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Tangoa language
Tangoa, or Leon Tatagoa, is an Oceanic language[2][3] or dialect[4] spoken on Tangoa Island, south of Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu. The community was an early settlement for Christian missionaries, leading to its use as a lingua franca in the area; it has largely displaced the moribund Araki language spoken on Araki Island.[5] NameThe name Tangoa is an endonym. In neighboring Araki, it is known as R̄ango.[6] ClassificationTangoa is generally described as a language,[2][3] but also as a dialect of the proposed, lexicostastically defined Southwest Santo language along with Araki, Akei, and Wailapa.[7][4] GrammarNounsA verb or adjective may be used as a noun without change to its form (e.g. la lo reti "they are speaking", noku reti "my speech"), although a verbal noun may be formed by the suffixes a or ia (e.g. mo rozo "he is sick", rozoa "sickness").[8]: 357–58 When prefixed to an adjective, the word cina (a shortening of cinau "thing") forms an abstract noun (e.g. rucu "good", cina rucu "goodness").[8]: 358 Agent nouns are formed using the word tamloci "person", with a (either full or partial) reduplicated verb or adjective (e.g. tamloci sasati "sinner").[8]: 358 Demonyms are formed by the word ta, or mara in the plural (e.g. ta Ethiopia "Ethiopian"). For women, cara is used, with no special plural form (e.g. cara Sameria "woman of Samaria).[8]: 358 Nouns do not have number, although the context may show number in a verbal phrase, or the adjective matuva may be used before or after the noun (e.g. matuva cinau "many things").[8]: 358 Tangoa appears to mostly lack grammatical gender, but some nouns denoting relationships are of common gender and use the prefix ve to indicate feminine sex (e.g. natuna "his child", venatuna "his daughter").[8]: 358 Reduplication of the noun intensifies its meaning (e.g. buti "hill", butibuti "mountain").[8]: 358 PronounsThe following table contains Tangoa's personal pronouns.[8]: 359
The pronouns also occur in shortened forms,[8]: 359 used around or affixed to a verb to indicate its subject and object.[8]: 364
Tangoa has a clusivity distinction, a grammatical difference between inclusive and exclusive first person pronouns. The inclusive form is used when including the addressee, whereas the exclusive form excludes them.[8]: 359 A dual or trial pronoun may be formed with rua or tolu following the pronoun (e.g. enra rua "we two", kanim tolu "you three").[8]: 359 The word case "self, by one's self, alone, only" functions as an intensive or reflexive pronoun (e.g. i casena vili te? "will he kill himself?", la casera thano "they went away alone", egko casem "you only").[8]: 359 The particles sei "this, these" and atu "that, those" are demonstrative pronouns, and may either be used independently or follow a noun or pronoun (e.g. cinau sei "this thing"). These may be combined with the word cari (of unclear meaning), with the common forms carici "this" and caratu "that", although cari sei is apparently only used when referring to people (e.g. na uli carici "I write this"). Nacai "this" and natu "that" are also found (e.g. enau nacai "this is I").[8]: 360 Interrogative pronouns include care "who?", sa "what?", sansei "what is this?", and se "which?". Indefinite pronouns include te "some, any", te cinau "something", sobo tea "none", nakomo "a few, a little", tari "all", matuvana "many", catecateaci "each", tinabua "another, something else". Tuatua "some, a part of", takes a pronominal suffix (e.g. tuatuanim "some of you").[8]: 360 PossessionTangoa has short forms of its pronouns, suffixed to a noun to indicate possession (e.g. tanaku "my father", natana "his eye").[8]: 359
VerbsA noun or an adjective may be used as a verb (e.g. rai "blood", mo rai "it bleeds").[8]: 363 Compound verbs are common (e.g. rogovosaci "to understand", literally "hear know").[8]: 364 There are no rules for the formation of a transitive from an intransitive verb; many verbs can be used with either connotation (e.g. mo calu "he deceives", mo calura "he deceives them". However, in some verbs the final -i resembles a transitive suffix (e.g. lavi "to give"), although many verbs end in an -i that does not appear essential to the meaning (e.g. thai or tha "to do, make", sipai or sipa "to inherit").[8]: 363 Shortened forms of the subject pronouns are used in combination with a verb; these forms differ in the indicative and subjunctive moods (the table below shows the indicative forms), and in some cases are followed by a particle. Some examples of usage include ko oboiau "you love me" and mo verea "he told him".[8]: 364
In the third person singular, the verbal particle mo is used instead of a pronoun. This particle is not used with the other pronouns.[8]: 364 When the subject is a noun, it is usually followed by one of these pronouns (e.g. nona vorai la verea "his brothers (they) told him", carai atu mo verea "that woman said to him").[8]: 365 To form the future tense, the particle pa (po after ko) follows the pronoun. I is also used instead of mo; the other pronouns also have forms for the future tense but their use is inconsistent. See the table below (these pronouns are also supposedly used for the imperative and subjunctive):[8]: 365
Note that pa does not follow ila, and pa is not always used for the future (e.g. la pa lo cacau "while they were walking"). Aspect and moodThe suffix -si may indicate reflexivity or reciprocity (e.g. mo cati "he bites", mo cazia (katsia) "he bites himself, it pains him").[8]: 363 An alternative way to express reciprocity is by the verb's subject and object being identical, or with the word case (see above).[8]: 364 Another suffix -ci is of unclear meaning (e.g. thaisatici "to hurt", from thai "to do" and sati "bad").[8]: 363 The imperative mood is shown by the pronouns o (for a singular referent) or ca (for a plural referent) preceding the verb (e.g. o nai! "come!"). Sobo follows the pronoun in the negative (e.g. o sobo natacu! "fear not!").[8]: 366 The particle le (sometimes la or lo) indicates the continuous aspect (e.g. na le reti "I am talking").[8]: 365 The verb moiso "to finish" indicates completion of an action and is placed after the verbal phrase la usia moiso "they had finished praying".[8]: 365 To negate the verb, the word sobo is placed after the pronoun (e.g. ca sobo natacu "fear not").[8]: 365 Other verbal constructionsThe verb thai (or its short form tha) "to do, make" is used as a causative. The former form thai may be followed by a subjunctive phrase, but either form may be prefixed to the verb (e.g. cani "to eat", thacani "to feed").[8]: 364 The word vari preceding the verb emphasizes it (e.g. boi la vari cati "pigs naturally bite"). Verbs can be reduplicated to express the frequency of an action, and this is used especially with a plural subject (e.g. la case vereverera "they say among themselves").[8]: 364 The verb eri expresses ability or inability (e.g. mo sobo eri cite "he could not see", or alternatively the adjective suica is used). The verb rocu indicates unwillingness, whereas nasalo indicates a wish.[8]: 366 There is no copula, although the verb toco is used to mean "to exist" or "to be in" (e.g. tea mo sobo lo toco cinia "no-one was in it").[8]: 366 AdjectivesAdjectives follow their noun (e.g. tamloci vuso "blind man").[8]: 362 Certain adjectives are formed by combining a verb with the prefix na (e.g. rari "to tear, break", narari "broken"). The suffix ca, added to verbs and adjectives, seems to give an abstract meaning (e.g. mo rai "it bleeds", mo raiica "it is rusty"). Many adjectives appear to be reduplicated (e.g. nalonalo "naked", calucalu "false").[8]: 362 In comparisons, two positive statements are used. The preposition cin (variously meaning "of", "from", etc) may be used for "than" (e.g. carici mo rucu cin caratu "this is better than that". Superlatives are indicated by zea "very", mo lui "to pass", or mo thano "to go" (e.g. mo rucu rucu thano "it is the best").[8]: 362–63 AdverbsThe verbs thano "to go", nai "to come" and sace can be combined with other verbs to become directive adverbs meaning respectively "forth", "hither" and "up" (e.g. la alia thano "they carried him forth").[8]: 367 Interrogative adverbs include e "where?" (e.g. enia e "where is he?", ka taua e "you have laid him where?"), tamaci "how?" (a verb, e.g. ko vosaci tamaciau "how do you know me?", literally "you know how me?"), vara sa "why?" (e.g. ka nai vara sa "why have you come?"), and nata sa "for what, why" (e.g. ko sora isana nata sa "why do you talk with her?").[8]: 367 Adverbs of time include nake, nakerikerici "now, today", tebog "sometime, anytime, when", na bogi atu "at that time, then, when", tabuna "formerly", nanovi "yesterday", mo si nai nake "until now", na bog tari, thacatari, zezeu "always", na rani "by day", na bogi "by night", thacatea "at once, immediately", na bog nakomona "a little while", peravu "a long time" (from the verb "to continue"), mo rani "day break" (literally "it days"), mo ranina "the next day", mo rani palakavi "early in the morning", vuco, pavuco "tomorrow", ralavuco "early", na bog catecateaci "each day, every day", mo raviravi, na raviravi "in the evening", vutebog "at night", cinau atu moiso "after that", tuai "long ago, of old". Examples of usage include i pa sobo narocu tui "he shall never thirst".[8]: 367 Adverbs of place include nike, nacai "here", ea "there", zara atu "that place, where", mo nariviti "near", asau "far", na nipu "to the sea, seaward", na tarauta "to the land, landward", na vavasau "toward shore", nareu "on shore", na vuga tasi "on the sea", na tathalu nipu "over, beyond the sea". Examples of usage include o nai nike "you come here", wai matuvana ea "much water (was) there", la cite zara atu mo lo toco ea "they saw the place where he lay there".[8]: 367 Adverbs of manner include socena "thus", vila "quickly", vereverera "openly", tatacoloia "plainly", and roro "secretly".[8]: 367 Io and ece mean "yes" and "no" respectively. Sobo can also mean "no" or "not".[8]: 367 Sentence structureInterrogative clauses are shown by interrogative pronouns or adverbs, or by the particle te at the end of the sentence (e.g. ko ta Tagoa te? "are you a man of Tangoa?").[8]: 366 Dependent clauses are shown by the word vara introducing the clause and the future forms of the pronouns (e.g. mo usia vara i siwo "he asked him to come down").[8]: 366 Conditionality is shown by the juxtaposition of two statements (e.g. mo zuruvi, i zuria "(if) he sleep, he shall be well"); there is no equivalent of the English "if".[8]: 366 References
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