Page:An Ainu-English-Japanese dictionary (including a grammar of the Ainu language).djvu/715

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SYNTAX.
157


Conjunctions are placed at the end of the clause to which they belong ; thus : —

Shiyeye an gusu, tane ku hoshipi, " I am now returning because I am sick."
Nishpa ikashpaotte chiki, ku ki, " I will do it if the master commands."

A conjunctive clause ending in gusu may be placed at the end of sentence ; thus : —

Tane ku hoshipi, shiyeye an gusu ne na, " I am now returning because I am sick."

The common conjunction " and " is expressed by the particle wa ; thus : —

Ek wa ibe. "Come and eat."

Interrogative adverbs are placed at the beginning, and interrogative particles at the end of a sentence ; thus : —

Hembara pakno teda e shiroma ruwe he an? " How long shall you stay here?
Nepi ye ya? " What did he say? "

All dependent clauses and participial phrases precede the chief verb ; thus : —

Orowa, niwatush ani pet otta san wa wakka ta, " and taking the bucket, he went down to the river and fetched water."

The following construction with the negative verb isam, " it is not," should be carefully noted. It helps to form a phrase of which the English equivalent is not negative but affirmative ; thus : —

Ikka guru ikka wa isam, " a thief stole it away."
Arapa wa isam, " he is gone ;" " also, he is dead."
A-e wa isam, " it is all eaten."
Imok auk wa isam, " the bait has been taken away."

As a rule, the Ainu are very fond of using the passive forms of verbs where one would expect to find the active voice, thus : —

Pet otta san wa chep anukara, " going down to the river