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Grammar - Interjections
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Kah has a set of interjections expressing  a wide variety of moods and other additional information. Words like "yes" and "also, too" are part of this set, but also an exclamation with a vocative aspect. These interjections may occur anywhere in the sentence, but a common position would be directly preceding the main verb like in the following examples:

yu ho jam

he truly do

he truly did it!

oi jam

adhort do

do it, then!

But when things get emotional they -naturally- end up in front of the utterance, topicalized:

yiii! kwenga!

eek spider

eek, a spider!

yai! yai!

hurt hurt

ouch! that hurts!

hee, haya awau?

ugh, what this?

ugh, what is this?

nong wa jam

not i do

no I did not

Along with the intensity of the expressed emotion, these markers are stretched:

yooi minis

oh be unfortunate

how unfortunate!

heea ba! mole pabos!

hey mister lose wallet

hey mister! you've lost your wallet!

 

Lo

A very prominent interjection mainly denoting focus is lo. It can be used as a means of placing some very simple emphasis at the end of utterances like:

wa denu, lo

i go, then

I'm going then

hea lo!

pay attention foc

watch it, you!

Also, it can be used as a little step to further conversation:

lo, haya jam?

foc what do

well, what shall we do?

lo...

foc

so…

It can express contrast to an earlier statement as well:

eo lo!

yes then

am too!

nong lo!

no then

are not!

 

Question

A very important interjection is ha, which is the basic question particle. It tends to show up at the end of a sentence, as it is not usually the topic of a question.

weyun ha?

see q.

did you see it?

Emil lu ha?

Emile be at q.

Is Emile in?

When ha is topicalized, the translation would be something like:

ha moso le?

q. milk have

say, do you have milk?

ha weyun Lih?

q. see lee

hey, did you see Lee?

 

Negation

Negation too is expressed with an interjection usually occurring in front of the main verb:

nong keju

not want

I don't want to

Moirah nong tengi muno

moira not can drive

Moira can't drive

nong, ya nong ten

not, it not be possible

no, that won't be possible

Interjections in general and the ones for negation and question in particular can be combined:

nong lu ha?

not be at q.

is he not in?

nong jo ha?

not know q.

didn't you know?

ha nong jo?

q. not know

didn't you know then?

 

List

The entire list of interjections reads:

ha - question marker

nong - no, not

eo - yes, indeed

hau - ha! amusement

he - ugh, disgust

hea - hey! you there! watch out! used to draw attention of a person far away

om - let us, expresses a wish, optative

lo - focus,  "doch" "am to!" emphasizes the previous word

soi - please, polite request

mai - hi, hello, introduces many greetings

ho - really, truly

ea - hey, "let me", interest

wu - wow, whoah, awe, how very, what

hoi - huh? surprise

yai - pain

oi - come on! adhortative

nye - yay! amusement, happiness

yoi - oh dear, oh my, sympathy, grief, woe

sus - shh! be quiet!

woi - oops

wong - aargh, why I... anger

woa - aah! disappointment

a - er, indecision

s - psst, used to draw attention in a crowded, noisy place