Oct17A –  A Constructed Language

Oct17A Morphology

Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Text>, «apa», -Tags-, and "Glosses".

Overview

Aside from a possibly null consonant prefix (as well as deletions), each word consists of an interleaved triconsonantal subject and quadrivocalic predicate. The non-standard interlinear form will be prefix-subject=predicate. The subject can be a noun, measurement unit, place value, pronoun, or tense marker. The predicate can be a verb, determiner, polarity marker, aspect marker, mood marker, or quantity (a digit value or a scalar quantity).

( )	sirabati
	SG-rabbit=white
	"a white rabbit"

The Prefix

The prefix can specify referentiality, indefiniteness, number, and mark the word as an auxiliary. Words lacking a prefix are generally definite.

The Prefix

Prefix	Tag	Description
m-	NR	Non-referential
s-	Sg	Indefinite Singular
k-	Pl	Indefinite Plural
d-	Aux	Auxiliary
č-	Aux.Sg	Auxiliary + Indefinite Singular
tl-	Aux.Pl	Auxiliary + Indefinite Plural

Tense, Aspect, Mood, and Polarity

The tense subjects (past, present, or future) also distinguish auxiliary vs non-auxiliary.

Tense Subjects

Past		Present		Future		Person
ŋtk	APst	ŋšk	APrs	lfk	AFut	Auxiliary
ŋtv	Pst	ŋšv	Prs	lfv	Fut	Non-auxiliary

Aspect, mood, and polarity are predicates.

Temporal & Polarity Predicates

Root	Tag	Description	Group
_eo_	Prf	Perfect	Aspect
_oe_	Pro	Prospective
_iu_	Cul	Culminative
	Inc	Inceptive
	Sing	Singulative
o_i_	Inch	Inchoative
	Auto	Autocausative
aeae	Hab	Habitual
	Con	Conative
_aie	Pot	Potential
	Jus	Jussive	Mood
e_u_	Ctf	Contrafactual
_au_	PQ	Question	Polarity
_ua_	Pos	Positive
_ie_	Neg	Negative

( )	itē		Pst=Neg		past negative

( )	lefō		Fut=Prf		future perfect

Pronouns and Determiners

The personal, reflexive, and interrogative pronouns have corresponding possessive determiners. The remaining determiners are the demonstratives and the interrogative determiner.

Pronouns & Determiners

Pronoun	Determiner	Tag	Description
mvn	ii_i	1	1st person singular
mkn	ii_a	1Pl	1st person plural
tvn	uu_u	2	2nd person singular
tkn	uu_a	2Pl	2nd person plural
škn		Incl	Inclusive person plural
tlvn		Rfx	Reflexive
čvn		QP	Interrogative

The demonstratives can also be treated as locational verbs.

Demonstrative Predicates

Determiner	Tag	Description
_u_i	Prox	Proximal
_i_u	Medi	Medial
_a_a	Dist	Distal
_e_e	QD	Interrogative
_o_o	Same	Anaphoric

Number Words

Cardinal Numbers

The value of a number word is calculated as the product of the place value and the digit value.

Place Value Subjects

Root	Value	Root	Value	Root	Value
svl	1	tžn	10	zhr	100

Digit Predicates

Root	Value	Root	Value
	0	_ai_	1
	2	_oai	3
	4		5
	6		7
	8		9

Example Number Words

Word	Value	Word	Value	Word	Value	Word	Value	Word	Value	Word	Value
savil	1	sovali	3	tažin	10	tožani	30	zahir	100	zohari	300

Partitive Words

A partitive word has žbl Par as the subject and a digit or a scalar quantity as the predicate.

Ordinal Numbers

An ordinal number has mpr Ord as the subject and a digit as the predicate.

Superlatives

A superlative word has psh Sup as the subject and a scalar as the predicate.

Adverbial Words

A non-temporal adverbial word consists of a non-temporal measurement unit subject + a quantity predicate. Further details for both are covered in the syntax chapter(s).

Temporal Adverbial Words

The kinds of temporal adverbial words are temporal unit + temporal determiner, temporal unit + quantity verb, and tense + quantity verb. The temporal determiners are Prox for utterance time, Dist for anaphoric time, and QD for interrogative time. The tenses used are the non-K-person variety.

( )	tusmi
	day=Prox
	"today"

( )	horaŋi
	hour="3"
	"3 hours"

Derivational Morphology

The combination of a role noun with a verb may be lexicalized. The role nouns are:

Role Nouns

Noun	Tag	Role
džm	Agt	Agent
tšn	Ins	Instrument
lps	Loc	Location
hrk	Prd	Product
	Pat	Patient

( )	tišonu
	Ins=write
	"pen"

page started: 2022.Oct.18 Tue
current date: 2022.Oct.25 Tue
content and form originated by qiihoskeh

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