copyright © 2006 Dennis Paul Himes
The contents of this page are preliminary. They won't become canonical until the first version of the Tale of Tifa Walbatnuwa Siina is up. - DPH
There are three verbs in Seezzitonian meaning "to be", ma, nnep, and om.
Ma means "be the same as". E.g. Aspa ma dotalaj, "Aspa is the emperor". (Ma is irregular, it would otherwise be *mama instead of ma.)
NNep means "be a specific example of". E.g. Aspa nnepa aj, "Aspa is a man". If you were speaking in historical terms, you might say, Aspa nnepisa dotalajis, "Aspa was an emperor."
Om means "exist". E.g. Dotala oma, "An emperor exists", or "There is an emperor". Used with the adverbal locative case, this establishes location. E.g. Aspa oma Potobib, "Aspa is on Poto."
Note that unlike some languages in which the verb "to be" connects two nouns in the nominative case, ma and nnep are transitive, and take the accusative case. Om is intransitive.
Links