Siye Nominal Morphology

Cases

Core Cases

1a. NOMINATIVE (NOM): -0 NOM: Pronouns, Personal Names

The Nominative Case in Standard Siye is used for the subject of an intransitive clause and the subject of a transitive clause, provided that the noun is either a pronoun or a personal name. Where a Siye dialect draws the line between Nominative/Accusative and Absolutive/Ergative, in other words, where the split of the split-ergative occurs, is the primary isogloss between Siye dialects.

1b. ABSOLUTIVE (ABS): -0 ABS: Everything Except Pronouns and Personal Names

The Absolutive Case is used for the subject of an intransitive clause and the object of a transitive clause, provided that the noun is not a pronoun or a personal name. Many Scholars believe that the existence of -0 surface forms for both Absolutive and Accusative Cases is the cause of the 'sliery slope' of confusion over which core cases to use.

2. ACCUSATIVE (ACC): -a, -0, -ha

The Accusative Case is used for the object of a transitive clause, provided that the noun is either a pronoun or personal name. -ha occurs after syllables containing a nasal vowel. The Accusative Case is vulnerable to the depredations of vowel dominance, and therefore has a -0 surface form. Many personal names in Standard Siye have either a separate Accusative form in -a or no difference between Nominative and Accusative

3. ERGATIVE (ERG): -ya, -na

The Ergative Case is used for the subject of a transitive clause, provided that the noun is not a pronoun or a personal name. -na follows a syllable contained a nasal consonant or a nasal vowel; -ya follows otherwise. This is a remnant of the period in which the Siye-speakers were a conquered people under the rule of a tribe that spoke a different but related dialect.

Peripheral Cases

4. GENITIVE (GEN): -ne

The Genitive Case is used to describe alienable possession or an accidental characteristic of a object. There is an archaic form -e, which is found in place names such as Luse.

5. POSSESSIVE (POSS): -me

The Possessive Case is used to describe inalienable possession or an essential characteristic of an object. The Possessive Case, unlike the other Cases, precedes rather than follows the grammatical number suffix. The reason for this anomaly is not clear, and many a scholar of the Guild has written his first professional linguistic essay on this topic.

6. ABLATIVE (ABL): -sum

The Ablative Case is used to describe motion away from a point or origin from a particular location. It is also used to describe the origin of a person (although the Genitive and Possessive are also used for this) or reason of a condition.

7. LOCATIVE (LOC): -kem

The Locative Case is used to describe a location, or, in ditransitive clauses, the object being transferred or the price of the object in the Absolutive Case (more rarely, Accusative Case).

8. (AL)LATIVE/DATIVE (ALL): -su

The Dative Case is used for the inanimate indirect object of a main clause and the inanimate direct object of a Causative Construction clause when the verb of the Causative Construction clause is in the perfective aspect.

9. DATIVE-BENEFACTIVE (DAT): -tu

The Dative Case is used for the animate indirect object of a main clause and the animate direct object of a Causative Construction clause when the verb of the Causative Construction clause is in the perfective aspect.

10. INSTRUMENTAL (INS): -ki

The Instrumental Case is used to describe the means by which something is done. This case is only used with Inanimate nouns in Standard Siye; therefore it is rude to use the Instrumental Case with an Animate nouns. The Instrumental Case is used for the inanimate direct object of a Causative Construction Clause when the verb of the clause is in the perfective aspect. Prior to 2192, the postposition /eki/ (e+INS) plus an animate noun in the Genitive Case was used for the animate equivalent. In 2192, the Animate Instrumental case (14. -neki) was authorized to replace this construction.

11. ADVERBIAL (ADV): -ku

The Adverbial Case converts roots into adverbs. The Guild of Scholars treats this as a case rather than a separate part of speech.

12. EQUATIVE (EQ): -pu

The Equative Case is used to describe the second noun or adjective in a predicate statement. It is also used as a vocative external to the core arguments of the clause.

13. COMITATIVE (COM): -ni

The Comitative Case is used to describe accompaniment. It also serves as the primary nominal form of 'and', thus contrasting with the primarily verbal form -(h)(a)m.

Cases Authorized 2192

As of 2192,the following cases were declared legal for formal writing. All of them are the result of contractions between the Genitive Case and postpositions that began with e-.

14. ANIMATE INSTRUMENTAL (ANS): -neki

The Animate Instrumental Case is used for the demoted animate agent of the subordinate clause in a Causative Construction. See INSTRUMENTAL (INS) (10.) above.

Le ineki liyo elelipunama.

le-0 i-neki liyo-0 e-le-li-pu-sum-na-ma

1-NOM 3-ANS food-ABS 4-1-eat.IMPFV-SG-CAUS-DIR.UP-IMPFV.POS.REALIS

I will feed him (=I will cause him to eat the food)

15. ELATIVE (ELA): -nesum

The Elative Case is used for motion out of a location.

Laye silinemsum itupusuna.

laye-0 sili-nemsum i-tu-pu-tu-na

woman-ABS house-ELA 3-go.PFV-SG-DIR.ALL-PFV.POS.REALIS

The woman came out of the house.

16. INESSIVE (INE): -nemkim

The Inessive Case is used for position inside of a location.

Laye silinemkim ikupununa.

laye-0 sili-nemkim i-ku-pu-nu-ma

woman-ABS house-ILL 3-sleep.IMPFV-SG-DIR.DOWN-IMPFV.POS.REALIS

The woman came out of the house.

17. ILLATIVE (ILL): -nemtu

The Illative Case is used for motion into a location.

Laye silinemtu itupusuna.

laye-0 sili-nemtu i-tu-pu-su-na

woman-ABS house-ILL 3-go.PFV-SG-DIR.ABL-PFV.POS.REALIS

The woman went to the house.

Cases Authorized 2200

As of 2200,the following case was declared legal for formal writing.

18. ABESSIVE (ABE): -neto

The Abessive Case is used to describe lack. A counterpart to the Comitative case, the authorization of the Abessive Case was proposed in 2192, but some members of the Guild of Scholars felt that the conflation of the Genitive Case with the postposition /-to/ was not as strong as that of situations such as inessive /-nemtu/ from /-ne emtu/, since there was no natural contraction.

Liyoneto lelilulununa.

liyo-neto le-li-lo-ulu-nu-ma

food-ABE 1-die.IMPFV-PL-TNS-DIR-IMPFV.POS.REALIS

Without food, we will die.

Complex cases

Complex cases occur when Suffixaufnahme places an Accusative -a after another case suffix which ends in a vowel. These are not official cases, and therefore illegitimate and immoral; furthermore, their illegitimacy means that the crude names herein given are descriptive rather than prescriptive. It is necessary, however, to recognize these forms when in the the western provinces or handling a document from that region. It is difficult to correct immoral grammar if you do not know what the author intended to say.

1. ACCUSI-GENITIVE (AGEN): -na (<-ne-a)

2. ACCUSI-POSSESSIVE (APOSS): -ma(< -me-a)

3. ACCUSI-ABLATIVE (AABL): -sumha (< -sum-a)

4. ACCUSI-LOCATIVE (ALOC): -kemha (< -kem-a)

5. ACCUSI-(AL)LATIVE/DATIVE (AALL): -su (< -su-a) -sa

6. ACCUSI-DATIVE (ADAT): -tu (<-tu-a) -sa, -ta

7. ACCUSI-INSTRUMENTAL (AINS): -ka (<-ki-a), -sa

8. ACCUSI-ADVERBIAL (AADV): -ku (<-ku-a)

9. ACCUSI-EQUATIVE (AEQ): -pu (<-pu-a) -pa

10. ACCUSI-COMITATIVE (ACOM): -na (<-ni-a)

Notes

AGEN & APOSS: When noun phrases which are used in the Western Provinces are authorized as composite nouns, there is often a choice between the AGEN ending -na and the APOSS ending -ma as the correct syllable. In general, the Guild of Scholars follows Standard Siye guidelines and therefore choose -na to follow nasal syllables and act as a case ending, and -ma to follow oral syllables and act as the new final syllable of the word. If, however, there is a substantial semantic difference between the meaning of the noun phrase using the Genitive Case and that using the Possessive Case, the Guild of Scholars may authorize an otherwise illegal use of -na following an oral syllable.

ACOM: If a noun phrase which is used in the Western Provinces uses the ACOM ending -na and is authorized as a composite noun, the Guild of Scholars requires that the -na become the new final syllable of the word.

AALL & ADAT: When the AALL OR ADAT 'cases' are used in a sentence with a transitive verb, it seems as though there is no grammatical direct object. Any combination of such objects and transitive verbs that are authorized as a formal phrase in Standard Siye require the transitive verb to be detransitived, even if the verb is otherwise clearly transitive.

-sa: The various 'cases' of -sa (AALL, ADAT, AINS) form a contentious issue for the Guild of Scholars. There is a proposal, originally brought forth at the same time as the proposals for the cases authorized in 2192, to replace the Animate Instrumental (ANS) case -neki with -sa. The "Saists" or "Eastern Saists" are part of the Animacist faction which strongly believes in maintaining the distinction between animate and inanimate nouns. These Saists, therefore, support, unofficially, of course, the use of AALL and ADAT endings. This group should not be confused with the group who call themselves Saists or Western Saists. The latter group is comprised of Scholars from the Far Western Province who advocate the adotion of -sa as an animacy-neutral form of the Dative and Allative Cases in order prevent the commercial exploitation of Far Westerners ho have difficulty with animacy distinctions.

Grammatical Number

Grammatical Numbers:

NULL (NL): -ku, -hu, -u

The Null Number refers to the absence of a particular thing. When used with an adjective, the Null Number changes an adjective to its opposite, although where "opposite" in this situation indicates reversal or absence depends on the noun.

SINGULAR (SG): -0

The Singular Number is used with singular nouns, some abstract nouns, and mass nouns. It is also the citation form of a Standard Siye word.

DUAL (DU): -so

The Dual Number is used to refer to exactly two things. Although pairs of items, such as eyes, are normally in the Dual Number, the Dual Number does not inherently indicate a pair.

PAUCAL (PAUC): -ke

The Paucal Number refers to a group which is smaller than that of Plural Number but more than the Dual Number. This is a culturally determined distinction.

PLURAL (PL): -lo

The Plural Number refers to a group, larger than that of Paucal Number. This is the generic plural in Siye.

PANTIC (PAN): -ka

The Pantic Number refers to all of a certain thing. It is also used as an ethnic or group designation.

Structure: ROOT-NUMBER-CASE, except for the Possessive Case, in which case the order is ROOT-CASE-NUMBER.

Definiteness and Numeral Placement

Siye nouns are inherently definite.

tupiya

tupi-ya

bird-ERG

the bird

An indefinite noun requires a following /tum/.

tupi tumna

tupi tum-na

bird INDEF-ERG

a bird

Adjectives follow the noun.

tupi tukiya

tupi tuki-ya

bird white-ERG

the white bird

tupi tuki tumna

tupi tuki tum-na

bird white INDEF-ERG

a white bird

The demonstrative /me/ provides further definition.

tupi tuki mena

tupi tuki me-na

bird white DEF-ERG

this/that white bird

The numeral one, as all numerals do, precedes the verb. Siye numerals are definite.

tum tupiya

tum tupi-ya

1 bird-ERG

one bird

so tupisoya

so tupi-so-ya

2 bird-DU-ERG

two birds

ko tupiloya

ko tupi-lo-ya

5 bird-PL-ERG

five birds

ko tupilo mena

ko tupi-lo me-na

5 bird-PL DEF-ERG

those five birds

Pronouns

In Standard Siye, all the pronouns have a nominative-accusative contrast rather than an ergative-absolutive one. The accusative form is used exclusively for the Accusative case; peripheral cases use the same form as the nominative. Most accusative forms end in /a/.

le, la: 1st person (1)

pe, sa: 2nd person (2)

/pe/ and /sa/ derive from different pronominal roots.

i, ya: 3rd person animate (3)

Some members of the Guild of Scholars believe that /i/ derives from a deictic particle which supplanted /e/ as the primary 3rd person form.

e, a: 3rd person inanimate (4)

mu: 3rd person indefinite (INDEF)

/mu/ is both Nominative and Accusative, animate and inanimate.

Non-standard pronouns

The non-standard pronouns presented here (with one exception) are the ergative-absolutive forms used in the eastern provinces in lieu of the nominative-accusative ones. In documents other than contracts and academic works, non-standard pronouns may appear. The Valley is large, and combination of vowel dominance and suffixation produce more forms than can be presented here.

peya, pe: 2nd person (Far Eastern Province, Lake)

Note that non-standard /pe/ (absolutive) is identical to standard /pe/ (nominative).

iya, i: 3rd person animate (Eastern Provinces, Lake)

Note that non-standard /i/ (absolutive) is identical to standard /i/ (nominative). /iya/ appears frequently in folk songs, even those composed by speakers of Standard Siye, as a strengthened form of /i/, which is monosyllabic, a lone vowel, and lowest on the vowel dominance hierarchy.

eya, e: 3rd person inanimate (Far Eastern Province, Mid-Eastern Province, Lake)

Note that non-standard /e/ (absolutive) is identical to standard /e/ (nominative). /eya/ appears outside of the eastern dialects much less frequently than /iya/.

aya, a: 3rd person inanimate (Central Province innovation). This is an extremely vulgar usage, most common in the seedier parts of the City, but it is spreading rapidly.

muna, mu: 3rd person indefinite (Far Eastern Province, Mid-Eastern Province, Lake)

Note that in those dialects the ergative and absolutive forms of the 3rd person indefinite are distinct. Since the emergence of vowel dominance, there has been a small but vocal faction in the Guild of Scholars (the "Munayamlo") which advocates the use of /muna/~/mu/ to resolve ambiguities in current Standard Siye. Their advocated use, however, is only as independent pronouns, not as verb suffixes.