Example 23-4

antap ia, hem i rum nating
antap
on.top
ia,
def
hem
3sg
i
agr
rum
room
nating
nothing
The room up there isn't used for anything.
Comment:
Nating can be postposed to a N to indicate the N is non-prototypical in some way, lacking in a key characteristic or property. A brum nating ('broom nothing') is one that has hardly any bristles and can't sweep properly. This example is an interesting one that I heard (but didn't audio record) in 1998 on Malo. The speaker was explaining that since the family's oldest son had moved out, no-one was sleeping in his old bedroom. In fact the younger children were using it as a playroom, but its prototypical quality of being a room for sleeping in was what was being negated with nating.
Type:
naturalistic spoken
Source:
Field notes