Doayâu

To Be Continued... Cedh is still working on this article. The contents are incomplete and likely to undergo changes.

Doayâu [ dɔ̀ɐ̯.jɑ́ʊ̯ ]
Period	c. -500 YP
Spoken in	Naunupai peninsula
Total speakers	unknown (~12,000 in Pítau)
Writing system	adapted Lukpanic script
Classification	Western languages  Coastal Western   Doayâu
Typology
Basic word order	mixed
Morphology	agglutinating w/ some fusion
Alignment	split-S
Credits
Created by	Cedh

Doayâu [ dɔ̀ɐ̯.jɑ́ʊ̯ ] is a Western language spoken on much of the Naunupai peninsula (< Fu Pitão nãu lupãi 'land facing the sea'), especially around the cities of Pítau and Sìmésita, around -500 YP. The language is a direct descendant of Proto-Coastal-Western. Its closest relatives are Ishoʻu ʻOhu, the language of Isi (to the west of Pítau), and Ìletlégbàku, spoken around Namù (to the north). The relationship with Ìletlégbàku is particularly close; the two languages share some early sound changes. However, differences in phonology and grammar are considerable despite geographical proximity, to the point that the Doayâu and Ìletlégbàku are not mutually intelligible.

The name Doayâu derives from the PCW appellation duğàyòbu 'good mouth' (named in contrast to the 'bad mouth' of other Coastal Western dialects).

Phonology

Consonants

	labial	alveolar	palatal	velar	glottal
plosive	p · b	t · d		k · ɡ
affricate		ts
fricative	ɸ	s			h
nasal	m	n		ŋ
liquid		l · ɾ	j

• /ɡ ɸ ŋ ɾ j/ are written g f ng r y.

Vowels

	front	central	back
close	i		u
mid	e		o
open		a

• Vowels may combine into diphthongs freely; however, no combinations of close and mid vowels occur. ea ai au oa are by far the most common diphthongs.

Syllable structure

Doayâu has a very simple (C)V(V/N) syllable structure. An empty onset may only occur word-initially; a coda nasal may only appear medially after a single vowel. The only permitted consonant clusters are mb nd (former *ŋg has been simplified to [ŋ], which is still written ng). Some scholars have proposed to analyse these as phonemic prenasalised plosives; however, all occurrences in native words are a transparent result of vowel deletion, and so they will be treated as clusters for the purposes of this document.

Tone

There are three phonemic tones. High tone is marked with an acute accent (í é á ó ú), low tone is marked with a grave accent (ì è à ò ù), and mid tone is unmarked.

• On diphthongs, the high tone is realised as rising, unless the preceding syllable has high tone or a phonetic contour tone.
• The mid and low tones have merged on diphthongs, resulting in a falling pitch contour unless the previous syllable has low tone or a pitch contour, in which case the diphthong itself exhibits low pitch. Low/falling tone on diphthongs is not marked in writing since it is the default; high/rising tone on diphthongs is marked with a circumflex accent (e.g. êa).
• The mid and low tones also merge on monophthongs if the previous syllable has high or rising tone. In such positions, an orthographic grave accent indicates that the tone always remains low even if followed by a tone-raising suffix, which would cause a vowel without a diacritic to become high-pitched.

Phonetic detail

• t d ts s n l are palatalised to [tʲ dʲ tsʲ sʲ nʲ lʲ] or even [c ɟ tɕ ɕ ɲ ʎ] before i, and sometimes also before e. For the most part this is fully predictable, but some speakers maintain a phonemic difference: palatalised coronals before [i] from earlier *i and before [ea] from *ie *ia, but plain coronals before [i] from earlier *ə and before [ea] from *ɛː *ɛa *ɛɔ.
• b d g may become [β ð ɣ] when preceded by a low-tone syllable. If the next vowel is i, [ð] may further palatalise to [ʝ].
• g is also often slightly labialised, which results in some speakers merging e eo and a au when followed by g.
• In the vicinity of a, the glottal fricative h may be pronounced as any of [h x χ ħ], the last of these being the most common realisation.
• f may be pronounced [f], especially near high-tone vowels.
• High tone is correlated with a slight aspiration on preceding voiceless obstruents.
• Falling tone diphthongs are creaky-voiced before voiced consonants other than y.
• In careful speech, diphthongs are often pronounced as disyllabic vowel sequences. This is most common for ea eo oe oa.
• oa merges into oe before y and when the next syllable contains i. Similarly, ea merges into eo before labial consonants and when the next syllable contains u.
• i always dissimilates to e after y.

Handling loanwords

Doayâu has borrowed many words from various Lukpanic languages, most of them from the Kpitamoa dialect. Other sources for loanwords are Ìletlégbàku and Ishoʻu ʻOhu, both of them closely related to Doayâu itself, and the more remotely related Western languages Šetâmol and Hośər.

The following table shows how non-native phones are normally adopted into Doayâu. In older loans, different correspondences may occur.

borrowed sound replacement v, ʋ, β b, ɸ w, ɣ, ɣʷ, ʀ ɡ ɬ l, s z s ʣ, tɬ ts ʧ, ʨ, ʤ, ʥ tsi, tse ʃ, ʒ si, se ɲ ni, ne kp p ɡb b kʷ k, p ɡʷ ɡ, b ŋʷ, ŋm m xʷ, xw, f ɸ q k ʔ k, Ø x, χ, ħ h

borrowed sound replacement ɛ ea ɔ, ɒ oa ə a, i ɨ, ɪ i ʊ u y ui, iu ø oe, eo əi, ei ai əu, ou au CˤV CaV CʰV CV˦ Ṽ, Vː V˨ Ṽ{p,b} V˨mb Ṽ{t,d} V˨nd Ṽ{k,ɡ} V˨ŋ

The stress accent of Lukpanic or Hośər words is usually reflected as a high tone, unless originally followed by a sonorant.

Sound changes from Proto-Coastal-Western

1. The high tone of PCW becomes a mid tone, allowing a three-tone system to develop. Tone sandhi also ceases to be productive.
2. Aspirated consonants raise the tone of the following vowel.
3. [pʰ] lenites to [ɸ]. After this, phonemic aspiration is lost.
4. [ɲ] shifts to [ŋi] before [u o a], and to [ŋ] before [i e]. Sporadically, [ŋ] is attested before [a] as well, especially in morpheme-final syllables.
5. [k ɡ x ɣ ŋ] become [kʷ ɡʷ xʷ ɣʷ ŋʷ] before [u o]. [ŋ] is also labialised after [u o].
6. Simplification of laterals:
   • [ɡɫ ɣɫ] simplify to [ɫ], and [xɫ hɫ] simplify to [ɬ].
   • [pɬ tɬ tʎ kɫ] merge as [tɬ], and [bɮ dɮ ɡɮ] merge as [dɮ].
7. Simplification of hC clusters:
   • Vowels become long before coda [h].
   • [hp hm ht hn htɬ hts hk hŋ hkʷ hŋʷ] lenite to [ɸ ɸ θ θ ɬ s x x xʷ xʷ].
   • [hb hd hdɮ hdz hɡ hɡʷ] devoice to [p t tɬ ts k kʷ], unless preceded by a low-tone vowel.
8. Vowel laxing:
   • Short [e a o] shift to [ɛ ə ɔ], except word-finally or when featuring high pitch.
   • Low and mid tone [iː uː] merge with [eː oː].
   • [ə] is deleted between a postvocalic nasal and a prevocalic plosive or affricate. The resulting cluster assimilates to the point of articulation of the obstruent (with affricates simplifying to a stop) and becomes voiced. Original voicing on the obstruent is reflected as a lowered tone on the following vowel.
9. Lenition:
   • Intervocalic [b d ɡ ɡʷ] lenite to [β ð ɣ ɣʷ].
   • Intervocalic [dɮ] lenites to [ɫ] unless the preceding syllable begins with a lateral consonant.
   • Intervocalic [dz] lenites to [z] unless the preceding syllable begins with one of [ð z]
   • Remaining [dɮ dz] merge with [d].
   • [ð z] shift to [ɹ ɾ].
   • [ʎ] sporadically becomes [j] when preceded by [i].
   • [ɫ ʎ] become [u i] before a consonant and word-finally, and merge as [l] otherwise.
   • [ɹ] shifts to [j] unless an adjacent syllable already contains [j]; in that case, it becomes [ɾ] or sporadically zero.
10. Loss of glottal consonants:
    • [ʔ] raises the tone of the preceding vowel.
    • [ʔɬ] merges with [tɬ].
    • [ʔ h] are deleted in all positions.
11. [kʷ ɡʷ xʷ ɣʷ ŋʷ ŋɡʷ] shift to [p b ɸ β m mb].
12. [ŋɡ] simplifies to [ŋ].
13. Fricative mergers:
    • [ɬ] merges with [θ], and [tɬ] merges with [ts].
    • [θ] merges with [ɸ] adjacent to one of [u o ɔ], and with [s] otherwise.
    • [x] shifts to [h].
14. Further development of semivowels and vowel sequences:
    • [β] merges with [w].
    • [ei ou] become [iː uː].
    • [w] is lost adjacent to [u], and also after [o ɔ] unless followed by a long vowel or diphthong.
    • [j] is lost adjacent to [i], and also after [e ɛ] unless followed by a long vowel or diphthong.
    • [ɣ] is lost before [a ə], and also after [a ə] unless followed by a long vowel or diphthong.
    • [ə] becomes [a] when preceded by any vowel. After this, any prevocalic [ə] assimilates completely to the following vowel.
    • Epenthetic [ɣ] is inserted into sequences of three or more vowels. This usually occurs after every second vowel; however, two like vowels are contracted into a single long vowel before the glide is added.
    • [ɣ] becomes [j] after [i e ɛ].
    • Remaining [ə] merges with [u] adjacent to a labial consonant, and with [i] otherwise.
    • [i] becomes [e] when preceded by [j].
    • [i u] are lowered to [e o] before any of [e ɛ a ɔ o], and also after [e o].
    • Short [ɛ ɔ] merge with [e o] adjacent to [a], and with [a] otherwise. [ɛː ɛɔ] merge with [ea], and [ɔː ɔɛ] merge with [oa].
15. [t d ts s n l] become palatalised before [i]. This change appears to have taken place around the same time as the last round(s) of vowel contraction.
16. Tone sandhi:
    • All rising tone contours on vowel sequences or long vowels merge into a single rising tone, and all falling contours merge into a single falling tone. Of the level contours, HH merges with the rising tone, and both MM and LL merge with the falling tone.
    • Rising tone merges with high if the previous syllable also has high tone.
    • Likewise, falling tone merges with low if the preceding syllable also has low tone.
    • On monophthongs only, falling tone merges with mid tone if the following syllable has high or mid tone, and with low tone otherwise.
    • On monophthongs, rising tone merges with high tone.
    • On short vowels, mid tone becomes low if the previous syllable has high tone.
17. Long vowels are shortened.
18. Approximant shifts:
    • [ɾ] sporadically dissimilates to [l] if the following syllable contains [l] already.
    • [w ɣ] merge with [ɡ].

Morphophonological processes

Vowel alternations

Doayâu exhibits prominent remnants of two metaphonic processes (traditionally called "i-affection" and "u-affection" in Coastal Western linguistic studies), which affected vowels when the next syllable contained *j *i or *w *u respectively. Originally, i-affection simply fronted and raised non-high vowels, and u-affection backed and rounded front vowels. However, the situation in Doayâu is much more complex than that. The original shifts took place long before the PCW stage, and their original phonetic conditioning environment has often become obscured by further changes. What is more, Doayâu has since experienced a vowel shift that reduced non-metaphonised *a to *ə, which was then subject to secondary assimilation processes whose outcome is usually i or u, while *e (often from i-affected *a) and *o (often from u-affected *a) both lowered to a. The rather confusing result is that the actual pronunciations of metaphonised vowels may be exactly the opposite of what would be expected from the traditional label.

For the purposes of this grammar, a simpler terminology based on the concept of ablaut grades will be used. No single stem has more than three different vowels across the paradigm (most have only two), but the patterns of overlap clearly point to four distinct grades in Doayâu morphophonology. Three of them etymologically correspond to plain, i-affected, and u-affected vowels, and the fourth, "strong" grade has evolved from a distinct development of vowels in word-final position and before coda *h. All grades are morphologically conditioned.

Based on their ablaut pattern, almost all inflectable morphemes in Doayâu can be sorted in one of several stem classes. The citation form is the basic grade for verbal and adjectival stems (because these never appear in the strong grade), and the strong grade for all other lexeme classes. This is supplemented in the lexicon by the stem type label for all lexemes that may undergo vowel alternation.

	simple stems									N-stems		diphthong stems
	i	e	e/a	a	ə	o/a	o	u		N		ai	ui	ea	oa
strong grade	i, e	e	e	a	a	a, o	o	o, u		a		ai	ui	ea, eo	oa, oe
basic grade	i	e	a	a	i, u¹	a	o	u		nas²		ai	ui	ea, eo	oa, oe
i-grade	i	i	i	e	a	a	e	u		a		ai	ui	ea	oe
u-grade	u	o	a	o	a	a	o	u		a		au	ù	eo	oa

¹) u appears adjacent to a labial consonant or g from former *w; i appears elsewhere.

²) N-stems are basically a subclass of the ə-stems that trigger nasal mutation (see below) in the basic grade when followed by a consonant that can undergo this process. When nasal mutation applies, vowels in the preceding syllable that derive from *ə turn into u before mb if not preceded by a labial consonant or g from former *w, and into i otherwise.

When a high-tone stem vowel of the classes e a o is followed by an affix that triggers tone-lowering, the stem vowel changes to a regardless of the ablaut grade; e.g. tsufé- "to find" + low-gù- comes out as tsufagù-.

Stems ending in iu au, nouns with a strong grade in u, and most borrowed words in a do not exhibit ablaut. The former three may be subsumed under the u-stems (although nouns in iu au behave a bit different from nouns in monophthongal u), and the latter under the o/a-stems.

Stems ending in monophthongal i or u change these into e o when a suffix starting with one of e a o is added, forming a diphthong.

Some words have irregular vocalism in one or more of the grades. Such exceptions are indicated in the lexicon.

Tone sandhi

Some inflectional and derivational affixes modify the tone of the preceding vowel. Both raising and lowering occur; these are indicated with the labels high and low respectively.

Lenition

Lenition (len) affects word-initial consonants. It occurs on nouns when an adjectival prefix, a possessive prefix or a quantifier proclitic is added, on transitive verbs when an inanimate noun is incorporated, and on the second member of compounds with a nominal or verbal head. Recent loanwords may occasionally resist lenition in higher-register speech.

original	lenited
b	g, ع
d	r, l, y, ز
g	y, س

¹) Lenited b is usually zero adjacent to an original rounded vowel (except before a diphthong), and g elsewhere.

²) The outcome of lenited d is highly unpredictable since it can derive from any of *d *dz *dɮ in native words. For loanwords, y is the most common variant.

³) Lenited g is generally zero before i u. Most other instances of g are immune to lenition because historical *ɣ eventually merged back into /ɡ/, but a few words have y instead.

Aspiration

Aspiration (asp) also affects word-initial consonants. It occurs on transitive verbs with the incorporation of animate nouns.

original	aspirated
p, m	f
t, n	f, s¹
ts	s
k, ng	h
b	p
d	t, ts²
g	k, f³

¹) f occurs before historical *o *u; s occurs elsewhere.

²) ts appears where the verb historically had *dz *dɮ; t appears where it had *d.

³) k appears with etymological *g, and f appears with etymological *w. Instances of g that derive from PCW *ɣ do not undergo aspiration.

Labial mutation

Labial mutation (lab) is triggered by syllables which historically contained *o or *u. By this process, certain preceding consonants are assimilated to the labial place of articulation.

original	labialised
k	p
g	b¹
h	f
s	f²
ng	m

¹) g undergoes labialisation only on rare occasions, because lenited instances of historical *b became velarised (*β > *w > *ɣ) and eventually merged back into /ɡ/.

²) Some instances of s are immune to labialisation.

Prenasalisation

Stems that historically ended in a nasal consonant followed by *ə sometimes trigger prenasalisation (nas) on subsequent consonants. The vowel in between is dropped, and the two consonants coalesce into a homoorganic cluster of a nasal and a voiced plosive; in the case of ng this is further simplified to a velar nasal.

The most common application of prenasalisation is with the addition of certain adjectival prefixes to a noun. It also occurs on some suffixes when they are added to verbal stems of the relevant phonological shape. A number of older nominal compounds exhibit prenasalisation as well; however, the process is no longer productive for new-formed compounds.

original	prenasalised
p, b	mb
t, ts, d	nd
r, l, y	nd¹
k	ng
g	ng, mb²

¹) Prenasalisation of r l y occurs only in certain suffixes, not on stem-initial consonants.

²) g usually becomes ng, but instances that derive from earlier *w become mb instead.

Morphology

Nouns

Case and number

Doayâu nouns inflect for three cases (absolutive, ergative and oblique) and two numbers (singular vs. plural). There is also an animacy distinction, which manifests itself in a slightly different inflection pattern. Most notably, inanimate nouns do not have a morphological ergative case.

The endings and the ablaut grades they select are as follows:

		animate	inanimate	grade
singular	absolutive	-Ø	-Ø	strong
	ergative	-ì		i
	oblique	-ù	-ù	u
plural	absolutive	-´	-´	basic
	ergative	-si		i
	oblique	-fu	-ú	u

• The erg.sg and obl.sg endings replace any stem-final vowel that is neither a nor u (nor, in the oblique case, ì).
• The abs.pl ending is simply a floating high tone that is attached to the basic grade of the stem vowel. Nouns whose stem vowel has high tone already insert epenthetic -gV- to carry the extra tone, where V denotes an echo copy of the preceding vowel. Diphthongs copy only their offglide; after monophthongal i e the epenthetic syllable appears as -yé-.
• The oblique case is often built on a different stem due to labialisation effects of historical *u *o.
• Stems in low-tone ì form their oblique singular as a diphthong -iu (and the inanimate plural with -îu).
• All vowel-initial suffixes gain an epenthetic -g- when preceded by a diphthong, which coalesces with the offglide of ai ui into -y-. The erg.sg of stems in ai ui is -aye -uye.

The table below shows the most common nominal inflection patterns, sorted by stem type.

		simple stems									diphthong stems
		i	e	e/a	a	ə	o/a	o	u		ai	ui	ea	oa	iu	au
singular	absolutive	-i, -e	-e	-e	-a	-a, -í	-a, -o	-o	-o, -u		-ai	-ui	-ea, -eo	-oa, -oe	-iu	-au
	ergative (a.)	-ì	-ì	-ì	-ì	-ai	-ai	-ì	-ui		-aye	-uye	-eagì	-oegì	-iugì	-augì
	oblique	-ù	-ù	-au	-ù	-au	-au	-ù	-ù		-ayù	-uyù	-eogù	-oagù	-iugù	-augù
plural	absolutive	-í	-é	-á	-á	-í, -ú¹	-á	-ó	-ú		-âi	-ûi	-êa, -êo	-ôa, -ôe	-îu	-âu
	ergative (a.)	-isi	-isi	-asi	-esi	-asi	-asi	-esi	-usi		-aisi	-uisi	-easi	-oesi	-iusi	-ausi
	oblique (a.)	-ufu	-ofu	-afu	-ofu	-afu	-afu	-ofu	-ufu		-aufu	-ùfu	-eofu	-oafu	-iufu	-aufu
	oblique (i.)	-ú	-ú	-âu	-ú	-âu	-âu	-ú	-ú		-ayú	-uyú	-eogú	-oagú	-iugú	-augú

¹) -ú appears after a labial consonant or g from former *w; -í appears elsewhere.

Some examples of fully inflected nouns follow.

Animate examples:

		i	e/a	a	ə	o/a	u	au	oa
		'horse'	'woman'	'person'	'animal'	'priest'	'wolf'	'sheep'	'leader'
singular	absolutive	sàre	ìrè	yùmuyá	dàfa	sìlugo	bufo	mâu	fôa
	ergative	sàrì	ìrì	yùmuyè¹	dàfai	sìlugai	bufui	maugì	foegì
	oblique	sàrù	ìrau	yùmuyù	dàfau	sìlugau	bufù	maugù	foagù
plural	absolutive	sàrí	ìrá	yùmuyágá²	dàfú	sìlugá	bufú	mâugú²	fôagú²
	ergative	sàrisi	ìrìsi	yùmuyési	dàfasi	sìlugasi	bufusi	mâusi	fôesi
	oblique	sàrufu	ìràfu	yùmuyófu	dàfafu	sìlugafu	bufufu	mâufu	fôafu

¹) The seemingly unexpected -è in this form is the result of regular /ji/-dissimilation.

²) Note the epenthetic -gV- to carry the additional high tone.

Inanimate examples:

		i	e	e/a	ə	o/a	u	ea	ai
		'river'	'water'	'sky'	'earth'	'smoke'	'forest'	'garden'	'night'
singular	absolutive	yàri	difé	dure	tsaka	lugo	kápàpù	tsea	sai
	oblique	yàrù	difù	durau	tsapau	lugau	kápàpù	tseogù	sayù
plural	absolutive	yàrí	diféyé¹	durá	tsakí	lugá	kápàpú	tsêa	sâi
	oblique	yàrú	difú	durâu	tsapâu	lugâu	kápàpú	tsêogú	sayú

¹) Note the epenthetic -yV- to carry the additional high tone.

Clitic postpositions

In contrast to its ancestor PCW, Doayâu mostly uses prepositions. However, some of the original Coastal Western postpositions are still in use; these now behave as enclitics that attach to their object. Clitic postpositions can be thought of as an extended case system; however, they are generally optional, and even with nouns in an indirect object role, which mandatorily take a postposition, there is usually a choice about which clitic to use.

All of these enclitics govern the oblique case for the noun phrase they attach to.

postposition	gloss
-ga, -a¹	'for' (dative-benefactive)
-re	'to' (dative-allative)
-tuge	'at, in' (locative-inessive)
-ní	'on, touching' (locative-adessive)
-yeogu	'away from' (ablative)
-má, -amá²	'with, by' (comitative-instrumental)
-gefa, -ifa³	'without' (privative)

¹) -ga appears after diphthongs; -a appears after monophthongal u, giving the combined form -oa.

²) -má appears after diphthongs; -amá appears after monophthongal u, giving the combined form -oamá.

³) -gefa appears after diphthongs; -ifa appears otherwise.

The table lists only clitics that can still head a postpositional phrase. Several other morphemes that historically also functioned as postpositions have developed into derivational suffixes instead; these are given in the appropriate section of this grammar sketch.

Possession

Possession is marked with prefixes, which agree with the possessor's number, person and animacy. The PCW distinction between alienable and inalienable types of possession has been lost; possessive prefixes are now used with all nouns. If the possessor is overtly given, it normally precedes the possessed, and is cast in the oblique case.

The inherited alternation between regular, i-affected, and u-affected prefixes has mostly been leveled away by sound change and analogy, with only a few irregularities remaining.

	singular	plural
1st	ni-	si-
2nd	da-	tsa-
3rd	a-	sa-/ga-

• Nouns beginning with a voiced plosive usually undergo lenition with the addition of a possessive prefix.
• All possessive prefixes that begin with a consonant lose their vowel before vowel-initial stems, with a stem-initial monophthongal vowel acquiring low tone in compensation. Stems beginning with the sequences /ji je ja jo ju/ behave like stems beginning with i e ea eo iu in this regard.
• Before nasal consonants, all possessive prefixes receive low tone.
• The 1st person prefixes change their vowel to u before a labial consonant.
• The 2nd person prefixes change their vowel to i if the first syllable of the possessed noun also contains i.
• The 3rd person singular prefix becomes i- before nouns beginning with a Ci sequence. If the noun begins with a vowel, the prefix coalesces with stem-initial i u into ai au, and with stem-initial e a o into the diphthong ea. Before diphthongs, the prefix appears as ay-.
• In the 3rd person plural, sa- is used for animate possessors, and ga- is used for inanimate possessors. If the first syllable of the possessed noun contains u, these prefixes undergo labialisation to fa- and ba- respectively.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Doayâu has personal pronouns for the first and second persons only. Third person arguments are referenced with demonstratives instead. The personal pronouns inflect for case and number more or less like ordinary animate nouns; however, they feature an additional distributive-partitive plural form.

		absolutive	ergative	oblique
1st person	singular	na	nai	nau
	plural	nà	nasi	nafu
	distributive	sa	sai	sau
2nd person	singular	ta	tai	tau
	plural	tà	tasi	tafu
	distributive	tí	tì	tù

Demonstratives

The two proximate demonstrative pronouns of PCW, *dze- and *da-, have merged in many forms due to sound change, and were eventually combined into a single paradigm. With this, the system of demonstratives has been simplified to three levels of deixis. There are also a special pronoun for the introduction of sentence topics, which derives from the PCW cataphoric stem *gi-, an interrogative pronoun, which derives from the PCW interrogative particle *ği compounded with the anaphoric stem *ja-, and emphatic forms of the regular demonstratives, which derive from compounding with the cataphoric stem. All the emphatic demonstratives can also function as obviative pronouns whenever two different 3rd person arguments need to be distinguished. The topic marker and the interrogative pronoun do not have an emphatic variant.

Deictics most commonly appear on their own in pronominal function, but they can also be used coreferentially within a noun phrase. All demonstratives must take a classifier suffix (see below for details) and a suffix for case and number agreement.

	regular	emphatic
topic marker	gi-	–
proximate	da-	dì-
medial	tsé-	tséye-¹
distal	tá-	tai-
interrogative	gea-	–

¹) The u-grade form of tséye- is tseo-.

Classifiers

Doayâu retains seven of the ten PCW noun classifiers. Their association with animacy has become completely fixed, so that the system may now be analysed as full noun class agreement.

Several classifiers trigger specific ablaut grades for preceding syllables, and all of them are subject to morphophonemic alternations themselves.

	class	affix	stem type	triggers	refers to
animate	I	-go-	o/a	lab, u	humans, gods, spirits, birds, tools
	II	-ta-	ə		animals, other animate nouns
inanimate	III	-eatá-¹	a	i	limited areas, settlements, buildings, boats
	IV	-ri-	i	i	food, ideas, unlimited areas, mass nouns
	V	-tsú-	u	u	soft non-food items
	VI	-i-, -ye-²	i	i	liquids, air, fire
	VII	-tsa-	ə		solid things, other inanimate nouns

¹) Classifier III replaces any preceding monophthongal stem vowel except u, and surfaces as -yeatá- after u or a diphthong. All diphthongs except au are simplified to their first component vowel before this morpheme.

²) Classifier VI combines with preceding stem vowels of the types a, ə, and o/a into -ai-, and with u into -ui-. The resulting stem then inflects according to the diphthong formed. Other monophthongal stem vowels merge with the classifier morpheme into -ì-. After diphthongs, the marker surfaces as -ye-.

Numerals

Cardinal numbers take obligatory classifier suffixes to agree with their nominal referent. Ordinals do not take a classifier when used attributively, but do so when used as a pronoun. Attributive numerals always precede their referent. For counting, the bare stem is used.

Like other Western languages, Doayâu uses a base eight number system.

	cardinal	ordinal
0	ye	–
1	tugo-	tugau
2	ri-	ruyù
3	naupu-	naupù
4	màtsa-	màtsau
5	oa-	oagù
6	mìri-	mìrù
7	nairi-	nairù
108	nigo-	nigau

Numbers above 10₈ are built with a special combining form of the base, neo-, which is prefixed to the ordinal or cardinal (as appropriate) of the lower order. Before oa-, an epenthetic -g- is inserted: neogoa- '15₈ / thirteen'. Multiples of 10₈ are formed with a preposed ordinal of the higher order: naupù neonairi- '37₈ / thirty-one'. '100₈ / sixty-four' is neonigo-.

Indefinite quantifiers

Indefinite quantifiers can appear in two forms. When used as free-standing pronouns, they take obligatory classifier suffixes and regularly inflect for number and case. When used attributively, they attach to their head noun as proclitics, triggering lenition on stem-initial voiced plosives, and undergoing tone lowering before stem-initial nasals (but not any other morphophonological processes).

The most important indefinite quantifiers are:

• fá- 'all, every'
• lìtsi- 'many'
• ripu- 'an average number of'
• tupi- 'some, a few'
• ye- 'no, none'
• yalu- 'other'
• ka- 'each one' (distributive)
• gi- 'which' (interrogative; gea- as a pronoun)

A partitive meaning can be achieved by using a quantifier pronoun in the oblique case.

tupiu

tupi-i-ù

some-IV-OBL

tùmí

tùmì-´

grape-ABS.PL

some of the grapes

Verbs

Verbal morphology in Doayâu is mostly agglutinative, although this may be obscured a bit by morphophonemic alternations of vowels and consonants. The general structure of Doayâu verbs can be summarised like this:

verb stem			evidential	(modals)			participant marking
(incorporated noun)	root	(derivational suffixes)	dir sens evid ass rep	q neg	aff dub	opt	1p.abs 2p.abs I.abs II.abs III.abs IV.abs V.abs VI.abs VII.abs	Ø 1p.erg 2p.erg 3p.erg

Evidentials

Due to phonological erosion and analogical interference from the agglutinative verbal system of the Lukpanic languages, verbs in Doayâu may now be morphologically unmarked for evidentiality. On closer inspection, however, evidential marking is still compulsory: a verb without an overt evidential morpheme is generally interpreted as referring to an action that the speaker was directly involved in, either as a core participant of the verb, or else as a member of a group that acted as a core participant collectively. For a different meaning, an overtly marked evidential suffix must be used. Also, even the direct participation evidential does have a non-zero allomorph -yá-, which appears in negated verbs.

	suffix	stem type	triggers
direct participation (dir)	-Ø-/-yá-¹	(a)
sensory perception (sens)	-ri-	i	i
inferred from evidence (evid)	-lu-	u	lab, u
assumption; guess (ass)	-ya-/-ga-²	e/a
hearsay; fiction (rep)	-gù-/-gà-³	ə	low

¹) -yá- appears only in negated verbs.

²) -ga- occurs before suffixes that trigger u-grade, in negated verbs, and after u o; -ya- appears elsewhere. In interrogative verbs, this evidential has a zero allomorph.

³) -gà- occurs before suffixes that trigger i- or u-grade; -gù- appears elsewhere.

When added to a verb stem that triggers prenasalisation, the sens marker becomes -ndi-, the ass marker becomes -nga-, and the rep marker becomes -mbù- or -mbà-.

Modality

Four different modal suffixes can optionally appear in the Doayâu verb, following the evidentials and preceding participant agreement. The interrogative and negative morphemes give information about the truth value of the proposition on the speech act level; the affirmative and dubitative affixes indicate certainty or doubt about the proposition on the part of the speaker. Modal suffixes of these two groups may be combined; in this case the speech act marker precedes the mirativity marker.

In addition to this, Doayâu has borrowed the intentional suffix -mau- from the local Lukpanic dialect. This morpheme (glossed as optative) can be used to indicate various meanings, among them plans, wishes, volitional actions, future events, or imperatives. It is only rarely combined with an evidential, but is frequently preceded by one or even two of the other modality suffixes.

		suffix	stem type	triggers
A	interrogative (q)	-gí-/-yé-¹	i
	negative (neg)	-fu-	ə	i, high
B	affirmative (aff)	-pù-	u	u, low
	dubitative (dub)	-ù-²	u
C	optative (opt)	-mau-	au	low

¹) -yé- appears after i e; and -gí- appears elsewhere.

²) The dubitative marker replaces preceding i u, and coalesces with any other preceding vowel into -au-.

Participant marking

Doayâu verbs agree in person and noun class (the latter only for 3rd person arguments) with their primary absolutive argument. Transitive verbs are additionally marked for the person (but not noun class) of their ergative argument. The number of participants is not marked on the verb.

Participant markers follow the evidentiality suffixes, with absolutive markers preceding ergative markers. The underlying morphemes are as follows:

	absolutive	ergative
1st person	-na-¹,²	-ne²
2nd person	-tá-³	-tsé³
3rd person	(classifier)	-ga/-a⁴

¹) The 1st person absolutive marker loses its vowel when followed by a 2nd or 3rd person ergative marker.

²) Both 1st person markers cause tone lowering on the preceding vowel.

³) When preceded by u o, the 2nd person markers appear in the allomorphs -ká- (absolutive) and -ké (ergative). When preceded by the 1st person absolutive marker, the 2nd person ergative suffix changes into -dé.

⁴) The 3rd person ergative marker is -ga when preceded by a 1st or 2nd person marker. After classifiers for a 3rd person argument, it surfaces as -a instead.

All possible combinations of absolutive and ergative suffixes are listed below for reference:

ergative →		none		1.erg	2.erg	3.erg
absolutive ↓
1.abs		-na		-nàne	-ndé	-nga
2.abs		-tá		-táne	-tátsé	-tága
3.abs	I	-go		-gòne	-goké	-goa
	II	-ta		-tàne	-tatsé	-tea
	III	-eatá		-eatáne	-eatátsé	-etêa
	IV	-ri		-rìne	-ritsé	-rea
	V	-tsú		-tsúne	-tsúké	-tsôa
	VI	-i		-ìne	-itsé¹	-yea¹
	VII	-tsa		-tsàne	-tsatsé	-tsea

¹) These combinations coalesce with preceding monophthongal i (of any tone, most notably in the sensory evidential and in the interrogative mood) into -ìtsé and -ìya respectively.

Derivation

Adjectival prefixes

Like many other Western languages, Doayâu expresses adjectival meanings by means of derivational prefixes that can be added to any nominal. In theory, the morphemes of this class cannot appear independently, but the distinction between adjectival prefixes on the one hand and nominal roots which are commonly used as the first part of noun-noun compounds on the other hand seems to be weakening. For the most part, this entails the addition of new adjectival prefixes from formerly independent nouns, but as more and more roots can be used in both contexts, it is to be expected that the word class barrier will eventually become permeable in both directions. As it stands, there are too many adjectival prefixes for a full list to be given here; they will be included in the lexicon instead.

Adjectival prefixes precede the nominal root, but follow any possessive prefixes. A noun may take more than one adjectival prefix at a time; the prefixes are then normally understood as multiple properties simultaneously applying to the noun. However, a second, hierarchical interpretation is often possible as well, which treats the last prefix and the root as a unit, modified by the preceding prefix, which may itself be modified by another adjectival morpheme. Which of these interpretations is meant in a specific case is not indicated morphologically and must be deduced from context.

Adjectival prefixes are not affected by any morphophonological processes except for tone lowering before nasal consonants. However, some prefixes trigger nasal mutation of the first consonant in the root they attach to, dropping their own final vowel in the process; and those prefixes that do not trigger nasal mutation usually cause lenition of voiced plosives instead.

yerisìlugo

yeri-sìlugu-Ø

wise-priest-ABS.SG

a wise priest

itsindípe

a-tsingì-típi-Ø

3SG-slender-daughter-ABS.SG

his slender daughter

bapòmàfutséyòfù

bapo-màfu-tséyòfù-Ø

strong-large-fortress-ABS.SG

a strong and large fortress

Of note is the prefix gif(i)-, which can be added before adjectival prefixes (and also before verb stems) to reverse the meaning of the following morpheme. It cannot be attached to nouns directly. The final vowel of this prefix appears only before consonants; stem-initial y and instances of g deriving from earlier *w vocalise to i u before a monophthongal vowel, with which they combine into a diphthong.

gifearisìlugo

gifi-yeri-sìlugu-Ø

NEG-wise-priest-ABS.SG

a foolish priest

The meaning of adjectival prefixes can be intensified with the morpheme -sV- (glossed as 'very') directly following the prefix. V represents a copy of the original underlying stem vowel, or a copy of the second half of an underlying diphthong. After prefixes with the stem vowels o u, the morpheme appears as -fV-.

gìrasagáku

gìra-sV-gáku-Ø

big-very-house-ABS.SG

a very big house

ùbùfuyùmuyá

ùbù-sV-yùmuyá-Ø

intelligent-very-person-ABS.SG

a very intelligent person

Another derivational addition to adjectival prefixes is the morpheme -isi- (glossed as exc for "excessive"), which indicates that the head noun has too much of the quality indicated by the prefix. It comes between the last adjectival prefix and the noun stem, and is usually interpreted to refer to all prefixes simultaneously. The morpheme-initial i deletes preceding i e, and combines with preceding o into ai; the morpheme-final i is deleted before i e y.

gìraisigáku

gìra-isi-gáku-Ø

big-EXC-house-ABS.SG

a house which is too big

Compounding and incorporation

A highly productive word-forming strategy in Doayâu is object incorporation, which is very useful for fine-tuning the semantics of a verb. This construction prefixes the absolutive argument of a transitive verb to the verb stem, decreasing the valency of the resulting verb by one and promoting the former ergative participant to absolutive. Pragmatically this results in backgrounding of the patient, and in shifting the semantic focus of the verb from the "what" to the "how" of the action. Several combinations of verb and incorporated noun have acquired an idiosyncratic meaning, making the process derivational rather than inflectional.

The incorporation of animate nouns triggers aspirate mutation of verb-initial consonants. This was historically caused by the characteristic absolutive singular suffix *-h that appeared on non-incorporated absolutives; when the default position for overt absolutives switched to post-verbal, pre-verbal patients were reanalysed as incorporated, and their suffix was analogically extended to all animate nouns appearing immediately before the verb root.

Inanimate nouns trigger lenition on verb-initial voiced plosives when incorporated.

• natâi "chest" + getsi- "to wash" > natáyetsi- "to bathe oneself"

• goe "saltwater fish" + púpu- "to hunt" > goafúpu- "to fish (in the sea)"

Derivational morphology

Doayâu features a wealth of derivational morphology, which can be piled up in an agglutinative fashion to add very specific combinations of shades of meaning. All of the morphemes in the following table attach as suffixes to an existing stem and extend it to a new one. The resulting stem, which may or may not be of a different type of speech, can then inflect like a regular noun or verb.

Verbalisers

VERB to VERB

suffix	ablaut	triggers	from	to	gloss	meaning	etymology
-reaya-¹	e/a	low	v.tr	v (-1)	detr, pass	detransitiviser or passive; reduces valency by deleting the agent	< *-zèʔaje-
-rə-²	ə		v	v (+1)	caus	causative; increases valency by adding an agent	< *-dza-
-mu-		u, low	v	v	tel	forms telic verbs	< *mu "completely"
-neo-	ea	i, low	v	v	dur	forms durative or habitual verbs	< *ňaje 'frequently'
-tsilə̀-²	ə		v	v	iter	forms iterative verbs	< *tłàʔlà 'repeatedly'
-sèsì-	i		v	v	mir	indicates unexpected information	< *sèhtì 'surprisingly'
-ùsi-²			v	v.tr	emph	forms transitive verbs referring to physical actions with intensive semantics	← Kp.L. -usi-
-yesə-³	ə	high	v	v ((+1))	'towards'	indicates movement towards the focus; increases valency of intransitives by adding a goal	< *-ʔihtsa-
-agu-			v	v ((+1))	'away'	indicates movement away from the focus; increases valency of intransitives by adding a source	< *-ʔogu-

¹) The i-grade form of this suffix is -reagi-.

²) Preceding u o are deleted; preceding e is changed to a.

³) The underlying |ə| surfaces as -a- before suffixes that trigger i- or u-grade, as -u- before labial consonants and before the rep evidential, and as -i- otherwise.

NOUN to VERB

suffix	ablaut	triggers	from	to	gloss	meaning	etymology
-ayV-, -´yV-¹	(V)		n, pre	v.it	stat	forms stative verbs	< *-ʔajV-
-fu-, -fa-²	ə	strong	n	v.tr	dyn.1	forms telic dynamic verbs, usually of a process associated with the base	< *-hpa-
-má-	a	low	n	v.tr	dyn.2	forms telic dynamic verbs, of which the base is the instrument by which the action is carried out	< *meʔ 'by means of'
-tá-	a		n	v.it	dyn.3	forms atelic dynamic verbs, which name a process associated with the base	< *tha- 'do, make'
-tûi-	ui		n, pre	v.it	'become'	forms verbs of acquiring a property associated with the base	< *thuja- 'become'
-túp(ə)-³	ə		n, pre	v.it+	fact.1	forms emphatic factitive verbs, of which the base is the result	← Kp.L. tuku 'make, create'
-rə-⁴	ə		n.i	v.tr	fact.2	forms factitive verbs, of which the base is the result	< *-dza-
-ya-⁵		i	n	v.it	lat	forms directional verbs, of which the base is the focus point	< *je- 'go, move'
-iba-⁶			n	v.tr	loq	forms verbs of communication or thinking, of which the base is the absolutive argument	← Kp.L. -iba-

¹) Preceding i u are changed to e o. Preceding a is deleted, yielding low tone: -àyV-. After diphthongs, the suffix is shortened to -´yV- which triggers a raising tone contour.

²) -fa- appears before suffixes that trigger i- or u-grade; -fu- appears otherwise.

³) The morpheme-final |ə| surfaces as zero before vowels. When followed by a consonant, it surfaces as -a- before suffixes that trigger i- or u-grade, and as -u- otherwise.

⁴) The underlying |ə| surfaces as -a- before suffixes that trigger i- or u-grade, as -u- before labial consonants and before the rep evidential, and as -i- otherwise.

⁵) This suffix is normally -ya-, but it coalesces with following e a into -yea- and with following o into -yeo-.

⁶) Preceding i e are deleted; preceding o is changed to a.

Nominalisers

VERB to NOUN

suffix	ablaut	triggers	from	to	gloss	meaning	etymology
-i-¹	i		v	n.a	ptcp	forms participle subject/agent nouns of class I or II (animate)	← Kp.L. -i-
-pi-	i		v	n.a	neg.ptcp	forms negated participle subject/agent nouns of class I or II (animate)	← Kp.L. -pi-
-aba-²			v.tr	n.a.I	agt.1	forms habitual agent nouns of class I (animate)	← Kp.L. -ab-/-ãm-
-té-	e		v.tr	n.a.I	agt.2	forms emphatic or honorific agent nouns of class I (animate)	← Ìl. -té-
-rù-, -ù-³		u, low	v.tr	n.i.VII	instr	forms instrument nouns of class VII (inanimate)	< *-dzù-/-gù-
-lì-	i	i, low	v	n.i.IV	vn	forms abstract action nouns of class IV (inanimate)	possibly ← Kp.L. -li- 'acc'
-sa-, -ha-⁴	ə		v.tr	n	res.1	forms resultative nouns of various classes	< *-ła-/-xa-
-mù-		low	v	n.i	res.2	forms factitive result nouns of class VII (inanimate)	possibly ← Kp.L. -ũ-
-pa-			v	n.i.III	fact	forms factitive result nouns of class III (inanimate)	(unknown)
-yari-	i	i	v.tr	n.a.I	pat	forms human undergoer nouns of class I (animate)	(unknown)
-le-	e/a	high	v	n.i.III	loc.1	forms specific location nouns of class III (inanimate)	< *-ʔle-
-rè-	e/a	low	v	n.i.IV	loc.2	forms generic location and area nouns of class IV (inanimate)	< *-zè-

¹) Preceding i e are deleted; preceding o is changed to a.

²) Preceding i u are changed to e o; preceding a and |ə| are deleted.

³) -ù- appears when added to a- and o-stems, forming a diphthong -au-. -rù- appears elsewhere.

⁴) -ha- occurs after o- and u-stems, -sa- occurs elsewhere.

When added to a verb stem that triggers prenasalisation, the agt.2 affix becomes -ndé-, the fact affix becomes -mba-, and the loc.1 affix becomes -nde-.

NOUN to NOUN

suffix	ablaut	triggers	from	to	gloss	meaning	etymology
-lugV-	(V)		n, pre	n.a.I	'person'	forms human nouns of class I which refer to a person associated with the base (animate)	< *-lawV-
-àma-¹			n, pre	n.a.I	'person'	forms human nouns of class I which refer to a person associated with the base (animate)	← Kp.L. -ab-/-ãm-
-la-	ə		n, pre	n.a	'man'	forms animate nouns of class I or II which refer to a male person or animal associated with the base (animate)	< *ľa "man"
-rì-	i	i, low	n, pre	n.a	'woman'	forms animate nouns of class I or II which refer to a female person or animal associated with the base (animate)	< *-zì-
-yaV-, -yV́-²		i	n, pre	n.a	'child'	forms animate nouns of class I or II which refer to a descendant of the base (animate)	< *-jaʔV-
-saba-			n	n.a	'owner'	forms animate nouns of class I or II which refer to a possessor of the base (animate)	← Kp.L. -sab-
-yo-	u	u	n, pre	n.a	aug	forms honorific and augmentative nouns of class I or II (animate)	< *-du-
-fí-		i	n	n	dim	forms diminutive nouns without changing noun class	< *phiji 'seed'
-kì-			n	n	simil	forms nouns of various classes which are in some relevant way similar to the base	← Kp.L. -kĩ-
-òfù-		del	n	n.i.III	'made_of'	forms class III nouns which are made of the referent of the base (inanimate)	< *-òhxù-
-mau		low	n, pre	n.i	'place'	forms toponyms of class III or IV (inanimate)	← Kp.L. mau 'place'
-le-	e/a	high	n, pre	n.i.III	loc.1	forms specific location nouns of class III (inanimate)	< *-ʔle-
-rè-	e/a	low	n, pre	n.i.IV	loc.2	forms generic location and area nouns of class IV (inanimate)	< *-zè-
-ká-	a		n, pre	n.i	'thing'	forms inanimate nouns of various meanings, belonging into class IV, V or VII	< *-kha-
-tù-, -pù-³		u, low	n, pre	n.i.IV	abstr, coll.1	forms abstract and collective nouns of class IV (inanimate)	< *-tu-/-ku-, *-tsù-/-kù-
-nà-		low	n	n.a	coll.2	forms collective nouns of class I or II (animate)	← Kp.L. -nã- 'many'

¹) Preceding i u are changed to e o; preceding a and |ə| are deleted.

²) -yaV- occurs after i- and u-stems. -yV́- occurs elsewhere, with stem-final diphthongs being copied to the suffix as e or o.

³) -tù- appears after i- and e-stems, -pù- appears elsewhere.

ADJECTIVAL to NOUN

Most of the above noun-to-noun nominalisers can also be used directly with adjectival prefixes. Another productive way to form stand-alone nominals from those prefixes, which carry semantic content but cannot normally appear on their own, has been innovated from compounding them with a (historical) cataphoric pronoun and the classifier of the desired noun class. Since this origin has become obscured a fair bit, all the resulting affixes are given below for convenience.

suffix	ablaut	triggers	from	to	gloss	meaning	etymology
-bo-	o/a	i	pre	n.a.I	nom.I	forms class I nouns with the characteristic indicated by the base (animate)	< *guwo
-ìta-¹	ə		pre	n.a.II	nom.II	forms class II nouns with the characteristic indicated by the base (animate)	< *gita
-geatá-	a	i	pre	n.i.III	nom.III	forms class III nouns with the characteristic indicated by the base (inanimate)	< *gijatha
-ìri-¹	i		pre	n.i.IV	nom.IV	forms class IV nouns with the characteristic indicated by the base (inanimate)	< *gizi
-ùtsú-²			pre	n.i.V	nom.V	forms class V nouns with the characteristic indicated by the base (inanimate)	< *gutshu
-ye-	i	i	pre	n.i.VI	nom.VI	forms class VI nouns with the characteristic indicated by the base (inanimate)	< *gije
-ìtsa-¹	ə		pre	n.i.VII	nom.VII	forms class VII nouns with the characteristic indicated by the base (inanimate)	< *gitsa

¹) Preceding i e are deleted; preceding o is changed to a.

²) Preceding u o are deleted; preceding e is changed to a.

LOCATIVE SUFFIXES

From the Lukpanic substratum, Doayâu has adopted the habit of referencing people or things by adding a locative suffix to a place, person or object that is associated with them. The table below lists the most common derivational suffixes of this type, most of them descended from PCW postpositions. In traditional usage, locative suffixes attach to the oblique singular of the base; however, in recent times it has become possible to use the root instead.

suffix	ablaut	triggers	from	to	gloss	meaning	etymology
-sí-	ə		n.obl	n	'inside'	forms nouns of various classes associated with a location inside or among the base	< *sàʔ 'inside'
-mea-	ea		n.obl	n	'near'	forms nouns of various classes associated with a location near the base	< *mèľà 'along'
-ní-	ə		n.obl	n	'above'	forms nouns of various classes associated with a location above the base	< *naʔ 'above'
-lí-	ə		n.obl	n	'under'	forms nouns of various classes associated with a location under the base	< *ľaʔ 'under'
-pu-			n.obl	n	'behind'	forms nouns of various classes associated with a location behind the base	< *guku 'behind'
-nau-			n.obl	n.a	'approaching'	forms animate nouns of class I or II associated with movement towards the base	< *noʔu 'up towards'
-ádi-, -gádi-¹	i		n.obl	n	'facing_towards'	forms nouns of various classes that are oriented towards the base	< *gèʔdzi 'towards'
-yau-			n.obl	n	'facing_away'	forms nouns of various classes that are oriented away from the base	< *jeʔogu 'away from'
-la-	ə	high	n.obl	n	ben	forms nouns of various classes, which are beneficial or instrumental in relation to the base	< *dła 'for'

¹) -gádi- appears after diphthongs. -ádi- appears otherwise; it coalesces with preceding u into -ôadi-.

Syntax

Since verbal inflection keeps track of up to two core arguments of a clause in terms of role, person, and noun class, and since nominals themselves exhibit case marking, constituent order in Doayâu is relatively free. Under the influence of the Lukpanic language family, which is largely head-initial, the default sentence pattern has shifted to (T)VSO, though many other orderings can also be selected on the basis of pragmatic considerations.

The noun phrase

The noun phrase minimally consists of a head noun or pronoun, often accompanied by one or several modifiers. Possessors, demonstratives, and quantifiers (in this order) generally precede the head, while nouns in apposition, postpositional phrases, prepositional phrases, and relative clauses (in this order) follow it.

Possessive phrases

Possessors are normally nouns marked for the oblique case, which can take modifiers of their own. In case a possessor is to be specified with a "heavy" postposed modifier (more than one appositional noun, an adpositional phrase, or a relative clause), the possessive phrase itself is usually expressed within a relative clause modifying the possessed noun, with the possessive relationship indicated at the main NP level via possessive prefixes alone.

nùmìnau

ni-mìna-ù

1SG-mother-OBL.SG

ayealí

a-gala-í

3SG-child-ABS.PL

my mother's children

silágau

si-dága-ù

1PL-tribe-OBL.SG

asâipufu

a-sâipi-fu

3SG-god-OBL.PL

sìyá

sa-ìye-á

3PL.ANIM-name-ABS.PL

the names of the gods of our tribe

dagafu

da-go-fu

this-I-OBL.PL

rugo

ri-go

two-I

dufoayufu

dufoayu-fu

fisherman-OBL.PL

tséyeatá

tséye-eatá-Ø

that.EMPH-III-ABS.SG

sànêa

sa-nêa-Ø

3PL.ANIM-boat-ABS.SG

that boat over there, which belongs to these two fishermen

Appositional nouns

Doayâu does not have adjectives as a distinct word class. Many basic adjectival meanings are expressed by derivational prefixes, others are conveyed by stative verbs. As a third option, most nouns can be used adjectivally by being placed in apposition to another noun, immediately following their head. This strategy is especially common with names and titles. Certain nouns occur almost exclusively in this position, most of them loans or transparent derivations, but even these can be used as stand-alone nominals.

Until recently, appositional nouns used to be cast in the oblique case. While this remains grammatical in many circumstances, it is becoming old-fashioned, and speakers now tend to favour agreement with the head in case and number.

Fólu

Fólu-Ø

Poalu-ABS.SG

sâipuyu

sâipi-yu-Ø

god-HON-ABS.SG

Goddess Poalu

A second construction that is syntactically parallel to noun apposition uses participial modifiers, which can be derived from verbs with the suffix -i (negated: -pi). Such participles are nominal in nature and prototypically refer to the subject or agent of the base verb; when the passiviser -reaya- is present as well, they can also refer to the patient of transitive verbs. Unlike regular nouns in apposition, participles do not exhibit agreement.

máluyo

máluyu-Ø

warrior-ABS.SG

suguyai

suguya-i

fight-PTCP

the fighting warrior

irí

iri-´

arrow-ABS.PL

fáfátìreayapi

fáfáti-reaya-pi

shoot-PASS-NEG.PTCP

the unshot arrows

Adpositional phrases

There are two distinct types of adpositions in Doayâu, which are lexically specified for the headedness of their phrases. The older type is a class of postpositional enclitics, which govern the oblique case for the noun they attach to. The more recently innovated type uses prepositions that are morphologically independent and govern the absolutive case for their object; many of these prepositions are derived from nouns in the oblique case, sometimes with an enclitic postposition.

késabaumá

késaba-ù=amá

knife-OBL.SG=INSTR

with a knife

bàyu

bàyu

on

neomo

neomo-Ø

dune-ABS.SG

on top of the dune

Normally all adpositional phrases follow the head of the NP. If both postpositional and prepositional constructions are found within the same NP, the postpositional phrase comes first. In the most formal and archaic registers (mostly in a religious context), postpositional phrases may also precede the head noun, coming after any possessives, demonstratives or quantifiers.

The fact that postpositions are clitics becomes visible when a prepositional phrase is nested within a postpositional phrase:

Dìlìnearugo

dìlì-neo-ri-go

fly-DUR-SENS-I.ABS

màfuyurau

[màfu-dure-ù

[wide-sky-OBL.SG

dùtsù

[dùtsù

[over

murayutuge

murayu-Ø]=tuge]

ocean-ABS.SG]=LOC]

aufayaba

aufayaba-Ø

albatross-ABS.SG

There’s an albatross up in the vast sky above the ocean.

Basic clause structure

The minimal clause in Doayâu consists of an inflected verb, which can form a valid sentence on its own because subject and transitive object are always referenced on the verb and can thus be omitted. An exception is formed by some bi- and trivalent verbs that lexically require an oblique complement noun phrase, which cannot be dropped. (Such verbs are indicated in the lexicon by a + sign after the transitivity value; for instance, v.mt+ denotes a monotransitive verb with a required complement.)

Complement NPs usually precede the verb; ergative and absolutive arguments usually follow it. If several core arguments are present on the same side of the verb, the order is invariably ergative - oblique - absolutive. Adjuncts (i.e. optional NPs in adverbial function) can appear on either side of the core argument group; most commonly they go furthest from the verb.

The first overt noun phrase to the left of the verb, if there is any, is generally assumed to be topicalised, and thus interpreted as old information. Conversely, the last overt constituent of a clause is understood to be in focus position, receiving contrastive emphasis.

Nêa

nêa-Ø

ship-ABS.SG

biusirùpùyetêa.

biusi-ri-pù-eatá-a

build-SENS-AFF-III.ABS-3.ERG

They built the ship. (Yes, they did.)

Biusiretêa

biusi-ri-eatá-a

build-SENS-III.ABS-3.ERG

(dasi)

da-si

PROX-ERG.PL

nêa.

nêa-Ø

ship-ABS.SG

They built a ship (and not something else).

Tâurita

tâu-ri-ta

die-SENS-II.ABS

tsófú

tsófú-Ø

deer-ABS.SG

bàyu

bàyu

on

pùtau.

pùtau-Ø

path-ABS.SG

A deer died on the path.

Òmokabai

òmokaba-ì

assassin-ERG.SG

tumeagaure

tumeagà-ù=re

noble-OBL.SG=towards

késaba

késaba-Ø

dagger-ABS.SG

fáfátugagoa

fáfáti-ga-go-a

throw-ASS-I.ABS-3.ERG

(I presume) the assassin threw a dagger at the noble.

Subordination

Complement and adverbial clauses

Complement clauses, i.e. clauses that work as an argument of a verb, are syntactically normal clauses which are followed by the subordinating pronoun yari, which governs class IV agreement on the verb. Complement clauses may only appear in an absolutive role.

Adverbial clauses are formed with the same conjunction, cast in the oblique case. In the basic form yarù, this can indicate a wide variety of meanings that generally have a sort of circumstantial flavour. More precise meanings can be specified with a range of suffixes that derive from PCW postpositions; the most widespread of these suffixed forms are given in the table below. Note that in casual speech the initial ya- is often dropped, especially when a suffix is used.

complementiser
yari	absolutive argument of verb
relational adverbials
yarù	circumstantial ("as")
yarûi	conditional ("if")
yarúgai	causal ("because")
yarùla	purposive ("for, so that, in order to")
yarôamá	instrumental ("with, by")
temporal adverbials
yarùtuge	punctual ("when")
yarùsí	simultaneous ("while, during")
yarùnau	anterior ("before")
yarùpu	posterior ("after")

With complement clauses and relational adverbials, the subordinator always comes last, but temporal clauses have been remodeled as head-initial on analogy with the now dominant prepositional nominal adjuncts.

The internal word order in both complement and adverbial clauses may be either verb-first or verb-last, but not verb-medial. Likewise, both types of subclauses may be placed in their matrix clause either initially (as an extraposited topic) or finally; in the latter case all other core arguments of the verb may only appear in pre-verbal position.

Examples:

Murayùtuge

murayu-ù=tuge

ocean-OBL.SG=in

gítîu

gítiu-´

whale-ABS.PL

dausuluta

dausi-lu-ta

swim-EVID-II.ABS

yari

yari-Ø

SUB-ABS

daidàmurìne.

daidə-mu-Ø-ri-ne

see-TEL-DIR-IV.ABS-1.ERG

I know that whales swim in the sea.

Bufotsaiditàne

bufu-daidə-Ø-ta-ne

wolf-see-DIR-II.ABS-1.ERG

yarù

yari-ù

SUB-OBL

radeogùna.

radeogu-Ø-na

run_away-DIR-1.ABS

Seeing a wolf, I ran away.

Táyaritsé

tá-ga-ri-tsé

do-ASS-IV.ABS-2.ERG

yarûi

yari-ù=i

SUB-OBL=if

yeogugàpùtága

yeogu-ga-pù-tá-a

leave-ASS-AFF-2.ABS-3.ERG

dàrì.

da-àrè-ì

2SG-wife-ERG

Your wife will leave you if you do this.

Yarùpu

yari-ù=ùpu

SUB-OBL=at

íyesàmugago

íyesə-mu-ga-go

come-TEL-ASS-I.ABS

pèyogú,

pèyogú-Ø

lord-ABS.SG

tupíbayatsea

tupíba-ga-tsa-a

perform-ASS-VII.ABS-3.ERG

yautì

yauté-ì

high_priest-ERG.SG

fà

fà

then

mìnda.

mìnda-Ø

ceremony-ABS.SG

When the lord arrives, the high priest will perform the rituals.

Relative clauses

Relative clauses usually appear directly after their head noun. They are formed like normal verb-final clauses that are introduced with the topic pronoun gi-, which replaces the relativised noun in the subclause, regularly inflecting for noun class and case. The matrix clause is usually arranged in such a way that the relativised noun is the only argument on its side of the verb. If the verbs of matrix clause and subclause share the same root, whichever comes second is generally replaced by the dummy verb tá- "to do".

Galàrì

galàrì-ì

girl-ERG.SG

tsugànauritsea

tsuga-nau-ri-tsa-a

go-upward-SENS-VII.ABS-3.ERG

kápa

kápa-Ø

tree-ABS.SG

gitsa

gi-tsa-Ø

REL-VII-ABS.SG

tsagi

tsagi

also

layè

lai-ì

boy-ERG.SG

téritsea.

tá-ri-tsa-a

do-SENS-VII.ABS-3.ERG

The girl climbed up the tree that the boy also climbed.

Relativised constituents are often extraposited to the beginning of the sentence, and thus effectively moved outside of the main clause.

Kápa

kápa-Ø

tree-ABS.SG

gitsa

gi-tsa-Ø

REL-VII-ABS.SG

layè

lai-ì

boy-ERG.SG

tsugànauritsea,

tsuga-nau-ri-tsa-a

go-upward-SENS-VII.ABS-3.ERG

galàrì

galàrì-ì

girl-ERG.SG

tsagi

tsagi

also

tsétsa

tsé-tsa-Ø

that-VII-ABS.SG

téritsea.

tá-ri-tsa-a

do-SENS-VII.ABS-3.ERG

As for the tree that the boy climbed, the girl also climbed it.

An alternative to relative clauses is a participial construction, which is, however, only available for topic-fronted arguments. The agent of the participle verb is demoted to the oblique case, with a clitic instrumental postposition. It should be noted that the "participle" suffix is derivational in nature and creates a word that would more often be used as a free-standing noun than as a modifier, and that using a dummy verb is not possible in this construction.

Kápa

kápa-Ø

tree-ABS.SG

tsugànaureayai

tsuga-nau-reaya-i

go-upward-PASS-PTCP

layôamá

lai-ù=amá

boy-OBL.SG=INSTR

tsugànauritsea

tsuga-nau-ri-tsa-a

go-upward-SENS-VII.ABS-3.ERG

galàrì.

galàrì-ì

girl-ERG.SG

As for the tree climbed by the boy, the girl climbed it.

Samples

The horse and the sheep

Main article: The horse and the sheep

Sàrì bàyu tau daidùgùtea mâugú. Túlugasùgùtea ìrì tugauta, lítùgùtea galai ruyùta, garadùgùtea lai naupùta. Sakáyauní baumùreayàgùta màtsauta mâu.

Sàrì maugùre dadìgàrea giri: "Uyàyàna yarùtuge dú yùmuyési mâugú tátéritea."

Gataibàgàrea furá maugì sàrùre giri: "Rêayesàmaundé, fà dìri tsufólùpùritsé: Uyàyàna yarùtuge púpàreagirita tsa yèsafàreagirita sàre, gita radatsu mítànìrita. Yùmuyési pùtolúfarea gearùmá tátólurea dagaupu. Gatunà ge daidalurea. Fà tsagi yùmuyófu gugutûisèsìluká!"

Yarùpu reagàrea giri, sàre radeogùgùta rò tále.

Interlinear gloss

Sàrì

sàre-ì

horse-ERG.SG

bàyu

bàyu

on

tau

tau-Ø

hill-ABS.SG

daidùgùtea

daida-gù-ta-a

see-REP-II.ABS-3.ERG

mâugú.

mâu-ú

sheep-ABS.PL

A horse on a hill saw some sheep.

Túlugasùgùtea

túlugasa-gù-ta-a

wool_cut-REP-II.ABS-3.ERG

ìrì

ìrè-ì

woman-ERG.SG

tugauta,

tugo-ù-ta-Ø

one-ORD-II-ABS.SG

A woman was shearing the first one,

lítùgùtea

líta-gù-ta-a

milk-REP-II.ABS-3.ERG

galai

gala-ì

child-ERG.SG

ruyùta,

ri-ù-ta-Ø

two-ORD-II-ABS.SG

a child was milking the second one,

garadùgùtea

garada-gù-ta-a

kill-REP-II.ABS-3.ERG

lai

la-ì

man-ERG.SG

naupùta.

naupu-ù-ta-Ø

three-ORD-II-ABS.SG

a man was slaughtering the third one.

Sakáyauní

sa-káya-ù=ní

3PL.ANIM-fire-OBL.SG=on

baumùreayàgùta

bau-mu-reaya-gù-ta

cook-TEL-PASS-REP-II.ABS

màtsauta

màtsa-ù-ta-Ø

four-ORD-II-ABS.SG

mâu.

mâu-Ø

sheep-ABS.SG

On their fire, a fourth sheep was being cooked.

Sàrì

sàre-ì

horse-ERG.SG

maugùre

mâu-ù=re

sheep-OBL.SG=to

dadìgàrea

dadi-gà-ri-a

say-REP-IV.ABS-3.ERG

giri:

gi-ri-Ø

TOP-IV-ABS

The horse said this to one sheep:

"Uyàyàna

uyàya-Ø-na

be_in_pain-DIR-1SG

yarùtuge

yari-ù=tuge

SUB-OBL=at

dú

dú

like_this

yùmuyési

yùmuyá-si

human-ERG.PL

mâugú

mâu-ú

sheep-ABS.PL

tátéritea."

tátá-ri-ta-a

use-SENS-II.ABS-3.ERG

"It pains me when I see humans use sheep like this."

Gataibàgàrea

gataiba-gà-ri-a

answer-REP-IV.ABS-3.ERG

furá

furá

however

maugì

mâu-ì

sheep-ERG.SG

sàrùre

sàre-ù=re

horse-OBL.SG=to

giri:

gi-ri-Ø

TOP-IV-ABS

The sheep, however, answered this to the horse:

"Rêayesàmaundé,

rêayesa-mau-na-tsé

listen-OPT-1.ABS-2.ERG

fà

fà

and_then

dìri

dì-ri-Ø

this.EMPH-IV-ABS

tsufólùpùritsé:"

tsufá-lu-pù-ri-tsé

find_out-EVID-AFF-IV.ABS-2.ERG

"You will want to listen to me, and you will find the following:"

"Uyàyàna

uyàya-Ø-na

be_in_pain-DIR-1SG

yarùtuge

yari-ù=tuge

SUB-OBL=at

púpàreagirita

púpa-reaya-ri-ta

hunt-PASS-SENS-II.ABS

tsa

tsa

and

yèsafàreagirita

yèsafa-reaya-ri-ta

eat_meat-PASS-SENS-II.ABS

sàre,

sàre-Ø

horse-ABS.SG

gita

gi-ta-Ø

REL-II-ABS

radatsu

rada-tsu

quick-ADV

mítànìrita."

mítànì-ri-ta

run-SENS-II.ABS

"It pains me when I see the horse who runs swiftly being hunted and eaten."

"Yùmuyési

yùmuyá-si

human-ERG.PL

pùtolúfarea

pùta-lu-fa-ri-a

find_one's_way-EVID-NEG-IV.ABS-3.ERG

gearùmá

geari-ù=má

what-OBL=by

tátólurea

tátá-lu-ri-a

use-EVID-IV.ABS-3.ERG

dagaupu."

da-gaupu-Ø

2SG-speed-ABS.SG

"Humans have not yet found a way to use your speed."

"Gatunà

gatunà

next_year

ge

ge

but

daidalurea."

daida-lu-ri-a

see-EVID-IV.ABS-3.ERG

"But next year they will know."

"Fà

fà

and_then

tsagi

tsagi

also

yùmuyófu

yùmuyá-fu

human-OBL.PL

gugutûisèsìluká!"

guga-tûi-sèsì-lu-tá

slave-become-MIR-EVID-2.ABS

"Then you too will become a slave of the humans, believe it or not!"

"Yarùpu

yari-ù=ùpu

SUB-OBL=after

reagàrea

rea-gà-ri-a

hear-REP-IV.ABS-3.ERG

giri,

gi-ri-Ø

TOP-IV-ABS

sàre

sàre-Ø

horse-ABS.SG

radeogùgùta

radeogu-gù-ta

run_away-REP-II.ABS

rò

rò

into

tále.

tále-Ø

grassland-ABS.SG

After hearing this, the horse fled into the steppe.

When truth is lost

Fílitùluri mùnduyù mítàmau figautù yarù, itsérìne súsàmùmaurìne yari. Famauní furá burìna, fálai tsa naure dadirea giri:
"Loagù yalùma súsàmùmauritsé. Yarùpu rátàraluri ai figautù, rátàraluri apúpaugûifa, gìmaure fà yeogugíri yari daidalúfùpùrìne."

Interlinear gloss

Fílitùluri

fíli-tûi-lu-ri

hidden-become-EVID-IV.ABS

mùnduyù

mùnduyù

all_around

mítàmau

mítàmau-Ø

world-ABS.SG

figautù

figautù-Ø

truth-ABS.SG

yarù,

yari-ù

SUB-OBL

itsérìne

itsá-Ø-ri-ne

strive-DIR-IV.ABS-1.ERG

súsàmùmaurìne

súsà-mu-Ø-mau-ri-ne

search-TEL-DIR-OPT-IV.ABS-1.ERG

yari.

yari-Ø

SUB-ABS

As truth becomes invisible all around the world, I strive to search for it.

Famauní

fá=mə-ù=ní

every=place-OBL.SG=on

furá

furá

however

burìna,

buri-Ø-na

ask-DIR-1.ABS

fálai

fá=la-ì

every=man-ERG.SG

tsa

tsa

and

naure

nau=re

1SG.OBL=to

dadirea

dadi-Ø-ri-a

say-DIR-IV.ABS-3.ERG

giri:

gi-ri-Ø

TOP-IV-ABS

But I ask everywhere, and everybody tells me:

"Loagù

loagù

towards

yalùma

yalu=mə-Ø

other=place-ABS.SG

súsàmùmauritsé.

súsà-mu-Ø-mau-ri-tsé

search-TEL-DIR-OPT-IV.ABS-2.ERG

"You will want to search in some other direction.

Yarùpu

yari-ù=ùpu

SUB-OBL=at

rátàraluri

rátàri-lu-ri

fade-EVID-IV.ABS

ai

ai

because

figautù,

figautù-Ø

truth-ABS.SG

rátàraluri

rátàri-lu-ri

fade-EVID-IV.ABS

apúpaugûifa,

a-púpau-ù=ifa

3SG-trace-OBL.SG=without

Because when truth is lost, it is lost without a trace,

gìmaure

gi=mə-ù=re

which=place-OBL.SG=to

fà

fà

and_then

yeogugíri

yeogu-Ø-gí-ri

leave-ASS-Q-IV.ABS

yari

yari-Ø

SUB-ABS

daidalúfùpùrìne."

daida-lu-fu-pù-ri-ne

see-EVID-NEG-AFF-IV.ABS-1.ERG

and we cannot know where it has gone."

The wooden dog

Gigatûisèsìrugo tsàbò likésai bàyu turù. Dìnèfarita tsa ngâupurita lípòfùmùrà, gita tsí rìyau galau atsúpú yàgirita. Fígoagurìya fà gìralugòfùfala, gì roatsilàri tsa bagasìreagirì tsa fárìreagirì, nifátûi yâi gì nàgù nìmi tsóturì. Dàmauní, bàyu màfùnâibi bágalàyai, rìgàyarugo mìnayo yeràyai gugau akénu kápágì ga yàgèni kâu tsoa dùmàyariri. Sìgìbalúfarea furá fárù yaupú tsa táfâi yarù, tuilurùpùgo tsíri tsógauga nire, dagai akísífuyeogu ngiriutsú dearagurutsôa.

Interlinear gloss

Gigatûisèsìrugo

giga-tûi-sèsì-ri-go

be_alive-become-MIR-SENS-NC1.ABS

tsàbò

tsàbò

again

likésai

likésai-Ø

statue-ABS.SG

bàyu

bàyu

at

turù.

turù-Ø

corner-ABS.SG

The statue in the corner moved again.

Dìnèfarita

dìnèfə-ri-ta

wake_up-SENS-NC2.ABS

tsa

tsa

and

ngâupurita

ngâupu-ri-ta

bark-SENS-NC2.ABS

lìpòfùmùrà,

lìpa-òfù-mùrà-Ø

wood-made_of-dog-ABS.SG,

The wooden dog woke up and barked,

gita

gi-ta

REL-NC2.ABS

tsí

tsí

earlier

rìyau

rìyau

between

galau

galə-ù

child-OBL.SG

atsúpú

a-tsúpo-´

3SG.POSS-arm-ABS.PL

yàgirita.

yàgi-ri-ta

rest-SENS-NC2.ABS

which had rested between the arms of the child before.

Fígoagurìya

fíga-agu-ri-i-a

breathe-away-SENS-NC6.ABS-3.ERG

fà

fà

and_then

gìralugòfùfala,

gìra-lugo-òfù-fala-Ø

big-smoke-made_of-cloud-ABS.SG

Then it exhaled a large cloud made of smoke,

gì

gi-i

REL-NC6.ABS

roatsilàrì

roa-tsilə`-ri-i

drift-ITER-SENS-NC6.ABS

tsa

tsa

and

bagasìreagirì

bagasə-reaya-ri-i

split-DETR-SENS-NC6.ABS

tsa

tsa

and

fárìreagirì,

fárə-reaya-ri-i

gather-DETR-SENS-NC6.ABS,

which whirled and divided and reassembled,

nifátûi

nifá-tûi-i

fog-become-PTCP

yâi

yâi

finally

gì

gi-i

REL-NC6.ABS

nàgù

nàgù

next_to

nìmi

nìmi-Ø

wall-ABS.SG

tsóturì.

tsótu-ri-i

settle-SENS-NC6.ABS

eventually forming a maze that settled right beside the wall.

Dàmauní,

damə-ù=ní

that_place-OBL.SG=on,

bàyu

bàyu

at

màfùnâibi

màfu-nâibi-Ø

broad-platform-ABS.SG

bágalàyai,

bága-làye-i

snow-be_under-PTCP,

There, on a wide platform covered with snow,

rìgàyarugo

rìgàye-ri-go

stand-SENS-NC1.ABS

mìnayo

mìnayo-Ø

lady-ABS.SG

yeràyai

yerə-ayV-i

venerable-STAT-PTCP

stood a venerable lady

gugau

gi-gau

REL-NC1.OBL

akénu

a-kénu-Ø

3SG.POSS-face-ABS.SG

kápágì

kápágè-i

mock-PTCP

ga

ga

but

yàgèni

yàgène-i

seduce-PTCP

kâu

kâu

like

tsoa

tsoa-Ø

peach-ABS.SG

dùmàyariri.

dùmə-ayV-ri-ri

red-STAT-SENS-NC4.ABS

whose mocking yet enchanting face was rosy like a peach.

Sìgìbalúfarea

sìgìba-lu-fə-ri-a

consider-EVID-NEG-NC4.ABS-3.ERG

furá

furá

however

fárù

fá-rù

all-NC4.OBL

yaupú

yaupu-´

ritual-ABS.PL

tsa

tsa

and

táfâi

táfai-´

distance-ABS.PL

yarù,

yari-ù

SUB-OBL,

Ignoring, however, all rituals and etiquette,

tuilurùpùgo

tuilu-ri-pù-go

smile-SENS-AFF-NC1.ABS

tsíri

tsíri

instead

tsógauga

tsé-gau=a

MED-NC1.OBL=for

nire,

nire

unexpectedly

instead unexpectedly smiling towards him,

dagai

da-gai

PROX-NC1.ERG

akísífuyeogu

a-kísí-fu=yeogu

3SG.POSS-cheek-OBL.PL=from

ngiriutsú

ngiriutsú

fine_cloth-ABS.SG

dearagurutsôa.

deari-agu-ri-tsú-a

put-away-SENS-NC5.ABS-3.ERG

she lifted the veil from her face.

---

(This text was written on Dec 29, 2010 as part of Conlang Relay 18. Translated from Sean Anderson's West Germanic {broken link → partial backup}.)

Proverbs

Difé

difé-Ø

water-ABS.SG

gì

gi-i-Ø

REL-VI-ABS.SG

débutérì

débu-tá-ri-i

ebb-DYN.3-SENS-VI

fanêagá

fá=nêa-´

all=boat-ABS.PL

yàgupuretêa.

yàgupu-ri-eatá-a

suck-SENS-III.ABS-3.ERG

The ebbing tide pulls at all the boats.

(Changes in circumstances affect everybody.)

Gùmùtuge

gùmu-ù=tuge

city-OBL.SG=LOC

lósàreayàgêatá

lósa-reaya-gù-eatá

trade-PASS-REP-III.ABS

lìtseayàsôagá,

lìtsi=àyà=sôa-´

many=splendid=goods-ABS.PL

dufoayui

dufoayo-ì

fisherman-ERG.SG

furá

however

however

yèsí

yèsa-´

food-ABS.PL

sápalùpùrea.

sápa-lu-pù-ri-a

bring-EVID-AFF-IV.ABS-3.ERG

Fancy things may be traded in the city, but it is the fisherman who brings in the food supply.

(Keep to that which you're sure you can rely on.)

Kôató

kôato-´

celebration-ABS.PL

sápalurea

sápa-lu-ri-a

bring-EVID-IV.ABS-3.ERG

fanùyèmisi:

fá=nùyèmi-si

all=guest-ERG.PL

íyesàmulugo

íyesə-mu-lu-go

come-TEL-EVID-I.ABS

yarù

yari-ù

SUB-OBL

tupugau

tupi-go-ù

some-I-OBL

dogá,

da-go-´

PROX-I-ABS.PL

yalugau

yalu-go-ù

other-I-OBL

furá

furá

however

yeogùmulugo

yeogu-mu-lu-go

leave-TEL-EVID-I.ABS

yarù.

yari-ù

SUB-OBL

All guests bring joy: some of them when they arrive, others when they leave.

Lexicon

• Doayâu lexicon