Chlouvānem/Morphology

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Chlouvānem is a highly inflected language with a synthetic morphology. Five parts of speech are traditionally distinguished: nouns, verbs, pronouns, numerals, and particles.

Nouns - Halenī

The Chlouvānem noun (haloe, pl. halenī) is highly inflected - it declines for:


  • Three numbers:
Singular (lailausire niañis)
Dual (daniausire niañis)
Plural (tailiausire niañis)
  • Twelve cases:

Direct (daradhūkire dirūnnevya)
Vocative (halausire dirūnnevya)

Accusative (dṛṣokire dirūnnevya)
Ergative (darinūkire dirūnnevya)
Genitive (cārūkire dirūnnevya)

Translative (najamarcūkire dirūnnevya)

Exessive (nenijamarcūkire dirūnnevya)
Essive (gyausire dirūnnevya)
Dative (męliausire dirūnnevya)
Ablative (tųflunūkire dirūnnevya)
Locative (yutiūkire dirūnnevya)
Instrumental (drausire dirūnnevya)

There are a few nouns which lack number; a few are singularia tantum and lack a plural (e.g. hærūm lips), other ones are plural only - most notably these include all ethnicities (e.g. chlǣvānem, which is also an irregular plural). The singular is made by using the genitive form attributed to lila (person), e.g. chlǣvānumi lila (a Chlouvānem).

Chlouvānem does not have grammatical gender, and there are only a few natural gender terms; see Chlouvānem § Gendered and gender-neutral terms for more information.

There are thirteen different noun declensions, but most of them only have few small differences. Chlouvānem declensions are predictable from the ending of the direct case noun, and they're categorized depending on their endings as s-, m-, or h-nouns[1].

S-nouns (sasą lā halenī):

  • 1s: nouns ending in -as or -ās, as well as Eastern toponyms in -o
  • 2s: nouns ending in -us or -ūs
  • 3s: nouns ending in -is or -īs
  • 4s: nouns ending in -oe

M-nouns (mamą lā halenī):

  • 1m: nouns ending in -am, -em, -ām, -ėm (or -n)
  • 2m: nouns ending in -um or -ūm (or -n)
  • 3m: nouns ending in -im or -īm (or -n)
  • 4m: nouns ending in -ai

H-nouns (hahą lā halenī):

  • 1h: nouns ending in -a, -ah, -ā, or -āh
  • 2h: nouns ending in -ė or -eh (plus some diminutives ending in -ėh)
  • 3h: nouns ending in -uh or -ūh, and a few words of Dabuke origin in -u (mostly only used regionally in the West)
  • 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

S-nouns - Sasą lā halenī

There are some traits which are common to all nominal declensions: the vocative is only distinct in the singular; in the dual there is also no distinction between translative and dative, essive and locative, and between exessive, ablative, and instrumental.

Case 1-s nouns 2-s nouns 3-s nouns 4-s nouns
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Direct prātas "wind" prātāt prāte kældus "wax" kældūt kældaus kumis "bamboo" kumīt kumais haloe "name" halenāt halenī
Vocative prātau prātāt prāte kældu kældūt kældaus kumi kumīt kumais haloe halenāt halenī
Accusative prātu prātāṣa prātaih kældavu kældūṣa kældavih kumayu kumīṣa kumaih halenu halenāṣa halenaih
Ergative prātei prātāya prātān kældave kældūya kældūn kumaye kumīya kumīn halenei halenāya halenān
Genitive prāti prāteva prātumi kældavi kældagva kældǣmi kumayi kumajña kumiumi halenies halemva haloemi
Translative prātan prātaus prātyoh kældun kældugus kælduyoh kumin kumigus kumyoh halenan halenaus halenyoh
Exessive prātat prātābhan prātāmān kældut kældobhan kældomān kumit kumebhan kumemān halenat haloebhan haloemān
Essive prātą prātigin prātėm kældą kældugin kældavėm kumę kumigin kumayėm halen haloegin haloem
Dative prātom prātaus prātasām kældavom kældugus kældusām kumayom kumigus kumisām halenom halenaus haloesām
Ablative prātų prātābhan prātenīs kældų kældobhan kældunīs kumyų kumebhan kuminīs halenų haloebhan haloenīs
Locative prāte prātigin prātilīm kældave kældugin kældulīm kumaye kumigin kumilīm halenie haloegin halenilīm
Instrumental prātap prātābhan prātenīka kældup kældobhan kældunīka kumip kumebhan kuminīka halenap haloebhan haloeinīka

Note that modern borrowings ending in [s] typically add a further case ending, e.g. Skyrdagor valtasz (nunatak) becomes Chlouvānem valtasas (same meaning), declining as valtasau, valtasu, valtasei...

M-nouns - Mamą lā halenī

Tables in this and the following (H-nouns) section are NOT up-to-date. I'll make them anew soon as part of a restructuring of the whole "Nouns" section). You can, however, find the up-to-date declension of -am, -um, -im nouns here: Proto-Lahob morphology § Second declension

Case 1-m nouns 2-m nouns 3-m nouns 4-m nouns
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Direct yujam "lotus" yujāmion yujye tūlum "worm" tūlūmion tūluvye jāyim "girl" jāyīmion jāyiñe lunai "tea" lunāyon lunāye
Vocative yujam yujāmion yujye tūlu tulūmion tūluvye jāyī jāyīmion jāyiñe lunai lunāyon lunāye
Accusative yujamu yujamūri yujāmūn tūlau tulūri tūlumūn jāyimu jāyimūri jāyimin lunāyu lunāyūri lunainū
Ergative yujamei yujamą yujamān tūlumei tūlumą tūlumān jāyimei jāyimą jāyimān lunǣ lunaiyą lunæyān
Genitive yujami yujameva yujammi tūlumvi tūlumeva tūlǣmi jāyimi jāyīva jāyiñumi lunayi lunaiva lunæyumi
Translative yujaman yujyās yujyoh tūluman tūluvyās tūluvyoh jāyiman jāyiñyās jāyiñyoh lunāyan lunāyās lunāyoh
Exessive yujamat yujambhan yujāman tūlumat tūlumbhan tūlūman jāyimæt jāyimbhan jāyīman lunāyat lunaibhan lunaiman
Essive yujamą yujamiona yujamėm tūlumą tūlumiona tūlumėm jāyimą jāyimiona jāyimėm lunąis lunāyona lunǣm
Dative yujamom yujyās yujaṃsām tūlumom tūluvyās tūluṃsām jāyimom jāyiñyās jāyiṃsām lunāmom lunāyās lunaisām
Ablative yujamų yujambhan yujaṃris tūlumų tūlumbhan tūluṃris jāyimų jāyimbhan jāyiṃrīs lunāyų lunaibhan lunaiñīs
Locative yujaṃrye yujamiona yujailīm tūluṃrye tūlumiona tūluvilīm jāyiṃrye jāyimiona jāyīlīm lunaiñe lunāyona lunāyilīm
Instrumental yujamini yujambhan yujaṃrika tūlumini tūlumbhan tūluṃrika jāyimini jāyimbhan jāyiṃrīka lunaini lunaibhan lunaiñīka

Note that all nouns with -n have their direct and vocative plural forms identical to the singular ones - all other inflections (including the dual) are the same as the other nouns. Thus e.g. samin may be either child or children, and it is usually the verb that marks the number - compare samin mālchė "the kid runs" and samin mālchīran "the kids run". They are de facto undistinguishable out of context in forms where singular and plural have the same verb form, e.g. in the perfect - samin amālcha can mean either "the kid has run" or "the kids have run" depending on context.
These unmarked plurals are regular - note that hulin (woman) has both a regular plural (hulin), used in a wider scope (e.g. chlǣvānumi hulin "Chlouvānem women") and an irregular plural (hilāni) used in other contexts (e.g. nanā hilāni "those women there").

-en nouns decline following the 1m pattern (with unmarked plural).

H-nouns - Hahą lā halenī

Case 1-h nouns 2-h nouns 3-h nouns 4-h nouns 5-h nouns
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Direct māra "mango" mārion mārai javileh "apple" javilion javiliai camūh "group" camūyon camūvai ghārṭih "arrow" ghārṭiyon ghārṭeyai lila "person" lilion leliė
Vocative māra mārion mārai javili javilion javiliai camū camūyon camūvai ghārṭī ghārṭiyon ghārṭeyai lila lilion leliė
Accusative māru mārūri mārānu javilu javiliūri javilėnu camūvau camūyūri camǣnu ghārṭiyu ghārṭiyūri ghārṭeinu lilu lilūri leliu
Ergative mārei mārą mārān javilei javilią javilėn camūvei camūvą camǣn ghārṭiyi ghārṭiyą ghārṭein lilei lilą leliei
Genitive māri māreva mārumi javili javilieva javilumi camūvi camūyeva camūmi ghārṭī ghārṭyeva ghārṭyumi leli lileva laili
Translative māran māryās māryāh javilan javilyās javilyāh camūn camūyās camūyāh ghārṭīn ghārṭīyās ghārṭīyāh lilan lilyās lelian
Exessive mārat mārābhan mārāman javilet javilėbhan javilėman camūt camūbhan camūman ghārṭit ghārṭībhan ghārṭīman lilat lilābhan leliat
Essive māręs māriona mārėm javilęs javiliona javilėm camųs camūyona camūvėm ghārṭįs ghārṭiyona ghārṭīvėm liląs liliona lailąs
Dative mārom māryās mārasām javilom javilyās javilesām camvom camūyās camusām ghārṭyom ghārṭīyās ghārṭišām lilom lilyās leliom
Ablative mārų mārābhan mārenīs javilių javilėbhan javilenīs camųu camūbhan camūnīs ghārṭių ghārṭībhan ghārṭīnīs lilų lilābhan lelių
Locative māre māriona mārilīm javiliye javiliona javililīm camve camūyona camūvilīm ghārṭye ghārṭiyona ghārṭīlīm lile liliona laile
Instrumental mārini mārābhan mārenīka javileni javilėbhan javilenīka camvini camūbhan camūnīka ghārṭīni ghārṭībhan ghārṭīnīka lilini lilābhan lelini

Exceptions for duals and plurals

A few Chlouvānem nouns have irregular plurals:

  • The word chlǣvānem itself is plural-only and irregular; direct and vocative are in -em, but all other cases decline as a standard plural 1h noun (e.g. accusative chlǣvānānu, ergative chlǣvānān, genitive chlǣvānumi);
  • maila “water” does not have a dual form outside of colloquial use (where mailion is used with the meaning of “two glasses of water”) and has the irregular plural mailtiąa. It declines as a singular 1h noun, with two exceptions, namely accusative in -ąu instead of expected *-ahu and genitive in -ąi instead of expected *-ahi. This plural form is actually common, used when talking about bodies of water in an area, water layers, glasses of water, and a few minor idiomatic uses (e.g. taili mailtiahe hilæflulke, lit. “to arrive by crossing many waters”, meaning “to have had much experience”).
  • hulin "woman" has both a regular plural (hulin), used in a wider scope (e.g. chlǣvānumi hulin "Chlouvānem women") and an irregular plural (hilāni) used in other contexts (e.g. nanā hilāni "those women there").
  • resan "pig" and liken "arm" both have irregular plurals with vowel change: ryasan and læcin respectively.
  • ås "ford, crossing of a small river" has the stem av- in all pre-vocalic forms (e.g. plural ave).
  • The placename Taleihǣh declines as a 2h noun, as if it ended in -eh.
  • švas "animal (including humans)" pluralizes as švai, as if it were a h-noun; all cases except for direct and vocative are however regular.
  • There are some pluralia tantum: pārye “hair”, kāraṇḍhai “guts”, also agṇyaucai “sons and daughters”, vailašaus "cutlery", šūlyakāše "dishes", and all ethnonyms.
    • Some pluralia tantum are the plural forms of nouns with other (usually related) meanings - when they are used as semantic plurals, they're counted with cardinal numerals (and are singular); when they are used as pluralia tantum, with collective numerals (and are plural). Examples are hamvyenī "nursery" (hamvyoe "cradle"), įsmirte "playground" (įsmirtas "swing"), nacai "clothes" (naca "cloth"), or garaṇai "clock, watch" (garaṇa "hour").
    • This is often used in poetry, with words like mešanāt "eyes" - dual of mešanah "view".
  • A few nouns are singularia tantum: hærṣūs “lips”, maula “breasts”, kanai “spices”, paɂeh “dust”, nāmvāvi “dust (made by crushing something)”, måris “ash”, ñailūh “ice”; lāsīm "cereals" (individual terms for cereals may have duals and plurals meaning "two/more varieties of ..."), mæchlišam "leafy greens", mæcichā "spinach", and bågras "legumes" with all types of legumes (dīlla "peas", mahīra "lentils", miltai "soybeans"...)
  • Dvandva compounds are usually all dual and pluralizable - like yāṇḍamaišñukam “genitals”, or also many dyadic kinship terms (e.g. maihāmeinā “daughter and mother”) - but some of them are inherently “singular” and therefore are dual only, like lillamurḍhyāyunya (how some philosophical Yunyalīlti currents refer to the yunya “nature” and the lillamurḍhyā “natural harmony” as two aspects of the same thing). Note that dual inflections are not present on the noun itself in direct and vocative forms.
  • Toponyms (except inherently dual or plural ones), personal names, and miscellaneous things that are semantically only singular (like many Yunyalīlti concepts, e.g. yunya or lillamurḍhyā) are found exclusively in the singular.

Verbs - Daradhaus

The Chlouvānem verb (daradhūs, pl. daradhaus) 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 - a category called, with noticeable metaphorical use, chlærim (light) by native grammarians - 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. Many verbs can be conjugated both as exterior and as interior and they often have differences in meaning - e.g. gṇyauke means “to give birth” when exterior and “to be born” when interior - commonly, the interior has the intransitive meaning and the exterior the transitive one - cf. lęlširu "I shake" vs. lęlšute "I shake (something)".

Potentially every Chlouvānem verb form, no matter if exterior or interior, has a causative (drildyāva) 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 maišildeyam "I am shown", interior maišildreyam "I learn; I show myself (trans.)".

Chlouvānem verbs also conjugate for seven voices (tadgeroe, pl. tadgerenī), each one putting one of seven 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 seven voices are, for exterior verbs:

  • patient-trigger (dṛṣokire tadgeroe) (unmarked);
  • agent-trigger (darīnūkire tadgeroe) (transitive and ditransitive verbs only);
  • benefactive-trigger (chārimęlīnūkire tadgeroe);
  • antibenefactive-trigger (tatflunsusūkire tadgeroe);
  • locative-trigger (yutiūkire tadgeroe);
  • dative-trigger (męliausire tadgeroe) (mostly ditransitive verbs);
  • instrumental-trigger (drausire tadgeroe) (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 (tailьcārė tadgeroe)[2].

Chlouvānem verbs also conjugate for five different tense-aspect combinations (simply tenses (avyāṣa - pl. avyāṣai)): present (kaminænikire avyāṣa), past (dāṃdenire avyāṣa), perfect (mīraṃnajausire avyāṣa), (general) future (lallāmiti avyāṣa), and future intentional (osmešė lallāmiti avyāṣa); other distinctions may be built periphrastically (most notably imperfect, 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). Note that some moods do only distinguish between imperfective and perfective aspect.

The last inflectional category of Chlouvānem verbs is the mood (darišam, pl. darišye). Chlouvānem grammarians traditionally distinguish only five moods, which are those that cannot be combined:

  • indicative (chlåvdiausire darišam) - the realis mood;
  • imperative (spruvyūkire darišam) - used for giving orders or commands;
  • optative (purmanūkire darišam) - used to express wishes or hopes;
  • propositive (maikitūkire darišam) - used to express proposals (e.g. let’s X; why don’t you X);
  • subjunctive (milkausire darišam) - used to express general advices (jussive use), purpose (supine use), unreal things that may happen or might have happened, and also syntactically conditioned by some particles.

There are a few more forms that can't be strictly considered moods because they can appear in all of the five actual moods, and are thus called junia, pl. juniai (literally "shade, hue, dye") by Chlouvānem grammarians: they are actually regular derivational patterns, that are considered inflectional due to them being possible for all verbs. There are four juniai:

  • desiderative (daudiūkire junia) - used to express a desire or will (e.g. I want to X);
  • necessitative (rileyūkire junia) - used to express need or obligation (e.g. I have to X);
  • potential (novire junia) - used to express the ability to do something (e.g. I can [= am able to] X, also "I may [= it is possible that I] X")
  • permissive (drippūkire junia) - used to express the permission to do something (e.g. I can [= I’m allowed to] X)

Finally, there are a further six forms which are called "secondary moods" (šudarišam, pl. -šye). They are:

  • four of them (only used with the indicative mood) express evidentiality, namely: certainty (also energetic mood), deduction, dream, specifically invented situation, and hearsay (also inferential mood);
  • two consequential moods: one expressing cause (e.g. “because X”), the other opposition (e.g. “although X”).

Chlouvānem verbs also have a non-finite form (lailehūkire daradhūs) (the -ke form, called infinitive hereafter).

Verb classes

When talking about the regularity in the conjugation of Chlouvānem verbs, most Chlouvānem linguists consider the vast majority of verbs as regular. In fact, the same suffixes are used in conjugating almost all verbs and highly irregular verbs are often only small exceptions (gyake "to be" and flulke "to go on foot (monodirectional)" are the most notable ones, having many suppletive stems). However, despite this regularity, Chlouvānem verbs are divided into lots of small classes, each one having only a few members, that have different stem vowels in various forms - typically, the 3SG forms of the present, past, and perfect are used as principal parts (with the infinitive often - but not always! - having the same vowel as the present).

A Chlouvānem verb's conjugation is determined by two factors: whether it is thematic and whether - and if it does, how - its root vowel changes among the different stems.
The thematic and athematic distinction is the easiest: thematic verbs add an -a- (-e- in the 3SG past) between its root and every consonantic termination; athematic verbs don't. All verbs with vowel-ending roots are athematic.

Root vowel changes are, however, more complex, and up to eleven verb classes may be distinguished depending on how the various stems are formed. The first two classes comprise about 90% of all (primary) verbs:

  1. The verbs of the first class do not change its vowel in any form. About 45% of verbs belong to this class, including all those whose root vowel is any of ā, ą, e, ė, ę, ǣ, oe, ai, ąi, au, ąu, as well as most verbs with root vowel a, æ, å, o, ei, or ęi. An example is męlike (athematic) "to give": pres. męliė, past męliek, perfect emęlia.
  2. Also called the basic ablauting class, these verbs have the most basic ablaut alteration: in their present exterior forms and in the singular present interior ones, i ī become e (mišake "to see": mešė — mišek — imiša), u ū usually become o (dhūlte "to write": dholtė, dhūltek, udhūlta), but i in a few verbs (kulke "to say": kilė — kulek — ukula), and ṛ ṝ become ar (dṛke "to do": darė — dṛk — (irr.) dadrā)
  3. Also called strong ablauting class, it is a subgroup of the ablauting class where instead of becoming middle-grade, the vowels ablaut to the maximum grade (ai, au, ār) respectively. This class is somewhat rare: the three most common verbs in it are mulke (mun-) "to be able to": maunė — munek — umuna, dīdake "to know a person": daidė — dīdek — idīda, and kirake "to love": kairė — kirek — ikira.
  4. Also called inverse ablauting class, these verbs have either va or ya in the present (and infinitive; note that the initial semivowel may be "hidden" in a consonant!) that gets reduced to u or i respectively in the past. An easy example is valde "to open": valdė — uldek — vulda; one with a hidden consonant is calyake "to harvest plums": calyė — kilyek — ikilda).
  5. Verbs of this class (and the following ones) typically have a vowel change in the past form and not in the present one. This class has å in the infinitive, present, and perfect, and e in the past, for example påndake "to punch": påndė — pendek — apånda). Verbs whose roots begin in y- lose it in the past, e.g. yåjyake "to float in the air; to go with a zeppelin, hot air balloon, or helicopter (monodirectional)": yåjyė — ejyek — ayåjya.
  6. These verbs have ei in the present, a in the past, and a+ i in the perfect; e.g. heimake "to blow, to play (wind instruments)" heimė — hamek — ahima.
  7. Verbs with e in the present, ya in the past, and i+ i in the perfect (and infinitive!); e.g. miṃsake "to risk" meṃsė — myaṃsek — imiṃsa.
  8. Verbs with æ in the present, o in the past, and e+ i in the perfect; e.g. næljake "to turn, to screw": næljė — noljek — enilja.
  9. Verbs with o in the present, ei in the past, and a+ ā in the perfect; e.g. volkake "to stab, to sting (esp. insects), to hit with something pointy": volkė — veilkek — avālka.
  10. Verbs with æ in the present, ya in the past, and e+ ī in the perfect; e.g. kællake "to sew": kællė — kyallek — ekīlla.
  11. Also called -ah verbs, these verbs actually never modify their root vowel, but have different present endings. hæṃdike "to dream", jānake "to feel", and lilke "to live" are the most common verbs of this class.

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.

Vocalic stems

Vocalic stems are those whose stems end in a vowel; most of them are class 1 (without any vowel change), but some are class 2 (ablauting), more rarely of other classes. They are anyway somewhat rare in Chlouvānem, but a few common verbs have vocalic stems. These stems often do not behave as in normal vowel saṃdhi when vocalic terminations are added:

  • The diphthongs ai, ei, au, and their breathy-voiced versions mute the second element in a semivowel; in ai and au the vowel is naturally lengthened to ā - e.g. gṇyauke "to give birth", pres. exterior gṇyāvu, gṇyāvi, gṇyāvė...; past exterior gṇyāvau, gṇyāvei, gṇyauk...
  • The short vowels i, u, ṛ and long ṝ change into their corresponding semivowels if it forms an accepted cluster - e.g. vike "to rest" (ablauting stem ve- in the present), past exterior vyau, vyei, vik...
  • æ and ǣ become ev and oe becomes en - e.g. gæke "to stretch", pres. exterior gevu, gevi, gevė...; past exterior gevau, gevei, gæk...

Other vowels add different epenthetic consonants depending on their quality:

  • a, e (and long versions), and å always add n, e.g. liėke "to clap", pres. exterior liėnu, liėni, liėnė...; past exterior liėnau, liėnei, liėk.
  • All other oral vowels add y (note that o contracts with e or ė to oe), e.g. khlūke "to search, look for" (abl. stem khlo-), pres. exterior khloyu, khloyi, khloe...; past exterior khlūyau, khlūyei, khlūk...
  • Breathy-voiced vowels dissimilate to vowel + h: e.g. švęke "to point at": pres. ext. švehu, švehi, švehė[3]...; past ext. švehau, švehei, švęk...

The infinitive

The infinitive (lailehūkire daradhūs) 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;
  • 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));
      • note that, due to regular saṃdhi, *-jg- resulting by this further changes to -jñ- (e.g. taj-ke → tajñe (to rub));
    • 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));
      • This also happens with the cluster -nd, where the assimilation -nd-k makes it -lg (e.g. mind-ke → milge (to hear));
    • verbs whose roots end in any other consonant cluster only add -e (e.g. pugl-ke → pugle (to sleep)).

Knowing the root form of the verb is necessary as two different roots may have the same infinitive, e.g. mulke for both mul- "to drink" (molu, mulau, umulim) and mun- "to be able to" (maunu, munau, umunim).

The infinitive can also be used as a noun, declining as -eh ones and getting a final -h in the direct case. Compared to derived -anah nouns, which denote a process, the nominalized infinitive is often more gnomic or perfective in meaning (dhūlti baucanah makes sense, meaning "learning to write", while dholtani baucanah is grammatically correct but meaningless), but it can also be synonymous in some expressions (e.g. neniai naviṣyi dholtanęs væse or neniai naviṣyi dhūltęs væse, both meaning "while writing this book" — if a distinction should be rendered in English, the first one would be translated "during the writing process of this book").

Present indicative

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, but inverse-ablauting verbs have always the unreduced sequence.

Person Thematic, no ablaut Athematic Ablaut -ah-
nāmvake
"to crush, press"		 gṇyauke
"to give birth; int.: to be born"		 mišake
"to see"		 lilke
"to live; int.: to get healed[4]"
Exterior Interior Exterior Interior Exterior Interior Exterior Interior
Sing. 1st nāmvu nāmviru gṇyāvu gṇyāviru mešu meširu lilah lilęru
2nd nāmvi nāmviris gṇyāvi gṇyāviris meši meširis lilaši lilęris
3rd nāmvė nāmvire gṇyāvė gṇyāvire mešė mešire lilah lilęre
Dual 1st nāmvasme nāmvirṣme gṇyausme gṇyāvirṣme mešasme miširṣme liląsme lilęrṣme
2nd nāmvadia nāmvirdia gṇyaudia gṇyāvirdia mešadia miširdia lilardia lilęrdia
3rd nāmvade nāmvirde gṇyaude gṇyāvirde mešade miširde lilarde lilęrde
Pl. 1st nāmvįm nāmvirįm gṇyāvįm gṇyāvirįm mešįm miširįm liląim lilęrįm
2nd nāmvašin nāmviršin gṇyaušin gṇyāviršin mešašin miširšin liląšin lilęršin
3rd nāmvāhai nāmvirāhe gṇyāvāhai gṇyāvirāhe mešāhai miširāhe lilah lilęrāhe

Causative
Causative forms are the same regardless of conjugation; they are formed basically with an extended stem with -ild(e)- (-īldr- for the causative interior forms). 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.

Person No ablaut Ablaut Inverse ablaut
nāmvake
"to make crush, press"		 mišake
"to show; int.: learn"		 valde
"to make open"
Exterior Interior Exterior Interior Exterior Interior
Sing. 1st nāmvildu nāmvīldru maišildu maišīldru uvaldildu uvaldīldru
2nd nāmvildi nāmvīldri maišildi maišīldri uvaldildi uvaldīldri
3rd nāmvilde nāmvīldre maišilde maišīldre uvaldilde uvaldīldre
Dual 1st nāmvildesme nāmvīldṛsme maišildesme maišīldṛsme uvaldildesme uvaldīldṛsme
2nd nāmvildedia nāmvīldṛdia maišildedia maišīldṛdia uvaldildedia uvaldīldṛdia
3rd nāmvildede nāmvīldṛde maišildede maišīldṛde uvaldildede uvaldīldṛde
Pl. 1st nāmvildįm nāmvīldrįm maišildįm maišīldrįm uvaldildįm uvaldīldrįm
2nd nāmvildešin nāmvīldṛšin maišildešin maišīldṛšin uvaldildešin uvaldīldṛšin
3rd nāmvildǣhai nāmvīldrāhe maišildǣhai maišīldrāhe uvaldildǣhai uvaldīldrāhe

Past Indicative

In the past indicative, -ah verbs are not distinguished from others. Frequentative verbs in -ve(y)- are completely regular, but the suffix becomes -vi(y)-, e.g. mīmīšviyek "it was frequently seen" vs. present mīmīšveyė "it is frequently seen".
Ablauting verbs always have their base grade, except for inverse ablaut roots which use the reduced vowel. Exterior forms:

Person Thematic, no ablaut Athematic Inverse-ablaut
nāmvake
"to crush, press"		 gṇyauke
"to give birth; int.: to be born"		 valde
"to open"
Exterior Interior Exterior Interior Exterior Interior
Sing. 1st nāmvau nāmvirau gṇyāvau gṇyāviru uldau uldirau
2nd nāmvei nāmvirei gṇyāvei gṇyāvirei uldei uldirei
3rd nāmvek nāmvirek gṇyāvek gṇyāvirek uldek uldirek
Dual 1st nāmvaram nāmvirlam gṇyauram gṇyāvirlam uldaram uldirlam
2nd nāmvares nāmvirles gṇyaures gṇyāvirles uldares uldirles
3rd nāmvadat nāmvirdat gṇyaudat gṇyāvirdat uldadat uldirdat
Pl. 1st nāmvanāja nāmvirāja gṇyaunāja gṇyāvirāja uldanāja uldirāja
2nd nāmvaneši nāmvireši gṇyauneši gṇyāvireši uldaneši uldireši
3rd nāmvaika nāmvireka gṇyāvaika gṇyāvireka uldaika uldireka

Some verbs have an irregular 3SG exterior past form due to -k attaching directly to the consonant. This does not happen in all athematic verbs, but only in the following ones:

  • purake "to powder, to break with the hands" and sturake "to fall" which have pāṭ and stāṭ respectively.
  • lutake "to obtain, gain, take advantage[5]" (lak), ssutake "to attract, to bait, to seduce" (ssak), sprutake "to join, link" (sprak)
  • leilge "to concern, to be on the topic of" (lål)
  • peithake "to go on foot (multidirectional)" (pat)
  • ręiske "to tickle" (rąs) and ñæssake "to blink" (ños)

Causative
Causative forms use the same stems as in the present indicative. Exterior forms:

Person No ablaut Ablaut Inverse ablaut
nāmvake
"to make crush, press"		 mišake
"to show; int.: learn"		 valde
"to make open"
Exterior Interior Exterior Interior Exterior Interior
Sing. 1st nāmvildau nāmvīldrau maišildau maišīldrau uvaldildau uvaldīldrau
2nd nāmvildei nāmvīldrei maišildei maišīldrei uvaldildei uvaldīldrei
3rd nāmvildek nāmvīldrek maišildek maišīldrek uvaldildek uvaldīldrek
Dual 1st nāmvildaram nāmvīldṛvam maišildaram maišīldṛvam uvaldildaram uvaldīldṛvam
2nd nāmvildares nāmvīldṛves maišildares maišīldṛves uvaldildares uvaldīldṛves
3rd nāmvildat nāmvīldṛdat maišildat maišīldṛdat uvaldildat uvaldīldṛdat
Pl. 1st nāmvildāja nāmvīldrāja maišildāja maišīldrāja uvaldildāja mešīldrāja
2nd nāmvildeši nāmvīldreši maišildeši maišīldreši uvaldildeši uvaldīldreši
3rd nāmvildaika nāmvīldreka maišildaika maišīldreka uvaldildaika uvaldīldreka

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 (used for the perfect and for the future intentional), formed by prefixing the root vowel (shortened, oral, and with the basic root ablaut) to the stem - but note that verb classes 5 to 10 have their own vowel patterns that diverge from this general one. Examples:

  • nāmvake “to crush, press” = nāmv- → anāmv-
  • khluke “to search, look for” = khlu- → ukhlu-
  • hilkake “to dye, colour” = hilk- → ihilk-
  • męlike “to give” = męlь → emęlь-

æ uses i; o, å, 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-. The causative interior forms have -ildr- with a short vowel, unlike for the past and present.

A few verbs have irregular stems:

  • flulke "to go (unidirectional)" = elīs- (in arch. Chlouvānem both evlīs- and eflīs- are found)
  • lilke “to live” = lælī-
  • dṛke “to do” = dadrā-

Note that in the perfect, the 3rd person does not distinguish number:

Person Non-causative Causative
nāmvake
"to crush, press"
Exterior Interior Exterior Interior
Sing. 1st anāmvam anāmviram anāmvildam anāmvildṛm
2nd anāmves anāmvires anāmvildes anāmvildṛs
3rd anāmva anāmvirā anāmvildā anāmvildirā
Dual 1st anāmvara anāmvirala anāmvildara anāmvildrāh
2nd anāmvari anāmvirali anāmvildari anāmvildrai
3rd anāmva anāmvirā anāmvildā anāmvildirā
Pl. 1st anāmvima anāmvirma anāmvildima anāmvildṛma
2nd anāmviša anāmvirša anāmvildiša anāmvildṛša
3rd anāmva anāmvirā anāmvildā anāmvildirā

General future indicative

The general future tense does not vary between conjugations, and the stem - except for causative verbs - is always the one used in the infinitive. Like the perfect, the future does not distinguish number in the 3rd person (historically, the endings were the same, as the future was built with the perfect of PLB *išəj- (to take)). It is used for general future events (menire dašajildiṣya "it will rain tomorrow"), obligations (pūnikā menire męliṣya "the work will be [=has to be] delivered tomorrow"), and general imperfective events in the future (lūlunimarte liliṣyam "I'll be living in Lūlunimarta"); see also the following section on future intentional.

Person Non-causative Causative
nāmvake
"to crush, press"
Exterior Interior Exterior Interior
Sing. 1st nāmviṣyam nāmviriṣyam nāmvildiṣyam nāmvildirṣyam
2nd nāmviṣyes nāmviriṣyes nāmvildiṣyes nāmvildirṣyes
3rd nāmviṣya nāmviriṣya nāmvildiṣya nāmvildirṣya
Dual 1st nāmviṣyara nāmviriṣyara nāmvildiṣyara nāmvildirṣyara
2nd nāmviṣyari nāmviriṣyari nāmvildiṣyari nāmvildirṣyari
3rd nāmviṣya nāmviriṣya nāmvildiṣya nāmvildirṣya
Pl. 1st nāmviṣīma nāmviriṣīma nāmvildiṣīma nāmvildirṣīma
2nd nāmviṣīsa nāmviriṣīsa nāmvildiṣīsa nāmvildirṣīsa
3rd nāmviṣya nāmviriṣya nāmvildiṣya nāmvildirṣya

Note that -tiā- verbs (e.g. tatiāke "to stand") form their future with -tiā instead of -tim as the other tenses: tatiaiṣyam, tatiairiṣyam, ...

Also note that, in order to state the future of "to be" and "to have", the present forms of ndǣke (to become) and milke (to get, take) respectively are more commonly used:

miąre ndevė "it is becoming good" = "it will be good" = exactly the same meaning as miąre jalṣya.
nanau naviṣyu milkute "I am taking that book" = "I will have that book" = exactly the same as naviṣya liliā jalṣya or similar sentences.

Future intentional indicative

The future intentional indicative is a verbal form used for stating mainly intentional, perfective in meaning, future events. It may be translated most commonly as "to be going to", "to plan to", or also as "to want to"; it also has the rather idiomatic meaning of an expectation. In any case, its perfective meaning means that habitual or continuous future events, even if planned, are either expressed with the general future or expressed with the future intentional of a frequentative verb. Some examples of its use are:

menire prājaṃnė lalti lenta nakṣuṃkitom elīsāltam "tomorrow evening I'll go to the nakṣuṃkita[6] with my friend".
galiākinų tammi tetacuṃlāṇų natte tailīsālta "the train from Galiākina is expected to arrive in one tetacuṃlāṇa (=about 5½ minutes)."
liliā maiha murkire helajyū ilakāltate : lili no ūnikire tū ilakāltaṃte "my daughter is going to take the black helajyā[7], while I'm going to take the red one."

The future intentional is formed starting from the perfect stem: more properly, the third person form of any present verb is taken, the final -a is lengthened, and -lta (in the non-causative exterior) or -l(a)- (in all other forms) is added, followed by the usual perfect endings; the causative exterior has the otherwise irregular change -rā- → -ṝ-.

Person Non-causative Causative
nāmvake
"to crush, press"
Exterior Interior Exterior Interior
Sing. 1st anāmvāltam anāmvirālam anāmvildālam anāmvildṝlam
2nd anāmvāltes anāmvirāles anāmvildāles anāmvildṝlas
3rd anāmvālta anāmvirāl anāmvildāl anāmvildirāl
Dual 1st anāmvāltara anāmvirālara anāmvildālara anāmvildṝlāh
2nd anāmvāltari anāmvirālari anāmvildālari anāmvildṝlai
3rd anāmvālta anāmvirāl anāmvildāl anāmvildirāl
Pl. 1st anāmvāltima anāmvirālma anāmvildālima anāmvildṝlma
2nd anāmvāltiša anāmvirālša anāmvildāliša anāmvildṝlša
3rd anāmvālta anāmvirāl anāmvildāl anāmvildirāl

Voice marking

Chlouvānem has seven voices, marked by affixes added, in unprefixed verbs, at the end of the verb. As the patient-trigger voice (common voice in interior verbs) is unmarked, the six voice markers are:

  • -te for agent-trigger voice (in exterior verbs only) — but note that -ė-te (in most 3sg verbs) becomes -egde (as -ė derives from historical *-eg);
  • -kæ for benefactive-trigger voice;
  • -tū (-tur non-finally) for antibenefactive-trigger voice;
  • -rā for locative-trigger voice;
  • -mǣ for instrumental-trigger voice;
  • -ūsi for dative-trigger voice.

Examples of voice marking are męliė (he/she/it is given) — męliegde (he/she/it gives) (and męliu (I am given) → męliute "I give") — męliėkæ (something is given for him/her/it) — męliėtū (something is given against him/her/it) — męliėrā (something is given in him/her/it) — męliėmǣ (something is given with him/her/it) — męliegūsi (something is given to him/her/it).

In prefixed verbs, voice marking is a bit different as the voice marker is inserted between the prefix and the stem, thus forms like yāyųlė (he/she/it is eaten too much) → yāteyųlė (he/she/it eats too much). Saṃdhi is applied if needed, e.g. "something is eaten for him/her/it directly from a tree" is taktæyųlė (morphemically tad-kæ-yųlė, verb tadyųlake).

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, in basic grade ablaut; the only exceptions being inverse ablauting roots which use their weakened form (e.g. valde uses uld- and not vald-).

Imperfective aspect

Person Non-causative Causative
nāmvake
"to crush, press"
Exterior Interior Exterior Interior
Sing. 1st nāmvatiam nāmvirtiam nāmvildiam nāmvildṛtiam
2nd nāmvīsei nāmviresei nāmvildīsei nāmvildṛsei
3rd nāmvīti nāmvireti nāmvildīti nāmvildṛti
Dual 1st nāmvīdera nāmviredra nāmvildīdera nāmvildṛdera
2nd nāmvīderi nāmviredri nāmvildīderi nāmvildṛderi
3rd nāmvīdeh nāmvirede nāmvildīdeh nāmvildṛdeh
Pl. 1st nāmvīneja nāmvireṇeh nāmvildīneja nāmvildṛneja
2nd nāmvīniši nāmvirenis nāmvildīniši nāmvildṛniši
3rd nāmvīvatь nāmvirvatь nāmvildīvatь nāmvildryevatь

Note that for the third person plural both the interior form -ireyevatь and the causative exterior form ildīyevatь are attested in archaic texts; the classical standards are shortenings of these older forms.

Perfective aspect

Person Non-causative Causative
nāmvake
"to crush, press"
Exterior Interior Exterior Interior
Sing. 1st nāmvevitam nāmvirevitam nāmvildevitam nāmvildṛvitam
2nd nāmvevšei nāmvirevšei nāmvildevšei nāmvildrušei
3rd nāmvevite nāmvirevite nāmvildevite nāmvildṛvite
Dual 1st nāmvevidem nāmvirevidem nāmvildevidem nāmvildṛvidem
2nd nāmvevides nāmvirevides nāmvildevides nāmvildṛvides
3rd nāmvevide nāmvirevide nāmvildevide nāmvildṛvide
Pl. 1st nāmvevine nāmvireviṇe nāmvildevine nāmvildṛviṇe
2nd nāmveviše nāmvireviše nāmvildeviše nāmvildṛviše
3rd nāmvevyatь nāmvirevyatь nāmvildevyatь nāmvildruyatь

The imperative mood

The imperative is a defective paradigm, lacking all dual forms — note, though, that some grammarians follow common use and simply list dual forms that are exactly the same as the plural ones; the third person forms do not distinguish number anyway. It is formed from the bare root, thus it has the same formation for all verbs. Unlike all other terminations, there are separate agentive and patientive ones (note that agentive ones begin with -ь and not -y. Causative forms follow the same pattern as non-causative ones, but the stem is the specifically causative one.

The imperative has imperfective and perfective aspects, like the subjunctive: the perfective forms are used with a time expression and indicate that the action has to be done before that time, e.g. enaukaṃrye parye rįšænь "have your hair cut before the summer" - cf. enaukaṃrye parye rįšos "get a haircut during the summer".

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”; also used are some forms used for generic, mandatory commands, most notably on warning signs or announcements, such as e.g. nakāyų thiatia "mind the gap".

Imperfective aspect

Person Non-causative Causative
nāmvake
"to crush, press"
Ex. patientive Ex. agentive Interior Ex. patientive Ex. agentive Interior
Sing. 1st nāmvikṣam nāmvyasti nāmvirṣṭi nāmviljam nāmvildasti nāmvildṛṣṭi
2nd nāmvos nāmva nāmvih nāmvildos nāmvilda nāmvildṝ
3rd nāmvotīs nāmvya nāmvirya nāmvildīs nāmvildia nāmvildrya
Dual 1st No dual imperative forms
2nd
3rd
Pl. 1st nāmvikṣumi nāmvyasmi nāmvirṣmi nāmviljumi nāmvildasmi nāmvildṛṣmi
2nd nāmvoris nāmvyęs nāmviręs nāmvildoris nāmvildęs nāmvildręs
3rd nāmvotīs nāmvya nāmvirya nāmvildīs nāmvildia nāmvildrya

Note that the second person singular agentive non-causative form does not take -a if the ending of the root is already acceptable (e.g. lgut! "buy!"). If the root ends with a palatalized consonant, it remains as such if it ends with a single acceptable consonant (e.g. męlь! "give!), otherwise it adds -i (e.g. dhāsmi! "save!").

Perfective aspect

Person Non-causative Causative
nāmvake
"to crush, press"
Ex. patientive Ex. agentive Interior Ex. patientive Ex. agentive Interior
Sing. 1st nāmvæniu nāmvåru nāmviræniu nāmvildæniu nāmvilåru nāmvildræniu
2nd nāmvænь nāmvå nāmvirænь nāmvildænь nāmvilå nāmvildrænь
3rd nāmvænit nāmvåt nāmvirænit nāmvildænit nāmvilåt nāmvildrænit
Dual 1st No dual imperative forms
2nd
3rd
Pl. 1st nāmværi nāmvåri nāmviræli nāmvildæri nāmvilåri nāmvildræri
2nd nāmvæsь nāmvåsь nāmviræsь nāmvildæsь nāmvilåsь nāmvildræsь
3rd nāmvævąt nāmvauvųt nāmvirævąt nāmvildævąt nāmvilauvųt nāmvildrævąt

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 past for the perfective; propositive mood uses the imperative ones (but only has the imperfective forms).

The optative stem is formed by taking the root (or a stem of one of the four juniai) with vowel lengthening and adding -eina- after consonants and -vūna- after vowels.

Example (nāmvake “to crush, press”):

  • Imperfective: exterior nāmveinu, nāmveini, nāmveinė, … interior nāmveiniru, …; causative ext. nāmveinildeyam, …; caus. int. nāmveinildṛyam, …
  • Perfective: ext. nāmveinau, nāmveinei, nāmveinek, … int. nāmveinirau, …; caus. ext. nāmveinildau, …; caus. int. nāmveinildrau, …
  • Propositive: ext. pat. nāmveinikṣam, nāmveinos, nāmveinotīs, … ext. ag. nāmveiniasti, ...; int. nāmveinirṣṭi, …; caus. ext. pat. nāmveiniljam, …; caus. ext. ag. nāmveinildasti, ...; caus. int. nāmveinildṛṣṭi, ...

The desiderative

The desiderative junia uses a special stem, formed with reduplication of the root plus -s. 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 ablautable vowels almost always have middle-grade ablaut (there are a few exceptions, such as khlu-); 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 ɂ.
  • 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. The vowel augment in the perfect stem is short if the vowel of the root is long (or o, å, or a diphthong), otherwise long (e.g. nanāmvsute "I want to crush", ananāmvsaṃte "I have wanted to crush"; kukhlusute "I want to search", ūkukhlusaṃte "I have wanted to search")

In many of the northeastern and northwestern lands of the Inquisition, the analytic infinitive + daudike construction is used instead of the synthetic desiderative in almost any case.

Examples of desiderative stems are:


  • peithake “to go (multid.)”, root peith- → pe-peith-s → pepeits-

  • lgutake “to buy”, root lgut- → nu-lgot-s → nulgots-
  • khluke “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

The necessitative junia 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

The potential junia 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- 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 potential is used both for the sense of "may" (to be possible that) and "can" (to be able to): two sentences such as "I may (it is possible that I) do it" and "I can (I'm able to) do it" would be both translated as dadrenānute. To avoid ambiguity, the "may" sense may be rephrased with the verb širgake plus subjunctive - e.g. dratiaṃte šergė - while the "can" sense may be rephrased with novake plus subjunctive - e.g. dratiaṃte novė - or (less commonly) with the infinitive - e.g. dṛke novute.

The permissive

The permissive junia also conjugates in all tenses and aspects and is formed, without reduplication, by vowel lengthening and adding -ipp(u)-.

Examples: mišake → mīšippu- > mīšippu "I am allowed to see", mīšippum “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. nąroṃke > nąrmippu-.

Secondary moods: evidentiality

The four secondary moods expressing evidentiality are all similarly formed, but with different stem additions. All of them are, historically, the result of grammaticalization of different verbs to the Proto-Lahob second infinitive in *-on, explaining why they are formed by adding -an to the verb stem and then another particle.
Note that the third person singular has a -∅ ending in the present exterior in all four evidentials.

The visual evidential is made by adding -ansen- at the end of the verb, then conjugating it as a root verb (with -∅ for 3SG present exterior). e.g. yųlansen "it is [being] eaten (I see it)"; yųlansenīran "they are [being] eaten (I see it)"; yųlansente "(s)he eats (I see it)".

The first inferential, which refers to any non-visual inference that is probably true (often translatable with "apparently", "looks like"), is formed by adding -aneru(n) to the end of the verb. Note that 1SG present exterior does not add the epenthetic n but contracts -u-u to a long vowel instead. e.g.yųlaneru "it is apparently being eaten"; yųlanerū "I am apparently eaten". Note that interior forms have -erir instead of *-erunir - cf. dældanerire "(s)he apparently speaks"; similarly causatives have -erild instead of *-erunild - cf. mišanerildegde "(s)he apparently shows".

The second inferential has a similar function to the first inferential, but the situation is unlikely to be true (translatable e.g. with "might/apparently... but probably don't/doesn't"); it is formed by adding -anuyo to the end of the verb. 1SG present exterior contracts to -uyū; all other contractions are regular saṃdhi changes where o → av. e.g. yųlanuyo "it is apparently being eaten, but probably not"; yųlanuyū "I am apparently eaten, but probably not". Interiors and causatives have -uyer and -uyeld instead of *-uyavir, *-uyavild - cf. dældanuyere "(s)he apparently speaks, but probably doesn't", mišanuyeldegde "(s)he apparently shows, but probably doesn't".

The reported evidential marks something the speaker does not know first hand; it is formed by adding -anode(n): e.g. yųlanode "it is said that it is [being] eaten". Interiors and causatives do not add the epenthetic n and contract -e-i- to -ei- instead - cf. dældanodeire "it is said that (s)he speaks", mišanodeildegde "it is said that (s)he shows".

The consequential secondary moods

The two consequential secondary moods can actually be tertiary moods, as they can be added to evidential secondary moods too.

The consequential mood of cause is formed by adding -anai(r)- to the verb stem. For example pūnu → pūnanairu (given that I work, ...); pupūṃsi → pupūṃsanairi (given that you want to work, ...).
The consequential mood of opposition is similarly formed by adding -antsu(k)- to the verb stem. For example pūnu → pūnantsū (even if I work, ...); pupūṃsi → pupūṃsantsuki (even if you want to work, ...).

Consequentials for evidentials convert the latter to -ke forms first, so that:

  • Visual: -sen → -selk(e)-
  • First inferential: -eru → -eruk(e)
  • Second inferential: -uyo → -uyok(e)
  • Reportative: -ode → odek(e)

The added consequential morphemes are just -ai(r)- and -tsu(k)- respectively.

Examples: pūnaneru → pūnanerukairė (given that, apparently, (s)he worked, ...); pūnanuyo → pūnanuyoketsukė (even if, apparently, (s)he worked, but probably didn't, ...).

Impersonal verbs

Impersonal verbs, in Chlouvānem, are those verbs that are defective and only conjugated in third person exterior (with the partial exception of giṃšake) and only used in patient-trigger voice. There are six such -basic- verbs:

  • gårḍake (to be meant to)
  • hælьte (to be moved, touched)
  • maṣvake (to feel compassion, pity)
  • ñælftake (to repent, to feel remorse, to be sorry for)
  • prābake (to be disgusted)
  • giṃšake (to get/be bored) — usually termed “half-impersonal” because it has a full interior conjugation, but with a different meaning (to be boring).

These verbs all have their cause in the exessive case (or a subjunctive verb) and the affected being in the dative; gårḍake usually only has a subjunctive. Examples:

loh tamiāt maivat hælьtek “what (s)he said (literally: his/her word) moved me.”
nīdrevitam loh ñælftė “I’m sorry for how I behaved.”
sęi tū priūsimęliatiam gårḍek “you were meant to give it back to me” (literally: it was meant that you give it back to me[8]) .

Derived forms usually behave as impersonal too, like taprābake (to hate) — e.g. taprābleliom taprābiṣya "haters gonna hate".

Irregular verbs

Chlouvānem has only a very small number of truly irregular verbs, as most verbs conform in some way to one of the various stem classes. Even among irregular verbs, many of them are only irregular in the formation of one of their three basic stems; only six verbs (flulke, milke, mṛcce, lilke, jalle, and tilah) have at least one entirely suppletive stem. There are two true defective verbs: æflike (to plan, to be going to) and the honorific tilah (not a self-standing verb).

Excluding the highly irregular jalle and tilah, treated in the next sections, the other verbs with suppletive stems are:

  • flulke (to go on foot, to walk (monodirectional)) — flun-, dāmek, elīsa
    • The singular present indicative forms are irregular flå, flin, fliven - the other ones are regular, non-ablauting (flunayou, flunadia...).
    • The perfect stem elīs- was also attested in Archaic Chlouvānem as both evlīs- and eflīs-.
    • Also has the irregular optative stem fleina- (instead of expected *fluneina-).
  • milke (to take, seize, catch, capture, get) — milūk-, milkek, ilaka
    • The singular present indicative forms use the stem milk-: milku, milki, milkė - the other ones are regular (milūkyou, milūgdia...).
    • Also has the irregular stem mūṃchl- for the desiderative junia.
  • mṛcce (to run (monodirectional)) — marcė, pañcek, amṛca
    • Suppletive in the past stem only. The present stem is ablauting.
  • lilke (to live) — lilah, lilek, lælī
    • Suppletive in the perfect only. -ah verb in the present, non-ablauting.
    • Also has the irregular stem lėlikṣ- for the desiderative junia.
Miscellaneous irregularities

æflike (to plan, to be going to) is an unmarked agentive verb, which is only conjugated as agentive, and has an irregular present stem æftil-, with a zero ending for the third person singular. It usually only takes verbs or verbal phrases as arguments, e.g. keitu dhāsmike æftil "(s)he is going/plans to save the whale". It is often a synonym of the future intentional, though it conveys lesser certainty and may also be used for imperfective actions or states.
Note that the defectiveness does not apply to its derived forms - e.g. švæflike (to believe): švæftilu "I am believed", šuteyæftilu "I believe" - and æflike itself has regular causative forms (with the meaning of "make X intend to do").

The pair tamišake⁓tildake (to look at) is not counted as one of the thirteen irregular verbs, but tildake is an unmarked agentive verb, while tamišake is used in all other voices. Note that however tamišake also has a regular agentive voice, synonymous with tildake: teldu ⁓ tatemešu (I look at). The verb najake "to happen" (explained below among the compounds of gyake) is also sometimes considered irregular, as a verb with an unmarked dative-trigger voice.
Prefixed motion verbs are also not marked for voice in the patient- and agent-trigger ones (with only cases on nouns distinguishing them), but that is considered a particular but regular behaviour of a semantically defined subset of verbs.

ñoerake (to crawl (multidirectional)) has the stem ñoerg- in the indicative present singular (ñoergu, ñoergi, ñoergė), but is regular everywhere else (ñoerayou, ñoeradia...).

męlike (to give) has the irregular desiderative stem mimęñ- as well as the irregular optative męliǣna-.

Two verbs with -ur in the root have irregular vowels:

  • purake "to powder, to break with the hands": parė — (pārau) pāṭ — upura
  • sturake "to fall": starė — (stārau) stāṭ — ustura

Three verbs have (a+) -ut in the infinitive and perfect, -at in the past, and att in the present:

  • lutake "to obtain, gain, take advantage": lattė — (latau) lak — aluta
  • ssutake "to attract, to bait, to seduce": ssattė — (ssatau) ssak — assuta
  • sprutake "to join, link": sprattė — (spratau) sprak — aspruta

Two verbs have '(a+) -agv but -avu- in the past:

  • lagvake "to assume": lagvė — lavuk — alagva
  • ṣṭagvake "to carve": ṣṭagvė — ṣṭavuk — aṣṭagva

Other various irregular verbs:

  • leilge (leig-ke) "to concern, to be on the topic of": leigė — (lågau) lål — eleiga
  • ręiške "to tickle": ręišė — (rąšau) rąs — eręiša
  • lårpake "to swing": lårpė — lerpek — alurpa

Three vowel-ending roots have an irregular behaviour:

  • rileike "to need" has the expected ei → ey change in the present, but adds -n- in the past instead: rileyu, rileyi, rileyė... but rileinu, rileinei, rileik...
  • lįke "to swim (monodirectional) and mųke "to jump (monodirectional)" behave before vowels as if their stems were (ablauting) *lis- and *mus-: pres. exterior lesu, lesi, lesė...; past exterior lisau, lisei, lįk.

The verb "to be" (jalle)

The verb "to be" is suppletive as it uses various different stems (from Proto-Lahob *jaħħ, *wi(w)ħ, *ri, *jek, and *gəna) and irregularly — for example, the non-singular present forms are morphologically perfect.

Note that the indicative present is rarely used, as the copula is usually dropped in many cases; when used with the meaning of "to have" (e.g. lili mæn tulūʔa yambras jali "I have six pears" (lit.: I TOPIC six pears are)) it is considered better not to drop it, but it is often done nevertheless in common speech. It is also kept when used with the meaning "there is...".

Both future tenses are rarely used in colloquial and semi-formal speech, as the present tense of ndǣke (to become) is usually used as a replacement.

Indicative mood
Person Present Past Perfect General future Future intent.
Sing 1st ū ėk rem jalṣyam eku
2nd vei ėši res jalṣyes eki
3rd vi ė ri jalṣya elė
Dual 1st jella ekram rira jalṣyara ekyǣ
2nd jelli ekres reri jalṣyari ėdia
3rd jali ėdat ri jalṣya ėde
Pl. 1st jalim ekāja rima jalṣīma ekįm
2nd jalis ekeši riša jalṣīsa ekṣin
3rd jali eivė ri jalṣya ekīran
Other primary moods

The present tense or imperfective aspect of all other primary moods included as examples in this table:

Person Imperative Subjunctive Optative Propositive Desiderative Necessitative Potential Permissive
Sing. 1st jalikṣam gatiam jeivu jeivikṣam jæliašu jaluṣyu jelau julippu
2nd jalios gīsei jeivi jeivikṣos jæliaši jaluṣyi jelai julippi
3rd jaliotīs gīti jeivė jeivikṣotīs jæliaše jaluṣyė jelai julippė
Dual 1st — gīderam jeivayǣ — jæliašyǣ jaluṣyǣ jelāyǣ julippuyǣ
2nd gīderes jeivadia jæliardia jaluṣyadia jelādia julippudia
3rd gīdeh jeivade jæliarde jaluṣyade jelāde julippude
Pl. 1st jalikṣumi gīneja jeivįm jeivikṣumi jæliašįm jaluṣįm jelęm julippulieh
2nd jalioris gīniši jeivašin jeivioris jæliakṣin jaluṣyašin jelāšin julippušin
3rd jaliotīs gīyevatь jeivīran jeiviotīs jæliašīran jaluṣīran jeleran julippīran
In compound verbs

There are some compound verbs which are formed by a "meaning stem" + gyake; they conjugate just like gyake does:

  • pṛšcāñjalle "to like"[9] → present pṛšcāmū, pṛšcāmvei, pṛšcāmvi... past pṛšcāmėk, pṛšcāmėši, pṛšcāmė... perfect pṛšcāṃrem... future pṛšcāñjalṣyam ; the same in other moods, e.g. necessitative present pṛšcāñjaluṣyu, pṛšcāñjaluṣyi...
    Note that in colloquial speech the form of jalle is omitted in the present indicative, e.g. pṛšcām is "to be pleasing" for all persons.
  • najalle "to happen" morphologically conjugates like jalle but has some peculiarities:
    • Like jalle, there is no agent-, dative-, and instrumental-trigger voice, but the patient-trigger voice has a dative meaning - e.g. nañū "it happens to me".
    • The basic, semantically patientive forms, are the interior ones (with a contracted stem nañ-j-ir), and they only exist for the third persons - e.g. najire "it happens", najirde "they (dual) happen", najirena "they happen", and so on.
    • It uses analytic constructions for most moods, e.g. najallenovake "can happen" > najallenovė "it can happen"; najalledaudike "to be wanted to happen" > najalledaudiute "I want it to happen" — forms such as the synthetic najelai or najæliašute are found only in archaic (mostly pre-Classical) texts or with other uses - as e.g. najelai being the most common word for "maybe".

The honorific verb tilah

The verb tilah is the only Chlouvānem verb which does not have an infinitive form and is only used, attached to the an-form of a particular verb, as a marker of politeness. Its use dates from the early Second Era, as an adaptation of Ancient Kūṣṛmāṭhi tiluru (to obey) and, in the past, of nuyuru (to serve). Apart from the lack of an infinitive, it has some particularities, namely that it only conjugates in the three basic moods (indicative, subjunctive, and optative). The juniai are not marked on tilah but on the true verb (in an-form) and it is also defective in lacking evidentials and consequentials (the form without tilah is used instead).

Its conjugation is mostly regular but has some particularities:

  • The indicative present exterior is as for ah-verbs but shortened: tilah - tilši - tilah - tilšǣ - tilądia - tiląde - tilęm - tiląšin - tilah; the present interior is as for all regular ah-verbs (tilęru, tilęri, tilęre...).
  • The causative forms show haplology of *il-ild to ilьd: tilьdeyam, tilьdeši, tilьden... interior tilьdryam, tilьdrši, tilьdiren...
  • The indicative past exterior uses a stem ny- in the singular and dual and just ni- in the plural: nyau - nyei - nyek - nyaram - nyares - nyadat - nināja - nineši - nīvė; the interior and the causative are regular using ny-er-, ny-eld(r)- (nyerau, nyerei, nyerek... nyeldau, nyeldei, nyeldek... nyeldrau, nyeldrei, nyeldrek...).
  • The perfect exterior has the stem nīl- and has a shortened 1PL and 2PL: nīlam - nīles - nīla - nīlara - nīlari - nīla - nīlьma - nīlьša - nīla. The interior has nīlьr- (nīlьram, nīlьres, nīlьrā...) and the causative nīlьd- (nīlьdam, nīlьdes, nīlьdā... nīlьdṛm, nīlьdṛs, nīlьdirā...).
  • The future is regular, but the endings (as well as the interior and the causative forms) all start with e instead of i: tileṣyam, tileṣyes, tileṣya... Note that the causative forms have dissimilation of the stem to tireld- (tireldiṣyam... tireldirṣyam...).
  • The subjunctive imperfective exterior is regular with the stem til- in the 1SG (tilatiam) and only t in the others (tīsei, tīti...). The interior has tiler- and the causative tireld-.
  • The subjunctive perfective exterior always has the stem t- (tevitam, tevšei, tevite...); the interior has tilьr- and the causative tilьd-)
  • The optative is completely regular, with the (regular) stem tilouna-.

All voice affixes come before tilah, as if the an-form were only a verbal prefix. The honorific verb is not used where there already is a honorific suppletive verb (cf. moṣite "you (honorific) ask" (verb muṣke) → pardhite (verb pṛdhake), not *muṣantetilši).

Examples of the use of tilah:

  • nāmvegde ((s)he/it crushes) → nāmvantetilah
  • flå (I go, walk) → flunantilah
  • pūni (you work) → pūnantilši
  • pupūṃsįm (we want to work) → pupūṃsantilęm
  • pū pūnīti (if (s)he/it works) → pū pūnantīti

In actual usage, tilah denotes respect towards the listener, and is used whenever the action being spoken of effects the listener in some way so, even in polite speech, not all verbs will use tilah - overusing it is a common error among people learning the language, not only foreigners but also young Chlouvānem people themselves.

Analytic constructions and auxiliary verbs

Chlouvānem uses many analytic constructions - including auxiliary and compound verbs - in order to convey some shades of meaning. Most of these use either a participle or the infinitive as the form of the lexical verb:

  • perfective subjunctive in the needed voice + lā (with) + gyake in the past or future tense: compound construction used for pluperfect and future perfect. It is not wrong to use it with a present tense, but the meaning does not change from the bare perfect.
    Note that, for the pluperfect, the bare perfect is often used instead, both in literature as in common speech.
    • yųlevitaṃte lā ėk "I had eaten"
    • yųlevitaṃte lā jalṣyam "I will have eaten"
  • imperfective subjunctive in the needed voice + lā (with) + gyake in the needed tense: compound construction used for the progressive aspect in the three tenses (present, past, future). In the present, the form of gyake is omitted for the third person, or for all persons if a pronoun is present.
    • yųlatiaṃte lā ū "I am eating"
    • yųlatiaṃte lā ėk "I was eating"
    • yųlatiaṃte lā jalṣyam "I will be eating"
  • infinitive + ñǣɂake (to be used to): compound construction used for a habitual action in present, past, or future tense. It is not used with motion verbs in the present, as the multidirectional verb already unambiguously has this meaning.
    • yaive prājamne yahikeñǣɂute "I am used to read every evening"
    • yaive prājamne yahikeñǣɂaṃte "I used to read every evening"
    • yaive prājamne yahikeñǣɂiṣyaṃte "I will be used to read every evening"
  • infinitive + nartaflulke (to reach): to come to X, to end up X-ing, to result in X-ing
    • yųlakenartatefliven "(s)he ended up eating"
    • lañšijildenartaflunirena "they ended up marrying each other"
  • infinitive (or more formally perfective subjunctive) + kitte (to put): to keep X-ed:
    • valdekitė / uvaldevite kitė "it is kept opened"
  • infinitive + either įstiāke (to hang from) or maitiāke (to be in front of): prospective aspect, to be about to X
    • yųlakayįstetimu "I am about to eat"
    • yahikemaitimė "it is about to be read"
  • subjunctive + interior forms of męlike (to give): to do X in advance — it can also be interpreted as a (plu)perfect if with perfect subjunctive:
    • yųlatiaṃte męliru "I eat in advance"
    • yųlevitaṃte męlirau "I ate in advance" → "I had already eaten"
  • infinitive + paṣmišake (to look further away): to let X
    • sū yahikepaṣṭemešu "I let you read"
  • infinitive + mālchake (to run (multidirectional)): to keep X-ing (less formal alternative to mai- prefixed verbs)
    • tū yahikemālchute "I keep reading it" (synonym of tū maiteyašu)
  • infinitive + nūkkhe (to mount (unidirectional)): to be still X-ing:
    • tatiākenūkhute "I'm still standing"

Adverbs

Adjectival verbs may be turned into adverbs (khladaradhausire haloe, pl. khladaradhausirena halenī) by simply adding -ęe to the stem. Thus:

  • tarlausake (scientific) → tarlausęe (scientifically, according to science)
  • namęliausake (stakanovist) → namęliausęe (continuously; without any break)
  • prātūkke (windy) → prātūkęe (windy; like the wind)

There are also some irregular adverbs, made from other speech parts:

  • chlærūm (light) → chlære (easily) (but note its synonym chlærausęe from the related adjective chlærausis (easy))
  • dilas (same) → diledile (exactly the same way; emphatic version of dilęe[10] but more common.)
  • ṣati (way, mode) suffixed to a possessive adjective forms liliāṣati (from my point of view; my way; in my opinion), sāmiāṣati (from your point of view; your way; in your opinion), demiāṣati, tamiāṣati, and so on.

Underived adverbs

Some adverbs are not derived from any other part of speech. They include:

  • All adverbial correlatives;
  • flære (yesterday), amyære (today), and menire (tomorrow)
  • mådviṣe (before), kaminæne (now), and færviṣe (after)
  • Some adverbs formed by onomatopoeia or sound symbolism (and usually reduplicated) like rarāre (roaring) or tanetane (barefoot).

Undeclinable adjective-like words

A few common words may be used attributively just like adjectives, but they do not decline. Most of them end in either -a or -i:

  • cami - great, large (figurative), important
  • lalla - high, higher, next
  • miąre - good (and chloucæm (better))
  • taili - many, much
  • nanū - more
  • kaili - most
  • pṛšcām - pleasing
  • ṣūbha - few, little
  • yamei - "honorific" adjective

All numerals also belong to this category.

When used predicatively, they need a form of gyake following them.

Note that cami, taili, and kaili, in some (but not all) Archaic Chlouvānem texts, have a singular-only declension based on the irregular one of ami (see the declensions of correlatives and possessives in the next section). Most probably this was an analogic feature of a few pre-Classical standardization Chlouvānem dialects of 2000 years ago.

Comparatives and superlatives

Comparatives and superlatives are done in the same way in Chlouvānem. Comparatives are made by using either nanū (more) or ovet (less) in front of the adjective; the compared term is in ablative case; the superlative is formed by using yaivų (than all) as the compared term. Adverbs use the same method (e.g. chlære (easily) → nanū chlære → yaivų nanū chlære), but "than all" in superlatives is usually omitted, therefore they use nanū also with a superlative meaning.

This is used by both adjectival and non adjectival verbs, e.g. sąu nanū yašute "I read more than you".

Irregular forms

There are seven irregular adjectival verbs which are only used with synthetic comparatives, all synchronically suppletive:

Positive Comparative Superlative
ñikake (small) isike (smaller; fewer, less) iñekṣike (smallest; fewest, least)
ṣubha indecl. (few, little)
spragnyake (large) samvarike (larger) sasprāsike (largest)
garpake (bad) grašcasike (worse) gugārasike (worst)
miąre indecl. (good) chlǣcæm indecl. (better) chlǣcækṣike (best)
durḍhāvake (far) duryāḍhivake (farther, further) dudhorasike (farthest, furthest)
taili indecl. (many, much) nanū indecl. (more) kaili indecl. (most)

In addition to these, the other indeclinable adjectives cami, lalla, and pṛšcām only have the analytic forms (yaivų) nanū cami/lalla/pṛšcām.

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, as well as nouns standing for pronouns, both in formal and extremely informal speech.

Standard Chlouvānem as spoken today uses the following morphological pronouns (not including those that follow nominal inflection):

  • 1st person lili (sg.), lilše (dual), and main (pl.).
  • 2nd person informal sāmi (sg.) and saše (dual).
  • 2nd person formal superior nani (sg.; also used for 2nd plural, both informal and formal generic) and naiše (dual).

  • 2nd person formal equal ravi (sg.) and raude (dual).
  • 2nd person formal inferior kūri (sg.) and kūrḍe (dual).
  • 3rd person tami (sg.), taṃše (dual), and toman (pl.).
  • Reflexive demi (mandatory for 3rd person, commonly used also for 1st and 2nd).

The pronouns doubling as adjectives are:

  • Three demonstratives, all declining for case only, not for number: proximal nenė; medial nunū; distal nanā.
  • The possessives: liliā, meyā, sāmiā, naniā, ravyā, kūriā, tamiā; tomiā, tameṣyā, (yaniā).

Among younger speakers in some areas the Jade Coast, most notably in Līlasuṃghāṇa, Taitepamba, and Mileyīkhā, demonstratives and possessives are not inflected at all, e.g. lili nanā phėcamu mišau "I saw that cat" instead of standard lili nanau phėcamu mišau.

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, medial uteni, and distal āteni, which declined in use throughout Classical times, when they were replaced by the newer nenė — nunū — nanā forms.

ami is still used regionally around the mid-course of the Lāmiejāya where it has been repurposed as a definiteness marker for non-triggered arguments - Standard Chlouvānem usually topicalizes the argument or uses nanā, or, colloquially, leaves it unmarked and only understandable by context; cf. "the tiger is seen by the wolf":

(Standard): ėmīla nanie bāḍhmānei mešė, or bāḍhmān mæn ėmīla mėšė, or ėmīla bāḍhmānei mėšė.
(Mid-Lāmiejāyi): ėmīla amie bāḍhmānei mešė.

As mentioned before, Chlouvānem does not distinguish singular formal superior and plural "you", having the single pronoun nani for both. Unlike the similar situation in English, Chlouvānem still differentiates them by marking number on the verb, so for example "you (sg) work" is nani pūni, and "you (pl) work" is nani pūnašin. Originally, nani was only the 2nd person singular feminine pronoun (as shown by its cognates in other Lahob languages); in Archaic Chlouvānem the original plural pronoun nagin is attested, but we lack attestations of any form except the direct and the genitive (nagyā).

Personal pronouns

Direct Accusative Ergative Genitive Translative Exessive Essive Dative Ablative Locative Instrumental
Singular 1st person lili lū lęi liliā liñ litь lęsь loh ląu lǣ līni
2nd person Informal sāmi sū sęi sāmiā sāñ sātь sąsь soh sąu sǣ šīni
Form. sup. nani nyū nyęi naniā nyāñ nyātь nyąsь nyoh nyąu nyǣ nīni
Form. equal ravi rū ręi ravyā rāñ rātь rąsь roh rąu rǣ rīni
Form. inf. kūri kū kęi kūriā kūñ kūtь kųsь kūroh kųu kūrǣ kūrīni
3rd person tami tū tęi tamiā tañ tatь tąsь toh tąu tǣ tīni
Reflexive pronoun demi diū dį demiā deñ detь dęsь doh dąu dǣ dīni
Dual 1st person lilše lilut lilšą lileṣyā lilšās lilšātь lilšona lilšoh lilšų lilšǣ lilešī
2nd person Informal saše sašut sašą sareṣyā sarās sašātь sašona sašoh sašų sašǣ sarešī
Form. sup. naiše naišut naišą nanešā naišās naišātь naišona naišoh naišų naišǣ nanešī
Form. equal raude raudut raudą ravedyā raudās raudātь raudona raudoh raudų raudǣ ravedī
Form. inf. kūrḍe kūrḍut kūrḍą kūredyā kūrḍās kūrḍātь kūrḍona kūrḍoh kūrḍų kūrḍǣ kūredī
3rd person taṃše taṃšut taṃšą tameṣyā taṃšās taṃšātь taṃšona taṃšoh taṃšų taṃšǣ tamešī
Plural 1st person main mū mayį maiyā maiñ maitь maisь mayoh mąu mehǣ menī
2nd person Informal nani nyū nyęi naniā nyāñ nyātь nyąsь nyoh nyąu nyǣ nīni
3rd person toman tomau tomān tomiā tomiñ tomitь tomesь tomåh tomąu tomyǣ tomenī
Emphatic pronoun (archaic) yani yū yę yaniā yañ yatь yąsь yoh yų yǣ īni

yavyāta (though often replaced by nani) and yakaliyātam are used as formal second person plural pronouns; they are however nouns and decline as such (as singular 1-h and 1-m declension respectively, but they take plural verbs and adjectives). Various other nouns may be used as second- or third-person pronouns depending on the situation; see the following section on honorifics for a list of them and their usage.

Correlatives

Chlouvānem has a fairly regular system of correlatives, distinguishing ten types (proximal, medial, distal, interrogative, negative, assertive existential, elective existential, universal, positive alternative, and negative alternative) in eleven categories (attributive, thing, person, time, place, destination, origin, way, reason, quality, quantity).

Category ↓ / Type → Proximal Medial Distal Interrogative Negative Ass. exist. Elect. exist. Universal Positive altern. Negative altern.
Attributive nenė
this (one)		 nunū
that (one) (near you)		 nanā
that (one) (over there)		 yananū?
what?, which (one) ?		 gu
no		 sora
some		 læti
any		 yaiva
every(thing)		 viṣam
another		 guviṣam
no other
Thing gvami
nothing		 sorami
something		 lætyami
anything		 viṣāmi
something else		 guviṣāmi
nothing else
Person evita
this one		 utvita
that one (near you)		 ātvita
that one (over there)		 yavita?
who?		 guvita
no one		 soraita
someone		 lævita
anyone		 yaivita
everyone		 viṣvita
someone else		 guviṣvita
no one else
Time emiya
now		 utiya
then		 ātiya
then (remote)		 yamiya?
when?		 gumiya
never		 soramiya
sometime, somewhen		 lætmiya
anytime, whenever		 yaivmiya
always, everytime		 viṣmiya
sometime else		 guviṣmiya
never else
Place ejulā
here		 uñjulā
there		 āñjulā
over there		 yajulā?
where?		 gujulā
nowhere		 sorajulā
somewhere		 læjulā
anywhere		 yavijulā
everywhere		 viñjulā
elsewhere		 guviñjulā
nowhere else
Destination ejulyom
hither		 uñjulyom
thither		 āñjulyom
thither (remote)		 yajulyom?
whither?		 gujulyom
nowhither		 sorajulyom
somewhither		 læjulyom
anywhither		 yavijulyom
everywhither		 viñjulyom
elsewhither		 guviñjulyom
nowhither else
Source ejulųu
hence		 uñjulųu
thence		 āñjulųu
thence (remote)		 yajulųu?
whence?		 gujulųu
nowhence		 sorajulųu
somewhence		 læjulųu
anywhence		 yavijulųu
everywhence		 viñjulųu
elsewhence		 guviñjulųu
nowhence else
Manner elīce
thus, hereby		 ūlīce
thereby		 ālīce
thereby; that other way		 yalīce?
how?		 gulīce
no way		 soralīce
somehow		 lælīce
anyhow		 yaivlīce
everyway		 viṣlīce
otherwise		 guviṣlīce
no other way
Reason emena
herefore		 utmena
therefore		 ātmena
therefore; for that other reason		 yamenat?
why?		 gumena
for no reason		 soramena
somewhy		 lætmena
whyever, for any reason		 yaivmena
for every reason		 viṣmena
for another reason		 guviṣmena
for no other reason
Quality esmā
this kind		 utsmā
that kind		 ātsmā
that other kind		 yasmāt?
which kind?		 gusmā
no kind		 sorasmā
some kind		 læsmā
any kind		 yavismā
every kind		 viṣasmā
another kind		 guviṣasmā
no other kind
Quantity enūḍa
this much		 utnūḍa
that much		 ātnūḍa
that much (remote)		 yanūḍat?
how much?		 gunūḍa
none		 soraṇūḍa
some of it		 lætnūḍa
any much		 yaivnūḍa
all of it		 viṣṇūḍa
another quantity		 guviṣṇūḍa
no other quantity

Note that in common speach ālīce and ūlīce as well as ātmena and utmena are basically interchangeable, except for main clauses in relative structures where only ālīce and ātmena are used. The quality correlatives may take an essive argument, e.g. kadięs læsmā "any kind of chair".
Thing and person correlatives decline for case and, in the case of evita, utvita, and ātvita, also for number (1h declension: evita, acc. sg. evitu, dir. pl. evitai, dat. pl. evitauti…). Quality and quantity correlatives also decline for case.

Negatives, elective existentials, universals, and positive alternatives for thing and person correlatives may also take dual number: gvamiyon～guvition "neither"; lætyamiyon～lævition "either"; yaivyon～yaivition "both"; viṣāmiyon～viṣvition "the other one".

There is a further interrogative, yacāryā? (whose).

Declensions of correlatives and possessives

Case ā-paradigm ė-paradigm ū-paradigm t-paradigm
All possessives, nanā, yacāryā?,
ami, correlatives in -i[11]		 nenė only nunū only yasmāt? and yanūḍat?
Direct
Vocative 		liliā nenė nunū yasmāt
Accusative liliau nenæyu nunūyu yasmau
Ergative lilie nenæye nunūye yasmātei
Genitive liliai neniai nunūyai yasmai
Translative liliān nenėn nunūn yasmān
Exessive liliāt nenėt nunūt yasmātat
Essive liliąa nenęe nunųu yasmātą
Dative liliåh neneah nunouh yasmātom
Ablative liliąu nenėhu nunūvu yasmąu
Locative lilǣ neniǣ nunūvǣ yasmātǣ
Instrumental lileni nenėni nunauni yasmaini

Honorifics

Honorific pronouns

Second person

The rules for second person pronouns are mostly fairly easy. There are usually two contexts: formal and informal.

Formal pronouns are three and (in contemporary Chlouvānem) invariable for gender, but they vary for relative rank instead: nani is used towards a superior, ravi towards one of the same rank, and kūri towards a lower ranked person (until the mid-Fourth Era, nani was strictly feminine and kūri strictly masculine, and the rules for all three varied also according to the relative genders). naiše, raude, and kūrḍe are their respective dual forms.

Plural second person pronouns are usually two: yakaliyātam is used towards the representative of a specifically defined group - an institution or a company -, while yavyāta (but also nani) is used for less defined groups.

There are, however, more formal second-person pronouns with a limited use. All of these (here listed in Latin alphabetical order), unless noted, are morphologically nouns, but they are used with second person verbs anyway:


  • aveṣyotariri nani (locution with the pronoun nani) is sometimes used towards the highest ranked non-religious superiors, if they are several ranks ahead: examples include commanders of a military brigade or presidents of a company. However, nani is in most cases respectful enough; it is however invariably used in the set phrase lāliu naniau aveṣyotariri yaccechlašute nami "I humbly ask for your forgiveness".
  • gopūrṭham is often used towards public/religious and military officials.
  • gopūrṭhami brausa (or yobrausa) are used for the highest ranked Inquisitors, bishops, head monks, and the Baptist.
  • lalla yobrausa is used exclusively for the Great Inquisitor.

  • ṣari, nowadays mostly old-fashioned, was used by guests towards homeowners and also by soldiers towards their superiors. It also meant, aside from being a pronoun, "landowner" or "head of a non-religious state"; in contemporary Chlouvānem it mostly only survives as a vocative expression towards homeowners when used by guests[12].
  • ūttuka is today only used in parts of the Northeast (aside by fictional characters in historical settings), but until the early Fourth Era was a common pronoun word used by servants towards their superiors, particularly landowners (it thus partially overlapped with ṣari).
  • yobrausa — see gopūrṭhami brausa above.



It is also important to note that it's increasingly common to simply use the vocative formula - given name plus lāma - instead of any pronoun in formal context: when speaking to a superior named Lārtāvi Vaihātiai Lælithiam, in order to say a sentence like "have you already done (it)?", nani tū dadrās nāṭ dām? and Lælithiam lāma tū dadrās nāṭ dām? are both just as correct. The pronoun forms are more commonly used in other cases, particularly in the genitive.

In informal contexts, the only basic morphological second-person pronoun is sāmi, which has the dual form saše and the plural form nain. However, there may be even more informal contexts where other nouns may be used: the prototypical example is among siblings, where blikā (dual blikyon, plural blikai), an endearing term for girls (think of Japanese -chan or -tan) is used as a pronoun for and among sisters — e.g. blikā meyom umuṣeste tane[13]? meaning "did you ask mum or not?"; as for all nouns standing for pronouns, this is not a vocative expression as it declines for case - e.g. blikom emęliaṃte nāṭ! "I've already given it to you!"; other such pro-nouns used among siblings are lorkhās (for and among brothers; literally "guy", can be rude outside this context), nājhali (non-binary equivalent to "girl" and "boy" — somewhat rarer as even in general use it's a more neutral term than either blikā or lorkhās), and even samin (literally "kid"). Informal names are also sometimes used instead of pronouns among siblings, and they're more often than not used that way among close friends and kaleyai[14].

Third person

In Chlouvānem, third person pronouns are basically never used when referring to people: tami can only be used as such in informal registers, and it is considered insulting to do so in formal speech. The name of the person referred to with the appropriate honorific title is used instead.

Honorific titles

→ See also: Chlouvānem names § Using names

Chlouvānem uses many honorific titles, which are always used in non-familiar speech. The "honorific" adjective yamei is often added to many of them - especially lāma - and is mandatory in other ones.

  • lāma - used after the noun, it is the most common honorific title; almost every time someone is being addressed, lāma is used - the only exceptions being when it is already known another honorific should be used, or in familiar situations. It usually follows the given name alone (e.g. Namihūlša lāma); if the matronymic is added (sometimes done in order to disambiguate), then lāma comes between matronymic and noun (e.g. Līṭhaljāyimāvi lāma Namihūlša). All three names matronymic, surname, and given name together with lāma (e.g. Līṭhaljāyimāvi Kaleñchokah Namihūlša lāma) are only used in very formal addressing from a list of nouns; should matronymic+noun be not enough to distinguish two people, simply surname+noun is used.
  • tanta - used for people in a lower position, e.g. used towards one's employees or (usually from seventh class onwards) by teachers and professors towards their students. Also used by militars towards lower-ranked soldiers.
  • suntam (regionally also sintam) - used for people in a higher position in certain situations, most commonly towards older and more experienced colleagues (but not teachers or professors, nor work bosses if they're roughly the same age as the speaker).
  • lallāmaha - an extremely formal honorific, used for public authorities and all Inquisitors. Most often used together with yamei. Inquisitors may also be referred to as lallāmaha + matronymic + yamei + given name + murkadhāna (lāma)
  • jūlin - less formal than lāma, used for people who work in one's home but are not part of the family.
  • telen - less formal than lāma, used by men for unmarried women whom they know somewhat well. Currently less frequently used than it was up to about 10 years ago.
  • jāmilšīreh - used in military contexts towards higher-ranked people, or by common people towards military commanders in service.
  • dhārāti - neutral but respectful title of address, often used when generally speaking and without knowing who the listener is. Sometimes used, when in a plural sense, in the form yamei dau-dhārātīye. In its neutralness relative to rank, it can be compared with the Soviet-era use of товарищ. It is also how high-ranked Inquisitors and most monks address the general public.
  • pūrivāla - an impersonal term of address used in written language, towards unfamiliar people never met personally. Often used as yamei [name] pūrivāla.
  • cuca is not strictly an honorific, as it pertains to more colloquial forms of speech, but it works the same way. It has a diminutive and endearing meaning, not unlike Japanese -chan. In formal speech, it is often used towards and when speaking about children.

Occupations commonly used as titles

  • camitorai — head of a company (usually as [matronymic] yamei [name] camitorai lāma)
  • kauchlærīn (voc.: kauchlærī) — professor (in universities, seminaries, institutions, and work schools)
  • tatnāmęlīn (voc.: tatnāmęlī) — teacher (in first and basic schools)

Official titles

Where not noted, the formula is [matronymic] yamei [name] [title] lāma.

  • brausamailenia — Baptist — rendered as aveṣyotārire lallāmaha [matronymic] yamei [surname + given name] brausamailenia lāma.
  • camimurkadhāna — Great Inquisitor — rendered as nanū aveṣyotārire lallāmaha [matronymic] yamei [surname + given name] camimurkadhāna lāma.
  • camitorai — president (of diocesan parliaments or executives or of foreign countries). Rendered as aveṣyotārire [matronymic (if Chlouvānem)] yamei [name] camitorai lāma.
  • flušamelīs (voc.: flušamelī) — Prefect (head of an Office (flušamila) of the Inquisition). Rendered as aveṣyotārire [matronymic] yamei [name] flušamelī(s) lāma.
  • gatvā — leader/head/president/mayor — preceded by the genitive of the respective administration (ṣramāṇa "province", lalka "circuit", hālgāra "district", marta "city"…).
  • hurdagīn — Head Monk (head of a monastery) — rendered as kaili brausire yamei [name] hurdagīn lāma (+ monastery name-GEN)[15]
  • juṃša — Bishop (head of a diocese) — rendered as aveṣyotārire [matronymic] yamei [(surname +) name] juṃša lāma (+ diocese name-GEN).
  • lallaflušamelīs (voc.: lallaflušamelī) — High Prefect (head of the Table of Offices (flušamaili eṇāh, the executive branch of the Inquisition). Usually rendered as taili aveṣyotārire [matronymic] yamei [name] lallaflušamelī(s) lāma.
  • lallamurkadhāna — High Inquisitor (one of the 612 members of the Inquisitorial Conclave (murkadhānumi lanedāmeh, the legislative branch of the Inquisition). Usually rendered as aveṣyotārire [matronymic] yamei [name] lallamurkadhāna lāma.
  • ñæltryam — monk.
  • ṭommīn (voc.: ṭommī) — Quaestor (head of a Quaestorship).

Note that the full titles are used generally at the first mention only. For example, Martayināvi yamei murkadhāna Læhimausa lāma becomes afterwards either yamei murkadhāna or yamei Læhimausa lāma. With the Great Inquisitor, this does not usually get shorter than nanū aveṣyotārire yamei lallāmaha ([Her] Respectable Most Excellent Highness) or nanū aveṣyotārire lallāmaha camimurkadhāna ([Her] Most Excellent Highness, the Great Inquisitor).

Honorific particles

There are a few honorific particles - mostly of Ancient Kūṣṛmāthi origin - that are used to make names or nouns honorific:

  • īvai makes a verb humble, and is put after a verb, too.
  • nami denotes respect towards the trigger of the verb. It was common in the past alongside the honorific verb tilah, but today it is not used except for a few set phrases (e.g. lālis yacė nami "please").
  • yo- is a prefix for things pertaining to a honourable person, often used together with a verb with nami.
  • dau- is a prefix that makes nouns honorific.

Numerals - Mālendān

Chlouvānem is one of the few human Calemerian languages - together with all other Lahob languages and a few ones of the southern hemisphere - with a pure duodecimal number system.

Numbers (sg/pl. mālendān) have six different forms: cardinal, ordinal, collective, distributive, adverbial/multiplicative, and fractionary. 1-4 have separate adverbial forms, while all other ones have an invariable form used as multiplicative and a derived adverb used as adverbial. Cardinals from 1 to 4 decline for case (leila as 1h; dani and pāmvi as 4h; nęlte as 2h).

Digit12 Base 10 Cardinal Ordinal Collective Distributive Adv./Multiplicative Fractionary
0 0 ajrā (ajrāyende) (ajrāmūh) (ajrehaicė) (lājrā) —
1 1 leila lahīla leilamūh leiluhaicė leilahæl
lāleila		 lahīlvāṭ
2 2 dani hælinaika daniamūh danihaicė danihæl
lādani		 hælinaivāṭ
3 3 pāmvi pāmvende pāmvimūh pāmvihaicė pāmvihæl
lāpāmvi		 pāmvendvāṭ
4 4 nęlte nęltende nęltemūh nęltehaicė nęltehæl
lānęlte		 nęltendvāṭ
5 5 šulka šulkende šulkamūh šulkhaicė lāšulka šulkendvāṭ
6 6 tulūɂa tulūɂende tulūɂamūh tulūɂihaicė lātulūɂa tulūɂendvāṭ
7 7 chīka chīcænde chīkamūh chīcihaicė lāchīka chīcændvāṭ
8 8 tītya tītyende tītyamūh tītihaicė lātītya tītyendvāṭ
9 9 moja mojende mojmūh mojihaicė lāmoja mojendvāṭ
ᘔ 10 tålda tåldende tåldamūh tåldihaicė lātålda tåldendvāṭ
Ɛ 11 vælden vældinde vældemūh vældihaicė lāvælden vældindvāṭ
10 12 māmei māminde māmeimūh māmeihaicė lāmāmei māmindvāṭ
11 13 lelimaye lelimayinde lelimaimūh lelimaihaicė lālelimaye lelimayindvāṭ
12 14 danimaye danimayinde danimaimūh danimaihaicė lādanimaye danimayindvāṭ
13 15 pamihælī pamihælīnde pamihælīmūh pamihælīhaicė lāpamihælī pamihælīndvāṭ
14 16 māminęlte māminęltende māminęltemūh māminęltehaicė lāmāminęlte māmiynęltendvāṭ
15 17 māmišulka māmišulkende māmišulkamūh māmišulkhaicė lāmāmišulka māmišulkendvāṭ
16 18 māmivælka māmivælkende māmivælkamūh māmivælkihaicė lāmāmivælka māmivælkendvāṭ
17 19 māmichīka māmichīcænde māmichīkamūh māmichīcihaicė lāmāmichīka māmichīcændvāṭ
18 20 māmitītya māmitītyende māmitītyamūh māmitītihaicė lāmāmitītya māmitītyendvāṭ
19 21 māmimoja māmimojende māmimojmūh māmimojihaicė lāmāmimoja māmimojendvāṭ
1ᘔ 22 māmitålda māmitåldende māmitåldamūh māmitåldihaicė lāmāmitålda māmitåldendvāṭ
1Ɛ 23 māmivælden māmivældinde māmivældemūh māmivældihaicė lāmāmivælden māmivældindvāṭ
20 24 hælьmāmei hælьmāminde hælьmāmeimūh hælьmāmeihaicė lāhælьmāmei hælьmāmindvāṭ

Numbers from 2012 above are simply made by compounding teens and units with the appropriate saṃdhi changes, like 2112 (2510) hælьmāmileila, and then hælьmāmidani, hælьmāmipāmvi, and so on. Note that other compounds with 6 use -tulūɂa and not -vælka as in 1612.
The other teens are: 30 (3610) pāmvimāmei, 40 (4810) nęltemāmei, 50 (6010) šulkmāmei, 60 (7210) vælknihæla, 70 (8410) māmyāvælka (regionally chīcæmāmei, particularly in the East), 80 (9610) tītimāmei, 90 (10810) mojemāmei, ᘔ0 (12010) tåldimāmei, Ɛ0 (13210) māmimīram, and 100 nihæla.
The apparent irregularities in the words for 6012, 7012, and Ɛ012 are explained by etymology: vælka is the reflex of PLB *wewənko, which meant “half”, thus vælknihæla is “half hundred” and māmyāvælka is “twelve on half”; māmimīram is literally “twelve [less] from ahead”. 1312 originally meant "one finger/three (pāmvi, the word for three, derives from pamih, meaning "finger") in the second [dozen]", where the -hælī part is a worn form of hælinaika.

Numbers from 10012 to ƐƐƐ12 are still compounds, e.g. nihælaleil, nihæladani, and so on. Note that 16012 is most commonly nihæltulūɂa, but the more literary form nihælvælka may still be heard.
The other hundreds are 200 (28810) daninihæla, 300 (43210) pāmvinihæla, 400 (57610) nęltenihæla, 500 (72010) šulknihæla, 600 (86410) tulūnihæla, 700 (100810) chīcænihæla, 800 (115210) tītinihæla, 900 (129610) mojanihæla, ᘔ00 (144010) tåldanihæla, Ɛ00 (158410) vældenihæla.
1.000 (172810) is tildhā and numbers above are separate words, without saṃdhi, e.g. 6.2ᘔ9 (1078510) tulūɂa tildhā daninihælatåldimāmimoja.
Note that 2.00012 may be either one of tildhādi, dani tildhā, or (only emphatically) dani tildhādi.

The other divisions - numbers over ƐƐ.ƐƐƐ12 are based on groups of two digits: the two most commonly used ones in common speech are 1.00.000 (248.83210) - a raicė - and 1.00.00.000 (35.831.80810) - a lallaraicė.

The next two groups have their separate words, but are quantities rarely used in common speech: 1.00.00.00.000 (5.159.780.35210) is a taiskaucis and 1.00.00.00.00.000 (743.008.370.68810) a lallataiskaucis.

Their non-cardinal forms are all regular, with -ende (-inde after -m or for Ɛ12) for ordinals, -mūh for collectives, -haicė for distributives, lā- for adverbials/multiplicatives, and -endvāṭ/-indvāṭ for the fractionaries. Compounds of 1-2 retain all irregular suppletive forms, e.g. hælьmāmihælinaika 2212nd (2610th).

Finally, there are few other cardinals commonly used in speech: vālьhælia 1½, vālьpāmvya 2½, vālьnęltia 3½, vālьšulca 4½, and vālьtulūya 5½. Other forms such as vālьchīca, vālьtītiya, and so on are sparingly attested in older mathematical texts, but periphrastical constructions such as tulūɂa hælinaivāṭ no (or, sometimes, - vælka no) are more commonly heard and used nowadays.

Use of fractionary numbers

Fractionary numbers (except vālь- ones) are used to express non-integers just like any other quantity. Simple ones such as 0,6 (½) are the basic fractionary number - in this case hælinaivāṭ (note that, outside mathematics, daniāmita is the preferred term for "half", both in metaphorical (liliā viṣam daniāmita "my other half") and non-metaphorical uses (alāvi daniāmita "half of the bottle")); other examples are 0,3 (¼) nęltendvāṭ and 0,4 (⅓) pāmvendvāṭ.
With more complex fractions, the smallest part (negative power of twelve) is stated - the three commonly found are 1/12 (māmindvāṭ), 1/144 (nihælendvāṭ), and 1/1728 (tildhaindvāṭ). For example, 0,82 is tītimāmidani nihælendvāṭ and 0,7ᘔ6 is chīcænihælamāmimīraṃtulūɂa tildhaindvāṭ; sometimes, "0, then" (mīram) may be added: ajrā mīram tītimāmidani nihælendvāṭ.

With a non-fractionary portion that is not zero, instead of mīram, smurā (full, integer) is used - e.g. 2,307 is usually said as dani smurā pāmvinihælchīka tildhaindvāṭ.

Declensions of cardinal numbers

Some cardinal numbers are declined for case, but this is usually only done in formal Chlouvānem. Informal Chlouvānem only declines leila, often with an analogical pattern based on 1h nouns. Only the numbers from 1 to Ɛ as well as nihæla and its compounds decline as such. tildhā, (lalla)raicė, and (lalla)taiskaucis are always declined, but they are fully nouns.

Case leila i-paradigm a-paradigm en-paradigm
dani, pāmvi, nęlte 5 to 10[16] vælden only
Direct
Vocative 		leila dani šulka vælden
Accusative leilu daniu šulku vældu
Ergative leis[17] danies šulkes vældes
Genitive leilь danь[18] šulki vældi
Translative leilan danin šulkan vældanna
Exessive leilat danit šulkat vældanta
Essive leiląa danią šulkąa vældąs
Dative leilå daniå šulkå vældå
Ablative leilų danių šulkų vældų
Locative leilь danie šulke vælde
Instrumental leilьni danьni[19] šulkñi[20] vældьni

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. leila yujam (a lotus flower); dani māra (two mango fruits); pāmvi haloe (three names), vælden 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 leila (one lotus flower), māri dani (two mango fruits), halenies pāmvi (three names), ñaiṭi vælden (eleven stars). In other cases, the noun follows the semantic case (but is always singular anyway), e.g. marti pāmvi (three cities) but marte pāmvye (in the three cities).
    This form is increasingly less common in everyday use.
  • "Two" may be used with either singular or dual number: dani māra or māri dani are both as correct as dani mārion and māreva dani - 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.

Ordinals, collectives, and multiplicatives are simply used invariable "adjectives", but collectives and multiplicatives are always singular (optionally dual for daniamūh and lādani). e.g. hælinaika kita "second house", tītyamūh lejīn "all eight singers", lāpāmvi yąloe "triple meal/a meal three times as large". Bare multiplicatives may carry either the meaning of "repeated X times" or "X times as large", but the latter is most commonly specified with a comparison (ablative case) or by context. Ordinals decline as 1h nouns if used without any noun (e.g. hælinaikom męliė "it is given to the second" — but hælinaika lilom męliė "it is given to the second person").
Collectives are often used with the meaning of "all X of..." - e.g. tītyamūh lejīn dilu liju lilejlayivegde "all eight singers wanted to sing the same song" -, with the meaning of "X sets of" with pluralia and singularia tantum, e.g. pāmvimūh hærṣūs "three pairs of lips" (note that colloquial Chlouvānem increasingly often uses the cardinals here, e.g. pāmvi hærṣūs), and with people and animals in order to say "a group of X", taken as a single entity: there can be subtle differences in meaning, e.g. chīka lalāruṇa tugīrante (with a cardinal) and chīkamūh lalāruṇa tugīrante (with a collective) both mean "seven lalāruṇai hit", but in the latter sentence the action it is implied to be a coordinate act of all seven animals, while in the former they either hit randomly or the coordination of the action is not specified (or not specification-worthy).

Distributives are indeclinable adjectives, and have the meaning of "X each": pāmvihaicė titė męlīran "three pens each are given"; lili liliā ñæltah no tulūɂihaicė kolecañi alau ulgutarate "my sister and I have bought six bottles of kvas each" — note in both sentences the use of singular number in titė (pencil) and alūs (acc. alau) "bottle".

Fractionary numerals are always used in the noun.GEN numeral construction, and they are invariable in direct, vocative, accusative, and ergative case but decline with -vaḍa in all of the others (in fact, etymologically they derive from worn down forms of ordinal + vaḍa, meaning Xth part, e.g. hælinaika vaḍa (the second part) → hælinaivāṭ). Unlike ordinals, the noun is always in the genitive case. Examples: marti hælinaivāṭ "half of the city" ; alāvi nęltendvāṭ "one fourth of the bottle" ; bhæli tulūɂendvaḍe "in one sixth of the country".

Basic maths

  • 1 + 2 = 3
leila nanū dani pāmviå flunade (1.DIR. more. 2.DIR. 3-DAT. go.MONODIR-IND.PRES-3DU.EXTERIOR-AGENTIVE) — rule: ADIR nanū BDIR (nanū ...) CDAT flunade (two addends) / flunīran (3+ addends)
  • 3 - 2 = 1
pāmvi isan dani leilå flunade (3.DIR. minus. 2.DIR. 1-DAT go.MONODIR-IND.PRES-3DU.EXTERIOR-AGENTIVE) — rule: ADIR isan BDIR (isan ...) CDAT flunade (two addends) / flunīran (3+ addends)
  • 3 * 2 = 6
danihæl pāmvi tulūɂå fliven (2.MULTIP. 3.DIR. 6-DAT. go.MONODIR-IND.PRES-3SG.EXTERIOR-AGENTIVE) — rule: MULTIPLICATIVE-B ADIR CDAT fliven
  • 6 : 2 = 3
hælinaivadęs tulūɂa pāmviå fliven (2.FRACTION-ESS. 6.DIR 3-DAT. go.MONODIR-IND.PRES-3SG.EXTERIOR-AGENTIVE) — rule: FRACTIONARY-BESS ADIR CDAT fliven
  • 62 = 30 (3610)
danihæl demea tulūɂa pāmvimāmei fliven (2.MULTIP. REFL.GEN-LOC. 6.DIR. 3012. go.MONODIR-IND.PRES-3SG.EXTERIOR-AGENTIVE) — rule: MULTIPLICATIVE-B demea ADIR CDAT fliven

Units of Measurement

Chlouvānem units of measurement (lęlgīs, pl. lęlgais) are divided in popular units (leilausirena lęlgais) and scientific units (tarlausirena lęlgais). Scientific units, while understood, are rarely found outside of scientific contexts if corresponding popular units exist, while popular units are found in daily usage. Popular units follow however a measurement standard introduced in 3E 566 (79810) and updated several times in the following two centuries, in order to give a single understood measure for all units whose names and definitions varied across the many countries of the Chlouvānem cultural space.
It is also to be noted that Calemerian scientific units have internationally unified definitions for their base units but are substantially different between the Western and the Eastern world as Western countries use them with a decimal system, while the Eastern countries (the Inquisition, most of the former Kaiṣamā, and Greater Skyrdagor) use them with a duodecimal system.

Length

Units in italics are popular divisions used in speech and not usually written. The nīnas has its own abbreviation but it is nowadays rarely used, and most often written as 2 vā even if spoken as nīnas.

Short Name Meaning/name origin Equivalent to Metric system (approx.)
thi thiḍa Point, tip 1/12 liv ~1.20255 mm
liv livuka Short (dialectal) ⅙ de ~1.44305 cm
de dera Finger (in A.Kūṣṛmāṭhi) ⅓ vā ~8.65833 cm
vā vāriṇa Span ¼ pā 25.975 cm
nī nīnas Knee ½ pā 51.95 cm
pā pājya Leg (base unit) 103.9 cm
bru brujñya Fathom 2+½ pā 2.5975 m
vyaṣojrī nęltendvāṭ Quarter of vyaṣojrā ¼ vya — 90 (10810) bru 280.53 m
vyaṣojrī pāmvendvāṭ Third of vyaṣojrā ⅓ vya — 100 (14410) bru 374.04 m
vyaṣojrī hælinaivāṭ Half vyaṣojrā ½ vya — 160 (21610) bru 561.06 m
vya vyaṣojrā Plough 300 (43210) bru 1122.12 m — 1.11212 km
gar garaṇa Hour 6+⅓ vya 7106.76 m — 7.10676 km

Area

The våṇṭa may or may not be written as a separate measure. A measure of 1 jāṇa and 700 doṃryai may be written as 1 jā.700 (do) (most commonly) or as 1 jā.1.100 (do).

Short Name Meaning/name origin Equivalent to Metric system (approx.)
sǣ sǣca Small, Piece (in A.Namaikehi) 1 nī * 1 nī 51.95 cm2
dar dariā unknown; name first used in the Near East 60 (7210) sǣ 3,740.4 cm2
re relya Carpet 3 dar ~1.12212 m2
do doṃrya ultimately from doman (room) 4 re ~4.48848 m2
vå våṇṭa probably from a Tamukāyi word meaning "fence(d)" 600 (86410) do — ½ jā ~3,878.0467 m2
jā jāṇa Field 1,000 (1,72810) do — 2 vå ~7,756.0934 m2
e ekram Expanse (in A.Namaikehi) 100 (14410) jā ~1.1168 km2

Weight (and mass)

Short Name Meaning/name origin Equivalent to Metric system (approx.)
vaj vaji dimin. from vaḍa (part) 1/100 (1/14410) dū ~51.79398 mg
dū dūdha Seed ⅙ lit ~7.45833 g
lit litveh Cut (in A.Namaikehi) ¼ aut 44.75 g
aut auṭikā probably an augmentative from PLB *wutərus[21] (base unit) 179 g
tū tulūɂendā ultimately from tulūɂendes (sixth) 6 aut 1,074 g
pau paurā Rock (dialectal) 70 (8410) aut 12.53 kg
māp māmipaurā māmei (twelve) + paurā 10 (1210) pau 150.36 kg
lap lallapaurā lalla (high, further) + paurā 10 (1210) māp 1,804.32 kg

Volume

Short Name Meaning/name origin Equivalent to Metric system (approx.)
sjė sejyėh dimin. from segen (spoon) ½ seg ~5.78704 mL
seg segen Spoon ⅓ cel ~11.57407 mL
cel celia Small glass ⅙ lun ~34.72222 mL
lun luneyāvi from lunai (tea) ⅓ val ~0.20833 L
val valdhėna Flagon (base unit) 0.625 L
al alūs Bottle 2+ ⅓ val ~1.45833 L
då dåṣṭis Bucket 8 al ~11.66666 L
raš rašah Barrel 16 (1810) då ~210 L

There are also two further units for dry measures only:

  • the purṣa ("pot", pur), equivalent to 1+½ val (~0.9375 L);
  • the ręnah ("jar, urn", rę), equivalent to 6 pur (~5.625 L).

Temperature

Temperature measuring in the Chlouvānem world uses the Jahārāṭha scale (shortened ºj; named after scientist Ṣastirāvi Jahārāṭha Nukthalin), which is fixed with a zero degree at water freezing temperature at sea level. 100 ºj is the rough boiling temperature of water, but, being a duodecimal scale, it is 10012 (14410), thus 1 ºj equals 25/36 of a degree Celsius, or 1 ºC = 1.44 ºj.
The median body temperature of a Calemerian human (which is slightly lower than for Earthly humans) is of 41 ºj (4910), thus ~34.0278 ºC.

Time

→ See also: Chlouvānem Calendar and time § the Chlouvānem calendar

English Chlouvānem Equivalent to rough Earthly approximation
Year heirah 418 Calemerian days 609.6 Earth days
Day pārṇam 2812 (3210) hours ~35 hours
Hour garaṇa 1012 (1210) tetacuṃlāṇai
16012 (21610) tetacunīye		 ~65 min ~37 sec
group of "minutes" tetacuṃlāṇa 1612 (1810) tetacunīye ~5 min ~28 sec
"Minute" tetacunih (base unit) ~18.2292 sec
1/12 of a "minute" (tetacunīyi) māmendvāṭ 1/1012 (1/1210) tetacunih ~1.5191 sec
1/144 of a "minute" (tetacunīyi) nihælendvāṭ 1/10012 (1/14410) tetacunih ~0.1266 sec
1/1728 of a "minute" (tetacunīyi) tildhaindvāṭ 1/100012 (1/172810) tetacunih ~10.5493 ms

Particles

The numerous particles in the Chlouvānem language have various uses, including coordinating conjunctions, semantic, and pragmatic particles. Most of them (except a few conjunctions) follow the word they modify. Here they are listed in Latin alphabetical order:

  • dam is an interrogative particle, put after the verb: dalьtah væl dam? "is it a fish?".
  • e translates "like"; it requires essive case with nouns (in formal speech; while bare essive most properly has the meaning "as X" instead of "like X", colloquially it is used both ways) and subjunctive mood with realis verbs (other moods are used for their meaning).
  • eri means "even", marking a positive emphasis and used with positive sentences (e.g. hūnakumi dældān eri dældire "(s)he even speaks Hūnakumi[22]")
  • fras marks the antibenefactive argument outside of antibenefactive-trigger voice, or "to avoid X" with a subjunctive mood verb.
  • ga is an adpositive particle, used to join nouns in noun phrases (usually titles; the only exceptions being honorifics), such as Līlasuṃghāṇa ga marta (Līlasuṃghāṇa city, or "city of Līlasuṃghāṇa") or Tāllahāria ga maita (Tāllahāria river).
  • gāri means "not even", being the opposite of eri, marking a negative emphasis in negative sentences (e.g. miąre chlouvānumi dældān gāri gu dældire ša "(s)he doesn't even speak correct Chlouvānem")
  • golat translates "meanwhile" or "on the other hand".
  • gu(n) — ša is a circumfix around verbs used to negate it, e.g. gu yuyųlsegde ša "(s)he doesn't want to eat").
  • laha means "only, just", e.g. lārvājuṣui laha flå "I'm only going to the temple".
  • lā (arch. lapi) means "with", in the comitative sense, requiring essive case. Similarly, udvī means "without", with the same case (e.g. liliąa ñæltęs lā "with my sister"; liliąa ñæltęs udvī "without my sister").
  • leah translates "already", with a noun in essive case or a verb in the semantically correct mood.
  • mbu means "or"; placement with nouns is the same as no/lasь, and with verbs it's often the same as sama.
  • mei and go are the Chlouvānem words for "yes" and "no" respectively; their use is however different from English, as they are used according to the polarity of the question: mei answers "yes" to affirmative questions and "no" to negative questions; go answers "no" to affirmative questions and "yes" to negative questions.
  • menni translates "because, for". If there's a following main clause, then it's the last word in the subordinate of reason (this use is synonymous to the consequential secondary verbal mood of cause); if it's a lone sentence (an answer), then it is usually at the second place in the sentence, after the verbal trigger (e.g. tami menni yuyųlsegde "because (s)he wants to eat").
  • mūji translates "almost", "more or less"
  • mæn marks the topic which otherwise has no role in the sentence (often used inside larger conversations, e.g. lili mæn yulte kåmbe (mine/as for me (echoing a previous sentence), [it is] in the bright yellow backpack; OR: as for me, [I keep it] in...)).
  • najinai means "maybe"; it stems from the archaic potential form of najake (to happen). It requires a verb in subjunctive mood.
  • nali, when used with a noun in direct case, marks the benefactive argument in any voice except benefactive-trigger. When used with a verb in subjunctive mood, it means "in order to", with a nuance of hope (when compared to the bare subjunctive, which already has that meaning).
  • nānim translates "almost", with a noun in essive case or a verb in the semantically correct mood.
  • natte translates "until", with a noun in translative case (or dative case for places, meaning "as far as")[23] or a verb in the subjunctive.
  • ni translates "but" as a coordinating conjunction.
  • no translates English "and" when between nouns and when denoting a complete listing; for incomplete listings (e.g. "X and Y and so on") the particle lasь is used. Both follow the noun they refer to, and in listings with more than two nouns they follow every noun except the first. They can also translate "and" between verbs, but sama is preferred between sentences, especially with different subjects (e.g. yąlute molute no "I eat and drink", either mėlitu yąlute kolecañu molute no or mėlitu yąlute sama kolecañu molute "I eat curry and drink kvas", but most often mėlitu yąlute sama liliā ñæltah kolecañu molegde "I eat curry and my sister drinks kvas". Note that mėlitu yąlute liliā ñæltah kolecañu molegde no is still correct, but mostly found in literary or very formal language).
  • pa translates "on, of, about; concerning, on the subject of", and requires a noun direct case or a verb in subjunctive mood.
  • sama translates "and" as a coordinating conjunction between clauses. If the following word starts with a vowel, it is shortened to sam'.
  • tī translates "because", "for", and it is always in the second clause of a sentence: tū dadrāṃte tī daudiau "I have done it because I wanted to".
  • tora translates "also", "too", usually before the verb (e.g. tora tū uyųlaṃte "I've eaten that too"); note that "also" as a conjunction between two sentences is usually translated with nanū (more).
    • tora gu is a particle-adjective locution translating "not even", and is put before the noun it refers to;
    • tora no, after the noun, translates "even" - e.g. tami tora no tū dadrāte "even he has done it it").
  • tælū means "again".
  • væse translates "while", "meanwhile", with an essive (or, depending on meaning, exessive or translative) noun or a verb of the semantically correct mood.

Adjectival-adverbial particles

Adjectival-adverbial particles are those particles that are semantically adjectives or adverbs identifying quantity, but - like particles - usually follow the noun or the verb they refer to instead of preceding it.

  • glidemæh translates "only" or "alone".
  • lenta means "together (with)"; when used as a particle, it requires a noun in genitive case - e.g. lili buneyi lenta "I, together with my older sister".
  • maifu translates "enough"; it requires a noun in genitive case or a verb in the indicative mood.
  • udvī translates "without"; it requires a noun in essive case or a verb in subjunctive mood.

Paired particles

The paired particles in Chlouvānem are:

  • gu X tora gu Y no — translating "neither X nor Y"; e.g. gu jādāh tora gu lañekaica no tū drayivegde "neither Jādāh nor Lañekaica did it".
  • X gyęe Y mbu — translating "either X or Y". gyęe is the adverb derived from gyake (to be). e.g. jādāh gyęe lañekaica mbu tū drayivegde "either Jādāh or Lañekaica did it".
  • X gyęe Y tora no — translating "both X and Y"; e.g. jādāh gyęe lañekaica tora no tū drayivegde "both Jādāh and Lañekaica did it".

Emphatic particles

A few particles are used (usually sentence-finally) in order to convey particular feelings of the speaker about the statement:

  • å expresses either surprise (at the beginning of a sentence) or that the fact is considered annoying (at the end), e.g. å viṣęe dadrāte "wow, (s)he's done it again!" / viṣęe dadrā å "oh no, (s)he's done it again!"
  • dā gives the sentence, especially a command or a proposition, an informal tone - cf. German "mal" or Italian "un po'", e.g. najire tū mešute dā "I'll just see what happens"; peithos dā "just calm down and take a walk around here."
  • e is a basic declarative particle when used word-finally, and is often used as an introduction (much like "you know, ...") or as a generic filler.
  • nane is a tag question, e.g. camiyūs vali dam nane? "you're from Cami, aren't you?"
  • naihā is a tag question much like nane, but is used when the speaker is in doubt and/or expects a contradictory answer, e.g. flære draute dam naihā? "did I do it yesterday, or...?"
  • pos is a filler with a meaning similar to tau, but it is more properly translated as emphasizing that the speaker considers the statement as a general truth or a widely accepted thing, e.g. ālīce jeldegde pos "yeah, everybody knows (s)he acts that way/does that kind of things."
  • sāṭ expresses the speaker's doubt about the honesty of the expressed action, e.g. tamie tamiu draukæ sāṭ "(s)he did it for me, but I don't believe that's what (s)he really wanted" or "as if (s)he really did it for me!"
  • tau emphasizes that the fact expressed is considered obvious, and is fairly colloquial, e.g. lārvājuṣe mos tau "huh, I was at the temple, nothing else"; kitui vasau tau "I drove home [what else could I do?]"
  • tva puts strong emphasis on a declarative sentence; it is fairly colloquial and not polite, and thus avoided in formal speech, e.g. nenėyu daudiute tati ukulaṃte tva! "damn, I said I want that, shut up!"

Derivational morphology - Vāmbeithausire 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.
With a few roots whose vowel is -o-, -un is used instead.

  • lgut (to buy) → lgutūm (something bought)
  • peith (to go, walk (multidirectional)) → peithūm (walk)
  • yālv (to be sweet (taste)) → yālvūm (sweet taste)
  • storg (offices, factories: to be open, to work) → storgun (working hours)

-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 with lengthening denotes a quality.

  • māl (to keep together) → mālyāva (union)
  • hælvė (fruit) → šaulvyāva (fertility) (morphemically //hьaulvyava//)
  • blut (to clean) → blūtyāva (cleanliness)
  • Lengthening is absent if the word is derived from an -aus- adjectival verb (e.g. chlærausake ((to be) easy) → chlærausyāva (easiness)) and in a few exceptions (e.g. lalla (high) → lalliyāva (highness, superiority)). taugyāva (life) has au because it's derived from taugikā (heart) and not the bare root tug (to beat).
  • Inverse-ablaut roots have the reduced vowel as a prefix, much like in causative verbs (e.g. vald (to (be) open) → uvaldyāva (opening, state of being open)).

-išam has the same meaning as -yāva, but it's rarer.

  • yųlniltas (edible) → yųlniltešam (edibility)
  •  yālv (to be sweet (taste)) → yālvišam (sweetness)
  • ñailūh (ice) → ñailūvišam (coldness)
  • nevь (to model, to give a form) → nevīšam (plastic) (This word underwent a meaning shift from "modellability" to a common material with that quality, replacing the derived form nevīšandhūs previously used. "Modellability" is niavyāva in contemporary Chlouvānem.)

-āmita (-ьāmita when used with nouns with thematic e or i), often with high-grade ablaut, is another suffix forming quality nouns, but it is often more abstract, being translatable with suffixes like English -ism.

  • lalteh (friend (female)) → laltiāmita (friendship)
  •  ėmīla (tiger) → ėmīlāmita (nobility (quality); most important people in society[24])
  • ñæltah (sister (for a male)) → ñæltāmita (brotherhood)

-endān (-indān after voiced stops, and -innān after d), with middle-grade ablaut, has various generic and sometimes unpredictable meanings.

  •  māl (to keep together) → mālendān (number)
  •  lij (to sing) → lejindān (choir)
  •  dæld (to speak) → dældinnān (voice)

-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))[25]
  • 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, with lengthening, means "made of X".

  • tāmira (rock, stone) → tāmirāmis (stone tool)
  •  tarlā (knowledge, science) → tārlāmis (wisdom)
  •  lil (to live) → līlāmis (a blissful place)
  • Words ending in a final long vowel (plus either h, s, or m) do not lengthen any vowel in a previous syllable (e.g. ñariāh (mountain) → ñariāmis (mountainous area)).

-ikā has various meanings, often somewhat abstract, intensive, or related to highly valued things/roles.

  •  daša (rain) → dāšikā (monsoon) (irregular lengthening)
  •  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:

  • lalteh (friend (female)) → laltelāṇa (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[26].

  •  haisah (pineapple) → haisænah (pineapple tree)
  •  maɂika (uncooked rice) → maɂikænah (rice plant)
  • šikālas (prickly pear) → šikālænah (prickly pear cactus)

-yūs is used with toponyms and is one of the most common ways to form demonyms. 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 → līlasuṃghāṇyūs
  • Cami → camiyūs
  • Galiākina → galiākyūs

Verbs

Denominal verbs, in Chlouvānem, are not formed with derivational suffixes; a "light verb" is attached to the semantic root instead; the semantic root remains invariable but the light verb is conjugated (as a prefixed one). The light verb used are especially dṛke (to do, make), but also jilde (to do an action), jānake (to feel (physical)), and gyake (to be). Some examples:

  • āmaya (collection) → āmayadṛke (to collect)
  • språma (glue) → språñjilde (to glue)
  • jålkha (cold (sensation)) → jålkhajānake (to be/feel cold)
  • ñailūh (ice) → tæñailūgyake (to freeze) (note the tæ- dynamic prefix).

The other basic derived formation is the frequentative verb, formed with reduplication (with a long vowel) and -ve(y)- (-vi(y)- in the past tense[27]). -ṛ reduplicates as ṝ, but becomes a in the root.
Due to the common use of this form in modern Chlouvānem, some grammarians consider it as an inflectional category instead of a derivation. Note though that for motion verbs only multidirectional ones have a frequentative form (with iterative meaning); the multidirectionals already act as frequentative forms of the monodirectionals.

  • dṛ- (to do) → dṝdave- (to repetitively do)
  • na-gya- (to happen) → nagājave- (to keep happening; to regularly happen, to occur)[28] (gya- reduplicates as gi-ja-, with the i from the root y).
  • -gya- (to be) + various prefixes → bīgijave- (to cease to be); galagijave- (to remain in one place; to visit; to keep being)
  • tvorg- (to fear) → totvargve- (to fear over and over again) (tvo- reduplicates as to- instead of tva-).
  • låvy- (to slip) → laulavive- (to slip around here and there) (-å- reduplicates as -au- and becomes a in the root).

Note that nairīveke conjugates as a frequentative verb, but is not frequentative and does not have frequentative forms.
Frequentative perfect stems have the ablauted vowel in the reduplication and a long one in the root (cf. miš-, bare frequentative mīmišve-, perfect frequentative memīšve-); both vowels are long for non-ablauted stems (cf. nāmv-, nānamve-, nānāmve-).
Inverse ablauting roots have similar rules: the bare frequentative uses the reduplication of the nonreduced root and the reduced vowel in the root itself (vald- → va-uld-ve- → voldve-); the frequentative perfect is like the normal frequentative of other verbs, with the long vowel in the reduplication only (vald- → vāvaldve-).

Adjectival verbs

Adjectival verbs, however, do have some ways to be derived from other parts of speech.

-ūk-ke is the most common adjectival verb-forming suffix, denoting something strictly related to an object or a verb. Note that they are all thematic verbs, even if their infinitive is contracted (Archaic Chl. -ūkake → Classical and Modern -ūkke). Often they are interchangeable with the genitive form of the noun they derived from:

  • avyāṣa (time) → avyāṣūkke ([to be] temporal)
  • chlærūm (light) → chlærūkke (of the light)
  • daša (rain) → dašūkke (rainy, concerning rain)


-uy-a-ke is a rarer variant of -ūk-ke, most commonly found for qualities related to people, but not exclusively (see third example):

  • jāyim (girl) → jāyimuyake (girly, girlish)
  • saṃhāram (boy) → saṃhāruyake (boyish)
  • irūtākalam (atom) → irūtāruyake (atomic) (the -r is etymological from Ancient Kūṣṛmāṭhi)

-aus-a-ke (rarely -us-a-ke) forms adjectival verbs related to a quality that is applied to some object, but more abstractly related than those formed with -ūkke; sometimes they are only figurative:

  • chlærūm (light) → chlærausake (easy)
  • pāṇi (side) → pāṇyausake (peripheral, less important)
  • namęlь (to make an effort, to apply oneself, to work harder) → namęliausake (Stakhanovite)

-nilt-a-ke translates English -able, and the circumfix uṣ- -niltake translates to "un- -able" or, sometimes, "difficult to X". The rare ñæi- -niltake translates as "easy to X".
The uṣ- prefix has the allomorphs ū- (before voiced stops), uš- (before c and ch), and u- (before l+consonant); uṣ- plus any sibilant becomes ukṣ-.

  • tṛl (to know, understand) → tṛlniltake (understandable) → uṣṭṛlniltake (uncomprehensible; difficult to understand) / ñæitṛlniltake (easy to understand)
  • yųl (to eat) → yųlniltake (edible) → uṣyųlniltake (unedible)
  • lgut (to buy) → lgutniltake (buyable) → ulgutniltake (not buyable)

-ṣeni-ke (morph. senь-ke, all root verbs) translates "having X as a quality", usually added to nouns, or "X-like" in some cases; it may be synonymous with the -dhūs derivative. u- and i- stems (thus -uh, -ih, -us...) lengthen that vowel before the suffix.

  • rahėlah (health) → rahėlṣenike (healthy)
  • nakṣuma (music) → nakṣuṃṣenike (having a musical talent)
  • meimairuh (emerald) → meimairūṣenike (emeraldine, emerald-like)

Compound verbs

Chlouvānem uses compound verbs as its main method of deriving verbs from nouns. Such "verbs" are actually a nominal root which does not decline followed by a conjugating verb. The verb used influences the meaning that the compound will have:

  • dṛke (to do) is probably the most commonly used, and may have a meaning of using something (denoted by the nominal root) to treat something else (cf. bikṣurdṛke "to deodorize" < bikṣurga "deodorant"), of moving or acting like the nominal root (yināṃdṛke "to protect" < yinām "protection"), or of simply having or creating something (āmayadṛke "to collect" < āmaya "collection").
  • kitte (to put) is used for a meaning of addition of the nominal root or its characteristics to something (cf. nanūkkitte "to add salt" < nanūkah "salt).
  • męlike (to give) is sometimes used with the same meaning as kitte (cf. juniāmęlike "to plant flowers" < juniā "flower").
  • jilde (to act) is used for subjects "emitting" or "giving off" something (cf. lāhajilde "to judge" < lāham "judgement"), also for subjects possessing (dhokajilde "to mean" < dhokam "meaning") or undergoing something (lañšijilde "to marry" < lañši (arch.) braid, wedding), and also for weather phenomena (dašajilde "to rain" < daša "rain").
  • gyake (to be) is used, like in one meaning of dṛke, for moving or acting like the nominal root. Typically, it is more for states than actions (the prototypical and most common example is pṛšcāṃgyake "to be pleasing" < pṛšcām "something pleasing"[29]).
  • jānake (to feel) has a meaning partially overlapping with gyake (and dṛke), particularly marking the "feeling" of a (usually uncontrollable) condition (jålkhajānake "to be cold" < jålkha "cold").
  • milke (to take) has a varied range of meaning: getting or gathering something (vīrādhmilke "to adopt" < vīrādhen "orphan"; mailьlut(a)milke "to take advantage" < mailьluta "advantage"), also the opposite, taking something away (cf. rantamilke "to peel (fruits)" < rantas "peel"), and also overlapping partially with kitte and męlike in marking the addition of something or, more, properly, the act of bringing something (prātamilke "to get windy; (figur.) to accelerate" < prātas "wind" - cf. prātajilde "to be windy").
  • bismilke (to take away) and bīdṛke (to destroy) are used, more commonly than milke, for the meaning of removing or taking something away: (ssūbismilke "to calm down" < ssūgis "something that worries"; lilembīdṛke "(euphem.) to kill" < liloe "life").

Prefixes

Prefixes are a major part of Chlouvānem derivational morphology. Most of them are the same as for positional and motion verbs — for their formation and use, see the related section. Most prefixes are used with verbs, and are found with nouns only in derived forms; some of them, however, can be used also or exclusively with nouns and adjectives. Prefixes derive usually from Proto-Lahob, but a few chiefly nominal ones are from Ancient Kūṣṛmāthi words.
Here follows a complete list of all prefixes used in Chlouvānem and their meaning. When two prefixes are divided by a wave dash, the first is lative and the second is ablative; NOM marks meanings of nouns derived with that prefix.

Positional and motional prefixes

  • ta- 〜 tų- - generic direction

  • ān- 〜 yana- - on, above
  • šu- 〜 šer- - under, below
  • khl- 〜 kelь- - between
  • gin- 〜 ją- - among
  • nī- 〜 ani- - within/from within inside
  • ū(b)- 〜 yom- - close to
  • bis- 〜 bara- - far, away
  • tad- 〜 tasi- - attached to; against
  • įs- 〜 hos- - hanging
  • na(ñ)- 〜 neni- - inside
  • kau- 〜 kuvi- - outside
  • viṣ- 〜 vyeṣa- - opposite; somewhere else
  • kami- 〜 kįla- - around
  • prь- 〜 paro- - behind
  • mai- 〜 mīram- - in front of
  • vai- 〜 vea- - in a corner; bordering; at the limit
  • ėle- 〜 ora- - next to; along; on the side of
  • lā(d)- 〜 lo(d)- - in the center of
  • vyā- 〜 veši- - left
  • māha- 〜 mege- - right
  • pid- - facing (positional only)
  • nalь- - towards the center; inwards; convergent movement
  • vād- - away from the center; outwards; divergent movement

Motional prefixes

  • be- 〜 ter- - along the surface
  • gala- 〜 hali- - through, across
  • naš- - completely, until the end; NOM: omni-, pan-, entirely
  • vod- - avoiding
  • paṣ- - ahead, beyond; also NOM: further, again, re-
  • sam- - movement to the following place/person/object in a set; NOM: after, post-

Verbal-only prefixes

  • tæ(m)- - inceptive/inchoative
  • raš- - to do something a bit more than needed (ral- or rar- before voiced consonants)
  • yā- - too much
  • iva- - completely, also intensive
  • nare- - applicative (nar- before another prefix)
  • min- - transitivizer of intransitive verbs

Other prefixes

  • o- - before, pre-, proto-, preceding (os- before vowels)
  • tailь- - multi-, pluri-
  • lail- or tūt- (alternative forms laili- and tūtu-) - one, mono-, uni-, homo-
  • lani- - same, fellow
  • vre- - bad
  • demi- - self-

Specific terms

Derivational terms considered "specific" are those mostly found in certain jargons. Some of these are applied directly to an Ancient Kūṣṛmāthi root instead of a Chlouvānem one:

Used in politics and/or the arts:

  • -nædani has two main meanings: -ism (as in a doctrine) in a political sense, and -esque in the arts, cf. yaivcārṇædani "communism" (< yaiva "all", cār- "to have"), or lanæmiainædani "in the style of writer Nariejūramāvi Lanæmiai Mæmihomah".
    • -nædounah is the term for a person that follows such a doctrine or style, cf. yaivcārṇædounah "communist"; lanæmiainædounah "someone whose writing is Lanæmiaiësque".
    • Note that lija and lejīn (lit. "song" and "singer") were formerly alternatives to these. They notably remain in nāɂahilūṃlija "politico-religious doctrine inspired by Great Inquisitor Kælahīmāvi Nāʔahilūma Martayinām; Yunyalīlti religious extremism" and nāɂahilūṃlejīn, as well as in arāmilija "pacifism".

Used for medical terminology:

  • -gulas usually translates "-philia" or "-mania", particularly in medical contexts, e.g. ryukagulas "masochism" from ryuka "pain".
    • -gulašåliė is the related term for someone who has that (thus "-philiac" or "-maniac"), e.g. ryukagulašåliė "masochist".
  • -ræṣka is a generic term used in medicine for names of illnesses or conditions affecting health, e.g. nalekiræṣka "obesity" from Lällshag naleki "fat"; vrayegårlæṣka "dysphagia" (note dissimilation of -rr-) from vre- (bad) and egåram (stomach).
    • -ræṣkanis is the term for someone affected by a rauga, e.g. nalekiræṣkanis "obese", vrayegårlæṣkanis "dysphagic".
  • -ītsun is a rarer alternative to -rauga, e.g. vrayobulītsun "asplenia" (vre- (bad) + obula (spleen)), or lagukītsun "paralysis" (the latter with the root of Lällshag gahoke (still)).
    • -ītsunis is the corresponding term for affected organisms, e.g. vrayobulītsunis "aspleniac", lagukītsunis "paralyzed".
  • -yūtan is used for inflammatory diseases, cf. "-itis", like ṇīṭyūtan (dermatitis) or āḍhyāsnūliyūtan (meningitis).

Compounding

Notes

  1. ^ These are the remnants of a former gender system present in Proto-Lahob, still evident in other Lahob languages; unlike others in the family, Chlouvānem did not become genderless because of losing gender marking on nouns, but because it lost concordance anywhere else.
  2. ^ For simplicity's sake, voices' names are most often rendered as patientive, agentive, benefactive antibenefactive, locative, dative, instrumental, and common.
  3. ^ Written švęe in some older texts.
  4. ^ The compound nalilke (exterior only) is more common in this sense.
  5. ^ For the latter two meanings, the regular athematic verb halimaiške (halimaišė, halimaišek, ehalimaiše) is more commonly used.
  6. ^ A small bar focused on music performances.
  7. ^ A kind of blouse, usually worn with a Chlouvānem sarī (jånirāh).
  8. ^ Note that in such a phrase the perfective subjunctive would have a different meaning, namely “to have already given it back to me”.
  9. ^ More properly "to be pleasing", e.g. lunai loh pṛšcāmvi "tea is pleasing to me" → "I like tea".
  10. ^ dilęe also has the other meaning of "the same", as in lili dilęe dadrāṃte "I have done the same". diledile does not have this other meaning.
  11. ^ e.g. læti, sorami…
  12. ^ It also survives as a morpheme in some words, most notably ṣarivāṇa "state, country".
  13. ^ tane is a colloquial contraction of dām (interrogative particle) and nane (emphatic tag question particle).
  14. ^ A kaleya is a "spiritual friend" in Chlouvānem culture — this word can be translated with "best friend", but it also evokes particular religious meanings.
  15. ^ Many head monks have their own unique titles based on their monastery. For example the head monk of the Vādhaṃšvāti Lake Monastery is not referred as […] hurdagīn lāma vādhaṃšvāti ga gėrisi but as […] laliājuniāmiti jāṇi camilālta lāma, literally "Great Guardian of the Field of the Night Bloom".
  16. ^ chīka has the stem chīcæ- before consonants.
  17. ^ leils is attested in Archaic Chlouvānem.
  18. ^ pāmvi is unchanged; nęlte has the form nęlitь.
  19. ^ pāmvi has pāmvini, nęlte has nęltьni.
  20. ^ tulūni, chīcæni, tītьni, mojñi, tåldьni.
  21. ^ cf. ūtarṇ- "heavy" and ūṭrus "load"
  22. ^ Language of an ethnic minority (but titular ethnicity) in the diocese of Hūnakañjātia.
  23. ^ Compare ājvan natte "until dawn" and līlasuṃghāṇa kahėrimaila ga keikom natte "as far as Līlasuṃghāṇa Kahėrimaila Station".
  24. ^ Chlouvānem society lacked a true noble class; this term applies to the most influential people in society. Tigers are considered among the noblest animals.
  25. ^ Middle-grade ablaut is specific to this root.
  26. ^ As for all living things, being Calémere a different planet, the given translation is the one of the closest equivalent on Earth.
  27. ^ Ex.: dṝdaveyute "I repetitively do" vs. dṝdaviyaute "I repetitively did"
  28. ^ The verb "to happen" does not exist as an iterative.
  29. ^ The word pṛšcām alone is almost never used in contemporary Chlouvānem.
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