Tigol/Proto-Tigol

Themsármai: Gávthā themsármā

Themsaran
themsármā
Pronunciation	[/θè̞msarꜜmaː/]
Created by	–
Extinct	220 v.T.
Language family	Zachydic Raxo-Talsmic Talsmic Themsaran
Language codes
ISO 639-3	qth

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

Themsaran is my first constructed language, for my conworld of Hheergrem. It is intended to be a head-initial, head-marking language with a plausible development from an erstwhile dependent-/double-marking language. The grammar, syntax and morphology has been heavily influenced by Semitic and Celtic languages, with some drawing from Japanese, while the aesthetics draws on Germanic, Celtic, Finnish, Semitic, and Gyeongsang Korean. The grammar is also an experiment on using inflections and agreement to show grammatical relations without case, which explains the gender system (however minimalistic), the different types of switch-reference on verbs, the applicative voice and borderline polysynthesis. So I guess it ends up a tad more like some Native American languages. Other purposes of my language include mixing in un-English verb syntax, such as the use of optatives in subordinate clauses, and using principally non-finite subordinate clauses in the indicative.

todo

• Develop script
• Find way to add dual number. ✓
• Tabulate lists
• Examples for everything
• Changing epenthetic vowel to y ✓
• Correct aesthetics
  • "Cleaner", less Slavic. That's a start. ✓
• Expand explanation on infinitive and supine
• Ditch thematic vowels?

Notes on notation

Glossary

• H: vowel hiatus with next syllable
• N: denotes a homorganic nasal
• Z: denotes r before a vowel or voiced C, s before a voiceless C, z before z

Background

See also: Themsaran/Sound changes from Proto-Talsmic.

The Themsaran (/ˈθɛmsɑɹən/) language (Themsaran: gávthā themsármā [gáʊ̯fθàː θè̞msármàː] "the Themsaran mouth") was traditionally classified into a separate subbranch of the Zachydic language family, along with other para-Themsaran languages which are/were natively spoken in the island of Tálsỳm off the northwestern coast of the Pattiya subcontinent. (Since then, Talsmic's close ties to Ractamic languages, such as Raxic, has gained widespread recognition.) Due to its long period of isolation and substrate influence (the substrate is sometimes speculated to have been a head-initial polysynthetic language), Themsaran was a typological and lexical outlier in the Zachydic family, within which it was distinguished by its heavily head-marking inflection in both clauses and possessive NPs as well as its strongly head-initial syntax. It also notably employs a combination of tone changes and affixes to convey grammatical information. The language possesses mixed fusional and agglutinative inflection, and nominative-accusative morphosyntax (mostly). 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". High Themsaran was used as a living language by the ruling class for a period spanning 600 years until its demise in the year ca. 220 v.c., and was continued to be used as an important literary, academic and religious language on the island and surrounding mainland areas.

Phonology

Consonants

Noble Themsaran (gávthā ħéntā) used 23 consonants (24 if /ʔ/ is analyzed as becoming silent V_V), a rather modest inventory for a Zachydic language.

Consonants
		Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Radical	Glottal
Nasal		m /m/		n /n/			n [ŋ]
Plosive	voiceless	p /p/		t /t/			c /k/	q /ʡ/	(ʔ)
	voiced	b /b/		d /d/			g /g/
Fricative	voiceless	f /ɸ~β/		th /θ/	s /s/		ch /x~ɣ/	ħ /ħ~ʜ~ʢ/	h /h~ɦ/
	voiced		v /v/	ð /ð/	z /z/
Affricate				ŧ /t̪s̪~ts~tɕ~tʃ/
Approximant			v [ʋ]			ı /j/
Trill				r /r/
Lateral app.				l /l/		ł /ʎ/

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

Geminate /x/ and /θ/ are represented respectively by cch and tth in the Romanization.

Conditioned allophony

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

Vowels

Themsaran has six vowels, short and long. Short vowels have one mora (except for epenthetic i/y which has zero morae), and long vowels have two morae. Short vowels in open syllables were pronounced approximately 1.5 times as long as short vowels in closed syllables; long vowels in closed syllables, 2.5 times as long; open long vowels, thrice as long.

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i /i/	ī /iː/	y /ʉ̜/	ȳ /ʉ̜ː/	u /u/	ū /uː/
Mid	e /e̞/	ē /e̞ː/			o /o̞/	ō /o̞ː/
Open			a /a/	ā /aː/

y ȳ is a close central half-rounded vowel.

The short high vowels and a are mid-centralized: a i u y are pronounced [ɐ ɪ ʊ ʏ̜̈].

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

Tone

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 low-tone word starts low and has the highest pitch at the tonic mora, which is immediately before the downstep, whereafter the pitch drops sharply. A high-tone word is consistently high until the downstep in theory, but it was probably natural for the pitch to dip to some extent approaching the downstep in longer words.

The following rules govern the marking of 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 there is only one high-marked syllable, it is understood as tonic.
4. In pausa a final long syllable with a high or rising tone is converted to a falling tone.

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. Preceding a word with high lexical tone, the clitic is marked as high.

Stress

The first syllable is very lightly stressed, and there are no secondary stress phenomena.

Phonotactics

The maximal syllable structure is CCCıVCC, where V is any vowel or diphthong, and the second consonant in the complex coda must be an obstruent. /h/ is disallowed to occur in coda; radicals are prohibited word-finally. Up to CCCı medial clusters are permitted.

Permitted initial CC- clusters:

• [any obstruent except v] + {l, r, n}
• [non-labial obstruent] + {v, m}
• f + {t, ŧ, c, ch, q, ħ}
• s + {p, f, t, th, ŧ, c, ch, q, ħ}
• ch + {t, ŧ}
• c + {th, s}
• m + {l, r, n}

Permitted CCC- clusters:

• s + {p, t, ŧ, c, q} + {l, r, n}
• f + {t, ŧ, c, ħ} + {l, r, n}

Permitted -CC clusters:

• Any geminate excepting vv, ıı, qq, ħħ, hh
• {m, n, l, r, v} + {any coronal obstruent}
• {n, l, r} + {any non-radical, non-labial obstruent}
• {m} + {p, b, f}
• {l, r} + {p, b, f}
• {f, s} + {t, ŧ, c}
• {p, f} + {s, t, th}
• s + {p, t, ŧ, c}
• ch + {t, ŧ}
• c + {th, s}

Permitted medial clusters are, roughly, those which begin like final clusters, may or may not have an "intersection" segment and end like initial clusters.

Vowel hiatus

Vowels hiatus if a /*ʔ/ (or sometimes /*h/ or /*j/) used to be between them. If the vowel is not part of the diphthong and it has low tone it is marked with the grave accent.

Examples:

• lōsaé 'blue' (f. sg. attr. indef.)

Phonological rules

• *mʔ, *nʔ, *lʔ, *rʔ > mp, nt, lt, rt
• *mh, *nh, *lh, *rh > mf, nth, lth, rth
• coronal obstruent + sibilant_i > sibilant_isibilant_i
• CC[+resonant]{C, #} > CyC[+resonant]{C, #}
  • Cyı{C, #} > Ci{C, #}
• CC[-resonant]C > CiC[-resonant]C
• ıy[ː] > i[ː]
• z > r / V_C[-semivowel, +voiced, ~{/z/}]
• h > [ː~] / _C[+fricative]
• *ʔ > [ː~] / _C
• c > ch / _{d, t, ŧ}
• *tk, *ck *tkʰ > cht, chŧ, cth
• q
  • > ħ / _{t, ŧ}
  • > v / _C[+voiced +obstruent]
• nr > ndr, lr > ldr

Orthography

Early forms of tone diacritics in Themsaran script, written under or over a vowel letter.

The standardized Themsaran alphabet is a native alphabetic script, with thirty letters in addition to diacritics for vowel length and tones.

R, D, Z, Ł, İ, A, Ħ, F, M, L, G, C, H, B, S, V, O, I, Q, Ð, Y, CH, T, Ŧ, N, TH, P, E, U

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 three numbers (singular, dual and plural) and two genders (masculine and feminine), and belong in one of three declensions. In third- and fourth-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.

Proper names are indeclinable, i.e. they are always definite, and cannot be possessed.

Number

Dual is used for body parts (e.g. timqâr 'eyes') as well as opposing or complementary concepts (e.g. ry̌thrie which denotes the two sexes or grammatical genders, as opposed to plural ry̌thrir which refers to 'classes/categories' in general). The associative suffix -yng- may be combined with the dual to form the associative dual (e.g. rommyngâr 'two sides/pages of a paper', vōligyngâir 'marriage').

Definiteness

Definite forms are used as the vocative. Definiteness is used more often than in English, but less than in continental European languages. Names of deities or deifications are primarily indefinite, but take definite agreement.

First declension

See also tables for declension subparadigms.

The first declension consists primarily of masculine nouns. Nouns ending in a consonant may contain an epenthetic y to break up forbidden consonant clusters, particularly those ending in resonants. The ħ- and q- stem nouns always end in -ā, and this mutates to -aħ-/-aq before a ending beginning with a vowel, and exhibits the form -aC- before an ending beginning with any consonant. (Some nouns ending in -ng are underlyingly (and alternate with) nħ- or nq- stems.) The h-stems have a long vowel ending by default, which shortens in front of a consonant ending, along with gemination of any fricative-onset endings. The ı-stem nouns, ending in -i, display the -i before a possessive suffix beginning with a consonant, and a -ı before one beginning with a vowel. Geminate stems end in a long vowel plus a final consonant in their base forms, which changes to a short vowel + geminate.

First declension
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Unpossessed	-Ø	-ē	-ār	-ō	-ach	-uot
1sg	-cyn	-n	-ōcyn	-ōn	-ūcyn	-ūn
2sg.m	-cize	-ze	-ōcize	-ōze	-ūcize	-ūze
2sg.f	-cive	-ve	-ōcive	-ōve	-ūcive	-ūve
3sg.m	-cy	-y	-ōcy	-ōv	-ūcy	-ū
3sg.f	-ci	-i	-ōci	-ōī	-ūci	-ȳ
4sg.m	-chŧy	-ŧy	-ōchŧy	-ōŧy	-ūchŧy	-ūŧy
4sg.f	-chŧī	-ŧī	-ōchŧī	-ōŧī	-ūchŧī	-ūŧī
1dl.ex	-crin	-rin	-ōcrin	-ōrin	-ūcrin	-ūrin
1dl.in	-chtið	-tið	-ōchtið	-ōtið	-ūchtið	-ūtið
2dl	-cryth	-ryth	-ōrcryth	-ōryth	-ūcryth	-ūryth
3dl.m	-cōr	-ōr	-ōrcōr	-ōvōr	-ūcōr	-ūōr
3dl.f	-cȳr	-ȳr	-ōrcȳr	-ōvȳr	-ūcȳr	-ūvȳr
4dl.m	-chŧōr	-ŧōr	-ōchŧōr	-ōŧōr	-ūchŧōr	-ūŧōr
4dl.f	-chŧȳr	-ŧȳr	-ōchŧȳr	-ōŧȳr	-ūchŧȳr	-ūŧȳr
1pl.ex	-cam	-am	-ōcam	-ōam	-ūcam	-ūam
1pl.in	-cynt	-nt	-ōcynt	-ōnt	-ūcynt	-ūnt
2pl	-clys	-ys	-ōclys	-ōs	-ūclys	-ūs
3pl.m	-cech	-eich	-ōcech	-ōich	-ūcech	-ūch
3pl.f	-cer	-eir	-ōcer	-ōir	-ūcer	-ūr
4pl.m	-chŧech	-ŧeich	-ōchŧech	-ōŧech	-ūchŧech	-ūŧech
4pl.f	-chŧer	-ŧeir	-ōchŧer	-ōŧer	-ūchŧer	-ūŧer

Second declension

The second declension consists of mainly feminine nouns.

Second declension
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Unpossessed	-e	-ā	-air	-ie	-ir	-ina
1sg	-acyn	-ān	-iecyn	-ien	-ancyn	-ānyn
2sg.m	-acyze	-āze	-iecyze	-ieze	-ancyze	-ānze
2sg.f	-acyve	-āve	-iecyve	-ieve	-ancyve	-ānve
3sg.m	-acy	-au	-iecy	-iev	-ancy	-āny
3sg.f	-acī	-ai	-iecī	-ieī	-ancī	-ānī
4sg.m	-aciŧy	-āŧy	-iechŧy	-ieŧy	-anciŧy	-ānŧy
4sg.f	-aciŧi	-āŧi	-iechŧi	-ieŧi	-anciŧi	-ānŧi
1dl.ex	-acrin	-ārin	-iecrin	-ierin	-ancrin	-ārin
1dl.in	-achtið	-ātið	-iechtið	-ietið	-anchtið	-āntið
2dl	-acryth	-āryth	-iecryth	-ieryth	-ancryth	-ārryth
3dl	-acōr	-āvōr	-iecōr	-ievōr	-ancōr	-ānōr
3dl	-acȳr	-āvȳr	-iecȳr	-ievȳr	-ancȳr	-ānȳr
4dl.m	-achŧōr	-āŧōr	-iechŧōr	-ieŧōr	-āchŧōr	-ānŧōr
4dl.f	-achŧȳr	-āŧȳr	-iechŧȳr	-ieŧȳr	-āchŧȳr	-ānŧȳr
1pl.ex	-acam	-ām	-iecam	-eiam	-ancam	-ānam
1pl.in	-acynt	-ānt	-iecynt	-ient	-ancynt	-ānynt
2pl	-aclys	-ālys	-ieclys	-ielys	-anclys	-ānnys
3pl.m	-acech	-aich	-iecech	-iech	-ācech	-ānech
3pl.f	-acer	-āver	-iecer	-ier	-ancer	-āner
4pl.m	-achŧech	-āŧech	-iechŧech	-ieŧech	-āchŧech	-ānŧech
4pl.f	-achŧer	-āŧer	-iechŧer	-ieŧer	-āchŧer	-ānŧyr

Tonal patterns of nominals

Every noun falls under one of two tonal paradigms, derived from the Proto-Talsmic relic classifier clitic system:

• Unpossessed: *noun=clf
• Free possessed: *possessum-suffix
• Bound possessed: *possessum-suffix=clf possessor

The classifier clitic was deleted while determining the downstep pattern of the noun. By corollary the absolute possessed forms have non-final downstep, and the unpossessed and conjunct forms have the same pattern (exceptions occur when the word ended in *ʔ), the choice of which is lexically determined.

Adjectives will agree with the tonal pattern of the nouns they modify.

Irregular nouns

Irregular nouns are the following:

• cár 'human being', plural itávach

Fossilized case marking

A descendant of a language with developed noun and adjective cases, Themsaran preserves vestigial case marking. The nominal and adjectival endings are themselves diachronically derived from case markers in the ancestral Proto-Talsmic language:

Irregular definiteness

The definite unpossessed inflection is a generalization from the accusative case, which marked the definite direct object in addition to adverbial uses, certain oblique objects and time expressions. The indefinite base endings diachronically stem from the genitive case (from its partitive meaning and frequency in prepositional phrases); the predicative adjective endings as well as most forms where possessive suffixes are attached, come from the nominative. Definiteness is required:

• in some time expressions (e.g. nǐeðām/minâm/crúomâm (< *nējƶā-mī etc.) "today"/"tonight"/"tomorrow", nǐeðāŧ ("that day"), crúomâ/ra̋zā/ħíngā/minâ "in the morning/at daytime/at dusk/at night")
• in some adverbial expressions.

Fossilized oblique cases

The frozen oblique cases (ablative, instrumental/locative and allative) are largely found in two lexical classes: adverbs and prepositions. Ablatives, found in causal expressions, end in -ēn, -ān, and -īn for the first, second and third declensions respectively; the instrumental/locative ends in -īl (1) or -ai (2); and the allative, often found in purpose expressions, ends in -thŧ.

The instrumental/locative suffix -īl derive adverbs and prepositions of location, manner or concern. The feminine counterpart -ai form adverbs from original feminine nouns, and has derived "in language X" adverbs and the instrumental preposition nai itself.

Adjectives

Attributive adjectives agree in number, definiteness, gender and possessedness with their heads. The following differences with nouns should be noted:

• Absolute possessive form of adjectives modifies the conjunct possessive of nouns.
• Indefinite attributive adjectives do not agree in possession.
• Possessum forms agree with definite possessum forms.

Predicate adjectives are declined differently than attributive adjectives; predicative adjectives carry the downstep on a non-final syllable, while the attributive adjectives have to agree with the downstep of the noun.

Adjectives also take degree inflection (positive, "less/least", "more/most", elative, "X enough", "too X"). Adjectives exhibit tonal ablaut like those of nouns.

Declension

Attributive adjectives

Attributive adjectives
Declension 1: Masculine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-Ø	-ār	-ach
Definite	-ē	-ō	-uot
Possessum	-a	-ōr	-u
Declension 2: Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-e	-air	-ir
Definite	-ā	-ie	-ina
Possessum	-ar	-ȳr	-ȳn
Declension 3: Masculine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-i	-iār	-iach
Definite	-ī	-ivie	-ıuot
Possessum	-i	-iōr	-iu
Declension 3: Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-i	-ier	-īr
Definite	-ī	-ivie	-īna
Possessum	-ir	-ier	-īn

Predicative adjectives

Predicative adjectives
Declension 1/2
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Masculine	-a	-ōr	-u
Feminine	-ar	-ȳr	-ān
Declension 3
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Masculine	-i	-iōr	-iu
Feminine	-ir	-īr	-iān

Degree

Degree affixes
comparative	-ên, -enn- (1/2, g)
elative	-rŷn (th)
negative comparative	-ôm (g)
excessive	-thál (c)
suffective	-érs (c)
defective	-őf (c)

Adjectives with degree inflections may be nominalized (e.g. ħēdāthry̌nīd "supreme strength" < ħēdāthrŷn "the very strongest").

Adverb formation

The adverbial suffix is -ēr, and it can mean "[adjective]ly", or "like a [noun]" (latter meaning is less productive).

Pronouns

Personal

The independent personal pronouns are used in equational sentences, and for emphasis of what is already indexed on the heads, be it the subject, the direct object, or an oblique argument.

Independent personal pronouns
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	ná	trân	châm
1.in		qâð	távên
2.m	zêi	râth	slâs
2.f	vêi
3.m	vá	vôr	vû
3.f	vî	vŷr	vân
4.m	ŧá	ŧôr	ŧû
4.f	ŧî	ŧŷr	ŧân

Adding the ħe- (ħè-) prefix creates intensified pronouns.

Demonstrative

The demonstratives have identical endings to personal pronouns in the feminine singular, the dual and the plural. The adnominal demonstratives are mé (near speaker), ħé (near hearer), and ŧá (distal; identical to 4th person pronoun), and the pronominal demonstratives are ím(é), íð(á), and íŧ(á).

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 cthên, identical to the gender and number of the subject.

Reciprocal

The reciprocal pronoun, "each other", is narnâi. 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
Adnominal	ıé (who); ıî (fem., rare); ıán (what)	mé	ħé	ŧá	navé	ıaıért; la [...] ıé, la [...] ıán		rôg, mýs (adjective)	thivé
Pronominal		ímé	ívá	íŧá	mércár (human); mérsát (nonhuman)
Place	ıách	mách*; dátè*	ħách	ŧách	smárıán	la ıách			smárthivé
Origin	gléıách; glêm; ıáchên	glémách/máchên*; glédát/dátên*	gláħách; ħáchên	gléŧách; ŧáchên	glé smárıán	gle la ıách			glé smárthivé
Destination	vóıách; ıáchast	vómách/máchast*; vódát/dátast*	vóħách; ħáchast	vóŧách; ŧáchast	vó smárıán	vo la ıách			vó smárthivé
Time	ıápse, ıéma	gáma	sónēŧ		mérrâc	fûot		pidħîl	gilslé
Quantity/Extent	ıávēth	mévēth	ħévēth	ŧévēth	-	-	-	-	-
Manner/Quality	ıêr	mêr	ħêr	ŧêr	gîemıêr	la ıêr		rőcthȉl	-
Cause	ıên	mên	ħên	ŧên	navên				-
Purpose	ıást, ıergâi	mést	ħést	ŧést	navést				-

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

In highly humble language (roughly equivalent to German Ihr), the "near speaker" and "near hearer" demonstratives are used in epithets for 1st and 2nd person respectively in lieu of grammatical 1st or 2nd person. (e.g. clûdil mé: "this humble subject", áchyr ħé/tīné ħî/slǐeve ħî: Your Majesty/Highness; lit. "that king/hand/throne", domárvaryl/a̋thmavaryl ħé/a̋thmīd ħî, "that called one/sanctified one/holiness"; used to address a priest, mách/ħách generic humble language, used for locative obliques as substitutes for 1st or 2nd person inflected prepositions)

Verbs

Verbs have elaborate but quite regular inflection. 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 and the prohibitive. For example: Nésai zárr (kill-ACT.PRES.1SG cat.SG.INDEF 'I kill a cat') against Nesainý zárrē (kill-ACT.PRES.1SG>3SG.M cat-SG.DEF 'I kill the cat'). 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	4	5	/Downstep
Applicative prefix	Mood/Evidential/Mirative	Imperfective prefix	STEM	Supplementary aspect	Causative	Passive	TAM/Subject	Object	TAM/Subject

Note that Themsaran verbs display so-callsed first-conjunct agreement as common amongst VSO languages, i.e. in the case of a subject composed of two or more noun phrases with a coordinator, the verb will agree with the first noun phrase.

Tense-Aspect-Mood

Basic TAMs

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

• Imperative
• Present
• Past perfective
• Past imperfective
• Future
• 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.

Past perfective

The past perfective, preterite, or aorist is for events that were completed at some point in time in the past.

Past imperfective

The past imperfective indicates a background event or events that happened in the past frequently or over a period of time. Therefore it corresponds to past frequentative, habitual or progressive.

The imperfective prefix yn- displays a number of special behaviors:

• assimilates to labials p b f m
• mutates to ynt- before a stem beginning with a vowel, liquid, ı or v
• mutates to ynth- before a stem beginning with h.

Future

The future denotes an event predicted to occur some time in the future. It is aspect-indifferent.

Jussive

The jussive is a finite verb form that bears a wide range of uses:

• optatives (wishes), polite requests and hortatives (urging).

Ðuodisá áromzé

be_long-JUSS.3SG.F life-DEF.2SG.M

May your life be long!

• prohibitions, with the prohibitive marker.

Hám scőtîr!

PROH walk/2SG.JUSS

Don't walk!

• imperatives in indirect speech, with the complementizer ne

Cýlês ne stúmî.

urge/PFV.3SG.M COMP return/JUSS.1SG

He urged that I go back.

• impersonal instructions, in the passive

chaustivasá hadísā ýrnȳnâ

lower.PASS-JUSS.3SG.F note-DEF.SG second-DEF.SG.F

the second note is to be lowered

• purpose clauses:
  • with a relativizer
  • after a conditional conjunction nit, ar, or gin, or less commonly after vórêl ne, it expresses "in order that...".

ħéistê rin chénvamá

word-DEF REL say-PASS-JUSS.3SG.M

the word to say/the word that should be said

• to express a question of what should be done.

Iêr vamenavâi?

how advocate-PASS-JUSS.1SG

How am I to defend myself?

Supplementary aspects

Inceptive

The inceptive expresses the beginning of a imperfective period in time of the action, and is expressed by the suffix -iħ- placed after the stem.

Cessative

The cessative expresses the end of an imperfective period in time of the action, and is expressed by is the suffix -rth-. It can also express perfect in certain circumstances.

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.

gýlga̋lies!

/gʉ́lgaːꜜliɜs/

RDPL-ga̋lìes |gloss = MIR-sing-PRES.3SG.F

how she singeth!

lýgga̋lies

/lʉ́ggaːꜜliɜs/

RDPL-ga̋lìes

SBJV-sing-PRES.3SG.F

she supposedly sings/she would sing

Voice

Basic voices

Active

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

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 or involuntary/spontaneous actions with active intransitives, (scőtvati machīnýn "my legs walk by themselves, without my control") or change of state for statives (which is what the copula gîe is used for in the mediopassive). As such there are quite a few deponent verbs, verbs that are inherently mediopassive, and also mediopassive counterparts of active intransitive verbs.

Supplementary voices

Causative

The causative expresses causation or facilitation of the action. It is indicated by the suffix -stâi after the singular imperative.

Applicative

The applicative promotes an oblique object of a verb to the direct object position (for example, thrāpâi 'fight (a battle)' > lōthrāpâi 'fight (someone)'), and downgrades the core object argument to an oblique argument. An applicative prefix is used to qualify the relationship of the new object to the base verb. In the passive, the applicative finds much syntactic utility in constructing impersonal statements about an oblique object.

Applicative prefixes
Themsaran	Gloss
viN-	instrumental (ins)
mi-	locative (loc)
lō-	comitative (com)
aZ-	telic (tel)
raN-	miscellaneous roles

Non-finite forms

The non-finite forms are the participle and two infinitives.

The participle is principally used in relative clauses. The tense of a participle is relative to the tense of the main clause.

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

The supine 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. The supine absolute construction formed with the supine indicates a manner of action or simultaneous action. The possessor of the supine represents the verb's object.

Conjugation

See also tables for conjugation subparadigms.

Shown below are the final and combining forms of subject suffixes of the three conjugation paradigms: the first conjugation, with null thematic vowel, the second conjugation, with thematic vowel a, and the third conjugation, with thematic vowel e. The citation form is the 1st person jussive. The zero theme vowel conjugation often contains irregularities from interactions between the final consonant and the ending (in fact some alteration occurs for all consonants except m, r and ch, unless the stem-terminating consonant is part of a cluster) and hence includes many subconjugations.

Subject affixes

NB. When the combining suffixes are shown without a tonic syllable, the tonic syllable alternates between the object affix and the stem/theme vowel depending on the object affix.

Similar forms are often distinguished by tone:

Non-final/mobile tonic syllable: vezórma 'we (exc) encounter', vezormālýs 'we encounter you'
Final/fixed tonic syllable: vezormá 'may he encounter', vezormâlys 'may he encounter you'

Imperative
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.in	-	-ħar, -ħri- -áħar, -aħri- -éħar, -eħri-	-ns, -nsi- -ans, -ansi- -ens, -ensi-
2	-Ø, -eH- -á, -â- -é, -ê-	-rs, -rsi- -ars, -arsi- -ers, -ersi-	-ls, -lsi- -als, -alsi- -els, -elsi-
Present
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	-ī, -īn- -ai, -ain- -ei, -ein-	-dir, -dr- -adir, -adr- -edir, -edr-	-ma, -mā- -ama, -amā- -ema, -emā-
1.in	-	-ħare, -ħrē- -áħare, -aħrē- -éħare, -eħrē-	-nse, -nsē- -anse, -ansē- -ense, -ensē-
2	-yr, -yr- -ar, -ar- -er, -er-	-rse, -rsē- -arse, -arsē- -erse, -ersē-	-lse, -lsē- -alse, -alsē- -else, -elsē-
3/4.m	-e, -m- -a, -am- -e, -em-	-ir, -iri- -air, -airi- -eir, -eiri-	-vi, -vie- -avi, -avie- -evi, -evie-
3/4.f	-is, -isi- -ais, -aisi- -eis, -eisi-		-ti, -tie- -ati, -atie- -eti, -etie-
Past perfective
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	-ýn, -ýn- -án, -án- -én, -én-	-sid, -sid- -ásid, -ásid- -ésid, -ésid-	-mi, -mī- -ámi, -amī- -émi, -emī-
1.in	-	-tar, -tar- -átar, -atar- -étar, -etar-	-tā, -tā- -átā, -atā- -étā, -etā-
2	-ýr, -ýr- -ár, -ár- -ér, -ér-	-rith, -rith- -árith, -arith- -érith, -erith-	-lith, -lith- -álith, -alith- -élith, -elith-
3/4.m	´s, -sam- -as, -asam- -es, -esam-	-srí, -srîe- -asrí, -asrîe- -esrí, -esrîe-	-sví, -svîe- -asví, -asvîe- -esví, -esvîe-
3/4.f	-sar, -sar- -ásar, -asar- -ésar, -esar-		-stí, -stîe- -astí, -astîe- -estí, -estîe-
Past imperfective
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	yn-ýn, yn-ýn- yn-án, yn-án- yn-én, yn-én-	yn-sid, yn-sid- yn-ásid, yn-ásid- yn-ésid, yn-ésid-	yn-mi, yn-mī- yn-ámi, yn-amī- yn-émi, yn-emī-
1.in	-	yn-tar, yn-tar- yn-átar, yn-atar- yn-étar, yn-etar-	yn-tā, yn-tā- yn-átā, yn-atā- yn-étā, yn-etā-
2	yn-ýr, yn-ýr- yn-ár, yn-ár- yn-ér, yn-ér-	yn-rith, yn-rith- yn-árith, yn-arith- yn-érith, yn-erith-	yn-lith, yn-lith- yn-álith, yn-alith- yn-élith, yn-elith-
3/4.m	yn-´s, yn-´sam- yn-ás, yn-ásam- yn-és, yn-ésam-	yn-srí, yn-srîe- yn-asrí, yn-asrîe- yn-esrí, yn-esrîe-	yn-sví, yn-svîe- yn-asví, yn-asvîe- yn-esví, yn-esvîe-
3/4.f	yn-sar, yn-sar- yn-ásar, yn-asar- yn-ésar, yn-esar-		yn-stí, yn-stîe- yn-astí, yn-astîe- yn-estí, yn-estîe-
Future
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	-ên, -ên- -ân, -ân- -îen, -îen-	-êdir, -ēdr- -âdir, -ādr- -îedir, -iedr-	-êma, -ēmā- -âma, -āmā- -îema, -iemā-
1.in	-	-êħar, -ēħrē- -âħar, -āħrē- -îeħar, -ieħrē-	-ênse, -ēnsē- -ânse, -ānsē- -îense, -iensē-
2	-êr, -ēr- -âr, -âr- -îer, -îer-	-êrse, -ērsē- -ârse, -ārsē- -îerse, -iersē-	-êlse, -ēlsē- -âlse, -ālsē- -îelse, -ielsē-
3/4.m	-ê, -ēm- -â, -ām- -îe, -iem-	-êri, -ēri- -âri, -āri- -îeri, -ieri-	-êvi, -ēvie- -âvi, -āvie- -îevi, -ievie-
3/4.f	-êsi, -ēsi- -âsi, -āsi- -îesi, -iesi-		-êti, -ētie- -âti, -ātie- -îeti, -ietie-
Jussive
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	-î, -în- -âi, -âin- -êi, -êin-	-rdá, -rdâ- -ardá, -ardâ- -erdá, -erdâ-	-mir, -miri- -ámir, -amiri- -émir, -emiri-
1.in	-	-ħart, -ħarti- -áħart, -aħarti- -éħart, -eħarti-	-nt, -nti- -ant, -anti- -ent, -enti-
2	-îr, -îr- -âir, -âir- -êir, -êir-	-rt, -rti- -art, -arti- -ert, -erti-	-lt, -lti- -alt, -alti- -elt, -elti-
3/4.m	-má, -mâ- -amá, -amâ- -emá, -emâ-	-irá, -irâ- -ará, -arâ- -erá, -erâ-	-ħá, -ħâ- -aħá, -aħâ- -eħá, -eħâ-
3/4.f	-isá, -isâ- -asá, -asâ- -esá, -esâ-		-tá, -tâ- -atá, -atâ- -etá, -etâ-

Non-finite forms

The participle is formed by the suffix -ryl, -rl-.

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

The supine is formed by -m to the 2nd person masculine singular imperative.

The action noun is formed by -né (g) to the 2nd person masculine singular imperative.

Allomorphy of the mediopassive suffix

The mediopassive suffix is -vâi. The only irregularity is that the present tense 3pl.m subject suffix is -vaħi, -vaħie-.

Non-finite forms of the passive

The infinitive is formed by adding -v(e)n, and the action noun is formed by -vné.

The static passive is formed with the patient suffix -met(é).

Object affixes

The object affixes combine at the end of the verb to agree with the definite direct object or indirect object. Indirect objects are given higher priority than direct objects.

Object affixes
Condition	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1dl.ex	1dl.in	2dl	3dl.m	3dl.f	4dl.m	4dl.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
-C-	+ -yn	+ -ze	+ -ve	+ -y	+ -i	+ -ŧy	+ -ŧī	+ -ren	+ -tið	+ -yth	+ -ō	+ -ie	+ -ŧō	+ -ŧie	+ -am	+ -ynt	+ -ys	+ -ū	+ -īn	+ -ŧū	+ -ŧīn
-i-, -u-, hiatus	+ -n			+ -v	+ -ī					+ -ryth		+ -vie				+ -nt	+ -lys	+ -ch	+ -r	+ -ŧech	+ -ŧer
-ā-				-au	-ai						+ -vō				+ -m
-ē-				-eu	-ei						+ -ō				+ -am
-ī-				+ -v	+ -ī
-ie-											+ -vō				-eiam

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.

Inflection of prepositions
	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1dl.ex	1dl.in	2dl	3dl.m	3dl.f	4dl.m	4dl.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
Regular	-n	-ze	-ve	-(v)y	-i	-ŧy	-ŧi	-ren	-tið	-yth	-(ı)ār	-(ı)air	-ŧār	-ŧair	-am	-nt	-ys	-ch	-r	-ŧech	-ŧer
Example	astýn	astyzé	astvé	astý	astí	asteŧý	asteŧí	astrén	astytíð	astyth	astıâr	astıâir	astyŧâr	astyŧâir	astám	astýnt	astýs	astéch	astér	astyŧéch	astyŧér

The following prepositions have completely regular inflection:

• ast 'without, except' (negation of comitative)
• chang 'concerning'
• det 'towards, until'
• dietrem 'inside, amidst'
• dismar, hasfîer 'instead of
• énħēn 'because of'
• gletrem 'out of'
• had 'like, as, in correspondence to'
• inír 'like the X that it is'
• lyr 'agent'
• mel 'agent' (interchangable with lyr)
• oles 'until'
• pram 'unlike'
• qal 'before, in front of'
• rimên 'because of'
• sűnân 'despite'
• tor 'because of (implication)'
• trig 'around'
• ŧani (ı-stem) 'after'
• vórêl 'for, for sake of'
• zom 'between'
• ðymai 'without' (negation of instrumental)

The following prepositions are irregular:

• ā, āC 'with (comitative)'
• di, d' 'in, at (locative)'
• vo 'to, for (dative)'
• nai 'by, with (instrumental)'
• la 'also'
• gle, gl' 'from, out of (ablative/partitive)'
• pī 'against'

Inflection of irregular prepositions
	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1dl.ex	1dl.in	2dl	3dl.m	3dl.f	4dl.m	4dl.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
ā	aħán	aħzé	aħvé	aħá	aħé	aħŧý	aħŧí	aħrén	âð	aħrýth	aħôr	aħŷr	aħŧôr	aħŧŷr	âm	ânt	āħlýs	āħách	āħár	āħŧéch	āħŧér
di	dîen	dîeze	dîeve	dîev	dî	dîeŧy	dîeŧi	dîeren	dîeð	dîeryth	dievôr	dievŷr	dieŧôr	dieŧŷr	dîem	dîent	dielýs	dîech	dîer	dîeŧech	dîeŧer
vo	vôdyn	vôzze	vôvve	vû	vŷ	vōŧý	vōŧí	vōrén	vôð	vōrýth	vōvôr	vōvŷr	vōŧôr	vōŧŷr	vōðám	vônt	vôlýs	vōðéch, vôch	vōðér, vôr	voŧéch	voŧér
nai	nâin	naizé	naivé	naivý	naıî	naiŧý	naiŧî	nairén	naitíð	nairýth	naivôr	naivŷr	naiŧôr	naiŧŷr	nāıám	nâint	nâis	nâich	nâir	naiŧéch	naiŧér
la	lâin	laizé	laivé	laivý	laiî	laiŧý	laiŧî	lairén	lâið	lairýth	laivôr	laivŷr	laiŧôr	laiŧŷr	laıám	lâint	lâis	lâich	lâir	laŧéch	laŧér
gle	glên	glēzé	glēvé	glēvý	glēî	glēŧý	glēŧî	glērén	glêð	glērýth	gleôr	gleŷr	gleŧôr	gleŧŷr	glēám	glênt	glês	glêch	glêr	glēŧéch	glēŧér
pī	pîn	pīzé	pīvé	pīvý	pīî	pīŧý	pīŧî	pīrén	pîð	pīrýth	pīvôr	pīvŷr	pīŧôr	pīŧŷr	pîm	pînt	pîs	pîch	pîr	pīŧéch	pīŧér

Uses of the dative

The dative preposition vo is often used for semantic experiencers:

vû nobáva

DAT-3SG.M be_diseased(PASS)-3SG.M

he (lit. to him) is sick

The pronominal w:ethical dative is used to express some form of interest in the matter.

Numerals

Themsaran employs a pure vigesimal numeral system. In transcriptions of Themsaran, if positional numerals are desired, the vigesimal positional numerals should be used.

Themsaran numerals
	n	nth	n times	n each/at a time	1/n	n days	n years
?	ıîes	ıínáth	ıíster	ıíssle	ıissínde	ıíníeð
1	cêm	féldrŷn	ce̋mter	cêmslè	-	ce̋míeð	dóvîem
2	títhâr	ýrnŷn	tíster	tístle	ra̋ħé	títhíeð	tívîem
3	nárge	palnáth	nárter	nársle	nárgínde	náríeð	nárvîem
4	mulé	muláth	múlter	mulslé	mulínde	mulǐeð	mulvîem
5	nilŧé	nilŧáth	nílŧer	nilslé	nilŧínde	nilŧǐeð	nilvîem
6	ftāmé	ftāmáth	ftǎmter	ftāmslé	ftāmínde	ftāmǐeð	ftāvîem
7	rūdé	rūdáth	rǔtter	rūsslé	rūdínde	rūdǐeð	rūvîem
8	lozedé	lozedáth	lóster	lorlé	lozínde	lozǐeð	lorvîem
9	fárvé	fárváth	fárter	fárslé	fárvínde	fáríeð	fárvîem
10/A20	ħȳré	ħȳráth	ħ̌yrter	ħȳrslè	ħȳrínde	ħȳríeð	ħȳvîem
11/B20	ħȳrcêm	ħȳrcēmáth
12/C20	ħȳrtithâr	ħȳrtitháth
13/D20	ħȳrnárge	ħȳrnargáth
14/E20	ħȳrmulé
15/F20	ħȳrnilŧé
16/G20	ħȳrftāmé
17/H20	ħȳrrūdé
18/J20	ħȳrlozzedé
19/K20	ħȳrfarvé
20/1020	nevsé	nevsáth	nétvèr	nevsré	nevsínde	nevǐeð
21/1120	nevsicêm
40/2020	títhnûr
60/3020	nárgûr
80/4020	mulûr
100/5020	nilŧûr
120/6020	ftāmûr
140/7020	rūdûr
160/8020	lordûr
180/9020	fárvûr
200/A020	ħȳrûr
220/B020	ħȳrcēmûr
240/C020	ħȳrtithnûr
400/10020	ŧaflé	ŧafláth	ŧáflèr	ŧafslé	ŧaflínde	ŧaflǐeð
203/100020	idré	idráth	ídrer	idreslé	idrínde	idrǐeð
204/1000020	zathné	zathnáth	záster	zathneslé	zathrínde	zathnǐeð

The numeral is a noun that takes the definiteness inflection on behalf of the noun phrase (as a corollary, with a demonstrative the numeral is "indefinite" as well), whilst the noun is in the form "unmarked" in definiteness (indefinite for unpossessed, definite for possessed). The distributive suffix can be appended to the "n times" numeral to express "n times each"; e.g. ftāmterslé (six times each).

The numerals can be combined with possessive suffixes to denote "(the) n of us/you/them" mullaŧís "four of you", mullâis "the four of you".

Syntax

Word order and fronting

The default constituent order is (time-place)-verb-subject-pronominal oblique object-direct object-(place-time). Any constituent may be topicalized or focalized by being placed in front of the verb. The syntactic difference between topicalization and focalization is that a topicalized noun phrase is the absolute first constituent of a clause while focalized noun phrases have to follow pre-verbal adjuncts such as negation. New information adverbs such as la (also) tend to topicalize, and restrictive adverbs such as vid (only) tend to focus.

"Emphasis"

Topicalization

The clause begins with the topicalized noun phrase, then a 3rd or 4th person pronoun corresponding to the subject is used in the sentence. If the topic is the object of a finite verb, a 3rd or 4th person object suffix is used on the verb.

Focalization

Themsaran focusing fronts the whole noun phrase (prepositions and all), unlike topicalization in which the topic is appositional and is expressed with a prepositional pronoun in the clause. If the focus is the subject fronting with no pronoun is used. Focusing may alternatively employ a type of cleft construction, with fronting of the focused noun phrase, by using the inverse verbal or prepositional object corresponding to the role of the focus in the sentence. The cleft construction is the one used when the focus is the direct object.

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" (in both dual and plural), the last noun of the NP is reduplicated in absolute possessed forms. The 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
• 2.m: noun-2sg.m›sg noun-2sg.m›sg
• 2.f: noun-2sg.f›sg noun-2sg.f›sg
• 3.m: noun-3sg.m›sg noun-3sg.m›sg
• 3.f: noun-3sg.f›sg noun-3sg.f›sg
• 4.m: noun-4sg.m›sg noun-4sg.m›sg
• 4.f: noun-4sg.f›sg noun-4sg.f›sg

These exact forms are usually 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 chmásán chmásâu "my village his village".

Equational sentences

The copula va̋cî is rarely used in the present indicative in full (not relative) clauses. Instead, an equational sentence begins with the subject, and a 3rd- or a 4th-person pronoun (cliticized and therefore toneless) agreeing with the subject may be used anywhere in the sentence, or omitted (as is often the case, as the predicate adjectives and the end of each noun phrase are quite transparent). 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 construction "mér Y vo X", or "mér-[pronoun affix for pronominal X] Y" if X is animate. If X is inanimate, the construction X ā Y ('X is with Y'), or X ast Y ('X is without Y') is used. (Mér is a suppletive verb.)

Mérvìen híltámsach.

exist/PRES.3PL.M-1SG evidence-PL.INDEF

I have proof.

Coordinating conjunctions

at: or

ie: and (also 'but, while, whereas' with topicalized clauses)

íeláð: however, nevertheless, moreover

nesi: but (rather)

nu: xor/nand

seim: but, yet, however

Subordinating clauses

Themsaran prefers sentences with one independent (tensed realis) clause, with infinitives, jussives or participles in subordinate clauses (except usually in complement clauses). Using a finite verb in a dependent clause instead of an infinitive or participle carries focus, on the verb or another constituent.

Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions
Themsaran	Gloss	Notes
ach	although
ānne	when (with finite verb)
ar	if ("situational"; P causes Q to occur)	if the condition is predicted to occur, then use future for protasis
eir	because, for
gin	if (metaphorical/counterfactual)
isi	only if (rare)
ne	that (complementizer)
nit	if ("epistemic"; P logically implies Q)
nitrôg/trôg	whoever/whatever (generic relativizer)
rin	that, which (specific relativizer)
surith	which (sentential relativizer)

Time clauses

Time clauses are constructed with a preposition and the infinitive with the possessor as subject.

āl lēvasýn (lit. with my running)

while I run/was running (imperfective)

dí tángrysi ātmán (lit. at my mother's being-born)

when my mother was born (perfective)

qal riessví (lit. before your coming)

before you came/come

zom ħǒcasi mirchâ ie umrēsí (lit. between the sun's rising and its setting)

after the sun rises until it sets.

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 (specific) or nitrôg/trôg (non-specific; etymologically "whenever"). When the head is omitted, the relativizer is mandatory. To modify a sentence with a relative clause the relativizer surith is used instead.

Complement clauses

Themsaran uses chiefly finite complement clauses, unlike for other types of subordinate clauses. The distinction between indicative and subjunctive moods can be used to indicate whether the speaker's degree of belief:

ne fcíni̋lvi d'iermâ

(the fact) that they excel in war

ne líffcini̋lvi d'iermâ

(the allegation) that they excel in war

Using a non-finite complement clause entails using the verb va̋cî with a participle.

Negation

Negation of finite verbs is performed by the pre-verbal clitic tir, except in the future, where the particle vēt is used with the jussive.

The predicate negator is dâr.

Imperatives and jussives are negated by using the irrealis negation clitic ham with the jussive. Hám may be used as a standalone exclamation ("do not!"/"may it not happen!").

The negation of mér (in non-jussive forms) is íris.

Infinitives are negated with tíessù.

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.

Proximate/obviative affixes

The 3rd person, or proximate, object marks foreground or central referents, usually the first one or the most animate/possessing one mentioned soon after it. while the 4th person, or obviative, object refers to background or peripheral referents. The third person and the fourth person combine as 3+4=3, and when parts of a proximate plural is taken out, the first noun phrase to be taken out is the new 3rd person.

Comparison

"Than"

The comparative particle 'than' is rā. Themsaran enables one to discriminate "He loved me more than she [loved me]" and "He loved me more than [he loved] her", by focusing the argument in the main clause that is compared. The comparative phrase is by default placed after the subject or verb, and the compared noun phrase is stated, or repeated with a pronoun.

vá yntarpsýn slá ra̋ ŧî
/vá ʉntàrpsʉnꜜ sláꜜ ráːt͡ʃíꜜiː/
vá ynt-arb-s-n/ slá rā ŧî
3SG.M PAST.IPFV-teach/PAST.IPFV.3/4SG.M>1SG more.ADV than 4SG.F
He taught me more than she did.

ná yntarpsýn slá ra̋ ŧî
/náː ʉntàrpsʉnꜜ sláꜜ ráːt͡ʃiꜜiː/
ná ynt-arb-´s-n/ slá rā ðî
1SG PAST.IPFV-teach/PAST.IPFV.3/4SG.M>INV.SG.M more.ADV than 4SG.F
He taught me more than he did her.

Note that the fronting does not automatically imply that the fronted noun phrase is compared, but simply that it is given the most focus. The compared argument is the closer argument to the comparative:

ná yntarpsýn vá slá ra̋ ŧî
/náː ʉntàrpsʉnꜜ váꜜ sláꜜ ráːt͡ʃiꜜiː/
ná ynt-arb-´s-n/ vá slá rā ŧî
1SG PAST.IPFV-teach/PAST.IPFV.3/4SG.M>1SG 3SG.M more.ADV than 4SG.F
It is I whom he taught more than she did.

"Surpass"

Themsaran also, more succinctly, allows comparison by incorporating the adjective into the verb fcínêi 'surpass'. Unsurprisingly this construction is rather common for predicative comparisons:

Giemofcíneich arbalgâst.
giem(o)-fcin-eich arbâlg-āst
intelligent-surpass-/1SG.PRES>3PL.M teacher.1SG>DEF.PL
I am smarter than my teachers.

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

Impersonal pronouns do not exist in Themsaran. The verb is put into the mediopassive (or mediopassive of causative or applicative, as appropriate) with the subject as patient/object, or no subject if there is no patient.

scőtèv nárgìeð glé chmásán det cazrê

one walks (lit. it is walked) for three days from my village to the coast

Modal constructions

Themsaran is poor in true modal and auxiliary verbs; "adverbial" and "adjectival" modal constructions are more common. Deontic modalities tend to be expressed adjectivally, while situational and epistemic modalities tend to have adverbial expressions. All modal expressions come before the (negation-) lexical verb (e.g. Jêr méŧar ħlomaréch thyrfāmâst! "How dare you betray my brothers!", note that the verb is in the preterite).

Modal adjectives

• lāmérse: "it is sufficient to..."
• ıalúne: "advisable".
• re̋dáme: "necessary", used to express need to do something.
• thirvúre: "charged/required/compulsory"; moral obligation, "ought to".
• tírēné: "permitted", used to express permissibility.

Modal adverbs

• ídâ: "ably", used to express ability to do something.
• mőŧēr: equivalent of "dare".
• łámīl: "possibly", used to express epistemic possibility.
• tóssēr: "seemingly".
• arzên: "certainly", used to express speaker's certainty (English epistemic "must").
• spádīl "in truth", "indeed".
• teizēr: "successfully".

Modal verbs

"To want" is srétî. It is used (chiefly with an intransitive verb) in the infinitive, always with a subject possessor (Srétȉ mispasén d'insé "I want to travel in a city", lit. "I want my traveling in a city"), or with transitive verbs in the supine (definite direct objects are marked).

Periphrastic causatives

Using a periphrastic construction to express causatives often has the implicature of downplaying the agency of the agent or the degree of compulsion involved in the causation. Said nuances can be fine-tuned further with the choice of the auxiliary verb of causation.

• flúotêi - 'to cause', a neutral verb.
• bēslinâi - 'to force'.
• astaqruofâi - 'to coax, cajole'.

Derivational morphology

Affixal

Nouns and Adjectives

• -ácse (f, c): [noun]-manship, proper way of [verb]ing/being [adjective]
• -álg- (c): semantic agent of [verb]
• -átte (f, c): domain, place of [noun/adjective] (víssî 'sell' > víssátte 'market')
• -áth (c): adjectival suffix
• -ber (m, c): resultative of [verb]
• -d-/-de: nominalizer (less productive)
• -dr- (c): -ful
• [most often infinitive]-iħe (f c): nominalizer of [verb]
• -in (m g, not very productive): semantic patient of (verb)
• -índ- (c): diminutive (ħrôm 'horse' > ħrōmínd 'foal, colt')
• -ing (g): group noun (ħy̌ring 'group of ten; decad' < ħȳré 'ten')
• -īd (f, 2, c): abstract noun; thrȳzamétīd 'definiteness (grammatical)' < thrȳzámet 'remembered' (stative passive ptcp.)
• cī(v)-: -less; cīpalsáth 'mutually exhaustive' < pals- 'third'
• -lné (g): action of [verb]; the action noun of [verb] ga̋lelné 'singing'
• -m- (c): originating from [noun/adjective]; fǒnym: 'marine'
• -malé (f th): manner of [verb]ing; vālizemalé 'pattern, paradigm' < vālizêi 'order'
• -ms (m, c): instrument noun; éðħams: trophy, prize
• -noth- (c): capable/worthy of patienthood, [verb]-able; (vingâi 'die' > vinganóth 'mortal', frínqâi 'to despair' > frínqanóth 'futile, vain')
• -őf- (c): weaker pejorative, "just some"
• -org- (th): pejorative
• -re (f, c, less productive): patient/resultative; gavy̌re 'sample' < gavȳnî 'take out, examine'; pastáre 'staircase, scale, program, protocol' < pastâi 'stratify, layer'
• -rn- (th): capable of/good at agenthood, fit to be a [noun/adjective]; mattechivsáryn: 'diligent'
• -se (f, c): singulative
• -tán (f, c) "[noun] material" híchatán 'batter' < híchâi 'bake'
• tir-: non-, un-[adjective]
• -tv- (c) [noun]-like
• -yng- (plural, c): associative plural
• -ȳré (f, g): place noun (a̋thym 'holy' > a̋thmȳré 'shrine, sanctuary')
• -ýthe (f, c): state of being [adjective], most often used for mental states; probably related to ýthe 'color, manner'

Verbs

• -lî/-ālî/-ēlî: dynamic from [adjective/stative verb]
• -stî/-âi (less productive): cause to be [adjective] (ðúostâi 'lengthen', āstâi 'magnify', qe̋stâi 'strengthen')
• -inâi: do the action of [noun]
• -trî: intensive
• -dm- iterative
• -achlâi: :see/depict as
• -īl-: telic (ħálnêi 'dig' > ħálnīlêi 'dig up, excavate, exhume')
• -ðħâi: un-, dis- (intransitive)
• -prî: un-, dis- (transitive)
• -(i/u)t- (with tone change): transitivizer (not productive)

Compounding

Compounding and incorporation is the main, characteristically Themsaran method of derivation.

Noun-adjective compounding occurs by removing the ending of the noun (and inserting -o- for first declension, -e- for second declennsion, and -i- for third declension of the noun if phonotactically required). If the compound is a noun with a supplemental meaning by the adjective, the lexical tone is that of the noun; on the contrary, as an adjective with the meaning colored by the noun, the lexical tone is adopted from the adjective. (e.g. cólyn (1st decl., high tone) + simáttym (accent paradigm c) = cólnosimáttym 'wind' + 'northern' = 'north wind'; sōrachráth 'royalty, royal household' < sôr 'house' + achráth 'royal'; post-classical neologisms include ðálfaromīdáth tradition < ðál- 'passing, transmission' + fáromīdáth 'legitimate'; thilqārdé 'broadsword, claymore' < thilqé 'sword' + ârd 'big, great').

Compounds headed by the final noun are largely 'kind of noun' compounds (noun-noun/adj-noun) and are much less productive than the right-branching ones often of a noun-adjective form.

Verb-verb compounding also occurs, e.g. duaħivingâi 'go extinct, perish, die out' < duaħî 'fade, be erased' + vingâi 'die'.

Incorporation

Nouns and adverbs can be incorporated into verbs as they can into adjectives. This is primarily a derivational, rather than grammatical, device.

qe̋dmoplaħemâm

may he grant strength to us

Literature

Zinnǒðrir

Zinnǒðrir or simply nǒðrir (plurale tantum) is the Themsaran term for rhymed prose, a very popular literary form for oratory and other didactic works in both classical and post-classical periods, but not uncommon either for ordinary descriptive writings.

Poetry

The criteria to be considered poetry is for there to be a quantitative meter pattern in addition to rhyming.

Sample texts

Look, a bānner!

Ymbānstávasar gávthe mî ce̋mērâc.

This language was made to attract fame/renown at one time.

Énħēn lāmennǐdīr chīrıīdî ie arvētnothīdî íe máugamalanî, arramlétnevas bānstivní.

Because of the bestness of its fineness, its believability and its ways of using, its being made to attract fame was agreed upon.