Grammar
APPENDIX M
| kháw | jùu | bâan | He's at home. |
| thɛɛ̌wníi[1] | mii | ráantàtphǒm | In this area there is a barber shop. |
| kháw | (mii) | aajú 6 khùap | He's eight years old. |
| wanníi | (pen) | wansǎw | Today (is) Saturday. |
29. (f) The part of the simple sentence that is most likely to arouse comment from foreigners is the system of 'classifiers'.
A 'classifier' is one of a special list of about 200 nouns which are used in constructions to enumerate or specify other nouns.
| nansy̌y lêm diaw | One book |
| book clf. one | |
| rót khan nyŋ: | one car |
| car/clf/one | |
| nákrian sǎam khon | 3 Students |
| student 3 people |
Each classifier is normally used with a large number of nouns of very different meanings, and there is frequently no observable connection between the classifier and its noun.
| takraj 2 lêm | 2 pairs of scissors |
| nǎŋşy̌y 2 lém | 2 books |
| mîit 2 lém | 2 knives |
| khûmyy 2 lém | 2 manuals |
Fortunately, for limited purposes there are about 50 very common classifiers that will take care of most of our needs. Some of these are of very high frequency: khon, tua, an, etc.
an khan khrŷaŋ baj hɛ̀ɛn lêm
- ↑ Locatives only.
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