Grammatical moods: view article

the subjunctive mood, sometimes called conjunctive, is used to show a polite response to a request and conditional, hypothetical, or imaginary situations. Add –wi-

To express the idea of doubt or confusion, add zwu-...-wi-
Zwu- can be added to any other mood to show confusion or doubt.

Zwugibwi’eey: I don’t know if I can give

Gibwi’eey: I could give

[edit] [top]2. Optative:

The optative mood expresses hopes, wishes, and optimistic situations. It can be used to show a polite request, like saying “please.”

Giboonueey: I wish to give; I would give
Giboonua: You hopefully will give; please give

[edit] [top]3. Imperative:

The imperative mood expresses direct commands, and requests. In many circumstances, using the imperative mood may sound blunt or even rude, so it is often used with care. The imperative may be used, as in English, to form a conditional sentence; but in this instance it is usually also combined with the optative mood. Replace the pronomial infix with –á-

Gibá: give!
Tuazuzeylu kyá! Open the net!
Zwugibá: give, won’t you?!

[edit] [top]4. Prohibitive:

is the negative form of the imperative mood and it indicates that the action of the verb is not permitted, e.g. “Don't you go!” iig-:

Tuazuzeylu iikyá! [spelling rule #8] Don’t open the net!
Iikibxá! Don’t give!

When negating an imperative verb, the syntax doesn’t change. You can just use ii[g]- in front of the verb. However, among the Tulwyn and increasingly adopted by younger people, a fully-fledged prohibitive verbal form has developed. This form of the verb appends -ak in place of the person affix:

tswakal!
don’t eat it!

[edit] [top]5. Interrogative:

used for asking questions. –tša-

zša á ezareylxa gitšabeey? Should I give you a hug?

Alternatively, tša can go at the beginning of the sentence. This is especially common with younger generations:

Tša zša á ezareylxa gibeey? Should I give you a hug? Should I hug you? Can I hug you?

As you can see, the second option is a bit vaguer. The interrogative suffix is only used in one place – never in both. However, this is commonly done in the dialect Tulwyn.
The interrogative mood would not be used for requests - only for asking questions.

[edit] [top]6. Adversive:

is used to show that the argument is scary or dangerous and to be avoided:
-eš[a]-

Gibešeey: I’m scared of giving

[edit] [top]Other moods

The cohortative mood is used to say “Let’s __!” In Nolwynn, this structure is formed from the imperative + the optative moods, often also with ara “together,” especially to emphasize the communal aspect of the cohortative mood. For example:

[Ara] giboonuá!
Let’s give!

The potential, conditional, or hypothetical mood is used to say “ought,” “have to,” “should” or “might have.” Use this mood to convey the meaning of something that should, might, or could have been, or something whose result is dependent upon something else. It is almost always used with the perfective aspect, to describe a hypothetical event that could have occurred. To create this mood, use the auxiliary zaltu [derived from zalteey]. Zaltu is a linguistic fossil from ancient Nolwynn, which contained a true conditional mood for all verbs.

Zaltu gibwoneey.
I should have given. I would give.

Zaltu is also used to say that something will happen. See below: Aspect: other tense-like operations

To express the idea of maybe something could happen, but it isn’t known for sure, you can use the conditional mood, but you can also use kuwélineey [“sometimes”] with the optative mood. Use this method to sound hopeful.

Tulwyn speakers use a gnomic mood to express general truths, truisms, and aphorisms. It was adopted into the language from Kirnosan. This mood is not seen in standard Nolwynn except among cosmopolitan younger speakers. Append -yu- to a verb to create the gnomic mood.

eyzma kašiiyul
fish swim

mali azwuiiyul
birds fly

ikwa yaniiyu
babies cry

yenko zaltii onkiiyu
It’s important to work hard

Note that in this mood, the verb is conjugated for the third person singular and the noun is also singular. The preceding ii is usually pronounced like ee.

In standard Nolwynn, to state a general truth, you’d simply use the declarative mood with singular nouns and verbs.

[edit] [top]Mourning and story moods

The mourning mood is reserved for instances where the Avoidance Language is used. You can use the Avoidance Language without the mourning mood, but never the other way around: the mourning mood is always used in conjunction with the Avoidance Language. It is said to reflect the fear and anxiety Nolwynn have for their friends who are away on land, so it is usually used when something bad is likely - for example, if you saw a storm brewing while they were away or you heard that they might be lost.

To create the mourning mood, use the suffix tum[e]- with the Avoidance Language.

Melina areyama tum á. Mera ookwey tumešaneey.
Tum á Melina areyama. mera ookwey tumešaneey.
“[Kxalina] is picking plants on land. I’m scared for [her].”

Here, the taboo name Melina is used instead of her name [as per the Avoidance Language]; it is a combination of mera and the common feminine name Kxalina.

The story mood is used to indicate something that didn’t happen in any current timeline: the tale is not hypothetical either, but rather occurs in a present time in an alternate reality. It is usually used for telling stories or telling events from mythology, but it is sometimes used to explain historical events as well.

Stories are a vital aspect of Nolwynn culture: storytellers held a high status among all the tribes as they were expected to have a flawless memory of tales and events. The telling of certain important stories occurs in religious rituals, their words never spoken outside of sacred events. Storytelling was a vital method of transferring knowledge in pre-literate ancient times, and even in the Modern Era where many Nolwynn are still not literate.

The story mood is marked by several things:

The use of the story particle ura at the beginning of the work. This can be translated as “once upon a time” or “in the beginning.”
Use of archaic words and forms. These are marked as such in the vocab lists.
Rewa is replaced with the archaic word alwa. [Azuka stays the same.]
A story often ends in the phrase “zo ua’ua” an archaic phrase meaning “and it was so” or “so be it.” It can also be translated as “amen.”

[edit] [top]Other Articles

Here are some other articles that describe other details about Nolwynn's verbs:

participles

intransitive verbs

indirect objects

grammatical moods

captative verbs

ergativity

✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article

Comments