Anbirese/Syntax

Constituent order

The overall syntax of Anbirese/Syntax resembles that of Irish but with more flexibility.

Anbirese/Syntax is almost completely head-initial, except for compound words which are head-final. The constituent order is VSO. Background information (usually in the order time-manner-place) and question words may be placed before the verb (unlike in Irish), after the subject, or after the direct object. However, no constituent may come between the verb and the subject.

Tiann h-aeillirne múnna?
/ˈtiən ˈh‿eːʀəlnə mʉːnə/
why love-PRES.2SG-EMPH ACC-1SG
Why do *you* love *me*?

Noun phrase

Adjectives

Adjectives always follow their head nouns.

Possessive noun phrases

In possessive noun phrases the possessed noun uses the construct form, and the possessor (indefinite or definite) is placed after it. For pronominal possessors, the disjunctive pronoun is used.

Verb phrase

Negation

• interrogative: is-L
• negative: ní

Sentence phrase

Predicate nouns and adjectives

Anbirese/Syntax is zero-copula, like Hebrew. A predicate adjective is placed before the subject, and the copula pronoun is used. On the other hand, a predicate noun has the "logical subject" placed after the preposition de, d'-.

De chathar zodhma.

A flower is a plant. (lit. A plant is in a flower.)

Zodhma diú.

It's a plant. (lit. A plant is in it.)

When the subject is a definite noun, the pronoun is not mandatory with predicative adjectives:

Árd (hí) an gcamhna.

The woman is tall.

Árd hí.

She is tall.

Conjunctions

• ar: 'and'
• lú: 'or'
• ach: 'but'
• ri-N: 'that (relative clause)'
• nach: 'that (complement clause)'
• fódh-N: 'because'
• dli-L: 'when, if'

Dependent clauses

Relative clauses

The relativizer is ri^N (negative ríd). A resumptive pronoun may be used when the head is not the subject of the relative clause, and is mandatory when the head is a prepositional object or a possessor.

Verbs in relative clauses may be placed anywhere within the relative clause, subject to the constraint that the verb and (syntactic) subject may not be separated unless the subject of the relative clause is the head. If the subject is the head, the relativizer li may be omitted, however in that case the verb must immediately follow the head.

Nominalized relative clauses use nuar ri... 'those who...'

nuar ri mímhaoghadh ú

'those who misuse it'

Time clauses

There are two ways of forming time clauses.

The first construction is a clause introduced with a time conjunction such as (d'airbh = 'when') and using a finite verb form (i.e. the verb form is used with a subject).

The second construction is a clause introduced with a preposition (such as de, d' = 'at, in') followed by the verbal noun which may take a possessive prefix for the subject. Thus the non-finite time clause marks aspect or tense relative to the tense of the main clause rather than absolute tense. It is considered more literary (but speakers wishing to signal sophistication may use it in colloquial speech).

Infinitive clauses

Infinitive clauses work like German zu-infinitive clauses in that they are verb-final: the infinitive is used at the end, and the particle le-h /ʟə/ ('to') is used before the infinitive.

Ní róscall fách ná, s'a shuar ríosan le fhlunnach.

I was unable to return to my house.