Morphology Labu language

1 morphology

1.1 pronouns , person markers

1.1.1 free pronouns


1.2 possession

1.2.1 genitive possession


1.3 deictics
1.4 numerals
1.5 names

morphology
pronouns , person markers
free pronouns

possession

in labu, there 2 types of possessive noun phrases: genitive , nominal (siegel, 1984, p.95).

genitive possession

the genitive possessive noun phrase (pnp) conforms following structure:

pnp → np1 (=possessor) pos (=possessive marker) np2 (=possessed) (siegel, 1984, p.95)

if possessor has been established earlier in discourse , clear both speaker , listener, np1 can omitted possessive phrase (siegel, 1984, p.95). if omitted np1 inanimate object possessive marker êna used (siegel, 1984, p.96).

some examples of genitive possessive noun phrase (taken siegel s introduction of labu language, p.95-96) follows:

(a) ai yu-dumala kô yê na ana

i 1s.pt-look @ 2s.pos mother

i saw mother.

(b) amêna ŋatô salu le sê hanô nda mêna

man old 2 3p.pos house stay village

these 2 old men s house in village.

(c) êmôha mô-kôna êna taiya mê-nda nôsôlô

we.xd 1x-look.at pos tyre 1p-stay rubbish

we looked @ tyre in rubbish dump.

nominal possession

the nominal possessive phrase (pnp) conforms following structure:

pnp → np1 (possessor) posn (nominal possessive marker) (siegel, 1984, p.96)

when thing being possessed not explicitly stated within phrase nominal possessive phrase used (siegel, 1984, p.96). if possessor has been established earlier in discourse np1 can omitted possessive phrase (siegel, 1984, p.97).

some examples of nominal possessive phrase (taken jeff siegel s introduction labu language, p.96-97) follows:

(a) ini gwê yê nôôna

he (3s.pt-)take 2s.posn

he took yours.

(b) tawala lene hanô lênê nêêna

door house 3s.posn

this door house s.

(c) ai ya-gwê ndêêna

i 1s.pt-take 1s.posn

i took mine.

deictics

labu deictics correlate first, second, , third person, first 2 of have long , short forms. third person singular free pronoun can take deictic suffixes: ini-ne this/these one(s) , ini-lê that/those one(s) . deictics may occur either in place of nouns or postposed nouns, in hanô lene house .

le(ne) near speaker
lê(nê) near addressee
laê away speaker or addressee

numerals

traditional labu counting practices started digits of 1 hand, continued on other hand, , feet reach 20 , translates 1 person . higher numbers multiples of 1 person . nowadays, counting above 5 done in tok pisin.

names

like of coastal languages around huon gulf, labu has system of birth-order names.