Sangi/Morphology
Nouns
Nominal Structure
Like verbs, nouns have a series of slots into which certain affixes can be placed. They are all suffixes and show case, position, direction, number, definiteness, size, and possession.
An overview of the suffixes would be:
Slot 1: Stem
Slot 2: Measure
Slot 3: Case-Number
Slot 4: Possession
Slot 1 – The Stem
The stem may undergo a number of different mutations but only I-mutation makes a semantic difference.
I-mutation – This causes the noun to show plurality.
Plural mutation – This also causes the noun the show plurality. It is quite rare that a word will not be able to undergo at least one of these.
Stem weakening I - This creates the genitive stem in the singular.
Stem weakening II – This creates the stative stem.
Stem Strengthening – This creates the locative stem. This strengthening also applies to stem ending in “-i” and “-e” but not “-j” and long plosives. The stem must also undergo aspirant mutation to form the locative stem fully.
To create the genitive stem and stative stem in the plural, the plural stem undergoes the two stem weakening processes above.
The form a noun takes to show the collective form, “a group of...”, “a flock of sheep,” etc. is the plural stem with singular suffixes. For example, “swáma” vs. “swámbe” - “because of a herd of cows” vs. “because of cows”. The dual number is formed in the opposite fashion, using the singular stem with plural suffixes. This means that the nominative singular and dual are identical, as it is with the plural and collective, but are different in other cases, e.g. “súma” vs. “súmbe” “because of a cow” vs. “because of two cows”. The dual form may also me the default plural for nouns which come in pairs, e.g. eyes, but only in non-nominative cases. The fact that the collective is written as a singular means that a new collective can be formed from it, so, for example, you may have “sú” (cow), “swá” (a herd of cows) and “swé” (many herds of cows) and further to “swí” or if “swia” depending on how far one wishes to take the meaning of the word, but cases of more than two collective forms are very, very rare.
Definiteness is shown only in stems which can undergo consonantal a-affection so a vocalic stem can never be marked for definiteness, in the nominative stem at least. All stems undergo a-affection so say the genitive stem must be formed before a-affection is applied (e.g. -t>-d>-dz)
Slot 2 – Measure
The suffixes of slot 2 give an overview of the size of the object in relation to its general sized counterpart. There are suffixes for height, length, width, and a combination of all of these. Two suffixes at the most can be placed in this slot because using three would be a redundant process. This slot actually extends the original stem creating a new one. It is this "suffix" which undergoes the necessary mutations for stem alteration, not the basic stem.
-od – This suffix appears after labial consonants and is the suffix meaning “generally larger”, e.g. “lap – laugh” > “lapodi – hysterical laugh”.
-i – This suffix also appears after labial consonants and means “generally smaller”, e.g. “lap – laugh” > “lepfi – chuckle”.
-uc – This suffix appears after dental consonants and means “generally bigger”, e.g. “pat – bath” > “patuc – swimming pool”.
-es – This suffix also appears after dental consonants and means “generally smaller”, e.g. “pat – bath” > “pećes – wash basin”.
-op – This suffix appears after velar consonants and means “generally bigger”, e.g. “toc – dog” > “tųcop” – big dog (class of dogs, like a Great Dane)”.
-el – This suffix also appears after velar consonants and means “generally smaller”, e.g. “toc – dog” > “tœćel – puppy”.
-ot – This suffix appears after sibilants and means “generally bigger”, e.g. “cússi – ghost” > “cóssot - Demon”.
-et - This suffix also appears after sibilants and means “generally smaller”, e.g. “cússi – ghost” > “cúśśet –little ghost, spirit”.
-ac – This suffix appears after r and l and means “generally bigger”, e.g. “úr – house” > óźac – mansion”.
-em – This suffix appears after r and l and means “generally smaller”, e.g. “úr – house” > “úśem – cottage”. The -e- in this suffix does not cause i-affection of vowels or the letter -l-, as would be expected.
-rd – This suffix appears after vowels and means “generally bigger”, e.g. “sa – cat” > “sardi – big cat”. It appears as -ḑ in quick speech as well as in informal writing, so “sardi” may appear as “saḑi” instead.
-l – This suffix also appears after vowels and means “generally smaller”, e.g. “sa – cat” > “sal – kitten”.
The above suffixes can be seen as augmentative and diminutive suffixes.
The other sets of suffixes are not dependent on the final sound of the stem and are limited to a single dimension. The [] vowels are used after C-clusters only.
-[o]g – bigger in height, e.g. “úrgi – skyscraper”.
-[e]s – smaller in height, e.g. “úrs~úş – bungalow”.
-[a]rc – wider, e.g.
-[i]t – thinner, e.g.
-[a]ng – longer, e.g. “snéjang – dragon”.
-[i]l – shorter, e.g. “snéjil – worm”.
It should be noted that the affection caused by the suffixes' vowels are marked by pronunciation. This is because these words are technically new, having formed through a derivational suffix.
Slot 3 – Case-Number
The suffixes for case and number are attached to the eight different stems formed in slot 1. Singular suffixes are attached to singular stems and plural suffixes are attached to plural stems so these pairs will be discussed as pairs. The suffixed will be discussed according to their stems. The definite suffix does not create a new stem.
I Nominative Stem
-i/e, -i/e – These are the nominative suffixes of the general gender and represent the subject of the verb. “-e” is used with collective nouns and “-i” with singular.
-o, -o – These are the male nominative suffixes.
-a, -a – These are the female nominative suffixes.
-n, -ndi – These are the accusative suffixes and represent the (direct) object of the verb.
-t, -ði – These are the dative suffixes and represent the indirect object of dynamic verbs and the direct objects of stative verbs.
-ma, -mbe – These are the causal suffixes and they represent the cause of the verbs performance.
-mi, -mbi - These are the passive suffixes used with the passive voice. They represent the "by..." construct.
-V, -Vi – These are the vocative suffixes and represent the English “Oh...”. The V is the last vowel of the stem, so this suffix may be the same as the nominative or “-u”.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | -/i/e | i.pl.-[i] |
| nom (male) | -o | i.pl.-o |
| nom (fem) | -a | i.pl.-a |
| accusative | -n | i.pl.-ndi |
| dative | -t | i.pl.-ði |
| causal | -ma | i.pl.-mbe |
| passive | -mi | i.pl.-mbi |
| vocative | -V | i.pl.-Vi |
II Genitive Stem
-l, -lli – These are the genitive suffixes and are translated as “of...” or "...'s"
-s -st – These are the benefactive suffixes and are translated as “for (the benefit of)...”.
-sca, -sće – These suffixes translate as “in (regards to)” and “about” as in “talk about”.
-se, -sti – These are the distributive suffixes and are translated as “per...”.
-u, -au – These are the partitive suffixes and are translated as “a number of ...”. The number can be specified. It can also be used when an object is actually part of the noun in question like “armo poǵium – the arm of my body”, hence the term “partitive”. The partitive also marks atelic verb meaning, showing that the verb may or may not have been fully completed, as opposed to fully completed, e.g. "I shot the bear (dead)" (telic) vs. "I shot at the bear (but am not telling whether or not it is dead)" (atelic).
-le, -lli – These are the instrumental suffixes and represent the object used in the performance of the verb.
-tu, -ðau – These are the comitative suffixes and they represent the object (usually people) that also participated in the action, e.g. “iéra zëëmindi sinditum – I play games with my sibling.”
-cta, -cse – These are the sociative suffixes and show that the verb was performed within the range of a sense or in the company of the noun in question.
-it, -iði – These are the anti-instrumental suffixes and show what was not used in the performance of the verb.
-ssi, -si – These are the anti-comitative suffixes and show what did not participate in the action.
-lca, -lge – These are the anti-sociative suffixes and show that the action was performed outside the senses of the noun.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| genitive | w.-l | i.pl.w.-lli |
| benefactive | w.-s | i.pl.w.-st |
| regardive | w.-sca | i.pl.w.-sće |
| distributive | w.-se | i.pl.w.-sti |
| partitive | w.-u | i.pl.w.A-au |
| instrumental | w.-le | i.pl.w.-lli |
| comitative | w.-tu | i.pl.w.-ðau |
| sociative | w.-cta | i.pl.w.-cse |
| anti-instrumental | w.+I-it | i.pl.w.I-iði |
| anti-comitative | w.-ssi | i.pl.w.-si |
| anti-sociative | w.-lca | i.pl.w.-lge |
III Stative Stem
-tta, -te – These show that something is currently in a state of being.
-ta, -ðe – These show that the object's state of being is moving away from its original state.
-ja, -je – These show that the object's state of being is moving towards a new state.
-cca, -ce – These mark the location of the beginning of a journey.
-ca, -śe – These mark the location of the end of a journey.
-ga, -he – These mark the cause of the journey or the object of a search.
-pa, -ve - These mark the comparative case. It shows likeness or comparison to the marked noun. The exact use varies but is usually used in examples like "something tastes like/similar to a fish" where fish would be in the comparative case.
-ba, -fe - These mark the equative case. Similar to the comparative case, is marks likeness to the object it marks. It usually forms nouns or adjectives like "arrowlike". It is mainly used to form complex adjectives which would replace entire subordinate clauses like "the man, who is king-like" which would then become "the king-like man".
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| stat. | 2.-tta | i.pl.2.-te |
| stat.from | 2.-ta | i.pl.2.-ðe |
| stat.to | 2.I-ja | i.pl.2.I-je |
| loc.init. | 2.-cca | i.pl.2.-ce |
| loc.end | 2.-ca | i.pl.2.-śe |
| loc.caus. | 2.-ga | i.pl.2.-he |
| comp. | 2.- | i.pl.2.- |
| equ. | 2.- | i.pl.2.- |
IV Locative Stem
The locative, movement and temporal suffixes will be listed in order of position, movement to, movement from and movement along.
-sa/ste, -sta/śte, -ssa/se, -śa/ge – These are the interior suffixes relate to the inside of the noun.
-la/lle, -lda/lte, -lla/le, -lsa/lde – These are the surface suffixes and relate to the noun's surface.
-na/nde, -nda/nte, -nna/ne, -nsa/nde – These are the exterior suffixes and relate to the area around the noun. Also used as the general suffixes of position a movement.
-ra/(se), -rda/(te), -rra/(de), -rsa/(je) – These are the temporal suffixes and relate to time. They mean, respectively, “at…” or “on/in this…”, “until…” or “up to…”, “as of…” or “from…” and “between… and…” In quick speech, the “non-locative” temporal cases are usually made retroflex becoming -ḑa -ŗa and -şa. When used with the temporal demonstratives it can add meaning off “after” and “before”. The temporal suffixes can also be used with nouns that represent events.
The non-temporal locative cases can be given a slightly temporal meaning by adding -r to the end, e.g. "lihînaśar" means "throughout life", "during life" or "in life" implying a movement through the time of life.
It can be seen that all of the plural suffixes belonging to all stems are a result of consonantal and vocalic plural mutations. The difference, though, is not marked on the vowel by means of diacritics. This has been the preferred method because it allows the stem to be clearly defined and identified in writing.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| in(side) | s.-sa | i.pl.s.-ste |
| in(to) | s.-sta | i.pl.s.-śte |
| out (of) | s.-ssa | i.pl.s.-se |
| through | s.-śa | i.pl.s.-ge |
| on | s.-la | i.pl.s.-lle |
| on(to) | s.-lda | i.pl.s.-lte |
| off (of) | s.-lla | i.pl.s.-le |
| along | s.-lsa | i.pl.s.-lde |
| at | s.-na | i.pl.s.-nde |
| towards | s.-nda | i.pl.s.-nte |
| away (from) | s.-nna | i.pl.s.-ne |
| past | s.-nsa | i.pl.s.-nde |
| “at…” or “on/in this…” | s.-ra | i.pl.s.-se |
| “until…” or “up to…” | s.-rda | i.pl.s.-te |
| “as of…” or “from…” | s.-rra | i.pl.s.-de |
| “between… and…” | s.-rsa | i.pl.s.I-je |
More specific prepositions in English are indicated by combinations of the locative case suffixes and postpositions which give the general positionon the noun, derived from the surface locative prepositions of English, such as "pochem" meaning "bottom" which when combined with the suffix -na/-nde means "under".
Slot 4 – Possessive Suffixes
The possessive suffixes, when used alone, show possession by an already established noun which has been replaced by a pronoun, therefore they mean “my”, “our”, “your”, “his/her/its” and “their”. When used in combination with the definite article they take the meaning of “... own”.
-[i]m – This means “my”, e.g. “tocim – my dog.”
-[i]t – This means “your (singular)”, e.g. “sat – your cat.”
-[i]c – This means “his”, “her” and “its”, as gender is rarely marked in Sangi, e.g. “úric – her house.”
-[i]p – This means “our”, e.g. “tuśip – our dogs.”
-[i]s – This means “your (plural)”, e.g. “pwállus – your own books.”
-[i]j – This means “their”, e.g. “lanij – their country.”
The -[i]- infixes are epenthetic and cannot cause i-affection.
Verbs
The verb is built around a structure which contains six “slots”. Into each of these slots can be placed only a certain kind of affix and only a certain number of a type of affix can be used in their given slot.
An overview of the slots would be this:
Auxiliary Verb
Slot 1: Modality
Slot 2: Stem
Slot 3: Aspect-Intensity-Voice
Slot 4: Conjugation
Slot 5: Mood
Slot 6: object markers
Each of these slots and there suffixes will be dealt with in detail, slot by slot and examples of verb conjugations will be given at the end to clear things up. Auxiliary verbs are rare, and many speakers are not able to construct this structure because they have never used or heard them. Typically all information is contained within the main verb complex, but when an auxiliary verb is used, the main verb appears in the second infinitive. They are so rare a construction that an example can not be provided here.
In addition to this there may also appear a word, originally a separate phrase that has not been contracted over time, which represents certain moods beyond those five represented in the verb complex itself.
Slot 1 – Modality
t[e]’ – This means “can”. Negative – ć[e]’. Conditional meaning – could.
ś[e]’ – This means “shall”. Negative – sc[e]’. Conditional meaning – should.
m[e]’ – This means “must” or “need to”. Negative – n[e]’. Conditional meaning – might, may.
w[e]’ – This means “want to”. Negative – l[e]’. Conditional meaning – would.
c[e]’ – This means “like to”. Negative – þ[e]’. Conditional meaning – would like to.
The infix -a- causes the meaning to become conditional. It causes A-Affection and is then omitted where it does this, otherwise it remains “a”.
If there is no actual modality to the verb, i.e. it is basic, then the negative markers are “i” before consonants and “r” before vowels. These markers are also negative markers in all other word classes. The conditionals are “ja” and “ra”.
| meaning | positive | negative | conditional | conditional negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| --- | - | i-, r- | a- | ra- |
| can | t[e]- | ć[e]- | tsa- | ića- |
| shall | ś[e]- | sc[e]- | śa- | sca- |
| must | m[e]- | n[e]- | ma- | n[d]a- |
| want to | w[e]- | l[e]- | ija- | ja- |
| like to | c[e]- | þ[e]- | ća- | þa- |
Slot 2 – Stem
The stem has the possibility of undergoing stem gradation and vowel mutation in order to show the different tenses and aspects.
I-mutation - This shows the future tense.
A-mutation – This shows the past tense.
Stem gradation – The weak stem shows that the action is progressive. It is formed by moving the final consonant of the stem one step in the weak direction.
| Consonant | Weak I | Weak II | Weak I + A-affection | I-Affection (suffix -j if none occurs or after vowels) | Weak I + I-affection | Weak II + I-affection | Weak II + A-affection | Weak I + [j]a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-mutation | Past | Past progressive | Past perfect | Past progressive perfect | Passive past | Passive past progressive | Passive past perfect | Passive past perfect progressive | Reciprocal past |
| Vowel | Present | Present progressive | Present perfect | Present progressive perfect | Passive present | Passive present progressive | Passive present perfect | Passive present perfect progressive | Reciprocal present |
| I-Mutation | Future | Future progressive | Future perfect | Future progressive perfect | Passive future | Passive future progressive | Passive future perfect | Passive future perfect progressive | Reciprocal future |
Example: "i" (eat)
| Consonant | Weak I | Weak II | Weak I + A-affection | I-Affection (suffix -j if none occurs or after vowels) | Weak I + I-affection | Weak II + I-affection | Weak II + A-affection | Weak I + a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-mutation | e- | et- | ed- | ets- | ej- | ech- | egh- | edz- | eta- |
| Vowel | i- | it- | id- | its- | ij- | ich- | igh- | idz- | ita- |
| I-Mutation | ai- | ait- | aid- | aits- | aij- | aich- | aigh- | aidz- | aita- |
Before the stem occur may occur a set of prefixes which indicate position, direction and use in relation to a noun in the sentence. These prefixes are usually dropped when used with the object itself with the noun taking the case with the corresponding meaning. This however only occurs with cases that correspond to that prefix. For example, no case exists to mark the prepostion "by" so the verb "pa^t.es-" (meaning "to join" but literally "to tread by") will never occur as "t.es-" followed by a noun marking "by". On the other hand a verb with the prefix "in-" will occur with this prefix when used on its own but without the prefix followed by a noun marking "in" through case marking when use with an object. In otherwords, the meaning of certain verbs is defined fully by the case which the object of it takes.
Another set of prefixes marking the andative and venitive. The venitive marks a general movement to someone, somthing whether it be the speaker, the listener or something else and is marked by the prefix "ca[N]-" (the N only arises before a nasal consonant and as an "n" before a vowel) originally from the word meaning "to come". The andative marks the opposite direction, i.e. movement away from something, and is marked by the prefix "z[y]-" originally from the word for "to go". These prefixes and may also form new verbs from old ones. For example, the verb "pe-" meaning "to carry" (from the Old English root form "beran", "bear" in Modern English) becomes "to bring" in the venitive (cape-) and "to take" in the andative (zype-). These prefixes could be used when a noun attributed to it or they may not be so "cape-" would become "pe-" when used with a noun carrying the suffix for the "towards" case.
List of Preposition Prefixes
| Prefix | Meaning | Case governed |
|---|---|---|
| zy- | andative | ---, "away from" |
| ca[N]- | ventive | ---, "towards" |
| in- | position inside | "inside" |
| epâ-C, epr-V | position outside, near to, etc. | "about" "around" |
Slot 3 – Apect-Intensity-Voice
There are twenty-nine suffixes which can accommodate this slot but the usual number used in any single verb complex never exceeds around five, although more extreme complexes are used as examples of the flexibility of this slot. These are preceded by “a” when used after a consonant cluster. The marker -ss- is used if the aspect is that intended merely by the tense but the final sound is a vowel and it is followed byt the intensity-voice markers.
-st – This suffix translates roughly as “going to” or “about to”. It shows that the subject intends/intended to perform the action in the immediate future. It is also used in the past tense to mark the future-in-past tense of a verb.
-s – This suffix means “begin (to)”.
-t – This means “continue (to)”.
-d – This means “for a while”.
-j – This means “finish” or “stop”
-cc – This also means “finish” but carries the implication of “quit” as it is more long term or even permanent.
-c – This is the third “finish” suffix but carries the implication that you have only stopped for a while and will perform the action again or continue to perform the previous action which is incomplete.
-sc - This suffix translates as "already".
-g – This means “resume” or continue a previously incomplete action. It also marks the idea that the action was continued, but in a different way than it previously was. So the English sentence, "I continued to catch the ball with my left hand" could mean that I had been catching the ball with my left hand previously, so "catch" would be marked with the "-t" suffix but it could also mean that I had been catching the ball with my right hand before, or with my feet or mouth so "catch" would instead be marked with "-g" in this example.
-r – Translates as “on and on” and shows that the action was continued for a long period of time which may be undetermined.
-rd – Shares a similar meaning with “-r” but translates as “again an again” showing that the action was not continuous but made up of small segments. May appear as -ḑ.
-rs – This translates as “… is tired of ….-ing” or “sick of ….” When used with the intensive suffix. It is usually written as and realised as -ş.
-n – Shows that the performance was intentional.
-m – Shows that the performance was unintentional or accidental.
-ns – Shows that the action was performed only once.
-nt – shows that the action was performed many times.
-ŋŋ – This is used to mean “any more” in the negative and “still” in the positive.
-lt – This means “try to”.
-ł – This means “for a time” and relates to time period longer than that associated with the suffix “-d”.
-i – This translates as “simply”, “just” or “only” and shows that it was the only action performed by the speaker.
-ţ – “for the first time”
-ņ – “for the last time”
-p - This translates as "sometimes" or "occasionally".
-b - This translates as "often" or "regularly", something habitual but not excessive.
-w, -v - These translate as "a lot" or "more often than not". “-w” is used after consonants, “-v” after vowels.
-h - This translates as "excessively" or "more than is necessary or required" maybe “too much”
-e – This means “again”.
-ln – This means “now” and emphasises that the action is being performed at that specific time.
-ild – This translates as “(and/or/but) … (simultaneous/ at the same time)”. It is used in phrases like “you can eat and walk at the same time” where the “and walk at the same time” would become simply “ośildin”. If the verbs are conjugated identically then the second one appears in the infinitive form as shown above. For the meaning of “but” to be realised, the word “pa” precedes the verb. A preceding “o” or “w” means “or”.
-l - This means "always".
-ll – This means “forever” and shows that the action is continued uninterrupted for unimaginable amounts of time or even indefinitely, e.g. pillár – he will exist forever. It adds more emphasis to the meaning of the “-l” suffix and can actually be used alongside it to add more emphasis, e.g. pilallár - he will always exist, forever.
Three additional suffixes, attached after the others of this slot define the intensity of the action;
-o – This shows that the verb is intensive, performed with force, speed, etc.
-a – This suffix lowers the intensity of an intensive action but it cannot be used with a “moderate” verb. This suffix can only be used with an aspect suffix and is also the default vowel of that suffix.
-e – This suffix marks the lowest of intensities and shows that there was very little force or effort behind the verb. It can also be used to make a difficult action appear to be easy, to down play this difficulty, although this comes off as arrogance when used by the actor of the verb.
If two aspect suffixes are used, the suffixes of intensity can be used to make a finer definition of the intensity of the state or action.
After these vowels go the voice markers which combine with the degree markers to form the end voice-degree-aspect suffix.
A further set of suffixes fills this slot. These are the voice markers and relate to the actor of the verb. These are all marked by the structures “X-caus. VERB…” in the active voice and “VERB X-caus….” in the passive. The mark causality, permission, changes of state and “aid”. If no X is used then the meaning is automatically passive with an indefinite cause.
-o – This prefix marks the causative voice. This changes, for example, the sentence “children read books” to “they make children read books” and the sentence “he collects things” to “let’s make him collect things”. It basically comes out as “X makes/causes Y do/be Z” or “Y was made/caused to do/be Z by X”. In the first structure the sentence structure is the same but X is placed at the beginning in the causative case. In the second structure X is placed after the verb in the causative case. Y is accusative in the first and nominative in the second.
-a – This marks the permissive voice. This shows that the actor was allowed to perform the verb in the sense that it was given permission. The subject of this prefix takes the passive conjugation ending. For example “He let me run” would be “hama randaaha” and the “passive version” would be “randaaha hama” (I was allowed to run because he let me”.
-ir – This prefix means “to become” and shows that the subject's state of being or characteristics changed. When used in the active structure it means “X made be become …” and “I become … because of X” when used in the passive.
-u – This is the Adjutative voice and indicates that the action was performed with help. In the active it would mean “X helped Y do Z” and “Y was helped to do Z by X” in the passive.
| Intensity | --- | Low | Middle | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice | --- | -e- | -a- | -o- |
| Causative | -o- | -ao- | -ao- | -ó- |
| Permissive | -a- | -á- | -á- | -ah- |
| Change | -ir- | -ír- | -eir- | -uir- |
| Adjutative | -u- | -eu- | -au- | -ou- |
The voice suffixes cannot appear on their own and must at least be combined with the suffix of general intensity.
The voice suffixes also have a second, consonantal form for when it appears twice or after another mood suffix. The causative takes -c-, the permissive takes -s-, the adjutative takes -m- and the mood marking change takes -t-.
Slot 4 – Conjugation
This slot contains the largest number of available suffixes but, unlike previous slots, only one suffix can occupy this space. The suffixes of this slot are used to separate stative and dynamic verbs as well as perfect and imperfect aspects. The verb conjugates for three persons; 1st, 2nd, 3rd. There is also a single impersonal ending used in phrases like "it is raining" where the pronoun in English is actually a dummy pronoun, making this sentence "rĕ́nas".
Conjugation suffixes come in 2 parts. The first part defines the verb class, e.g. dynamic process, cognitive stative and so on. The second part defines aspect and volition. Both parts are declined for person, but only the second part is declined for number as well. Part 1 is also open to I-affection and a-affection from part 2 suffixes.
Part 1
| Dynamic | Stative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Activity-Process | Sensation | Cognitive-Perception | Relation | Basic Stative | |
| Inf-sing | -[h] | -s | -N | -r | -l |
| Pural-imp | -[h] | -N | -s | -l | -r |
Part 2
| Involitional | Volitional | |
|---|---|---|
| Inf | -ei | -íj |
| 1s | -a | -ej |
| 2s | -u | -uj |
| 3s | -ar | -eś |
| 1pl | -e | -ij |
| 2pl | -o | -uj |
| 3pl | -er | -iś |
| imp | -as | -eś |
NOTES:
Although the infinitive suffixes are of slot 4, they must always come at the end of the verb complex, e.g. “spi{e}johei – to speak to someone”, where the “-o” suffix makes the root verb transitive and the “-ei” suffix is at the end.
Slot 5 – Mood
The slot 5 suffixes show that the verb has not been performed by the time of speech but that it may be afterwards or what would happen if it was to be performed.
-[je]s – This suffix is translated as “if” and is the first part of “if-then” statements.
-[e]n – This suffix is translated as “then” and is the second part of “if-then” statements.
-[e]m – This suffix marks hypothetical situations.
-[e]t – This is the imperative suffix. It shows that the speaker is ordering the actor to perform the action. Unlike in English, the imperative can be directed at all persons.
-[je]r – This is the optative suffix and it indicates hope that the action will take place on the part of the speaker. It is, though, usually found in interrogative sentences and is translates as “might ...?” or “please...”.
Slot 6 – Object Suffixes
The object suffixes represent the objects of a verb in the accusative case or the dative case, depending on the meaning of the verb.
-[e]a – 1st person
-[e]o – 2nd person
-[e]r – 3rd person/indefinite
Mood
Non-complex mood is represented in a phrase initial word which derived from a contraction of an older phrase which represented that mood. These words may pick up added meaning if the verb complex also represents mood, but generally each mood has its own word, although certain ones need an obligatory mood marker. These words do conjugate, but only very simply and not with the normal conjugation endings. They conjugated for person, number and volition but not for tense, class or perfection. There is also an infinitive form to mark a mood which is non-person specific, like the reportative moods.
| Involitional | Voltional | |
|---|---|---|
| Inf | -ei | -ech |
| 1st sing | -a | -at |
| 2nd sing | -u | -ut |
| 3rd sing | -á | -át |
| 1st pl | -e | -et |
| 2nd pl | -o | -ot |
| 3rd pl | -é | -ét |
Evidentiality
These moods are used to mark the source of the knowledge of the statement, whether it is from a direct or indirect source is specified in the word, and a lack of these mords indicates no attempt to reference the source. The most basic of these is a plain "indirect" knowledge, which gives no mention of source, while the others may give a source, or even multiple sources.
The basic "indirect" word is "osan-"
The other evidential moods mark the source of information. They mark whether the statement was witnessed or not, whether the information was obtained firsthand, secondhand or even thirdhand, if the statement was senseed by a specific sensory organ or not, in other words, it was seen or not seen, or whether the statement's truth comes from hearsay or a direct source, i.e. quotative.
Witness vs. Non-witness
This mood simply indicates whether the statement was witnessed or not. Usually it implies that the action was actually seen or simply heard about, but does not actually state the exact source of witness or the source of information in the opposite case. It is mainly a vague source of reliabilty, later built upon with more specific information.
The word marking witness is "nois-" and the one marking non-witness is "annois-".
Firsthand vs. Secondhand vs. Thirdhand
This 3-way distinction serves to show how far back along the "grape-vine" the source of the information is. Generally, the further back it occurs, the less reliable it is considered, but this may not always be the case.
Firsthand is marked by "and-", secondhand is marked by "st-" and third hand is marked by "ch-"
Sensory
There are 10 sensory mood markers, 5 for the senses, i.e. sight, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, and another 5 for the lack of their use.
Sight is marked by "gh-" while it's opposite is marked by "agh-"
Hearing is marked by "j-" while it's opposite is marked by "zh-"
Taste is marked by "ches-" while it's opposite is marked by "t.es-"
Smell is marked by "shimj-" while it's opposite is marked by "s.im-"
Touch is marked by "sat-" while it's opposite is marked by "ast-"
Reportative
The reportative states whether or not the source of information was hearsay or quotative, i.e. if the information came from a direct source.
The quotative is marke by "dar-" while the hearsay word is "d.-"
Epistemic Moods
The epistemic moods mark the speakers view on the truth of the statement, whether they believe it to be true or false, whether they doubt the truth, if they have assumed it to be true and so on.
Assumptive
As the name suggests, this mood indicates that the information is assumed to be true, either because it usually is or for some other reason. It is marked by the word "tic-"
Deductive
This inidicates that the information in the statement was worked out from previous information and may sometimes translate as "thus" or "therefore" if used with the mood infinitive. It is marked by the word "picur-"
Dubitative
This indicates that the information given is under doubt. It is marked by the word "tw-"
Speculative
This indicates that the information is held to be true through speculation. It is similar to the assumptive but has a slightly different shade of meaning in that the information may not always be true. It is marked by the word "ult-"
Others
Other Moods
There are other moods which do not neatly into the above two categories, such as the moods which mark desires, wishes, pleas or even fears and "curses", then there are the moods which express surprise or shock and finally the gnomic tense.
Gnomic tense
The gnomic tense marks generally true statements such as "elephants are grey", that is, statements which are generally held to always be true. It is marked by the word "t.ol-".
Mirative Mood
The mirative mood marks unexpected and new information and usually translate into English as exclamations of surprise, such as "your daughter plays the piano so well!" or "she was here?". It is marked by the word "sr-".
There is also an admirative mood which marks surprise, using the word "sp-"
Immediate Imperative
This is simply marked by the word "n-" and when used with any mood marking desire, intent and so on, shifts the meaning to one more immediately after the time of the command.
plea, insistence, imploring, self-encouragement, wish, desire, intent
fears and curses
Hypothetical Mood
The hypothetical mood indicates an untrue statement which could easily be true, seen in the example "You know you shouldn't play with knives! You could have hurt someone!" where the second statement is in the hypothetical mood. It is marked by the word "het-"
Clauses
Clauses in English with the meaning "because" are started with the temporal pronouns "nû", etc, in reflection of the Old English forms meaning "since" and so on. The appropriate one is used according to the tense of the main verb, not of the following one.
Adjectives
Adjectival Structure
The structure of the adjective is similar to that of the noun, although there are fewer slots and it does not involve case or number in its structure. An overview of the adjectival complex would be;
Slot 1: Stem
Slot 2: Equative, comparative and superlative suffixes
Slot 3: Demonstrative and indefinite suffixes.
Slot 1 – Stem
The stem can only undergo purely phonological changes dependent on the attached suffixes.
The word "too", as in "too big" or "too much" is translated as a suffix "-Tel" in which the "T" matches the previous sound in nasality, voice and sibilance with an underlying "t" which occurs after vowels. So this "T" will appear as <t> after vowels and voiceless plosives and approximants, <d> after voiced plosives, as <n> after nasals, as [s] or [z] after fricatives or affricates (depending on voiceing) and the various forms of [r] and [l] after them. Essentially te "t" will be realised as an alveolar consonants with the same manner of articulation as the previous sound.
To say "very", the augmentative and diminutive suffixes found on nouns are used here too. The diminutive suffixes carry the idea of "not very".
Slot 2 – Equative, Comparative and Superlative Suffixes
Unlike in English, all adjectives form there comparative and superlative forms with suffixes. Constructions of comparison like “..-er than” are also formed using suffixes as are the negatives of all forms.
-r – This is the comparative suffix and is used like the English -er and more, e.g. “picer – bigger.”
-ss – This is the superlative suffix and is used like the English -est and most, e.g. “śimoļessi – smallest.”
-ise – This is the equative suffix and is used like the English “as” or the sentence “of the same ...-ness”, e.g. “toco piéise – the dog of the same blackness.”
-era – This is the comparative suffix of comparison and is used like the English more than or -er than, e.g. “piþera – bigger than.”
-essa – This is the superlative suffix of comparison and is used when comparing a noun to a group of nouns to a group with similar characteristics and can be translated as “..-est of them”, e.g. “piþessa- the biggest (of them)”. If another noun is mentioned as the group it must take the partitive suffix.
-eisa – This is the equative suffix of comparison and is used closer to the similar use of “as...as” in English, e.g. “piþeisa - as big as.”
Slot 3 – Demonstrative and Indefinite Suffixes
The demonstrative suffixes are used in place of the words this, that and that over there and are -te, -ta and -tal respectively. The indefinite suffixes are -ni, -sa and -pe and represent the words any, some and every respectively.
Numerals
Decline as both nouns and adjectives based on context.
Ordinal – -
Cardinal – -ss(i)
Multiplicative – -nt(i)
Fractional – -rs(a)~ş(a)