Northern Tazuro 101
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Morphology, syntax, et cetera
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 23 Feb 2024, 20:12.
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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.
Northern Tazuro (natively called tazurá or tazurákiaju) is one of two official languages of Tazul (along with closely related Southern Tazuro) and is spoken by about 10 million people there, mainly on the north of the country – hence its name. A small Tazulan diaspora speaking this language lives also in the neighboring countries.
It belongs to the Coastal Daweran (Tazuro) language family and derives directly from the Tazulao language.
Northern Tazuro nouns have no genders nor classes, but they decline for numbers (singular and plural) and cases (patientive, agentive, genitive and instrumental).
| patientive | agentive | genitive | instrumental | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | ||||
| plural |
possessive and INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using' have the same forms for both singular and plural number. If there is any ambiguity, the number is indicated by determiners or numerals.
Zá dajtoká tuku uhina.
zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech daj-toká
arrive-NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident.3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them tuku
3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case u-hina
INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using'-train
They arrived by train(s). (the general means of transport is more important than the number of the trains)
Zá dajtoká tuku he uhina.
zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech daj-toká
arrive-NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident.3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them tuku
3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case he
some u-hina
INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using'-train
They arrived by trains. (it is important that they were not in the same train)As the language is fluid-S, the patientive case is considered the default one.
Adjectives succeed the noun they describe, while determiners and quantifiers precede it. In noun-noun possession, the possessor marked by the genitive prefix succeeds the possessee.
Personal
| 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I | 2Second person (person) addressee (you) | 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | passive or nonvolitional case) haru (AGNAgentive (case) active or volitional case) | passive or nonvolitional case) nanu (AGNAgentive (case) active or volitional case) | passive or nonvolitional case) tu (AGNAgentive (case) active or volitional case) |
| Plural | passive or nonvolitional case) gieru (AGNAgentive (case) active or volitional case) | passive or nonvolitional case) sunu (AGNAgentive (case) active or volitional case) | passive or nonvolitional case) tuku (AGNAgentive (case) active or volitional case) |
possessive and INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using' are marked by the same prefixes as on nouns and they are added to pronouns in the patientive form: uha, saha, una and so on. Separate possessive pronouns do not exist, as this role is taken by personal pronouns in their GENGenitive (case)
possessive form.
Despite persons and numbers being marked on verbs, the subject pronouns usually tend not to be dropped, as the case they take can change the meaning of the verb (see Volition).
Interrogative and relative
Two basic interrogative pronouns are śu (what/which), jaśu (which) and zo (who). The particle turning them into relative pronouns is ize (see Relative clauses).
Verbs in the Northern Tazuro language conjugate for person, number and volition; tenses and aspects are indicated by particles and auxiliaries. Generally, the verb is put on the beginning of a sentence.
Tense and aspect
Verb tenses are marked by particles: zá (past) and śeb (perfective future, derived from the verb śeba meaning ‘want’ or ‘plan’). The present tense is default and remains unmarked, and is the same as imperfective future tense.
Tu’ta tu.As can be seen above, present and imperfective future actions can be distinguished by context and adverbs only.
tu’-ta
walk-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident tu
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case
He/she walks/will be walking.
Jun tu’ta tu.
jun
soon tu’-ta
walk-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident tu
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case
He/she will walk/be walking soon. (imperfective, e.g. will be able to walk)
Zá tu’ta tu.
zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech tu’-ta
walk-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident tu
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case
He/she (has) walked.
Śeb tu’ta tu.
śeb
PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action.FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech tu’-ta
walk-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident tu
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case
He/she will walk. (perfective, e.g. from A to B)
Volition
Northern Tazuro, being an active-stative language, has volition distinctions marked by verb suffixes. Adding these suffixes does not move the stress in verbs from its default location (which is on the penultimate syllable of a verb).
| 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | 2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | 3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | 1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive) | 2PSecond person plural (person) addressee (plural) | 3PThird person plural (person) neither speaker nor addressee, they/them | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VOLVolitional (role) volition, with intention, not by accident |
-gar | -nan | -ta | -gie | -su | -tuk |
| NVOLNon-volitional (role) non-volitional, by accident |
-gá | -ná | -tá | -gia | -suná | -toká |
In many situations, verbs can change their meaning depending on the volition and the case of the subject.
| Northern Tazuro verb | VOLVolitional (role) volition, with intention, not by accident meaning | NVOLNon-volitional (role) non-volitional, by accident meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ada [adə] | blow | breathe |
| e’ma [eʔmə] | care, look after | notice |
| ginda [ɟində] | fry | scorch |
| gur [guɹ] | listen, pay attention | hear, be told |
| inka [iŋkə] | thank | owe |
| źuh [ʐuɦ] | sympathise | understand |
| mikia [mic͡çə] | judge, consider | think |
| sej [sej] | study, research | learn, be told |
| śa’pa [ʂaʔpə] | highlight, exhibit | mention |
| źem [ʐem] | observe, watch, spy on | see, look at |
These changes in meaning are made by using the verb in its non-volitional form, but with its subject taking the agentive case.
By default, when a transitive verb is VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident, then its subject is AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case and its direct object is PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case, and when the verb is intransitive, its subject is either AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case (volitional) or PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case (non-volitional).
Mikiagar haru zah de’jakeś ni mes.In informal speech, some verb forms can be simplified. There are no solid rules for the process of this simplification, but usually it involves removing an unstressed vowel from two consonants of the same place of articulation (e.g. two velar stops) and merging the consonants into one sound. For instance, mikiagar becomes migiar, gurdata becomes gurta, etc.
mikia-gar
think-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident haru
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case zah
COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate de’-jakeś
very-good ni
DEFDefinite
"the" mes
idea
I consider this a great idea. (a deliberate opinion on something)
Mikiagá haru zah de’jakeś ni mes.
mikia-gá
think-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident haru
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case zah
COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate de’-jakeś
very-good ni
DEFDefinite
"the" mes
idea
I think this is a great idea. (a random, spontaneous opinion)
Copula
The main copula verb, zaha, is always used with NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident suffixes and its subject is PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case – only in this instance it means ‘to be’. Using it in a VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident + AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case construction gives it a meaning of ‘to go’. It shows a bit of irregularity: its 3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee form is usually zah. This word is also used as an impersonal construction similar to English ‘there is/are’ and as a subordinative particle, ‘that’.
Other verbs used as alternate copulas are tuz ‘to become/to change into’, kastem ‘to seem’ (only in NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident) and others.
Passive voice
The passive voice is constructed by using a patientive noun/pronoun with an impersonal verb form, as the agent is unspecified.
Zá kieha śo tu.If there is a noun denoting the means of the action (e.g. ‘it is written with a pen’), it is put at the end of the sentence.
zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech kieha
take śo
away tu
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case
It was taken away.
Adjectives
Adjectives have only one form and have no exact marker; some of them are actually identical to nouns they where derived from. However, adjectives denoting qualities, such as colours, sizes or states of being, are often marked by a prefix ba-, which used to mean ‘on the top of’ or ‘regarding’. Examples include bajso ‘alive’, basana ‘dead’ and barako ‘sad’.
Another group of adjectives ends with -tem and they are factitive verbal adjectives:
gim ‘white’ → gimtem ‘whitening’Some adjectives can be modified by adding the prefix de’- to them, which works as an intensifier:
rako ‘sadness, sorrow’ → rakotem ‘saddening’
jakeś ‘good’ → de’jakeś ‘great, excellent’The adjectival comparison involves particles: hi for COMPComparative (comparison)
ir ‘bad’ → de’ir ‘awful’
e.g. 'better' and hap for SUPSuperlative (comparison)
English 'most', '-est'.
Adverbs
There is no clear difference between adjectives and adverbs: their comparison systems are the same, and just like adjectives follow the nouns they describe, adverbs are always put after the verbs.
Interrogative adverbs include ek (why), ze (where), kuś (how) and heno (how much/how many). The particle used to indicate relativeness is the same as for pronouns, ize.
Northern Tazuro is a head-initial language with the default word order of VSO. Generally it is not pro-drop, but the subject pronoun can be dropped, if the verb is intransitive and volitional.
Declarative
The default word order in the simplest sentences is VS. If the agentive subject is obvious from the context, it can be dropped (see above).
Gu’gar.Necessity (equivalent to English ‘have to’ is expressed by using the copula particle zah and a verb in its non-volitional form.
gu’-gar
eat-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident
I am eating.
Zá gu’gar.
zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech gu’-gar
eat-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident
I ate.
Zah gu’gá haru.
zah
COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate gu’-gá
eat-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident haru
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case
I have to eat.
Negative
Negation is marked by a particle, nu. It is put before the tense/aspect marker, if there is any. It can also be done by negative adverbs, which succeed the main verb.
Double negatives amplify the negation.
Nu narnan.
nu
NEGNegative (polarity)
not nar-nan
laugh-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident
You are not laughing.
Narnan nujza.
nar-nan
laugh-VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident.2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) nujza
never
You never laugh.
Nu narnan nujza!
nu
NEGNegative (polarity)
not nar-nan
laugh-VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident.2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you) nujza
never
You are never laughing!
Imperative
Creating an imperative form of a verb is very simple: the ending -o (or non-syllabic -u if the final sound is a vowel) is added to a verb in its impersonal form, for example:
tu’ ‘to walk’ → tu’oImperative verbs cannot be conjugated for person or volition, and the adressee of the order is known only from the context.
gur ‘to listen’ → guro
uśtara ‘to stand’ → uśtarau
Interrogative
Generally, the word order in interrogative clauses is the same as in any other sentences: VSO, but if the subject is not specified, the verb is used in an impersonal form.
Zá uru no ben?Polar questions are marked only by the changed intonation. The word order remains the same as in declarative clauses.
zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech uru
say no
who ben
DEMDemonstrative
e.g. this/ that
Who said that?
Zá uruna ek naru ben?
zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech uru-na
say-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident ek
why naru
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case ben
DEMDemonstrative
e.g. this/ that
Why did you say that?
The copula verb always precedes the predicative expression and the subject. The predicative expression takes the instrumental case and it agrees with the number of the subject noun/pronoun.
Zá henáná nan ukiar.Generally, copula verbs are used in their non-volitional forms.
zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech hená-ná
become-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident nan
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case u-kiar
INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using'-woman
You (singular) have become/turned into a woman.
Zá henásuná sun ukiarti.
zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech hená-suná
become-2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural).NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident sun
2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural).PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case u-kiar-ti
INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using'-woman-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
You (plural) have become/turned into women.
Relative clauses in Northern Tazuro are marked with a relative particle ize and the noun is put before the relative clause referring to it. The relative clause head is a retained pronoun.
Źemnan naru agi izetá hokiata.
źem-nan
see-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident naru
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case agi
man.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case ize-tá
RELZRelativiser (derivation)-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case hokia-ta
run-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident
You are watching a man who is running.More literally, it is “you are watching a man him who is running”.
Conditional clauses are marked by je, translatable to ‘if’. There is no word meaning specifically ‘then’ – it is either omitted or the preposition á ‘for’ is used instead.
Je nu śeb tu’nan naru ko gier zahgá barako.
je
if nu
NEGNegative (polarity)
not śeb
FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech.PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action tu’-nan
go-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident naru
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case ko
with gier
1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive).PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case zah-gá
be-1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive).NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident barako
sad
If you do not go with us, we will be sad.
Je nu zá tu’nan naru ko gier zá zahgá barako.
je
if nu
NEGNegative (polarity)
not zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech tu’-nan
go-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident naru
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case ko
with gier
1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive).PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech zah-gá
be-1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive).NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident barako
sad
If you did not go with us, we would be sad.
Je nu zá tu’nan naru ko gier zahgá beno barako.
je
if nu
NEGNegative (polarity)
not zá
PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech tu’-nan
go-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).VOLVolitional (role)
volition, with intention, not by accident naru
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case ko
with gier
1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive).PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case zah-gá
be-1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive).NVOLNon-volitional (role)
non-volitional, by accident beno
now barako
sad
If you had not gone with us, we would be sad now.
Some grammar articles about my other conlangs from the same conworld:
• Nesyanian
• Kasewayan
• Keranian
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