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Modals

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Modals in Tunisian are either prepositions or participles:

Prepositions:

  • Ĝand = 'to have' (lit: "at")

  • Fibeel = 'to have thought; to one's knowledge' (lit: "in [one's] mind")

  • Ħaajet [şkoun] b= 'to need smth' (lit:"[one's] necessity of; [one's] thing of")

  • Keeyenn = 'to seem'

  • kaar = "should've"

  • ĝiin = 'want'

They're suffixed with object dependent possessives.

Examples:

  1. Ĝandi daar ("I have a house)

  2. Fibeelo qĝadt ("He thought you stayed still")

  3. Ħaajetkom b ħaaje? ("Do you (pl.) need something?")

Sometimes you may put them after the noun (effectively becoming postpositions) but they change meaning.

  1. Ĝand ('for some period')

As in:

  1. Taqra medciin 10 sniin ĝandhe taú ("She's studying at med school for 10 years now")

Participles

  • Leezem = 'must; should; to have to; to need to'(lit: "it is obligating")

  • Ꝁaati ='not to be one's; to mistake smone of something' (lit:"incorrect")

  • (Ĝle) ꝁaater = 'because; as; since' (lit: 'for the sake of'

  • Ra = 'indeed; literally; actually; truly' (lit: 'Look at [pronoun]!')

  • Le... le... = 'neither... nor...'

  • Ha = 'indeed; really; visually and obviously'

  • Me = 'not to be'

  • Ma = 'it was/is because'

They're suffixed with object enclitics

Examples:

  1. Leezmek temşi ("you need to go")

  2. Ꝁaatiine heeđe ("This is not ours")

  3. Mehomş meeşiin, ꝁaaterhom franclee ("I can't go, because they are broke")

  4. Raahi ṣħiiħa! ("She actually is right!")

Actually the fourth one is unexplainable. It should've been expected 'raahe'. Maybe it's due to dissimilation as raahe sounds constantly open so a sudden variation is needed. This is kinda poetic, it reminds me of Faraday's Law