Azkali grammar: Difference between revisions
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
=== Nouns === | === Nouns === | ||
Azkali nouns are overtly declined for six grammatical cases (the ergative, absolutive, possessive, privative, dative, and instrumental) and three numbers (the singular, paucal, and plural) | Azkali nouns are overtly declined for six grammatical cases (the ergative, absolutive, possessive, privative, dative, and instrumental) and three numbers (the singular, paucal, and plural). Azkali nouns are constructed agglunatively, contrasting with verbs. In addition, Azkali also features a robust inverse number system, though it is only regularly used in formal speech. | ||
Affixes occur in a relatively set order, displayed in the below noun template chart: | Affixes occur in a relatively set order, displayed in the below noun template chart: | ||
| Line 36: | Line 36: | ||
[[File:Ergative alignment.svg|thumb|283x283px|A diagram highlighting ergative alignment. '''A''' is the subject of a transitive verb, '''O''' is the object of a transitive verb, and '''S''' is the subject of an intransitive verb. '''S''' and '''O''' are marked in the absolutive case, and '''A''' is marked in the ergative case.]] | [[File:Ergative alignment.svg|thumb|283x283px|A diagram highlighting ergative alignment. '''A''' is the subject of a transitive verb, '''O''' is the object of a transitive verb, and '''S''' is the subject of an intransitive verb. '''S''' and '''O''' are marked in the absolutive case, and '''A''' is marked in the ergative case.]] | ||
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. | ||
The ergative and absolutive cases are not regularly used with nouns, instead being only used for pronouns. The other four cases, however, are productive in regular nouns. | |||
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 the adposition ''haoz,'' meaning "of". | 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 the adposition ''haoz,'' meaning "of". | ||
| Line 47: | Line 49: | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Ergative | !Ergative | ||
| | | colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ∅ | ||
| | |||
|- | |- | ||
!Absolutive | !Absolutive | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Possessive | !Possessive | ||
| Line 84: | Line 84: | ||
! rowspan="6" |Case | ! rowspan="6" |Case | ||
!Ergative | !Ergative | ||
| | | colspan="3" rowspan="2" |akimateya(-∅) | ||
''(relative)'' | ''(relative)'' | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Absolutive | !Absolutive | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Possessive | !Possessive | ||
| Line 295: | Line 285: | ||
A majority of verbs in Azkali are derived from Proto-Azkali, or have been taken from [[Oikan language|Oikan]], [[Loremese language|Loremese]], or Hngatil. | A majority of verbs in Azkali are derived from Proto-Azkali, or have been taken from [[Oikan language|Oikan]], [[Loremese language|Loremese]], or Hngatil. | ||
==== | ==== Conjugation ==== | ||
''See also: [[Contemporary Azkali conjugation]]'' | ''See also: [[Contemporary Azkali conjugation]]'' | ||
| Line 340: | Line 330: | ||
| -aur | | -aur | ||
|} | |} | ||
==== ''Itu'' ==== | ==== ''Itu'' ==== | ||