Lesson 4 — More about object nouns

Demonstratives as objects

When you spell out an object for the sentence, it could be demonstrative instead of a regular noun, as in
k–itaq heni "I hear this one"  
  p–uli heni "you're holding this"  
  s–icumu heki "he/she points to that one"  
Since the words for "this" and "that" follow the verb, you use the non-initial forms  heni and  heki. k–itaq heni
You could also expand the demonstrative with a regular noun. Notice how the demonstrative and  ha  are shortened here:  
  k–itaq heni ha wic kitaq en a wic "I hear this bird"
  p–uli heni ha ya puli en a ya "he's holding this arrow"
  s–icumu heki ha huu   sicumu ek a huu   "he/she points to that dog"
        sicumu ek a huu
Object nouns and the question marker he

If you want to make a yes/no question out of a sentence that spells out an object noun, the question marker he comes right after the verb, with the object noun after  he.
p–kuti he ha k–ay? "do you see my daughter?"   are you pointing out the village?
  p–icumu he ha apan? "are you pointing out the village?"  
  –iy–an he ha uwumu? "are they eating the food?"   is she holding your hand?
  –uli he ha p–pu? "is she holding your hand?"  
  –uli he ha pu?    

Object nouns and the negative marker ini–

These practice sentences include the negative marker ini–.
ini––nukum ha pon "he doesn't bring the wood"    
  ini–k–iy–tiik ha eneq "we don't know the woman"    
  inikitiik ha eneq     he's not finding water
  ini–k–kuti ha sxamin "I don't see the ocean"  
  inikuti ha sxamin    
  ini––it ha o "he's not finding water"    

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