Chlouvānem
Chlouvānem | |
---|---|
Pronunciation | [[Help:IPA|c͡ɕʰɴ̆ɔʊ̯ˈʋaːnaʊ̯mʲi dæɴ̆ˈdaː]] |
Created by | Lili21 |
Date | Dec 2016 |
Setting | Calémere |
Ethnicity | Chlouvānem |
Native speakers | 1,450,000,000 (4E 133) |
Lahob
| |
Official status | |
Official language in | lands of the Inquisition, Mǎng Tì pọk, Brono |
Regulated by | Inquisitorial Office of the Language (dældāyi flušamila) |
Chlouvānem, natively Chlouvānaumi dældā ("language of the Chlouvānem people"), is the most spoken language on the planet of Calémere (Chl.: Liloejāmna). It is the official language of the Inquisition (murkadhāna) and its country, the Chlouvānem land (Chlouvānaumi bhælā[1]), and a lingua franca in many areas of the eastern part of the continent of Evandor. Despite the fact that local vernaculars in most of the Inquisition are in fact daughter languages of Chlouvānem or creoles based on it, the Chlouvānaumi dældā is a fully living language as every Chlouvānem person is bilingual in it and in the local vernacular, and in fact in the last half century the Chlouvānem language itself has been replacing some vernaculars as internal migrations have become more and more common. About 1,4 billion people on the planet define themselves as native Chlouvānem speakers, more than for any other Calémerian language.
External History
Chlouvānem is the ninth radically restructured version of Laceyiam; I started creating it in late November 2016 as I found some parts of my conworld which were too unrealistic to work - and as such by changing the whole conworld I had to change the language. I took that opportunity to change some things in the grammar that, while I liked them and they worked well, I wanted to do in some different way — mainly this arises from my love of more complex inflection patterns. As such, compared to Laceyiam, Chlouvānem has much more influences from Sanskrit and Lithuanian (which always were my main influences anyway); other natlangs that influenced me a lot are Russian, Latvian, Icelandic, Proto-Indo-European, (Biblical) Hebrew, Latin, and Japanese. Still it is an a priori language and, despite having much in common with all of these (particularly with the IE ones), is also strikingly different (the Austronesian morphosyntactic alignment, morphological expression of evidentiality and more broadly the particular emphasis on moods probably being the most noticeable things). Moreover, I tried to create a language very different from my native language (Italian) while keeping many - not so apparent - similarities.
The morphology of Chlouvānem is very different from Laceyiam, though many words are still the same (like smrāṇa (spring), junai (foot), jāyim (girl), saṃhāram (boy)).
As I mentioned before, Chlouvānem is the latest version of the conlang for my main conculture. I started sketching conlangs back when I was 9 or 10 but only started interesting myself into linguistics seven years later - in 2014 - and since then I started doing more "serious" conlangs (the earlier ones were more like relexes of my native language, Italian). Ideally, Chlouvānem is the refined version of all of these languages, but except for a few recurring words (like maila (water) or hulyn (woman)) it is only comparable to those languages I have been creating since July 2015.
Chlouvānem is mainly thought for my conworld, but more than any other conlang of mine it is quite on the border between an art- and a heartlang.
Phonology - Yuiçtarlā
Consonants - Hīmbeyuiçai
Chlouvānem has a large consonant inventory, with 52 different consonants, divided into seven categories: labials, dentals, palatalized dentals, retroflexes, palatals, velars, and laryngeals. The Chlouvānem term for "consonant" is hīmbeyuiça, a compound of hīmba (colour) and yuiça (sound).
Labials | Dentals | Palat. dentals | Retroflexes | Palatals | Velars | Laryngeals | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasals | m mʲ | n | nʲ | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ | N* |
Unvoiced stops | p pʰ | t̪ t̪ʰ | tʲ tʲʰ | ʈ ʈʰ | k kʰ | ʔ | |
Voiced stops | b bʱ | d̪ d̪ʱ | dʲ dʲʱ | ɖ ɖʱ | g gʱ | ||
Unvoiced affricates | t̪͡s̪ t̪͡s̪ʰ | t͡sʲ t͡sʲʰ | c͡ɕ c͡ɕʰ | ||||
Voiced affricates | d̪͡z̪ d̪͡z̪ʱ | d͡zʲ d͡zʲʱ | ɟ͡ʑ ɟ͡ʑʱ | ||||
Fricatives | f | s | sʲ | ʂ | ɕ | ɦ | |
Approximants | ʋ | j | ʀ ʀʲ ɴ̆ ɴ̆ʲ |
Vowels - Camiyuiçai
The vowel inventory of Chlouvānem is fairly large too, consisting of 25 phonemes: 14 monophthongs, 9 diphthongs, and 2 syllabic consonants.
Phonetically, there are also nasal vowels, but they are phonetically /VN/ sequences. On the contrary, breathy-voiced vowels may phonetically surface as [Vh] or [Vχ] in some contexts (most notably before stops) in some pronunciations — e.g. tąkis /tɑ̤kis/ (a kind of herb) pronounced in Cami as [ˈtaxkʲis].
The term for vowel is camiyuiça, from cami (great, large, important) and yuiça (sound), as these sounds are necessary in building syllables.
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i iː i̤ | u uː ṳ | |
Mid | e eː e̤ | ɔ | |
Low | æ | a aː | ɑ̤ |
Diphthongs | aɪ̯ eɪ̯ eɐ̯ a̤ɪ̯ e̤ɪ̯ | ɔə̯ | aʊ̯ ɔu̯ a̤ʊ̯ |
Syllabic consonants | ʀ̩ ʀ̩ː |
Prosody
Stress
Intonation
Phonotactics
Morphophonology
Writing system - Jīmalāṇa
Chlouvānem has been written since the late First Era in an alphabet called Chlouvānaumi jīmalāṇa ("Chlouvānem alphabet", the noun jīmalāṇa is actually a collective derivation from jīma "character"), developed with influence of the script used for the ancient Kūṣṛmāthi language, which, however, was an abugida. The orthography for Chlouvānem represents how it was pronounced in Classical times, but it's completely regular to read in all present-day local pronunciations. The Chlouvānem alphabet is actually a defective script, at least in normal writing, as the phoneme /a/ is usually not written. It can be written with a diacritic sign, but this is only done in books aimed at children or language learners, in dictionaries, or in some rare cases where disambiguation is necessary, as two following letters may represent either a consonant cluster or there could be an /a/ between them; word-initial /a/ is however written with the character that represents the glottal stop otherwise. To make some examples, in the Chlouvānem script a word like marta "city" is written <mrt>, while avyāṣa "time, moment" is written <ʔvyāṣ>: Chlouvānem speakers are however able in the vast majority of cases to tell which word is meant due to context. Note that, however, the letter <a> is a proper letter of the alphabet, usually written as <ʔ> with the <a> diacritic.
The romanization used for Chlouvānem avoids this problem by giving each phoneme a single character or digraph, but it stays as close as possible to the native script. Aspirated stops and diphthongs are romanized as digraphs and not by single letters; geminate letters, which are represented with a diacritic in the native script, are romanized by writing the consonant twice - in the aspirated stops, only the first letter is written twice, so /ppʰ/ is <pph> and not *<phph>. The following table contains the whole Chlouvānem alphabet as it is romanized, following the native alphabetical order:
Letter | m | p | ph | b | bh | f | v | n | t | th |
Sound | /m/ | /p/ | /pʰ/ | /b/ | /bʱ/ | /f/ | /ʋ/ | /n/ | /t̪/ | /t̪ʰ/ |
Letter | d | dh | ç | çh | x | xh | s | ṇ | ṭ | ṭh |
Sound | /d̪/ | /d̪ʱ/ | /t̪͡s/ | /t̪͡sʰ/ | /d̪͡z/ | /d̪͡zʱ/ | /s/ | /ɳ/ | /ʈ/ | /ʈʰ/ |
Letter | ḍ | ḍh | ṣ | ñ | c | ch | j | jh | š | y |
Sound | /ɖ/ | /dʱ/ | /ʂ/ | /ɳ/ | /c͡ɕ/ | /c͡ɕʰ/ | /ɟ͡ʑ/ | /ɟ͡ʑʱ/ | /ɕ/ | /j/ |
Letter | k | kh | g | gh | ṃ | ʔ | h | r | l | ь[2] |
Sound | /k/ | /kʰ/ | /g/ | /gʱ/ | /N/ | /ʔ/ | /ɦ/ | /ʀ/ | /ɴ̆/, /ŋ/ | /ʲ/ |
Letter | i | ī | į | u | ū | ų | e | ė | ę | o |
Sound | /i/ | /iː/ | /i̤/ | /u/ | /uː/ | /ṳ/ | /e/ | /eː/ | /e̤/ | /ɔ/ |
Letter | æ | a | ā | ą | ai | ąi | ei | ęi | ea | oe |
Sound | /æ/ | /a/ | /aː/ | /ɑ̤/ | /aɪ̯/ | /a̤ɪ̯/ | /eɪ̯/ | /e̤ɪ̯/ | /eɐ̯/ | /ɔə̯/ |
Letter | au | ąu | ou | ṛ | ṝ | |||||
Sound | /aʊ̯/ | /a̤ʊ̯/ | /ɔʊ̯/ | /ʀ̩/ | /ʀ̩ː/ |
Some orthographical and phonological notes:
- /ŋ/ is written as <l> before <k g kh gh n>; <ll> before other consonants; and <nll> intervocalically. Note that in many local varieties <lk lkh lg lgh> are actually [ɴq ɴqʰ ɴɢ ɴɢʱ], with the stop assimilating to <l> and not vice-versa.
- The sequences /eɦe aɦa uɦu iɦ(ʲ)i/ are written <ęe ąa ųu įi>; the digraph <ęa> represents /eɦa/ but only in optative verbal stems, used for the optative and propositive moods.
Letter names are formed following these simple rules, which depend by phoneme type:
- Voiceless unaspirated stops and fricatives are phoneme + /uː/ (pū, tū, fū, sū...) except for <ʔ> which is aʔū. Voiceless aspirated stops are phoneme + /au̯/ (phau, thau...).
- Voiced unaspirated stops and fricatives are phoneme + /iː/ (bī, vī, dī...), while aspirated ones use /ai̯/ (bhai, dhai...). This latter diphthong is also used for yai, hai, and lai.
- Nasals and <r> use /ei̯/ (mei, nei, rei...), but <ṃ> is, uniquely, nālkāvi.
- Short unrounded vowels are vowel + /t/ + vowel (iti, ete...); short rounded ones have /p/ instead of /t/ (upu, opo).
- Long vowels are vowel + /n/ if unrounded (īn, ėn, ān), or /m/ if rounded (ūm). Oral diphthongs all have diphthong + /m/ + first element (aima, eime...).
- Breathy-voiced vowels are vowel + /ɦ/ + vowel (įi, ųu, ęe, ąa). Breathy-voiced diphthongs are diphthong + /ɦ/ + oral second element (ąihi, ęihi, ąuhu).
Morphology - Maivāndarāmita
Nouns - Halenī
The Chlouvānem noun (haloe, pl. halenī) is highly inflected: it declines for three numbers (singular, dual, plural), and eleven cases (direct, vocative, accusative, ergative, genitive, translative, exessive, essive, dative, ablative, and locative). Nouns also have grammatical gender, being divided in three classes (called dragon, lotus, and parrot based on nouns included in them[3]).
Gender
Genders and declensions are dependent on the form of the noun. Due to the prevailing endings in direct case, dragon nouns are also called the s-class; lotus nouns the m-class; and parrot nouns the h-class:
Dragon nouns (kaṃšūlñī halenī):
- 1s: nouns ending in -as or -ās
- 2s: nouns ending in -us or -ūs
- 3s: nouns ending in -is or -īs
- 4s: nouns ending in -oe /ˈɔə̯/
Lotus nouns (yujamñī halenī):
- 1m: nouns ending in -am, -em, -ām, -ėm, or any vowel plus -n
- 2m: nouns ending in -um or -ūm
- 3m: nouns ending in -im or -īm
- 4m: nouns ending in -ai
Parrot nouns (geltañī halenī):
- 1h: nouns ending in -a, -ah, -ā, or -āh
- 2h: nouns ending in -ė, -eh, or -ėh
- 3h: nouns ending in -uh or -ūh
- 4h: nouns ending in -ih or -īh (plus a few exceptional ones in -i)
- 5h: nouns ending in -a which have ablaut-conditioned variations in their stems in different cases
Dragon nouns - Kaṃšūlñī halenī
The first declension of dragon nouns is also the most common one for that gender. Like all other nominal declensions, the vocative is only distinct in the singular, and dual and plural have the same forms for translative, exessive, essive, dative, ablative, and locative.
1s | Singular | Dual | Plural | 2s | Singular | Dual | Plural | 3s | Singular | Dual | Plural | 4s | Singular | Dual | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | prātas "wind" | prātudi | prāte | kældus "wax" | kældudi | kælduvī | kumis "bamboo" | kumidi | kumiye | haloe "name" | haloedi | halenī | |||
Vocative | prātau | prātudi | prāte | kældu | kældudi | kælduvī | kumi | kumidi | kumiye | haloe | haloedi | halenī | |||
Accusative | prātu | prātudau | prātānu | kældau | kældudau | kældūnu | kumiu | kumidau | kumiānu | halenu | haloedau | halenænu | |||
Ergative | prāteṃs | prātudeni | prātān | kældoṃs | kældudeni | kældān | kumiei | kumideni | kumiān | halenei | haloedeni | halenān | |||
Genitive | prāti | prātudais | prātumi | kældavi | kældudais | kældoumi | kumieyi | kumideis | kumiumi | halenies | haloedais | halenyumi | |||
Translative | prātan | prātyoh | prātyoh | kældun | kældyoh | kældyoh | kumian | kumiyoh | kumiyoh | halenan | halenyoh | halenyoh | |||
Exessive | prātat | prātyās | prātyās | kældut | kældyās | kældyās | kumiæt | kumiyās | kumiyās | halenat | halenyās | halenyās | |||
Essive | prātą | prātvin | prātvin | kældęs | kældvin | kældvin | kumiæs | kumivin | kumivin | haleṃs | halemvin | halemvin | |||
Dative | prātui | prātouti | prātouti | kældui | kældouti | kældouti | kumiui | kumievuti | kumievuti | halenui | halenouti | halenouti | |||
Ablative | prātų | prātenīs | prātenīs | kældų | kældunīs | kældunīs | kumių | kumienīs | kumienīs | halenų | haleninīs | haleninīs | |||
Locative | prāte | prātilīm | prātilīm | kælduve | kældilīm | kældilīm | kumie | kumiælīm | kumiælīm | halenive | haleṃlīm | haleṃlīm |
Lotus nouns - Yujamñī halenī
1m | Singular | Dual | Plural | 2m | Singular | Dual | Plural | 3m | Singular | Dual | Plural | 4m | Singular | Dual | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | yujam "lotus" | yujandi | yujye | tūlum "worm" | tūlundi | tūluvye | jāyim "girl" | jāyiñxi | jāyiñe | lunai "tea" | lunaidi | lunāye | |||
Vocative | yujam | yujandi | yujye | tūlu | tūlundi | tūluvye | jāyī | jāyiñxi | jāyiñe | lunai | lunaidi | lunāye | |||
Accusative | yujamu | yujandau | yujāmūn | tūlau | tūlundau | tūlumūn | jāyimu | jāyiñxau | jāyimin | lunāyu | lunaidau | lunainū | |||
Ergative | yujamei | yujandeni | yujamān | tūluṃs | tūlundeni | tūlumān | jāyimei | jāyiñxeni | jāyimān | lunea | lunaideni | lunæyān | |||
Genitive | yujami | yujandais | yujammi | tūlumvi | tūlundais | tūloumi | jāyimi | jāyiñxeis | jāyiñumi | lunayi | lunaidais | lunæyumi | |||
Translative | yujaman | yujyoh | yujyoh | tūluman | tūluvyoh | tūluvyoh | jāyiman | jāyiñyoh | jāyiñyoh | lunāyan | lunāyoh | lunāyoh | |||
Exessive | yujamat | yujamyās | yujamyās | tūlumat | tūlumyās | tūlumyās | jāyimæt | jāyiñyās | jāyiñyās | lunāyat | lunāyās | lunāyās | |||
Essive | yujamą | yujamvin | yujamvin | tūlumą | tūlumvin | tūlumvin | jāyimą | jāyimvin | jāyimvin | lunąis | lunaivin | lunaivin | |||
Dative | yujamui | yujyouti | yujyouti | tūlumui | tūluvyouti | tūluvyouti | jāyimui | jāyimėti | jāyimėti | lunāmui | lunāyouti | lunāyouti | |||
Ablative | yujamų | yujamñis | yujamñis | tūlumų | tūlumñis | tūlumñis | jāyimų | jāyimñīs | jāyimñīs | lunāyų | lunaiñīs | lunaiñīs | |||
Locative | yujamñe | yujailīm | yujailīm | tūlumñe | tuluilīm | tuluilīm | jāyimñe | jāyælīm | jāyælīm | lunaiñe | lunæyilīm | lunæyilīm |
Parrot nouns - Geltañī halenī
1h | Singular | Dual | Plural | 2h | Singular | Dual | Plural | 3h | Singular | Dual | Plural | 4h | Singular | Dual | Plural | 5h | Singular | Dual | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | māra "mango" | māradi | mārai | javilė "apple" | javiladi | javilei | camūh "group" | camūdi | camūvai | xamih "arrow" | xamīdi | xamīye | lila "person" | lildi | leliė | ||||
Vocative | māra | māradi | mārai | javili | javiladi | javilei | camū | camūdi | camūvai | xamī | xamīdi | xamīye | lila | lildi | leliė | ||||
Accusative | māru | māradau | mārānu | javilu | javiladau | javilėnu | camou | camūdau | camounu | xamīyu | xamīdau | xameinu | lilu | lildau | leliu | ||||
Ergative | mārei | māradeni | mārān | javiliai | javiladeni | javilėn | camūvei | camūdeni | camoun | xamīyi | xamīdeni | xamein | lilei | lildeni | leliei | ||||
Genitive | māri | māradais | mārumi | javili | javiladais | javilumi | camūvi | camūdais | camūmi | xamīyi | xamīdais | xamiūmi | leli | lildais | laili | ||||
Translative | māran | māryāh | māryāh | javilan | javilyāh | javilyāh | camūn | camūyāh | camūyāh | xamīn | xamīyāh | xamīyāh | lilan | lelian | lelian | ||||
Exessive | mārat | māryās | māryās | javilet | javilyās | javilyās | camūt | camūyās | camūyās | xamīt | xamīyās | xamīyās | lilat | leliat | leliat | ||||
Essive | māręs | mārvin | mārvin | javilęs | javilein | javilein | camųs | camūvin | camūvin | xamįs | xamīvin | xamīvin | liląs | lailąs | lailąs | ||||
Dative | mārui | mārauti | mārauti | javilui | javiliauti | javiliauti | camvui | camvauti | camvauti | xamiui | xamiauti | xamiauti | lilui | leliui | leliui | ||||
Ablative | mārų | mārenīs | mārenīs | javilių | javilenīs | javilenīs | camųu | camūnīs | camūnīs | xamių | xamīnīs | xamīnīs | lilų | lelių | lelių | ||||
Locative | māre | mārilīm | mārilīm | javileyi | javililīm | javililīm | camve | camuilīm | camuilīm | xamie | xamīlīm | xamīlīm | lile | laile | laile |
Adjectives and adverbs
Adjectives, in Chlouvānem, are actually a subset of nouns which have different forms depending on gender. They can function as attributes to nouns, but they can also be used without any noun, usually replacing it (and taking its gender) as a means of anaphora. Adjectives decline much like nouns, except for a few small differences. Their dragon gender form, direct case, singular number, is the citation form.
Dragon gender (kaṃšūlñis)
There are three main adjectival declensions: -as, -us, and -is; a small subset of -es adjectives (mainly ordinal numbers) follows the -is pattern except for plural direct and vocative (having -eye instead of -ī) and having -e as a thematic vowel instead of -i before endings.
Translative, exessive, essive, dative, ablative, and locative forms are exactly the same as for nouns. Forms that are different from the nominal declensions are in bold:
1s | Singular | Dual | Plural | 2s | Singular | Dual | Plural | 3s | Singular | Dual | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | prātūkas "windy" | prātūkadi | prātūke | mālthus "last" | mālthudi | mālthuvī | tarlausis "scientific" | tarlausidi | tarlausī | ||
Vocative | prātūka | prātūkadi | prātūke | mālthu | mālthudi | mālthuvī | tarlausi | tarlausidi | tarlausī | ||
Accusative | prātūku | prātūkadu | prātūkānu | mālthau | mālthudau | mālthūnu | tarlausiu | tarlausidau | tarlausiānu | ||
Ergative | prātūkai | prātūkaden | prātūkān | mālthoṃs | mālthudeni | mālthān | tarlausiei | tarlausideni | tarlausiān | ||
Genitive | prātūkuyi | prātūkadais | prātūkumi | mālthuyi | mālthudais | mālthūmi | tarlausiai | tarlausideis | tarlausieis |
Lotus gender (yujamñis)
Lotus gender adjectives follow the same patterns as dragon ones — their endings are -am, -um, -im (-em). Differences in bold are from lotus gender nouns.
1m | Singular | Dual | Plural | 2m | Singular | Dual | Plural | 3m | Singular | Dual | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | prātūkam "windy" | prātūkandi | prātūkeñe | mālthum "last" | mālthundi | mālthuvye | tarlausim "scientific" | tarlausiñxi | tarlausiñe | ||
Vocative | prātūkam | prātūkandi | prātūkeñe | mālthu | mālthundi | mālthuvye | tarlausi | tarlausiñxi | tarlausiñe | ||
Accusative | prātūkamu | prātūkandu | prātūkūnu | mālthau | mālthundau | mālthumūn | tarlausimu | tarlausiñxau | tarlausimān | ||
Ergative | prātūkemei | prātūkanden | prātūkūnen | mālthuṃs | mālthundeni | mālthumān | tarlausimei | tarlausiñxeni | tarlausimān | ||
Genitive | prātūkañi | prātūkandais | prātūkumi | mālthuñi | mālthundais | mālthoumi | tarlauseñi | tarlausiñxeis | tarlausemñi |
Parrot gender (geltañis)
Parrot gender adjectives, unlike the other two genders, do not have the -e- subdeclension, having -ah, -uh, and -eh as its three declensional endings (-is/-es and -im/-em all correspond to -eh). Differences in bold are from parrot gender nouns.
1s | Singular | Dual | Plural | 2s | Singular | Dual | Plural | 3s | Singular | Dual | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | prātūkah "windy" | prātūkadi | prātūkæh | mālthuh "last" | mālthudi | mālthuvai | tarlauseh "scientific" | tarlausadi | tarlausei | ||
Vocative | prātūka | prātūkadi | prātūkæh | mālthu | mālthudi | mālthuvai | tarlausi | tarlausadi | tarlausei | ||
Accusative | prātūku | prātūkadau | prātūkaun | mālthou | mālthudau | mālthounu | tarlausu | tarlausadau | tarlausėnu | ||
Ergative | prātūkei | prātūkaden | prātūkæn | mālthuve | mālthudeni | mālthoun | tarlausiai | tarlausaeni | tarlausėn | ||
Genitive | prātūki | prātūkadais | prātūkumi | mālthuvi | mālthudais | mālthumi | tarlauseah | tarlausadæs | tarlausumi |
Verbs - Daradhūvī
The Chlouvānem verb (daradhūs, pl. daradhūvī) is the most inflected part of speech; its most basic forms are fusional, but many more specific formations are more agglutinative due to their origin from old Proto-Lahob particles or participles.
The first and most important division we can find in Chlouvānem verbs is the distinction between exterior (kauyāva) and interior (nañyāva) verbs. This may at first seem a voice system, but it must be distinguished from the true voices in Chlouvānem conjugation. The difference between them is mostly lexical: native grammarians distinguish exterior verbs as describing "activities or states that involve interactions with outside the self", and interior verbs as affecting principally the self. Exterior verbs are those we could most easily compare to active verbs in English, while interior verbs are a somewhat "catch-all" category including many distinct meanings, most notably middle-voice, reflexive and reciprocal ones but also all adjectival verbs as well as peculiar and somewhat independent meanings for some verbs. As many verbs can be conjugated both as exterior and as interior; they often have differences in meaning - e.g. gṇyauke means “to give birth” as exterior and “to be born” as interior.
Potentially every Chlouvānem verb, no matter if exterior or interior, has a causative conjugation which is considered an inflection and not a derivation, even if the meanings may vary: mišake is an extreme example as each form has a different meaning (with particularly interior forms having many meanings) - non-causative exterior mešu "I am seen", interior meširu "I know; I see myself"; and causative exterior maišaxhā "I am shown", interior maiširxhā "I learn; I show myself (trans.)".
Chlouvānem verbs also conjugate for seven voices, each one putting one of five different core elements as the direct-case argument, usually for means of topicalization or definiteness; they reflect the Austronesian-type morphosyntactical alignment of the language. The five voices are, for exterior verbs:
- patient-trigger or patientive (unmarked);
- agent-trigger or agentive (transitive and ditransitive verbs only);
- benefactive-trigger or simply benefactive;
- antibenefactive-trigger or simply antibenefactive;
- locative-trigger or simply locative;
- dative-trigger or simply dative (mostly ditransitive verbs);
- instrumental-trigger or simply instrumental (morphologically possible for all verbs, but not always meaningful).
Interior verbs only have six voices, as they do not have an agentive voice; the patientive, unmarked voice, is here called common voice.
Chlouvānem verbs also conjugate for five different tense-aspect combinations: three imperfective ones - present, imperfect, and future - and two perfective ones - perfect and aorist; two other tenses are built periphrastically (pluperfect and future perfect). Tenses are the “basic unit” verbs conjugate in: all tenses conjugate for nine persons (1st-2nd-3rd in singular, dual and plural; note though that 3rd singular and 3rd plural are identical in the perfect).
Some pronouns have a clitic form in accusative and ergative case which may be added to specify other arguments - e.g. mešėça "he sees" + -æl (clitic 1sg acc.) > mešėçæl "he sees me" - equivalent to læl mešėça.
However, the most complex part of Laceyiami verbs is the mood. Chlouvānem is particularly mood-heavy and its concept of mood is quite broad, conjugating verbs in what are called primary moods and secondary moods; a single verb form may have a single primary mood but up to two secondary moods.
The ten primary moods are:
- indicative - the realis mood;
- imperative - used for giving orders or commands;
- desiderative - used to express a desire or will (e.g. I want to X);
- necessitative - used to express need or obligation (e.g. I have to X);
- potential - used to express the ability to do something (e.g. I can [= am able to] X)
- permissive - used to express the permission to do something (e.g. I can [= I’m allowed to] X)
- optative - used to express wishes or hopes;
- propositive - used to express proposals (e.g. let’s X; why don’t you X);
- hypothetical - used to express things that may happen or might have happened;
- subjunctive - used to express general advices (jussive use), purpose (supine use), and also syntactically conditioned by some particles.
The eight secondary moods are:
- five of them express evidentiality, namely: certainty (also energetic mood), deduction, dream, specifically invented situation, and hearsay (also inferential mood);
- interrogative, used for questions;
- two consequential moods: one expressing cause (e.g. “because X”), the other opposition (e.g. “although X”).
Chlouvānem verbs also has a non-finite form (the -ke form, called infinitive hereafter) and a small number of preverbal modifiers that add a particular meaning to the verb.
Finally, Chlouvānem has a large number of attributive and adverbial participles, with forms for most voices and tenses and a distinction into modal adverbs, homofocal gerundives and heterofocal gerundives.
Verb classes and infinitive
Verbs, in Chlouvānem, are conjugated depending on verb classes or conjugations. There are five main patterns:
- a-root, or thematic: the most basic and regular, formed by adding a to the root before non-vocalic endings.
- Athematic: as above, without a; endings are added directly to the root.
- Ablauting root: formed by the root with ablaut changes in its main vowel, plus a before non-vocalic endings.
- Athematic ablauting root: a small subset conjugating as above, but without a.
- nā/nī verbs: verbs which add nā (na in some forms) or nī, or nothing, to the root depending on form.
- ah verbs: verbs which add -ah (or its allomorphs -ar, -aš, -ą) to the root.
Moods apart from the indicative mainly just follow root structure, with different allomorphs depending on whether the root ends in a consonant or in a vowel.
There are, in addition to these, a few particular verb types with either some kind of suffix added to the root in some forms, or irregular ablaut, or totally irregular (usually suppletive). The majority of verbs, anyway, is either thematic or thematic ablauting, and the majority of roots end in one or two consonants.
The infinitive or ke-form is a non-finite form used in certain construction (like with certain verbs (e.g. daudike (to want)) or particles). It is also the citation form, and it is simple to recognize and form:
- The infinitive is always based on the root, thus with either a basic-grade vowel for ablauting verbs or an unreduced sequence for inverse-ablauting ones.
- Verbs in the thematic or ablauting root classes add -ake; nā/nī verbs add -nāke;
- All other verbs just add -ke. There are a few cases where this is not always how it surfaces:
- verbs ending in a palatalized consonant have an epenthetic -i- (e.g. męlь-ke → męlike (to give));
- verbs whose roots end in any single or postnasal unvoiced dental, retroflex, or palatal stop or affricate, assimilate the -k- of the suffix (e.g. kit-ke → kitte (to put, place));
- verbs whose roots end in any single or postnasal voiced, non-velar stop, assimilate the voicing of the suffix -k- (e.g. dįb-ke → dįbge (to kick));
- verbs whose roots end in single -g or -gh assimilate the -k-, with the regular saṃdhi change from double voiced stop to nasal + voiced stop (e.g. dig-ke → dilge (to pour));
- verbs whose roots end in any other consonant cluster only add -e (e.g. pugl-ke → pugle (to sleep)).
Present indicative
Regular
The regular present indicative has a distinct form for all verb types.
Ablauting verbs have middle grade ablaut in all exterior forms and in the singular interior ones.
nā/nī verbs have -nā in singular and plural and -nī in the dual.
Exterior forms:
Person | nāmvake "to crush, press" (a-root) |
halke "to call" (athem.) |
mišake "to see" (ablaut) |
khlunāke "to search, look for" (nā/nī) |
lilke "to live" (ah) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvu | halu | mešu | khlunau | lilah |
2SG | nāmvi | hali | meši | khlunāði | lilaši |
3SG | nāmvė | halė | mešė | khlunā | lilah |
1DU | nāmvodām | haldām | mešodām | khlunīdām | lilardām |
2DU | nāmvodās | haldās | mešodās | khlunīdās | lilardās |
3DU | nāmvodāvo | haldāvo | mešodāvo | khlunīdāvo | lilardāvo |
1PL | nāmvamui | halmui | mešamui | khlunāmui | liląmui |
2PL | nāmvakui | halkui | mešakui | khlunākui | liląkui |
3PL | nāmvyąt | halyąt | mešyąt | khlunāyąt | lilašąt |
Interior forms:
Person | dældake "to speak" (a-root) |
gṇyauke[4] "to be born" (athem.) |
tṛlake "to know" (ablaut) |
chleināke "to smile" (nā/nī) |
hañilke "to remember" (ah) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1SG | dældiru | gṇyāviru | tarliru | chleinairu | hañiląiru |
2SG | dældiris | gṇyāviris | tarliris | chleinairis | hañiląiris |
3SG | dældire | gṇyāvire | tarlire | chleinaih | hañiląire |
1DU | dældirðām | gṇyāvirðām | tṛlirðām | chleinīrðām | hañilęrðām |
2DU | dældirðās | gṇyāvirðās | tṛlirðās | chleinīrðās | hañilęrðās |
3DU | dældirðāvo | gṇyāvirðāvo | tṛlirðāvo | chleinīrðāvo | hañilęrðāvo |
1PL | dældirmui | gṇyāvirmui | tṛlirmui | chleinairmui | hañilęrmui |
2PL | dældirkui | gṇyāvirkui | tṛlirkui | chleinairkui | hañilęrkui |
3PL | dældirųt | gṇyāvirųt | tṛlirųt | chleinairųt | hañilęrųt |
Causative
Causative forms are the same regardless of conjugation; they are formed basically with an extended stem with -(a)xh-. Ablauting verbs always have the highest grade vowel, while inverse ablaut verbs have the "lowered" vowel in front of the normal stem.
All causative verbs have both exterior and interior forms.
Exterior forms:
Person | nāmvake "to make crush, press" (normal) |
mišake "to show" (ablaut) |
valde "to make open" (inverse ablaut) |
---|---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvaxhā | maišaxhā | uvaldaxhā |
2SG | nāmvaxhie | maišaxhie | uvaldaxhie |
3SG | nāmvaxhāt | maišaxhāt | uvaldaxhāt |
1DU | nāmvanxhām | maišanxhām | uvaldanxhām |
2DU | nāmvanxhās | maišanxhās | uvaldanxhās |
3DU | nāmvanxhū | maišanxhū | uvaldanxhū |
1PL | nāmvaxhumi | maišaxhumi | uvaldaxhumi |
2PL | nāmvaxhuši | maišaxhuši | uvaldaxhuši |
3PL | nāmvaxhįs | maišaxhįs | uvaldaxhįs |
Interior forms:
Person | nāmvake "to make each other crush, press" (normal) |
mišake "to learn; to show each other" (ablaut) |
valde "to open; to make each other open" (inverse ablaut) |
---|---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvirxhā | maiširxhā | uvaldirxhā |
2SG | nāmvirxhie | maiširxhie | uvaldirxhie |
3SG | nāmvirxhāt | maiširxhāt | uvaldirxhāt |
1DU | nāmvirenxhām | maiširenxhām | uvaldirenxhām |
2DU | nāmvirenxhās | maiširenxhās | uvaldirenxhās |
3DU | nāmvirenxhū | maiširenxhū | uvaldirenxhū |
1PL | nāmvirxhumi | maiširxhumi | uvaldirxhumi |
2PL | nāmvirxhuši | maiširxhuši | uvaldirxhuši |
3PL | nāmvirxhįs | maiširxhįs | uvaldirxhįs |
Imperative
Regular
The imperative is a defective paradigm, lacking all dual forms; it is formed from the bare root, so it is formed in the same way for all verbs.
Note that, due to the politeness system of Chlouvānem, the imperative is somewhat rare, as other methods are used. The first person imperative is an exception, being often used with the meaning “I/we must”.
Person | nāmvake "to crush, press” (exterior) |
dældake “to speak” (interior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvikṣam | dældikuru |
2SG | nāmvikṣa | dældikuh |
3SG | nāmvikṣai | dældikurė |
1DU | — | — |
2DU | — | — |
3DU | — | — |
1PL | nāmvikṣumi | dældikurum |
2PL | nāmvikṣus | dældikurus |
3PL | nāmvikṣat | dældikurat |
Causative
Causative forms follow the same pattern as non-causative ones, but the stem is the specifically causative one.
Person | nāmvake "to make crush, press" (exterior) |
mišake "to learn; to show each other" (interior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvaxhiṣam | maišaxhiuru |
2SG | nāmvaxhiṣa | maišaxhiuh |
3SG | nāmvaxhiṣai | maišaxhiurė |
1DU | — | — |
2DU | — | — |
3DU | — | — |
1PL | nāmvaxhiṣumi | maišaxhiurum |
2PL | nāmvaxhiṣus | maišaxhiurus |
3PL | nāmvaxhiṣat | maišaxhiurat |
Aorist Indicative
Regular
In the aorist indicative, -ah verbs are not distinguished as a conjugation, behaving instead like root verbs. -nā/nī verbs have no root extension in the singular exterior and interior, and -nā- in all other forms.
Ablauting verbs always have their base grade, except for inverse ablaut roots which use the reduced vowel, and plural interior forms.
Exterior forms:
Person | nāmvake "to crush, press" (a-root) |
halke "to call" (athem.) |
mišake "to see" (ablaut) |
khlunāke "to search, look for" (nā/nī) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvau | halau | mišau | khluvau |
2SG | nāmvei | halei | mišei | khluvei |
3SG | nāmvitь | halitь | mišitь | khlutь |
1DU | nāmvādram | halādram | mišādram | khlunādram |
2DU | nāmvādras | halādras | mišādras | khlunādras |
3DU | nāmvādru | halādru | mišādru | khlunādru |
1PL | nāmvalīmi | hallīmi | mišalīmi | khlunālīmi |
2PL | nāmvalīši | hallīši | mišalīši | khlunālīši |
3PL | nāmvāli | halāli | mišāli | khlunāli |
Interior forms:
Person | dældake "to speak" (a-root) |
gṇyauke "to be born" (athem.) |
tṛlake "to know" (ablaut) |
chleināke "to smile" (nā/nī) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1SG | dældirau | gṇyāvirau | tṛlirau | chleyirau |
2SG | dældirei | gṇyāvirei | tṛlirei | chleyirei |
3SG | dældiritь | gṇyāviritь | tṛliritь | chleyiritь |
1DU | dældeldram | gṇyāveldram | tṛleldram | chleinaildram |
2DU | dældeldras | gṇyāveldras | tṛleldras | chleinaildras |
3DU | dældeldru | gṇyāveldru | tṛleldru | chleinaildru |
1PL | dældielīmi | gṇyāvyelīmi | tarlielīmi | chleinailīmi |
2PL | dældielīši | gṇyāvyelīši | tarlielīši | chleinailīši |
3PL | dældirāli | gṇyāvirāli | tarlirāli | chleinairāli |
Causative
Causative forms use the same stems as in the present indicative. Exterior forms:
Person | nāmvake "to make crush, press" (normal) |
mišake "to show" (ablaut) |
valde "to make open" (inverse ablaut) |
---|---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvaxhiou | maišaxhiou | uvaldaxhā |
2SG | nāmvaxhei | maišaxhei | uvaldaxhie |
3SG | nāmvaxhitь | maišaxhitь | uvaldaxhāt |
1DU | nāmvaxhādram | maišaxhādram | uvaldaxhādram |
2DU | nāmvaxhādras | maišaxhādras | uvaldaxhādras |
3DU | nāmvaxhādru | maišaxhādru | uvaldaxhādru |
1PL | nāmvaxhalīm | maišaxhalīm | uvaldaxhalīm |
2PL | nāmvaxhalīs | maišaxhalīs | uvaldaxhalīs |
3PL | nāmvaxhāli | maišaxhāli | uvaldaxhāli |
Interior forms:
Person | nāmvake "to make each other crush, press" (normal) |
mišake "to learn; to show each other" (ablaut) |
valde "to open; to make each other open" (inverse ablaut) |
---|---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvirxhiou | maiširxhiou | uvaldirxhiou |
2SG | nāmvirxhei | maiširxhei | uvaldirxhei |
3SG | nāmvirxhitь | maiširxhitь | uvaldirxhitь |
1DU | nāmvirxhādram | maiširxhādram | uvaldirxhādram |
2DU | nāmvirxhādras | maiširxhādras | uvaldirxhādras |
3DU | nāmvirxhādru | maiširxhādru | uvaldirxhādru |
1PL | nāmvirxhalīm | maiširxhalīm | uvaldirxhalīm |
2PL | nāmvirxhalīs | maiširxhalīs | uvaldirxhalīs |
3PL | nāmvirxhāli | maiširxhāli | uvaldirxhāli |
Perfect Indicative
The perfect is formed with the same terminations for all verbs. The particularity of this tense is that it uses a special stem, formed by prefixing the root vowel (shortened and with the basic root ablaut) to the stem. Examples:
- nāmvake “to crush, press” = nāmv- → anāmv-
- khlunāke “to search, look for” = khlu- → ukhlu-
- hilkake “to dye, colour” = hilk- → ihilk-
- męlike “to give” = męlь → emęlь-
æ uses i; o and ṛ use a; diphthongs usually only take their first component, exceptions being ai (→ e) and au (→ o):
- dældake “to speak” = dæld- → idæld-
- kolkake “to be acid” = kolk- → akolk-
- tṛlake “to know, understand” = tṛl- → atṛl-
- yaudake “to catch” = yaud- → oyaud-
- laitake “to row” = lait- → elait-
Causative stems with ablaut have a full reduplication, using the first consonant plus the basic vowel grade, like miš- → maiš- → mimaiš-.
A few verbs have irregular stems:
- lilke “to live” = lælī-
- dṛke “to do” = dadrā-
Regular forms (3rd person singular and plural are the same for all verbs):
Person | nāmvake "to crush, press" (exterior) |
dældake “to speak” (interior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | anāmvam | idældiram |
2SG | anāmves | idældires |
3SG | anāmva | idældirā |
1DU | anāmvonda | idældirunda |
2DU | anāmvodes | idældirudes |
3DU | anāmvot | idældirut |
1PL | anāmvamia | idældiramia |
2PL | anāmvasia | idældirasia |
3PL | anāmva | idældirā |
Causative forms:
Person | nāmvake "to make crush, press" (exterior) |
mišake "to learn; to show each other" (interior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | anāmvixam | mimaišerxam |
2SG | anāmvixes | mimaišerxes |
3SG | anāmvixa | mimaišerxa |
1DU | anāmvixunda | mimaišerxunda |
2DU | anāmvixudes | mimaišerxudes |
3DU | anāmvixut | mimaišerxut |
1PL | anāmvixmia | mimaišerxmia |
2PL | anāmvinxia | mimaišerinxia |
3PL | anāmvixa | mimaišerxa |
Future indicative
The future tense does not vary between conjugations, and the stem is always the one used in the infinitive.
Regular forms:
Person | nāmvake "to crush, press" (exterior) |
dældake “to speak” (interior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | nāmviṣyam | dælderiṣyam |
2SG | nāmviṣyes | dælderiṣyes |
3SG | nāmviṣya | dælderiṣya |
1DU | nāmviṣṭām | dælderiṣṭām |
2DU | nāmviṣṭās | dælderiṣṭās |
3DU | nāmviṣṭāvo | dælderiṣṭāvo |
1PL | nāmviṣmāmi | dælderiṣmāmi |
2PL | nāmviṣmāsi | dælderiṣmāsi |
3PL | nāmviṣmāta | dælderiṣmāta |
Causative forms:
Person | nāmvake "to make crush, press" (exterior) |
mišake "to learn; to show each other" (interior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvaxhiṣyam | maiširxhiṣyam |
2SG | nāmvaxhiṣyes | maiširxhiṣyes |
3SG | nāmvaxhiṣya | maiširxhiṣya |
1DU | nāmvaxhiṣṭām | maiširxhiṣṭām |
2DU | nāmvaxhiṣṭās | maiširxhiṣṭās |
3DU | nāmvaxhiṣṭāvo | maiširxhiṣṭāvo |
1PL | nāmvaxhiṣmāmi | maiširxhiṣmāmi |
2PL | nāmvaxhiṣmāsi | maiširxhiṣmāsi |
3PL | nāmvaxhiṣmāta | maiširxhiṣmāta |
The subjunctive mood
The subjunctive mood only distinguishes aspects and not tense; it is formed by special terminations and has exterior, interior, regular and causative forms.
The subjunctive is fairly regular for all verbs, using (except in the causative conjugation) the most basic form of the root — that is, without nā/nī suffixes and in basic grade ablaut; the only exceptions being inverse ablauting roots which use their weakened form (e.g. valde uses uld- and not vald-). 3rd person singular, 2nd plural, and 3rd plural, are identical in all verbs.
Imperfective aspect
Regular:
Person | nāmvake "to crush, press” (exterior) |
dældake "to speak” (interior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvup | dældimmup |
2SG | nāmveap | dældimmep |
3SG | nāmvāsi | dældirāsi |
1DU | nāmvumbu | dældirumbu |
2DU | nāmvumbe | dældirumbe |
3DU | nāmvumbap | dældirumbap |
1PL | nāmvicham | dældilcham |
2PL | nāmvāsi | dældirāsi |
3PL | nāmvāsi | dældirāsi |
Causative:
Person | mišake “to show” (exterior) |
mišake “to learn; to show each other” (interior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | maišaxhup | maiširxhup |
2SG | maišaxheap | maiširxheap |
3SG | maišaxhāsi | maiširxhāsi |
1DU | maišaxhumbu | maiširxhumbu |
2DU | maišaxhumbe | maiširxhumbe |
3DU | maišaxhumbap | maiširxhumbap |
1PL | maišaxicham | maiširxicham |
2PL | maišaxhāsi | maiširxhāsi |
3PL | maišaxhāsi | maiširxhāsi |
Perfective aspect
Regular:
Person | nāmvake "to crush, press" (interior) |
dældake "to speak” (exterior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvatup | dældiṭṭup |
2SG | nāmvateap | dældiṭṭeap |
3SG | nāmvetāsi | dældiṭṭāsi |
1DU | nāmvatumbu | dældiṭṭumbu |
2DU | nāmvatumbe | dældiṭṭumbe |
3DU | nāmvatumbap | dældiṭṭumbap |
1PL | nāmvañcham | dældireñcham |
2PL | nāmvetāsi | dældiṭṭāsi |
3PL | nāmvetāsi | dældiṭṭāsi |
Causative:
Person | mišake “to show” (causative) |
mišake “to learn; to show each other” (causative) |
---|---|---|
1SG | maišaxhetup | maiširxhetup |
2SG | maišaxhetep | maiširxhetep |
3SG | maišaxhetāsi | maiširxhetāsi |
1DU | maišaxhetumbu | maiširxhetumbu |
2DU | maišaxhetumbe | maiširxhetumbe |
3DU | maišaxhetumbap | maiširxhetumbap |
1PL | maišaxeñcham | maiširxeñcham |
2PL | maišaxhetāsi | maiširxhetāsi |
3PL | maišaxhetāsi | maiširxhetāsi |
The hypothetical mood
The hypothetical mood is mainly used in if constructions (e.g. yųlatṛ "if it is eaten") and, like the subjunctive, only conjugates for aspect. As all terminations are vocalic, all conjugations form it the same way, starting from the root.
Imperfective aspect
Regular:
Person | nāmvake "to crush, press" (interior) |
dældake "to speak” (exterior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvatiam | dældirtam |
2SG | nāmvaça | dældirça |
3SG | nāmvatṛ | dældirtṛ |
1DU | nāmvadītim | dældirdītim |
2DU | nāmvadītis | dældirdītis |
3DU | nāmvadītṛ | dældirdītṛ |
1PL | nāmvantim | dældiratim |
2PL | nāmvantis | dældiratis |
3PL | nāmvantṛ | dældiratṛ |
Causative:
Person | mišake “to show” (causative) |
mišake “to learn; to show each other” (causative) |
---|---|---|
1SG | maišaxhitam | maiširxhitam |
2SG | maišaxhiça | maiširxhiça |
3SG | maišaxhitṛ | maiširxhitṛ |
1DU | maišaxhidītim | maiširxhidītim |
2DU | maišaxhidītis | maiširxhidītis |
3DU | maišaxhidītṛ | maiširxhidītṛ |
1PL | maišaxhintim | maiširxhintim |
2PL | maišaxhintis | maiširxhintis |
3PL | maišaxhintṛ | maiširxhintṛ |
Perfective aspect
Regular:
Person | nāmvake "to crush, press" (interior) |
dældake "to speak” (exterior) |
---|---|---|
1SG | nāmvāttiam | dældertiam |
2SG | nāmvānça | dælderaça |
3SG | nāmvātara | dælderatra |
1DU | nāmvāndītim | dælderadītim |
2DU | nāmvāndītis | dælderadītis |
3DU | nāmvāndītara | dælderadītra |
1PL | nāmvātatim | dældertatim |
2PL | nāmvātatis | dældertatis |
3PL | nāmvātatra | dældertatra |
Causative:
Person | mišake “to show” (causative) |
mišake “to learn; to show each other” (causative) |
---|---|---|
1SG | maišaxhettiam | maiširxhettiam |
2SG | maišaxhença | maiširxhença |
3SG | maišaxhetara | maiširxhetara |
1DU | maišaxhendītim | maiširxhendītim |
2DU | maišaxhendītis | maiširxhendītis |
3DU | maišaxhendītara | maiširxhendītara |
1PL | maišaxhetatim | maiširxhetatim |
2PL | maišaxhetatis | maiširxhetatis |
3PL | maišaxhetatra | maiširxhetatra |
The optative and propositive moods
Optative and propositive moods are made starting from the same stem; these stem use the same terminations as regular (a-type verbs) present for the imperfective aspect and regular aorist for the perfective; propositive mood uses the imperative ones.
The stem is formed by taking the root and adding -ouna- after consonants and -vūna- after vowels. Note that, while adding terminations, a is deleted between a single sonorant and a single non-sonorant consonant (e.g. 1sg propositive causative -ounxhiṣam < -oun-a-xhiṣam)
Example (nāmvake “to crush, press”):
- Imperfective: exterior nāmvounu, nāmvouni, nāmvounė, … interior nāmvouniru, …; causative ext. nāmvounaxhā, …; caus. int. nāmvounirxhā, …
- Perfective: ext. nāmvounau, nāmvounei, nāmvounitь, … int. nāmvounirau, …; caus. ext. nāmvounaxhiou, …; caus. int. nāmvounirxhiou, …
- Propositive: ext. nāmvounikṣam, nāmvounikṣa, nāmvounikṣai, … int. nāmvounikuru, …; caus. ext. nāmvounxhiṣam, …; caus. int. nāmvounxhiuru, ...
The desiderative mood
The desiderative mood, unlike the optative, hypothetical, and subjunctive moods, conjugates in all tenses and aspects just like the indicative; the difference being the special stem it uses, formed with reduplication of the root plus -s (except for -ora- and -ьouš- verbs). The resulting stem conjugates as any root verb.
Reduplication adds the first consonant of the verb (except prefixes) and its first vowel (always oral short).There are however some special rules followed in reduplicating:
- Aspirated stops are always reduplicated as unaspirated;
- g- is always reduplicated as h-, except for a few irregular verbs;
- h- is reduplicated as k-;
- k- as š-;
- f- as p-;
- l- in the initial clusters lk-, lkh-, lg-, or lgh- reduplicates as n-.
- Initial clusters which begin with s-, ṣ-, š-, or v- use the first consonant which is not one of them (but šv- reduplicates as š-);
* Verbs with ablaut always have middle-grade ablaut; ṛ reduplicates as a; * Inverse-ablaut verbs have the consonant of the unreduced root but the reduced vowel;
- Roots beginning with vowels are regular, reduplicating the otherwise allophonic initial ʔ.
- Prefixes are added before the reduplicated root.
Final added -s has some special saṃdhi rules, too (in addition to the usual ones):
- -d-s and -dh-s both become -ts (always written so and never as *ç);
- After voiced stops, -s becomes -r and aspirated stops lose aspiration. -j-s and -jh-s both become -jl;
- -š-s becomes -kṣ;
- -y-s becomes -š;
- -l-s becomes -lь when prevocalic and -lš when preconsonantal, but -rl-s always becomes -relь-.
Causative forms just add the causative endings, without further modifying the stem.
-ora- and -ьouš- verbs use -oreka- and -ьoušca- respectively, without other modifications, but they're often substituted by infinitive + daudike constructions. In many of the northeastern and northwestern lands of the Inquisition, this analytic construction is used instead of the synthetic desiderative in almost any case.
Examples of desiderative mood stems are:
- peithake “to go (multid.)”, root peith- → pe-peith-s → pepeits-
- lgutake “to buy”, root lgut- → nu-lgot-s → nulgots-
- khlunāke “to search, look for”, root khlu- → ku-khlu-s → kukhlus-
- nilyake “to think”, root nily- → ni-nely-s → ninelš-
- tṛlake “to do”, root tṛl- → ta-tarl-s > tatarelь-
- valde “to open”, root vald- → v-uld-s > vults-
A few verbs have completely irregular stems:
- gyake “to be”: muñj-
- lilke “to live”: lėlikṣ-
- męlike “to give”: mimęñ-
- milke “to take”: mūṃchl-.
The necessitative mood
The necessitative mood is formed and conjugates much like the desiderative; it uses a stem formed by reduplication and adding -asya-, with normal saṃdhi changes.
Examples:
- peithake “to go (multid.)”, → pepeithasya-
- khlunāke “to search, look for” → kukhlūvsya-
* nilyake “to think” → ninelyasya-
- valde “to open” → vuldasya-
The potential mood
The potential mood also conjugates in all tenses and aspects and has a stem formed with initial reduplication. It is formed by adding -(e)nā- to the root and behaves as a fourth conjugation verb, adding an epenthetic -n before vocalic endings. Note that -r-nā- (like e.g. in all -ora- verbs) becomes -rṇā- due to saṃdhi.
Examples: peithake → pepeithnā- ; gṇyauke → gagṇyaunā- ; nilyake → ninelyenā-.
A special case of saṃdhi occurs in roots which end in a single -g or -k: this consonant becomes -gh and the -n in the suffix becomes retroflex, e.g. mūmikke "to dance", root mūmik- > mumūmighṇā- ; dilge “to pour", root dig- > dideghṇā-.
The permissive mood
The permissive mood also conjugates in all tenses and aspects and is formed, without reduplication, by adding -ippu- before consonantal endings and -īpr- before vocalic ones.
Examples: mišake → mišippu- > mišipru "I am allowed to see", mišippum “I was allowed to see”.
Bisyllabic roots which have as their second syllable an unstressed vowel between two consonants that may form an allowed cluster (thus sonorant-vowel-stop/fricative, except -m-velar) lose this vowel while adding the suffix, e.g. hañilke > halñippu- (-ñl- → -lñ- is a fairly regular saṃdhi change).
The verb "to be" (gyake)
The verb "to be" is suppletive as it uses various different stems (from Proto-Lahob *gəjó, *woŋ—*uŋ, *mōws respectively) and irregularly — for example, the future indicative is morphologically a present.
Note that the indicative present is very rarely used, as the copula is usually dropped in most cases.
Indicative mood
Person | Present | Aorist | Perfect | Future |
---|---|---|---|---|
1SG | valu | mos | egyam | mavū |
2SG | vali | moçi | egyes | mavei |
3SG | væl | mitь | egya | mavė |
1DU | undām | mordam | egyonda | maudām |
2DU | undās | mordas | egyodes | maudās |
3DU | undau | mordu | egyot | maudāvo |
1PL | ummi | molīm | egyamia | maumui |
2PL | ulki | molīs | egyasia | maukui |
3PL | uñyąt | moli | egya | mavyąt |
Pronouns
Chlouvānem has a series of pronouns which are irregular when compared to other nouns, yet they follow a mostly similar pattern among themselves. As with nouns and adjectives, in Chlouvānem there is mostly no difference between possessive and demonstrative pronouns and adjectives. Note that pronouns here are defined as a morphological category, as there are many pronominal locutions or nouns acting as pronouns in the Chlouvānem honorific system. Familiar and neutral styles of Chlouvānem speech use these only.
Standard Chlouvānem as spoken today uses the following pronouns:
- 1st person lili (sg.), lileidi (dual), and mayin (pl.).
- 2nd person sāmi (sg.), sāmeidi (dual), and nagin (pl.).
- 3rd person parrot tami (sg.), tameidi (dual), and taṃšān (pl.).
- 3rd person dragon tayuši (sg.) and taimāsi (pl.), and 3rd person lotus tayumi (sg.) and taimām (pl.) — they are only distinct from the parrot forms in direct, accusative, and ergative; tameidi is used as dual for all three genders.
- Reflexive demi (mandatory for 3rd person, commonly used also for 1st and 2nd).
The pronouns doubling as adjectives are:
- Three demonstrative series, all declining for gender but not for number: proximal nenė (parrot), neneis (dragon), neneim (lotus); medial nunū (p.), nunuis (d.), nunuim (l.); distal nanā (p.), nanās (d.), nanām (l.).
- The possessives: liliā (lilem, liles); meyā (meyem, meyes); sāmiā (sāmim, sāmis); negā (negim, negis); tamiā (tamim, tamis); tašñā (tašñem, tašñes); demiā (demim, demis).
Note that both the demonstrative and the possessives are often not declined for gender in common speech in certain areas, most notably the densely populated area of the Lower Plains, including Līlasuṃghāṇa, Līlta, Galiākina, Ilėnimarta, and a few areas near Līṭhalyinām, Talliė, and Lāltaṣveya — an area inhabited by around 100 million people. This also happens in and near Līlikanāna, fourth largest city of the Inquisition, largest in the Far East.
In addition, yani is an emphatic pronoun not properly part of common speech (demi is used instead) but sometimes found in high style. Archaic Chlouvānem had a demonstrative series consisting of proximal ami (em, es), medial uteni (utam, utas), and distal āteni (ātam, ātas), which declined in use throughout Classical times, when they were replaced by the newer nenė — nunū — nanā forms.
Personal pronouns
Singular
1sg | Singular | 2sg | Singular | refl | Singular |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | lili | sāmi | demi | ||
Accusative | læl (-æl) | saim (-isė) | deim (-idė) | ||
Ergative | lį (-elī) | sąi (-ąsī) | dęi (-ędī) | ||
Genitive | liliā | sāmiā | demiā | ||
Translative | liñ | sāñ | deñ | ||
Exessive | litь | sātь | detь | ||
Essive | lęsь | sąsь | dęsь | ||
Dative | liū | sāyū | deyū | ||
Ablative | lųu | sāhų | dehų | ||
Locative | liė | sāyė | deyė |
(parrot) | Singular | (dragon) | Singular | (lotus) | Singular |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | tami | tayuši | tayumi | ||
Accusative | taim (-et) | temuis (-et) | temum (-et) | ||
Ergative | tę (-tę) | tęvis (-tę) | tęvum (-tę) | ||
Genitive | tamiā | tamiā | tamiā | ||
Translative | tañ | tañ | tañ | ||
Exessive | tatь | tatь | tatь | ||
Essive | tąsь | tąsь | tąsь | ||
Dative | tayū | tayū | tayū | ||
Ablative | tahų | tahų | tahų | ||
Locative | tayė | tayė | tayė |
Dual
1du | Dual | 1du | Dual | 1du | Dual |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | lileidi | sāmeidi | tameidi | ||
Accusative | lildū | sādhū | tadhū | ||
Ergative | lilden | sādhen | tadhen | ||
Genitive | lildes | sādhes | tadhes | ||
Translative | lildoh | sādhoh | tadhoh | ||
Exessive | lildās | sādhās | tadhās | ||
Essive | lildūn | sādhūn | tadhūn | ||
Dative | lildotь | sādhotь | tadhotь | ||
Ablative | lildīs | sādhīs | tadhīs | ||
Locative | lildīm | sādhīm | tadhīm |
Plural
Honorific pronouns
(note: this section still needs expansion)
There are many different pronouns used for second and third person in honorific speech. The rules for using them are mostly dictated by the distance between the two speakers, and, for third persons, the relative distance between them.
Note that female and male is still a relic of traditional Chlouvānem society; nonbinary people, unless clearly towards the feminine end of the spectrum, are usually treated as women if they are of higher rank and as men if they are of lower rank. Also note that plural pronouns are also used for dual number.
Second person generally used these pronouns:
- sāmi, the morphological pronoun, is used in familiar registers and between females or between males if they are not strangers and they're all of the same rank or of similar age.
- nujyā is used by females for all strangers and for male of the same rank as them; males use it for male strangers and males of higher rank.
- yonujyā is a somewhat more formal alternative to nujyā.
- ṭaniā is used by females for all non-stranger females of higher rank. Males use it for all females except close friends and relatives.
- yomyė is a moderately familiar pronoun, kinda intermediate between sāmi and ṭaniā/nujyā.
- uṣṭām is used by females for people of lower rank, and by males for lower rank males.
- gopūrṭham is an extremely formal pronoun, used with public officials.
- (go)pūrṭhami brausa or yo-brausa is used for the highest ranked Inquisitors and for the Baptist.
- lalla yo-brausa is used exclusively for the Great Inquisitor.
- (go)pūrṭhami brausa or yo-brausa is used for the highest ranked Inquisitors and for the Baptist.
- ya-kaleyuṭhā is a plural pronoun, used when speaking to a representative of a specifically defined group (institution or company).
- yavyāta is a plural pronoun used for generic, less defined groups.
Third person pronouns vary according to whether the third person referent is higher, lower, or equal to the second person, and for each of these cases the relative rank of first and second person further determine which pronoun should be used. In some cases, a third person feminine person requires a different pronoun from a masculine one.
Note that all forms here are for singular pronouns; unless noted they're all nouns (except tami) and they are pluralized regularly if needed.
If 3S is higher than 2S and...
- ...1S is lower than 2S, lalla yañša is used.
- ...1S is equal to 2S, lalla yañša is used, or just tami in familiar registers.
- ...1S is higher than 2S, then:
- if 3S is lower than 1S, āte-liluyani (inflects as the pronoun yani) is used invariably if 1S is female; for male 3S only if 1S is male too.
- if 3S is lower than 1S, yañša is used for female 3S by male 1S; it is optional by female 1S.
- if 3S is equal to 1S, yo-yardam is used.
- if 3S is higher than 1S, lallayuṭhā is used (rarely pluralized even if referring to a plural subject).
If 3S is equal to 2S and...
- ...1S is lower than both, yo-yardam is used.
- ...1S is equal to both, kemura is used, or just tami in familiar registers.
- ...1S is higher than both, yardam is used.
If 3S is lower than 2S and...
- ...1S is also lower than 2S, tami is invariably used by females and by 1S males for 3S males; ui-hulyn is used by 1S males for 3S females.
- ...1S is equal to 2S, kemura is used, or just tami in familiar registers.
- ...1S is higher than both, kemura is used for all 3S males and usually by 1S females for 3S females; yañsa is mandatory by 1S males for 3S females, and optional by 1S females.
Note that familiar registers (which often include code-switching between Chlouvānem and a local vernacular), when used, may override any convention: as an extreme example, any very close friend or relative of the Great Inquisitor would refer to her as sāmi (and not lalla yo-brausa); however this is obviously only possible in private contexts (while same-ranked people may use a familiar register in public - e.g. on the workplace).
Numerals - Mālūye
Chlouvānem has a decimal numeral system which has however a base-5 sub-base for some numbers (mainly 5 and 11-19) and a base-20 borrowed one for the tens.
Numbers have six different forms: cardinal, ordinal, collective, distributive, adverbial/multiplicative, and fractionary. Cardinal 1, 2, and 3 are adjectives, as are all ordinal and collective ones; 1-4 have separate adverbial forms, while all other ones have an invariable adjective used as multiplicative and a derived adverb used as adverbial. All distributive, fractionary, and cardinal (except 1-3) numbers are invariable.
Digit | Cardinal | Ordinal | Collective | Distributive | Adv./Multiplicative | Fractionary |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | ajrā | (ajrāyendes) | (ajrājes) | (ajrauṣā) | (lājrā) | — |
1 | leil leilum leila |
lahīlas | leilajāsis | leiluṣā | leilammit / lāleil (lāleilum, lāleila) |
leilaskā |
2 | dani danīm danīh |
hælinaikas | daniajāsis | daniṣā | danimmit / lādani (lādanīm, lādanīh) |
danīrṣkā |
3 | tarvas tarvam tarvė |
tarvendes | tarvajāsis | tarvuṣā | tarvammit / lātarvas (lātarvam, lātarvė) |
tarveṃskā |
4 | nahė | nahėbindes | nahėñjāsis | nahėbuṣā | nahėbāmmit / lānahė | nahėbiṃskā |
5 | švā | švājindes | švāyajāsis | švauṣā | lāšvā | švajiṃskā |
6 | tulūʔa | tulūʔendes | tulūʔajāsis | tulūʔuṣā | lātulūʔa | tulūʔeṃskā |
7 | chīka | chīkendes | chīkajāsis | chīcuṣā | lāchīka | chīkeṃskā |
8 | teitė | teitendes | teitajāsis | teiteṣā | lāteitė | teiteṃskā |
9 | moja | mojendes | mojajāsis | mojuṣā | lāmoja | mojeṃskā |
10 | na'ikām | na'ikāmindes | na'ikāñjes | na'ikāṃṣā | lāna'ikām | na'ikāmiṃskā |
11 | lelišvatī | lelišvatīlindes | lelišvatījes | lelišvatīṣā | lālelišvatī | lelišvatīliṃskā |
12 | danešvatī | danešvatīlindes | danešvatījes | danešvatīṣā | lādanešvatī | danešvatīliṃskā |
13 | tarošvati | tarošvatīlindes | tarošvatījes | tarošvatīṣā | lātarošvatī | tarošvatīliṃskā |
14 | nahėšvatī | nahėšvatīlindes | nahėšvatījes | nahėšvatīṣā | lānahėšvatī | nahėšvatīliṃskā |
15 | švāmašvatī | švāmašvatīlindes | švāmašvatījes | švāmašvatīṣā | lāšvāmašvatī | švāmašvatīliṃskā |
16 | tulūšvatī | tulūšvatīlindes | tulūšvatījes | tulūšvatīṣā | lātulūšvatī | tulūšvatīliṃskā |
17 | chīcæšvatī | chīcæšvatīlindes | chīcæšvatījes | chīcæšvatīṣā | lāchīcæšvatī | chīcæšvatīliṃskā |
18 | teitašvatī | teitašvatīlindes | teitašvatījes | teitašvatīṣā | lāteitašvatī | teitašvatīliṃskā |
19 | moješvatī | moješvatīlindes | moješvatījes | moješvatīṣā | lāmoješvatī | moješvatīliṃskā |
20 | ekāma | ekāmendes | ekāmajāsis | ekāṃṣā | laikāma | ekāmeṃskā |
Using numerals
Cardinal numerals may be used in two ways, depending on whether emphasis is given to the number or to the thing counted.
- In the most common use, the counted thing is emphasized: the numeral is put before the noun and the noun is always singular (except for "two", see below) plus the appropriate case: e.g. leilum yujam (a lotus flower); danīh māra (two mango fruits); tarvas haloe (three names), lelišvatī ñaiṭa (eleven stars), and so on.
- If emphasis is given to the number, then the counted thing comes first, and, if it should be in direct, ergative, or accusative case, it is in genitive singular instead; the semantic direct, ergative, or accusative case is taken by the numeral itself if it is one, two, three, or compounds. Examples: yujami leilum (one lotus flower), māri danīh (two mango fruits), halenies tarvas (three names), ñaiṭi lelišvatī (eleven stars). In other cases, the noun follows the semantic case (but is always singular anyway), e.g. marti tarvė (three cities) but marte tarviyė (in the three cities).
This form is increasingly less common in everyday use. - "Two" may be used with either singular or dual number: danīh māra or māri danīh are both as correct as danīh māradi and māradais danīh - note that the dual number alone, without the numeral, has the same meaning. Outside of literary texts, it is however more common to specify "two" with the numeral.
Particles
Derivational morphology - Kokampeithausięe maivāndarāmita
Chlouvānem has an extensive system of derivational morphology, with many possibilities of deriving words from verbal roots and even from other nouns.
Nouns
-a (unstressed) or -ā (stressed) is a common derivative to make basic words from verbal roots. It does not have any fixed meaning, though it's always pretty close to the root. Nouns with the unstressed suffix and an ablautable vowel usually belong to the ablauting declension. ṛ in a root is always strengthened to middle-grade.
- dṛ (to do, to make) → dara (activity)
- lil (to live) → lila (person; living thing)
- tṛl (to know) → tarlā (science)
-as is another common derivative, without fixed meaning, but usually denoting objects or things done by acting. It is used to derive positions from positional verbs.
- tug (to beat) → tugas (beat)
- jlitiā (jlitim-) (be to the right of) → jlitimas (right)
- āntiā (āntim-) (be above, be on) → āntimas (part above)
-ūm is another derivative without fixed meaning, overlapping with -as.
- lgut (to buy) → lgutūm (something bought)
- peith (to go, walk (multidirectional)) → peithūm (walk)
- yālv (to be sweet (taste)) → yālvūm (sweet taste)
-laukas is a singulative suffix, denoting either a single thing of a collective noun, or a single constituent of a broader act. Unlike the previous ones, it is most commonly applied to other nouns.
- flun (to go, walk (monodirectional)) → fluṃlaukas (step)
- lil (to live) (or liloe (life)) → lillaukas (moment, instant)
- daša (rain) → dašilaukas (raindrop)
-anah, with middle-grade ablaut if possible, denotes an act or process, or something closely related to that.
- dig (to pour) → deganah ((act of) pouring)
- miš (to see) → mešanah (sight)
- lgut (to buy) → lgotanah (shopping)
-yāva plus either middle- or high-grade ablaut denotes a quality.
- māl (to keep together) → mālyāva (union)
- hælvė (fruit) → hælvėyāva (fertility)
- blut (to clean) → blotyāva (cleanliness)
-išam has the same meaning as -yāva, but it's rarer.
- yųlniltas (edible) → yųlniltešam (edibility)
- yālv (to be sweet (taste)) → yālvišam (sweetness)
- ñailūh (ice) → ñailuišam (coldness)
-āmita, often with high-grade ablaut, is another suffix forming quality nouns, but it is often more abstract, being translatable with suffixes like English -ism.
- çuliė (friend (female)) → çuliāmita (friendship)
- ėmīla (tiger) → ėmīlāmita (nobility (quality); most important people in society[5])
- ñæltah (sister (for a male)) → ñæltāmita (brotherhood)
-ūyas, with middle-grade ablaut, has various generic and sometimes unpredictable meanings.
- māl (to keep together) → mālūyas (number)
- lij (to sing) → lejūyas (choir)
- yālv (to be sweet (taste)) → yālvūyas (dessert, cake; something sweet)
-rṣūs (-ṛṣūs after a consonant) denotes a tool, namely something used in doing an action.
- yaud (to catch) → yaudṛṣūs (trap)
- miš (to see) → meširṣūs (eye (literary, rare))[6]
- hær (to kiss) → hærṣūs (lips (pair of))
-gis denotes something used for doing an action, not always synonymous with -rṣūs. -t-gis becomes -ñjis.
- mešīn (eye) → mešīlgis (glasses (pair of))
- tug (to beat) → tulgis (drumstick)
- lgut (to buy) → lguñjis (money, currency)
-oe (with middle-grade ablaut) often denotes a result, but has lots of various meanings.
- hal (to call) → haloe (name, noun)
- peith (to go, walk (multidirectional)) → peithoe (development; the way something is carried out)
- yųl (to eat) → yąloe (meal)
-īn plus middle grade-ablaut denotes a doer (roughly equivalent to English -er); usually it is a person, but not always.
- bhi (to take care of; to care for) → bhayīn (someone who takes care; guardian)
- tug (to beat) → togīn (heart)
- lgut (to buy) → lgotīn (buyer)
-āvi denotes something derived from X. It is also used in forming matronymics.
- lameṣa (coconut palm) → laṃṣāvi (coconut)
- mešanah (sight) → mešanąvi (knowledge)
- yųl (to eat) → yųlāvi (strength (literary, rare))
-āmis means "made of X".
- tāmira (rock, stone) → tāmirāmis (stone tool)
- tarlā (knowledge, science) → tarlāmis (wisdom)
- lil (to live) → lilāmis (a blissful place)
-ikā has various meanings, often somewhat abstract, intensive, or related to highly valued things/roles.
- daša (rain) → dāšikā (monsoon)
- hær (to kiss) → hærikā (love (literary, rare))
- lalāruṇa (giant domestic lizard) → lalārauṇikā (knight mounting a lalāruṇa)
-dhūs means "having X".
- dara (activity) → daradhūs (verb)
- šaṇṭrās (field, soil) → šaṇṭrādhūs (countryside)
- hælvė (fruit) → hælvidhūs (fruiting tree; literary: pregnant woman)
-bān and -ūrah are two roughly equivalent suffixes used for locations. The first one is generally used after vowels, the second after consonants, but it's no strict rule.
- hælvė (fruit) → hælvėbān (orchard)
- lil (to live) → lilūrah (world)
- peith (to go, to walk (multidirectional)) → peithūrah (passage)
-(l)āṇa forms a true collective noun:
- çuliė (friend (female)) → çulielāṇa (group of friends)
- jīma (character, symbol, letter) → jīmalāṇa (writing system)
- maiva (word) → maivalāṇa (lexicon)
-(l)ænah denotes a tree or a plant having a certain fruit[7].
- haiçah (pineapple) → haiçænah (pineapple tree)
- maʔika (uncooked rice) → maʔikænah (rice plant)
- šikālas (prickly pear) → šikālænah (prickly pear cactus)
-yus (-yūs if there are only short syllables) is used with toponyms and is one of the most common ways to form denonymal nouns. As many of the nouns these words are derived from are proper nouns and of non-Chlouvānem origin, there are often irregular formations, e.g. using only a part of the original word.
- Līlasuṃghāṇa → līlasuṃghāṇyus
- Cami → camiyūs
- Galiākina → Galiākyus
Verbs
The main denominal verb-forming suffix is -ora-, used mainly with the meaning of "to make/create X" or "to have X":
- āmaya (collection) → āmayorake (to collect)
- yuiça (sound) → yuiçorake (to make a sound)
- çuliė (friend (f)) → çuliyorake (to befriend, to become friends with)
-ьouš- (alternating with preconsonantal -ьouki-) forms a verb with the meaning of "to make something X(-like)" or something related to using X:
- raikas (smoke) → raicouške (to smoke food)
- lallāmita (future) → lallāmitiouške (to plan)
- brausa (sainthood) → brausiouške (to sanctify, hallow)
Positional prefixes can be used to derive new, more specific verbs, from other ones; see the section under Positional verbs for more.
Prefixes are a common way to form many specific forms of verbs, especially related to how much or how an action is carried out. As all of these derive verbs from other verbs, only the root is given in examples:
ñavu- (ñau- before a nasal, v or r) forms verbs meaning "a bit more than needed". Verbs whose root has ṛ as the main vowel do not ablaut and always have middle-grade ar, except if there is another prefix (see second example):
- dṛ- (to do) → ñavudar- (to do something a bit more than needed)
- āndṛ- (to build, create) → ñavāndṛ- (to build/create a bit more than needed)
- vald- (to open) → ñauvald- (to open a bit more than needed)
- flun- (to go, walk (monod.)) → ñavuflun- (to walk somewhat further ahead than needed)
vīvai- forms verbs meaning "too much"; verbs with ṛ always have ar and are non-ablauting:
- dṛ- (to do) → vīvaidar- (to do something too much)
- pugl- (to sleep) → vīvaipugl- (to sleep too much)
- flun- (to go, walk (monod.)) → vīvaiflun- (to walk too much ahead)
trān- (trā- before voiced stops, nasals, or r; it combines with a following y to form trāñ-) forms verbs of repetition or continuative actions, or "to keep X-ing"; verbs with ṛ always have ar and are non-ablauting:
- dṛ- (to do) → trādar- (to do something repetitively, to keep doing something)
- yųl- (to eat) → trāñųl- (to eat repetitively, to keep eating)
- khlu- (to search, look for) → trālkhlu- (to keep searching)
yavi- (yav- before y) forms resultative verbs, with the meaning of "to finish X-ing" or "to X everything":
- dṛ- (to do) → yavidṛ (to finish, complete (transitive))
- yųl- (to eat) → yavyųl (to finish eating; to eat everything)
- mūmik- (to dance) → yavimūmik (to finish dancing; idiomatic: to start working, to get back to work)
tæ(m)- forms mainly dynamic verbs from stative ones (being often synonymous with their causative patientive forms) and from adjectives. It is also used with nouns, forming verbs with the meaning of "to become a(n) X":
- murkas (black) → tæmurk- (to become black; causative: to make/paint something black)
- jāyim (girl) → tæjāyim- (to become a girl)
- būṃṣ- (to be dry; causative: to dry something) → tæmbūṃṣ- (to become dry; causative: to dry something (rarely used))
nare- (nar- before another prefix) forms verbs with applicative meanings:
- pugl- (to sleep) → narepugl- (to sleep during something)
- yųl- (to eat) → nareyųl- (to have a meal with someone, to go eating with someone)
- ta-flun- (to arrive on foot) → nartaflun- (to reach a place on foot)
Compounding
Syntax
Constituent order
Noun phrase
Verb phrase
Positional verbs
Positional verbs are among the most complex features of Chlouvānem grammar. In order to build verbs such as "to stay", "to be seated", and "to lie", Chlouvānem uses a base which is then prefixed with a locative particle, building verbs meaning "to stay on", "to stay under", "to stay in", and so on. There are 26 prefixes for each of the three verbs:
Prefix | To stay (-tiā/-tim) | To be seated (-vāst) | To lie (-ūlg) |
---|---|---|---|
Generic position (ta-) | tatiāke (tatimu; tatimau; taʔatimum) |
tavāske (tavāstu; tavāstau; tostim) |
tolge (tolgu; tolgau; tavūlgam) |
On(to), above (ān-) | āntiāke | āmvāske | anūlge |
Under, below (šu-) | šutiāke | šuvāske | šūlge |
In the middle of, between (khl-) | khlatiāke | khluvāske | khlūlge |
Together with, among (kus-) | kustiāke | kusvāske | kusūlge |
Within inside (glь-) | glitiāke | glivāske | gliūlge |
Near (mū(g)-) | mūtiāke | mūgvāske | mūgūlge |
Far (bog-) | bogdiāke | bogvāske | bogūlge |
Physically attached; mounting an animal/a bike (tad-) | tandiāke | tadvāske | tadūlge |
Hanging from; upside down (smi-) | smitiāke | smivāske | smiyūlge |
In(to), inside (na(ñ)-) | natiāke | navāske | nañūlge |
Outside, outwards (kau-) | kautiāke | kauvāske | kavūlge |
Opposite to; somewhere else (viṣ-) | viṣṭyāke | viṣvāske | viṣūlge |
Around (keil-) | keiltiāke | keilvāske | keilūlge |
Behind (prь-) | pritiāke | privāske | priūlge |
In front of (mai-) | maitiāke | maivāske | mayūlge |
In a corner; on a border; at the limits of (vai-) | vaitiāke | vaivāske | vayūlge |
Next to; alongside (šr-) | šṛtiāke | šṛvāske | šrūlge |
In the center of (lū(s)-) | lūtiāke | lūvāske | lūsūlge |
On the left (vyā-) | vyātiāke | vyāvāske | vyolge |
On the right (jlь-) | jlitiāke | jlivāske | jliūlge |
Facing; towards (kami-) | kamitiāke | kamivāske | kamyūlge |
Facing inside (na-kam-) | nakantiāke | nakamvāske | nakamūlge |
Facing outside (kau-kam-) | kokantiāke | kokamvāske | kokamūlge |
Near to the center (mū-lū(s)-) | molūtiāke | molūvāske | molūsūlge |
Far from the center (bog-lū(s)-) | boglūtiāke | boglūvāske | boglūsūlge |
These basic forms have static meanings, and are always intransitive exterior verbs.
Their causative forms translate the English verbs "to put", "to seat" and "to lay" respectively, and are transitive when exterior and intransitive (middle) when interior. Verbs equivalent to English to remain are formed by attaching these prefixes to the verb lįnake for the analogues of -tiā/-tim (e.g. tatiāke → lįnake; āntiāke → āṃlįnake; šutiāke → šulįnake and so on), while for the others (to remain seated; to remain lying) the construction lįnake + positional infinitive is used.
These verbs all use two different place arguments: actual position, which requires locative case, and relative position, requiring exessive case. The latter often denotes non-inclusion in the mentioned place. Some examples:
- jñūmat jlitimu.
tree-EX.SG. stand.right.of.IND.PRES-1SG.EXT.PATIENT.TRG.
I'm standing to the right of the tree. - domañe vaivāstu.
room-LOC.SG. be.seated.in.corner.IND.PRES-1SG.EXT.PATIENT.TRG.
I'm sitting in a corner of the room. - domanat vaivāstu.
room-EX.SG. be.seated.in.corner.IND.PRES-1SG.EXT.PATIENT.TRG.
I'm sitting in a corner outside the room. - jñūmat ūnime priūlgu.
tree-EX.SG. street-LOC.SG. lie.behind.IND.PRES-1SG.EXT.PATIENT.TRG.
I'm lying in the street, behind the tree.
Positional prefixes as derivational affixes
Positional prefixes are commonly used as derivational affixes, often with only a figurative representation of the positional meaning. Some examples:
- mai- (in front of) is often used for something done in advance, or to someone.
- ān- (above) and na(ñ)- (in, inside) may be used as intensives (but cam- is more common) or inceptives.
- šu- (down, below) (and also kau (outside), especially for states) may be used with a terminative meaning.
The root męlь- (to give) is a good example for this: from the basic verb męlike we can find derivations such as primęlike (to give back (exterior), to return (interior)), maimęlike (to prepare), āmmęlike (to dedicate oneself (mentally) to), namęlike (to dedicate oneself (physically) to), or šumęlike (to renounce). An inceptive/terminative pair is pugle (to sleep) → nampugle (to fall asleep) and kaupugle (to wake up).
Sentence phrase
Dependent clauses
Vocabulary
Honorific words and vocatives
(to be expanded)
Verbs with suppletive honorific forms
Unless differently specified, if no honorific form is given, the generic form is used; if no humble form is given, the honorific form is used.
English | Generic verb | Honorific | Humble |
---|---|---|---|
to be | gyake | sæglake | jīveke defective; uses gyake for non-indicative forms |
to do | dṛke | — | chlašake |
to ask | muṣke | — | yacce or muṣke chlašake; in a few specific forms yacce chlašake |
to receive (and derivatives) |
yoṭṭe | kvælke | combake |
Nouns with suppletive honorific forms
English | Generic noun | Honorific | Humble |
---|---|---|---|
wife | laleichim | faitlañši | either, depending on context |
husband | rūdakis | šulañšoe | either, depending on context |
request, question | muṣas | — | icūm |
receiving | yoṭa | kvælas | combas |
The family
Territorial subdivisions of the Inquisition
Note: text in this section is a stub, to be expanded soon
The Chlouvānem lands are a huge territory with three major levels of local administration: the diocese, the circuit, and the parish. The generic term for "territorial subdivision" is bhælālaukas.
The highest level is the diocese (juṃšañāña), comparable to a federate state; their head is a bishop (juṃša). Many dioceses in an area with shared economical and cultural characteristics are grouped in an administrative unit called tribunal (camimaivikā), which intervenes in common regional economic planning and is as well an important statistic unit.
Some dioceses consist of two separate administrative units with a single religious head - these are mostly newer developments, where effectively a new "state" has been created for all matters except the most strictly religious ones. Depending on the diocese, these separate units may be called province (ṣramāṇa) - for larger but less densely populated areas - or quaestorship (loṭikam) - for smaller, mostly urban areas. Quaestorships are a special kind of administrative division, as they are only divided in municipalities, but they are normally counted as cities statistically - for example the capital city of the Inquisition, Līlasuṃghāṇa, is listed as the nation's largest city, with 29.8 million inhabitants - there is however no such entity as the city of Līlasuṃghāṇa, but only its quaestorship.
The next local level is the circuit (lalka), whose denomination changes in some dioceses — including hālgāra (district) and others — without major differences in competences (though it should be noted that competences of circuits or equivalent administrations are not centralized, but defined by the diocese or province).
The lowest level of local administration is the "municipality" one — whose names are in most dioceses either parish (mānai), city (marta), or sometimes village (poga). The distinction between them is mostly of population, with municipalities above a certain population (in many dioceses 70,000 people) being considered cities. The distinction between villages and parishes is more blurry and varies more between each diocese, with villages usually being independent municipalities whose populations are either very small in size compared to nearby ones, or located in sparsely populated areas.
Clusters of nearby mid-small parishes often form an entity called inter-parish territory (maimānāyuseh ṣramāṇa), sharing between them some basic services like recycling, local transport, or fire protection.
While the lowest independent division is the parish (including cities and villages), a minor area in a parish may be recognized as a hamlet (mūrė) (note that some dioceses use the term for village (poga) instead), which for cities is usually a borough (martauseh poga, literally "urban village"). Note that cities may also have hamlets: boroughs are usually defined as such if many of them form a large contiguous urban area; smaller inhabited places in rural areas administered by a city are still hamlets.
Large uninhabited or extremely sparsely populated areas are often not assigned to any municipality, but are administered by the circuit and defined as an extra-parish territory (šrimāṇāyuseh ṣramāṇa).
Example texts
Other resources
- ^ Commonly murkadhāni bhælā “Land of the Inquisition”, officially referred to as Chlouvānaumi murkadhāni bhælā “Land(s) of the Chlouvānem Inquisition”)
- ^ Romanized as i before vowels
- ^ Dragon is kaṃšūs, lotus is yujam, and parrot is geltah.
- ^ This verb has allomorphic stem variation between preconsonantal gṇyau and prevocalic gṇyāv
- ^ Chlouvānem society lacked a true noble class; this term applies to the most influential people in society. Tigers are considered among the noblest animals.
- ^ Middle-grade ablaut is specific to this root.
- ^ As for all living things, being Calémere a different planet, the given translation is the one of the closest equivalent on Earth.