Nouns
Possession
Possession: Alienable/inalienable distinction. Alienable uses ɗe 'be at'.
ɣooħ ɗe ka
spear at 1S
my spear
Inalienable uses compounding, but only takes the familiar pronouns:
nʘamayañ
mother-1S.FAM
my mother
Gehui doesn't like consonant clusters, so it epenthesizes the first vowel between the word and the possessive affix, as a short vowel:
ḷɛtɛyañ
father-EPENTH-1S.FAM
my father
Pronouns
Many different registers, honorific stuff, etc. Default pronouns are ka 1S, ḷɛħ 2S.M, ḷanʘaa 2S.F, ??? 3 (prob open class). su- = humility prefix, usually on 1S. Formal 2S pronouns are ŋuʎuʔ 2S.M, ŋaci 2S.F (derived from the word for some relative), ...
Verbs
Essive and lative
The difference between ɗe "be at" and ɕe "go to" is that the latter implies motion and the former implies no motion. If I went to the market and walked around the whole time, or if, for whatever strange reason, the market was moving while I was at it, I'd say ka da ɕe ǂhaɣ. This reflects a consistent distinction in locative verbs between essive and lative, which I'll gloss as be-foo and go-foo.
TODO something about tense/aspect distinction between ɗe and m̃u
Essive verbs can serialize without implying temporality:
ka ɗe ɣuḷɨɨw !añ
1S be_at be_under tree
I am under the tree
ɗe serialized with another essive verb adds a degree of generality: I'm not literally under the tree, the way roots are under a tree. Similarly:
cihw ɗe nǁay !añ
bird be_at be_over tree
The bird is higher in the air than the top of the tree.
cihw nǁay !añ
bird be_over tree
The bird is literally above the tree.
Serial verb constructions
The typical serial verb construction is causative: N1 V1 V2 N2 normally means that N1 did V1, resulting in N2 doing V2. But serial verb constructions can also express one compound action by one agent, with the 'subjectizer' marker lə.
m̃oɕ tɛm ɕe ŋuɣ lə ɣooħ
man hit go_at spear die
The man hit the spear and died.
da
da is used as a transitivizer for verbs of action-toward.
ka da m̃u ǂhaɣ
1S go get_closer market
I'm going to the market.
Or:
ka da ɗe ǂhaɣ
1S go be_at market
I went to the market
feñ
feñ is used as a momentane-aspect transitivizer.
ka feñ !ap mʘet
1S pick_up break 3S
I broke it.
Relative clauses
nǂa cihw xɛ ber ka jaɣaay tlek nǂa ḷɨɣ
CLF bird have eat 1S breakfast go_away CLF be_red
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are verbs, with the essive/lative distinction.
ka da ḷɛtɛyañ
1S and.ESS father-1S.FAM
me and my father
ka da ɣaay ḷɛtɛyañ
1S and.ESS eat father-1S.FAM
me and my father ate breakfast
ka sar ḷɛtɛyañ da ɗe ǂhaɣ
1S and.LAT father go be_at market
me and my father went to the market
ka da ḷɛtɛyañ ɗe ǂhaɣ
1S and.LAT father be_at market
me and my father are at the market