Polymorphic conlang/Morphology
Nouns
There are two genders of nouns, animate and inanimate. Gender is not marked, but does affect the noun morphology in other ways. The language is split-S, with animates being nominative-accusative, inanimates being ergative-absolute.
The basic form is {Deixis}+{Case1}+{Number}+Root+{Case2}+{Definiteness}, where anything in braces may be a null morpheme.
Deixis
this | |
that | |
yonder | |
what |
For the first three, the noun must also be marked definite. For the last, it must be indefinite (unmarked).
Case
The marking of case comes in two parts, and depends on gender. The case system can be regarded as consisting of primary and secondary, active and stative cases.
Primary Cases
The primary cases of a noun are gender dependent.
Active case | Stative Case | |
---|---|---|
Animate | Nominative | Accusative |
Root | Root+ | |
Inanimate | Ergative | Absolute |
hu+Root | Root |
Secondary Active Cases
Secondary active cases are formed by adding a suffix to the primary active case.
Genitive | -ti |
---|---|
Dative | -un |
Causative | -ka |
Locative | -ir |
Secondary Stative Cases
Secondary stative cases are formed by adding a prefix to the primary stative case.
Instrumental | aw- |
---|---|
Allative | pin- |
xu- | |
ur- |
Number
There are three numbers,
Singular | |
---|---|
Dual/paucal | huj- |
Plural | si- |
The middle number indicates dual for animates or paucal for inanimates.
Definiteness
Indefinite nouns are unmarked. Definite nouns are marked with the suffix -arja
Verbs
The verb follows the following paradigm
{subject animacy}+{tense/aspect}+root+{mood}+{voice}+{object animacy}
Subject animacy
Unmarked for animate subjects, ta- for inanimate subjects
Tense and aspect
These are not orthogonal, so a single marker covers both.
Mood
Voice
Voice | Marker | Use |
---|---|---|
Active | Subject and object have their usual roles. | |
Passive | Animate subject is treated as object | |
Antipassive | Inanimate object is treated as subject | |
Reflexive | Subject acts upon itself |
Object animacy
Unmarked for inanimate objects, -ajn for animate objects