Noun incorporation: view article

Direct objects [or sometimes descriptors] can be incorporated into the verb. When a direct object is incorporated, the verb’s valency goes down by one. When a noun is incorporated, a new, more specific verb is created. You can also incorporate instruments.

So, here are the things that CAN be incorporated in Orkish:
• Direct objects: can be incorporated into their verb
• Descriptors: adjectives can [sometimes] be incorporated into their noun and adverbs can be incorporated into their verb
• Instruments: the thing used to do the verb can be incorporated into the verb

There are at least two uses for noun incorporation in Orkish:
1. To create a new, more specific verb
2. As a classificatory system, so the speaker can refer to something many times without being too repetitive and to help remind the hearer of what’s being talked about
a. There are many “incorporated nominals” [nominal postbases] in Orkish, small affixes that have a vague meaning. When introducing a topic, the specific noun can be used separately, and thereafter the small incorporated nominal takes its place.
i. In Orkish you could say: I squirrel small-mammal-hunt, then later I small-mammal-hunt will refer to squirrel.

Some common, well-known words change their forms dramatically; these are typically words dealing with:
• Orkish culture
• Body parts
• Environment within Orkish territories
• Weather

Note that these have some overlap with the “postbases.”

Incorporated nominals [nouns which only appear in an incorporated form] often start with a vowel to blend into the previous syllable; -a- is added to facilitate this. Incorporated nominals are typically used for classifier incorporation.

Direct object incorporation:

Zlna mʙantcatskutsolso
He shot me in the knee

Instrument incorporation:

Qavlamʘã
[She] eats with a fork
“[She] fork-eats”

Classifier noun incorporation:
As stated above, Orkish makes use of noun incorporation as a sort of classifier system, in which a generic noun acting as a direct object can be incorporated into a verb, but a more specific direct object is left in place. For example:

Zrna xlʃvlaɁaqazarkafsu kcanq
I recently bought a dog – bought is composed of the root xlʃvlaɁaq “to buy something” +zarka “living being.”
These incorporated nouns are usually drawn from the incorporated nominals list.

Descriptor incorporation

Nouns [and verbs] often have their descriptors [adjectives/adverbs] tacked onto them, except in specific circumstances. See more under adjectives and adverbs.

What can’t be incorporated?

1. Identifications:
Nzral mɹol
The cat is red

Sometimes identificational sentences contain “xaʙan” as a means of adding emphasis:
Xaʙan nzral mɹol
The cat is red.

2. Things that are possessed

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