Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Text>, «apa», -Tags-, and "Glosses".
A scalar is a verb or quantity word that denotes a scale of comparison and a direction of comparison. The direction of comparison has 3 possibilities; these are labeled positive, negative, and normative. The term normative refers to a range of neutral values, while positive refers to greater values and negative refers to lesser values. Note that scalar (arithmetic) positives and negatives are not the same as polar (logical) positive and negative. Every scale has a positive verb root and most scales have a negative one, but normatives in Oct17A require syntax as well as morphology.
The subject of comparison refers to the entity being compared with respect to the scale of comparison and the standard of comparison refers to what it's compared to. The various scalar functions differ mainly in how the standard of comparison manifests.
The scalar quantity verb roots are e_oa "enough" (satisfactive), a_oi "too many", "too much" (excessive), o_ae "many", "much" (positive), "few", "little" (negative), and "how many/few/much/little?" (interrogative). They may combine with place value nouns as well as units and other nouns.
A scalar measurement adverbial is either relative, representing the absolute difference between the value of the subject of comparison and that of the standard of comparison, or absolute. When absolute, the adverbial follows an absolute scalar. When relative, the adverbial follows a positive, negative, or normative scalar. Any measurement unit noun appropriate to the scale of comparison can be used in a scalar adverbial. Note that some scalars have no possible measurement units. Scalar measurement words preclude tolerance.
| ( ) | onači tažin | |
|---|---|---|
| inch="3" | "10" | |
| "13 inches" | ||
The scalar adverbs are words following the scalar word, with tolerance after modifier (and before any polarity). The tolerance noun is ŋgl Tol.
| Word | Tag | Name | Verb | Description or Glosses | Slot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eŋgola | Sat | Satisfactive | e_oa | "enough" | "X enough", "so X" | Modifier |
| aŋgoli | Exc | Excessive | a_oi | "too many", "too much" | "too X" | |
| egle | SQ | Value Question | _e_e | Q | "how X?" | Tolerance |
| igulo | Nar | Narrow | _iuo | "tight" | "slightly", "precisely", "by a little" | |
| aguli | Wid | Wide | _aui | "loose" | "very", "roughly", "by a lot" | |
| oŋgel | Max | Maximal-minimal | o_e_ | "on top of" | "as X as possible" | |
The term tolerance refers to how wide or narrow the normative range is. Numerous adverbs are used in translating tolerance into English.
When the scalar verb is normative, narrow tolerance may be translated as "precisely" and wide tolerance as "roughly". When modifying a superlative, narrow tolerance may be translated as "by a little" and wide tolerance as "by a lot". Tolerance is medium if unmarked and no scalar measurement is specified.
For the maximal kind, the Max verb appears after a positive scalar verb, while for the minimal kind, it appears after a negative scalar verb. These are both translated as "as X as possible", where X is the scalar verb's translation. Note that these are treated as marked tolerance.
For a normal (or relative) scalar, the standard of comparison is always some implicit norm whose value is appropriate to the subject of comparison. A normative verb indicates that the scalar value is more or less the same as the norm while a positive verb indicates a greater value and a negative verb a lesser value.
Either tolerance or relative measurement is possible. With a positive or negative scalar, narrow tolerance may be translated as "slightly" and wide tolerance as "very". When positive, the value of a measurement adverbial is the amount greater than the upper bound of the norm and when negative, it's the amount less than the lower bound of the norm.
| ( ) | onadzu. |
|---|---|
| man=heavy | |
| "The man is heavy." |
| ( ) | elovaš onači. | |
|---|---|---|
| woman=tall | inch="3" | |
| "The woman is 3 inches taller than the norm." | ||
The scalar verb combines with the noun mlg Norm for normatives and with gzb Abs for absolute values. The qualified noun appears in the following word, whose verb is the dependent-marked possessive _i_o DMP. An absolute scalar must be followed by a measurement constituent.
| ( ) | omalgu bilko. | |
|---|---|---|
| Norm=heavy | child=DMP | |
| "The child's weight is normal." | ||
| ( ) | ogazbu dīgo panidë tožani. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abs=heavy | dog=DMP | pound="1" | "30" | |
| "The dog weighs 31 pounds." | ||||
A normative scalar may be followed by a measurement constituent; the value is the difference between the upper and lower bounds of the norm.
A measurement question requests a scalar answer (not necessarily an absolute value), as in "how hot?". It uses the tolerance word SQ. A scalar measurement adverbial is not possible.
| ( ) | elovaš egle. | |
|---|---|---|
| woman=tall | SQ | |
| "How tall is the woman?" | ||
A manner adverbial specifies the manner in which an action is performed; it follows the action constituent. The verb of the manner word is the scalar and the noun is dšr Man.
| ( ) | kitke dušoru. | |
|---|---|---|
| cat=eat | Man=slow | |
| "The cat is eating slowly." | ||
A comparative is an explicit comparison and may be one of equality (using a normative) or inequality (using a positive or negative). The scale of comparison may apply to
A comparative is indicated as such by the presence of a cotemporal adjunct whose verb is _e_a "at" and whose noun (with its qualifiers) specifies the standard of comparison. The subject of comparison appears in the following clause.
Either tolerance or a relative measurement is possible. If the comparative is one of inequality, narrow tolerance may be translated as "(by) a little" and wide tolerance as "(by) a lot" (there are other translations).
| ( a) | ketka odāgu. | |
|---|---|---|
| cat=at | dog=heavy | |
| "The dog is heavier than the cat." | ||
| ( b) | dēga kitke dušoru aŋešave. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dog=at | cat=eat | Man=slow | Prs=Hab | |
| "The cat eats more slowly than the dog." | ||||
| ( c) | mëpettla otmatle nidze itū. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NR-potato=at | tomato=many | man=eat | Pst=Cul | |
| "The man ate more tomatoes than potatoes." | ||||
| ( d) | lēša nidze otmatle itū. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| woman=at | man=eat | tomato=many | Pst=Cul | |
| "The man ate more tomatoes than the woman." | ||||
| ( e) | tēna mevano ohraŋe itū. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2=at | 1=walk | hour=many | Pst=Cul | |
| "I walked more hours than you." | ||||
| ( f) | mēna irabati indaz osëvale ešō. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1=at | rabbit=white | man=see | ones=many | Prs=Prf | |
| "The man has seen the white rabbit more times than I have." | |||||
These require (at least) 2 words for the standard; the noun is the same for both. The subject of comparison's referent may be compared to an earlier or later instance of itself or it may instead be compared to an earlier or later instance of some other entity. In the first case, the reflexive pronoun Rfx is used as the standard of comparison noun. In both cases, either the perfect Prf (earlier) or the prospective Pro (later) appears as the verb of the 1st word (the 2nd verb is _e_a "at").
| ( ) | tlevon tlēna onadzu. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rfx=Prf | Rfx=at | man=heavy | |
| "The man is heavier than he used to be." | |||
| ( ) | loveš lēša onadzu. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| woman=Pro | woman=at | man=heavy | |
| "The man is heavier than the woman will be." | |||
A satisfactive comparison is used to affirm or question the suitability of the subject of comparison for some actual or potential result, with respect to the scale of comparison while an excessive comparison is used to deny or question the suitability of the subject of comparison for some actual or potential result, with respect to the scale of comparison. The adverb following the scalar is either Sat for satisfactive or Exc for excessive. These are used in various kinds of sentences, one of which is a reason clause followed by a conditional sentence.
Either tolerance or relative measurement is possible (but not common).
| ( ) | onadzu eŋgola žōku baraše obreš nodze sipuč endaz abiruš utā. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| man=heavy | Sat | Rat=Sub | chair=old | chair=on | man=sit | If=Cul | man=cause | chair=break | Pst=Pos | |
| "The man was so heavy that if he sat on the old chair, he broke it." | ||||||||||
| ( ) | ikefan aŋgoli okafno nudzo zavine itē. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| coffee=hot | Exc | coffee=deplete | man=drink | 4=Pot | Pst=Neg | |
| "The man couldn't drink the too-hot coffee." | ||||||
| ( ) | onadzu aŋgoli utive baraše aŋgoli utā. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| man=heavy | Exc | Pst=Disj | chair=old | Exc | Pst=Pos | |
| "Either the man was too heavy or the chair was too old." | ||||||
A partitive construction selects a subset of some whole. The cardinality of the subset is specified by a partitive word (or words); this is followed by a word whose noun is ptk 3. The whole is specified by the word or words immediately preceding the partitive word.
| ( ) | ikitka žobali patake. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| cat=1Pl | Par="3" | 3=old | |
| "3 of our cats are old." | |||
The ordinal construction is similar to the partitive construction. The subset is specified by an ordinal word. This is followed by a word whose noun is ptk 3, but there may be a number in between specifying the cardinality of the subset. The whole is specified by the word or words immediately preceding the ordinal word.
| ( ) | nudzi kutke mapir ipataki. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| man=Prox | cat=HMP | Ord="1" | 3=white | |
| "This man's 1st cat is white." | ||||
The basic superlative construction is similar to the ordinal construction. The subset is specified by an superlative word. This is followed by a word whose noun is ptk 3, but there may be a number in between specifying the cardinality of the subset. The whole is specified by the word or words immediately preceding the superlative word.
| ( ) | ikitka pasahe sovali iputiku. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cat=1Pl | Sup=old | "3" | 3=sleep | |
| "Our 3 oldest cats are sleeping." | ||||
A superlative word may also be modified by a following ordinal word.
| ( ) | ikitka pasahe mopari upotoki. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cat=1Pl | Sup=old | Ord="3" | 3=sleep | |
| "Our 3rd oldest cat is black." | ||||
page started: 2022.Oct.20 Thu
current date: 2022.Oct.25 Tue
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
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