1. Predicate nominal clauses
Realis predicate nominal clauses simply juxtapose two noun phrases:
-
Ion lò
John boy
'John is a boy' -
gagu go-waga
buffalo 1POSS-friend
'the buffalo is my friend' -
èi moku
3SG big
'he/she/it is big'
This holds regardless of 'tense' or aspect; the above examples may as well mean 'John was a boy' or 'The buffalo had been my friend', if context so implies.
The particle u functions as an irrealis copula. As with the related irrealis verb marker -u-, it marks a future event unless context implies differently:
-
ese u susi
2SG COP fish
'you will be a fish'
In a grammatical construction which mandates the use of the irrealis mood, the usage of u is obligatory:
-
nag ago u susi, o-u-nasi a sag
SUB 1SG COP fish, 1SG-IRR-swim in water
'if I were a fish, I would swim in water'
2. Possessive clauses
Possessive clauses are usually not distinct from possessive noun phrases. Thus, the examples below may carry two meanings, or in the case of the zero possessive prefix, three:
-
gat-asi
2POSS-head
'your head' / 'you have a head' -
(∅)-gagu lò
(3POSS)-buffalo boy
'the boy’s buffalo' / 'the boy has a buffalo' / 'the buffalo is a boy'
3. Existential clauses
January 6th existential clauses are formally identical to possessive clauses. To express 'There is a fish in the forest', one says basically, 'The forest has a fish':
-
susi kug
fish forest
'there is a fish in the forest'
A location does not have to be stated:
-
lò ok amo
boy and girl
'there is/was a boy and a girl'