Te taetae ni Kiribati

The language of Kiribati

Grammar Handbook

 

Lesson 3 INTRANSITIVE SENTENCE ORDER In most, if not all, of the world's languages, word order is one of the basic means for expressing the relationship between the parts of a sentence. Intransitive sentences are those in which there is no direct object of the verb. For example, this English sentence: That man 1   walks. 2 In this sentence, the subject phrase 'that man' comes first, followed by a form of the verb 'to walk'. A Kiribati sentence expressing the same idea is: E 1'   nakonako 2   teuaarei. 1 In Kiribati, the subject phrase teuaarei 'that man' comes at the end of the sentence, after the verb nakonako 'to walk', but the verb is preceded by a subject pronoun e 'he, she, it' which "agrees" with the subject. In this case it is the third person singular form. Therefore, if you were to translate this sentence word for word into English, using the same order, it would come out: He 1'   walks 2   that man. 1 English shows "agreement" between the verb and most third person singular subjects by adding an s to the end of the verb. (Many languages add small forms to verbs to show agreement with subject person and number, but English only does so for the third person singular.) Kiribati does a similar job by putting a subject pronoun in front of the verb. A different pronoun is used for each person and number. (see lesson on subject pronouns.) I I   nakonako walk   ngai. (me) Ko you   nakonako walk   ngkoe. (you) In connected discourse, once the subject has been mentioned it is no longer necessary to repeat it in following sentences: E nakonako teuaarei. E turatura. This is the same as in English, where the pronoun replaces the noun subject which has already been mentioned: That man is walking. He is limping. You may notice that while the English uses a form of the verb "to be" (is), in Kiribati there is no verb "to be". E she       kangare       (be) funny       neierei.       that woman That woman is funny. Position of additional material When a sentence contains additional material, such as a phrase following a preposition (to, at, by, with...), the usual position for the subject phrase is still at the end of the sentence: E he       nakonako       walk       nakon te titooa       to the store       teuaarei.       that man That man is walking to the store. While there is some variation in the position of these prepositional phrases in the speech of many i-Kiribati, you will not go wrong in keeping the subject in this position. However, when the additional material is a form of time adverb, (today, now, sometimes, this morning...), it generally comes at the end of the sentence, after the subject: E he       na       will       nakonako       walk       nakon te titooa       to the store       teuaarei       that man       ningaabong.       tomorrow That man will walk to the store tomorrow. E he       turatura       limp       teuaarei       that man       n te bong aei.       today That man is limping today. As in the case of the prepositional phrases, you will encounter some variation in the position of time adverbs in the normal speech of most i-Kiribati. You will find however, that keeping the time adverb in final position will virtually always be acceptable and understood. Exercises A. Rearrange the following groups of words into good Gilbertese sentences 1.   Baie Baie matuu sleep e he 2.   I I ngai me nakonako walk 3.   ataei children a they takaakaro play 4.   nako go n te titooa to the store I I 5.   matuu sleep ti we ngaira us 6.   aiine women wareware read a they 7.   neierei that woman uaua swim e she 8.   a they tebotebo wash naakekei those men 9.   roko come aomata people a they 10.   te unimm'aane the old man motirawa rest e he 11.   aoraki sick e she tinau my mother 12.   ngai me mm'akuri work I I 13.   ataei children reirei study a they 14.   a they am'arake eat unimm'aane old men 15.   te karau rain e it b'aka fall 16.   neierei woman e she tangitang cry 17.   roko come a they mm'aane men 18.   Tiaon John e he am'arake eat 19.   ngaira us koroboki write ti we 20.   natiu my child e he mooi drink B. Reform the above sentences without the subject nouns, as if they had already been mentioned. C. Add the prepositional phrases following each sentence in their proper position: 1.   E he roko come tamau my father + mai Bairiki from Bairiki 2.   A they tebotebo bathe aiine women + inanon te nei in the pond 3.   E he nakonako walk Tiaon John + nakon te titooa to the store 4.   E she roko come Meeri Mary + man te auti from the house 5.   A they reirei study ataei children + man te boki from the book 6.   E he toka ride Taom Tom + iaon te waa on the canoe 7.   E she am'arake eat Meeri Mary + inanon te auti in the house 8.   A they takaakaro play ataei children + irarikin te kawai next to the road 9.   Ti We roko come ngaira us + man te titooa from the store 10.   A they tekateka sit aomata people + iaon te waa on the canoe 11.   E he takaakaro play Tim Jim + irarikin taari next to the sea 12.   E she roko come neiei this woman + mai Betio from Betio 13.   A they nako go ataei children + im'aain tawanou before noon 14.   A they nakonako walk nakekei those people + i nuukan te kawai in the middle of the road 15.   A they tei stand ataei children + i matan te mataroa in front of the door 16.   Ti we tekateka sit ngaira us + inanon te auti in the house 17.   Ko you takaakaro play ngkoe you + irarikin te titooa next to the store 18.   Kam You nakonako go ngkamii you + nakon te kaawa to the village 19.   E he tebotebo wash Tiaon John + irarikin te auti next to the house 20.   Ti we am'arake eat ngaira us + inanon te auti in the house D. Choose an appropriate time adverb from the list and insert it into its proper place in the sentence: n te bong aei today ngkoananoa yesterday ningaabong tomorrow  1.  E roko te kaibuke it comes the ship  2.  Ti na nako Betio we will go to Betio  3.  A a tia n oki aomata they already return people  4.  E tabe n akawa te mm'aane he busy fishing the man  5.  E a tia n roko raou he already come my friend  6.  A kabooa te kariki they buy the bread  7.  N na nooriko I will see you  8.  E na b'aka te karau it will fall the rain  9.  A konaa n tiku ikai raom they can stay here your friends 10.  E nangi roko te waa it about to come the canoe 11.  A tabe n takaakaro aiine they busy play women 12.  A na reirei they will study 13.  I nooriko i Bairiki I see you in Bairiki 14.  E na nako n te titooa Reete he will go to the store Reete 15.  E mate Bauro he dead Bauro 16.  E anganai kanau tinau she give me my food my mother 17.  Ti na taninga ngaira we will wait us 18.  Kam tebotebo i taari you bathe in the sea 19.  E a tia ni kabooa te raiti he already buy the rice 20.  Ko na nako you will go Written Exercise E. Rearrange the following sets of words into good Gilbertese sentences: 1. e te titooa nakonako Tiaon nakon 2. te nii e te auti iaon b'aka 3. e ngkoananoa te kaibuke a tia n roko 4. aiine tabe e ngkai ni mm'akuri te 5. man roko Meeri e te auti 6. e te waanikiba roko na ningaabong 7. ti n te bong aei nako na 8. ngkoe takaakaro irarikin ko te kawai 9. kam i taari a tia n tebotebo 10. aomata a inanon tekateka te auti   Answers to written exercise Kiribati page © 1979, 2003 Stephen Trussel, ACTION / Peace Corps, The Experiment in International Living. The Experiment in International Living, Inc., prepared this handbook for the U. S. Government under ACTION Contract number 78-043-1037. The reproduction of any part of this handbook other than for such purposes as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research, or other "fair use" is subject to the prior written permission of ACTION.