Vata

  Words: n le bI sakaa
  Gloss: I eat.IPFV now rice.D
  Translation: I am eating the rice now
  Comment: V-O is not a surface constituent
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: Aya ka yOO saka nyE
  Gloss: Aya will child-D rice give
  Translation: Aya will give the child some rice
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: n le bI saka
  Gloss: n eat.IPFV now rice
  Translation: I am eating rice now
  Comment: In tensed clauses; VO alternates with I X V; in nonfinite clauses strictly OV; *in all examples: Vs with capital letters=ATR; tones omitted (4 tones)*
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: a budole samana mlI
  Gloss: we wash.APPL soap P
  Translation: We wash ourselves with soap
  Comment: mlI also has clitic form (H tone); mlI (related to 'inside') is a bleached P; instrumental requires applied verb form (V-lE); applied form cooccurs with PP
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: mEnI kO
  Gloss: this.NI man
  Translation: This man
  Comment: Dem prenominally are followed by NI; nI also follows possessors (DP ni N); postnominal demonstratives [NP mE]
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: kO mE
  Gloss: man this
  Translation: this man
  Comment: mE: short form after N; prenominally augmented with nI (also occurring on prenominal possessors)
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: Kofi nI slee
  Gloss: Kofi nI(H.L) house.D
  Translation: Kofi's house
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: kO kadO//kua kadua//cIcE kadE
  Gloss: man.SG big-SG// man.PL big.PL//eagle.SG big.SG
  Translation: a big man// big men// a large eagle
  Comment: sg "class" markers: O, E, A, U, I; pl. ua, I (All examples need to be recoded in html with tonal marks and standard IPA vowels)
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: ngOnU n wa na n ka ngOnU a
  Gloss: sleep you want NA you FUT sleep Q
  Translation: Do you want to SLEEP?
  Comment: na (related to the paradigm for the light verb 'say'), followed by full tensed clause (direct or indirect discourse); extraposed S I X(O) V [na CP]; only in selected contexts (say, think, want,..) excluded from relatives
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: n n'ɪ-ka y'ɔɔ saka flʊ ka lowo
  Gloss: 1S FUTAUX-FUT [ child.D rice buy C ] send
  Translation:  I will send the child buy rice
  Comment: Given the definition of C (introducing a verb of sayng, thinking believing),this property is NO. Vata has a final C s however in other contexts. A C (ka) occurs as an infinitival C with complements of movement verbs (go, etc). This constituent can be fronted to left peripheral position.
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Comment: "adverbial subordinators" often are translated as special auxiliaries in I (+T), with I (+T)followed by D (bO) in S I (D) X V order; D (bO) shows up in relatives in the same position.
  Contributor: Chris Collins

  Words: O yi-bO gbu
  Gloss: 3sg come-D cause
  Translation: because she came
  Comment: [S I-bO(=D) X V] cause; *no inf about tense on V at this point* D final (bO) shows up in relative clause type contexts after the I+T complex
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: n nÍ saká li
  Gloss: 1s NEG rice eat-PERF
  Translation: I did not eat rice
  Comment: negative perfective is an auxiliary in T, with a mid high tone (raises to high after mid high in certain environments). Perfective aspect is marked on the main verb (root and a tonal pattern), which follows objects, adverbs, particles, but precedes tensed complement clauses (introduced by a light verb "say" na). see Koopman, 1984 for discussion )
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: `n le saká-a
  Gloss: 2S eat.IMP rice-Q
  Translation: Do you eat rice?
  Comment: Question particle is a mid high tone. (tones to be added)
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman

  Words: aba mO O blI a
  Gloss: Aba PRON 3SRES sing Q
  Translation: Was it Aba who sang?
  Comment: The subject is topicalized, followed by a strong pronoun and a weak subject resumptive pronoun which carries a low tone (it can be fully segmental O, or reduced to the low tone).
  Contributor: Hilda Koopman