Mar22 –  A Constructed Language

Mar22 Inflectional Morphology

Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Text>, [IPA], -Tags-, and "Glosses".

Morphology Overview

The morphology tends to be modifier-head.

Person and Number Terminology

The following non-standard terminology is used here:

Word Classification

The morphological word classes are verbs, quantity words, nouns, and uninflected particles. Verbs are conjugated and nouns are declined while quantity words can be either, depending on the syntactical context. The distinction between a noun and a verb is made by the final content morpheme of the word stem.

Verbs include the words that are scalar, relational, or both as well as conventional verbs.

An important morphosyntactical distinction is animacy: each noun is either animate or inanimate. A noun is also either common or proper and either count or mass.

Noun Morphology

Noun Morphology
Slot Name Contents Unmarked
(Possessor) 2, Incl, 1S, 1P, 3 3/0
Prefinal Content* noun or verb root
Final Content noun root
Number P, NR S
Case Gen, Voc, Loc, Ins, Ben, Mal Abs

Nouns are inflected for referentiality, number, and case and may take personal prefixes marking a possessor. Plural and non-referential nouns are marked using suffixes, which may fuse with the following case suffix. The combined noun suffixes are shown in the following table:

C-Stem Noun Suffixes
Singular Plural Non-referential Tag Case Name
Anim Inan Anim Inan Anim Inan
-(V) -0 -ya -Vi -lo -o Absolutive
-ne -yas -los Gen Genitive
-a -yar -lor Loc Locative
-tek -Vitek -otek Ins Instrumental
-nor -Vinor -onor Ben Benefactive
-puh -Vipuh -opuh Mal Malefactive
-Vg - -yag - - - Voc Vocative

For stems modified by y or i, see Morphophonology.

V-Stem Noun Suffixes
Singular Plural Non-referential Tag Case Name
Anim Inan Anim Inan Anim Inan
-V -0 -Vya -Vi -Vlo -Vl Absolutive
-Vn -Vyas -Vlos Gen Genitive
-Vr -Vyar -Vlor Loc Locative
-tek -Vitek -Vtek Ins Instrumental
-nor -Vinor -Vnor Ben Benefactive
-puh -Vipuh -Vpuh Mal Malefactive
-Vg - -Vyag - - - Voc Vocative

For stems modified by i, see Morphophonology.

Personal Prefixes

If no personal prefix appears, the noun either has no specified possessor or has a phrasal possessor. The personal prefixes, which have additional uses besides noun possession, are shown in the following table:

Personal Noun Prefixes
Prefix Tag Description
bi- 1S- 1st person singular
ba- 1P- 1st person plural
na- Incl- Inclusive person
hu- 2- 2nd person
do- 3- 3rd person

Pronouns

The 3rd person pronouns distinguish animacy, number, and case:

3rd Person Pronouns
3AS 3AP 3IS 3IP Tag Case Name
gènta gèstaya ninte nistai Absolutive
gèntan gèstayas nintan nistayas Gen Genitive
gèntar gèstayar nintar nistayar Loc Locative
gèntetek gèstaitek nintetek nistaitek Ins Instrumental
gèntenor gèstainor nintenor nistainor Ben Benefactive
gèntepuh gèstaipuh nintepuh nistaipuh Mal Malefactive

The local and reflexive pronouns are based on the personal prefixes and distinguish case:

Other Personal Pronouns
1S 1P Incl 2 Rfx Tag Case Name
binta bastaya nastaya hustaya šinta Absolutive
bintan bastayas nastayas hustayas šintan Gen Genitive
bintar bastayar nastayar hustayar šintar Loc Locative
bintetek bastaitek nastaitek hustaitek šintetek Ins Instrumental
bintenor bastainor nastainor hustainor šintenor Ben Benefactive
bintepuh bastaipuh nastaipuh hustaipuh šintepuh Mal Malefactive

The interrogative (content question) pronouns are distinguish specific QSpc from generic QGnr.

Interrogative Pronouns
Specific Generic Tag Case Name
čare čaano Absolutive
čarne čaanos Gen Genitive
čara čaanor Loc Locative
čartek čaanotek Ins Instrumental
čarnor čaanonor Ben Benefactive
čarpuh čaanopuh Mal Malefactive

The demonstrative pronouns, if they exist, are inflected for animacy, number, and case.

Verb Morphology

Finite Verb Morphology
Slot Name Contents Unmarked
Agreement 2, Incl, 1S, 1P, 3 3/0
Applicative Loc, Ins, Ben, Mal patient
Prefinal Content* noun or verb root
Final Content verb root
Direction Dir, Inv Inv/Dir @Class
Aspect Aor, Prf, Pro, Hab any @ActionType
Order 3, 0, 2
Patient Agreement 3A, 3I, Rfx local/0
Mode Fut, Ctf, EN, Jus realis

Imperative Morphology
Slot Name Contents Unmarked
Agreement 1S, 1P, 3 3/0
Applicative Loc, Ins, Ben, Mal patient
Prefinal Content* noun or verb root
Final Content verb root
Direction Dir Dir @Class
Aspect Aor, Prf, Pro, Hab any @ActionType
Order Imp
Patient Agreement 3A, 3I, Rfx local/0

Participle Morphology
Slot Name Contents Unmarked
Agreement 2, Incl, 1S, 1P, 3 3/0
Applicative Loc, Ins, Ben, Mal patient
Prefinal Content* noun or verb root
Final Content verb root
Direction Dir, Inv Inv/Dir @Class
Aspect Aor, Prf, Pro, Hab any @ActionType
Order Ptc
Patient Agreement 3A, 3I, Rfx local/0

Not all verbs have adverbial forms.

Adverbial Morphology
Slot Name Contents Unmarked
Agreement 2, Incl, 1S, 1P 3/0
Prefinal Content* noun or verb root
Final Content verb root
Patient Agreement 3A, 3I local/0

Finite Copula Morphology
Slot Name Contents Unmarked
Agreement 2, Incl, 1S, 1P, 3 3/0
Final Content Cop
Patient Agreement 3A, 3I local/0
Mode Fut, Ctf, EN, Jus realis

Aspect and Mode

If aspect is unmarked, the aspect depends on the action type implied by the final content morpheme. A static verb has stative aspect. A habitual verb has habitual aspect. A dynamic verb has progressive aspect. A telic verb has aoristic aspect. The action type may be reflected as a stem vowel which is omitted before the aspect suffix.

The aspect suffixes are shown in the following table:

Aspect Suffixes
Suffix Tag Mode
-id -èd -od -ud -ud -Aor Aoristic
-is -es -as -os -us -Prf Perfect
-er -ar -ar -ar -or -Pro Progressive-prospective
-il -il -el -èl -il -Hab Habitual

Realis mode is unmarked. The mode suffixes are shown in the following table:

Mode Suffixes
Suffix Tag Mode
-na -Fut Future
-too -Ctf Contrafactual
-kèn -EN Epistemic Necessity
- -Jus Jussive

Agreement Morphology

The abbreviations not shown are all person-number-animacy tags.

Abbreviations
Tag Description
L Local person & number
0 Unspecified argument
C Coreferential argument
R Relativized argument
X Reflexive

The following table shows the valid combinations of agreement, direction, order, and patient agreement; -CV alternatives follow consonant stems:

Agreement Combinations
Agent Patient Prefix Direction Ending Order
3 RA/RI do- - ki -tug -ton Participial
L RA/RI Local- - ki -tug -ton
0 RA/RI - ki -tug -ton
R 3A/3I ku - -tug -ton
R L Local- ku - -t/-te
R 0 ku - -t/-te
R X -tèš
3 3A/3I do- - ki -mig -min Finite
L 3A/3I Local- - ki -mig -min
0 3A/3I - ki -mig -min
3 3A/3I ku - -mig -min
3 L Local- ku - -n/-me
3 0 ku - -n/-me
3 X -miš
L X Local- -liš
L 0 Local- -l/o ?
1S 2 bi- - ki -h/-he
1P 2 ba- - ki -h/-he
2 1S bi- ku - -h/-he
2 1P ba- ku - -h/-he
2 3A/3I ku - -sog -san Imperative
2 1S bi- ku - -s/-se
2 1P ba- ku - -s/-se
2 0 ku - -s/-se
2 X -seš
C 3A/3I -g -n Adverbial
C L Local-
C 0

The personal prefixes for participles and adverbial forms are the same as those for nouns:

Personal Verb Prefixes
Prefix Tag Description Group
bi- 1S- 1st person singular Local
ba- 1P- 1st person plural
na- Incl- Inclusive person
hu- 2- 2nd person
do- 3- 3rd person Other

Applicatives

An applicative respecifies the semantic role of the patient, as determined by the agreement morphology. The applicative prefixes are shown in the following table:

Applicative Prefixes
Prefix Tag Role
šaa- ALoc- locative/allative/ablative
des- AIns- instrumental
pèn- ABen- benefactive
ho'- AMal- malefactive

page started: 2017.Mar.26 Sun
current date: 2017.Apr.02 Sun
 content and form originated by qiihoskeh

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