Proto-Piti syntax
- Main article: Proto-Piti
This page gives an extensive description of Proto-Piti syntactical features.
Main clause and word order
In its earlier stage, Proto-Piti is a mainly VSO (Verb-Subject-Object) language. This stage is clearly proved by the cliticization phenomenon of the archaic personal pronouns to the verbal form.
liːloṕ oɬ ɬiːro → liːloṕoɬ ɬiːro see I man → I see the man
After this earlier stage, before the diaspora, the word order changes in an almost strictly SOV (Subject-Object-Verb). There are no traces hinting to whether other typological parameters have already changed or are about to change at this point.
ɬiːroli sopa liːloṕ(æt́) the man sees the dog
The quite rich case system allows every other possible word order, but most of them prove to be very marked and infrequently used. The only word order with a clear role and a frequent usage is OSV (Object-Subject-Verbs), which marks the so-called passive construct.
ɬiːroli sopa liːloṕ(æt́) → sopa ɬiːroli liːloṕ(æt́) the man sees the dog → the dog is seen by the man
The other elements in the sentence are usually placed in the order “place-manner-cause-time”, although they are basically freer than the main elements. An object in the dative case, when conveying the indirect object, can be freely be placed before or after the direct object of the sentence, with a slight tendence to be placed after it.
ɬiːroli χeːmæ sopaχæ ʔakoɬæk(æt́) / ɬiːroli sopaχæ χeːmæ ʔakoɬæk(æt́) the man gives bread to the dog / the man gives the dog bread
A peculiar feature is the verbal infinitival agreement: when infinitival forms, as nominal forms of the verbs, take a direct object, are regarded as an expression of belonging, and the direct object is declined in the ablative case.
sopaʂu liːloṕæme ʔiːsoɬ I do not see the dog.
Moreover, as it can been seen in the example above, when an infinitival form is governed by a modal verb (among which the negative root ʔiːs- is found), the infinitive is always placed before the conjugated modal form.
