xă (02_Particles in Asaxi)
xă
Grammatical function
- Particle type: High Binding Particle (Polarity / Emphasis)
- Function: Positive Polarity / Verbal Emphasis / Coercive Force
- Meaning: “Yes”, “Indeed”, “Truly”, “Forcefully.”
Usage Notes (Positional Shifts)
1. Sentence Final (Agreement) Used as a standalone particle to affirm a statement or answer “Yes.”
- Structure:
[Statement] xă. - Meaning: “It is so.” / “Yes.”
2. Verbal Emphasis (Pre-Root Infix) To assert that an action truly happened (countering doubt), xă attaches directly to the front of the verb root.
- Tense Stacking: Tense prefixes (
zè-,pa-) wrap aroundxă. - Structure:
[Tense] + [xă] + [Verb]. - Example: zèxăxoxo (Did indeed depart).
3. Coercive Agency (with hè) When combined with the Imperative prefix hè-, xă adds the nuance of Force or Coercion.
- Structure:
xă+hè+[Verb]→ xăhè[verb]. - Meaning: “To force someone to do X.”
- Example: To wo John zèxăhèshěsonů. (“I forced John to read.”).
4. Stative Fusion Fuses with the validity marker to assert undeniable fact.
- Example: xăxiŕa (It is indeed / It is a certainty)])].
Pronunciation
IPA: /ɦaɪ/
Phonotactic Rules
H-Fortition: Because xă contains a voiced fricative (/ɦ/), if it is followed immediately by a syllable starting with h, the h hardens into x (/ɦ/).
- Rule:
xă+hù...→ xăxù… - Example: náxăxùfwoŕa (Is absolutely not uncertain)])].
Antonyms
- ná (Not).
Derived terms
- hăhè (Particle) (Imperative Prefix: To Force).
- xăxiŕa (Stative: Certainty).
- xăsiŕo (Noun: Outer Space / The True Void).