Maká language
Maká is a Matacoan language spoken in Argentina and Paraguay by the Maká people. Its 1,500 speakers live primarily in Presidente Hayes Department near the Río Negro, as well as in and around Asunción.[2] Phonology
Velar consonants alternate with palatal consonants before /e/ and sometimes before /a/. Examples include /keɬejkup/ ~ [ceɬejkup] 'autumn' and /exeʔ/ ~ [eçeʔ] 'stork'. The palatal approximant /j/ is realised as a palatal fricative [ç] before /i/, as in /inanjiʔ/ ~ [inançiʔ].[3][page needed]
Syllables in Maká may be of types V, VC, CV, CCV, and CCVC. When a consonant cluster appears at the beginning of a syllable, the second consonant must be /x/, /h/, /w/, or /j/. MorphologyNounsGenderMaká has two genders—masculine and feminine. The demonstratives reflect the gender of a noun.[4]
In the plural the gender distinction is neutralized, and the plural demonstrative is the same as the feminine singular: ne’ these sehe-l land-PL ‘these lands’ ne’ these naxkak-wi tree-PL ‘these trees’ NumberMaká nouns inflect for plurality. There are several distinct plural endings: -l, -wi, -Vts, and -Vy. All plants take the -wi plural, but otherwise the choice seems to be unpredictable.[5]
CaseMaká does not have any overt case marking on nouns. Consider the following sentence, where neither the subject nor object shows any case.[6] Ne’ DEM.F efu woman Ø-tux A.3-eat ka’ INDEF.M sehets. fish ‘The woman eats fish.’ Agreement with the possessorNouns agree with their possessor in person.[7]
VerbsAgreement with subject and objectVerbs agree with their subject and object in a rather complex system. Gerzenstein (1995) identifies five conjugation classes for intransitive verbs.[3][page needed] The following two examples show intransitive verbs from conjugation classes 1 and 3.
Transitive verbs belong to a different conjugation class, Conjugation 6. The following forms show a transitive verb with a 3rd person object:
If the object of the transitive verb is 1st or 2nd person, then certain combinations of subject and object are shown by a portmanteau morpheme.
Other combinations involve an object agreement marker which may either precede or follow the subject marker.[8] łe-ts-ikfex 2.SUBJ-1SG.OBJ-bite 'you bite me' xi-yi-łin 1PL.INCL.OBJ-3-save 'he/she saves us (inclusive)' ApplicativesVerbs in Maká have a series of suffixes called 'postpositions' in Gerzenstein (1995), which have the effect of introducing new oblique objects into the sentence.[3][page needed] The following examples show the applicative suffixes -ex 'instrumental ('with')' and -m 'benefactive ('for')' Ne’ DEM.F efu woman ni-xele-ex A.3-throw-with ke’ INDEF.M ute rock na’ DEM.M nunax. dog ‘The woman threw a rock at the dog.’ H-osxey-i-m A.1-grill-P.3-for na’ DEM.M sehets fish na’ DEM.M k’utsaX old.man ‘I grill fish for the old man.’ SyntaxNoun phrasesIn noun phrases, the possessor precedes the possessed noun.[9] e-li-ts 2-child-PL łe-xiła’ 3-head 'your children’s head' Noun phrases show the order (Demonstrative) (Numeral) (Adjective) N.[10] Ne’ DEM.F efu woman t-aqhay-ets S.3-buy-toward ne’ DEM.PL ikwetxuł four fo’ white tiptip-its horse-PL ’The woman bought four white horses.’ SentencesAffirmativeThe basic word order for a transitive clause in Maká is subject–verb–object, as seen in the following example.[11] Ne’ DEM.F efu woman ni-xele-ex A.3-throw-with ke’ INDEF.M ute rock na’ DEM.M nunax. dog ‘The woman threw a rock at the dog.’ For intransitive clauses, the basic order is verb-subject.[12] Wapi rest ne' DEM.F efu. woman 'The woman rests' InterrogativeIn yes–no questions, the usual subject–verb–object order changes to verb-subject-object following an initial particle me.[13] Me Q y-eqfemet-en A.3-injure-CAUS na' DEM.M k’utsaX old.man na' DEM.M xukhew? man ‘Did the old man injure the man?’ Sentences with wh-questions show a sentence-initial question word. Maká has a very small inventory of question words, with only three members: łek 'who, what', pan 'which, where, how many', and inhats'ek 'why'. The following example shows an interrogative sentence with an initial question word.[14] Łek what pa' DEM.M tux eat na' DEM.M xukhew? old.man ‘What did the old man eat?’ Notes
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