Valware grammar - text

ᚹᚨᚱᛖ ᛏᚨᚹᚨ ᛃᛁ ᚡᚨᛚᛁᚹᚨᚱᛖ ᚨᛝ

Ware Tawa yi Valiware ań

THE GRAMMAR OF VALIWARE

Pronunciation table

Latin	a	e	f	h	i	k	l	m	n	ń	o	r	s	t	u	v	w	y
Runes	ᚨ	ᛖ	ᚠ	ᚻ	ᛁ	ᚳ	ᛚ	ᛗ	ᚾ	ᛝ	ᛟ	ᚱ	ᛋ	ᛏ	ᚢ	ᚡ	ᚹ	ᛃ
IPA	/a/	/e/	/ɸ/	/h/	/i/	/k/	/l/	/m/	/n/	/ŋ/	/o/	/ɾ/	/s/	/t/	/u/	/β/	/w/	/j/

Phonology

Consonants

		labial	dental	alveolar	palatal	glottal
Nasals	voiceless
	voiced	m /m/ ~ /ɱ/1 ᛗ	n /n/ ᚾ		ń /ŋ/ ᛝ
Stops	voiceless		t /t/ ᛏ		k /k/ ᚳ
	voiced
Fricatives	voiceless	f /φ/ ᚠ		s /s/ ᛋ
	voiced	v /β/ ᚡ
Sonorants	voiceless					h /h/ ᚻ'
	voiced	w /w/ ᚹ	l /l/ ᛚ	r /ɾ/ ᚱ	y /j/ ᛃ

Notes

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

Vowels

	Front		Central		Back
Close	i /i/ ᛁ				u /u/ ᚢ
Close-mid	e /e/ ᛖ				o /o/ ᛟ
Open			a /ä/ ᚨ

Grammar

General Notes

• 001. The word order in Valiware is SVO, subject-verb-object.
• 002. The word is accented on the penultimate syllable.
• 003. Valiware syllables have the structure CV(N), where N is one of the three nasal consonants. All consonants can appear in the initial position.
• 004. There are no diphthongs.
• 005. In Valiware CVCV words are not specific to any one function. Function is determined by the absence or presence of pronouns, prepositions, particles, etc., e.g., the word sewu, make, cause.

Verb: Ne he sewu rune ań, I made/caused the fire. The pronoun ne and the past particle he show that sewu is a verb.

Noun: Suya ń sewu ań resi ań, The rain is the cause of the flood. The definite article ań shows that sewu is a noun.

Preposition: Sewu ve suya ń, ne he yaka ve yavi yuń, Because of the rain I stayed home. The particle ve shows that sewu is part of a compound preposition.

Conjunction: Sewu sa rale, ne yeri ruma fa, Because he is sick, I can't go. With no indicators, sewu is a conjunction.

Verbs (Hatola Nira yi)

• 006. 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).
• 007. There is no change in the form of the verb for subject agreement. Other semantic notions are expressed by verb markers.
• 008. The base form of the verb refers to the present tense, the future tense, or an habitual action:

hova, speak; Sa hova, He speaks.

Sa hova Valiware, He speaks Valiware.

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

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

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

• 010. The verb particle 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.

• 011. The verb particle ke indicates that an action occured before another past action, i.e., the past perfect tense.

Ne ke ya fel he tohi.

I ate (had eaten) before I left.

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

Ability: yeri, to be able:

Vi yeri indu ka ?

Can you swim?

Wish: neki, to want, wish, desire:

Ne he neki uńwa fa.

I didn't want to get up.

Permission: fiva, to permit

Ne fiva tohi ka?

May I leave?

Preference: maha, to prefer, would rather:

Ne maha ala infi yuń.

I'd rather drink water.

Habitualness: vana, usual:

Ne uńwa vana lańi.

I usually get up early.

Ne he uńwa vana hino.

I used to get up late.

Obligation: weva, have to, ought, must:

Ne weva vasa s.

I have to awaken her.

Need: feso, need:

Bala ń feso vońa.

The baby needs to sleep.

• 013. Mood is a grammatical category by which the speaker expresses his attitude toward what he is saying.
• 014. The subjunctive mood is formed with the verb marker te: Sa te hero n, She may love me.
• 015. 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, rather like 'please':

Wa yeri hero n, If able, love me.

Wa yeri is also the polite response to being given a command:

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

Kena sa fińa', Let him sing.

• 017. 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 particle ke is used in the conditional clause and le in the main clause:

Wa rińo yi ke taza, ne le neri fam.

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

• 018. The passive form of the verb is formed with the verb particle me:

Wińa ń me hero, The mother is loved.

Rińo ań me he fońya, The apple was cooked.

• 019. 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 sewu kowu yi ne.

Swimming strengthens my limbs.

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

Ne hero v fa.

I do not love you.

Nuvo ań wato fa.

The woman is not here.

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

Ne hero v. I love you.

Ne hero v ka? Do I love you?

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

• 022. 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.

• 023. Transitive verbs may be formed from adjectives by using the verb sewu, make, placing the adjective before the verb, e.g., rifi, wide:

Sa yi rifi fe sewu tańye ań.

They are widening the road.

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

Suya he asa liwe ne yi he hala.

It was raining when we left.

• 025. 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.

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

Wuya yuń i ne.

I have a flower.

Hum wuya i ne.

This flower belongs to me.

Nouns (Suwi Nira yi)

• 027. 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.
• 028. There are no noun classes in Valiware.
• 029. The direct object precedes the indirect object.
• 030. The genitive noun follows the head noun.
• 031. Plurality is not indicated on the noun. It is indicated by changing the definite article ań to yi: kaka, stone; kaka ń, the stone; kaka yi, the stones.

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

• 032. Possession is indicated with the preposition i:

rińo ań i yanla ń; the child's apple.

A possessive pronoun follows its noun:

rińo sa, his apple; rińo yi sa, his apples.

• 033. Abstract nouns are derived from verbs and adjectives by using an adjective or a determiner: tiva, short; tiva ń, shortness; nura, begin, nura ń, beginning.
• 034. Abstract nouns are derived from other nouns with the suffix -ta: brother, sin ńohi; brotherhood, ńohita.
• 035. 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.
• 036. The agent of a verb is formed with the prefix oń-: fińa, sing; ońfińa ń, the singer.
• 037. The instrument for performing the action of a verb is formed with the prefix wo-: towa, cut; wotowa ń, the knife.
• 038. Nouns are formed from verbs with the prefix ha-: live, laugh; halive, laugh, laughter.
• 039. Diminutives of nouns are formed with the prefix si-: nayu, river; sinayu, stream.
• 040. 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.
• 041. Collective nouns are formed from nouns or adjectives by using the word tuńwi: tuńwi ań vilo yi, the flock of birds; tuńwi ań sine yi, the school of fish; tuńwi yuń vali yi, archipelago.
• 042. 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)

• 043. In Valiware grammar adjectives, adverbs and determiners are classed together as modifiers.

Adjectives (Lamo Nira yi)

• 044. Adjectives are a class of words which qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified.
• 045. Adjectives and determiners precede the nouns they qualify.
• 046. The one degree of comparison, the comparative, is formed with the adverb fen, more: yuva, young; fen yuva, younger, youngest. The standard of comparison follows the adjective .
  • 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.

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

Hum wuya sona yin yira yuń.

This flower is as red as blood.

• 049. 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.
• 050. There are two participles in Valiware.

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.

• 051. Nouns of material may be used like adjectives: kaka yavi ań, the stone house.
• 052. Word negation is indicated by the use of the prefix fu-: nemi, even; funemi, uneven.
• 053. 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.
• 054. Adjectives denoting the quality expressed in the noun are formed with the prefix i-: nori, dirt; inori, dirty.
• 055. Adjectives with the meaning without are expressed with the preposition sen, without: hońa, hope; sen hońa yuń, hopeless.
• 056. The adjective precedes the dependent verb.

Determiners (Mutata Nira yi)

• 057. 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.
• 058. The definite article is ań and is placed after the noun: nuvo, woman; nuvo ań, the woman.

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

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

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

Yala yuń kawa lańi.

Morning comes early.

• 060. 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.

• 061. The demonstrative determiners are hum, this/these; sam, that/those; and tiń, yon(der): sam vilo, that bird; hum wuya yi, these flowers; tiń wula yi, yon mountains.
• 062. The elective indefinite determiner is vun, any.
• 063. The assertive indefinite determiner is fam, some.
• 064. The alternative determiner is ńom, other.

Numerals (Yasi yi)

• 065. Valiware has an octal numeral system.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
wami	yini	sińu	fińe	wuma	tuni	yunu	yamo

• 066. The numerals 9-15 are formed by suffixing the proper cardinal to the stem yam-, eight.

9	10	11	12	13	14	15
yamwami	yamyini	yamsińu	yamfińe	yamwuma	yamtuni	yamyunu

• 067. The numerals 16-64 are formed by prefixing the proper cardinal stem to yamo, eight.

16	24	32	40	48	56	64
yinyamo	sińyamo	fińyamo	wumyamo	tunyamo	yunyamo	yamyamo

• 068. Additional numbers are formed by adding the needed number to the cardinal stem: yinyamwami, 2 8's + 1, 17; wumyamsińu, 5 8's + 3, 43.
• 069. Compounds of 64 can be made by prefixing the proper cardinal stem to yamyamo: yinyamyamo, 2x8x8, 128, but the Nuńwu very rarely need to count that high.
• 070. The ordinals are made by adding the suffix -ha to the cardinal stem: yinha, second; yinyamyamha, 128^th.
• 071. The adverbial numbers are formed with the word nali, time: yini nali, twice; yamo nali, eight times (v. #031).

Adverbs (Wila Nira yi)

• 072. 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.
• 073. They have the same form as the adjective, but follow the verb they modify: vati waka ń, the brave man; Sa he weńwa vati, He acted bravely.
• 074. The comparative of these adverbs is formed in the same way as for adjectives; vati, bravely; fen vati, more bravely.

Pronouns (Malata Nira yi)

• 075. Pronouns are a class of words that substitute for a noun or noun phrase. There are seven types of pronouns in Valiware.
• 076. Personal pronouns have only the one form which is 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

• 077. When used as the object of a verb or preposition, the personal pronouns lose their vowel:

I love you.

Ne hero v.

You love me.

Vi hero n.

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

The interrogative adjective is also teńu.

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

The relative adjective is also tewe.

Eńyi yuń niwe hova Valiware i n.

I have a friend who speaks Valiware.

Wuńfu yuń tewe wose i n.

I have a room which is empty.

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

Teńu yavi teńu taru?

Which house is burning.

• 080. 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.

• 081. 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 tewe vi he neri ań?

Where are the apples (that) you bought?

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

Ne he fori n.

I hurt myself.

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

Ne vaya ruma.

I myself will go.

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

Ne ńeti sama yi.

I want those.

• 085. 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.

• 086. There are no possessive pronouns; the concept is expressed with a possessive expression, i + pronoun:

Hum wuya i vi, sama i ne.

This is your flower, that is mine.

Prepositions (Riwata Nira yi)

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

a. Simple prepositions are single words:

Heve ań io nasa ń.

The egg is on the table.

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

Sewu ve suya ń, he ima resi yuń.

Because of the rain, there was a flood.

Wiye ne yi ńafi ve wula ń.

Our village is near the mountain.

Conjunctions (Vońwata Nira yi)

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

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

Ne sin ńohi 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
wami	yini	sińu	fińe	wuma	tuni	yunu	yamo
9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
yamwami	yamyini	yamsińu	yamfińe	yamwuma	yamtuni	yamyunu	yinyamo
17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
yinyamwami	yinyamyini	yinyamsińu	yinyamfińe	yinyamwuma	yinyamtuni	yinyamyunu	sińyamo
25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32
sińyamwami	sińyamyini	sińyamsińu	sińyamfińe	sińyamwuma	sińyamtuni	sińyamyunu	fińyamo
33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
fińyamwami	fińyamyini	fińyamsińu	fińyamfińe	fińyamwuma	fińyamtuni	fińyamyunu	wumyamo
41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48
wumyamwami	wumyamyini	wumyamsińu	wumyamfińe	wumyamwuma	wumyamtuni	wumyamyunu	tunyamo
49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56
tunyamwami	tunyamyini	tunyamsińu	tunyamfińe	tunyamwuma	tunyamtuni	tunyarmyunu	yunyamo
57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64
yunyamwami	yunyamyini	yunyamsińu	yunyamfińe	yunyamwuma	yunyamtuni	yunyamyunu	yamyamo