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Lodeen: Difference between revisions
→Morphology
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KEPAN : "a child" → KYAPAN : "(some) girls" | KEPAN : "a child" → KYAPAN : "(some) girls" | ||
LEPAN : "the person" → LEKIPAN : "the children" | LEPAN : "the person" → LEKIPAN : "the children" | ||
</poem> | |||
====Verbs==== | |||
Verbs can be active or stative. Stative verbs will usually conjugate only for tense, but active verbs will usually be conjugated for aspect as well. | |||
=====Tense===== | |||
There are three temporal categories, past, present and future. They are marked with thematic vowels : /e/ for past, /o/ for present, and /i/ for future, which are inserted in the verbal suffix -Vl, where V is a thematic vowel. | |||
Thus, we have the verb "to be" which presents the forms STOL (present), STEL (past) and STIL (future). | |||
=====Aspect===== | |||
Aspect describes the degree of progression of a process. There are three aspectual categories in Lodeen : | |||
<poem> | |||
• Inchoative : the process is starting or just about to start ; it is marked by dropping the final -l of the verbal suffix and adding the suffix -yen. For instance, MUKOL "eat.PR" will become MUKOYEN "eat-PR-INCH", "begin to eat", "be about to eat" ; | |||
• Progressive : the process is being realized ; it is marked similarly by dropping the final -l and adding the suffix -yol. For instance, MUKEYOL "eat-PAST-PROG" "was/were eating" ; | |||
• Perfective : the process is achieved and it is marked by dropping the final -l and adding the suffix -yka. Thus we have MUKIYKA "eat-FUT-PERF" "will have eaten". | |||
</poem> | |||
Aspect is not always marked though, even on active verbs. When there is no marking for aspect, it can mean different values : for instance, in the present, it will usually correspond to an habitual present, or a gnomic present. | |||
=====Modalities===== | |||
There are no verbal modes as morphological marks, but modal adverbs to indicate modalities. Other verbal categories such as evidentiality, polarity... are also indicated by adverbs. For instance, negation is indicated with such an adverb, the modal adverb NEWIN. | |||
====Adjectives==== | |||
Most adjectives are derived from nouns by adding the suffix -le (-ele after a consonant). In the most standard dialect of Lodeen they must agree in number and "gender" with the noun they qualify. They can be used for adjectival predication, in which case there is no need for a copula, for they will carry the temporal information as well : in the present the usual form of the adjective is used, in the past an -l suffix is added, and in the future, an -i replaces the -e : | |||
<poem> | |||
• KYUL ASELE : "(the) sky (is) blue" | |||
• KYUL ASELEL : "(the) sky (was) blue" | |||
• KYUL ASELI : "(the) sky (will be) blue" | |||
Definiteness was not marked here as it would be considered obvious which sky the speaker is referring to. | |||
</poem> | |||
To express intensity (very X), reduplication is used : generally, the first syllable or the first morpheme of the root is reduplicated. In the written language there would usually be only one such reduplication but in spoken language the speaker may repeat the same segment more than twice to express ever greater intensity. Reduplication is also used in positive comparison (more X than). | |||
For example : "red" : LUTELE becomes LULUTELE "very red", "more red". | |||
====Adverbs==== | |||
Adverbs are usually derived from noun or verb stems with the suffix -in (-win after a vowel). They are usually placed after the verb. | |||
====Derivational morphology==== | |||
There is a rather important derivational morphology in Lodeen. Often, prefixes are used to create new lexical content, whereas suffixes will modify the grammatical category of a word. | |||
=====List of prefixes===== | |||
<poem> | |||
il- : pejorative | |||
nye- : privative | |||
pya- : meliorative | |||
ke- : diminutive | |||
sku- : causative | |||
le- : indicates definiteness | |||
</poem> | |||
=====List of suffixes===== | |||
<poem> | |||
-a : indicates feminine | |||
-ef : forms a noun from a verb | |||
-i {-i ; -y} : indicates plural | |||
-in {-in ; -win} : forms an adverb, usually from a noun | |||
-il : agentive suffix | |||
-Vl : forms a verb from a noun | |||
-u : indicates masculine | |||
-nta : under, into | |||
-nka : akin to English “-less” | |||
-mpule : akin to English “-ful(l)” | |||
-le {-le ; -ele ; -e} : forms an adjective, usually from a noun | |||
-lt {-lt ; -elt} : forms a noun, from an adjective | |||
</poem> | </poem> | ||