Anbirese/Syntax: Difference between revisions

The overall syntax of Tíogall resembles that of [[w:Irish|Irish]] or [[w:Biblical Hebrew|Biblical Hebrew]].

Tíogall is almost completely head-initial, except for compound words which are head-final. The constituent order is VSO. Background information (usually in the order {{sc|time-manner-place}}) and question words may be placed before the verb (unlike in Irish), after the subject, or after the direct object. However, no constituent may come between the verb and the subject.

|phrase=Tiann b'aeillranna nána?

|gloss=why love-PRES.2SG-EMPH 1SG.DEP-EMPH

|IPA=/ˈtiən ˈb‿eːʟɾənə naːnə/

:''an scrádhaí flú'' = 'the black spider'

*interrogative: ''is-L''

*negative: ''tir-L''

As in [[w:Biblical Hebrew|Biblocal Hebrew]], VERB.VN + VERB + SUBJECT is an emphatic construction meaning 'SUBJECT [surely, definitely] VERBs'. It has a distinct literary flavor, much like saying "return he will" in English. A clause in this form can also have a concessive force.

go + VN: ''Ceirrín hú go sngímech ag moile'' = 'He entered praising and thanking'

Tíogall is zero-copula, like Hebrew. A predicate adjective is placed before the subject, and the copula pronoun is used.  

:'''''Árd (hí) an gcamhna.'''''

:/aːlt ən ˈgawnə/

:'''''Árd hí.'''''

:/aːlt hiː/

Predicate adjectives are negated by placing ''tir (h)'' in front of the adjective:

:'''''Tir haonan ú cua tir sheolacht hú.'''''

:''I don't do it because it's not legal.''

The construction ''laidh'' + subject + ''de'' + adjective may also be used in literary writing.

On the other hand, a predicate noun has the "logical subject" placed after the preposition ''de, d'-'' + pronoun.  

:'''''Zodhma diú cathar.'''''

:'''''Zodhma diú.'''''

Predicate nouns are negated by placing ''dér'' /deːl/ 'there is no' in front of the predicate noun.

Predicative locatives use the copula ''laidh'' /ʟeː/, which is negated to ''níl'' /niːʟ/.

''Laidh ná den suar.'' = 'I'm in the house.'

''Laidh na caither lion.'' = 'The flowers are mine.'

:'''''Laidh mród.'''''

(There's an apple there = ''Laidh mród diú.'')

:'''''Lion rúbh.'''''

*''ar'' + X = "X must/has to" (lit. it is on X)

*''oith go'' + X = "X may"/"it is permissible for X" (lit. it goes through with X)  

*''geil'' + X = "X wants" (lit. it is away from X)

*''le'' + X + ''siarna'' = "X needs" (lit. X has a need)

*''Tua (an) forca an sos?'' = Who feeds the man? (lit. Who is it that feeds...)

*''Tua ri bhforca an sos?'' = Whom does the man feed?

*''Tua ri bhforcaín rú an sos?'' = Who fed the man?

*''Tua ri bhforcaín ron sos?'' = Whom did the man feed?

*{{abbtip|/ʔak/|''ag''}}: 'and'

*{{abbtip|/suː/|''sú''}}: 'or'

*''níor'' = nor

*{{abbtip|/ʔax/|''ach''}}: 'but'

*{{abbtip|/ɾɪ/|''ri-N''}}: 'that (relative clause)'

*{{abbtip|/ˈɾiːnə/|''rinne''}}: negative form of ''ri''

*{{abbtip|/vaː/|''bhfá''}}: 'that (complement clause)'

*{{abbtip|/kuə/|''cua-N, cuín''}}: 'because'

*{{abbtip|/dɛl/|''d'air-L''}}: when

*''cort'' = then

Tíogall makes a distinction between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses.

The relativizer ''ri^N'' (negative ''rinne'') is used for restrictive relative clauses. A resumptive pronoun may be used when the head is not the subject of the relative clause, and is mandatory when the head is a prepositional object or a possessor. For clarity, the emphatic clitic ''-na/-ne'' may be added to the resumptive pronoun, especially in formal registers.

Verbs in relative clauses may be placed anywhere within the relative clause, subject to the constraint that the verb and (syntactic) subject may not be separated unless the head of the relative clause is the subject. If the head of the relative clause is its subject, then the appropriate participial form of the verb is mutated or inflected like an adjective. Otherwise, the relativizer ''ri-N'' is used.

:'''''an léiste (an) mbothnúigh coíol'''''

:'''''an léiste ri zslaithigh hí (í)'''''  

:'''''an léiste ri dtnáigh hí dí'''''

In the past tense, a participle modifying the head as an adjective puts the head into a ''patient'' role in the relative clause (by split ergativity). Hence, agents of a transitive verb must use the preposition ''ro'' plus a resumptive pronoun.

:'''''G'laí an slachan (ri) arŋaín rún stámh.'''''

In poetry, verbs in ''ri''-clauses may appear in any position after the ''ri''.

A non-restrictive relative clause is marked with a pause (rendered as a dash "–") before the relative clause.

Nominalized relative clauses use ''cuar'' 'those':

:'''''cuar mímhaogha ú'''''

The first construction is a clause introduced with a time conjunction such as (''d'air'' = 'when') and using a finite verb form (i.e. the verb form is used with a subject).

In Modern Tíogall, infinitives or verbal nouns go to the end of the clause for common constructions, like modal constructions (e.g. want, need, must, may).

:'''''Geilin tánna le cháil ú!'''''

:from-1SG something to eat.VN 3SG.M-DEP

:'''''Tir hairŋín lion ú le áichir.'''''

The infinitive-final order arose from constructions corresponding to modal verbs in English: originally the order was something similar to {{recon|''Aran gnúi enŋ''}} ("on-1SG drink.VN water"), then ''Aran enŋ le ghnúi'' (originally "I want water to drink") became more common, eventually to the exclusion of the original construction, which is archaic or high-register today for common modal expressions.

In normal registers, syntactic pivoting (the practice of omitting a subject entirely in a clause when the previous clause has it as a subject, e.g. ''He will take my gift and go'': in Tíogall this sentence would be translated to ''Tobhta hú mídhadh ná ag tarta hú''.) is disallowed for verbs: a pronoun can be used as a subject in the following clause if the previous clause has its antecedent as its subject. However, it is used for adjectives: "Dark am I yet beautiful" can be translated as ''Mocht ná ach sumhan'' /mɔxt naː ax sʉːn/.

[[Category:Tíogall]]