Sgaw Karen · The mə- prefix

The prefix mə- (pronounced with a short, reduced vowel) is a fascinating case because it has two completely different origins that have converged into the same sound. Depending on the word, mə- can be:

1. A contraction of mɨ̂ ('sun'), used to build temporal expressions.

2. A reduced, atonal form of the conditional verb mê ('be true', 'if'), used as a grammatical prefix in some Northern varieties.

This means that when you see mə-, you have to look at the word it's attached to in order to understand where it came from and what it's doing.

1. mə- as a temporal prefix (from mɨ̂ 'sun')

This is the most common source of the mə- prefix. The word mɨ̂ means 'sun'. In Sgaw Karen, the sun is closely linked to the concept of 'day' and 'time'. By prefixing a contracted form of mɨ̂ (mə-) to another time-related word, the language creates a whole set of common temporal adverbs.

Think of it as a way of saying "sun-X" to mean a specific time of day or a specific day relative to now.

1.1. Time of day (relative to the sun's position)

These words tell you when something happened or will happen, based on the sun.

1.2. Years (relative to the current year)

This pattern extends to larger units of time, like years.

1.3. Days in the future

The same mə- prefix (from mɨ̂) is also used to talk about future days, this time combining with words for 'dawn' or 'morning'.

2. mə- as a conditional prefix (from mê 'if')

This is a completely different origin. The verb mê means 'be true' or 'be the case'. It is also the standard way to form conditional clauses ('if').

In many varieties of Sgaw Karen, especially in Northern Thailand (like the Mae Hong Son variety), the full word mê is used. However, in fast speech or in certain dialects, it can reduce to an atonal prefix mə- that attaches directly to the verb.

This is a true grammatical prefix, and its only job is to mark the clause as conditional.

Examples:

This shows how a full verb (mê) can grammaticalize into a bound prefix (mə-) over time and in different regional varieties.

3. mə- in question words

The most common place you will encounter mə- in everyday speech is as the first syllable of the content question words. In these words, mə- is a fixed part of the interrogative root. It is likely related to the mə- temporal prefix or the question particle, but its origin is less clear. Here, it simply marks the word as a question word.

3.1. 'What?'

3.2. 'Who?'

This is a compound word built from the question morpheme mə-, the numeral tə- ('one'), and the human classifier ɣà. It literally means 'what-one-person'.

A shorter form mətà is also common in casual speech for both 'who' and sometimes 'what'.

3.3. 'Why?'

The question word for 'why' is built around the causal marker xō ('reason'), but it also contains this mə- prefix.

In all these, mənɨ̀ ('what') is the core question word, with the mə- prefix firmly attached.

4. mə- in the word θəmədā ('president')

This is a slightly different case. The word θəmədā means 'president'. It appears to be a loanword or a coined term that has been nativized with the common lexical prefix θə-. The middle syllable -mə- is likely part of the borrowed root and is not functioning as either the temporal or conditional prefix. It shows how mə- can also simply be a syllable within a longer borrowed word.

Distinguishing the two mə- prefixes

Since the two mə- prefixes sound the same, how do you tell them apart? Context is key.

Quick guide:

• If the word after mə- is a time word (hā, nà, hō), it's the temporal prefix.
• If the word after mə- is a verb, and the sentence is setting up a condition, it's the conditional prefix.
• If the whole word is mənɨ̀ or mətəɣà, it's a question word.
• If you're in Northern Thailand, you are more likely to hear the conditional mə- prefix. In other regions, you will hear the full form mê.

Summary