degi

[verb]

degi=S S recline, lie
degi=A=O A lay O (down)

Degi is an ambi-transitive stance verb, and means ‘recline’ or ‘lie (down)’ in the intransitive and ‘lay O down’ in the transitive. Again, as with all the stance verbs, location can be expressed in a peripheral phrase with su.

Degi is not in general use as a copula, except with the noun kini ‘land’, as in sidili=todu degi kini ‘the land is alive/blooming’ expressing the blooming of the desert after a rain. The noun gada ‘water’, and other nouns referencing water and land, will sometimes also be described with an attribute using degi. However, speakers might also use tene as the copula with these nouns.

While degi will use sede as a progressive auxiliary, degi-sede=le ‘I am lying down’, it does not have to use tene. Many older speakers will use degi-degi rather than degi-tene for a progressive construction with a non class I subject, particularly in more formal situations.

Examples

[#92] Dace koxodu, degice mudu todusu, doŋi delloce.

[#66] Degelace mudu todusu, modo-dunnoboloce.

[#68] Degi sedece mudu todusu, wudu yedenadana nodana.

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