This section is relevent to both verb agreement and noun agreement.
K3 doesn't make the conventual 1st and 2nd person distinction; instead it makes a distinction between knower and learner. The knower, or K person, refers to the speaker(s) in statements but to the addressee(s) in questions and commands, while the learner, or L person, refers to the addressee(s) in statements but to the speaker(s) in questions and commands. Both K and L persons distinguish singular and plural. Note that "speakers" and "addressees", when plural, may include associated persons, but are mutually exclusive. There's also an inclusive, or N person, that refers to the speakers and addressees together and is only plural.
The 3rd person is conventual but the distinction made is not number (singular and plural) but definite and indefinite.
There are a number of affixes common to both different verb classes and different orders. These are all added to verb stems beginning and ending with consonants.
The 3 imperative personal prefixes are si- (Imp.KS-), sa- (Imp.KP-), and ca- (Imp.NP-).
The 7 non-imperative personal prefixes are ki- (KS-), ka- (KP-), li- (LS-), la- (LP-), ma- (NP-), 0 (3-), and u- (U-). In some situations, these are limited to L person and 3rd person.
The 7 personal suffixes are -ek (-KS), -(e)ka (-KP), -el (-LS), -(e)la (-LP), -(e)ma (-NP), -a (-3), and -u (-U). In some situations, these are limited to L person and 3rd person.
The 3 participial suffixes mark attributive and secondary predicate forms. They are -i (-Att, attributive), -on (-Dep, depictive), and -oq (-Rsl, resultative).
Verbs are also inflected for voice or alignment, these being direct, inverse, reciprocal, and reflexive. Direct is when the prefix argument "acts on" the suffix argument. Inverse is when the suffix argument "acts on" the prefix argument. Reciprocal is when the arguments "act on" each other. Reflexive is when an argument "acts on" itself. Reflexive voice marking preempts one of the argument affixes.
Verb inflections are grouped into orders, these being the infinitive order, the imperative order, the independent order, and the participial order. In the infinitive and participial orders, one of the arguments is coreferential rather than personal. Orders are relevent to both verb agreement and to tense, aspect, and mood.
With respect to agreement and argument structure, there are 4 classes of verbs: intransitive, relational, monotransitive, and ditransitive.
Intransitive, or univalent, verbs have only one argument, regardless of its semantic role.
Intransitive infinitives are marked by the suffix -im.
The imperatives are marked by the suffix -u and take one of the imperative personal prefixes.
The independent forms are marked by one of the 7 personal suffixes.
The participial forms are marked by one of the 3 participial suffixes.
A relational verb is one kind of bivalent verb. One of the 2 arguments refers to a location or to a stimulus, depending on the verb. The other refers to an experiencer.
The voice or alignment affixes for relational verbs are vo- (Dir-, direct), 0- (Inv-, inverse), dai- (Rcp-, reciprocal), and -ax (-Rfx, reflexive).
Relational infinitives are marked by the suffix -im; one of the 7 personal prefixes is present as is one of voice affixes (but reflexive voice eliminates the personal prefix here).
The imperative forms take one of the imperative personal prefixes and one of the limited personal suffixes. Voice is unmarked and interpreted as direct except that the reflexive may occur, preempting the personal suffix.
The independent forms are marked by one of the 7 personal suffixes, along with a limited personal prefix and voice marking. In this case, it's the personal prefix that's preempted by reflexive voice.
The participial forms are marked by one of the 3 participial suffixes and take one of the 7 personal prefixes along with voice marking. In this case, it's the personal prefix that's preempted by reflexive voice.
A monotransitive verb is the other kind of bivalent verb. One of the arguments takes the agent role and the other the patient role.
The voice or alignment affixes for monotransitive (and ditransitive) verbs are 0- (Dir-, direct), ci- (Inv-, inverse), dai- (Rcp-, reciprocal), and -ax (-Rfx, reflexive).
Monotransitive infinitives are marked by the prefix he-; one of the 7 personal suffixes is present as is one of voice affixes (but reflexive voice eliminates the personal suffix here).
The imperative forms take one of the imperative personal prefixes and one of the limited personal suffixes. Voice is unmarked and interpreted as direct except that the reflexive may occur, preempting the personal suffix.
The independent forms are marked by one of the 7 personal prefixes, along with a limited personal suffix and voice marking; the personal suffix is preempted by the reflexive.
The participial forms are marked by one of the 3 participial suffixes and take one of the 7 personal prefixes along with voice marking. In this case, it's the personal prefix that's preempted by reflexive voice.
A ditransitive, or trivalent, verb has 3 arguments: donor, recipient, and theme. They're marked like monotransitive verbs with Donor = Agent, Recipient = Patient, and the Theme added. The theme is limited to 3rd person and is marked by the prefix fu- (placed after any other prefixes) if indefinite and by 0 if definite.
Tense, aspect, and mood are specified by suffixes appended to the verb root or derivational suffix, thus forming stems to which the agreement affixes are added.
Participial forms take aspect suffixes for progressive and prospective forms; the retrospective (resulting state) aspect is 0-marked.
Independent forms take tense and mood suffixes. These are the definite past, experiential past, definite future, eventual future, and present tenses and the subjunctive mood. For static verbs, the present tense is 0-marked and the definite past takes the suffix -al (-Pst). For dynamic verbs, the definite past tense is 0-marked and the present takes the suffix -ed (-Prs). The other suffixes are -os (-Fut, definite future), -alp (-Exp, experiential past), -osp (-Eve, eventual future), and -im (-Sub, subjunctive mood).
Imperative forms may take future and eventual tense suffixes, the immediate imperative being 0-marked.
Infinitive forms are not marked for tense, aspect, or mood.
Nouns take suffixes for number and "case". Bivalent nouns also take prefixes referring to possessors; these are the same as the 7 personal prefixes, but with an additional coreferential possessor xe- (Cor-).
Number is singular and plural. The "cases" are absolutive, obviative, secundative, and genitive. There are 3 declensions, based on the ending of the stem. These are shown in the following table.
| "Case" | Number | Tag | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolutive | Singular | -S.Abs | vante- | loxtaq- | seldob-e |
| Plural | -P.Abs | vante-po | loxtaq-au | seldob-o | |
| Obviative | Singular | -S.Obv | vante-s | loxtaq-is | seldob-es |
| Plural | -P.Obv | vante-so | loxtaq-as | seldob-os | |
| Secundative | Singular | -S.Sec | vante-n | loxtaq-in | seldob-en |
| Plural | -P.Sec | vante-no | loxtaq-an | seldob-on | |
| Genitive | Singular | -S.Gen | vante-c | loxtaq-ic | seldob-ec |
| Plural | -P.Gen | vante-co | loxtaq-ac | seldob-oc |
page started: 2012.Jun.15 Fri
current date: 2012.Jun.16 Sat
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
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