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

Themsaran is my first constructed language, for my conworld of Hheergrem. The grammar and syntax emits an overpowering odor of Semitic/Celtic languages. The nonconcatenative (tonal) inflection... yeah, I reckon that's Semitic too. Aesthetially it has hints of Baltic, Germanic, Celtic, Semitic, Khmer and Gyeongsang Korean. The main departure from Biblical Hebrew is that the language has been augmented with new features such as strict head-marking inflection, the applicative voice and borderline polysynthesis. So I guess it ends up a tad more like some Native American languages.

Background

The Themsaran language (gávthȁ themsármā [gáʊ̯fθàː θè̞msármàː] "the Themsaran mouth") constitutes a separate branch of the Zachydic language family, along with other para-Themsaran languages which are/were spoken in the island of Tálsèm. Due to its long period of isolation and substrate influence, Themsaran is a typological and lexical outlier in its family, within which it is distinguished by its heavily head-marking inflection in both clauses and possessive NPs as well as its strongly head-initial syntax. The language possesses 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". Classical 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, and was continued to be used as an important literary, academic and religious language on the island and surrounding mainland areas.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Dorsal	Radical	Glottal
Nasal	m		n				ŋ
Plosive	p b			t d			k g	ħ~ʜ~ʢ~ʡ ⟨ħ⟩	(ʔ)
Fricative		f v	θ ⟨th⟩	s z	ʃ ⟨š⟩ ʒ ⟨ž⟩		x ⟨ch⟩		h~ɦ ⟨h⟩
Affricate					tʃ ⟨ŧ⟩
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

Themsaran 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. 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
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 following are the diphthongs, all falling: ai au ei ie ua /ai au ei ie~ia uo~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. Preceding a word with high lexical tone, the clitic is marked as high.

Phonotactics

The maximal syllable structure is CCCVCC, where V is any vowel or diphthong, the third consonant in the complex onset must be /j/, and the second consonant in the complex coda must be an obstruent. /ħ/ and /h/ are disallowed to occur in coda. Vowel hiatus is prohibited, as in Balto-Slavic and Semitic languages.

Orthography

Tone diacritics in Themsaran script, written under or over a vowel letter.

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 proper names, 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. Nouns ending in -i display a lengthened -ī before a possessive suffix beginning with a consonant, and a -j before one beginning with a vowel.

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

Second declension

The second declension consists primarily of feminine nouns.

Second declension
	Singular				Plural
	Indefinite		Definite		Indefinite		Definite
Unpossessed	-e		-ā		-ir		-enā
1sg	-ŧen		-an				-aist
2sg.m	-zze		-za				-aŋgit
2sg.f	-ŧve		-va				-aŋgis
3sg.m	-ŧu		-au				-ana
3sg.f	-ŧi		-ai				-anī
4sg.m	-šŧu		-ath				anŧu
4sg.f	-šŧi		-eth				anŧi
1ex	-ŧem		-iem				-ānche
1in	-ŧent		-ant				-anša
2pl.m	-ŧis		-ais				-ansra
2pl.f	-ŧith		-aith				-ansre
3pl.m	-ŧech		-āch				-anech
3pl.f	-ŧer		-air				-aner
3pl.m.inv	-šŧech		-thāch				-anthech
3pl.f.inv	-šŧer		-thair				-anther

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 four tonal paradigms.

1. kanǔar ('sitting'): The most common paradigm, the downstep remains stationary, except as required by downstep rules or in the presence of the downstep-attracting absolute possession suffixes.
2. šanŧǐel ('shunning/evading'): The downstep is never on the suffix.
3. ('standing')
4. gánħāŋém ('skipping/tumbling'): The downstep is one mora before the boundary of the suffix in the base form, and moves to the desinence upon inflection by a definite suffix.

Fossilized case marking

A descendant of a language with developed noun and adjective cases, Themsaran preserves vestigial case marking.

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. As such definiteness is required in objects of a small number of prepositions, and some time expressions (e.g. nǐežȁm/minâm/krúamâm (< *nējžȁ-mî etc., instead of the expected **nējžè-mî) "today"/"tonight"/"tomorrow", nǐežȁŧ ("that day"), krúamâ/ra̋zȁ/ħíŋšȁ/minâ "in the morning/at daytime/at dusk/at night") and adverbial expressions.

Fossilized oblique cases

The frozen oblique cases (ablative, instrumental/locative and allative) are largely found in two lexical classes: adverbs and prepositions.

Adjectives

Attributive adjectives agree in number, definiteness, gender and possessedness with their heads. Adjectival declension disagrees with nouns in that absolute possessive form of adjectives modifies the conjunct possessive of nouns. Predicate adjectives are declined differently. Adjectives also take degree inflection (positive, "less/least", "more/most", elative, "X enough", "too X"). Adjectives exhibit tonal ablaut like those of nouns.

Declension

Adjectives are either declined in 1st declension in the masculine and the 2nd for feminine, or the 3rd declension for masculine and 2nd for feminine with an extra suffix -m- added between the stem and the ending.

Predicate adjectives

1st/2nd declension
	Singular	Plural
Masculine	-e	-ū
Feminine	-a	-ān

3rd declension
	Singular	Plural
Masculine	-et	-tie
Feminine	-em	-mtie

Degree

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

Adverb formation

The adverbial suffix is -ar, 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 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	ŧá	ŧû
4.f	ŧî	ŧân

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 ŧá (distal; identical to 4th person pronoun), and the pronominal demonstratives are ím(é), íž(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 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
Adnominal	jé (who); jî (fem., rare); ján (what)	mé	ħé	ŧá				rôg
Pronominal		ímé	ížá	íŧá
Quality (what kind of)	jélt (declined like ímé)	mélt	ħélt	ŧélt
Place	jách; émmâ	mách; dátè	ħách	ŧách
Origin
Destination
Time
Quantity/Extent
Manner	jêr, díeŋkúl	mêr	ħêr	ŧêr
Cause	jěn	měn	ħěn	ŧěn
Purpose

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. klûdil mé: "this humble subject", áchèr ħé/tīnè ħî/slǐerè ħî: Your Majesty/Highness; lit. "that king/hand/throne", dírmár/íra̋them ħé/a̋thmȉd ħî, "that called one/sanctified one/holiness"; used to address a priest, mách/ħách generic humble language, used for locative obliques instead of 1st or 2nd person inflected prepositions)

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

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.

Past perfective

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

Future imperfective

The future imperfective indicates actions which will take place in the future but whose aspectual meaning is similar to past imperfective. Future imperfective is also used as imperatives where the imperfectiveness of the action is emphasized ("[you shall] always/regularly strive!").

Future perfective

The future perfective denotes actions which will be completed at some point in the future.

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 the complementizer ne (Kýlês ne stumî. "He ordered me to go back.");
• purpose clauses, with a relativizer or other conjunctions; (ħéistê rin ti̋gamthé "the word to say"/"the word that should be said").

Supplementary aspects

Inceptive

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

Cessative

The cessative is the suffix -lša (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 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

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 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.

Supplementary voices

Causative

The causative expresses causation or facilitation of the action. It is indicated by the suffix -nuh- after the masculine singular imperative, where the h assimilates to any fricative or may leave compensatory lengthening of the u.

Applicative

The applicative suffix, placed after the masculine singular imperative, is -t(e)n-. The applicative promotes an oblique object of a verb to the direct object position, for example "fight (a war)" > "fight (someone)" and downgrades the core object argument to an oblique argument. An optional applicative prefix may be used to qualify the relationship of the new object to the base verb (vi- for instrument, ša- for location, lua- for comitation, and mi- for goal or benefactive). In the passive, the applicative finds much syntactic utility in constructing impersonal statements about an oblique object.

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

The three conjugations of Themsaran verbs are demonstrated below respectively with the verbs mólî - 'let me thank', nesâi - 'let me slay/kill (animate subject)', takvêi - 'let me know' (The citation form is the 1st person jussive). 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.

Active 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	hémolstí henesastí hetakvēstí

With initial vowels the he prefix combines thus:

• he+a→hā
• he+e→hē
• he+i→hei
• he+o→hō
• he+u→hū
• he+y→hȳ
• 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	mólstí nesastí takvēstí

Future imperfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	kámólin kanésen katákvin	kámólam kanésām katákviem
1.in		kámólit kanésait katákviet
2.m
2.f
3.m
3.f

The ka- future imperfective prefix is combined the following way:

• ka-+a=kā-
• ka-+e=kai-
• ka-+i=kai-
• ka-+o=kā-
• ka-+a=kau-
• ka-+y=kau-

Future perfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	mólchì nésàchì takvéchì	mólchym nésachym takvêchym
1.in
2.m
2.f
3.m	mólchè nésàche takvéche
3.f	mólchà nésàcha takvécha

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 of the active

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.

Mediopassive subject affixes

Imperative
	Singular	Plural
1.in	-	mólvàns! nesávans! takvévans!
2.m	mólvàr! nesávar! takvévar!	mólvàls! nesávals! takvévals!
2.f	mólvȁ! nesávā! takvévā!	mólvàrs! nesávars! takvévars!

Present
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	mólȉv nésȁv tákvèiv	mólchỳs nésàchỳs takvêchỳs
1.in		mólnìv nesániv takéniv
2.m	mólèrem nésàrem takvêrem	móllìv nesáliv takvéliv
2.f	mólèrte nésàrte takvêrte	mólrìv nesáriv takvériv
3.m	mólèv nésàv tákvȅv	mólvìni nesávini takvévini
3.f	mólvìn nésàvìn tákvȅvìn	mólvìti nesáviti takvéviti

Past imperfective
	Singular	Plural
1.ex
1.in
2.m	hémólū henésau hetakvû
2.f
3.m	hémólev henésav hetakvêv
3.f	hémólever henésaver hetakvêver

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	mólémth nesámth takvêmth
3.f

Non-finite forms of the passive

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

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.dir	3sg.f.dir	4sg.m	4sg.f	3sg.m.inv	3sg.f.inv	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m.dir	3pl.f.dir	4pl.m	4pl.f	3sg.m.inv	3sg.f.inv
-(e)n	-ze	-ve	-(j)u	-(j)i	-ŧ(u)	-ŧi	-th(u)	-thi	-am	-(e)nt	-sŋa	-sŋe	-(e)ch, -ū	-(e)r, -īn	-ŧech, -ŧū	-ŧer, -ŧīn	-thech, -thū	-ther, -thīn

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

Inflection of example preposition
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	3sg.m.inv	3sg.f.inv	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	3pl.m.inv	3pl.f.inv
aštén	aštezé	aštví	aštú	aští	aštethú	aštethí	aštám	ašént	aštesrá	aštesré	aštéch	aštér	aštethech	-ther

The following prepositions have completely regular inflection:

• ašt 'without'
• chaŋ (! definite object) 'concerning'
• det 'towards'
• dienem 'inside, amidst'
• flyr 'agent'
• ħal 'in front of'
• mel 'agent, interchangeable with flyr'
• rimên 'because of (cause)'
• tor 'because (implication)'
• trig 'around'
• vórêl 'for, for sake of'

The following are inflections of irregular prepositions:

Inflection of ā, āC (comitative)
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	3sg.m.inv	3sg.f.inv	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	3pl.m.inv	3pl.f.inv
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	3sg.m.inv	3sg.f.inv	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	3pl.m.inv	3pl.f.inv
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	3sg.m.inv	3sg.f.inv	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	3pl.m.inv	3pl.f.inv
vôjen	vôzze	vôvví	vū	vȳ	vôthu	vôthi	vōtám	vônt	vōsrá	vōsré	vōjéch, vôch	vōjér, vôr	vosséch	vossér

Inflection of nai' 'with, by means of'
1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	3sg.m.inv	3sg.f.inv	1ex	1in	2pl.m	2pl.f	3pl.m	3pl.f	3pl.m.inv	3pl.f.inv
nâin	naizé	naiví	nājú	nājí	naithú	naithí	nājám	nâint	naisrá	naisré	nâich	nâir	naithéch	naithér

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

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

Numerals

Themsaran employs a 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
?	jǐes	jínáš		jísslè
1	kêm	félàš		kêmslè
2	títhâr	ŷrnàš		tístlè
3	nárgè	palsáš		nárslè
4	mullé	mulláš		mulslé
5	nimŧé	nimŧáš		nimŧlé
6	ftāmé	ftāmáš		ftāmslé
7
8
9
10/A20	ħíttè	ħíttàš		ħístlè
11/B20
12/C20
13/D20
14/E20
15/F20
16/G20
17/H20
18/J20
19/K20
20/1020
21/1120
40/2020
60/3020
80/4020
100/5020
120/6020
140/7020
160/8020
180/9020
200/A020
220/B020
240/C020
260/D020
280/E020
300/F020
320/G020
340/H020
360/J020
380/K020
400/10020
203/100020
204/1000020

Syntax

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.

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 chmásán chmásâu "my village his village".

Equational sentences

The copula vákî 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 (as is often the case, as the predicate adjectives and the end of each noun phrase are quite transparent). 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.

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

ach: although

ānne: when (with finite verb)

ar: if (provisional)

at: or

gin: if (metaphorical/counterfactual)

ie: and

ielaš: although

ne: that (complementizer)

nit: if (gnomic)

nitrôg/trôg: that (restrictive)

nu: xor/nand

rin: that, which (non-restrictive)

seim: but, however

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. It is the default relative clause formation method.

The finite relative clause is introduced optionally with a relativizer rin (non-restrictive and default) or nitrôg/trôg (restrictive; etymologically "whenever"). When the head is omitted, the relativizer is mandatory.

Complement clauses

Themsaran uses chiefly finite complement clauses, unlike for other types of subordinate clauses.

Negation

Finite negation is done with the pre-verbal clitic tir, except in the future imperfective, where the particle vēt is used with the jussive.

The predicate negator is dâ(r).

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!").

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.

Inverse marking

Themsaran has verbal affixes that force a particular, marked order of the sentence, called inverse marking. This marker serves simultaneously to trigger a more focused meaning on the more fronted constituent.

Verbal inverse marking

Constituents	Direct (unless otherwise marked)	Inverse (forced reading)
VN	VS	VO
NV	SV	OV
VNN	VSO	VOS
NVN	SVO	OVS
NNV	OSV	SOV

Proximate/Obviative

The 3rd person, or proximate, marks topical or foreground referents, while the 4th person, or obviative, refers to background referents. 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.

Relative clauses

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

Comparison

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.

žá hārbenín slá ra̋ žî
/ʒá hàːrbeninꜜ sláꜜ ráːʒíꜜiː/
žá he-arb-nin/ slá rā žî
3SG.M PAST.IPFV-teach/PAST.IPFV.3SG.M>1SG more.ADV than 3SG.F
He taught me more than she did.

na̋ hārbenín slá ra̋ žî
/náː hàːrbeninꜜ sláꜜ ráːʒiꜜiː/
na̋ he-arb-nin/ slá rā žî
1SG PAST.IPFV-teach/PAST.IPFV.3SG.M>1SG more.ADV than 3SG.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:

na̋ hārbenín žá slá ra̋ žî
/náː hàːrbeninꜜ ʒáꜜ sláꜜ ráːʒiꜜiː/
na̋ he-arb-nin/ žá slá rā žî
1SG PAST.IPFV-teach/PAST.IPFV.3SG.M>1SG 3SG.M more.ADV than 3SG.F
It is I whom he taught more than she did.

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

Affixal

Nouns and Adjectives

• -alg-: semantic agent of [verb]
• -ber (m, 1): resultative of [verb]
• -índ-: diminutive
• -īd (f, 3): abstract noun
• kī-: -less
• -m-: originating from [noun/adjective]
• -ol-: pejorative
• -se (f, 2): singulative
• tir-: non-, un-
• capable of agenthood
• semantic patient of [verb]
• capable of patienthood
• fit to be a [noun/adjective]
• action of [verb]
• a noun associated with [noun]
• [noun]-like
• instrument
• place
• -ful
• manner of [verb]ing
• [noun]-manship, proper way of [verb]ing/being [adjective]

Verbs

• dynamic from [adjective]
• cause to be [adjective]
• intensive
• iterative
• momentane
• see/depict as
• [verb] to completion
• un-, dis- (intransitive)
• un-, dis- (transitive)
• intransitivizer (not productive)
• transitivizer (not productive)

Sample texts

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This language was made-to-attract-attention at-one-time.

Because-of the best-ness of its quality, its believability and its ways-of-using, its being-made-to-attract-attention was agreed-upon/assented.

Sárthaittígā Tirléŋħā sŋéfȉl Láugvi̋dnīch Itávō

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Méisȁ 1

Article 1

Ta̋ŋrèvi rôg itávō dǔanȕ íe státhe̋dū sŋéfȉl ħalgīdîch íe láugvīdîch.

be.born.-pres.3pl.m all human-pl.def free.pl.m.pred and equal.pl.m.pred 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.

Tór pláħévnier ŧlâħe ie ftiļiny̋že vōjéch, širŋúre tolbasêich ān nadnék nái hélki šyrfǎmīd.

as.implied.by bestow.pass.first.inf-3pl.f/conj reason and conscience dat.3pl.m, compulsory.-sg.m.pred 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.