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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 25 Sep 2023, 09:47.

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1. Kasewayan grammar ? ?

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Menu 1. Introduction: worldbuilding 2. Morphology: nouns 3. Morphology: pronouns 4. Morphology: verbs 5. Morphology: adjectives 6. Morphology: adverbs 7. Syntax: overview 8. The main clause 9. Other clauses Article created in: January 2021

[edit] [top]Introduction: worldbuilding

The Kasewayan language (native name: casyýu casyýu or casyýu into casyýu into) is a Northern Desanian language spoken in Kasewaya and Inwez, being the official language of these countries. It also has a status of a regional language in the northwestern part of Nesyania. The total number of L1 speakers is over 30 million.

The language sharing the most grammatical similarities with Kasewayan is Rashintu, however these two languages are sometimes considered to form two separate branches within the Desanian language family.

[edit] [top]Morphology: nouns

Kasewayan nouns have number (singular and plural), case (nominative, accusative, dative + genitive marked with an preposition instead of a suffix) and gender/class (human or non-human).

Classes
All Kasewayan nouns are divided into two classes: human and non-human. They use separate case/number markers and verb forms depending on their class.

rálsė aýėl li.
Rálsə aýəl li.
rál-sə
man-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human aý-əl
PROGProgressive (aspect)
be verb-ing.AUXAuxilliary-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human li
run
(The) men are running.

rexės aýil li.
Rexəs aýil li.
rex-əs
horse-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) aý-il
PROGProgressive (aspect)
be verb-ing.AUXAuxilliary-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) li
run
(The) horses are running.

Besides words pertaining to human beings and some sentient abstractions (e.g. śesə ‘soul’, háxnə ‘deity’), this group contains human body parts as well:

umė ci ýor aýėm.
Umə ci ýor aýəm.
umə
arm ci
my ýor
pain aý-əm
have-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human
My arm hurts.

Nominal cases
The three nominal cases of Kasewayan are marked with following suffixes:

	NOMNominative (case) TRANS subject, INTR argument	ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient	DATDative (case) indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location
SGSingular (number) one countable entity.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	∅	-de	-rə
SGSingular (number) one countable entity.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)	∅	-d	-r
PLPlural (number) more than one/few.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	-sə	-zə	-zrə
PLPlural (number) more than one/few.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)	-s	-z	-zar

The possessive adposition zə, loosely translatable to “of” and often considered a genitive marker, is written separately, succeeding the possessee and preceeding the possessor. The possessee comes before the possessor, which is unusual among Desanian languages.

Usage of the cases

Nominative
This is the default case, marking the subject of a verb.

ryd baýkar zylim.
Ryd baýkar zylim.
ryd
house baýkar
there zyl-im
stand-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
The house is located over there.

Nouns followed by a postposition usually take the nominative as well.

ryd wė kamir.
Ryd wə kamir.
ryd
house wə
from kam-ir
go-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)
We are leaving the house. (literally going out/away from the house)

Accusative
Marks the direct object of a verb.

by sytádde dasec.
By sytádde dasec.
by
DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee) sytád-de
girl-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human das-ec
like-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I like that girl.

However, when the object is indefinite, the accusative affix is often dropped and nominative is used instead.

zi sė ic sowys daser.
Zi sə ic sowys daser.
zi
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) sə
and ic
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I sowy-s
apple-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few das-er
like-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)
You and I like apples.

Dative
Marks the beneficiary or the recipient of an action.

dasani ci zátėd lunarė bá admėn.
Dasani ci zátəd lunarə bá admən.
dasani
friend ci
my zát-əd
bread-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) luna-rə
sister-DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human bá
PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action ad-mən
give-PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human
My friend gave some bread to [his/her] sister.

[edit] [top]Morphology: pronouns

Personal
The distinction between exclusive and inclusive 1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive) pronouns was lost in Kasewayan.

	1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I	2Second person (person) addressee (you)	3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
SGSingular (number) one countable entity	ic [iːc]	zi [zi]	il [iːl]	an [an]
PLPlural (number) more than one/few	rás [rɑːs]	zisə [zisə]	lis [lis]	antə [antə]

Pronominal cases
Most personal pronouns have irregular declension.

	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.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)	3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient	je [ɟe]	ráje [rɑːɟe]	zide [zide]	zesade [zesade]	ilde [iːɫde]	lesade [lesade]	anəd [anəd]	antad [antad]
DATDative (case) indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location	irə [irə]	rádə [rɑːdə]	zerə [zerə]	zidrə [zidrə]	manrə [manrə]	ledrə [ɫedrə]	anər [anər]	antar [antar]

Possessive
In very formal situations, the zə possession marking is used instead. For example, dák eli ‘his/her dog’ has the same meaning as dák zə il.

	1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I	2Second person (person) addressee (you)	3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
SGSingular (number) one countable entity	ci [ci]	zi [ziː]	eli [eli]	ani [aɲi]
PLPlural (number) more than one/few	rasi [rasi]	zisi [zisi]	lisi [lisi]	anteý [antej]

Interrogative
There are two basic interrogative pronouns: ýa ‘what’ and ýi ‘who’. They are put at the end of an interrogative phrase.

[edit] [top]Morphology: verbs

Kasewayan verbs have tense (past, present and future), aspect (imperfective and perfective, the former is the default/unmarked one while the latter is marked with a particle; the progressive aspect can be marked with an auxiliary verb), person and number.
The infinitive verb ending is -en, -yn or -ən (depending on the final consonant of the verb root).

Tense
Each conjugation suffix indicates tense, person and number at the same time.

	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.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)	3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
Present	-ec [ec] -əc [əc]	-er [er]	-ed [ed]	-em [em] -əm [əm]	-im [im]	-el [eɫ] -əl [əɫ]	-il [iɫ]
Past	-cən [cən]	-rən [rən]	-dən [dən]	-mən [mən]	-min [min]	-lən [ɫən]	-lin [lin]
Future	-ence [eɲce]	-enre [enre]	-ende [ende]	-emme [emːe]	-emmi [emːi]	-ele [eɫe]	-eli [eli]

Negation
Negation is marked with the dummy auxiliary ben with a negative prefix attached to it. It becomes slightly irregular in a few forms.

	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.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)	3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.HUMHuman (gender/class) human or belonging to human	3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
Present	kybəc [kɨːbəc]	kybər [kɨːbər]	kyd [kɨːd]	kym [kɨːm]	kybim [kɨːbim]	kyw [kɨːw]	kybil [kɨːbiɫ]
Past	kymbəc [kɨːmbəc]	kymbər [kɨːmbər]	kymbəd [kɨːmbəd]	kymbəm [kɨːmbəm]	kymbim [kɨːmbim]	kymbəl [kɨːmbəɫ]	kymbil [kɨːmbiɫ]
Future	kəbince [kəbiɲce]	kəbinre [kəbinre]	kəbinde [kəbinde]	kəbimme [kəbimːe]	kəbimmi [kəbimːi]	kəbile [kəbiɫe]	kəbili [kəbili]

Aspect
The default aspect is imperfective. To indicate that an action is complete (or is going to be complete), a perfective marker, bá, is added before the verb. When an imperfective action has a direct object, it is treated as indefinite (as if it was “some” object or “a bit of” something), so it does not take the accusative marker.

tymal zam kosmin.
Tymal zam kosmin.
tymal
cat zam
cheese kos-min
eat-PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
The cat ate some cheese. (it has not completed the action)

tymal zamėz bá kosmin.
Tymal zaməz bá kosmin.
tymal
cat zam-əz
cheese-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) bá
PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action kos-min
eat-PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
The cat ate the cheese.

tymal zamėz bá kosemmi.
Tymal zaməz bá kosemmi.
tymal
cat zam-əz
cheese-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) bá
PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action kos-emmi
eat-FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
The cat is going to eat the cheese.

Progressive aspect is marked with the auxiliary verb aýən (literally meaning ‘to have’):

tymal zamėz aýim kose.
Tymal zaməz aýim kose.
tymal
cat zam-əz
cheese-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) aý-im
PROGProgressive (aspect)
be verb-ing.AUXAuxilliary-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) kose
eat
The cat is eating the cheese.

tymal zamėz aýmin kose.
Tymal zaməz aýmin kose.
tymal
cat zam-əz
cheese-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) aý-min
PROGProgressive (aspect)
be verb-ing.AUXAuxilliary-PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) kose
eat
The cat was eating the cheese.

Voice
Passive constructions are created from a past participle form of a verb and the auxiliary verb nowen (derived from Old Desani nuhi- ‘to become’).

za watė rás ep zosani nowim.
Za watə rás ep zosani nowim.
za
PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speaker watə
book rás
1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive) ep
by zos-ani
write-PSPARTPast participle now-im
AUXAuxilliary.PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
This book is (being) written by us.

kelec za sowys zi ep kosani meý nowil.
Kelec za sowys zi ep kosani meý nowil.
kel-ec
want-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I za
PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speaker sowy-s
apple-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) zi
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) ep
by kos-ani
eat-PSPARTPast participle meý
OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope' now-il
AUXAuxilliary.PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.NHUMNon-human (gender/class)
I want these apples to be eaten by you.

Reflexive voice is marked with pronouns, equivalent to English ‘myself’, ‘yourself’ etc.

	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
Pronoun	suc [suc]	soxu [soʀu]	suz [suz]	sozu [sozu]	sum [sum]	sul [suɫ]

tymal sum aýim kape.
Tymal sum aýim kape.
tymal
cat sum
itself aý-im
AUXAuxilliary.PROGProgressive (aspect)
be verb-ing-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) kape
wash
The cat is washing itself.

Reciprocal actions are marked in the same way:

sekre soru cemer.
Sekre soru cemer.
sekre
tomorrow soru
ourselves cem-er
see-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)
We are going to see each other tomorrow.

Copula
The main copula verb ýən ‘to be’ is irregular and has only two present tense forms: declarative eýi ‘is/are’ and negative káý ‘is not/are not’ (the latter actually being related to aýən ‘to have’ rather than to ýən).

kum secil pi januni ásy eýi.
Kum secil pi januni ásy eýi.
kum
sky secil
summer pi
in januni
usually ásy
blue eýi
COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate
The sky in summer is usually blue.

lica rasi pi olos káý.
Lica rasi pi olos káý.
lica
garden rasi
our pi
in olo-s
tree-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) káý
NEGNegative (polarity)
not.COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate
There are no trees in our garden.

For non-present tenses, it is conjugated as follows:

	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
Past	icən [iːcən]	irən [iːrən]	in [iːn]	im [iːm]	ilən [iːɫən]
Future	inca [iɲca]	irna [irna]	inda [inda]	imma [imːa]	inna [inːa]

Negative forms are created by replacing the initial /i/ or /iː/ with /ke/.

Auxiliary verbs
Besides the dummy auxiliary verb used for negation and questions, there is a number of unconjugated modals used for marking moods:

• meý – OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope'
• sem – POTPotential (mood)
likely events, ability
• zoý – CONDConditional (mood)
would

They are put before the main verb, which is normally conjugated to indicate the person and number of its subject.

Derivational morphology
Typically for a Desanian language, Kasewayan verbs are commonly modified with prefixes derived from adpositions and adverbs (e.g. ra- ‘out’, áx- ‘up’, ip-/ep- ‘away; off’). In some cases, it can change their meaning completely.

razen ‘to allow’
ibzen ‘to lose’
morzen ‘to forgive’ (all derived from Old Desani di-ne ‘to let, to allow; to set’

This is used mostly in motion verbs:

kamin ‘to go; to walk’
mikamin ‘to enter; to arrive’
rákmin ‘to go away; to leave’
zəpákmin ‘to go between’
áxkamin ‘to ascend’

Noun incorporation exists as well, but it is much less common than in other Desanian languages (especially from the Southern branch of the family).
Another (albeit less productive in modern Kasewayan) prefix is the causative/factitive marker ni-, also derived from Old Desani.

niblaýən ‘to show’ (from bylin ‘to look’ or bylaýən ‘to watch’)
nijlen ‘to enjoy’ (related to jilən ‘to be happy’)
niwdalen ‘to bother’ (related to odál ‘problem’)

Verbal nouns are derived via removing the infinitive ending and replacing it with -ə or -ən (these suffixes can be used to derive abstract nouns from adjectives and other nouns as well).

sarzylin ‘to appear; to seem’ → sarzylən ‘appearance’
bamin ‘to construct’ → bamiýə ‘construction’
relen ‘to change’ → relə ‘change’
ipaýmin ‘to betray; to cheat (on someone)’ → ipaýmə ‘betrayal’

For most agentive nouns (comparable to English nouns ending with -er), suffixes -i and -tu are used.

pətwyzen ‘to sing’ → pətwyzi ‘singer’
eplapen ‘to conquer’ → eplapi ‘conqueror’
ramin ‘to swim’ → ramitu ‘swimmer’
taýən ‘to read’ → taýetu ‘reader’

[edit] [top]Morphology: adjectives

Adjectives preceed the described noun. They usually end with -eý or -y, but there is a number of other adjectivizers.
The comparative suffix is -t (with an epenthetic schwa when the adjective ends with a consonant) and the superlative form is marked by a circumfix: ci- plus -t:

tekeý ‘bright’
tekeýət ‘brighter’
citekeýət ‘the brightest’

Some adjectives have irregular comparative and/or superlative forms.

Like in other Desanian languages, adjectives in Kasewayan cannot be inflected; they remain the same regardless of the number and case of the noun they describe.

[edit] [top]Morphology: adverbs

Overview
The default adverbial ending is -uni; when creating an adverb from an adjective, the adjectivizer is replaced with this suffix.
For example:

jeleý ‘happy’ → jeluni ‘happily’
paty ‘low; bottom’ → patuni ‘low; at the bottom’

Such adverbs can be compared just like their adjectival equivalents:

cakuni ‘slowly’
cakunit ‘more slowly’
cicakunit ‘most slowly’

Most adverbs without this ending are incomparable and denote time or location. Some of them are identical to nouns, adjectives or adpositions, e.g. jizə ‘now’ (also meaning ‘the present’), cab ‘down’ (also meaning ‘the lower part’).

Interrogative and relative adverbs
Interrogative adverbs were derived from their Old Desani equivalents.

adverb	English meaning
kárze kárze	where
jiýa jiýa	when
lu lu	how
yýa yýa	why
ýuni ýuni	how much
ýawni ýawni	how many

When used, they are put just before the verb:

Petan ci kárze eýi? “Where is my hat?”
Umiýə jiýa bim uni? “When does the lesson start?”
Raside jizə yýa bed raý? “Why are you leaving us now?

Relative adverbs are identical to their interrogative equivalents, except for jiýa (interrogative) vs. jixa (relative) ‘when’ and kárze (interrogative) vs. káxa (relative) ‘where’.

[edit] [top]Syntax: overview

Typically for a Desanian language, Kasewayan is fusional and strongly head-final. The default word order is SOV, however in some contexts OSV can be used to emphasize the object. For example: il di málem (3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient love-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human) ‘he/she loves you’ vs. di il málem (2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient 3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee love-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human) ‘it is you whom he/she loves’.
In general, the subject can be dropped when it is obvious from the context, as the person and the number of the subject are already marked by conjugational suffixes.

[edit] [top]The main clause

Declarative
Basic declarative clauses are SV by default.

ád baýkar haýėm.
Ád baýkar haýəm.
ád
child baýkar
there haý-əm
sleep-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human
The child sleeps there.

ád baýkar bá haýmėn.
Ád baýkar bá haýmən.
ád
child baýkar
there bá
PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action haý-mən
sleep-PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human
The child slept there.

ád kelėm haýėn.
Ád keləm haýən.
ád
child kel-əm
want-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human haý-ən
sleep-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
The child wants to sleep.

Negative
As mentioned in the Negation section, verbs can be made negative with a dummy auxiliary. It does not change the word order. The auxiliary preceeds the main verb, which is used in an impersonal form.

ád baýkar kem haý.
Ád baýkar kem haý.
ád
child baýkar
there kem
NEGNegative (polarity)
not.PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human haý
sleep
The child does not sleep there.

ád baýkar kembėm haý.
Ád baýkar kembəm haý.
ád
child baýkar
there kembəm
NEGNegative (polarity)
not.PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human haý
sleep
The child did not sleep there.

ád kem keli haýėn.
Ád kem keli haýən.
ád
child kem
NEGNegative (polarity)
not.PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human keli
want haý-ən
sleep-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
The child does not want to sleep.

Interrogative
In questions, the dummy auxiliary ben is used as well. The word order remains the same and the auxiliary preceeds the main verb like it does in negative clauses.

watės bed taý?
Watəs bed taý?
watə-s
book-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) b-ed
AUXAuxilliary-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) taý
read
Do you read books?

watad bedėn taý?
Watad bedən taý?
wata-d
book-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) b-edən
AUXAuxilliary-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech taý
read
Did you read the book?

watė bed keli taýėn?
Watə bed keli taýən?
watə
book b-ed
AUXAuxilliary-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) keli
want taý-ən
read-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
Do you want to read a book?

[edit] [top]Other clauses

Relative
Relative adverbs are mostly the same as their interrogative equivalents (see Morphology: adverbs). The three relative pronouns are xeý ‘which’, xy ‘who’ and xa ‘what’. They can decline for case and number.

rál, id xy cemem, petan aýėm.
Rál, xy id cemem, petan aýəm.
rál
man id
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient xy
who.RELZRelativiser (derivation) cem-em
see-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human petan
hat aý-əm
have-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human
The man who sees me has a/the hat.

rál, xyde cemec, petan aýėm.
Rál, xyde cemec, petan aýəm.
xál
man ry-de
who.RELZRelativiser (derivation)-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient cem-ec
see-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I petan
hat aý-əm
have-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human
The man whom I see has a/the hat.

If the head of the clause has a case marker, the relative pronoun can take another case marker.

sytádde cemec, rál xyre petanėd adem.
Sytádde cemec, rál xyde petanəd adem.
sytád-de
girl-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human cem-ec
see-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I rál
man xy-re
who.RELZRelativiser (derivation)-DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location petan-əd
hat-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.NHUMNon-human (gender/class) ad-em
give-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human
I see the girl the man gives the hat to.

Subordinate
Subordinate clauses are marked by the particle e. The word order remains the same.

irė bá immėn e by lásy káý.
Irə bá immən e by lásy káý.
irə
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location bá
PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action im-mən
tell-PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human e
SBRCSubordinate clause (syntax)
marks a subordinate clause by
DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee) lásy
possible káý
NEGNegative (polarity)
not.COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate
He/she told me that it was not possible.

Conditional
Future conditional
All verbs are in their future tense form. Ita ‘if’ can be dropped sometimes depending on the context.

ita ád sy bá detende, jeleý imma.
Ita ád sy bá detende, jeleý imma.
ita
if ád
child sy
with bá
PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action det-ende
play-FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech.2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) jeleý
happy imma
COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate.FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
If you play with the child, he/she will be happy.

Past conditional
The auxiliary verb/particle zoý ‘would’ is used. It is put before the main verb of each clause.

baýkar zoý bá kamicėn, ilde zoý tysárecėn.
Baýkar zoý bá kamicən, ilde zoý tysárecən.
baýkar
there zoý
CONDConditional (mood)
would kam-icən
go-PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I ilde
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.HUMHuman (gender/class)
human or belonging to human.ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient zoý
CONDConditional (mood)
would tysár-ecən
PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action-meet-PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
If I went there, I would have met him/her.

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