| Mori Bawah | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Sulawesi |
Native speakers | (28,000 withMori Atas cited 1988)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xmz |
| Glottolog | mori1268 |
Mori Bawah, also known asLower Mori orEast Mori, is anAustronesian language of theCelebic branch. It is one of the principal languages of theMorowali Regency inCentral Sulawesi.
Mori Bawah is classified as a member of theBungku-Tolaki group of languages, and shares its closest affinities withBungku and other languages of the eastern seaboard of Sulawesi, such asWawonii andKulisusu.[2] Together, Mori Bawah and theMori Atas language are sometimes referred to collectively by the cover termMori.
Mori Bawah comprises several dialects. Following Esser, five dialects can be regarded as principal.[3]
The Tinompo dialect is highest in prestige. Tinompo was the dialect spoken by the indigenous royal class, and in the first half of the twentieth century it was further promoted by colonial authorities as a standard throughout the Mori area, including for Mori Atas andPadoe.
Mori Bawah has the following sound inventory:[4]: 684
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | plain | voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ |
| voiced | b | d | g | |||
| prenasalized | voiceless | ᵐp | ⁿt | ᵑk | ||
| voiced | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑg | |||
| Fricative | plain | β | s | h | ||
| prenasalized | ⁿs | |||||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Close-Mid | e | o |
| Open | a | |
Only open syllables of the shape V, CV are allowed. Consequently, Mori Bawah is a strictly vowel final-language.
Mori Bawah has seven sets of bound and free pronouns:[4]: 686, 704
| nominative | absolutive | possessive | independent | additive | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| non-future | future | direct | applicative | ||||
| 1.sg. | ku | aku | aku | akune | ku | ongkue | ngkuda('a) |
| 2.sg. | u | (i)ko | ko | akomu | mu | omue | muda('a) |
| 3.sg. | i | ta | o | akono | no | onoe | nada('a) |
| 1.pl.in. | to | kita | kita | akita | to | otae | ntada('a) |
| 1.pl.ex. | ki | kami | kami | akami | mami | omami | mamida('a) |
| 2.pl. | i | (i)komiu | komiu | akomiu | miu | omiu | mida('a) |
| 3.pl. | do | ira | ira | ako'ira | do | ondae | ndada('a) |
Corearguments (A: subject of transitive verbs;O: object of transitive verbs,S: subject of intransitive verbs) are not marked forcase, but are obligatorily indexed by a pronominalagreement marker on the verb.[4]: 689–691
With transitive verbs,A is always indexed by a nominative pronoun, andO by an absolutive pronoun.
[i
Ana
Child
Wulaa]A
Gold
[mia
person
IA-pe'ata-'iraO-mo [i Ana Wulaa]A [mia atuu-do]O
3.SG.NOM-enslave-3.PL.ABS-PRV PN Child Gold person DIST-3.PL.POSS
'Gold child took those people as slaves.'
The indexing of the single argument of intransitive verbs showssplit-ergative alignment:S is always indexed by a nominative pronoun in future clauses, and also in imperative, negative and certain other dependent types of non-future clauses. In all other cases,S is indexed by an absolutive pronoun.
Mori Bawah has twovalency-reducing voice types,passive voice andantipassive voice.[4]: 698
If a transitive verb is marked for passive voice with the infix<in>, it becomes formally intransitive, andO (the "object") becomes theS-argument. The originalA-argument cannot be mentioned at all.
In antipassive voice, the verb takes the prefixpoN-. The object can be omitted, or overtly expressed if indefinite; it is however not indexed by a person-indexing pronoun. The original subject of the transitive verb becomes theS-argument in a formally intransitive antipassive clause.
pom-pepate
singa
lion
ka-i pom-pepate singa
ka-3.SG.NOM AP-kill lion
'...and he killed a lion.'