Bemé: Difference between revisions

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/ɛ/ only appears in word-final open syllables; elsewhere, /ɛ/ is neutralised with /e/. However, there is a tendency of native speakers in Cassim Po to shift initial /e/ to /ɛ/, leading to alternative spellings such as '''''eh'''nga''(standard ''enga'' / ''nga'' "or") which break Bemé orthographic rules. In other dialects, /ɛ/ may be neutralised with /e/ in ''all'' positions, leading to pronunciations such as /beme/ or /bɛmɛ/ for ''bemeh'' "Bemé".

==Grammar==

Bemé does not mark either grammatical [[w:Grammatical number|number]], [[w:Grammatical gender|gender]] or [[w:Grammatical case|case]].

===Personal pronouns===

{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"

! colspan=2 | !! Singular !! Paucal !! Plural

! colspan=2 | !! Singular !! Paucal !! Plural*

|-

! rowspan=2 | 1st

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| ''dey'', ''dem'', ''deya'', ''ja''

|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Plural pronouns are written in order from common in ''tak'' to common in ''kriyal''.

"Paucal" pronouns refer to groups of people, as in ''wi kri'' would mean "some of us", ''yu kri'' means "some of you all", etc. Paucal pronouns are thought to have been borrowed from [[Dadamo]], constructed by a combination of pronoun + ''kri'' (lit. "three"), as is typical for paucal pronouns in Dadamo(''tanuk'', ''penuk'', ''lolonuk''). The third-person paucal pronoun, ''imim''/''emem'', is thought to have been derived via [[Ketaserang]] reduplication, a feature typical of Ketaserang for forming plural pronouns.

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===Verbs===

====Transitivity====

Similarly to [[w:Tok Pisin|Tok Pisin]], verbs are made transitive by the suffix ''-in''.

Similarly to [[w:Tok Pisin|Tok Pisin]], verbs are made transitive by the suffix ''-in''. The suffix is only not placed after a transitive verb when the verb is imperative.

====~~Aspect~~====

====Tense, aspect and mood====

The completive aspect is shown by the lemma ''dampini''(from English ''*done finish''), as in ''im wak '''dampini''''' "he worked", while the continuous aspect is shown with ''eh'' before the verb, as in ''im '''eh''' wak'' "he is working". ''Dampini'' also means "finished, completed" as an adjective, and is one of few postpositional adjectives in Bemé, as in ''ombewak '''dampini''''' "finished homework".

Bemé has two officially marked tenses: past and future, marked by the particles ''dan'' and ''wan'' respectively, as in ''mi dan itin bitel'' "I ate food" vs ''mi wan itin bitel'' "I will eat food".

The [[w:Imperative mood|imperative mood]] is expressed by placing ''eh'' after the verb, which cannot take the [[#Transitivity|transitive suffix]] ''-in'' or a [[#Personal pronouns|personal pronoun]].

====Negation====

Negation on verbs is done by putting ''na'' or ''neh'' before the verb. ''Tak eh Bemeh!'' states that ''na'' should be used for intransitive verbs, while ''neh'' should be used with transitive verbs, a pattern which is typical of most first-language speakers in Cassim Po. However, elsewhere, in ''kriyal'' varieties, ''na'' and ''neh'' are virtually interchangeable.

====Copula====

The Bemé copula is ''bi'', from English ''be'', though this can be turned into an existential verb by placing ''eh'' before~~(''tak'') or after(~~''kriyal'') the copula.

The Bemé copula is ''bi'', from English ''be'', though this can be turned into an existential verb by placing ''eh'' before the copula. In ''kriyal'' varieties, it is customary to omit the copula in most cases, especially before an adjective. However, the copula is never omitted in ''tak''.

~~====Tense====~~

~~Bemé has two officially marked tenses: past and future~~, ~~marked by~~ the ~~particles~~ ''~~dan~~'' ~~and ''wan'' respectively~~.

===Word derivation===

Bemé only has specific word derivation rules when deriving a word from an already existing word of a different class; for example, from a verb to a noun. In that case, the prefix ''e-''(possibly derived from English indefinite article ''a'') is added, as in ''shwim'' "to swim" > ''eshwim'' "pool".

[[Category:Bemé]] [[Category:Conlangs]] [[Category:Languages]] [[Category:Creole languages]]

@@ Line 183: / Line 183: @@
 /ɛ/ only appears in word-final open syllables; elsewhere, /ɛ/ is neutralised with /e/. However, there is a tendency of native speakers in Cassim Po to shift initial /e/ to /ɛ/, leading to alternative spellings such as '''''eh'''nga''(standard ''enga'' / ''nga'' "or") which break Bemé orthographic rules. In other dialects, /ɛ/ may be neutralised with /e/ in ''all'' positions, leading to pronunciations such as /beme/ or /bɛmɛ/ for ''bemeh'' "Bemé".
 ==Grammar==
+Bemé does not mark either grammatical [[w:Grammatical number|number]], [[w:Grammatical gender|gender]] or [[w:Grammatical case|case]].
 ===Personal pronouns===
 {| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
-! colspan=2 | !! Singular !! Paucal !! Plural
+! colspan=2 | !! Singular !! Paucal !! Plural*
 |-
 ! rowspan=2 | 1st
@@ Line 208: / Line 209: @@
 | ''dey'', ''dem'', ''deya'', ''ja''
 |}
+<nowiki>*</nowiki>Plural pronouns are written in order from common in ''tak'' to common in ''kriyal''.
 "Paucal" pronouns refer to groups of people, as in ''wi kri'' would mean "some of us", ''yu kri'' means "some of you all", etc. Paucal pronouns are thought to have been borrowed from [[Dadamo]], constructed by a combination of pronoun + ''kri'' (lit. "three"), as is typical for paucal pronouns in Dadamo(''tanuk'', ''penuk'', ''lolonuk''). The third-person paucal pronoun, ''imim''/''emem'', is thought to have been derived via [[Ketaserang]] reduplication, a feature typical of Ketaserang for forming plural pronouns.
@@ Line 214: / Line 217: @@
 ===Verbs===
 ====Transitivity====
-Similarly to [[w:Tok Pisin|Tok Pisin]], verbs are made transitive by the suffix ''-in''.
+Similarly to [[w:Tok Pisin|Tok Pisin]], verbs are made transitive by the suffix ''-in''. The suffix is only not placed after a transitive verb when the verb is imperative.
-====Aspect====
+====Tense, aspect and mood====
 The completive aspect is shown by the lemma ''dampini''(from English ''*done finish''), as in ''im wak '''dampini''''' "he worked", while the continuous aspect is shown with ''eh'' before the verb, as in ''im '''eh''' wak'' "he is working". ''Dampini'' also means "finished, completed" as an adjective, and is one of few postpositional adjectives in Bemé, as in ''ombewak '''dampini''''' "finished homework".
+Bemé has two officially marked tenses: past and future, marked by the particles ''dan'' and ''wan'' respectively, as in ''mi dan itin bitel'' "I ate food" vs ''mi wan itin bitel'' "I will eat food".
+The [[w:Imperative mood|imperative mood]] is expressed by placing ''eh'' after the verb, which cannot take the [[#Transitivity|transitive suffix]] ''-in'' or a [[#Personal pronouns|personal pronoun]].
 ====Negation====
 Negation on verbs is done by putting ''na'' or ''neh'' before the verb. ''Tak eh Bemeh!'' states that ''na'' should be used for intransitive verbs, while ''neh'' should be used with transitive verbs, a pattern which is typical of most first-language speakers in Cassim Po. However, elsewhere, in ''kriyal'' varieties, ''na'' and ''neh'' are virtually interchangeable.
 ====Copula====
-The Bemé copula is ''bi'', from English ''be'', though this can be turned into an existential verb by placing ''eh'' before(''tak'') or after(''kriyal'') the copula.
+The Bemé copula is ''bi'', from English ''be'', though this can be turned into an existential verb by placing ''eh'' before the copula. In ''kriyal'' varieties, it is customary to omit the copula in most cases, especially before an adjective. However, the copula is never omitted in ''tak''.
-====Tense====
-Bemé has two officially marked tenses: past and future, marked by the particles ''dan'' and ''wan'' respectively.
 ===Word derivation===
+Bemé only has specific word derivation rules when deriving a word from an already existing word of a different class; for example, from a verb to a noun. In that case, the prefix ''e-''(possibly derived from English indefinite article ''a'') is added, as in ''shwim'' "to swim" > ''eshwim'' "pool".
 [[Category:Bemé]] [[Category:Conlangs]] [[Category:Languages]] [[Category:Creole languages]]