the finite verb) it agrees in number with the argument of the finite verb.
The imperfective aspect combined with the adverb /kalu/ (“always) expresses “every time / whenever” – however, /kalu/ can also be dropped and the interpretation left to context:
(/kalu/) |
/sumhebat |
sɛ |
pisom-nɛ-ʔe |
mu |
ɣiɣsom-ka/ |
(always) |
Sumhebat |
NEG |
smile-CVB-DS |
1SG |
see-IPFV |
“Whenever I see Sumhebat he is not smiling” = “I’ve never seen him smile”.
Sequential CVB “kusmɛ(ʔe[ʔe])” (derived from “kus-mɛ” = one-LOC = “at first”)[]
saɣop |
tassom-kusmɛ |
John |
katma-mɛ |
king |
drink-CVB.SEQ |
John |
kill-PFV |
“After drinking, the king killed John.”
saɣop |
tassom-kusmɛ-ʔe |
John |
kat-mɛ |
king |
drink-CVB.SEQ-DS |
John |
kill-PRFV |
“After the king drank, John killed him.”
saɣop |
tassom-kusmɛ-ʔe |
kat-mɛ |
king |
drink-CVB.SEQ-DS |
kill-PRFV |
“After the king drank, he was killed (or rather, ‘somebody unnamed killed him’).”
CVB for indirect speech and some other subordinate clauses: “sa” (SS) / “saʔe[ʔe])” (DS)[]
The converb form does not specify the tense of the reported sentence; adverbs of time may be inserted right before the converb form to make this clear, including the most generic forms “li” for the past and “bolu” for the future.
dɛxdɛx |
ɣiɣsom-li |
saki |
kos |
mimilsumɛ |
bolu |
ʔalsom-saʔ-e |
(mu) |
sɛ |
tagohɛ |
2pl |
see-PTCP.PST |
person |
bread |
here |
FUT |
buy-CVB.QUOT-DS |
(1sg) |
NEG |
know |
“I don’t know whether the person you guys saw yesterday will buy bread here”
This converb can also be used for other subordinate clauses:
Mu |
ʔemɛka |
kuʔihɛ-sa |
hulɛhɛ |
1sg |
today |
‘be alone’-CVB.QUOT |
‘be disappointed’ |
“I’m disappointed about being alone today”
There are special constructions using “sama” (an archaism for “to say”) in the first person jussive mood for saying that somebody wants or needs somebody to do something. Since the first person jussive is formed by suffixing the personal pronoun (1SG or 1PL) to the verb, the different-subject (DS) marker is not used on the converb in those cases.
dɛx |
ku |
mu-he |
mog-sig |
katma-sa |
sa-mu |
2SG |
one |
1SG-GEN.INALIEN |
child-PL |
kill-CVB.QUOT |
say-1sg.JUSS |
“I hope to say that you [will] kill [or: have killed] one of my children”
= “I need you to kill one of my children.”
dɛx-hɛ |
sot |
nilokhɛ-sa |
sa-mu |
2SG-GEN.AL |
house |
be.clean-CVB.QUOT |
say-1SG.JUSS |
In the past, there is a difference between the perfective and imperfective aspect; the perfective aspect means that the person unsuccessfully tried to do the thing in question.
mu |
dɛx |
xitma-sa |
sa-mu-mɛ |
1SG |
2SG |
hate-CVB.QUOT |
say-1SG.JUSS-PFV |
"I (unsuccessfully) tried to hate you"
Causal CVB “ʔo” (SS)/“mɛʔu” (DS) (from DAT and ABL case, respectively) []
The converb expressing a causal relationship uses the suffixes for the dative case (if used as a case ending, this is restricted to animate nouns) and the locative case (normally only used with inanimate nouns); the former is used if the subject of the converb is identical to that of the finite verb, and the latter if there is a different subject.
dɛx |
saɣop |
saxɛmma-ʔo |
sixmɛ |
katma-mɛ-bolu |
2sg |
king |
insult-CVB.SS |
soon |
die-PFV-FUT |
“As you have insulted the king, you will soon die.”
ʔiʔaguhiz |
sɛ |
nuɣehe-mɛʔu |
saɣop |
xiʔo |
nuɣehɛ |
plant |
NEG |
red-CVB.DS |
king |
REFL |
annoy |
“Because the plant isn’t red, the king is angry.”
CVB for an action interrupted by another action (that of the finite verb): “kanɛ” (SS)/ “kanɛʔe[ʔe]” (DS) (from IPFV + “and”)[]
dɛxdɛx |
John |
ʔalsom-li |
kos |
lasom-kanɛ |
mu |
tagosom-mɛ |
2pl |
John |
buy-PST |
bread |
eat-CVB |
1sg |
notice-PRFV |
“While you were eating the bread bought by John, you (suddenly) noticed me.”
Mu |
kos |
lasom-kanɛ-ʔe-ʔe |
bomsama-mɛ |
1sg |
bread |
eat-CVB-DS-PL |
shout-PRFV |
“While I was eating bread, some people started shouting.”
CVB for manner/means: “xi” (SS) / “du” (DS) (from ABL (for animates) and INSTR, respectively) []
tignima-xi |
nɛki |
tun-kom-mɛ |
boma |
run-CVB.INSTR |
RECIPROC |
circle-PL-LOC |
‘move towards’ |
“They are chasing each other in circles.”
dɛx |
tonma-du |
mu |
xiʔutasma-mɛ |
2sg |
help-CVB..INSTR.DS |
1sg |
succeed-PRFV |
“With your help, I succeeded!”
If used with stative verbs, this is often equivalent to what would be an adverb in other languages:
maz |
zizhe-xi |
maz.som-mɛ; |
sun |
warm-CVB.INSTR |
shine-PRFV |
“Then the Sun shined out warmly”.
The fact that switch reference is marked on the converb allows dropping pronouns fairly liberally:
ma.hɛ-du |
mu |
samduma-bolu |
strong-CVB.INSTR.DS |
1sg |
kick-FUT |
“Somebody (unnamed) will kick me hard!”
Adversative converb “agubo” (SS) / “kanɛʔe[ʔe]” (DS) (from “into the wind” / IPFV + “and”, respectively)[]
NB: The DS form is identical to that of the converb for one action interrupted by another.
dɛx |
sa-tun |
milsom-agubo |
sɛ |
sasom |
2SG |
word-PL |
hear-CVB.ADVERSATIVE |
NEG |
listen |
“You hear the words, but do not listen.”
podez |
zihin |
utma-agubo |
mahe |
fruit |
tooth |
damage-CVB |
‘be healthy’ |
“Fruit damages teeth, but is nonetheless healthy”.
lishɛ |
la |
ʔut.he-kanɛ-ʔe |
mu |
ʔe |
lasom-ka |
sweet |
food |
‘be unhealthy’-CVB-DS |
1SG |
3SG |
eat-IPFV |
“Even though sugary food is unhealthy, I eat it all the time.”
Converb for purpose “hɛ“ (SS) / “bo” (DS)[]
mu |
nuz-ʔo |
sama-hɛ |
ki |
boma-bolu, |
puhɛʔul |
ki |
mu |
sa-hɛ |
boma-bolu |
1SG |
friend-DAT |
speak-CVB.SS |
3SG.ANIM |
‘go to’-FUT |
or |
3SG.ANIM |
1SG |
speak-CVB.SS |
‘go to’-FUT |
“I will visit my friend, or he will visit me.”
NB: “go to somebody in order to speak (to them)”, expressed converbially, is the standard way to express “visit”. Similarly, “to meet” (not coincidentally!) is expressed by “speak-CVB.SS RECIPR ‘go to’”:
mu |
nuz-nɛ |
sama-hɛ |
nɛki |
sotsig-bo |
boma-kali |
1SG |
friend |
speak-CVB.SS |
RECIP |
village-LAT |
‘go to’-IPFV |
“A friend and me always used to meet up in the village.”
NB: The place where the meeting takes place is in the lative case.