Preverb marking: Difference between revisions
→{{tp|sitelen pona}}
Jan Ke Tami (talk | contribs) mNo edit summary |
|||
| (28 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Experimental}}
'''Preverb marking''' is a set of experimental {{tp|[[nasin (meta)|nasin]]}}s, which explicitly separate the [[preverb]] of a sentence from the [[predicate]], often with the use of {{tp|[[nimi sin]]}}. The words '''{{tp|ni}}''', '''{{tp|ja}}''' and '''{{tp|ta}}''' are established options for a preverb-marking particle. Using them allows unambiguous usage of all [[content word]]s as preverbs, acting as descriptors for the state or process described in the main predicate.
The syntax of each of the preverb-marking methods is identical when a sentence has a single preverb. The methods diverge when multiple preverbs are involved, with {{tp|ja}} requiring the particle to be repeated, whereas {{tp|ta}} can mark multiple preverbs at once. The {{tp|ni}} and {{tp|ja}} methods allows for [[modifiers|modification]] of the preverb, which is not possible with {{tp|ta}} except for negation with {{tp|[[ala]]}}. The {{tp|ta}} method and the {{tp|ni}} method work different semantically, and {{tp|ja}} has undefined semantics.
=={{tp|ni}}==
{{nimi|ni}}
The use of '''{{tp|ni}}''' as a preverb marker was developed by {{tok|jan Tepo}} in May 2021.<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/375591429608570881/839587472216162364|channel=sona-musi|server=ma pona pi toki pona|author=jan Tepo|username=tbodt|access-date=2024-03-12|quote=what if ni. mi wile ni moku. huh I kinda like this (...) actually I like this a lot because it's like you just elided the colon. i'm pretty sure A li preverb B e C generally means A li preverb ni: A li B e C, but the subject is shared so you want to elide it}}</ref>
This was designed as a simple abbreviation of existing constructs rather than completely new grammar. In a statement like "{{tp|mi P V e ijo}}", the meaning is as if the phrase "{{tp|V e ijo}}" was a modifier on the preverb P. This means the meaning would be equivalent to "{{tp|mi P ni: mi V e ijo}}". The "hidden" ni here could then be written out to serve as a preverb marker.
A statement like "{{tp|mi utala ni toki e ijo}}" is interpreted as an abbreviation of "{{tp|mi utala ni: mi toki e ijo}}."<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/1134994249021136916/1135073218496053378|channel=toki-suli|server=ma pona pi toki pona|author=jan Tepo|username=tbodt|access-date=2024-02-03|quote=nasin mi: mi utala ni toki e ni. → mi utala ni: mi toki e ni. ≈ mi toki e ni. ni li utala. jan mute li nasin ni tawa tomo pali. → jan mute li nasin ni: ona li tomo pali. li wawa tan ni: nimi open ale li kama sona lon nasin sama}}</ref>
jan Tepo later learned that the word "co" in Lojban works exactly like this, semantically and syntactically, and suggested loaning it as '''{{tp|so}}''' as a synonym for this usage of {{tp|ni}}.
{{clear}}
=={{tp|ja}}==
{{nimi|ja
| PoS = particle
}}
'''{{tp|ja}}''' was coined in July 2021 by a group of people, most notably {{tok|wuwojiti Haev}}, {{tok|[[jan Pensa]]}} and {{tok|jan Kita}}.<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/870019569866145812/870019571317342238|channel=sona-mus|thread=nimisin for marking preverbs|server=ma pona pi toki pona|access-date=2024-02-03}}</ref> It was made to allow experimental preverbs to be used without ambiguity.
=== Syntax ===
{{tp|ja}} follows a preverb, separating it from the following predicate or from another preverb.
{{Example
|mi <mark>tawa ja</mark> telo e kasi.
|I'm <mark>going (in order) to</mark> water the plants.
|3=mi <mark>tawa<span style="display:inline-block;transform:scaleX(-1);">lo</span></mark>telo e kasi}}
{{Example
|mi <mark>open ja</mark> <mark>olin ja</mark> telo e kasi.
|I'm <mark>starting to</mark> <mark>love</mark> watering the plants.
|3=mi <mark>open <span style="display:inline-block;transform:scaleX(-1);">lo</span></mark> <mark>olin <span style="display:inline-block;transform:scaleX(-1);">lo</span></mark>telo e kasi}}
{{tp|ja}} allows unambiguous [[modifiers|modification]] of preverbs by putting multiple [[content words]] before it.
{{Example
|mi <mark>wile mute ja</mark> sona e ni
|I <mark>really want</mark> to know this.
|3=mi <mark>wile mute <span style="display:inline-block;transform:scaleX(-1);">lo</span></mark>sona e ni}}
Well-established preverbs can be marked with {{tp|ja}} for clarification, but this is not required. When using well-established preverbs in the same sentence, all preverbs before the last {{tp|ja}} should be marked by {{tp|ja}} to avoid ambiguity, but preverbs after the last {{tp|ja}} can remain unmarked.
====together with {{tp|lo}}====
By suggestion of {{tok|jan Kita}},<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/870019569866145812/870026222506233876|channel=sona-musi|thread=nimisin for marking preverbs|server=ma pona pi toki pona|author=jan Kita|username=.hecko|access-date=2024-03-12|quote=may i suggest using the same nimisin for ending compound preps too <code>mi wile ja kama ja sona (lu) kepeken mute ala ja lukin</code>}}</ref> {{tp|ja}} was also designed to work in combination with the experimental preposition-marking particle {{tp|lu}} (which was later renamed to {{tp|[[lo]]}}) to allow for unambiguous modification of prepositions.
{{Example
|mi pali e ni <mark>lo kepeken wawa ja</mark> luka mi.
|I made this <mark>by using</mark> my hands <mark>with a lot of force</mark>.
|3=mi pali e ni <mark>lo kepeken wawa <span style="display:inline-block;transform:scaleX(-1);">lo</span></mark>luka mi}}
{{Example
|soko li <mark>lo ante mute ja</mark> leko.
|Mushrooms are <mark>very different from</mark> squares.
|3=soko li <mark>lo ante mute <span style="display:inline-block;transform:scaleX(-1);">lo</span></mark>leko}}
=== Semantics ===
The meanings of preverbs marked by {{tp|ja}} are not explicitly defined. It was meant to work with already proposed experimental preverbs rather than being used as a regular method to create new preverbs. However, it can also be used with any system of regular preverb derivation, including the ones proposed for {{tp|ta}} and {{tp|ni}}.
=== {{tp|sitelen pona}} ===
A proposed {{tp|[[sitelen pona]]}} glyph for {{tp|ja}} (<span style="display:inline-block;transform:scaleX(-1);">{{sp|lo}}</span>) depicts a rightwards arrow from a vertical bar, similar to a {{w|maplet arrow}} (↦). It is the mirror image of an earlier glyph for {{tp|[[lo]]}} ({{sp|lo}}). It was proposed by jan Pensa in 2024.<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/948448338662010910/951966419283742750/1217103621410521248|channel=sitelen-pona-discussion|server=ma pi nasin sitelen|author=[[jan Pensa]]|username=jpensa|access-date=2024-04-09|quote=I just had an idea for a new (obscure) glyph: Since ja (preverb marker) was designed to work together with lo (preposition marker), why not make it the mirror image of the lo glyph?}}</ref>
=={{tp|ta}}==
{{nimi|ta
| PoS = particle
}}
'''{{tp|ta}}''' was developed by [[User:Lassc|the keyring system]] in 2023. The keyring system intended it as an alternative to {{tp|ja}} without the need to repeat the particle for multiple preverbs, and with more clearly defined semantics to allow any word to be used as a preverb.<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/340307145373253642/1066926383747575829|channel=pali-musi|server=ma pona pi toki pona|author=kupikoni|username=kupikoni#3673|access-date=2024-02-03|quote=i knew about ja when making ta, but I had complaints about how poorly defined the semantics of content word to pv meaning were and i disliked the idea of repeating the particle for every pv}}</ref>
Coincidentally, {{tok|jan Kita}} also offhandedly suggested {{tp|ta}} as a preverb-marking particle in February 2021,<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/375591429608570881/813515031429120012|channel=sona-musi|server=ma pona pi toki pona|author=jan Kita|username=.hecko|access-date=2024-03-12}}<blockquote>
<code>lu</code> but for preverbs, let's say <code>ta</code><br />
probably not very useful but idk
mi lukin pona e sina - i see you well<br />
mi lukin ta pona e sina - i try to fix you<br />
mi usawi ta kiwen e sina - i magically turn you into stone (tan @lipamanka#6684)
i swear this is not a calque of <code>ta</code> it's just how the examples ended up being <br />
(the fact that i couldn't think of any preverbable words shows how non-useful this probably is)
</blockquote></ref> but this has no relation to the 2023 version of {{tp|ta}}.
=== Syntax ===
{{tp|ja}} follows one or more preverbs, separating them from the following predicate.
{{Example
|mi <mark>open olin ta</mark> telo e kasi.
|I'm <mark>starting to love</mark> watering the plants.
|sp=no}}
<!-- Here it used to say "Similarly to traditional preverbs, the order of words in a preverb phrase can greatly impact the meaning of the final message by changing the ordering of levels."
but I don't think that's useful information, because it's the same as traditional preverbs, as well as both other preverb-marking methods -- jan Pensa
-->{{tp|[[ala]]}} can still negate preverbs in a {{tp|ta}} phrase.
The "canonical" lexical class of preverbs ({{tp|alasa, awen, ken, kama, lukin/oko, sona, wile}}) do not need {{tp|ta}} to be interpreted as preverbs.
=== Semantics ===
Meanings of preverbs marked by {{tp|ta}} are usually determined with guidelines based on the word's [[transitivity]].
For transitive verbs (such as {{tp|alasa}}, where the object is the patient of the predicate), the preverb affects the main predicate by treating a preverb as a layer over the main predicate. In other words, the preverb has the same meaning as when it acts as a transitive verb, and the main predicate relates to the preverb the same way as how a direct object would relate to the transitive verb. For example:
{{Example
|mi utala <mark>ta</mark> toki e ijo.
|I resist saying something.
<br/>[semantically equivalent to "{{tp|mi utala e (toki e ijo)}}," or "{{tp|mi utala e ni: mi toki e ijo}}."]
|mi utala <mark>ta </mark>toki e ijo
}}
For intransitive verbs (such as {{tp|ken}}, where the object is made to be or do the predicate), the preverb phrase affects the main predicate by specifying the preverb word:
{{Example
|mi pakala <mark>ta</mark> toki e ijo.
|I failed to say something.
<br/>[semantically equivalent to "{{tp|mi toki e ijo la ni li pakala}}"]
|mi pakala <mark>ta </mark>toki e ijo
}}
{{Example
|jan mute li nasin <mark>ta</mark> tawa tomo pali.
|Many people have a habit/duty of going to work.
|jan-mute li nasin <mark>ta </mark>tawa() tomo-pali
}}
=== {{tp|sitelen pona}} ===
The {{tp|[[sitelen pona]]}} glyph for {{tp|ta}} ({{sp|ta}}) looks like the mirror image of the uppercase letter {{w|sigma}} (Σ). It was created by the keyring system, who often write it as an [[extended glyph]], with both horizonal lines extending leftwards.<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/1053850152932233266/1072543870660923473|channel=toki-suli|thread=linja lipamanka|server=ma pona pi toki pona|author=keyring system|username=kupikoni|access-date=2024-04-09|quote=for our ta glyph, we often write it extended like this.}}</ref>
==External links==
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CAH49L2ddg6wnZtH4naWRoX52Z6aPDkb0OdUFrYOLfY/edit {{tp|ta}} documentation]
==See also==
*{{tp|[[lo]]}}, {{a category|lo}} preposition marker
==References==
<references />
{{Words}}
[[Category:Styles of Toki Pona]]
| |||