Verbs agree with the grammatical subject for person, number and, in the third-person, for gender. There are three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and non-human. For the third person plural, the gender distinction applies only for human vs. non-human. For the first person plural, there exists a two way clusivity distinction. The agreement markers are prefixes on the main verb. [3]
Singular
Plural
1p.
t-
Incl.
Excl.
w-
m-
2p.
n-
3p.
Masculine
w-
y-
Feminine
m-
Non-human
p-
n-
Moi subject agreement prefixes
Along with agreement prefixes cross-referencing the grammatical number of the subject, the verb stem itself can reflect number too: there may be one stem allomorph with front vowels (singular agreement) and one with back vowels (plural agreement).
As can be seen in the examples (1d) and (1f) and elaborated on by Menick, elements corresponding to prepositions in English share characteristics with verbs, which is why the conclusion can be made that the lexical category of adpositions is absent in Moi.[6]
Nominal morphology
Inalienable nouns are obligatorily marked by prefixes for the possessor agreement (see example (1h) ara n-eesin 'breadfruit fruits', literally 'breadfruit tree its fruits')
Negation
To negate a clause, the particle dau following the verb is used:
'After they had crossed the Kalasowo river, they left.' Literally: 'they crossed the Kalasowo river down there, it was finished, they left'[6]
References
^Moi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^Menick, Raymond (1995). Moi, a language of the West Papuan phylum: A preview. Baak, Connie and Bakker, Mary and van der Meij, Dick (eds.), Tales from a concave world: Liber amicorum Bert Voorhoeve: Leiden University. pp. 55–73.