Example 8: Descriptors
There is no copula in the present tense in Liqupa. The negative free morpheme is wuci.
In past and future tenses, bound root -yi is used as a vehicle to carry tense. The resulting copula does not inflect for person as do other verbs.
- mana wiwi
sun beautiful
The sun is beautiful.
- dupu laq pa-yi
moon round PAST-COP
The moon was round.
- didi-piq a pasa-yi
buttocks-incarnate 2 PAST3-COP
You were a fool (even) before you were born.
a fine classic Liqupa insult
mana-ya-ma wiwi nu-yi
sun-small-PL beautiful FU3-COP
The stars will be beautiful tonight.
This expression is often used as a reassurance when giving bad news: everything can fall apart, but the stars will be beautiful tonight.
Adjectives that
modify M class nouns do not agree with the head nouns in any way. Adjectives which modify Na class nouns, however, must appear with a -na suffix even when their associated noun is not plural.
- yuq pimala-ma
big tree-PL
big trees
- yali-na lisa
long-AGR river
long river
Note that 'river' is -na class but singular.
- waya-na li-mici-na
all-AGR spirit-person-PL
all souls
- wiwi-na li-mici
beautiful-AGR spirit-person
a beautiful soul
- waya mici-mi
all person-PL
all people
wiwi mici
beautiful person
a beautiful person
- -li is a suffix which
changes nouns and verbs into adjectives
dada-li
kill-ADJ
deadly
mici-li
person-ADJ
like a person, generally used as a compliment
- There are several ways to change nouns and adjectives into verbs. One can append -sa (come) or -sia (ingest)
walk mici-sa person-come
wake up mana-sia sun-ingest
The default is to append -hu from the free form 'huhu' meaning 'make or do'.
yali-hu long-do, to make long, to stretch
dusi-hu yurt-do, to weave, to create shelter
- -ka (thought to be historically derived from 'kana', is a nominalizeing suffix
It hanges adjectives and verbs into nouns
muda-ka
dark-NOM
darkness
yaqu-ka
give-NOM
gift
Note the haplology that occurs in casual speech when the adjective or verb consists of two identical syllables.
wi-ka
beautiful-NOM
Lovely one, sweetheart
(from 'wiwi' (beautiful) + -ka)
sa-ka
walk-NOM
an evening stroll
Adjectives are negated by prefixing 'wuci-' to the free adjectival root word.
- wuci-siq
NEG-good
ungood; not good
- wuci-yali
NEG-long
short, not long
Descriptors
alive piq
all waya
beautiful wiwi
big yuq
cold lala
dark or black muda
dry nala homophonous with -nala=sand
full waya polysemous with all
good siq
long yali
many hula
new yiyi homophone of ,yiyi, begin
-yi bound suffix meaning either to be or (on nouns) origin
kaka finish
ka- bound derivational prefix end of
round laq
small yaya
small -ya bound derivational suffix
strange laiwalai (Note: this form was historically lawucilai (lailai + infix wuq neg)) ordinary-neg-ordinary
warm mumu
white siqu polysemous with snow; note that the emergent pattern might predict the form would be siq but that means ,good,.
bright naq
reassuringly ordinary; fine lailai
pipa-li bird-ADJ, 'birdish' describes a person who happily rises early and goes to bed early
Siqu-li snow-ADJ, (snowy) lovely and unattainable, sparkling, hopeful
yaqu-li five-ADJ, few
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