Subjects & Relations

Most prepositional phrases—and the verb arguments they express—have relatively fixed definitions, so if one knows the meaning of a verb, then the meaning of its arguments follows straightforwardly. Two semantic roles are exceptions to this pattern of predictability: the subject (ŋɪθ) and relation (qac). These roles are essential components of the semantics of each verb.

Every Najan verb describes some state of being. The subject of a verb, marked using the preposition ŋɪ, denotes the entity that is in that state. (It can be very difficult to provide a good gloss for this preposition since in English the subject is positional. Therefore, I will generally gloss ŋɪ as just “sʙᴊ”.)

Many verbs also permit a secondary relational argument, marked using qa, which most often means something like of, with respect to, with regard to, or in relation to.

For example, in the verb zim (want), the subject is the one who is experiencing desire, and the relation is that which is wanted.

For a given Najan verb, the meanings of ŋɪ and qa may or may not align well with the subject and object of a similar English verb. As a general rule, the entity most strongly pertaining to or affected by the verb will be defined as its subject. Taking for example the verb tcet (be eaten), the subject is the thing consumed, and the relational argument is the consumer. These roles are exactly reversed for the related word hɪm, eat.