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Akuveth Grammar [wip]
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This private article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 5 Dec 2020, 01:07.
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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.
Verbs carry a majority of the inflectional morphology in Aisha, marking PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action/IPFVImperfective (aspect)
'interrupted or incomplete'/PROGProgressive (aspect)
be verb-ing/HABHabitual (aspect)
done often or out of habit aspect and definiteness, with secondary inflection for BENBenefactive (case)
recipient of benefit/MALMalefactive (case)
recipient of bad intent effect and serialization. Other analytic phrases contribute to the verbal system as well, described below in the syntax sections.
In a tensed language, events are viewed relative to the current time, "now." In a tenseless language like Akuveth, however, events are viewed relative to other events, called the topic time. Perfective forms are used to reference or introduce actions "in their entirety"—that is, not relative to another event—usually to establish a topic time. Imperfective forms are used to reference other events that occur within the topic time.
The citation form of verbs is the imperfective. This form will always ends with -u.
śazu "speak"To form the perfective, verbs undergo metathesis in the final two vowels. Final -y fronts to -i.
źyru "pour"
myzagu "cry; rain"
vicśu "poke, prod"
emu "do"
-VCu → -uCV
śazu → śuza
źyru → źuri
myzagu → myzuga
vicśu → vucśi
emu → ume
There are also the secondary aspects, progressive and habitual, which overlap with perfective/imperfective.
The progressive is used for long-term states, especially ones that occur both during and before or after the topic time. Morphologically, it uses an infix -ma- placed after the first consonant. This also triggers metathesis in the first syllable, which changes or deletes certain consonants (and shifts y to u). The infix is additionally placed before the vowel shift of the perfective, meaning the metathesis will often moved the vowel from the infix instead of the stem.
(C)V- → V(C)ma-The habitual is used with repeated or iterated actions. It uses partial reduplication of the initial syllable, also voicing any initial consonants. Initial v, z, ś, and ź are reduplicated as b, d, t, and g for historical reasons. Most vowel-initial verbs use an epenthetic -h-, which collapses with a- and u- to form C₁aaC₁- and C₁uuC₁-.
śazu → aśmazu "is speaking"
źyru → uźmaru "is pouring"
myzagu → umazagu "is crying"
vicśu → imucśa "is poking"
emu → emuma "is doing"
C₁V- → C₁e~C₁V-
VC₁- → C₁eh~VC₁-
śazu → teźazu "often speaks"
źyru → geźyru "often pours"
myzagu → memyzagu "often cries"
vucśi → bevucśi "often pokes"
ume → muume "often does"
Definiteness in Akuveth refers specifically to verbal definiteness, which can be thought of as referring to a definite action rather than a definite referent. Often this carries implications of a direct evidential or otherwise specifying a particular event.
The indefinite is the unmarked form. The definite uses an infix -ry-, which is placed before the final consonant of the root. It can be infixed to either the perfective or imperfective form. If the final consonant is r, the infix dissimilates to -dy- instead.
śazu → śaryzu
źyru → źydyru
myzagu → myzarygu
vucśi → vurycśi
ume → uryme
Effect refers to whether the action has a beneficial or harmful result.
The benefactive changes final -u to -i, and suffixes -se. This occurs before perfective metathesis.
śazu → śazise "speaks for me; speaks on my behalf"The malefactive functions similarly, changing final -u to -o and suffixing -ka.
źyru → źyrise "pours for me"
vicśu → vicśise "poked [someone] for me"
emu → imese "did for me"
śazu → śazoka "speaks against me/at my expense; insults me"Benefactive/malefactive prototypically affects only the speaker; to mark that the action affects the listener, the suffix -ci is placed after the effect suffix.
źyru → źyroka "pours, harming me"
vicśu → vocśika "poked me"
emu → omeka "did at my expense"
śazu → śaziseci "speaks on your behalf"
źyru → źyrokaci "pours, harming you"
The last form is the conjunctive or serial. This form removes the final -u and suffixes -ta, which also devoices and assimilates final consonants. (Clusters of three or more consonants are broken up with -e-.) The conjunctive can only co-occur with definiteness; aspect and effect are both unmarked.
śazu → śasta
źyru → źytta
myzagu → myzakta
vicśu → vicśeta
emu → enta
As a final note, since the inflection can be very difficult to follow at times, there will be hover tags provided for the more complex forms to help with reading.
OBJObject (argument) forms are used for both direct and indirect objects.
SGSingular (number)
one countable entityPLPlural (number)
more than one/fewNOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argumentOBJObject (argument) GENGenitive (case)
possessiveNOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argumentOBJObject (argument) GENGenitive (case)
possessive1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; Iśe śim śeta mai manym maita 2Second person (person)
addressee (you)cys cysym cysta caaź caaźym caaśta 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speakerny neurym neuta śum śumym śunta 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MEDMedial (proximity)
not too far from speaker; close to addresseeśaa śarym śata 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee)aa arym ata
With many nouns, numbers and quantifiers cannot be used directly, but must be used with a classifier. The system is similar to Mandarin, but less pervasive; classifiers are only necessary with what could be roughly considered "sellable items": commodities, tools, livestock, land, etc. This system generally doesn't extend outside this semantic space, though there are exceptions. Some of the most common classifiers:
classifier literal measures grain cereal and crops bunch groups of plants or vegetables (leeks, carrots, grapes, etc.) stick small rod-like objects (pens, feathers, arrows, needles, etc.) frame doors, windows, and pieces of furniture or carpentry coil bunches of rope or wire pile stacks of objects object, thing boxes; box-like objects; generic catch-all benḣa blade bladed weapons (swords, daggers, etc.) buna body items sold per person; hides (and by extension, clothing) esa mouth open containers (jars, pots, cups, buckets, etc.) geźoce leaf.COLCollective (number)
'group or mass entity'books, collections of writings hup trunk large rod-like objects (trees, beams, etc.) niryn flat thing flat, thin objects (plates, tiles, boards, etc.) rańi growth most plants śyma head animals; large, round vegetables and melons (lettuce, pumpkin, watermelon, etc.) uźe flower flowers, fruits zide berry small fruits, nuts, and berries źoc leaf leaves, certain flowers; paper, documents
Most modifiers—namely adjectives, demonstratives, and quantifiers—precede the nouns they modify. Relative clauses and adpositional expressions, however, follow them, much like English.
[possessor phrase] [demonstrative] [quantifier/numeral] [adjective(s)] noun [relative clause]
śu
PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speaker gyr
two vanni
short voḣ
woman i vecśytta śymec
RELRelative stab-CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb lord
"these two short women who stabbed the lord"
The unmarked word order for Akuveth is SVO. More precisely:
- Subject
- Pronominal direct object
- Pronominal indirect object
- Adverbs
- Verb
- Direct object
- Indirect object
- Prepositional phrases
(This color-coding will be used throughout the article, like my other grammars.)
Źyndec
soldier śim
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.OBJObject (argument) oźitta
happily cudyri
give<DEFDefinite
"the">.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action sum
sword pos
under saaḣ.
tree
"The soldier happily gave the sword to me under a tree."
Akuveth has explicit topic marking via the enclitic =(y)ga, and also allows for free constituent dislocation, even without explicit object marking. The general rule of thumb is that the NP immediately before the verb is always the agent (not counting pronominal objects). Adverbs and modifiers can be moved and topicalized as well, meaning the following are all parseable:
SumygaThe topic isn't even necessarily a constituent within the sentence, and can be used like an adverbial to set the scene or otherwise give context.
sword=TOPTopic (syntactic)
the topic (key reference point) of a sentence źyndec
soldier śim
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.OBJObject (argument) oźitta
happily cudyri
give<DEFDefinite
"the">.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action pos saaḣ.
under tree
Śimyga
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.OBJObject (argument)=TOPTopic (syntactic)
the topic (key reference point) of a sentence źyndec
soldier oźitta
happily cudyri
give<DEFDefinite
"the">.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action sum
sword pos saaḣ.
under tree
Oźittaga
happily=TOPTopic (syntactic)
the topic (key reference point) of a sentence źyndec
soldier śim
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.OBJObject (argument) cudyri
give<DEFDefinite
"the">.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action sum
sword pos saaḣ.
under tree
Pos saaḣyga
under tree=TOPTopic (syntactic)
the topic (key reference point) of a sentence źyndec
soldier śim
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.OBJObject (argument) oźitta
happily cudyri
give<DEFDefinite
"the">.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action sum.
sword
Ṫesaga
city=TOPTopic (syntactic)
the topic (key reference point) of a sentence Gonhuunau
Gonhuunau tus.
quiet
"As far as cities go, Gonhuunau is quiet."
Koźynga
clothing=TOPTopic (syntactic)
the topic (key reference point) of a sentence aa
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee) kugo
wear.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action senma.
dress
"As for clothing, she wore a dress."
The conjunctive suffix -ta has multiple functions. Its base meaning is to reduce or concatenate a VP. The most common usage is with auxiliaries, notably the negative vaśu and passive grovu.
ŚymecThe inflections of the original verb migrates to the auxiliary (except definiteness).
lord gruvo
PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action vecśyrytta
stab<DEFDefinite
"the">-CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb
"The lord was stabbed."
Aa
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee) cysym
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).OBJObject (argument) vecśodyrikavecśyri → vecśyroka → vecśorika → vecśodyrika
stab<DEFDefinite
"the">.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action-MALMalefactive (case)
recipient of bad intent →
Aa
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee) cysym
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).OBJObject (argument) vośaka
NEGNegative (polarity)
not.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action-MALMalefactive (case)
recipient of bad intent vecśyrytta.
stab<DEFDefinite
"the">-CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb
"She stabbed you." → "She didn't stab you."
Akuveth has an affirmative auxiliary mesu, which can be used to emphasize the truth of a statement:
Aa
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee) cysym
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).OBJObject (argument) moseka
AFFAffirmative (polarity)
positive, opposite of NEG.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action-MALMalefactive (case)
recipient of bad intent vecśyrytta!
stab<DEFDefinite
"the">-CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb
"She really did stab you!"
S V O → S i V.CNJVConjunctive (mood)Relative clauses are introduced with i, which declines to iśym for object phrases.
subordinates or serialises verb O
S V O → O iśym S V.CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb
S V Od Oi → Oi iśym S V.CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb Od
Nouns and adjectives are concatenated with two methods. The first is the enclitic =se, which can be placed after either constituent: śymecse siga or śymec sigase "lord and wife." The second is the particle tu(n): śymec tu siga. The difference is in the semantics: =se implies that the two (or more) referents are the same, or otherwise doing the same action; tu, on the other hand, refers to each referent as distinct entities. For a descriptive example:
haadseThe third option is disjunction ("or"), marked with ḣyga:
big=and cau
strong hym
man
"the big and strong man"
(one man that is both big and strong)
haad
big tu
and cau
strong hym
man
"the big man and the strong man"
(at least two men, one that is big and one that is strong)
haad
big ḣyga
or cau
strong hym
man
"the big or strong man"
(a man that is big or strong, but not both)
Verbs are typically concatenated, unsurprisingly, with the conjunctive (-ta) form, which similarly can be used with either verb: vecśyru nekta or vecśytta negu "stab and kill."
Akuveth has no formal subordination (other than relativization), and no method of forming complex sentences except for concatenation. This surfaces in a large selection of clausal conjunctions (highlighted in cyan in this grammar) to connect phrases:
conj. gloss sa- and śi- or re- OTSPObject-to-subject pivot (syntax, switch-reference, identity)
upper clause object is lower clause subject; promotes previous objectkuu- STOPSubject-to-object pivot (syntax, switch-reference, identity)
upper clause subject is lower clause object; demotes previous subjectṫyn- for (purpose) bys- because pan- if daac(i)- therefore źeu- then, at that time (introduces new scene) keź(i)- when, while, during mur- before myc(i)- until greu- after gryc(i)- since vaź(i)- then, next (temporal sequence) śai- there, at that place (introduces new scene) ńa- as, like cir- only; (with NEGNegative (polarity)
not.) except
The simplest sequence is when both verbs share the same arguments. Here we can just concatenate with sa-:
Hym
man dyru
stand.IPFVImperfective (aspect)
'interrupted or incomplete' sa-riźu
and=point.IPFVImperfective (aspect)
'interrupted or incomplete'
"The man stood and pointed."
Śe
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I cysym
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).OBJObject (argument) todu
love.IPFVImperfective (aspect)
'interrupted or incomplete' sa-tivu
and=want.IPFVImperfective (aspect)
'interrupted or incomplete' tytta.
marry-CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb
"I love you and want to marry [you]."
Most importantly, the subject (or the topic) is maintained between clauses.
ŹyndecIn this instance, the soldier is the one leaving. To mark that the thief leaves instead, the pivot marker re- is used in place of sa-, raising the object of the previous clause to the subject.
soldier tugi
beat.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action pevinec
thief sa-bugra
and=leave.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action
"The soldieri beat the thief and lefti."
ŹyndecSimilarly, a subject can be demoted to an object with kuu-:
soldier tugi
beat.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action pevinec
thief re-bugra
OTSPObject-to-subject pivot (syntax, switch-reference, identity)
upper clause object is lower clause subject=leave.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action
"The soldier beat the thiefi and [he] lefti."
Źyndec
soldier bugra
leave.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action kuu-pevinec
STOPSubject-to-object pivot (syntax, switch-reference, identity)
upper clause subject is lower clause object=thief tugi
beat.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action
"The soldier left and was beaten by the thief."
Both pivot markers can be prefixed to other conjunctions:
Źyndec
soldier bugra
leave.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action kuuvaźi-pevinec
STOPSubject-to-object pivot (syntax, switch-reference, identity)
upper clause subject is lower clause object-then=thief tugi
beat.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action
"The soldier left, and then [he] was beaten by the thief."
Causation is marked with the verb habru alongside the pivot constructions.
Mara
father śim
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.OBJObject (argument) hubra
CAUSCausative (valency/mood)
cause an action to occur, force another argument to act.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action re-negu
OTSPObject-to-subject pivot (syntax, switch-reference, identity)
upper clause object is lower clause subject=kill.IPFVImperfective (aspect)
'interrupted or incomplete' toḣne.
insect
"Father made mei killi the bug."
postp. gloss cai in the manner of (ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly')duu in front of go inside, into ińa against; compared to kaary through, along miryḣ for (exchange), in return myr across, beyond, opposite na at, in, on; general locative pos under, below reś with (COMComitative (case)
'together with')rideḣ using, with, by means of (INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using')riḣa near, around, close to; beside, next to ruc without syń back to, returning śec between, among śeu over, above, on top of te to, toward vo of; out of, from vorec far away from veryḣ about, on (REFReferential (case)
about, regarding, on the topic of)yśud behind, in back of
Possession is marked with vo: Saaḣa vo mad "Saaḣa’s house."
Polar questions can be formed in two ways. First, with the particle źai:
ŹaiColloquially the tag question ḣyga "or...?" is used:
QInterrogative
question aa
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee) cysym
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).OBJObject (argument) vecśodyrika?
stab<DEFDefinite
"the">.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action-MALMalefactive (case)
recipient of bad intent
"Did she stab you?"
Aa
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee) cysym
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).OBJObject (argument) vecśodyrika
stab<DEFDefinite
"the">.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action-MALMalefactive (case)
recipient of bad intent ḣyga?
or
"She stabbed you, right?"
Polar questions are answered with mesu "it is" and vaśu "it is not" with the appropriate inflections. Alternatively, you can repeat (or negate) the verb used in the question.
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