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--- en:grammar:verb_phrases [2022-11-14 21:52] – w -> v, wanita -> ona, "kamu" exists now christian
+++ en:grammar:verb_phrases [2023-02-02 12:35] (current) – [The copula] Add rationale christian
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 However, the absence of a tense marker does not necessarily indicate that the present tense is intended. If the context suggests another time, the tense markers may likewise be omitted. For example, [[adverbs]] and [[expressions#time expressions|time expression]] can explain more precisely when an act takes place. In such cases, there is no need to include a tense marker as well, hence it is usually omitted.
-**Safirja tiba baru.** – A/The traveler has just arrived.\\
+**Safirja baru tiba.** – A/The traveler has just arrived.\\
-**Ya lai kvai.** – He/She is about to come. / He/She will come soon.\\
+**Ya kvai lai.** – He/She is about to come. / He/She will come soon.\\
-**Ya mai ruma nyen laste.** – Last year he/she bought a house.\\
+**Ya nyen laste mai ruma.** – Last year he/she bought a house.\\
-**Le go a Paris den tali.** – Tomorrow they will go to Paris.\\
+**Le den tali go a Paris.** – Tomorrow they will go to Paris.\\
-**Ona soma buku si tem .** – The woman is now reading a book.
+**Ona si tem soma buku.** – The woman is now reading a book.
-If you want, you can include the matching tense marker in such cases too – that's not wrong, just a bit verbose. Adverbs are usually placed at the end of the verb phrase; time expressions are often placed in the same position or somewhere later in the clause (say, after the object, or at the very end).
+If you want, you can include the matching tense marker in such cases too – that's not wrong, just a bit verbose. Adverbs expressing time are most typically placed between subject and verb phrase, which means that the tense marker will be placed after them, as in the first example that follows. But you can also place time adverbs elsewhere in the clause, e.g. at its end, as in the second example.
-**Ya ga lai kvai.** – He/She is about to come. / He/She will come soon.\\
+**Ya kvai ga lai.** – He/She is about to come. / He/She will come soon.\\
 **Ya li mai ruma nyen laste.** – Last year he/she bought a house.\\
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 As an alternative to **ba**, adverbs such as **rubama** 'perhaps, maybe' may be used to express the speaker's attitude.
-**Ya lai rubama den tali.** – Perhaps he/she will come tomorrow. //(I do not really know whether they will come, but I consider it possible)//
+**Ya rubama den tali lai.** – Perhaps he/she will come tomorrow. //(I do not really know whether they will come, but I consider it possible)//
 **Li ba**, the combination of the past tense marker **li** with **ba**, is used for things that can no longer become true, also known as "counterfactuals". It often corresponds to 'would have' in English.
@@ Line 64: / Line 64: @@
 **Du nulis!** – Write! //(talking to one or several persons)//\\
-**Du fa safi kamar ti!** – Clean up your room! //(talking to a single person, as the possessive pronoun makes clear)//\\
+**Du fa safi tis kamar!** – Clean up your room! //(talking to a single person, as the possessive pronoun makes clear)//\\
-**Du fa safi kamar tum!** – Clean up your room! //(talking to several persons)//
+**Du fa safi tumi kamar!** – Clean up your room! //(talking to several persons)//
 But it's not wrong to include the pronoun, if you want to – occasionally it may be useful to make it clearer whether just one person or rather a group of persons is the intended recipient.
-**Ti du fa safi kamar ya!** – Clean up her/his room! //(explicitly talking to a single person)//\\
+**Ti du fa safi yas kamar!** – Clean up her/his room! //(explicitly talking to a single person)//\\
-**Tum du fa safi kamar ya!** – Clean up her/his room! //(explicitly talking to several persons)//
+**Tum du fa safi yas kamar!** – Clean up her/his room! //(explicitly talking to several persons)//
 When addressing another group of persons, a pronoun or noun phrase identifying them must be used in the usual way. Most typically that's the case when addressing a group that includes the speaker themselves.
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 ===== The copula =====
-The copula **xi** – translated as a form of 'be' in this context – connects a noun phrase with an adjective or noun phrase that describes it. If a adjective follows, it can be and often is omitted, but if a noun phrase follows, it should always be used. Note that the expression that follows **xi** is considered a //complement// rather than an object, therefore it never takes the object marker **o**.
+The copula **xi** – translated as a form of 'be' in this context – connects a noun phrase with an adjective or noun phrase that describes it. If a adjective follows, it can be and often is omitted, but if a noun phrase or a prepositional phrase follows, it should always be used. Note that an adjective or noun phrase that follows **xi** is considered a //complement// rather than an object, therefore it never takes the object marker **o**.
+So if an adjective follows, **xi** is typically omitted:
 **Ti (xi) ingi dulse.** – You're really sweet.\\
 **Uma (xi) bai.** – The horse is white.\\
 **Ya (xi) mardi den laste .** – Yesterday he/she was ill.\\
-**Ya xi baba hau.** – 'He's a good father.'\\
-**Ta ona xi [actor] maxuhur.** – That woman is a famous actress.
+Note that, if a a time expression (or another expression including a noun or a preposition) is placed after the subject, **xi** should always be used, to prevent possible confusion:
+**Ya den laste xi mardi.** – Yesterday he/she was ill.\\
+**Xi** it always used before a noun or preposition:
+**Ya xi baba hau.** – He's a good father.\\
+**Ta ona xi [actor] maxuhur.** – That woman is a famous actress.\\
+**Le xi ni ruma.** – They're at home / They're in the house.\\
+**Mi xi de Barat.** – I'm from India. //(I was born there or usually live there)//
 The negated form of the copula is just **no** – **xi** is never used in this case.
@@ Line 200: / Line 211: @@
 **Uma gran xi lela.**
+//Rationale:// That the copula is required before noun phrases and locative phrases, but (typically) omitted before adjectives, follows the typical patterns in the majority of all languages (WALS 120) and specifically in creoles (APiCS 73–75).
 ===== Other verbs with a complement =====
-Several other verbs are likewise commonly followed by a complement: an adjective or noun that complements their meaning. Such complements immediately follow the verb, and they may be followed by an object or a prepositional phrase. While the object marker **o** is usually optional, after a complement it //must// be used, since otherwise there might be some confusion about where the complement ends and the object starts. If a verb with a complement also takes an object, the complement refers to the object, otherwise it refers to the subject.
+XXX Maybe call these "copulas" as well and use a term such as "standard copula" when referring to **xi**?
+Several other verbs are likewise commonly followed by a complement: an adjective or noun that complements their meaning. Such complements immediately follow the verb, and they may be followed by an object or a prepositional phrase. While the object marker **o** is usually optional, after a complement it //must// be used, since otherwise there might be some confusion about where the complement ends and the object starts. If a verb with a complement also takes an object, the complement refers to the object, otherwise it refers to the subject. These include, but aren't limited to:
   * **ban** – become
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 **Mi ga ban (president).** – I will become president.\\
 **Le ga fa (president) o mi.**– They will make me president.\\
-**Mi si den sente glupi glupi.** – I feel very stupid today.
+**Mi si den sente glupi glupi.** – I feel very stupid today.\\
+**On li pentoda lal o ruma.** – They have painted the house red.
-XXX Give some more examples – of the verbs listed here, **fa** and **xyende** can take a direct object (introduced by **o**)?
 Determiners referring to the complement are placed before it, as usual. Adverbs referring to the verb phrase are usually placed at the end of the verb phrase, i.e., after the complement.
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 ===== Subjectless verbs =====
-A few verbs have a special meaning when used without a subject.
+When used without a subject, **ha** means 'there is, there are'.
-Subjectless **ha** means 'there is, there are'.
 **Ha ona ni dor.** – There is a woman at the door.
-Subjectless **xi** is used to describe the weather. In such expressions, it often corresponds to English 'it's / it is'.
+Generally a subjectless verb is used in cases there where is no actual entity that could be used as subject. English typically uses a generic 'it' in such cases.
+**Xyende to ya no lai si den.** – It seems he/she won't come today.\\
+**Xi sedi to nas no bisa go ta ples.** – It's sad we can't do there.
+Often, subject **xi** followed by a verb or adjective refers to the weather.
+**Xi garam garam si den.** – It's very hot today.\\
+**Xi ren den tali.** – It'll rain tomorrow.
+While **xi** between a subject and an adjective is often omitted, when there is no subject, it's better to include it for clarity.
-**Xi garam garam si den.** – It's very hot today.
+//Rationale:// There is no info on this in WALS, but according to APiCS, most pidgins and creoles don't use an "expletive" subject (i.e. a subject that doesn't really refer to anything) in existential verb constructions corresponding to English 'there is'. We follow this usage, choosing a widely used pattern to express 'there is/are'. For consistency, we treat other expressions where the subject would be expletive the same way.
 ===== Negation =====