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Topic 23. Demonstratives: This & That
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76 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING CIYAWO TOPIC 23 The terms This and That are commonly referred to as demonstratives in linguistic terms. In our lessons on Ciyawo we refer to them often as pointer words, for obvious reasons. Although these seem pretty simple as a concept, there are actually over 100 ways to say This and That in Ciyawo. We can assure you, demonstratives are one thing that the Yawo do not take lightly! Bear with us as this section has some monstrous tables. However, as you proceed, you cannot avoid noticing a pattern in the demonstratives. So look for it and use it to your advantage. Every noun class has its own form of demonstrative. This bird = Cijuni celeci looks quite different from This man = Mundu jweleju. In these two demonstratives, the stem ele, is the same, however the prefixes and suffixes are different. This is because these are determined by the noun class of the thing which is being pointed to. This and These: Long Version It is important to remember that, as in English, there are also different forms of demonstratives in Ciyawo for singular and plural nouns. For example we use This to talk of one thing and These to talk of two or more things. We also use different demonstratives according to the proximity of a thing or things. The first demonstratives we will examine, This and These, are used when speaking of a thing or things or a person or people near the speaker. For example, this pen of mine and these pens of mine. In Ciyawo there are also several possible versions for the same demonstrative idea. Some are short others are long. We will begin with the long version. To form the demonstrative This and These we begin the formula with a Class Marker, CM. This is followed by the stem ele, which is joined to another Class Marker, CM from the same class. CM + ele + CM = Ju + ele + ju = Jweleju = This person This and These: Long Version Demonstratives: This & That 77 In the chart below we have combined the first long version of This and These with its corresponding short version. The short version is commonly used and has the same meaning. The short version is formed by prefixing a Class Marker, CM, with the letter ‘A’, as can be seen in the chart below. This or These: Long Version &YBNQMFT .VTJXFMFXV 5IJTWJMMBHF .JTJKFMFKJ 5IFTFWJMMBHFT -JKPLBMZFMFMJ 5IJTTOBLF .BKPLBHFMFHB 5IFTFTOBLFT $JKVOJDFMFDJ 5IJTCJSE Notice the sound change that takes place above (JU + E = JWE). Keep your wits about you for other sound changes! Notice most sound changes occur when the Class Marker, CM, hits the ‘E’ of ele. The ‘E’ sound of ele remains constant. Here are some of the sound changes: li + ele + li = lyeleli = this si + ele + si = syelesi = these mu + ele + mu = mwelemu = this $MBTT .BSLFS 5IJT 5IJT 5IFTF 5IFTF +VoŋB KXFMFKV BKV ƌFMFƌB BƌB 8Vo+J XFMFXV BXV KFMFKJ BKJ -Jo(B MZFMFMJ BMJ HFMFHB BHB $Jo:J DFMFDJ BDJ ZFMFZJ BZJ +Jo4J KFMFKJ BKJ TZFMFTJ BTJ -Vo4J MXFMFMV BMV TZFMFTJ BTJ ,Bo5V LFMFLB BLB UXFMFUV BUV ,V LXFMFLV BLV .V NXFMFNV BNV 1B QFMFQB BQB -POH 4JOHVMBS 4IPSU 4JOHMVBS -POH 1MVSBM 4IPSU 1MVSBM TOPIC 23: DEMONSTRATIVES: THIS AND THAT [54.225.35.224] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:57 GMT) 78 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING CIYAWO &YBNQMF4FOUFODFT /HVUFMFLBVHBMJXFMFXV *BNDPPLJOHUIJTVHBMJ .LXBXVMBOJȁFMFȁB :PVBSFHPJOHXJUIUIJTQFSTPO "LVDBQBZBLVXBMBZFMFZJ 4IFJTXBTIJOHUIFTFDMPUIFT 5VLVQVNVMBQBNCVMJMJQFMFQB 8FBSFSFTUJOHJOUIJTTIBEF $JKVOJDJLVMZBNCFKVTZFMFTJ 5IFCJSEJTFBUJOHUIFTFTFFET This and These: Here By now you must be getting a clearer picture about how much the Yawo love This and That. This particular variation gives an additional emphasis of location, meaning This or These right here. Check it out. Looking at the formula we begin with ‘A’. This is followed by a Class Marker, CM, which is joined to the stem -no. This and These: Here In the example sentences directly above it is also possible to get the same demonstrative idea by using a much shorter form. This is achieved by dropping the first Class Marker, CM, and the stem ele, leaving only the final Class Marker, CM. This is then suffixed to the noun...