Classical Kasshian grammar
Classical Kasshian grammar was agglutinative with a modest amount of allomorphic variation.
Nouns and adjectives
- Main article: Classical Kasshian nouns
Nouns and adjectives were generally inflected inflected identically, with adjectives agreeing with their nouns. Nouns were inflected for gender, case, and number by means of prefixes indicating gender and number and suffixes indicating number and case. Number was thus doubly-marked
Verbs
- Main article: Classical Kasshian verbs
Verbs were moderately inflected, with up to two prefixes and two suffixes possible, in addition to auxiliaries and the possibility[1] of "incorporating" nouns. Entire sentences, albeit simple ones, could be translated with a single complex verb.
Pronouns
Clitic
Clitic pronouns may be added to nouns and verbs. They are placed immediately after the inflected verb, but without affecting stress. For nouns, they are placed immediately after the noun itself to indicate inalienable possession (affecting stress), and after the inflected noun for alienable possession (not affecting stress). For verbs, the following order is used 1st person – 2nd person – Genders 1-3/9 – Gender 4-5 – Gender 6 – Gender 7; when multiple clitics of the same gender-group are used, they are ordered intrans/ergative – accusative/absolutive – dative. 1st person accusative forms are only used in imperatives.
First Person | Second Person | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | dual | paucal | plural | singular | dual | plural | ||
Nominative | ku | sa | na | chi | jel | dri | jina | |
Accusative | qui | sai | nai | chī | ||||
Genitive | qua | sau | nau | chiwa | jiwa | driwa | jima | |
Dative | kutu | satu | natu | chitu | jettu | dritu | jennatu/jendu |
Gender I | Gender II | Gender III | Gender IX | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||
Intransitive[2] | chi | chel | chen | na | nal | nan | su | sol | son | ton | tonni | tonna | |||
Accusative[3] | chī | chili | chini | nai | nali | nani | swi | suli | suni | tuni | tonnī | tonnai | |||
Ergative | chika | chekka | chenga | naka | nakka | nanga | suka | sokka | songa | tonga | tonnika | tonnaka | |||
Genitive | chiwa | chima | ma | nama | swa | suma | tuma | tonniwa | tomma | ||||||
Dative | chitu | chettu | chendu | natu | nattu | nandu | sutu | sottu | sondu | tontu | tonnitu | tonnatu |
Gender IV | Gender V | Gender VI | Gender VII | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||
Absolutive | çi | çel | çen | la | lal | lan | gwa | gwal | gwan | pi | pel | pen | |||
Ergative | çika | çekka | çenga | laka | lakka | langa | gwaka | gwakka | gwanga | pika | pekka | penga | |||
Genetive | çiwa | çima | lwa | lama | gwau | gwama | piwa | pima | |||||||
Dative | çitu | çettu | çendu | latu | lattu | landu | gwatu | gwattu | gwandu | pitu | pettu | pendu |
Some dialects have v- instead of gw- in the gender VI clitics
Free
Plain
First person | Second person | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Paucal | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
Nominative | Ujekka | Sajī | Najī | Chijī | Ejjī | Drijī | Ennajī | |
Accusative | Ujī | Saijī | Naijī | Chījī | Ījī | Drījī | Ennajī | |
Genitive | Ujigwa | Swajī | Naujī | Pajī | Iwajī | Driwajī | Imajī | |
Dative | Ujītu | Satovjī | Natovjī | Chitovjī | Ettovjī | Dritovjī | Ennatovjī | |
Instrumental | Ujenni | Sanjī | Nanjī | Chenjī | Enjī | Drenjī | Ennanjī | |
Benefactive | Ujenna | Sanjīna | Nanjīna | Chenjīna | Enjīna | Drenjīna | Ennanjīna | |
Commitative | Ujīnran | Sanjīlan | Nanjīlan | Chenjīlan | Enjīlan | Drenjīlan | Ennanjīlan |
The nominative and accusative forms are used only for emphasis, while the genitive forms are used for emphasis as well as for the genitive-based pseudo-cases. The initial u- of the 1st person singular forms is sometimes dropped. Pseudo-cases are inflected as with standard nouns. Third person uses the demonstrative pronoun funu (that one) with appropriate gender-prefixes
3rd person reflexive pronouns are jītal in the singular, jītali in the plural, with appropriate gender prefixes
Polite
Polite pronouns take standard case suffixes. They vary by gender (first form is feminine, second is masculine, third is epicine). Third person pronouns take standard gender prefixes.
The first person forms imply humility, implying that the speaker is of lower status than the person to whom they're speaking, conversely, the 2nd person forms imply high status. 3rd person has two formal forms: 3rd person-humble and 3rd person-exalted. Third person-humble indicates low status of the person being referred to, while 3rd person-exalted indicates high status
- 1st person singular: Trī/Nrī
- 1st person dual: Chellespi/Nallespi/Sollespi
- 1st person paucal: Chellesshi/Nallesshi/Sollesshi
- 1st person plural: Chempi/Nampi/Sompi
- 2nd person singular: Trakan/nrakan
- 2nd person plural: Trakanni/nrakanni
- 3rd person-humble singular: Eshna
- 3rd person-humble plural: Eshni
- 3rd person-exalted singular: Lampunu
- 3rd person-exalted plural: Lampumi
- 3rd person-humble reflexive-singular: Jeshna
- 3rd person-humble reflexive-plural: Jeshni
- 3rd person-exalted reflexive-singualr: Jīlampunu
- 3rd person-exalted reflexive-plural: Jīlampumi
Syntax
Basic word order is VSO, with modifiers consistently following their head.
Animacy
Certain aspects of Classical Kasshian syntax depend on a concept known as animacy, which is related to gender. For example, in a transitive verb, if an agent (subject of a transitive verb) is higher on the animacy hierarchy than the patient (object of a transitive verb), then antipassive or dative syntax will sometimes be used. The basic hierarchy is:
- 1st person
- 2nd person
- 3rd person sapient
- 3rd person non-sapient
Many speakers further subdivide the last two levels. The obligatory levels are shown at the first level of indention, with further levels for optional subdivisions
- 3rd person sapient
- Divinities
- Mortals
- Humans
- Some speakers will further divide human by status and/or age
- Pteranthropans
- Humans
- 3rd person non-sapient
- Animals
- Gender IV
- Large
- Medium-sized
- Small
- Gender V
- Large
- Medium-sized
- Small
- Gender IV
- Gender VI
- Gender VII
- Animals
Dative antipassive
The dative antipassive was an alternative to the antipassive voice. The dative-antipassive still used active voice, but the subject was placed in the absolutive instead of the ergative, and the object was placed in the dative instead of the absolutive.