The One Who or What
The noun marker supplies the referring frame; verbal voice identifies the participant.
How It Works
A predicate following ti or dagiti can identify an entity without a noun meaning “person” or “thing.” The references call this nominal use. English commonly supplies “the one who,” “the people who,” or “what.”
Compare ti nagluto, “the one who cooked,” with ti linutona, “what he or she cooked.” Actor-focus nagluto identifies the cook. Completed patient-focus linuto identifies the cooked item, while -na identifies its actor without specifying gender. Thus Naimas ti linutona evaluates the food.
The explicitly listed dagiti agluto identifies several cooks without plural reduplication on the verb. This supports that number pattern without establishing unrestricted agreement rules. In this nominal frame, the marker directly precedes the predicate. An overt noun with a relative description instead uses a/nga to connect the noun and its clause. Modern spelling attaches short pronouns to their hosts.
Examples (3)
- Adda ditoy ti nagluto.
The one who cooked is here.
The actor-focused nominal expression identifies the cook.
- Naimas ti linutona.
What she cooked is delicious.
The patient-focused expression identifies the food; she is a contextual rendering of gender-neutral -na.
- Napan dagiti agluto.
The cooks went away.
Dagiti marks the plural referring expression; napan reports their departure.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Read ti or dagiti with the predicate to identify “the one who” or “what.”
Related Patterns
Practice The One Who or What in Bubblegum
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