Shupamem

  Words: njam te
  Gloss: horse run.away.PST
  Translation: a horse ran away
  Comment: Recent Past
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: ngeret sente
  Gloss: glass break-PST
  Translation: The glass broke
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: mon lije
  Gloss: child sleep.past
  Translation: The child slept
  Comment: The subject "mon" as a bare noun is interpreted as definite
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: a shiket-na mfon
  Gloss: Foc speak-perfective king
  Translation: It is the king who spoke.
  Comment: When the speaker is focusing on the subject NP while answering a question, the natural way of doing that is to prepose the verb before the subject DP. This is generally done when answering a question like "who spoke?"
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: Ndàm yùn màtwá
  Gloss: Ndam buy.PST car.SG
  Translation: Ndam bought a car
  Comment: Recent past
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: pon su tasa
  Gloss: children wash-PAST dishes
  Translation: the children washed the dishes
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: na paa ma ndap
  Gloss: mother be.PRES. at house
  Translation: The mother is at home
  Comment: 'Ma' is the most general locative preposition.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: mfon kut ndap nkop nke
  Gloss: King buid-PST house near river
  Translation: The king built a house near a river
  Comment: A bare noun is either definite or indefinite.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: lera won ma ndale ndia'a
  Gloss: teacher go.PST to school today
  Translation: The teacher went to school today.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: tam matwa me
  Gloss: long car arrive.PST
  Translation: A long car arrived.
  Comment: A bar noun can be either definite or indefinite.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: gbam pam run
  Gloss: big bag be.full
  Translation: The big bag is full
  Comment: "Full" in Shupamem is a verb.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: ntam mbun
  Gloss: long coffen
  Translation: "a long coffen"
  Comment: May be interpreted as a definit NP as well
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: tam tam bun
  Gloss: long long coffens
  Translation: "Long coffens"
  Comment: May be interpreted as "the long coffens" as well
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: nda ngut gure
  Gloss: house big big
  Translation: "big houses"
  Comment: May be interpretated as "the big houses"
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: rane mon
  Gloss: smart child
  Translation: "A smart child"
  Comment:  May be also interpreted as "The smart child"
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: rane pon
  Gloss: smart children
  Translation: "Smart children"
  Comment: May be also be interpreted as "The smart children."
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: lapa'a sisi pa kamkeri
  Gloss: shoes black black copula rare
  Translation: Black shoes are rare.
  Comment: The order Adj Noun is impossible with [sisi] "black" (but not for other adjectives).
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: nda ngure
  Gloss: house big
  Translation: "A big house"
  Comment: May be interpretaed as "the big house" as well
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: mun kemshe
  Gloss: man short
  Translation: "a short man"
  Comment: Ma be interpreted as "The short man"
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: puhen kemshe kemshe
  Gloss: men short short
  Translation: "short men"
  Comment: May be interpreted as "The short men"
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: pon pi-kpa two pwomshe
  Gloss: children AGR-four come.PST meeting
  Translation: The four children came to the meeting.
  Comment: In Shupamem, when the numeral occurs after the noun, the Noun Phase is interpreted as a definite NP.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: ji pam run
  Gloss: this bag be.full
  Translation: This bag is full.
  Comment: This order is possible when the demonstrative "ji" is focussed.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: ji pam pa kamkeri
  Gloss: this bag is rare
  Translation: This bag is rare.
  Comment: This order is possible when the demonstrative "ji" is focussed.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: pam i pa kamkeri
  Gloss: bag this copula rare
  Translation: This bag is rare.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: kun mfon pa ngure
  Gloss: bed king copula big
  Translation: The king's bed is big.
  Comment: Non-pronominal possessors always comes after the head noun.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: ngbam ngbam pam run-te
  Gloss: big big bags be.full-pluractional
  Translation: big bags are full
  Comment: The reduplication process is used to encode the plural although in other cases, the plural is marked by a noun class.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: pon pa nda tam tam-shi
  Gloss: children copula very tall tall-plural agreement
  Translation: the children are very tall
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: nda ngbam pam run
  Gloss: very big bag be.full
  Translation: A very big bag is full.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: *ngbam nda pam run
  Gloss: big very bag full
  Translation: A very big bag is full.
  Comment: Degree modifiers precede adjectives.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: mfon ria mi i ton pit
  Gloss: king say-PST that 3sg burn-PST war
  Translation: The king said that he won the war
  Comment: The meaning of the verb 'burn' is extended here to 'win'
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: mon na ngupme mi i pa rani
  Gloss: child PROG think that 3sg copula smart
  Translation: The child thinks that he is smart.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: mon yuwo i gba pam-mi ne kwon lerwa
  Gloss: child who 3sg loose.PAST bag-3sg.Gen Comp miss-PST school
  Translation: The child who lost his bag missed the class
  Comment: In relative clauses, there is a final complementizer.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words:  a pa mon yuwo mfon fu ne
  Gloss: Foc copula child that king call.PST that
  Translation: It is the child that the king called.
  Comment: In a cleft construction, there is always final complementizer "ne".
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: mfon won na mengaka i ken ne
  Gloss: king leave.PST perfect because 3sg be.tired COMP
  Translation: The king left because he was tired.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: mba jekaa mfon kene, i ke ku'ushe pwomshe
  Gloss: Even though king be-tired, 3sg still continue.PST meeting
  Translation: Even though the king was tired, he still went ahead with the meeting.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: a yun Njoya matwa
  Gloss: it buy.PST Njoya car
  Translation: NJOYA bought a car.
  Comment: The verb precedes the subject when the subject is focussed.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: ji gbam pam run
  Gloss: this big bag be.full
  Translation: This big bag is full.
  Comment: This order is possible when the demonstrative "ji" is focussed.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: ji pa ngure pa kamkeri
  Gloss: this bag big copula rare
  Translation: This big bag is rare.
  Comment: This order is possible when the demonstrative "ji" is focussed.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: pa ngure ji pa kamkeri
  Gloss: bag big this copula rare
  Translation: This big bag is rare.
  Comment: The word for "bag" is [pam] but the [m] drops in prenasal context.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: *gbam ji pam run
  Gloss: big this bag be.full
  Translation: This big bag is full.
  Comment: Sometimes this order is acceptable with focus adjective.
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: ngbam pam ji run
  Gloss: big bag this be.full
  Translation: This big bag is full.
  Comment: This order is acceptable in neutral context (no focus).
  Contributor: Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare

  Words: shi ndalerwa pi-kpa
  Gloss: these books pi-four
  Translation: These four books
  Comment: pi marks definite. Sometimes glossed as just ARG. (ex entered for Laziz and to be transferred to Laziz)
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: Pon pi-kpa shi
  Gloss: children pi-four these
  Translation: These four children (definite)
  Comment: (ex entered for Laziz and to be transferred to Laziz)
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: Pon p-i pi-kpa
  Gloss: children pi-these pi-four
  Translation: These four children (definite)
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: kpa pon p-i
  Gloss: four children Agr.Dem
  Translation: These four children
  Comment: (ex entered for Laziz and to be transferred to Laziz)
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman