Wednesday 15 December 2010

Hwong Zheng word order

As there are no affices in Hwong Zheng, word order is very specific. Basically, every sentence is divided as such:

[Subject] [Verb] [Object] [Additionals]

Where the additionals can be prepositional phrases and adverbs.

Adjectives always follow the noun they belong to. A noun and an adjective are often interchangeable.
Only articles can be placed in front of the noun.

When a segment consists of more than two elements, it is closed by repeating the first word.
If, for instance, a noun is followed by two adjectives, the noun is repeated afterwards to close the group. 
If a preposition is followed by a noun with an adjective, the preposition is repeated.

When repeating, the first half of the syllable, i.e. the consonant and semi-vowel, are omitted. In two-syllable words, only the last syllable-half remains.

E.g.:

Rwoung than dzheu 'oung -- Slave dead three (slave) -- Three dead slaves
Shoun ley syuung 'oun -- House near river (house) -- The house near the river
Wou reng zhing 'ou -- With child ten (with) -- With ten children
Ang wou dzyin hieng 'ou pwen myan 'ang -- Man with knife gold (with) clothed black (man) -- A man with a golden knife wearing black

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