jeff_l
(Jeff_L)
#1
11.3 Other discourse particles 617
(694) 1-rhin ya
3MaSg-be.sick.PerfP Emph
'Is he (really) sick?' (lit. "Did he become sick?")
ya is also attested with topicalized independent pronouns (695).
(695) nsekk ya le-γ sezzaemaen ras
lSg Emph have.Reslt-lSgS season only
3ss-ukma2s-a2r e-vaef-in
Caus-scratch.PerfP-1 SgS Sg-head-1 SgPoss
'Me, I've been scratching my head for a long time.' [K]
11.2.2 'even'(küd, waeld)
'Even you-MaSg' can be expressed as kud kasyy. 'Even he/she' is kud anta.
For kiid in conditionals see §13.9.
waeld has various senses: a) 'without ...' (followed by NP); b) 'even ...'
(followed by NP) or 'even if ...' (followed by clause), c) '..., nor...' in parallel
negations; d) '(not) anything' (emphatic negative polarity item). The particle
represents the confluence of various Arabic forms, in some cases perhaps via
Songhay or other African languages. An example in the sense (b) 'even',
where it is dialectally interchangeable with kud, is (696).
(696) war arhe-γ waeld-dasr a-haenay-annet
Neg want.PerfN-lSgS even-Emph Sg-see.VblN-3SgPoss
Ί don't want even to see it.'
11.2.3 Confirmational (lab)
This clause-final particle is used to confirm or insist on the truth of a
statement, for example in response to a yes/no question.
(697) ~i-kfa-\0-s lab
3MaSgS-give.PerfP-\Dat-3Sg Emph
'He did (indeed) give it to him (or her).' [K-d]
11.3 Other discourse particles
11.3.1 'only' (rds, Negation plus ar)
The phrase-final particle ras 'only' is extremely common.
