@severy The reason that insects are so low is that in the place where Ukamayan is spoken (in the middle of a jungle somewhere), insects are not just harmless flies that come and go without doing anything remarkable. Many insects bring either terrifying pain or deathly diseases, and contrarily to other dangerous animals, insects are not considered caring animals it is possible to befriend.
Ukamayan grammar
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The grand article of everything
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 17 Oct 2019, 08:20.
[comments] ioogrammar This article will describe the basic grammar of Ukamayan, and it will briefly go into and give examples to most of the grammatical points.
[top]Noun classes and word order
There are 12 noun classes in Ukamayan. These decide the order of the different arguments in a sentence, and also what the roles of the arguments are. There are also distinction within the different classes, but this is personal, and may vary from speaker to speaker.
- Primeordial: Deities, kings, wise people, teachers, leaders, heroes, and other people that are honoured by the speaker
- Pronominal: Personal pronouns [Verbs are put here]
- Sentinent: Other human beings or sentinent beings (those who are closest to the speaker usually come first)
- Domesticated: Domesticated animals (bigger animals first)
- Meteorological: Weather, astronomics, natural powers, water, landscapes
- Feral: Wild mammals, birds and lizards (bigger animals first)
- Contributory: Tools, metals, abstract ideas, human body parts
- Vegetational: Plants (bigger plants first)
- Aquatic: Fishes, other animals in the sea, amphibians (bigger fishes first)
- Incontributory: Other concrete things like for instance rocks, animal body parts etc.
- Immaterial: Insects, bacterias
- Verbal: Verbal nouns, infinitive/complementizer clauses
In addition to word order, these classes also govern which argument acts upon the other. The default is that arguments of higher rank is the subject and the one of lower rank is the object. If it is the other way around, the inverse particle io is added to the end of the sentence before any verbal clauses.
Tāŋi roa foāno.
Tāŋi
see roa
person fo-āno.
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-cat
The person sees a cat.
Tāŋi roa foāno io.
Tāŋi
see roa
person fo-āno
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-cat io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector
The person is seen by a cat.
Note: The English translation in the second example is passive, because roa has higher priority than āno, and therefore, it is focus. How to reverse this will be covered later.
[top]Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns do only exist as clitics. When they are arguments of a verb, they are attached to the front of the verb. However, in other constructions like possessive and prepositional phrases, they are attached at the end of the last word in the phrase.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First person exclusive | ŋa, 'oa [1] | ti |
| First person inclusive | me | |
| Second person informal | ko (ra[2]) | |
| Second person formal | ra | |
| Third person | Ø (e[3]) | |
1. 'Oa and ŋa are usually in free variation, but there are some rules: ŋa is always used before words that begin in a glottal stop or 'r', and 'oa is always used before words that starts with velars. Otherwise, ŋa is the most common, but 'oa is considered more formal.
2. Ra is used before velars, and ko is used elsewhere.
3. E can optionally be used in prepositional and possessive phrases if the lack of a pronoun creates ambiguity. However, there are rules here as well: E is never used at the end of a sentence, but always after the prepositions fi (in), ato (to), ŋai (with) and 'a(ŋ) (SOSecondary object (case)
direct object of a ditransitive clause, indirect object of a tri(+)transitive). It may also be used as an impersonal pronoun (fifth person)
There is also a formal way to express that a second person acts upon a first person (of any number) or the other way around. In this construction, it is the default that the second person is the subject, and the opposite is expressed through the inverse marker. Only the first person is marked on the verb using ŋa (only 'oa before velars), and the phrase te fa'akāaroa is added to the end.
'Oakotāŋi.
'Oa-ko-tāŋi.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-see
I see you.
Mekāri io.
Me-kāri
1PIFirst person plural inclusive (person)
we (inclusive)-hear io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector
They hear us
'Oakea 'aŋe io te fa'akāaroa.
'Oa-kea
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-give 'aŋ=e
SOSecondary object (case)
direct object of a ditransitive clause, indirect object of a tri(+)transitive=3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector te
HONHonourific
indicates respect for the addressee fa'akāaroa
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)>1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
I give it to you (formal).
Other pronouns/determiners
Other pronouns differ from personal pronouns in that they have two forms, a clitic/determiner form and a standalone form. The clitic form is attached to the beginning of other nouns to modify them, while the standalone forms work just like regular nouns. They are as following:
| Clitic form | Standalone form | |
|---|---|---|
| This | sa- | sāke |
| That (distal) | ma- | mātike |
| One | no- | nooko |
| Two | ko- | nōoko |
| All | mo(ŋ)- | mōŋoe |
| Many | re- | ree |
| Some | se- | ōse |
| Few | ti- | tifiŋi |
| No | ni- | ni'o |
| Other | 'io- | 'īoki |
moroa - all people
kokōimi - two rocks
[top]Primary and secondary objects
Ukamayan does not distinguish between direct and indirect objects. Instead, there are primary and secondary objects. Primary objects are the direct objects of monotransitive clauses, and the indirect object of ditransitive clauses, while secondary objects are the direct objects of ditransitive clauses. In Ukamayan, primary objects are unmarked, and secondary objects are marked with the preposition 'a(ŋ).
Ŋarakea 'a ŋāno
Ŋa-ra-kea
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-give 'a
SOSecondary object (case)
direct object of a ditransitive clause, indirect object of a tri(+)transitive ŋ-āno
EEpenthetic
something 'meaningless' inserted for structural reasons-cat
I give you a cat.
NOTE: "Primary argument" is a term that is frequently used when desvribing Ukamayan grammar, and refers to the subject and primary object.
[top]The indirect case
There are two cases in Ukamayan, the direct case and the indirect case. The direct case is unmarked. The indirect case is marked with a prefix that depends on the rank of the noun. The indirect case is used on primary arguments that are not triggered, and the direct case is used elsewhere.
| Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4, 6 and 9 | Rank 5 and 8 | Rank 7 and 10 | Rank 11 | Rank 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| teŋa- | Ø | ŋa- | fo- | ko- | mi- | sai- | Ø |
ēmi - koēmi (planet, rank 5)
āno - foānu (cat, rank 4)
rokai - teŋarokai (master, rank 1)
[top]Triggers
Even though Ukamayan primarily uses a hierarchial alignment, there are some traces of austronesian alignment as well. This is seen through the use of triggers on verbs that show which of the arguments is the focus. As a general rule, a focus noun is commonly definite when translated to/from English, while other nouns are not.
There are in total five triggers, where two are unmarked. The triggers are placed directly after the finite verb of a sentence. If the subject or primary object is not triggered, it takes the indirect case. Throughout this article, I'm going to limit the use of triggers to keep things simple. Here is a table listing the various triggers:
| Trigger | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|
| No trigger | Ø | used in intransitive sentences |
| High rank trigger | Ø | triggers the primary argument with the highest rank |
| Low rank trigger | si | triggers the primary argument with the lowest rank |
| Secondary object trigger | 'okaso | triggers secondary objects |
| Locative trigger | fia | triggers prepositional phrases |
Tāŋi roa foāno 'a mōto.
Tāŋi
show roa
man fo-āno
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-cat 'a
SOSecondary object (case)
direct object of a ditransitive clause, indirect object of a tri(+)transitive mōto
bird
The man showed a cat a bird
Tāŋi si ŋaroa āno 'a mōto.
Tāŋi
show si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment ŋa-roa
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-man āno
cat 'a
SOSecondary object (case)
direct object of a ditransitive clause, indirect object of a tri(+)transitive mōto
bird
The cat was shown a bird by a man
Tāŋi 'okaso ŋaroa foāno 'a mōto
Tāŋi
show 'okaso
SOSecondary object (case)
direct object of a ditransitive clause, indirect object of a tri(+)transitive.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment ŋa-roa
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-man fo-āno
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-cat 'a
SOSecondary object (case)
direct object of a ditransitive clause, indirect object of a tri(+)transitive mōto
bird
The bird was shown to some cats by a man
The locative trigger can be attached to any preposition. This makes it so that the preposition before the noun that is triggered, is replaced by i (in).
Ŋatitāŋi minafia i maama sakōimi.
Ŋa-t⟨it⟩āŋi
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-see⟨PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action⟩ mina-fia
under-LOCVLocative trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers location i
in ma-mama
this-tree sa-kōimi
that-rock
It was under this tree that I saw that rock.
[top]Verb conjugation
Infinitives
There are three verb classes in Ukamayan, vocalic verbs, consonantal verbs and ŋi-verbs. Vocalic verbs end in a vowel, consonantal verbs end in -i, and ŋi-verbs end in -ŋi.
The infinitive is the base form of the verb. For consonantal verbs, the infinitive is formed with the syffix -o; for vocalic verbs, it is formed by adding a high tone to the previous syllable and -i to the base form, and for ŋi-verbs, it is formed by changing the final i to -oe.
eki > ekio (to heat)
'ita > 'itāi (to begin)
tāŋi > tāŋoe (to see)
Conjugation
Verbs are conjugated for two aspects (perfective and imperfective) and four moods (indicative, conjunctive, Conditional and optative). These combinations are expressed with infixes, that are placed before the last vowel of vocalic and consonantal verbs, and before the second to last syllable of ŋi-verbs. There is also a suffix which is placed after the base, except for ŋi-verbs, where it replaces the ŋi. Some verbs are ideophones, and are conjugated with a suffix rather than an infix.
The optative is used as a formal imperative if the subject is second person, and hortative if the subject is first person plural.
| regular verbs | ideophones | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperfective | Perfective | Imperfective | Perfective | |
| Indicative | ||||
| Conjunctive | ||||
| Conditional | ||||
| Optative | ||||
There are also som irregular verbs. At the moment, there are only six, but there may be more to come. The forms are listed like the above table from left to right, top to bottom:
'Ākoe (to go) - 'āki, 'āti, 'amāki, 'ohāti, 'āka, 'ātika, 'āki'i
Ōe (to be) - ā, telaiti, telami, telohi, ōeka, tetika, ōi'i
Keai (to have) - kea, kita, keama, keola, kealika, kitaka, ki'a
'Ēai (to want) - 'ēa, 'īta, 'ēama, 'ēoha, 'ēaka, 'ītaka, 'ēa'a
Mitāi (to be located) - mita, mita, miama, mioha, mitaka, mitaka, miti'a
Heōi (to walk) - heo, heito, hemia, heoha, heoka, heitoka, 'āki'i
Some regular verbs are conjugated as ideophones:
Atoi (to go), Ŋai (to be together), 'ei (negative auxillary) and nai (relative auxillary)
'Oakotāka, ŋaaŋanamo.
'Oa-ko-tāŋi-ka,
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-see-CONDConditional (mood)
would ŋa-aŋan⟨am⟩o
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-dance⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩
If I see you, I will dance
Roōki'i
Ra-ōk⟨i'⟩i
2FSecond person formal (person)
addressee, formal register (you)-be.good⟨OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope'⟩
Please (lit. be good)
[top]Serial verbs
Serial verbs are important in Ukamayan. To create a serial verb, you have to place the first verb first with its respective pronoun prefixes. Then, you put the second verb after it in the conjuctive form, without pronouns.
Ŋati'eŋo noamo mianoo.
Ŋa-ti'eŋo
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-make no⟨am⟩o
eat⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩ mianoo
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-food
I make and eat food.
If the first verb is transitive and the second verb is intransitive, the primary object of the transitive verb is realized as the subject of the transitive verb.
Tiotioto simoso fo'ēeso io.
Tiotio-to
bite-PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action sim⟨os⟩o
die⟨PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action.CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩ fo-'ēeso
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-snake io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector
He was bitten by a snake and died, He was bitten to death by a snake.
[top]Subordinate clauses
Subortinate clauses are in fact just regular clauses, just that the main verb is made infinitive. They are placed at the end of a sentence. It is important to notice that the subordinate clause must have a subject, even though in some constructions, it is not needed in English.
Ŋoōki ŋanooi.
Ŋa-ōki
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-like ŋa-noo-i
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-eat-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
I like to eat.
Objects of the infinitive phrase are placed as normal in relation to the infinitive verb, and triggers and case marking function as normal.
Ŋoōki ŋaātiātio ŋaroa.
Ŋa-ōki
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-like ŋa-ātiāti-o
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-hurt-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb ŋa-roa
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-person
I like to hurt people.
Ŋatāŋi teŋarokai keai si 'a mōno io.
wa-tān
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-see teŋa-rokai
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-master kea-i
give-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment 'a
SOSecondary object (case)
direct object of a ditransitive clause, indirect object of a tri(+)transitive mōno
bird io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector
I see that she gave the master a bird.
In case of temporal or locational clause, prepositions are used before the clause. The regular infinitive is used in locational clauses, but in temporal clauses, the verb is also conjugated for conjunctive.
Menoo fi meatoŋaimoi farafara.
Me-noo
1PIFirst person plural inclusive (person)
we (inclusive)-eat fi
in me-atoŋai-mo-i
1PIFirst person plural inclusive (person)
we (inclusive)-meet-CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb farafara
again
We will eat when we meet again.
[top]Negatives
Negatives are formed using the auxillary verb 'ei followed by the infinitive. The auxillary take any conjugation for both persons and TAM.
'Oako'e tāŋoe.
'Oa-ko-'e
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)-NEGNegative (polarity)
not tāŋi-oe
see-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
I do not see you
[top]Relative clauses
Relative clauses are formed by using the relative auxillary nai, which takes all the inflection in the clause. It is followed the main verb of the clause in conjunctive infinitive. The auxillary is conjugated for both the subject and the primary object. In relative clauses, it is always the noun that is described that is triggered.
Āno ŋanai tāmaŋoe.
Āno
cat ŋa-nai
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-RELRelative t⟨am⟩āŋi-oe
see⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
The cat that I see.
Āno ŋanai si tamāŋoe io.
Āno
cat ŋa-nai
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-RELRelative si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment t⟨am⟩āŋi-oe
see⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector
The cat that sees me.
Roa nai 'esoi tāŋoe fiāno ŋanai si ōkamio.
Roa
person nai
RELRelative 'e-so-i
NEGNegative (polarity)
not-PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action.CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb tāŋi-oe
see-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb fi-āno
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-cat ŋa-nai
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-RELRelative si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment ōk⟨am⟩io
like⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
The man that has not seen the cats that I like.
[top]Adverbs
Adverbs are usually expressed by using serialized verb phrases.
Ŋafākafāka temame.
Ŋa-fākafāka
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-be.quick tem⟨am⟩e.
run⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩
I run quickly.
In formal situations, the main clause is subordinated:
Ŋafākafāka fi temamei.
Ŋa-fākafāka
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-be.quick fi
in tem⟨am⟩e-i.
run⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
I run quickly (lit. I am quick while running)
[top]Possession
There are four types of possession. These are alienable possession, relational possession, partitive possession and stative possession. These are marked in four different ways on the possessed noun. In possessive constructions, the possessed object always come before the possessor, and it's the possessor that is marked for case and number. However, even though the possessor conjugates for number if the phrase is in the indirect, the number applies to the possessed object. Pronoun clitics are atteched to the end of the possessive phrase if they are the possessors. If this is the case, the word is not conjugated for case.
Alienable possession
Alienable possession is used for objects that can be gained or lost, and it is marked with the preposition naato (RELRelative-to) between the nouns.
Fāo naatoŋa - My flower
Kono naato āno - The cat's fish (that it is eating)
Relational possession
Relational possession is used when the possessor has a relation with the possessed object, either alienably or inalienably. Relational possession is marked with the article ka.
Ka fonokoeŋa - My mother.
Ka kono āno - The cat's fish (a non-fish that is a fish for the cat; or a fish that the cat is hunting, but hasn't caught yet)
Partitive possession
Partitive possession is used when the possessed object is a part of the possessor, and is marked with the article ka. The preposition i (in) is placed between the arguments.
Ka fāŋiroa iŋa - My arm
Ka kono i āno - The cat's fish (the cat is made of fish)
Stative possession
Stative possession is used when the possessed object has some of the qualities of the possessor, and is marked by reduplicating the first syllable of the possessor. If the syllable is high, the reduplicated syllable is toneless. Likewise, don't include the final nasal of the reduplicated syllable.
Roroa kai - Person of knowledge, wise person
Kokono āno - A fish made of cat, catty fish
Ŋatiotioto fi'e'eeso rāto naato Mīko i ka keiri iŋa io.
Ŋa-tiotio-to
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-bite-PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action fi-'e~'eeso
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-STATStative (case)
attribute assignment~snake rāto
blue na-ato
RELRelative-to Mīko
MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or maleīko i
in ka
CNSConstruct state
noun being possessed keiri
foot i-ŋa
in-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector
I was bitten in my foot by Mīko's blue snakes.
[top]Adjectives
Adjectives do not exist in the sense we know adjectives. There is no own part of speech for adjectives. Instead, one uses nouns and verbs. Adjectives are most often formed through the use of stative possession or relative clauses:
Roroa kai - person of knowledge, wise person
Roa nai kaamiŋoe - person that is wise, wise person
A'āno kini - small cat
Āno nai kinami - cat that is small, small cat
Comparative
The comparative is formed using the pronoun re- (more) for adjectives using stative possession, or using a serial verb construction with the verb nōrei (to do more) for adjectives using relative clauses. The comparative is also the same as the superlative.
Roroa rekai - person of more knowledge, wiser person
Roa nai nōramei kaamiŋoe - person that does more and is wise, wiser person
To compare several objects, the auxillary sa'āi (to compare) is used. This is always done in relative clauses, with a serial verb construction:
Roa ŋanai si sa'amāi kaamiŋoe io
Roa
person ŋa-nai
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-RELRelative si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment sa'⟨am⟩ā-i
compare⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb ka⟨am⟩iŋi-oe
be.wise⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector
A wiser person than me, A person that is wiser than me.
[top]Questions
Questions in Ukamayan are formed by making a statement, then proposing an answer, followed by the proposal particle kē. The two first parts are separated by comma. The statement can be anything that has to do with the answer you want. This makes it so that all Ukamayan questions are in fact yes/no-questions. However, there are limits on what you can put in the answer proposal to be taken seriously. It should be relevant to the question, or the situation. On the other hand, if you have no clue at all what the answer possibly can be, it's alright to give a random answer. The statement is not necessary if it's clear from context what your asking about.
Kotāŋi e, atoŋa io kē?
ko-tāŋi
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-see e,
5Fifth person (person)
indefinite or generic; one, "they" say that, ato-ŋa
to-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector kē
PROPPropositive (mood)
propositions, suggestions
What do you see? Do you see me? You see something, me?
'E fakāi fiakori, fi Ōkama kē?
'E
NEGNegative (polarity)
not faka-i
live-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb fiakori,
here, fi
in Ōkama
Ūkama kē
PROPPropositive (mood)
propositions, suggestions
Where does he live? Does he live in Ūkama? He doesn't live here, in Ūkama?
Ŋa'e tāŋoe foānu naatoŋa, fi arēa kē?
Ŋa-'e
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-NEGNegative (polarity)
not tāŋi-oe
see-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb fo-ānu
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-cat na-ato-ŋa,
RELRelative-to-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I, fi
in arēa
ocean kē
PROPPropositive (mood)
propositions, suggestions
Where is my cat? Is my cat in the ocean? I can't see my cat, in the ocean? (typical stupid answer)
Answers
Though all questions are yes/no-questions, some are intended to be wh-questions. For instance, in the last example, the asker gives signs to have no idea about where the cat is, and therefore, the question is most likely intended as a wh-question. In that case it would be considered rude to just answer 'no', as it gives the asker no information about what the answer is. Therefore, there's no word for the answer 'no', so you have to correct the proposal, followed by the correct word for 'yes'.
On the other hand, there are two different words for 'yes'. Ā means that you are sure the answer is right, and kē which implies that you are unsure about the answer. For instance, if we take the last example above, these are the four possible answers:
Ā - Yes, (it is in the ocean)
Kē - I don't know (passing the question over to a third participant of the conversation)
Fi akōa ā - No, it's in the forest
Fi akōa kē - No, it's in the forest, I think (again, passing the question over to another person for confirmation)
Formal questions
There is also a formal way of asking questions, by using the "verb not verb"-method. In this construction, you say both the positive and negative forms of the verb, separated by the conjunction "or".
Fo ranoito si fo ra'eto si nooi kokōi naatora?
Fo
or ra-no⟨it⟩o
2FSecond person formal (person)
addressee, formal register (you)-eat⟨PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action⟩ si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment fo
or ra-'e-to
2FSecond person formal (person)
addressee, formal register (you)-NEGNegative (polarity)
not-PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment noo-i
eat-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb kokōi
banana na-ato-ra?
RELRelative-to-2FSecond person formal (person)
addressee, formal register (you)?
Have you eaten your banana?
To answer these questions, verb repetition is used:
noito - Yes, have eaten
'eto nooi - No, haven't eaten
[top]Prepositions
Prepositions are placed before their nouns. They can also be placed before an infitive phrase to create complementizer clauses. The regular infinitive is used with spacial prepositions, and the conjunctive infitive is used with temporal prepositions. Most prepositions come in two different varieties: one that is used when the preposition phrase has an adverbial role in the sentence, and one that is used when the preposition phrase describes a noun, like if it were a relative clause. The second form is formed by the prefix na-. Below, the adverbial form is listed first, and the relative form second.
i, nafi - in, on, at (used only in set phrases)
fi, nafi - in, on, at
ato, naato - to
faŋe, nafaŋe - from
i ka ōki, nafi ka ōki - for (benefactive), lit. in ...'s good
faka, nafaka - because of
ŋai, naŋai - with, together with
ŋafaka, naŋafaka with (instrumental), ŋai and faka combined
i ka fāroŋi, nafi ka fāroŋi - at the side of, by, lit. on the side of
mina, namina - under
sika, nasiko - over
i tāŋi'e, nafi tāŋi'e - in front of, after (time), lit. in vision not ...
i 'etāŋi fāka, nafi 'etāŋi fāka - behind, before (time), lit. not in vision because of ...
i ka sēse i, nafi ka sēse i - inside, lit. in the stem of
'īso, na'īso - around, about
noŋa, nanoŋa - between
'afeŋi, na'afeŋi - like
taaroe, nataaroe - past, beyond, out of
Ŋatāŋi ŋaroa naato fāka i tāŋi'e maama.
Ŋa-tāŋi
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-see ŋa-roa
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-person na-ato
RELRelative-to fāka
home i
in tāŋi-'e
vision-NEGNegative (polarity)
not ma-mama
that-tree
I see a man that is going home in front of that tree.
Kokoŋi nooi fia i 'etāŋi faka kosokotamio.
Ko-koŋi
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-have.to noo-i
eat-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb fia
LOCVLocative trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers location i
in 'e-tāŋi
NEGNegative (polarity)
not-vision faka
because.of ko-sokōt⟨am⟩i-o
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-go.out⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
Before you go out, you have to eat.
[top]Absolute sizes and relativeness
Some Ukamayan adjectives describing sizes and personal qualities have an absolute definition of their range. For example, 'big' applies to anything that is bigger than yourself. A tree can be big, but a bug can not. To describe something that is big, but does not reach the definition of big, you have to use the prefix moo(')- (relative(ly)) on the adjective (the glottal stop is epethentic and should be used if the word begins in a vowel). Thus, you can describe a bug as relatively big if it is bigger than other bugs. Furthermore, if we look at words like 'lake', we already know that it is big. Therefore, a big lake should be described as a relatively big lake.
Most of the adjectives with absolute definition compare the noun with the speaker. For instance, 'wise' refers to anyone that is equally wise or wiser than the speaker. However, the definition of 'small' is anything you can hold in your hand, and is thereby an exception to this rule. We can sum up the possible combinations of a regular adjective in the following table:
| Absolute | Relative | |
|---|---|---|
| Wise speaker | Roroa kai A wise person | Roroa mookai A person who is wiser than the average, but not as wise as the speaker |
| Dumb speaker | Roroa kai Anyone with more wisdom than the speaker | Roroa mookai A wise person |
[top]Conjunctions
Conjunctions are special in Ukamayan in the fact that they work like verbs. The conjunctions are placed at the start of the second sentence, and are conjugated for both person, aspect and mood. The main verb is moved to the end in the infinitive, separated from the rest of the sentence by the word fa (but).
Noo si ŋaroa kono, na si foāno kono fa nooi.
Noo
eat si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment ŋa-roa
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-person kono,
fish, na
and si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment fo-āno
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-cat kono
fish fa
but noo-i
eat-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
People eat fish, and cats eat fish.
Ŋameo, ŋaīa io fa 'ei meoi.
Ŋa-meo,
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-love, ŋa-īa
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-but io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector fa
but 'e-i
NEGNegative (polarity)
not-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb meo-i
love-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
I love her, but she doesn't love me.
Na ko'oāŋi na 'oakosa'a ōkami io, ŋakoamito fofākoāŋi konai si sa'amāi io fa 'oaŋoe.
Na
and ko-'oāŋi
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-hunt na
and 'oa-ko-sa'a
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-compare ōk⟨am⟩i
be.good⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩ io,
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector, ŋa-koam⟨it⟩o
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-despite⟨PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action⟩ fo-fākoāŋi
IDRIndirect (case)
indirect or oblique, vs direct-prey ko-nai
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-RELRelative si
LVLowest volition (volition/ role)
least agentive/ volitional argument.TRGTrigger (valency)
Austronesian alignment sa'⟨am⟩ā-i
compare⟨CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb⟩-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb io
INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector fa
but 'oāŋi-oe.
catch-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
You hunt better than me, but despite this I cought more prey.
The following is a list that shows the conjunctions used in the Ukamayan language (more to come):
na - and, also, too
īa - but, however
koamo - despite that
fo'a - therefore
Comments
as someone with a lot of animacy hierarchies in my languages, i LOVE the contributory class ! a very logical and useful grouping ! on the other hand i'm a bit surprised that you'd put insects as lower than rocks, although i understand that the category with rocks in it also has animal limbs, which make sense to go above insects (and certainly above bacteria).
