The order of phrase components is Modifier-Head. The head word of the phrase, not necessarily a lexical noun, is inflected for case; any preceding nouns or participles have the absolutive form. Participles agree with the head word in gender. A phrase may begin with a determiner followed by a quantity word.
Phrases with neither determiner nor quantity word are definite except when used as predicates, when they're non-referential. Phrases with a quantity word but no determiner are indefinite. The quantity words include cardinal numbers and certain other words. The universal quantifier precludes any quantity word.
| Word | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|
| # | Prox | proximal demonstrative |
| # | Medi | medial demonstrative |
| # | Dist | distal demonstrative |
| # | Uni | universal quantifier |
| # | CQ | content question |
The unmarked order of components in a typical clause is Agent-Patient-Verb; in any case, the verb appears last.
Secondary predicates take the coreferential form and follow the coreferenced arguments.
A temporal adjunct specifies the temporal relation between the host situation and a subordinate one. It can be coreferential or non-coreferential. If the former, the adjunct verb takes the coreferential ending and if the latter, it takes a finite form. In both cases, the adjunct verb is followed by the conjunction Tmp. A coreferential adjunct clause follows the coreferenced argument while a non-coreferential one precedes the host clause. The tense of the adjunct verb corresponds to the temporal relation:
A complement clause is one that takes the place of the absolutive argument. It can be coreferential or non-coreferential. If the former, the verb takes the infinitive form and if the latter, the verb takes a finite ending and is followed by the complementizer nō (Cpl).
A relative (or attributive) clause precedes the phrase it modifies. It begins with a form of the relative pronoun RP, which agrees with head word in gender; note that the verb of the relative clause doesn't necessarily have the same gender.
These consist of two phrases, the subject and the predicate, in that order. Both are absolutive.
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current date: 2013.Dec.10 Tue
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