Note: The letters æ, œ, and y stand for the harmonizing vowels (low, mid, and high/zero, respectively); N stands for the homorganic nasal.
| (Temp-) | (Evid-) | (Ctf-) | Subj- | (Obj-) | [Align-] | Root | (-Modal) | [-Aspect] | (-Theme) |
| (Temp-) | Imp#- | (Obj-) | [Align-] | Root | [-Aspect] | (-Theme) |
Attributive forms are always coreferential, agreeing with the head noun. Secondary forms are always coreferential with one of the host verb's arguments, while adjunct forms are independent. Complement forms may be either coreferential or independent.
| (Temp-) | (Evid-) | (Ctf-) | Cor#- | (Obj-) | [Align-] | Root | (-Modal) | [-Aspect] | (-Theme) |
| (Temp-) | (Evid-) | (Ctf-) | Subj- | Cor#- | [Align-] | Root | (-Modal) | [-Aspect] | (-Theme) |
| (Temp-) | (Evid-) | (Ctf-) | Subj- | (Obj-) | [Align-] | Root | (-Modal) | [-Aspect] | -Cor# |
(Poss-) appears only for possessed nouns, but is mandatory there, specifying the possessor. (Subj-) appears only on predicate forms, but is mandatory there. (-Number) appears only on non-predicate forms, but is mandatory there. The non-agreement markers are used only as needed. Note that the Subject-Object Hierarchy doesn't apply to nouns!
| (Evid-) | (Ctf-) | (Subj-) | (Poss-) | Root | (-Number) |
A y will appear between an apparent final stem consonant and the number suffix.
| Tag | Suffix | Name | Application |
|---|---|---|---|
| -S | -h | Singular | possessed count nouns |
| -P | -i (= j) | Plural | all count nouns |
The pronominal subject and object prefixes appear according to the Subject-Object Hierarchy:
| 1# | > 2# | > 3T | > R# | > 3S | > 3P | > 3I | > 3O | > 3N | > 0 |
| 1NP | > 3T | > R# | > 3S | > 3P | > 3I | > 3O | > 3N | > 0 | |
| 2M# | > 1# | > 3T | > 3S | > 3P | > 3I | > 3O | > 3N | > 0 | |
| 1HP | > 3T | > 3S | > 3P | > 3I | > 3O | > 3N | > 0 |
The pronominal theme suffix can only be inanimate (-3T?, -3I, -3O, -3N, or -RI).
| Animate | Inanimate | Description | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Tag | Affix | Tag | Affix | Tag | Affixes | |
| 1S- | py- | 1XP- | pæ- | - | 1st person | |
| - | 1NP- | mæ- | 1st person Inclusive | |||
| 1HP- | næ- | 1st person Hortative | ||||
| 2S- | ky- | 2P- | kæ- | 2nd person | ||
| 2MS- | sy- | 2MP- | sæ- | 2nd person Imperative | ||
| 3S- | fy- | 3P- | fæ- | 3I- | šy- -šy | 3rd person |
| RS- | ty- | RP- | dæ- | RI- | čæ- -čæ | Coreferential |
| Tag | Affix | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 3T- | žœ- -žœ | 3rd person Topical |
| 3O- | jæ- -jæ | 3rd person Old information phrase |
| 3N- | xy- -xy | 3rd person New information phrase |
| Ind- | (hœ-) 0 | Impersonal |
Basically monovalent verbs are not marked for alignment. Bi- and tri-valent verbs forms with direct alignment are also unmarked while those with inverse alignment take the inverse prefix. Forms with object omission are also unmarked while passive forms take the inverse prefix. A single prefix is used for both reciprocal and reflexive alignments, depending on whether an object appears or not.
| Prefix | Full Valence | Decreased | Monovalent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tag | Usage | Tag | Usage | Tag | Usage | |
| 0 | Dir. | Direct | Agt. | Agentive | Dir. | Direct |
| læ- | Inv- | Inverse | Pat- | Patientive | - | |
| cœ- | Rcp- | Reciprocal | Rfx- | Reflexive | ||
The TAM components are modality (-Modal), aspect [-Aspect], evidentiality (Evid-), and temporal distance (Temp-).
Modality here (limited to deontic and potential modalities) may be considered a form of regular derivation.
| Tag | Suffix | Name | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| -Obl | - | Obligation | deontic |
| -Prm | - | Permission | deontic |
| -Nec | - | Necessity | potential |
| -Cap | - | Capability | potential |
Aspect here includes both inflection and regular derivation.
| Tag | Suffix | Name | Type | Bases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .Stat | 0 | Stative | direct | static, mixed |
| -Inch | - | Inchoative | derived | static, mixed |
| -Term | - | Terminative | derived | static, mixed |
| .Aor | 0 | Aoristic | direct | dynamic |
| -Prg | - | Progressive | direct | dynamic |
| -Ret | -kœ | Retrospective | indirect | dynamic, mixed |
| -Pro | -sœ | Prospective | indirect | dynamic, mixed |
| -Hab | - | Habitual | indirect | dynamic, mixed |
Forms not indicated as future are past or present.
| Tag | Prefix | Name | Type | Bases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prt. | 0 | Participant | direct | limited person |
| Wit- | bœ- | Witness | direct | other person |
| Hrs- | uæ- | Hearsay | indirect | any |
| Ded- | - | Deductive | indirect | any |
| Pos- | - | Possibility | indirect | any |
| Fut- | čœ- | Future | indirect | all |
The temporal distance prefixes specify how far in the past or future the situation takes place. They are used on absolute verbs as past, future, or contrafactual tense markers. They might also be used with relative verbs in the retrospective or prospective for relative temporal distance. Note that past or future time is specified by other means. The lack of any temporal distance prefix on an absolute verb indicates present time.
| Tag | Prefix | Usage with Past | Usage with Future | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thn- | æ- | "at that time" | "at that time" | absolute |
| Now- | œs- | "just now" | "right now" | |
| Prx- | æN- | "recently" | "soon" | |
| Dst- | gœl- | "not so recently" | "not so soon" | |
| Leg- | æmmœ- | (legendary) | - | |
| Imm- | œsæ- | "right before" | "just after" | relative |
| 0 | 0 | (unspecified) | (unspecified) | |
| Rem- | gœlæ- | "long before" | "long after" |
page started: 2010.Jul.03 Sat
current date: 2010.Jul.06 Tue
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
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