9 ‘Be’ sentences
‘Be’ with nouns: Mvhayvt owis ‘I am a teacher’
- The verb ometv means ‘to be’.
- Mvhayvt omis.
- ‘I am a teacher.’
- Mvhayvt ometskes.
- ‘You are a teacher.’
- Mvhayvt omes.
- He/she is a teacher.’
- Mvhayvt omēs.
- ‘We are teachers.’
- Mvhayvt omatskes.
- ‘You all are teachers.’
Most people today pronounce this word as owetv. Some speakers have a nasal o.
- Mvhayvt owis.
- ‘I am a teacher.’
- Mvhayvt owetskes~ontskes~oncces.
- ‘You are a teacher.’
- Mvhayvt os.
- ‘He/she is a teacher.’
- Mvhayvt owēs.
- ‘We are teachers.’
- Mvhayvt owatskes.
- ‘You all are teachers.’
Negative ‘be’ with nouns: Mvhayv tokot owis ‘I am not a teacher’
- The word toko means ‘not being’ and is used with nouns (not with adjectives or verbs).
- Mvhayv tokot owis.
- ‘I am not a teacher.’
- Mvhayv tokot owetskes.
- ‘You are not a teacher.’
- Mvhayv tokot os.
- ‘He/she is not a teacher.’
- Mvhayv tokot owēs.
- ‘We are not teachers.’
- Mvhayv tokot owatskes.
- ‘You all are not teachers.’
Sentences like these are common.
- Heyv cokvt os.
- ‘This is a book.’
- Heyv cokv tokot os.
- ‘This is not a book.’
- Mv tokot os.
- ‘It’s not that.’
