Bana

Bana is a language of the Far North that has questions about the order of words in sentences. There are just so many options, and it is not clear why they are different. Many clauses have subject, verb, then object (SVO). But others start with the verb, and then either have the subject followed by the object (VSO) or the object followed by the subject (VOS).  After study, it seems like most of the different orders go with specific constructions, but there are still some questions.

I spent several sessions in the north exploring these issues with the Bana and working on the basic grammar overall.  There are also some issues with distinguishing between "tenses" that are not obvious, and many unexpected variations. There are also many different words that connect sentences often translated "and" or "and then" which are used more frequently than in English or French and with subtile differences of meaning that are not easily evident.

In preparation for these sessions I used an old grammar that was not always clear because it tried to connect everything to French grammar. I also looked at several texts that had been collected, using FLEx to help analyse them and find issues that needed to be understood..

Here are some of our updates that described my work with the Bana:

May 2025: Bana, School (RFIS), and "A time to. ..."

July 2024: Workshops and vacation surprise

November 2020: Work with Bana word order questions and Thanksgiving celebrations