Each noun is either animate or inanimate. Nouns are inflected for number and case. Number is singular and plural, with singular unmarked. The cases are nominative (Nom), accusative (Acc), absolutive (Abs), vocative (Voc), genitive (Gen), partitive (Par), comitative (Com), dative (Dat), instrumental (Ins), and ablative (Abl).
All noun stems end in vowels. The stem is the accusative singular for animate nouns and the absolutive singular for inanimate nouns. The endings for the vocative singular, the nominative singular, and the genitive singular depend on the specific vowel with that vowel replaced:
| Case | Singular Endings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -Abs | -i | -e | -a | -u | -o |
| -Acc | |||||
| -Gen | -yo | -a | -o | -wa | -oa |
| -Voc | -i | -e | -e | -wi | -oi |
| -Nom | -iš | -eš | -eš | -wiš | -oiš |
There may also be accent shifts. The remaining endings are added to the stem vowel:
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| -Abs | -* | -n |
| -Acc | ||
| -Nom | -* | -biš |
| -Voc | -* | -bi |
| -Gen | -* | -na |
| -Par | -šan | |
| -Com | -cu | -ncu |
| -Dat | -da | -nda |
| -Ins | -be | -mbe |
| -Abl | -go | -ngo |
In the following tables, = indicates a proclitic form.
| Case | 1S | 1XP | 1NP | 2S | 2P | RFX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom | saiš | saniš | paniš | doiš | doniš | - |
| 0 | niš | 0 | niš | |||
| Acc | me= | neš= | wax= | te= | yux= | se= |
| Gen | ma= | neka= | waka= | ta= | yuka= | sa= |
| Dat | mo= | neku= | waku= | to= | yuku= | so= |
| All | meda | sanda | panda | teda | donda | seda |
| Ins | mebe | sambe | pambe | tebe | dombe | sebe |
| Com | mecu | sancu | pancu | tecu | doncu | secu |
| Abl | mego | sango | pango | tego | dongo | sego |
| Par | - | nekšan | wakšan | - | yukšan | sešan |
| Case | 3AS | 3AP | 3IS | 3IP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abs | - | - | ki= | kin= |
| Acc | ka= | kan= | - | - |
| Nom | keš | kabiš | - | - |
| Gen | ko= | kana= | kyo= | kina= |
| Dat | ko= | kanu= | - | - |
| All | kada | kanda | kida | kinda |
| Ins | kabe | kambe | kibe | kimbe |
| Com | kacu | kancu | kicu | kincu |
| Abl | kago | kango | kigo | kingo |
| Par | - | kašan | kišan | |
Postpositions can take the following cases: dative as allative, instrumental as perlative and ablative. The unmarked postposition is locative.
Each verb is either static or dynamic and either intransitive or transitive. Verbs are inflected for tense, mood, aspect, grammatical voice, polarity, and syntactical function; these are all marked by suffixes. Verbs can also take applicative prefixes. These are:
| Prefix | Tag | Corresponding Case |
|---|---|---|
| cu- | ? | locative/comitative |
| da- | ? | allative/dative |
| go- | ? | ablative |
| be- | ? | perlative/instrumental |
The grammatical voices are active and passive, with active unmarked. Passive is marked by the suffix -ra (which may cause root or stem modification). The reflexive pronoun is used instead of a reflexive voice.
An applicative makes an intransitive verb transitive and replaces the direct object of an already transitive verb. The passive deletes the subject of a transitive verb, making the direct object the subject. The applicative and passive may be used together.
Positive polarity is unmarked. Negative polarity is marked by the suffix -enage (Neg) and affirmative polarity by -edeši (Aff). These are, in origin, auxiliary verbs.
The following table lists the aspects with their prefixes and tags. Stative applies only to static verbs while aoristic and progressive apply only to dynamic verbs; the other aspects apply to both.
| Suffix | Tag | Aspect |
|---|---|---|
| -0 | Sta | stative |
| -0 | Aor | aoristic |
| -en | Prg | progressive |
| -uk | Prf | perfect |
| -as | Pro | prospective |
| -'im | Hab | habitual |
These are marked by the "final" vowel suffix.
| Suffix | Tag | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| -i | Att | attributive (participles) |
| -e | Cor | infinitives and secondary predicates |
| -a | Imp | imperative/hortative/jussive |
| -ai | Sub | subjunctive/optative |
| -u | Fin | indicative |
The indicative may be followed by a post-final suffix, in which case the u may be deleted, depending on the stem and the suffix.
There are no passive imperatives.
These are the post-final "tense" suffixes.
| Suffix | Tag | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| -či | AT | absolute (present) time reference |
| -to | DT | definite (non-present) time reference |
| -so | RT | relative time reference |
| -bo | QT | question time reference |
| -'i | ST | subordinate time (nominalizer) |
An adjective is a word that can take comparison morphosyntax. Most adjectives are static intransitive verbs. Exceptions include "fast", "slow", "many", "few", "much", "little", "near", and "far". The comparison suffixes are:
| Suffix | Tag | Name |
|---|---|---|
| -?? | Sup | superlative |
| -?? | Cpr | comparative |
| -?? | Equ | equative |
Numbers aren't inflected, but ordinal numbers are derived from corresponding cardinal number using the suffix -?? (Ord).
page started: 2013.Jul.10 Wed
current date: 2013.Jul.10 Wed
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
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