| tan | TAN (RTV) |
The Denden particle tan is notoriously difficult (see also further literature on tan) to describe in a rigorous fashion. Countless generations of PhD students have been able to base their thesises on it. The particle ga is nearly as notorious. I gloss tan consequently as TAN, since the meaning of this particle is very broad and depends on the context.
However, tan TAN can be said to relate clauses and nominals, and in that sense, is a relative particle, and in some cases it should be glossed RTV. The meanings of tan include genitive, ablative, locative, dative and comitative meanings, and in fact, tan can be used in place of almost every distinct case particle.
It must be taken into account when considering the meaning and usage of tan that Denden is a lingua franca, spoken across a large continent by people with a wide variety of mother-tongues. The substratal influences of their native tongues have to a large degree caused the wide variety of usages of tan attested in the sources.
The central meaning of tan is genitive. The genitive indicates possession or a belonging together.
There have been attested at least two common genitive constructions with tan:
. kaolon tan Keluxir zi ga
house TAN Keluxir great NOM
The house of Keluxir is great.
. weru doxazdan nahan lohe tan Daine nah.
two regiment go to TAN daine side
Two regiments went over to the side of the Daine
. Tan lauyè purgat.dir cyun.cyun gelaw tayde Hamal ga zunga.dan
GEN well god.p very.DUP angry because Hamal NOM curse.AGP
The gods of the well are extremely angry because Hamal is one
who curses.
Thus: X tan Y and tan Y X both mean 'the X of Y'. The first construction is more general, while the second construction is limited to southern sources, and could be due to the influence of Southern Colloquial Charyan, or to an extension of the genitivus partitivus:
. Tan e.do ram di tejidi tau.getir
TAN poss.1sMGH money 2sMGH little NEG.obtain
You won't get even a little of my money
In the construction X tan Y the constituents X and Y can swap places:
. séor tan Tacal
sword TAN Tacal
the sword of Tacal
. Tacal tan séor
Tacal TAN sword
Tacal's sword
The focus is always on the first constituent. In case of ambiguity the possession is the first element; the possessor the second.
A third construction is attested in some eastern sources:
. Snes hanun.un tan
plain fly.p TAN
The plain of the flies
However, the construction X Y tan has not been imitated by authors from other parts of the continent, while the southern construction tan X Y enjoyed some popularity during the latter half of the three hundred years of the three hundred kingdoms period.
The locative use of tan is an extension of the genitive core meaning of tan. When used in a locative sense, the particle tan indicates "possession of a location" and is most often used as a preposition, though postpositional uses are common, too. The locative is more often expressed with locative suffix <-ar> LOC, though.
. Seras iber tan nevus hahan.alei. Tan nevus ga ke nadul.
3sHGH first TAN west tramp.PT3. GEN west NOM only sand.
He travelled first in the west. The west only had sand.
. Barush tan Barushladan.dir wu.ni, barush tan gigar ga.
mountain TAN barushlan.p live.HAB mountain TAN danger NOM
In the mountains the Barushlani live, in the mountains there is
danger.
. Tau.tau.etand, e.ras dox'tau.yidan ga nothaz
NEG.dup.be POSS.3pLGH thing.NEG.normal NOM kill
tan kal tu.belay.lay
TAN far without.arrow.DUP
No, no, theirs is a strange thing that kills from far without arrows.
Tan has usurped the domain of many of the more specialised case particles in Denden. In these cases the usage can either be constructed as derived directly from the genitive usage, or via the locative usage of tan.
. Do tan di tau.gevir.ju ram
1sMGH TAN 2sMGH NEG.give.CRT money
I certainly won't give you money.
. Mému gjivat tan radan ta.kiraw?
QST gjivat TAN man NEG.bad
Gjivat isn't harmful for a man? (negative answer expected).
. Seri wüwish.do tan do
2sHGH dance.OPT TAN 1sMGH
Will you dance for me?
. doxaz delai.ai wüwish tan pal
thousand girl.p dance TAN emperor
A thousand girls dance for the emperor.
. Sera tan harulon tan Qunayir nahan, tarna sera quna tau.ga
3sHGH TAN temple TAN Qunayir come_from, but 3sHGH cat NEG.NOM
He comes from the temple of Qunayir, but he isn't a cat.
. Seri bachaza.hau hod e.rai tan randa
2sHGH hack.IMP head poss.3sLGH TAN trunk
Hack his head off the trunk!
. Sero tau.yalir rezet tan Hamal.
1sHGH NEG.bring bread TAN Hamal
I won't bring the bread to Hamal.
. Sero ta.gedir tan bué yani pahang
1sHGH NEG.think TAN DIST daughter fat
I don't think of that fat daughter.
. Do tan Kirimandir hales.ju
1sMGH TAN Kirimandir trust.CRT
I put my trust in the Kirimandir (brother and sister gods)
. Sero tajir tan tagyan e.di
1sHGH sad TAN mischief poss.2sMGH
I am saddened by your mischief (from parent to child)
. Daine chui jahar.onai tan chakahin.yi
Daine easily succeed.PERF TAN battle.DIM
The Daine easily succeeded in battle
As an extension of the genitive usage of tan, the particle is sometimes used to put greater emphasis on an adjectival construction. In these case the normal order noun-adjective is reversed.
. Rorayal denor gigar tan tugar, ca'fentir
Rorayal speak danger TAN lie yesterday
Rorayal uttered a dangerous lie, yesterday
Adverbial constructions are often made with chains of verbs, but can also be made with the particle tan.
. Serir tan Pal arat tan karinzu
1pHGH TAN emperor fear TAN enter
We went to the emperor with fear.
Another redaction of the same text, the memoires of Yundiai lue Erlo, a courtier at time time of the twelfth emperor, has the following:
. Serir Pal.ar arat tan Pal gelaw karinzu
1pHGH emperor.LOC fear TAN emperor fury enter
We went to the Emperor's palace in fear of the fury of the emperor.
Which of course is a normal genitive construction.
A clear example of the adverbial use of tan is found in the song lamay neranmen:
- [2]
If hya would be taken as and adjective to nahak, the particle tan would become meaningless, and since there is no rhyme to be gained in the phrase by the addition of a meaningless tan, tan must here be analyzed as forming an adverb.
Tan can also be used as a conjunction. In the next example, tan can either be analysed as an adverbial particle (belonging to tupamo), or as a conjunction between naha and tupamo:
. Pal naha tan tupamo etal.amoi Barushla
emperor brave TAN unexpected conquer.RFUT Barushla
The brave emperor then unexpectely conquered Barushla.
or: The emperor then bravely and unexpectedly conquered Barushla.
or even: The brave and unpredictable emperor then conquered Barushla.
Tan can also be used as an undetermined pronoun, like 'one':
. Tan tau.tau.yuan.ini yob
TAN NEG.NEG.do.HAB that
One doesn't do that.
Although Denden has a perfectly good and usable set of relative pronouns, some authors extend the range of uses of tan into the domain of relative pronouns:
. Do avanrir quhuran.dir tan wüwish
1sMGH love whore.p TAN dance
I love whores who dance.
. Do tauvan adan tan tauvan do
1sMGH hate man TAN hate 1sMGH
I hate those who hate me.
In comparative constructions, tan couples the terms that are compared:
. Klondan.dan. qarnak.yara tan tardan logh
farmer.p fuck.DSP TAN animal like
Farmers fuck like the beasts. (i.e. without any art).
In passive constructions, tan can be used to mark the passive subject:
. Tarna drai tan najan.ini
but girl TAN kiss.HAB
But girls are usually kissed.
In line 6 of the poem Lamay Neranmen the particle appears to be essentially meaningless and merely used to obtain a rhyme with anyalan, in line 8.
- [3]
In sum, the usage of tan ranges from a case particle to a meaningless syllable, and only a careful analysis of the text and its provenance can lead the philologist to a correct translation.