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In some cases, example sentences may appear to indicate that a particular
adverbial is either a suffix or a word. For example, one might infer from (105) that j is a
suffix, while (107) seems to show that kar is a separate word. In these examples, I am
following the writing conventions used by most Marshallese speakers and am not making
any claim as to the status of these adverbials as suffixes or separate words. What follows
in the remainder of this section is a description of Marshallese adverbials and their
approximate meanings.
j present tense (abbreviated as T(pres)).
(105) Kōrā ro re-j kōnono ippā-n Mary.
woman the.pl.h 3pl.agr-T(pres) talk with-3s Mary
'The women are talking with Mary.'
ar, kar past tense (abbreviated as T(past)). The two variants appear to be a dialectical
difference between the Ratak and Rālik dialects. However if T(past) does not
immediately follow the subject agreement clitic, kar must be used (107).
(106) E-ar le-tok bok eo n#an n#a.
3s.agr-T(past) give-toward.speaker book the.s to 1s.abs
'She gave the book to me.'
(107) a. E-naaj kar le-tok bok eo n#an n#a.
3s.agr-T(fut) T(past) give-toward.speaker book the.s to 1s.abs
'She would have given the book to me.'
b. *E-naaj ar le-tok bok eo n#an n#a.
3s.agr-T(fut) T(past) give-toward.speaker book the.s to 1s.abs
'She would have given the book to me.'
naaj future tense (abbreviated as T(fut)).
(108) Kōrā ro re-naaj kōnono ippā-n Mary.
woman the.pl.h 3pl.agr-T(fut) talk with-3s Mary
'The women will talk with Mary.'
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