|
|
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| {{wip}} | | {{wip}} |
| | |
| | As of 19/06/09, the Dalcurian case system is currently being revised and will be back very shortly. |
|
| |
|
| ===[[Dal'qörian|back to main page]]=== | | ===[[Dal'qörian|back to main page]]=== |
|
| |
| Cases are used throughout many languages to indicate the function of nouns in a clause or sentence. In English, there are 2 cases, which only apply to pronouns: ''subjective'' (nominative), and ''objective'' (accusative). The ''possessive'' or ''genitive'' case isn't a true case (see below).
| |
|
| |
| ====The subjective====
| |
|
| |
| This case is used for the 'subject' of a sentence:
| |
|
| |
| * '''''He''' is playing with a ball''.
| |
|
| |
| * '''''She''' will catch the 6 o’clock train''.
| |
|
| |
| * ''Sometimes '''they''' come early''.
| |
|
| |
| This is straight forward in Dalcurian. Nouns remain uninflected, pronouns take on a nominative form and '''di''' and '''ni''' remain undeclensed.
| |
|
| |
| * '''''Mæ'', máriÞ ni bálj, spélögria'''. ''He is playing with a ball.''
| |
|
| |
| * '''''Sia'', am 6, icaÞræ di tsögaj.''' ''She will catch the 6 o'clock train''.
| |
|
| |
| * '''Quriandø, fröqu ''éren'' qamör.''' ''Sometimes they come early''.
| |
|
| |
| ====Objective (accusative) case====
| |
|
| |
| The objective is used for the ''direct object'' of a verb-the thing that suffers the ‘action’ of the verb. In English, some pronouns change to show this: ''they, we, she'' and ''he'' but ''you'' and ''it'' remain as the subjective:
| |
|
| |
| * sub: '''''He/she/we/they''' bought a necklace''.
| |
|
| |
| * obj: ''They bought '''him/her/us/them''' a necklace''.
| |
|
| |
| * sub: '''''You/it''' wanted some food''.
| |
|
| |
| * obj: ''I gave '''you/it''' some food''.
| |
|
| |
| Again, in Dalcurian, this is almost the same with the exception that that ''you'' (pl and sing) and ''it'' also inflect to show objective behaviour:
| |
|
| |
| * '''''Diö'' æanasiaÞáli.''' '''''You''' are beautiful''.
| |
| ** '''Binä gä'visör ''diöra'''''. ''I saw '''you.'''''
| |
|
| |
| The possessive case shows possession or to whom something belongs. In English, this is rendered by ''apostrophe s'' or ''s apostrophe'':
| |
|
| |
| * ''This is '''Dayle’s''' guitar''.
| |
|
| |
| * ''Let’s go to your '''dad’s''' house''.
| |
|
| |
| * ''Our '''neighbour’s''' garden''.
| |
|
| |
| * ''The dog is in '''its’''' basket''.
| |
|
| |
| Dalcurian also has these three cases. The Dalcurian ''nominative'' and ''accusative'' are more or less the same as English in that personal pronouns change their form in the 'objective', the difference being that ''you'' (sing and pl) and ''it'' also change. (see Pronouns)
| |
| ----
| |
|
| |
| '''Possessive'''
| |
|
| |
| The Dalcurian possessive case: ''my, your, her, his'' etc are discussed in the Pronoun section. However, with a double gentive then the structure uses a special 'genitive' form. It's other use is in formal situations, and can also be used in forming noun compaounds. Examples of double genitives are:
| |
|
| |
| * ''I saw someone knocking at '''your dad’s door'''''. (''your dad'' 1st possessive, ''dad’s door'' 2nd possessive)
| |
|
| |
| * '''''My parents’ house''' was sold last week''. (''My parents'' 1st poss, ''parents house'' 2nd poss)
| |
|
| |
| * ''I think '''your mate’s wife''' is pretty''. (''your mate'' 1st poss, ''mate’s wife'' 2nd poss)
| |
|
| |
| As we know from the pronoun section, the possessive adjectives ''your, my, his, her, our, their'' do not exist in Dalcurian. These are rendered by using the prep '''qve'''-''of'' plus the relative accusative pronoun with the noun. (''my dad''-'''di parenöj qve binöra''' lit: ''the father of me'', ''your dad''-'''di parenöj qve diöra''' lit: ''the father of you'')
| |
|
| |
| With two possessives: ''your dad’s door, my parents’ house'', '''qve''' is never used twice:
| |
|
| |
| * '''Di Þradäj qve di parenöj qve diöra'''. ''The door of the father of you''.
| |
|
| |
| * '''Di abödä qve di eltaröjel qve binöra'''. ''The house of the parents of me''.
| |
|
| |
| A genitive form of the definite article '''di'''-''the'' is used (there is also a genitive form of the indefinite article covered at the end of this section). '''di''' changes to '''dis''' in front of nouns that begin with a vowel or any consonant other than ''s'', and '''disqu''' with nouns beginning with an ''s''. This equates to ''of the'' or ''belonging to'' and tells us that the second noun is in ‘possession’ of the first noun. In other words, the noun that it precedes is the noun that is owned. When placed between two nouns ('''dis/disqu''' does not qualify or show possession to a pronoun), '''dis/disqu''' then gives control of the possession to the noun it follows. Look at these examples carefully:
| |
|
| |
| * '''Dis Þradäj di parenöj diöra.''' ''Your dad’s door.'' (lit: ''the door of the dad (of) you'').
| |
|
| |
| * '''Dis abödä di eltaröjel binöra.''' ''My parents’ house.'' (lit: ''the house of the parents (of) me'').
| |
|
| |
| But you must be careful. Place '''dis''' ‘between’ the nouns and the possessive structure of the sentences change:
| |
|
| |
| * '''Di Þradäj dis parenöj diöra.''' This now translates as: ''Your doors dad.'' (lit: ''The dad of the door (of) you'').
| |
|
| |
| * '''Di abödä dis eltaröjel binöra.''' This now translates as: ''My house’s parents''. (lit: ''The parents of the house (of) me'').
| |
|
| |
| Now look at this example:
| |
|
| |
| * '''Ädiáda, binä gä’visör dis qömerinöj di siaberöj diöra.''' ''I saw your sisters boyfriend yesterday.''
| |
|
| |
| '''Dis''' shows us that ''the boyfriend'' ('''qömerinöj''') belongs to ''your sister'' ('''siaberöj'''). '''dis qömerinöj''' literally translates as ''the boyfriend of'' giving the ‘ownership’ or possession to ''the sister''. '''di siaberöj diöra''' literally translates as ''the sister of you'' giving the ownership of ''sister'' to you, equating ''your sister''. However, misplacing '''dis''' here could prove rather embarrassing:
| |
|
| |
| * '''Ädiáda, binä gä’visör di qömerinöj disqu siaberöj diöra'''.
| |
|
| |
| This now reads:
| |
|
| |
| * ''I saw your boyfriend’s sister yesterday''.
| |
|
| |
| Here, '''disqu siaberöj''' is telling us that ''sister'' is owned by ''boyfriend'' which is in turn owned by ''you''. So the equation is:
| |
|
| |
| ː '''dis''' + ''noun'' gives possession to the 'following' noun.
| |
|
| |
| ː ''noun'' + '''dis''' + ''noun'' gives possession of the 'second' noun to the first.
| |
|
| |
| Finally, there is no word order rule for '''dis''', but be aware of the ‘possession trap’! In the examples above, you can simply swap the nouns around, but this is very uncommon in Dalcurian speech and you will almost always hear '''dis''' in front of both nouns rather than in between.
| |
| ----
| |
|
| |
| The Dalcurian possessive case is sometimes used to equate the English use of ''whose'':
| |
|
| |
| * '''TaÞ disqu sáj di siaparenöj mæöra, taÞ ädiáda gä’estingör'''. ''That's the man whose mother died yesterday''. (lit: ''That’s the man of the mother of him, who yesterday died'').
| |
|
| |
| * '''Di Tæmes dis glavánion di megöapöli Londöni'''. ''London is the city whose river is called the Thames''. (lit: ''The Thames is the river of the city London''.
| |
|
| |
| As in the last example, the sentence has to be reformulated. Sometimes, its not always possible to literally translate a sentence like this. In fact, it may be better to say something like:
| |
|
| |
| * '''Londöni ádra di glavánion,, taÞ icaÞr di embelisrämös Tæmes.''' ''London has the river called the Thames.''
| |
|
| |
| This is a stylistic feature of Dalcurian. However, the use of the possesive case as in the first example should always be translated into English with ''whose''.
| |
|
| |
| '''Formal speech and literacy'''
| |
|
| |
| The Dalcurian possesive case is always used in a formal context. See 'The Lord's Prayer' on the main page.
| |
|
| |
| '''Other uses of the possesive structure'''
| |
|
| |
| Page still under construction-more to follow shortly:-)
| |
