Nesyanian grammar 2.0 or something
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Not OOD anymore, yay. The conlang is still blursed
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[comments] eyigrammarphonologymorphologysyntax Article created in: December 2020
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.
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
| Letter | Romanization | Sound | Notes | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raised to [ɨ] in some environments. | ||||
| Realised as [ɪ] after /ɾ w/. | ||||
Consonants
| Letter | Romanization | Sound | Notes | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Becomes [p] after /m/. | ||||
| Cannot be word-final. | ||||
| Cannot be word-final. | ||||
| Often becomes a glottal stop when preceeding /b/, /d/ or /d͡ʒ/. | ||||
| Palatalized to [ç] before /i/. | ||||
| Becomes voiced before a voiced consonant. | ||||
| Cannot be word-final. | ||||
| Can be [n ŋ ɲ] depending on the environment. | ||||
Phonotactics and syllable structure
The maximum syllable structure in Nesyanian is CɾVC, CwVC or CxVC:
• tra tra [tɾa] ‘law’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’.
• dwai dwai [dwaɪ̯] ‘seven’
• sxadė sxadė [sxadə] ‘to wash’
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).
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 |
|||
| ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient |
|||
| DATDative (case) indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location |
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| GENGenitive (case) possessive |
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| INSTRInstrumental (case) 'with' 'using' |
|||
| TRANSLTranslative (case) becoming |
|||
| ABLAblative (case) away from |
|||
| LOCLocative (case) 'in, on, at' etc |
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| COMComitative (case) 'together with' |
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| ESSEssive (case) 'as, similar' |
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.Accusative
Rugdaṡ egzė.
rugda-ṡ
laugh-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.SUBSubject (argument) egzė
child
The child is laughing.
Marks the direct object of a verb:
c’ayousa egzėm.Dative
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.
Marks the recipient of an action:
ṅeukari, kammesa yalte.It is also used in various dative constructions of more figurative meaning:
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.
lat’ewaṡ ayante ogarė.Genitive
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.)
Marks the possessor.
ṅedun erėi junimri.Instrumental
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.
Marks the means by which the subject accomplishes an action:
deimeisallaisa hafėr.Translative
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.
Expresses change in state of a noun:
fraindaṡin gandiyu.Ablative
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.
Denotes movement away from something:
deidulaxou ob leisahfi.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’.
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.
Locative
Used with most adpositions indicating location:
tandaṡ manci zė cetważ.Comitative
Tandaṡ manci zė cetważ.
tanda-ṡ
sleep-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.SUBSubject (argument) manci
cat zė
on cetwa-ż
table-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc
The cat is sleeping on the table.
Equivalent to ‘with X’ or ‘accompanying X’:
tėwussayou me inuneż xetu.It is also used when an action is reciprocal:
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.
atudai in horrizaxou undwi hin yenetu.Essive
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.
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’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.
from *inda
ṡiwė ‘to eat’ – ṡeba ‘food’
from *x₁iva
faxė ‘to become’ – faka ‘change’
from *fak₁a
| Nominalizer | Functions | Examples 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 |
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 IV | prefix III | prefix II | prefix I | 0 | suffix I | suffix II | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| function |
Tenses
| PTPast tense (tense) action occurred before moment of speech | PRESPresent tense (tense) current | FTFuture tense (tense) action occurring after the moment of speech |
|---|---|---|
dey- if the verb starts with a vowel | (unmarked) | 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) | ta- when stressed tėw- if the verb starts with a vowel | fr- if the verb starts with /a/ if the verb starts with /e o/, alters them into [ɪ̯ ʊ̯] | 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) | ||||||
| DODirect object (case/role) |
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.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’).
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.
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 root | Negative root | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
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.
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.
| Adjectivizer | Function | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -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 dė ‘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.Comparison
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.
Comparative and superlative forms are marked by prefixes: zai- and ul-, respectively.
imėi ‘small’Depending on the first sound of an adjective/adverb, prefixes can assimilate (e.g. rintėi ‘free, liberated’ – urrintėi ‘the most liberated’).
zaimėi ‘smaller’
ulimėi ‘the smallest’
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).
Declarative
The most basic declarative sentences follow the word order of VS. Auxiliary verb preceed the main verb.
naṡaṡin hisa.Negative
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.
As mentioned before, the negation is marked by adding la- to the verb or using different negative adverbs.
yal ladeicimaisa.Interrogative
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.
Questions can be marked by:
• interrogative adverbs/pronouns (which are identical to their relative equivalents)
• the polar question particle ni
• intonation
c’ab em?Imperative
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?
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 -ė). The prohibitive mood is marked with la- (see Morphology: verbs).
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.Alternate copulas cause the predicative to take the ESSEssive (case)
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.
'as, similar' form (e.g. unkammė ‘to seem’) or the TRANSLTranslative (case)
becoming form (faxė ‘to become’, fakadė ‘to change into’).
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.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.
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)
c’aisu ṅehin ṡun en deicimaxousa heilum.Objects already known from the context or marked on the verb can be dropped.
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.
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