Kuanua Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefixes and Suffixes

Some

Prefixes

a usually comes before a noun. bar denotes  nuclear and extended family relationship terms. wa is used to signify the noun form of a verb. It is also used to indicate active verb. eg. libur changed to walibur.

Suffixes

Suffixes denoting possessive nouns

gu denotes my;  i, na, denotes of;  m,  am, im denotes your. For example:  Agu tawa. My water. Kaugu mal. My clothes.

In Kuanua there are two categories of possessive nouns: 1. food; 2; non-food. In English the word my is used to refer to both food and non-food items, for example, my house, my orange. It is not so in Kuanua because agu refers to food and kaugu refers to non-food items.

Suffixes as Pronouns

ia . The suffix ia changes a verb to an adverb. e.g., watur ,waturia; ;(touch, touch it) bing, bingia (press, press it). e. In some cases the suffix e can be used instead of ia but not in all cases. e.g., watur, wature. ia and e are at the same time serve as pronouns.

Photo Credit: Grace Tiden

The photo shows the conclusion of the final stage of initiation in Tolai tubuan. This stage is called dok. The prefix ni is added to dok and forms the noun nidok.