Srekhil Syntax
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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 15 Nov 2019, 07:13.
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3. Srekhil Syntax
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4. Sretsor culture
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Noun phrases are consistently head-final. The exact order is
[possessor phrase] [relative clause] [quantifier/numeral] [adjective(s)] [demonstrative] noun
na pwenur yumwal šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause yesterday PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-tell_story SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause tur
crazy či
DISTDistal (proximity)
far from speaker (and addressee) šurtso
shaman
"that crazy shaman who told a story yesterday"
ħwetso yo
warrior GENGenitive (case)
possessive mwi
many peš
broken češ
bow
"the warrior's many broken bows"
sor yo
uncle GENGenitive (case)
possessive na yusom čwe kren wai šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-fall CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb from sky SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause ħankoš
four sul me
small beautiful šem
stone
"my uncle's four small, beautiful stones that fell from the sky"
Srekhil uses V2 word order, meaning that a verb is always the second constituent in an independent clause, with the first constituent being the topic (i.e. what the sentence is about). This usually appears on the surface as SVO:
ĦwetsoBut more accurately the syntax would be described as a topic-comment system: TopVCom.
warrior khe
speak_to šaʔ.
horse
"The warrior spoke to the horse."
Objects can be fronted as well, but as Srekhil lacks case marking on nominals, objects instead mark the relationship on the verb, using the proclitic na= (glossed as PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS). Adverbs and oblique phrases (e.g. locatives) can also be focused, using a different clitic, u= (OBLVOblique trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment, triggers oblique).
ŠaʔThe only verb that can never occupy the V2 slot is the copula yiʔ.
horse nakhe
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=speak_to ħwetso.
warrior
"The horse, the warrior spoke to it."
Thi
tent moʔ
behind ukhe
OBLVOblique trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment, triggers oblique=speak_to ħwetso
warrior šaʔ.
horse
"Behind the tent, the warrior spoke to the horse."
Nro
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal ħwetso
warrior yiʔ.
be
"He is a warrior."
The underlying order is really SOV, which is used in all subordinate and relative clauses:
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not kiritso
Kižīwi sre
ancestor khaotse
revere=PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause ħi
know nro.
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal
"He knows that the Kižīwi do not revere the ancestors."
There is no separate class of adverbs; adjectives are used instead. They are placed after verbs, but do not move if the verb is raised to the V2 position.
Šao
boy khil
speak pru.
quiet
"The boy speaks quietly."
Šao
boy khe
speak_to sor
uncle pru.
quiet
"The boy speaks quietly to [his] uncle."
The only true TAM inflection in Srekhil is the perfect prefix yu-. Roughly, it means that the action is completed in some sense, though the exact semantics of that can vary depending on the verb used.
The primary use of the perfect is as a resultative, which marks that the action has a definitive result or endpoint. A descriptive example is če "shoot":
ŠritsoUsing yuče means the raider successfully shot what he was aiming for (with the implication of "shot and killed"). Without yu-, the focus shifts from the target of the action to the action itself, and the result is unmarked—it's unknown if the raider succeeded or not (though it also doesn't rule out that he did).
raider če
shoot thaʔ.
man
"The raider shot at the man."
Šritso
raider yuče
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-shoot thaʔ.
man
"The raider shot the man."
Most examples of yu- are translated using the past tense, but in Srekhil the meaning is tenseless:
Tseš
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers.GENGenitive (case)
possessive češ
bow nayuhanľiʔ
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-fix khra
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female wennur.
tomorrow
"I'll fix your bow tomorrow."
There are three lexical levels of valency in Srekhil:
- Zero arguments (imper), always takes the impersonal particle ħa
- Maximum of one argument (intr). Most intransitive verbs are agentive, (intr-Ag), while most ambitransitive verbs are patientive (intr-Pt)
- Maximum of two arguments, agent and patient (tr).
As noted, most transitive verbs in Srekhil are patientive ambitransitive—that is, objects can be omitted to create a intransitive patientive verb. English has this with "ergative" verbs, but it can be applied with almost any transitive verb in Srekhil:
ThaʔThis syntax is unique in that the object is not marked morphologically with na=.
man yuwir
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-kill saʔ.
fish
"The man killed the fish."
Saʔ
fish yuwir.
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-kill
"The fish was killed."
Adding the impersonal particle ħa can be used to mark an antipassive, restoring the role of the subject.
Thaʔ
man yuwir
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-kill ħa.
IMPERImpersonal (valency)
Has no arguments
"The man killed [something]."
Srekhil has a pluractional enclitic =tse, which is used whenever there are multiple objects, or the action was done multiple times. (It's ambiguous which one is meant, and usually dependent on context.) It is always placed at the very end of the clause, before any subordinating particles or conjunctions:
Thaʔ
man yuwirtse.
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-kill=PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur
"The men were killed."
Prutso
hunter yuče
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-shoot šaʔtse.
horse=PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur
"The hunter shot the horses." or "The hunter shot the horse many times."
To negate a sentence, add šo to the beginning, before the topic.
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not thaʔ
man yuwir.
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-kill
"The man wasn't killed."
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not prutso
hunter yuče
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-shoot šaʔtse.
horse=PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur
"The hunter didn't shoot the horses."
A specific element can be negated by adding the proclitic te=; šo is still required.
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not suš
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.GENGenitive (case)
possessive sor
uncle hao
fear temrutse.
NEGNegative (polarity)
not=cat=PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur
"It's not cats that my uncle fears."
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not tesuš
NEGNegative (polarity)
not=1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.GENGenitive (case)
possessive sor
uncle hao
fear mrutse.
cat=PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur
"It's not my uncle that fears cats."
The following negative pronouns and phrases also require šo:
- ter "none" and all its derivatives (terčan "nothing," tertso "nobody," terkho "nowhere," ternwa "never," etc.)
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not ter
none pwor
spirit yuwen.
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-come
"No spirits have come."
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not terčan
nothing hanhao
CAUSCausative (valency/mood)
cause an action to occur, force another argument to act-be_afraid sretsor
Sretsor ħwetso.
warrior
"Nothing scares a Sretsor warrior." - ħru "only"
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not šeʔ
soul ŧye
breath yiʔ
be ħru.
only
"The soul is only a breath." [x]
- mwer "barely, hardly"
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not šao
boy če
shoot mwer.
barely
"The boy can barely shoot."
Ħru and mwer function very similarly in terms of syntax: if the meaning applies to the whole sentence, they should be treated as adverbs and placed at the end of the clause; otherwise, the meaning can be focused by placing them before a constituent.
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not nro
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal nahra
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=ABILAbilitative (mood)
expresses ability ħru
only sre
ancestor ŧi.
save
"Only the ancestors can save him."
The otherwise limited verbal system is extended with a system of both aspectual and modal auxiliaries.
Introducing auxiliaries to a sentence changes the word order, with the auxiliary taking the second position instead of the main verb, and the verb getting pushed to the end of the clause (reflecting the underlying SOV order).
hra ABILAbilitative (mood)
expresses abilitycan, is able to ħi know knows how to ħwin POTPotential (mood)
likely events, abilitymight, is possibly kru DESDesiderative (mood)
wishes, desires, wantswants to, is willing to mreʔ CONConative (mood)
try, attempttries to, do a little bit pir AUDCAudacive (mood)
dares todare to prai PROSPProspective (aspect)
going tois going to, is about to phe NECNecessitative mood (mood)
must, have tomust reʔ ITERIterative (aspect)
repeated actions within an eventdo occasionally (more than once, but not habitually) šom OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope'speaker's desire šwil FRUSTFrustrative mood (mood)
want to but cannotwants to but cannot tai INTENIntentional (mood)
indicates intent to perform an actionintend to tyar DEBDebitive (mood)
'should'should thu PREPRPreparative (mood)
ready to, prepared tois prepared to, is ready to thwal INCEPInceptive (aspect)
beginning of an actionbegin, start to tsol DUBDubitative mood (mood)
expresses doubtis unlikely to tsrem EXPRExperiential (aspect)
action has occurred at least once beforehappened/experienced at least once ŧyaš HABHabitual (aspect)
done often or out of habitdo frequently yol PERMPermissive (mood)
the action is permittedhas permission to
ŠaoSubordinated clauses use SOV order, so auxiliaries appear near the end instead, before the main verb:
boy thu
PREPRPreparative (mood)
ready to, prepared to khyeʔthaʔ
become-man hyam.
undergo
"The boy is ready for his khyeʔthaʔa series of rituals, teachings, and ordeals meant to prepare for adulthood."
Yumtso
chieftain kiritso
Kižīwi pyalnwa
again tai
INTENIntentional (mood)
indicates intent to perform an action šri
attack šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause thwi
think suʔ.
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal
"I think the chieftain intends to raid the Kižīwi again."
Auxiliaries cannot be inflected with yu-, which can only go on the main verb. Topic markers never change position, and will always attach to the auxiliary when it is in V2 position:
Wai
(name) nayukhe
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-speak_to khra.
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female
"I spoke to Wai."
Wai
(name) naħwin
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=POTPotential (mood)
likely events, ability khra
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female yukhe.
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-speak_to
"I might speak to Wai."
Negation will apply primarily to the (first) auxiliary: šo ... hra "is unable to," šo ... ħi "doesn't know how to," šo ... tyar "shouldn't," šo ... ŧyaš "do infrequently," etc. Note that šo ... ħwin implies impossibility; for "maybe not," just use tsol.
Auxiliaries can be stacked, with each one before the main verb. Whatever auxiliary or verb would normally end up first is raised to the V2 position:
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not čir
that.PNPronoun natyar1
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=DEBDebitive (mood)
'should' tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers kru2
DESDesiderative (mood)
wishes, desires, wants thwal3
INCEPInceptive (aspect)
beginning of an action čwe4.
eat
"You should1 not want2 to start3 eating4 that."
Kru (DESDesiderative (mood)
wishes, desires, wants) is distinguished from šom (OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope') based on if the desire is the topic's or the speaker's:
Yi
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers kru
DESDesiderative (mood)
wishes, desires, wants ħi
know ħraš.
cook
"He wants to know how to cook."
Yi
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers šom
OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope' ħi
know ħraš.
cook
"I want him to know how to cook."
Imperatives are expressed with modals. Usually šom (OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope') is used, but most of the other auxiliaries can be used for varying levels of formality or intensity.
ĽeThe verb can be used alone in an urgent situation or to add intensity to a command. Single syllable verbs are often reduplicated:
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal šom
OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope' mra
away pwe.
go
"Please go away."
Yi
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers natyar
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=DEBDebitive (mood)
'should' pwaʔ
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal khe.
talk_to
"You should talk to him."
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers phe
NECNecessitative mood (mood)
must, have to tun.
show_weakness
"You must not show weakness."
Kwa
run kwa!
run
"Run, run!"
All impersonal expressions use the particle ħa in place of the topic.
ĦaĦa also functions as an impersonal or generic pronoun.
IMPERImpersonal (valency)
Has no arguments luš.
rain
"It's raining."
Ħa
IMPERImpersonal (valency)
Has no arguments mru
cat yiʔ.
be
"There's a cat."
Ħa
IMPERImpersonal (valency)
Has no arguments hra
ABILAbilitative (mood)
expresses ability či
that ŧam
mountain mikhrai.
climb
"You can climb that mountain." lmao
Questions are formed with the particle thye, placed at the beginning of the sentence, before the topic.
ThyeThe standard response for "yes" is a repeat of the verb (in this case čwe) or, more colloquially, še yiʔ "[that] is true" (usually shortened to /ʃɪʔ/). The response for "no" is the general negative šo.
QInterrogative
question tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers tsrem
EXPRExperiential (aspect)
action has occurred at least once before nai
meat yo
GENGenitive (case)
possessive thyam
bear čwe?
eat
"Have you ever had bear meat?"
Negative questions use thyeša instead:
ThyešaThe responses here don't change: yuthro is "I have slept," šo is "I have not slept."
QInterrogative
question-NEGNegative (polarity)
not ľe
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal yuthro?
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-sleep
"Have you not slept?"
Yiʔ has a separate interrogative form, ma:
ThyeThe affirmative response is still yiʔ, not ma.
QInterrogative
question tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers tur
crazy ma?
be.QInterrogative
question
"Are you crazy?"
Thyeša
QInterrogative
question-NEGNegative (polarity)
not šu
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female tseš
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers.GENGenitive (case)
possessive mam
mother ma?
be.QInterrogative
question
"Is she not your mother?"
Ma doubles as way to create tag questions (even with yiʔ), usually as an afterthought or in colloquial speech:
Tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers tsrem
EXPRExperiential (aspect)
action has occurred at least once before nai
meat yo
GENGenitive (case)
possessive thyam
bear čwe,
eat ma?
be.QInterrogative
question
"You've had bear meat, right?"
Tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers tur
crazy yiʔ,
be ma?
be.QInterrogative
question
"You're crazy, yes?"
Interrogative pronouns:
Interrogatives typically appear without movement, since sentences begin with the topic, and a questioned element is by definition not known or established information. Thye is still used even with interrogative pronouns.
pye which (det.) pyem what mron who(m) čremkho where čremnwa when pan what (clause) ħram how many, how much
ThyePan (like hyum) asks for an entire clause, not just a single argument. Its use is detailed under Conjunctions.
QInterrogative
question tseš
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers.GENGenitive (case)
possessive šaʔ
horse pye
which he
of_that ma?
be.QInterrogative
question
"Which horse is yours?"
Note the reversal of "which" and "your" between the translations, since he cannot be used before its referent.
Thye
QInterrogative
question čekham
wife nayukhe
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-speak_to mron
who čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb mur
about sar
all čo?
airag
"Who told [my] wife about all the airag?"
Thye
QInterrogative
question čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers ŧyu
hunt pyem?
what
"What are we hunting?"
Thye
QInterrogative
question nar
this.PNPronoun nahro
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=build tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers čremnwa?
when
"When did you build this?"
Thye
QInterrogative
question thaʔ
man yuwir
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-die ħramtse?
how_many=PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur
"How many men have died?"
The interrogative phrase is split here to maintain the topic-comment boundary.
Possession is marked with the particle yo:
prutsoMost personal pronouns have possessive forms that are used without yo:
hunter yo
GENGenitive (case)
possessive češ
bow
"the hunter's bow"
suš
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal.GENGenitive (case)
possessive češ
bow
"my bow"
Predicative possession ("[x] has...") is expressed with yo and the verb ňe "exist":
Prutso
hunter yo
GENGenitive (case)
possessive češ
bow ňe.
exist
"The hunter has a bow."
The simplest phrase-level conjunctions are =wa "and" and =phra "or," which attach to every constituent (noun or adjective) after the first:
MulIf =wa is added to a word ending in -m or -n, an apostrophe is added to prevent ambiguity between /t͡ʃʊˈmʷa/ and /ˈt͡ʃʊm.wə/.
brother čum’wa
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers=and yuswer
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-walk mra
away čroʔ.
already
"My brother and I had already walked away."
Thye
QInterrogative
question Nrao
(name) wetso
ally swimtsophra
enemy=or ma?
be.QInterrogative
question
"Is Nrao an ally or enemy?"
With a group of single nouns or adjectives, =wa isn't (necessarily) needed:
Nro
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal sul
short thotho
stupid pholmetaphor for "inferior in fighting ability"
low yiʔ.
be
"He's short, stupid, and can't fight."
Clause-level conjunctions are correlative, with one conjunction before each clause. These are usually found in various set phrases:
tswom čro if C1, then C2 myir čro because C1, therefore C2 sri sriwa (both) C1 and C2 sri orwa C1 or (exclusive) C2 sri tyaʔwa C1 but not C2 sri čro first C1, and now C2 sri myir C1 in order to do C2 sri ħai C1 but also C2 sri nre C1 in the same way as C2 tyaʔ tyaʔwa neither C1 nor C2 tyaʔ ħai not C1, except C2
Some of these can be reversed as well:
čro tswom C1 if C2 čro myir C1 because of C2 čro sriwa C1, and previously C2 nre sriwa like C1, C2 ħai tyaʔwa C1 instead of C2
Thye(ša) will appear before the conjunction, but šo stays after it. Note that modality and negation can be implied with conjunctions alone, without the need for additional particles or auxiliaries. That is, tyaʔ alone is preferred over *sri šo (as well as *tyaʔ šo).
Shared elements between clauses can be omitted for brevity:
TyaʔRemember that the conjunctions can only go around clauses, not within them.
neither čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers tsrem
EXPRExperiential (aspect)
action has occurred at least once before thyam
bear yučwe
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-eat tyaʔwa
neither-and khur.
dog
"I've never eaten bear nor dog."
*Čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers tsrem
EXPRExperiential (aspect)
action has occurred at least once before tyaʔ
neither thyam
bear tyaʔwa
neither-and khur
dog yučwe.
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-eat
*"I've eaten not bear nor dog."
Conjunctions can be nested:
Myir
because ħatom
city nayušri
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-attack suʔ
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal nro
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal čro
therefore [sri
both ľor
band tya
carry čwar
prosperity sriwa
both-and suʔ
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal yukhyeʔ
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-become yumtso].
chieftain
"Because we raided the city, the band has prospered, and I became the chieftain."
(myir ... čro [ sri ... sriwa ... ])
Certain conjunctions can be used on their own with a single clause, or as an addition or afterthought.
sriwa and orwa or tyaʔwa but not čro so, therefore, then myir because of ħai however, but
Pan and hyum can be used in place of any clause as an interrogative or demonstrative, respectively.
Thye
QInterrogative
question myir
because pan?
what.CLSClause (sytnax)
subject and predicate
Thye
QInterrogative
question ħai
but pan?
what.CLSClause (sytnax)
subject and predicate
"Why?" "What's the catch?"
Thyeša
QInterrogative
question-NEGNegative (polarity)
not myir
because hyum
that.CLSClause (sytnax)
subject and predicate čro
therefore tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers ħai?
be_sad
"Doesn't that makes you sad?"
lit. "Because of that, are you not sad?"
Top VP1 + Top VP2 → Top VP1 čwe VP2Two clauses with a shared topic can be concatenated without the previous conjunction strategy, with the meaning that the two are occurring simultaneously. Abstractly, the second clause contains an empty head, made explicit with čwe (CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb), that refers back to the first clause. In theory both verbs can be fully modified with inflection or auxiliaries, but in practice usually only VP1 is, since VP2 is stylistically treated more as an adverbial than a full clause. In most cases, inflection and auxiliaries can only be used with VP1, but will semantically apply to both expressions. Either one can be separately negated, but VP2 will use the modified form čweša:
NaišeʔNeither verb strictly requires another argument, since the boundary between the two is defined with čwe. This can be used to create equivalents to participle adverbials in English:
(name) khil
speak čweša
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb-NEGNegative (polarity)
not ŧai.
hear
"Naišeʔ speaks but doesn't listen."
Šu
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female tya
hold hruʔ
face čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb yao.
cry
"She covered her face, crying."
Topic case markers/triggers are retained within VPs:
ŠaoA čwe phrase can be topicalized as well with the oblique trigger u=. The movement also typically drops čwe.
boy peʔ
be_in_awe čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb namwal
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=tell_story šurtso.
shaman
"The boy marvelled as the shaman told him a story."
Yao
cry utya
OBLVOblique trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment, triggers oblique=hold šu
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female hruʔ
face
"Crying, she covered her face."
This construction is considered to be a single clause when using conjunctions:
Čro
therefore Naišeʔ
(name) naľam
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=hate khra
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female myir
because nro
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal khil
speak čweša
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb-NEGNegative (polarity)
not ŧai.
hear
"I hate Naišeʔ, because he speaks but doesn't listen."
Čwe-coordination is also used for ditransitives. "Give [something] to [someone]" is realized as two verbs in Srekhil, ke "give" and raʔ "benefit":
Sor
uncle yuke
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-give myor
REFLReflexive (valency)
argument acts on itself.GENGenitive (case)
possessive češ
bow čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb raʔ
benefit čum.
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers
"My uncle gave me his bow."
Adpositions are formally verbs in Srekhil. Their base meaning is stative, e.g. la "be inside"; using yu- instead implies movement in that direction.
su at (general locative) ňel to, toward la in, inside, within kren outside of; out of, from ra in front of, before moʔ behind thim above, over kraʔ below, under tyo next to, beside phral among, between mur surrounding, around; about, concerning loš across from, on the opposite side swim against khya to the left of hwe to the right of somtyo to the west of khraityo to the east of ŧir back to, returning to yor using, with (INSTRInstrumental (case)
'with' 'using')we with (COMComitative (case)
'together with')čam without
Nrao
(name) la
inside thi.
tent
"Nrao is in the tent."
Nrao
(name) yula
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-inside thi.
tent
"Nrao went into the tent."
Adding the locative to another phrase requires čwe-coordination:
Prutso
hunter priʔ
hide čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb phral
among hye.
tall_grass
"The hunter hid in the grass."
Time is conceived as flowing downward:
locative temporal la inside during, while thim above before; (PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed.) untilkraʔ below after; (PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed.) sincetyo next to around the same time as
Ľor
band phe
NECNecessitative mood (mood)
must, have to pwe
leave čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb thim
above som.
dusk
"The band must leave before sundown."
Čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers yi
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers prai
PROSPProspective (aspect)
going to tra
ride čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb la
inside sarħru
entire lor.
night
"We will ride through the night."
The distinctions between "before"/"until" and "after"/"since" are based on the use of yu-.
Čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers yao
cry čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb kraʔ
below khyeʔthaʔ.
become-man
"I cried after my khyeʔthaʔ."
Čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers yao
cry čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb yukraʔ
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-below khyeʔthaʔ.
become-man
"I've been crying since my khyeʔthaʔ."
Comparatives use one of mwiš "be more than," pyaš "be less than," or tsaš "be as much as" with čwe-coordination.
Sor
uncle ŧyu
hunt ľiʔ
good čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb mwiš
be_more čum.
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers
"My uncle hunts better than I do."
Čaokhrai
(name) khil
speak čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb pyaš
be_less šem.
stone
"Čaokhrai speaks less than a rock."
Superlatives instead use mwišwan "be the most" and pyašwan "be the least":
Čaokhrai
(name) ňaʔ
strong yiʔ
be čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb mwišwan
be_most ħwetso.
warrior
"Čaokhrai is the strongest warrior."
All true subordination involves marking with šai.
C1 + C2 → C2 šai C1C2 is the subordinate clause, which precedes the main clause (C1) in Srekhil. The subordinate clause can be used as an argument in the main clause, but when the argument is used as the subject, yaš- is added before šai.
S V1 [S O V2] → [S O V2] šai V1 S
[S O V2] V1 O → [S O V2] yaššai V1 O
Causative expressions use subordination with verbs like len "cause":
Čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers myor
REFLReflexive (valency)
argument acts on itself.GENGenitive (case)
possessive ľiʔ
good češ
bow ke
give šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause len
cause naičam
worth-without he.
of_that
"The bastard made me give away my good bow."
Quotation also uses subordination. There is no grammatical difference between direct and indirect speech, but it's usually clear from context and the quote itself.
ČumThe one being spoken to can be reintroduced into the main clause with čwe-coordination, though khe "speak to" is used instead of khil.
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers šurtso
shaman khyeʔ
become tyar
DEBDebitive (mood)
'should' šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause khil
speak sor.
uncle
"My uncle said that I should become a shaman."
Šo
NEGNegative (polarity)
not khra
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female ľe
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal hoʔ
love šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause khil
speak šu.
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female
"She said, 'I don't love you.'" oof
Šurtso
shaman čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers yi
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers wennur
tomorrow weľuʔ
meet šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause khe
speak_to čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb še
do_that Ňaʔ.
(name)
"I told Ňaʔ that the shaman will meet us tomorrow."
S V O → na S V šai OThis process is similar to sentential subordination, but the boundary of the relative clause is explicitly marked with na (a special use of the demonstrative na "this").
S V O → na O V yaššai S
Relativization of transitive verbs can be ambiguous: na ħwetso som šai could mean “who defeated the warrior” or “that the warrior defeated”. Conventionally, it’s assumed that the head is the direct object; that is, na ħwetso som šai can only mean “that the warrior defeated.” For subjects, the clitic yaš- is added before šai, as in sentential subordination.
ŠurtsoA relative clause can include another, but na is not duplicated.
shaman tye
heal ŧwai.
woman
"The shaman heals the woman."
na
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause šurtso
shaman tye
heal šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause ŧwai
woman
"the woman who is being healed by the shaman"
na
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause ŧwai
woman tye
heal yaššai
SUBSubject (argument)=SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause šurtso
shaman
"the shaman who is healing the woman"
[[naSimilarly, multiple clauses subordinate to the same noun can be concatenated with =wa:
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause thyam
bear yušri
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-attack šai]
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause ŧwai
woman tye
heal yaššai]
SUBSubject (argument)=SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause šurtso
shaman
"the shaman [who is healing the woman [that the bear attacked]]"
[na
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause thyam
bear yušri
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-attack šaiwa]
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause=and [na
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause šurtso
shaman tye
heal šai]
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause ŧwai
woman
"the woman [who is being healed by the shaman] and [who the bear attacked]"
Temporal and locative adverbials are a form of relative clause using expressions like u "then" and ukho "there."
ČumThe phrase can be topicalized, but u and ukho (but not other expressions) are dropped in favor of the verbal marking u= (OBLVOblique trigger (voice)
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers thwal
INCEPInceptive (aspect)
beginning of an action ħa
IMPERImpersonal (valency)
Has no arguments hoʔ
love na
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers šu
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female yuľuʔ
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-see orħan
first šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause u.
then
"I fell in love when I first saw her."
Suʔ
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal nro
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal yuħwe
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-fight na
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause sro
river wao
bend šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause ukho.
there
"We fought where the river bends."
Austronesian alignment, triggers oblique).
NaOther indefinite pronouns can be used as well:
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers šu
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female yuľuʔ
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-see orħan
first šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause uthwal
OBLVOblique trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment, triggers oblique=INCEPInceptive (aspect)
beginning of an action čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers ħa
IMPERImpersonal (valency)
Has no arguments hoʔ.
love
"When I first saw her, I fell in love."
Suʔ
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal nro
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.NTLNeutral (respect/formality)
neither polite nor vulgar; semi-formal yuħwe
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-fight na
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause sro
river wao
bend šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause ħrekho.
here
"We fought here, where the river bends."
Na
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers šu
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female yuľuʔ
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-see orħan
first šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause pwenur
yesterday uthwal
OBLVOblique trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment, triggers oblique=INCEPInceptive (aspect)
beginning of an action čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers ħa
IMPERImpersonal (valency)
Has no arguments hoʔ.
love
"Yesterday, when I first saw her, I fell in love."
A peculiarity of Srekhil is the ease that discontinuous phrases—that is, single noun or verb phrases that are split up across the sentence—can appear. The word order of Srekhil is already based on discourse factors (topic-comment), so these appear frequently in colloquial speech, but knowing when and where to move constituents is something of an art. Most often discontinuity is a result of topicalization moving only part of a phrase, which surfaces as being split by the verb in V2 position:
ňeʔDiscontinuity can also be a product of fronting or backing. There are few set rules for this, though ambiguity is avoided for obvious reasons. Most often backed constituents move to the very end of the clause; in some cases this leaves behind a demonstrative pronoun, especially from within a relative clause, but this is not obligatory if context makes the referents clear.
new češ
bow →
Češ
bow nayuhro
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-build ňeʔ,
new ma?
be.QInterrogative
question
"[You're] building a new bow?"
čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers mulwa
brother=and →
Čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers yuswer
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-walk mulwa
brother=and mra
away čroʔ.
already
"My brother and I had already walked away."
nai
meat yo
GENGenitive (case)
possessive thyam
bear →
Thye
QInterrogative
question nai
meat natsrem
PVPatient trigger (voice)
Austronesian alignment; triggers ERG-ABS=EXPRExperiential (aspect)
action has occurred at least once before yo
GENGenitive (case)
possessive thyam
bear tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers čwe?
eat
"Have you ever had bear meat?"
na✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause (čir)
that.PNPronoun yušri
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-attack šai
SRSubordinator
marks subordinate clause ŧwai
woman thyam
bear
"the woman who was attacked by the bear"
Sor
uncle yuke
PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed-give ____
Ø češ
bow čwe
CNJVConjunctive (mood)
subordinates or serialises verb raʔ
benefit čum
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male.FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers myor.
REFLReflexive (valency)
argument acts on itself.GENGenitive (case)
possessive
"My uncle gave me a bow, his own."
____
Ø Yo
GENGenitive (case)
possessive Wai
(name) kru
DESDesiderative (mood)
wishes, desires, wants tse
2Second person (person)
addressee (you).FAMFamiliar (respect/formality)
with friends, family, peers weľuʔ
meet mam.
mother
"Wai's mother wanted to meet you."
Sar
all ____
Ø thro
sleep čroʔ
already ħwetsotse.
warrior=PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur
"All of the warriors were already asleep."
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on 21/07/19 05:410[Deactivated User]folder fix + unshare
on 21/07/19 05:40+12[Deactivated User]#Relative clauses > minor edit
on 19/07/19 03:23+4[Deactivated User]folder fix
on 19/07/19 03:22-9[Deactivated User]minor typo
