Tigol/Proto-Tigol

Themsármai: Gávthā themsármā

דף זה בעברית: ת'מסארית

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, 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 i or/alternating with y
• Correct aesthetics

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 northeastern 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 its 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

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/		th /θ/	s /s/	š /ʃ/	ch /x/	ħ /ħ~ʜ~ʢ/	h /h~ɦ/
	voiced		v /v/	ð /ð/	z /z/	ž /ʒ/
Affricate						ŧ /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 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 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 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.

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 CCıVCC, where V is any vowel or diphthong, and the second consonant in the complex coda must be an obstruent. /ħ/ and /h/ are disallowed to occur in coda. Up to CCCı medial clusters are permitted.

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.)

Phonological rules

• 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/}]
• ħ/q > [ː~] / _C
• h > [ː~] / _C[+fricative]

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, Ž, M, L, G, C, Š, 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. rynšrîe which denotes the two biological or grammatical genders, as opposed to plural rynšrír which refers to 'classes/categories' in general). The asssociative suffix -ang- may be combined with the dual to form the associative dual (e.g. rommangâr 'two sides/pages of a paper', vōligangâir '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	-ie	-ach	-ūt
1sg	-cyn	-n	-ōrcyn	-ien	-ūcyn	-ūn
2sg.m	-cize	-ze	-ōrcize	-ieze	-ūcize	-ūze
2sg.f	-civi	-vi	-ōrcivi	-ievi	-ūcivi	-ūvi
3sg.m	-cu	-u	-ōrcu	-ieıu	-ūcu	-ū
3sg.f	-ci	-i	-ōrci	-iei	-ūci	-ȳ
4sg.m	-ciŧu	-ŧu	-ōrciŧu	-ieŧu	-ūciŧu	-ŧū
4sg.f	-ciŧi	-ŧi	-ōrciŧi	-ieŧi	-ūciŧi	-ŧȳ
1dl.ex	-crin	-rin	-ōrcrin	-ierin	-cūrin	-ūrin
1dl.in	-cið	-ið	-ōrcið	-ieð	-ūcið	-ūð
2dl	-cryth	-ryth	-ōrcryth	-ieryth	-ūcryth	-ūryth
3dl.m	-cōr	-ōr	-ōrcōr	-ievōr	-ūcōr	-ūōr
3dl.f	-cȳr	-ȳr	-ōrcȳr	-ievȳr	-ūcȳr	-ūvȳr
4dl.m	-ciŧōr	-ŧōr	-ōrciŧōr	-ieŧōr	-ūciŧōr	-ūŧōr
4dl.f	-ciŧȳr	-ŧȳr	-ōrciŧȳr	-ieŧȳr	-ūciŧȳr	-ūŧȳr
1pl.ex	-cam	-am	-ōrcam	-aim	-ūcam	-aum
1pl.in	-cynt	-nt	-ōrcynt	-ient	-ūcynt	-ūnt
2pl.m	-clys	-ys	-ōrclys	-ies	-ūclys	-ūs
3pl.m	-cech	-eich	-ōrcech	-iech	-ūcech	-ūch
3pl.f	-cyr	-eir	-ōrcyr	-ier	-ūcyr	-ūr
4pl.m	-ciŧech	-ŧeich	-ōrciŧech	-ieŧech	-ūciŧech	-ŧūch
4pl.f	-ciŧyr	-ŧeir	-ōrciŧyr	-ieŧyr	-ūciŧyr	-ŧūr
inv	-cith	-th	-ōrcith	-ieth	-ūcith	-ūth

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	-an	-ȳrcyn	-iecyn	-ancyn	-ānyn
2sg.m	-acyze	-aze	-ȳrcyze	-ieze	-ancyze	-ānze
2sg.f	-acyvi	-avi	-ȳrcyvi	-ievi	-ancyvi	-ānvi
3sg.m	-acu	-au	-ȳrcu	-ieıu	-ancu	-ānu
3sg.f	-aci	-ai	-ȳrci	-iei	-anci	-āni
4sg.m
4sg.f
1dl.ex
1dl.in
2dl
3dl
4dl
1pl.ex
1pl.in
2pl.m
2pl.f
3pl.m
3pl.f
4pl.m
4pl.f
inv

Tonal patterns of nominals

Every noun falls under one of four tonal paradigms.

1. canǔar ('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. šynŧǐel ('shunning/evading'): The downstep is never on the suffix.
3. the̋nác ('standing'): Every suffix, except for conjunct possessive suffixes, bear the downstep.
4. gánħārém ('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.

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. On the other hand, 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. As such definiteness is required in objects of a small number of prepositions, and some time expressions (e.g. nǐežȁm/minâm/crúamâm (< *nējĵȁ-mī etc., instead of the expected *nǐežètem < **nējĵet-mī) "today"/"tonight"/"tomorrow", nǐežȁŧ ("that day"), crúamâ/ra̋zȁ/ħípšȁ/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. 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 -šŧ.

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. Adjectival declension disagrees with nouns in the following ways:

• Absolute possessive form of adjectives modifies the conjunct possessive of nouns.
• Indefinite attributive adjectives do not agree in possession.

Predicate adjectives are declined differently than attributive adjectives.

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

Predicate adjectives
Declension 1: Masculine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-	-	-
Definite	-	-	-
Possessum	-	-	-
Declension 2: Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-	-	-
Definite	-	-	-
Possessum	-	-	-
Declension 3: Masculine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-	-	-
Definite	-	-	-
Poessessum	-	-	-
Declension 3: Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-	-	-
Definite	-	-	-
Poessessum	-	-	-

Predicate adjectives

Predicate adjectives
Declension 1/2
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Masculine	-e	-ōr	-ū
Feminine	-a	-ȳr	-ān
Declension 3
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Masculine	-i	-ıōr	-ıū
Feminine	-i	-īr	-ıān

Degree

Degree affixes
comparative	-ên, -enn- (1/2, g)
elative	-rŷn (š)
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 -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 indexed on the heads, be it the subject, the direct object, or an oblique argument.

Independent personal pronouns
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	na̋	trân	châm
1.in		qâð	távên
2.m	zêi	râth	slâs
2.f	vêi
3.m	žá	žôr	žû
3.f	žî	žŷr	žân
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), 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 ctên, 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)	šivé
Pronominal		ímé	ížá	íŧá	mércár (human); mérsát (nonhuman)
Quality (what kind of)	ıért (declined like ímé)	mért	ħért	ŧért	navért			rőcšȉl	-
Place	ıách; émmâ	mách*; dátè*	ħách	ŧách	smárıán				smáršivé
Origin	gléıách; glêm; ıáchên	glémách/máchên*; glédát/dátên*	gláħách; ħáchên	gléŧách; ŧáchên	glé smárıán				glé smáršivé
Destination	vóıách; ıáchast	vómách/máchast*; vódát/dátast*	vóħách; ħáchast	vóŧách; ŧáchast	vó smárıán				vó smáršivé
Time	ıápsè, ıémà	gámà	sónēŧ		mérrâc			pidħîl	gilslé
Quantity/Extent	ıávēš	mévēš	ħévēš	ŧévēš	-	-	-	-	-
Manner	ıêr; díencúl	mêr	ħêr	ŧêr	gîemıêr			rőcšȉl	-
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", dírmár/íra̋thym 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: Nésài zâr (kill-ACT.PRES.1SG cat.SG.INDEF 'I kill a cat') against Nesāıú zárrȅ (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	/Downstep
Applicative prefix	Mood/Evidential/Mirative	Imperfective prefix	STEM	Supplementary aspect	Supplementary voice	Passive	TAM-Subject-Object	TAM-Subject-Object

An example of a fully inflected verb:

mizecheclēzittnevanarér
/mìzexekleːzitːnevꜜriːn/
mi-RDPL[zec]-he-clēz-iħ-tn-va-nar-er
APP.GOAL-SBJV-PAST.IPFV-mix-ICP-APP-PSS-/PAST.IPFV.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 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.

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).

Žuadisá áromizé

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

chavystisá hadísā ýrnašâ

lower/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 chénvàim

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 -rš-. 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!

lígga̋lies

/líggaːꜜliɜs/

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, (scőtvìti machıâist "my legs walk by themselves, without my control") or change of state for statives (which is what the verb va̋cî 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 -st- after the masculine singular imperative.

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, thrāpâi 'fight (a battle)' > lōthrāpâi '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, lō- for comitation, mi- for goal or benefactive, and ran- for "about, concerning" and other miscellaneous objects). 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 is principally used in relative clauses. The tense of a participle is 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 believed strongly 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. The infinitive absolute construction formed with the second infinitive (not to be confused with the infinitive absolute form in Biblical Hebrew) indicates a manner of action or simultaneous action.

Conjugation

See also tables for conjugation subparadigms.

The three conjugations of Themsaran verbs are demonstrated below respectively with the verbs mólî - 'let me thank', with null thematic vowel, nesâi - 'let me slay/kill (animate subject)' with a thematic vowel a, tacvêi - 'let me know', with the thematic vowel e of variable length. (The citation form is the 1st person jussive). The first conjugation subsumes:

• ı-stem verbs, whose ı- stays as ı- before a vowel-onset ending (except plain -e), and assumes the form i otherwise;
• ħ-stem verbs, where the ħ assimilates into any consonant that begins an ending, and becomes -â in the 2nd person masculine singular imperative;
• 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, and ends in a bare long vowel with a falling tone in the 2sg.m imperative.

Subject affixes

Imperative
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.in	-	mólħar! nésáħar! tacvéħar!	mólyns! nésans! tacvens!
2.m	mól! nésa! tácve!	mólyrs! nésars! tácvers!	mólyls! nésals! tácvels!
2.f	móld! nésad! tácved!

Present
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	mólī nésai tácvei	mólðir nésaðir tácveðir	mólma nésama tácvema
1.in	-	mólħare nesáħare tacvéħare	mólynse nésanse tácvense
2.m	mólyr nésar tácver	mólyrse nésarse tacverse	mólylse nésalse tacvelse
2.f	mólē nésā tácvie
3/4.m	móle nésa tácvē	mólir nésair tácveir	mólvi nésavi tácvevi
3/4.f	mólis nésais tácvies		mólti nésati tácveti

Past perfective
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	mólýn nesán tacvîen	mólzið nesárið tacvérið	mólmi nésámi tacvémi
1.in	-	móltar nesátar tacvétar	móltā nesátā tacvétā
2.m	mólýr nesár tacvîer	mólsré nesasré tacvesré	mólslé nesaslé tacveslé
2.f	móle̋ nesa̋ tacvíe
3/4.m	mólés nesás tacvês	mólsrí nesasrí tacvesrí	mólsví nesasví tacvesví
3/4.f	mólsar nesásar tacvésar		mólstí nesastí tacvestí

Past imperfective
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	hémolî henesâi hetacvêi	hémólzið henesárið hetacvérið	hémólmi henesámi hetacvémi
1.in	-	hémóltar henesátar hetacvétar	hémóltā henesátā hetacvétā
2.m	hémolýr henesár hetacvêr	hémolsré henesasré hetacvesré	hémolslé henesaslé hetacveslé
2.f	hémole̋ henesa̋ hetacvíe
3/4.m	hémólyn henesán hetacvên	hémolsrí henesasrí hetacvesrí	hémolsví henesasví hetacvesví
3/4.f	hémólnar henesánar hetacvénar		hémolstí henesastí hetacvestí

With initial vowels or words beginning with h the he prefix combines thus:

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

Certain preceding obstruents will also combine with the h-:

• b/p+h→f
• d/t+h→th
• ž/ŧ+h→š
• g/c+h→ch

Future
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	mólgyn nésagyn tácvegyn	mólgýðir nésagýðir tacvegýðir	mólgym nésagym tácvegym
1.in	-	mólgyħar neságyħar tacvégyħar	mólgnais neságnais tacvégnais
2.m	mólgyr neságyr tacvégyr	mólgrais neságrais tacvégrais	mólglais neságlais tacvéglais
2.f	mólgē neságē tacvégē
3/4.m	mólge neságe tacvége	mólgêri nesagêri tacvēgêri	mólgêvi nesagêvi tacvēgêvi
3/4.f	mólgis nésàgis tacvégis		mólgêti nesagêti tacvēgêti

Jussive
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	mólî nesâi tacvêi	mólyrðá nesarðá tacverðá	mólmir nesámir tacvémir
1.in	-	mólħad nésáħad tacvéħad	mólynt nésant tácvent
2.m	mólîr nesâir tacvêir	mólyrt nésart tácvert	mólylt nésalt tácvelt
2.f	mólîd nesâid tacvêid
3/4.m	mólim nésaim tácveim	mólirá nesará tacverá	mólivá nesavá tacvevá
3/4.f	mólisá nesasá tacvesá		mólitá nesatá tacvetá

Non-finite forms of the active

The active participle is formed by infixing ⟨en/an/ēn⟩ (respectively for -î/-âi/-êi conjugations) 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.

The second infinitive 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, but the vowel changes to -vi / _Ci. Also the present tense 3pl masculine suffix is irregular -vini.

Non-finite forms of the passive

The static passive participle is formed through the infix ⟨ir/air/eir⟩ in the bare stem.

The dynamic passive participle is formed with the ⟨(i)s⟩ in the passive 3rd person masculine singular stem minus the final vowel.

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

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	1dl.ex	1dl.in	2dl	3dl.m	3dl.f	4dl.m	4dl.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m.dir	3pl.f.dir	4pl.m	4pl.f	inv
-(e)n	-ze	-ve	-(ı)u	-(ı)i	-ŧ(u)	-ŧi	-ren	-ð	-the	-(ı)ār	-(ı)air	-ŧār	-ŧair	-am	-nt	-sħe	-ch, -ū	-r, -īn	-ŧech, -ŧū	-ŧer, -ŧīn	-th

As a general rule the downstep shifts to the end when the objectless form has it on the stem; the downstep stays put when the objectless form has it on the ending.

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	inv
Regular	-en	-ze	-vi	-(j)u	-(j)i	-ŧu	-ŧi	-ren	-ð	-the	-(ı)ār	-(ı)air	-ŧār	-ŧair	-am	-nt	-sħe	-ch	-r	-ŧech	-ŧer	-th
Example	aštýn	aštyzé	aštví	aštú	aští	ašteŧú	ašteŧí	aštrén	aštíð	astithe	astıâr	astıâir	asteŧâr	ašteŧâir	aštám	aštýnt	aštisħé	aštých	aštýr	aštyŧéch	aštyŧér	áštyth

The following prepositions have completely regular inflection:

• ašt 'without, except' (negation of comitative)
• chang 'concerning'
• det 'towards, until'
• dienem 'inside, amidst'
• dismar, hasfîer 'instead of
• énħȅn 'because of'
• glenem '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'
• žymai '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	4dl	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f	inv
ā	āħán	āzzé	āvví	āħá	āħé	āŧŧú	āŧŧí						âm	ânt	āsħé	āħách	āħár	āŧŧéch	āŧŧér	âtthu
di	dîen	dîeze	dîevi	dîe	dî	dîeŧu	dîeŧi						dîem	dîent	dîesħe	dîech	dîer	dîeŧech	dîeŧer	dîeth
vo	vôden	vôzze	vôvví	vû	vŷ	vôŧu	vôŧi						vōdám	vônt	vōsħé	vōdéch, vôch	vōdér, vôr	vošŧéch	vošŧér	vōdéth
nai	nâin	naizé	naiví	nāıú	nāıí	naiŧú	naiŧí						nāıám	nâint	naisħé	nâich	nâir	naiŧéch	naiŧér	nâith
la	lâin	laizé	laiví	laıú	lâi	laiŧú	laiŧí						laıám	lâint	laisħé	lâich	lâir	laŧéch	laŧér	lâith
gle	glên	glēzé	glēví	glēıú	glî	glēŧú	glēŧí						glēıám	glênt	glēsħé	glêch	glêr	glēŧéch	glēŧér	glêth
pī	pîn	pīzé	pīví	pīıú	pīıí	pīŧú	pīŧí						pîm	pînt	pīsħé	pîch	pîr	pīŧéch	pīŧér	pîth

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
?	ıíes	ıínáš	ıístèr	ıísslè	ıissínde	ıíníež
1	cêm	félàš	ce̋mtèr	cêmslè	-	ce̋míež	dóvîem
2	títhâr	ŷrnàš	tístèr	tístlè	ra̋ħé	títhiež	tívîem
3	nárgè	palsáš	nártèr	nárslè	nárgínde	náríež	nárvîem
4	mulé	muláš	múltèr	mulslé	mulínde	mulǐež	mulvîem
5	nilŧé	nilŧáš	nílŧèr	nilslé	nilŧínde	nilŧǐež	nilvîem
6	ftāmé	ftāmáš	ftǎmtèr	ftāmslé	ftāmínde	ftāmǐež	ftāvîem
7	rūdé	rūdáš	rǔttèr	rūsslé	rūdínde	rūdǐež	rūvîem
8	lozedé	lozedáš	lóster	lorlé	lozínde	lozǐež	lorvîem
9	fárvé	fárváš	fártèr	fárslé	fárvínde	fáríež	fárvîem
10/A20	ħȳré	ħȳráš	ħȳrtér	ħȳrslè	ħȳrínde	ħȳríež	ħȳvîem
11/B20	ħȳrcêm
12/C20	ħȳrtithâr
13/D20	ħȳrnárge
14/E20	ħȳrmulé
15/F20	ħȳrnilŧé
16/G20	ħȳrftāmé
17/H20	ħȳrrūdé
18/J20	ħȳrlozzedé
19/K20	ħȳrfarvé
20/1020	nevsé	nevsáš	nétvèr	nevsré	nevsínde	nevǐež
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	ŧafláš	ŧáflèr	ŧafslé	ŧaflínde	ŧaflǐež
203/100020	idré	idráš	ídrer	idreslé	idrínde	idrǐež
204/1000020	zathné	zathnáš	zástèr	zathneslé	zathrínde	zathnǐež

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 "gîe Y vo X", or "gîe-[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 ašt Y ('X is without Y') is used.

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)

íeláš: 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 first infinitive with the possessor as subject.

āl lēvasén (lit. with my running)

while I run/was running (imperfective)

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

when my mother was born (perfective)

qal riesseví (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 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!").

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.

Inverse marking

Themsaran has so-called "inverse" verbal affixes that force a particular, marked order of the sentence, rather like the Austronesian trigger system. 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 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.

žá hārbenín slá ra̋ ŧî
/ʒá hàːrbeninꜜ sláꜜ ráːt͡ʃíꜜiː/
žá he-arb-nin/ 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.

na̋ hārbeníth slá ra̋ ŧî
/náː hàːrbeniθꜜ sláꜜ ráːt͡ʃiꜜiː/
na̋ he-arb-nith/ slá rā žî
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:

na̋ hārbeníth žá slá ra̋ ŧî
/náː hàːrbeniθꜜ ʒáꜜ sláꜜ ráːt͡ʃiꜜiː/
na̋ he-arb-nith/ žá 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 nárgìež 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 šyrfāmâst! "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.
• širvúre: "charged/required/compulsory"; moral obligation, "ought to".
• tírēné: "permitted", used to express permissibility.

Modal adverbs

• ídâ: "ably", used to express ability to do something.
• méŧár: equivalent of "dare".
• łámȉl: "possibly", used to express epistemic possibility.
• tóssár: "seemingly".
• arzên: "certainly", used to express speaker's certainty (English epistemic "must").
• teizár: "successfully".

Modal verbs

"To want" is srétî. It is used (chiefly with an intransitive verb) in the first 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 second infinitive (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 degress can be fine-tuned further with the choice of the auxiliary verb of causation.

Derivational morphology

Affixal

Nouns and Adjectives

• -ácše (f, c): [noun]-manship, proper way of [verb]ing/being [adjective]
• -álg- (c): semantic agent of [verb]
• -áng- (plural, c): associative plural, things that normally go with [noun]
• -átte (f, c): domain, place of [noun/adjective] (víssî 'sell' > víssátte 'market')
• -ath (c): adjectival suffix
• -ber (m, c): resultative of [verb]
• -d-/-de: nominalizer (less productive)
• -dr- (c): -ful
• [most often 1st infinitive]-iħe (f c): nominalizer of [verb]
• -in (m g, not very productive): semantic patient of (verb)
• -índ- (c): diminutive
• -īd (f, 2, c): abstract noun; tháirȳšáħīd 'definiteness (grammatical)' < tháirȳšâ 'remembered' (stative passive ptcp.)
• cī(v)-: -less; cīpalsáth 'mutually exhaustive' < pals- 'third'
• -m- (c): originating from [noun/adjective]; fǒnỳm: 'marine'
• -malé (f th): manner of [verb]ing; vāližemalé 'pattern, paradigm' < vāližêi 'order'
• -met (m, g): semantic patient, prone to [verbing]; fólħa̋met: sacrifice; ħarvímet: inconstant, ever-changing
• -ms (m, c): instrument noun; éžħams: trophy, prize
• -né (g): action of [verb]; the action noun of [verb] ga̋lené 'singing'
• -noš- (c): capable/worthy of patienthood, [verb]-able; (vinâi 'die' > vinanóš 'mortal', frínqâi 'to despair' > frínqanóš 'futile, vain')
• -őf- (c): weaker pejorative, "just some"
• -or- (š): pejorative
• -re (f, c, less productive): patient/resultative; gavy̌re 'sample' < gavȳnî 'take out, examine'; pastáre 'staircase, scale, program, protocol' < pastâi 'stratify, layer'
• -rn- (š): 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
• -ȳr (m, g): place noun (a̋thym 'holy' > a̋thmȳr 'shrine, sanctuary')
• -y̌the/y̋the (f, c): state of being [adjective], most often used for mental states

Verbs

• -lî/-ālî/-ēlî dynamic from [adjective/stative verb]
• -ystî or just -âi: cause to be [adjective]
• -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. cólèn (1st decl., high tone) + simáttem (accent paradigm c) = cólnosimáttem 'wind' + 'northern' = 'north wind'; sōrachráth 'royalty, royal household' < sôr 'house' + achráth 'royal'; post-classical neologisms include žálfaromīdáth tradition < žál- '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.

qe̋dmoplaħêam

strengthen us (flowery)

Literature

Žinnǒðrir

Žinnǒðrir 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

Featured bānner

Hebānstávasar gávthe mî ce̋mērâc./Bānstávasar gávthe mî.

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

Énħēn lāmennǐdīr chīrıīdî ie arvētnošīdî íe máugamalanî, miramlétnevas bānstivní.

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