Magin_Edward-thesis

64
In examples (7) and (8), aspect markers bi- and d- were separable from the verb
stems, e.g. bi-bin, ve-d-xwar. However, while this feature points toward Northern
Kurdish being agglutinative, the language does have some fusional features, such as verb
stem endings, which contain meaning for person and number. Additionally, ezafe
conjunctive particles and oblique markers contain meaning for gender and number. In
example (10) below, the -im suffix on the verb ‘make’ contains both person and number
agreement. The -ê oblique marker on kêk, ‘cake,’ reveals that the noun is both masculine
and singular, while -ek on kêk indicates the noun is indefinite. With a maximum of two
bits of meaning being represented within any one morpheme, we can say that the
morphological typology of Northern Kurdish is less fusional than ancient Greek and that
it also exhibits some agglutinative features.
(10) ez kêk-ek-ê çê-di-k-im. (Şirîn and Buşra 2006:70)
1D cake-INDF-OBL.M make-IPFV-do-1SG
‘I am making a cake.’
4.4.1.2 Constituent order typology
Another typological parameter of language is constituent order. Scholars, such as
MacKenzie and Thackston, agree that the basic constituent order of Northern Kurdish is
SOV, as the following examples indicate. In example (11) biraê min, ‘my brother,’ is the
subject and comes first in the sentence. The object têştê, ‘breakfast,’ comes second and is
followed by the verb dixuit, ‘is eating.’ We see the same order in example (12).
(11) bira-ê min têşt-ê di-xu-it.
brother-EZ.M 1O breakfast-OBL.F IPFV-eat.PRS-3SG
‘My brother is eating breakfast.’
(12) min çar sêv kirrî-n.
1O four apple buy.PST-3PL
‘I bought four apples.’
Note that in (12) the verb agrees with the object, not the subject. Northern Kurdish is a
split-ergative language. Transitive past tense clauses have an ergative construction, where
there is agreement between the verb and the object (as opposed to accusative construction