corcaighist wrote:Buorre beaivi!
I have a question for Davvisámegiella speakers and learners.
In the course http://www4.ur.se/gulahalan/ one of the dialogues is titled:
Elle Risten boahtá Máreha lusa. This is translated into Swedish as Elle Risten kommer till Máret.
Now, I don't speak Swedish but word for word kommer till means 'come(s) to'.
I was doing a search on the Lexin Swedish dictionary and I came acroos komma till tals med 'to have words with'. I also found out that boahtit is Sámi for 'come' on this dictionary: http://www.uta.fi/~km56049/same/svocab.html.
What does lusa mean, and how is this phrase x boahtit y lusa used, and what case is Máreha in?
Giittus eatnat!
Dearvva, corcaighist!
"Lusa" is a typical postposition and has the same meaning as the Finnish luo(kse) and the Estonian juurde. Unfortunately, English doesn't have an equivalent for this but Máreha lusa means to the place where Máret is or to Máret's house.
As you said, "x boahtit/mannat (or any other verb describing motion) y lusa" is how this expression works. X is in nominative and Y is in genitive-accusative (therefore Máreha is the genitive-accusative of Máret). And like I already mentioned above, this means "x come(s) to the place where y is".
(nominative - genitive-accusative)
Mun manan Máreha lusa. = I go to Máret.
Don boađát mu lusa. = You come to me.
I hope this helps a bit. I really don't know how I could explain it well...
You can also use this expression when talking about buildings or other places:
Mun manan skuvlla lusa. = I go to school (not inside it but more like outside it or some other place in the school's presence).
However, this structure can't be used with place names. Mun boađán Ohcejoga (Utsjoki) lusa sounds unnatural and the illative should be used instead --> Mun boađán Ohcejohkii.
PS, I really like your blog.