On 2/27/09, morphemeadd...@wmconnect.com <morphemeadd...@wmconnect.com> wrote: > > Why is "mu'o" not said last? The whole community does this. It seems to me > that as soon as "mu'o" is used, the speaker should be waiting for a > response, > rather than continuing to speak, which negates the whole point of "mu'o".
"mu'o" is in selma'o COI, it introduces a vocative phrase, so it is naturally followed by the name or description of the person one is talking to, or by mi'e plus the name or description of the speaker. The name/description is optional, and the terminator "do'u" is often elidable, but the vocative phrase does not really terminate with "mu'o". It is the vocative phrase as a whole that indicates that you are done speaking. mu'o mi'e xorxes
