Ngolu

Ngolu Ilia (Te)
Spoken:	Áu
Total speakers:	100,000 (approx.)
Genealogy:	Isolate (as far as known)
Typology
Morphological type:	Isolating/futional
Morphosyntactic alignment:	Nominative-Accusative
Basic word order:	VSO
Credits
Creator:	Imralu
Created:	2013-2014

Ngolu, also known as Te or Ilia Te (endonym: ilia (te) IPA: [ìʎá(té)]) is a language isolate spoken throughout the space habitat Áu by the Ngolu people, whose number is estimated to be around 100,000. As the Ngolu are almost entirely monolingual, and while travel to and from Áu remains almost impossible, the language is not in any danger of extinction. At this stage, little is known of dialect differences within Áu. There are estimated to be somewhere between 50 and 100 Ngolu speakers on Earth who have simply mysteriously appeared in various locations. Small communities of Ngolu speakers been brought or have found their way together, the most well-known and well-studied of which is a group of about 15 living in and around Berlin, Germany.

Ngolu is an isolating/fusional, head-initial (right-branching) language with VSO word order and nominative-accusative alignment. Verbs (verbals) make up the only open class of word, with nouns (nominals) constituting a closed class of heavily fusional words that fill the roll of pronouns and articles in other languages, marking grammatical person, gender, number, case, definiteness and specificity.

Terminology

There appear to have been only two or possibly three isolated instances of non-Ngolu people arriving in Áu. In such a linguistically and culturally homogenous environment, the Ngolu have had no need for endonyms for their culture, people or language. They describe their language simply as ilia [ìʎá] 'speech', themselves as golu [ŋòlú] 'people', and their world as áu [áw] 'world'. The two or three foreigners who have been there have been described as taia [tàjá], which originally meant 'ghosts' or 'demons'. Non-Ngolu languages, when heard, are described as maramaria [màɾàmàdʒá] ('babbling' or 'nonsense').

For the Ngolu on Earth, contact with other cultures has forced them to acknowledge that the other languages they hear must have the ability to convey information just as their language. Consequently, on Earth, the word ilia generally refers to any language. To disambiguate their own language, they may call it ilia te [ìʎáté] 'good language' (or sometimes ilia golu [ìʎáŋòlú] or ilias áu [ìʎásáw]). Non-Ngolu are still referred to as taia and Earth maybe referred to as autaia [àwtàjá] 'ghost world' or a loan word such as hiia, which is common among the Berlin group, (from German hier). From the English 'Earth' come also the loanwords aásu [àásù] and uuásu [ùwásù].

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i ‹i›		u ‹u›
Mid	e ‹e›		o ‹o›
Low		a ‹a›

Each vowel may be 'strong' or 'weak'. The pronunciation of strong vowels varies across accents but it generally equates to a high tone whereas 'weak' vowels have a low tone. There is only ever one 'strong' vowel per word and it is nearly always the final vowel. Where it is not, it is always the penultimate vowel and the in that case the final vowel is always /i/ or /u/. Non-final strong vowels are indicated in the romanisation using an acute accent, ‹áéíóú›.

The high vowels, /i/ and /u/, when 'weak' and adjacent to another vowel are pronounced non-syllabically as [i̯~j] and [u̯~w]). Non-syllabic /i/ merges with and palatalises any preceding dental/alveolar consonant.

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labiovelar	Dental/Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m ‹m›		n ‹n›		ŋ ‹g›
Plosive	b ‹b›		t ‹t›		k ‹k›	ʔ ‹q›
Ejective			tʼ ‹tt›		kʼ ‹kk›
Voiced Fricative		v ‹v›	z ‹z›	ʒ ‹j›
Voiceless Fricative			s ‹s›	ʃ ‹x›		h ‹h›
Tap			ɾ ‹r›
Lateral			l ‹l›

• The normal pronunciation of /n t tʼ ɾ l/ is dental. When these consonants are followed by a non-syllabic /i/, they are palatalised to [ɲ tʃ tsʼ dʒ ʎ] and the /i/ subsequently disappears.
• /ɾ/ is frequently pronounced as a voiced dental plosive.
• /s/ and /z/ are normally alveolar. When followed by a non-syllabic /i/, they are not distinguished from /ʃ ʒ/.
• /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ cannot be followed by non-syllabic /i/.
• The phonemes /s/ and /ɾ/ do not occur at the beginning of a word.
• The ejective consonants /tʼ/ and /kʼ/ are restricted to positions immediately before a 'strong' vowel, although there may be an intervening non-syllabic 'weak' /i/ or /u/. At the beginning of a 'weak' syllable, ejective consonants become pronounced as their equivalent plain plosive. For example, kka [kʼá] and kkue [kʷʼé] are allowed while expected *kkina (derived from kka plus the infix -in-) is instead present as kina [kì.ná]. In connected speech, /tʼ/ and /kʼ/ may be pronounced as [t̚ʔ k̚ʔ] or even [tː kː]. A strong ejective pronunciation is always heard post pausa.

Epenthetic /s/

An epenthetic /s/ sometimes appears between words when the second word begins with a vowel. In the romanisation used here, the /s/ is written on the end of the preceding word. The rules are somewhat complex and are best shown as a table. The final vowels of preceding words are shown vertically on the left. Initial vowels of the following word are shown along the top. An epenthetic /s/ doesn't appear before i and u when a syllabic vowel (V) immediately follows within the same word. In the table, the word borders are shown with an s indicating where the epenthetic /s/ always appears. In other positions in the table, the epenthetic /s/ can still appear in very clear emphatic speech.

	i(V)-	u(V)-	i-	u-	e-	o-	a-
-i	-i i-	-i u-	-is i-	-i u-	-i e-	-i o-	-i a-
-u	-u i-	-u u-	-u i-	-us u-	-u e-	-u o-	-u a-
-e	-e i-	-e u-	-e i-	-e u-	-es e-	-es o-	-es a-
-o	-o i-	-o u-	-o i-	-o u-	-os e-	-os o-	-os a-
-a	-a i-	-a u-	-a i-	-a u-	-as e-	-as o-	-as a-

Examples:

ene ua	[è.né.wá]	u followed by syllabic vowel
enes u	[è.né.sú]	u not followed by syllabic vowel
eni ua	[è.ní.wá]	final i
eni u	[èní.ú]	final i
enis iui	[è.ní.sì.wí]	NON-SYLLABIC u in iui
ene iui	[è.néj.wí]	final e followed by 'weak' i which becomes non-syllabic

Morphology

There are four classes of words in Ngolu. Ngolu is a very verb-heavy language, with verbals making up the only truly open word class.

• Nominals: closed
• Complementisers: closed
• Verbals: open
• Particles: closed
• Interjections: closed (mostly)

Nominals

Nominals are a large but closed class of words that are essentially the equivalent of pronouns and articles in other languages. They inflect for number, gender, grammatical person, definiteness, specificity and case. They can appear on their own or can be followed by a verbal. When followed by a verbal, they can be regarded as the head of an underlying relative clause which nominalises the verbal and allows it to function as an argument in the sentence.

As a pronoun:

xu

NOM.3s.DEF.INAN

"the thing"

it

As an article:

xu	mala
NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.house
"the thing that"	"is a house"

the house

Number

Nominals indicate two numbers, singular and plural. Plural is marked by the prefix i-, which occurs before some case prefixes and after others (see [[Ngolu#Case|Case] below for more information]).

Singular:

xu	mala
NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.house
"the thing that"	"is a house"

the house

Plural:

ixu	mala
NOM.3p.DEF.INAN.REL	be.house
"the things that"	"are houses"

the houses

The singular is used before quantifiers indicating a specific plural quantity.

xu	euo	mala
NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.pair	be.house
"the thing that"	"is a group of two"	"is a house"

the two houses

When the plural is used, this indicates multiples of the indicated quantity.

ixu	euo	mala
NOM.3p.DEF.INAN.REL	be.pair	be.house
"the things that"	"are groups of two"	"are houses"

the pairs of houses

Mass nouns indicating powders and granular substances are indicated in the plural with the singular referring to an individual grain.

Singular:

xu	bakua
NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.grain.of.sand
"the thing that"	"is a grain of sand"

the grain of sand

Plural:

ixu	bakua
NOM.3p.DEF.INAN.REL	be.grain.of.sand
"the things that"	"are grains of sand"

the (grains of) sand

Liquids and mushy substances are generally indicated in the plural as well, reflecting the Ngolu's atomistic theory of matter.

Plural:

ixu	hunia
NOM.3p.DEF.INAN.REL	be.potable
"the things that"	"are potable"

the (drinkable) water

Gender

All nominals show one of three genders.

• Inanimate (Ngolu: tiaka)
• Animate (Ngolu: kali)
• Masculine (Ngolu: muja)

It has been suggested that the label 'masculine' is misleading, as this gender is not simply used for any male person but only for adult men who have passed the initiation ceremony into manhood, whereupon they are muja.

The use of the genders partly depends on the speaker's rank, as shown in the following table.

	Kali/Tuva speaker	Muja speaker
Inanimate used for:	inanimate objects abstract concepts plants sessile animals	inanimate objects abstract concepts plants all animals other than pets slaves prisoners
Animate used for:	the goddess Nigáu free women free children free but non-initiated men default for non-specific people slaves prisoners all motile animals	the goddess Nigáu free women free children free but non-initiated men default for non-specific people pets
Masculine used for:	the god Uru initiated men	the god Uru initiated men

The following examples illustrate the difference. Examples which are specific to the gender of the speaker or the listener will be marked as such after the translation.

The speaker is a muja, an initiated man:

kulu	ene	xu	ala
be.heard	DAT.1s.MASC	NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.bird
"was heard"	"to me"	"the thing that"	"is a bird"

I heard the bird. — [muja]

The speaker is a kali or tuva, not an initiated man:

kulu	eni	ju	ala
be.heard	DAT.1s.ANIM	NOM.3s.DEF.ANIM.REL	be.bird
"was heard"	"to me"	"the being who"	"is a bird"

I heard the bird. — [kali]

The interplay between a speaker and listener's rank is complex and may result in unexpected gender choices. For example, a slave must refer to him- or herself in the inanimate gender when speaking to a muja unless specifically given permission otherwise. To read more about this, see Social Stratification and Language Use.

Person

Three grammatical persons are marked by nominals. The first person nominals contain n. The second person nominals contain a non-syllabic u (realised as v before u). In the third person, j, z, m, x, k and Ø appear depending on gender, definiteness and specificity.

Clusivity

The plural forms of all nominals are exclusive of other grammatical persons except for the first person plural forms inu and ina, which can include third person referents as well, especially when expressing closeness.

In order to group referents from more than one grammatical person together, the required nominals are juxtaposed. For example, inu (gloss: NOM.1s.ANIM) is the exclusive 'we'. The inclusive 'we' may take a form such as vu nu (gloss: NOM.2s.ANIM NOM.1s.ANIM) or na ivu (gloss: NOM.1s.MASC NOM.2p.ANIM), more or less equivalent to 'you and I'. Even addressing people in the second person, should the group include third persons, these are made not of separately, for example ja vu (gloss: NOM.3s.DEF.MASC NOM.2s.ANIM). The nominal ivu (gloss: NOM.2p.ANIM), for example, is only used to address two more people when all are present.

The order of the elements in these juxtapositions depends first on rank, with nominals referring to higher ranking referents appearing before those of lower ranking referents. When the referents are equally ranked, 2nd person precedes third person, which, in turn, preceds first person.

Nominal juxtapositions are characterised by all nominals being inflected in the same case. For example, the nominative ua na becomes eues ene in the dative and uua una in the possessive.

Definiteness and Specificity

In the third person, nominals indicate definiteness (whether the listener knows which individual) and specificity (whether the speaker knows which individual).

Definite

The Definite (+specific, +definite) is used when the listener is assumed to know which specific individual or individuals the speaker is referring to. In the following examples, ji ala (or just ji) refers to a specific bird which the listener is assumed to be already aware of, possibly because it is already been mentioned.

zue	nu	ji	ala
seek	NOM.1s.ANIM	ACC.3s.DEF.ANIM.REL	be.bird
"am seeking"	"I"	"the being who"	"is a bird"

I'm looking for the bird. (You know which one.) — [kali]

zue	nu	ji
seek	NOM.1s.ANIM	ACC.3s.DEF.ANIM
"am seeking"	"I"	"the being"

I'm looking for it. (You know which one.) — [kali]

Specific

The Specific (+specific, -definite) is used when the speaker has a specific individual or individuals in mind but the listener is not assumed to know which one(s). In the following examples, mi ala (or mi) refers to a specific bird but not one which the speaker expects the listener to know of.

zue	nu	mi	ala
seek	NOM.1s.ANIM	ACC.3s.SPEC.ANIM.REL	be.bird
"am seeking"	"I"	"a specific being who"	"is a bird"

I'm looking for a (particular) bird. (You don't know which one but I do.) — [kali]

zue	nu	mi
seek	NOM.1s.ANIM	ACC.3s.SPEC.ANIM
"am seeking"	"I"	"a specific being"

I'm looking for one (in particular). (You don't know which one but I do.) — [kali]

Non-Specific

The Non-Specific (or General) does not refer to any specific individual(s) but to the abstract idea of a member or members of a particular class, any individual of which could be described. It often used when talking about desires or in negative sentences. In the examples below, i ala refers to any bird.

zue	nu	i	ala
seek	NOM.1s.ANIM	ACC.3s.NSPC.ANIM.REL	be.bird
"am seeking"	"I"	"any being who"	"is a bird"

I'm looking for a (= any) bird. (I don't have a particular one in mind.) — [kali]

zue	nu	i
seek	NOM.1s.ANIM	ACC.3s.NSPC.ANIM
"am seeking"	"I"	"any being"

I'm looking for anyone/anything. (I don't have anyone or anything in mind, just something grammatically animate.) — [kali]

Case

Ngolu possesses 14 grammatical cases.

Nominative

The nominative case indicates the grammatical subject of a verb. The nominative case is always formed with a back vowel, u for animate and inanimate genders, a for masculine. Plural is indicated with a prefixed i-.

muja	na
be.initiated.man	NOM.1s.MASC
"am an initiated man"	"I"

I am an initiated man. — [muja]

kka	loe	nu
be.not	sleep	NOM.1s.ANIM
"am not"	"sleep"	"I"

I am not sleeping. / I didn't sleep. — [kali]

Accusative

The accusative case indicates the grammatical object of a verb. The accusative case is formed with a front vowel, i for animate and inanimate, e for masculine. Plural is indicated with a prefixed i-.

uo	ji	(ma	balu)
kill.deliberately	ACC.3s.DEF.ANIM	(NOM.3s.SPEC.MASC.REL	be.royal.guardsman)
"killed"	"him/her/it"	"a specific man who"	"is a royal guardsman"

A member of the royal guard killed it. / It was killed (by a royal guardsman). — [kali]

Dative ('to')

The dative case indicates an indirect object of the verb, a destination or goal of a movement. It is more or less equivalent to the preposition 'to' in English. It is formed by prefixing e(r)- (ie(r)- in plural) before an accusative nominal.

volos	ene	izi	hunia
give	DAT.1s.MASC	ACC.3p.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.potable
"gives"	"to me"	"some things that"	"are water"

I was given water. / Someone gave me water. — [muja]

xena	uas	ene
be.seen	NOM.2s.MASC	DAT.1s.MASC
"are visible"	"you"	"to me"

I can see you. — [muja to muja]

kua	g-ieji	ua	nu
JUSS	VRB-DAT.3p.DEF.INAN	NOM.2s.MASC	NOM.1s.ANIM
"should"	"go - to them"	"you"	"I"

Let us go to them. — [kali to singular muja]

Ablative ('from')

The dative case is more or less equivalent to the preposition 'from' in English. It is formed by suffixing -i to a nominative nominal.

Kuaqa	nu	xui	mala	g-uni
be.distant	NOM.1s.ANIM	ABL.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.house	VRB-GEN.1s.ANIM
"am far"	"I"	"from the thing which"	"is a house"	"is mine"

I'm far away from my home. — [kali]

E	n-nai
IMP	VRB-ABL.1s.MASC
"!"	"go - from me"

Get away from me! — [muja]

Locative ('at')

The locative case indicates a location. It is more or less equivalent to the prepositions 'in', 'on' and 'at' in English. It is also used to replace the verb "have" when indicating immediate possession as in "to have something on one's person". It is formed by suffixing -a to a nominative nominal in the animate and inanimate and prefixing a(r)- (plural: ia(r)-) to a masculine nominative nominal. The prefixed form is also used for the non-specific animate.

kka	bani	ana
be.not	be.money	LOC.1s.MASC
"there is not"	"is money"	"at me"

I don't have any money (with me). — [muja]

n-xua	mo	ua
VRB-LOC.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.what	NOM.2s.MASC
"are at the thing which"	"is what"	"you"

Where are you? — [to singular muja]

Genitive ('of')

The genitive case indicates a possessor. It covers all types of possession and association other than legal ownership. It is more or less equivalent to the preposition 'of' in English. It is formed by prefixing u(g)- (iu(g)- in plural) before an accusative nominal.

egio	tani	une
be.threesome	be.sibling	GEN.1s.MASC
"there is a group of three"	"are siblings"	"my"

I have three siblings. — [muja]

tta	xu	gula	g-uje	tio
be.large	NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.pair.of.arms	VRB-GEN.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	be.that.3
"are large"	"the thing which"	"is a pair of arms"	"of the man who"	"is that, over there"

That guy over there has big arms. / The arms of that guy over there are big.

Possessive ('owned by')

The possessive case indicates strictly legal ownership. It is more or less equivalent to the preposition 'of' in English and may be used to indicate 'have' or 'own'. It is formed similarly to the genitive case: by prefixing u(g)- (iu(g)- in plural) but before a nominative nominal.

mala	una
be.house	POS.1s.MASC
"there is a house"	"owned by me"

I have / own a house. — [muja]

Because of the law in Áu, according to which only muja (initiated men) may legally own any possessions, the animate and inanimate forms are formally regarded as theoretical only and their use may constitute speech crime. They may occasionally be heard from members of the small, underground, humanist community although they more commonly tend to avoid the possessive case and replace it with the genitive.

Vocative ('o')

The vocative case is used to address someone or attract their attention. It is formed by adding e(r)- (ei- in plural) to a nominative nominal.

The most common greeting words for most uses are simply vocative nominals. They must reflect the number and gender of the addressee(s) and formality is reflected by using second person forms

evu

VOC.2s.ANIM

"hey you"

Hey you. / Hi. — [to singular kali]

For a more formal greeting, the vocative is used in the third person.

eija

VOC.3s.DEF.MASC

"hey you guys"

Hello. — [to plural muja]

eja	xagu
VOC.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	be.Xagu
"hey he who"	"is Xagu"

(Oh) Xagu! — [to singular muja] (formal)

eua	xagu
VOC.2s.MASC.REL	be.Xagu
"hey you who"	"is Xagu"

(Oh) Xagu! — [to singular muja] (informal)

In very informal situations, among equals who consider each other friends, the e- prefix may be added directly to a personal name. This is the only example of verbals (as all names are verbals) taking a non-derivational affix.

e-xagu

hey-be.Xagu

"hey - is Xagu"

Hey Xagu! — [to singular muja] (friendly/aggressive)

In the indefinite, the vocative can be used to summon help from non-specific people.

eru

NOM.3s.NSPC.ANIM

"hey anybody"

Help! (Used when one person's assistance is enough and their gender is not specified.)

eiu

NOM.3p.NSPC.ANIM

"hey anybody"

Help! (Used when more than one person's assistance is required.)

Causal ('because of')

The causal case describes a cause. It is equivalent to the English "because of". It is formed by prefixing te(r)- (plural: tei-) to the accusative nominals.

zaxa	na	teua
be.sick	NOM.1s.MASC	CAU.2s.MASC
"am sick"	"I"	"because of you"

I'm ill because of you. / You made me ill. — [muja to singular muja]

Benefactive ('for')

The benefactive case indicates a beneficiary or benefactor of an action or situation. It is roughly equivalent to the English preposition 'for'. It is formed by adding the prefix kua(r)- (plural: kuai-) to an accusative nominal.

tie	kuaue
be.this.1	BEN.2s.MASC
"there is this, by me"	"for you"

This is for you. — [to singular muja]

boi	vaia	na	kuaui
be.willing	do.everything	NOM.1s.MASC	BEN.2s.ANIM
"would"	"do everything"	"I"	"for you"

I would do anything for you. — [muja to singular kali]

Instrumental ('with', 'using')

The instrumental case describes the means or method by which something is done. It is equivalent to the English preposition "with" when it means "using". It is formed by adding the prefix a(r)- (plural: ai-) to an accusative nominal.

uo	ja	vuja	zi	vaku	azi	kueta
kill.deliberately	NOM.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	hunt	ACC.3s.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.babirusa	INS.3s.SPEC.INAN.REL	be.hunting.knife
"deliberately killed"	"the man who"	"hunts"	"a specific thing that"	"is a babirusa"	"using a specific thing that"	"is a hunting knife"

The hunter killed the babirusa with a hunting knife. — [muja]

Comitative ('with', 'accompanied by')

The comitative case indicates an accompanying person or thing. It is equivalent to 'with' in English when it means 'along with' or 'accompanied by'. It is formed by prefixing le(r)- (plural: lei-) to an accusative nominal.

vuja	ja	meha	leje	jalu
hunt	NOM.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	be.Meha	COM.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	Jalu
"is hunting"	"the man who"	"is Meha"	"with the man who"	"is Jalu"

Meha is hunting with Jalu.

e	hu	lene
IMP	move.PFV	COM.1s.MASC
"!"	"come/go"	"with me"

Come with me. — [muja]

Nominal Tables

First Person

First person nominals are all definite.

	Anim. Sg.	Anim. Pl.	Masc. Sg.	Masc. Pl.
Nominative	nu	inu	na	ina
Accusative	ni	ini	ne	ine
Dative	eni	ieni	ene	iene
Ablative	nui	inui	nai	inai
Locative	nua	inua	ana	iana
Genitive	uni	iuni	une	iune
Possessive	*unu	*iunu	una	iuna
Vocative	enu	einu	ena	eina
Causal	teni	teini	tene	teine
Benefactive	kuani	kuaini	kuane	kuaine
Instrumental	ani	aini	ane	aine
Comitative	leni	leini	lene	leine
Topical	veni	veini	vene	veine
Essive	onu	oinu	ona	oina

*theoretical

Second Person

Second person nominals are all definite.

	Anim. Sg.	Anim. Pl.	Masc. Sg.	Masc. Pl.
Nominative	vu	ivu	ua	iua
Accusative	ui	iui	ue	iue
Dative	eui	ieui	eue	ieue
Ablative	vui	ivui	uai	iuai
Locative	vua	ivua	aua	iaua
Genitive	uui	iuui	uue	iuue
Possessive	*uvu	*iuvu	uua	iuua
Vocative	evu	eivu	eua	eiua
Causal	teui	teiui	teue	teiue
Benefactive	kuaui	kuaiui	kuaue	kuaiue
Instrumental	aui	aiui	aue	aiue
Comitative	leui	leiui	leue	leiue
Topical	veui	veiui	veue	veiue
Essive	ovu	oivu	oua	oiua

*theoretical

Third Person

Definite

	Anim. Sg.	Anim. Pl.	Masc. Sg.	Masc. Pl.	Inan. Sg.	Inan. Pl.
Nominative	ju	iju	ja	ija	xu	ixu
Accusative	ji	iji	je	ije	xi	ixi
Dative	eji	ieji	eje	ieje	exi	iexi
Ablative	jui	ijui	jai	ijai	xui	ixui
Locative	jua	ijua	aja	iaja	xua	ixua
Genitive	uji	iuji	uje	iuje	uxi	iuxi
Possessive	*uju	*iuju	uja	iuja	*uxu	*iuxu
Vocative	eju	eiju	eja	eija	exu	eixu
Causal	teji	teiji	teje	teije	texi	teixi
Benefactive	kuaji	kuaiji	kuaje	kuaije	kuaxi	kuaixi
Instrumental	aji	aiji	aje	aije	axi	aixi
Comitative	leji	leiji	leje	leije	lexi	leixi
Topical	veji	veiji	veje	veije	vexi	veixi
Essive	oju	oiju	oja	oija	oxu	oixu

*theoretical

Indefinite, Specific

	Anim. Sg.	Anim. Pl.	Masc. Sg.	Masc. Pl.	Inan. Sg.	Inan. Pl.
Nominative	mu	imu	ma	ima	zu	izu
Accusative	mi	imi	me	ime	zi	izi
Dative	emi	iemi	eme	ieme	ezi	iezi
Ablative	mui	imui	mai	imai	zui	izui
Locative	mua	imua	ama	iama	zua	izua
Genitive	umi	iumi	ume	iume	uzi	iuzi
Possessive	*umu	*iumu	uma	iuma	*uzu	*iuzu
Vocative	emu	eimu	ema	eima	ezu	eizu
Causal	temi	teimi	teme	teime	tezi	teizi
Benefactive	kuami	kuaimi	kuame	kuaime	kuazi	kuaizi
Instrumental	ami	aimi	ame	aime	azi	aizi
Comitative	lemi	leimi	leme	leime	lezi	leizi
Topical	vemi	veimi	veme	veime	vezi	veizi
Essive	omu	oimu	oma	oima	ozu	oizu

*theoretical

Indefinite, Non-Specific (General)

	Anim. Sg.	Anim. Pl.	Masc. Sg.	Masc. Pl.	Inan. Sg.	Inan. Pl.
Nominative	u	iu	a	ia	ku	iku
Accusative	i	ji	me	ime	ki	iki
Dative	eri	ieri	ere	iere	eki	ieki
Ablative	ui	iui	ai	iai	kui	ikui
Locative	aru	iaru	ara	iara	kua	ikua
Genitive	ugi	iugi	uge	iuge	uki	iuki
Possessive	*ugu	*iugu	uga	iuga	*uku	*iuku
Vocative	eru	eiu	era	eia	eku	eiku
Causal	teri	teji	tere	teie	teki	teiki
Benefactive	kuari	kuaji	kuare	kuaie	kuaki	kuaiki
Instrumental	ari	aji	are	aie	aki	aiki
Comitative	leri	leji	lere	leie	leki	leiki
Topical	veri	veji	vere	veie	veki	veiki
Essive	oru	oiu	ora	oia	oku	oiku

*theoretical

Complementisers

Complementisers are essentially subordinating conjunctions which may be inflected for all of the cases. The complementiser zuo basically means 'that'. The temporal complementiser kuo essentially means 'the time that'.

	"that"	rough translation	"the time that"	Masc. Pl.
Nominative	zuo	'that'	kuo	'the time when'
Accusative	jo	'that'	kio	'the time when'
Dative	ejo	'to the place where'	ekio	'until'
Ablative	zuio	'from the place where'	kuio	'since', 'after'
Locative	azuo	'in the place where'	akuo	'when'
Genitive	ujo		ukio
Possessive	uzuo		ukuo
Vocative	ezuo	'if only'	ekuo
Causal	tejo	'because'	tekio
Benefactive	kuajo	'so that'	kuakio	'in case'
Instrumental	ajo	'by V-ing'	akio
Comitative	lejo	'while'	lekio
Topical	vejo	'about V-ing'	vekio	'about the time when'
Essive	ozuo	like	okuo

olos	ene	zuo	kka	g-ixi	ja	nana	g-uje
be.strange	DAT.1s.MASC	NOM.C	be.not	VRB-DAT.3s.DEF.INAN	NOM.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	be.father	VRB-GEN.3s.DEF.MASC
"is strange"	"to me"	"that"	"is not"	"go there"	"the man who"	"is father"	"is his"

I think it's strange that his father didn't go / wasn't there. — [muja]

Verbals

Verbals constitute the only open class of words in Ngolu. They are essentially content words, equivalent to the verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs of other languages. Here are some examples.

• volo 'to give'
• kau 'to eat'
• vuja 'to hunt', 'to be a hunter'
• muja 'to be a man' (refers only to men who have passed the initiation ceremony)
• mala 'to be a house'
• tta 'to be large'

Even many grammatical functions are expressed by verbals.

• kka 'to be not ...' [NEGATIVE]
• hua 'to be always ...', 'to be eternally ...' [GNOMIC]
• hau 'to be defined by being ...' [ESSENTIAL]
• he 'to undergo' [PASSIVE]
• eti 'to have previously done ...' [PAST]

Verbals do not inflect.

Argument Structure

Verbals each have an inherent argument structure, controlling which cases are used for what role. Dictionaries mark the meanings of each relevant case with each nominal.

Many argument structures are as would be expected.

• volo = [NOM] gives [ACC] to [DAT]
• vuja = [NOM] hunts [ACC]; [NOM] is a hunter of [ACC]
• akku = [NOM] is blood; [NOM] is the blood of [GEN]

volo	na	xi	eje
give	NOM.1s.MASC	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN	DAT.3s.DEF.MASC
"give"	"I"	"it"	"to him"

I give it to him. — [muja]

There is a tendency for experiencers to be in the dative case.

• hualo = [DAT] loves/cares about [NOM]; [NOM] is loved by [DAT]
• xeva = [DAT] sees [NOM]; [NOM] is seen by [DAT]
• zoua = [NOM] is difficult for [DAT]

xevas	eni	ja	ttáu
be.seen	DAT.1s.ANIM	NOM.3s.DEF.MASC.REL	be.king
"was seen"	"to me"	"the man who"	"is the king"

I saw the king. — [kali]

Although that is not always the case, as this pair of opposites shows.

• mahu = [DAT] knows [NOM]; [NOM] is known to [DAT]
• zau = [NOM] doesn't know about [TOP]; [NOM] is ignorant of [TOP]

mahu	eni	(xu)
be.known	DAT.1s.ANIM	(NOM.3s.DEF.INAN)
"is known"	"to me"	("it")

I know (it). — [kali]

zau	nu	(vexi)
be.ignorant	NOM.1s.ANIM	(TOP.3s.DEF.INAN)
"am ignorant"	"I"	("about it")

I don't know (it). — [kali]

There is also an unusual class of verbals where the nominative role refers to a body part (or occasionally an item of clothing), the genitive refers to the possessor and when there is an accusative argument, the whole thing refers to an action performed with the body part (or item of clothing) by the possessor.

• omo = [NOM] is the pair of eyes of [GEN]; [GEN] looks at [ACC]
• bale = [NOM] is a fist of [GEN]; [GEN] punches [ACC]
• gula = [NOM] is the pair of arms of [GEN]; [GEN] hugs [ACC]
• buja = [NOM] is a heavy boot of [GEN]; [GEN] crushes [ACC] under his boot

omo	une
be.pair.of.eyes	GEN.1s.MASC
"is the pair of eyes"	"my"

I have eyes. — [muja]

omo	une	xu	tie
be.pair.of.eyes	GEN.1s.MASC	NOM.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.this.1
"is the pair of eyes"	"my"	"the thing which"	"is this, here by me"

These are my eyes. — [muja]

omo	une	xi	masa
be.pair.of.eyes	GEN.1s.MASC	ACC.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.snake
"is the pair of eyes"	"my"	"the thing which"	"is a snake"

I'm looking at the snake. — [muja]

There is a proposed additional place within the argument structure of many verbals, that of a following modifier. A following modifier may mark a specific role which may either be marked by another case or may only be filled by a following modifier. The notation used here indicates a following modifier with [...].

• maue = [NOM] is a group of seven [...]
• kka = [NOM] is not [...]
• mia = [NOM] approaches [DAT]/[...]
• tebi = [NOM] is possibly [...]

tebi	maue	mia	mala
be.possibly	be.group.of.seven	approach	be.house
"is maybe (that which)"	"is a group of seven (that)"	"approach (that which)"	"is a house"

There might be seven (people) on their way to the house.

tebi	maue	mias	exi	mala
be.possibly	be.group.of.seven	approach	DAT.3s.DEF.INAN.REL	be.house
"is maybe (that which)"	"is a group of seven (that)"	"approach"	"to the thing which"	"is a house"

There might be seven (people) on their way to the house.

Verbal Derivation

Derivation among verbals is chiefly achieved by means of infixing.

Gerundive

The gerundive infix -i- indicates the use or purpose of something.

• huna 'to drink'

→ hunia 'to be (fresh) water', 'to be potable', 'to be drinkable' (to be something to be drunk)

• kau 'to eat'

→ tiau 'to be food' (to be something to be eaten, irregular)

→ kaiu 'to be edible' (regular)

• omo 'to be a pair of eyes', 'to look at'

→ omio 'to be beautiful', 'to be handsome' (to be something to be looked at)

• buja 'to be a boot', 'to crush under a boot'

→ buji 'to be a bug', 'to be vermin' (to be something to be crushed under a boot)

• vuja 'to hunt', 'to be a hunter'

→ vuji 'to be prey', 'to be a game animal' (to be something to be hunted)

Collective

The collective infix -ig- indicates a group of the named entity.

• balu 'to be a royal guardsman'

→ baligu 'to be the royal guard'

• kau 'to eat'

→ kaigu 'to eat together'

• ttiáu 'to be a tree'

→ tigiáu 'to be a forest'