Taalen Morphology
Nominals
Plurals
Cases
Agentive
Patientive
Focal
Genitive and Possessive Structures
The marker of the genitive case is -(e)n in the singular, and ?? in the plural.
Taalen is dependent marking, meaning that the possessor is explicitly marked as such, while the possessum is marked with the case corresponding to its grammatical role in the sentence.
| mau | Saran | mau | men | |
| mau-0 | Sara-n | mau-0 | me-n | |
| cat-PAT | Sara-GEN | cat-PAT | 1+2-GEN | |
| Sarah's cat | Our cat | |||
This structure is a generic situation, making no reference to the alienability of the relationship. Taalen does distinguish alienable from inalienable relationships, which can change the meaning of a word. Some words (notably relationships, parts of the body, and spiritual and magical concepts) always require overt alienability marking.
Alienable relationships are those which can be broken, and alienable possessions can be lost, given away, or otherwise destroyed. They are marked with suffixes corresponding to person. In cases where the possessor is explicitly mentioned, both the possessor (in the genitive) and the person marker are required.
| mava | Saran |
| mau-a-0 | Sara-n |
| cat-3an.AGT-PAT | Sara-GEN |
Sara's cat (i.e. the one she found, or just received as a gift)
| mavamme | mavamme | men | |
| mau-amme-0 | VS. | mau-amme-0 | me-n |
| cat-1+2.AGT-PAT | cat-1+2.AGT-PAT | 1+2-GEN | |
| Our cat | OUR cat | ||
Note that the second example ('our cat') has the same implications as the first, namely that the cat is not closely or permanently assicated with us. Instead, it is the cat we saw, or found, are betting on, or are otherwise loosely and alienably connected to.
Inalienable possession follows a similar structure, though with personal prefixes instead of suffixes.
| mau | Saran | timau | |
| 0-mau-0 | Sara-n | ti-mau-0 | |
| 3an.PAT-cat-PAT | Sara-GEN | 2.PAT-cat-PAT | |
| Sara's cat | Your cat | ||
Note that in the 3an, this is identical to the unmarked forms above.
Allative
Ablative
Locative
Perlative
and something else I haven't figured out yet
Pronouns
The pronominal system of Taalen distinguishes for person (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and an obviative 4th) and animacy (in the 3rd person), but not number. Number is instead handled by complex pronouns, wherein the semantics of the pronoun are concatenations of person:
1+2 : 'I and you'; inclusive 'we'
1+3 : 'I and s/he or them'; exclusive 'we'
2+3 : 'you and s/he or them'; you, pl.
- This is not quite the same as the usual 2nd pl. pronoun, as it does not address directly more than one person. Instead it focuses on one individual as representative of a group.
1+2+3 : 'I and you and s/he or them'; people, the ubiquitous "they", a generic plural
4 : the other, one, a generic singular
- Implies more time or location specific identity than 1+2+3
Each person has a characteristic consonant and epenthetic vowel, used when marking verbs and nouns.
| Person | Consonant | Vowel | Prefixed (V-/C-) | Suffixed (-V/-C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | n | e | n-/ne- | -n/-en |
| 2 | t / h | i | t-/ti- | -h/-ih |
| 3an | 0 (null) | a | 0-/a- | -0/-a |
| 3in | s | a | s-/sa- | -s/-as |
| 4 | r | o | r-/o- | -r/-o |
| 1+2 | m | e | m-/me- | -me/-amme |
| 1+3 | th | e | th-/the- | -th/-atthe |
| 2+3 | v | u | v-/u- | -v/-u |
| 1+2+3 | l | o | l-/lo- | -l/-o |
As can be seen from the verbal complex, these pronominal affixes are agentive when suffixed, and patientive when prefixed. The prefix/suffix distinction holds on nouns as well, prefixed to indicate inalienable possession and suffixed for the alienable variety.
Alternation between vowel or consonant initial or final roots, for both patientive/inalienable (prefixed) and agentive/alienable (suffixed) morphemes. Agentively, note that 4th and 1+2+3 are indentical, when affixed to a consonant-final root.
| mode | shouva 'picture' | ora 'water' | tal 'tree' |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pref. | neshouva 'the picture I took' | tora 'your urine' | adal 'her tree that she planted' |
| Suff. | shouvan 'the picture of me' | orah 'your water' | tala 'her tree' |
Verbs
Verbal Complex
| PAT | ASP1 | DER1 | ROOT | DER2 | ASP2 | AGT |
|---|
PAT : Patient: the patient or experiencer of the verb
ASP1 : Aspect prefix: provides specialization of primary (ASP2) aspectual marker
DER1 : Derivative prefix: instrumental and claassifying prefixes
ROOT : the verb itself
DER2 : Derivative suffix: directionals, applicatives, evidentials
ASP2 : Aspect suffix: primary aspectual marker
AGT : Agent : the agent or causative force of the verb
