Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Text>, «apa», -Tags-, and "Glosses".
Each word is either a verb, a quantity word, a noun, or a particle (of which there are several syntactical classes). Verbs are classified mainly by action types and valence classes and include spatial relations. Many verbs are scalar, being used as scales of comparison; some quantity words are also scalar. Each noun has an implicit gender (animate, inanimate, and location) and is either a countable noun or a mass noun. Proper nouns (i.e. names) are countable, although rarely quantified. Pronouns are treated as nouns.
A noun may be a root noun (consisting of a single noun root), a compound noun, or a deverbal noun (based on a single verb root), each of which has a particular structure.
| Order | Description | Null Usage | Part |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Incorporated Noun | none | Argument |
| 2. | Referent Role | required | Base |
| 3. | Verb Root | required | |
| 4. | Referent Gender | required | |
| 5. | Number | singular | Inflection |
| 6. | Case | nominative or absolutive |
A noun is inflected for number and case by modifying the noun's stem; in addition, some determiners are proclitic. The numbers are singular and plural. The cases that apply depend on the noun's gender. An animate noun uses the nominative, accusative, locative, and genitive cases. An inanimate noun uses the absolutive, ergative, locative, and genitive cases. A location noun uses the absolutive-locative, accusative, and genitive cases.
Plural nouns are regularly derived from singular nouns. Historically, consonant-final nouns appended j& while vowel-final noun appended k&. The latter may appear as ka, ke, or k while the former undergoes metathesis so that the stem has a modified vowel, with a or e appended.
| C-Stems | V-Stems | Deverbals | Tag | Case | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zal | sampa | moŝnut | Nominative | Singular | |
| zalsi | sampas | moŝnutus | Acc | Accusative | |
| zalqo | sampaq | moŝnutuq | Loc | Locative | |
| zalma | sampem | moŝnutom | Gen | Genitive | |
| zaila | sampak | moŝnutka | Pl | Nominative | Plural |
| zailas | sampakas | moŝnutkas | Pl.Acc | Accusative | |
| zailaq | sampakaq | moŝnutkaq | Pl.Loc | Locative | |
| zailem | sampakem | moŝnutkem | Pl.Gen | Genitive |
| C-Stems | V-Stems | Deverbals | Tag | Case | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mat | tilba | riŝnut | Absolutive | Singular | |
| matri | tilber | riŝnutir | Erg | Ergative | |
| maqqo | tilbaq | riŝnutiq | Loc | Locative | |
| matma | tilbem | riŝnutim | Gen | Genitive | |
| mêta | tilbak | riŝnutka | Pl | Absolutive | Plural |
| mêter | tilbaker | riŝnutker | Pl.Erg | Ergative | |
| mêtaq | tilbakaq | riŝnutkaq | Pl.Loc | Locative | |
| mêtem | tilbakem | riŝnutkem | Pl.Gen | Genitive |
| C-Stems | V-Stems | Deverbals | Tag | Case | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| qoŝnut | Absolutive-Locative | Singular | |||
| qoŝnutos | Acc | Accusative | |||
| qoŝnutam | Gen | Genitive | |||
| qoŝnutka | Pl | Absolutive-Locative | Plural | ||
| qoŝnutkas | Pl.Acc | Accusative | |||
| qoŝnutkem | Pl.Gen | Genitive |
In addition to the declensions given above, nouns also have a stative conjugation allowing the noun to be used as predicative. The nominative or absolutive singular is used as the base, with deverbal nouns treated as consonant-final stems and ŝ appended to vowel-final stems. The personal markers used are shown in the following table. Note that the 3rd person inanimate markers modify the stem, e.g. tilbêŝo.
| Suffix | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|
| mi | 1 | 1st person singular |
| mik | 1Pl | 1st person plural |
| ŝu | 2 | 2nd person singular |
| ŝuk | 2Pl | 2nd person plural |
| ru | Incl | Inclusive person dual |
| ruk | InclPl | Inclusive person plural |
| ta | 3A | 3rd person animate singular |
| tak | 3APl | 3rd person animate plural |
| *jo | 3I | 3rd person inanimate singular |
| *jok | 3IPl | 3rd person inanimate plural |
| qo | 3L | 3rd person location singular |
| qok | 3LPl | 3rd person location plural |
| Nominative | Accusative | Locative | Genitive | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mê | mis | mêqo | mêma | 1 | 1st person singular |
| mik | miksi | mikqo | mikma | 1Pl | 1st person plural |
| ŝô | ŝus | ŝôqo | ŝôma | 2 | 2nd person singular |
| ŝuk | ŝuksi | ŝukqo | ŝukma | 2Pl | 2nd person plural |
| rô | rus | rôqo | rôma | Incl | Inclusive person dual |
| ruk | ruksi | rukqo | rukma | InclPl | Inclusive person plural |
| tâ | tas | tâqo | tâma | 3A | 3rd person singular |
| tak | taksi | takqo | takma | 3A.Pl | 3rd person plural |
| tô | tus | tôqo | tôma | RPA | relative singular |
| tuk | tuksi | tukqo | tukma | RPA.Pl | relative plural |
| ĉâ | ĉas | ĉâqo | ĉâma | CQA | Interrogative |
| Rfx | Reflexive |
| Absolutive | Ergative | Locative | Genitive | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| jan | jar | janqo | jamma | 3I | 3rd person singular |
| jok | jokri | jokqo | jokma | 3I.Pl | 3rd person plural |
| jon | jor | jonqo | jomma | RPI | relative singular |
| juk | juksi | jukqo | jukma | RPI.Pl | relative plural |
| ĉê | ĉer | ĉêqo | ĉêma | CQI | Interrogative |
| Absolutive | Accusative | Locative | Genitive | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| qan | qos | qan | qamma | 3L | 3rd person singular |
| qok | qoksi | qok | qokma | 3L.Pl | 3rd person plural |
| qon | qus | qon | qomma | RPL | relative singular |
| quk | quksi | quk | qukma | RPL.Pl | relative plural |
| ĉaq | ĉaqsi | ĉaq | ĉaqma | CQL | Interrogative |
page started: 2022.Mar.05 Sat
current date: 2022.Mar.07 Mon
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
Table of Contents