*All consonants assimilate in voicing to following consonants and all voiced consonants devoice word-finally, but this voicing change does not change fortition; for example /ɮ/ devoices to [ɮ̊] rather than [ɬ], and /ɬ/ voices to [ɬ̬] rather than [ɮ].
*All consonants assimilate in voicing to following consonants and all voiced consonants devoice word-finally, but this voicing change does not come with fortition/lenition; for example /ɮ/ devoices to [ɮ̊] rather than [ɬ], and /ɬ/ voices to [ɬ̬] rather than [ɮ].
===Vowels===
===Vowels===
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*Ergative ''-ngë'' is ''-ng'' after vowels
*Ergative ''-ngë'' is ''-ng'' after vowels
*Definite case particles can either precede or follow their nouns, but more often precede.
*Definite case particles can either precede or follow their nouns, but more often precede.
**With a demonstrative, case particles must follow, and the demonstrative is placed between the noun and article
*{{gcl|INAN2|inanimate 2}} marking is omitted in derived verbs.
All consonants assimilate in voicing to following consonants and all voiced consonants devoice word-finally, but this voicing change does not come with fortition/lenition; for example /ɮ/ devoices to [ɮ̊] rather than [ɬ], and /ɬ/ voices to [ɬ̬] rather than [ɮ].
Tones are realized with pitch shifting throughout the word from the first tone to the second; in words with dipping tone, pitch is lowest at the end of the penultimate syllable and rises in the final syllable.
Examples
High
Low
High falling
Low falling
Rising
Dipping
Monosyllable
hën¹ "it is it" /ən˥˥/ [hə˥n̥]
gey² "it counts it" /geʝ˩˩/ [ge˩ʝ̊]
zis³ "it gives it" /zis˥˧/ [zi˥˧s]
dëy⁴ "it laughs at it" /dəʝ˧˩/ [də˧˩ʝ̊]
hëgw⁵ "it finds it" /əgʷ˩˥/ [hə˩˥g̊ʷ]
thöt⁶ "it savors it" /θɵt˥˩˧/ [θɵ˥˩˧t]
Disyllable
sekën¹ "I am it" /sekən˥˥/ [se˥kə˥n̥]
sekgey² "I count it" /sekgeʝ˩˩/ [se˩k̬ge˩ʝ̊]
sekzis³ "I give it" /sekzis˥˧/ [se˥k̬zi˧s]
sekdëy⁴ "I laugh at it" /sekdəʝ˧˩/ [se˧k̬də˩ʝ̊]
sekëgw⁵ "I find it" /sekəgʷ˩˥/ [se˩kə˥g̊ʷ]
sekthöt⁶ "I savor it" /sekθɵt˥˩˧/ [se˥˩kθɵ˧t]
Trisyllable
sekëni¹ "I was it" /sekəni˥˥/ [se˥kə˥ni˥]
sekgeyi² "I counted it" /sekgeʝi˩˩/ [se˩k̬ge˩ʝi˩]
sekzisi³ "I gave it" /sekzisi˥˧/ [se˥k̬zi˦si˧]
sekdëyi⁴ "I laughed at it" /sekdəʝi˧˩/ [se˧k̬də˨ʝi˩]
sekëgwi⁵ "I found it" /sekəgʷi˩˥/ [se˩kə˧gʷi˥]
sekthöti⁶ "I savored it" /sekθɵti˥˩˧/ [se˥kθɵ˩ti˧]
Quadrisyllable
sekënilen¹ "I was not it" /sekəniɮen˥˥/ [se˥kə˥ni˥ɮe˥n̥]
sekgeyilen² "I did not count it" /sekgeʝiɮen˩˩/ [se˩k̬ge˩ʝi˩ɮe˩n̥]
sekzisilen³ "I did not give it" /sekzisiɮen˥˧/ [se˥k̬zi˦si˦ɮe˧n̥]
sekdëyilen⁴ "I did not laugh at it" /sekdəʝiɮen˧˩/ [se˧k̬də˨ʝi˨ɮe˩n̥]
sekëgwilen⁵ "I did not find it" /sekəgʷiɮen˩˥/ [se˩kə˨gʷi˦ɮe˥n̥]
sekthötilen⁶ "I did not savor it" /sekθɵtiɮen˥˩˧/ [se˥kθɵ˧ti˩ɮe˧n̥]
For some speakers non-monosyllable /˥-˥/ and /˩-˩/ are realized as weakly rising [V˦...V˥] and [V˩...V˨].
Atonal words bear the last tone in the preceding word, but word-initially either bear the first tone in the following word or have variable pitch.
Prosody
Stress
Stress is root-initial and is realized with increased volume and/or vowel length, the latter especially in contrastive stress.
Intonation
Emphasized words have more volume across the word and length in the word's stressed vowel. Emphasized atonal words in isolation have sharply falling pitch.
In semantically imperative and hortative sentences pitch starts higher than in declarative sentences.
In nonpolar questions and expressions of surprise or doubt pitch is lower before the most emphasized word and sharply rises after the word.
Phonotactics
Syllables are underlyingly (C)V(C). Obstruents except /z̃, θ, ʝ/ cannot occur before consonants of different voicing except on morpheme boundaries.
Epenthetic [h] is added before vowels word-initially and between vowels on morpheme boundaries.
Morphology
Alignment
Gwaxol has tripartite morphosyntactic alignment, but in informal speech may be ergative-absolutive.
Pronouns
Pronouns are marked for case, class, and number.
In familial and very informal speech, these possessive pronouns are also used as ergative and intransitive pronouns.
Personal pronouns
ERG
ACC
INTR
GEN
DAT
1SG
lïm²
lïn⁵
lön⁴
ye¹
yil²
1PL
yäl⁴
lossa⁶
tön⁴
nwu⁴
yil⁵
2SG
ha³
hu⁴
ngäm³
mäy³
yil¹
2PL
nëm¹
kwon⁴
keng¹
mey¹
yil³
3SG.HUM
xo¹
xö¹
ngul¹
ngö¹
hox²
3PL.HUM
thëm¹
thï⁵
yi¹
3.ANIM1
ngex¹
rer¹
mäk⁶
kwon¹
küy¹
3.ANIM2
ngel¹
rel¹
mäl⁶
kwol¹
kül¹
3.INAN1
hus¹
tïnz⁴
xanz⁵
nzë²
3.INAN2
hut¹
hanz¹
NEG
yinan⁴
yinön⁴
yinan⁴
yizzun⁶
Possessive pronouns
SG
PL
1
se¹
nes⁵
2
kwës¹
gwës³
3.HUM
kwas¹
3.ANIM1
nal³
3.ANIM2
gi³
3.INAN
ho¹
Other pronouns
INDEF
REL/Q
REFL
RECP
IMPRS
HUM
zakw-³
yïgw-⁵
sekw³
xas⁴
thëy²
ANIM
zil-³
ngügw-¹
mïllï⁶
INAN
zat-³
hugw-²
When converbial suffixes are unused, subject referent switching is marked with the pronoun kang². Kang² is unused in non-subject referent switching.
Only personal and possessive pronouns cause agreement in verbs; if a non-personal/possessive is a core argument, the other argument causes intransitive agreement, and if there is no personal or possessive pronoun to cause agreement the verb is marked as impersonal.
Negative pronouns must be applied to negative verbs.
Nouns
Nouns are marked for class, case, number, and definiteness. Proper nouns are not marked for class.
Noun class endings
SG
PL
HUM
-kwë
-e
ANIM1
-la
-il
ANIM2
-ol
INAN1
-xat
INAN2
-at
Case/definiteness markers
INDEF
DEF
ERG
-ng(ë)
nas
ACC
-Ø
yü
INTR
lö
GEN
-sa
höx
DAT
-xu
sënz
Ergative -ngë is -ng after vowels
Definite case particles can either precede or follow their nouns, but more often precede.
With a demonstrative, case particles must follow, and the demonstrative is placed between the noun and article
INAN2 marking is omitted in derived verbs.
Possession
Possessed nouns are marked with a preceding possessive pronoun agreeing in class. Possessor-possessum pairs are each marked with the same case.
Verbs
Verbs agree with both agent and patient in class, and mark tense, aspect, and mood.
Class agreement prefixes
INTR
>1
>2
>HUM
>ANIM1
>ANIM2
>INAN1
>INAN2
1
seng-
se-
sekw-
sel-
sag-
so-
sek-
2
kwëng-
kwër-
kwës-
kwëkw-
kwël-
kwën-
kwo-
kwës-
HUM
kwar-
kwakw-
kwas-
kwan-
kwag-
kwas-
ANIM1
nang-
nas-
nakw-
nal-
nan-
no-
nal-
ANIM2
ging-
ze-
gwë-
gikw-
gin-
gi-
ho-
gi-
INAN1
hong-
hos-
hokw-
gwil-
gwag-
ho-
INAN2
xos-
xokw-
wil-
wag-
xo-
Ø-
TAM suffixes
PST
PRES
FUT
PFV
REAL
-i
-Ø
-si
IRR
-küm
-köm
-küz
IMP
-zi, -Ø
PROH
-xong
IPFV
REAL
-mi
-mï
-mis
IRR
-kömi
-kömï
-kömis
FREQ/ ITER
REAL
-xa
IRR
-köğ
In infinitive and impersonal verbs a prefix si- is used in place of agreement marking.
Interrogative verbs use preceding particles marked for tense, and tense is optionally double-marked in a second set of non-interrogative particles. These particles cannot be applied to imperative or prohibitive verbs.
Tense particles
PST
PRES
FUT
dïh
lëh
sëh
Q
dïs
lënz
sës
The tense of these particles can be mismatched with suffix tense for tenses with nonpresent reference points, with the tense of the particle determining the reference point.
Mismatching with present reference point is generally used to indicate that the event is relevant to a current result or circumstance.
Converbs and referent tracking
A set of converbial suffixes marked for subject reference can be applied to verbs in place of agreement and TAM suffixes.
Verbs are not marked for voice. For most verbs an ergative indefinite pronoun can be applied to further emphasize the patient.
In some informal varieties rew³ "to take" can be used periphrastically to mark either middle voice or passive voice.
Adjectives
Adjectives agree with nouns in class
Adjective class prefixes
HUM
ANIM1
ANIM2
INAN1
INAN2
kwa-
hin-
han-
ho-
Ø-
Comparative and superlative adjectives are marked with nex following the adjective.
Postnouns
Some adjectives act as noun suffixes (slotted before class marking) and do not allow direct agreement or negation; these adjectives mark comparison with nex following their noun.
Adverbs
Adverbs are morphologically verbs and are treated and marked as such.
Postpositions
Most adpositional meanings are conveyed with the locative or lative cases (see -käng and -ke), with two exceptions: nem "from" and ze "past, beyond". When these two postpositions are used, their head noun takes intransitive marking.
Numerals and classifiers
Gwaxol uses base-60 and subbase-6 numerals, with non-compound words for one through twelve and multiples of six up to sixty. Numerals one through twelve agree in gender with their noun unless they modify another numeral, where the inanimate form is used.
Numerals 1-12
HUM
ANIM
INAN
1
zal¹
mo²
nëng¹
2
hës¹
xwa³
më⁵
3
ta¹
ngäx¹
4
ham¹
ko³
5
kwi¹
xü²
6
go¹
lïm⁵
7
zal³
nëng³
8
ğës³
më⁶
9
ta³
ngäx³
10
ğëm¹
ko⁶
11
kwi³
xü⁴
12
li¹
nux¹
Numerals 13+
HUM
ANIM
INAN
13
li¹ zal¹
nux¹ mo²
nux¹ nëng¹
18
ka¹
19
ka¹ zal¹, li¹ zal³
ka¹ mo², li¹ nëng³
ka¹ nëng¹, li¹ nëng³
24
nïs¹
30
gwal⁵
36
löy¹
42
kwu²
48
tha²
54
nös¹
60
küx⁵
3,600
thï¹
216,000
küx⁵ thï¹
Inanimate nouns require classifiers when numerated unless another unit word is applied (for example më⁵ yïy xwenxat¹ "two waters," but më⁵ łëkla³ xwenxat¹ "two bowls of water" rather than *më⁵ yïy łëkla³ xwenxat¹); when a unit word other than a classifier is used, numerals do not agree with the unit word (so më⁵ łëkla³ xwenxat¹ rather than *xwa³ łëkla³ xwenxat¹).
Classifiers can also be applied without a numerator to nonhuman nouns as plural markers.
Negation
-len and kwör are used to negate verbs and nouns respectively. Non-comparative adjectives use kwör and comparative adjectives use -len.
Double negative -len kwör and kwörkwör are emphatic.
Derivational morphology
Part of speech modifiers
-hot and -hu derive nouns of quality from adjectives and verbs respectively; -gwe and -yi derives human agent nouns from adjectives and verbs respectively, and -tikw derives action nouns from both adjectives and verbs.
Stative verbs can be zero-derived from nouns and adjectives, except when the verb would only have null marking (inanimate-2-agent inanimate-2-patient present indicative perfective, or inanimate-2-agent inanimate-2-patient imperative) where -mö disambiguates. In some varieties verbs cannot be zero-derived from adjectives, where -mö must always be applied.
-ox and -ne derive adjectives of consistency and similarity respectively. hos and nwö- derive participles and adjectives of tendency respectively from verbs.
Causative verbs
The suffixes -löy and -möy derives causative verbs from verbs and adjectives respectively.
-käng and -ke
The main use of -käng and -ke is as (pro)noun locative and lative suffixes, with the (pro)noun's original case agreeing with the head the new locative/lative word modifies. Possessive/informal pronouns use -ha in place of -ke, and definite nouns use häng and he in place of -käng and -ke.
These two suffixes can also be applied to verbs for "after" and "before" converbial meanings respectively (without requiring a lack of TAM suffix, unlike other converbial suffixes), and to numerals for ordinal and fractional meanings respectively.
Reduplication
Full stem reduplication is used to derive diminutive adjectives (for example töngtöng² "somewhat narrow" from töng² "narrow"), new iterative or reflexive meanings from some verbs (for example harar³ "it returns to it" from har³ "it goes to it" (stem -ar³-), collectivize nouns (for example kotkotol³ "fishes (collective)" from kotol³ "fish"), and generalize pronouns (for example xöxö¹ "one of them" from xö¹ "him/her/them"). In compound terms only the first stem is generally reduplicated.
Full reduplication (including any affixes) with dipping tone can be used to convey uncertainty, especially in response to questions.
Initial CV reduplication and stem-initial gemination is used to derive augmentative words (for example xexxerkwë⁴ "great hunter" from xerkwë⁴ "hunter").
Non-productive reduplication also occurs in some words (for example tadakw⁵ "it bleeds it out, it empties it of blood" from takw⁵ "to bleed").
Syntax
Constituent order
Word order is flexible but predominantly VSO. Words are most often fronted for emphasis; relative/interrogative pronouns and heads of dependent clauses are generally backed.
Gwaxol is mostly head-initial; adjectives and possessors follow their head noun (though adjective position is more flexible), numerators precede their noun, and adverbs follow what they modify.
Dependent clauses
Dependent clauses directly follow the head they modify, and are marked with the particle ngë both before and after the clause; the head's other dependents then follow the clause.
Converb clauses follow their verb, between their head verb and that verb's arguments if its arguments follow; often the head verb's arguments are fronted to precede the verb to separate them from converb arguments.
