Personal prefixes
| Person | Prefix | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | jə- | jə-lɛ̀ (I go) |
| 2nd singular | nə- | nə-lɛ̀ (you go) |
| 3rd | ʔə- | ʔə-lɛ̀ (he/she/they go) |
| 1st plural | pə- | pə-lɛ̀ (we go) |
Core directionals
| Directional | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tʰɔ̂ˀ | up, out, appear | lɛ̀-tʰɔ̂ˀ (go up) |
| lɔ̀ | down | lɛ̀-lɔ̀ (go down) |
| nɨ̀ˀ | in | lɛ̀-nɨ̀ˀ (go in) |
| kè | back, again | lɛ̀-kè (go back) |
| kwìˀ | away, completely | xê-kwìˀ (run away) |
| xɔ̀ | horizontally | lɛ̀-xɔ̀ (go across) |
Common relator nouns (location)
| Relator | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| pù | inside | lə̄ hîˀ pù (in the house) |
| kʰlə̄ | outside | lə̄ hîˀ kʰlə̄ (outside) |
| pʰɔ̄.kʰôˀ | above | lə̄ hîˀ pʰɔ̄.kʰôˀ (above) |
| pʰɔ̄.làˀ | below | lə̄ hîˀ pʰɔ̄.làˀ (below) |
| mɛ̀ˀ.ɲā | in front | lə̄ hîˀ mɛ̀ˀ.ɲā (in front) |
| lɔ̂.kʰī | behind | lə̄ hîˀ lɔ̂.kʰī (behind) |
| kəpà | beside | lə̄ hîˀ kəpà (beside) |
Relator nouns for abstract relations
| Relator | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| kʰā | time (when) | pʰɛ̄ nə-lɛ̀ ʔə-kʰā (when you go) |
| xō | reason | jə-xō (because of me) |
| ɣɔ̂ | purpose | lə̄ ʔə-ɣɔ̂ (for him/her) |
| ɣê | topic, matter | lə̄ nə-pʰō ʔə-ɣê (about your child) |
Question words
| Sgaw Karen | English |
|---|---|
| mə-nɨ̀ | what? |
| mə-tə-ɣà / mə-tà | who? |
| bâˀ mənɨ̀ ʔəxō lɛ̂ˀ | why? |
| pʰɛ̄.lɛ̂ˀ | where? |
| dīˀ.lɛ̂ˀ | how? |
| pɣɛ̀ | how many? |
Basic classifiers
| Classifier | Used for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ɣà | people | pɣà tə-ɣà (one person) |
| dɨ̄ | animals | tʰwîˀ tə-dɨ̄ (one dog) |
| bêˀ | flat objects | lìˀ tə-bêˀ (one book) |
| bō | long objects | klɛ̄ tə-bō (one road) |
| pʰlə̂ˀ | round objects | tʰə̂ˀ tə-pʰlə̂ˀ (one bag) |
| kʰā | abstract, pieces | tâ tə-kʰā (one thing) |
Prefixes summary
| Prefix | Grammatical | Lexical examples |
|---|---|---|
| kə- | irrealis (will) | kəsʰɔ̄ (elephant), kəθîˀ (medicine) |
| θə- | — | θəkōˀ (friend), θəkwī (banana) |
| tə- | negation, numeral 'one' | təkʰɔ̄ˀ (mango), tərūˀ (Chinese) |
| pə- | 1st plural (we/our) | pəjɔ̀ (Burma), pənâ (buffalo) |
| mə- | temporal, conditional | məhā (yesterday), mənɨ̀ (what?) |
Word-building patterns
| Pattern | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| [Kind] + [Thing] | tʰī-θəpə̀ | water jar |
| tâ + [Verb] | tâ-ʔɔ̂ˀ | food |
| pɣà + [VP] + pʰō | pɣà-mà-tâ-pʰō | worker |
| [Body] + [Verb] | nâ-kêˀ | disobedient |
| [Verb] + [Verb] | lɛ̀-tʰɔ̂ˀ | go up |
| [Verb] + kwìˀ | xê-kwìˀ | run away |
Common psycho-compounds (heart/liver)
| Compound | Meaning |
|---|---|
| θāˀ-dôˀ | angry (heart-big) |
| θāˀ-kʰɨ̄ | happy (heart-elated) |
| θāˀ-sâ | young (heart-tender) |
| θāˀ-pɣâ | old (heart-mature) |
| θûˀ-sʰīˀ | timid (liver-small) |
| θûˀ-dôˀ | brave (liver-big) |
Useful phrases
| Sgaw Karen | English |
|---|---|
| jə-θāˀ-kʰɨ̄ | I'm happy |
| jə-θāˀ-ʔɨ̄ˀ | I'm sad |
| jə-nâ-pə̂ | I understand |
| jə-tə-θêˀ.ɲā bâˀ | I don't know |
| nə-mì lə̄ mənɨ̀ lɛ̂ˀ | What's your name? |
| ʔôˀ lə̄ pʰɛ̄.lɛ̂ˀ | Where is it? |
Numbers 1-10
| Number | Independent | With classifier |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | tə̄ | tə- + CLF |
| 2 | kʰī | kʰī + CLF |
| 3 | θə̄ | θə̄ + CLF |
| 4 | lwî | lwî + CLF |
| 5 | jɛ̂ | jɛ̂ + CLF |
| 6 | xɨ̄ | xɨ̄ + CLF |
| 7 | nwī | nwī + CLF |
| 8 | xōˀ | xōˀ + CLF |
| 9 | kʰwī | kʰwī + CLF |
| 10 | sʰī | sʰī + CLF |
How to use this quick reference: Bookmark this page for when you need to quickly check a form. For detailed explanations with examples, follow the links to the main sections.
← Exhaustive function words list for the complete grammatical inventory.