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Arguments

Arguments to a verb are expressed as optional prepositional phrases. As a result, arguments have no fixed order, and a single verb can take multiple arguments of the same semantic role.

In the following, you and I are both eating the same fruit:

jəqəkwʊqətʊŋɪzəzə ⟨zə⟩ — a; anindefinite determinerbloθtcet
jəqəkwʊqətʊŋɪzəbloθtcet
sɴsbymebyyousʙᴊafruitis eaten
“You and I are eating a fruit.”

Reversing the order of the arguments usually does not affect the meaning:

jəŋɪzəzə ⟨zə⟩ — a; anindefinite determinerbloθqəkwʊqətʊtcet
jəŋɪzəbloθqəkwʊqətʊtcet
sɴssʙᴊafruitbymebyyouis eaten
“A fruit is being eaten by you and me.”

However, sometimes order does matter, for instance when universal and existential quantification are involved.

In the next example, the ball and glove are thrown as part of the same action:

jəŋɪgɪgɪ ⟨gɪ⟩ — thedefinite determinerðazŋɪgɪgɪ ⟨gɪ⟩ — thedefinite determinerxopcɪcɪ ⟨cɪ⟩ — bymarks the complement as an agentkwʊθɪwis
jəŋɪgɪðazŋɪgɪxopcɪkwʊθɪwis
sɴssʙᴊtheballsʙᴊthegloveᴀIᴘғᴠthrow
“I threw the ball and glove.”

Since arguments are simply modifiers, they are not syntactically required and may be omitted if they can be inferred from context. When asked who I am, I could reply:

jəŋɪkwʊdjan​nə​θɪn
jəŋɪkwʊdjannəθɪn
sɴssʙᴊIJonathan
“I am Jonathan.”

Or, since I is the expected subject:

jədjan​nə​θɪn
jədjannəθɪn
sɴsJonathan
“[I] am Jonathan.”