Content words are constructed from roots and affixes. For verbs, these are:
| Form | Description |
|---|---|
| C- | initial, part of speech |
| -VXC- | prefix, 1st: fused tense and polarity |
| -VXC- | prefix, other: derivational |
| -VXCV | root |
| -XCV | suffix, fused aspect and voice |
Every verb form has a root and an initial. The root of the copula is -a.
The verbal parts of speech distinguished by initials are attributive, resultative, infinitive, and principal. Except for the last type, the 1st argument is implicit (Cor for attributive, HA for infinitive, and HP for resultative).
| Prefix | Tag | Construction | Coreference |
|---|---|---|---|
| f- | Prn | principal | |
| h- | Rel | relative | (explicit) |
| c- | Cor | attributive | head noun |
| g- | Con | conjunctive | (none or explicit) |
| s- | Sub | subjunctive | |
| r- | Inf | infinitive | host agent |
| d- | Adj | adjunctive | |
| depictive | (explicit) | ||
| p- | Rsl | resultative | host patient |
| k- | Imp | imperative | K person singular |
| m- | Hor | hortative | M person singular |
The tenses are absolute past, absolute present, absolute future, and relative. The polarities are positive and negative; positive relative is unmarked.
| Relative | Past | Present | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | 0 | -ic- | -ub- | -ig- |
| Negative | -an- | -anc- | -amb- | -ang- |
The aspects are perfective, cotemporal, retrospective, and prospective. The voices are intransitive (->U), passive (<-U), direct (->X), inverse (<-X), and reflexive (<->). The unmarked combination depends on the type of verb:
| Id | Class | Unmarked Form | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | stative univalent | cotemporal intransitive | "big" | |
| 2 | stative ambivalent | cotemporal intransitive | "angry" | experiencer (plus stimulus) |
| 3 | stative ambivalent | cotemporal passive | "hot", "blue" | stimulus (plus perceiver) |
| 4 | stative bivalent | cotemporal intransitive | "in" | 2nd argument may be local |
| 5 | stative bivalent | cotemporal direct | "see", "want" | |
| 6 | dynamic univalent | perfective reflexive | "run" | |
| 7 | dynamic univalent | perfective passive | "fall" | |
| 8 | dynamic bivalent | perfective direct | "hit", "break" | |
| 9 | dynamic trivalent | perfective direct | "tell", "give", "insert" |
Stative verbs lack the perfective aspect and univalent verbs have only one voice. The suffixes for the aspect and voice combinations follow:
| Perfective | Cotemporal | Retrospective | Prospective | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intransitive | -ju | -nu, 0 | -scu | -rnu |
| Passive | -gi, 0 | -fi, 0 | -ski | -rfi |
| Direct | 0 | -tu, 0 | -slu | -rtu |
| Inverse | -bi | -ci | -spi | -rci |
| Reflexive | -da, 0 | -ha | -sta | -rha |
This combines the exolang K/L pronominal scheme with hierarchical agreement on the verb. The precedence is:
K > L > 3 > Cor > U
where Cor references the head noun of the containing phrase and is used only on attributive forms. There's also an M pronominal which combines K and L.
Strictly speaking, the verb lacks agreement: person and number marking is provided by up to 2 enclitic pronouns. If either is a local pronoun (K, L, M, KA, LA, MA, KL, KAL, KLA, KALA), that pronoun must be the 1st enclitic.
| Pronoun | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|
| -k | -K | K person singular |
| -l | -L | L person singular |
| -m | -M | M person singular |
| -ka | -KA | K person plural |
| -la | -LA | L person plural |
| -ma | -MA | M person plural |
| -r | -HA | 3rd person, coreference host agent |
| -p | -HP | 3rd person, coreference host patient |
| -x | -HO | 3rd person, coreference host theme or relational object |
| 0 | -3 | 3rd person, other (phrase follows) |
There are also suffixes that combine 2 local arguments; these appear only with direct and inverse voices.
| Pronoun | Tag | 1st Argument | 2nd Argument |
|---|---|---|---|
| -s | -KL | K person singular | L person singular |
| -si | -KLA | K person singular | L person plural |
| -sa | -KAL | K person plural | L person singular |
| -sai | -KALA | K person plural | L person plural |
Currently, relational objects as well as trivalent themes are excluded from the hierarchy; this means that syllabic local pronouns are needed (if not already needed for other things).
The derivational prefixes fall into 4 groups or slots, in the following order: deontic and potential modals, process phases, static-to-dynamic, and adjective degree. Some of the prefixes are independent verbs from which the final vowel is deleted.
| Prefix | Tag | Description | Glosses | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Obl | Social Necessity, Obligation | "shall" | - |
| -- | Prm | Social Possibility, Permission | "may" | - |
| -- | Nec | Physical Necessity, Inevitability | "must" | - |
| -- | Pot | Physical Possibility, Potential | "can" | - |
| Prefix | Tag | Description | Glosses | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Inc | Inceptive Phase | "start" | "start" |
| -- | Pau | Pausative Phase | "stop" | "stop" |
| -- | Rsm | Resumptive Phase | "resume" | "resume" |
| -- | Cpl | Completive Phase | "finish" | "finish" ? |
| -- | Con | Continuative | "continue" | "keep" |
| -- | Sem | Semelfactive | "" | - |
| Prefix | Tag | Description | Glosses | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Sup | Selective Superlative | "the most X of Y" | - |
| -- | ??? | Absolute Superlative | "as X as possible" | - |
| -- | ??? | "very X" | "much" | |
| -- | ??? | "slightly X" | "little" | |
| -- | Cpr | Explicit Comparative | "more X than Y" | - |
| -- | ??? | Temporal Comparative | "more X than before" | - |
| -- | Equ | Explicit Equative | "as X as Y" | - |
| -- | ??? | Temporal Equative | "as X as before" | - |
| -- | Sat | Satisfactive | "X enough" | "enough" |
Verbs can also incorporate non-referential nouns.
Example verbs:
""
Content words are constructed from roots and affixes. For nouns, these are:
| Form | Description |
|---|---|
| CVXCV | root or stem |
| <VXC> | infix, determiner |
| -X | suffix, number |
The plural suffix (-P) is -n while the singular is unmarked. The determiner is infixed before the final vowel. The determiners are:
| Infix | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|
| <ixt> | -PRX | demonstrative, K-location |
| <uxt> | -MED | demonstrative, L-location |
| <axt> | -DST | demonstrative, Distal |
| <id> | -DEF | definite |
| <???> | -SPC | specific indefinite |
Nouns can be classified as count or mass and as possessed or non-possessed. Count nouns distinguish singular and plural. Possessed nouns take simple enclitic pronouns as their possessors and are automatically definite, without determiners.
| Pronoun | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|
| -k | -K | K person singular |
| -l | -L | L person singular |
| -m | -M | M person singular |
| -ka | -KA | K person plural |
| -la | -LA | L person plural |
| -ma | -MA | M person plural |
| -r | -HA | 3rd person, coreference host agent |
| -p | -HP | 3rd person, coreference host patient |
| -x | -HO | 3rd person, coreference host theme or relational object |
| 0 | -3 | 3rd person, other (phrase follows) |
| -?? | -U | Unspecified possessor |
Example nouns:
hastuma "our home"
xiltaxtan "those houses"
Nouns are derived by appending a modifier to a base noun. The modifier may be a verb or another noun; when it's a verb, the final vowel of the base noun is deleted (but what about infixed determiners? some of those are verbs).
page started: 2011.May.20 Fri
current date: 2011.May.31 Tue
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
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