Old Shalaian/Syntax

Prose Shalaian

Constituent order

preverb verb subject dir_obj ind_obj place manner time

Noun phrase

The structure of a Old Shalaian/Syntax noun phrase is maximally

article numeral NOUN adjective demonstrative genitive relative_clause.

Genitives use possessive affixes:

ni chaasts rái'chal = Rachel's friend (weak possession)

an-vó3ash rái'chal = Rachel's hand (strong possession)

Nominal sentences

Old Shalaian/Syntax is zero-copula for nominal sentences and for predicative adjuncts such as għar roft 'at home'. Nominal sentences in the present tense are negated with the preverb thoor.

Am shaanfs Għánameen tee?

Q.PRES woman-3SG.AN Għánameen 2SG

Are you Għánameen's wife/girlfriend?

Thoor, sháanfalna fin.

not.COP, woman-1SG-EMPH 3SG.A

No, she's *my* girlfriend.

Am għar roft Inthar? Thoor.

Is Inthar home? No, they're not.

Questions

Yes-no questions

Yes-no questions are answered using preverbs.

Wh-questions

The interrogative word always comes first in the sentence. Usually the material after the wh-word becomes a relative clause with the wh-word as the head. The relative clause can be a cha-clause vs. a vi-clause.

'There is' and 'have'

'There is' clauses use the word whid at the beginning of the word, and have-possessives use the structure whid + the thing possessed + the preposition għar + possessor. The negative of whid is yaan'ch 'there is not' (etymologically from an interrogative *yan cha' whid "where is..."), and the negative interrogative form is maand.

Yaan'ch vózhleedash għar áifer.

There is no justice in this (fact or situation).

Transitivity

Verbs index the arguments ergatively: the absolutive personal affixes are suffixes and the ergative affixes are prefixes.

Transitives

Transitive verbs (such as 'to hit') mark both persons on the verb. Passive verbs formed from transitives behave like intransitives and take the absolutive argument for the "patient" just like the active counterpart does. The antipassive turns the agent into the absolutive argument and uses għar with the patient.

Ditransitives

Tripersonal agreement?

• Causer: Ergative
• Agent: Ergative
• Patient: Absolutive

Relative clauses

Shalaian uses two different types of relative clauses, depending on the syntactic position of the head in the relative clause.

vi-clauses

Forms of the preverb vi are used when the head of the relative clause is absolutive or when relativizing a non-verbal predicate.

A verbal vi-clause has the form

(when intransitive) vi-preverb + verb.INF + other constituents

or

(when transitive) vi-preverb + POSSESSIVE_i-verb.INF + ergative noun_i + other constituents.

Note that:

• The infinitive form of the verb is used.
• When there is an ergative noun phrase, the strong possessive affix is used and agrees with the ergative noun phrase.

A non-verbal predicate vi-clause has a simpler form:

vi-preverb predicate.

cha-clauses

Forms of cha are used when the head of the relative clause is NOT absolutive. Unlike vi-clauses, cha-clauses use finite verbs and are more syntactically straightforward. Resumptive pronouns (referring back to the head) are usually used in a cha-clause, either on the verb or on other constituents.

Time clauses

There are conjunctions for time clauses, however the construction għar + the infinitive is commonly used:

• għar zhá'unal = when I awake/have awakened
• zhar't wadanzháis láathvai, chōns għar kháir't. (FUT 1SG-APP-come-3SG.A together every LOC go-3SG.A = Whenever she goes, I'm going together with her.)

In such clauses, the possessor of the infinitive is the absolutive noun, and mi is used in front of the ergative noun.

Comparison clauses

aiv + possessed form of the infinitive is used for clauses of the form "too ADJ for NOUN to VERB".

Khom ħi qōv lirwhágħan aiv korréerishwha thóogħan.

be_at.3SG.I DEF.SG.I death COMP-evil than neglect-INF-1PL from-3SG.I

Death is too evil for us to neglect. (lit. more evil than our neglecting it)

Method clauses

inst + inf + abs

Topicalization

Topicalization involves placing the topic after the comment clause.

Poetic Shalaian

Topicalization used more often, preverbs often omitted