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Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7114 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 65 of 541 14 October 2011 at 4:58am | IP Logged |
FINNISH
I've just worked through chapters 3 and 4 of "Mastering Finnish" and am looking for an explanation from the Finnish speakers to help clarify my understanding of when to decline the predicate (including direct object) in partitive. Certain questions in the translation exercise of chapter 4 illustrate my uncertainty.
3. "The hotel rooms have bathrooms and showers."
MY ANSWER: Hotellihuonessa on kylpyhuoneita ja suihkuja.
BOOK'S ANSWER: Hotellihuonessa on kylpyhuoneet ja suihkut.
5. "They reserve two rooms at the motel."
MY ANSWER: Varaavat kahden huonetta motellista.
BOOK'S ANSWER: Varaavat kaksi huonetta motellista.
7. "I always reserve hotel rooms in good time."
MY ANSWER: Varaan aina hotellihuoneita hyvissä ajoin.
BOOK'S ANSWER: Varaan aina hotellihuoneet hyvissä ajoin.
8. "Old inns are rare in Finland, but they are not rare in Central Europe."
MY ANSWER: Vanhat majatalot ovat Suomessa harvinaiset, mutta ne eivät ole harvinaiset keski-Euroopassa.
BOOK'S ANSWER: Vanhat majatalot ovat Suomessa harvinaisia, mutta ne eivät ole harvinaisia keski-Euroopassa.
***
NORTHERN SAAMI
I have completed Chapter 3 of Davvin 1 and was introduced to the pronunciation of certain clusters, consonant gradation and how it affects the conjugation in present tense singular of verbs that have infinitives of 2 syllables. Here is my understanding of the chapter's main points (any misunderstandings of the material are mine alone).
1) Pronunciation of a few more items
-dj- is pronounced like geminated (~ duplicated) -tj-
-hcc- is pronounced like -hhc-
-htt- is pronounced like -hht-
-lg- is pronounced like -lək-
-rd- is pronounced like -rət-
-rv- is pronounced like -rəv-
In other words the last three clusters are pronounced with a reduced vowel.
2) The endings for infinitive of verbs learned so far are -at or -it
e.g.
boahtit "to come"
mannat "to go"
Removing the final -t from the infinitive creates a verb's basic stem.
3) Consonant gradation occurs in Northern Saami as it does in Finnish but is more elaborate
e.g.
"strong" grade
mannat "to go"; son manná "he/she goes"
"weak" grade
mun manan "I go"; don manat "you go"
For verbs that have infinitives of 2 syllables, the infinitive and 3rd person singular use the "strong" stem while the 1st person and 2nd person singular use the "weak" stem
e.g.
i) infinitive of 2 syllables ending with -at
gullat "to hear" (strong)
mun gulan "I hear" (weak)
don gulat "you hear" (weak)
son gullá "he/she hears" (strong)
N.B. The alternation is between -ll- and -l-. Personal endings for 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular are -n, -t and lengthened final vowel of stem respectively.
ii) infinitive of 2 syllables ending with -it
vuodjit "to drive" (strong)
mun vuoján "I drive" (weak)
don vuoját "you drive" (weak)
son vuodjá "he/she drives" (strong)
N.B. The alternation is between -dj- and -j-. Personal endings for 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular are -án, -át and -á respectively which each replace the final -i of the basic stem (i.e. vuodjit > *vuodji-) before considering consonant gradation.
In rapid speech, the ending -á in the 3rd person singular sometimes comes out as -a (i.e. it's pronounced as a short vowel)
Davvin 2 provides more systematic exposure to consonant gradation. Consonant gradation as encountered in Davvin 1 will remain more fragmented and limited to brief description of its occurences in the remaining dialogues of the book.
Vocabulary of Chapter 3
áhkku - "grandmother"
báhcci dearvan! - "Goodbye!" [said to two people staying behind] (Cf. message no. 59)
báhcet dearvan! - "Goodbye!" [said to three or more people staying behind] (Cf. message no. 59)
bárdni - "son"
de - "then"; "now"
dearvan - "healthy, sound, well"
dieđusge - "of course, naturally"
dohko - "[to] there [of a place that is already referred to or to which the speaker doesn't point]"
eallá - "to live"
girdi - "airplane"
-go - [interrogative particle] (Cf. Finnish -ko)
goalmmát - "third"
gosa - "[to] where"
guossi - "guest" (guos'si)
hivsset - "toilet"
isit - "husband"
maid - "what" (accusative)
mot don ealát? - "How are you?"
olgun - "outside"
skohter - "snowmobile"
son - "he, she"
Numbers 25-40 (number of pages in the chapter)
guoktelogivihtta - 25
guoktelogiguhtta - 26
guoktelogičieža - 27
guoktelogigávcci - 28
guoktelogiovcci - 29
golbmalogi - 30
golbmalogiokta - 31
golbmalogiguokte - 32
golbmalogigolbma - 33
golbmaloginjeallje - 34
golbmalogivihtta - 35
golbmalogiguhtta - 36
golbmalogičieža - 37
golbmalogigávcci - 38
golbmalogiovcci - 39
njealljelogi - 40
Examples of Northern Saami taken from my answers to the exercises.
1. Gii boahtá? - Áhkku dat boahtá
2. Mot don ealát? - Mun ealán dearvan.
3. Gos hivsset lea? - Hivvset lea olgun.
4. Gii vuodjá dohko? - Ánne dat vuodjá dohko.
5. Gii vuodjá? - Mun dat vuoján.
6. Mot manná? - Bures dat manná.
7. Mot Ánne eallá? - Son eallá dearvan.
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| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7114 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 66 of 541 14 October 2011 at 6:24am | IP Logged |
FINNISH
I've just worked through chapter 5 of "Mastering Finnish" and am enjoying recalling my knowledge of Finnish. However, the flaws in the course are becoming apparent for me again as Vähämäki does throw a lot of grammar per chapter at the student despite the attendant explanations. For beginners learning on their own, the relatively low amount of exercises to grammatical concepts introduced could be frustating but for someone brushing up it's not a huge problem overall.
***
NORTHERN SAAMI
I have completed Chapter 4 of Davvin 1 and was shown among other points more examples of consonant gradation and negative conjugation in present tense singular. Here is my understanding of the chapter's main points (any misunderstandings of the material are mine alone).
1) Additional patterns in consonant gradation
"Strong" versus "weak"
-rr- ~ -r-
-ht- ~ -đ-
-hk- ~ -g-
-lg- ~ -lgg-
-st- ~ -stt-
2) Negative conjugation in present tense singular
As in several Uralic languages, the negative verb/auxillary bears the personal ending rather than the main verb in a negated sentence.
i) infinitive of 2 syllables ending with -at
E.g.
gullat "to hear"
(mun) gulan "I hear"
(mun) in gula "I do not hear"
(don) gulat "you hear"
(don) it gula "you do not hear"
(son) gullá "he/she hears"
(son) ii gula "he/she does not hear"
The main verb's stem in a negative construction is the first person singular form without the -n
ii) infinitive of 2 syllables ending with -it
E.g.
vuodjit "to drive"
(mun) vuoján "I drive"
(mun) in vuoje "I do not drive"
(don) vuoját "you drive"
(don) it vuoje "you do not drive"
(son) vuodjá "he/she drives"
(son) ii vuoje "he/she does not drive"
N.B. The main verb's stem in a negative construction is based on the first person singular form but ending in -e instead of -án,
3) The interrogative suffix -go functions similarly to the Finnish -ko/-kö
E.g.
Don gulat "You hear" (Cf. Finnish Sinä kuulet)
Gulatgo don? "Do you hear?" (Cf. Finnish Kuuletko sinä?)
It gula "You don't hear" (Cf. Finnish Et kuule)
Itgo don gula? "Don't you hear?" (Cf. Finnish Etkö sinä kuule?)
4) Personal pronouns as subjects are used primarily for emphasis or clarity but personal endings usually reveal the subject clearly enough.
E.g.
Mun ealán "I live"
Ealán "I live"
5) Personal pronoun son "he/she" can often be replaced by dat "it"
E.g.
Ii son juga = Ii dat juga "He/she is not drinking"
6) The simple positive answer to a yes-no question can be emphasized by using de before the verb. This is similar to how affirmation can be emphasized in Estonian by using küll or in Finnish by using kyllä next to the verb (N.B. de also means "now"; "then")
E.g.
"Are you coming along?" - "(But/For sure) I am."
Boađátgo mielde? - (De) boađán.
Kas sa tuled kaasa? - Tulen (küll) (Estonian)
Tuletko mukaan? - (Kyllä) tulen (Finnish)
7) The subject in Northern Saami is always in nominative unlike in Finnish where it may be nominative or partitive depending on the sentence structure
e.g.
Leago gáffe? ~ Onko kahvia? (partitive) "Is there (any) coffee?"
Gáffe ii leat. ~ Kahvia ei ole. (partitive) "There's no coffee."
Gáffe boahtá ihttin. ~ Kahvi tulee huomenna. (nominative) "The coffee is coming tomorrow."
Vocabulary of Chapter 4
astat - "to have time"; "to reach somewhere in time"
boahtit - "to come"
dál - "now"
dás - "here"
dat - "he/she", "it"
de - (particle used to emphasize positive response to yes-no question)
deadja - "tea"
deike - "(to) here"
eale dearvan - "goodbye" (commonly used on the telephone)
gáffe - "coffee"
gal - "definitely" (cannot be used without a verb. cf. Estonian küll, Finnish kyllä)
ieš - "self"
ihttin - "tomorrow"
juhkat - "to drink"
mielde - "along"
mielki - "milk"
njealját - "fourth"
ovdalgo - "before" (conjunction)
vel - "even", "still", "yet"
vuoi, vuoi - "oh dear"
Numbers 41-51 (number of pages in the chapter)
njealljelogiokta - 41
njealljelogiguokte - 42
njealljelogigolbma - 43
njealljeloginjeallje - 44
njealljelogivihtta - 45
njealljelogiguhtta - 46
njealljelogičieža - 47
njealljelogigávcci - 48
njealljelogiovcci - 49
vihttalogi - 50
vihttalogiokta - 51
Examples of Northern Saami taken from my answers to the exercises.
1. Boahtágo Juvvá? - De boahtá
2. Jugatgo? - In juga
3. Asttatgo? - De asttan
4. Juhkágo Juvvá? - De juhká
5. Vuolgágo Juvvá? - Ii vuolgge
6. Vuolggátgo? - De vuolggán
7. Gulatgo? - In gula
8. Boađátgo? - In boađe
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| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7114 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 67 of 541 16 October 2011 at 10:15pm | IP Logged |
FINNISH
I've just worked through Chapter 6 of "Mastering Finnish" and reviewed among other topics possessive suffixes and the conditional.
***
NORTHERN SAAMI
I have completed Chapter 5 of Davvin 1 and was shown more about consonant gradation, the accusative singular and the imperative in 2nd person singular. Here is my understanding of the chapter's main points (any misunderstandings of the material are mine alone).
1) Consonant gradation is used to distinguish nominative singular from accusative singular
"Strong" (found in nominative singular) versus "weak" (found in accusative singular)
E.g.
Leago mielki? "Is there any milk?"
Jugatgo mielkki? "Are you drinking milk?"
The following combinations' pronunciation is also worth noting and practicing.
"Strong" versus "weak"
-ib- ~ -ibb- (-iəp- ~ -ipp-)
-id- ~ -idd- (-iət- ~ -itt-)
-lg- ~ -lgg- (-lək- ~ -lkk-)
-rf- ~ -rff- (-rəf- ~ -rff-)
As shown in the entry for Chapter 3, certain "strong" clusters are pronounced with an internal schwa.
The alternations of gradation shown so far are:
"strong" versus "weak"
-dj- ~ -j-; -ff- ~ -f-; -hk- ~ -g-; -ht- ~ -đ-; -htt- ~ -ht-; -ib- ~ -ibb-; -id- ~ -idd-; -lg- ~ -lgg-; -lk- ~ -lkk-; -ll- ~ -l-; -nn- ~ -n-; -ŋg- ~ -ŋgg-; -rf- ~ -rff-; -rr- ~ -r-; -st- ~ -stt-
2) The direct object is declined in accusative and does not take other cases as in Estonian or Finnish because of considerations of negation or telicity
E.g.
Juga deaja! "Drink (up the) tea!" / "Drink (some) tea!" (Northern Saami)
Jugan deaja "I'm drinking (up the) tea" / "I'm drinking (some) tea" (Northern Saami)
In juga deaja "I'm not drinking the tea" / I'm not drinking (any) tea" (Northern Saami)
Juo tee! "Drink (up the) tea!" (Finnish - nominative)
Juo teetä! "Drink (some) tea!" (Finnish - partitive)
Juon teen "I'll drink (up the) tea" (Finnish - genitive)
Juon teetä "I'm drinking (some) tea" (Finnish - partitive)
En juo teetä "I'm not drinking (any) tea" (Finnish - partitive)
3) Form in the 2nd person singular imperative is the same as the one used in negative conjugation
In oastte. "I'm not buying" Oastte! "Buy!"
Vocabulary of Chapter 5
borramušat - "foods"
dal - "now"
dalle - "then" (dal'le)
deadja - "tea"
fal - "but"
giitu - "thank you"
kafeas - "in a/the café"
láibi - "bread"
maid - "also"
maidege - "anything; nothing"
márfi - "sausage"
mielki - "milk"
oastit - "to buy"
šat - "anymore"
vai - "that" (conjunction)
váldit - "to take"
viđat - "fifth"
vuodja - "butter"
vuostá - "cheese"
Numbers 52-62 (number of pages in the chapter)
vihttalogiguokte - 52
vihttalogigolbma - 53
vihttaloginjeallje - 54
vihttalogivihtta - 55
vihttalogiguhtta - 56
vihttalogičieža - 57
vihttalogigávcci - 58
vihttalogiovcci - 59
guhttaogi - 60
guhttalogiokta - 61
guhttalogiguokte - 62
Examples of Northern Saami taken from my answers to the exercises.
1. Don oasttát vuosttá.
2. Oastte maid mielkki.
3. Biret-Elle váldá láibbi ja vuosttá.
4. Itgo váldde vuoja.
5. Mun in bora maidege.
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| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7114 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 68 of 541 19 October 2011 at 5:14am | IP Logged |
FINNISH
I've just worked through Chapter 7 of "Mastering Finnish" and reviewed the imperative, certain colloquialisms and terms for family.
***
NORTHERN SAAMI
I have completed Chapter 6 of Davvin 1 and was shown more about consonant gradation, the locative singular and conjugation in present tense singular for infinitives ending in -ut. Here is my understanding of the chapter's main points (any misunderstandings of the material are mine alone).
1) Additional patterns in consonant gradation
"Strong" versus "weak"
-it- ~ -itt-
-lp- ~ -lpp-
-lk- ~ -lkk-
The "strong" clusters are pronounced with something like a schwa plus faint h (~ -iəht-, -ləhp-, -ləhk-) while the "weak" ones are pronounced as if the middle consonant were h (~ -iht-, -lhp-, -lhk-)
2) The locative singular ending is -s and is attached to the "weak" stem
E.g. gávpi "shop" (nominative sing. - "strong" stem); gávppi "shop" (accusative sing. - "weak" stem); gávppis "at/in/on a/the shop" (locative sing.)
3) Conjugation in present tense singular of infinitives in 2 syllables ending in -ut
E.g. orrut "to live, dwell" ("strong")
orun "I live" ("weak"); orut "you live" ("weak"); orru "he/she lives" ("strong")
When the main verb is negated or used in the imperative of the second person singular, then it becomes oro (N.B. "weak" stem with o instead of u)
in oro "I don't live"; oro! "live!"
For comparison, here are the conjugational patterns introduced so far:
i) infinitive in 2 syllables ending in -at
E.g. mannat "to go" (alternation: -nn- ~ -n-)
present tense affirmative: mun manan; don manat; son manná
present tense negative: in/it/ii mana
imperative 2nd person singular: mana!
ii) infinitive in 2 syllables ending in -it
E.g. eallit "to live" (existential) (alternation: -ll- ~ -l-)
present tense affirmative: mun ealán; don ealát; son eallá
present tense negative: in/it/ii eale
imperative 2nd person singular: eale!
iii) infinitive in 2 syllables ending in -ut
E.g. orrut "to live, dwell" (alternation: -rr- ~ -r-)
present tense affirmative: mun orun; don orut; son orru
present tense negative: in/it/ii oro
imperative 2nd person singular: oro!
Vocabulary of Chapter 6
ain - "still" (adverb)
áiti - "(large) shed", "storehouse"
biila - "car"
boasta - "post office"
dakkaviđe - "right away, this instant"
dáppe - "(over) here" [of a place that is not yet referred to or to which the user points]
diehtit - "to know"
doalvut - "to take"
dohppe - "(at/in/on) there" [of a place that is already referred to or to which the user doesn't point]
duo - "(over) there"
eadni - "mother"
gávpi - "shop", "store"
gos - "where"
guđat - "sixth"
manne - "why" (man'ne)
ohcat - "to look for"
orrut - "to live, dwell"
reive - "letter"
ruovttus - "at home"
skuvla - "school"
stohpu - "house"
Numbers 63-79 (number of pages in the chapter)
guhttalogigolbma - 63
guhttaloginjeallje - 64
guhttalogivihtta - 65
guhttalogiguhtta - 66
guhttalogičieža - 67
guhttalogigávcci - 68
guhttalogiovcci - 69
čiežalogi - 70
čiežalogiokta - 71
čiežalogiguokte - 72
čiežalogigolbma - 73
čiežaloginjeallje - 74
čiežalogivihtta - 75
čiežalogiguhtta - 76
čiežalogičieža - 77
čiežalogigávcci - 78
čiežalogiovcci - 79
Examples of Northern Saami taken from my answers to the exercises.
- Orutgo don Avvilis?
- In oro.
- Na gos don orut?
- Orun Soađegilis.
- Orutgo don Guovdageainnus?
- In oro.
- Na gos don orut?
- Orun Kárášjogas.
3 persons have voted this message useful
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7114 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 69 of 541 19 October 2011 at 5:40am | IP Logged |
I mentioned in a post from two weeks ago that my initial plan was to finish at least half of Davvin 1 by Dec. 31 (i.e. Chapters 1-6 of 12).
I'm about two and a half months ahead of schedule and will finish Davvin 1 as I'm having too much fun with the language. I'm having so much fun that I'll probably work on Davvin 2 afterwards. This seems sensible to me since according to the website for the Department of Scandinavian Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison:
http://www.scandinavian.wisc.edu/?q=node/11 wrote:
The Scandinavian Department offers individualized instruction in Northern Sámi to qualified students who have already attained an advanced level in Finnish, Swedish, or Norwegian. We use the multi-volume textbook series Davvin, and pace the course according to each student’s aptitude and experience. Generally, we aim to complete one volume of Davvin per semester. After one semester, a student can usually speak competently in the present tense about a core set of topics and use and understand basic greetings, commands and questions in Northern Sámi. After two semesters, the student has usually mastered the past tense as well as the dual and plural forms of verbs. The Davvin series introduces vocabulary of relevance to life and travel in the Nordic north, and provides varied cultural information on Sámi life, customs, and society. |
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(bolding by me)
On the other hand I do need to get cracking soon on those Eastern European languages in my profile since I haven't done anything worth mentioning with them since returning from my trip.
1 person has voted this message useful
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7114 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 70 of 541 23 October 2011 at 1:18am | IP Logged |
FINNISH
I've just worked through Chapter 8 of "Mastering Finnish" and reviewed partitive in existential sentences and relative pronouns
***
NORTHERN SAAMI
I have completed Chapter 7 of Davvin 1 and was shown the merger of the accusative and genitive, verb conjugation in present tense singular of infinitives with an odd number of syllables and a little more on pronunciation. Here is my understanding of the chapter's main points (any misunderstandings of the material are mine alone).
1) Additional tips in pronunciation
-d- is pronounced like đ (voiced dental fricative i.e. 'th' in English those) when it falls between the second and third syllable.
-lbm- is pronounced more like -ləbm-
-rdn- is pronounced more like -rədn-
á- is pronounced short when it precedes -hcc-, -hčč-, -hkk-, -hpp- and -htt-.
2) Forms used to denote "genitive singular" and "accusative singular" are the same
e.g.
The girl's name is Máret.
Niedda namma lea Máret. ["genitive singular"]
I'm looking for the girl.
Ozan niedda. ["accusative singular"]
See entry for Chapter 5 for note on forming accusative singular.
3) Conjugation in present tense singular of infinitives with an odd number of syllables
This type of verb does not undergo consonant gradation, and its stem is found by removing the final -(V)t of the infinitive [V represents a vowel]. To the stem one adds the following endings for present tense singular.
E.g.
dárbbašit "to need" -> dárbbaš- [stem]
mun dárbbašan, don dárbbašat, son dárbbaša
čájehit "to show" -> čájeh- [stem]
mun čájehan, don čájehat, son čajeha
If the stem ends in -d or -h, then in the negative conjugation and imperative second person singular, these final letters become -t. Otherwise the stem can be used as is.
E.g.
In čájet "I don't show"; Čájet! "Show!" (čájet < *čájeh-)
In dárbbaš "I don't need"
4) Naming convention
Traditionally the Saami addressed each other just with their given names (Ed. I guess that given the small population and relative isolation of the communities, it was usually clear enough to speakers which Máhtti or Biret-Elle they were talking about since there were so few people to talk about in the first place). When they wanted to clarify someone's identity, they used a technique reminiscent of the largely patronymic conventions in Icelandic and Eastern Slavonic. For example, if Biera's father were Mihkkal, then one could refer to the former as Mihkkala Biera (i.e. "Mihkkal's Biera"). If Biera's mother were Márjá, then one could equally refer to Biera as Márjjá Biera.
In instances where a person shared his/her first name with one of the parents, it would be possible to refer to this person in a way that is somewhat comparable to "Junior". Therefore if Márjá's mother were also named Márjá, then one could refer to the first Márjá as Uhca Márjá or Unna Márjá both of which mean "Little Márjá" literally.
Vocabulary of Chapter 7
áhčči - "father"
bárdni - "boy"
beana - "dog"
boares - "old" (attributive)
boradit - "eat, have a meal"
čájehit - "to show, display"
čihččet - "seventh"
dállu - "house", "farmhouse"
dárbbašit - "to need"
dathan - "that" (emphatic or emotional connotation)
dego - "as"
diet - "it"
duo - "(over) there"
filbma - "film"
fuos eret! - "shoo!" (used to chase an animal away)
gean - "whose"
-han - (intensifying suffix cf. Finnish -han/-hän)
máhttit - "to know how to do sg"
nieda - "girl"
oahpaheaddji - "teacher"
oahpahit - "to teach"
ođđa - "new" (attributive)
vuos - "(at) first"
Numbers 80-93 (number of pages in the chapter)
gávccilogi - 80
gávccilogiokta - 81
gávccilogiguokte - 82
gávccilogigolbma - 83
gávcciloginjeallje - 84
gávccilogivihtta - 85
gávccilogiguhtta - 86
gávccilogičieža - 87
gávccilogigávcci - 88
gávccilogiovcci - 89
ovccilogi - 90
ovccilogiokta - 91
ovccilogiguokte - 92
ovccilogigolbma - 93
Examples of Northern Saami taken from my answers to the exercises.
1. Gean gávpi dat lea? Dat lea Heaikka gávpi.
2. Gean biila dat lea? Dat lea Iŋggá biila.
3. Gean dállu dat lea? Dat lea Lásse dállu.
4. Gean beana dat lea? Dat lea Máhte beana.
5. Gean láibi dat lea? Dat lea eatni láibi.
6. Gean filbma dat lea? Dat lea Biera filbma.
7. Gean bárdni son lea? Son lea Márjjá bárdni.
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| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7114 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 71 of 541 26 October 2011 at 3:55am | IP Logged |
FINNISH
I've just worked through Chapter 9 of "Mastering Finnish" and reviewed among other things expressions related to weather and date, locative cases for Finnish place-names and present tense passive.
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NORTHERN SAAMI
I have completed Chapter 8 of Davvin 1 and was taught more about the pronunciation fo certain clusters, vocalic alternations in compound words, locative of some pronouns and translating "to have". Here is my understanding of the chapter's main points (any misunderstandings of the material are mine alone).
1) Additional tips in pronunciation
-dd- is pronounced like -ddt- when it precedes a final vowel.
-rg- is pronounced more like -rəg-
-ŋŋ- is pronounced more like -nnj- in dialects around Kautokeino
2) Vocalic alternation in compound words
Final -i and -u become -e and -o respectively when they are in the 2nd syllable of the 1st part of a compound word
E.g. bargu "work" + bihttá "chapter" = bargobihttá "exercise"
3) Locative of selected pronouns
nominative ~ genitive-accusative ~ locative
mun ~ mu ~ mus
don ~ du ~ dus
son ~ su ~ sus
dat ~ dan ~ das
gii ~ gean ~ geas
These bear the suffix for the locative singular (i.e. -s) which is attached to a stem derived from the pronoun's form in genitive-accusative singular.
4) Possessive phrases expressed with "have/has" in English are expressed in Northern Saami with the possessor in locative singular plus the third person of "to be". This pattern is reminiscent of what is used in several languages including Finnish, Hungarian, Russian and Turkish.
E.g.
Mus lea biila. "I have a/the car" (me-[locative singular suffix] is car)
Mus ii leat biila. "I don't have a/the car" (me-[locative singular suffix] not is car)
Geas lea biila? "Who has a car?" [who-[locative singular suffix] is car?]
See entry from Chapter 2 of "Säämikielâ 1" for comparison to Estonian, Finnish and Inari Saami
Vocabulary of Chapter 7
álo - "always"
beaska - (an overcoat made of reindeer fur)
biergu - "meat"
bivvat - "to serve"
buolaš - "cold, freezing"
buorre - "good"
dárogiella - "Norwegian language"
feara mii - "odds and ends"
gárvodit - "put on [a piece of clothing]"
gávccát - "ninth"
gea - "look!"
gievdni - "coffeepot, kettle, pot"
goahti - (a conical tent)
goassege - "never" (goas'sege)
hállat - "to speak" (eastern dialects)
hupmat - "to speak" (western dialects)
lávka - "bag"
jávregáddi - "lake's shore"
jávri - "lake"
maŋŋil - "later"
muitalit - "to say, tell"
muitit - "to remember"
niesti - "food, provisions"
riššadoassa - "match" (riš'šadoassa)
sámegiella - "Saami language"
Numbers 94-104 (number of pages in the chapter)
ovcciloginjeallje - 94
ovccilogivihtta - 95
ovccilogiguhtta - 96
ovccilogičieža - 97
ovccilogigávcci - 98
ovccilogiovcci - 99
čuođi - 100
čuođiokta - 101
čuođiguokte - 102
čuođigolbma - 103
čuođinjeallje - 104
Examples of Northern Saami taken from my answers to the exercises.
1. Gos dus lea dállu?
2. Mu lávka lea skuvllas.
3. Mii du áhči namma lea?
4. Leago dus láibi?
5. Mun orun Gilbbesjávris.
6. Leago áhčči ruovttus?
7. Oastte vuosttá!
8. Gos du biila lea?
9. Mii du lea lávkkas?
10. Leago Máhtes riššadoassa?
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| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7114 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 72 of 541 30 October 2011 at 8:16am | IP Logged |
FINNISH
I've just worked through Chapter 10 of "Mastering Finnish" and reviewed the division between mass and countable nouns as well as the rules for declining predicates. I need more practice with those predicates especially when figuring out what constitutes a "natural set" (of plural objects) since beyond the obvious instance of paired body parts, a "natural set" seems open to interpretation.
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NORTHERN SAAMI
I have completed Chapter 9 of Davvin 1 and was introduced to a couple more instances of consonant gradation and the illative singular. Here is my understanding of the chapter's main points (any misunderstandings of the material are mine alone).
1) Two additional examples of consonant gradation
"Strong" versus "weak"
-ig- ~ -igg-
-ks- ~ -vss-
-ig- is pronounced with something like a schwa (~ -jək-) while -igg- is pronounced more like -jkk-. The -s in -ks- and -vss is slightly aspirated. In other words, the clusters are pronounced as if there were something like a medial -h- (i.e. -khs- ~ -vhss-).
2) Ending for illative singular is -i
The ending goes to a stem that is "strong" (basically the nominative singular form) but the ending can set off a change in the stem's final vowel. The illative expresses movement to the interior, surface or vicinity of the noun.
E.g.
Beahkká ~ Beahkkái "Beahkká ~ to/into/toward Beahkká"
siidu ~ siidui "page ~ to/into/toward (a/the) page"
Romsa ~ Romsii "Trondheim ~ to/into/toward Trondheim"
reive ~ reivii "letter ~ to/into/toward (a/the) letter"
goahti ~ goahtái "tepee ~ to/into/toward (a/the) tepee"
ruvdno ~ ruvdnui "krone [Norwegian currency] ~ to/into/toward (a/the) krone"
The changes caused by the illative singular can be summarized as follows:
Stem's final -a usually becomes -i
Stem's final -e becomes -i
Stem's final -i becomes -á
Stem's final -o becomes -u
Names that end in consonants require that the stem take on -i to which the illative singular's -i is attached.
E.g.
Máret ~ Máretii
Vocabulary of Chapter 9
áigut - "to intend"
báidi - "shirt"
bidjat - "to place, put"
čáppa - "pretty"
čuoigat - "to ski"
galgat - "to be forced to"
-ge - "also; either, neither"
juoigat - "to perform a yoik"
makkár - "which"
máksit - "to cost; signify"
nummar - "number"
olugo - "how much"
ovccát - "ninth"
ruvdno - "krone" (Norwegian currency)
sáhttit - "to be able to"
ullobáidi - "woollen shirt" (ul'lobáidi)
Numbers 105-120 (number of pages in the chapter)
čuođivihtta - 105
čuođiguhtta - 106
čuođičieža - 107
čuođigávcci - 108
čuođiovcci - 109
čuođilogi - 110
čuođioktanuppelohkái - 111
čuođiguoktenuppelohkái - 112
čuođigolbmanuppelohkái - 113
čuođinjealljenuppelohkái - 114
čuođivihttanuppelohkái - 115
čuođiguhttanuppelohkái - 116
čuođičiežanuppelohkái - 117
čuođigávccinuppelohkái - 118
čuođiovccinuppelohkái - 119
čuođiguoktelogi - 120
Examples of Northern Saami taken from my answers to the exercises.
- Áiggutgo don vuolgit Mázii?
- In áiggo.
- Áiggutgo don Lismái?
- In áiggo.
- Na gosa áiggut vuolgit?
- Áiggun vuolgit Muotkejávrái.
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OTHER LANGUAGES
I have not done very much with Hungarian, Polish or Slovak lately but of these three will switch the focus to Polish. One thing that bothered me a lot when I was in Poland was the degree to which my passive knowledge was lacking. I plan to begin work on improving my listening and reading comprehension by working through the free material put out by ERIC and JLU for Polish. For listening, I'll be using DLI's Listening Refresher Course and Proficiency Improvement Course (the militaristic focus doesn't really bother me since it's structured practice) while for reading I'll start with Reading Authentic Polish I. I may continue with Reading Authentic Polish II.
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