Tigol/Proto-Tigol

Tigol/Proto-Tigol gávthȁ themsármā
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Nominative-accusative
Head direction
Initial	Mixed		Final
Primary word order
Verb-subject-object
Tonal
Yes
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
2
Nouns decline according to...
Case		Number
Definiteness		Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice		Mood
Person		Number
Tense		Aspect

Background

The Themsaran language constitutes a separate branch of the Zachydic language family, along with other para-Themsaran languages which are spoken in the island of Tálsèm. Themsaran is a typological and lexical outlier in its family due to its long period of isolation and substrate influence. The language possesses strongly head-initial syntax, head-marking in both clauses and possessive NPs, mixed fusional and agglutinative inflection, and nominative-accusative morphosyntax. The name of the language comes from the Themsár region, from whose dialect arose the prestige language of the island. This elevated language existed in a state of diglossia with the diverse and often mutually unintelligible vernacular "dialects". This article describes Classical Themsaran, used as a living language by the ruling class for a period spanning 600 years until its demise in the year ca. 220.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Dorsal	Radical	Glottal
Nasal	m		n				ŋ
Plosive	p b			t d			k g	(ʡ)	(ʔ)
Fricative		f v	θ ⟨th⟩	s z	ʃ ⟨š⟩ ʒ ⟨ž⟩		x ⟨ch⟩	ħ~ʜ~ʢ ⟨ħ⟩	h~ɦ ⟨h⟩
Affricate					tʃ ⟨ť⟩
Approximant		(ʋ)				j
Trill				r
Lateral app.				l		ʎ ⟨ļ⟩

[v] is in free variation with [ʋ]. [ʔ] may occur only in morpheme boundaries.

Conditioned allophony

Phoneme	Allophone	Condition(s)
/ħ/	[ħ~ʜ]	#_, C[+voiceless]_
	[ʡ~ʢ]	V_V, C[+voiced]_
/h/	[ɦ]	V_V, C[+voiced]_
C[+obstruent, ±voiced]	C[+obstruent, ∓voiced]	_C[+obstruent, -guttural, ∓voiced]

Vowels

Themaran has six vowels, short and long. Short vowels have one mora (except for epenthetic e which has zero morae), and long vowels have two morae.

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ⟨i⟩ iː ⟨ī⟩	ʉ ⟨y⟩ ʉː ⟨ȳ⟩	u ⟨u⟩ uː ⟨ū⟩
Mid	e̞ ⟨e⟩ e̞ː ⟨ē⟩		o̞ ⟨o⟩ o̞ː ⟨ō⟩
Open		a ⟨a⟩ aː ⟨ā⟩

The following are the diphthongs, all falling: /ai au ei ie~ia uo~ua/ ⟨ai au ei ie ua⟩. All diphthongs are bimoraic.

Pitch accent

Pitch accent, or tone, is phonemic in Themsaran. The following is the notation for tones:

	Short	Long	Diphthong
Unmarked	a	ā	ai
High	á	a̋	ái
Low	à	ȁ	ài
Falling	-	â	âi
Rising	-	ǎ	ǎi

The pitch accent of a word (of more than one mora) consists of two components: the lexical tone, and the position of the downstep (the latter is confined to appear after the 3rd-to-last mora). A high-tone word is consistently high until the downstep, whereafter the pitch drops sharply. A low-tone word starts low and has the highest pitch at the tonic mora, which is immediately before the downstep.

The following are the rules governing the marking Themsaran pitch accent:

1. High lexical tone is marked in the initial syllable; low tone is not marked, unless necessitated by rule 2.
2. The tonic syllable is always marked:
   1. If the downstep occurs after a long syllable (syllable with a long vowel or diphthong), the syllable is rising in a low-tone word, and high in a high-tone word.
   2. If the downstep occurs between the two morae of a long syllable, the syllable has falling tone.
3. If the first syllable is tonic, the second syllable is marked as low.

If the downstep occurred word-finally, the first syllable of a following high tone word would have slightly lower pitch. In pausa, a word final high short syllable is realized as a falling, short vowel.

Clitics, unmarked, phonologically behave as parts of the following word and inherit the tone of the following word.

Morphology

Nouns

Nouns and adjectives have a rich morphology, albeit less ornate than verbs. They inflect for number, definiteness and possessedness, but not for case. Nouns have two genders, masculine and feminine. In third-person possessed forms, Themsaran makes a distinction, realized tonally, between the absolute possessed form, which indicates a noun possessed by a pronoun, and the conjunct possessed form, used to indicate a possessive relationship between two nouns and agreeing with the gender of the possessor.

Definite forms are used as the vocative. Names of deities or deifications are primarily indefinite, but take definite agreement.

First declension

The first declension consists primarily of masculine nouns. Nouns ending in a consonant may contain an epenthetic e to break up a forbidden consonant clusters, particularly those ending in resonants.

First declension
	Singular				Plural
	Indefinite		Definite		Indefinite		Definite
Unpossessed	-Ø		-ē		-ach		-ō
1sg	-ken		-n				-āst
2sg.m	-gze		-ze				-git
2sg.f	-kvi		-vi				-gis
3sg.m	-ku		-u				-ū
3sg.f	-ki		-i				-ȳ
4sg.m	-ksu		-thu				-thū
4sg.f	-ksi		-thi				-thȳ
1ex	-kam		-am				-che
1in	-kent		-ent
2pl.m	-kys		-ys
2pl.f	-kyth		-yth
3pl.m	-kech		-eich
3pl.f	-ker		-ier
4pl.m	-ksech		-theich
4pl.f	-kser		-thier

Second declension

The second declension consists primarily of feminine nouns.

Second declension
	Singular				Plural
	Indefinite		Definite		Indefinite		Definite
Unpossessed	-e		-ā		-ir		-enā
1sg	-ťen		-an				-aist
2sg.m	-zze		-za
2sg.f	-ťve		-va
3sg.m	-ťu		-au
3sg.f	-ťi		-ai
4sg.m	-šťu		-ath
4sg.f	-šťi		-eth
1ex	-ťem		-iem
1in	-ťent		-ant
2pl.m	-ťis		-ais
2pl.f	-ťith		-aith
3pl.m	-ťech		-āch
3pl.f	-ťer		-air
4pl.m	-šťech		-thāch
4pl.f	-šťer		-thair

Third declension

The third declension consists mainly of mass, collective and abstract nouns of both genders.

Third declension
	Singular				Plural
	Indefinite		Definite		Indefinite		Definite
Unpossessed	-Ø
1sg	-tun		-in
2sg.m	-tize		-ize
2sg.f	-tive		-ivi
3sg.m	-tu		-ju
3sg.f	-ti		-ji
4sg.m	-ssu		-thu
4sg.f	-ssi		-thi
1ex	-tēm		-īm
1in	-tent		-int
2pl.m	-tys		-ȳs
2pl.f	-tyth		-ȳth
3pl.m	-tech		-īch
3pl.f	-ter		-īr
4pl.m	-ssech		-thich
4pl.f	-sser		-thir

Tonal patterns of nominals

Every noun falls under one of three tonal paradigms.

• kanûar ('sitting'): The most common paradigm, the downstep remains stationary, except for the downstep-attracting absolute possession suffixes.

Adjectives

Adjectives agree in not only number, definiteness and gender with their heads, but also in possessedness. Adjectival declension disagrees with nouns in that absolute possessive form of adjectives modifies the conjunct possessive of nouns. Adjectives also take degree inflection (positive, "less/least", "more/most", elative, "X enough", "too X"). Adjectives exhibit tonal ablaut like those of nouns.

Degree

Adjectives with degree inflections may be nominalized to derive, for example, meanings such as "supreme strength" from "the very strongest".

Pronouns

Personal

The independent personal pronouns are used in equational sentences, and for emphasis of what is already marked on the heads, whether the marking is about the subject, direct object, or oblique.

Independent personal pronouns
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	na̋	châm
1.in		táŋên
2.m	zéi	srâs
2.f	véi	srâth
3.m	žá	žû
3.f	žî	žân
4.m	ťá	ťû
4.f	ťî	ťân

The fourth person has a more "focused" meaning, so it is used as the obviative and for other functions.

Demonstrative

The demonstratives have identical endings to personal pronouns in feminine singular and the plural. The adnominal demonstratives are mé (near speaker), ħé (near hearer), and ťá (distal; identical to 4th person pronoun), and the pronominal demonstratives are ím(e), íž(a), and íť(a).

When a demonstrative modifies a noun phrase, the noun and adjective modified take the indefinite form if unpossessed, and the definite form if possessed.

Reflexive

The reflexive pronoun is ktên, identical to the gender and number of the subject.

Reciprocal

The reciprocal pronoun, "each other", is nadnék. It originated from an adverb that was later reanalyzed as a pronoun.

Table of correlatives

Table of correlatives
	Interrogative	Near speaker	Near hearer	Distal	Existential	Negational	Elective	Collective	Distributive

The difference between the two words for 'here' is that of clusivity: mách means "where I am/we(exc) are" whereas dátè means "where we(inc) are".

Verbs

Finite verbs are marked for TAM, mirativity, voice (active and mediopassive), the subject's person, number, and gender and, if the direct object is definite, is obligatorily marked with the (usually direct) object's person, number, and gender in most TAMs, except in the imperative. The verb may agree with an indirect object (which is typically animate) instead of with the direct object. Object agreement is often omitted in poetry. Verbs also have several non-finite forms, used with various subordinating conjunctions and relative clauses.

Themsaran finite verb template

−3	−2	−1	0	1	2	3	/Downstep
Mood/Evidential/Mirative	Applicative prefix	Imperfect prefix	STEM	Supplementary aspect	Supplementary voice	Voice-TAM-Subject-Object	Voice-TAM-Subject-Object

An example of a fully inflected verb:

zekmiheklēzittnévrīn
/zèkmihekleːzitːnevꜜriːn/
RDPL-mi-he-klēz-iħ-tn-évrīn
SBJV-APP.GOAL-PAST.IPFV-mix-ICP-APP/PAST.IPFV.PSS.3SG.F>3PL.F
they supposedly were beginning to obtain it by mixing them

Tense-Aspect-Mood

Basic TAMs

The basic tenses, marked with a combination of tone, suffixes and prefixes, are:

• Imperative
• Present
• Past imperfective
• Past perfective
• Future imperfective
• Future perfective
• Jussive

Imperative

The imperative is used to issue positive, direct orders.

Present

The present is used for events that take/are taking place in the present time, or for gnomic statemnets.

Jussive

The jussive bears a wide range of uses:

• optatives (wishes), polite requests and hortatives (urging);
• prohibitions, with the prohibitive marker (Ham skőtîr! "Don't walk!");
• imperatives in indirect speech, with a complementizer ("He ordered me to go back");
• purpose clauses, with a relativizer or other conjunctions; ("the word to say").

Supplementary aspects

Inceptive

The inceptive is the suffix -iħ (first conjugation) placed after the stem.

Cessative

The cessative is the suffix -ša (second conjugation).

Perfect

The perfect is formed periphrastically. The perfect clitic lakš is used with the past tenses to give the present perfect or pluperfect (there is no distinction) tense and is used with the future tenses to give the future perfect tenses.

Supplementary voices

The applicative suffix, placed after the masculine singular imperative, is -t(e)n. The applicative promotes the oblique object of a verb to the direct object position, for example "fight (a war)" > "fight (someone)". An optional applicative prefix may be used to qualify the relationship of the new object to the base verb (as instrument, location or goal). The applicative is especially useful in the passive in constructing impersonal statements about an oblique object.

Supplementary moods

The mirative, marking information, inference or realization new to the speaker, is marked by a prefix consisting of first consonant of stem + e + last consonant of stem. The subjunctive, used for doubtful statements and for hypothetical outcomes, is marked by a similar prefix, with said consonants in reverse order.

gélga̋lis!
/gélgaːꜜlis/
RDPL-ga̋lìs
MIR-sing-PRES.3SG.F
(Hey, look,) she's singing!

légga̋lis
/léggaːꜜlis/
RDPL-ga̋lìs
SBJV-sing-PRES.3SG.F
She supposedly sings/She would sing

Non-finite forms

The non-finite forms are participles and two infinitives.

The participle, which is available for all verbal categories, is used to construct VOS clauses, where O and S are full noun phrases, or O is a noun and S is a third- or fourth-person pronoun. VOS sentences lend more emphasis to the predicate than the neutral VSO. The tense of a participle is the tense relative to the tense of the main clause.

The possessor of the first infinitive represents the verb's subject. It is used in reason clauses, time clauses, indirect speech (as the first infinitive copula váls + participle) whose truth is doubted by the speaker, and more rarely purpose clauses.

The possessor of the second infinitive represents the verb's object. It is used as a complement to certain verbs and in any other situation calling for a verb with no independent subject or TAM, and is used adverbially with prepositions.

Conjugation of the active

The active voice is the default voice, used when the subject is the agent of the verb.

The three conjugations of Themsaran verbs are demonstrated below respectively with the verbs mól - 'thank', nésà - 'slay, kill (animate subject)', tákvè - 'know'. The first conjugation subsumes ħ-stem verbs, where the ħ assimilates into any consonant that begins an ending, and h-stem verbs, for which only fricative-beginning endings are so geminated, and for other consonants, undergoes compensatory lengthening of the vowel preceding the ending.

Subject affixes

Imperative
	Singular	Plural
1.in	-	mólèns! nésàns! takvêns!
2.m	mól! nésà! tákvè!	mólèls! nésàls! takvêls!
2.f	mólt! nésàt! takvét!	mólèrs! nésàrs! takvêrs!

Present
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	mólȉ nésài tákvèi	mólmà nésàma takvêma
1.in		mólènse nésànse takvênse
2.m	mólèr nésàr takvêr	mólèlse nésàlse takvêlse
2.f	mólȅ nésȁ takvîe	mólèrse nésàrse takvêrse
3.m	mólè nésà tákvȅ	mólvì nésàvi takvévi
3.f	mólìs nésàis tákvìes	móltì nésàti takvéti

Past imperfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	hémolêi henesâi hetakvîe	hémólme henesáme hetakvéme
1.in		hémóltā henesátā hetakvétā
2.m	hémolér henesár hetakvêr	hémolslé henesaslé hetakvēslé
2.f	hémolé henesâ hetakvê	hémolsré henesasré hetakvēsré
3.m	hémólen henesán hetakvên
3.f	hémólni henesáni hetakvéni	hémolsrí henesasrí hetakvēsrí

With initial vowels the he prefix combines thus:

• he+a→hā
• he+e→hē
• he+i→hei
• he+o→hō
• he+u→hev
• he+y→hev
• he+long vowel/diphthong = h+long vowel/diphthong

Past perfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	mólén nesán takvîen	mólàm nésȁm takvéjam
1.in		móltȁ nesátā takvétā
2.m	mólér nesár takvîer	mólslé nesaslé takvēslé
2.f	mólé nesâ takvê	mólsré nesasré takvēsré
3.m	mólès nesàs takvês
3.f	mólsàr nésàsar takvêsar	mólsrí nesasrí takvēsrí

Future imperfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex
1.in
2.m
2.f
3.m	mólchè nésàche takvéche
3.f	mólchà nésàchà takvécha

Future perfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex
1.in
2.m
2.f
3.m
3.f

Jussive
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	mólî nesâi takvêi	mólémt nesámt takvêmt
1.in		mólédna nesádna takvědna
2.m	mólîr nesâir takvêir	mólélt nesált takvêlt
2.f	mólét nesât takvêt	mólért nesárt takvêrt
3.m	mólìm nesàim tákvèim	mólivá nesavá takvevá
3.f	mólisá nesasá takvesá	mólitá nesatá takvetá

Non-finite forms

The active participle is formed by infixing ⟨an⟩ before the nucleus of the first syllable of the stem of the third person masculine form and removing any final vowels.

The first infinitive is formed by suffixing -s to the 2nd person masculine singular imperative.

Conjugation of the mediopassive

The mediopassive marks the subject as a patient of the verb. Apart from passivity, mediopassives may have a derivational function; they may indicate reflexive action or change of state. As such there are quite a few deponent verbs, verbs that are inherently mediopassive, and also mediopassive counterparts of active intransitive verbs.

Subject affixes

Imperative
	Singular	Plural
1.in	-
2.m	mólvar! nesávar! takvévar!
2.f

Present
	Singular	Plural
1.ex
1.in
2.m	mólèrem nésàrem takvêrem
2.f
3.m
3.f

Past imperfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex
1.in
2.m
2.f
3.m
3.f

Past perfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex
1.in
2.m	mólû nesâu takvǔ
2.f
3.m
3.f

Future imperfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex
1.in
2.m
2.f
3.m
3.f

Future perfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex
1.in
2.m
2.f
3.m
3.f

Jussive
	Singular	Plural
1.ex
1.in
2.m
2.f
3.m
3.f

Object affixes

Main article: Themsaran bipersonal affixes

The object affixes combine at the end of the verb, sometimes in less predictable ways, to agree with the direct object.

Object affixes
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
-(e)n	-ze	-ve	-(j)u	-(j)i	-thu	-thi	-am	-(e)nt	-sŋa	-sŋe	-(e)ch, -ū	-(e)r, -īn	-thech, -thū	-ther, -thīn

Non-finite forms

The static passive participle is formed through the infix ⟨ir⟩ in the stem. The dynamic passive participle is formed with the ⟨(i)s⟩.

Prepositions

Prepositions in Themsaran are inflected with pronominal enclitics. If the resulting combination is monosyllabic the syllable takes ´ or ˆ as the accent. If disyllabic (unless 1s, 3mp and 3fp) the second takes the ´ accent.

Pronominal enclitics on prepositions
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
-(e)n	-ze	-vi	-(j)u	-(j)i	-thu	-thi	-am	-(e)nt	-sra	-sre	-(e)ch	-(e)r	-thech	-ther

The following are inflections of prepositions:

Inflection of ā, āC (comitative)
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
âħan	āzzé	āvví	āħá	āħé	ātthú	ātthí	ǎm	ǎnt	āsrá	āsré	āħách	āħár	ātthéch	ātthér

Inflection of di, d' 'in, at'
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
dîen	dîeze	dîevi	dîe	dî	dîethu	dîethi	dîem	dîent	dîesra	dîesre	dîech	dîer	dîethech	dîether

Inflection of vo 'to, for'
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
vôten	vôzze	vôvve	vū	vȳ	vôthu	vôthi	vōtám	vônt	vōsrá	vōsré	votéch, vôch	votér, vôr	vosséch	vossér

Inflection of la 'also
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
lâin	laizé	laivé	lajú	lâi	laithú	laithí	lajám	lâint	laisrá	laisré	lâich	lâir	laséch	lasér

'Inflection of gle, gl 'from
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
glên	glēzé	glēvé	glējú	glî	glēthú	glēthí	glējám	glênt	glēsrá	glēsré	glêch	glêr	glēthéch	glēthér

The following prepositions have completely regular inflection:

Inflection of mel (agent)
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
mélen	melzé	melvé	melú	melí	melthú	melthí	melám	melént	melsrá	melsré	mélech	méler	melthéch	melthér

Numerals

Themsaran employs a vigesimal numeral system.

Themsaran numerals
	n	nth	n times	n each/at a time	1/n	n days	n years
?	jǐes	jínáš		jísslè
1	kêm	ħélàš		kêmslè
2	títhâr	ŷdnaš		tístlè
3	nárgè	palsáš		nárslè
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
280
300
320
340
360
380
400
203
204

Syntax

The default constituent order is verb-subject-pronominal oblique object-direct object. Any constituent may be topicalized or focalized by being placed in front of the verb.

Noun phrases

Numerals precede nouns; possessors follow their possessa (with poetic exceptions); demonstratives occur after attributive adjectives, which follow nouns. Inflected quantifiers (uninflected quantifiers, such as rôg "every/all", precede the numeral) come after the adjective by default, but precede the noun when a demonstrative is used and precede the numeral when a numeral is used. Within these boundaries there is a lot of leeway; an attributive adjective or a demonstrative can occupy any position between its head and the relative clause.

Distributive possession

To express the meaning of "our/your/their respective NP", the last noun of the NP is reduplicated in absolute possessed forms. The plural persons are decomposed as follows:

• 1ex.m: noun-1sg›sg noun-3sg.m›sg or noun-3sg.m›sg noun-1sg›sg
• 1ex.f: noun-1sg›sg noun-3sg.f›sg or noun-3sg.f›sg noun-1sg›sg
• 1in.m: noun-2sg.m›sg noun-1sg›sg or noun-1sg›sg noun-2sg.m›sg
• 1in.f: noun-2sg.f›sg noun-1sg›sg or noun-1sg›sg noun-2sg.f›sg
• 2pl.m: noun-2sg.m›sg noun-2sg.m›sg
• 2pl.f: noun-2sg.f›sg noun-2sg.f›sg
• 3pl.m: noun-3sg.m›sg noun-3sg.m›sg
• 3pl.f: noun-3sg.f›sg noun-3sg.f›sg
• 4pl.m: noun-4sg.m›sg noun-4sg.m›sg
• 4pl.f: noun-4sg.f›sg noun-4sg.f›sg

These exact forms are always used disregarding the finer aspects of gender composition in the group. Thus, for example, if the only male in a group speaks of "our (exclusive) respective villages", he will still say "my village his village".

Equational sentences

The copula vák is rarely used in the present tense. Instead, a 3rd- or a 4th-person pronoun (cliticized and therefore toneless) agreeing with the subject may be used anywhere in the sentence, or omitted. Both subject-predicate and predicate-subject orders may be found. The predicate-subject order tends to indicate a more permanent state of being, while the subject-predicate order denotes a more temporary state. The uncliticized pronoun is used when the subject is pronominal or when the copular pronoun is used at the end of a clause.

Predicative possession

"X has Y" is expressed with the verb gîe (exist, there is) followed by the possessive noun phrase "Y-indefinite-of X", if X is animate. If X is inanimate, the construction X ā Y ('X is with Y') is used.

Relative clauses

The participial relative clause is introduced with a participle. An active participle's possessor is the object and a passive participle's possessor is the agent.

The finite relative clause is introduced optionally with a relativizer rin (non-restrictive and default) or nitrôg (restrictive; etymologically "whenever").

Coreferentiality

There are several situations where the strictly head-marking language tracks coreferentiality, or which agreeing noun a verb or pronoun taking a given agreement refers to, with fourth person pronouns or by other means.

Across clauses

The third person is used for more topical referents:

Jé nesasú?
/jéꜜ nèsasuꜜ/
jé nesas-u
who kill.animate.subject.PAST.PFV.3SG.M>3SG.M
Who killed him?

On the other hand, the fourth person is used for less topical or more focal referents:

Jé nesasú?
/jéꜜ nèsasuꜜ/
jé nesas-u
who kill.animate.subject.PAST.PFV.3SG.M>3SG.M
Who killed him?

The span governed by a discourse topic varies widely among writers; while earlier writers maintained a strict distinction between proximate and obviative reference in narrating events, later writers preferred a much shorter span, often only a single sentence, thereby reducing the scope of the obviative system to that of a topic-focus system.

Content questions

The fourth person object suffix is used on the verb, not the third person, when the interrogative word is the direct object.

Jé nesasú?
/jéꜜ nèsasuꜜ/
jé nesas-u
who kill.animate.subject.PAST.PFV.3SG.M>3SG.M
Who killed him?

Jé nesastú?
/jéꜜ nèsasuꜜ/
jé nesas-tu
who kill.animate.subject-PAST.PFV.3SG.M>4SG.M
Whom did he kill?/Who is it he killed?

Polar questions and focus

Constituents fronted in front of the verb is the focused element. Without fronting, the question becomes a neutral question about the truth value. The "fourth person" object may be better seen as a type of inverse marking; it indicates that what is expected to be the subject (the noun preceding the verb, or otherwise the noun directly after the verb) is not the subject.

Ei nesasú Júlèm?
/èinesasuꜜ júꜜlem/
ei=nesasú J.
Q=kill.animate.subject.PAST.PFV.3SG.M>3SG.M
Did Júlèm kill him? (or didn't he?)

Ei nesastú Júlèm?
/èinesastuꜜ júꜜlem/
ei=nesastú J.
Q=kill.animate.subject.PAST.PFV.3SG.M>4SG.M J.
Did he kill Júlèm? (or didn't he?)

Ei Júlèm nesasú?
/éijuꜜlem nèsasuꜜ/
ei=nesasú J.
Q=J. kill.animate.subject.PAST.PFV.3SG.M>4SG.M
Is Júlèm the one he killed?

Ei Júlèm nesastú?
/éijuꜜlem nèsastuꜜ/
ei=nesastú J.
Q=J. kill.animate.subject.PAST.PFV.3SG.M>3SG.M
Is Júlèm the one who killed him?

Ei ťá nesasú Júlèm?
/éit͡ʃ´aꜜ júꜜlem nèsasuꜜ/
ei=ťá nesasú J.
Q=4SG.M kill.animate.subject.PAST.PFV.3SG.M>3SG.M
Is he the one who killed Júlèm?

Ei ťá nesanstú Júlèm?
/éit͡ʃ´aꜜ júꜜlem nèsastuꜜ/
ei=ťá nesastú J.
Q=4SG.M kill.animate.subject.PAST.PFV.3SG.M.>4SG.M
Is he the one Júlèm killed?

Possessives

If an absolute possessed noun has a possessor who is the subject of the clause it is in, the third person is used. All other possessors of the same gender and number are in the fourth person.

Relative clauses

Any pronoun which corefers with the head of the relative clause is in the fourth person (or first/second person if referring to first/second person).

Indirect speech

If the complement clause's subject corefers with the subject of the main clause, it is left unstated in the complement clause. Otherwise the third- or fourth-person pronoun is used as the subject as appropriate.

"Impersonal" sentences

There exist impersonal pronouns (identical to the interrogative "who"/"what", and distinguished by not being fronted), but they are only used as an intransitive subject. In other cases, the verb is put into the mediopassive (or mediopassive of causative or applicative, as appropriate).

Derivational morphology

• -íns-: diminutive
• -īd (f, 3): abstract nouns
• -m-: originating from [noun/adjective]
• -ol-: pejorative
• -se (f, 2): singulative

Sample text

Sárthaittígā Tirléŋħā sŋéfȉl Láugvi̋dnīch Itávō

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Méisȁ 1

Article 1

Ta̋ŋrèvi rôg itávō dûanach ie státhe̋dach sŋéfȉl ħalgīdîch ie láugvīdîch.

be.born.-pres.3pl.m all human-pl.def free.pl.m and equal.pl.m w.r.t. dignity-3pl.m›def.sg and entitlement-3pl.m›def.sg

All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Pirláħe votéch ťlâħe ie ftiļiny̋že, tóríš širŋúr tolbasêich ān nadnék nai hélki šyrfǎmīd.

bestow.‹pss.stat.ptcp›-sg.f dat-3pl.m reason and conscience, therefore compulsory.sg.m behave.first.inf-3pl.m›def com one.another ins spirit-3sg.f›indef.sg/conj brotherhood.

They have been endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.