Agreement The three verb classes

52 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE This extra meaning of do- results in a threefold ambiguity for a do-form: 1. we dual inclusive; 2. they; and 3. you to a foreigner. In the translation of examples of do- in this grammar a choice will be made between we and they instead of giving both possibilities. Finally, the do-forms also occur in general statements, comparable to English one Dutch men; this can be viewed as a combination of the meanings of we and they.

4.2. Agreement

As explained in 4.1, there is agreement between a full nominal subject and the subject markers on the verb with respect to number. There are, however, certain regular exceptions to this rule: 1. Inanimate plural subjects take a singular subject marker: 7 bara-hi-no no-hali his goods are expensive good-PLUR-his 3sR-expensive Plural animals as subjects constitute a borderline case; they can either take a singular or a plural subject marker: 8 o kadadi-hi no-rato-mo do-rato-mo ART animal-PLUR 3sR-arrive-PF 3pR-arrive-PF the animals have arrived 2. When a comitative is present in the clause preceded by the preposition bhe with, a singular subject may have a plural subject marker. In such cases, the verb is often, but not necessarily, prefixed with po-: 9 hadhi amaitu do-po-ghawa-mo bhe anahi ini haji that 3pR-REC-get-PF with child this the haji met the child 10 anoa do-kala-mo bhe A Kalami he 3pR-go-PF with ART Kalami he went away with Kalami 3. A third person singular nominal subject that has plural reference takes a plural subject marker. This usage is common with names and titles: 11 kolaki-no liwu ini miina da-ko-ana leader-POS village this not 3pI-HAVE-child the village chief and his wife did not have children 12 Wa Ode Tonde Bulawa ini do-suli-mo Wa Ode Tonde Bulawa this 3pR-return-PF Wa Ode Tonde Bulawa and her friends returned

4.3. The three verb classes

Muna has three verb classes with partly different subject markers. First the formal side of these classes the different subject markers will be 4 VERBAL INFLECTION 53 presented, followed by a discussion of the membership of the three classes. The three verb classes in Muna will be referred to as the a-class, the ae- class and the ao-class. This usage is based on the first person singular subject marker of these three classes: 13 a-lente I was born 1sR-born 14 ae-late I live 1sR-live 15 ao-lodo I sleep 1sR-sleep Further evidence for the existence of these three verb classes is offered by the morphological shape of the locative noun derived from these verbs: 16 ka-lente-ha birthplace 17 kae-late-ha living place 18 kao-lodo-ha sleeping place, bed The choice of ka--ha, kae--ha or kao--ha is determined by the verb class to which the verb belongs. This is also true for the subject markers. The following forms therefore do not exist: 19 ae-lente kae-lente-ha a-late kao-late-ha The full inflection of the three verb classes is as follows. For the sake of comparison the a-class is repeated. person a-class ae-class ao-class kala go late live lodo sleep sg 1 a-kala ae-late ao-lodo 2 o-kala ome-late omo-lodo 2 p to-kala te-late to-lodo 3 no-kala ne-late no-lodo du 1 in do-kala de-late do-lodo pl 1 in do-kala-amu de-late-emu do-lodo-omu 1 ex ta-kala tae-late tao-lodo 2 o-kala-amu ome-late-emu omo-lodo-omu 2 p to-kala-amu te-late-emu to-lodo-omu 3 do-kala de-late do-lodo A few examples of ae- and ao-verbs will illustrate these subject markers: ae-verbs : 20 ae-soso I smoke 1sR-smoke 54 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE 21 ome-buri you are writing 2sR-write 22 de-kadiu 1. we are taking a bath 13pR-bath 2. they are taking a bath ao-verbs : 23 ao-tehi I am afraid 1sR-afraid 24 omo-lowu you are drunk 2sR-drunk 25 no-lolu he is stupid 3sR-stupid

4.4. Membership of the three verb classes