Vowel sequences occur commonly for all combinations of these vowels, with the exception of /uo/. The front open-mid vowel /ɛ/ never occurs in sequence.
Voiced stops are prenasalized. Two instances of regional variation in these phonemes have been observed. These are /v/ becoming /β/, and /ð/ becoming /z/.
Morphology
Pronominal systems
Lengo has five sets of pronominal forms. These are emphatic, subject reference, object, direct possessor, and indirect possessor. These distinguish maximally between four persons (first person inclusive and exclusive, second, and third person), and four numbers (singular, plural, dual, and paucal). There is no grammatical gender distinction, but there is an animacy distinction in the object paradigm. Two further uses of these pronominal forms occur - a reflexive pronoun, and a set of interrogative pronouns.[4]
The dual and paucal forms are derived from the plural forms by the addition of ko- and tu- respectively.
The dual forms are used only to indicate 'two and only two', whilst the plural and paucal forms mean 'two or more' and 'three or more' respectively. First person exclusive excludes the addresse(s).
Emphatic pronouns
The emphatic pronoun in Lengo is optional, and can occur in combination with obligatory pronouns that may occur with subject or object function. It can also appear without other pronouns. It is used to emphasize the semantic role of a noun in a clause.[5]
3PL steal-o:3SG REAL-LOC CONJ-3PL take go-o:3SG ART basket-PS:1SG EP:1SG
"They stole it and they took it away my basket - mine."[6]
(2)
ara-ko
3PL-DU
gara
pull
iti-a
up-o:3SG
na
ART
thinaghe
canoe
i-ko-ira
DU.EP:3PL
m-u
CONJ-1SG
ghe
continue
tapa
run
inau
EP:1SG
ara-ko gara iti-a na thinaghe i-ko-ira m-u ghe tapa inau
3PL-DU pull up-o:3SG ART canoe DU.EP:3PL CONJ-1SG continue run EP:1SG
"they two pulled up the canoe and I continued to run."[7]
Subject reference pronouns
The subject reference pronoun appears as the first element in a verb phrase. It is obligatory in any main clause, but can be excepted in subordinate clauses. It is optional in imperative sentences.[8]
The object form in Lengo is identified using a set of pronominal suffixes, which index the object arguments on the verb. In instances where a verb takes both a direct and indirect object, only the indirect object is marked. The third person plural object form is marked for animate or inanimate objects.[10]
The direct possessor form is used for inalienably possessed nouns. It is a suffix on the possessed noun that indicates the possessor. In the case of the dual and paucal forms, number is indicated as a prefix on the noun, and the plural form of the possessive suffix is used.[11]
The indirect possessor form is used for alienably possessed nouns. It occurs as a free morpheme preceding the possessed noun. There are two categories distinguished - 'oral consumable' and 'general'. The oral consumable category includes items that are able to be eaten, drunk, or consumed via the mouth, such as tobacco.[11]
There are several ways to indicate negation in Lengo.
There is the discontinuous morpheme mo 'NEG', which surrounds the verb being negated. There are three modals which can appear in the serial verb construction and are negative (teigha), prohibitive (tabu) or non-volitive (kou). Lastly, there is the auxiliary boro 'impossible FUT', which is sometimes glossed as 'NEG' and can negate the verb.
The mo ... mo 'NEG ... NEG' structure can also be combined with teigha 'NEG' to create a double negative, which carries the meaning of a strong affirmative.[18]
Discontinuous morpheme mo ... mo
The grammatical negator, the mo ... mo 'NEG ... NEG' structure, is the only instance of a 'discontinuous' morpheme in Lengo. The morpheme mo appears both before and after the verb being negated.[18] The basic structure of this construction is mo V mo, as seen in (13) and (14):
A variant of this construction is mo ... moa, as seen in (15).
(15)
ko
2SG
mo
NEG
lubathia
let.3SG
moa
NEG
pe
or.3SG
dea
go
ko mo lubathia moa pe dea
2SG NEG let.3SG NEG or.3SG go
'Don't let it out (release it) or it will run away.'[20]
Note that although all examples presented by Unger show mo ... mo 'NEG ... NEG' used for a negative imperative, it should not be assumed that this construction is exclusive to a particular sentence structure. More examples are needed for a satisfactory conclusion.
Regardless, mo ... mo is an uncommon negator in Lengo. Much more frequently used is the modal teigha 'NEG'.
Modals
Lengo has a 'serial verb construction'. The various types of serial verb construction identified are directional, sequential, causative, manner, ambient, comitative, dative, instrumental and modal.[21] The basic structure of a modal serial verb construction is as follows:
The first verb is the modal verb, and the second verb follows an article (always na). This second verb is treated somewhat like an infinitive.[22] Lengo has five modal verbs; of these, three are used to create negative constructions. These three are:[23]
Modal
Meaning
teigha
negative
tabu
prohibitive
kou
non-volitive
Negative teigha
Of all the ways to express negation in Lengo, the modal teigha 'NEG' is the most versatile and often used.[24] It can be used to negate verbs in statements, like in (16):
(16)
ami-ko
1PL.EXCL-DU
teigha
NEG
na
ART
ta~tavu
REDUP~find
thai-a
'arrive.at'-o:3SG
na
ART
kei
basket
ami-ko teigha na ta~tavu thai-a na kei
1PL.EXCL-DU NEG ART REDUP~find 'arrive.at'-o:3SG ART basket
In (17) and (18), teigha appears at the very beginning of the serial verb construction, and the realis locative t-i appears between the negator and the article na. The entire serial verb construction is negated by teigha.
(17)
Ba
FUT
k-u
IRR-1SG
teigha
NEG
t-i
REAL-LOC
na
ART
mono
stay
varongo
quiet
i
LOC
vanua.
village
Ba k-u teigha t-i na mono varongo i vanua.
FUT IRR-1SG NEG REAL-LOC ART stay quiet LOC village
'I really won't be sitting around in the village.'[25]
It is important to note that this shortened form tena 'NEG' should not be confused with tena 'LOC'. Refer to example (20), which shows both homophones in use: the first being the locative and the second (bolded) being the combined modal and article.
(20)
tangomana
tangomana
possible
tugua
tugu-a
story-o:3SG
tena
tena
LOC
bona
bona
time
deni.
deni
DEM
E.
e
3SG
tena
teigha
NEG
na
ART
tuaghai.
tuaghai
long
Geia
geia
EP:3SG
po.
po
LIM
Taigu.
taigu
thank.you
tangomana tugua tena bona deni. E. tena {} tuaghai. Geia po. Taigu.
tangomana tugu-a tena bona deni e teigha na tuaghai geia po taigu
possible story-o:3SG LOC time DEM 3SG NEG ART long EP:3SG LIM thank.you
'That just the story I am able to tell at this time. It's not long. That's it. Thank you.'[26]
Teigha is flexible and can be used to create negative polar questions and answer polar questions, as in examples (21), (22) and (23).
Example (21) is a negative polar question which can be answered with either eo 'yes' or teigha 'no'. Answering with eo would mean 'yes, I have not seen your basket', whereas answering with teigha would mean 'no, I have seen it'.[27]
In example (22), teigha is used to answer a polar question in the negative. In (23), teigha is modified by an adverbial, vata 'continue'.
The word tabu 'prohibitive (with consequences); forbidden' is another common way of forming a negative. It is often used by parents who are correcting their children.[29] As with teigha 'no/none', a clause could consist of the single word Tabu! 'Don't!'[30] The basic structure is the same as with other modals: the first verb is the modal, and it is followed by the article na and the second verb.
In (26), the consequence of disobeying is explicitly addressed. In (27), the article na is omitted, and the consequence of 'or else ...' is implied.
(26)
Tabu
NEG
na
ART
lavi-a
grab-o:3SG
na
ART
ghau:
knife
b-e
APPR-3SG
ghado-gho
pierce-o:2SG
Tabu na lavi-a na ghau: b-e ghado-gho
NEG ART grab-o:3SG ART knife APPR-3SG pierce-o:2SG
The third and last negative modal is kou 'unwilling', which is used to indicate non-volition. It appears in the same place as teigha and tabu, but carries a more specific meaning.
In example (28), if the more general teigha 'NEG' had been used instead of kou, it would simply mean that the fish do not eat the bait. However, in (28), the fish not only do not eat the bait, but they will not.[31]
Example (29) has the words laka 'also' and t-i 'REAL-LOC' in between the negator and the article na.
Ma na tha laka e kou laka t-i na lighu-ni-a ghini-a igha deni m-e ghe laka po t-i tena maone.
CONJ ART REL also 3SG NEG also REAL-LOC ART pass-TR-o:3SG INST-o:3SG fish DEM CONJ-3SG continue also LIM REAL-LOC LOC sand
'And what's more, he [the fish] was unwilling to be passed by him [the turtle] so this fish also just continued onto the sand.'[31]
Auxiliary boro
In Lengo, tense auxiliaries appear before the subject reference pronoun and verb. There are two tense auxiliaries: bo 'FUT' and boro 'impossible FUT'. While boro is perhaps not a straightforward example of negation, it nevertheless does carry a meaning of 'negation for a reason'. If tabu is specifically prohibitive and kou is specifically non-volitive, then boro can be presented as a negator denoting impossibility. Furthermore, it is sometimes glossed as NEG, as in (30):
(30)
Boro
NEG
k-e
IRR-3SG
ghe
continue
dea
go
tena
LOC
group
group
sakai,
one
boro
NEG
tena
LOC
group
group
ruka,
two
ba
FUT
k-e
IRR-3SG
masi
must
ba
FUT
oli
return
ba
FUT
tena
LOC
nimiu
PS:2PL
na
ART
thara
feast.row
tibo-miu
REFL-PS:2PL
t-i
REAL-LOC
ighamu
EP:2PL
na
ART
K.
K
Boro k-e ghe dea tena group sakai, boro tena group ruka, ba k-e masi ba oli ba tena nimiu na thara tibo-miu t-i ighamu na K.
NEG IRR-3SG continue go LOC group one NEG LOC group two FUT IRR-3SG must FUT return FUT LOC PS:2PL ART feast.row REFL-PS:2PL REAL-LOC EP:2PL ART K
'It cannot go to group one, it cannot go to group two; it must return to your feast row—yourselves [group] K.'[32]
Example (31) shows boro glossed as 'impossible'. However, it still has the effect of negating the verb.
(31)
pukua
because
na
ART
thara
feast
deni
DEM
boro
impossible
k-a
IRR-1PL.INCL
tovothi
separate
thudu
sit
pukua na thara deni boro k-a tovothi thudu
because ART feast DEM impossible IRR-1PL.INCL separate sit
'because at this feast it will be impossible for us to sit separate'[33]
Double negative construction
The modal teigha 'NEG can be combined with the mo ... mo 'NEG ... NEG' structure to create a double negative, which carries the meaning of a strong affirmative, as in (32). However, this construction (meaning 'must') is rarely used. Instead, the Pijin form masi 'must', a borrowing from English, is much more common.[19]
Example (33) shows the same sentence as (32), but without either of the negation structures. This example is a simple imperative.
(32)
k-o
IRR-2SG
mo
NEG
ghe
continue
teigha
NEG
mo
NEG
na
ART
mai
come
k-o mo ghe teighamo na mai
IRR-2SG NEG continue NEG NEG ART come
'you must come' (lit. 'you must not not continue to come')[19]