In this article various aspects of West Carpathian grammar are discussed. Unlike the neighbouring languages, such as Slovak and Polish, which are the Slavic languages, West Carpathian belongs to the Oronaic language family, and is typologically between fusional and agglutinative languages.
Nouns
The West Carpathian language has gender category in nouns or even in personal pronouns, similarly to neighbouring Hungarian: sun is "he", "she", or "it", depending on the referent. There are no articles, meaning the definiteness is not distinguished.
Cases
West Carpathian has eleven cases: six grammatical cases, three locative cases, three directional cases. The most typical case endings for singular (sg) and plural (pl) numbers are shown in the table below:
Case
|
Ending
|
Example
|
Translation
|
sg |
pl
|
sg |
pl
|
Grammatical
|
nominative |
– |
-k |
oiva |
oivak |
(a) head
|
accusative
|
different |
-mma |
oivā |
oivamma |
head (as an object)
|
genitive
|
-ui/-ū/-ju |
-dū |
oivū |
oivadū |
of (a) head
|
dative
|
-id/-cid |
-īd/-ecid |
oivid |
oivīd |
head (as an indirect object)
|
instrumental
|
-inä/-ina |
-kīn/-kain |
oivina |
oivakain |
by means of (a) head
|
essive
|
-pä/-pa |
-ipä/-upa |
oivapa |
oivaupa |
as (a) head
|
Locative
|
inessive |
-utu |
-eutui/-autui |
oivautu |
oivautui |
in (a) head
|
adessive |
-ie/-uo |
-kke/-kko |
oivuo |
oivakko |
on (a) head
|
apudessive |
-ve/-vo |
-uhe/-uho |
oivavo |
oivauho |
at/near (a) head
|
Directional
|
illative |
-ēn/-oan |
-kēn/-kōn |
oivoan |
oivakōn |
into (a) head
|
lative |
-ivä/-iva |
-kua |
oivaiva |
oivakua |
to (a) head
|
allative |
-hei/-hō |
-kei/-kō |
oivahō |
oivakō |
onto (a) head
|
Possessive suffixes
Instead of separate possessive pronouns, like English "my" or "her", West Carpathian uses special suffixes. The number of possessors and their person are distinguished. The notable feature is that if a possession is a subject or a direct object of a sentence, it would take a different possessive suffix, than a word in an another case (like genitive or dative). The following are the forms of oiva "head", declined to show possession:
Person |
Number |
Subject |
Object |
Other cases |
Translation
|
first person |
singular |
oivasā |
oivame |
oiv(a)-vjad |
my head
|
plural |
oivatōk |
oivammō |
oiv(a)-vnad |
our head
|
second person |
singular |
oivasa |
oivama |
oiv(a)-vja |
your (sing.) head
|
plural |
oivakēk |
oivammē |
oiv(a)-vna |
your (pl.) head
|
third person |
singular |
oivasau |
oivamau |
oiv(a)-vjau |
his/her/its head
|
plural |
oivapōk |
oivammou |
oiv(a)-vnou |
their head
|
Words written through the hyphen (-) indicates an insertion of a case ending. When used with cases other than nominative or accusative, a possessive suffix always comes after a case ending, so it is sometimes called a postfix. For example: utuovjau - "on his/her hand". When a plural number of a possession must be indicated, a plural ending is used instead of a singular one. If a word is a subject or a direct object of a sentence, then a corresponding plural ending is added before a possessive suffix: oivakēk - "their head", oivahkēk - "their heads" (the nominative plural ending -k changes into -h- due to a consonant gradation).
Declension types
There are as many as 20 noun declension types (called onnevinsātuarek "word bending patterns"). Most of these forms are archaic and more common ones are used instead by analogy. Words in nominative, accusative, genitive, dative and illative cases are represented in the table below. Here are some of the most common patterns:
Pronouns
Verbs
Verbs in West Carpathian belong to one of ten main groups depending on the stem type. Nine types are called the regular types and have the same set of personal endings, but the stems undergo different changes when inflected, while the last one is the irregular type and can have different endings. The first two and the tenth types are called simple and the rest are compound, because they are created with a special suffix.
Conjugation
As an example a I type verb māli "to talk" and its negative counterpart ēmai "not to talk" are given in the table below. The first verb is regular and it is easy to show different personal endings, using it, while the second verb has an irregular -k- in some endings. Only tenses of an indicative mood are listed here.
|
indicative mood
|
present tense
|
past tense
|
perfect
|
pluperfect
|
person |
number
|
affirmative |
negative |
affirmative |
negative |
affirmative |
negative |
affirmative |
negative
|
1st |
sg.
|
mālel |
ēmal |
māllō |
ēmālō |
mālilid |
ēmailid |
ian mālinna |
ian ēmainna
|
2nd
|
māles |
ēmas |
mālsē |
ēmāsē |
mālisī |
ēmaisī |
iak mālinna |
iak ēmainna
|
3rd
|
māľu |
ēmāču |
māluvā |
ēmākuvā |
māliňu |
ēmaiňu |
īka mālinna |
īka ēmainna
|
1st |
pl.
|
mālelki |
ēmalki |
mālulki |
ēmākulki |
mālluok |
ēmāluok |
iskau mālinna |
iskau ēmainna
|
2nd
|
māleski |
ēmaski |
māluski |
ēmākuski |
mālseik |
ēmāseik |
ingak mālinna |
ingak ēmainna
|
3rd
|
māluki |
ēmauki |
mālumpā |
ēmākumpā |
mālpou |
ēmāpou |
īhka mālinna |
īhka ēmainna
|
The pluperfect (almost the same as English past perfect) uses the auxillary verb īkā, which can be translated as "to have been/done" in English, and and an infinitive V of verbs, which in this case is similar to an active participle, like English "talking".
Other moods
The three other moods are conditional, potential and imperative.
|
Imperative mood
|
imperfect
|
perfect
|
person
|
affirmative |
negative |
affirmative |
negative
|
1st sg.
|
mālkōnō |
ēmakkōnō |
ihōnō mālinna |
ihōnō ēmālō
|
2nd sg.
|
mālkē |
ēmakkē |
ihē mālinna |
ihē ēmainna
|
3rd sg.
|
mālkājā |
ēmkkājā |
ījā mālinna |
ījā ēmainna
|
1st pl.
|
mālkoskō |
ēmakoskō |
ihoskō mālinna |
ihoskō ēmainna
|
2nd pl.
|
mālkēnek |
ēmakkēnek |
ihēnek mālinna |
ihēnek ēmainna
|
3rd pl.
|
mālenkai |
ēmankai |
īhenkai mālinna |
īhenkai ēmainna
|
When used with the third person the verb corresponds to English "let him/her (do)", while an imperative for the first person is usually called optative and is treated as a separate mood, for example the translation of mālkōnō in English is "I wish I will talk (to somebody)", and ihōnō mālinna - "If only I talked (to somebody)".
|
Conditional mood |
Potential mood
|
imperfect
|
perfect
|
imperfect
|
perfect
|
person
|
affirmative |
negative |
affirmative |
negative |
affirmative |
negative |
affirmative |
negative
|
1st sg.
|
mālcal |
ēmahcal |
mālcihō |
ēmahcihō |
mālansel |
ēmākansel |
mālanšō |
ēmākanšō
|
2nd sg.
|
mālcas |
ēmahcas |
mālcihē |
ēmahcihē |
mālanses |
ēmākanses |
mālanšē |
ēmākanšē
|
3rd sg.
|
mālcaju |
ēmahcaju |
mālciuhā |
ēmahciuhā |
mālaňšu |
ēmākaňšu |
mālanšā |
ēmākanšā
|
1st pl.
|
mālcelka |
ēmahcelka |
mālcihōlka |
ēmahcihōlka |
mālansalke |
ēmākansalke |
mālanšōlke |
ēmākanšōlke
|
2nd pl.
|
mālceska |
ēmahceska |
mālcihōska |
ēmahcihōska |
mālansaske |
ēmākansaske |
mālanšōske |
ēmākanšōske
|
3rd pl.
|
mālčauka |
ēmahčauka |
mālcihōpā |
ēmahcihōpā |
mālaňšauke |
ēmākaňšauke |
mālanšōpā |
ēmākanšōpā
|
The conditional mood corresponds mostly to "would" or "should" or to the past subjunctive in English. The potential mood describes things that might possibly happen, though its probability is not certain, similarly to English "may/might", and it is always formed agglutinatively in compound verbs. The imperfect forms of these moods are used to indicate present or future events, while perfect is used in sentences with verbs in the past tense. Compound verbs form differently: āsēni šeiteviu, tāpahtēlki - "If the weather is fine, we will go for a walk", where šeiteviu is formed from the adjective šeiti "fine, clear" by adding a suffix -evi meaning "to may be".