Wenja Grammar: Reflexive -ra

Today's grammar post will focus on the reflexive marker -ra.  Reflexives are always object markers that refer to the subject of the sentence.  A good example is seen in the following sentence, where "himself" and "he" are the same person.

So how do you do this in Wenja? Recall the all-important Sentence Starters in Wenja: words like nu 'now', tu 'then, until', ma 'but', na 'not', may 'don't', etc.  The reflexive marker is always going to attach itself to the sentence starter(s).  

1. Nu-ra pacham.  'And I see myself.'
2. Na-ra Udam hada. 'An Udam doesn't eat himself.'
3. May-ra kayda. 'Don't hit yourself.'

If there's not a sentence starter, then -ra will attach itself to whatever word is at the beginning of the sentence:

1. Udam-ra hada. 'An Udam eats himself.'
2. Kayda-ra! 'Hit yourself!'
3. Winja-ra nartar lajarsh. 'Wenja gather (themselves) in the east.' (from the game)

Some verbs, such as bawga 'be useful; use' have different meanings depending on if the -ra particle is used.  Compare:

1. Hisu bawga.  'An arrow is useful.'
2. Hisu-ra bawgam. 'I use an arrow.'

Another example is bida 'serve; respond, answer':

1. Nakway bidam. 'I serve no one.' (from the game)
2. Nakway-ra bidam. 'I respond to no one.'

Next grammar post we'll look at an extremely common verb that's super weird -- wayda 'know; find'.