Ling 102/WI Introduction to the Study of Language
Module 4 Activity 8: Apinaye Syntax
This activity is in the quiz tool. You have just one chance to submit your answers in the quiz tool,
so use this worksheet to prepare your answers first.
The following is a list of sentences from Apinaye, a language of the Amazon basin in Brazil. The
data have been simplified for our purposes. Although not required, you might find it easier to
complete this activity if you translate each morpheme first. Then answer the questions based on
the data (1 point each = 12 points)
Apinaye
kukre kokoi
kukre kra
ape kra
kukre kokoi rats
ape kra mets
ape mets kra
ape rats mi mets
kukre rats kokoi punui
ape punui mi pinets
kape pam
pik na dip
ku na lo?u [?] = glottal stop
Gloss
The monkey eats.
The child eats.
The child works.
The big monkey eats.
The good child works.
The child works well (well = adverb)
The good man works a lot (a lot = adverb)
The bad monkey eats a lot.
The old man works badly.
The father talks.
The young mother sews.
The happy mother sings.
note: WebCT doesn’t allow the → symbol. In place of the arrow, you will see = instead.
1. What does an Apinaye sentence consist of?
a. NP + VP
b. VP + NP
2. Is this the same for English?
a. yes
b. no
3. There are two rules for VERB phrases in Apinaye. One is VP = V. What is the other rule
for VP in Apinaye?
a. VP = V + Adv
b. VP = Adv + V
4. There are two rules for NOUN phrases in Apinaye. One is NP = N. What is the other rule
for NP’s in Apinaye?
a. NP = N + Adj
b. NP = Adj + N
5. Is the word order for adjectives and nouns in Apinaye NP’s the same as for English
NP’s?
Hurley Sp08
Ling 102/WI Introduction to the Study of Language
a. yes
b. no
6. Does Apinaye have determiners?
a. yes
b. no
7. English is an SVO language. Although these data don’t include objects, you have enough
info to discern the word order of Apinaye. What is it? (2 points)
a. SVO
b. VSO
c. OSV
8. Translate this English sentence into Apinaye: “The father sews well”.
a. pik mets pam
b. pam pik mets
c. pam mets pik
9. Translate this English sentence into Apinaye: “The happy child talks a lot”.
a. rats kape kra lo?u
b. kra lo?u kape rats
c. kape rats kra lo?u
10. Translate this Apinaye sentence into English: ku mets mi rats
a. The good man sings a lot.
b. The big man sings well.
11. Translate this Apinaye sentence into English: ku rats mi mets
a. The good man sings a lot.
b. The big man sings well.
Hurley Sp08