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Word formation in Mila is based around the semantically relevant triconsonantal roots. Words rarely occur in their base form and will usually be inflected to show their part of speech. As series of affixes are attached to show case.
Word formation in Mila is based around the semantically relevant triconsonantal roots. Words rarely occur in their base form and will usually be inflected to show their part of speech. As series of affixes are attached to show case.
===Predicates===
This is the only part of speech which must be present in a well-formed sentence in Mila.
The predicate may serve the purpose of a predicate noun as in:
:::1 ‘she is a neighbour’
it may be an adjective:
:::2 ‘you are happy’
it may also be a verb when indicating attributive verbs:
:::3 ‘I don’t understand’ (with the meaning that it is beyond my understanding).
The predicate will always agree with the subject. Though a pronominal subject is not generally stated apart from when using emphasis the effect of this subject will always be present on the predicate. So in sentence 1 above ''neighbour'' will agree with the 3rd person singular, in 2 ''happy'' will agree with the 2nd person singular or plural and in 3 ''understand'' will agree with the first person singular.
Agreement is obtained with an infixed /a/ and indicated in the orthography with an acute accent above the consonant where the infix precedes.
We shall consider the word for ''happy'' '''oιn''' [ʹpuhca].
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! '''oιn''' [ʹpuhca]
! 1<sup>st</sup> person
! 2<sup>nd</sup> person
! 3<sup>rd</sup> person
|-
! singular
| '''óιn''' [ʹaphic]
| '''oίn''' [ʹpahca]
| '''oιń''' [puʹhac]
|-
! plural
| '''óιn:ɾ''' [ʹaphicta]
| '''oίn:ɾ''' [ʹpahcit]
| '''oιń:ɾ''' [puʹhacta]
|}
Note that the /a/ is inserted prior to syllabic considerations thus the 1st person has /a/ inserted before the first consonant. This will give the structure aC.CVC as outlined above. For the 2nd person we get CaC.Ca and finally for the 3rd person we get CV.CaC. The plural is indicated with a suffixed ''':ɾ''' [-it ~ -ta ~ -da].
As this is the only imperative part of speech in a sentence, translating ''you are happy'' can be expressed simply as '''oίn''' [ʹpahca] for the singular and '''oίn:ɾ''' [ʹpahcit] for the plural.
The three sentences above are thus 1 '''υɾʌ́''' [liʹdar], 2 '''oίn''' [ʹpahca], 3 '''ύon:ɔ''' [ʹalbicka] (in the final sentence there is a suffixed negative particle ''':ɔ''' [-uk ~ -ka ~ -ga]).
Some comments should be made about the plural forms at this stage. The predicate is the only part of speech which really shows the plural nature of the subject. There are however several ways to imply a plural on either the predicate or the subject and in these cases the plural suffix ''':ɾ''' will not be added to the predicate. It is thus the case that the plural just needs to be indicated once in a sentence.
Although most of the following cases will be used in the subject of a sentence, they can equally be used in the predicate position. The following is a list of situations where the plural is not used:
:::If the subject is given with a number, so in the sentence '''.ɤ.-υυʌ:n-oιń''' [nubma ʹluric puʹhac] ''the three men are happy'', '''oιń''' [puʹhac] ''happy'' will not take the plural as ''three'' already shows this.
:::If the subject is one of the formulaic expressions such as '''υυυ:ω-ιɾυ:n''' [lulin ʹhidlic] ''some of the people'', '''υυυ:ω-cɾυ:n''' [lulin ʹsidlic] ''most of the people'', '''υυυ:ω-oωɾ:n''' [lulin ʹpindic] ''many of the people'', '''υυυ:ω-ɔιc:n''' [lulin ʹkuhsic] ''all of the people'' where this is expressed as ''people’s some'', ''people’s most'', ''people’s many'' and ''people’s all'' respectively.
:::As above when saying '''oωɾ:ɔ:ω-υυυ:n''' [pindugna ʹlulic] ''some people'', '''cɾυ:ω-υυυ:n''' [sidlin ʹlulic] ''most people'', '''ɔιc:ω-υυυ:n''' [kuhsin ʹlulic] ''all people'' etc.
:::With collective nouns which have the prefix '''ɾ:''' [it- ~ id-], so '''υυo:ω-ɾ:nυυ:n-nιί''' [lubin itʹculic cuʹhah] ''my eyes are blue'' would take the singular form of ''blue'' and for '''ɾ:vυɾ:n-vvv́''' [idʹjudic jiʹjaj] ''dogs are animals'' the form of ''animals'' is in the singular.
In addition to this there are a few cases where the singular would be used in English but the plural is used in Mila. These are mainly collective forms in English such as ‘furniture’ where the Mila word '''ɾɔω''' [ʹtugna] refers to an item of furniture so if we are referring to more than one item it will take the plural. Another example is ‘information’ where the Mila word '''ɾoo:ω-ʌnɷ''' [tupin ʹriɟma] refers to a single piece of information and so when talking about information about something where there are multiple pieces of information then the plural will be used.
It should be noted that the plural form of the predicate refers back to the subject and does not mean that the predicate is plural. The sentence:
:::'''υυʌ:n-vυɾ́-ʌ:nnυ'''
:::[ʹluric juʹlat iʹɟiɟla]
:::man-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">sub</span> dog.3 <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">pres</span>-see
means both ''the man sees the/a dog'' or ''the man sees the dogs''. If we wish to be more precise about the predicate being plural then we would need to say something like ''the man sees some dogs'', or ''the man sees all of the dogs'' etc.
Alternately, in the sentence:
:::υυʌ:n-vυɾ́:ɾ-ʌ:nnυ
:::[ʹluric juʹlata iʹɟiɟla]
:::man-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">sub</span> dog.3-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">pl</span> <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">pres</span>-see
although the plurality is placed on the predicate ''dog'' it refers to the subject ''man'' so this sentence can mean ''the men see the dog'' or ''the men see the dogs''. Once again to be more precise about the amount of dogs we would need to say ''many dogs'', ''the three dogs'' etc.
There is a further colloquial way of expressing the plural of the predicate, which is also more common in the outlying villages than in the main town . If we are referring to humans then a plural may be formed by making the word adjectival and adding '''υυυ''' [ʹɫuɫa] (meaning person) as a plural form, so ''men'' would be '''υυʌ:ω-υυυ''' [ʹɫurin ɫuɫa], the plural for animate objects would be '''vvv''' [ʹjija] (meaning animal) so ''dogs'' would be '''vυɾ:ω-vvv''' [ʹjudin jija], with all other plurals depending on if they are near (where they add '''ɾɾɾ''' [ʹtita]), within sight (where they add '''nnn''' [ʹcica]) or absent (where they add '''ooo''' [ʹpupa]) so ''houses'' could be '''υɔυ:ω-ɾɾɾ''' [ʹɫugɫin tita], '''υɔυ:ω-nnn''' [ʹɫugɫin cica] or '''υɔυ:ω-ooo''' [ʹɫugɫin pupa] depending if the speaker is very close to the houses, it’s within sight or it’s absent. The stress in these constructions will fall on the adjectival object and not this pluralised noun, which will only receive a secondary stress.
A sentence such as ''the men see the dogs'' may thus be produced as:
:::'''υυʌ:n-vυɾ:ω-vvv́:ɾ-ʌ:nnυ'''
:::[ʹɫuric ʹjudin jiʹjajda iʹɟiɟla/
:::man-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">sub</span> dog-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">adj</span> animal.3-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">pl</span> <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">pres</span>-see
and ''I see the houses (over there)'' would be:
:::'''υɔυ:ω-ńnn-ʌ:nnυ'''
:::[ʹɫugɫin ʹacic iʹɟiɟɫa]
:::house-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">adj</span> it.visible.1 <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">pres</span>-see
These forms are usually only heard in the predicate position, but they are becoming more common in the subject position too among younger rural speakers. Within the town, though, these forms are seen as rustic and are avoided.
It was mentioned that if numbers are used with the noun then the noun will not take a plural form, so '''.ɜ.-υυʌ:n-oιń''' [ɫicta ʹɫuric puʹhac] means ''the two men are happy''. If however we wish to say ''two of the men are happy'' there are special suffixes which are placed onto the nouns before other suffixes, such as the subject suffix or the predicate marker, are applied. Once again these do not take a plural marker on the predicate. This sentence becomes '''υυʌ:ω:ɜ:n-oιń''' [ʹɫurinica puʹhac]. An example in the predicate position would be '''ύυʌ:ω:ɜ-ʌ:nυυ''' [ʹaɫinic iʹɟuɫa] meaning ''I see two of the men''. If we wish to say, then, ''we see two of the men'' this is '''ύυʌ:ω:ɜ:ɾ-ʌ:nυυ''' [ʹaɫinicta iʹɟuɫa]. These special suffixes are ''':ω:ɛ''' [-inu ~ -ninu] for ''one of'', ''':ω:ɜ''' [-inic ~ -nic] for ''two of'', ''':ω:ɤ''' [-inub ~ -nub] for ''three of'', ''':ω:m''' [-inbu ~ nubu] for ''four of'' and ''':ω:ɞ''' [-inɫi ~ -nuɫi] for ''five of''. Beyond this the form would be ''six men'' and not ''six of the men'' etc.
====Uses of the Predicate====
In Mila there is an intricate link between the predicate and the subject. The predicate therefore shows an intrinsic part of the subject. It was mentioned above that the predicate may behave like a noun, an adjective or a verb. When it is a noun then it just shows a property of the subject. So a sentence such as ''it is a house'' is shown simply as:
:::'''υɔύ''' [ɫu'gaɫ]
We can drop the subject ‘it’ as this is shown by the third person agreement shown on the predicate.
As with the noun, adjectival predicates simply show a characteristic of the subject. A sentence such as ''I am happy'' could have two meanings. It could mean that I am happy at the moment, or it could mean that I am generally happy. Both of these meanings can be expressed with the sentence:
:::'''óιn''' ['aphic]
but if we want to emphasise that the state is temporary then we can use a verbal construction.
A word with a verbal meaning may also be placed in the predicate. This gives the verb a general meaning as opposed to a temporary meaning.
The other main use of the predicate is to show the object of a sentence. If we wish to say ''I see the house'' then this, in the mind of Mila speakers, will be produced as ''I am the house seeing''. This figuratively makes the person and the house equal in the condition of seeing and would be expressed as:
:::'''ύɔυ-ʌ:nnυ''' ['aɫgu i'ɟiɟɫa]
where the house '''υɔυ''' is placed in the predicate position.
A few verbs which do not have an object in English but can be complemented with a prepositional phrase may place this phrase in the predicate position, so a verb such as '''υιɾ''' ['ɫuhta] ''to walk'' underlyingly has the meaning ‘to walk along’ so what’s being walked along may appear in the predicate position. This could give a sentence such as:
:::'''ćcɔ:ɾ-ʌ:υιɾ''' ['asukta i'ɫuhta]
meaning ''we are walking along(side) the river'' where ''river'' is placed in the predicate form.
In a very few cases the verb can either take an object or a prepositional phrase and both may potentially be placed in the predicate position. An example of this is the verb '''υʌɔ''' ['ɫiga] ''to slide'' where, as an intransitive verb, the predicate meaning is ''along'' or ''across'', so the sentence:
:::'''ccɾ́-ω:υʌɔ''' [si'zat in'ɫiga]
means ''he slid along the ice''. If however we wish to say ''he slid the board across to me'' the word ''board'' will be placed in the object position, giving:
:::'''υυo:v-vʌɾ́-ω:υʌɔ''' [ɫu'bij ji'rat in'ɫiga]
Usually from context it is obvious which meaning is meant, although the second sentence above could in theory also mean ''he slid across the board towards me''.
If, however, we have the situation that we want to say a sentence like ''he slid the board across the table to me'' we would in theory have two predicates, but this is avoided and the object is then given as an adjective of the verb. So the sentence mentioned would be roughly translated as ''he board slid across the table to me'' giving:
:::'''υυo:v-ɔυɷ́-vʌɾ:ω-ω:υʌɔ''' [ɫu'bij ku'ɫam jidin in'ɫiga].
One final stylistic use of the predicate is for emphasising a subject in an intransitive sentence. In a sentence such as ''the sun is shining'' we could have:
:::ɔιɾ:n-ooó-ʌ:nnc
:::[ʹkuhtic ba iʹɟicsa]
:::sun-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">sub</span> it.absent.3 <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">pres</span>-shine


===Nouns===
===Nouns===


The following is an overview of the affixes which can be used to modify nouns.
The following is an overview of the affixes which can be used to modify nouns in other parts of speech. The following act more like prepositional affixes than actual cases.


====Subject====
====Subject====
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====Locative====
====Locative====


The locative is used to indicate position, both physical and temporal and can be translated as at, in, on, by, near etc. It is formed by the prefix '''ʌ:''' /i(r)-/ placed directly on the noun it refers to. It never takes stress and so the stress will remain on the syllable it would appear on if the prefix were not present.
The locative is used to indicate position, both physical and temporal and can be translated as at, in, on, by, near etc. It is formed by the prefix '''ʌ:''' [i(r)-] placed directly on the noun it refers to. It never takes stress and so the stress will remain on the syllable it would appear on if the prefix were not present.
:::onυ:n-'''ʌ:'''ɔυɷ-nnń
:::onυ:n-'''ʌ:'''ɔυɷ-nnń
:::[ʹpiɟ.lic '''i'''ʹgu.ma ɟa]
:::[ʹpiɟ.lic '''i'''ʹgu.ma ɟa]
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====Supraessive====
====Supraessive====


The supraessive prefix '''ɔ:''' is used to indicate position above the noun it modifies. As with the locative it does not affect stress placement. So '''ɔ:ιnc''' /ukʹhicsa/ '<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">spre</span>-cloud' means simply ''above the clouds''. It usually refers to position without physical contact, though occasionally it may have a similar meaning to ''on top of'' or ''at the top of''. An example of this is '''ʌ:'''ɔυn /iʹguɟa/ which, by using the locative here, means ''at/on the mountain''. By using the supraessive, though, we have '''ɔ:'''ɔυn /uʹkuɟa/ which would mean ''at the top of the mountain''. Another example would be '''ʌ:'''ɔυɷ /iʹguma/ which can mean ''on the table'' but could equally indicate ''at'' or ''by the table'' using the locative, but '''ɔ:'''ɔυɷ /uʹkuma/ takes away the ambiguity and can only mean ''on (top of) the table''.
The supraessive prefix '''ɔ:''' is used to indicate position above the noun it modifies. As with the locative it does not affect stress placement. So '''ɔ:ιnc''' [ukʹhicsa] '<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">spre</span>-cloud' means simply ''above the clouds''. It usually refers to position without physical contact, though occasionally it may have a similar meaning to ''on top of'' or ''at the top of''. An example of this is '''ʌ:'''ɔυn [iʹguɟa] which, by using the locative here, means ''at/on the mountain''. By using the supraessive, though, we have '''ɔ:'''ɔυn [uʹkuɟa] which would mean ''at the top of the mountain''. Another example would be '''ʌ:'''ɔυɷ [iʹguma] which can mean ''on the table'' but could equally indicate ''at'' or ''by the table'' using the locative, but '''ɔ:'''ɔυɷ [uʹkuma] takes away the ambiguity and can only mean ''on (top of) the table''.
 
It can also be used for figurative purposes, so a king could be spoken about as being ‘on top of the people’ '''ɔ:υυυ''' [ugʹlula]. Some of these words have taken on derivational meanings, so the example just given '''ɔ:υυυ''' also means ''haughty'' and as such has become confused with the identical verbal prefix ɔ: (see below) which is used for iteration, such that the homonym '''ɔ:υυυ''' can also mean ''crowded''.
 
====Subessive====
 
The subessive prefix '''o:''' is used to indicate position below or under the noun it modifies. As with all other affixes of place it does not affect the stress of the stem. '''o:ɔυɷ''' [upʹkuma] thus means ''under the table''. As with '''ɔ:''' it could have a more figurative meaning by meaning below in rank.
 
====Postessive====
 
The postessive prefix '''ω:''' is used to indicate position behind the noun it modifies. Again it does not affect stress placement. '''ω:ɔυɷ''' [inʹguma] therefore means ''behind the table''. When describing directions it can imply ''further away than, but in the same general direction''. Saying '''ω:υɾo''' [inʹlitpa] would mean ''beyond the village''.
 
If this is placed on a temporal noun then it has the meaning ''before'', so '''ω:ɔnɾ:v''' [inʹgictij] means ''before dawn''.
 
====Antessive====
 
The antessive prefix '''ι:''' is used with the opposite meaning of the postessive. It therefore has the general meaning of in front of the noun it modifies, so '''ι:ɔυɷ''' [uhʹkuma] means ''in front of the table'' and with directions '''ι:υɾo''' [uhʹlitpa] has the meaning of ''before reaching the village''.
 
With temporal nouns it has the meaning ''after'' making '''ι:ɔnɾ:v''' [uhʹkictij] indicate ''after dawn''.


It can also be used for figurative purposes, so a king could be spoken about as being ‘on top of the people’ '''ɔ:υυυ''' /ugʹlula/. Some of these words have taken on derivational meanings, so the example just given '''ɔ:υυυ''' also means ''haughty'' and as such has become confused with the identical verbal prefix ɔ: (see below) which is used for iteration, such that the homonym '''ɔ:υυυ''' can also mean ''crowded''.
====Intrative====


====Predicate====
The intrative suffix ''':cc''' indicates position amongst, between or within the noun it modifies. It is quite often substituted with just the locative, so basic '''ʌ:vvɔ''' [iʹjijga] means ''at'' or ''in the forest''. To specify more clearly the position amongst the trees we can say '''vvɔ:cc''' [ʹjijgisa]. There is no particularly great difference between the two meanings but sometimes the intrative will be used where the noun already has a prefix. So whereas '''ʌ:ɾ:ɔυn''' [iritʹkuɟa] is perfectly legitimate to mean ''in the mountains'', '''ɾ:ɔυn:cc''' [itʹkuɟisa] would much more likely be used.


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