An Introduction to Azen Grammar
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3. Azen Orthography
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?FYI...
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.
* Sahar: Garsenian
** Sahar: twenty
*** Sahar: this may or may not be true :P
Azen is a weakly synthetic language, featuring fusional verbs and a number of agglutinative affixes. Sentence order is strictly subject-object-verb, with adjectives preceding nouns and adverbs preceding verbs. It features nominative-accusative alignment and an average phonological inventory (21 consonants and 6 vowels with a length distinction). Modern Azen does not feature full-fledged vowel harmony, but Old Azen did, and remnants of this system remain visible in many affixes, both inflectional and derivational.
For information on Azen phonology, see here. For information on Azen phonotactics, see here.
Azen verbs consist of a verb stem followed by one or more inflectional suffixes. Verbs are marked for tense (past, present, future), person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), aspect (simple, progressive, perfect, habitual), evidentiality, and mood. (Negation is the sole exception, consisting of a prefix.) They are not marked for number. Verbs are divided into two classes, "I-stem" and "U-stem" verbs, roughly corresponding to front-vowel-harmony and back-vowel-harmony Old Azen verbs. Most suffixes therefore have two forms, an I-stem form and a U-stem form.
Azen strongly avoids vowel hiatus, and has a complex set of hiatus resolution rules that lead to unusual or unexpected results.
Tense and Aspect
Simple first-person present verbs are unmarked. All others are marked with a suffix.
I-stem tense/aspect
(bold suffixes are the same for both I- and U-stem verbs)
| Past | Present | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | -ke- (1) -ki- (2) -ek- (3) | ∅ (1) -il- (2) -ta- (3) | -ts(e)- (1) -si- (2) -sēti- (3) |
| Progressive | -kǣn- (1) -kīn- (2/3) | -īn- (1) -kilīn- (2) -tǣn- (3) | -tsetīn- (1) -sīn- (2) -setīn (3) |
| Perfect | -kaj- (1/3) -kja- (2) | -aj- (1) -laj- (2) -taj- (3) | -tsetaj- (1) -sja- (2) -setja- (3) |
| Habitual | -kesī- (1) -kisī- (2) -ēkesi- (3) | -esi- (1) -lesī- (2) -tashi- (3) | -tsetsī- (1) -sisī- (2) -setsi- (3) |
U-stem tense/aspect
(bold suffixes are the same for both I- and U-stem verbs)
| Past | Present | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | -ke- (1) -ku- (2) -ek- (3) | ∅ (1) -ul- (2) -ta- (3) | -ts(e)- (1) -su- (2) -setu- (3) |
| Progressive | -kōn- (1) -kūn- (2) -ekūn- (3) | -ūn- (1) -kūn- (2) -taūn- (3) | -tsetūn- (1) -sūn- (2) -setūn- (3) |
| Perfect | -kaj- (1/3) -kuaj- (2) | -aj- (1) -ulaj- (2) -taj- (3) | -tsetaj- (1) -suaj- (2) -setuj- (3) |
| Habitual | -kosi- (1) -kuesu- (2) -ekesu- (3) | -esu- (1) -lesu- (2) -taesu- (3) | -tsesu- (1) -sosu- (2) -setosu- (3) |
Evidentiality
There are three types of evidentiality in Azen, direct (e.g. directly witnessed by the speaker), indirect (e.g. assumed or concluded by the speaker), and indirect reported (e.g. told to the speaker by someone else). Direct evidentiality is unmarked. Indirect evidentiality is marked with -bā, and indirect reported evidentiality is marked with -di or -dī, depending on the verb. (Newspapers use -di almost exclusively.) There are no changes to the suffixes for I- or U-stem verbs.
Baj āna ēma eljek.
baj
father āna
mother ēma
DODirect object (case/role) eli-
stab- ek
PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
The father stabbed the mother. (and I saw him do it!)
Baj āna ēma eljekbā.
baj
father āna
mother ēma
DODirect object (case/role) eli-
stab- ek-
PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee- bā
IDREIndirect evidential (evidentiality)
speaker has indirect knowledge
The father stabbed the mother. (and I saw him standing over her body with the knife!)
Baj āna ēma eljekdi.
baj
father āna
mother ēma
DODirect object (case/role) eli-
stab- ek-
PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee- di
HSYHearsay evidential (evidential)
'I have heard that...'
The father stabbed the mother. (and you told me about it!)
Mood
Azen has several mood marking suffixes, but some of the primary ones include imperative (-ats, used only in the present tense with no tense or aspect marker), conditional (-s), and potential (-deh).
Baj tsjalitadeh.
baj
father tsjali-
be_happy- ta-
PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee- deh
POTPotential (mood)
likely events, ability
The father might be happy.
Baj tsjalitas…
baj
father tsjali-
be_happy- ta-
PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee- s
CONDConditional (mood)
would
If the father is happy…
Tsjalits.
tsjali-
be_happy- ats
IMPImperative (mood)
command
Be happy.
(note that the expected tsjaliats has a forbidden vowel sequence, and thus resolves to tsjalits)
Negation
Verbs are negated by prefixing with m(a)-. There are no changes for I- or U-stem verbs.
Baj matsjalita.
baj
father ma-
NEGNegative (polarity)
not- tsjali-
be_happy ta
PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee
The father is not happy.
The only noun marking is for number; nouns can be either singular and plural. Singular nouns are unmarked, as the default, while plural nouns are marked with the suffix -d. (the exact form of the plural varies from word to word, but is generally -d after vowels and -Vd after consonants)
Adjectives precede nouns in the pattern cardinal number + attributive adjective + noun. Like nouns, adjectives are marked for number, using the same -d suffix.
Ordinal numbers, which also precede nouns, are formed by suffixing a number with -its, e.g bes 'five' -> besits 'fifth'.
Superlatives are formed through the particle ēn, which precedes an adjective. Comparatives are formed by adding the comparative suffix –rak to the adjective (if the adjective is plural, the comparative suffix precedes it).
bēdi kepe
bēdi
big kepe
dog
big dog
ēn bēdi kepe
ēn
SUPSuperlative (comparison)
English 'most', '-est' bēdi
big kepe
dog
biggest dog
bēdirak kepe
bēdi-
big- rak
COMPComparative (comparison)
e.g. 'better' kepe
dog
bigger dog
Comparatives between two things are formed with the postpositions ēcīn (“positive” comparison, indicating more) and æla (“negative” comparison, indicating less).
Bēdirak kepe elē ēma ēcīn.
bēdi-
big- rak
COMPComparative (comparison)
e.g. 'better' kepe
dog elē
man ēma
DODirect object (case/role) ēcīn
than.POSIPositive (class)
standard adjective
The dog is bigger than the man.
Bēdirak kepe elē ēma æla.
bēdi-
big- rak
COMPComparative (comparison)
e.g. 'better' kepe
dog elē
man ēma
DODirect object (case/role) æla
than.NEGNegative (polarity)
not
The dog is not bigger than the man.
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