cws
Greetings Guest
home > library > journal > view_article
« Back to Articles ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article » Journal
Kuazhang Basic Syntax
1▲ 1 ▼ 0
it’s free
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 14 Jun 2018, 22:56.

[comments]
[Public] ? ?
Menu 1. Noun and Adjective Phrases 2. Verb Phrases Kuazhang has incredibly free word order, but make no mistake; word order is everything.

[edit] [top]Noun and Adjective Phrases

Nouns can take various modifiers, such as adjectives and adpositional phrases. They can also take nouns as modifiers.

haleń henńa
red-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter
car-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

red car

zeglôt pelž henńa
DEFDefinite
"the"
-home-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
in_front_of car-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

car in front of the house

zeinzal henńa
DEFDefinite
"the"
-street-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
car-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

car on the street

All the above examples place the modifier before the noun, but they could just as easily be after the noun. The first elements of a phrase and the first phrases of a sentence are emphasized, and this nuance makes it a little difficult to translate to Kuazhang.

błaneń zhoiłñ
white-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter
DEFDefinite
"the"
-cloud.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few

the white clouds

zhoiłñ błaneń
DEFDefinite
"the"
-cloud.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
white-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter

the white clouds

If necessary one could have modifiers on both sides of a noun, but this can get complicated.

ôueń zeńok ihe dłemutet złizat
common-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter
DEFDefinite
"the"
-person-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
much-ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
powerful-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc
.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male
DEFDefinite
"the"
-tank-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

the common person in the very powerful tank

In the above example, the fact that the tank is operated by a common person is emphasized, and even though the words for "very powerful" unambiguously refer to the tank (because of case and gender), their placement in the phrase associates their qualities with the person.

Where it's unclear what a modifier is referring to, the clitic c is used on the modified, between it and the modifier. Otherwise, the modifier is assumed to be modifying both.

vinbuen ihe lešken zevñêglal
strong-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male
much-ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
intelligent-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter
DEFDefinite
"the"
-director-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

the very strong and very intelligent Director

vinbuen-c ihe lešken zevñêglal
strong-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male
=ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
much-ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
intelligent-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter
DEFDefinite
"the"
-director-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

the very strong and intelligent Director

vinbuen ihe c-lešken zevñêglal
strong-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male
much-ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
=intelligent-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter
DEFDefinite
"the"
-director-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

the strong and very intelligent Director

As shown above, adjectives can take modifiers on either side of them as well. Modifiers can be stacked each other infinitely but the clitic c must be used a lot to specify that an adverb is modifying another adverb and not the other way around.

ihe c-ste c-ôue c-spalženue c-dłemute lešken zevñeglal
much-ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
=good-ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
=common-ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
=glorious-ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
intelligent-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male
DEFDefinite
"the"
=director-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

the very well commonly gloriously powerfully intelligent Director

This is what I get for writing an article on a language with a limited vocabulary...

In speech, -c is pronounced /ça/ but c- is pronounced /ç(i)/. This is one of the very few examples of irregular spellings (in both the romanization and the script).

[edit] [top]Verb Phrases

Verb phrases are pretty similar to nouns phrases with respect to the freedom in the placement of modifiers. Subject-verb-object order is completely free, but as with noun phrases, the first element carries more emphasis.

Spals łe žñê ła!
glory-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.GENGenitive (case)
possessive
take-INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis
.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument

Take your glory!

Ła łe spals žñê!
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.GENGenitive (case)
possessive
glory-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
take-INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis
.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action

Take your glory!

There are numerous ways to organize even a simple verb phrase like the one above, each meaning the same thing but carrying a different nuanced meaning.

Non-finite verb phrases can easily act as a verb's subject or object. Phrases with an infinitive (which often also functions as a gerund) decline the infinitive as a simple noun phrase. See the article on non-finite verbs for more information.

Mireiêv ła mlehu łe fražrên ča.
eat-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb
.PRSPresent tense (tense)-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
food-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)
.GENGenitive (case)
possessive
want-INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis
.PROGProgressive (aspect)
be verb-ing
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument

I want you to eat your food.
✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
Comments
privacy | FAQs | rules | statistics | graphs | donate | api (indev)
Viewing CWS in: English | Time now is 29-Mar-24 00:34 | Δt: 2529.376ms