Chlouvānem/Morphology

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Chlouvānem is a highly inflected language with a synthetic morphology. Six parts of speech are traditionally distinguished: nouns, adjectives, verbs, pronouns, numerals, and particles.

Nouns - Halenī

The Chlouvānem noun (haloe, pl. halenī) is highly inflected: it declines for three numbers (singular, dual, plural), and eleven cases (direct, vocative, accusative, ergative, genitive, translative, exessive, essive, dative, ablative, and locative). Nouns also have grammatical gender, being divided in three classes (called dragon, lotus, and parrot based on nouns included in them[1]).

There are a few nouns which lack number; a few are singularia tantum and lack a plural (e.g. hærūm lips), other ones are plural only - most notably these include all ethnicities (e.g. chlouvānem, which is also an irregular plural). The singular is made by using the genitive form attributed to lila (person), e.g. chlouvānumi lila (a Chlouvānem).

Gender

Genders and declensions are dependent on the form of the noun. Due to the prevailing endings in direct case, dragon nouns are also called the s-class; lotus nouns the m-class; and parrot nouns the h-class:

Dragon nouns (kaṃšūlñī halenī):

  • 1s: nouns ending in -as or -ās, as well as Eastern toponyms in -o
  • 2s: nouns ending in -us or -ūs
  • 3s: nouns ending in -is or -īs
  • 4s: nouns ending in -oe

Lotus nouns (yujamñī halenī):

  • 1m: nouns ending in -am, -em, -ām, -ėm (or -n)
  • 2m: nouns ending in -um or -ūm (or -n)
  • 3m: nouns ending in -im or -īm (or -n)
  • 4m: nouns ending in -ai

Parrot nouns (geltañī halenī):

  • 1h: nouns ending in -a, -ah, , or -āh
  • 2h: nouns ending in or -eh (plus some diminutives ending in -ėh)
  • 3h: nouns ending in -uh or -ūh, and a few words of Dabuke origin in -u (mostly only used regionally in the West)
  • 4h: nouns ending in -ih or -īh (plus a few exceptional ones in -i)
  • 5h: nouns ending in -a which have ablaut-conditioned variations in their stems in different cases

Dragon nouns - Kaṃšūlñī halenī

The first declension of dragon nouns is also the most common one for that gender. Like all other nominal declensions, the vocative is only distinct in the singular, and dual and plural have the same forms for translative, exessive, essive, dative, ablative, and locative.

1s Singular Dual Plural 2s Singular Dual Plural 3s Singular Dual Plural 4s Singular Dual Plural
Direct prātas "wind" prātudi prāte kældus "wax" kældudi kælduvī kumis "bamboo" kumidi kumiye haloe "name" haloedi halenī
Vocative prātau prātudi prāte kældu kældudi kælduvī kumi kumidi kumiye haloe haloedi halenī
Accusative prātu prātudau prātānu kældau kældudau kældūnu kumiu kumidau kumiānu halenu haloedau halenænu
Ergative prāteṃs prātudeni prātān kældoṃs kældudeni kældān kumiei kumideni kumiān halenei haloedeni halenān
Genitive prāti prātudais prātumi kældavi kældudais kældoumi kumieyi kumideis kumiumi halenies haloedais halenyumi
Translative prātan prātyoh prātyoh kældun kældyoh kældyoh kumian kumiyoh kumiyoh halenan halenyoh halenyoh
Exessive prātat prātyās prātyās kældut kældyās kældyās kumiæt kumiyās kumiyās halenat halenyās halenyās
Essive prātą prātvin prātvin kældęs kældvin kældvin kumiæs kumivin kumivin haleṃs halemvin halemvin
Dative prātui prāteiti prāteiti kældui kældeiti kældeiti kumiui kumievuti kumievuti halenui haleneiti haleneiti
Ablative prātų prātenīs prātenīs kældų kældunīs kældunīs kumių kumienīs kumienīs halenų haleninīs haleninīs
Locative prāte prātilīm prātilīm kælduve kældilīm kældilīm kumie kumiælīm kumiælīm halenive haleṃlīm haleṃlīm

Lotus nouns - Yujamñī halenī

1m Singular Dual Plural 2m Singular Dual Plural 3m Singular Dual Plural 4m Singular Dual Plural
Direct yujam "lotus" yujandi yujye tūlum "worm" tūlundi tūluvye jāyim "girl" jāyiñxi jāyiñe lunai "tea" lunaidi lunāye
Vocative yujam yujandi yujye tūlu tūlundi tūluvye jāyī jāyiñxi jāyiñe lunai lunaidi lunāye
Accusative yujamu yujandau yujāmūn tūlau tūlundau tūlumūn jāyimu jāyiñxau jāyimin lunāyu lunaidau lunainū
Ergative yujamei yujandeni yujamān tūluṃs tūlundeni tūlumān jāyimei jāyiñxeni jāyimān lunea lunaideni lunæyān
Genitive yujami yujandais yujammi tūlumvi tūlundais tūloumi jāyimi jāyiñxeis jāyiñumi lunayi lunaidais lunæyumi
Translative yujaman yujyoh yujyoh tūluman tūluvyoh tūluvyoh jāyiman jāyiñyoh jāyiñyoh lunāyan lunāyoh lunāyoh
Exessive yujamat yujamyās yujamyās tūlumat tūlumyās tūlumyās jāyimæt jāyiñyās jāyiñyās lunāyat lunāyās lunāyās
Essive yujamą yujamvin yujamvin tūlumą tūlumvin tūlumvin jāyimą jāyimvin jāyimvin lunąis lunaivin lunaivin
Dative yujamui yujyeiti yujyeiti tūlumui tūluvyeiti tūluvyeiti jāyimui jāyimėti jāyimėti lunāmui lunāyeiti lunāyeiti
Ablative yujamų yujamñis yujamñis tūlumų tūlumñis tūlumñis jāyimų jāyimñīs jāyimñīs lunāyų lunaiñīs lunaiñīs
Locative yujamñe yujailīm yujailīm tūlumñe tuluilīm tuluilīm jāyimñe jāyælīm jāyælīm lunaiñe lunæyilīm lunæyilīm

Parrot nouns - Geltañī halenī

1h Singular Dual Plural 2h Singular Dual Plural 3h Singular Dual Plural 4h Singular Dual Plural 5h Singular Dual Plural
Direct māra "mango" māradi mārai javileh "apple" javiladi javilei camūh "group" camūdi camūvai xamih "arrow" xamīdi xamīye lila "person" lildi leliė
Vocative māra māradi mārai javili javiladi javilei camū camūdi camūvai xamī xamīdi xamīye lila lildi leliė
Accusative māru māradau mārānu javilu javiladau javilėnu camou camūdau camounu xamīyu xamīdau xameinu lilu lildau leliu
Ergative mārei māradeni mārān javiliai javiladeni javilėn camūvei camūdeni camoun xamīyi xamīdeni xamein lilei lildeni leliei
Genitive māri māradais mārumi javili javiladais javilumi camūvi camūdais camūmi xamīyi xamīdais xamiūmi leli lildais laili
Translative māran māryāh māryāh javilan javilyāh javilyāh camūn camūyāh camūyāh xamīn xamīyāh xamīyāh lilan lelian lelian
Exessive mārat māryās māryās javilet javilyās javilyās camūt camūyās camūyās xamīt xamīyās xamīyās lilat leliat leliat
Essive māręs mārvin mārvin javilęs javilein javilein camųs camūvin camūvin xamįs xamīvin xamīvin liląs lailąs lailąs
Dative mārui mārauti mārauti javilui javiliauti javiliauti camvui camvauti camvauti xamiui xamiauti xamiauti lilui leliui leliui
Ablative mārų mārenīs mārenīs javilių javilenīs javilenīs camųu camūnīs camūnīs xamių xamīnīs xamīnīs lilų lelių lelių
Locative māre mārilīm mārilīm javiliye javililīm javililīm camve camuilīm camuilīm xamie xamīlīm xamīlīm lile laile laile

Exceptions for duals and plurals

A few Chlouvānem nouns have irregular plurals:

  • The word chlouvānem itself is plural-only and irregular; direct and vocative are in -em, but all other cases decline as a standard plural 1h noun (e.g. accusative chlouvānānu, ergative chlouvānān, genitive chlouvānumi);
  • maila “water” does not have a dual form outside of colloquial use (where mailadi is used with the meaning of “two glasses of water”) and has the irregular plural mailtiąa. It declines as a singular 1h noun, with two exceptions, namely accusative in -ąu instead of expected *-ahu and genitive in -ąi instead of expected *-ahi. This plural form is actually common, used when talking about bodies of water in an area, water layers, glasses of water, and a few minor idiomatic uses (e.g. taili mailtiahe hilæflulke, lit. “to arrive by crossing many waters”, meaning “to have had much experience”).
  • There are some pluralia tantum: pārye “hair”, kāraṇḍhai “guts”, and all ethnonyms; also agṇyaucai (perfect exterior participle, parrot plural, of gṇyauke “to give birth”) when used with the meaning of “sons and daughters”.
  • A few nouns are singularia tantum: hærṣūs “lips”, maula “breasts”, kanai “spices”, paʔeh “dust”, nāmvāvi “dust (made by crushing something)”, måris “ash”, ñailūh “ice”.
  • Dvandva compounds are usually all dual and pluralizable - like yāṇḍamaišñukam “genitals”, or also many dyadic kinship terms (e.g. maihāmeinā “daughter and mother”) - but some of them are inherently “singular” and therefore are dual only, like lillamurḍhyāyunya (how some philosophical Yunyalīlti currents refer to the yunya “nature” and the lillamurḍhyā “natural harmony” as two aspects of the same thing). Note that dual inflections are not present on the noun itself in direct and vocative forms.
  • Toponyms (except inherently dual or plural ones), personal names, and miscellaneous things that are semantically only singular (like many Yunyalīlti concepts, e.g. yunya or lillamurḍhyā) are found exclusively in the singular.

Adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives, in Chlouvānem, are actually a subset of nouns which have different forms depending on gender. They can function as attributes to nouns, but they can also be used without any noun, usually replacing it (and taking its gender) as a means of anaphora. If they are related to people, they take parrot gender: the common explanation is that they stand for ADJ. + lila (person).
Adjectives decline much like nouns, except for a few small differences. Their dragon gender form, direct case, singular number, is the citation form.

Dragon gender (kaṃšūlñis)

There are three main adjectival declensions: -as, -us, and -is; a small subset of -es adjectives (mainly ordinal numbers) follows the -is pattern except for plural direct and vocative (having -eye instead of ) and having -e as a thematic vowel instead of -i before endings.
Translative, exessive, essive, dative, ablative, and locative forms are exactly the same as for nouns. Forms that are different from the nominal declensions are in bold:

1s Singular Dual Plural 2s Singular Dual Plural 3s Singular Dual Plural
Direct prātūkas "windy" prātūkadi prātūke mālthus "last" mālthudi mālthuvī tarlausis "scientific" tarlausidi tarlausī
Vocative prātūka prātūkadi prātūke mālthu mālthudi mālthuvī tarlausi tarlausidi tarlausī
Accusative prātūku prātūkadu prātūkānu mālthau mālthudau mālthūnu tarlausiu tarlausidau tarlausiānu
Ergative prātūkai prātūkaden prātūkān mālthoṃs mālthudeni mālthān tarlausiei tarlausideni tarlausiān
Genitive prātūkuyi prātūkadais prātūkumi mālthuyi mālthudais mālthūmi tarlausiai tarlausideis tarlausieis

Lotus gender (yujamñis)

Lotus gender adjectives follow the same patterns as dragon ones — their endings are -am, -um, -im (-em). Differences in bold are from lotus gender nouns.

1m Singular Dual Plural 2m Singular Dual Plural 3m Singular Dual Plural
Direct prātūkam "windy" prātūkandi prātūkeñe mālthum "last" mālthundi mālthuvye tarlausim "scientific" tarlausiñxi tarlausiñe
Vocative prātūkam prātūkandi prātūkeñe mālthu mālthundi mālthuvye tarlausi tarlausiñxi tarlausiñe
Accusative prātūkamu prātūkandu prātūkūnu mālthau mālthundau mālthumūn tarlausimu tarlausiñxau tarlausimān
Ergative prātūkemei prātūkanden prātūkūnen mālthuṃs mālthundeni mālthumān tarlausimei tarlausiñxeni tarlausimān
Genitive prātūkañi prātūkandais prātūkumi mālthuñi mālthundais mālthoumi tarlauseñi tarlausiñxeis tarlausemñi

Parrot gender (geltañis)

Parrot gender adjectives, unlike the other two genders, do not have the -e- subdeclension, having -ah, -uh, and -eh as its three declensional endings (-is/-es and -im/-em all correspond to -eh). Differences in bold are from parrot gender nouns.

1s Singular Dual Plural 2s Singular Dual Plural 3s Singular Dual Plural
Direct prātūkah "windy" prātūkadi prātūkæh mālthuh "last" mālthudi mālthuvai tarlauseh "scientific" tarlausadi tarlausei
Vocative prātūka prātūkadi prātūkæh mālthu mālthudi mālthuvai tarlausi tarlausadi tarlausei
Accusative prātūku prātūkadau prātūkaun mālthou mālthudau mālthounu tarlausu tarlausadau tarlausėnu
Ergative prātūkei prātūkaden prātūkæn mālthuve mālthudeni mālthoun tarlausiai tarlausaeni tarlausėn
Genitive prātūki prātūkadais prātūkumi mālthuvi mālthudais mālthumi tarlauseah tarlausadæs tarlausumi

Irregular adjectives

"Irregular" adjectives are a closed group of words that have their own declensional paradigm. They are all declined for gender (though only in direct, vocative, accusative, ergative, and genitive) but not for number. Unlike other adjectives, the citation form is the parrot gender and not the dragon; they end in -iā or -i in parrot direct, -em (rarely -im or -am) in lotus direct, and -es (rarely -as) in dragon direct.
These words are:

  • The possessives: liliā - lilem - liles (my, mine), sāmiā - sāmim - sāmes (your(s) (sg)), demiā - demim - demes (one's own),tamiā - tamim - tames (his, her(s), its), meyā - meyem - meyes (our(s)), negā - negem - neges (your(s) (pl)), tomiā - tomim - tomes (their(s))
  • The Classical/modern demonstratives: nenė - nenayem - nenayes (proximal), nunū - numvem - numves (medial), nanā - nanām - nanās (distal)
  • The archaic demonstratives: ami - em - es (proximal), uteni - utam - utas (medial), āteni - ātam - ātas (distal)
  • All compounds with one of these (most commonly ami).

Their main declensional paradigm is the same for all except the parrot forms of nenė and nunū. Note that ami, uteni and āteni keep the palatalization also in the locative case (e.g. amiea).
Only the first five cases are present for dragon and lotus genders, as the other forms are the same as in the parrot one. liliā is used as example here:

Case Parrot Lotus Dragon
Direct
Vocative
liliā lilem liles
Accusative liliau lilemu lileṣu
Ergative lilie lilemie lilesie
Genitive liliai lilemñi lilesiai
Translative liliān
Exessive liliāt
Essive liliąa
Dative liliåh
Ablative liliąu
Locative lilea
Case Parrot Parrot
Direct
Vocative
nenė nunū
Accusative nenæyu nunūyu
Ergative nenæye nunūye
Genitive neniai nunūyai
Translative nenėn nunūn
Exessive nenėt nunūt
Essive nenęe nunųu
Dative neneah nunouh
Ablative nenėhu nunūvu
Locative nenėhea nunūvea

Adverbs

Adjectives are turned into adverbs by removing the ending (-as/us/is/es) and adding -ęe (-nęe after vowel-final stems). Thus:

  • tarlausis (scientific) → tarlausęe (scientifically, according to science)
  • namęliausis (stakanovist) → namęliausęe (continuously; without any break)
  • prātūkas (windy) → prātūkęe (windy; like the wind)

A few -us adjectives keep the -u- (and thus add -nęe):

  • mālthus (last) → mālthunęe ((as) last; at last, finally)

There are also some irregular adverbs, made from other speech parts:

  • chlærūm (light) → chlære (easily) (but note its synonym chlærausęe from the related adjective chlærausis (easy))

Underived adverbs

Some adverbs are not derived from any other part of speech. They include:

  • All adverbial correlatives;
  • flære (yesterday), amyære (today), and menire (tomorrow)
  • mådviṣe (before), kaminæne (now), and færviṣe (after)
  • Some adverbs formed by onomatopoeia or sound symbolism (and usually reduplicated) like rarāre (roaring) or tanetane (barefoot).

Undeclinable adjectives

A few common words may be used attributively just like adjectives, but they do not decline. Most of them end in either -a or -i:

  • cami - great, large (figurative), important
  • lalla - high, higher, next
  • chāra - good (and chloucæm (better))
  • taili - many, much
  • nanū - more
  • kaili - most
  • ṣūbha - few, little
  • lьvyamna - far, distant
  • yamei - "honorific" adjective

Note that cami, taili, and kaili, in some (but not all) Archaic Chlouvānem texts, have a singular-only declension based on the irregular one of ami - em - es. Most probably this was an analogic feature of a few pre-Classical standardization Chlouvānem dialects of 2000 years ago.

Comparatives and superlatives

There are two methods for building comparatives and superlatives: a synthetic and an analytic one. Synthetic comparatives, except for a few irregular forms, are extremely rare in spoken Chlouvānem and only used in very formal written language. Adjectives that either refer to the presence or absence of a quality do not have comparatives or superlatives, nor does the "honorific adjective" yamei.

Analytic comparatives are made by using either nanū (more) or ovet (less) in front of the adjective; the compared term is in accusative case and followed by the comparative particle en; the superlative is formed by using yaivu en (than all) as the compared term. Adverbs use the same method (e.g. chlære (easily) → nanū chlæreyaivu en nanū chlære), but "than all" in superlatives is usually omitted, therefore they use nanū also with a superlative meaning.

Synthetic comparatives are formed with the suffix -apus (for -as and -us adjectives) or -epus (for -is adjectives). The compared term is always accusative + en:

  • prātūkas (windy) → prātūkapus (windier)
  • kurgus (noisy) → kurgapus (noisier)
  • chlærausis (easy) → chlærausepus (easier)

Synthetic superlatives use -ækṣasis (for -as adjectives) or -īkṣasis (for -us and -is adjectives):

  • prātūkasprātūkækṣasis (the windiest)
  • kurguskurgīkṣasis (the noisiest)
  • chlærausischlærausīkṣasis (the easiest)

Synthetic comparatives and superlatives for adverbs use respectively -ven and -eten:

  • chlærausęe (easily) → chlærausiven (more easily) → chlærauseten (most easily)

Irregular forms

There are seven irregular adjectives which are only used with the synthetic comparatives, all irregularly formed:

Positive Comparative Superlative
ñikas (small) isis (smaller; fewer, less) iñekṣis (smallest; fewest, least)
ṣubha indecl. (few, little)
spragnyas (large) samvaris (larger) sasprāsis (largest)
garpas (bad) grašcasis (worse) gugārasis (worst)
chāra indecl. (good) chloucæm indecl. (better) chloucækṣis (best)
lьvyamna indecl. (far) liādas (farther, further) lilьvaisis (farthest, furthest)
taili indecl. (many, much) nanū indecl. (more) kaili indecl. (most)

In addition to these, the other two indeclinable adjectives cami and lalla have only the analytic forms (yaivu en) nanū cami/lalla.

Verbs - Daradhūvī

The Chlouvānem verb (daradhūs, pl. daradhūvī) is the most inflected part of speech; its most basic forms are fusional, but many more specific formations are more agglutinative due to their origin from old Proto-Lahob particles or participles.

The first and most important division we can find in Chlouvānem verbs is the distinction between exterior (kauyāva) and interior (nañyāva) verbs. This may at first seem a voice system, but it must be distinguished from the true voices in Chlouvānem conjugation. The difference between them is mostly lexical: native grammarians distinguish exterior verbs as describing "activities or states that involve interactions with outside the self", and interior verbs as affecting principally the self. Exterior verbs are those we could most easily compare to active verbs in English, while interior verbs are a somewhat "catch-all" category including many distinct meanings, most notably middle-voice, reflexive and reciprocal ones, but also all adjectival verbs as well as peculiar and somewhat independent meanings for some verbs. Many verbs can be conjugated both as exterior and as interior and they often have differences in meaning - e.g. gṇyauke means “to give birth” when exterior and “to be born” when interior.

Potentially every Chlouvānem verb, no matter if exterior or interior, has a causative conjugation which is considered an inflection and not a derivation, even if the meanings may vary: mišake is an extreme example as each form has a different meaning (with particularly interior forms having many meanings) - non-causative exterior mešu "I am seen", interior meširu "I know; I see myself"; and causative exterior maišaxhā "I am shown", interior maiširxhā "I learn; I show myself (trans.)".

Chlouvānem verbs also conjugate for seven voices, each one putting one of seven different core elements as the direct-case argument, usually for means of topicalization or definiteness; they reflect the Austronesian-type morphosyntactical alignment of the language. The seven voices are, for exterior verbs:

  • patient-trigger or patientive (unmarked);
  • agent-trigger or agentive (transitive and ditransitive verbs only);
  • benefactive-trigger or simply benefactive;
  • antibenefactive-trigger or simply antibenefactive;
  • locative-trigger or simply locative;
  • dative-trigger or simply dative (mostly ditransitive verbs);
  • instrumental-trigger or simply instrumental (morphologically possible for all verbs, but not always meaningful).

Interior verbs only have six voices, as they do not have an agentive voice; the patientive, unmarked voice, is here called common voice.

Chlouvānem verbs also conjugate for four different tense-aspect combinations (simply tenses): the present and future, both imperfective, and past and perfect, both perfective; other distinctions may be built periphrastically (most notably imperfect, pluperfect and future perfect). Tenses are the “basic unit” verbs conjugate in: all tenses conjugate for nine persons (1st-2nd-3rd in singular, dual and plural; note though that 3rd singular and 3rd plural are identical in the perfect). Note that some moods do only distinguish between imperfective and perfective aspect.

Some pronouns have a clitic form in accusative and ergative case which may be added to specify other arguments - e.g. mešėça "he sees" + -æl (clitic 1sg acc.) > mešėçæl "he sees me" - equivalent to læl mešėça.

However, the most complex part of Chlouvānem verbs is the mood. Chlouvānem is particularly mood-heavy and its concept of mood is quite broad, conjugating verbs in what are called primary moods and secondary moods; a single verb form may have a single primary mood but up to two secondary moods. 

The ten primary moods are:

  • indicative - the realis mood;
  • imperative - used for giving orders or commands;
  • desiderative - used to express a desire or will (e.g. I want to X);
  • necessitative - used to express need or obligation (e.g. I have to X);
  • potential - used to express the ability to do something (e.g. I can [= am able to] X)
  • permissive - used to express the permission to do something (e.g. I can [= I’m allowed to] X)
  • optative - used to express wishes or hopes;
  • propositive - used to express proposals (e.g. let’s X; why don’t you X);
  • hypothetical - used to express things that may happen or might have happened;
  • subjunctive - used to express general advices (jussive use), purpose (supine use), and also syntactically conditioned by some particles.

The eight secondary moods are:

  • five of them express evidentiality, namely: certainty (also energetic mood), deduction, dream, specifically invented situation, and hearsay (also inferential mood);
  • interrogative, used for questions;
  • two consequential moods: one expressing cause (e.g. “because X”), the other opposition (e.g. “although X”).

Chlouvānem verbs also have a non-finite form (the -ke form, called infinitive hereafter) as well as a large number of attributive and adverbial participles, with forms for most voices and tenses and a distinction into modal adverbs, homofocal gerundives and heterofocal gerundives.

Verb classes and infinitive

Verbs, in Chlouvānem, are conjugated depending on verb classes or conjugations. There are five main patterns:

  • a-root, or thematic: the most basic and regular, formed by adding a to the root before non-vocalic endings.
  • Athematic: as above, without a; endings are added directly to the root.
  • Ablauting root: formed by the root with ablaut changes in its main vowel, plus a before non-vocalic endings.
    • Athematic ablauting root: a small subset conjugating as above, but without a.
  • nā/nī verbs: verbs which add (na in some forms) or , or nothing, to the root depending on form.
  • ah verbs: verbs which add -ah (or its allomorphs -ar, -aš, ) to the root.

A sixth commonly recognized pattern is ru verbs. These are verbs formed by borrowed verb roots from Ancient Kūṣṛmāthi (where verbal nouns end in -ru) and in the present and past undergo stem modifications like in that language. There are few common -ru verbs, and in usual speech they are often substituted by compounds with their root and either dṛke (to do) or jānake (to feel (physical)) or gyake (to be), as in pāṭṭaruke vs. pāṭṭarudṛke. (to study).

Moods apart from the indicative mainly just follow root structure, with different allomorphs depending on whether the root ends in a consonant or in a vowel.

There are, in addition to these, a few particular verb types with either some kind of suffix added to the root in some forms, or irregular ablaut, or totally irregular (usually suppletive). The majority of verbs, anyway, is either thematic or thematic ablauting, and the majority of roots end in one or two consonants.

The infinitive or ke-form is a non-finite form used in certain construction (like with certain verbs (e.g. daudike (to want)) or particles). It is also the citation form, and it is simple to recognize and form:

  • The infinitive is always based on the root, thus with either a basic-grade vowel for ablauting verbs or an unreduced sequence for inverse-ablauting ones.
  • Verbs in the thematic or ablauting root classes add -ake; nā/nī verbs add -nāke;
  • All other verbs just add -ke. There are a few cases where this is not always how it surfaces:
    • verbs ending in a palatalized consonant have an epenthetic -i- (e.g. męlь-kemęlike (to give));
    • verbs whose roots end in any single or postnasal unvoiced dental, retroflex, or palatal stop or affricate, assimilate the -k- of the suffix (e.g. kit-kekitte (to put, place));
    • verbs whose roots end in any single or postnasal voiced, non-velar stop, assimilate the voicing of the suffix -k- (e.g. dįb-kedįbge (to kick));
    • verbs whose roots end in single -g or -gh assimilate the -k-, with the regular saṃdhi change from double voiced stop to nasal + voiced stop (e.g. dig-kedilge (to pour));
    • verbs whose roots end in any other consonant cluster only add -e (e.g. pugl-kepugle (to sleep)).

Present indicative

Regular

The regular present indicative has a distinct form for all verb types.
Ablauting verbs have middle grade ablaut in all exterior forms and in the singular interior ones.
nā/nī verbs have -nā in singular and plural and -nī in the dual. ru verbs change -ru with -su.
Exterior forms:

Person nāmvake "to crush, press"
(a-root)
halke "to call"
(athem.)
mišake "to see"
(ablaut)
khlunāke "to search, look for"
(nā/nī)
lilke "to live"
(ah)
pāṭṭaruke "to study"
(ru)
1SG nāmvu halu mešu khlunau lilah pāṭṭa
2SG nāmvi hali meši khlunādi lilaši pāṭṭasui
3SG nāmvė halė mešė khlu lilah pāṭṭasuvė
1DU nāmvodām haldām mešodām khlunīdām lilardām pāṭṭasudām
2DU nāmvodās haldās mešodās khlunīdās lilardās pāṭṭasudās
3DU nāmvodāvo haldāvo mešodāvo khlunīdāvo lilardāvo pāṭṭasudāvo
1PL nāmvamui halmui mešamui khlunāmui liląmui pāṭṭasumui
2PL nāmvakui halkui mešakui khlunākui liląkui pāṭṭasukui
3PL nāmvyąt halyąt mešyąt khlunāyąt lilašąt pāṭṭasuyąt

Interior forms:

Person dældake "to speak"
(a-root)
gṇyauke[2] "to be born"
(athem.)
tṛlake "to know"
(ablaut)
chleināke "to smile"
(nā/nī)
hañilke "to remember"
(ah)
kūmeruke "to be embarassed"
(ru)
1SG dældiru gṇyāviru tarliru chleinairu hañiląiru kūmesuiru
2SG dældiris gṇyāviris tarliris chleinairis hañiląiris kūmesuiris
3SG dældire gṇyāvire tarlire chleinaih hañiląire kūmesuire
1DU dældirdām gṇyāvirdām tṛlirdām chleinīrdām hañilęrdām kūmesuirdām
2DU dældirdās gṇyāvirdās tṛlirdās chleinīrdās hañilęrdās kūmesuirdās
3DU dældirdāvo gṇyāvirdāvo tṛlirdāvo chleinīrdāvo hañilęrdāvo kūmesuirdāvo
1PL dældirmui gṇyāvirmui tṛlirmui chleinairmui hañilęrmui kūmesuirmui
2PL dældirkui gṇyāvirkui tṛlirkui chleinairkui hañilęrkui kūmesuirkui
3PL dældirųt gṇyāvirųt tṛlirųt chleinairųt hañilęrųt kūmesuirųt

Causative

Causative forms are the same regardless of conjugation; they are formed basically with an extended stem with -(a)xh-. Ablauting verbs always have the highest grade vowel, while inverse ablaut verbs have the "lowered" vowel in front of the normal stem.
All causative verbs have both exterior and interior forms. Exterior forms:

Person nāmvake "to make crush, press"
(normal)
mišake "to show"
(ablaut)
valde "to make open"
(inverse ablaut)
1SG nāmvaxhā maišaxhā uvaldaxhā
2SG nāmvaxhie maišaxhie uvaldaxhie
3SG nāmvaxhāt maišaxhāt uvaldaxhāt
1DU nāmvanxhām maišanxhām uvaldanxhām
2DU nāmvanxhās maišanxhās uvaldanxhās
3DU nāmvanxhū maišanxhū uvaldanxhū
1PL nāmvaxhumi maišaxhumi uvaldaxhumi
2PL nāmvaxhuši maišaxhuši uvaldaxhuši
3PL nāmvaxhįs maišaxhįs uvaldaxhįs

Interior forms:

Person nāmvake "to make each other crush, press"
(normal)
mišake "to learn; to show each other"
(ablaut)
valde "to open; to make each other open"
(inverse ablaut)
1SG nāmvirxhā maiširxhā uvaldirxhā
2SG nāmvirxhie maiširxhie uvaldirxhie
3SG nāmvirxhāt maiširxhāt uvaldirxhāt
1DU nāmvirenxhām maiširenxhām uvaldirenxhām
2DU nāmvirenxhās maiširenxhās uvaldirenxhās
3DU nāmvirenxhū maiširenxhū uvaldirenxhū
1PL nāmvirxhumi maiširxhumi uvaldirxhumi
2PL nāmvirxhuši maiširxhuši uvaldirxhuši
3PL nāmvirxhįs maiširxhįs uvaldirxhįs

Imperative

Regular

The imperative is a defective paradigm, lacking all dual forms; it is formed from the bare root, so it is formed in the same way for all verbs. Unlike all other terminations, there are separate agentive and patientive ones (note that agentive ones begin with and not -y.

Note that, due to the politeness system of Chlouvānem, the imperative is somewhat rare, as other methods are used. The first person imperative is an exception, being often used with the meaning “I/we must”.

Person nāmvake "to crush, press”
(exterior) (patientive)
nāmvake "to crush, press”
(exterior) (agentive)
dældake “to speak”
(interior)
1SG nāmvikṣam nāmvyasti dældirkam
2SG nāmveik nāmva dældih
3SG nāmveitte nāmvya dældirda
1DU
2DU
3DU
1PL nāmvikṣumi nāmvyasmi dældirkumi
2PL nāmveikus nāmvyęs dældirkus
3PL nāmveicąt nāmvyęt dældircąt

Causative

Causative forms follow the same pattern as non-causative ones, but the stem is the specifically causative one.

Person nāmvake "to make crush, press"
(exterior) (patientive)
nāmvake "to make crush, press"
(exterior) (agentive)
mišake "to learn; to show each other"
(interior)
1SG nāmvaxhiṣam nāmvaxhisti maišaxhirkam
2SG nāmvaxheik nāmvaxhia maišaxhih
3SG nāmvaxhiṣai nāmvaxhit maišaxhirda
1DU
2DU
3DU
1PL nāmvaxhiṣmi nāmvaxhismi maišaxhiurum
2PL nāmvaxhiṣus nāmvaxhięs maišaxhiurus
3PL nāmvaxhiṣat nāmvaxhięt maišaxhiurat

Past Indicative

Regular

In the past indicative, -ah verbs are not distinguished as a conjugation, behaving instead like root verbs. -nā/nī verbs have no root extension in the singular exterior and interior, and -nā- in all other forms.
Ablauting verbs always have their base grade, except for inverse ablaut roots which use the reduced vowel, and plural interior forms. Exterior forms:

Person nāmvake "to crush, press"
(a-root)
halke "to call"
(athem.)
mišake "to see"
(ablaut)
khlunāke "to search, look for"
(nā/nī)
1SG nāmvau halau mišau khluvau
2SG nāmvei halei mišei khluvei
3SG nāmvitь halitь mišitь khlu
1DU nāmvādram halādram mišādram khlunādram
2DU nāmvādras halādras mišādras khlunādras
3DU nāmvādru halādru mišādru khlunādru
1PL nāmvalīmi hallīmi mišalīmi khlunālīmi
2PL nāmvalīši hallīši mišalīši khlunālīši
3PL nāmvāli halāli mišāli khlunāli

Interior forms:

Person dældake "to speak"
(a-root)
gṇyauke "to be born"
(athem.)
tṛlake "to know"
(ablaut)
chleināke "to smile"
(nā/nī)
1SG dældirau gṇyāvirau tṛlirau chleyirau
2SG dældirei gṇyāvirei tṛlirei chleyirei
3SG dældiritь gṇyāviritь tṛliritь chleyiritь
1DU dældeldram gṇyāveldram tṛleldram chleinaildram
2DU dældeldras gṇyāveldras tṛleldras chleinaildras
3DU dældeldru gṇyāveldru tṛleldru chleinaildru
1PL dældielīmi gṇyāvyelīmi tarlielīmi chleinailīmi
2PL dældielīši gṇyāvyelīši tarlielīši chleinailīši
3PL dældirāli gṇyāvirāli tarlirāli chleinairāli

Causative

Causative forms use the same stems as in the present indicative. Exterior forms:

Person nāmvake "to make crush, press"
(normal)
mišake "to show"
(ablaut)
valde "to make open"
(inverse ablaut)
1SG nāmvaxhlou maišaxhlou uvaldaxhlou
2SG nāmvaxhei maišaxhei uvaldaxhei
3SG nāmvaxhitь maišaxhitь uvaldaxhitь
1DU nāmvaxhādram maišaxhādram uvaldaxhādram
2DU nāmvaxhādras maišaxhādras uvaldaxhādras
3DU nāmvaxhādru maišaxhādru uvaldaxhādru
1PL nāmvaxhalīm maišaxhalīm uvaldaxhalīm
2PL nāmvaxhalīs maišaxhalīs uvaldaxhalīs
3PL nāmvaxhāli maišaxhāli uvaldaxhāli

Interior forms:

Person nāmvake "to make each other crush, press"
(normal)
mišake "to learn; to show each other"
(ablaut)
valde "to open; to make each other open"
(inverse ablaut)
1SG nāmvirxhlou maiširxhlou uvaldirxhlou
2SG nāmvirxhei maiširxhei uvaldirxhei
3SG nāmvirxhitь maiširxhitь uvaldirxhitь
1DU nāmvirxhādram maiširxhādram uvaldirxhādram
2DU nāmvirxhādras maiširxhādras uvaldirxhādras
3DU nāmvirxhādru maiširxhādru uvaldirxhādru
1PL nāmvirxhalīm maiširxhalīm uvaldirxhalīm
2PL nāmvirxhalīs maiširxhalīs uvaldirxhalīs
3PL nāmvirxhāli maiširxhāli uvaldirxhāli

Perfect Indicative

The perfect is formed with the same terminations for all verbs. The particularity of this tense is that it uses a special stem, formed by prefixing the root vowel (shortened and with the basic root ablaut) to the stem. Examples:

  • nāmvake “to crush, press” = nāmv- → anāmv-
  • khlunāke “to search, look for” = khlu- → ukhlu-
  • hilkake “to dye, colour” = hilk- → ihilk-
  • męlike “to give” = męlь → emęlь-

æ uses i; o and use a; diphthongs usually only take their first component, exceptions being ai (→ e) and au (→ o):

  • dældake “to speak” = dæld- → idæld-
  • kolkake “to be acid” = kolk- → akolk-
  • tṛlake “to know, understand” = tṛl- → atṛl-
  • yaudake “to catch” = yaud- → oyaud-
  • laitake “to row” = lait- → elait-

Causative stems with ablaut have a full reduplication, using the first consonant plus the basic vowel grade, like miš- → maiš- → mimaiš-.

A few verbs have irregular stems:

  • lilke “to live” = lælī-
  • dṛke “to do” = dadrā-

Regular forms (3rd person singular and plural are the same for all verbs):

Person nāmvake "to crush, press"
(exterior)
dældake “to speak”
(interior)
1SG anāmvam idældiram
2SG anāmves idældires
3SG anāmva idældirā
1DU anāmvonda idældirunda
2DU anāmvodes idældirudes
3DU anāmvot idældirut
1PL anāmvamia idældiramia
2PL anāmvasia idældirasia
3PL anāmva idældirā

Causative forms:

Person nāmvake "to make crush, press"
(exterior)
mišake "to learn; to show each other"
(interior)
1SG anāmvixam mimaišerxam
2SG anāmvixes mimaišerxes
3SG anāmvixa mimaišerxa
1DU anāmvixunda mimaišerxunda
2DU anāmvixudes mimaišerxudes
3DU anāmvixut mimaišerxut
1PL anāmvixmia mimaišerxmia
2PL anāmvinxia mimaišerinxia
3PL anāmvixa mimaišerxa

Future indicative

The future tense does not vary between conjugations, and the stem is always the one used in the infinitive.

Regular forms:

Person nāmvake "to crush, press"
(exterior)
dældake “to speak”
(interior)
1SG nāmviṣyam dælderiṣyam
2SG nāmviṣyes dælderiṣyes
3SG nāmviṣya dælderiṣya
1DU nāmviṣṭām dælderiṣṭām
2DU nāmviṣṭās dælderiṣṭās
3DU nāmviṣṭāvo dælderiṣṭāvo
1PL nāmviṣmāmi dælderiṣmāmi
2PL nāmviṣmāsi dælderiṣmāsi
3PL nāmviṣmāta dælderiṣmāta

Causative forms:

Person nāmvake "to make crush, press"
(exterior)
mišake "to learn; to show each other"
(interior)
1SG nāmvaxhiṣyam maiširxhiṣyam
2SG nāmvaxhiṣyes maiširxhiṣyes
3SG nāmvaxhiṣya maiširxhiṣya
1DU nāmvaxhiṣṭām maiširxhiṣṭām
2DU nāmvaxhiṣṭās maiširxhiṣṭās
3DU nāmvaxhiṣṭāvo maiširxhiṣṭāvo
1PL nāmvaxhiṣmāmi maiširxhiṣmāmi
2PL nāmvaxhiṣmāsi maiširxhiṣmāsi
3PL nāmvaxhiṣmāta maiširxhiṣmāta

Voice marking

Chlouvānem has seven voices, marked by affixes added, in unprefixed verbs, at the end of the verb. As the patient-trigger voice (common voice in interior verbs) is unmarked, the six voice markers are:

  • -ça for agent-trigger voice (in exterior verbs only);
  • -kæ for benefactive-trigger voice;
  • -tū (-tur non-finally) for antibenefactive-trigger voice;
  • -pan for locative-trigger voice;
  • -mea for instrumental-trigger voice;
  • -ūsi for dative-trigger voice.

Examples of voice marking are męliė (he/she/it is given) — męliėça (he/she/it gives) — męliėkæ (something is given for him/her/it) — męliėtū (something is given against him/her/it) — męliėpan (something is given in him/her/it) — męliėmea (something is given with him/her/it) — męliegūsi (something is given to him/her/it).

In prefixed verbs, voice marking is a bit different as the voice marker is inserted between the prefix and the stem, thus forms like vīvaiyųlė (he/she/it is eaten too much) → vīvaiçayųlė (he/she/it eats too much). Saṃdhi is applied if needed, e.g. "something is eaten for him/her/it directly from a tree" is taktæyųlė (morphemically tad-kæ-yųlė, verb tadyųlake).

The subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood only distinguishes aspects and not tense; it is formed by special terminations and has exterior, interior, regular and causative forms.

The subjunctive is fairly regular for all verbs, using (except in the causative conjugation) the most basic form of the root — that is, without nā/nī suffixes and in basic grade ablaut; the only exceptions being inverse ablauting roots which use their weakened form (e.g. valde uses uld- and not vald-). 3rd person singular, 2nd plural, and 3rd plural, are identical in all verbs.

Imperfective aspect

Regular:

Person nāmvake "to crush, press”
(exterior)
dældake "to speak”
(interior)
1SG nāmvup dældimmup
2SG nāmveap dældimmep
3SG nāmvāsi dældirāsi
1DU nāmvumbu dældirumbu
2DU nāmvumbe dældirumbe
3DU nāmvumbap dældirumbap
1PL nāmvicham dældilcham
2PL nāmvāsi dældirāsi
3PL nāmvāsi dældirāsi

Causative:

Person mišake “to show”
(exterior)
mišake “to learn; to show each other”
(interior)
1SG maišaxhup maiširxhup
2SG maišaxheap maiširxheap
3SG maišaxhāsi maiširxhāsi
1DU maišaxhumbu maiširxhumbu
2DU maišaxhumbe maiširxhumbe
3DU maišaxhumbap maiširxhumbap
1PL maišaxicham maiširxicham
2PL maišaxhāsi maiširxhāsi
3PL maišaxhāsi maiširxhāsi

Perfective aspect

Regular:

Person nāmvake "to crush, press"
(interior)
dældake "to speak”
(exterior)
1SG nāmvatup dældiṭṭup
2SG nāmvateap dældiṭṭeap
3SG nāmvetāsi dældiṭṭāsi
1DU nāmvatumbu dældiṭṭumbu
2DU nāmvatumbe dældiṭṭumbe
3DU nāmvatumbap dældiṭṭumbap
1PL nāmvañcham dældireñcham
2PL nāmvetāsi dældiṭṭāsi
3PL nāmvetāsi dældiṭṭāsi

Causative:

Person mišake “to show”
(causative)
mišake “to learn; to show each other”
(causative)
1SG maišaxhetup maiširxhetup
2SG maišaxhetep maiširxhetep
3SG maišaxhetāsi maiširxhetāsi
1DU maišaxhetumbu maiširxhetumbu
2DU maišaxhetumbe maiširxhetumbe
3DU maišaxhetumbap maiširxhetumbap
1PL maišaxeñcham maiširxeñcham
2PL maišaxhetāsi maiširxhetāsi
3PL maišaxhetāsi maiširxhetāsi

The hypothetical mood

The hypothetical mood is mainly used in if constructions (e.g. yųlatṛ "if it is eaten") and, like the subjunctive, only conjugates for aspect. As all terminations are vocalic, all conjugations form it the same way, starting from the root.

Imperfective aspect

Regular:

Person nāmvake "to crush, press"
(interior)
dældake "to speak”
(exterior)
1SG nāmvatiam dældirtam
2SG nāmvaça dældirça
3SG nāmvatṛ dældirtṛ
1DU nāmvadītim dældirdītim
2DU nāmvadītis dældirdītis
3DU nāmvadītṛ dældirdītṛ
1PL nāmvantim dældiratim
2PL nāmvantis dældiratis
3PL nāmvantṛ dældiratṛ

Causative:

Person mišake “to show”
(causative)
mišake “to learn; to show each other”
(causative)
1SG maišaxhitam maiširxhitam
2SG maišaxhiça maiširxhiça
3SG maišaxhitṛ maiširxhitṛ
1DU maišaxhidītim maiširxhidītim
2DU maišaxhidītis maiširxhidītis
3DU maišaxhidītṛ maiširxhidītṛ
1PL maišaxhintim maiširxhintim
2PL maišaxhintis maiširxhintis
3PL maišaxhintṛ maiširxhintṛ

Perfective aspect

Regular:

Person nāmvake "to crush, press"
(interior)
dældake "to speak”
(exterior)
1SG nāmvāttiam dældertiam
2SG nāmvānça dælderaça
3SG nāmvātara dælderatra
1DU nāmvāndītim dælderadītim
2DU nāmvāndītis dælderadītis
3DU nāmvāndītara dælderadītra
1PL nāmvātatim dældertatim
2PL nāmvātatis dældertatis
3PL nāmvātatra dældertatra

Causative:

Person mišake “to show”
(causative)
mišake “to learn; to show each other”
(causative)
1SG maišaxhettiam maiširxhettiam
2SG maišaxhença maiširxhença
3SG maišaxhetara maiširxhetara
1DU maišaxhendītim maiširxhendītim
2DU maišaxhendītis maiširxhendītis
3DU maišaxhendītara maiširxhendītara
1PL maišaxhetatim maiširxhetatim
2PL maišaxhetatis maiširxhetatis
3PL maišaxhetatra maiširxhetatra

The optative and propositive moods

Optative and propositive moods are made starting from the same stem; these stem use the same terminations as regular (a-type verbs) present for the imperfective aspect and regular past for the perfective; propositive mood uses the imperative ones.

The stem is formed by taking the root with vowel lengthening and adding -eina- after consonants (-ouna- after l) and -vūna- after vowels. Note that, while adding terminations, a is deleted between a single sonorant and a single non-sonorant consonant (e.g. 1sg propositive causative -einxhiṣam < -ein-a-xhiṣam)

Example (nāmvake “to crush, press”):

  • Imperfective: exterior nāmveinu, nāmveini, nāmveinė, … interior nāmveiniru, …; causative ext. nāmveinaxhā, …; caus. int. nāmveinirxhā, …
  • Perfective: ext. nāmveinau, nāmveinei, nāmveinitь, … int. nāmveinirau, …; caus. ext. nāmveinaxhlou, …; caus. int. nāmveinirxhlou, …
  • Propositive: ext. nāmveinikṣam, nāmveinikṣa, nāmveinikṣai, … int. nāmveinikuru, …; caus. ext. nāmveinxhiṣam, …; caus. int. nāmveinxhiuru, ...

The desiderative mood

The desiderative mood, unlike the optative, hypothetical, and subjunctive moods, conjugates in all tenses and aspects just like the indicative; the difference being the special stem it uses, formed with reduplication of the root plus -s (except for -ora- and -ьouš- verbs). The resulting stem conjugates as any root verb.

Reduplication adds the first consonant of the verb (except prefixes) and its first vowel (always oral short).There are however some special rules followed in reduplicating:

  • Aspirated stops are always reduplicated as unaspirated;
  • g- is always reduplicated as h-, except for a few irregular verbs;
  • h- is reduplicated as k-;
  • k- as š-;

  • f- as p-;
  • l- in the initial clusters lk-, lkh-, lg-, or lgh- reduplicates as n-.
  • Initial clusters which begin with s-, ṣ-, š-, or v- use the first consonant which is not one of them (but šv- reduplicates as š-);


* Verbs with ablaut always have middle-grade ablaut; reduplicates as a; 
* Inverse-ablaut verbs have the consonant of the unreduced root but the reduced vowel;

  • Roots beginning with vowels are regular, reduplicating the otherwise allophonic initial ʔ.
  • Prefixes are added before the reduplicated root.

Final added -s has some special saṃdhi rules, too (in addition to the usual ones):

  • -d-s and -dh-s both become -ts (always written so and never as *ç);
  • After voiced stops, -s becomes -r and aspirated stops lose aspiration. -j-s and -jh-s both become -jl;
  • -š-s becomes -kṣ;
  • -y-s becomes ;
  • -l-s becomes -lь when prevocalic and -lš when preconsonantal, but -rl-s always becomes -relь-.


 Causative forms just add the causative endings, without further modifying the stem.

-ora- and -ьeiš- verbs use -oreka- and -ьeišca- respectively, without other modifications, but they're often substituted by infinitive + daudike constructions. In many of the northeastern and northwestern lands of the Inquisition, this analytic construction is used instead of the synthetic desiderative in almost any case.

Examples of desiderative mood stems are:


  • peithake “to go (multid.)”, root peith-pe-peith-spepeits-

  • lgutake “to buy”, root lgut-nu-lgot-snulgots-
  • khlunāke “to search, look for”, root khlu-ku-khlu-skukhlus-

  • nilyake “to think”, root nily-ni-nely-sninelš-
  • tṛlake “to do”, root tṛl-ta-tarl-s > tatarelь-
  • valde “to open”, root vald-v-uld-s > vults-



A few verbs have completely irregular stems:

  • gyake “to be”: muñj-
  • lilke “to live”: lėlikṣ-
  • męlike “to give”: mimęñ-

  • milke “to take”: mūṃchl-.

The necessitative mood

The necessitative mood is formed and conjugates much like the desiderative; it uses a stem formed by reduplication and adding -asya-, with normal saṃdhi changes.

Examples:

  • peithake “to go (multid.)”, → pepeithasya-
  • khlunāke “to search, look for” → kukhlūvsya-
  • nilyake “to think” → ninelyasya-
  • valde “to open” → vuldasya-

The potential mood

The potential mood also conjugates in all tenses and aspects and has a stem formed with initial reduplication. It is formed by adding -(e)nā- to the root and behaves as a fourth conjugation verb, adding an epenthetic -n before vocalic endings. Note that -r-nā- (like e.g. in all -ora- verbs) becomes -rṇā- due to saṃdhi.

Examples: peithakepepeithnā- ; gṇyaukegagṇyaunā- ; nilyakeninelyenā-.

A special case of saṃdhi occurs in roots which end in a single -g or -k: this consonant becomes -gh and the -n in the suffix becomes retroflex, e.g. mūmikke "to dance", root mūmik- > mumūmighṇā- ; dilge “to pour", root dig- > dideghṇā-.

The permissive mood

The permissive mood also conjugates in all tenses and aspects and is formed, without reduplication, by vowel lengthening and adding -ippu- before consonantal endings and -īpr- before vocalic ones. Note that in the present tense, dual terminations use -ippu- and the -dā- ending (not -odā-); for the third plural, -ippuyąt is the commonly used form: -ipryąt is attested but extremely archaic.

Examples: mišakemīšippu- > mīšipru "I am allowed to see", mīšippum “I was allowed to see”.

Bisyllabic roots which have as their second syllable an unstressed vowel between two consonants that may form an allowed cluster (thus sonorant-vowel-stop/fricative, except -m-velar) lose this vowel while adding the suffix, e.g. hañilke > hūlñippu- (-ñl--lñ- is a fairly regular saṃdhi change).

Secondary moods: evidentiality

The four secondary moods expressing evidentiality are formed in two different ways. One of them has a special set of endings, while the other three add a morpheme to the verb. They are only used in the indicative, desiderative, necessitative, permissive, and potential moods, plus in first person imperatives.

The visual evidential is made by adding -mī at the end of the verb, e.g. yąlėmī "it is [being] eaten (I see it)", yąlėçamī "(s)he eats (I see it)". The ending is actually a worn down version of mešė, meaning "it is seen".

The first inferential, which refers to any non-visual inference that is probably true (often translatable with "apparently", "looks like"), is formed by special endings, which replace the normal ones (example with pūnake "to work"):

Present Past Perfect Future
1SG pūnitasu pūnitto upūnitenim pūnišenim
2SG pūnase pūnitte upūnitenis pūnišenis
3SG pūnate pūnitti upūnitena pūnišena
1DU pūnadāsu pūnadaitu upūnitanda pūniṣṭāsu
2DU pūnadāse pūnadaiti upūnitandes pūniṣṭāse
3DU pūnadātte pūnadaite upūnitanit pūniṣṭātte
1PL pūnitami pūnichlīm upūnitemna pūniṣyāmna
2PL pūnitai pūnichlīs upūniteṃša pūniṣyāṃša
3PL pūnitet pūnitāl upūnitena pūniṣyāna

Interior forms add these endings after -ir- (e.g. dældirte "(s)he apparently speaks"); causative forms add them after -axh- for interior verbs and -iraxh- for exterior ones, e.g. maišaxhite "(s)he apparently shows", maiširaxhite "(s)he apparently learns".

The second inferential has a similar function to the first inferential, but the situation is unlikely to be true (translatable e.g. with "might/apparently... but probably don't/doesn't"); it is formed by adding -mū after the first inferential endings, e.g. pūnatemū "(s)he might be working, but probably isn't". This is a worn down version of mbu gu (or not).

The reported evidential marks something the speaker does not know first hand; it is formed by adding -kye after the normal endings, e.g. pūnėkye "[I was told/I heard] (s)he works". The ending is a worn down version of kulė (it is said).

The consequential secondary moods

The two consequential secondary moods can actually be tertiary moods, as they can be added to evidential secondary moods too.

The consequential mood of cause is formed by adding + pian(e)- to the verb stem. For example pūnupūnępianu (given that I work, ...); pupūṃśipupūṃsępiani (given that you want to work, ...), or pūnittipūnępianitti (given that, apparently, (s)he worked, ...).

The consequential mood of opposition is similarly formed by adding + gām(u)- to the verb stem. For example pūnupūnęgāmu (even if I work, ...); pupūṃśi → pupūṃsęgāmi (even if you want to work, ...), or pūnittipūnęgāmitti (even if, apparently, (s)he worked, ...).

The interrogative secondary mood

The interrogative mood is formed in a different way compared to the other secondary moods. It adds -i to the verb stem, then all personal endings, then (in unprefixed verbs) those marking voice, and finally -thā at the very end. For example: pūnyethā? (does (s)he work?), yųliyątthā? (are they being eaten?), yųliyątçathā? (do they eat?).

Participles and adverbials

Participles are formed by suffixing the appropriate set of participle endings to the stem. The set marks the tense/aspect combination; the stem may be in indicative, necessitative, desiderative, permissive, or potential mood, plus any secondary evidential mood.

The endings are (in patient-trigger/common voice):

  • Present: exterior -susas, -susam, -susah — interior -sūnis, -sūnim, -sūneh
  • Past: exterior -(n)das, -(n)dam, -(n)dah — interior -dris, -drim, -dreh
  • Perfect: exterior -cās, -cām, -cāh — interior -cænas, -cænam, -cænah
  • Future: exterior -iṣvas, -iṣvam, -iṣvah — interior -iṣunis, -iṣunim, -iṣuneh

Voice endings are inserted after the participle, but after all prefixes in prefixed stems. Saṃdhi is fairly regular, but direct case -s is deleted except with the dative-trigger affix. Examples: męlьsusas, męlьsusaça but primęlьsusas, priçamęlьsusas.

Note that voice endings, if final, are always at the end, even if the participle is inflected for case: direct męlьsusakæ (the one benefacted by giving) but dative męlьsusuikæ (to the one benefacted by giving).

Adverbials are formed just like participles by adding a set of endings to the stem. There are two types of adverbials: homofocals, used when the trigger of the adverbial and of the main verb are the same, and heterofocals, used when they are different.

  • Present: homofocal -lie (ext), -līne (int) — heterofocal -nikai (ext), -ninėk (int)
  • Past: homofocal -lūte (ext), -lūnde (int) — heterofocal -nakte (ext), -nalget (int)
  • Perfect: homofocal -līse, (ext) -līmen (int) — heterofocal -nikṣe (ext), -nikñe (int)
  • Future: homofocal -iṣre (ext), -iṣrāṇi (int) — heterofocal -iṣṇei (ext), -iṣāṇin (int).

Like participles, adverbials have voice affixes after them, but before the root in prefixed verbs. A palatalized consonant becomes a consonant followed by i. Examples: męlilie, męlilieça, primęlilie, priçamęlilie.

Impersonal verbs

Impersonal verbs, in Chlouvānem, are those verbs that are defective and only conjugated in third person exterior (with the partial exception of giṃšake) and only used in patient-trigger voice. There are six such verbs:

  • gårḍake (to be meant to)
  • hælьte (to be moved, touched)
  • maṣvake (to feel compassion, pity)
  • ñælftake (to repent, to feel remorse, to be sorry for)
  • prābake (to be disgusted)
  • giṃšake (to get/be bored) — usually termed “half-impersonal” because it has a full interior conjugation, but with a different meaning (to be boring).

These verbs all have their cause in the exessive case (or a subjunctive verb) and the affected being in the dative; gårḍake usually only has a subjunctive. Examples:

låh tamiāt maivat hælьtitь “what (s)he said (literally: his/her word) moved me.”
glidriṭṭup låh ñælftė “I’m sorry for how I behaved.”
priūsimęliupsętå gårḍitь “you were meant to give it back to me” (literally: it was meant that you give it back to me[3]) .

Irregular verbs

Chlouvānem has thirteen major irregular verbs, plus other three with peculiar irregularities. The thirteen major irregular verbs all have different stems in either past and perfect or both; the verb gyake (to be) is extremely irregular due to suppletion.
The other twelve major suppletive verbs are (regular stems are in smaller size italic):

Verb Present stem (without ablaut) Past stem Perfect stem
aphake (to turn) aph-a- aph-a- āft-a-
einerke (to float (multidir.)) einer- paiṇṣ- iʔīneṣ-
flulke (to go, walk (monodir.)) flun- māṃs-a- taul-
ghūmake (to blow) ghūm-a- ghūm-a- ghumuṣṭ-a-
ikhlake (to stab) ikhl-a- ikhl-a- īkheṣṭ-a-
keṃšake (to use) caṃš-a- keṃš-a- ekeṃš-a-
khilyake (to write) khily-a- paṃšy-a- ikhily-a-
milke (to take, seize, catch, capture) milūk-/milk- milk- ilak-
mṛcce (to run (monodir.)) mṛc- pañc- amṛc-
peithake (to go, walk (multidir.)) peith-a- papth-a- apoth-a-
yahike (to read; arch.: to understand) yahь- taiši- ašahь-
yuṇake (to powder; to break with the hands) yuṇ-a- yuṇ-a- yuṇuṣṭ-a-

Note that paiṇṣ-, māṃṣ-, paṃšy-, pañc-, papth-, and taiši- all use the present endings instead of the past ones.

Further irregularities are found in the present indicative and subjunctive for a total of five verbs:

  • The singular present indicative forms of flulke are irregular flå, flin, and fliven.
  • milke uses the stem milk- also in the singular present indicative: milku, milki, milkė.
  • The three verbs mālake (keep together), yacce (to ask, to request (humble)), and chlašake (to do (humble)) have the irregular 1st person singular present subjunctive forms målip, yåšip, and chlåšip respectively.

A few verbs have irregular stems in some moods:

  • flulke and męlike have the irregular optative stems fleina- and męliouna- (instead of expected *fluneina- and *męlieina-).

The pair tamišake⁓tildake (to look at) is not counted as one of the thirteen irregular verbs, but tildake is an unmarked agentive verb, while tamišake is used in all other voices. Note that however tamišake also has a regular agentive voice, synonymous with tildake: teldutaçamešu (I look at).

The verb "to be" (gyake)

The verb "to be" is suppletive as it uses various different stems (from Proto-Lahob *gəjó, *woŋ—*uŋ, *mōws respectively) and irregularly — for example, the future indicative is morphologically a present.

Note that the indicative present is very rarely used, as the copula is usually dropped in most cases; when used with the meaning of "to have" (e.g. lili mæn tulūʔa yambras uñyąt "I have six pears" (lit.: I TOPIC six pears are)) it is considered better not to drop it, but it is often done nevertheless in common speech.

Indicative mood
Person Present Past Perfect Future
1SG valu mos egyam mavū
2SG vali moçi egyes mavei
3SG væl mitь egya mavė
1DU undām mordam egyonda maudām
2DU undās mordas egyodes maudās
3DU undau mordu egyot maudāvo
1PL ummi molīm egyamia maumui
2PL ulki molīs egyasia maukui
3PL uñyąt moli egya mavyąt
Other primary moods

All other primary mood formations use irregular stems, except for the subjunctive, hypothetical, and imperative which are the only ones using gya- as in the infinitive: jeiv-a- for the optative and propositive, muñj-a- for the desiderative, mokṣy-a- for the necessitative, ginā- for the potential and maippu-/maipr- for the permissive.

Present tense or imperfective aspect of all other primary moods included as examples in this table:

Person Imperative Subjunctive Hypothetical Optative Propositive Desiderative Necessitative Potential Permissive
1SG gyekṣam gyop gyatiam jeivu jeivikṣam muñju mokṣyu ginau maipru
2SG gyekṣa gyayeap gyaça jeivi jeivikṣa muñji mokṣyi ginai maipri
3SG gyekṣai gyāsi gyatṛ jeivė jeivikṣai muñje mokṣyė ginai maiprė
1DU gyombu gyadītim jeivodām muñjodām mokṣyodām ginaudām maippudām
2DU gyombe gyadītis jeivodās muñjodās mokṣyodās ginaudās maippudās
3DU gyombap gyadītṛ jeivodāvo muñjodāvo mokṣyodāvo ginaudāvo maippudāvo
1PL gyekṣumi gyecham gyantim jeivamui jeivikṣumi muñjamui mokṣyamui gināmui maippumui
2PL gyekṣus gyāsi gyantis jeivakui jeivikṣus muñjakui mokṣyakui ginākui maippukui
3PL gyekṣat gyāsi gyantṛ jeivyąt jeivikṣat muñjyąt mokṣyąt gināyąt maippuyąt
maipryąt attested but archaic
In compound verbs

There are some compound verbs which are formed by a "meaning stem" + gyake; they conjugate just like gyake does:

  • pṛšcāṃgyake "to like"[4] → present pṛšcāmvalu, pṛšcāmvali, pṛšcāmvæl... past pṛšcāmmos, pṛšcāmmoçi, pṛšcāmmitь... perfect pṛšcāmegyam... future pṛšcāmmavū ; the same in other moods, e.g. necessitative present pṛšcāmmokṣyu, pṛšcāmmokṣyi...
    Note that in colloquial speech the form of gyake is omitted in the present indicative, e.g. pṛšcām is "to be pleasing" for all persons.
  • najake "to happen" (nañ-gya-, irregular saṃdhi) morphologically conjugates like gyake but has some peculiarities:
    • Like gyake, there is no agent-, dative-, and instrumental-trigger voice, but the patient-trigger voice has a dative meaning - e.g. navalu "it happens to me".
    • The basic, semantically patientive forms, are the interior ones (with the stem nañ-gy-ir), and they only exist for the third persons - e.g. najire "it happens", najirdāvo "they (dual) happen", najirųt "they happen", and so on.

Analytic constructions and auxiliary verbs

Chlouvānem uses many analytic constructions - including auxiliary and compound verbs - in order to convey some shades of meaning. Most of these use either a participle or the infinitive as the form of the lexical verb:

  • perfect participle in the needed voice + gyake in the past or future tense: compound construction used for pluperfect and future perfect. It is not wrong to use it with a present tense, but the meaning does not change from the bare perfect.
    Note that, for the pluperfect, the bare perfect is often used instead, both in literature as in common speech.
    • uyųlcąça mos "I had eaten"
    • uyųlcąça mavū "I will have eaten"
  • present participle in the needed voice + gyake in the needed tense: compound construction used for the progressive aspect in the three tenses (present, past, future). In the present, the form of gyake is omitted for the third person, or for all persons if a pronoun is present.
    • yųlasusąça valu "I am eating"
    • yųlasusąça mos "I was eating"
    • yųlasusąça mavū "I will be eating"
  • infinitive + ñeaʔake (to be used to): compound construction used for a habitual action in present, past, or future tense. It is not used with motion verbs in the present, as the multidirectional verb already unambiguously has this meaning.
    • yaive prājamne yahikeñeaʔuça "I am used to read every evening"
    • yaive prājamne yahikeñeaʔaṃça "I used to read every evening"
    • yaive prājamne yahikeñeaʔiṣyaṃça "I will be used to read every evening"
  • infinitive + nartaflulke (to reach): to come to X, to end up X-ing, to result in X-ing
    • yųlakenartaçafliven "(s)he ended up eating"
    • lañšorakenartaflunirųt "they ended up marrying each other"
  • infinitive (or more formally perfect participle) + kitte (to put): to keep X-ed:
    • valdekitė / uvaldacās kitė "it is kept opened"
  • infinitive + either smitiāke (to hang from) or maitiāke (to be in front of): prospective aspect, to be about to X
    • yųlakesmiçatimu "I am about to eat"
    • yahikemaitimė "it is about to be read"
  • infinitive + māyammišake (to look further away): to let X
    • yahikemāyaṃçamešuisė "I let you read"
  • infinitive + mālchake (to run (multidirectional)): to keep X-ing (less formal alternative to trān- prefixed verbs)
    • yahikemālchuçå "I keep reading it" (synonym of trānçayašutå)

Pronouns

Chlouvānem has a series of pronouns which are irregular when compared to other nouns, yet they follow a mostly similar pattern among themselves. As with nouns and adjectives, in Chlouvānem there is mostly no difference between possessive and demonstrative pronouns and adjectives. Note that pronouns here are defined as a morphological category, as there are many pronominal locutions or nouns acting as pronouns in the Chlouvānem honorific system. Familiar and neutral styles of Chlouvānem speech use these only.

Standard Chlouvānem as spoken today uses the following pronouns:

  • 1st person lili (sg.), lileidi (dual), and mayin (pl.).
  • 2nd person sāmi (sg.), sāmeidi (dual), and nagin (pl.).
  • 3rd person parrot tami (sg.), tameidi (dual), and toman (pl.).
  • 3rd person dragon tes (sg.) and tyuše (pl.), and 3rd person lotus tem (sg.) and tyume (pl.) — they are only distinct from the parrot forms in direct, accusative, and ergative; tameidi is used as dual for all three genders.
  • Reflexive demi (mandatory for 3rd person, commonly used also for 1st and 2nd).

The pronouns doubling as adjectives are:

  • Three demonstrative series, all declining for gender but not for number: proximal nenė (parrot), nenayes (dragon), nenayem (lotus); medial nunū (p.), numves (d.), numvem (l.); distal nanā (p.), nanās (d.), nanām (l.).
  • The possessives: liliā (lilem, liles); meyā (meyem, meyes); sāmiā (sāmim, sāmes); negā (negem, neges); tamiā (tamim, tames); tašñā (tašñem, tašñes); demiā (demim, demes).

Note that both the demonstrative and the possessives are often not declined for gender in common speech in certain areas, most notably the densely populated area of the Lower Plains, including Līlasuṃghāṇa, Līlta, Galiākina, Ilėnimarta, and a few areas near Līṭhalyinām, Talliė, and Lāltaṣveya — an area inhabited by around 100 million people. This also happens in and near Līlikanāna, fourth largest city of the Inquisition, largest in the Far East.

In addition, yani is an emphatic pronoun not properly part of common speech (demi is used instead) but sometimes found in high style. Archaic Chlouvānem had a demonstrative series consisting of proximal ami (em, es), medial uteni (utam, utas), and distal āteni (ātam, ātas), which declined in use throughout Classical times, when they were replaced by the newer nenė — nunū — nanā forms.

Personal pronouns

Singular

1sg Singular 2sg Singular refl Singular
Direct lili sāmi demi
Accusative læl
-(y)æl
saim
-(s)es
deim
-(i)dan
Ergative lilęi
-(i)lį
sāmęi
-(i)sę
demęi
-(i)dę
Genitive liliā sāmiā demiā
Translative liñ sāñ deñ
Exessive litь sātь detь
Essive lęsь sąsь dęsь
Dative låh såh dåh
Ablative ląu sąu dąu
Locative lea sea dea
(parrot) Singular (dragon) Singular (lotus) Singular
Direct tami tes tem
Accusative tamiu
-(t)å
teṣu
-(t)å
temu
-(t)å
Ergative tamie
-(i)tę
tesie
-(i)tę
temie
-(i)tę
Genitive tamiā
arch.: tamiai
tamiā
arch.: tesiai
tamiā
arch.: temñi
Translative tañ tañ tañ
Exessive tatь tatь tatь
Essive tąsь tąsь tąsь
Dative tåh tåh tåh
Ablative tąu tąu tąu
Locative tea tea tea

Dual

1du Dual 1du Dual 1du Dual
Direct lileidi sāmeidi tameidi
Accusative lildū
-(y)ælda
sādhū
-(s)erda
tadhū
-(t)åda
Ergative lilden
-(i)lįda
sādhen
-(i)sęda
tadhen
-(i)tęda
Genitive lildes sādhes tadhes
Translative lildoh sādhoh tadhoh
Exessive lildās sādhās tadhās
Essive lildūn sādhūn tadhūn
Dative lildotь sādhotь tadhotь
Ablative lildīs sādhīs tadhīs
Locative lildīm sādhīm tadhīm

Plural

1sg Plural 2sg Plural
Direct mayin nagin
Accusative mau
-(y)ælnu
nauk
-(s)esnu
Ergative mām
-(i)lįnu
nān
-(i)sęnu
Genitive meyā negā
Translative mėñ naca
Exessive mėtь natь
Essive mėsь nasь
Dative mayū nagū
Ablative mahų nalhų
Locative mayė najė
(parrot) Plural (dragon) Plural (lotus) Plural
Direct toman tyuše tyune
Accusative tomau
-(t)ånu
tyušau
-(t)ånu
tyumau
-(t)ånu
Ergative tomān
-(i)tęnu
tyušān
-(i)tęnu
tyumān
-(i)tęnu
Genitive tomiā tomiā tomiā
Translative tomiñ tomiñ tomiñ
Exessive tomitь tomitь tomitь
Essive tomesь tomesь tomesь
Dative tomåh tomåh tomåh
Ablative tomąu tomąu tomąu
Locative tomyea tomyea tomyea

Correlatives

Chlouvānem has a fairly regular system of correlatives, distinguishing eleven types (proximal, medial, distal, relative, interrogative, negative, assertive existential, elective existential, universal, positive alternative, and negative alternative) in eleven categories (attributive, thing, person, time, place, destination, origin, way, reason, quality, quantity).

Category ↓ / Type → Proximal Medial Distal Relative Interrogative Negative Ass. exist. Elect. exist. Universal Positive altern. Negative altern.
Attributive nenė
this
nunū
that (near you)
nanā
that (over there)
yananū?
what?, which?
gu
no
nūši
some
læti
any
yaiva
every
viṣam
another
guviṣam
no other
Thing nenė
this one
nunū
that one (near you)
nanā
that one (over there)
tejāmi yananū?
what?, which?
gvami
nothing
nūšami
something
lætyami
anything
yaiva
everything
viṣāmi
something else
guviṣāmi
nothing else
Person evita
this one
utvita
that one (near you)
ātvita
that one (over there)
tėvita yavita?
who?
guvita
no one
nūšvita
someone
lævita
anyone
yaivita
everyone
viṣvita
someone else
guviṣvita
no one else
Time emiya
now
utiya
then
ātiya
then (remote)
tėmiya yamiya?
when?
gumiya
never
nūšmiya
sometime, somewhen
lætmiya
anytime, whenever
yaivmiya
always, everytime
viṣmiya
sometime else
guviṣmiya
never else
Place ejulā
here
uñjulā
there
āñjulā
over there
tėjulā yajulā?
where?
gujulā
nowhere
nūñjulā
somewhere
læjulā
anywhere
yavijulā
everywhere
viñjulā
elsewhere
guviñjulā
nowhere else
Destination ejulåh
hence
uñjulåh
thence
āñjulåh
thence (remote)
tėjulåh yajulåh?
whence?
gujulåh
nowhence
nūñjulåh
somewhence
læjulåh
anywhence
yavijulåh
everywhence
viñjulåh
elsewhence
guviñjulåh
nowhence else
Source ejulųu
hither
uñjulųu
thither
āñjulųu
thither (remote)
tėjulųu yajulųu?
whither?
gujulųu
nowhither
nūñjulųu
somewhither
læjulųu
anywhither
yavijulųu
everywhither
viñjulųu
elsewhither
guviñjulųu
nowhither else
Manner elīce
thus, hereby
ūlīce
thereby
ālīce
thereby; that other way
tėlīce yalīce?
how?
gulīce
no way
nūšlīce
somehow
lælīce
anyhow
yaivlīce
everyway
viṣlīce
otherwise
guviṣlīce
no other way
Reason emena
herefore
utmena
therefore
ātmena
therefore; for that other reason
tėmena yamenat?
why?
gumena
for no reason
nūšmena
somewhy
lætmena
whyever, for any reason
yaivmena
for every reason
viṣmena
for another reason
guviṣmena
for no other reason
Quality esmā
this kind
uçmā
that kind
āçmā
that other kind
tėsmā yasmāt?
which kind?
gusmā
no kind
nūkṣmā
some kind
læsmā
any kind
yavismā
every kind
viṣasmā
another kind
guviṣasmā
no other kind
Quantity enūḍa
this much
utnūḍa
that much
ātnūḍa
that much (remote)
tėnūḍa yanūḍat?
how much?
gunūḍa
none
nūšinūḍa
some of it
lætnūḍa
any much
yaivnūḍa
all of it
viṣṇūḍa
another quantity
guviṣṇūḍa
no other quantity

Note that in common speach ālīce and ūlīce as well as ātmena and utmena are basically interchangeable, except for main clauses in relative structures where only ālīce and ātmena are used. The quality correlatives may take an essive argument, e.g. kadięs læsmā "any kind of chair".
Thing and person correlatives decline for case and, in the case of proximal, medial, and distal, also for number. Those which end in -i decline like pronouns.

Negatives, elective existentials, universals, and positive alternatives for thing and person correlatives may also take dual number: gvamidi/guvitadi "neither"; lætyamidi/lævitadi "either"; yaivadi/yaivitadi "both"; viṣāmidi/viṣvitadi "the other one".

Honorifics

(note: this section still needs expansion)

Honorific pronouns

There are many different pronouns used for second and third person in honorific speech. The rules for using them are mostly dictated by the distance between the two speakers, and, for third persons, the relative distance between them.
Note that female and male is still a relic of traditional Chlouvānem society; nonbinary people, unless clearly towards the feminine end of the spectrum, are usually treated as women if they are of higher rank and as men if they are of lower rank. Also note that plural pronouns are also used for dual number.

Second person generally used these pronouns:

  • sāmi, the morphological pronoun, is used in familiar registers and between females or between males if they are not strangers and they're all of the same rank or of similar age.
  • nujyā is used by females for all strangers and for male of the same rank as them; males use it for male strangers and males of higher rank.
  • yonujyā is a somewhat more formal alternative to nujyā.
  • ṭaniā is used by females for all non-stranger females of higher rank. Males use it for all females except close friends and relatives.
  • yomyė is a moderately familiar pronoun, kinda intermediate between sāmi and ṭaniā/nujyā.
  • uṣṭām is used by females for people of lower rank, and by males for lower rank males.
  • gopūrṭham is an extremely formal pronoun, used with public officials.
    • (go)pūrṭhami brausa or yo-brausa is used for the highest ranked Inquisitors and for the Baptist.
      • lalla yo-brausa is used exclusively for the Great Inquisitor.
  • ya-kaleyuṭhā is a plural pronoun, used when speaking to a representative of a specifically defined group (institution or company).
  • yavyāta is a plural pronoun used for generic, less defined groups.

Third person pronouns vary according to whether the third person referent is higher, lower, or equal to the second person, and for each of these cases the relative rank of first and second person further determine which pronoun should be used. In some cases, a third person feminine person requires a different pronoun from a masculine one.
Note that all forms here are for singular pronouns; unless noted they're all nouns (except tami) and they are pluralized regularly if needed.

If 3S is higher than 2S and...

  • ...1S is lower than 2S, lalla yañša is used.
  • ...1S is equal to 2S, lalla yañša is used, or just tami in familiar registers.
  • ...1S is higher than 2S, then:
    • if 3S is lower than 1S, āte-liluyani (inflects as the pronoun yani) is used invariably if 1S is female; for male 3S only if 1S is male too.
    • if 3S is lower than 1S, yañša is used for female 3S by male 1S; it is optional by female 1S.
    • if 3S is equal to 1S, yo-yardam is used.
    • if 3S is higher than 1S, lallayuṭhā is used (rarely pluralized even if referring to a plural subject).

If 3S is equal to 2S and...

  • ...1S is lower than both, yo-yardam is used.
  • ...1S is equal to both, kemura is used, or just tami in familiar registers.
  • ...1S is higher than both, yardam is used.

If 3S is lower than 2S and...

  • ...1S is also lower than 2S, tami is invariably used by females and by 1S males for 3S males; ui-hulyn is used by 1S males for 3S females.
  • ...1S is equal to 2S, kemura is used, or just tami in familiar registers.
  • ...1S is higher than both, kemura is used for all 3S males and usually by 1S females for 3S females; yañsa is mandatory by 1S males for 3S females, and optional by 1S females.

Note that familiar registers (which often include code-switching between Chlouvānem and a local vernacular), when used, may override any convention: as an extreme example, any very close friend or relative of the Great Inquisitor would refer to her as sāmi (and not lalla yo-brausa); however this is obviously only possible in private contexts (while same-ranked people may use a familiar register in public - e.g. on the workplace).

Honorific titles

Chlouvānem uses many honorific titles, which are always used in non-familiar speech. The "honorific" adjective yamei is often added to many of them - especially lāma - and is mandatory in other ones.

  • lāma - used after the noun, it is the most common honorific title; almost every time someone is being addressed, lāma is used - the only exceptions being when it is already known another honorific should be used, or in familiar situations. It usually follows the given name alone (e.g. Namihūlša lāma); if the matronymic is added (sometimes done in order to disambiguate), then lāma comes between matronymic and noun (e.g. Līṭhaljāyimāvi lāma Namihūlša). All three names matronymic, surname, and given name together with lāma (e.g. Līṭhaljāyimāvi Kaleñchokah Namihūlša lāma) are only used in very formal addressing from a list of nouns; should matronymic+noun be not enough to distinguish two people, simply surname+noun is used.
  • tanta - used for people in a lower position, e.g. used towards one's employees or (usually from seventh class onwards) by teachers and professors towards their students.
  • suntam (regionally also sintam) - used for people in a higher position in certain situations, most commonly towards older and more experienced colleagues (but not teachers or professors, nor work bosses if they're roughly the same age as the speaker).
  • lallāmaha - an extremely formal honorific, used for public authorities and all Inquisitors. Most often used together with yamei. Inquisitors may also be referred to as lallāmaha + matronymic + yamei + given name + murkadhāna (lāma)

Two special formulas are used for the most important people in the Inquisition:

  • aveṣyotāra lallāmaha + matronymic + yamei + surname + given name + brausamailenia lāma for the Baptist (roughly "[Her][5] Excellent Highness, Baptist ...");
  • nanū aveṣyotāra lallāmaha + matronymic + yamei + surname + given name + camimurkadhāna lāma for the Great Inquisitor ("[Her] Most Excellent Highness, Great Inquisitor ...").

Numerals - Mālendāye

Chlouvānem is one of the few human Calemerian languages - together with all other Lahob languages and a few ones of the southern hemisphere - with a pure duodecimal number system.

Numbers (sg. mālendān, pl. mālendāye) have six different forms: cardinal, ordinal, collective, distributive, adverbial/multiplicative, and fractionary. Cardinal 1, 2, 3, and 4 are declinable adjectives, as are all ordinal and collective ones; 1-4 have separate adverbial forms, while all other ones have an invariable adjective used as multiplicative and a derived adverb used as adverbial. All distributive, fractionary, and cardinal (except 1-4 and compounds) numbers are invariable.

Digit12 Base 10 Cardinal Ordinal Collective Distributive Adv./Multiplicative Fractionary
0 0 ajrā (ajrāyendes) (ajrāmūh) (ajrehaicė) (lājrā)
1 1 leil
leilum
leila
lahīlas leilamūh leiluhaicė leilahæl / lāleil
(lāleilum, lāleila)
lahīlvāṭ
2 2 dani
danīm
danīh
hælinaikas daniamūh danihaicė danihæl / lādani
(lādanīm, lādanīh)
hælinaivāṭ
3 3 pāmvi
pāmvim
pāmveh
pāmvendes pāmvimūh pāmvihaicė pāmvihæl / lāpāmvi
(lāpāmvim, lāpāmveh)
pāmvendvāṭ
4 4 yårṣe
yårṣem
yårṣeh
yårṣendes yårṣmūh yårṣhaicė yårṣhæl / lāyårṣe
(lāyårṣem, lāyårṣeh)
yårṣendvāṭ
5 5 furḍe furḍendes furḍamūh furḍhaicė lāfurḍe furḍendvāṭ
6 6 tulūʔa tulūʔendes tulūʔamūh tulūʔihaicė lātulūʔa tulūʔendvāṭ
7 7 chīka chīcændes chīkamūh chīcihaicė lāchīka chīcændvāṭ
8 8 tītya tītyendes tītyamūh tītihaicė lātītya tītyendvāṭ
9 9 moja mojendes mojmūh mojihaicė lāmoja mojendvāṭ
10 tålda tåldendes tåldamūh tåldihaicė lātålda tåldendvāṭ
Ɛ 11 vælden vældindes vældemūh vældihaicė lāvælden vældindvāṭ
10 12 māmei māmindes māmeimūh māmeihaicė lāmāmei māmindvāṭ
11 13 lelimaye lelimayindes lelimaimūh lelimaihaicė lālelimaye lelimayindvāṭ
12 14 danimaye danimayindes danimaimūh danimaihaicė lādanimaye danimayindvāṭ
13 15 pamihælī pamihælīndes pamihælīmūh pamihælīhaicė lāpamihælī pamihælīndvāṭ
14 16 māmiyårṣe
(-m, -h)
māmiyårṣendes māmiyårṣmūh māmiyårṣhaicė lāmāmiyårṣe māmiyårṣendvāṭ
15 17 māmifurḍe māmifurḍendes māmifurḍamūh māmifurḍhaicė lāmāmifurḍe māmifurḍendvāṭ
16 18 māmivælka māmivælkendes māmivælkamūh māmivælkihaicė lāmāmivælka māmivælkendvāṭ
17 19 māmichīka māmichīcændes māmichīkamūh māmichīcihaicė lāmāmichīka māmichīcændvāṭ
18 20 māmitītya māmitītyendes māmitītyamūh māmitītihaicė lāmāmitītya māmitītyendvāṭ
19 21 māmimoja māmimojendes māmimojmūh māmimojihaicė lāmāmimoja māmimojendvāṭ
1ᘔ 22 māmitålda māmitåldendes māmitåldamūh māmitåldihaicė lāmāmitålda māmitåldendvāṭ
23 māmivælden māmivældindes māmivældemūh māmivældihaicė lāmāmivælden māmivældindvāṭ
20 24 hælьmāmei hælьmāmindes hælьmāmeimūh hælьmāmeihaicė lāhælьmāmei hælьmāmindvāṭ

Numbers from 2012 above are simply made by compounding teens and units with the appropriate saṃdhi changes, like 2112 (2510) hælьmāmileil (-um, -a), and then hælьmāmidani (-īm, īh), hælьmāmipāmvi (-m, -eh), and so on. Note that other compounds with 6 use -tulūʔa and not -vælka as in 1612.
The other teens are: 30 (3610) pāmvimāmei, 40 (4810) yårṣmāmei, 50 (6010) fūlmāmei, 60 (7210) vælknihæla, 70 (8410) māmyāvælka (regionally chīcæmāmei, particularly in the East), 80 (9610) tītimāmei, 90 (10810) mojemāmei, ᘔ0 (12010) tåldimāmei, Ɛ0 (13210) māmimīram, and 100 nihæla.
The apparent irregularities in the words for 6012, 7012, and Ɛ012 are explained by etymology: vælka is the reflex of PLB *wewənko, which meant “half”, thus vælknihæla is “half hundred” and māmyāvælka is “twelve on half”; māmimīram is literally “twelve [less] from ahead”. 1312 originally meant "one finger/three (pāmvi, the word for three, derives from pamih, meaning "finger") in the second [dozen]", where the -hælī part is a worn form of hælinaikah.

Numbers from 10012 to ƐƐƐ12 are still compounds, e.g. nihælaleil, nihæladani, and so on. Note that 16012 is most commonly nihæltulūʔa, but the more literary form nihælvælka may still be heard.
The other hundreds are 200 (28810) daninihæla, 300 (43210) pāmvinihæla, 400 (57610) yårṣṇihæla, 500 (72010) furḍṇihæla, 600 (86410) tulūnihæla, 700 (100810) chīcænihæla, 800 (115210) tītinihæla, 900 (129610) mojanihæla, ᘔ00 (144010) tåldanihæla, Ɛ00 (158410) vældenihæla.
1.000 (172810) is tildhā and numbers above are separate words, without saṃdhi, e.g. 6.2ᘔ9 (1078510) tulūʔa tildhā daninihælatåldimāmimoja.
Note that 2.00012 may be either one of tildhādi, danīh tildhā, or (only emphatically) danīh tildhādi. As tildhā is a parrot gender noun, 3.00012 and 4.00012 are respectively pāmveh tildhā and yårṣeh tildhā.

The other divisions - numbers over ƐƐ.ƐƐƐ12 are based on groups of two digits: the two most commonly used ones in common speech are 1.00.000 (248.83210) - a raicė - and 1.00.00.000 (35.831.80810) - a lallaraicė.

The next two groups have their separate words, but are quantities rarely used in common speech: 1.00.00.00.000 (5.159.780.35210) is a taiskaucis and 1.00.00.00.00.000 (743.008.370.68810) a lallataiskaucis.

Their non-cardinal forms are all regular, with -endes (-indes after -m or for Ɛ12) for ordinals, -mūh for collectives, -haicė for distributives, lā- for adverbials/multiplicatives, and -endvāṭ/-indvāṭ for the fractionaries. Compounds of 1-4 retain all irregularities (suppletive forms, gender), e.g. hælьmāmihælinaikas 2212nd (2610th).

Using numerals

Cardinal numerals may be used in two ways, depending on whether emphasis is given to the number or to the thing counted.

  • In the most common use, the counted thing is emphasized: the numeral is put before the noun and the noun is always singular (except for "two", see below) plus the appropriate case: e.g. leilum yujam (a lotus flower); danīh māra (two mango fruits); pāmvi haloe (three names), vælden ñaiṭa (eleven stars), and so on.
  • If emphasis is given to the number, then the counted thing comes first, and, if it should be in direct, ergative, or accusative case, it is in genitive singular instead; the semantic direct, ergative, or accusative case is taken by the numeral itself if it is one, two, three, or compounds. Examples: yujami leilum (one lotus flower), māri danīh (two mango fruits), halenies pāmvi (three names), ñaiṭi vælden (eleven stars). In other cases, the noun follows the semantic case (but is always singular anyway), e.g. marti pāmveh (three cities) but marte pāmviye (in the three cities).
    This form is increasingly less common in everyday use.
  • "Two" may be used with either singular or dual number: danīh māra or māri danīh are both as correct as danīh māradi and māradais danīh - note that the dual number alone, without the numeral, has the same meaning. Outside of literary texts, it is however more common to specify "two" with the numeral.

Ordinals, collectives, and multiplicatives are simply used as declinable adjectives, but collectives and multiplicatives are always singular (optionally dual for daniamūh and lādani). e.g. hælinaikah kita "second house", tītyamūh lejīn "all eight singers", lāpāmvi yąloe "triple meal/a meal three times as large". Bare multiplicatives may carry either the meaning of "repeated X times" or "X times as large", but the latter is most commonly specified with a comparison (en) or by context.

Distributives are indeclinable adjectives, and have the meaning of "X each": pāmvihaicė titė męlyąt "three pens each are given"; lili liliā ñæltah no tulūʔihaicė kolecañi alau ulgutamiaça "my sister and I have bought six bottles of kvas each" — note in both sentences the use of singular number in titė (pencil) and alūs (gen. alau) "bottle".

Fractionary numerals are always used in the noun.GEN numeral construction, and they are invariable in direct, vocative, accusative, and ergative case but decline with -vaḍa in all of the others (in fact, etymologically they derive from worn down forms of ordinal + vaḍa, meaning Xth part, e.g. hælinaikah vaḍa (the second part) → hælinaivāṭ). Unlike ordinals, the noun is always in the genitive case. Examples: marti hælinaivāṭ "half of the city" ; alāvi yårṣendvāṭ "one fourth of the bottle" ; bhæli tulūʔendvaḍe "in one sixth of the country".

Particles

The numerous particles in the Chlouvānem language have various uses, including coordinating conjunctions, semantic, and pragmatic particles. Most of them (except a few conjunctions) follow the word they modify. Here they are listed in Latin alphabetical order:

  • e translates "like"; it requires essive case with nouns (in formal speech; while bare essive most properly has the meaning "as X" instead of "like X", colloquially it is used both ways) and subjunctive mood with realis verbs (other moods are used for their meaning).
  • en usually requires accusative case and translates to English "than" in comparisons.
  • eri means "even", marking a positive emphasis and used with positive sentences (e.g. hūnakumi dældān eri dældire "(s)he even speaks Hūnakumi[6]")
  • fras marks the antibenefactive argument outside of antibenefactive-trigger voice, or "to avoid X" with a subjunctive mood verb.
  • ga is an adpositive particle, used to join nouns in noun phrases (usually titles; the only exceptions being honorifics), such as Līlasuṃghāṇa ga marta (Līlasuṃghāṇa city, or "city of Līlasuṃghāṇa") or Tāllahāria ga maita (Tāllahāria river).
  • gāri means "not even", being the opposite of eri, marking a negative emphasis in negative sentences (e.g. chāra chlouvānumi dældān gāri gu dældire ša "(s)he doesn't even speak correct Chlouvānem")
  • golat translates "meanwhile" or "on the other hand".
  • gu(n) — ša is a circumfix around verbs used to negate it, e.g. gu yuyųlsėça ša "(s)he doesn't want to eat").
  • laha means "only, just", e.g. lārvājuṣui laha flå "I'm only going to the temple".
  • lapi means "with"; when used in instrumental sense it requires ergative case, while the comitative sense requires the essive.
  • leah translates "already", with a noun in essive case or a verb in the semantically correct mood.
  • mbu means "or"; placement with nouns is the same as no/çei, and with verbs it's often the same as sama.
  • mei and go are the Chlouvānem words for "yes" and "no" respectively; their use is however different from English, as they are used according to the polarity of the question: mei answers "yes" to affirmative questions and "no" to negative questions; go answers "no" to affirmative questions and "yes" to negative questions.
  • menni translates "because, for". If there's a following main clause, then it's the last word in the subordinate of reason (this use is synonymous to the consequential secondary verbal mood of cause); if it's a lone sentence (an answer), then it is usually at the second place in the sentence, after the verbal trigger (e.g. tami menni yuyųlsėça "because (s)he wants to eat").
  • mæn marks the topic which otherwise has no role in the sentence (often used inside larger conversations, e.g. lili mæn yulte kåmbe (mine/as for me (echoing a previous sentence), [it is] in the bright yellow backpack; OR: as for me, [I keep it] in...)).
  • nali, when used with a noun in direct case, marks the benefactive argument in any voice except benefactive-trigger. When used with a verb in subjunctive mood, it means "in order to", with a nuance of hope (when compared to the bare subjunctive, which already has that meaning).
  • nānim translates "almost", with a noun in essive case or a verb in the semantically correct mood.
  • natte translates "until", with a noun in translative case (or dative case for places, meaning "as far as")[7] or a verb in the subjunctive.
  • ni translates "but" as a coordinating conjunction.
  • no translates English "and" when between nouns and when denoting a complete listing; for incomplete listings (e.g. "X and Y and so on") the particle çei is used. Both follow the noun they refer to, and in listings with more than two nouns they follow every noun except the first. They can also translate "and" between verbs, but sama is preferred between sentences, especially with different subjects (e.g. yąluça moluça no "I eat and drink", either mėlitu yąluça kolecañu moluça no or mėlitu yąluça sama kolecañu moluça "I eat curry and drink kvas", but most often mėlitu yąluça sama liliā ñæltah kolecañu molėça "I eat curry and my sister drinks kvas". Note that mėlitu yąluça liliā ñæltah kolecañu molėça no is still correct, but mostly found in literary or very formal language).
  • pa translates "on, of, about; concerning, on the subject of", and requires a noun direct case or a verb in subjunctive mood.
  • sama translates "and" as a coordinating conjunction between sentences. If the following word starts with a vowel, it is shortened to sam'.
  • tora translates "also", "too", usually before the verb (e.g. tora uyųlaṃçå "I've eaten that too"); note that "also" as a conjunction between two sentences is usually translated with nanū (more).
    • tora gu is a particle-adjective locution translating "not even", and is put before the noun it refers to;
    • tora no, after the noun, translates "even" - e.g. tami tora no dadrāçå "even he has done it it").

Paired particles

The paired particles in Chlouvānem are:

  • gu X tora gu Y no — translating "neither X nor Y"; e.g. gu jādāh tora gu lañekaica no drāliçå "neither Jādāh nor Lañekaica did it".
  • X jusęe Y mbu — translating "either X or Y". jusęe is a worn-down form of jususęe, adverb form of jususas, present participle of gyake (to be). e.g. jādāh jusęe lañekaica mbu drāliçå "either Jādāh or Lañekaica did it".
  • X jusęe Y tora no — translating "both X and Y"; e.g. jādāh jusęe lañekaica tora no drāliçå "both Jādāh and Lañekaica did it".

Emphatic particles

A few particles are used (usually sentence-finally) in order to convey particular feelings of the speaker about the statement:

  • å expresses either surprise (at the beginning of a sentence) or that the fact is considered annoying (at the end), e.g. å viṣęe dadrāça "wow, (s)he's done it again!" / viṣęe dadrāça å "oh no, (s)he's done it again!"
  • e is a basic declarative particle when used word-finally, and is often used as an introduction (much like "you know, ...") or as a generic filler.
  • nane is a tag question, e.g. camiyūs vilьthā nane? "you're from Cami, aren't you?"
  • noihā is a tag question much like nane, but is used when the speaker is in doubt and/or expects a contradictory answer, e.g. flære dryāvetçathā noihā? "did I do it yesterday, or...?"
  • sāṭ expresses the speaker's doubt about the honesty of the expressed action, e.g. tę taim draukæ sāṭ "(s)he did it for me, but I don't believe that's what (s)he really wanted" or "as if (s)he really did it for me!"
  • tau emphasizes that the fact expressed is considered obvious, and is fairly colloquial, e.g. lārvājuṣe mos tau "huh, I was at the temple, nothing else"; kitui vasau tau "I drove home [what else could I do?]"
  • tva puts strong emphasis on a declarative sentence; it is fairly colloquial and not polite, and thus avoided in formal speech, e.g. nenėyu daudiuça tati ukulaṃça tva! "damn, I said I want that, shut up!"

Derivational morphology - Kokampeithauseh maivāndarāmita

Chlouvānem has an extensive system of derivational morphology, with many possibilities of deriving words from verbal roots and even from other nouns.

Nouns

-a (unstressed) or (stressed) is a common derivative to make basic words from verbal roots. It does not have any fixed meaning, though it's always pretty close to the root. Nouns with the unstressed suffix and an ablautable vowel usually belong to the ablauting declension. in a root is always strengthened to middle-grade.

  • dṛ (to do, to make) → dara (activity)
  • lil (to live) → lila (person; living thing)
  • tṛl (to know) → tarlā (science)

-as is another common derivative, without fixed meaning, but usually denoting objects or things done by acting. It is used to derive positions from positional verbs.

  • tug (to beat) → tugas (beat)
  • jlitiā (jlitim-) (be to the right of) → jlitimas (right)
  • āntiā (āntim-) (be above, be on) → āntimas (part above)

-ūm is another derivative without fixed meaning, overlapping with -as.

  • lgut (to buy) → lgutūm (something bought)
  • peith (to go, walk (multidirectional)) → peithūm (walk)
  • yālv (to be sweet (taste)) → yālvūm (sweet taste)

-laukas is a singulative suffix, denoting either a single thing of a collective noun, or a single constituent of a broader act. Unlike the previous ones, it is most commonly applied to other nouns.

  • flun (to go, walk (monodirectional)) → fluṃlaukas (step)
  • lil (to live) (or liloe (life)) → lillaukas (moment, instant)
  • daša (rain) → dašilaukas (raindrop)

-anah, with middle-grade ablaut if possible, denotes an act or process, or something closely related to that.

  • dig (to pour) → deganah ((act of) pouring)
  • miš (to see) → mešanah (sight)
  • lgut (to buy) → lgotanah (shopping)

-yāva with lengthening denotes a quality.

  • māl (to keep together) → mālyāva (union)
  • hælvė (fruit) → šaulvyāva (fertility) (morphemically //hьaulvyava//)
  • blut (to clean) → blūtyāva (cleanliness)
  • Lengthening is absent if the word is derived from an adjective (e.g. chlærausis (easy) → chlærausyāva (easiness)) and in a few exceptions (e.g. lalla (high) → lalliyāva (highness, superiority)). taugyāva (life) has au because it's derived from taugikā (heart) and not the bare root tug (to beat).
  • Inverse-ablaut roots have the reduced vowel as a prefix, much like in causative verbs (e.g. vald (to (be) open) → uvaldyāva (opening, state of being open)).

-išam has the same meaning as -yāva, but it's rarer.

  • yųlniltas (edible) → yųlniltešam (edibility)
  •  yālv (to be sweet (taste)) → yālvišam (sweetness)
  • ñailūh (ice) → ñailuišam (coldness)

-āmita, often with high-grade ablaut, is another suffix forming quality nouns, but it is often more abstract, being translatable with suffixes like English -ism.

  • çuliė (friend (female)) → çuliāmita (friendship)
  •  ėmīla (tiger) → ėmīlāmita (nobility (quality); most important people in society[8])
  •  ñæltah (sister (for a male)) → ñæltāmita (brotherhood)

-endān (-indān after voiced stops, and -innān after d), with middle-grade ablaut, has various generic and sometimes unpredictable meanings.

  •  māl (to keep together) → mālendān (number)
  •  lij (to sing) → lejindān (choir)
  •  dæld (to speak) → dældinnān (voice)

-rṣūs (-ṛṣūs after a consonant) denotes a tool, namely something used in doing an action.

  • yaud (to catch) → yaudṛṣūs (trap)
  • miš (to see) → meširṣūs (eye (literary, rare))[9]
  • hær (to kiss) → hærṣūs (lips (pair of))

-gis denotes something used for doing an action, not always synonymous with -rṣūs. -t-gis becomes -ñjis.

  •  mešīn (eye) → mešīlgis (glasses (pair of))
  •  tug (to beat) → tulgis (drumstick)
  •  lgut (to buy) → lguñjis (money, currency)

-oe (with middle-grade ablaut) often denotes a result, but has lots of various meanings.

  •  hal (to call) → haloe (name, noun)
  •  peith (to go, walk (multidirectional)) → peithoe (development; the way something is carried out)
  • yųl (to eat) → yąloe (meal)

-īn plus middle grade-ablaut denotes a doer (roughly equivalent to English -er); usually it is a person, but not always.

  • bhi (to take care of; to care for) → bhayīn (someone who takes care; guardian)
  • tug (to beat) → togīn (heart)
  •  lgut (to buy) → lgotīn (buyer)

-āvi denotes something derived from X. It is also used in forming matronymics.

  •  lameṣa (coconut palm) → laṃṣāvi (coconut)
  •  mešanah (sight) → mešanąvi (knowledge)
  • yųl (to eat) → yųlāvi (strength (literary, rare))

-āmis, with lengthening, means "made of X".

  • tāmira (rock, stone) → tāmirāmis (stone tool)
  •  tarlā (knowledge, science) → tārlāmis (wisdom)
  •  lil (to live) → līlāmis (a blissful place)
  • Words ending in a final long vowel (plus either h, s, or m) do not lengthen any vowel in a previous syllable (e.g. ñariāh (mountain) → ñariāmis (mountainous area)).

-ikā has various meanings, often somewhat abstract, intensive, or related to highly valued things/roles.

  •  daša (rain) → dāšikā (monsoon) (irregular lengthening)
  •  hær (to kiss) → hærikā (love (literary, rare))
  • lalāruṇa (giant domestic lizard) → lalārauṇikā (knight mounting a lalāruṇa)

-dhūs means "having X".

  •  dara (activity) → daradhūs (verb)
  •  šaṇṭrās (field, soil) → šaṇṭrādhūs (countryside)
  •  hælvė (fruit) → hælvidhūs (fruiting tree; literary: pregnant woman)

-bān and -ūrah are two roughly equivalent suffixes used for locations. The first one is generally used after vowels, the second after consonants, but it's no strict rule.

  • hælvė (fruit) → hælvėbān (orchard)
  •  lil (to live) → lilūrah (world)
  • peith (to go, to walk (multidirectional)) → peithūrah (passage)

-(l)āṇa forms a true collective noun:

  • çuliė (friend (female)) → çulielāṇa (group of friends)
  • jīma (character, symbol, letter) → jīmalāṇa (writing system)
  • maiva (word) → maivalāṇa (lexicon)

-(l)ænah denotes a tree or a plant having a certain fruit[10].

  •  haiçah (pineapple) → haiçænah (pineapple tree)
  •  maʔika (uncooked rice) → maʔikænah (rice plant)
  • šikālas (prickly pear) → šikālænah (prickly pear cactus)

-yus (-yūs if there are only short syllables) is used with toponyms and is one of the most common ways to form denonymal nouns. As many of the nouns these words are derived from are proper nouns and of non-Chlouvānem origin, there are often irregular formations, e.g. using only a part of the original word.

  • Līlasuṃghāṇalīlasuṃghāṇyus
  • Camicamiyūs
  • GaliākinaGaliākyus

Verbs

The main denominal verb-forming suffix is -ora-, used mainly with the meaning of "to make/create X" or "to have X":

  • āmaya (collection) → āmayorake (to collect)
  • yuiça (sound) → yuiçorake (to make a sound)
  • çuliė (friend (f)) → çuliyorake (to befriend, to become friends with)

-ьeiš- (alternating with preconsonantal -ьeiki-) forms a verb with the meaning of "to make something X(-like)" or something related to using X:

  • raikas (smoke) → raiceiške (to smoke food)
  • lallāmita (future) → lallāmitieiške (to plan)
  • brausa (sainthood) → brausieiške (to sanctify, hallow)

Positional prefixes can be used to derive new, more specific verbs, from other ones; see the section under Positional verbs for more.

Prefixes are a common way to form many specific forms of verbs, especially related to how much or how an action is carried out. As all of these derive verbs from other verbs, only the root is given in examples:
ñavu- (ñau- before a nasal, v or r) forms verbs meaning "a bit more than needed". Verbs whose root has as the main vowel do not ablaut and always have middle-grade ar, except if there is another prefix (see second example):

  • dṛ- (to do) → ñavudar- (to do something a bit more than needed)
    • āndṛ- (to build, create) → ñavāndṛ- (to build/create a bit more than needed)
  • vald- (to open) → ñauvald- (to open a bit more than needed)
  • flun- (to go, walk (monod.)) → ñavuflun- (to walk somewhat further ahead than needed)

vīvai- forms verbs meaning "too much"; verbs with always have ar and are non-ablauting:

  • dṛ- (to do) → vīvaidar- (to do something too much)
  • pugl- (to sleep) → vīvaipugl- (to sleep too much)
  • flun- (to go, walk (monod.)) → vīvaiflun- (to walk too much ahead)

trān- (trā- before voiced stops, nasals, or r; it combines with a following y to form trāñ-) forms verbs of repetition or continuative actions, or "to keep X-ing"; verbs with always have ar and are non-ablauting:

  • dṛ- (to do) → trādar- (to do something repetitively, to keep doing something)
  • yųl- (to eat) → trāñųl- (to eat repetitively, to keep eating)
  • khlu- (to search, look for) → trālkhlu- (to keep searching)

yavi- (yav- before y) forms resultative verbs, with the meaning of "to finish X-ing" or "to X everything":

  • dṛ- (to do) → yavidṛ (to finish, complete (transitive))
  • yųl- (to eat) → yavyųl (to finish eating; to eat everything)
  • mūmik- (to dance) → yavimūmik (to finish dancing; idiomatic: to start working, to get back to work)

tæ(m)- forms mainly dynamic verbs from stative ones (being often synonymous with their causative patientive forms) and from adjectives. It is also used with nouns, forming verbs with the meaning of "to become a(n) X":

  • murkas (black) → tæmurk- (to become black; causative: to make/paint something black)
  • jāyim (girl) → tæjāyim- (to become a girl)
  • būṃṣ- (to be dry; causative: to dry something) → tæmbūṃṣ- (to become dry; causative: to dry something (rarely used))

nare- (nar- before another prefix) forms verbs with applicative meanings:

  • pugl- (to sleep) → narepugl- (to sleep during something)
  • yųl- (to eat) → nareyųl- (to have a meal with someone, to go eating with someone)
  • ta-flun- (to arrive on foot) → nartaflun- (to reach a place on foot)

min- forms transitive verbs from intransitive (mostly dynamic) ones:

  • pūn- (to work) → mimpūn- (to work on something)
  • gya- (to be) → milgya- (to experience)
  • peith- (to go (multidirectional)) → mimpeith- (to walk on foot while staying inside a certain place)

Adjectives

Adjectives are formed from either nouns or verbs by using the following suffixes: All terms are given here in citation form (dragon singular)

-ūkas is the most common adjective-forming suffix, denoting something strictly related to an object or a verb. Often they are interchangeable with the genitive form of the noun they derived from:

  • avyāṣa (time) → avyāṣūkas (temporal)
  • chlærūm (light) → chlærūkas (of the light)
  • daša (rain) → dašūkas (rainy, concerning rain)

-ausis (rarely -usis) forms adjectives related to a quality that is applied to some object, but more abstractly related than those formed with -ūkas-; sometimes they are only figurative:

  • chlærūm (light) → chlærausis (easy)
  • pāṇi (side) → pāṇyausis (peripheral, less important)
  • namęlь (to make an effort, to apply oneself, to work harder) → namęliausis (Stakhanovite)

-niltas translates English -able, and the circumfix uṣ- -niltas translates to "un- -able" or, sometimes, "difficult to X". The rare ñæi- -niltas translates as "easy to X".
The uṣ- prefix has the allomorphs ū- (before voiced stops), uš- (before c and ch), and u- (before l+consonant); uṣ- plus any sibilant becomes ukṣ-.

  • tṛl (to know, understand) → tṛlniltas (understandable) → uṣṭṛlniltas (uncomprehensible; difficult to understand) / ñæitṛlniltas (easy to understand)
  • yųl (to eat) → yųlniltas (edible) → uṣyųlniltas (unedible)
  • lgut (to buy) → lgutniltas (buyable) → ulgutniltas (not buyable)

-ṣenis translates "having X as a quality", usually added to nouns, or "X-like" in some cases; it may be synonymous with the -dhūs derivative. u- and i- stems (thus -uh, -ih, -us...) lengthen that vowel before the suffix.

  • rahėlah (health) → rahėlṣenis (healthy)
  • nakṣuma (music) → nakṣuṃṣenis (having a musical talent)
  • meimairuh (emerald) → meimairūṣenis (emeraldine, emerald-like)

The suffixes -apus/-epus or -ækṣasis/-īkṣasis are sometimes considered, as far as the grammar of everyday Chlouvānem is concerned, ways to derive adjectives from other adjectives. As seen in the section about adjectives, these are actually the endings of synthetic comparatives and superlatives, which are obsolete in modern Chlouvānem except from the most formal registers.
Their classification as derivational suffixes is sometimes made starting from a few forms which have got an additional meaning (often with notable semantic shifts, and usually starting from a single use later generalized) apart from the "more/most X", and they're nowadays used with that meaning (with the comparative being made analytically with nanū).

  • kāmilas (blue) → kāmilapus (healthy) ("blue" is used also in the sense of English "green" as "environmental-friendly"; the semantic shift here has its origin in place descriptions, with "bluer" places being less urbanized and less polluted ones; later the "healthy" meaning was generalized)
  • tāmirūkas (rocky) → tāmirūkapus (difficult)
  • huliāyausis (glowing in the dark; visible as the moon) → huliāyausīkṣasis (recognizable, easy to recognize)

General prefixes

[examples in this section to be added soon]

Some prefixes may be used with all parts of speech. Most of them derive from Ancient Kūṣṛmāthi words, or from otherwise lost Proto-Lahob ones.

o- (os- before a vowel) indicates "pre", "proto-", something that precedes something else:

  • dældā (language) → odældā (proto-language)

sam- means "after-", or "post-", and is nearly the exact antonym of o-:

  • dīd- (to know someone) → saṃdīd- (to discover something about someone after that would have been relevant/once that person is not anymore part of someone's life)
  • yartām ([early] morning) → samyartām (late morning)
  • dįba (kick) → saṃdįba (pain felt after receiving a kick)

tailь- roughly corresponds to "multi-" or "pluri-":

  • milgya- (to experience something) → tailьmilgya- (to have a déjà-vu)
  • daradhūs (verb) → tailьgirdaradhūs (multidirectional verb)

lail- (laili-) and tūt- (tūtu-) both mean "one", "mono-", "uni-", "homo-". The first prefix is of native Chlouvānem origin, the other is Ancient Kūṣṛmāthi:

paṣ- means "further", "more", or "again", "re-":

  • dhokam (meaning) → paṣṭhokam (hyperonym)
  • dīd- (to know someone) → paṣadīd- (to get to know someone better)
  • ṣådh- (to be big [bodily]) → pakṣådh- (to be overweight)

naš- means "entirely", "completely", "omni-", "pan-", or can also have an intensive meaning (though cam- is more common for the latter):

lani- means "same":

  • cerṇūṣah (homeland) → lanicerṇūṣīn (fellow countryman)

vād- means "various", "varied", also "down":

  • kul- (to say) → vāgdul- (to vote)

vre- means "bad":

demi-, meaning "self", is sometimes counted as a prefix, but is often considered a compound with demi, the reflexive pronoun:

  • tadmālas (limitation, constrainedness, control) → demitadmālas (self-limitation (one of the main Yunyalīlti virtues))
  • kaudaranah (kill) → demikaudaranah (suicide)
  • kamidīdeh (better knowledge of someone) → demikamidīdeh (self-knowledge (another Yunyalīlti virtue))

Specific terms

Derivational terms considered "specific" are those mostly found in certain jargons. Some of these are applied directly to an Ancient Kūṣṛmāthi root instead of a Chlouvānem one:

  • -gaṇūh usually translates "-philia" or "-mania", particularly in medical contexts, e.g. ryukagaṇūh "masochism" from ryuka "pain".
    • -gaṇūvima is the related term for someone who has that (thus "-philiac" or "-maniac"), e.g. ryukagaṇūvima "masochist".
  • -rauga is a generic term used in medicine for names of illnesses or conditions affecting health, e.g. tukoṃrauga "obesity" from A.Kūṣṛmāthi tukkom "fat"; vrayegårlauga "dysphagia" (note dissimilation of -rr-) from vre- (bad) and egåram (stomach).
    • -raugotis is the term for someone affected by a rauga, e.g. tukoṃraugotis "obese", vrayegårlaugotis "dysphagic".

Compounding

Notes

  1. ^ Dragon is kaṃšūs, lotus is yujam, and parrot is geltah.
  2. ^ This verb has allomorphic stem variation between preconsonantal gṇyau and prevocalic gṇyāv
  3. ^ Note that in such a phrase the perfective subjunctive would have a different meaning, namely “to have already given it back to me”.
  4. ^ More properly "to be pleasing", e.g. lunai låh pṛšcāmvæl "tea is pleasing to me" → "I like tea".
  5. ^ Since the laws on gender equality of 4E 56 (77 years ago), the role of Baptist, the second most important in the Inquisition, may be held by a male, but so far no male person has ever been Baptist. On the other hand, only females may be Great Inquisitors.
  6. ^ Language of an ethnic minority (but titular ethnicity) in the diocese of Hūnakañjātia.
  7. ^ Compare ājvan natte "until dawn" and līlasuṃghāṇa kahėrimaila ga keikui natte "as far as Līlasuṃghāṇa Kahėrimaila Station".
  8. ^ Chlouvānem society lacked a true noble class; this term applies to the most influential people in society. Tigers are considered among the noblest animals.
  9. ^ Middle-grade ablaut is specific to this root.
  10. ^ As for all living things, being Calémere a different planet, the given translation is the one of the closest equivalent on Earth.