Syntax sketch of Egeriac
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This public article was written by 藤咲瑠奈, and last updated on 8 Jul 2021, 22:01.
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1. Egeriac people
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2. Egeriac Script
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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.
- Basic Word Order: Subject-Object-Verb(SOV)
- Adpositions are prepositions
- Demonstratives, cardinal numbers and the definite article precede the noun they modify; adjectives, ordinal numbers, possessors of a noun, relative clauses follow the noun they modify.
- Negations precede the verb they negate
In
Egeriac, one way to express possession is by the use of the construct state. The definite article is placed on the noun in the construct state or both. For example:- he-qeni h-an - the person's dog
- he-numi Ebith - the house of Ebith
Another way to express poossession is by the use of the preposition hef. For example:
- he-qen hef h-an - the person's dog
- he-num hef Ebith - the house of Ebith
The preposition is more commonly used nowadays, especially in colloquial speech. The construct state is commonly used to form compound words.
When the possessor is indicated by personal pronouns, possessive suffixes are used, and the possessee is in the construct state. For example:
- ghotin - my fish
- ghotim - your(sg.) fish
- ghotich - his/her/its fish
- ghotineth - our fish
- ghotimeth - your(pl.) fish
- ghotiheth - their fish
The negation particle is mo, it is put directly before the finite verb of the sentence it negates.
The finite verb in a negative structure is often changed to the subjunctive form, however, in colloquial speech, the rule of changing the finite verb into the subjunctive form in negative structures is often not obeyed. For example:
1. ti kmir mo kolesath - this do.INF NEG want.SBJV-1.SG.NOM - I don't want to do this
2. ti kmir mo kolisath - this do.INF NEG want.PRES-1.SG.NOM - I don't want to do this
Both sentences are grammatical in Egeriac, however, the first sentence, in which the subjunctive form is used, is considered more formal or standard, and the second sentence is considered more colloquial or casual.
Relative clauses start with the invariant relativizer zed, the relativizer zed does not decline according to number, case, etc., and the relativized word is left blank in the relative clause. The relative clause follows the noun it modifies.
For example:
- h-an zed he-xeneth kanadi yon nudi - the person, who found the sun, lives here.
- he-num zed h-an hamami zovol - the house, which the person bought, is big.
Content Clauses can also be introduced by zed. For example:
- zed Ebith he-num hamami virozath - I know that Ebith bought the house.
Egeriac has a definite article he-, the definite article does not decline according to number, case, etc. The use of the definite article is similar to that of English, it is used to indicate something mentioned before, the sole object in a given context, the object known by both of the speaker and the listener, an object whose existence is unique and a system or a service.The definite article is often cliticized as a part of the noun, and it becomes h- when preceding a word starting with a vowel. For example:
- he-num /hɛnum/ - the house
- he-qen /hɛχɛn/ - the dog
- h-an /hɑn/ - the person
Besides, there's an indefinite article na-, like the definite article, the indefinite article does not decline according to number, case, etc. The indefinite article is used to refer to something for the first time or to refer to a particular member of a group or class.
Like the definite article, the indefinite article is often cliticized as a part of the noun, and it becomes n- when preceding a word starting with a vowel. For example:
- na-num /nɑnum/ - a house
- na-qen /nɑχɛn/ - a dog
- n-an /nɑn/ - a person
Egeriac also has demonstratives, demonstratives agree with the head noun in numbers, nouns used with demonstratives are seen as definite.Below are the demonstratives:
- this: ti
- that: yo
- these: tith
- those: yoth
- here: tin
- there: yon
Demonstratives can be used to modify nouns. For example:
- ti num - this house
- yo num - that house
- ti an - this person
- yo an - that person
- tith nawmot - these houses
- yoth nawmot- those houses
- tith annoth - these persons
- yoth annoth - those persons
Demonstratives can also be used as independent pronouns. For example:
- ti na-num - this is a house
- yo papin - that is my father
- tith qentin - these are my dogs
- yoth nawmti Ebith - those are Ebith's houses
Some other indefinite demonstratives:
- any: anval
- each, every: imval
- none: men
- all: val
Like nouns, personal pronouns in
Egeriac does not distinguish gender or case. Below are the personal pronouns:- 1st sg: ni
- 2nd sg: mi
- 3rd sg: ki
- 1st pl: neth
- 2nd pl: meth
- 3rd pl: heth
Personal pronouns are usually omitted except when emphasizing, and verbal agreements are usually used to indicate the person when they are the subject and the object of a verb or the object of preposition.
Below are the demonstratives and articles:
- this: ti
- that: yo
- these: tith
- those: yoth
- here: tin
- there: yon
- the: he/h'-
- a/an: na/n'-
- that(complementizer): zed
Below are the interrogatives:
- who: mar
- what: man
- which: maz
- how many/how much: maza
- where: manezed
- when: makex
- how: mach
- why: mal
Indefinite pronouns are formed by using the word an "person" and zen "thing". Below are the indefinite pronouns:
- someone, somebody: anan (from an- + an "person")
- something: anzen (from an- + zen "thing")
- anyone: anvalan (from anval "any" + an "person")
- anything: anvalzen (from anval "any" + zen "thing")
- everyone: imvalan (from imval "every" + an "person")
- everything: imvalzen (from imval "every" + zen "thing")
- nobody: menan (from men "none" + an "person")
- nothing: menzen (from men "none" + zen "thing")
Adverbials usually follow the verb phrase; however, they can precede the verb phrase too.
Temporal Adverbs
There are several adverbs expressing the time of an action:
- tzrata - "yesterday"
- tox - "today"
- xnata - "tomorrow"
Besides, noun phrases for time can be directly used as adverbials to express the time of the sentence.
Adverbs of Frequency
There are also some adverbs expressing the frequency of an action:
- valkex - "always"
- snu - "usually"
- mron - "often, frequently"
- dzon - "sometimes"
- niman - "seldom, rarely"
- mayn - "never"
- in - "ever, once"
- in ta he-ganoz "once"
The noun phrases "numeral + kex" is used to express the frequency in terms of exact times an event has occured:
-
Egeriac is base-20 with 10 as a subbase for numbers below 100, base-10 for numbers larger than 100. Cardinal numbers precede the noun, ordinal numbers follow the noun.Below are the cardinal numbers from 1-10:
1: ana('-n-n)
2: avora('-b-r)
3: mera(m-r-r)
4: zbada(z-b-d)
5: mev(m-b-b)
6: neva(n-b-b)
7: brava(b-r-b)
8: mrava(m-r-b)
9: mitoza(m-t-z)
10: nemba(n-m-b)
numbers from 11-19 are formed by adding -emba to number 1-9:
11: anemba
12: avoremba
13: meremba
14: zbademba
15: mevemba
16: nevemba
17: bravemaba
18: mravemba
19: mitozemba
As
Egeriac is base-20 for numbers below 100, numbers based on 20s instead of 10s are used, for numbers larger than 20, the 20 part becomes -mod. Below are the numbers for 20, 40, 60, 80:20: namod (persumbly to be from a contraction of ana-amod "one person")
40: avara-mod
60: mera-mod
80: zbada-mod
Numerals of 100 or above are always preceded by another numeral, for example, to say 100, one never says *mevnez but ana-mevnez.
Below are numbers for 0, 100 and larger:
100: (ana-)mevnez(m-b-n)
1,000: (ana-)blug(b-l-g)
1,000,000: (ana-)gozog(g-z-g)
0: menath (derived from men + -ath) / men
Below is a comprehensive list of all numbers from 1 to 100, numbers in asterisk indicates a different form:
Below are the ordinal numbers. The ordinal numbers are formed by adding the suffix -en to the corresponding cardinal numbers, but the form for "first" is irregular, and for all numerals whose cardinal forms end in -ana "one", one replaces the -ana with -tonon for ordinal numbers:
1st: tonon
2nd: avorren
3rd: meren
4th: zbaden
5th: meven
6th: neven
7th: braven
8th: mraven
9th: mitozen
10th: mevnen
11th: anemben
12th: avoremben
13th: meremben
14th: zbademben
15th: mevemben
16th: nevemben
17th: bravemben
18th: mravemben
19th: mitozemben
20th: namoden
40th: avara-moden
60th: mera-moden
80th: zbada-moden
100th: (ana-)mevnezen
1,000th: (ana-)blugen
1,000,000: (ana-)gozgen
Cardinal numbers precede the noun they modify and are invariable; ordinal numbers follow the noun they modify and decline like adjectives.
for nouns meaning "group of n people or things", one applies the suffix -iz or CeCCiz on the corresponding numerals. For example:
- solo/single: anniz
- duo/double/twosome: 'evriz
- trio/triad/threesome: merriz
- quartet/tetrad/foursome: zevdiz
- quintet/pentad: mevith/meviz
- sextet/hexad: neviz
- septet: berviz
- octet: merbiz
- nonet: methiziz
For example:
Adjectives usually follow the noun they modify, and agree with the noun. For example:
- na-num zovol - a big house
- nawmoth zboloth - big houses
When using the definite article, the adjectives can optionally take the definite article too, the forms with the use of definite article on adjective, however, is seen as more standard:
- he-num zovol - the big house
- he-nawmoth zboloth - the big houses
- he-num he-zovol - the big house
- he-nawmoth he-zboloth - the big houses
Adjectives can be used as nouns directly, when used as nouns, it means "someone or something that is...". For example:
- koron - good, one that is good, something that is good.
- he-koron - the good
To indicate comparison, the adjective is in the comparative/superlative form, and the standard of comparison is precede by the preposition ta "from". For example:
- Ebith ta Amiz ezdun - Ebith is taller than Amiz
To express superlative, the adjective is in the superlative form, which is the comparative/superlative form with the definite article h-. For example:
- Ebith hezdun - Ebith is the tallest.
Besides, degree words follow adjectives follow the adjective. For example:
- he-num zovol tron - the house is very big.
- he-mer mi he-gomer sofor tun - the water in the cup is too hot.
- he-men sofol nemba gezzoth - the child is ten years old.
The progressive aspect is the aspect indicating what the subject is doing right now, or what the subject was doing at the given point of time.
To form the progressive aspect of a verb is to use the existential structure, in which one places the infinitive form of the main verb after the preposition ta, and the object of the main verb is placed before the preposition. The aux verb zaz "to stay" may or may not be used for the present progressive, but the aux verb is always used for other tenses. For example:
- Ebith neloth ta nithim - Ebith apple-PL at eat.INF - Ebith is eating apples.
- Ebith neloth ta nithim zezi - Ebith apple-PL at eat.INF stay.PRES-3.SG.NOM - Ebith is eating apples.
- Ebith neloth ta nithim zazi - Ebith apple-PL at eat.INF stay.PST-3.SG.NOM - Ebith was eating apples.
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