ta’

English: Translation
hey!; look!; listen!; watch out!; take note!; warning, admonition, or emphatic attention marker.
Notes

see: ta

        a-ta’

ta’

int.

Usage

Ta’! Agko awto.
“Watch out! There’s a vehicle.”

Ta’!
“Hey!” / “Listen!”

Notes

Contains a moraic okina and is phonemically distinct from ta.

Used to:

  • attract attention;
  • issue warnings;
  • emphasize a statement;
  • signal urgency.

ta ≠ ta’

The moraic okina changes both pronunciation and grammatical function.

IPA:

  • ta /ta/
  • ta’ /taʔː/
ParticleFunction
tabecause, since, as
kinif, in case, should
FormTypeCore Meaning
taconjunctionreason, cause
kinconjunctioncondition, contingency
ta’interjectionattention, warning
ata’interjectionrealization, “see?”, “I told you so”
-tapossessive suffixour (inclusive)

This arrangement makes ta / kin a very elegant pair in the clause-linking system:

  • ta = because X
  • kin = if X

while ta’ / ata’ belong entirely to the discourse-pragmatic layer rather than the clause-linking layer.