p ph b v m t th d n l k kh g h s z r w u a i y o e * mostly (v)cvcvcvcv * but mnlrs may precede another consonant * words may end in voiceless stop or mnlrs * ptksmnlrs may double * all vowels may double * mnlrsz + C (or C2 : aanttu) * final: V, ptk ph th kh smnlr * any C or cluster without one already may take wy+V * in some verb forms two vowels may run into each other; if both are long the fist shortens: adarebee+iis > adarebeiis; short + long causes elision of first vowel: adoge+iis > adogiis * accent first syllable, light secondary on penult if the word is long; long accented vowels have dropping pitch NOUNS & ADJECTIVES: * nouns end in -u, -a or -e * adjectives end in -i or -e (-i mostly in derived) * plural suffix: -lan(e)- * Declension completely regular: Nom: - saru, forest sarulan Acc: -m sarum sarulanem Dat: -di sarudi sarulandi Gen: -ye saruye sarulanye Abl: -yaa saruyaa sarulanyaa Loc: -t sarut sarulanet Ad: -no saruno sarulanno PRONOUNS: * three persons, two numbers * several affixes; the accusative and dative suffixes will swallow up any short final vowels: adomme "we see" adommiis "we see him;" Except the 3.sg., which uses euphonic -s-: adya "he saw", adyasiilaan "he saw them" subject accusative dative possessive Independent -n -mme -aan -amma -uun -ummo -nse -mise anne wemme -t -lle -iit -ille -uut -ullo -ste -lise atte lalle - -laan -iis -ilaan -uu -ulaan -sse -laas ase laane pers/thing time location manner reason amount this aase aanttu aaruu aanen aatikh aabaath that eese eenttu eeruu eenen eetikh which vayase vayanttu vayaruu vayanen rel. haase haanttu haaruu haanen no meese meenttu meeruu meenen all kuuse kuuntuu kuuruu kuunen some uuyase uuyanttu uuyaruu uuyanen uuyabaath VERBS: * stems end in a single consonant * simple, IE-esque * future : -are- * present : -o- * past.imperf : -ya- * aorist : -i- * pres perfect : -aakh-o- * past perf : -aakh-ya- * fut perf. : -aakh-are- adaakharet * indicative : -0- * indicative2 : -ge- adogiis. * subjunctive : -bee- adarebeemme * optative : -wi- * imperative : -tta- adittat! * participle : -kke (adaakhyakke) * infinitive : -niin (adoniin, adareniin) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PREPOSITIONS May be used as adverbs as well. Often go with verbs to form idioms; not too much compounding. The directional cases will be used with prepositions of location and movement; otherwise the case relationship is less predictable. (Become adjectives with ??? (a)wi) a - "in, into" le - "toward, to" oyat - "away, away from" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DERIVATION -(ai)nes : adverb - often swallows final vowel of simple roots -(e)wiin- : causative (adewiin-) -ay- : passive (aday-, adayyan "I was seen") -(a)nt- : middle of interest (adant-, adantyan) -(a)pp- : intransitive/middle (adapp- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SYNTAX ** Order Adjectives and adverbs strongly tend to precede. Genitives often follow, but may come before. ** Verbal case cross-referencing. Several case relationships are cross-references within the verb itself. Do not confuse this cross referencing with the accusative and dative prepositional suffixes. The affixes: accusative xreff: -in- dative xreff: -il- locative xreff -et- (may not occur with abl or ad. below) ablative xreff: -oy- (-oyaa final) adessive xreff -on- For all of these the vowel will be swallowed by any preceding vowels. So, "we see the man" adommen khoonam. VERB - tense - SUBJ/inf./part. - Acc - Dat - Positional The accusative slot may have the xreff or a pronoun, not both. Same for the dative. The abl. and ad. xreff may occur in the same verb, the the locative drives out both: erkyanon "I went (to somewhere). Erkyanoyaa "I went (from somewhere)." The combination -oy-on tends to become -oyyon: erkyanoyyon "I went (from somewhere) (to somewhere)." adon I see adoniis I see it adonin vaalam I see a/the book Both sentences "*adoniis vaalam" and "*adon vaalam" are incorrect. One may, however, say "adonin," without expressing the direct object. This latter simply implies the existence of an object, which will established already by context. daadaren I will give daadareniis I will give it daadarenin vaalam I will give the book daadareniisuut I will give it to you daadareninuut vaalam I will give the book to you daadareniisuu I will give it to him/her daadareniisil anakkedi I will give it to the man daadareninil anakkelandi vaalalanem I will give the books to the men. daadyasilaanummo She gave them to us Some verbs will always take a certain xreff, or some verb+xreff combinations will have an idiomatic meaning. The xreff incorporation occurs only when the verb relates directly to the case word. A phrase like "sayat" 'in the night' will not usually trigger the locative xreff unless this is considered particularly relevant. ("I stand in the house" will.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Particles Galore! * go anywhere, but connecting ones tend to go second dii, dim : question particle; usually follows verb, but may follow word emphasized ne : "that, so that, in order that" - very frequent in dependent clauses of all types waa : "and" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Huuralan a - "in, into" ad- : "see" aam- : "become, be; happen" aamay-il "be born" + dat. of parent anakke : "man" bat- : "hear" ben- : "stand, put" (trans.) daad- : "give" dekhookha : - dum- : "want" (+ inf.) eh- : "to be" erk- : "to come, to go" huura : word kaathu : "woman" khoona : "man" kuuza : - le : "toward, to" mi, mii, miit : "no, not" ok- : "do, make" - quite common in idioms oyat : "away, away from" phiiza : - pure : "much; many" puraines : "very much, a great deal" ratha : "man" (2) saru : "forest" saya : "night" vaala : "book" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I see that man - adonin eesem ratham I do not see that man - miit adonin eesem ratham I want to go away - dumon oyat erkoniin I want him to go away - dumon oyat ne erkowi