Imperial Yaving Grammar
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A nice summary, with tables! Minus verb endings bc no
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 21 Dec 2023, 04:05.
[comments] jvt
?FYI...
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Imperial Yaving phonology is typical of Yavic languages, with no voicing distinctions for either fricatives or stops. Stops are always voiceless, while the pronunciation of fricatives depends on their phonological environment.Fricatives have a voiced realisation before a vowel, unless they are geminate or immediately follow another voiceless consonant.
Nouns in Classical Yaving are declined along two axes: case and number. The possible declensions vary depending on class, but they can be summarised using the table below.
| Singular | Dual (Class 1-2) | Plural (Class 1-4) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nouns in direct cases decline for number, and can serve as arguments of verbs. Nouns in oblique cases have general number, and serve as modifiers, following the head of the phrase.
The "comparative" case is used in comparative structures.
E.X.:
dëjtÿnjá
stone-COMPComparative (comparison)
e.g. 'better'-COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate-3SAThird person singular animate (person)
he/she/etc, not it
"They (sing.) are like (a) stone"
fráŋë caştÿn
wide-3SIThird person singular inanimate (person)
it mountain-COMPComparative (comparison)
e.g. 'better'
"It is as wide as a mountain"
cansëŋ rohtëc tyhevillÿn
together-CVBConverb
adverbial subordinator strong-3PAThird person plural animate (person)
they more=horse-COMPComparative (comparison)
e.g. 'better'
"Together, we are stronger than a horse!"
dÿn kerevÿn sestë jëfaltá svÿ
man.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument ant-COMPComparative (comparison)
e.g. 'better' home.ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument find-3SAThird person singular animate (person)
he/she/etc, not it none-DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location
"The wandering (LIT: 'antlike') man will never find home"
The genitive / dative case can be used for either general purpose, although it is also used to describe the temporal or situational position that a verb takes place in.
E.X:
jáltur ojşëm
water-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc swim-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
"I swim in water (Locative)"
ojşëm pýrihÿ
swim-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I night-DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location
"I swim at night (Dative)"
Verbs are conjugated according to a template, similarly to many North American or Eskaleut languages, which includes a root and four optional slots for suffixes.
Immediately after the root, verbs may take one of several suffixes encoding either aspect, imperative or cohortative mood.
E.X.:
mjekënejt syrcëm
sell-PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action-CONDConditional (mood)
would.CVBConverb
adverbial subordinator rich-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
"If I had sold it, I'd be rich (LIT: If I am having sold it, I am rich)"
After this, there are many more suffixes encoding polarity and epistemic modality. These take the place of many English preverbs such as "not", "might", "want to", and "need to". These can be stacked to create verbs with highly specific meanings.
E.X.:
kolççamëvját
kill-NECNecessitative mood (mood)
must, have to-NEGNegative (polarity)
not-POTPotential (mood)
likely events, ability-3SAThird person singular animate (person)
he/she/etc, not it.PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed
"They (sing.) might not have had to be killed"
For the final slot, voice, person and number are combined into a single fusional suffix. That said, the permutations of this suffix are too numerous to include in this article - but if you're interested, you can find them all here.
Classical Yaving has a wide variety of non-finite verb forms. These come in the form of suffixes that replace pronominal inflection and encode voice.
Gerundive verbs are formed with the suffix -(ë)nj, -njët, -(ë)r, or -rët.
E.X.:
trídinënj
educate-GERGerund
verbal noun
"Education"
Oprajonj Féğdinend Fğanc kolçërët
duke-AUGAugmentative
a bigger, greater, stronger etc. version Franz.Ferdinand kill-GERGerund
verbal noun.PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed
"The murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand"
Three types of converbs also exist: Realis, conditional (if _), and concessive (even though _). Each of these also distinguishes grammatical aspect.
E.X.:
dávnëŋ ŋahhjÿ şiketé
arrive-PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action-CVBConverb
adverbial subordinator home-DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location lay.down-3SAThird person singular animate (person)
he/she/etc, not it
"After arriving home, they (sing.) lay down."
ehívval tğomëvëm
hungry-CONCConcessive
although....CVBConverb
adverbial subordinator eat-NEGNegative (polarity)
not-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
"Despite being hungry, I didn't eat."
Finally, participles can also be constructed in a similar manner.
E.X.:
dÿn tjala ténnji
person house-3SAThird person singular animate (person)
he/she/etc, not it build-PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action-PTCPParticiple
adjectival form of a verb
"The person who built their own house"
Reduplicating the first consonant and vowel of a noun creates a collective noun.
N -ÿs creates "person from N".
N -Ov creates "job related to N".
N -As creates "worker with job related to N".
N -şOtë creates "place of N".
N -Iğ creates "make, do, use N".
N -(ë)c creates "N-ful, having N".
N -(ë)k creates "relating to / about N".
N -tër creates "made from N".
N -Onj is an augmentative, creating "great N, large N".
N -j or N -Iŋ creates the copulative form of a noun.
V -As creates "V-er, one who V's".
V -Ot creates "one who is V-ed".
V -Iŋë creates "V-ing tool".
V -kO creates "V-ing method, way of V-ing".
V -şOtë creates "V-ing place". ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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