Sefdaanian grammar - inflection

Part II – INFLECTION - némos II - ṁénкos

• 52. Senjecas is a combination of both an analytic or isolating language and an inflected language. Inflection is a change in the form of a word which is made to express its relation to other words. It includes the declension of nouns, adjectives, participles, and pronouns, and the conjugation of verbs. In the process of inflection, suffixes are added to a root which conveys the fundamental idea underlying the word.

Verbs ùfṁeṙóes

• 53. Verbs are words that convey an action (e.g., bring, read, walk, run, learn) or a state of being (e.g., be, exist, stand). Senjecas is primarily a verbal language, the verb being considered the most important part of a sentence. A major portion of the Senjecan vocabulary is based on verbal roots.
• 54. The root of a verb is the verb minus the mood suffix. As this root is never found alone, in the dictionary the indicative form is used, e.g., ṁéna. This form is the lemma for verbs.
• 55. A finite verb is marked only for mood. The verb has four moods: the indicative, the subjunctive, the imperative, and the relative. In the indicative, a statement of fact is made. In the subjunctive, a statement of unreality or uncertainty is made. In the imperative, a command is given. In the relative, a statement dependent on another is made. These moods are called finite moods. The subjunctive and ther relative are also called dependent moods. To the root is added -a for the indicative mood, -o for the subjunctive mood, -e for the imperative mood, and –i for the relative mood. There is no infinitive.
• 56. Verbs are not marked for tense. A preverb particle is used to indicate time when necessary. e- is used to indicate past time. u- is used to indicate future time. They are joined to the verb by a hyphen, e.g., péṁa, seek; e-péṁa, sought.
• 57. The verb has only one voice, the active. In the active voice, the subject is the doer or agent of the action of the verb. A periphrastic middle voice, in which the subject acts upon himself, is formed by using the reflexive adjectival prefix meen- (self) as the direct object of the verb. A periphrastic passive voice, in which the grammatical subject is the recipient of the action of the verb, is formed by using the verb íla (become) with the patient participle. An accusative sentence, e.g., "sheep slaughter easily," is not possible in Senjecas. It must be rendered as the periphrastic passive, "sheep are (become) slaughtered easily".
• 58. The verb has two aspects, the imperfective and the perfective. The imperfective aspect denotes a verb that expresses its meaning without regard to its beginning or completion. The perfective aspect denotes a completed action. The imperfective aspect is unmarked, being simply the root of the verb, plus the mood suffix. The perfective aspect is indicated by a reduplication of the initial consonant or by a lengthening of the initial vowel. If the initial vowel is already long, nothing further need be done. The reduplicated syllable is always pronounced on the basal pitch.
• 59. The weak vowel connecting the reduplicated vowel to the verb is determined by a process known as vowel harmony. Weak i (ı) is used when the vowel of the verb is one of the front vowels: i, e, and a, e.g., ṁéna, ṁıṁéna. Weak u (y) is used when the vowel of the verb is one of the back vowels: o, ɔ, and u, e.g., vúnda, vyvúnda.
• 60. The verbal noun is known as the supine (ùfṁeṙnóómnos). It is formed by adding -u to the verb root, e.g., tóla, determine; tólu, (to) determine. It is not to be confused with the deverbative noun, e.g., determination, which is a noun of the -as class, e.g., tólas, determination.
• 61. Senjecan verbs are divided into two classes:
  • a. Class I verbs are those with an initial consonant, e.g., tóla, determine.

imperfective perfective indicative active tóla tytóla subjunctive active tólo tytólo relative active tóli tytóli imperative active tóle indicative agent participle tólantis tytólantis subjunctive agent participle tólontis tytólontis relative agent participle tólintis tytólintis indicative patient participle tólaþis tytólaþis subjunctive patient participle tóloþis tytóloþis subjunctive patient participle tóliþis tytóliþis

• • b. Class II verbs are those which begin with a vowel, e.g., úða, own.

imperfective perfective indicative active úða úúða subjunctive active úðo úúðo relative active úði úúði imperative active úðe indicative agent participle úðantis úúðantis subjunctive agent participle úðontis úúðontis indicative patient participle úðaþis úúðaþis subjunctive patient participle úðoþis úúðoþis relative patient participle úðiþis úúðiþis

Nouns - noomnóes

• 62. Nouns are words that designate a person, a thing, a place or an abstraction.
• 63. Nouns and adjectives have but one root, which is the word minus the declensional ending, e.g., cín-os, cradle. This root plus the nominative singular declensional ending is the lemma for nouns.
• 64. There are two numbers, singular and plural. The singular denotes a single item. The plural denotes more than one.
• 65. There are four cases, nominative, locative, lative, and vocative.
• 66. There are six classes of nouns, one for each of the vowels.
• 67. The -is class contains animate nouns that name plants, and nouns in -t̬is, which are, for the most part, vegetable in origin, e.g., áspis, aspen.
• 68. The –es class contains animate nouns that name animals, e.g., cáses, hare.
• 69. The –as class contains inanimate abstract nouns, e.g., vúgas, flight.
• 70. The –os class contains inanimate concrete nouns, e.g., óndos, stone.
• 71. The –ɔs class contains animate nouns that name aberrant creatures, e.g., ĸ̌éṙɔs, afreet.
• 72. The –us class contains animate nouns that name loquent beings, e.g., ánpus, mother-in-law.

-is -es -as -ɔs -os -us Nom. sg. áspis cáses vúgas ĸ̌érɔs óndos ánpus Nom. pl. aspíes casées ĸ̌erɔ́es ondóes anpúes Loc. sg. aspís casés vugás ĸ̌erɔ́s ondós anpús Loc. pl. aspím casém ĸ̌erɔ́m ondóm anpúm Lat. sg. áspim cásem vúgam ĸ̌érɔm óndom ánpum Lat. pl. áspin cásen ĸ̌érɔn óndon ánpun Voc. sg. aspí casé vugá ĸ̌erɔ́ ondó anpú Voc. pl. aspiés caseés ĸ̌erɔés ondoés anpués

• 73. ámas, mother, and átas, father, and their compounds, are declined like regular -as' nouns.

Adjectives - ȝòṁeṙóes

• 74. Adjectives are words that in some way qualify nouns and pronouns. They occur in two broad categories, determinate and indeterminate.
• 75. Determinate adjectives are those which single out the noun qualified, rather than describe it. In Senjecas the determinate adjectives include the interrogative adjectives and the cardinal numerals.
• 76. There is no definite article.
• 77. There is no indefinite article.
• 78. The place of the demonstrative adjectives is taken by preadjective particles, e- for “this” and o- for “that”. When used as adjectives, dis means “the latter” and nis, the former.
• 79. The demonstrative particle may be emphasized by following the noun with the emphatic particle qe: e-óndos, this stone; e-óndos-qe, this stone right here; o–eðlépos, that table; o–eðlépos-qe, that table over there.
• 80. The interrogative adjectives are ĸ̌is, which, and ĸ̌ótis, how-, -much, -many.
• 81. Non-determinate adjectives are those which describe a noun or pronoun. When used attributively they agree with the nouns they qualify in class only, e.g., méngu ṁíṙus, [the] handsome man; méngu ṁiṙús o, for [the] handsome man; méngu ðéðus, [the] beautiful grandmother; méngu ðeðús o, for [the] beautiful grandmother. When used in the predicate they agree in class, case and number, e.g., ṁíṙus méngus vúúa, [The] man is handsome.
• 82. Participles are non-determinate adjectives. There is a participle for each time, aspect and mood of the verb.
• 83. The agent participles are formed by suffixing –nt- to the modal root of the verb, e.g., ṁéna, love, ṁénantis, loving. The primary accent remains on the root vowel.
• 84. The patient participles are formed by suffixing –þ- to the modal root of the verb, e.g., ṁéna, love, ṁénaþis, loved. The primary accent remains on the root vowel.
• 85. A characteristic of non-determinate adjectives (and adverbs) is that they can be compared.
• 86. There is only one degree of comparison which is used for both the comparative and the superlative. Adjectives form this comparative degree by reduplicating the initial consonant of the adjective or adverb with vowel harmony. Those which begin with a vowel lengthen the vowel.
  • méƶe čénes, a big dog; mıméƶe čénes, a bigger dog
  • méngu séntus, a handsome traveler; mıméngu séntus, a more handsome traveler
  • élgu ṁiṙus, poor man; éélgu ṁiṙus, a poorer man
  • ȝóóṙe sínqes, a fierce lion; ȝyȝóóṙe sínqes, [the] fiercest lion.
  • There are no suppletive forms, e.g., as in English “good/better”.
• 87. The noun or pronoun of comparison is in the locative case followed by the postposition sòma, in comparison to.
  • átasæ suunú sòma sısáácus ésa: The father is wiser than the son.
• 88. Adjectives form the equative degree by adding the suffix –stális to the class root of the adjective. The noun or pronoun of comparison is in the locative case followed by the postposition sóma, in comparison to.
  • móðṙe paapéles, a blue butterfly
  • e-paapéles mòðṙestáles nès sòma ésa: This butterfly is as blue as that one.
• 89. Negative comparative adjectives are formed by modifying the adjective with the adverb lìsu, less. The noun or pronoun of comparison is in the locative case followed by the postposition sòma, in comparison to.
  • e-dááes lìsu óóces nèsæ sòma ésa: This river is less swift than that one.
• 90. Negative equative adjectives are formed by using the negative adverb ne to negate the verb. The noun or pronoun of comparison is in the locative case followed by the postposition sòma, in comparison to.
  • e-paapéles mòðṙestáles nèsæ sòma ésa ne: This butterfly is not so blue as that one.

Numerals - nemsóes

• 91. In Senjecas words exist for the cardinals numerals 1 through 20, and for 100, for 1,000 and for multiples of 1,000, from 10,000 to 100,000,000,000,000. The other numerals are compounds of these. Although the cardinal numerals are not declined, they take the primary accent. Compound numbers are treated as one word: κ̧úṙ, 20; tíṙ κ̧uṙ, 60; tiṙ κ̧úṙ on, 70.
• 92. The cardinal numerals for 100 and above are nouns. They are plural in form when used in compound numerals.
• 93. The numbers for the decades are formed by multiplying 20, κ̧úṙ, as needed, and adding 10, ón, as needed, e.g., tíṙ κ̧uṙ, 60; tiṙ κ̧úṙ on, 70.
• 94. In a similar way, the hundreds after 100 are formed by placing the required cardinal before namóes, e.g., tìṙ namóes, 300; bùn namóes, 800.
• 95. In a similar way, the thousands after 1,000 are formed by placing the required cardinal before čomóes, e.g., tìṙ čomóes, 3,000; sèf čomóes, 7,000.
• 96. This process is continued with the numeric nouns beyond 1,000, e.g., sà çumóes, six trillion.
• 97. The other cardinal numerals are formed by juxtaposing the numbers.
  • 22, κ̧úṙ d̬o
  • 49, d̬o κ̧úṙ nun
  • 458, nèl nam d̬ò κ̧uṙ ón bun
  • 7,628, sèf čom sà nam κ̧úṙ bun
    • Note that only the stem, not the noun form, is used for 100, etc.
    • ṁaκém nél namóes vúúla: There are 400 cows; but,
    • nel nám sa ṁaκées vúúla: There are 401 cows.
• 98. The ordinal numerals beyond twentieth are formed by juxtaposing the required ordinals, the smaller placed last, and the last element of the number taking the ordinal ending, e.g., κ̧úṙtis, twentieth; sástis, first; κ̧uṙ sástis, twenty-first.
• 99. Multiplicative numbers expressing "how many times as many" are formed by adding the suffix -ĸ̌ótis to the cardinal number, e.g., d̬oĸ̌ótis, twice as many. What is being compared is in the locative case with the postposition sòma.
  • nus mùsæ sòma d̬oĸ̌ót’ éčen úða: He has twice as many horses as I.
• 100. Distributive numbers are formed by repeating the required number. Notice that, with respect to tone, the two numbers are considered one word.
  • ṁiṙúes d̬ò d̬o vṙééṁom e-táṙa: The men crossed the bridge two by two.
• 101. Distributive numbers expressing "at a time" are formed by adding the suffix -(æ)snu to the cardinal number, e.g., sàsnu, one at a time; sàsæsnu, six at a time; ònæsnu, ten at a time.
• 102. As with the ordinals, the compound numbers are repeated with the proper ending suffixed to the last element, e.g., ĸ̧uṙ d̬òtis, twenty-two times; ĸ̧uṙ òn tiṙpèlis, thirty-three-fold; d̬ò ĸ̧uṙ pisĸ̌ótis, forty-five times as many; d̬o ĸ̧ùṙ on nùnæsnu, fifty-nine at a time.

• 103. Table of numerals.

1. cardinal ordinal multiple

1 sás sástis saspélis 2 d̬ó d̬ótis d̬opélis 3 tíṙ tíṙtis tiṙpélis 4 nél néltis nelpélis 5 pís pístis pispélis 6 sá šátis šapélis 7 séf séftis sefpélis 8 bún búntis bunpélis 9 nún núntis nunpélis 10 ón óntis onpélis 11 þú þútis þupélis 12 zál záltis zalpélis 13 ším šímtis šimpélis 14 náál nááltis naalpélis 15 ȝ̇ín ȝ̇íntis ȝ̇inpélis 16 κúz κúztis κuzpélis 17 ȝóþ ȝóþtis ȝoþpélis 18 úþ úþtis uþpélis 19 tól tóltis tolpélis 20 κ̧úṙ κ̧úṙtis κ̧uṙpélis 100 námos námtis nampélis 1,000 čómos čómtis čompélis 10,000 sásṙos sásṙætis sàsṙæpélis 100,000 béȝos béȝtis beȝpélis 1,000,000 vóṁos vóṁtis voṁpélis 10,000,000 m̧ólos m̧óltis m̧olpélis 100,000,000 míngos míngætis mìngæpélis 1,000,000,000 ģálos ģáltis ģalpélis 10,000,000,000 cépos céftis cefpélis 100,000,000,000 túṙos túṙtis tuṙpélis 1,000,000,000,000 úl̬os úlytis ùlypélis 10,000,000,000,000 múnos múntis munpélis 100,000,000,000,000 çúmos çúmtis çumpélis

1. adverbial collective fraction

1 sàses sásȝos - 2 d̬òs d̬óȝos sę́mos 3 tìṙs tíṙȝos tiṙnémos 4 nèls nélȝos nélnémos 5 pìsës písȝos pisnémos 6 sàes sáȝos sanémos 7 sèfs séfȝos sefnémos 8 bùns búnȝos bunémos 9 nùuns núnȝos nunémos 10 òns ónȝos onémos 11 þùs þúȝos þunémos 12 zàls zálȝos zalnémos 13 šìms šímȝos šimnémos 14 nààls náálȝos naalnémos 15 ȝ̇ìns ȝ̇ínȝos ȝ̇inémos 16 κùzs κúzȝos κuznémos 17 ȝòþs ȝóþȝos ȝoþnémos 18 ùþs úþȝos uþnémos 19 tòls tólȝos tolnémos 20 κ̧ùṙs κ̧úṙȝos κ̧uṙnémos 100 nàms námȝos namnémos 1,000 čòms čómȝos čomnémos 10,000 sàsṙës sásṙæȝos sasṙænémos 100,000 bèȝs béȝos beȝnémos 1,000,000 vòṁs vóṁȝos voṁnémos 10,000,000 m̧òls m̧ólȝos m̧olnémos 100,000,000 mìngës míngæȝos mìngænémos 1,000,000,000 ģàls ģálȝos ģalnémos 10,000,000,000 cèfs céfȝos cefnémos 100,000,000,000 tùṙs túṙȝos tuṙnémos 1,000,000,000,000 ùlüs úlyȝos ùlynémos 10,000,000,000,000 mùns múnȝos munémos 100,000,000,000,000 çùms çúmȝos çumnémos

Pronouns - ðèènoomnóes

• 104. Pronouns are words that can be substituted for nouns. The following types of pronouns may be found in Senjecas: personal, intensive, reciprocal, demonstrative, interrogative, indefinite, and reflexive.
• 105. The personal pronouns are mus, I; tus, you; ṁus, we; and ȝus, you. The third person pronouns are dus, nus, and òlnus, he, she, it; and dùes, nùes, and olnùes, they, depending on the proximity or remoteness of the person or object. These pronouns are put into the appropriate class and case of the noun for which they are substituting, e.g., čénes, nes, [the] dog, it; ííṁis, nis, [the] yew tree, it; óndos, nos, [the] rock, it. If a human is talking about himself, he says mus. If a centaur is talking about himself, he says mɔs.

1st sg. 1st pl. 2nd sg. 2nd pl. 3rd sg. proximal 3rd pl. proximal 3rd sg. medial 3rd pl. medial 4th sg. distal 4th pl. distal Nom. mus ṁùes tus ȝùes dus dùes nus nùes òlnus olnùes Loc. mùs ṁùm tùs ȝùm dùs dùm nùs nùm olnùs olnùm Lat. mum ṁun tum ȝun dum dun num nun òlnum òlnun Voc. - - tù ȝù - - - - - -

• 106. There is no implication of gender in the third person pronouns. To specify the gender, the gender-marking prefixes must be used, noṙnus, he; iinus, she. These are enclitics and the tone remains on the pronoun.

+107. The intensive pronoun is formed by suffixing –ge, to the personal pronouns, e.g., mus e-áta, I went; mùsge u-áta, I myself will go. –ge is an enclitic and the tone remains on the pronoun: ṁùesge, we ourselves.

• 108. The reciprocal pronoun is mùmus. It is declined in the same way as the personal pronouns (#105).
  • nùes mùmun ṁéna: They love each other.
  • ṁùes mumùm o vaadúes vúa: We are good to each other.
• 109. The demonstrative pronouns are dus, this, referring to what is near in place, time or thought; nus, that, referring to what is more remote; and òlnus, that over there, referring to what is even more remote. They are declined in the same way as the personal pronouns (#105).
• 110. The unemphatic demonstrative, which is often used in English as the antecedent of a relative, is not expressed in Senjecas. Instead a participle is used.
  • mus e-átantun e-óĸ̌a: I saw those who were going.
  • mus e-áátaþun e-óĸ̌a: I saw those who had gone.
• 111. The interrogative pronoun is ĸ̌us. It is declined in the same way as the personal pronouns (#105).
  • ĸ̌us níma: Who is calling/paying a call?
  • tus ĸ̌um óópa: Whom have you chosen?
• The interrogative pronoun is also used as a relative pronoun since clauses that begin with relative pronouns are implicit answers to some question. The verbs are in the relative mood (v. #105).
  • nus ĸ̌àànu e-sxélar: When did he stumble?
  • nus—nus ĸ̌àànu d̬óṙom e-póṙti—e-sxéla: He stumbled when he came through the door.
• 112. There is also a dual interrogative pronoun ĸ̌utèrus, who/which of two. It is declined in the same way as the personal pronouns (#105).
• 113. The indefinite pronoun is sèmus, some(one/thing). The negative indefinite pronoun is nèsmus, no one, nobody, nothing. It is declined in the same way as the personal pronouns (#105).
• 114. The reflexive pronoun is pòţum. It is found only in the lative case, as the direct object of a verb or postposition, or in the locative case (poţús) as the object of a postposition.
  • nus pòţum e-ṁááa: He wounded himself.
  • nus poţús o ðlás’ óĸ̌om e-dóóa: He gave himself a black eye.

Adverbs ṁòòqṁeṙóes

• 115. Adverbs stand in the same relationship to verbs (and adjectives) as adjectives do to nouns, i.e., in some way they qualify the verb (or adjective).
• 116. Certain words are, of their nature, adverbs, e.g., ìðu, here. Adverbs of this type end in -u.
• 117. Any non-determinate adjective may be used as an adverb. When used in this way, the enclitic -(æ)vi is added to the root of the adjective. The primary accent of the adjective is reduced to a secondary accent on the adverb.
  • qólvu e-ṁiṙúes e-cáta: These brave men fought.
  • e-ṁiṙúes qòlvævi e-cáta: These men fought bravely.
• 118. Adverbs form their comparatives and superlatives by duplicating the initial consonant of the adverb. Those which begin with a vowel lengthen the vowel.
  • e-ṁiṙúes nùm sòma qyqòlvævi e-cáta: These men fought more bravely than those.