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Lemizh: Difference between revisions
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→Syntax: Sentence structure
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The first word in a sentence (the main predicate) is of first level by definition. The level of the next word is determined by the main predicate's accent and by the type of pause between the two words, the level of the third word is determined by the accent of the second and the pause between these two, and so on. | The first word in a sentence (the main predicate) is of first level by definition. The level of the next word is determined by the main predicate's accent and by the type of pause between the two words, the level of the third word is determined by the accent of the second and the pause between these two, and so on. | ||
Here is the complete list of pause/accent combinations. | Here is the complete list of pause/accent combinations. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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| rowspan="4" | barely audible || rowspan="4" | space || rowspan="2" | inner case || low || lower by 1 | | rowspan="4" | barely audible || rowspan="4" | space || rowspan="2" | inner case || low || lower by 1 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| high || lower by 1, and agentive ( | | high || lower by 1, and [[w:Agent (grammar)|agentive]]* ({{sc|a}}) | ||
|- | |- | ||
| rowspan="2" | outer case || low || equal | | rowspan="2" | outer case || low || equal | ||
| Line 324: | Line 324: | ||
| the longest || full stop ('''∶''') || inner case || low || none; end of sentence | | the longest || full stop ('''∶''') || inner case || low || none; end of sentence | ||
|} | |} | ||
<nowiki>*</nowiki> The agent is the initiator of the action (more informally, the one who ''does'' the action). | |||
=== | ===Sentence structure=== | ||
[[File:Lemizh parse tree.png|thumb|upright=1.5|A schematic sentence with the words represented by their level numbers]] | |||
The word levels determine the structure of a sentence. | |||
*'''Rule One of sentence grammar. A word of level n is subordinate to the nearest word of level n−1 in front of it; the parole acts as a word of level zero.''' | |||
All words of second level are subordinate to the main predicate (which has first level). A word of third level is subordinate to the next second-level word in front of it, and so on. In other words, Lemizh sentences are strictly [[w:Head directionality|head-first]]. The main predicate itself is subordinate to the [[w:Parole (linguistics)|parole]], the action of speaking (or writing) the sentence in question, which consequently has level zero. | |||
*'''Rule Two. An object of a word in a sentence is a word subordinate to the former, its predicate, plus all of its own objects.''' | |||
In the diagram, the main predicate's three objects are enclosed in ellipses. Objects of the same word are called ''sibling objects'' or just ''siblings'', and the word they are subordinate to is their ''predicate''. Note that ''predicate'' and ''object'' are relative terms like ''parent'' and ''child''. | |||
The table of level markers implies that only the first object of a predicate can be marked as agent. (This has been interpreted as Lemizh having VSO word order, although a subject is not quite the same as an agent, and Lemizh grammar strictly speaking does not have the concept of a subject.) | |||
*'''Rule Three. The outer case of the first word of an object defines its relation to its predicate's stem via its descriptor; the outer case of a level 1 word is zero.''' | |||
This is what we would expect: the nominative object of a predicate defines its source (sender), the accusative object its content, the temporal object its time, etc. | |||
'''Examples''' | |||
{{Interlinear|ablist=FACT:factive case; 1:first level; 2: second level; 2A: second level, agentive | |||
|dá föpysryfè dwywỳ lusỳi. | |||
|give-FACT-1 {Father Christmas}-ACC-NOM-2A bottle-ACC-ACC-2 Lucy-ACC-DAT-2 | |||
|''Father Christmas gives Lucy a bottle.''}} | |||
The word stems of the three objects are nominal verbs, hence the inner accusatives. The outer cases indicate the sender, content and recipient of the act of giving. The agent is specified independently of the plot arrow; mark the difference: | |||
{{Interlinear|ablist=FACT:factive case; 1:first level; 2: second level; 2A: second level, agentive | |||
|dá lusyì dwywỳ föpysrỳfe. | |||
|give-FACT-1 Lucy-ACC-DAT-2A bottle-ACC-ACC-2 {Father Christmas}-ACC-NOM-2 | |||
|''Lucy takes a bottle from Father Christmas.''}} | |||
===Relative pronouns=== | ===Relative pronouns=== | ||