Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Text>, [IPA], -Tags-, and "Glosses".
Noun stems end in either noun roots or nominalizing morphemes.
Most compound nouns are asymmetrical, with the modifier preceding the head. There are a large number of semantic classes according to the implied relationship between the head and the modifier. There may also be some symmetrical compound nouns.
| Modifier | Head | Example | Inverse | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| set | element | - | row house | - | house row |
| entity | detail | - | car tire | - | apple pie |
| source | product | - | beeswax | - | coal mine |
| cause | effect | - | water mark | - | tear gas |
| action | object | - | game animal | - | deer hunting |
| activity | implement | - | tennis ball | - | table tennis |
| inhabitant | location | - | family land | - | table lamp |
| event | time | - | vacation day | - | spring festival |
| substance | container | - | tea cup | - | cup of tea |
| product | producer | - | silkworm | - | cow's milk |
| sold entity | where available | - | sushi bar | - | grocery sushi |
| material | artifact | - | stone lion | - | building stone |
| protector | danger | - | mask gas? | - | gas mask |
| possessor | possessum | - | governor's mansion | - | ??? |
| Modifier | Head | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| species | genus | - | pine tree |
| selector | entity | - | soldier ant |
| resemblance | entity | - | cherry bomb |
| override | entity | - | space ship |
| whole | analogous part | - | tooth root |
| energy source | instrument | - | wind mill |
| purpose | instrument | - | lamp shade |
| object | instrument | - | pepper stone |
| energy source | instrument | - | electric lamp |
| application locus | substance | - | tooth paste |
There are 2 suffixes which form action nouns from verb stems: -AN1 and -AN2: both kinds of action nouns are inanimate. The possessor of an AN1 noun has the patient role while the possessor of an AN2 noun has the agent role. In the case of scalar verb stems, the possessor of AN1 is also the subject of comparison.
Participant nouns are formed by appending a nominalizer to the verb stem; the most common ones are shown in the following table:
| Suffix | Tag | Animacy | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | PatA | Animate | patient |
| - | PatI | Inanimate | patient |
| - | Agent | Animate | agent |
| - | Instr | Inanimate | instrument |
| - | Locat | Inanimate | location |
| - | - | - | - |
Superlatives are nouns regularly derived from scalar verb stems by appending the suffix -ta -Sup. They are inflected for number and case and distinguish animacy in the absolutive.
Verb stems end in either verb roots or derivational morphemes.
When a relational root is combined with one of locomotion, the relational appears last. The perlative root "pass" may appear in between.
The locational verbs, which are static, are shown in the following table:
| Word | Tag | Description | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|
| žuusa | ProxL | proximal | "here" |
| toosa | MediL | medial | "there" |
| laasa | DistL | distal | "yonder" |
| čaasa | QL | interrogative | "where" |
The autocausative suffix -ki -Auto derives dynamic verbs from static ones. However, its primary purpose is to modify the argument structure, making the agent the cause of its own state. When applied to patient-oriented verbs, such as the scalars and relational verbs, this is like using a reflexive in that no patient can be expressed (unless an applicative is also used). But when applied to agent-oriented verbs, such as perception and mental state verbs, the original patient is retained; these are often lexical derivations, e.g. hos "hear" becoming hoxki "listen".
The completive suffix -to -Cmpt derives telic verbs from non-telic ones (usually dynamic).
Cardinal numbers are quantity words:
| Value | Initial | Value | Initial | Value | Initial | Value | Initial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | yav· | 10 | yaad· | 100 | yavotk· | 1000 | yavishn· |
| 2 | soy· | 20 | soid· | 200 | soyotk· | 2000 | soyishn· |
| 3 | duz· | 30 | duzd· | 300 | duzotk· | 3000 | duzishn· |
| 4 | nan· | 40 | nand· | 400 | nanotk· | 4000 | nanishn· |
| 5 | rey· | 50 | reed· | 500 | reyotk· | 5000 | reyishn· |
| 6 | shil· | 60 | shild· | 600 | shilotk· | 6000 | shilishn· |
| 7 | ther· | 70 | therd· | 700 | therotk· | 7000 | therishn· |
| 8 | vim· | 80 | vind· | 800 | vimotk· | 8000 | vimishn· |
| 9 | khov· | 90 | khood· | 900 | khovotk· | 9000 | khovishn· |
Compound numbers are formed highest order to lowest order all but the last number taking the aggregate final -an -Agg, e.g. shilotkan nandan soyo "642". Zero is pukh·.
Fractional numbers represent denominators formed from cardinal numbers. They're formed by appending the derivational medial -asht -Den to the stem of the last part of the number, e.g. yavotkashto "1%".
Ordinal numbers are nouns regularly derived from cardinal number stems by appending the suffix -ta -Sup. They are inflected for number and case and distinguish animacy in the absolutive.
page started: 2017.Mar.26 Sun
current date: 2017.Mar.28 Tue
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
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