Ngolu

Ngolu (pronounced /ŋɒˈluː/ or /ŋɔːˈluː/), also known as Iliaqu (/ˌɪljəˈʔuː/) or sometimes Qu /ʔuː/ (endonym: iliaqu IPA: [ìʎàʔú]) is a language isolate spoken throughout the known regions of the space habitat Qu by the Ngolu people, whose number is estimated to be around 100,000. As the Ngolu are almost entirely monolingual, and while voluntary travel to and from Qu remains impossible, the language is not in any danger of extinction. At this stage, little is known of dialect differences within Qu. There are estimated to be somewhere between 50 and 100 Iliaqu speakers on Earth who have simply mysteriously appeared in various locations. Small communities of Ngolu speakers been brought or have found their way together, the most well-known and well-studied of which is a group of about 15 living in and around Berlin, Germany.

Iliaqu is an isolating/fusional, head-initial (right-branching) language with VSO word order and nominative-accusative alignment. Verbs (verbals) make up the only open class of word, with nouns (nominals) constituting a closed class of heavily fusional words that fill the roll of pronouns and articles in other languages, marking grammatical person, number, definiteness and specificity, gender, accessibility, and case.

Terminology

There appear to have been fewer than ten isolated instances of non-Ngolu people arriving in Qu and there are no other cultures or languages known to exist in Qu. In such a linguistically and culturally homogenous environment, the Ngolu have had no need for endonyms for their culture, people or language. Traditionally, they have describe their language simply as ilia [ìʎá] 'speech', themselves as golu [ŋòlú] 'people', and their world as qu [ʔú] 'world'.

With the new knowledge of other cultures and the entire universe outside of Qu, neologisms have arisen to distinguish their language and their people from those of the outsiders. For the Ngolu arrivals Earth, contact with other cultures has forced them to acknowledge that the other languages they hear must have the ability to convey information just as their language. Consequently, on Earth, the word ilia generally refers to any language. To disambiguate their own language, they may call it ilia qu [ìʎáʔú] or iliaqu [ìʎàʔú] 'Qu speech'. Non-Ngolu are still referred to as taia ('ghost', 'demon') and Earth maybe referred to as utaia [ùtàjá] 'ghost world' or a loan word such as hiia, which was common among the Berlin group (from German hier) although it now seems to be dying out in favour of utaia.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i ‹i›		u ‹u›
Mid	e ‹e›		o ‹o›
Low		a ‹a›

Each vowel may be 'strong' or 'weak'. These are essentially stressed and unstressed. There is only ever one 'strong' vowel per word and it is nearly always the final vowel. Where it is not, it is always the penultimate vowel and the in that case the final vowel is always /i/ or /u/. Non-final strong vowels are indicated in the romanisation using an acute accent, ‹áéíóú›.

The realisation of strong vowels varies across accents. There appears to be a cline ranging from a pitch-based pronunciation (generally regarded as feminine) to a weight-based pronunciation (regarded as masculine). At the pitch-based end of the spectrum, 'strong' vowels are pronounced with a high tone and 'weak' vowels with a low-tone. At the weight-based extreme, strong vowels cause gemination of the following consonant but are pronounced as long themselves when the following sound is (1) a vowel, (2) a consonant cluster or (3) an already geminated consonant. Utterance finally, strong vowels are generally neither pronounced with a high tone nor lengthened, are usually pronounced slightly louder.

The high vowels, /i/ and /u/, when 'weak' and adjacent to another vowel are pronounced non-syllabically as [i̯~j] and [u̯~w]). Non-syllabic /i/ merges with and palatalises any preceding dental/alveolar consonant.

In these two word examples, the pitch-based pronunciation is given before the weight-based pronunciation.

• ju muja [ʒúmùˈʒà] ~ [ʒumːuˈʒa]
• ju aio [ʒúàˈjò] ~ [ʒuːaˈjo]
• ju uaia [ʒúwàˈjà] [ʒuːwaˈja]
• ju ntu [ʒúnˈtù] ~ [ʒu:nˈtu]
• ju lleue [ʒúlːèˈwè] ~ [ʒuːlːeˈwe]

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labiovelar	Dental/Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m ‹m›		n ‹n›		ŋ ‹g›
Plosive	b ‹b›		t ‹t›		k ‹k›	ʔ ‹q›
Ejective			tʼ ‹tt›		kʼ ‹kk›
Voiced Fricative		v ‹v›	z ‹z›	ʒ ‹j›
Voiceless Fricative			s ‹s›	ʃ ‹x›		h ‹h›
Tap			ɾ ‹r›
Lateral			l ‹l›

• The normal pronunciation of /n t tʼ ɾ l/ is dental. When these consonants are followed by a non-syllabic /i/, they are palatalised to [ɲ tʃ tsʼ dʒ ʎ] and the /i/ subsequently disappears.
• /ɾ/ is frequently pronounced as a voiced dental plosive.
• Geminate /m/ and /n/ (resulting from /Nn/ and /Nm/) may be pronounced as [m̩b] [n̪̩d̪], particularly by men and particularly post pausa.
• /s/ and /z/ are normally alveolar. When followed by a non-syllabic /i/, they are not distinguished from /ʃ ʒ/.
• /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ cannot be followed by non-syllabic /i/.
• The phonemes /s/ and /ɾ/ do not occur at the beginning of a word.
• The glottal stop /ʔ/ and the ejective consonants /tʼ/ and /kʼ/ are restricted to positions immediately before a 'strong' vowel, although there may be an intervening non-syllabic 'weak' /i/ or /u/ after the ejectives. At the beginning of a 'weak' syllable, ejective consonants become pronounced as their equivalent plain plosive and the glottal stop disappears. For example, kka [kʼá] and kkue [kʷʼé] are allowed while expected *kkina (derived from kka plus the infix -in-) is instead present as kina [kì.ná]. In connected speech, /tʼ/ and /kʼ/ may be pronounced as [t̚ʔ k̚ʔ] or even [tː kː]. However, a strong ejective pronunciation is always heard post pausa.

Phonotactics

Phonemically, a syllable may be ((N)C)V, where V is a vowel (C) an optional consonant and (N) an optional nasal which assimilates to its following consonant in its point of articulation.

Phonetically, syllables may be more complex. (N) is pronounced syllabically post pausa and otherwise is pronounced in the coda of the preceding syllable. The non-syllabic pronunciations of /i/ and /u/ mean that a syllable can be (C)(S)V(S)(N), where (S) is a semivowel.

nxua intaneti

/Nʃu.á.i.nta.ne.tí/

[n̩.ʃwájn.ta.ne.tí]

is on the internet

Epenthetic /s/

An epenthetic /s/ sometimes appears between words when the second word begins with a vowel. In the romanisation used here, the /s/ is written on the end of the preceding word. The rules are somewhat complex and are best shown as a table. The final vowels of preceding words are shown vertically on the left. Initial vowels of the following word are shown along the top. An epenthetic /s/ doesn't appear before i and u when a syllabic vowel (V) immediately follows within the same word. In the table, the word borders are shown with an s indicating where the epenthetic /s/ always appears. In other positions in the table, the epenthetic /s/ can still appear in very clear emphatic speech.

	i(V)-	u(V)-	i-	u-	e-	o-	a-
-i	-i i-	-i u-	-i(s) i-	-i u-	-i e-	-i o-	-i a-
-u	-u i-	-u u-	-u i-	-u(s) u-	-u e-	-u o-	-u a-
-e	-e i-	-e u-	-e i-	-e u-	-es e-	-es o-	-es a-
-o	-o i-	-o u-	-o i-	-o u-	-os e-	-os o-	-os a-
-a	-a i-	-a u-	-a i-	-a u-	-as e-	-as o-	-as a-

Examples:

ene ua	[è.né.wá]	u followed by syllabic vowel
enes u	[è.né.sú]	u not followed by syllabic vowel
ene ima	[è.néj.má]	i is weak and can become non-syllabic
enes eme	[è.né.sè.mé]	e is always syllabic
eni ua	[è.ní.wá]	final i before non-syllabic u
eni u	[è.ní.ú]	final i before syllabic u
eni iu	[è.ní.jú]	final i before non-syllabic i
enis iui	[è.ní.sì.wí]	final i before initial syllabic i
ene iui	[è.néj.wí]	final e followed by 'weak' i which becomes non-syllabic

Morphology

There are four classes of words in Ngolu. Ngolu is a very verb-heavy language, with verbals making up the only truly open word class.

• Nominals: closed
• Verbals: open
• Particles: closed
• Interjections: closed (mostly)

Nominals

Nominals are a large but closed class of inflecting words. The majority of them, the pronominals, are essentially the equivalent of pronouns and articles in other languages, inflecting for number, grammatical person, definiteness, specificity, gender, case and an inflectional dimension unique to Iliaqu, accessibility. Pronominals can appear on their own or can be followed by a verbal or verbal phrase. When followed by a verbal, they can be regarded as the head of an underlying relative clause which nominalises the verbal and allows it to function as an argument in the sentence.

As a pronoun:

xu

NOM.3s.INAN.DEF

"the thing"

it

As an article:

xu	mala
NOM.3s.INAN.DEF	be.house
"the thing that"	"is a house"
the house

In addition, there are two complementisers which are essentially subordinating conjunctions which inflect for case. Zuo can be thought of as roughly equivalent to the English subordinating conjunction 'that' and kuo can be thought of as 'the time when'.

olos	ene	zuo	kka	g-ixi	ja	nana	g-uje
be.strange	DAT.1s.ACS	NOM.C	be.not	COP-DAT.3s.INAN.DEF	NOM.3s.DEF.ACS	be.father	COP-GEN.3s.ACS.DEF
"is strange"	"to me"	"that"	"is not"	"go there"	"the one who"	"is father"	"is hers/his"
I think it's strange that his / her father didn't go / wasn't there. — [ACS/SUB]

Number

Pronominals indicate two numbers, singular and plural. Plural is marked by the prefix i-, which occurs before some case prefixes and after others (see Case below for more information).

Singular:

xu	mala
NOM.3s.INAN.DEF	be.house
"the thing that"	"is a house"
the house

Plural:

ixu	mala
NOM.3p.INAN.DEF	be.house
"the things that"	"are houses"
the houses

The singular is used before quantifiers indicating a specific plural quantity.

xu	euo	mala
NOM.3s.INAN.DEF	be.pair	be.house
"the thing that"	"is a group of two"	"is a house"
the two houses

When the plural is used, this indicates multiples of the indicated quantity.

ixu	euo	mala
NOM.3p.INAN.DEF	be.pair	be.house
"the things that"	"are groups of two"	"are houses"
the pairs of houses

Mass nouns indicating powders and granular substances are generally indicated in the plural with the singular referring to an individual grain.

Singular:

xu	bakua
NOM.3s.INAN.DEF	be.grain.of.sand
"the thing that"	"is a grain of sand"
the grain of sand

Plural:

ixu	bakua
NOM.3p.INAN.DEF	be.grain.of.sand
"the things that"	"are grains of sand"
the (grains of) sand

The word for drinkable water, hunia, is used in the singular to indicate one drinkable portion but in the plural to signify a larger quantity, such as a river of clean water.

Plural:

ixu	hunia
NOM.3p.DEF.INAN.REL	be.potable
"the things that"	"are potable"
the (large quantity of) drinkable water

Gender

In the third person, nominals distinguish between animate and inanimate referents. When it comes to animals, the use of the genders depends on the speaker's rank. Kali (women, children and uninitiated men) and tuva (slaves) refer to all motile animals in the animate gender. Muja (initiated men) refer to animals other than pets in the inanimate gender. The Ngolu believe this allows muja to hunt without remorse.

The following examples illustrate the difference. Examples which are specific to the rank of the speaker or the listener will be marked as such after the translation.

kulu	eni	ju	ala
be.heard	DAT.1s.ICS	NOM.3s.ANIM.DEF	be.bird
"was heard"	"to me"	"the one who"	"is a bird"
I heard the bird. — [kali]

kulu	eni	xu	ala
be.heard	DAT.1s.ICS	NOM.3s.INAN.DEF	be.bird
"was heard"	"to me"	"the thing that"	"is a bird"
I heard the bird. — [muja]

The interplay between a speaker and listener's rank is complex and may result in unexpected gender choices. For example, a slave must refer to him- or herself in the third person inanimate gender when speaking to balu and above unless specifically given permission otherwise. To read more about this, see Social Stratification and Language Use.

Person

Three grammatical persons are marked by pronominals. The first person pronominals contain n. The second person pronominals contain a non-syllabic u (realised as v before u). In the third person, j, x, m, z, k and Ø appear depending on gender, definiteness and specificity.

Clusivity

The plural forms of all pronominals are exclusive of other grammatical persons except for the first person plural forms inu and ina, which can include third person referents as well, especially when expressing closeness.

In order to group referents from more than one grammatical person together, the required pronominals are juxtaposed. For example, inu (gloss: NOM.1s.ICS) is the exclusive 'we'. The inclusive 'we' may take a form such as vu nu (gloss: NOM.2s.ICS NOM.1s.ICS) or nu ivu (gloss: NOM.1s.ICS NOM.2p.ICS), more or less equivalent to 'you and I'. Even addressing people in the second person, should the group include third persons, these are made note of separately, for example ju vu (gloss: NOM.3s.ICS.DEF NOM.2s.ICS). The nominal ivu (gloss: NOM.2p.ICS), for example, is only used to address two more people when all are present.

The order of the elements in these juxtapositions depends first on rank, with pronominals referring to higher ranking referents appearing before those of lower ranking referents. When the referents are equally ranked, 2nd person precedes 3rd person, which, in turn, preceds 1st person.

Nominal juxtapositions are characterised by all pronominals being inflected in the same case. For example, the nominative ua na (gloss: NOM.2s.ACS NOM.1s.ACS) becomes eues ene in the dative and uua una in the possessive.

Definiteness and Specificity

In the third person, pronominals indicate definiteness (whether the listener knows which individual) and specificity (whether the speaker knows which individual).

Definite

The Definite (+specific, +definite) is used when the listener is assumed to know which specific individual or individuals the speaker is referring to. In the following examples, ji ala (or just ji) refers to a specific bird which the listener is assumed to be already aware of, possibly because it is already been mentioned.

zue	na	ji	ala
seek	NOM.1s.ACS	ACC.3s.ICS.DEF	be.bird
"am seeking"	"I"	"the being who"	"is a bird"
I'm looking for the bird. (You know which one.) — kali [ACS/SUB]

zue	na	ji
seek	NOM.1s.ACS	ACC.3s.ICS.DEF
"am seeking"	"I"	"the being"
I'm looking for it. (You know which one.) — kali [ACS/SUB]

Specific

The Specific (+specific, -definite) is used when the speaker has a specific individual or individuals in mind but the listener is not assumed to know which one(s). In the following examples, mi ala (or mi) refers to a specific bird but not one which the speaker expects the listener to know of.

zue	na	mi	ala
seek	NOM.1s.ACS	ACC.3s.ICS.SPEC	be.bird
"am seeking"	"I"	"a specific one who"	"is a bird"
I'm looking for a (particular) bird. — kali [ACS/SUB]

zue	na	mi
seek	NOM.1s.ACS	ACC.3s.ICS.SPEC
"am seeking"	"I"	"a specific being"
I'm looking for one (in particular). — kali [ACS/SUB]

Non-Specific

The Non-Specific (or General) does not refer to any specific individual(s) but to the abstract idea of a member or members of a particular class, any individual of which could be described. It often used when talking about desires or in negative sentences. In the examples below, i ala refers to any bird.

zue	na	i	ala
seek	NOM.1s.ACS	ACC.3s.ANIM.NSPC	be.bird
"am seeking"	"I"	"anyone who"	"is a bird"
I'm looking for a(ny) bird. — kali [ACS/SUB]

zue	na	i
seek	NOM.1s.ACS	ACC.3s.ANIM.NSPC
"am seeking"	"I"	"anyone"
I'm looking for anything. — kali [ACS/SUB]

Accessibility

Accessibility is a concept integral to Ngolu culture. Outside of the third person non-specific, all animate nominals have two forms, one accessible (gloss: ACS) and one inaccessible (gloss: ICS). Accessible nominals have a low vowel,a in the nominative stem, e in the accusative stem, and these correspond to the high vowels u and i respectively in inaccessible nominals. Accessibility is typically explained as an indication of whether physical contact is permitted or not, however it is more generally a means of conveying social closeness or distance even when no actual touching is involved.

In the first person, the English word I can be translated as either na (NOM.1s.ACS) or nu (NOM.1s.ICS). Using na signals to the listener "I am accessible to you." This means the speaker feels close and emotionally open to the listener and physical contact is permitted or even welcome. Using nu informs the listener that physical contact is not welcome at the current time. This is typically because of emotional distance, such as when talking to strangers, casual acquaintances or people whom the speaker does not like, but it may also signal an unwillingness to be touched for other, often fleeting reasons, such as illness, pain or emotional tension. Between close friends and lovers, suddenly switching to nu may indicate that the speaker has taken offence at something.

In the second and third persons, accessibility indicates the the referent's perceived accessibility to the speaker. Using ua (NOM.2s.ACS) indicates that the speaker assumes he or she may touch the listener. Using vu (NOM.2s.ICS) indicates either a more respectful or colder social distance (cf. French "vous", which, coincidentally, sounds identical). In the third person, ja (NOM.3s.ACS.DEF) and ju (NOM.3s.ICS.DEF) indicate the speaker's relationship to the referent. In plural, accessible indicates that all members of the group are accessible. Even one individual who the speaker regards as inaccessible, will cause the group to be marked as inaccessible.

Accessibility produces four speech modes. In situations between peers of equal rank, generally the speech mode with either be accessible (using accessible nominals in both first and second persons) or inaccessible (using inaccessible nominals in both). In situations of unequal dominance, which generally, but do not always, run along lines of rank, the dominant party speaks in the dominant mode, using inaccessible first person nominals and accessible second person nominals. The subordinate party speaks in the subordinate or submissive mode, using the reverse.

speech mode	first person	second person	meaning
accessible mode (ACS)	na / ina (ACS)	ua / iua (ACS)	You may touch me. I may touch you.
inaccessible mode (ICS)	nu / inu (ICS)	vu / ivu (ICS)	You may not touch me. I may not touch you.
dominant mode (DOM)	nu / inu (ICS)	ua / iua (ACS)	You may not touch me but I may touch you.
submissive mode (SUB)	na / ina (ACS)	vu / ivu (ICS)	You may touch me but I may not touch you.

The speech mode used depends not only on who the speaker and listener are to one another, but how they feel about each other in that moment. A friend or lover who is deeply offended may suddenly switch to the inaccessible or dominant mode to indicate that they are now not happy and had better not be touched until the offence is resolved. The submissive mode may be used in order to flirt with an acquaintance. Flirting may be met with the accessible or inaccessible modes, which essentially give an answer. No answer (yet) is signalled by the adoption of the dominant mode. In any case, smooth social interactions are ensured by the concordance of speech modes, ACS↔ACS, ICS↔ICS, DOM↔SUB. Conflict is often caused by the refusal to agree or by physical contact with someone marked in speech as inaccessible.

Examples of the four speech modes in use.

xeva	uas	ene
be.seen	NOM.2s.ACS	DAT.2s.ACS
"are seen"	"you"	"to me"
I see you. — [ACS]

xeva	vu	eni
be.seen	NOM.2s.ICS	DAT.2s.ICS
"are seen"	"you"	"to me"
I see you. — [ICS]

xeva	uas	eni
be.seen	NOM.2s.ACS	DAT.2s.ICS
"are seen"	"you"	"to me"
I see you. — [DOM]

xeva	vu	ene
be.seen	NOM.2s.ICS	DAT.2s.ACS
"are seen"	"you"	"to me"
I see you. — [SUB]

Case

Ngolu possesses 14 grammatical cases. The nominative and accusative case appear to be the oldest and all other forms appear to derive from the agglomeration of adpositions onto them. The first group (accusative, dative, ablative, locative, genitive and possessive) appear to be relatively old. At some point after these adpositions fused onto the nominals, the plural marker i- also became a prefix. For example i-e-ji 'to them' is made up of PL-DAT-ACC.3.ICS.DEF. The second group of derived cases (vocative, causal, benefactive, instrumental, comitative, topical, essive) appear to have developed more recently from prepositions added to either the nominative or the accusative case as the plural marker i- is sandwiched in the middle. For example te-i-ji 'about them' is made up of because.of-PL.ACC.3.ICS.DEF.

Nominative

The nominative case indicates the grammatical subject of a verb. The nominative case is always formed with a back vowel, u for inaccessible and inanimate, a for accessible. In the non-specific, u shows animate and a inanimate. Plural is indicated with a prefixed i-.

muja	na
be.initiated.man	NOM.1s.ACS
"be an initiated man"	"I"
I am an initiated man. — muja [ACS/SUB]

kka	loe	ju
be.not	sleep	NOM.3s.ICS.DEF
"be not"	"sleep"	"the being"
S/he is not sleeping. / S/he didn't sleep.

ti	uo	ju
be.PRF	deliberately.kill	NOM.3s.ICS.DEF
"have finished"	"deliberately kill"	"the being"
He killed / murdered something / someone

te	zuo	kka	lalu
be.good	NOM.C	be.not	(be).rain
"be good"	"that"	"be not"	"rain"
It's good that it's not raining.

zoua	kuo	tavi	ja
be.difficult	NOM.TEMP.C	be.child	NOM.3s.ACS.DEF
"be difficult"	"the time when"	"be child"	"the being"
He had a difficult childhood. (≈ The time when s/he was a child was difficult.)

Accusative

The accusative case indicates the grammatical object of a verb. The accusative case is formed with a front vowel, i for inaccessible and inanimate, e for accessible. In the non-specific, i represents animate and e inanimate. Plural is indicated with a prefixed i-. The complementisers are jo and kio

ti	uo	ji	ti
be.PRF	deliberately.kill	ACC.3s.ICS.DEF	be.PRF
"have finished"	"deliberately kill"	"the being who"	"have finished"
Someone murdered him / He was murdered.

jave	ja	xi	kivo
throw	NOM.3s.ACS.DEF	ACC.3s.INAN.DEF	be.rock
"throw"	"the being"	"the thing which"	"be rock"
He threw the rock.

bio	nu	jo	vei	ua
want	NOM.1s.ICS	ACC.C	stay	NOM.2s.ACS
"want"	"I"	"that"	"stay"	"you"
I want you to stay. (≈ I want that you stay.) — [DOM]

In informal speech, the accusative case may replace the dative case when it indicates an experiencer. This does not occur with verbs that also have an accusative role and use the dative case to indicate a recipient.

xena	ua	ine
be.seen	NOM.2s.ACS	ACC.1p.ACS
"be visible"	"you"	"us"
We can see you. — [ACS]

Dative

The dative case indicates an indirect object of the verb, a destination or goal of a movement or an experiencer. It is more or less equivalent to the preposition 'to' in English. It is formed by prefixing e(r)- (ie(r)- in plural) before an accusative nominal.

volos	ene	izi	hunia
give	DAT.1s.ACS	ACC.3p.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.potable
"give"	"to me"	"some things that"	"be water"
I was given water. / Someone gave me water. — [ACS/SUB]

xena	ua	iene
be.seen	NOM.2s.ACS	DAT.1p.ACS
"be visible"	"you"	"to us"
We can see you. — [ACS]

kua	g-ieji	ua	na
JUSS	COP-DAT.3p.DEF.ICS	NOM.2s.ACS	NOM.1s.ACS
"should"	"go - to them"	"you"	"I"
Let us go to them. — [ACS]

ti	veis	inu	ekio	loe	iju
PRF	stay	NOM.1p.ANIM	DAT.TEMP.C	sleep	NOM.3p.DEF.ANIM
"be finished"	"stay"	"we"	"until"	"sleep"	"they"
We stayed until they slept.

Ablative

The ablative case is more or less equivalent to the preposition 'from' in English. It is formed by suffixing -i to a nominative nominal. The complementisers are zuio and kuio in the ablative case.

Kuaqa	nu	xui	mala	g-uni
be.distant	NOM.1s.ANIM	ABL.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.house	COP-GEN.1s.ICS
"be far"	"I"	"from the thing which"	"be a house"	"be mine"
I'm far away from my home. — [ICS/DOM]

E	n-nui
IMP	COP-ABL.1s.ACS
"!"	"go - from me"
Get away from me! — [DOM]

Mahu	eji	xu	kuio	iti	(ju)
be.known	DAT.3s.DEF.ICS	NOM.3s.DEF.INAN	ABL.TEMP.C	be.small	(NOM.3s.DEF.ICS)
"be known"	"to her/him"	"it"	"since"	"be small"	("s/he")
She's known that since she was little.

Locative

The locative case indicates a location. It is more or less equivalent to the prepositions 'in', 'on' and 'at' in English. It is also used to replace the verb "have" when indicating immediate possession as in "to have something on one's person". It is formed by suffixing -a to a nominative nominal in the inaccessible and inanimate and prefixing a(r)- (plural: ia(r)-) to an accessible nominative nominal. The prefixed form is also used for the non-specific animate and inanimate.

kka	bani	ana
be.not	be.money	LOC.1s.ACS
"be not"	"be money"	"at me"
I don't have any money (with me). (≈ There is no money at me.) — [ACS]

n-xua	mo	ua
COP-LOC.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.what	NOM.2s.ACS
"be at the thing which"	"be what"	"you"
Where are you? (≈ You are at the what?) — [ACS]

vujas	iio	jas	azuo	muana	iti	exi	muana	tta
hunt	be.fish	NOM.3s.ACS	LOC.C	be.body.of.flowing.water	be.small	DAT.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.body.of.flowing.water	be.large
"hunt"	"be fish"	"he"	"where"	"flow"	"be small"	"to the thing that"	"flow"	"be big"
He's fishing where the stream flows into the river.

li	molu	ju	nini	g-uui	akuo	xeva(s	eji)	xu	tia
begin	be.dead	NOM.3s.DEF.ANIM.REL	be.mother	COP-GEN.2s.ANIM	LOC.TEMP.C	be.seen	(DAT.3s.DEF.ANIM)	NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.that.2
"begin"	"be dead"	"the being who"	"be mother"	"be yours"	"when"	"be seen"	("to her")	"the thing which"	"be that"
Your mother's going to die when she sees that.

Genitive

The genitive case indicates a possessor. It covers all types of possession and association other than legal ownership. It is more or less equivalent to the preposition 'of' in English. It is formed by prefixing u(g)- (iu(g)- in plural) before an accusative nominal.

egio	tani	une
be.threesome	be.sibling	GEN.1s.ACS
"be a group of three"	"be siblings"	"my"
I have three siblings. — [ACS/SUB]

tta	xu	gula	g-uji	tio
be.large	NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.pair.of.arms	COP-GEN.3s.DEF.ICS	be.that.3
"be large"	"the thing which"	"be a pair of arms"	"be of the person who"	"be that, over there"
That person over there has big arms. / The arms of that person over there are big.

Possessive

The possessive case indicates strictly legal ownership. It is more or less equivalent to the preposition 'of' in English and may be used to indicate 'have' or 'own'. It is formed similarly to the genitive case: by prefixing u(g)- (iu(g)- in plural) but before a nominative nominal.

mala	una
be.house	POS.1s.ACS
"be a house"	"owned by me"
I have / own a house. — muja [ACS/SUB]

Because of the law in Qu, according to which only muja (initiated men) are recognised as the legal owners of things (including slaves). In the underground humanist community, the possessive case may sometimes be applied to non-muja as well, but it is also very common for them to avoid the possessive case entirely in favour of the genitive case.

Vocative

The vocative case is used to address someone or attract their attention. It is formed by adding e(r)- (ei- in plural) to a nominative nominal.

The most common greeting words for most uses are simply vocative nominals. They must reflect the number and accessibility of the addressee(s).

eua

VOC.2s.ACS

"oh you"

Hi. — [ICS/SUB]

It is common for inaccessibles to be greeted in the third person, with eju frequently replacing evu.

eiju

VOC.3s.DEF.ACS

"oh they"

Hello!. — [ACS/DOM]

Third person definite forms, however, may also be used with accessibles.

eja	xagu
VOC.3s.DEF.ACS	be.Xagu
"oh he who"	"be Xagu"
(Oh) Xagu! — [ACS/DOM]

eua	xagu
VOC.2s.ACS	be.Xagu
"oh you who"	"be Xagu"
(Oh) Xagu! — [ACS/DOM]

Among accessibles, the e- prefix may be added directly to a personal name. This and the predicate prefix i- are the only example of verbals (as all names are verbals) taking a non-derivational affix.

e-xagu

hey-be.Xagu

"hey - be Xagu"

Hey Xagu! — [ACS/DOM]

In the indefinite, the vocative can be used to summon help from non-specific people.

eru

VOC.3s.NSPC.ANIM

"hey anybody"

Help! (Used when one person's assistance is enough.)

eiu

VOC.3p.NSPC.ANIM

"hey anybody"

Help! (Used when more than one person's assistance is required.)

The vocative complementiser ezuo is used to mean 'if only' or 'I wish'. It is also used for making polite requests. Literally, it's something like 'o that'.

ezuo	hunia	nua
VOC.C	be.potable	LOC.1s.ICS
"if only"	"be beverage"	"at me"
May I have some water please? (If only I had some water.) — [ICS]

The vocative temporal complementiser ekuo is used to express nostalgia about a past time or anticipation for a future time.

ekuos	ate	nu
VOC.TEMP.C	be.adult	NOM.1s.ICS
"oh for the time when"	"be adult"	"I"
I can't wait till I'm grown up. — [ICS/DOM]

Causal

The causal case describes a cause. It is equivalent to the English "because of". It is formed by prefixing te(r)- (plural: tei-) to the accusative nominals.

zaxa	nu	teui
be.sick	NOM.1s.ICS	CAU.2s.ICS
"am sick"	"I"	"because of you"
I'm ill because of you. / You made me ill. — [ICS]

ezo	zouas	eni	tejo	kka	mala	uni
be.now	be.difficult	DAT.1s.ICS	CAU.C	be.not	be.house	GEN.1s.ICS
"be now"	"be difficult"	"to me"	"because"	"be not"	"be house"	"my"
Things are tough for me at the moment because I don't have a house.. — [ICS/DOM]

Benefactive

The benefactive case indicates either a beneficiary or benefactor of an action or situation or a goal. It is roughly equivalent to the English preposition 'for'. It is formed by adding the prefix kua(r)- (plural: kuai-) to an accusative nominal.

tie	kuaue
be.this.1	BEN.2s.ACS
"there is this, by me"	"for you"
This is for you. (≈ There's this for you.) — [ACS/DOM]

bioi	vaia	na	kuaue
be.willing	do.everything	NOM.1s.ACS	BEN.2s.ACS
"would"	"do everything"	"I"	"for you"
I would do anything for you. — [ACS]

ti	etie	na	kuajo	leu	ue	veji
be.PRF	move.to.here.1	NOM.1s.ACS	BEN.C	rescue	ACC.2s.ACS	TOP.3s.DEF.ICS
"finish"	"come here"	"I"	"so that"	"rescue"	"you"	"about the person"
I came here (in order) to save you from him/her. — [ACS]

naxe	molu	iu	kuajo	mue	lau	iu	azo
must	be.dead	NOM.3p.NSPC.ANIM	BEN.C	be.able	be.alive	NOM.3p.NSPC.ANIM	be.other
"must"	"be dead"	"some beings"	"so that"	"can"	"live"	"some beings that"	"be other"
Some must die so that others may live.

kuas	enies	e	kueta	kuakio	gehuo	ua	ji	uako
be.JUSS	carry	ACC.3s.NSPC.INAN	be.hunting.knife	BEN.TEMP.C	encounter	NOM.2s.ACS	NOM.3p.NSPC.ANIM	be.enemy
"should"	"carry"	"a non-specific thing which"	"be a hunting knife"	"in case"	"encounter"	"you"	"some non-specific beings who"	"be enemy"
Carry a knife in case you cross paths with enemies.

Instrumental

The instrumental case describes the means or method by which something is done. It is equivalent to the English preposition "with" when it means "using". It is formed by adding the prefix a(r)- (plural: ai-) to an accusative nominal.

uo	ju	vuja	zi	vaku	azi	kueta
kill.deliberately	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	hunt	ACC.3s.SPEC.INAN	be.babirusa	INS.3s.SPEC.INAN	be.hunting.knife
"deliberately killed"	"the being who"	"hunts"	"a specific thing that"	"is a babirusa"	"using a specific thing that"	"is a hunting knife"
The hunter killed the babirusa with a hunting knife.

vuja	imu	ajo	hanas	ara	tiamiga	g-ara	hunia
hunt	NOM.3p.SPEC.ICS	INS.C	wait	LOC.3s.NSPC.INAN	be.undergrowth	be-LOC.3s.NSPC.INAN	be.potable
"hunt"	"certain people"	"by"	"wait"	"at anything which"	"is bushes"	"be-at anything which"	"be drinking water"
Some men hunt by waiting in the undergrowth near water. — [muja]

Comitative

The comitative case indicates an accompanying person or thing. It is equivalent to 'with' in English when it means 'along with' or 'accompanied by'. It is formed by prefixing le(r)- (plural: lei-) to an accusative nominal.

vuja	ja	meha	leje	jalu
hunt	NOM.3s.DEF.ACS	be.Meha	COM.3s.DEF.ACS	Jalu
"is hunting"	"the person who"	"is Meha"	"with the person who"	"is Jalu"
Meha is hunting with Jalu.

e	hu	lene
IMP	move.PFV	COM.1s.ACS
"!"	"come/go"	"with me"
Come with me. — [ACS]

bata	ja	umatu	lejo	buga	taba	iju	azo
dance	NOM.3s.DEF.ACS	be.Umatu	COM.C	hit	be.drum	NOM.3p.DEF.ICS	be.other
"dance"	"the being who"	"be Umatu"	"while"	"hit"	"be drum"	"the beings who"	"be other"
Umatu danced while the others played the drums.

Topical

The topical case indicates the topic or theme of an act of communication and in many instances also something which is kept in mind when a particular action is performed. It is roughly equivalent to the English preposition 'about'. It is formed by prefixing ve(r)- (plural vei-) to an accusative nominal.

bio	ila	na	leue	vezi	valo
want	speak	NOM.1s.ACS	COM.2s.ACS	TOP.3s.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.interesting
"want"	"speak"	"I"	"with you"	"about something that"	"is interesting"
I want to talk to you about something interesting. — [ACS]

teuas	eue	vexi	tiau
thank	DAT.2s.ACS	TOP.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.food
"thank"	"to you"	"about the thing that"	"is food"
Thanks for the food. — [ACS/DOM]

malemale	vejo	moio	iu	azo	lo	zola	iu	babo
gossip	TOP.C	do.what	NOM.3p.NSPC.ANIM.REL	be.other	ADV	be.solely	NOM.3p.NSPC.ANIM.REL	be.unintelligent
"gossip"	"about the fact that"	"do what"	"non-specific people who"	"be other"	"while"	"be only"	"non-specific people who"	"be unintelligent
Only unintelligent people gossip about what other people do.

Essive

The essive case indicates the role of something in the sentence. It is roughly equivalent to the English words 'as' or 'like'. It is formed by adding the prefix o(r)- (plural: oi-) to the nominative case.

atia	nas	omas	ali	g-eue
be.there.2	NOM.1s.ACS	ESS.3s.SPEC.ACS	be.same.rank.friend	COP-DAT.2s.ACS
"be here"	"I"	"as a person who"	"be a friend of the same rank"	"be to you"
I'm here as your friend. — [ACS]

xevas	ozuo	ka	lalu
be.visible	ESS.C	be.going.to	(be).rain
"appear"	"as if"	"be going to"	"rain"
It looks like it's going to rain.

Nominal Tables

First Person

First person nominals are all definite.

	ICS Sg.	ICS. Pl.	ACS Sg.	ACS. Pl.
Nominative	nu	inu	na	ina
Accusative	ni	ini	ne	ine
Dative	eni	ieni	ene	iene
Ablative	nui	inui	nai	inai
Locative	nua	inua	ana	iana
Genitive	uni	iuni	une	iune
Possessive	unu	iunu	una	iuna
Vocative	enu	einu	ena	eina
Causal	teni	teini	tene	teine
Benefactive	kuani	kuaini	kuane	kuaine
Instrumental	ani	aini	ane	aine
Comitative	leni	leini	lene	leine
Topical	veni	veini	vene	veine
Essive	onu	oinu	ona	oina

Second Person

Second person nominals are all definite.

	ICS Sg.	ICS. Pl.	ACS Sg.	ACS. Pl.
Nominative	vu	ivu	ua	iua
Accusative	ui	iui	ue	iue
Dative	eui	ieui	eue	ieue
Ablative	vui	ivui	uai	iuai
Locative	vua	ivua	aua	iaua
Genitive	uui	iuui	uue	iuue
Possessive	uvu	iuvu	uua	iuua
Vocative	evu	eivu	eua	eiua
Causal	teui	teiui	teue	teiue
Benefactive	kuaui	kuaiui	kuaue	kuaiue
Instrumental	aui	aiui	aue	aiue
Comitative	leui	leiui	leue	leiue
Topical	veui	veiui	veue	veiue
Essive	ovu	oivu	oua	oiua

Third Person

Definite

	ICS Sg.	ICS. Pl.	ACS Sg.	ACS. Pl.	Inan. Sg.	Inan. Pl.
Nominative	ju	iju	ja	ija	xu	ixu
Accusative	ji	iji	je	ije	xi	ixi
Dative	eji	ieji	eje	ieje	exi	iexi
Ablative	jui	ijui	jai	ijai	xui	ixui
Locative	jua	ijua	aja	iaja	xua	ixua
Genitive	uji	iuji	uje	iuje	uxi	iuxi
Possessive	uju	iuju	uja	iuja	*uxu	*iuxu
Vocative	eju	eiju	eja	eija	exu	eixu
Causal	teji	teiji	teje	teije	texi	teixi
Benefactive	kuaji	kuaiji	kuaje	kuaije	kuaxi	kuaixi
Instrumental	aji	aiji	aje	aije	axi	aixi
Comitative	leji	leiji	leje	leije	lexi	leixi
Topical	veji	veiji	veje	veije	vexi	veixi
Essive	oju	oiju	oja	oija	oxu	oixu

*rare, theoretical

Indefinite, Specific

	ICS Sg.	ICS. Pl.	ACS Sg.	ACS. Pl.	Inan. Sg.	Inan. Pl.
Nominative	mu	imu	ma	ima	zu	izu
Accusative	mi	imi	me	ime	zi	izi
Dative	emi	iemi	eme	ieme	ezi	iezi
Ablative	mui	imui	mai	imai	zui	izui
Locative	mua	imua	ama	iama	zua	izua
Genitive	umi	iumi	ume	iume	uzi	iuzi
Possessive	umu	iumu	uma	iuma	*uzu	*iuzu
Vocative	emu	eimu	ema	eima	ezu	eizu
Causal	temi	teimi	teme	teime	tezi	teizi
Benefactive	kuami	kuaimi	kuame	kuaime	kuazi	kuaizi
Instrumental	ami	aimi	ame	aime	azi	aizi
Comitative	lemi	leimi	leme	leime	lezi	leizi
Topical	vemi	veimi	veme	veime	vezi	veizi
Essive	omu	oimu	oma	oima	ozu	oizu

*rare, theoretical

Indefinite, Non-Specific (General)

	ANIM Sg.	ANIM Pl.	INAN Sg.	INAN Pl.
Nominative	u	iu	a	ia
Accusative	i	ji	e	ie
Dative	eri	ieri	ere	iere
Ablative	ui	iui	ai	iai
Locative	aru	iaru	ara	iara
Genitive	ugi	iugi	uge	iuge
Possessive	ugu	iugu	uga*	iuga*
Vocative	eru	eiu	era	eia
Causal	teri	teiri	tere	teie
Benefactive	kuari	kuairi	kuare	kuaie
Instrumental	ari	airi	are	aie
Comitative	leri	leiri	lere	leie
Topical	veri	veiri	vere	veie
Essive	oru	oiu	ora	oia

*rare, theoretical

Complementisers

	"that"	rough translation	"the time that"	rough translation
Nominative	zuo	'that'	kuo	'the time when'
Accusative	jo	'that'	kio	'the time when'
Dative	ejo	'to the place where'	ekio	'until'
Ablative	zuio	'from the place where'	kuio	'since', 'after'
Locative	azuo	'in the place where'	akuo	'when'
Genitive	ujo		ukio
Possessive	*uzuo		*ukuo
Vocative	ezuo	'if only'	ekuo
Causal	tejo	'because'	tekio
Benefactive	kuajo	'so that'	kuakio	'in case'
Instrumental	ajo	'by V-ing'	akio
Comitative	lejo	'while'	lekio
Topical	vejo	'about V-ing'	vekio	'about the time when'
Essive	ozuo	'like'	okuo

* theoretical

Verbals

Verbals constitute the only open class of words in Ngolu. They are essentially content words, equivalent to what in other languages are verbs ...

• loe	'to sleep'	[NOM] sleeps
• kau	'to eat'	[NOM] eats [ACC]/[…]
• vuja	'to hunt' (= 'to be a hunter')	[NOM] hunts [ACC]/[…]
• volo	'to give'	[NOM] gives [ACC] to [DAT]
• mahu	'to know'	[DAT] knows [NOM] = [NOM] is known to [DAT]
• ila	'to speak/talk'	[NOM] speaks [ACC]/[INS] (= language) to [DAT]/[COM] about [TOP]
• mue	'to be able to'	[NOM] can / is able to […]

... nouns ...

• iio	'to be a fish'	[NOM] is a fish of [GEN] belonging to [POS]
• vuja	'to be a hunter' (= 'to hunt')	[NOM] is a hunter of [ACC]/[…]
• golu	'to be a person'	[NOM] is a person
• alu	'to be a friend/lover/concubine (of the opposite gender)'	[NOM] is a friend of [DAT], lover of [GEN] and concubine of [POS]
• mala	'to be a building/house/home'	[NOM] is a building/house which is owned by [POS] and home to [GEN]
• ilia	'to be speech/language'	[NOM] is the speech/language of [GEN]

... adjectives ...

• tta	'to be large'	[NOM] is large
• kaiu	'to be edible' ('to be food')	[NOM] is edible to [DAT]
• kuaqa	'to be far/distant'	[NOM] is far from [ABL]/[DAT]
• xeva	'to be visible' (= 'to see')	[NOM is visible to [DAT]; [DAT] sees [NOM]
• lau	'to be alive' (= 'to live', 'to be a living being')	[NOM] is alive
• lubi	'to be closed/shut'	[NOM] is closed/shut to [DAT]

... and adverbs.

• jau	'to intentionally ...'	[NOM] is intentionally […]
• mola	'to be merely ...' (= 'to be insignificant')	[NOM] is just/only/merely […]

They are generally thought of as 'content words' but even many grammatical functions are expressed by verbals.

• kka	'to be not ...'	[NEGATIVE]	[NOM] is not […]
• hua	'to be always ...', 'to be eternally ...'	[GNOMIC]	[NOM] is eternally […]
• hau	'to be defined by being ...'	[ESSENTIAL]	[NOM] is essentially […] by definition
• he	'to undergo'	[PASSIVE]	[NOM] undergoes […]
• eti	'to have previously done ...'	[PAST]	[NOM] did […]

Regardless of the verbal's semantic meaning and which part of speech carries the bulk of the meaning when translated into another language, each verbal can be used in the same syntactic positions as any other verbal. All verbals can appear as a predicate, an argument (when preceded by a nominal) or as a modifier to another, preceding verbal. Compare the following two sentences which show how a semantically verb-like verbal, gahu ('to howl'), and a semantically more noun-like verbal, zagua ('to be a gibbon') can simply be swapped. Both can appear in the predicate, both can appear in an argument and neither needs to be inflected to take on either role.

Predicate	Argument (Subject)
gahu	ju	zagua
howl	NOM.3s.DEF.ANIM.REL	be.gibbon
"howls"	"the being who"	"is a gibbon"
The gibbon howls. — [kali]
Predicate	Argument (Subject)
zagua	ju	gahu
be.gibbon	NOM.3s.DEF.ANIM.REL	howl
"is a gibbon"	"the being who"	"howls"
What howls is a gibbon. — [kali]

Argument Structure

Verbals each have an inherent argument structure, controlling which case are used for which role. Dictionaries, and the examples above, mark the meanings of each relevant case when used with each verbal.

Many argument structures are as would be expected.

• volo = [NOM] gives [ACC] to [DAT]
• vuja = [NOM] hunts [ACC]; [NOM] is a hunter of [ACC]
• akku = [NOM] is blood; [NOM] is the blood of [GEN]

volo	na	xi	eje
give	NOM.1s.ACS	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN	DAT.3s.DEF.ACS
"give"	"I"	"it"	"to him"
I give it to him. — [ACS/SUB]

There is a tendency for experiencers to be in the dative case.

• hualo = [DAT] loves/cares about [NOM]; [NOM] is loved by [DAT]
• xeva = [DAT] sees [NOM]; [NOM] is seen by [DAT]
• zoua = [NOM] is difficult for [DAT]

xevas	eni	ju	taqu
be.seen	DAT.1s.ICS	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	be.king
"was seen"	"to me"	"the being who"	"is the king"
I saw the king. — [ICS/DOM]

Although that is not always the case, as this pair of opposites shows.

• mahu = [DAT] knows [NOM]; [NOM] is known to [DAT]
• zau = [NOM] doesn't know about [TOP]; [NOM] is ignorant of [TOP]

mahu	eni	(xu)
be.known	DAT.1s.ICS	(NOM.3s.DEF.INAN)
"is known"	"to me"	("it")
I know (it). — [ICS/DOM]

zau	nu	(vexi)
be.ignorant	NOM.1s.ICS	(TOP.3s.DEF.INAN)
"am ignorant"	"I"	("about it")
I don't know (it). — [ICS/DOM]

There is also an unusual class of verbals where the nominative role usually refers to a body part, the genitive refers to the possessor and when there is an accusative argument, the whole thing refers to an action performed (with the body part) by the possessor.

• bale = [NOM] is a fist of [GEN]; [GEN] punches [ACC]
• bane = [NOM] is a hand of [GEN]; [GEN] holds, grasps, clutches [ACC]
• buja = [NOM] is a heavy boot of [GEN]; [GEN] crushes [ACC] under his boot
• gula = [NOM] is the pair of arms of [GEN]; [GEN] hugs [ACC]
• juaza = [NOM] is the penis of [GEN]; [GEN] fucks [ACC] (vulgar!)
• kanu = [NOM] is the nose of [GEN]; [GEN] sniffs [ACC]
• kula = [NOM] is the pair of ears of [GEN]; [GEN] listens to [ACC]
• mama = [NOM] is the pair of breasts of [GEN]; [GEN] breast-feeds [ACC]
• miva = [NOM] is a finger of [GEN]; [GEN] touches, feels [ACC]
• musari = [NOM] is a molar of [GEN]; [GEN] chews [ACC]
• omo = [NOM] is the pair of eyes of [GEN]; [GEN] looks at [ACC]
• umakka = [NOM] is a tooth (incisor, canine) of [GEN]; [GEN] bites [ACC]
• zuru = [NOM] is a war against [ACC]; [GEN] wages war on [ACC]

omo	une
be.pair.of.eyes	GEN.1s.ACS
"is the pair of eyes"	"my"
I have eyes. — [ACS/SUB]

omo	une	xu	tie
be.pair.of.eyes	GEN.1s.ACS	NOM.3s.DEF.INAN	be.this.1
"is the pair of eyes"	"my"	"the thing which"	"is this, here by me"
These are my eyes. — [ACS/SUB]

omo	une	xi	masa
be.pair.of.eyes	GEN.1s.ACS	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN	be.snake
"is the pair of eyes"	"my"	"the thing which"	"is a snake"
I'm looking at the snake — Muja [ACS/SUB]

The verbal lama is somewhat similar, although it may simply be understood through an idiomatic translation.

• lama = [NOM] is a tear of [GEN]/[LOC]; [GEN]/[LOC] weeps (silently) about [TOP]

lama	ana	teui
be.tear	LOC.3s.DEF.ACS	CAU.2s.ICS
"is (a) tear(s)"	"at him/her"	"because of you"
S/He's crying because of you. — [ICS/DOM]

The above sentence may also be translated as "There are tears on him/her because of you," or "S/He has tears because of you," making it less clear as to whether this is a good example of an apparent non-nominative subject.

There is a proposed additional place within the argument structure of many verbals, that of a following modifier. A following modifier may mark a specific role which may either be marked by another case or may only be filled by a following modifier. The notation used here indicates a following modifier with […].

• maue = [NOM] is a group of seven […]
• kka = [NOM] is not […]
• mia = [NOM] approaches [DAT]/[…]
• tehi = [NOM] is possibly […]

mia	mala	iju
approach	be.house	NOM.3p.DEF.ICS
"approach"	"be house"	"they"
They are on their way to the house.

mia	iju	exi	mala
approach	NOM.3p.DEF.ICS	DAT.3s.DEF.INAN	be.house
"approach"	"they"	"to the thing which"	"be house"
They are on their way to the house.

Derivation of Verbals

There are two kinds of derivational affixes, one which converts a nominal into a verbal and many others which convert a verbal into another verbal with a different meaning.

Nominal to Verbal

All nominals can be converted into a verbal by adding a copula prefix. The copula prefix is g- before a vowel, k or g, m- before m, b and v, l- before l and n- before all other consonants. The copula prefix essentially prevents a nominal from signalling the start of an argument. Used with the dative or ablative case, the meaning may be interpreted as a verb of motion.

• nu 'I' [NOM.1s.ICS]

→ nnu 'to be me' [COP-NOM.1s.ICS]

• eni 'to me' [DAT.1s.ICS]

→ geni 'to be to me', 'to come to me' [COP-DAT.1s.ICS]

• xu mala 'the house'

→ nxu mala 'to be the house'

• xua mala 'at the house'

→ nxua mala 'to be at the house'

• kuaini 'for us' [BEN.1p.ANIM]

→ gkuaini 'to be for us' [COP-BEN.1p.ANIM]

Here are some examples.

n-nu	nu
COP-NOM.1s.ICS	NOM.1s.ICS
"be I"	"I"
I'm me. — [ICS/DOM]

kka	n-xuas	azikuo	ju
be.not	COP-LOC.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.≈school	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS
"be not"	"be at the thing which"	"be a school for adolescent boys"	"s/he"
He's not at school.

e	g-ene
be.IMP	COP-DAT.1s.ACS
"!"	"come to me"
Come to me. — [ACS]

e	l-lene
be.IMP	COP-DAT.1s.ACS
"!"	"be with me"
Come with me. / Be with me. — [ACS]

nini	g-une	ja	tie
be.mother	COP-GEN.1s.ACS	NOM.3s.DEF.ACS	be.this
"be mother"	"be mine"	"the being who"	"be this"
This is my mother. — [ACS/SUB]

Verbal to Verbal

A far more common means of derivation is from verbal to verbal. This is chiefly done by means of infixing although prefixes and suffixes also exist.

Collective

The collective infix -ig- indicates a group of the named entity.

• ala 'to be a bird'

→ aliga 'to be a flock of birds'

• balu 'to be a royal guardsman'

→ baligu 'to be the royal guard'

• kau 'to eat'

→ kaigu 'to eat together'

• uttia 'to be a tree'

→ utigia 'to be a forest'

Gerundive

The gerundive infix -i- indicates the use or purpose of something.

• huna 'to drink'

→ hunia 'to be (fresh) water', 'to be potable', 'to be drinkable' (to be something to be drunk)

• kau 'to eat'

→ tiau 'to be food' (to be something to be eaten, irregular)

→ kaiu 'to be edible' (regular)

• omo 'to be a pair of eyes', 'to look at'

→ omio 'to be beautiful', 'to be handsome' (to be something to be looked at)

• buja 'to be a boot', 'to crush under a boot'

→ buji 'to be a bug', 'to be vermin' (to be something to be crushed under a boot)

• vuja 'to hunt', 'to be a hunter'

→ vuji 'to be prey', 'to be a game animal' (to be something to be hunted)

Locative

The prefix a- indicates being at a particular place.

• tio 'to be that'

→ atio 'to be there' (≈ 'to be at that')

• mala 'to be a house'

→ amala 'to be at home' (≈ 'to be at house')

Ornative

The ornative prefix ia- indicate having or being equipped with something.

• bani 'to be money'

→ iabani 'to be rich' (≈ 'to be with money')

• ulu 'to be muscle'

→ iaulu 'to be muscular' (≈ 'to be with muscle')

Verbals with inherent gender / rank distinctions

Many verbals semantically encode gender within their meaning. In some cases, there are pairs of words, such as the following.

• nini 'to be a mother / aunt'
• nana 'to be a father / uncle'

In this instance, the divide along genders is easy for non-Ngolu to conceptualise. However many other concepts are also divided by gender, or, more accurately, rank, and this frequently has to do with the Ngolu's strict cultural taboos around gender and rank. For example, Ngolu men and women are expected to sing, dance, dress and urinate differently.

• laha 'to sing', 'to be a singer' (of a kali, to sing in the manner appropriate to kali)
• lasa 'to dance', 'to be a dancer' (of a kali, to dance in the manner appropriate to kali)
• miia 'to wear' (of a kali, to dress in the manner appropriate to kali)
• kele 'to urinate' (of a kali, to urinate while sitting or squatting)

• uaie 'to sing', 'to be a singer' (of a muja, to sing in the manner appropriate to muja)
• bata 'to dance', 'to be a dancer' (of a muja, to dance in the manner appropriate to muja)
• uara 'to wear' (of a muja, to dress in the manner appropriate to muja)
• zatu 'to urinate' (of a muja, to urinate while standing)

In other instances, certain actions may be proscribed for a certain rank. For example, methods of cooking that involve mixing ingredients together is seen as befitting only a kali and the word for this type of cooking, kela is restricted to kali. Muja are allowed to cook, but only in order to make food edible (ie. heating it but not mixing different ingredients together or adding spices) and this type of cooking is referred to as bisa, which is not restricted to a particular rank.

Similarly, for religious reasons, violence and killing of any kind are acceptable only for muja and therefore words such as the following are restricted to occurring with muja subjects: vuja ('to hunt'), ttio ('to hit'), tioru ('to kick') uo ('to kill deliberately', 'to murder'), xagu ('to execute'), zaha' ('to fight physically'), aiuo ('to shoot').

Some other words appear only with kali subjects, such as haua which means 'to sob', 'to howl', 'to cry audibly'. It is perfectly acceptable for muja to cry, but they are expected to be silent. The kali-verbal iavu means 'to weave' or 'to make clothing', which again is work for a kali to perform. However, to make clothing which is suitable for combat is work for muja and the word for this is iavuja, which is a muja word.

Verbals may also specify the gender/rank of an argument other than the nominal. For example, the word bale means 'to be a fist', specifying a muja in the role of the genitive possessor. Similarly, items of clothing specific to one gender can only appear with possessors in the corresponding gender.

When a subject (or another argument) does not match the gender/rank specified in the verbal, there must be paraphrasing. There are generally two ways this is done, with ko and with hui.

Ko

Ko is a verbal meaning 'to be similar'. It can be placed before a gendered verbal when the subject (or other relevant argument) does not match. For example, the word for enemy is uako. It is a muja verb, perhaps best translated as 'to be a muja enemy'.

uako	jus	une
be.enemy	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	GEN.1s.ACS
"be enemy"	"the being"	"my"
He's my enemy. — [ACS/SUB]

There is no direct equivalent for a kali who is an enemy. To express the idea of a kali being an enemy, what is essentially said is "S/he is like an enemy."

ko	uako	jus	une
be.similar	be.enemy.MUJA	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	GEN.1s.ACS
"be.like"	"be enemy"	"the being"	"my"
She's my enemy. — [ACS/SUB]

The closest analogue in English would be with words such as 'midwife', which has no easy male equivalent. In Ngolu, it is as though one simply says 'He's like a midwife.' Similarly, in the following example, there is no word equivalent to a woman's fist, only a man's fist. Therefore, she made something like a man's fist.

ti	li	ko	bale	uji
be.PRF	begin	be.similar	be.MUJA.fist	GEN.3s.DEF.ICS
"be former"	"start"	"be like"	"be a (man's) fist"	"of the being"
She made a fist.

Hui

Hui is similar to ko except it is filled with contempt and criticism. It is a verbal which could be translated as 'to shamefully break gender taboos by approximating |…|'. There is essentially no grammatical difference between ko and hui - the former is simply neutral and the later conveys strong condemnation of breaking taboos.

hui	miia	ja
break.gender.roles	wear.KALI	NOM.3s.DEF.MASC
"break gender roles"	"wear"	"he"
He's (shamefully) cross-dressing.

hui	laha
break.gender.roles	sing.KALI
"break gender roles"	"sing"
There's a man (shamefully) trying to sing like a woman.

hui	miia	ja
break.gender.roles	wear.KALI	NOM.3s.DEF.MASC
"break gender roles"	"wear"	"he"
He's (shamefully) cross-dressing.

hui	ttio	ju	je
break.gender.roles	strike	NOM.3s.DEF.ANIM	ACC.3s.DEF.MASC
"break gender roles"	"hit"	"she"	"him"
She (shamefully) hit him.

Particles and Grammatical Affixes

Particles are words which cannot be classified as either nominals or verbals. Most of them are equivalent to conjunctions, introducing clauses. In many cases, the line between verb and particle is a little blurred and difficult to find and research is still ongoing.

Au and teuo

Au and teuo are used to order the events multiple clause sentence. Au introduces the clause in which the first action took place and is thus roughly equivalent to 'first' or 'after' whereas teuo introduces a later action and is thus equivalent to 'then' or 'before'. They are usually used as correlative conjunctions, with both present in the sentence.

au	kau	nu	teuo	loe	(nu)
first	eat	NOM.1s.ANIM	second	sleep	(NOM.1s.ANIM)
"first"	"eat"	"I"	"then"	"sleep"	("I")
First I ate, then I slept. — [kali] I ate before I slept. / After I ate, I slept.

The order of the clauses can be reversed.

teuo	loe	nu	au	kau	(nu)
second	sleep	NOM.1s.ANIM	first	eat	(NOM.1s.ANIM)
"then"	"sleep"	"I"	"first"	"eat"	("I")
Before I slept, I ate. — [kali] I slept after I ate.

Sometimes the first of the two conjunctions is omitted.

loe	nu	au	kau	(nu)
sleep	NOM.1s.ANIM	first	eat	(NOM.1s.ANIM)
"sleep"	"I"	"first"	"eat"	("I")
I slept after I ate.— [kali] I slept, but first, I ate.

Ha

Ha forms polar (yes/no) questions. For examples, see Polar Questions

It also introduces the protasis of realise conditional sentences, see Conditionals.

Hai

Hai is used to introduce the protasis of an irrealis conditional sentence. For examples, see Conditionals.

Haizuo

Haizuo is an emphatic form of hai. It introduces the protasis of an irrealis conditional sentence. For examples, see Conditionals.

I-

The clitic particle i- appears on the beginning of any part of the predicate when it is preceded in a sentence by any non-predicate element. For example, in the following sentence, hu mala is the predicate.

hu	mala	na
move	be.house	NOM.1s.MASC
"go"	"be house"	"I"
I'm going home. — [muja]

Topicalised arguments can be brought forward in the sentence to before the verb phrase. The verb phrase must now be marked with i-.

na	i-hu	mala
NOM.1s.MASC	PRED-move	be.house
"I"	"go"	"be house"
As for me, I'm going home. — [muja]

The predicate phrase can even be split, with arguments appearing inside it.

hu	na	i-mala
move	NOM.1s.MASC	PRED-be.house
"go"	"I"	"be house"
I'm going home. — [muja]

In extreme cases, there can even be more than one split in a predicate phrase, with i- necessary each time the predicate is resumed.

bio	na	i-hu	leuis	i-mala
want	NOM.1s.MASC	PRED-move	COM.2s.ANIM	PRED-be.house
"want"	"I"	"go"	"with you"	"be house"
I want to go home with you. — [muja to singular kali]

Of that last example, the normal word order would be bio hu mala na leui.

When added to words beginning with a syllabic i, the prefix i- becomes j- ...

xu	tie	j-iio
NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.this.1	PRED-be.fish
"the thing which"	"be this"	"be fish"
This, well, this is a fish! — [muja]

... but before a non-syllabic i, it remains i-.

omo	g-unis	i-iaha
be.pair.of.eyes	COP-GEN.1s.ANIM	PRED-be.painful
"be a pair of eyes"	"be mine"	"hurt"
As for my eyes, they're sore. — [kali]

Lo

Lo appears to be a short form of the comitative complementiser lejo. It introduces an adverbial clause.

To

To generally introduces consequences. It often roughly means 'so' or 'therefore'. In these cases, it may replaced by the more emphatic toua.

ba	lalu	to(ua)	ka	tina	ixu	muanaiti
be.very	rain	therefore	be.PROS	become.large	NOM.3p.DEF.INAN.REL	be.stream
"be very"	"rain"	"so"	"be going to"	"become large"	"the things which"	"be stream"
It's raining hard, so the streams are going to swell. — [to singular kali]

It is used in conjunction with ha (and sometimes hai or haizuo) to form conditional clauses where it introduces the apodosis. See Conditionals for examples.

It is also frequently used to replace i- in introducing a main clause after a subordinate clause other than a conditional clause.

akuo	lalu	to	tina	ixu	enio
LOC.TEMP.C	rain	then	become.large	NOM.3p.DEF.INAN.REL	be.plant
"when"	"rain"	"then"	"become large"	"the things which"	"be plant"
When it rains, (then) the plants grow.

Toi

Toi is used to introduce the apodosis of an irrealis conditional. For examples, see Conditionals.

Syntax

Phrase Structure

Verbal Phrases

A verbal phrase has the following structure:

VERBAL [VERBAL [VERBAL [VERBAL ...]]]

When multiple verbals are stacked one after the other, the head is on the left and modifiers on the right.

mala	tta
be.house	be.large
"be house"	"be large"
is a large house / are large houses

jiio	ttiu
run	be.quick
"run"	"be fast"
runs quickly / run quickly is a fast runner / are fast runners

vujas	ala
hunt	be.bird
"hunt"	"be a bird"
hunts birds / hunt birds is a bird hunter / are bird hunters

In many cases, verbals with more grammatical than semantic content are followed by much more semantically rich modifying verbals. In these cases, the preceding words are nevertheless heads and the following words modifiers.

bas	ali	g-eje	taqu
be.very	be.friend.(of.the.same.sex)	COP-DAT.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	be.king
"be very"	"be friend"	"be to the man who"	"be the king"
is a good friend / are good friends of the king

ti	huna
be.PRF	drink
"be finished"	"drink"
drank / has drunk / have drunk

toto	kas	euo	tta
be.really	be.PROS	be.pair	be.large
"be in fact"	"be going to"	"be two"	"be large"
are actually going to be two big ones

buua	tio	vaxu	zara
be.on.top.of	be.that.3	be.table	write
"be one top of"	"be that, over there"	"be a table"	"write"
is / are on top of that desk over there

Each complex verbal phrase comprised of more than one verbal has its own case structure which defines how the cases are used in a sentence. The case structure is determined by the rightmost verbal which shares the same nominative argument as the leftmost verbal in the phrase.

$$$$$$$ [examples to come]

Nominal Phrases

A nominal phrase has the following structure:

NOMINAL [VERBAL PHRASE]

An unadorned nominal on its own functions as a pronoun.

ja

NOM.3s.DEF.MASC

"the man"

he

uxi

GEN.3s.DEF.INAN

"of the thing"

its

Adorned nominal phrases consist of a nominal followed by a verbal phrase. In this case, the nominal acts as the head of a relative clause in which the verbal phrase sits.

ja	xagu
NOM.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	execute
"the man who"	"execute"
the executioner

uxi	tukaue
GEN.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.collar.indicating.the.owner.of.a.slave
"of the thing which"	"be a slave's collar"
of the slave's collar

Clause Structure

With unmarked word order, a clause generally has the following structure:

[PARTICLE] PREDICATE [ARGUMENT] [ARGUMENT] [ARGUMENT] [ARGUMENT] ...

A PREDICATE consists of a verbal phrase and an ARGUMENT consists of a nominal phrase or a subordinate clause.

In many cases, one or more arguments may precede the predicate or may even appear in the middle of the predicate, dividing it into two or more pieces.

Unmarked word order:

Predicate		Argument (Nominative)	Argument (Accusative)		Argument (Instrumental)
ti	kau	nu	izi	tiau	azi	akuala
be.PRF	eat	NOM.1s.ANIM	ACC.3s.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.food	INS.3s.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.knife
"be finished"	"eat"	"I"	"some things which"	"be food"	"using a thing which"	"be a knife"
I ate food with a knife. — [ICS/DOM]

Instrumental argument fronted:

Argument (Instrumental)		Predicate		Argument (Nominative)	Argument (Accusative)
azi	akuala	i-ti	kau	nu	izi	tiau
INS.3s.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.knife	PRED-be.PRF	eat	NOM.1s.ANIM	ACC.3s.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.food
"using a thing which"	"be a knife"	"be finished"	"eat"	"I"	"some things which"	"be food"
With a knife, I ate food. — [ICS/DOM]

Instrumental argument fronted, nominal argument partially fronted:

Argument (Instrumental)		Pred...	Argument (Nominative)	...icate	Argument (Accusative)
azi	akuala	i-ti	nu	i-kau	izi	tiau
INS.3s.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.knife	PRED-be.PRF	NOM.1s.ANIM	eat	ACC.3s.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.food
"using a thing which"	"be a knife"	"be finished"	"I"	"eat"	"some things which"	"be food"
With a knife, I ate food. — [ICS/DOM]

Predicate-Only Clauses

The simplest clauses in Ngolu consist of nothing but a verbal or a verbal phrase used as the predicate. There are no obligatory arguments in Ngolu and all may be omitted from the clause and left to context, even the subject.

lalu

(be).rain

"rain"

It's raining. / It rains.

te

be.good

"be good"

It's good.

A verbal with no arguments indicates an activity or state without specifying the identity of any participants. Essentially, Ngolu is a pro-drop language. With prior context, omitted arguments can be understood as referring to someone or something already discussed. With no prior context, however, verbal-only sentences are simply understood with a "someone or something" as the subject.

kau

eat

"eats"

He, she or it is eating. (with context)

Something or someone is eating. (without context)

vuja

hunt

"hunt"

He or it is hunting. / He or it is a hunter. (with context)

Something or someone is hunting. / There's a hunter. (without context)

Simple declarative or existential statements are frequently verbal-only.

kala

be.fire

"be a fire"

It's a fire. / There's a fire. / Fire!

Subordinate Clauses

Adverbial Clauses

Adverbial clauses are introduced by the particle lo, which may be derived from lejo, the comitative case of the copula 'zuo'.

bio	kau	nu	lo	juo	(nu)
want	eat	NOM.1s.ANIM	ADV	be.outside	"NOM.1s.ANIM"
"want"	"eat"	"I"	"while"	"be outside"	("I")
I want to eat outside.

Affirmation and Negation

The verbals ahe and kka indicate polarity, being positive and negative respectively. On their own, they are roughly equivalent to 'yes' and 'no'.

Positive sentences are generally unmarked and ahe generally appears only for emphasis.

ahe	bo	xu	eni
be.indeed	be.wanted	NOM.3s.DEF.INAN	DAT.1s.ICS
"be indeed"	"be wanted"	"the thing"	"to me"
I do want it. — [ICS/DOM]

Negation is performed by means of kka.

kka	ju	xua	uttia
be.not	NOM.3s.DEF.ANIM	LOC.3s.DEF.ICS.REL	be.tree
"be not"	"she"	"at the thing which"	"be tree"
She's not at the tree.

kka	mula	jas	ene
be.not	be.liked	NOM.3s.DEF.ACS	DAT.1s.ACS
"be not"	"be liked"	"he"	"to me"
I don't like him. — [ACS/SUB]

After a negative question or statement, ahe indicates a contradictory, positive answer whereas kka indicates a negative answer in agreement.

ha	kka	lalu
Q	be.not	rain
"?"	"be.not"	"rain"
Isn't it raining?

→	ahe	(lalu)
	be.indeed	(rain)
	"be indeed"	("rain")
	Yes, it is (raining).

→	kka	(lalu)
	be.not	(rain)
	"be not"	("rain")
	No, it's not (raining).

Negation (as well as affirmation) is generally performed in the predicate.

kka	xeva	ju	eri	azo
be.not	be.seen	NOM.3s.DEF.ANIM	DAT.3s.NSPC.ANIM.REL	be.other
"be not"	"be seen"	"the being"	"to any being which"	"be other"
No one else saw her. (Literally: Anyone else didn't see her.)

To negate or affirm an argument, it is placed within an adverbial clause.

uo	xi	oko	lo	kka	ja	tehi	los	ahe	ja	mbuja
kill. deliberately	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.dog	ADV	be.not	NOM.3s.DEF.ACS.REL	be.Tehi	ADV	be.indeed	NOM.3s.DEF.ACS.REL	be.Mbuja
"kill deliberately"	"the thing which"	"be.dog"	"while"	"be not"	"the one who"	"be Tehi"	"while"	"be indeed"	"the one who"	"be Mbuja"
Not Tehi but Mbuja killed the dog. — [muja]

Interrogation

Polar Questions

Polar questions are indicated with ha.

ha	lalu
Q	rain
"?"	"rain"
Is it raining?

ha	lai	nas	eue
Q	be.loved	NOM.1s.MASC	DAT.2s.MASC
"?"	"be loved"	"I"	"to you"
Do you love me? — [muja to singular muja]

Ha can occur at the end of a sentence, where it functions as a question tag.

lalu	ha
rain	Q
"rain"	Q
It's raining, isn't it?

lai	nas	eue	ha
be.loved	NOM.1s.MASC	DAT.2s.MASC	Q
"be loved"	"I"	"to you"	"?"
You love me, don't you? — [muja to singular muja]

Individual arguments in a sentence may be called into question by placing them inside an adverbial clause introduced by lo.

lai	eue	lo	ha	na
be.loved	DAT.2s.MASC	ADV	Q	NOM.1s.MASC
"be loved"	"to you"	"while"	"?"	"I"
Is it me who you love? — [muja to singular muja]

lai	na	lo	has	eue
be.loved	NOM.1s.MASC	ADV	Q	DAT.2s.MASC
"be loved"	"I"	"while"	"?"	"to you"
Is it you who loves me? — [muja to singular muja]

Alternative Questions

Alternative questions use two or more instances of ha.

Bio	ha	kau	ha	huna	vu
want	Q	eat	Q	drink	NOM.2s.ANIM
"want"	"either"	"eat"	"or"	"drink"	"you"
Would you like anything to (either) eat or drink? — [to singular kali]

Xevu	eue	lo	ha	ja	mahu	lo	ha	ju	laiuiie
be.seen	DAT.2s.MASC	ADV	Q	NOM.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	be.Mahu	ADV	Q	NOM.3s.DEF.ANIM.REL	be.Laiuiie
"be seen"	"to you"	"while"	"either"	"the man who"	"be Mahu"	"while"	"?"	"the being who"	"be Laiuiie"
Have you seen (either) Mahu or Laiuiie? — [to singular muja]

Embedded Questions

Any type of question may be embedded inside a complementiser phrase.

Zau	nu	vejo	ha	ti	uaizue	ji	tavi
be.ignorant	NOM.1s.ANIM	TOP.C	Q	be.PRF	find	ACC.3s.DEF.ANIM.REL	be.child
"be ignorant"	"I"	"about that"	"?"	be.PRF	"find"	"the being who"	"be child"
I don't know if the child has been found. — [kali]

Time

Marking of time (tense and aspect) is not obligatory in Ngolu and may always be left up to context.

uo	ju	xi
MUJA.kill.deliberately	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN
"kill"	"the person"	"it"
He kills / killed / will kill / is killing / has killed [...] it. — [muja]

When time needs to be indicated, it is most often done by means of a verbal indicating a "relative tense" (aspect). The three basic "relative tense" markers are ...

• ti "perfect" (PRF), indicating an action or state entirely before the time in question
• zo "progressive" (PROG), indicating an action or state concurrent with the time in question
• ka "prospective (PROS), indicating an action or state entirely after the time in question.

By default, the "time in question" is the present time. However, if another time is contextually understood, any of these may refer to events in the past, present or future.

ti	uo	ju	xi
be.PRF	MUJA.kill.deliberately	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN
"be finished"	"kill"	"the person"	"it"
He killed / has / had / will have killed it. — [muja]

zo	uo	ju	xi
be.PROG	MUJA.kill.deliberately	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN
"be underway"	"kill"	"the person"	"it"
He is / was / will be killing it. — [muja]

ka	uo	ju	xi
be.PROS	MUJA.kill.deliberately	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN
"be going to"	"kill"	"the person"	"it"
He is / was / will be going to kill it. — [muja]

The prefix e- attached to the beginning of any of these aspect markers creates an absolute tense marker. The e- ensures that time is marked with reference to the current time of speaking rather than to a contextually understood time frame. This is usually only used to disambiguate or to emphasise a time frame.

• eti "past" (PST), indicating an action or state entirely in the past.
• ezo "present" (PRES), indicating an action or state occurring in the present.
• eka "future (FUT), indicating an action or state that will occur in the future.

eti	uo	ju	xi
be.PST	MUJA.kill.deliberately	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN
"be earlier"	"kill"	"the person"	"it"
He killed / has killed it (earlier / before / already). — [muja]

ezo	uo	ju	xi
be.PRES	MUJA.kill.deliberately	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN
"be now"	"kill"	"the person"	"it"
He is killing it (now). — [muja]

More than one time word can be used together.

eka	ti	uo	ju	xi
be.PRES	be.PRF	MUJA.kill.deliberately	NOM.3s.DEF.ICS	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN
"will"	"be finished"	"kill"	"the person"	"it"
He will have killed it (now). — [muja]

There are also compounds formed from two time words.

• tizo (PRF.PROG), indicating an action or state occurring before and continuing up to the contextually understood time
• zoka (PROG-PROS), indicating an action or state occurring at the contextually understood time and extending into the future
• etizo (PRF.PROG), indicating an action or state that started in the past and continues to the present
• ezoka (PROG-PROS), indicating an action or state that starts in the present and will continue into the future.

The distance from the time in question can be indicated by adding time specifiers after the tense or aspect marker and then introducing the rest of the sentence with to. The forms with e- indicate distance from the present (eti "ago", etizo "for", eka "in") while the forms without e- may indicate distance from a contextually understood time (ti "before", ka "later").

eti	euo	laqu	to	li	zaxa
be.PST	be.two	be.year	thus	begin	be.ill
"was"	"be two"	"be year"	"then"	"become"	"be ill"
Two years ago, s/he fell ill.

...	kas	ahu	noila	to	bilo
	be.going to	be.one	be.month	thus	die
	"be going to"	"be one"	"be month"	"then"	"die"
	One month later, s/he died.

etizo	vane	laqu	to	tuhu	jas	eni
be.PST-PRES	be.five	be.year	thus	be.known	NOM.3s.DEF.ACS	DAT.1s.ICS
"be from the past till now"	"be five"	"be year"	"then"	"be known"	"the person"	"to me"
I have known him/her for five years. — [ICS/DOM]

There are a range of other verbals which indicate time in a similar way. Here are some examples.

Days

• ariu "yesterday"
• aku "today"
• anu "tomorrow"

Lighting

• auo "by day"
• eio "by night"

Distance in time

• ttie / ettie "just" (similar to ti but specifies a very short distance of time)
• tieka / etieka "about to" (similar to ka but specifies a very short distance of time)
• ti ti / eti ti "a long time ago" (reduplication for distance into the past)
• ka ka / eka ka "eventually" (reduplication for distance into the future)

Other aspectual differences

• hua "always", "permanently" [gnomic]
• niu "habitually" [habitual]
• guegue "repeatedly", "again and again"
• egue "again"
• tara "suddenly"
• li "starts"
• bi "stops"
• ligue "resumes"

Movement

Movement is expressed in a variety of ways in Ngolu.

One of the most common methods for talking about movement is using the words hu and mia. There is no distinction between coming and going but rather a distinction between the perfective hu, meaning 'come' or 'go', and the imperfective mia, 'be one one's way', 'be coming', 'be going'. The destination may be indicated by a subsequent modifying verbal or by a dative argument. The origin is indicated by an ablative argument.

hu	mala	nu
move.PFV	be.house	NOM.1s.ANIM
"go"	"be house"	"I"
I go / 'm going home. — [kali]

hu	nu	exi	mala
move.PFV	NOM.1s.ANIM	DAT.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.house
"go"	"I"	"to the thing which"	"be house"
I go / 'm going home. — [kali]

mia	mala	nu
move.IPFV	be.house	NOM.1s.ANIM
"be on the way"	"be house"	"I"
I 'm going / on my way home. — [kali]

kua	hu	nui
be.JUSS	move.PFV	ABL.1s.ANIM
"should"	"go"	"from me"
Please get away from me. — [kali]

Another method for expressing movement is to affix the copula prefix g-, m-, n- to a dative or ablative nominal.

g-exi	mala	nu
COP-DAT.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.house	NOM.1s.ANIM
"go to the thing which"	"be house"	"I"
I go / 'm going home. — [kali]

g-eue	nu
COP-DAT.2s.MASC	NOM.1s.ANIM
"go to you"	"I"
I'll come to you. — [kali to singular muja]

e	n-nai
be.IMP	COP-ABL.1s.MASC
"!"	"go from me"
Get away from me! — [muja]

The third way to express movement is to use an inceptive (inchoative) morpheme in conjunction with a word indicating location. For example, the verbal xa means 'to be inside' and the verbal atio means 'to be there (away from us)' - adding the infix -in- (perfective inceptive) or -ij- (imperfective inceptive) gives xina ('to go in', 'to enter') and xija ('to be on the way in'), atinio ('to go there') and atijo ('to be on the way there'). The free standing verbal li ('to begin, start, commence') may also be used, with li xa and li atio being equivalent to xina and atinio.

ti	xina	iju	i-oba	loe
be.PRF	enter.PFV	NOM.3p.DEF.ANIM	PRED-be.room	sleep
"be finished"	"enter"	"the beings"	"be room"	"sleep"
They went into the bedroom. — [kali to singular muja]

bios	atinio	ja
want	go.there.3	NOM.3s.DEF.MASC
"want"	"go there"	"the man"
He wants to go there. — [kali to singular muja]

The inceptive infixes are frequently used with the verbals denoting location in the four cardinal directions: la, ta, gio, vo ('to be in the east', 'to be in the west', 'to be in the north', 'to be in the south' respectively) creating the perfective forms lina, tina, ginio and vino and the imperfective forms lija, tija, gijo and vijo. Direction within Qu, with its noticeable tube shape (with 'east/west' pointing along the tube and 'north/south' going around the circumference), is a much more salient feature than on Earth and referencing direction with motion is common. In certain circumstances, describing movement without reference to direction is regarded as too imprecise, such as when men are discussing hunting in the forest where there may be no obvious landmarks to identify as the destination of a movement.

La, ta, gio, vo may be used to modify another verb of motion with or without taking an inceptive infix.

lina	gio	inais	ixi	vaku
go.east.PFV	be.in.the.north	ABL.1p.MASC	NOM.3p.DEF.INAN.REL	be.babirusa
"go east"	"be in the north"	"from us"	"the things which"	"be babirusa"
The babirusas moved (east)-northeast away from us. — [kali to singular muja]

Additionally, there is yet another prefix e- which may be related to the e- prefix at the beginning of nominals in the dative case. Words with this prefix indicate perfective movement and include etie ('to come here') etia ('to go/come there/here by you') and etio ('to go there'). These words are slightly more commonly used than their equivalents atinie, atinia and atinio.

Conditionals

Conditional sentences in Ngolu use particles to indicate the condition clause (protasis) and the result clause (apodosis). These particles differ depending on whether the condition is possible (realis) or hypothetical (irrealis).

	PROTASIS	APODOSIS
REALIS	ha	to
IRREALIS	hai haizuo (emphatic)	toi to (possible only when apodosis clause appears second)

Realis examples:

has	anu	lalu	to	kka	vuja	ja
if	be.tomorrow	rain	then	be.not	hunt	NOM.3s.DEF.MASC
"if"	"be tomorrow"	"rain"	"then"	"be not"	"hunt"	"the man"
If it rains tomorrow, (then) he won't hunt.

(to)	ttio	na	ue	ha	vei	tiaia
(then)	hit	NOM.1s.MASC	ACC.2s.	if	stay	do.that.2
("then")	"hit"	"I"	"you"	"if"	"keep"	"do that which you are doing"
I'll hit you if you keep doing that. — [muja to singular muja]

Irrealis examples:

hai(zuo)	g-ua	na	to(i)	hales	eje	jo	nio	mo
if.IRR	be-NOM.2s.MASC	NOM.1s.MASC	then.(would)	ask	DAT.3s.DEF.MASC	ACC.C	happen	be.what
"imagine if"	"be you"	"I"	"then (would)"	"ask"	"(to) him"	"that"	"happen"	"be what"
If I were you, (then) I'd ask him what happened. — [muja to singular muja]

toi	bi	xo	nu	hai(zuo)	hues	abani
then.would	stop	work	NOM.1s.ANIM	if.IRR	be.more	be.rich
"then would"	"stop"	"work"	"I"	"if would"	"be more"	"be rich"
I would stop working, if I were richer. — [muja to singular muja]

toi	ti	hu	na	leui	hai(zuo)	(ti)	mahu	(xu)	(ene)
then.would	be.PRF	move	NOM.1s.MASC	COM.2s.ANIM	if.IRR	(be.PRF)	be.known	(NOM.3s.DEF.INAN)	(DAT.1s.MASC)
"then would"	"be finished"	"move"	"I"	"with you"	"if would"	("be finished")	"be known"	"it"	"to me"
I would have come with you if I had known that. — [muja to singular kali]

Pragmatics

Social Stratification and Language Use

Ngolu society is heavily stratified into five social divisions. These social divisions, or strata, are hierarchical and from highest to lowest are as follows.

• 5. ja taqu - the king
• 4. ija balu - the king's men
• 3. ija muja - initiated men
• 2. iju kali - free citizens
• 1. iju tuva - slaves and prisoners (ixu tuva in the speech of muja, balu and taqu)

Language use is, to a large extent, determined by the strata of the speaker, addressee and third person referents.