tör̄ör̄ë

Hiw

Etymology

Derived from r̄ö (“two”). From Proto-North-Central Vanuatu *rua, from Proto-Oceanic *rua, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *duha, from Proto-Austronesian *duSa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɵᶢʟɵᶢʟe/

Gender classifier

tör̄ör̄ë (feminine dual)

1. (followed by noun) the two (feminine dual article for human nouns)

   tör̄ör̄ë yeqën ― (the) two women

2. (absolute use) (the) two women, (the) two girls

   Tör̄ör̄ë ve tu ëne. ― There are two women standing here.

Usage notes

• General determiner; does not encode definiteness.
• Contrasts with masculine dual tör̄ate, and with common-gender dual tör̄öqate.
• Contrasts with feminine singular r̄ëtëgë, with feminine plural tun̄wuyegë.
• Contrasts with 3rd dual personal pronoun sör̄ö.

References

• p.343 of: François, Alexandre. 2019. Verbal number in Lo-Toga and Hiw: The emergence of a lexical paradigm. Transactions of the Philological Society 117‒3 (Dec 2019). 338-371.