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-|+ Caption text
+|+ Tinnermockaar consonants
 |-
 !  !! Labial !! Dental !! Alveolar !! Palatal !! Velar
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 {| class="wikitable"
-|+ Caption text
+|+ Tinnermockaar vowels
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 ! !! Front !! Central !! Back
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 The language does not have phonemic tones nor stress. Word tend to be stressed on their first syllable.
+==Morphology==
+Tinnermockaar constructs most of its words out of roots, sequences which cannot be used as words on their own. A Tinnermockaar root typically has a CVC structure such as ''√ttỳn'' /tʼɪˀ.n/ for 'speaking', although a limited number of roots are composed of a single consonant C, some can only be analyzed as having a CVCVC structure and a considerable number omit one or more consonants, possibly due to the historical loss of certain consonants.
+Roots often have verb-like main meanings (as seen previously with ''√ttỳn'', 'speaking') but they might also be mainly noun-like as with the root ''√havp'' 'copper'. Regardless of this, most roots have the potential to be used both in noun-like and verb-like derivations, as evidenced by ''ttỳnaamokkə'' (language, a noun derived from ''√ttỳn'') or ''eerbbihavp'' for 'they are made of copper' (a verb derived from ''√havp'').
+It is also relatively common for roots to have different forms or have small 'families' of roots differing only in their vowel or some suprasegmental aspect thereof (such as root pairs differing only in vowel length or glottalization). These differences can mostly be attributed to irregular sound change and seldom show any consistent patterns.
+These roots (which can be termed 'primary roots') are often extended into 'secondary roots' by adding a prefix, usually of the form CV-. These prefixes often relate to some vague form of locative meaning such as ''ma-'' roughly corresponding to 'around', transforming the core meaning of the root ''√ńvm'' related to movement to ''√mańvm'' for with meanings of 'roaming' or 'walking around'. It should be noted, however, that the semantic derivation resulting from these affixes can be fairly unpredictable. For instance, applying the same prefix to ''√ttỳn'' (speaking) yields ''√mattỳn'' with a rough meaning of 'fame' (presumably because people around the famous person would speak about them) while applying it to ''√nin'' (to breathe) results in ''√manin'' meaning 'to sneeze' in a rather unclear derivation. These derivational prefixes are remarkably similar to the 'preverbs' found in Indo-European languages (such as the 'for' in 'forgive'), although the resulting meanings of might differ.
+Tinnermockaar words are derived through the addition of affixes (prefixes or suffixes) to these roots (be they primary or secondary roots). For the most part, these derivations follow one of two patterns corresponding to a main division in the language: verbals (mostly derived with vowel-initial prefixes) and nominals (exclusively derived with vowel-final suffixes).
+'''Note:''' that the morphological classes I refer to as 'verbals' and 'nominals' in Tinnermockaar might not correspond to other usages of those words in linguistics (such as Chomsky's notion of 'nominals'), they are just meant as a convenient term for this conlang in particular.
+===Verbals===
+Tinnermockaar verbals mostly correspond to verbs describing a past, generic or habitual state; present and future-tense verbs are handled instead through a construction involving an auxiliary verbal a nominal instead. Since Tinnermockaar's equivalents to adjectives are verb-like, they are often handled as verbals as wells.
+Verbals usually present the following structure:
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+ Tinnermockaar 'verbal' structure
+|-
+! Component !! Optional / Mandatory !! Default (if not explicit)
+|-
+| Mood marker || Optional || Realis
+|-
+| Subject/theme agreement || Mandatory  || -
+|-
+| Aspect marker || Optional || Atelic
+|-
+| Secondary root prefix || Optional || -
+|-
+| Root || Mandatory || -
+|-
+| Voice marker || Optional || Active voice
+|}
+The fact that most (not all though!) mood and agreement markers begin in a vowel and that most roots and all voice markers end in a consonant makes it so that verbals are overwhelmingly vowel-initial and consonant-final. In fact, certain words of dubious classification are considered verbals in Tinnermockaar tradition solely on the basis that they have this phonetic structure, as in the genitive particle ''əl''.
+====Mood====
+Tinnermockaar verbs might carry a mood prefix for non-realis usages, this is to say, when describing a situation which is (or was) not an actual fact in the present or past. Non-realis moods include:
+* '''Interrogative''' (INT, prefix ''kkaah-'') - required for polar questions.
+* '''Potential''' (POT, prefix '''''ax-''''') - indicates a possibility (like English 'can' or 'may').
+* '''Interrogative-potential''' (INT.POT, prefix '''''àkkaah-''''') - asks bout whether something ''might'' happen (or have happened).
+* '''Optative''' (OPT, prefix '''''eyt-''''') - used for wishes, hopes.
+* '''Jussive''' (JUS, prefix '''''əcaant-''''') - indicates a mandatory state (like English 'must' or some usages of 'shall').
+* '''Irrealis''' (IRR, prefix '''''ind-''''') - other hypothetical situations, conditionals, etc.
+For instance
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+ Mood examples
+|-
+! Mood !! Example !! Translation
+|-
+| Realis || ''Enav̀ccəń.''|| They hunted it
+|-
+| Interrogative || '''''Kkaah'''enav̀ccəń ?'' || Did they hunt it?
+|-
+| Potential || '''''Ax'''enav̀ccəń.'' || They might have hunted it
+|-
+| Interrogative-potential || '''''Àkkaah'''enav̀ccəń ?'' || Could they have hunted it?
+|-
+| Optative || '''''Eyt'''enav̀ccəń !'' || Let's hope they hunted it
+|-
+| Jussive || '''''Əcaant'''enav̀ccəń.'' || They must (are required to) have hunted it
+|-
+| Irrealis || '''''Ind'''enav̀ccəń ...'' || (If) they hunted it...
+|}
+The jussive mood is not to be confused with the imperative (commands issued to the listener), which are formed through a separate construction.
+====Subject and theme agreement====
+Tinnermockaar has what is known as polypersonal agreement, with transitive verbs (verbs featuring both a subject and an object) being mandatorily marked for both arguments, while intransitive verbs (thus with a single argument, also known as 'subject' in English but referred to as 'theme' in Tinnermockaar) taking a different set of prefixes to mark their one argument. Voice suffixes, as discussed later on, might be used to allow transitive verbs to behave as intransitive ones and vice versa.
+Both forms of argument agreement indicate the grammatical person of the argument as well as some other distinctions such as animacy and number for third person referents. The following cases are contrasted:
+* First person exclusive (1.EXCL) - usually refers to the speaker (I, me) but it might also be used to refer to 'exclusive we' (the speaker and others, not including the listener).
+* First person inclusive (1.INCL) - 'inclusive we', the speaker, the listener and, possibly, others.
+* Second person (2) - the listener or listeners (you) and possibly others.
+* Animate third person singular (3s.ANIM) - a human (or a being that acts like a human, such as a personified god) other than the speaker and listener; corresponding to English 'he', 'she' or singular 'they'.
+* Animate third person plural (3p.ANIM) - more than one person.
+* Inanimate third person singular (3s.INAN) - one object/animal or a group of uncountable objects (such as 'the sand'); 'it'.
+* Inanimate third person plural (3p.INAN) - more than one distinct objects or animals. Not distinguished from 3s.INAN for transitive subjects.
+Further distinctions in number (such as contrasting 1.EXCL as used for singular 'I' or for plural 'we \[me and others\]') might be made by including an overt pronoun (as discussed within the section for nominals) but that is relatively uncommon.
+Definiteness is contrasted for third person inanimate themes, contrasting sentences such as ''enav̀kàccəń'' ('they hunted it', where the animal that was hunted refers to a known individual) and ''eenəkàccəń'' ('they hunted one', where the animal that was some previously undefined individual).
+In the following tables, prefixes for each combination are given with the subject being indicated by the column and the theme or direct object by the row. For suffixes whose Tinnermockaar script spelling is not predictable, the appropriate spelling is provided between brackets.
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+ Agreement markers
+|-
+! Subject (columns): !! None (Intransitive) !! 1.EXCL !! 1.INCL !! 2 !! 3s.ANIM !! 3p.ANIM !! 3.INAN
+|-
+| '''1.EXCL''' || əńee- || - || - || tsəńỳ-|| ème- || aàmy- || àńav-
+|-
+| '''1.INCL''' || ańyỳ- || -|| - || -|| èmyỳ- || aàmyỳ- || ə̀rńyỳ-
+|-
+| '''2''' || iì- || ijee- (iñee-) || - || - || ənce- (aàntse-) || aàtse- (aàntse-) || ə̀rttsə-
+|-
+| '''3s.ANIM''' || i- || ayńè- || yyrńè- || ətsè- || əmba- || aàmba- || àśe-
+|-
+| '''3p.ANIM''' || əmà- || əńkà- || yyrnkà- || ətsà- (əntsà-) || əmpeè- || aàmpa- || əśaà- (vśaà-)
+|-
+| '''3s.INAN.DEF''' || oo- || avńga- || əənga- || ətsə- || ovr- || enav̀- || av̀-
+|-
+| '''3s.INAN.INDF''' || vr- || əńvr- || əərńvr- || vtsə- || ey-  || eenə- || ə̀r- (v̀r-)
+|-
+| '''3p.INAN.DEF''' || eer- || əńeer- || yrńeer- || ətseer- || ə-eer (əggeer-) || aàńga- || eèr-
+|-
+| '''3p.INAN.INDF''' || eer- || əńyỳ- || yrńyỳ- || ətsyỳ- || əńka- || aàńka- || eèr-
+|}
+Bear in mind that the reflexive and reciprocal voices (explained in the ''Voices'' section below) are required for actions where the subject and theme coincide.
+=====Citation forms for verbs=====
+While in English the citation form of a verb (''ie'' the form usually listed in dictionaries and used to refer to the verb) is the infinitive, the preferred citation form for Tinnermockaar verbs is a verbal with no optional affixes presenting agreement prefixes for third person arguments. These prefixes depend on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive and on whether its expected arguments are more likely to be humans or inanimate objects.
+Intransitive verbs which are more likely to have a human theme take the 3s.ANIM prefix '''''i-''''' as in ''iđđun'' (they slept) for 'to sleep'; if the theme is judged more likely to be non-human, the 3s.INAN prefix '''''oo-''''' is used instead as in ''oobbihavp'' (it is made of cooper) for 'to be made of cooper'. Cases where both a human or a non-human theme are possible vary, by they tend towards the former as in ''ideìkvvr'' (they are hot) for 'to be hot', although an inanimate citation form ''oodeìkvvr'' (it is hot) could occasionally be used should the context make it clear it is meant to apply to a non-human.
+A similar situation occurs for transitive verbs, which take a prefix corresponding to third person singular arguments whose animacy was determined by their most likely referents although with a clear bias towards preferring animate subjects and inanimate topics. As a result, the citation form of most transitive verbs tends to bear the '''''ey-''''' prefix (animate subject, inanimate theme), even though '''''əmba-''''' (animate subject and theme), '''''ə̀r-''''' (inanimate subject and theme) and, rarely, '''''àśe-''''' (inanimate subject, animate theme) are also possible options:
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+ Citation forms
+|-
+!  !! Intransitive !! Animate subject !! Inanimate subject
+|-
+| '''Animate theme''' || ''i-'' || ''əmba-'' || ''àśe-''
+|-
+| '''Inanimate theme''' || ''oo-'' || ''ey-'' || ''ə̀r-''
+|}
+====Aspect====
+Tinnermockaar contrasts three aspects, indicated though suffixes between the agreement marks and the main stem (root and secondary root prefixes).
+By default, verbs take the unmarked '''atelic''' (ATEL) aspect which indicates an event without a specific endpoint. For instance, atelic ''iccəńàk'', 'he hunted', indicates that the action is conceptualized as being a prolonged state (as implied in 'they were out hunting') without a specific goal that would mark its endpoint.
+On the other hand, the prefix ''kà'' marks a verb as '''telic''' (TEL), which indicates an action with a defined endpoint. For example, telic ''ikàccəńàk'', which we might also translate as 'he hunted', actually indicates that there was a goal that was accomplished and which marked an endpoint for the action (in the example, the hunter probably chased after one particular game).
+There is a commonly used rule of thumb in linguistics for telling apart whether a phrase is telic or atelic: if the action can be given with a time frame (as in ''''''within''' an hour'''), it is telic (the endpoint is pinpointed as being achieved within the timeframe) while an atelic phrase will usually require a time-span instead such as ''''''for''' an hour'''.
+Meanwhile the prefix ''zi-'' is used to indicate an '''inchoative''' (INCH) aspect, which marks the beginning of a state. Thus ''iziccəńàk'' corresponds to 'they started hunting'.
+====Voice====
+Verbals corresponding to transitive verbs might take a suffix to indicate a change in grammatical voice, which is to say, an unexpected behavior in the argument of the transitive verb.
+By default, such verbs are found in their active voice which includes a distinct subject and an object. For instance, ''enav̀kàccəń'' ('they hunted it') is marked as having a human third person subject and a definite non-human third person object.
+A '''reflexive''' voice marker ''-as'' is required to indicate that the subject and object coincide, that the subject does the action to itself. The resulting verb is only marked for its theme, as in ''ooccəńas'' for 'it hunted itself'.
+The '''reciprocal''' or '''mutual''' marker ''-ubbàm'' has a similar usage except that it indicates that individuals within a group do something to each other (but not to themselves). For instance, ''əmàccəńubbàm'' translates to 'they hunted each other'. This would indicate that there were at least two parties, one hunting the other and vice-versa, as opposed to reflexive ''əmàccəńas'' 'they hunted themselves'. Informally, however, it would be relatively common for native Tinnermockaar speakers themselves to use both forms interchangeable, indicating that this distinction is seemingly falling out of use.
+For verbals with a distinct subject and object, the '''passive''' and '''antipassive''' voices allow for one of those arguments to be dropped. '''Passive''' ''-it'' converts a transitive verb into a syntactically intransitive one with the original object as its theme as in ''ookàccəńit'' for 'it was hunted', '\[someone\] hunted it'. Conversely, '''antipassive''' ''-àk'' allows the subject alone to to be marked, also becoming the theme of a syntactically intransitive verb as in ''ikàccəńàk'' for 'they hunted \[something]'.
+Verbals corresponding to an ''intransitive'' verb might take the '''causative''' marker ''-eeś'' which turns them into a transitive verb where the subject influences the theme to reach the state normally marked by the intransitive verb. For instance, ''oodeìkvvrm'' 'it was hot' might be used to derive ''enav̀deìkvvrmeeś'', 'they made it hot'. It should be noted, however, that many intransitive verbs have a transitive counterpart that will usually be preferred to a causative form; thus to specify an agent responsible for the state of being hot indicated by ''oodeìkvvrm'' a separate transitive verb, ''enav̀-aakvvr'', 'they heated it'.
+====The attributive verbal ''an''====
+The word ''an'' is a verb-like element with two main uses:
+- Acting as a copula verb (like English 'to be') for equaling two nominals, as in 'X is Y'.
+- Being used as a particle to introduce relative clauses.
+Unlike ordinary Tinnermockaar verbs, ''an'' presents an irregular paradigm. It might only be conjugated for mood (taking the usual mood prefixes) and for argument agreement (through completely irregular forms). Despite the fact that ''an'' takes two arguments when used as a copula verb, its conjugation only references the grammatical person for single argument, without any number or animacy distinctions for the third person:
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+ Conjugation of ''an''
+|-
+! Person !! Form of ''an''
+|-
+| '''1.EXCL''' || ''əńaàn'' (spelled as ''əhanàn'' in Tinnermockaar script)
+|-
+| '''1.INCL''' || ''amyńan''
+|-
+| '''2''' || ''tsaan''
+|-
+| '''3''' || ''an''
+|}
+In addition to not being permitted to take aspect and voice markers, ''an'' might not appear in present or future tense constructions; its tense is unless a time adverb is added.
+See the sections on noun copula and relatives under the ''Syntax'' header for more information.
 [[Category:Tinnermockaar]]
 [[Category:Languages]]
 [[Category:Conlangs]]

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