Part
A: The Simple Sentence
6.
Postpositional Constructions
Ideas of time, place, direction, accompaniment, etc. , are
often expressed in English by a prepositional phrase; e.
g. , 'with the man', 'in the boat', 'towards the dog', etc.
Denes¶øiné
has a difference in word order. In English, the preposition
occurs before the noun. In Denes¶øiné,
the postposition occurs after the noun.
| Deneyu hél |
'with the
man' |
tßi yé
|
'in the
canoe' |
| øü tßén
|
'towards
the dog' |
This construction, which has sometimes been called an indirect
object, often occurs between the subject and predicate,
but this order may vary.
| Deneyu øü
tsén ghegal |
'The
man is walking toward the dog’ |
| Æodherí jú
hél ghegal |
'The boss
is walking with Joe' |
The noun in a
postpositional construction may be replaced by the pronoun
ye.
| Deneyu ha nóréø¿ü |
'He
is waiting for the man' |
| yeba nóréø¿ü |
'He is waiting
for him' |
or |
| tßi tßén
ghegal |
'He is walking
toward the canoe' |
| yetßén ghegal |
'He is walking
toward it' |
or
|
| Samél ha eghálana |
'He is working
for Samuel' |
| Yeba eghálana |
'He is working
for him' |
A class of words
called the verbal adjective also occupies the predicate
position, but does not have prefixes of any kind.
| Edzah |
‘it
is cold’ |
| Eduh |
‘it
is hot’ |
When constructions containing postpositions are combined
with verbal adjectives and certain verbs expressing quality,
the pronoun be is used, instead of pronoun ye.
| beba edzah |
'It
is cold for him' (or 'He is cold') |
| beba horeyér |
'It is hard
for him' |
| beba nezñ |
'It is
good for him' (or 'He likes it') |
| beba nedáth |
'It is heavy
for him' |
| Note:
ba is a fusion of be and ha. |
We noted previously that when a noun is used in a postpositional
construction, the pronoun is left out. That is, nouns and
pronouns do not occur together. This rule is reversed with
verbal adjectives and certain verbs of quality. Both the
noun and pronoun will occur in the same sentence.
| beba nedáth |
'It is heavy for him' |
| deneyu beba nedáth |
'It is heavy
for the man' |
or
|
| deneyu beba nezñ |
'It is good
for the man' ('The man likes it') |
| deneyu beba edzah |
'It is cold
for the man' ('The man is cold') |
| deneyu beba horeyér |
'It is hard
for the man' |
Note: The illustration denyu beba
nóréø¿ü is not of
this class. In this illustration beba is a postposition
by itself. In the sentence deneyu
beba edzah, ba comes from a fusion of be and ha,
a pronoun combined with a postposition.
The pronouns ye or be, 'him, her, it' may be replaced by
others; e.g. , se 'me', ne 'you', nuh 'us/you (pl)'.
| yetßén
ghegal |
'He
is walking towards him' |
| setßén ghegal |
‘He
is walking towards me' |
or |
| neghq yaøti |
'He is talking
about you' |
| nuheba edzah |
'it is cold
for us' ('We are cold') |
Postpositional
constructions can be formed with interrogative words .
| Edlághe hoghq
hetsagh ¿á? |
'What is he crying about? |
| Edláís® tsén
héya ¿á? |
'Which
way did he go?' |
Ideas of time,
place, direction, manner, etc. , are often expressed with
adverbs.
| ejq nádher |
'He
is staying here' |
| ejq eghálana |
'He is working
here' |
| hotié yaøti |
'He speaks
well' |
Adverbs occur
frequently between the subject and verb, although this order
may vary.
| Deneyu ejq eghálana |
'The man
is working here' |
| tßékwi thá
yaøti |
'The woman
is talking long' |
| tßékwi ¿aøç
nádher |
'The woman
is still staying' |
