Valware grammar

THE GRAMMAR OF VALWARE

Ware Tawa yi ań Valware

Phonology

Orthography table

Cyrillic	А а	В в	Е е	И и	Ј ј	Л л	М м	Н н	Ӈ ӈ	О о	Р р	С с	Т т	У у	Ў ў	Ф ф	Һ һ	Ъ ъ
Latin	a	v	e	i	y	l	m	n	ń	o	r	s	t	u	w	f	h	ʻ
IPA	/a/	/β/	/e/	/i/	/j/	/l/	/m/	/n/	/ŋ/	/o/	/ɾ/	/s/	/t/	/u/	/w/	/ɸ/	/h/	/ʔ/
Name	a	ve	e	i	ye	el	em	en	eń	o	pe	es	te	u	we	ef	he	ʻe

Table of Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i /i/		u /u/
Close-mid	e /e/		o /o/
Open		a /a/

Table of Consonants

	Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Glottal
Nasals	m /m/ ~ /ɱ/1		n /n/	ń /ŋ/
Voiceless Stops		t /t/			' /ʔ/
Non-sibilant Fricatives	f /φ/ v /β/				h /h/
Sibilant Fricative			s /s/
Approximant	w /w/			y /j/
Lateral Approximant		l /l/
Tap			r /ɾ/

¹ <m> becomes the labiodental /ɱ/ before the bilabials <f> and <v>.

Grammar

Word Order

• 001. The word order in Valware is SVO, verb-subject-object.
• 002. The word is accented on the penultimate syllable.
• 003. There are no diphthongs.
• 004. The direct object precedes the indirect object.
• 005. The genitive noun follows the head noun.
• 006. Adjectives and determiners precede the nouns they qualify.
• 007. The adjective follows the standard of comparison.
• 008. The adjective precedes the dependent verb.
• 009. Adverbs follow the verbs they modify.
• 010. In forming compounds, the final vowel of the first element is elided: yaro, eight + wasi, one = yarwasi, nine.

Verbs (Hatola Nira yi)

• 011. Verbs are a class of words that convey an action (bring, read, walk, run, learn), an occurrence (happen, become), or a state of being (be, exist, stand).
• 012. There is no change in the form of the verb for subject agreement. Other semantic notions are expressed by verb markers.
• 013. The base form of the verb refer to the present tense, the future tense, or an habitual action:

hova, speak; Sa hova, He speaks.

Sa hova Valware, He speaks Valware.

• 014. To indicate that an action or state is in progress at the moment of speech, the progressive verb marker (PRG) fe is used.

fińa, sing; Sa fe fińa ńas, He is singing now.

avi, arrive; Nuvo ań fe avi ńas, The woman is arriving now.

• 015. The verb marker he indicates the past tense:

fińa, sing; Sa he fińa fel savi , He sang yesterday.

avi, arrive; Nuvo ań he avi fel savi, The woman arrived yesterday.

• 016. The verb marker ʻe indicates that an action occured before another past action, i.e., the past perfect tense.

Ne ʻe ya fel he tohi.

I ate (had eaten) before I left.

• 017. Modal auxiliaries are placed immediately before the main verb. They may be preceded by verb markers:

Ability: yeri, to be able:

Vi yeri indu ʻa ?

Can you swim?

Wish: neki, to want, wish, desire:

Ne fa he neki uńwa.

I didn't want to get up.

Permission: fiva, to permit

Ne fiva tohi ʻa?

May I leave?

Preference: maha, to prefer, rather:

Ne maha ala infi yuń.

I'd rather drink water.

Habitualness: vana, usual:

Ne uńwa vana lańi.

I usually get up early.

Ne saman uńwa hino.

I used to get up late.

Obligation: weva, have to, ought, must:

Ne weva vasa s.

I have to awaken her.

Need: walha, need:

Bala ń walha vońa.

The baby needs to sleep.

• 018. Mood is a grammatical category by which the speaker expresses his attitude toward what he is saying.
• 019. The subjunctive mood is formed with the verb marker te: Sa te hero n, She may love me.
• 020. The imperative mood uses the base form of the verb without a subject: Hero n, Love me.

A more polite form of the imperative uses the phrase wa yeri, if able:

Wa yeri hero n, Love me.

• 021. The cohortative and jussive moods are formed with the verb ʻena with the appropriate pronoun following:

ʻEna sa bina, Let him sing.

• 022. The conjunction wa, if, is used to express conditions. If the action or event linked to the condition is likely to occur or is real, no verb marker is used in the conditional clause:

Wa rińo yi taza, ne neri fam.

If the apples are good, I'll buy some.

If the conditional action or event is doubtful or hypothetical, the verb marker ʻe is used in the conditional clause and le in the main clause:

Wa rińo yi ʻe taza, ne le neri fam.

If the apples were good, I'd buy some.

• 023. The passive form of the verb is formed with the verb marker me:

Wińa ń me hero, The mother is loved.

Rińo ań me he fońya, The apple was cooked.

• 024. A verbal noun is formed by using the definite article with the base verb. This verbal noun functions as an infinitive or gerund:

Ińwu ań tayi weswa ne ʻowu yi.

Swimming strengthens my limbs.

• 025. Sentence negation is indicated with the word fa:

Ne fa hero v.

I do not love you.

Muso ań fa wato.

The woman is not here.

• 026. A question is indicated by the use of the interrogative particle (Q) ʻa:

Ne hero v. I love you.

Ne hero v ʻa?, Do I love you?

The interrogative particle is not used when the sentence contains an interrogative word.

• 027. Dependent verbs, such as infinitives and gerunds, follow the verb or adjective upon which they are dependent:

Ne he yota rata ń vafo yuń.

I was afraid to touch a toad.

Sa ńeti ruma ń.

He wants to go.

A direct object is placed before the infinitive:

Ne he ńeti sa ruma ń.

I wanted him to go.

• 028. Transitive verbs may be formed from adjectives by using the verb weswa, make, placing the adjective before the verb: rifi, wide:

Sa yi rifi fe weswa tańye ań.

They are widening the road.

• 029. Verbs may be formed from nouns by using the verb sańwa, happen, e.g., with suya, rain.

Suya he sańwa liwe ne yi he hala.

It was raining when we left.

• 030. There is no copulative verb to be. The subject and predicate are stated, subject first: Wuya ń luvo. The flower is yellow.
  • The verb ima is used at the beginning of a sentence to identify and define:

Ima ńeve yuń. It's an eagle.

• 031. There is no verb to have. This is expressed with a prepositional phrase using ye, of:

Wuya yuń ye n.

I have a flower.

Hum wuya ye n.

This flower belongs to me.

Nouns (Suwi Nira yi)

• 032. Nouns are a class of words that function as the names of some specific thing or set of things, such as living creatures, objects, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.
• 033. There are no noun classes in Valware.
• 034. Plurality is not indicated on the noun. It is indicated by changing the definite article ań to yi: ʻaʻa, stone; ʻaʻa ń, the stone; ʻaʻa yi, the stones.

If plurality is evident, the definite article is not used: yili ʻaʻa, two stones; imi ʻaʻa, many stones.

• 035. Possession is indicated by having the noun referring to what is owned followed by that of the owner:

rińo yanla ń; the child's apple.

rińo s, his apple.

• 036. Abstract nouns are derived from adjectives by using an adjective or a determiner: tiva, short; tiva ń, shortness.
• 037. Abstract nouns are derived from verbs with the suffix -ta: nura, begin, nurata, beginning; hońa, hope, hońata, hope.
• 038. Nouns naming a person characterized by an adjective are formed with the word wayo, person: yuha, young; yuha wayo, youth; leti, old; leti wayo, elder.
• 039. The agent of a verb is formed with the prefix oń-: fińa, sing; ońfińa ń, the singer.
• 040. The instrument for performing the action of a verb is formed with the prefix wo-: towa, cut; wotowa ń, the knife.
• 041. Nouns denoting perceptible things are formed from verbs with the prefix ha-: live, laugh; halive, laugh, laughter.
• 042. Diminutives of nouns are formed with the prefix si-: nayu, river; sinayu, stream.
• 043. A noun may be specified as masculine or feminine by using the adjectives sin and yim respectively: yanla, child; sin yanla, boy; yim yanla, girl.
• 044. Collective nouns are formed from nouns or adjectives by using the word tuńwi: vilo yi tuńwi ań, the flock of birds; sine yi tuńwi ań, the school of fish; vali yi tuńwi yuń, archipelago.
• 045. Nouns may be used to modify other nouns; the modifying noun precedes the modified noun: tala sinayu ań, the mountain stream.

Modifiers (Fatota Nira yi)

• 046. In Valware grammar adjectives, adverbs and determiners are classed together as modifiers.

Adjectives (Lamo Nira yi)

• 047. Adjectives are a class of words which qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified.
• 048. Adjectives are placed after the noun: tańwa ganda ń, the good boy.
• 049. The one degree of comparison, known as the elative (ELT), is formed with the adverb fen, more: yuva, young; fen yuva, younger, youngest.
  • In comparisons than is translated by the conjunction ram, than:

Sa fen yuva ram ne.

He is younger than I.

Sa fudu fen geha ram ne.

He runs faster than I do.

• 050. Negative comparison is formed with the adverb kam, less: lere, distant; kam lere, less/least distant.
• 051. The comparison of equality is formed with the word yin, as:

Hum wuya sona yin yira yuń.

This flower is as red as blood.

• 052. Participles are a form of a verb that is used to modify a noun, noun phrase, verb, or verb phrase, playing a role similar to an adjective or adverb.
• 053. There are two participles in Valware.

a. The present participle is formed by using the present form of the verb as an adjective: ińwu sine ań, the swimming fish. The fish is swimming would be Sine ań ińwu.

b. The past participle is formed by using the past form of the verb as an adjective: he vota tena ń, the sunken boat. The boat sank would be Tena ń he vota.

• 054. Nouns of material may be used like adjectives: ʻaʻa yavi ań, the stone house.
• 055. Word negation is indicated by the use of the prefix fu-: nemi, even; funemi, uneven.
• 056. Adjectives denoting similarity, likeness or resemblance to what is named in the noun root (-ish, -like) are formed with the prefix vo-: vilo, bird; vovilo, like a bird.
• 057. Adjectives denoting the quality expressed in the noun are formed with the prefix i-: nori, dirt; inori, dirty.
• 058. Adjectives with the meaning without are expressed with the preposition sun, without: hońata, hope; sun hońata yuń, hopeless.

Determiners (Mutata Nira yi)

• 059. Determiners are a class of words that serve to express the reference of that noun or noun phrase in the context. They may indicate whether the noun is referring to a definite or indefinite element of a class, to a closer or more distant element, to an element belonging to a specified person or thing, to a particular number or quantity, etc.
• 060. The definite article is ań and is placed after the noun: muso, woman; muso ań, the woman.

If the noun ends in -a, the definite article is ń: waʻa, man; waʻa ń, the man.

• 061. The indefinite article is yuń and is placed after the noun: muso, woman; nuvo yuń, a woman.

The indefinite article is also used when no other modifier is present:

Yala yuń ʻawa lańi.

Morning comes early.

• 062. Numerals precede the noun in the absence of the definite article:

Silu muso fońya.

Three women are cooking.

They follow the noun if the noun is preceded by a determiner:

Hum muso silu fońya.

These three women are cooking.

• 063. The demonstrative determiners are hum, this/these; and sat, that/those: sat vilo, that bird; hul wuya yi, these flowers.
• 064. The elective indefinite determiner is vun, any.
• 065. The assertive indefinite determine is fam, some.

Numerals (Yasi yi)

• 066. Valware has an octal numeral system.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
wasi	yili	silu	fińe	wuma	tuvi	yutu	yaro

• 067. The numerals 9-15 are formed by suffixing the proper cardinal to yar-, eight.

9	10	11	12	13	14	15
yarwasi	yaryili	yarsilu	yarfińe	yarwuma	yartuvi	yaryutu

• 068. The numerals 16-64 are formed by prefixing the proper cardinal, minus the final vowel, to yaro, eight.

16	24	32	40	48	56	64
wasyaro	yilyaro	silyaro	fińyaro	wumyaro	tuvyaro	yaryaro

• 069. Additional numbers are formed by adding the needed number as a separate word: yilyaro wasi, 2 8's + 1, 17; wumyaro silu, 5 8's + 3, 43.
• 070. Compounds of 64 can be made by prefixing the proper ordinal to yaryaro: yilyaryaro, 2x8x8, 128, but the Islanders seldom need to count that high.
• 071. The ordinals are made by adding the suffix -ha to the cardinal number, minus the final vowel: yilha, second; yilyaryarha, 128th.
• 072. The adverbial numbers are formed with the word nali, time: yili nali, twice; yaro nali, eight times (v. #033).

Adverbs (Wila Nira yi)

• 073. Adverbs are a class of words that modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a determiner, a noun phrase, a clause, or a sentence. They typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc.
• 074. They have the same form as the adjective, but follow the verb they modify: vati waʻa ń, the brave man; Sa he weńwa vati, He acted bravely.
• 075. The elative of these adverbs is formed in the same way as are adjectives; vati, bravely; fen vati, more bravely.

Pronouns (Malata Nira yi)

• 076. Pronouns are a class of words that substitute for a noun or noun phrase. There are seven types of pronouns in Valware.
• 077. Personal pronouns have only the one form, used for the subject, the object and the possessive.

	Subject	Object	Adjective
ne	I	me	mine
vi	you (sg.)	you	your
sa	he, she, it	him, her, it	his, hers, its
ne yi	we	us	our
vi yi	you (pl.)	you	your
sa yi	they	them	their

• 078. When used as the object, the personal pronouns lose their vowel:

I love you.

Ne hero w.

You love me.

Wi hero n.

• 079. There are three interrogative pronouns: nińu, who; yańu, what; and teńu, which.

The interrogative adjective is also teńu.

• 080. There are three relative pronouns: niwe, who; yawe, what; and tewe, which.

The relative adjective is also tewe.

Eńyi yuń niwe hova Valiware ye n.

I have a friend who speaks Valware.

Wuńfu yuń tewe wose ye n.

I have a room which is empty.

When the relative adjective is used, the relative pronoun must also be used:

Teńu yavi teńu taru?

Which house is burning.

• 081. With verbs of perception, assertion and knowing the relative pronoun is not used:

Ne witi vi rala.

I see (that) you are sick.

Sa nofo sa he hala.

He thinks (that) she left.

Ne yi vańa vi hala.

We know (that) you are leaving.

• 082. When a specified noun is modified by a relative clause, the definite determiner is placed after the clause, not after the noun:

Heńu rińo yi vi he neri ań?

Where are the apples (that) you bought?

• 083. The reflexive pronouns are translated by using the personal pronoun as both subject and object:

Ne he fori n.

I hurt myself.

• 084. The intensive pronouns are formed with the adjective vaya, same:

Ne vaya ruma.

I myself will go.

• 085. The demonstrative pronouns are the same as the demonstrative determiners, humu, this; humu yi, these; and sama, that; sama yi, those:

Ne ńeti sama yi.

I want those.

• 086. The indefinite pronouns are made from the indefinite determiners:

vun wayo, anyone, anybody, vun nońo, anything

fam wayo, someone, somebody; fam nońo, something

fa wayo, no one, no body; fa nońo, nothing.

sań wayo, every one, every body; sań nońo, every thing.

• 087. There are no possessive pronouns; the concept is expressed with a possessive expression:

Hul wuya wi, sata ye ne.

This is your flower, that is mine.

Prepositions (Riwata Nira yi)

• 088. Valware uses prepositions, a class of words that express spatial or temporal relations (in, under, towards, before) or mark various semantic roles (of, for)'
• 089. The prepositions are classed as either simple or compound.

a. Simple prepositions are single words:

Heve ań ve nasa ń.

The egg is on the table.

b. Compound prepositions are composed of a noun and the preposition ve:

Sewu ve suya ń, he ima resi yuń.

Because of the rain, there was a flood.

Conjunctions (Vońwata Nira yi)

• 090. A conjunction is a part of speech that connects words, phrases or clauses.
• 091. In Valware there are three types of conjunctions.

a. A coordinate conjunction joins two or more items of equal syntactic importance:

Sin ńohi ne o ne vuta rińo yi o simne yi.

My brother and I like apples and pears.

b. Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join two or more items of equal syntactic importance:

Vi u ya hole tane yuń u reva.

You will either eat your supper or go to bed.

c. Subordinating conjunctions join an independent clause and a dependent clause:

Ńim sa rala, he ya yala tane yuń.

Although she is sick, she ate her breakfast.

Octal Table

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
wasi	yili	silu	fińe	wuma	tuvi	yufu	yaro
9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
yarwasi	yaryili	yarsilu	yarfińe	yarwuma	yartuvi	yaryufu	yilyaro
17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
yilyarwasi	yilyaryili	yilyarsilu	yilyarfińe	yilyarwuma	yilyartuvi	yilyaryufu	silyaro
25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32
silyarwasi	silyaryili	silyarsilu	fińyarfińe	silyarwuma	silyartuvi	silyaryufu	fińyaro
33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
fińyarwasi	fińyaryili	fińyarsilu	fińyarfińe	fińyarwuma	fińyartuvi	fińyaryufu	wumyaro
41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48
wumyarwasi	wumyaryili	wumyarsilu	wumyarfińe	wumyarwuma	wumyartuvi	wumyaryufu	tuvyaro
49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56
tuvyarwasi	tuvyaryili	tuvyarsilu	tuvyarfińe	tuvyarwuma	tuvyartuvi	tuvyaryufu	yutyaro
57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64
yufyarwasi	yufyaryili	yufyarsilu	yufyarfińe	yufyarwuma	yufyartuvi	yufyaryufu	yaryaro