Azkali grammar: Difference between revisions
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Case inflection in Azkali is fairly straightforward; the affixes only change depending on the lack of presence of a root final vowel. There are six grammatical cases in Azkali. The ergative case is used for subjects of transitive verbs. The absolutive case is used for subjects of intransitive verbs and objects of transitive verbs. The possessive case is used for direct ownership. The privative case is used to mark the lack of direct ownership. The dative case is used to mark the indirect object of an action, as well as the purpose of an action. In addition, in extremely formal varieties of Azkali, the dative case is occasionally used to denote a noun that is owned by the noun in the phrase with the possessive case. Finally, the instrumental case is used to mark that the noun is the instrument in which the action is achieved, or occurs; the instrumental case can be used for both physical objects, or ideas and concepts. | Case inflection in Azkali is fairly straightforward; the affixes only change depending on the lack of presence of a root final vowel. There are six grammatical cases in Azkali. The ergative case is used for subjects of transitive verbs. The absolutive case is used for subjects of intransitive verbs and objects of transitive verbs. The possessive case is used for direct ownership. The privative case is used to mark the lack of direct ownership. The dative case is used to mark the indirect object of an action, as well as the purpose of an action. In addition, in extremely formal varieties of Azkali, the dative case is occasionally used to denote a noun that is owned by the noun in the phrase with the possessive case. Finally, the instrumental case is used to mark that the noun is the instrument in which the action is achieved, or occurs; the instrumental case can be used for both physical objects, or ideas and concepts. | ||
In formal varieties of Azkali, the possessive case is used more like a genitive case; the distinction here is that in most forms of Azkali, the possessive case is used purely in the context of possession. Contrastingly, in formal varieties, it's use has broadened to include generic modification. | In formal varieties of Azkali, the possessive case is used more like a genitive case; the distinction here is that in most forms of Azkali, the possessive case is used purely in the context of possession. Contrastingly, in formal varieties, it's use has broadened to include generic modification. In colloquial forms of Azkali, generic modification is marked by adpositions. | ||
The following chart shows each case suffix. | The following chart shows each case suffix. | ||
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| -ez | | -ez | ||
|} | |} | ||
Shown below are several examples of these cases in use for various words, and their respective meanings. | Shown below are several examples of these cases in use for various words, and their respective meanings. Note the usage of (-∅) for nouns rendered in the absolutive case. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+ | ||
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|- | |- | ||
!Absolutive | !Absolutive | ||
|akimateya | |akimateya(-∅) | ||
''(relative)'' | ''(relative)'' | ||
|nedhathu | |nedhathu(-∅) | ||
''(message)'' | ''(message)'' | ||
|koroz | |koroz(-∅) | ||
''(bridge)'' | ''(bridge)'' | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Possessive | !Possessive | ||
|akimateyak | |akimateyak | ||
''(the relative's)'' | ''(the relative's (...))'' | ||
|nedhathuk | |nedhathuk | ||
''(the message's)'' | ''(the message's (...))'' | ||
|korozek | |korozek | ||
''(the bridge's)'' | ''(the bridge's (...))'' | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Privative | !Privative | ||
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|} | |} | ||
==== Number and inverse number ==== | |||
Number inflection always follows, when even present, case. As mentioned before, there are three grammatical numbers in Azkali - the singular, which is unmarked, the paucal, and plural. The following chart shows each number suffix. | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
!Number | |||
!Vowel ending | |||
!Consonant ending | |||
|- | |||
!Singular | |||
! colspan="2" | ∅ | |||
|- | |||
!Paucal | |||
| -tz | |||
| -etz | |||
|- | |||
!Plural | |||
| -rek | |||
| -erek | |||
|} | |||
=== Pronouns === | === Pronouns === | ||