Mapuche Language - Grammar

Grammar

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  • The basic word order of Mapudungun is subject-verb-object.
  • Nouns in Mapudungun are grouped in two classes, animate and inanimate. This is e.g. reflected in the use of pu as a plural indicator for animate nouns and yuka as the plural for inanimate nouns. Chi (or ti) can be used as a definite animate article as in chi wentru 'the man' and chi pu wentru for 'the men'. The number kiñe 'one' serves as an indefinite article. subjects and objects are in the same case.
  • The personal pronouns distinguish three persons and three numbers; they are as follows: iñche 'I', iñchiw 'we (2)', iñchiñ 'we (more than 2)'; eymi 'you', eymu 'you (2)', eymün 'you (more than 2)'; fey 'he/she/it', feyengu 'they (2)', feyengün 'they (more than 2)'.
  • Possessive pronouns are related to the personal forms: ñi 'my; his, her; their', yu 'our (2)', iñ 'our (more than 2)'; mi 'your', mu 'your (2)', mün 'your (more than 2)'. They are often found with a particle ta that does not seem to add anything specific to the meaning, e.g. tami 'your'.
  • Interrogative pronouns include iney 'who', chem 'what', chumül 'when', chew 'where', chum(ngechi) 'how' and chumngelu 'why'.
  • Numbers from 1 to 10 are as follows: 1 kiñe, 2 epu, 3 küla, 4 meli, 5 kechu, 6 kayu, 7 regle, 8 pura, 9 aylla, 10 mari; 20 epu mari, 30 küla mari, 110 (kiñe) pataka mari. Numbers are extremely regular in formation, comparable to Chinese and Wolof, or to constructed languages such as Esperanto.
  • Verbs can be finite or non-finite (non-finite endings: -n, -el, -etew, -lu, -am, etc.), are intransitive or transitive and are conjugated according to person (first, second and third), number (singular, dual and plural), voice (active, agentless passive and reflexive-reciprocal, plus two applicatives) and mood (indicative, imperative and subjunctive). In the indicative, the present (zero) and future (-(y)a) tenses are distinguished. There are a number of aspects: the progressive, resultative and habitual are well established; some forms that seem to mark some subtype of perfect are also found. Other verb morphology includes an evidential marker (reportative-mirative), directionals (cislocative, translocative, andative and ambulative, plus an interruptive and continuous action marker) and modal markers (sudden action, faked action, immediate action, etc.). There is productive noun incorporation, and the case can be made for root compounding morphology.

The indicative present paradigm for an intransitive verb like konün 'enter' is as follows:

Number
Singular Dual Plural
Person First konün

(< kon-n)

 koniyu

(< kon-i-i-u)

 koniyiñ

(< kon-i-i-n)
Second konimi

(< kon-i-m-i)

 konimu

(< kon-i-m-u)

 konimün

(< kon-i-m-n)
Third koni

(< kon-i-0-0)

 koningu

(< kon-i-ng-u)

 koningün

(< kon-i-ng-n)

What some authors have described as an inverse system (similar to the ones described for Algonquian languages) can be seen from the forms of a transitive verb like pen 'see'. The 'intransitive' forms are the following:

Number
Singular Dual Plural
Person First pen

(< pe-n)

 peyu

(< pe-i-i-u)

 peiñ

(< pe-i-i-n)
Second peymi

(< pe-i-m-i)

 peymu

(< pe-i-m-u)

 peymün

(< pe-i-m-n)
Third pey

(< pe-i-0-0)

 peyngu

(< pe-i-ng-u)

 peyngün

(< pe-i-ng-n)

The 'transitive' forms are the following (only singular forms are provided here):

Agent
First Second Third
Patient First pewün

(< pe-w-n)

 peen

(< pe-e-n)

 peenew

(< pe-e-n-mew)
Second peeyu

(< pe-e-i-u)

 pewimu

(< pe-w-i-m-u)

 peeymew

(< pe-e-i-m-i-mew)
Third pefiñ

(< pe-fi-n)

 pefimi

(< pe-fi-i-m-i)

 DIR pefi / INV peeyew / REFL pewi

(< pe-fi-i-0-0 / pe-e-i-0-0-mew / pe-w-i-0-0)

When a third peson interacts with a first or second person, the forms are either direct (without -e) or inverse (with -e) and the speaker has no choice. When two third persons interact, two different forms are available: the direct form (pefi) is appropriate when the agent is topical (i.e., the central figure in that particular passage). The inverse form (peenew) is appropriate when the patient is topical. Thus, chi wentru pefi chi domo means 'the man saw the woman' while chi wentru peeyew chi domo means something like 'the man was seen by the woman'; note, however, that it is not a passive construction; the passive would be chi wentru pengey 'the man was seen; someone saw the man'.

Read more about this topic:  Mapuche Language

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