Basic word order in Raga is
subject–verb–object.
Pronouns Personal pronouns are distinguished by
person and
number. They are not distinguished by
gender. The basic pronouns are as follows:
Nouns Plurality is indicated by placing
ira before a noun: :
manu = [the] bird :
ira manu = [the] birds Nouns may be suffixed to indicate whom an item belongs to. For example: :
iha = name :
ihaku = my name :
ihamwa = your name :
ihana = his/her name :
ihan ratahigi = the chief's name Possession may also be indicated by the use of
possessive classifiers, separate words that occur before the noun and take possessive suffixes. These classifiers are: •
no- for general possessions (, "my basket") •
bila- for things that are cared for, such as crops and livestock (, "our pig") •
ga- for things to be eaten (, "your taro") •
ma- for things to be drunk (, "their water") Historically there was also a classifier
wa- for sugarcane to be chewed (, "his sugarcane"); this has fallen out of use among younger speakers. The possessive suffixes are as follows: A verb may be transformed into a noun by the addition of a
nominalising suffix -ana: :
bwalo = to fight (verb) :
bwaloana = a fight (noun) Modifiers generally come after a noun: :
vanua = island :
vanua kolo = small island :
vanua gairua = two islands
Verbs Verbs in Raga are usually preceded by a subject pronoun and by a
tense–aspect–mood marker. The subject pronouns are as follows: There is no 3rd person singular subject pronoun ("he/she/it"). Raga has five sets of tense–aspect–mood markers: The full forms of these markers are used in the 3rd person singular, when there is usually no subject pronoun: :
mwa lolia = he is doing it :
nu lolia = he did it :
vi lolia = he will do it Elsewhere, short forms of these markers are suffixed to the subject pronoun: :
nam lolia = I am doing it :
nan lolia = I did it :
nav lolia = I will do it There are also
dual (two-person) forms incorporating a particle
ru "two": :
ram lolia = they are doing it :
ramuru lolia = the two of them are doing it Historically there were
trial (three-person) forms incorporating a particle
dol or
tol, but these have fallen out of use. Imperatives can consist of a verb with no marker. In third person forms, there is a marker
na-: :
Mai teti! = Come here! :
Ihamwa na sabuga = May your name be holy There is a pattern of
verb-consonant mutation whereby
v at the start of a verb changes to
b,
vw to
bw,
g to
ḡ, and
t to
d. This mutation occurs in imperfective aspect, and in the presence of the additive marker
mom: :
nan vano = I went :
nam bano = I am going
Negative sentences are indicated with the two-part marker "not", which encloses the verb and anything suffixed to it: :
nan hav lolia tehe = I didn't do it The
passive voice can be formed by attaching the suffix
-ana to the verb: :
nu lolia = he did it :
nu loliana = it was done The direct object immediately follows the verb. Some object pronouns take the form of suffixes attached to the verb: In some cases a particle
-ni- interposes between the verb and the object pronoun: :
nam doronia = I like it ==Sample phrases==