Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Text>, [IPA], -Tags-, and "Glosses".
The morphological word classes are numbers, scalar quantities, scalar verbs, non-scalar verbs, nouns, and particles.
The syntactical word classes are identifiers, specifiers, associationals, relationals, medials, quantities, determiners, predicate indicators, evidentials, and miscellaneous.
The syntax of Hive4 uses a number of terms requiring definitions:
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Construction | constituent replacing phrases and clauses |
Modifier | word or clitic appended to a construction with the result also a construction |
Argument | construction + case marker or the previous portion of the construction |
Predicate | construction + conjunction or time-when marker |
Product Role | suffix specifying which of a relational's roles the product set has |
Implicit Role | which of a specifier's roles the product set has |
Identifier | a form that can be used as the basis of a construction |
may be a pronoun, an impersonal verb, a locational, or some other specifier | |
Specifier | construction modifier specifying a subset of the current construction referent |
the construction's initial referent is universal | |
Associational | construction modifier specifying a superset of the current construction referent |
Relational | construction modifier taking arguments and producing a set related to the arguments |
the product set and each argument has a semantic role | |
Medial | construction modifier specifying a subset of the previous referent but taking an argument |
the reflexive marker makes a verb a medial | |
Quantifier | construction modifier specifying the cardinality of the construction |
either scalar or computational; has both cardinal and nominal forms | |
"many-much/few-little", "3" | |
Determiner | enclitic construction modifier indicating definite semantics and marking number |
Noun | root, stem, or form with implicit gender |
the possible roles are possessum and possessor | |
"cat", "mother" | |
Verb | root, stem, or form that may be marked for aspect |
used as specifier, medial, or relational, depending on marking; multiple classes | |
"rain", "walk", "in", "cook", "see", "give" | |
Scalar | verb or quantifier that may be marked for direction |
also able to be modified by a scalar adverb | |
"hot/cold" | |
Direction | prefix indicating whether a scalar is positive, negative, normative, or absolute |
- | - |
- | |
- |
If the verb stem is not compound (i.e. there's only 1 root), the spatial or scalar root is the head root.
Order | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
1. | Scalar Direction | (as above) |
2. | Modifier Root | mainly spatial or scalar if compound |
3. | Head Root | required verb root |
Order | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
1. | Scalar Direction | if modifier is scalar |
2. | Modifier Root | verb or noun root |
3. | Head Root | required noun root |
The scalar quantity word "many-much/few-little" has the following structure:
Order | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
1. | Scalar Direction | (as above) |
2. | Root | required |
3. | Nominalizer | null = cardinal |
Order | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
1. | Verb Stem | required |
2. | Polarity | null = positive |
3. | Aspect | null = stative |
4. | Product Role | null = specifier |
Order | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
1. | Noun Stem | required |
2. | Polarity | null = positive |
3. | Product Role | null = specifier |
I'm not sure if this is correct!
Order | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
1. | Scalar Quantity Stem | required |
2. | Polarity | null = positive |
The polarity of a word is the truth-value for either the proposition denoted by the whole predicate or some attributive proposition denoted by the modifier. Negative polarity is marked by the suffix -am, -an -Not while positive polarity is unmarked.
Roles are marked by suffixes.
Suffix | Tag | Name | Description | |
---|---|---|---|---|
-mo | -T | Theme | inanimate patient/locatee/possessum or theme | Relational |
-or | -R | Recipient | animate patient/locatee/possessum or recipient | |
-in | -D | Donor | animate donor, agent, or actor | |
-la' | -I | Instrument | inanimate instrument | |
-kei | -L | Location | inanimate location or animate comitative or possessor | |
- | -X | Reflexive | = other animate argument | Medial |
Specifier |
Cases are marked by clitics following the construction:
Clitic | Tag | Name | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Theme | inanimate patient/locatee/possessum or theme | ||
- | =Obl | Recipient | animate patient/locatee/possessum or recipient |
Donor | animate donor, agent, or actor | ||
- | =Ins | Instrument | inanimate instrument |
- | =Loc | Location | inanimate location or animate comitative or possessor |
- | =Cpr | Comparand | standard of comparison |
Precedence for determining the role of the non-case-marked argument is
Theme > Donor > Location > Recipient
minus the product role; all other arguments are case-marked.
These conjoin the preceding construction with what follows.
Clitic | Tag | Name | Description |
---|---|---|---|
- | =Agg | Aggregation | union of referent sets |
- | =Alt | Alternation | selection of 1 referent set |
Verb roots are divided into a number of classes according to their argument structures. Scalar verbs have an additional case role: comparand.
Label | Name | Implicit Role | Case Roles |
---|---|---|---|
V_1 | Impersonal | ? | - |
V_2 | Intransitive | Actor | Instrument |
V_3 | Spatial | Locatee | Location |
V_4 | Inverse Transitive | Patient | Agent, Instrument, Reflexive |
V_5 | Direct Transitive | Agent | Patient, Instrument, Reflexive |
V_6 | Ditransitive | Theme | Recipient, Donor, Instrument, Reflexive |
Compound verb stems have additional role combinations.
Suffix | Tag | Name | Description | Applies to |
---|---|---|---|---|
.Sta | Stative | state or resulting state, depending on type | all verbs | |
-te, -t- | -Cul | Culminative | completion of a process and entry to a state | |
-si, -x- | -Pro | Prospective-progressive | prospective or progressive, depending on type | |
-ku, -kw- | -Exp | Experiential | indefinite relative past | |
-us, -us- | -Eve | Eventual | indefinite relative future | |
-you, -yob- | -Ctu | Continuative | continuation of a state or process, depending on type | |
-daa, -dah- | -Inc | Inceptive | start of a process | process verbs |
- | -Pau | Pausative | interuption of a process | |
- | -Rsm | Resumptive | resumption of a process | |
- | -Sem | Semelfactive | a single step of a process | unitizable verbs |
Each verb root, stem, or form has an action type.
Label | Name | Description | Aspect Usage | Group | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.Sta | -Pro | -Ctu | ||||
VS_ | Scalar | can be scale of comparison | either | progressive | state | State |
VB_ | Binary | other | stative | prospective | state | |
VH_ | Habitual | multiple occasions or long-term | stative | progressive | state | Habitual |
VU_ | Unitizable | can be divided into steps | perfect | progressive | process | Process |
VC_ | Culminating | terminates in transition into state | perfect | progressive | process | |
VE_ | Event | treated as single transition | perfect | prospective | state | Event |
A definite construction may be used as the basis for a partitive or superlative construction or may be complete and followed by a case marker or predicate indicator. An indefinite construction may be continued by appending additional modifiers.
The following clitics convert an indefinite construction into a definite one:
Clitic | Tag | Name | Description |
---|---|---|---|
- | =S | Definite Singular | precludes partitive syntax |
- | =P | Definite Plural | also used for mass entities |
A partitive construction consists of a plural definite construction to which a quantifier is appended.
A superlative construction consists of a plural definite construction to which a scalar verb form is appended, usually as a specifier. A quantifier may follow the scalar verb.
The following table shows the syntactical symbols used with the corresponding semantic symbols:
Syntax | Semantics | Description |
---|---|---|
# | start of construction | |
—> | becomes | |
& | intersection | |
^ | set complement | |
== | equivalence | |
<> | non-equivalence | |
() | empty set | |
a | A | argument |
c | C | any construction |
d | D | definite construction |
e | E | indefinite construction |
i | I | identifier |
k | case marker | |
n | determiner | |
p | predicate | |
q | Q | quantifier |
r | R | relational |
s | S | specifier |
t | predicate indicator |
Definite and indefinite constructions have different semantics. The following table shows the resulting set or proposition for each syntactical sequence:
Syntax | Result | Notes |
---|---|---|
i —> e | I | - |
s —> e | S | but see superlative |
c k —> a | A | - |
a* c r —> c e | R(C, A*) | - |
e1 e2 —> e | E1 & E2 | - |
e q —> e | E | cardinality determined |
e n —> d | D | - |
e d —> d | E & D | - |
d q —> e | ? | partitive |
d s n —> d | ? | superlative; s must be scalar |
# c t —> p | C <> () | existence |
# d e t —> p | D & ^E == () | definition |
# d1 d2 t —> p | D1 == D2 | identity ... not sure if this works! |
- | - | - |
Except for ???, pronouns are definite.
Word | Tag | Name | Description | Group |
---|---|---|---|---|
- | 1 | 1st person singular | speaker | Local |
- | 2 | 2nd person singular | addressee | |
- | 2P | 2nd person plural | addressees | |
- | ND | Inclusive person dual | speaker + addressee | |
- | NP | Inclusive person plural | speaker + addressees | |
- | 3R | 3rd person animate singular | - | 3rd person |
- | 3RP | 3rd person animate plural | - | |
- | 3T | 3rd person inanimate singular | - | |
- | 3TP | 3rd person inanimate plural | - | |
- | CQ | Interrogative | - | Other |
- | - | - | - |
One of the associationals, =H, denotes the hive of some definite entity set. There are other associationals.
The locationals are specifiers; they don't have any middle or relational forms.
Word | Tag | Name | Description |
---|---|---|---|
- | LCon | Contextual | other non-anaphoric definite |
- | LDem | Demonstrative | what's pointed to |
- | LQ | Question | interrogative |
- | LSpk | Proximal | at the speaker's location |
- | LUni | Universal | all in the category |
The polar question particle PQ indicates that a main construction is a polar question. It appears immediately before the predicate indicator.
Word | Tag | Name | Description | Group |
---|---|---|---|---|
- | Now | Absolute Present | - | Main |
- | Pst | Definite Past | - | |
- | Fut | Definite Future | - | |
- | QPst | Interrogative Past | - | |
- | QFut | Interrogative Future | - | |
- | Jus | Jussive | - | |
- | Cpl | Complementizer | - | Complement |
- | Aft | Time After | host situation occurs after adjunct situation | Adjunct |
- | Bef | Time Before | host situation occurs before adjunct situation | |
- | Dur | Time During | host situation occurs during adjunct situation | |
- | Tmp | Time When | adjunct situation occurs during host situation | |
- | By | Means | - | |
- | For | Purpose | - | |
- | Rat | Reason | - | |
- | If | Conditional | - | |
- | Sim | Simultaneous | conjunction, at same time as the next construction | Coordinating |
- | Seq | Sequential | conjunction, preceding the next construction in the list | |
- | Dis | Disjunct | disjunction, exclusive to the other constructions in the list |
The coordinating conjunctions are used to make construction chains.
The evidential particles follow the main construction predicate indicator.
Word | Tag | Name | Description |
---|---|---|---|
- | EN | Epistemic Necessity | - |
- | EP | Epistemic Possibility | - |
- | - | - | - |
Positive and negative scalars are relative to a norm which is appropriate to the kind of entity denoted by the preceding construction.
Scalar extension and scalar precision are adverbials that follow the scalar word but are considered to be part of the same syntactical unit. When scalar extension and/or scalar precision is present, the scalar's polarity applies to the adverbial, e.g. "not very hot".
Prefix | Tag | Name | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Absolute | a computational value must also be given | ||
xu- | EQ- | Normative | the scalar value is the norm for that kind of entity |
ba- | GT- | Positive | the scalar value is greater than the norm.... |
ni- | LT- | Negative | the scalar value is less than the norm.... |
The maximal and interrogative extensions are not used with scalar precision.
Word | Tag | Name | Description | Applies to | Glosses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
- | SQ | Interrogative | asks what the value is | absolute | "how" |
- | Sat | Satisfactive | the value is sufficient for some particular effect | non-absolute | "enough", "so" |
- | Max | Maximal | highest/lowest value for the kind of entity | positive/negative | "as X as possible" |
The unmarked precision is medium. Scalar precision can also be a computational value specified by a numeric expression. This consists of a unit word followed by a cardinal number.
Word | Tag | Name | Description | Glosses |
---|---|---|---|---|
- | TP | Tight | the scalar norm is narrowly defined | "slightly", "precisely", "by a little" |
- | LP | Loose | the scalar norm is widely defined | "very", "roughly", "by a lot" |
An explicit comparison is made when a standard of comparison (case-marked as comparand) appears. The subject of comparison is the set of entities denoted by the construction preceding the scalar modifier, which specifies the scale and direction of comparison and may be followed by the precision of comparison. Note that there can be no scalar extension here.
page started: 2019.Jan.21 Mon
current date: 2019.Jan.25 Fri
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
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