When
the preceding statement is in negative, in the following
tag question part the negative will not appear and the string
used in such instance is |
h la
peya
quo.
tag. |
|
n
adima hla
peya? |
|
you come-neg. quo. tag. |
| ‘you are not coming, are
you’ |
|
|
|
|
|
| m ima
hla
peya? |
|
he go-neg. quo. tag |
| ‘he didn’t go, did he’ |
|
|
|
We
have already seen the yes/no questions. When they are answered
either in negative or affirmative, an indicative (statement)
follows it as in the following : |
| m
oho do ha? |
|
he tall exist quo. |
| ‘is he tall/’ |
|
|
| |
|
|
 ,
m oho
do. |
|
yes he tall exists |
| ‘yes, he is tall’ |
|
|
| |
|
|
| ma, m
oho ma. |
|
no he tall neg. |
| ‘is he not tall’ |
|
|
| |
|
|
m
oho ma ha? |
|
he tall neg. quo |
| ‘is he not tall’ |
|
|
| |
|
|
,
n oho
ma. |
|
yes, he tall neg. |
| ‘yes, he is not tall’ |
|
|
| |
|
|
| ma, m
oho do. |
|
neg. he tall exist |
| ‘no, he is tall’ |
|
|
| |
|
|
| so aki du ha? |
|
here dog exist que. |
| ‘is the dog here’ |
|
|
| |
|
|
| nyima, so aki nyima |
|
neg. here dog neg. |
| ‘no, there is no dog here’ |
|
|
| |
|
|
| hla
ha |
|
quo. que. |
| ‘is it like that’ |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
hla |
|
yes quo. |
| ‘yes, it is’ |
|
|
|
Negation:
Negative sentences are formed using either the negative
verb ‘ma’ or ‘nyima’. The selection
of them is decided by the verb occurring with it. NP-NP
sentences are negated by adding ‘ma’ at the
end of the sentence whereas existential sentences are negated
using ‘nyima’. |
| ika
nym
sika
aji
ma. |
|
that lady
det. my friend neg. |
| ‘that lady is not my friend’ |
|
|
|
|
|
| insi alyi ma. |
|
this pig neg. |
| ‘this is not a pig’ |
|
|
|
|
|
| m
aya ma. |
|
he good neg. |
| ‘he is not good’ |
|
|
|
|
|
| m
aya mane. |
|
he good no-p.t. |
| ‘he was not good’ |
|
|
|
|
|
| alyi at
ma. |
|
pig small neg. |
| ‘pig is not small’ |
|
|
|
|
|
| more ho kle
nyima. |
|
forest loc. river neg. |
| ‘there are no rivers in
the forest’ |
|
|
|
|
|
| mk
aki nyma. |
|
he pos. dog neg. |
| ‘he has no dog’ |
|
|
|
