Completed Actions After Focus

Level 3

Plain plural sun contrasts with relative suka.

How It Works

A fronted question word or focused constituent selects relative completive for an event viewed as complete. Completed-event relative descriptions also use it. Yes/no questions can keep plain completive marking.

Second-person feminine singular and plural relative forms end in -ka; the other forms have short final -a. Ordinary spelling hides vowel-length differences from corresponding plain forms. Narrative uses package successive events that advance a story.

Compare Sun sayi hula ‘They bought a cap’ with Me suka saya? ‘What did they buy?’ The question selects suka. Separately, sayi changes to saya because no direct object follows. Negative completive has one paradigm across these contexts, without a corresponding plain/relative opposition.

Examples (3)

  1. Me suka kawo?

    What did they bring?

    The fronted object question selects suka.

  2. Wake suka saya.

    It was beans that they bought.

    Object focus selects relative marking and the no-following-object verb form.

  3. mutanen da suka dawo

    the people who returned

    Noun phrase containing a completed-event relative clause.

How It Connects

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Completed Actions After FocusLevel 3

Learn This First

Recognize completed-event marking, constituent questions and the linked noun-plus-da construction before using relative-completive forms in fronted questions and linked noun descriptions. Pronunciation is inherited through completion and linking.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

suka