Komi Lessons / Komi Kyv Urokjas - Lesson 5

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brandrinn
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[quote="Nortaneous"]Is South Africa better off now than it was a few decades ago?[/quote]

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Mecislau
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Sorry, I have things to do too and these take time to write up!




Lesson Five: Comparison, the Present Tense Conjugation of Verbs, and the Illative Case
Витӧд Урок: Ӧткодялан тшупӧдъяс, ӧнія када кадакывлӧн вежласьӧм, пыран падеж
Vitöd Urok: Ötkoďalan tšupödjas, önija kada kadakyvlön vežlaśöm, pyran paďež



Alright, let's start with adjectives. As in English, there are three levels of comparison - base, comparative, and superlative.

The Comparative is formed by attaching -джык -džyk to the end of the adjective:
бур bur "good" > бурджык burdžyk "better"
лёк l'ok "bad" > лёкджык l'okdžyk "worse"
кузь kuź "long" > кузьджык kuźdžyk "longer"

The superlative is a bit more interesting. It is formed with the "prefix" мед- med-:
медбур medbur "best"
медлёк medl'ok "worst"
медкузь medkuź "longest"

I say "prefix" (in quotes) because it actually can be separated from the adjective, most commonly by an adverb of some sort:
Тайӧ туйыс мед на кузь. Tajö tujys med na kuź. "This road is still the longest" (на na = "still")
(equivalent to Тайӧ туйыс медкузь на Tajö tujys medkuź na)

Finally, the superlative can also be marked with the always separate word медся medśa placed before the adjective:
медся бур medśa bur "best"
медся лёк medśa l'ok "worst"
медся кузь medśa kuź "longest"

The object of comparison is marked with the ellative case, which will be discussed later.


One theme you will very often see in Komi is that very rarely is any affix limited to only one part of speech. In fact, affixes frequently can be applied to many parts of speech in ways that seem strange from an Indo-European perspective. We'll start with the suffix -ӧсь -öś, which if you remember is used on predicate adjectives with plural antecedents. However, it is also used on predicate locative nouns with plural "antecedents": Айловъясыс пыжынӧсь Ajlovjasys pyžynöś "The men are in a boat" (айлов ajlov "man", пыж pyž "boat"). This is not just adjectivalized, however, as the locative noun can still be singular or plural itself. Thus you have four combinations:
Айловыс пыжын. Ajlovys pyžan. "The man is in a boat"
Айловъясыс пыжынӧсь. Ajlovjasys pyžynöś. "The men are in a boat"
Айловыс пыжъясын. Ajlovys pyžjasyn. "The man is in boats" (nonsensical by itself, but it could work if you wanted to say "He spends his life in boats")
Айловъясыс пыжъясынӧсь. Ajlovjasys pyžjasynöś. "The men are in boats"

(I think I may have forgotten this rule earlier on... if so, sorry)


The infinitive of a Komi verb ends is formed by adding the suffix -ны -ny to the verb root. The roots themselves may end in both vowels and consonants. However, if the root ends in /l/, it will always become /v/ in the infinitive as per the /l/ > /v/ before another consonant or at the end of a word rule. If the root ends in a cluster, the epenthetic vowel ы y is added before the infinitive suffix to prevent a three-consonant cluster.
*mun- "go" > мунны munny "to go"
*giž- "write" > гижны gižny "to write"
*lydď- "read" > лыддьыны lydďyny "to read"
*gögörvo- "understand" > гӧгӧрвоны gögörvony "to understand"
*ol- "live" > овны ovny "to live"

(/j/ as part of a diphthong does not count as a consonant: *raďejt- "love" > радейтны raďejtny "to love"; when after another consonant, it does: *kösj- "want" > кӧсйыны kösjyny "to want")

Komi has four main tenses - present, future, and two evidential past tenses. Verbs conjugate in each to agree in person and number with their subject. Here is the present tense positive conjugation of гижны gižny "write":
ме гижа me giža "I write"
тэ гижан te gižan "you write"
сійӧ гижӧ sijö gižö "he/she/it writes"
ми гижам mi gižam "we write"
ті гижанныд ti gižannyd "you all write"
найӧ гижӧны najö gižöny "they write"

(1Sg -a, 2Sg -an, 3Sg -ö, 1Pl -am, 2Pl -annyd, 3Pl -öny)

Like other Finno-Ugric languages, negation is marked using a specialized negative verb that conjugates to agree with its subject, though using a unique set of endings. The main verb is left with very limited agreement, with only three forms: singular, plural 1Pl/2Pl, and plural 3Pl. The main agreement has been transferred to the negative verb. Again with гижны:
ме ог гиж me og giž "I do not write"
тэ он гиж te on giž "you do not write"
сійӧ оз гиж sijö oz giž "he/she/it does not write"
ми огӧ гижӧй mi ogö gižöj "we do not write"
ті онӧ гижӧй ti onö gižöj "you all do not write"
найӧ оз гижны najö oz gižny "they do not write"

(1Sg og + -0, 2Sg on + -0, 3Sg oz + -0, 1Pl ogö + -öj, 2Pl onö + -öj, 3Pl oz + -ny)

All these endings are completely regular, even for roots that end in a vowel.

As another example of affixes crossing parts of speech, the comparative suffix -джык -džyk may freely be added to conjugated verbs with the meaning "more":
радейтныджык raďejtnydžyk "to love more [than someone else]"
уджавныджык udžavnydžyk "to work harder [than someone else]"

If the comparative is added to the negative verb, it carries the meaning "less":
Ме огджык кӧсъя гижны. Me ogdžyk kösja gižny. "I don't want as much to write"

And as a final note, I want to stress that Komi is not pro-drop. That is, you generally leave pronouns in, even though the verb shows full agreement. The biggest exception is with impersonal verbs like those dealing with the weather, which appear in the 3sg without any pronoun: лымъявны lymjavny "to snow" > лымъялӧ lymjalö "it's snowing".


The Illative Case replaces the preposition "into" and therefore marks motion into something. This applies to any sort of motion into, even in cases were English would use simply "to". It is marked by the suffix in the singular, -ясӧ -jasö in the plural. It answers the question кытчӧ? kyttśö "to where? whither?", while the locative answers кӧні? köni "where?"
школаӧ školaö "to school"
гортӧ gortö "[to] home"


Exercises:
Уджъяс:
Udžjas:


1) Conjugate мунны munny "to go" in the present tense, positive and negative. Include pronouns as well, since Komi is not pro-drop.

2) Conjugate овны ovny "to live" in the present tense, positive and negative. This is a little trickier.

3) Translate the following using the given vocabulary:
  • We are going to a theatre today.
  • I love to read.
  • They do not understand as well. (Use a verbal comparative)
  • She is still the prettiest girl. (give me all three ways)
  • Many people live in cities.
  • You (pl) work in a university.
  • I do not live in Russia, but in the United Kingdom.
  • This year we want to go to Moscow.
  • Our children are going into first grade in the fall. (lit. "first class")
  • You all are arriving home (lit. "into home")
  • Today is a nicer day. (lit. "better")
  • It rains harder there.
(use a verbal comparative)


Vocabulary:
Кыввор:
Kyvvor:

  • арнас arnas "in the fall"
  • воны vony "to arrive"
  • зэрны zerny "rain" (3sg only)
  • класс klass "class"
  • медводдза medvoddźa "first"
  • мича mitśa "pretty"
  • сэні seni "there"
  • таво tavo "this year"
  • талун talun "today"
  • театр teatr "theatre"
  • уджавны udžavny "to work" (*udžal-)
  • университет uńiverśiťet "university"
  • челядь tśel'aď "children" (takes plural agreement despite lacking a plural ending)
  • Ыджыд Британия Ydžyd Britańija "United Kingdom" (literally "Great Britain", but as in Russian this is the standard term
Last edited by Mecislau on Sun Feb 01, 2009 1:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Xephyr
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Post by Xephyr »

brandrinn wrote:Image
It's spelled "more".
Last edited by Xephyr on Sun Feb 01, 2009 7:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
"It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be said, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is.' Rather, the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."
The Gospel of Thomas

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Mecislau
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Post by Mecislau »

---
Last edited by Mecislau on Sun Feb 01, 2009 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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brandrinn
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Post by brandrinn »

Munny:
muna, munan, munö, munam, munannyd, munöny
og mun, on mun, oz mun, ogö munöj, onö munöj, oz munny
Ovny:
ola, olan, olö, olam, olannyd, ovny
og ov, on ov, oz ov, ogö olöj, onö olöj, oz ovny

1) Talun teatrö munam.
2) Gižny rad’eja.
3) Oz gögörvoönydžyk.
4) a) Sijö na medmitśa nyv. b) Sijö med na mitśa nyv. c) Sijö medśa na mitśa nyv.
5) Una mortjas karjasyn olöny. (Una mortjas karjasynöś?)
6) Uńiverśit’etyn udžalannyd.
7) Rosmuyn og ov, a Ydžyd Britańijayn.
8 ) Tavo Möskuaö munny kösjam.
9) Mijan tśel’ad’jas (tśel’ad’? I didn’t understand your explanation) medvoddźa klassö arnas.
10) kerkaö voannyd.
11) Talun burdžyk lun.
12) Seni zerödžyk.

EDIT: d'oh, I forgot the verb in number 9. Munöny.
Last edited by brandrinn on Sun Feb 01, 2009 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
[quote="Nortaneous"]Is South Africa better off now than it was a few decades ago?[/quote]

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Post by Io »

Xephyr wrote:It's spelled "more".
No, it's not. It's spelt 'More, please!'
<King> Ivo, you phrase things in the most comedic manner

[quote="Jal"][quote="jme"]Thats just rude and unneeded.[/quote]That sums up Io, basically. Yet, we all love him.[/quote]

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Mecislau
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Post by Mecislau »

brandrinn wrote:Munny:
muna, munan, munö, munam, munannyd, munöny
og mun, on mun, oz mun, ogö munöj, onö munöj, oz munny
Ovny:
ola, olan, olö, olam, olannyd, ovny
og ov, on ov, oz ov, ogö olöj, onö olöj, oz ovny
I said include pronouns!

All correct, except for the 3pl positive of ovny. It should be олӧны olöny.
brandrinn wrote:1) Talun teatrö munam.
I specifically said Komi is not pro-drop. Do not drop the pronouns.

Talun mi teatrö munam
brandrinn wrote:2) Gižny rad’eja.
The root is *raďejt-.

Me raďejta gižny
brandrinn wrote:3) Oz gögörvoönydžyk.
You attach -džyk to the negative verb, not the main verb.

Najö ozdžyk gögörvoöny.
brandrinn wrote:5) Una mortjas karjasyn olöny. (Una mortjas karjasynöś?)
Sorry, this was my bad. Yes, only use -öś when it's a true predicate locative, that is, after a copula. However, and I forgot to say this, una behaves much like the numerals in that the following noun should appear in the singular, and so the verb takes singular agreement. I'll edit that in.

Besides, the plural of mort is jöz.

Una mort karjasyn olö.

brandrinn wrote:6) Uńiverśit’etyn udžalannyd.
Correct, though remember the ti.
brandrinn wrote:7) Rosmuyn og ov, a Ydžyd Britańijayn.
It's Rotśmu, not Rosmu.

Me Rotśmuyn og ov, a Ydžyd Britańijayn
brandrinn wrote:9) Mijan tśel’ad’jas (tśel’ad’? I didn’t understand your explanation) medvoddźa klassö arnas.
Sorry, I worded that poorly. I meant to say that nouns like челядь tśel'aď "children" and йӧз jöz "people" take plural agreement despite lacking an overt plural suffix like -jas. However, numerals and words like una "many" do take singular agreement.
brandrinn wrote:10) kerkaö voannyd.
Gortö would be better here, as it means something more like "home". Kerka means "house".

Ti gortö voannyd




I apologize for the bits that were unclear - I'm certainly not a teacher and whoever answers first will always be the guinea pig showing me what I need to explain better :P

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