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Nesyanian grammar 2.0 or something
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Not OOD anymore, yay. The conlang is still blursed
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 28 May 2023, 09:21.

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Menu 1. Worldbuilding 2. Phonology 3. Morphology: nouns and pronouns 4. Morphology: verbs 5. Morphology: adjectives and adverbs 6. Syntax 101 7. The main clause 8. Predicative clauses 9. Relative clauses Article created in: December 2020

[edit] [top]Worldbuilding

Nesyanian (esaini esaini, from Proto-Nesyanian *nisaʔ-yəne) is a language native to about 55-60 million inhabitants of Nesyania and Zaloma, being the only official language of these countries. It is also a recognised minority language in Kasewaya.

Nesyanian itself is a language isolate with no surviving cognates, but it is characterized by a large dialectal variety and had a large impact on neighboring languages. Numerous loanwords of Nesyanian origin can be found especially in the Desanian languages. On the other hand, many words – mainly related to technology and agriculture – have been borrowed into Nesyanian from Kasewayan.

[edit] [top]Phonology

Phonetic inventory and spelling
The Nesyanian phonetic inventory contains 23 consonants and 6 vowels. This system does not differ too much from phonemic inventories of neighboring languages, such as Desanian languages. However, the most notable unique feature is the presence of ejective consonants, which evolved from preaspirated stops /hk ht/.

Vowels
LetterRomanizationSoundNotesExample
a
a
/a/
agzan agzan [agzan] ‘day’
e
e
/e/
egu egu [egu] ‘sweet potato’
ė
ė
/ə/
Raised to [ɨ] in some environments.
ėrikun ėrikun [əɾɪkũ] ‘sisterhood’
i
i
/i/
Realised as [ɪ] after /ɾ w/.
irram irram [iɾːam] ‘cotton’
o
o
/o/
orurė orurė [oɾuɾə] ‘to twirl’
u
u
/u/
uceza uceza [ut͡ʃeza] ‘silence’
Besides plain vowels, there are nine diphthongs: /aɪ̯ eɪ̯ əɪ̯ oɪ̯ uɪ̯ aʊ̯ eʊ̯ əʊ̯ oʊ̯/, spelled as ai ei ėi oi ui au eu ėu ou <ai ei ėi oi ui au eu ėu ou>.

Consonants
LetterRomanizationSoundNotesExample
b
b
/b/
bal bal [bal] ‘ear’
f
f
/f/
Becomes [p] after /m/.
fuwė fuwė [fuwə] ‘to gather’
j
j
/d͡ʒ/
jakamė jakamė [d͡ʒakamə] ‘to go by’
c
c
/t͡ʃ/
cenu cenu [t͡ʃenu] ‘neck’
c’
c’
/t͡ʃ’/
Cannot be word-final.
c’alahi c’alahi [t͡ʃ’alaçi] ‘unseen’
d
d
/d/
daxkawi daxkawi [daxkawɪ] ‘confused’
t
t
/t/
tawa tawa [tawa] ‘boy’
t’
t’
/tʼ/
Cannot be word-final.
t’eneiri t’eneiri [tʼeneɪ̯ɾɪ] ‘last night’
y
y
/j/
yuż yuż [juʒ] ‘tree’
g
g
/g/
Often becomes a glottal stop when preceeding /b/, /d/ or /d͡ʒ/.
galwate galwate [galwate] ‘grandfather’
h
h
/h/
Palatalized to [ç] before /i/.
hafelė hafelė [hafelə] ‘to fit’
k
k
/k/
Becomes voiced before a voiced consonant.
kahnė kahnė [kahnə] ‘to wait’
k’
k’
/kʼ/
Cannot be word-final.
k’unta k’unta [kʼũta] ‘glass’
x
x
/x/
xada xada [xada] ‘word’
l
l
/l/
laifom laifom [laɪ̯fom] ‘trader’
m
m
/m/
munixa munixa [muɲixa] ‘delay’
n
n
/n/
Can be [n ŋ ɲ] depending on the environment.
namari namari [namaɾɪ] ‘little’
/ɲ/
ṅarjin ṅarjin [ɲaɾd͡ʒin] ‘car’
r
r
/ɾ/
rambin rambin [ɾambin] ‘narrow’
s
s
/s/
suba suba [suba] ‘rain’
w
w
/w/
wej wej [wed͡ʒ] ‘door’
z
z
/z/
zaxat zaxat [zaxat] ‘nature’
ż
ż
/ʒ/
żeri żeri [ʒeɾɪ] ‘mountain’
/ʃ/
ṡenji ṡenji [ʃend͡ʒi] ‘bad’

Phonotactics and syllable structure
The maximum syllable structure in Nesyanian is CɾVC, CwVC or CxVC:
tra tra [tɾa] ‘law’
dwai dwai [dwaɪ̯] ‘seven’
sxadė sxadė [sxadə] ‘to wash’
Ejective consonants /tʼ t͡ʃʼ kʼ/ are not allowed in onset clusters or in codas. However, they can appear as the second consonant in cross-syllabic clusters, like in bėnt’eri bėnt’eri [bəntʼeɾɪ] ‘made of stone’ or bėnk’unta bėnk’unta [bəŋkʼũta] ‘made of glass’.

Palatalized consonants are not a part of the Nesyanian phonemic inventory, but stop consonants succeeded by /i/ are slightly palatalized. This feature is generally omitted in IPA transcription.

Combinations of /u/ + nasal consonant become [ũ] when they are word-final or preceed another consonant. This creates a number of homophones distinguished only by the last letter – for example sun sun ‘shore’ vs. sum sum ‘picture’, both pronounced [sũ]. The PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
and PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
.ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
suffixes are also identical in pronunciation (-un and -um, respectively).

[edit] [top]Morphology: nouns and pronouns

Overview
Nouns decline for number (singular, dual and plural) and case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, instrumental, translative, ablative, locative, comitative and essive).
SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
DUDual (number)
two
PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
-de
-un
ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
-m
-dem
-um
DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location
-te
-t’e
-unte
GENGenitive (case)
possessive
-ri
-dri
-unri
INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using'
-r
-der
-uner
TRANSLTranslative (case)
becoming
-u
-deu
-unu
ABLAblative (case)
away from
-fi
-defi
-umfi
LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc
-deż
-uneż
COMComitative (case)
'together with'
-tu
-t’u
-untu
ESSEssive (case)
'as, similar'
-ha
-deha
-unha
See also declension tables for countable and uncountable nouns.

The Nesyanian personal pronoun system features a 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
/2Second person (person)
addressee (you)
/3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
distinction and two numbers: singular and plural. Just like nouns, pronouns decline for case.

The usage of cases
Below are some simple examples of the use of the grammatical cases.

Nominative
The default case, marking the subject of a verb:
rugdaṡ egzė.
Rugdaṡ egzė.

rugda-ṡ
laugh-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)
egzė
child

The child is laughing.
Accusative
Marks the direct object of a verb:
c’ayousa egzėm.
C’ayousa egzėm.

c’a-you-sa
see-1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)
.SUBSubject (argument)-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.DODirect object (case/role)
egzė-m
child-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient

We (can) see the child.
Dative
Marks the recipient of an action:
ṅeukari, kammesa yalte.
Ṅeukari, kammesa yalte.

ṅeukari
please
kamme-sa
give-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.DODirect object (case/role)
yal-te
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
-DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location

Give it to me, please.
It is also used in various dative constructions of more figurative meaning:
lat’ewaṡ ayante ogarė.
Lat’ewaṡ ayante ogarė.

lat’ewa-ṡ
NEGNegative (polarity)
not
/want-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)
ayan-te
1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)
-DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location
ogarė
work

We do not want to work. (literary To us [it] does not want to work.)
Genitive
Marks the possessor.
ṅedun erėi junimri.
Ṅedun erėi junimri.

ṅe-dun
COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate
-PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speaker
erėi
sister
junim-ri
girl.DIMDiminutive
a smaller, lesser, weaker etc. version
-GENGenitive (case)
possessive

This is the little girl's sister.
Instrumental
Marks the means by which the subject accomplishes an action:
deimeisallaisa hafėr.
Deimeisallaisa hafėr.

dei-meisalla-i-sa
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
-catch-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
.SUBSubject (argument)-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.DODirect object (case/role)
haf-ėr
hand-INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using'

I caught it with my hands.
Translative
Expresses change in state of a noun:
fraindaṡin gandiyu.
Fraindaṡin gandiyu.

fra-inda-ṡ-in
CONDConditional (mood)
would
-make-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)-DODirect object (case/role)
gandi-yu
sad-TRANSLTranslative (case)
becoming

That would be saddening. (literally [It] would make [someone] sad.)

tewab hortefaxė umikomu.
Tewab hortėfaxė umikomu.

tewa-b
want-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.SUBSubject (argument)
hor-tė-faxė
FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech
-OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope'
-become
umikom-u
teacher-TRANSLTranslative (case)
becoming

You want to become a teacher.
Ablative
Denotes movement away from something:
deidulaxou ob leisahfi.
Deidulaxou ob leisahfi.

dei-dula-xou
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
-run-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
.SUBSubject (argument)
ob
from
leisah-fi
danger-ABLAblative (case)
away from

They ran away from the danger.
It is also used when comparing something or someone: zaiṡet’i xefi ‘better than him/her’, zayyauti Nadamfi da Ciyerefi ‘older than Nadam and Ciyere’.

Locative
Used with most adpositions indicating location:
tandaṡ manci zė cetważ.
Tandaṡ manci zė cetważ.

tanda-ṡ
sleep-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)
manci
cat

on
cetwa-ż
table-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc

The cat is sleeping on the table.
Comitative
Equivalent to ‘with X’ or ‘accompanying X’:
tėwussayou me inuneż xetu.
Tėwussayou me inuneż xetu.

tėw-ussa-you
OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope'
-go-1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)
.SUBSubject (argument)
me
to
inun-eż
there-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc
xe-tu
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
-COMComitative (case)
'together with'

Let's go there with him/her.
It is also used when an action is reciprocal:
atudai in horrizaxou undwi hin yenetu.
Atudai in horrizaxou undwi hin yenetu.

atuda-i
think-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
.SUBSubject (argument)
in
SBRCSubordinate clause (syntax)
marks a subordinate clause
hor-riza-xou
FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech
-befriend-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)
undwi
quickly
hin
one
yene-tu
other-COMComitative (case)
'together with'

I think they will befriend each other quickly.
Essive
Equivalent to ‘in the role of X’ or ‘as X’:
kammaisa bente kanjiha.
Kammaisa bente kanjiha.

kamma-i-sa
give-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
.SUBSubject (argument)-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.DODirect object (case/role)
ben-te
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
-DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location
kanji-ha
gift-ESSEssive (case)
'as, similar'

I give you this as a gift.

Derivational morphology
In Proto-Nesyanian, verbs and verbal nouns derived from them were most likely stress pairs; then the stress location has been moved to the penultimate syllable in all words, but sound changes triggered by differences in stress locations are still noticeable:
indė ‘to do’ – enda ‘action’
from *inda
ṡiwė ‘to eat’ – ṡeba ‘food’
from *x₁iva
faxė ‘to become’ – faka ‘change’
from *fak₁a
As Nesyanian is a strongly agglutinative languages, most nouns are created by adding different suffixes to other parts of speech. The table below shows examples of the most common nominalizers.
NominalizerFunctionsExamples of use
-om Active/agentive. Similar to English ‘-er’.feṡindom ‘sharpener’
from feṡi ‘sharp’ + indė ‘to do’
zundom ‘writer’
related to dundė ‘to write’, from Proto-Nesyanian *zunda
-au Passive/stative. Similar to English ‘-ee’.umeyau ‘student’
from umeyė ‘to teach’
yenwau ‘dead body’
from yenwė ‘to die’
ehinau ‘wagon, vehicle’
from Proto-Nesyanian *isina- related to moving
-an Collective or generally abstract.
• groups
• events
• abstractions which cannot be measured
yuwan ‘forest’
related to yuż ‘tree’, from Proto-Nesyanian *yuɣ-
arfazan ‘coincidence’
from arė ‘with’ + fazė ‘to happen’
dayyan ‘failed expectation’
from dayyė ‘to fail, to disappoint’
-ine Abstract, generally measurable or changeable.
• qualities
• states of being
ṡet’ine ‘goodness’
from ṡet’i ‘good’
eneine ‘warmth’
from enėi ‘warm’
-yė Used to derive verbal nouns. Similar to English ‘-ing’.
• actions
• states of being
ṡewayė ‘ingestion’
from ṡiwė ‘to eat’
lėnjayė ‘novelty’
from lenji ‘new’
-ur Abstract, often uncountable.
• actions
• feelings
• entities
indur ‘process’
from indė ‘to do, to act’
ukareyur ‘gratefulness’
from ukarėi ‘grateful’
rintur ‘freedom’
from rintėi ‘free’
-run From the word run meaning ‘place’.
• denotes places where something is done
gadrun ‘station’
from Proto-Nesyanian *g₁a- ‘to stand’
jetarrun ‘kitchen’
from jetarė ‘to cook’
-koun Likely related to kunnė meaning ‘to hold (together)’.
• organizations
• other groups of people
mirak’oun ‘brotherhood’
from miraṡ ‘brother’
malkoun ‘(political) party’
from Proto-Nesyanian *mali- related to entities/unity
Besides that, some verbal nouns are identical to verbs; for example, ṅaranendė means both ‘to moderate’ and ‘moderation’.

[edit] [top]Morphology: verbs

Overview
Each verb root has 6 slots for affixes, marking its tense, mood, subject and direct object.
Nesyanian is generally a pro-drop language and marking SUBSubject (argument) and DODirect object (case/role) twice, using a pronoun, is done mainly for emphasis.
By default, verbs end with /ə/ <ė> when they take no SUBSubject (argument) suffix (e.g. in their infinitive form or in constructions where an auxiliary verb is used). When a suffix is added, the schwa strengthens to /a/.

prefix IVprefix IIIprefix IIprefix I0suffix Isuffix II
function
negation
tense marker
mood marker
intensity marker
verb root
subject marker
object marker
See also conjugation tables for declarative and negative forms.

Tenses
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
PRESPresent tense (tense)
current
FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech
dei-
dey-
if the verb starts with a vowel

(unmarked)
hor-
hol-
if the verb starts with /l/

Moods
Main article: Moods in the Nesyanian language
INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis
IMPImperative (mood)
command
OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope'
CONDConditional (mood)
would
POTPotential (mood)
likely events, ability

(unmarked)

(unmarked)
tė-
ta-
when stressed
tėw- if the verb starts with a vowel
fra-
fr-
if the verb starts with /a/
if the verb starts with /e o/, alters them into [ɪ̯ ʊ̯]
akė-
ak-
if the verb starts with /a/
if the verb starts with /e o/, alters them into [ɪ̯ ʊ̯]

In informal, everyday speech, the optative mood prefix is sometimes used as an alternative to the verb tewė ‘to want’. For example taussai is equal to tewai ussė, both meaning ‘I want to go’. In formal language, both of these forms are considered a bit impolite, so the verb tewė is used with the optative prefix (tėtewai ussė ‘I would like to go’).

Subject and object marking
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural)
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
SUBSubject (argument)
-i
-you
-b
-bou
-ṡ
-xou
DODirect object (case/role)
-ya
-yu
-ba
-bu
-sa
-su

When the object of a transitive verb is unknown or irrelevant, it is marked with -in.
yunaindaṡ tuṡan, faigdaṡin feikau.
Yunaindaṡ tuṡan, faigdaṡin feikau.

yundainda-ṡ
make_choice-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)
tuṡan
man
faigda-ṡ-in
obey-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)-DODirect object (case/role)
feikau
slave

A man chooses, a slave obeys. (from here)

When -sa or -su succeeds -ṡ, it is simplified to -a or -u respectively (therefore, bigaṡa instead of *bigaṡsa).
Additionally, when the object and the subject are the same, it is marked with a reflexive suffix, -na, placed instead of the object marker, for example:
c’aṡa inun.
C’aṡa inun.

c’a-ṡ-a
see-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.DODirect object (case/role)
inun
there

He/she see him/her over there. (the subject and the object are different people)

c’aṡna inun.
C’aṡna inun.

c’a-ṡ-na
see-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)-SAOSame object (switch-reference)
same object used between clauses
inun
there

He/she sees himself/herself.

In standard literary Nesyanian, transitive verbs agree both with the subject and the direct object(s). In conjunctive sentences, the subject is marked on the main verb, but the object is marked on the second verb:
tewayou c’asu.
Tewayou c’asu.

tewa-you
want-1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)
.SUBSubject (argument)
c’a-su
see-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
.DODirect object (case/role)

We want to see them.
The method of marking the direct object on verbs can slightly change the meaning of the whole sentence. For example, c’ayousu is the most neutral default way of saying ‘we see them’, when c’ayou ṡunėm puts much more emphasis on the object (like ‘it is them whom we see’).

Negation
Negation is marked with a prefix, la-. Contextually, negative adverbs like laran ‘nowhere’ or lani ‘never’ can be used. Double negatives amplify the negation.

If a verb starts with /t k t͡ʃ/, the negation prefix alters them to ejective /t’ k’ t͡ʃ’/. It is so because of a sound change: in Proto-Nesyanian, the negative particle was *lah or *laʔ, and /ht hk ~ ʔt ʔk/ clusters later evolved into /t’ k’/. The /ʔk/ combination was palatalized when succeeded by /e/ or /i/ and in that case it changed into /t͡ʃ’/.
Examples:
Indicative rootNegative rootMeaning
tewa-
lat’ewa-
to want
tafa-
lat’afa-
to pull
tak’a-
lat’ak’a-
to flow
kahna-
lak’ahna-
to wait
koṅa-
lak’oṅa-
to set
cima-
lac’ima-
to notice

In theory, this irregularity could cause two verbs to have identical negative forms if they differed only by the quality of the first sound. However, no minimal pairs like this are attested in the language.

[edit] [top]Morphology: adjectives and adverbs

Overview
Adjectives are usually identical to equivalent adverbs. Their default ending is -i or -ėi. Some adverbs (especially the ones referring to directions or duration) do not have any special suffixes.

Interrogative and relative adverbs (with no difference between them) are: om (why), utu (how), aci (when), arrun (where) and auzė (how much/how many). In questions, interrogative adverbs are put on the end of a sentence, succeeding the verb.

Derivational morphology
Like nouns, adjectives can be derived from other parts of speech by adding various suffixes.
AdjectivizerFunctionExamples
-i The default, most common adjectivizer. If the modified word ends with a vowel, the final sound is changed to a schwa: -ėi.agzani ‘daily, daytime’
from agzan ‘day’
hembėi ‘happy’
from Proto-Nesyanian root *semba- related to joy
-di Equivalent to ‘pertaining to’ or, sometimes, ‘-like’.
Etymologicall related to the genitive case suffix -ri.
wuzadi ‘animal’
from wuzė ‘animal, living thing’
eridi ‘sisterly’
from erėi ‘sister’
-dėi Equivalent to ‘-able’, used on verbs. Derived from ‘for’.
The negative form is -ladėi.
arinkadėi ‘usable’
from arinkė ‘to use’
c’aladėi ‘invisible’
from c’ė ‘to see’
-in Denotes physical qualities like colors and shapes.rat’ėin ‘white’
from rat’a ‘white color’
rambin ‘narrow’
from Proto-Nesyanian root *rambe- related to being small
-zėi Agentive/active, used on verbs.ṡet’udazėi ‘understanding’
from ṡetudė ‘to understand’
dayyazėi ‘failing, defunct’
from dayyė ‘to fail’
-kwė Passive, used on verbs. Related to xwė ‘to take’.ṡiwakwė ‘eaten’
from ṡiwė ‘to eat’
jesakwė ‘animate(d)’
from jisė ‘to live’

Adjective agreement
Adjectives take the same case as the noun they describe, but have no number.
dulaxou undwi mulun henti.
Dulaxou undwi mulun henti.

dula-xou
run-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
.SUBSubject (argument)
undwi
fast
mul-un
horse-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
henti
black

The black horses are running fast.

c’aisu mulum hentim.
C’aisu mulum hentim.

c’a-i-su
see-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
.SUBSubject (argument)-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
.DODirect object (case/role)
mul-um
horse-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
.ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
henti-m
black-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient

I see black horses.
Comparison
Comparative and superlative forms are marked by prefixes: zai- and ul-, respectively.
imėi ‘small’
zaimėi ‘smaller’
ulimėi ‘the smallest’
Depending on the first sound of an adjective/adverb, prefixes can assimilate (e.g. rintėi ‘free, liberated’ – urrintėi ‘the most liberated’).

[edit] [top]Syntax 101

Nesyanian is a head-initial, right-branching, agglutinative language. The default word order in a sentence is VSO (unless the subject is mentioned as a pronoun – in that case, the order is SVO), however, as declension exists and case suffixes indicate the role of each noun, this rule is not that strict.
Subject and direct object pronouns are frequently dropped as they are already indicated by verb conjugation (see Morphology: verbs).

[edit] [top]The main clause

Declarative
The most basic declarative sentences follow the word order of VS. Auxiliary verb preceed the main verb.
naṡaṡin hisa.
Naṡaṡin hisa.

naṡa-ṡ-in
read-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)-DODirect object (case/role)
hisa
woman

The woman is reading.

deinaṡaṡin hisa.
Deinaṡaṡin hisa.

dei-naṡa-ṡ-in
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
-read-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)-DODirect object (case/role)
hisa
woman

The woman was reading.

tewaṡ naṡėin hisa.
Tewaṡ naṡėin hisa.

tewa-ṡ
want-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)
naṡė-in
read-DODirect object (case/role)
hisa
woman

The woman wants to read.

deitewaṡ naṡėin hisa.
Deitewaṡ naṡėin hisa.

dei-tewa-ṡ
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
-want-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.SUBSubject (argument)
naṡė-in
read-DODirect object (case/role)
hisa
woman

The woman wanted to read.
Negative
As mentioned before, the negation is marked by adding la- to the verb or using different negative adverbs.
yal ladeicimaisa.
Yal ladeicimaisa.

yal
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
la-dei-cima-i-sa
NEGNegative (polarity)
not
-find-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
.SUBSubject (argument)-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.DODirect object (case/role)

I did not find it.

yal deicimaisa laran.
Yal deicimaisa laran.

yal
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
dei-cima-i-sa
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
-find-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
.SUBSubject (argument)-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.DODirect object (case/role)
laran
never

I have never found it.
Interrogative
Questions can be marked by:
• interrogative adverbs/pronouns (which are identical to their relative equivalents)
• the polar question particle ni
• intonation
c’ab em?
C’ab em?

c’a-b
see-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.SUBSubject (argument)
em
who.ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient

Whom do you see?

arrun c’absu?
Arrun c’absu?

arrun
where
c’a-b-su
see-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.SUBSubject (argument)-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
.DODirect object (case/role)

Where do you see them?

agab ni c’asu?
Agab ni c’asu?

aga-b
be_able-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.SUBSubject (argument)
ni
QInterrogative
question
c’a-su
see-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
.DODirect object (case/role)

Can you see them?
Imperative
The imperative mood is marked only by the context and intonation. The verb does not take any affixes and is used in its impersonal form (ending with ). The prohibitive mood is marked with la- (see Morphology: verbs).

[edit] [top]Predicative clauses

The Nesyanian language generally has no standalone verb ‘to be’. The copula prefix (ṅe) is added to the predicative. Just like other verbs, it is negated with la-.
ṅehembėi ayan.
Ṅehembėi ayan.

ṅe-hembėi
COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate
-happy
ayan
1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)

We are happy.

laṅehembėi ayan.
Laṅehembėi ayan.

la-ṅe-hembėi
NEGNegative (polarity)
not
-COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate
-happy
ayan
1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)

We are not happy.
Alternate copulas cause the predicative to take the ESSEssive (case)
'as, similar'
form (e.g. unkammė ‘to seem’) or the TRANSLTranslative (case)
becoming
form (faxė ‘to become’, fakadė ‘to change into’).

[edit] [top]Relative clauses

Relative clauses in Nesyanian are marked by relative pronouns. The head of a relative clause is a retained subject pronoun.
ṅehin ṡun en deicimaxousa heilum.
Ṅehin ṡun en deicimaxousa heilum.

ṅe-hin
COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate
-one
ṡun
3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
en
who
dei-cima-xou-sa
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
-find-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
.SUBSubject (argument)-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.DODirect object (case/role)
heilu-m
sun-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient

They are the ones who found the sun. (based on this)
If the head of a relative clause is a direct object of a verb itself, another part of the sentence can be simply added before it with no changes in the structure.
c’aisu ṅehin ṡun en deicimaxousa heilum.
C’aisu ṅehin ṡun en deicimaxousa heilum.

c’a-i-su
see-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
.SUBSubject (argument)-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
.DODirect object (case/role)
ṅe-hin
COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate
-one
ṡun
3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
en
who
dei-cima-xou-sa
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
-find-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them
.SUBSubject (argument)-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
.DODirect object (case/role)
heilu-m
sun-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient

I see them who are the ones who found the sun.
Objects already known from the context or marked on the verb can be dropped.

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