Tanaþekńabmi Morphosyntax
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The grammar of Tanaþekńabmi.
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 1 May 2019, 20:01.
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Tanaþekńabmi is a left-branching cross between an Austronesian and an active-stative Fluid-S language. The cases agentive and patientive refer to the Agent and Patient respectively of a transitive sentence. Agentive is the default Subject in an intransitive sentence, while using patientive for the Subject refers to a lack of control, suffering, or empathy. Tanaþekńabmi has a default Verb Object Subject word order, with the Subject/place of prominence at the end of the sentence. The oblique case marks indirect objects that are created with certain triggers or ditransitive verbs. Any oblique arguments are placed right before the place of prominence. The triggers are movement markers that can be attached to verbs optionally. With triggers, the referent triggered is moved to the place of prominence; agent trigger has a Verb Object Agent word order and patient trigger has Verb Agent Object word order. These triggers also apply to intransitive sentences with VA and VO orders respectively. There are other triggers that select for oblique arguments and move them to the place of prominence, which are namely: Locative, Benefactive, Causative, and Instrument trigger. With regard to ditransitives, Tanaþekńabmi is an indirective language, with separate cases for Donor Theme and Recipient.
Derivations are suffixes that shift the morphological head onto themselves (see Tanaþekńabmi Phonology for more). In short, they change the category of a word. Often they are derived from body parts. Prepositions can also act as derivations. They are listed and categorised below. If the morphological head cannot form a binary foot then inflectional suffixes are usually added to form one.
Verb to Noun
| Suffix | Function | Example | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| þeb | category name of agent | to teach → teacher | belly |
| maþ | category name of patient | to teach → class | head |
| nïm | category name of object | to teach → subject | finger |
| leg | an instance of a result of an action | to draw → drawing; picture | toe |
| bep | name of object, part, tool or implement employed for an action | to carve → knife | arm |
| jið | characteristic location of an activity | to bake → a bakery | heel |
| bić | name of characteristic substance used by action | to rinse → water | calf |
| dič | name of emitted substance | to perspire → sweat | buttocks |
| lïß | name of container object of an inserting action | to insert → container | hand |
| kav | illimitable pattern of action | to cook → recipe | elbow |
| ðat | general practice of action | to cook → cooking | neck |
Verb to Adjective
| Suffix | Function | Example | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| faþ | descriptive of ongoing action on patient | to converge → convergent | foot |
| meń | descriptive of completed action on patient | to break → broken | thigh |
| nïß | descriptive of completed action on agent | to learn → educated | shoulder |
| luð | property of agent of verb | to read → literate | chest |
| veź | describing a thing used in the practice of action | to walk → walking (stick) | back |
| ńuk | descriptive of a person or thing that performs the action | to talk → talking (man) | knee |
Verb to Adverb
| Suffix | Function | Example | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| tum | directional adverb from verb | to ascend → upwardly | n/a |
Noun to Verb
| Suffix | Function | Example | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| þeb | category name of agent to defining action | teacher → to teach | belly |
| maþ | category name of patient to defining action | class → to teach | head |
| leg | action that results in this instance | drawing → to draw | toe |
| bep | action performed with named object, part, tool, or implement | eye → to see | arm |
| jið | characteristic activity in a location | bakery → to bake | heel |
| dič | action of emitting substance named | lava → to erupt | buttocks |
| lïß | to insert into the object named | sheath → to sheath | hand |
| vav | adherence to custom or precept | law → to obey the law | n/a |
| mak | violate custom or precept | law → to commit crime | n/a |
Noun to Adjective
| Suffix | Function | Example | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| nïm | descriptive of possessing a property | wisdom → wise | finger |
| nïmvav | adherence to custom or precept | law → law-abiding | finger+n/a |
| nïmamak | violating custom or precept | moral precept → immoral | finger+n/a |
Noun to Adverb
| Suffix | Function | Example | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| nuv | in manner characteristic of a property | knowledge → knowledgeably | n/a |
| tek | in a manner characteristic of a category | scholar → scholarly | n/a |
Tanaþekńabmi nouns take a number of inflectional prefixes and suffixes (infixing occurs under prefixation). The suffixes can be analysed as classifiers that have become attached to the noun. Some suffixes still can detach when a numeral is adjunct to the noun. Other suffixes act as classifier-islands, barring movement of other suffixes. The higher level division of nouns is Prefix-[Stem[Root-Suffix]]. The detailed division of noun affixation is presented in this table:
| Case | Attributive Verb(s)/Noun Adjunct(s) | Root/Morphological Head | Reduplicant/Triplicant | Article | Quantifier/Scope | Quality | Demonstrative | Animacy/Agency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| syntactic relationships | compounded stems | right-most category defining morpheme | expressing plural number or contrastive focus | definiteness | intended audience/category | property/category | deixis | animacy (agency distinction obsolete) |
| tana (tongue) | þe (proper noun) | kini (exclusive all) | bini (instrument) | ∅ (inanimate) |
There are four cases, agentive, patientive, oblique, and genitive. They are all realised as infixes due to phonological reasons (see Tanaþekńabmi Phonology). Their underlying forms attach to the first left-most place in the stem that creates a well formed syllable.
| Case | Prefix | Function |
|---|---|---|
| agentive | č /x/ | nominative: marks Agent and Subject by default |
| patientive | aß /aβ/ | accusative: marks Patient by default and Subject when expressing a lack of control, suffering, or empathy |
| oblique | l /l/ | marks any indirect objects created by ditransitive verbs or triggers; marks any other noun in an oblique argument such as prepositional phrases |
| genitive | k /k/ | marks a noun adjunct when compounded, otherwise marks a possessive relationship to a modified noun |
Reduplication and triplication is full and only applies to the morphological head (right-most derivational morpheme). The reduplicant/triplicant is also affected by allophony unlike the morphological head.
There are five articles, definite, indefinite, proper, partitive, and negative. Articles in general block movement of classifiers. Definite becomes unpronounced when a demonstrative is also in the stem, but still blocks movement. Unemphatic indefinite can be null; when null it does not block movement.
| Article | Suffix | Function |
|---|---|---|
| definite | ńa /ŋa/ | refer to a particular member of a group or class |
| indefinite | vi /vi/ | emphasis on what is not particularly identifiable to the listener |
| proper | þe /θe/ | refer to a unique entity |
| partitive | të /tø/ | used with a mass noun to indicate a non-specific quantity of it |
| negative | mu /mu/ | specifies none of its noun |
Quantifier/Scope refers to the relation of the noun to certain scopes of human-interaction. The exclusive and inclusive all are variable depending on whether the addressee is within or outside of the scope. This suffix class does not undergo movement.
| Quantifier/Scope | Suffix | Function |
|---|---|---|
| exclusive all | kini /kini/ | relating to all people except for the addressee or those of the addressee |
| inclusive all | mað /mað/ | relating to all people including the addressee or those of the addressee |
| family | tun /tun/ | having to do with immediate family |
| clan | ka /ka/ | having to do with clan (exogamous kinship group) |
| village | ði /ði/ | having to do with village (usually sub-unit of clan) |
| tribe | mïm /mym/ | having to do with tribe (collection of villages) |
| alien | ßë /βø/ | having to do with aliens/foreigners/strangers |
| enemy | keþ /keθ/ | having to do with enemies |
| prey | put /put/ | having to do with prey |
Quality suffixes classify a word by its perceived category. If present in a word modified by a numeral, it raises to the numeral-suffix position unless blocked by a classifer-island.
| Quality | Suffix | Function |
|---|---|---|
| instrument | bini /bini/ | something used to accomplish a task |
| shelter | ñï /ɲy/ | something that can protect from the elements |
| food | þil /θil/ | something that provides energy for survival (solid or liquid) |
| good/hot | čak /xak/ | something that is hot in temperature or is considered good |
| bad/cold | nuç /nuç/ | something that is cold in temperature or is considered bad |
| divine/heavenly | kaþ /kaθ/ | something that is related to the divine or the sky |
There are five demonstratives: proximal, medial, distal, hidden, and revertive/behind. These suffixes are unlikely to be lexicalised and cannot undergo movement.
| Demonstrative | Suffix | Function |
|---|---|---|
| proximal | źa /ɟa/ | indicating something close to the speaker |
| medial | łi /ʎi/ | indicating something close to the addressee |
| distal | be /be/ | indicating something far from both the speaker and addressee |
| hidden | mik /mik/ | indicating something hidden |
| revertive/behind | tï /ty/ | indicating something behind or backwards |
Animacy/Agency suffixes distinguish nouns further along the lines of animacy and general agency. The agency suffixes are archaic and only found in older words; they are no longer productive and are lexicalised fossils. They cannot undergo movement.
| Animacy/Agency | Suffix | Function |
|---|---|---|
| animate | ta /ta/ | referring to something with perceived animacy |
| inanimate/default | ∅ | referring to something with no animacy; referring to something in general |
| patient | ma /ma/ | referring to something that is perceived as a patient in most interactions |
| agent | ve /ve/ | referring to something that is perceived as an agent in most interactions |
Pronouns can take all of the noun morphology. The suffixes are used when addressing those related to the meaning of the subjects or when referring to a general category. Reduplication/triplication have the same function. There are four persons: impersonal, first, second, and third. There are also reflexive and reciprocal forms of those persons.
The table below shows base forms and some common inflected forms.
| Neutral | Reflexive | Reciprocal | Interrogative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impersonal | þiń | źań | taji | žip |
| First | vam | taga | jan | žip |
| First Inclusive | vamamað | tagamað | janamað | žipmað |
| First Exclusive | vampmi | tagakńi | jantni | žipakńi |
| Second | kë | tuf | ječ | žip |
| Third | ban | ðep | javað | žip |
| Third Proximal/Proximate | banba | ðepba | javaðda | žipba |
| Third Medial/Mediate | banli | ðepałi | javaðli | žipałi |
| Third Distal/Obviative | banabe | ðepbe | javaðabe | žipbe |
| Third Hidden | banamak | ðepmak | javaðamak | žipmak |
| Third Behind/Revertive | bantï | ðepatï | javaðtï | žipatï |
The various third person pronouns designate saliency in many different ways. This system can act like an obviation system or a switch-reference system based on context. Obviation is used usually when one clause has multiple pronouns. Two conditions apply for obviative (obviative, hidden, revertive) and non-obviative (third, proximate, mediate) pronoun usage in obviative contexts:
For switch-reference contexts, the same division between non-obviative and obviative exists.
| third | proximate | mediate | obviative | hidden | revertive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| general usage | referring to the subject of the comment phrase or the closest c-commanded relative clause | referring to the direct object of the comment phrase or the closest c-commanded relative clause | indicates the corresponding argument of the next verb is different | indicates the corresponding argument of the next verb is related | indicates the corresponding argument of the previous verb is different |
Interrogative pronouns and indefinite pronouns are treated the same in Tanaþekńabmi. The pronoun žip is used for this purpose, with possible meanings such as 'what' or 'something/anything'. The person of the pronoun is judged based on context.
Tanaþekńabmi verbs also take a number of inflectional prefixes and suffixes (infixing occurs under prefixation). Verbs do not agree with anything except for the trigger target and only mark tense. Aspect and modality are instead mostly expressed through particles and auxiliary verbs. The division of verb affixes is shown in the table below from top to bottom (left to right):
| Trigger | moves target to place of prominence |
|---|---|
| Noun Adjunct(s) | compounded stems |
| Tense | temporal information |
| Ditransitive Adjunct | direct object (or other) of ditransitive in oblique case |
| Root/Morphological Head | right-most category defining morpheme |
| Reduplication/Triplication | expressing pluractionality or contrastive focus |
| Diminutive-Intensive | intensity of an action |
| Quantifier/Scope | intended audience/category |
| Target | direction of action towards/or from the scope |
| Ability | ability to perform the action |
| Adverbial | bound adverbs |
| Agency | perceived agents and ditransitive controller |
| Converb | coordination to other verbs |
Triggers are optional voice markers that raise their target to the place of prominence at the end of the sentence.
| Trigger | Prefix | Function |
|---|---|---|
| agent | de /de/ | the agent is raised to the place of prominence; VOA word order |
| patient | gi /gi/ | the patient is raised to the place of prominence; VAO word order |
| locative | lak /lak/ | the oblique referring to a location in time/space is raised to the place of prominence |
| benefactive | čam /xam/ | the oblique referring to a benefactor is raised to the place of prominence |
| causative | bib /bib/ | the oblique referring to a cause is raised to the place of prominence |
| instrument | nu /nu/ | the oblique referring to an instrument is raised to the place of prominence |
Tense is expressed in relation to the day according to the sun. Tense prefixes undergo infixation occasionally. Tense can be fluid in expressing relative nearness when combined with contrasting prepositional time phrases.
| Tense | Prefix | Function |
|---|---|---|
| infinitive tense | am /am/ | occurs with converbs and in general non-finite forms |
| pre-hesternal | keń /keŋ/ | occurred before yesterday |
| hesternal | j /ʝ/ | occurred yesterday |
| pre-hodiernal | ap /ap/ | occurred before today |
| hodiernal | p /p/ | today; past/present/future |
| crastinal | ad /ad/ | occurs tomorrow |
| post-crastinal | nug /nug/ | occurs after tomorrow |
Ditransitive Adjuncts are thought to be the raised direct object of the verb keeping the case marking. It causes the verb to be lexically ditransitive. Some agency suffixes change this slot to refer to something other than the direct object.
Reduplication and triplication is full and only applies to the morphological head (right-most derivational morpheme). The reduplicant/triplicant is also affected by allophony unlike the morphological head.
The Diminutive-Intensive suffixes denote the intensity of an action.
| Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|
| di | carefully; to the smallest degree |
| čiñ | lightly; with little intensity |
| kuk | firmly; with inertia |
| meb | very; above average intensity |
| taj | supremely; to the highest positive degree |
| gag | extremely; to the highest negative degree |
| čïź | with focused intensity; suffocating intensity |
| geg | with high initial intensity; cough-like |
The Quantifier/Scope suffixes are the same as the noun suffixes.
The target suffix can only appear if the Quantifier/Scope suffix is also present.
| Target | Suffix | Function |
|---|---|---|
| direct | kit | action towards the scope |
| inverse | fuj | action from the scope |
| neutral | gï | emphatic general relationship to scope |
Ability suffixes denote the ability to perform the action.
| Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|
| va | able to |
| nam | able to with great effort |
| ńig | able to with help from another person |
| jïç | able to with help from a tool |
| ćam | unable to |
Adverbials are bound adverbs.
| Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|
| teg | excessively |
| min | partially |
| þï | completely |
| nut | truly |
| kać | similarly |
| vum | exactly |
| lin | reluctantly |
| lal | with obligation |
Agency suffixes are lexically productive affixes that define the perceived agents and the ditransitive adjunct of the verb. Verbs are by default transitive or intransitive. A null ditransitive adjunct is not allowed when the suffix references it. The arguments of a ditransitive verb are Donor, Theme, and Recipient. Some affixes can be combined with triggers to make tritransitive constructions.
| Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|
| gan | agentless; impersonal verb |
| feg | patientless; becomes intransitive verb |
| jub | dummy patient; becomes transitive verb |
| miv | non-volitional ditransitive agency; Donor becomes oblique ditransitive adjunct Experiencer; Theme and Recipient become Agent and Patient; can combine with triggers to form tritransitives |
| kab | volitional ditransitive agency; Donor becomes oblique ditransitive adjunct Donor; Theme and Recipient take Agent and Patient positions; cannot combine with triggers |
Converb suffixes change verbs into coordinating serial verbs. Serial verbs precede the verb they modify and must be impersonal verbs with no arguments.
| Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|
| gaj | perfective; an action has been completed before the next one occurs (then) |
| ći | imperfective; an action is happening simultaneously with the next (while) |
| giki | future imperfective; an action is incomplete but will be completed after the next action |
| la | continuative; an action is still happening (while; started before next action and will continue after) |
Auxiliaries have to classes: aspectuals and negatives. The negative always comes before the aspectual. The word order is VO-Neg-Aux-S. All auxiliaries take tense marking, except for those borrowed from Chinese. Negatives take the tense while aspectuals take infinitive when combined. Verbs modified by auxiliaries do not take any tense morphology. Aspectuals also can act as stand alone regular verbs. Auxiliaries have irregular forms when marking tense. The eight aspectuals and their inflections are listed below:
Perfective: emphasises a completed activity the result of which still applies to the situation. (to place; to put)
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dañ | keńkad | tad | dapañ | dañ | ćïp | ñźćïp |
Experiential: emphasises an activity completed in the indeterminate past which no longer applies to the situation. (to cross)
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| źag | źagńča | źagńč | źagń | źag | gaźag | gaźaga |
Progressive: emphasises a dynamic activity which may undergo a change of state. (to tighten)
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ßał | maćñ | mać | ßałñ | ßał | pëñ | pëña |
Durative: emphasises a continuous activity without a change of state. (to stay)
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fëm | këmfëm | jafëm | fapëm | fëm | fadëm | nubfëm |
Delimitative: emphasises an activity of brief duration. (to jump)
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gëk | këńgëk | jagëk | gapëk | gëk | gadëk | nugagëk |
Habitual: emphasises an activity protracted over a period of time to the point that it has become characteristic or habitual. (to open)
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| naka | keńanak | janak | napaka | panak | nadanak | nuganak |
Inchoative: emphasises the beginning of an activity. (to surface)
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ðaþ | kenðaþ | jaðaþ | ðapaþ | ðaþ | ðadaþ | nudðaþ |
Continuative: emphasises the continuation of an activity. (to move)
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vïd | kënvïd | javïd | vapïd | vïd | vadïd | nubvïd |
Negatives and their inflections are listed below:
General Negative: changes the verb to its logical negative.
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bika | kembika | bijka | bapika | bipka | badika | nugabika |
Inversion: changes the verb to the inverse meaning.
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ga | keńga | gaj | gapa | gap | gada | nugaga |
Imperative Negative: negates the verb in an imperative sense. Perhaps from Proto Sino-Tibetan /*ma/.
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ma | keńama | maj | mape | me | mada | nubma |
Mistaken Negative: expresses the mistaken nature of a verb phrase (wrongly reported or unacceptable actions). When used with interrogative particle it makes a tag question. Perhaps from Proto Sino-Tibetan /*ma/.
| Infinitive | Pre-hesternal | Hesternal | Pre-hodiernal | Hodiernal | Crastinal | Post-crastinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| maþ | keńamaþ | jamaþ | mapeþ | meþ | madaþ | nubmaþ |
Tense markers, aspectual auxiliaries, and copular particles can be combined in different ways with verbs to produce complex TAM expressions. The table is organised in the traditional manner, with the three loose classes of tense expressions, temporary expressions, and concrete expressions. Copular syntax still applies.
| TAM | Combination | Function |
|---|---|---|
| absolute-relative | [any tense] + perfective + similative | time/tense relative to the reference point while placing the reference point in time relative to the present moment (with prepositional phrases etc.) |
| recent perfect | hodiernal + perfective | an action occurring in the immediate past relating to the present situation; e.g. 'I just ate' |
| terminative | perfective + translative | focusing on the completed state of the action |
| defective/momentane | hodiernal + inchoative + essive | an action almost performed; a state almost occurring; a brief action occurring only once; |
| resumptive | hodiernal + continuative | an action resuming after a pause |
| momentane | inchoative + essive | a brief action occurring only once |
| pausative | delimitative + essive | an action that has halted for a short period |
| iterative | habitual + essive | an action occurring again and again |
| prospective | inchoative + translative | imminent future situation |
| gnomic | essential | general truths |
| protractive | durative + essential | an action going on and on |
Prepositions are placed before the complement of the prepositional phrase, which is a noun in the oblique case. Prepositional phrases are placed after the word they modify and after any other modifiers. They can carry a spatial meaning or a temporal meaning. Flow of time is denoted as front = future.
| Preposition | Spatial Meaning | Temporal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| gat | at | at a finite time (1:00) |
| gatnap | at-beside | near a time (1:00/today) |
| gatati | inside | in a finite period of time (1:00-2:00) |
| gatþa | at-surface | exactly on time (1:00/today) |
| nap | by | near a time close to the present (1:00/today) |
| þi | from | from a finite time (1:00) |
| þiča | from a surface | from an exact finite time (1:00 exactly) |
| þinap | from near/from among | from around a time (around 1:00) |
| þiti | from inside | from inside a period of time (1:00/today) |
| ti | in | in an indefinite period of time (today) |
| ča | on | at the beginning of a period of time (1:00/today) |
| vać | to | to a finite time (1:00) |
| vaćñap | to-near | to around a period of time (around 1:00/today) |
| vaćati | to-inside | to inside a period of time (1:00/today) |
| vaćça | to on top of | to an exact time (1:00/today exactly) |
| mań | via | through a finite time (1:00) |
| mańki | via-inside | through a period of time (1:00/today) |
| mańča | via-surface | through a series of times (1:00, 2:00/today, tomorrow) |
Adjectives are placed after the noun they modify. They cannot be compounded with other word classes. Usually relative clauses and prepositional phrases are preferred over adjectives. The order of adjectives from closest to the noun to farthest is listed below:
Adverbs are placed after the verbs they modify.
Tanaþekńabmi has a positional decimal system similar to Chinese. There are no ordinal numeral forms. Numerals are placed before the noun they modify or act as nouns stand-alone. If the modified noun has a classifier suffix it raises to the numeral suffix position unless blocked.
| numeral | cardinal |
|---|---|
| kaj | one |
| nam | two |
| žud | three |
| nïź | four |
| mul | five |
| çëñ | six |
| puć | seven |
| łëk | eight |
| kut | nine |
| jïč | ten |
There are two classes of particles in traditional grammars, the sentential and copular particles. They cannot be used together in the same sentence however, with switch-reference being used to combine the two. Both particle types syntactically take the sentence initial position, but copular particles raise to the end of the sentence through a covert COP complementizer. When making a copular construction, a covert pro-verb is assumed in the syntax of a transitive sentence. Copular constructions tend to be placed at the end of the discourse.
| Particle | Type | Function |
|---|---|---|
| fe | sentential | negation of the whole sentence |
| tal | sentential | hearsay evidential; reported information that may or may not be accurate |
| ñu | sentential | quotative evidential; information that is accurate and not open to interpretation |
| ket | sentential | interrogative; for yes/no questions |
| bu | sentential | imperative |
| mimik | sentential | conditional; (ptcl) would x if y |
| maja | sentential | connective; for topic-comment constructions |
| lað | copular | essive; x is in temporary state y |
| miki | copular | essential; x is characteristic of y |
| mi | copular | translative; x becomes y |
| ła | copular | identical; x is equal to y |
| pen | copular | similative; x is similar to y |
These are true quantifier demonstratives that are placed directly after the noun. When attached to an interrogative pronoun, it prevents movement of the interrogative. They are important in comparative constructions when used in conjunction with topic-comment phrases.
| Quantifier | Meaning |
|---|---|
| kim | every |
| bë | some |
| çava | many |
| deð | few |
Using the focus discourse marker da, wh-movement is blocked with an island and wh-words raise only to the right of the focus particle. Other discourse markers such as indeed łej are less well attested in the literature.
Coordinating conjunctions link two adjacent conjuncts together in a coordinate structure. Any given lexical or phrasal category can be coordinated. Only two coordinate conjunctions exist: and viç, or ñam.
'Pun fëm Þiþ4ińa Kaßić Miki.
pun fëm þi-þ-li-ńa k-aß-ić miki
shine HODHodiernal (tense)
'today'.DURDurative (case)
while, during, throughout, for time AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case-star-DEFDefinite
"the" PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case-white essential.COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate 'The star that is white is shining.'
'today'.DURDurative (case)
while, during, throughout, for time AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case-star-DEFDefinite
"the" PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case-white essential.COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate 'The star that is white is shining.'
'Pun fëm Þiþ4ińa Miki deç žip.
pun fëm þi-þ-li-ńa miki deç žip
shine HODHodiernal (tense)
'today'.DURDurative (case)
while, during, throughout, for time AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case-star-DEFDefinite
"the" essential.COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate RELRelative 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.INTIntelligent (gender/class)
Sentient beings 'What is the star that is shining?'
Relative clauses are gapped for the referent noun and place the noun first. There is a null relative pronoun placed at the end of the relative clause, unless wh-movement traces through the CP then it is realised as deç. Relative clauses can only apply to the noun in the most prominent position.
OS(copular particle)V
V can be null pro-verb, no auxiliaries can attach to the pro-verb.
Verb is raised to complementizer position
Wh-word direct objects raise to the complementizer position, while wh-word subjects raise the verb to the complementizer position.
Single constituent direct object question:
VNegAuxSO
Single constituent subject question:
NegAuxOSV
Two constituent subject direct object question:
NegAuxSVO
Topic-Comment constructions are like relative clauses but one that applies to the entire sentence and does not have any gapped pronouns.
'today'.DURDurative (case)
while, during, throughout, for time AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case-star-DEFDefinite
"the" essential.COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate RELRelative 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.INTIntelligent (gender/class)
Sentient beings 'What is the star that is shining?'
'Maja ça6aLeg1a Miki paGuv pa2un Juç13e.
maja ç-aß-aleg -ńa miki pa -guv pa -pun ju-ç-ñ -çe
CONNUnknown code PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case-breath-DEFDefinite
"the" essence.COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate HODHodiernal (tense)
'today'-exhale HODHodiernal (tense)
'today'-shine AGTUnknown code-sun-PRProper
marks a noun as referring to a unique entity ‘The sun shines; it is characteristic of me that I exhale one breath.’
passive or nonvolitional case-breath-DEFDefinite
"the" essence.COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate HODHodiernal (tense)
'today'-exhale HODHodiernal (tense)
'today'-shine AGTUnknown code-sun-PRProper
marks a noun as referring to a unique entity ‘The sun shines; it is characteristic of me that I exhale one breath.’
The first clause is a subordinate comment (copular construction) on the second clause. This is a very common construction in literature. The word order is as follows:
(connective particle)-O-S-(copular particle)-V + V-O-S.
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