Tayap language: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:02, 5 April 2021

Revision as of 17:53, 9 September 2021

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==Grammar==

Like many Sepik languages, Tayap is a [[synthetic language]]. Verbs are the most elaborated area of the grammar. They are complex, [[fusional verb|fusional]] and massively [[suppletive]], with opaque verbal morphology including unpredictable [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugation class]]es, both in terms of membership and formal marking.

There is a fundamental distinction in verbal morphology between [[realis]] and [[irrealis]] stems and suffixes. Grammatical relations are marked by verbal suffixes, which distinguish Subject/Agent (S/A) and Object (O). In some conjugations S/A is marked by discontinuous morphemes. Free pronouns and noun phrases mark the [[ergative case]] (A) compared to unmarked forms for the [[absolutive]] (S/O). As in many Papuan languages which have an ergative case, the ergative marker is optional and is frequently omitted.