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Talk:Proto-Dumic

2015-10-23T21:06:50Z

Basilius:

Am I right to assume this was canonised somewhere on the appropriate secret board of the forum and is just now being extracted and published from there?

(P.S. the addition of a manner adverb suffix '''-mi''' I find... disappointing. Morphologically distinct manner adverbs are one of those [https://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?A2=conlang;a55dd507.1502A crosslinguistically rare features] which are however familiar in SAE and therefore too prevalent in conlangs. Surely Proto-Dumic could have gotten by with its already ample palette of deverbalisers.) [[User:4pq1injbok|4pq1injbok]] ([[User talk:4pq1injbok|talk]]) 06:02, 5 February 2015 (PST)

: Yes, this is all coming from the secret forum, which I believe is to be made public Real Soon Now; to minimise waiting I've also posted a link to Serafín's PDF grammar sketch. I didn't have much of a hand in the writing, and I am aware that a number of features were debated (e.g. the participles had support from Basilius but not really anyone else); some of these can probably be changed retrospectively, though. [[User:Thedukeofnuke|thedukeofnuke]] ([[User talk:Thedukeofnuke|talk]]) 07:39, 5 February 2015 (PST)

::Isn't it [http://akana.conlang.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=13 public already]? :P [[user:the Devilcat|the Devilcat]] ([[user talk:the Devilcat|talk]]) 08:28, 5 February 2015 (PST)

:::Ah, so it is. Forum delving to do, then, which is a little intimidating.
:::As those watching the changelog will know, I have gone and started a Dumic language. It actually sprang into mind in 2011 when I was pitching into the T1 reconstruction effort a little (and "sprang into mind" is correct; if not I wouldn't've chosen to add another member to an over-replete family). It was Cedh encouraged me to make it official / write it up publicly.
:::At any rate, that biasses me in the direction of wanting to retain the things that actually got reconstructed. The participles were among these (and DLNAF attests '''*-kaga''', though not '''*-tini'''); '''*-mi''' e.g. was not. [[User:4pq1injbok|4pq1injbok]] ([[User talk:4pq1injbok|talk]]) 09:30, 5 February 2015 (PST)

::::I will remove the '''*-mi''' suffix in that case; I can't remember if it shows up in any daughters, but if it does we can treat it as an innovation. [[User:Thedukeofnuke|thedukeofnuke]] ([[User talk:Thedukeofnuke|talk]]) 02:24, 13 February 2015 (PST)

::::: RE: Participles. I forget if I made it clear back then, but the reasons for me to support them were roughly the following: (1) they were already used in one of the daughterlangs; (2) WeepingElf's "Subordinator" -ki also appeared (in some of his examples) as equivalent of complement clauses, i. e. looked indeed like a generic marker of secondary predication, so it seemed appropriate to have a specifically adnominal form beside it (perhaps with a difference in usage in adnominal position). --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] ([[User talk:Basilius|talk]]) 13:10, 17 February 2015 (PST)

::::: RE: Adverb markers. I wouldn't drop them for the following reasons.

::::: (1) There are some adverbial-oids with this marker in the protolanguage:

::::: kimi : adv. in no way (also emphatic negation)
::::: mumi : adv. thus, like that
::::: rammi : adv. how?
::::: simi : adv. thus, like this

::::: They shouldn't be taken as a direct attestation of the productive model (since they aren't derived from predicate stems), but they show that the language did use some morphologically distinct adverbs, with the marker in question.

::::: (2) Alternatives (e. g. case forms of infinitives) would look clumsy.

::::: (3) Straightforward revisions of "official" descriptions of this type are IMO a Bad Thing. Perhaps just my own obsession, but anyway.

::::: --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] ([[User talk:Basilius|talk]]) 13:25, 17 February 2015 (PST)

:::::: (1) is a fair point, though also a possible locus of analogical extension. Perhaps there are only a few more forms than the "correlatives" with -mi kicking around Proto-Dumic, and Kataputi (e.g.) heavily generalised the pattern.
:::::: I disagree with (2) as a good reason. Plenty of natlangs give no dedicated expression to manner adverbs; if the result seems "clumsy" one of my first impulses would be to wonder if that's a result of looking at the problem through SAE-coloured glasses. Case forms of nominalisations, or (just as likely) such caseforms with a lexical scattering of other methods, make a wholly reasonable strategy.
:::::: (3) I'm not going to dispute. [[User:4pq1injbok|4pq1injbok]] ([[User talk:4pq1injbok|talk]]) 11:31, 3 March 2015 (PST)

----

Did anyone ever make a Proto-Dumic word for 'all'? I want one. (As a base for DLNAF 'both'; my current word ''kovita'' is untenable.) [[User:4pq1injbok|4pq1injbok]] ([[User talk:4pq1injbok|talk]]) 07:31, 16 October 2015 (PDT)

:If not, and I got to propose one, I'd propose '''mumsam''' = '''mum<s>ma</s>''' + '''ram''', formed as per [http://wals.info/chapter/56 WALS chapter 56]. [[User:4pq1injbok|4pq1injbok]] ([[User talk:4pq1injbok|talk]]) 12:21, 16 October 2015 (PDT)

:: I believe that if a lexical item isn't in this thread:

:: http://akana.conlang.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=75

:: - then it hasn't been officially adopted.

:: The lexicon (including root lexicon) needs to be expanded anyway, so I'd suggest simply adding a new root, since the meaning is very basic. It was intended to be an open process; you pick a blank root here from the second message in the aforementioned thread, assign a meaning to it and post to the same thread. If no objections are posted in reasonable time, it's official. Since the thread has been silent for years, it may be a good idea to send notifications to other people who used to be involved. This may awaken a few dormant participants like this one, who may even feel an urge to resume work on their creations ;)

:: (Conversely, introducing a brand-new type of morphological processes in the language, e. g. morpheme truncation, without prior discussion - is probably NOT the right way to work on a common protolanguage of several other people's creations...) --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] ([[User talk:Basilius|talk]]) 14:06, 23 October 2015 (PDT)

Talk:Proto-Dumic

2015-02-17T21:25:12Z

Basilius:

Talk:Proto-Dumic

2015-02-17T21:11:29Z

Basilius:

Talk:Proto-Dumic

2015-02-17T21:10:40Z

Basilius:

Talk:Proto-Dumic

2015-02-17T21:10:14Z

Basilius:

Talk:Thokyunèhòta/Grammar

2011-06-22T02:30:55Z

Basilius:

Dunomapuka: so, you didn't want it to retain the default OSV? --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 13:14, 13 January 2011 (UTC)
: I thought long and hard about it - but it didn't feel like the right development from topic-comment word order. --[[User:Dunomapuka|Dunomapuka]] 18:54, 13 January 2011 (UTC)
:: I understand you very well ;) - However, there is an equally (although not similarly) bizarre thing happening to WO in Máotatšàlì, and I had an idea about a common (or similar) substrate for the two langs, to explain this. I am not really objecting (a decently elaborated version of Thok. has a priority), but if this point were still open to discussion, I'd share my idea on Akana Forum to see how it might work with Thok.. --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 15:31, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

the sound changes listed here are in tentative draft form only. I am checking them against the actual lexicon. --[[User:Dunomapuka|Dunomapuka]] 23:35, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
: At home I have the beginnings of an Isles etymological database I was working on a while ago; it's unfinished, but IIRC a bunch of the Thok. lexicon is done. I could probably email it to you if you'd like. --[[User:Corumayas|Corumayas]] 02:50, 3 December 2010 (UTC)
:: Ok yeah, I'd like to have a look at that, plz. --[[User:Dunomapuka|Dunomapuka]] 08:09, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

The borrowings from Fáralo could be from an eastern variant where /e o/ were originally [ɛi ɔu], as in the Čisse dialect, and then underwent a change (particular to that area) to [ai au]. Perhaps in this variant /ɛ ɔ/ were closer to [e o]. Thoughts? --[[User:Thedukeofnuke|thedukeofnuke]] 23:42, 20 June 2011 (UTC)
:Actually, most instances of Fáralo [ɛi ɔu] are derived from earlier */ai au/, so we'd simply need a slightly conservative variety of the language. -- [[User:Cedh|Cedh]] 07:38, 21 June 2011 (UTC)
::Or even just an earlier variety? Presumably the borrowings would be from pre-classical Fáralo anyway, given the date of Thok. --[[User:Corumayas|Corumayas]] 08:12, 21 June 2011 (UTC)
:::True, though a lot of them are also from nasal /e o/. I guess I could change some of the words to fit this, like ''kamaṭu'' to ''kamoṭu'' (F. ''goumoudu'' < NT ''gau mondu''). --[[User:Dunomapuka|Dunomapuka]] 20:52, 21 June 2011 (UTC)
:::: It's ''gaomaotú'' 'compass' in Máotatšàlì, which suggests that the nasalized vowel merged with the diphthong anyway (realized as [au] in that intermediary dialect). --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 02:30, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Talk:Proto-Isles/Lexicon

2011-06-05T21:37:02Z

Basilius: invitation to resume the discussion, kinda

[http://akana.dreamersdisease.de/viewtopic.php?p=852#p852 Some remarks and proposals concerning the latest additions] --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 21:37, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

Kibülʌiṅ

2011-06-03T11:48:31Z

Basilius: updated a link

{{Language
| language = Kibülʌiṅ
| phonetic = [ˈkiβylʌ̃ĩ̯]
| date = c. -500 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]]
| place = northern Peninsula
| speakers =
| script =
| family = Peninsular languages  Kibülʌiṅ
| word-or = SOV
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = NOM-ACC with tripartite elements in the voice system
| author = [[User:4pq1injbok|4pq1injbok]]
}}
{{Article}}

'''Kibülʌiṅ kejare' ''', or ''Kibülʌiṅ'' for short, was spoken by the '''Kigibül''' in the northern parts of '''Oiṅram''', the Peninsula of eastern Peilaš ([[:Image:Languages_-2000.png|marked in light green here]]). It is a first-order descendant of [[Proto-Peninsular]].

The speakers' endonym, '''kibül''' in its base form, is derivationally related to the name '''Kibüri''' of a river in the territory. These have the correct form to be a continuation of a Proto-Peninsular animate noun *''kipul-xa'' and participle *''kipul-r-i''.

= Phonology =

== Phonemic inventory ==

=== Consonants ===

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg c}}
|-
! !! labial || alveolar || sibilant || palatal || velar || glottal
|-
! nasal
| m || n || || || ŋ ||
|-
! faucalised stop
| p͈ || t͈ || t͈s || || k͈ ||
|-
! plain stop
| p || t || ts || || k || (ʔ)
|-
! aspirated stop
| pʰ || tʰ || || || kʰ ||
|-
! voiceless fricative
| || || s || || || h
|-
! voiced fricative
| β || || || || ɣ ||
|-
! trill / approximant
| || l r || || j (ɥ) || (w) ||
|-
|}

It might be argued that /β/ and /h/ are a single phoneme, as they occur in complementary distribution and sometimes alternate. This sketch doesn't take that position.

The phonemic status of [w] is also somewhat questionable, and [ɥ] is extremely marginal.

Plain /ts/ is restricted to loans, although some of these are well integrated, and the output of productive defaucalisation.

Some speakers render /β/ as [b], but the analogous rendering of /ɣ/ as [g] appears not to occur (except in a special forceful speech mode, when among other changes both become stops).

At the phonetic level, every final consonant is either ''glottalised'' or ''sustained''. Glottalised final consonants are limited to [ʔ ŋˀ lˀ rˀ]. This is the only occurrence of [ʔ]. (In a few varieties, [ŋˀ] has [ʔ] with nasalisation of the preceding vowel as a permissible realisation.)

By contrast every nonglottal consonant can occur sustained. Voiced sustained consonants are pronounced somewhat lengthened, and voiceless ones with a noticeable aspiration or whispered vowel; sustained plain stops and aspirated stops tend to fall together.

Phonemically, the glottalised consonants are the truly word-final ones, while the sustained consonants are followed by /ʌ/.

Plain /ts/ is written as '''c''', the faucalised stops with doubled letters '''pp tt cc kk''', the aspirates as '''ph th kh''', the voiced fricatives as '''b g''' (that being simpler than '''ƀ ǥ'''), /ɥ/ as '''ẅ''', and the remaining consonants as in the IPA. For final consonants, glottalisation and glottal stop alone are written ''' ' '''. In this description, for maximal clarity, sustention is denoted by underlining, but this may be omitted.

=== Vowels ===

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg c}}
|-
! !! front unround !! front round !! back unround !! back round
|-
! high
| i '''i''' || y '''ü''' || || u '''u'''
|-
! low-mid
| ɛ '''e''' || || ʌ '''ʌ''' || ɔ '''o'''
|-
! low
| || || ɑ '''a''' ||
|-
|}

In addition all of these vowels occur long and nasalised and both, for a total of 28 vowel segments. There are also closing diphthongs, consisting of any short vowel plus any offglide /i y u/, except that vowel plus like offglide does not occur, becoming a long vowel. (These could equally be analysed as vowels plus [j ɥ w].)

Final /ʌ/ is not realised as a vowel, but as consonant sustention (see above).

In closed syllables, especially unstressed ones, short vowels are somewhat centralised.

Some varieties lack /y/ entirely (and [ɥ] too, of course), changing it throughout to /u/, or to /i/.

The vowels are written as the bold entries in the table. Vowel length is denoted by a macron, and nasalisation by '''ṅ'''. Diphthongs are written as vowel sequences.

== Phonotactics ==

Syllable structure is (C)([lr])V(C).

Vowels do not occur in hiatus. Hiatus where the first vowel is high is prevented by inserting a semivowel (except that in some contexts two identical high vowels fuse to long), and where the first vowel is low by smoothing to a diphthong (if the second vowel is high) or a long copy of the second vowel (if low) (but the first vowel if the second is '''ʌ'''). If one of the hiatic vowels was nasal, both of the resulting ones are. If the first vowel was long, it contracts to short.

High vowels do not occur in unstressed closed syllables (they have been rephonemicised as mid, on account of centralisation).

'''h''' only occurs initially, and '''b ẅ''' cannot occur initially, while '''w''' occurs initially only in words built on the animate copular stem '''weṅr''', and loans. Possible underlying final consonants are /p t k s m n ŋ l r/, which collapse to ''' ' ŋ' l' r' ''' under glottalisation: phonemically [ʔ] is the neutralisation of final /p t k s/, and [ŋˀ] of final /m n ŋ/. When citing a form ending in one of these, I'll place the underlying final C after it as a superscript. Note that in certain cases this final C is not the historically justified one.

Legal complex onsets are plain stops plus '''l r'''.
Legal consonant clusters are homorganic nasal + nasal, (plain?) stop, or '''s'''; nasal + '''l r'''; '''s''' + plain stop or '''s'''; '''l r''' + stop or '''s'''; and all clusters obtained by placing an '''l r''' after a final plain stop in one of these. However, in no case may an alveolar directly precede '''l'''.

Two liquids '''l r''' cannot occur consecutively, in coda and onset of the same syllable, or in onsets of successive syllables (except in a few cases where the second onset is complex). When they would, the first one deletes (except that when this would cause too much loss of root integrity, sometimes a glide or '''g''' is inserted in its place).

A word cannot contain two faucalised stops; the second one will defaucalise.

== Prosody ==

Word stress falls in each word on the first syllable of the root. Note that in words with prefixing reduplication the last copy of the root-initial syllable is the 'genuine' one.

== Morphophonemic effects ==

Stem-final ''unclustered'' /p t ts k s/ become '''b j j g r''' before a vowel-initial suffix. The same happens in some case to these sounds (when unclustered) stem-initially after prefixes, as well as /h/ > '''b''', but these cases will be noted individually.

When I introduce a consonant-initial suffix with an initial superscript vowel, this is the vowel that (surfacely) is inserted / (phomenically) replaces the underlying final /ʌ/ of the base when it is suffixed. For example the stem '''min''' 'woman', used as a verbal base 'marry (a woman)' and taking the negative suffix -e'''n''', forms '''minen-'''.

In many contexts, '''i'''+'''ʌ''' '''u'''+'''ʌ''' change to '''e''' '''o''' rather than inserting a glide, and '''u'''+'''i''' smoothes to '''ǖ''', and '''ʌ'''+'''i''' is coloured to '''ei'''.

Many stems have separate prevocalic and preconsonantal allomorphs: mostly the preconsonantal allomorph inserts a vowel before a stem-final resonant. These alternations will be specified in the lexicon.

=== Stem-initial reduplication ===

Stem-initial reduplication is a process with a couple morphological functions. It consists of reduplication of the first (C)(C)V of the stem: this includes only the first part of any diphthong and the short form of a long vowel. Reduplication causes a predictable lenition of newly intervocalic stem-initial plain obstruents, as well as deletion of any '''l r''' in the reduplicated syllable. If the stem is vowel-initial, reduplication lengthens this vowel. (If the stem starts with a long vowel already, the reduplicated form is identical to the base.)

Often the vowel of the reduplicant is altered, though at the time of this description analogy has begun to smooth over this variation (moreso in the noun than in the verb, and moreso in variations between '''u''' and '''ü''' than between non-high vowels). Thus '''küla''' 'pig' has the standard (reduplicating) plural '''kugüla''' and the innovative plural '''kügüla'''.

== Sound changes ==

The sound changes from Proto-Peninsular to Kibülʌiṅ are [http://000024.org/conlang/scs-from-ppeninsular.txt here].

= Nominal morphosyntax =

The noun phrase was head-last, although against this general rule quantifiers were placed after the head noun (something found also in sister languages of the period). The typical order of the elements of the noun phrase was
# one possible demonstrative determiner
# one possible noun or relative clause in apposition
# genitive nouns and postpositional phrases
# the head noun
# one possible quantifier
Hence
* '''suwar' kāre-sk-r-i huga' ni te~jaroŋ' maru''' that.{{sc|pl}} large-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|rel}}-{{sc|bg}} tree at {{sc|pl}}~leaf three 'those three large leaves on the tree'
In a noun phrase containing a heavy relative clause, the demonstrative may be repeated after the relative clause.

Doubling the head noun (as a separate word) yields the sense 'Ns all over the place'.
* '''taroŋ' taroŋ' gar-i''' leaf leaf be.{{sc|inan}}-{{sc|bg}} 'There are leaves everywhere.'

== Nouns ==

The only truly inflectional category marked on the noun is ''number'', which shows a simple singular / plural contrast. The singular is the base form. Plurality marking is optional but common for inanimates and obligatory for animates.

Plurality is marked by stem-initial reduplication.

Kibülʌiṅ also has two ''genitive clitics'' which encliticise onto nouns. Genitive particles do not cause obstruent lenition, though they do prevent final C glottalisation, and they do undergo hiatus resolution. (These differ from postpositions in several ways: postpositions don't cliticise; these clitic markers do not correspond to any object voice of the verb.)

* The ''partitive-genitive'' {{sc|pgen}} '''ʌṅ''' was used only to modify relationship nouns, parts, materials, and quality abstractions for permanent qualities.

* The ''genitive'' {{sc|gen}} '''iṅ''' was used for all other genitive functions ''for animates''.

The distinction between the genitive and the partitive genitive was sometimes taken to be one defined less in terms of semantic alienability and more in terms of two classes of nouns. Thus e.g. one might see
*'''hʌ̄ṅ taroŋ' ''' 1sg.{{sc|pgen}} leaf 'my leaf'
with the partitive-genitive, since leaves are prototypical parts of things (in this case trees), never mind that a human speaker would not possess a leaf inalienably.

That said, inanimates were only ever placed in the partitive-genitive.

Not a case particle but worth mentioning is the vocative '''lā'''.

== Pronouns ==

Genitives are expressed affixally, in fact fusionally, with pronouns. Pronouns also have a special accusative, used when they're semantic patient or theme, independently of voice of the verb.

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg l}}
|-
! !! base !! {{sc|acc}} m !! {{sc|pgen}} !! {{sc|gen}} !!
|-
!
|| haṅre || hʌ̄ṅŋ' || hʌ̄ṅ || heṅŋ' n
! 1st exclusive singular
|-
!
|| hāṅr' || hʌṅrʌŋ' || hāṅrʌṅ || hāṅriṅ
! 1st exclusive plural
|-
!
|| haṅr || haṅrʌ̄ŋ' || haṅrʌ̄ṅ || haṅrʌiṅ
! 1st inclusive singular
|-
!
|| haṅgar' || haṅrʌŋ' || haṅgarʌṅ || haṅgariṅ
! 1st inclusive plural
|-
!
|| nare || nagʌŋ' || nagʌṅ || naiṅ
! 2nd singular
|-
!
|| nagar' || narʌŋ' || nagarʌṅ || nagariṅ
! 2nd plural
|-
!
|| ere || eŋ' ||colspan=2| ijʌṅ 
! 3rd inanimate singular
|-
!
|| ijar' || irʌŋ' ||colspan=2| irʌṅ 
! 3rd inanimate plural
|-
!
|| egare || egʌ̄ŋ' || egāṅ || egaiṅ
! 3rd animate singular
|-
!
|| egār' || erʌŋ' || egārʌṅ || egāriṅ
! 3rd animate plural
|-
!
|colspan=2| oṅjoṅre ||colspan=2| oṅjuṅwʌṅ 
! reflexive inanimate singular
|-
!
|colspan=2| oṅjuṅwaṅr' ||colspan=2| oṅjuṅwaṅrʌṅ 
! reflexive inanimate plural
|-
!
|colspan=2| oware || owāṅ || owaiṅ
! reflexive animate singular
|-
!
|colspan=2| owār' || owārʌṅ || owāriṅ
! reflexive animate plural
|}

The form I've called "1st inclusive singular" has the meaning 'I and thou', and contrasts with the 1st exclusive plural which is used only for groups of 3 or more including speaker and listener(s).

Use of the reciprocal pronouns alone is enough to mark a clause as reciprocal; the verb did not inflect for this category.

For the singular pronouns formed in -'''re''', one also sometimes finds clipped forms without the -'''re''', mostly when semantic agent or experiencer in subject position. (This is probably not a continuation of the Proto-Peninsular alternates without the singulative, but an independent reinvention, or perhaps it reflects influence of pre-Lotoka.)

== Demonstratives ==

The demonstratives mark three degrees of distance. The proximal demonstratives also have cataphoric use. For anaphoric uses one tends to use the third person pronouns (above).

The first table records the determiner forms. For every form in this table a corresponding freestanding pronoun exists as well, formed entirely regularly by prefixing '''i''' and turning any initial obstruent into a faucalised stop (the result is stressed on the second syllable). For instance, the singular pronouns are '''ikkore iccore ijare ippare'''. The distal pronouns thus end up rather similar to the third person pronouns, and in most daughter languages the two sets have fallen together, or at least become confused.

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg l}}
|-
! !! proximal !! medial !! distal !! question !!
|-
!
|| kore || sore || jare || ppare
! inanimate singular 
|-
!
|| kuwar' || suwar' || jār' || ppār'
! inanimate plural
|-
!
|| kogare || sogare || jagare || ppagare
! animate singular
|-
!
|| kogār' || sogār' || jagār' || ppagār'
! animate plural
|}

The next table lists adverbial forms. In these there are only two distance distinctions in the time forms, and only the interrogative form for manner / means. They require grounding suffixes when used adverbially (but have some deployments as nouns without these suffixes).

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg l}}
|-
! !! proximal !! medial !! distal !! question !!
|-
!
|| künu- || sünu- || jenʌ- || ppeni-
! location
|-
!
|| kumʌ-
|colspan=2| imʌ- || ppʌmʌ-
! time
|-
!
|colspan=3| || ppenʌ-
! manner, means
|}

The adverbs '''e-''' 'therefore', '''ka-''' 'very', '''kaṅjuṅ-''' 'to such a degree (that)', and '''kka-''' 'like, as' = the reported speech introducer (all of which take grounding markers) were diachronically formed of demonstrative elements, but there is little reason to regard them as part of this system synchronically.

== Quantifiers, numbers ==

The principal non-numeral quantifiers were '''sume''' 'all', '''per''' 'many', '''tige' ''' 'some', '''tigijǖṅ''' 'no', '''ppej''' 'how many', ...

Kibülʌiṅ has a base 10 number system.

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg c}}
! !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10
|-
! unit
| ttej || ttʌtu || maru || loi || treṅ' s || mʌmer' || nartʌṅ || elo || tilutt || trej
|-
! x10
| trej || ppē-tre || mau-tre || loi-tre || tēṅ-tre || mʌme-tre || nartʌṅ-tre || elo-tre || tilutte-tre || peitt
|-
! subtrahend
| tta-tʌmiṅ || ppara-tʌmiṅ || maru-tʌmiṅ || loi-tʌmiṅ || || || || || ||
|-
|}

A ''subtractive'' formation is used obligatorily for numbers ending in 8 or 9 (with nonzero tens digit), and occasionally for those ending in 6 and 7 also. Subtractive numbers look like
* '''tta-tʌmiṅ mʌme-tre''' 1-without 6-10 'fifty-nine'
Other two-digit numbers are additive in an unremarkable way.
* '''elo-tre-tt maru''' 8-10-and 3 'eighty-three'
Multiples of 100 use juxtaposition: '''loi peitt''' 'four hundred'.

The alternate stem '''ppar''' for 2 is from PPen *''kpa-ra''. (The forms in which it first supplanted '''ttʌtu''' seem to be those which otherwise would've had three successive dental stop onsets -- a dangerous situation, since haplology would make the forms confusible with those for 1.)

Numbers derive adverbial forms 'n times' by sticking on a grounding suffix: '''ttejʌ-u'''/'''i''' 'once', '''ttʌt-ū'''/'''ǖ''' 'twice', etc. For 'n by n' the whole stem of the number is reduplicated and the second one is adverb-marked: '''ttʌtu ttʌt-ū'''/'''ǖ''' 'two by two' etc.

The numbers greater than one derive nouns meaning 'a group of n', prototypically a group of people but usable for other groups as well. Numbers 3 and greater use the suffix -ʌ'''pi' ''' for this; 2 uses an old dual form '''pittaṅr''' 'group of two'.

== Postpositions ==

There are several basic postpositions.

Kibülʌiṅ far prefers to mark argument roles on the verb with an applicative marker (see below). When it is necessary to provide an adjunct adpositional phrase modifying a verb — generally, when the verb already has two arguments, neither of them patient/theme — this adjunct will be placed clause-initially, and the postposition will be suffixed by -ʌ'''mʌ̄'''.

That said, these postpositions are still the unmarked strategy for modifying a nominal head.

* '''ŋi''' indicated the recipient, donor, or beneficiary.
* '''üṅj''' indicated the instrument or means.
* '''ni''' indicated the general locative, 'at', as well as some circumstances and causes, and had many idiomatic deployments, including some of the subjective viewpoint functions of PPen ''tha''.
* '''eṅlu''' indicated the inessive, 'in, inside'. It took on the more genitival of the functions of Proto-Peninsular ''thu'': so from '''ŋüja''' 'forest' we get '''ŋüja eṅlu''' 'of/from the forest, sylvan'.
* '''ʌnni''' indicated the allative, 'to, towards', and was used for purposes.
* '''ŋʌnni''' indicated the illative, 'into'.
* '''īṅr' ''' indicated the ablative, '(away) from'. (< PPen ''hiçn-r-'', losing its phase as it switched to postposition)
* '''niüṅj''' indicated the prolative or perlative, 'through', 'along', as well as more abstractly 'according to'.
* '''iṅrīṅ''' indicated the comitative 'together with, in the company of', and also had apudessive functions 'next to'. (< PPen ''riçŋs-niç'', with a syncope)
* '''ttʌmiṅ''' indicated the caritive 'without', 'except for', and in certain constructions had malefactive force.
* '''th''' (yup! ~= [tʰə˳]) indicated the standard of comparison. (This postposition bore the entire semantic load of the comparison construction. Comparatives such as they existed in Kibülʌiṅ were simply predicates construed with this postposition's object voice: '''kārʌ-''' 'be large' -> '''thʌ-kārʌ-''' 'be larger than'.)

For more precise locative senses that don't appear on this list, one uses nouns with conventional locative meanings:
* '''hugak-ʌṅ phakri ni''' tree-{{sc|pgen}} back at 'behind a tree', lit. 'at the back of a tree'.

Unlike in Proto-Peninsular, nominal predications require no postposition.
* '''haṅre thēr-ō weṅr-i''' 1sg fisher-male be.{{sc|an}}-{{sc|bg}} 'I am a fisherman'

= Verbal morphosyntax =

== Structure of the verb ==

The template for the verb is as follows (on two lines so the tables aren't horizontally squished).

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|-
! !! -2. Object voice !! -1. Success !! -1/2. Stem reduplication !! 0. STEM !! 1/2. Stem suffix
|-
!
| any postposition, or none
| unmarked: Ø unsuccessful: '''miṅ'''
| unmarked: Ø habitual: 2x redup
| STEM
| nonpast: Ø past: various
|-
|}
{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|-
! !! 1. Subject voice !! 2. Static !! 3. Polarity !! 4. Mood !! 5. Syntactic function !! 6. Grounding
|-
!
|rowspan=2| zero: Ø ergative: '''er''' accusative: '''icc''' anticausative: ('''a''')'''l''' inverse: ('''j''')'''ēr'''
|rowspan=2| unmarked: Ø static: ('''ʌ''')e'''sk'''
|rowspan=2| affirmative: Ø negative: e'''n''' / '''iṅ'''
||
indicative: Ø 
irrealis: '''a'''('''g''') 
optative: a'''ŋ''' / '''ʌṅ''' 
potential: e'''lʌ''' 
prob.: ('''a''')a'''kimēl''' 
hyperprob.: ('''a''')a'''kūṅbi''' 
|| finite: Ø gerund: ('''a''')a'''k''' relative: ('''a''')'''r'''
|| foreground: '''u''' background: '''i''' / '''ʌ'''
|-
!
|colspan=3| imperative: '''e'''
|-
|}

The prefixes of slots -2 and -1 never cause obstruent lenition, but all suffixes surfacing in vowel-initial forms do cause lenition. None of the stops in affixes in bold in this table get lenited themselves.

The allomorphs of the negative and the optative are respectively postvocalic / postconsonantal.

The '''g''' of the irrealis appears only before '''ʌ'''. Underlying (i.e. glottalised in the stem form) final consonants of object voice markers are deleted when they would form an illegal cluster.

The vowels of the static, gerund, probabilitive and hyperprobabilitive appear only to break up invalid clusters, while the '''a''' of the anticausative appears after any consonant, and the '''a''' of the relative is only absent directly after the static '''sk''' (not even after vowels). However, when the static '''sk''' is directly followed by the gerund or the probabilitive and hyperprobabilitive (which diachronically contain it), the expected '''-sk-ak'''[...] tends to be telescoped to '''-sk'''[...]. (In other words, the gerund is often invisible after the static.)

The '''j''' of the inverse only appears when the inverse would fall together with the ergative otherwise, for instance after stem-final nonhigh vowels: but in some varieties it appears always.

Of the two background morphs, '''i''' appears in the indicative and '''ʌ''' elsewhere.

== Argument roles and voice ==

A prototypical clause in Kibülʌiṅ has up to two noun phrase arguments, a subject and an object. If an object appears, a subject must. Both subject and object can correspond to a wide variety of semantic roles. Their roles are specified in the clause by a pair of voice-marking slots on the verb, in a mostly orthogonal fashion.

The names of the ''subject voices'' are chosen to agree with those standard in Peninsular philology when that's not misleading. Their functions are as follows.
* ''Zero voice'' means the subject is experiencer or force, or intransitive argument of a non-volitional predicate. It is used for what would otherwise be standard agent+patient clauses when the putative agent has low volition and low control of the situation. It is also used for a somewhat wider selection of roles in 2S clauses (below).
* ''Ergative voice'' means the subject is agent (volitional / controlling).
* ''Accusative voice'' means the subject is patient, recipient, beneficiary, or transitive theme.
* ''Anticausative voice'' can be considered a marked variant of the accusative voice, used to emphasise that no agent exists. It often connotes that the event is accidental and/or undesirable.
* ''Inverse voice'' is anomalous: though formally a subject voice, it means that the ''object'' is agent. In inverse voice clauses the subject can take any of the roles proper to the zero or accusative voices, and the subject's role is not further marked. (This voice arose from a sequence *''ixr-as'': seemingly this should be analysed as a construction to emphasise the agency of the agent demoted to object in an erstwhile causative.)

The ''object voices'', which are not unlike applicatives except that they don't increase valence, have markers formally identical with the postpositions. Any postposition can appear in this slot, giving its role to the object of the verb. When the object has one of the core roles, or there is no object, the object voice slot is empty.

If a given transitive clause could be set with its arguments in either of two orders, the subject will be chosen as the more topical and the object as the more focussed.

Ditransitive clauses also exist, and have two objects not distinguished syntactically. In these, one of the two objects must be a patient or theme. The patient / theme is generally the first of the two objects, but may be the second. Voice affixes pertain to the other object.

Pronouns are unique in having an accusative form, used when they're semantic patient or theme. The accusative just replaces the base form where appropriate; voice behaves as normal.

* '''hʌ̄ṅŋ' ŋij-iṅj-icc-u''' 1sg.{{sc|acc}} bite-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|accv}}-{{sc|fg}} 'I got bitten'

The clauses I call ''2S clauses'' are the continuant of the Proto-Peninsular 'double-subject' construction. In Kibülʌiṅ they are normal transitive or ditransitive clauses, having only one subject (thus the more symbolic name), but this subject often has the role of a possesser of the object or merely some sort of circumstance.

* '''su huga' te~jaroŋ' kāre-sk-u''' that tree {{sc|pl}}~leaf large-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|fg}} 'the leaves of that tree are large' / '(as for) that tree, its leaves are large'
* '''su huga' te~jaroŋ' kü~güla mʌmpa-jēr-u''' that tree {{sc|pl}}~leaf {{sc|pl}}~pig eat-{{sc|inv}}-{{sc|fg}} 'pigs are eating the leaves of that tree' / '(as for) that tree, pigs are eating its leaves'
Note the inverse voice in the second example, since the agent is an object.

== Mood ==

Most of the mood morphs have different senses according to whether the static augment '''sk''' is present in the form, often alethic / epistemic without it and deontic with it. (This conflicts with other uses of '''sk''', yes.)
* '''-ŋ-''' optative; '''-sk-ŋ-''' reputative ('is supposed to X')
* '''-lʌ-''' potential ('may X', alethic); '''-sk-lʌ-''' capabilitative ('is able to X')
* '''-kimēl-''' probabilitive ('probably X'); '''-sk(-k)imēl-''' admonitive ('should X')
* '''-kūṅbi-''' hyperprobabilitive ('must X', alethic or inferential); '''-sk(-k)ūṅbi-''' ('must X', deontic)
(In the first case, the optative might very well have its '''ʌṅ''' allomorph.)

A prohibitive is formed simply as the negative imperative, '''-n-e''' / '''-iṅ-jeṅ''' {{sc|neg}}-{{sc|imp}}.

== Grounding ==

''Grounding'' is a category of the verb which takes two values, ''foreground'' and ''background''. The general function of grounding in main clauses is information-structural: a verb placed in the foreground is being focussed upon, and one in the background is not. Thus, for instance, in a narrative, the verbs detailing the main events of the story will probably be placed in the foreground, and side remarks or those setting the scene in the background.

Most adverbial elements take a grounding suffix to agree with the verb they modify. This suffix is -'''u''' for foreground and -'''i''' for background (the -'''ʌ''' morph of the background is not used on adverbs).

Only finite verbs in Kibülʌiṅ display a grounding contrast. Gerunds and relative verbs do not, though they have a grounding marker: they invariably take the background, and thus appear invariably as -('''a''')'''k-i''' and -('''a''')'''r-i''' in the indicative, and -('''a''')'''k''' and -('''a''')'''r''' in non-indicative moods. Adverbs in nominalised clauses thus also are in the background.

Imperatives, which have no sign of a grounding marker themselves, take foreground agreement (this differs from PPen).

== The static marker ==

The static marker ('''ʌ''')'''sk''' appears on all stative verbs, with only a few exceptions. In many cases the appearance of this marker adds no information, but there are at least some cases where it's significant:
* lexically stative verbs (e.g. those translating adjectives) form dynamic counterparts, transitive and intransitive, by omitting the static marker which they have in uses other than these. E.g.
** '''treŋu-sk-u''' / '''treŋu-¯''' / '''treŋu-wer-u''' long-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|fg}} / long-{{sc|fg}} / long-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|fg}} 'is long' / 'is getting longer' / 'is making (...) longer'
* attached to many past verbs, it converts from a simple past sense to a stative or perfect of result.
** '''īṅ-jej-u''' / '''īṅ-jei-sk-u''' die-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|fg}} / die-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|fg}} 'died' / 'has died', 'is dead'

The exceptions: the copulas, positive inanimate '''gar''' and animate '''weṅr''' and negative '''en''', never take the static marker. (Neither do they take the habitual). 'Become' is accordingly rendered with special stems '''garuk''' '''weṅruk''', with no negative analogue.

== Stem modifications ==

''Twofold'' stem-initial reduplication indicates a ''habitual aspect'': '''mʌmpr''' 'eat' forms '''mʌmʌmʌmpr''' '(always) eat'. As contrasted with the habitual, the plain present stem tends to have a present continuous sense (thus the loss of the PPen continuous stems).

This two-fold reduplication has in certain constructions (especially non-finite) another productive use, similar to Merneha, which generalises the reference of clauses from single events to universal sets of such, for instance taking '''mʌmpr-i''' used as 'when (...) eats' to '''mʌmʌmʌmpr-i''' 'whenever (...) eats'. (This process is the continuation in spirit, if not exactly in form, of the PPen second augment.)

Verbs which are already reduplicated for derivational reasons only get one extra reduplicant syllable, not two, in this process, and thereby this form of reduplicated and non-reduplicated bases are identical. So '''kejar''' 'speak' and '''kagejar''' 'converse' both form the habitual '''kagagejar'''.

Most verbs, though not all, have a ''past'' form, formed with a lexically determined suffix in slot 1/2. Some verbs have multiple pasts; in these cases the extra ones tend to have extra semantic content. Most of the verbs that lack a past have a static basic sense.

== The other bits ==

The unsuccessful marker in slot -1 adds a sense of 'unsuccessfully, with little or no effect'. (This slot is a Kibülʌiṅ remnant of the fact that postpositions in Proto-Peninsular could take -''mn'', and is the only remnant of ''mn'' in the verbal system. But compare also freestanding '''miṅ''' 'no'.)

Polarity, slot 3, is also straightforward. If it is desired to emphasise a negation, the construction uses the negative copula '''en''' intransitively with a gerund subject. There is negative concord: clauses with other negative elements take a negative verb.

Kibülʌiṅ has no simple aspect marking, of the perfective / imperfective contrast, per se. It is imaginable that in historical forms of the language the present grounding suffixes had more aspectual functions.

= Clause-level syntax =

== Basic clauses ==

The basic clause order of Kibülʌiṅ is SOOV -- two syntactically undistinguished objects occur in ditransitive clauses. Basic adverbs with grounding agreement can move about relatively freely in the clause, so long as they don't follow the verb; the same goes for adverbial clauses, although heavier ones prefer initial position. Postpositional phrases in adverbial function (with the suffix '''mʌ̄''') come clause-initially.

Subject pronouns can be dropped, but this is only common in intransitive clauses and singly transitive clauses with nonzero object voice or inverse voice or an accusative pronoun argument, those cases in which the result can't be confused with a clause with nothing dropped. Object pronouns cannot be dropped.

When one or both of the subject and object are heavy noun phrases, the particle '''mʌ̄''' will often obtrude after the subject to keep the subject and object separated.

== Questions ==

The dominant strategy for question formation is to cast the main verb in the irrealis and do nothing else (aside from a change in intonation). A longer variant, used e.g. when the speaker wants to preserve another mood on the main verb of the question, casts this verb as a gerund and as formal subject of an irrealis copula.

The post-verbal particle '''khʌ̄''', which can appear in declaratives or questions, adds a sense of incredulity.

== Gerunds and relative verbs and clauses ==

A clause built on a ''nominalised verb'', which I use as a cover term for gerunds and relative verbs, functions as a noun phrase. If the verb is a gerund, the nominalised clause is an event nominalisation, while if the verb is a relative verb, then one of its at most three arguments (one subject, two objects) must appear as a gap, and the sense of the resulting relative clause is a participant nominalisation on that gap.
(The relative verb is a falling together of the Proto-Peninsular participle and gamma-infinitive.)

As noted above, nominalised verbs are always in background.

Non-gapped subjects of nominalised clauses appear in the genitive (excepting inanimates, which as always only have the partitive-genitive).

It is of course a common deployment of relative clauses to stand in apposition to a head noun, but they can also stand alone and headless.

As one example deployment, names of particular tools tend to be headless relative clauses. In this particular case, against the general rules, the object voice prefix tends to be dropped, as the name is quite long enough without it. E.g.
* '''kor-ʌ̄ṅ '''('''üṅjʌ-''')'''nüteṅr-icc-ar-i''' egg-{{sc|pgen}} (with-)grab-{{sc|accv}}-{{sc|rel}}-{{sc|bg}} 'what eggs are grabbed with', the kind of spoon used for retrieving cooked eggs from boiling water

== Adjunct and subordinate clauses ==

Adjunct (and disjunct) adverbial phrases are most commonly rendered as finite verbal clauses in direct apposition, and agreeing in grounding, with the main clause.
* '''kāre-sk-i ki~gibül hicc mʌmʌ~mʌmp-er-i''' large-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|bg}} {{sc|pl}}~K. fish {{sc|hab}}~eat-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|bg}} 'The Kigibül people largely eat fish.'

A finite clause placed in direct juncture but in background when the main clause is foreground will be taken to be describing conditions or circumstances. If the adjunct is indicative the sense of the adjunct is 'when X', or 'if (as is likely) X'; if irrealis, 'if (as isn't likely) X'.

Secondary predicates are cast in the same grounding as the main clause, and take the postclitic -'''tt''' 'and' — that is, they have no special syntactic machinery, and look just like conjunctions.

Absolute constructions use a clause with a relative verb (and thus in background). An argument can but need not be gapped. When one is, the constraints on the gapping are the same as on the relative, and these absolute constructions are generally equally analysable as relative constructions.
* '''taroŋ' sume mʌmpr-iṅj-a-¯r-i küla ijuk-hü-ẅer-u''' leaf all eat-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|rel}}-{{sc|bg}} pig leave-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|fg}} 'Having eaten all the leaves, the pig left.'

Infinitive-type subordinate clauses are always rendered with gerunds.

== Conjunctions ==

Kibülʌiṅ persists in having only one conjunction, a postclitic a'''tt''' 'and', which can be used to coordinate noun phrases or clauses (with various patterns of gapping of parallel material possible). It comes after the first of the conjoined items.

To render 'or' with clauses, one uses -'''tt''' plus the potential mood of the verbs:
* '''kāre-sk-lʌ-u-tt nibʌ-sk-lʌ-u''' large-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|pot}}-{{sc|fg}}-and small-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|pot}}-{{sc|fg}} '(it) is either large or small'
This has no analogue for noun phrases.

== Other constructions of note ==

Reported speech, thoughts, and the like are formally introduced by an adverb '''kka-i'''/'''u''', i.e. are syntactically adjuncts. They tend to be moved to clause-final position, including the introducing adverb.

Kibülʌiṅ is fond of a ''cognate object construction'', in which the cognate object is the -'''iccar''' or '''-e' ''' derivation from the verb root.
* '''nare mʌmpr-e' tigʌ' mʌmpr-iṅj-er-a-u''' 2sg eat-{{sc|nmlzr}} some eat-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|accv}}-{{sc|irr}}-{{sc|fg}} 'Did you have anything to eat?'

= Derivation =

* ''Zero-derivation'', mostly yielding verbs from nouns, remains somewhat productive.
* ''Conversion to adverb'' by attaching a grounding suffix is also reasonably productive: for instance it is the preferred way to express temporal / circumstantial notions.
** '''pī''' 'day', '''pij-i'''/'''u''' 'during the day(time)'
* -'''ar''' derives agent nouns from verbs. -'''iccar''', combining it with accusative voice, derives patient nouns.
* -'''e' ''' t derives event nouns from verbs, and quality abstractions from static verbs; often these have concretised.
** '''kejar''' 'say', '''kejare' ''' 'speech; language'
** '''thori''' 'fish (v)', '''thore' ''' 'fishing; the quantity of fish one catches'
** '''kārʌ-''' 'be large' derives '''kārē' ''' 'growth' from its non-static stem, and '''kāreske' ''' 'size' from its static; many state roots do similar.
* -'''o''' masculine, -ʌ'''me''' feminine derive nouns from nouns. Animate nouns with specific reference ''whose stems are unspecified for sex'' take one of these suffixes in most uses, even where the underived base would serve. They are also used to derive theonyms from natural objects and phenomena. (And there are some oddball uses, e.g. '''loguṅme''' 'menstruation'.)
** '''thēr''' 'fisher', '''thērō''' 'fisherman', '''thērʌme''' 'fisherwoman'
* -'''uṅweiṅ''' / -ʌ'''mei''' (postconsonantal / postvocalic) derives nouns for places and some activity and event nouns.
** '''ccerak-''' 'fortify', '''cceraguṅweiṅ''' 'fort'
** '''thori''' 'fish (v)', '''thorimei''' 'fishing, ''qua'' skill'
* -ʌ'''r' ''' is a relatively low-yield suffix mostly deriving collective nouns.
* ''Stem-initial reduplication'' of the verb has a few functions. It derives sometimes a reciprocal stem, as in '''kejar''' 'say', '''kagejar''' 'converse, discuss'; sometimes a frequentative stem, as in '''ŋit''' 'bite', '''ŋiŋit''' 'chew'; sometimes an intensive, as in '''esor''' 'be weak', '''ēsor''' 'be near death'; and not uncommonly has ideosyncratic lexical function.

In addition, the lexicon records some derivatives in which these derivational affixes appear in unproductive variant forms.

Postpositions cannot be derived from (if deploying them in object voice marker position doesn't count).

= Lexicon =

{{Main|{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Lexicon}}

= Texts =

== The fisherman and the fish ==

Pijʌṅ phakri ni pī nimʌ̄, arütʌṅ plāŋ' piji sume nithoriẅüẅāri thērō
nibʌskri hicc ttej iṅjǖṅriccʌsku thore' tigijǖṅ thoritheriuṅ.

Hicc kejaruṅbēru kkau "Thērō lā, haṅre nibʌskri hicc thʌkāreskīṅ. Thʌkāreskri hibicc per aro' nitʌmerʌski. Hʌ̄ṅŋ' ajuberi, kāreŋkimēlk enau? Kāgāritt, hʌ̄ṅŋ' mʌmperak khelpiŋkimēlk enau? Eu, hʌ̄ṅŋ' ajubere!"

Traŋ ʌnnimirüẅāri, thērō kejaruṅbēru kkau "Miṅ'-miṅ', hicc lā. Kumei seiŋrʌski nagʌŋ' thorithērʌski. Nagʌŋ' ajuberag, nagʌŋ' thorijerak lanserʌskiṅlʌu. Eu, nagʌŋ' ajuberiuṅ."

One day, a fisherman who had been fishing at the edge of the sea all day had caught nothing but one small fish.

The fish said "O fisherman, I am only a small fish. Many larger fish live in the sea. If you threw me back, wouldn't I probably grow big? And if I grew big, wouldn't that be better for eating me? So throw me back!"

The fisherman looked heavenwards and then said "Nuh-uh, fish. I've caught you for sure now. If I were to throw you back, I couldn't catch you again. So I'm not throwing you back."

* '''Pij-ʌṅ phakri ni pī nimʌ̄,''' day-{{sc|pgen}} behind at day at-{{sc|adjunct}},
* '''arütʌṅ plāŋ' pij-i sume ni-thori-ẅü-ẅe-ar-i thērʌ-o''' sea-{{sc|pgen}} edge day-{{sc|bg}} all at-fish-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|rel}}-{{sc|bg}} fisher-{{sc|masc}}
* '''nibʌ-sk-r-i hicc ttej iṅjǖṅr-icc-ʌsk-u thor-e' tigijǖṅ thori-th-er-iṅ-u.''' small-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|rel}}-{{sc|bg}} fish one exclude-{{sc|accv}}-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|fg}} fishing none fish-{{sc|past2}}-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|neg}}-{{sc|fg}}.
* '''Hicc kejar-uṅbe-er-u''' fish say-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|fg}}
* '''kka-u "Thērʌ-o lā, haṅre nibʌ-sk-r-i hicc thʌ-kāre-sk-iṅ-i.''' {{sc|quot}}-{{sc|fg}} "fisher-{{sc|masc}} {{sc|voc}}, 1sg small-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|rel}}-{{sc|bg}} fish than-large-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|neg}}-{{sc|bg}}.
* '''Thʌ-kāre-sk-r-i hi~bicc per aro' ni-tʌmer-ʌsk-i.''' than-large-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|rel}}-{{sc|bg}} {{sc|pl}}~fish many sea at-dwell-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|bg}}.
* '''Hʌ̄ṅŋ' ajub-er-i, kāre-ŋ-kimēl-k-. en-a-u?''' 1sg.{{sc|acc}} fall-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|bg}}, large-{{sc|neg}}-{{sc|prob}}-{{sc|ger}}-{{sc|bg}} be.{{sc|neg}}-{{sc|irr}}-{{sc|fg}}?
* '''Kāga-ar-i-tt, hʌ̄ṅŋ' mʌmp-er-a-k-. khelpi-ŋ-kimēl-k-. en-a-u?''' large-{{sc|rel}}-{{sc|bg}}-and, 1sg.{{sc|acc}} eat-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|irr}}-{{sc|ger}}-{{sc|bg}} good-{{sc|neg}}-{{sc|prob}}-{{sc|ger}}-{{sc|bg}} be.{{sc|neg}}-{{sc|irr}}-{{sc|fg}}?
* '''E-u, hʌ̄ṅŋ' ajub-er-e!"''' therefore-{{sc|fg}}, 1sg.{{sc|acc}} fall-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|imp}}!"
* '''Traŋ ʌnni-mir-ü-ẅe-ar-i, thērʌ-o kejar-uṅbe-er-u''' sky to-see-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|rel}}-{{sc|bg}}, fisher-{{sc|masc}} say-{{sc|past}}-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|fg}}
* '''kka-u "Miṅ'-miṅ', hicc lā. Kume-i seiŋr-ʌsk-i nagʌŋ' thori-th-ēr-ʌsk-i.''' {{sc|quot}}-{{sc|fg}} "nope-nope, fish {{sc|voc}}. now-{{sc|bg}} secure-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|bg}} 2sg.{{sc|acc}} fish-{{sc|past2}}-{{sc|inv}}-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|bg}}.
* '''Nagʌŋ' ajub-er-ag-., nagʌŋ' thori-jer-a-k-. lans-er-ʌsk-iṅ-lʌ-u.''' 2sg.{{sc|acc}} fall-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|irr}}-{{sc|bg}}, 2sg.{{sc|acc}} fish-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|irr}}-{{sc|ger}}-{{sc|bg}} do_again-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|stat}}-{{sc|neg}}-{{sc|pot}}-{{sc|fg}}.
* '''E-u, nagʌŋ' ajub-er-iṅ-u."''' therefore-{{sc|fg}}, 2sg.{{sc|acc}} fall-{{sc|ergv}}-{{sc|neg}}-{{sc|fg}}."

[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Peninsular languages]]

Place name elements/Isles

2011-05-31T23:15:35Z

Basilius:

{| {{browntable|lightbrownbg sortable}} style="font-size:90%;"
|-
! English !! [[Proto-Isles]] !! [[Affanonic]] !! [[Thokyunèhòta]] !! [[Naxuutayi]] !! [[Mûtsipsa']] !! [[Máotatšàlì]] !! [[Zele]]
|-
! archipelago
| || || || || || || tusosh
|-
! bay
| || || || || || ||
|-
! beach
| || || || || || ||
|-
! bend
| || || || || || ||
|-
! border
| || || || || || ||
|-
! bridge
| || || || || || ||
|-
! broad, wide
| ||mati || || || || || mati
|-
! camp
| || || || || || ||
|-
! cape
| || || || || || ||
|-
! castle
| || || || || || ||
|-
! cave
| || || || || || ||
|-
! city
| || || || || || ||
|-
! clearing
| || || || || || ||
|-
! cliff
| ||onnai || || || || || rãnahi
|-
! coast
| || || || || || || (te sofizh)
|-
! confluence
| || || || || || ||
|-
! corner
| || || || || || ||
|-
! cottage
| || || || || || ||
|-
! court(yard)
| || || || || || || pezifuzhi
|-
! cove
| || || || || || ||
|-
! creek, brook
| || || || || || ||
|-
! crossroads
| || || || || || ||
|-
! dark, black
| ||liloi 'black' || || || || || yuli
|-
! delta
| || || || || || ||
|-
! ditch, moat
| ||pir || || || || ||
|-
! downriver
| || || || || || ||
|-
! east
| ||affati (affa ''adj.'' 'eastern') || || || || || rabazhi
|-
! edge
| || || || || || || sofizh
|-
! enclosure
| || || || || || ||
|-
! family('s home)
| || || || || || || meazuhi
|-
! far
| ||tsu || || || || || tsabesh
|-
! farm
| || || || || || || teadizhi
|-
! fence, boundary
| || || || || || ||
|-
! field
| ||tinti || || || || ||
|-
! foot, base (of a hill)
| || || || || || ||
|-
! ford
| || || || || || ||
|-
! forest, wood
| || || || || || || sabi
|-
! fort
| || || || || || ||
|-
! gap, pass
| || || || || || ||
|-
! garden, orchard
| ||pintene || || || || || beadeahi
|-
! gate, entrance
| || || || || || ||
|-
! gathering place
| ||tifføf 'assembly, house for gatherings' || || || || ||
|-
! good
| ||niwi; (isy 'lucky, fortunate') || || || || || i
|-
! grant, fiefdom
| || || || || || ||
|-
! grass
| ||mjunnon || || || || || minam
|-
! grave, tomb
| || || || || || ||
|-
! gravel bank
| || || || || || ||
|-
! great, big
| ||tsa || || || || || tsa
|-
! green
| ||ninon || || || || || nãnã
|-
! harbour, port
| || || || || || || sozifuzhi
|-
! hedge
| || || || || || ||
|-
! hill, height
| || || || || || || kelihi
|-
! hollow
| || || || || || ||
|-
! holy place
| || || || || || ||
|-
! home(stead)
| ||fei 'house, homeplace' || || || || || pashazh
|-
! inheritance
| || || || || || ||
|-
! inn, hostel
| || || || || || ||
|-
! island
| || || || || || || tur
|-
! islet
| || || || || || ||
|-
! lake
| ||tity || || || || || tuluzhi
|-
! land
| || || || || || ||
|-
! little, small
| ||mi || || || || || mi
|-
! loan
| || || || || || ||
|-
! lower
| || || || || || ||
|-
! lush, fertile
| || || || || || ||
|-
! market
| || || || || || ||
|-
! meadow
| ||jahalre || || || || || rashan
|-
! middle, center
| || || || || || ||
|-
! mill
| || || || || || || renastizh
|-
! mine
| || || || || || ||
|-
! mountain, peak
| ||kei || || || || || kazh
|-
! narrow
| ||mimati 'narrow, tough, tight' || || || || || mimati
|-
! near
| ||titsju || || || || || tsibesh
|-
! new
| ||hokja || || || || || kahaka
|-
! north
| ||rirkjunti (rirkjun ''adj.'' 'northern') || || || || || shigimi
|-
! old
| ||noffes || || || || || nubir
|-
! open land, plains
| || || || || || ||
|-
! pasture
| || || || || || ||
|-
! path(way)
| || || || || || ||
|-
! peninsula
| || || || || || ||
|-
! people of...
| ||''Gen.'' + nonjur; nonjur li + ''Subst. Gen.'' || || || || ||
|-
! place
| || || || || || || tsãmur
|-
! point, head
| || || || || || ||
|-
! portage
| || || || || || ||
|-
! promontory; nose
| || || || || || ||
|-
! rapids
| || || || || || ||
|-
! reach
| || || || || || ||
|-
! red
| ||jaffja || || || || || rafa
|-
! residence
| || || || || || ||
|-
! ridge
| || || || || || ||
|-
! river
| ||tykoi || || || || || teguhi
|-
! river bank
| || || || || || || (teg sofizh)
|-
! river mouth
| || || || || || ||
|-
! road
| ||(joti 'way, route') || || || || ||
|-
! rock
| || || || || || ||
|-
! sacred
| || || || || || ||
|-
! sand
| ||fjas || || || || || par
|-
! sea, ocean
| ||ty 'sea' || || || || || tuzh
|-
! settlement
| || || || || || ||
|-
! shelter
| || || || || || || shumuhosh
|-
! shore
| || || || || || ||
|-
! source, fountain
| ||(tyri 'well') || || || || ||
|-
! south
| ||arkjunti (arkjun ''adj.'' 'southern') || || || || || shagimi
|-
! stockade
| || || || || || ||
|-
! stone
| ||somai || || || || || sumazhi
|-
! stream
| ||punsu 'stream, flow, current' || || || || ||
|-
! swamp, bog
| || || || || || ||
|-
! temple
| ||ryffei || || || || ||
|-
! thicket, grove
| || || || || || || sãnãsosh
|-
! tower
| || || || || || ||
|-
! town
| || || || || || || kelebashazh
|-
! upper
| || || || || || ||
|-
! upriver
| || || || || || ||
|-
! valley
| || || || || || ||
|-
! village
| || || || || || || pehi
|-
! water
| ||mjunki || || || || || meakihi
|-
! west
| ||affutti (affau ''adj.'' 'western') || || || || || rababuhi
|-
! wharf
| || || || || || ||
|-
! white, bright
| ||tsummjon 'white' || || || || || tsãmã
|-
|}

<noinclude>
[[Category:Lexicography]]
[[Category:Isles languages|*]]
</noinclude>

Talk:Zele/Lexicon

2011-05-31T16:43:11Z

Basilius: New page: RE: differentiation of 'near' and 'far': I'd try ''tawuys-qas'' 'at far-ness', ''tiwuys-qas'' 'at near-ness' (first used adverbially, then following the analogy of other adjectives=adverbs...

RE: differentiation of 'near' and 'far': I'd try ''tawuys-qas'' 'at far-ness', ''tiwuys-qas'' 'at near-ness' (first used adverbially, then following the analogy of other adjectives=adverbs). Thedukeofnuke, WDYT? --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 16:43, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

AkanaWiki:Todo List

2011-03-31T19:20:30Z

Basilius:

'''Todo List'''
{| {{browntable|lightbrownbg sortable}}
!What?
!Who?
!And?
|- class="bg2"
|Todo list || Everyone || Everyone! Please add more items to this todo list! Anything that you're working on, that you intend one day to work on, that you're aware will need doing some day but have no intention of working on... The middle column allows you to indicate that you're working on something. The third column is for comments, description, caveats...
|-
| Policy document || || A post (here? or on the forum?) describing the spirit and methods of the Akana project. 
*''We already have [[AkanaWiki:About]]; I'm not sure if we need a separate ''[[AkanaWiki:Policy]]'' page, but going into more detail about how the project works seems definitely useful. In any case, I think the document should be a wiki page, which could then be mirrored on the forum. -- Cedh''
|-
| Núalís || || Making sound changes (with references to any comments in the [[Máotatšàlì]] grammar) and designing the lexicon and grammar of [[Núalís]].
|-
| Proto-(Eigə)-Isthmus || Corumayas & supporters || Solidifying the reconstruction of [[Proto-Eigə-Isthmus]] and [[Proto-Isthmus]], so that they can be used to work forward from.
|-
| Doroh || || Making sound changes (based on the reconstruction of PEI/PI) and designing the lexicon and grammar of [[Doroh]].
|-
| Šertik Fallə || Cedh & thedukeofnuke || Finalizing the sound changes from Fáralo and moving on to the lexicon and grammar of [[Šertik Fallə]].
|-
| Komejech || Legion || Finalizing and publishing the grammar of [[Komejech]].
|-
| Tjakori/Gezoro || || Expanding on Kodé's sound changes for [[Gezoro]], and turning it (and its sister) into full languages. We should try to get Kodé involved in this if possible.
|-
| Hitatc languages || Cedh || Finally getting somewhere with this family. Adāta needs loanwords.
|-
| Grammars of Adāta & Proto-Western || || Dewrad's website has gone offline. If he approves, it would be great to get his Akana stuff wikified because it's quite important.
|-
| Scripts (Aiwa valley) || || Expanding the list of [[Oryziform]] glyph concepts, developing an interesting [[Ndak script]] from them (Legion has already done some good stuff about this, cf. [http://akana.dreamersdisease.de/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20 this forum thread]), and deriving the second generation of Edastean scripts from the result (most importantly, the [[Fáralo alphabet]]). If anyone volunteers to make fonts, that would be even better. ;)
|-
| Scripts (South/West) || || A second family of scripts should eventually developed for the Western sphere, probably originating in Xšalad. Most important for our purposes here: the [[Tjakori syllabary]] (a 2nd or 3rd generation script), which is used for writing Adāta.
|-
| Maps || Cedh || I've been planning to make a series of high-res maps of most of northern Peilaš for a long time now, which we could then use as a basis for all kinds of thematic maps. In order to make real progress here, I probably need access to the original vector file of [[:Image:Peilash_physical_map_region_labels.jpg|Mr. Pocketful's map]] though, plus a lot of spare time...
|-
| Timeline of technology || thedukeofnuke || We have a vague idea of how technology develops in Akana, but no clear dates. I've drafted a timeline of major inventions, which will need revision and fitting in with other areas of history.
|-
| Affanonic (diachronics) || Basilius || Documenting the sound changes, sketching a historical grammar.
|-
| Affalinnei: Religion || Basilius || Documenting some ideas about the evolution of the Tejenry cult (metaphysics, practices &like).
|-
| Mûtsipsa' (diachronics) || Basilius, Radius and whoever may wish to join || Revamping the SC's (the current ones don't produce the attested forms in many cases); figuring out how much of the grammar would be more interestingly treated as archaisms (to be projected onto Early Proto-Isles; especially class agreement & related bits).
|-
| Máotatšàlì (diachronics) || Basilius and whoever may wish to join || Finishing the analysis of tone reflexes, figuring out how much of the tone alternation patterns and tone-based differentiation of forms that are homophones in Ran's PI can be projected onto Early Proto-Isles.
|-
| Ran's Proto-Isles: undocumented lexical derivation patterns || Basilius and whoever may wish to join || Inventorizing and analyzing the subj.; initiating a discussion of possible diachronic scenarios behind such patterns.
|-
| Ppãrwak || Basilius and whoever may wish to join || Revamping, squeezing for potential archaisms. There are some ideas about dialects and (maybe) descendants, too.
|-
| The Ultimundic Stock || Basilius and whoever may wish to join || Retro-designing the whole lineage from Late Proto-Isles (with dialectology) to Early Proto-Isles to Proto-Macro-Isles to Proto-Ultimundic (requires a reanalysis of the abovesaid Isles langs).
|-
| More Núalís-Takuña languages || Basilius (and Qwynegold?) || Doing something with the sketchy scenarios about the daughters of Proto-Núalís-Takuña discussed [http://akana.dreamersdisease.de/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16 in that thread].
|}

Talk:Thokyunèhòta/Grammar

2011-01-14T15:31:56Z

Basilius:

Talk:Thokyunèhòta/Grammar

2011-01-13T13:14:31Z

Basilius:

the sound changes listed here are in tentative draft form only. I am checking them against the actual lexicon. --[[User:Dunomapuka|Dunomapuka]] 23:35, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
: At home I have the beginnings of an Isles etymological database I was working on a while ago; it's unfinished, but IIRC a bunch of the Thok. lexicon is done. I could probably email it to you if you'd like. --[[User:Corumayas|Corumayas]] 02:50, 3 December 2010 (UTC)
:: Ok yeah, I'd like to have a look at that, plz. --[[User:Dunomapuka|Dunomapuka]] 08:09, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Dunomapuka: so, you didn't want it to retain the default OSV? --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 13:14, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

File:Noun paradigms 3.odt

2009-11-22T00:56:49Z

Basilius: uploaded a new version of "Image:Noun paradigms 3.odt"

Version 3 of noun paradigms of PNT descendant nr. 1.

File:Auxiliary paradigms 3.odt

2009-11-22T00:55:13Z

Basilius: uploaded a new version of "Image:Auxiliary paradigms 3.odt"

Version 3 of aux paradigms in PNT descendant nr. 1.

Talk:Proto-Núalís-Takuña

2009-10-21T16:21:13Z

Basilius:

Uploaded [http://akana.superlush.co.uk/~akana/index.php/Image:PNTlexPhon.odt a PNT lexicon with phonetic transcriptions added]. To be used by people working on the daughters. --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 21:35, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

[http://akana.superlush.co.uk/~akana/index.php/Image:PNTlexPhonQ.odt Here] is the same in a format that suits Qwynegold better. --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 00:29, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Uploaded PNT noun paradigms in Qwynegold's phonetic transcription: [http://akana.superlush.co.uk/~akana/index.php/Image:PNTalienable.odt alienable nouns], [http://akana.superlush.co.uk/~akana/index.php/Image:PNTinalienable-a.odt inalienable nouns with initial vowel ''a''] --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 04:19, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Uploaded
[http://akana.superlush.co.uk/~akana/index.php/Image:PNTnounsQ.odt complete PNT noun paradigms, as inherited in "Northern" subgroup, with transcriptions in Qwynegold's format]. --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 01:00, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Uploaded [http://akana.superlush.co.uk/~akana/index.php/Image:PNTpv.odt paradigms of participle verbs]. --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 16:21, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

== Files by Qwynegold ==

[[http://www.superlush.co.uk/~akana/index.php/Image:PNT1_Noun_paradigms1.odt]]
The noun paradigms with SCs added to them. (That one word in the alienable section that was previously transcribed wrong, has been fixed now.)

--[[User:Qwynegold|Qwynegold]] 17:54, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

[[http://www.superlush.co.uk/~akana/index.php/Image:Auxiliary_paradigms.odt]]
The auxiliaries with SCs added to them.

--[[User:Qwynegold|Qwynegold]] 13:52, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

File:PNTpv.odt

2009-10-21T16:18:42Z

Basilius:

Talk:Proto-Núalís-Takuña

2009-10-18T01:00:56Z

Basilius:

File:PNTnounsQ.odt

2009-10-18T00:57:09Z

Basilius:

Talk:Proto-Núalís-Takuña

2009-10-17T04:19:20Z

Basilius:

File:PNTinalienable-a.odt

2009-10-17T04:13:31Z

Basilius:

File:PNTalienable.odt

2009-10-17T04:12:58Z

Basilius:

Talk:Proto-Núalís-Takuña

2009-10-15T00:29:47Z

Basilius:

File:PNTlexPhonQ.odt

2009-10-15T00:27:27Z

Basilius:

Talk:Proto-Núalís-Takuña

2009-10-13T21:35:40Z

Basilius: New page: Uploaded [http://akana.superlush.co.uk/~akana/index.php/Image:PNTlexPhon.odt a PNT lexicon with phonetic transcriptions added]. To be used by people working on the daughters. --~~~~

File:PNTlexPhon.odt

2009-10-13T21:20:07Z

Basilius:

Affalinnei

2009-06-18T22:06:44Z

Basilius: mmm, too easy for advancement of astronomy...

{{Nation
| nation = Affalinnei
| native = Affalinnei
| map = [[Image:Affanon1.jpg|250px|NE Huyfárah and Affalinnei c. 200-400 YP]]
| capital = ''unknown''
| cities = ''unknown''
| language = [[Affanonic]]
| demonym = Affanons (pl.)
| gov-type = hierarchy of clans evolving into monarchy
| rise = c. -200 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]]
| fall = ''unknown''
| succ = ''unknown''
| author = [[User:Basilius|Basilius]]
}}
{{Article}}

 

The "kingdom" of '''Affalinnei''' (a native [[Affanonic]] compound, analyzable as 'eastern-leadership' or 'Affanonic-leadership') is a small state located on the [[Affalinnei Peninsula]] forming part of the southern coast of northeastern [[Peilaš]], west of [[Lotoka]]. The dominant ethic group of the kingdom were the Affanons, speaking the [[Affanonic]] language of the [[Isles languages|Isles family]].
 

= History =

The speakers of various [[Isles languages|Isles]] dialects were already present on the Affalinnei Peninsula as early as around -1000 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]], having migrated there from SW [[Tuysáfa]] via [[Sumarušuxi]]. Originally they occupied the coastal areas and did not dominate the hinterland inhabited mostly by [[Doroh]]-speaking tribes. However, as the increased importance of coastal trade transformed the settlements of Isles-speaking groups into seaports, their dialects served as the basis of the lingua franca spoken all over the country.

The kingdom of Affalinnei is first mentioned in historical sources dating from around -200 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]] when the Affanons attempted at establishing some trading settlements or colonies in the coastal areas of [[Huyfárah]]. Later on the kingdom was involved in the efforts of the Fáralo rulers to exterminate piracy which was a serious impediment for coastal trade in the region. Some sources from early 1st millennium YP seem to mention the Affanons acting as vassals of Huyfárah, but the contexts do not provide sufficient detail.

= State and Society =

Although the earliest historical sources (mostly written in Huyfárah) usually call the state of the Affanons a "kingdom", this was most likely a misperception: the "king" (''linnenon'') of Affalinnei was indeed chosen from a specific kinship group, but originally the title was neither hereditary nor lifelong.
By the end of 1st millennium BP the society of the Affanons was organized as a hierarchy of clans (''mintsokkwi'', pl. ''mintsokkwijur'') rather than individuals. The chief (''mintsonon'') of the leading clan (''linnemintsoi'') was also the supreme ruler (''linnenon'') of the country; however, a ''linnenon'' was elected via a set of complex procedures and could not retain his or her title after 50 years of age when the retired ''linnenon'' was automatically appointed the president of the clan's Assembly (''mintsotifføf'').
The hierarchical relations between clans, although typically centuries-old already by -200 YP, were not absolutely rigid either; thus, the leading clan of Affalinnei changed no less than four times between -200 YP and 400 YP. Besides, clans could split and sometimes merge.
The country was divided into clan possessions (''mintswil'', pl. ''mintswilhur''), but in big cities the members of different clans were mixed.
It is interesting to note that ethnic identity played little part in the hierarchy of clans: some influential clans were known to be of a non-Affanonic origin, and in everyday life their members spoke local [[Peninsular languages|Peninsular]] dialects (related to [[Lotoka]]) or tribal languages of [[Proto-Isthmus|Isthmus]] origin (akin to [[Doroh]]). Besides, the dialects of a few groups usually identified with the Affanons were in fact separate [[Isles languages|Isles]] languages hardly mutually intelligible with Affanonic.
By ca. 200 YP profound transformations of the clan structure had starded. Membership in the ''linnemintsoi'', as well as in a few other prestigeous clans, was increasingly often granted for individual merits; double and multiple clan membership becomes common, As a result, the ''linnemintsoi'' differentiated, and from 230 YP on the issues of power transition were decided on by so-called "Narrow Assembly" (''Mimati Tifføf'') composed of closest relatives and most trusted attendants of the ''linnenon''; the default candidate ''linnenon'' was invariably the retiring ''linnenon''ʼs eldest son.

= Religion =

The Affanons worshiped a whole pantheon of gods headed by the supreme celestial deity, ''Tejenry''. Since the Sun and the Moon were considered the Eyes of Tejenry, special importance was attributed to the times when both are seen simultaneously, i. e. when Tejenry watches the mortals with both of His eyes.

= Names =

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|-
! Language
! Name
! Pronunciation
! Source
|-
! [[Affanonic]]
| Affalinnei (''esp. referring to the state''); Affanamil (''esp. when speaking of the territory'')
| [af.fa.ˈlin.nei], [af.ˈfa.na.mil]
| native compounds, lit. "eastern-leadership", "eastern-person-country"
|}

= See also =

* [[Affanonic]]

{{Stub}}

[[Category:Nations]]

Affalinnei

2009-06-13T12:53:31Z

Basilius: evolution to monarchy

{{Nation
| nation = Affalinnei
| native = Affalinnei
| map = [[Image:Affanon1.jpg|250px|NE Huyfárah and Affalinnei c. 200-400 YP]]
| capital = ''unknown''
| cities = ''unknown''
| language = [[Affanonic]]
| demonym = Affanons (pl.)
| gov-type = hierarchy of clans evolving into monarchy
| rise = c. -200 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]]
| fall = ''unknown''
| succ = ''unknown''
| author = [[User:Basilius|Basilius]]
}}
{{Article}}

 

The "kingdom" of '''Affalinnei''' (a native [[Affanonic]] compound, analyzable as 'eastern-leadership' or 'Affanonic-leadership') is a small state located on the [[Affalinnei Peninsula]] forming part of the southern coast of northeastern [[Peilaš]], west of [[Lotoka]]. The dominant ethic group of the kingdom were the Affanons, speaking the [[Affanonic]] language of the [[Isles languages|Isles family]].
 

= History =

The speakers of various [[Isles languages|Isles]] dialects were already present on the Affalinnei Peninsula as early as around -1000 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]], having migrated there from SW [[Tuysáfa]] via [[Sumarušuxi]]. Originally they occupied the coastal areas and did not dominate the hinterland inhabited mostly by [[Doroh]]-speaking tribes. However, as the increased importance of coastal trade transformed the settlements of Isles-speaking groups into seaports, their dialects served as the basis of the lingua franca spoken all over the country.

The kingdom of Affalinnei is first mentioned in historical sources dating from around -200 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]] when the Affanons attempted at establishing some trading settlements or colonies in the coastal areas of [[Huyfárah]]. Later on the kingdom was involved in the efforts of the Fáralo rulers to exterminate piracy which was a serious impediment for coastal trade in the region. Some sources from early 1st millennium YP seem to mention the Affanons acting as vassals of Huyfárah, but the contexts do not provide sufficient detail.

= State and Society =

Although the earliest historical sources (mostly written in Huyfárah) usually call the state of the Affanons a "kingdom", this was most likely a misperception: the "king" (''linnenon'') of Affalinnei was indeed chosen from a specific kinship group, but originally the title was neither hereditary nor lifelong.
By the end of 1st millennium BP the society of the Affanons was organized as a hierarchy of clans (''mintsokkwi'', pl. ''mintsokkwijur'') rather than individuals. The chief (''mintsonon'') of the leading clan (''linnemintsoi'') was also the supreme ruler (''linnenon'') of the country; however, a ''linnenon'' was elected via a set of complex procedures and could not retain his or her title after 50 years of age when the retired ''linnenon'' was automatically appointed the president of the clan's Assembly (''mintsotifføf'').
The hierarchical relations between clans, although typically centuries-old already by -200 YP, were not absolutely rigid either; thus, the leading clan of Affalinnei changed no less than four times between -200 YP and 400 YP. Besides, clans could split and sometimes merge.
The country was divided into clan possessions (''mintswil'', pl. ''mintswilhur''), but in big cities the members of different clans were mixed.
It is interesting to note that ethnic identity played little part in the hierarchy of clans: some influential clans were known to be of a non-Affanonic origin, and in everyday life their members spoke local [[Peninsular languages|Peninsular]] dialects (related to [[Lotoka]]) or tribal languages of [[Proto-Isthmus|Isthmus]] origin (akin to [[Doroh]]). Besides, the dialects of a few groups usually identified with the Affanons were in fact separate [[Isles languages|Isles]] languages hardly mutually intelligible with Affanonic.
By ca. 200 YP profound transformations of the clan structure had starded. Membership in the ''linnemintsoi'', as well as in a few other prestigeous clans, was increasingly often granted for individual merits; double and multiple clan membership becomes common, As a result, the ''linnemintsoi'' differentiated, and from 230 YP on the issues of power transition were decided on by so-called "Narrow Assembly" (''Mimati Tifføf'') composed of closest relatives and most trusted attendants of the ''linnenon''; the default candidate ''linnenon'' was invariably the retiring ''linnenon''ʼs eldest son.

= Religion =

The Affanons worshiped a whole pantheon of gods headed by the supreme celestial deity, ''Tejenry''. Since the Sun and the Moon were considered the Eyes of Tejenry, special importance was attributed to the times when both are seen simultaneously, i. e. when Tejenry watches the mortals with both of His eyes. Due to the importance of certain associated rituals, the development of the methods of prediction of such times played a part in the advancement of astronomy.

= Names =

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|-
! Language
! Name
! Pronunciation
! Source
|-
! [[Affanonic]]
| Affalinnei (''esp. referring to the state''); Affanamil (''esp. when speaking of the territory'')
| [af.fa.ˈlin.nei], [af.ˈfa.na.mil]
| native compounds, lit. "eastern-leadership", "eastern-person-country"
|}

= See also =

* [[Affanonic]]

{{Stub}}

[[Category:Nations]]

User talk:Cedh

2009-06-13T12:10:19Z

Basilius:

Hi Cedh! I don't know how to replace "Affanon" with "Affalinnei" in the map (see [[Affalinnei]]). Can you help, please? --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 01:48, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
: I changed the text in my PSD file. -- [[User:Cedh|Cedh]] 07:31, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
:: Thank you! --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 12:10, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

User talk:Cedh

2009-06-13T01:48:30Z

Basilius: on editing the map

Hi Cedh! I don't know how to replace "Affanon" with "Affalinnei" in the map (see [[Affalinnei]]). Can you help, please? --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 01:48, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Affalinnei

2009-06-13T01:43:16Z

Basilius: New page: {{Nation | nation = Affalinnei | native = Affalinnei | map = NE Huyfárah and Affalinnei c. 200-400 YP | capital = ''unknown'' | cities = ''unknown...

{{Nation
| nation = Affalinnei
| native = Affalinnei
| map = [[Image:Affanon1.jpg|250px|NE Huyfárah and Affalinnei c. 200-400 YP]]
| capital = ''unknown''
| cities = ''unknown''
| language = [[Affanonic]]
| demonym = Affanons
| gov-type = hierarchy of clans transforming to monarchy
| rise = c. -200 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]]
| fall = ''unknown''
| succ = ''unknown''
| author = [[User:Basilius|Basilius]]
}}
{{Article}}

 

The "kingdom" of '''Affalinnei''' (a native [[Affanonic]] compound, analyzable as 'eastern-leadership' or 'Affanonic-leadership') is a small state located on the [[Affalinnei Peninsula]] forming part of the southern coast of northeastern [[Peilaš]], west of [[Lotoka]]. The dominant ethic group of the kingdom were the Affanons, speaking the [[Affanonic]] language of the [[Isles languages|Isles family]].
 

= History =

The speakers of various [[Isles languages|Isles]] dialects were already present on the Affalinnei Peninsula as early as around -1000 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]], having migrated there from SW [[Tuysáfa]] via [[Sumarušuxi]]. Originally they occupied the coastal areas and did not dominate the hinterland inhabited mostly by [[Doroh]]-speaking tribes. However, as the increased importance of coastal trade transformed the settlements of Isles-speaking groups into seaports, their dialects served as the basis of the lingua franca spoken all over the country.

The kingdom of Affalinnei is first mentioned in historical sources dating from around -200 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]] when the Affanons attempted at establishing some trading settlements or colonies in the coastal areas of [[Huyfárah]]. Later on the kingdom was involved in the efforts of the Fáralo rulers to exterminate piracy which was a serious impediment for coastal trade in the region. Some sources from early 1st millennium YP seem to mention the Affanons acting as vassals of Huyfárah, but the contexts do not provide sufficient detail.

= State and Society =

Although the earliest historical sources (mostly written in Huyfárah) usually call the state of the Affanons a "kingdom", this was most likely a misperception: the "king" (''linnenon'') of Affalinnei was indeed chosen from a specific kinship group, but originally the title was neither hereditary nor lifelong.
The society of the Affanons was organized as a hierarchy of clans (''mintsokkwi'', pl. ''mintsokkwijur'') rather than individuals. The leader (''mintsonon'') of the leading clan (''linnemintsoi'') was also the supreme ruler (''linnenon'') of the country; however, a ''linnenon'' was elected via a set of complex procedures and could not retain his or her title after 50 years of age when the retarded ''linnenon'' was automatically appointed the president of the clan's Assembly (''mintsotifføf'').
The hierarchical relations between clans, although typically centuries-old already by -200 YP, were not absolutely rigid either; thus, the leading clan of Affalinnei changed no less than four times between -200 YP and 400 YP. Besides, clans could split and sometimes merge.
The country was divided into clan possessions (''mintswil'', pl. ''mintswilhur''), but in big cities the members of different clans were mixed.
It is interesting to note that ethnic identity played little part in the hierarchy of clans: some influential clans were known to be of a non-Affanonic origin, and in everyday life their members spoke local [[Peninsular languages|Peninsular]] dialects (related to [[Lotoka]]) or tribal languages of [[Proto-Isthmus|Isthmus]] origin (akin to [[Doroh]]). Besides, the dialects of a few groups usually identified with the Affanons were in fact separate [[Isles languages|Isles]] languages hardly mutually intelligible with Affanonic.

= Religion =

The Affanons worshiped a whole pantheon of gods headed by the supreme celestial deity, ''Tejenry''. Since the Sun and the Moon were considered the Eyes of Tejenry, special importance was attributed to the times when both are seen simultaneously, i. e. when Tejenry watches the mortals with both of His eyes. Due to the importance of certain associated rituals, the development of the methods of prediction of such times played a part in the advancement of astronomy.

= Names =

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|-
! Language
! Name
! Pronunciation
! Source
|-
! [[Affanonic]]
| Affalinnei (''esp. referring to the state''); Affanamil (''esp. when speaking of the territory'')
| [af.fa.ˈlin.nei], [af.ˈfa.na.mil]
| native compounds, lit. "eastern-leadership", "eastern-person-country"
|}

= See also =

* [[Affanonic]]

{{Stub}}

[[Category:Nations]]

Affanonic/Grammar

2009-06-12T21:52:40Z

Basilius: slicing...

== Phonetics ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Phonetics}}

== Morphonology ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Morphonology}}

== Morphology ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Morphology}}

== Syntax ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Syntax}}

== Lexical derivation ==

 Derivation of nouns [''Stuff to be added later''] Derivation of verbs Preverbs [''Stuff to be added later''] Compound verbs [''Stuff to be added later''] 

{{stub}}

[[Category:Isles languages]]

Affanonic/Grammar/Syntax

2009-06-12T21:51:58Z

Basilius:

=== Nominal groups ===

 
The nominal group template can be presented as follows: 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
| -3 || -2 || -1 || '''0''' || 1 || 2 || 3
|- align="center"
| A prepositive demonstrative || A genitive (with or without dependents) or a prepositive relative clause || An adjective (with or without dependents) || The head noun || The postpositive demonstrative (and/or other appositions) || An adverbial particle or a noun in oblique case used attributively || A postpositive relative clause
|-
|}
 
 
It is very usual to construe a noun denoting a possessor not as the usual genitive but as substantivized genitive put in apposition. This option is especially common when the genitive has its own attributes, and obligatory if any of such attributes are postpositive. 
All dependents of an adjective are put before it: 
'''''Mjunkima₁ njunta₂''' pir₃.'' 'A₀ ditch₃ '''full₂ of₍₁₎ water₁'''.' 
'''''Liloi₁ mjunkima₂ njunta₃''' pir₄.'' 'A₀ ditch₄ '''full₃ of₍₂₎ black₁ water₂'''.' 
This is also true of comparative constructions: 
'''''Sajurnjun₁ tsera₂ sunol₃''' nontai₄.'' 'A₀ man₄ '''stronger₃ than₂ others₁'''.' 
An adjective cannot be separated from its head noun except by another adjective, which cannot normally have any arguments of its own. 
To obviate the restrictions on word order, an adjective is often replaced with a relative clause based on the adjective and the copula verb ''nini'' 'to be': 
''Nontai₁ fylli₂ '''sajurnjun₃ tsera₄ sunol₅''' nini₆.'' 'A₀ man₁ (who₂ is₆) '''stronger₅ than₄ others₃'''.' 
Note that personal pronouns have relative freedom of taking all the types of attributes allowed with the regular nouns, e. g.: 
'''''Situn₁ ei₂''' wo₃ tituli₄ njau₅.''''' 'Stupid₁ me₂, I₂''' did₍₄₋₅₎n't₃ know₄₋₅ (that₀)'. 

==== Relative clauses ====

 Since in their internal structure the relative clauses of Affanonic present no peculiarities compared to main clauses, it is more convenient to consider them in the section on nominal groups. 

==== Prepositive relative clauses ====

 The easiest way to construe a relative clause in Affanonic is simply to put the predicate (with or without its arguments) immediately before the head noun. This option is especially common when the predicate has no dependent nouns. The head noun fills an argument valency of the predicate. However, by itself this construction provides no information on the specific argument role of the head noun, which therefore remains to be retrieved from the context. With intransitive verbs, there is a tendency to interprete the head noun as filling the subject valency, e. g.: 
 
'''''Tsjurin₁''' nontai₂.'' 'The₀ man₂ '''who₀ came₁''' (has come)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ '''tsjurin₂''''' 'The₀ man₁ '''has₍₂₎ come₂'.''' 
With transitive verbs, the head noun often fills the valency for direct object: 
'''''Føref₁''' øfja₂.'' 'The₀ horse₂ '''that₀ has₍₁₎ been₍₁₎ killed₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Øfjawes₁ '''føref₂'''.'' '(Somebody₀) '''killed₂''' the₀ horse₁'. 
However, the head noun can in principle correspond to any other role, e. g. expressed by a spatial case: 
'''''Ei₁ jeke₂''' fei₃.'' 'The₀ house₃ '''where₀ I₁ live₂'.''' 
Cf.: '''''Ei₁''' a₂ fewiry₃ '''jeke₄'''.''''' 'I₁ live₄''' in₍₃₎ his₂ house₃'. 
Some disambiguation is achieved if the relative clause has an explicit argument; then the head noun can fill only a remaining argument valency: 
'''''Øfjawes₁ føref₂''' nontai₃ li₄ ri₅.'' 'This₄₋₅ man₃ '''who₀ killed₂ the₀ horse₁'.''' 
'''''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ føref₄''' øfja₅.'' 'The₀ horse₅ '''killed₄ by₀ this₂₋₃ man₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ øfjawes₄ føref₅.'' 'This₂₋₃ man₁ killed₅ the₀ horse₄'. 
A more powerful means of disambiguation is provided by the use of the role-switching marker whose case indicates the role to be filled by the head noun: 
'''''Lili₁ føref₂''' nontai₃.'' 'The₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ '''lili₄ føref₅'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ man₁, '''he₍₄₎ killed₅''' (somebody₀)'. 
'''''Pipyry₁ ei₂ jeke₃''' fei₄.'' 'The₀ house₄ '''in₍₁₎ which₍₁₎ I₂ live₃'.''' 
Cf.: ''Fei₁ li₂ ri₃ '''pipyry₄ ei₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ house₁, '''I₅ live₆ in₍₄₎ it₍₄₎'.''' 
However, the use of the role-switching marker may cause some problems, too. Specifically, the role-switching marker can be understood as part of the main clause rather than the relative clause. Thus, a sentence like: 
''Lili føref nontawis hunti.'' 
- has two possible interpretations: 
 (a) ''Lili₁ (('''føref₂''' nontawis₃) hunti₄).'' 
'(Somebody₍₁₎ already₍₁₎ mentioned₍₁₎) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₀ had₍₂₎ been₍₂₎ killed₂'.''' 
 (b) ''(('''Lili₁ føref₂''') nontawis₃) hunti₄.'' 
'(Somebody₀) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ had₍₂₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀ else₀)'. 
Another problem common to all types of prepositive relative clauses is that basically they occupy the same slot in the nominal group template as genitives. Indeed, if put before the genitive, they are naturally understood as depending on the noun in genitive rather than its head: 
'''''Føref₁ nontol₂''' øfja₃.'' 'The₀ horse₃ '''of₍₂₎ the₀ man₂ who₀ was₍₁₎ killed₁' '''(rather than **'The man's killed horse'). 
For this reason, prepositive relative clauses depending on a genitive's head noun are allowed to precede only the genitives of personal pronouns, e. g.: 
''E₁ myffawis₂ rissjun₃ '''a₄ miti₅'''.''''' 'His₄ daughter₅''' who₀ washed₃ my₁ cloak₂'. 
On the other hand, if the relative clause has any explicit nominal arguments, a preceding genitive will be naturally understood as part of the relative clause: 
'''''E₁ øfjawes₂ haf₃''' u₄.'' 'The₀ dog₄ '''that₀ bit₃ my₁ horse₂' '''(rather than **'My dog that bit the horse'). 
For this reason, genitives depending on the head noun can precede a relative clause only if the latter has no explicit nominal arguments, e. g.: 
''To₁ '''fje₂ tsalami₃ nyral₄''' miti₅.'' 'Your₁ daughter₅ '''who₀ sings₃₋₄ beautifully₂'.''' 
To avoid the restrictions associated with prepositive relative clauses, other types of relative clauses can be used. 

==== Postpositive relative clauses ====

 
These are formed using the relative pronoun ''fylli'' which indicates the role of the head noun explicitly, e. g.: 
''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃ '''fylli₄ e₅ myffawis₆ rissjun₇'''.'' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃ '''who₄ washed₇ my₅ cloak₆'''.' 
''To₁ kommufal₂ fei₃ '''fyppyry₄ toi₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'Your₁ husband's₂ house₃ '''in₄ which₄ you₅ live₆'''.' 
Postpositive relative clauses often have a pronoun (especially the cataphoric ''ri'') as their head: 
'''''Ri₁ fylli₂ ajurys₃ suffi₄ tsjurin₅''' lili₆ e₇ kommu₈ nini₉ jawa₁₀.''''' 'He₁ who₂ has₍₄₋₅₎ brought₄₋₅ them₃''' will₁₀ be₉ my₇ husband₈'. 
The above example illustrates another peculiarity of postpositive relative clauses: to avoid their predicate's being perceived as forming a serial construction with the predicate of the main clause, the role-switching marker (''lili'' in this example) is inserted after the relative clause; it refers to the topic of the sentence, which may coincide or not with the head noun of the relative clause. 
A restriction associated with postpositive relative clauses is that nouns in genitive cannot take any postpositive attributes, including relative clauses. This problem can be solved, as usual, by substantivizing the genitive and construing it as an apposition: 
''Fei₁ '''li₂ to₃ mitisalli₄''' fylli₅ fje₆ tsalami₇ nyral₈.'' 'The₀ house₁ (which₂ is₂) '''of₍₄₎ your₃ daughter₄''' who₅ sings₇₋₈ beautifully₆.' 
The postpositive relative clauses can be extraposited, i. e. put after the main predicate of the sentence in which their head noun is an argument. In such cases, the head noun must be the last nominal constituent that precedes the main predicate: 
'''''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃''' tsjurin₄ '''fylli₅''' e₆ myffawis₇ rissjun₈.''''' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃''' has₍₄₎ come₄ '''who₅''' washed₈ my₆ cloak₇.' 

==== Head-internal relative clauses ====

 
In this type, the head noun must either be one of the pronouns ''ri'', ''risti'', ''rinau'', or have ''ri'' as its attribute. The head noun remains within the relative clause in its usual form and position, according to its syntactic role; its role in the main clause is conveyed with the role-switching marker: 
'''''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄''' lili₅ e₆ fei₇ nini₈ jawa₉''''' 'The₀ place₃ where₃ you₁ found₄ them₂''' will₉ be₈ my₆ homeplace₇'. 
Cf. ''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄.'' 'You₁ found₄ them₂ here₃'. 
This type of relative clauses is widely used in Affanonic. However, it is normally required that the relative clause should constitute the topic part of the sentence. 
Head-internal clauses are often used to single out a nominal group constituting the contrastive (or otherwise emphasized) rheme of the sentence. This construction is similar in structure with the English ''"It is X that Y"'' (only with the order of components reversed):
 
''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅ lili₆ '''to₇ myffai₈ nini₉'''.''''' 'It₍₁₋₆₎ is₉ your₇ cloak₈''' that₍₁₋₆₎ my₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅' 
Cf. ''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅.'' 'My₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅ it/this₁.'
 

=== Main clause ===

 

==== Word order ====

 
The verb must be put in the end of the main clause (as actually of any other type of clause); it can be followed by discourse particles, but the latter can be viewed as a special type of auxiliary verbs. Only extraposited subordinate clauses (either postpositive relative or conveying reported speech) can be put after the main predicate. 
Adverbs must immediately precede their head verb and cannot be separated from it except by another adverb. 
The order of all the other constituents is “free”, since morphology provides sufficient information about their syntactic roles. The most prominent regularity with their placement is a tendency to consider one nominal constituent as “topic” and the rest of the sentence as a comment describing its condition or an event that happened to it. Normally (i. e. in unemphatic speech), the topic is put first, and all the other constituents follow it. 
There is a tendency to put contrastive (and other emphasized) topics in nominative, irrespective of their intended syntactic role, and to put the role-switching marker immediately after them. 
Any constituent can be dropped when clear from the context. In principle, a verb taken alone can be a grammatical sentence. 

==== Serial constructions ====

 [''Stuff to be added later''] 

==== Copula ====

 
The most common copula is ''nini'' v. ipf. 'to be'; another example is ''njun'' v. pf. 'to become'. 
A noun used as nominal predicate must be in the nominative case. 
Adjectives are used in their usual uninflected form. 
Nouns in spatial cases (mostly locative) and some adverbial particles are put before the copula without any modifications. 

=== Negation ===

 The negative particle ''wo'' can be put before any part of the sentence to negate it. 

=== Adpositions ===

 
Adpositions can be derived from verbs or nouns. 

==== Postpositions derived from verbs ====

 
Some verbs in the position of the first part of a serial construction can be used to introduce their object as an additional nominal argument of the main predicate, i. e. like a postposition. The verb ''tsomin'' v. pf. 'to take' is often used in this way, as e. g. in the following sentence: 
''Nontai₁ '''sunollowis₂ tsomin₃''' nontisal₄ mitserawis₅ ni₆.'' 'The man made the woman's small image of wood' (lit.: 'The₀ man₁, '''having₍₃₎ taken₃ wood₂''', made₆ a₀ small₅ image₅ of₍₄₎ the₀ woman₄'). 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

==== Adpositions derived from nouns ====

 
Typically, an adposition is derived from a case form of noun with an attributed genitive, and thus is a postposition governing the genitive case. For example, from the inessive of ''tswis'' 'inner side, part; interior, inside': 
''Fesal₁ tswisyry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
''Fesal₁ tswismoi₂'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₂₎ of₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
However, the genitive can be substantivized, and put after the adposition as its apposition: 
''Tswisys₁ pys₂ fesallyry₃'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
''Tswisma₁ ma₂ fesalmoi₃'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ of₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
This pattern may produce e. g. a preposition that governs an essive or ablative case of substantivized genitive, as above. 
Besides, the lexical noun can be put in a spatial case which is used as a postpositive attribute to ''tswis'' in the same or another spatial case: 
''Tswisyry₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
''Tswismoi₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₎ of₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
This produces a preposition again, but now governing a spatial case of the lexical noun itself rather than of its substantivized genitive. 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

=== Reported speech ===

 
The reported speech clauses (which actually can be used to convey the content of knowledge, thought etc.) can be construed in one of two ways. 
One way is to use the clause as the topic of a sentence and to mark its syntactic role with the role-switching pronoun: 
'''''Toi₁ tsjuma₂ tsjurin₃ pipys₄''' ai₅ fati₆.'' 'He₅ said₆ '''that₍₄₎ you₁ would₂ come₃'.''' 
The other way is to mark its role in the main clause with the cataphoric ''ri'' in appropriate case, and to put the subordinate clause after the main predicate: 
''Ai₁ '''hus'''₂ fati₃, '''toi₄ tsjuma₅ tsjurin₆'''.'' 'He₁ said₃ '''that₍₂₎ you₄ would₅ come₆'.''' 
The latter type is called “extraposited”.

Affanonic/Grammar/Syntax

2009-06-12T21:49:44Z

Basilius: slicing...

=== Nominal groups ===

 
The nominal group template can be presented as follows: 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
| -3 || -2 || -1 || '''0''' || 1 || 2 || 3
|- align="center"
| A prepositive demonstrative || A genitive (with or without dependents) or a prepositive relative clause || An adjective (with or without dependents) || The head noun || The postpositive demonstrative (and/or other appositions) || An adverbial particle or a noun in oblique case used attributively || A postpositive relative clause
|-
|}
 
 
It is very usual to construe a noun denoting a possessor not as the usual genitive but as substantivized genitive put in apposition. This option is especially common when the genitive has its own attributes, and obligatory if any of such attributes are postpositive. 
All dependents of an adjective are put before it: 
'''''Mjunkima₁ njunta₂''' pir₃.'' 'A₀ ditch₃ '''full₂ of₍₁₎ water₁'''.' 
'''''Liloi₁ mjunkima₂ njunta₃''' pir₄.'' 'A₀ ditch₄ '''full₃ of₍₂₎ black₁ water₂'''.' 
This is also true of comparative constructions: 
'''''Sajurnjun₁ tsera₂ sunol₃''' nontai₄.'' 'A₀ man₄ '''stronger₃ than₂ others₁'''.' 
An adjective cannot be separated from its head noun except by another adjective, which cannot normally have any arguments of its own. 
To obviate the restrictions on word order, an adjective is often replaced with a relative clause based on the adjective and the copula verb ''nini'' 'to be': 
''Nontai₁ fylli₂ '''sajurnjun₃ tsera₄ sunol₅''' nini₆.'' 'A₀ man₁ (who₂ is₆) '''stronger₅ than₄ others₃'''.' 
Note that personal pronouns have relative freedom of taking all the types of attributes allowed with the regular nouns, e. g.: 
'''''Situn₁ ei₂''' wo₃ tituli₄ njau₅.''''' 'Stupid₁ me₂, I₂''' did₍₄₋₅₎n't₃ know₄₋₅ (that₀)'. 

==== Relative clauses ====

 Since in their internal structure the relative clauses of Affanonic present no peculiarities compared to main clauses, it is more convenient to consider them in the section on nominal groups. 

==== Prepositive relative clauses ====

 The easiest way to construe a relative clause in Affanonic is simply to put the predicate (with or without its arguments) immediately before the head noun. This option is especially common when the predicate has no dependent nouns. The head noun fills an argument valency of the predicate. However, by itself this construction provides no information on the specific argument role of the head noun, which therefore remains to be retrieved from the context. With intransitive verbs, there is a tendency to interprete the head noun as filling the subject valency, e. g.: 
 
'''''Tsjurin₁''' nontai₂.'' 'The₀ man₂ '''who₀ came₁''' (has come)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ '''tsjurin₂''''' 'The₀ man₁ '''has₍₂₎ come₂'.''' 
With transitive verbs, the head noun often fills the valency for direct object: 
'''''Føref₁''' øfja₂.'' 'The₀ horse₂ '''that₀ has₍₁₎ been₍₁₎ killed₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Øfjawes₁ '''føref₂'''.'' '(Somebody₀) '''killed₂''' the₀ horse₁'. 
However, the head noun can in principle correspond to any other role, e. g. expressed by a spatial case: 
'''''Ei₁ jeke₂''' fei₃.'' 'The₀ house₃ '''where₀ I₁ live₂'.''' 
Cf.: '''''Ei₁''' a₂ fewiry₃ '''jeke₄'''.''''' 'I₁ live₄''' in₍₃₎ his₂ house₃'. 
Some disambiguation is achieved if the relative clause has an explicit argument; then the head noun can fill only a remaining argument valency: 
'''''Øfjawes₁ føref₂''' nontai₃ li₄ ri₅.'' 'This₄₋₅ man₃ '''who₀ killed₂ the₀ horse₁'.''' 
'''''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ føref₄''' øfja₅.'' 'The₀ horse₅ '''killed₄ by₀ this₂₋₃ man₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ øfjawes₄ føref₅.'' 'This₂₋₃ man₁ killed₅ the₀ horse₄'. 
A more powerful means of disambiguation is provided by the use of the role-switching marker whose case indicates the role to be filled by the head noun: 
'''''Lili₁ føref₂''' nontai₃.'' 'The₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ '''lili₄ føref₅'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ man₁, '''he₍₄₎ killed₅''' (somebody₀)'. 
'''''Pipyry₁ ei₂ jeke₃''' fei₄.'' 'The₀ house₄ '''in₍₁₎ which₍₁₎ I₂ live₃'.''' 
Cf.: ''Fei₁ li₂ ri₃ '''pipyry₄ ei₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ house₁, '''I₅ live₆ in₍₄₎ it₍₄₎'.''' 
However, the use of the role-switching marker may cause some problems, too. Specifically, the role-switching marker can be understood as part of the main clause rather than the relative clause. Thus, a sentence like: 
''Lili føref nontawis hunti.'' 
- has two possible interpretations: 
 (a) ''Lili₁ (('''føref₂''' nontawis₃) hunti₄).'' 
'(Somebody₍₁₎ already₍₁₎ mentioned₍₁₎) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₀ had₍₂₎ been₍₂₎ killed₂'.''' 
 (b) ''(('''Lili₁ føref₂''') nontawis₃) hunti₄.'' 
'(Somebody₀) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ had₍₂₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀ else₀)'. 
Another problem common to all types of prepositive relative clauses is that basically they occupy the same slot in the nominal group template as genitives. Indeed, if put before the genitive, they are naturally understood as depending on the noun in genitive rather than its head: 
'''''Føref₁ nontol₂''' øfja₃.'' 'The₀ horse₃ '''of₍₂₎ the₀ man₂ who₀ was₍₁₎ killed₁' '''(rather than **'The man's killed horse'). 
For this reason, prepositive relative clauses depending on a genitive's head noun are allowed to precede only the genitives of personal pronouns, e. g.: 
''E₁ myffawis₂ rissjun₃ '''a₄ miti₅'''.''''' 'His₄ daughter₅''' who₀ washed₃ my₁ cloak₂'. 
On the other hand, if the relative clause has any explicit nominal arguments, a preceding genitive will be naturally understood as part of the relative clause: 
'''''E₁ øfjawes₂ haf₃''' u₄.'' 'The₀ dog₄ '''that₀ bit₃ my₁ horse₂' '''(rather than **'My dog that bit the horse'). 
For this reason, genitives depending on the head noun can precede a relative clause only if the latter has no explicit nominal arguments, e. g.: 
''To₁ '''fje₂ tsalami₃ nyral₄''' miti₅.'' 'Your₁ daughter₅ '''who₀ sings₃₋₄ beautifully₂'.''' 
To avoid the restrictions associated with prepositive relative clauses, other types of relative clauses can be used. 

==== Postpositive relative clauses ====

 
These are formed using the relative pronoun ''fylli'' which indicates the role of the head noun explicitly, e. g.: 
''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃ '''fylli₄ e₅ myffawis₆ rissjun₇'''.'' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃ '''who₄ washed₇ my₅ cloak₆'''.' 
''To₁ kommufal₂ fei₃ '''fyppyry₄ toi₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'Your₁ husband's₂ house₃ '''in₄ which₄ you₅ live₆'''.' 
Postpositive relative clauses often have a pronoun (especially the cataphoric ''ri'') as their head: 
'''''Ri₁ fylli₂ ajurys₃ suffi₄ tsjurin₅''' lili₆ e₇ kommu₈ nini₉ jawa₁₀.''''' 'He₁ who₂ has₍₄₋₅₎ brought₄₋₅ them₃''' will₁₀ be₉ my₇ husband₈'. 
The above example illustrates another peculiarity of postpositive relative clauses: to avoid their predicate's being perceived as forming a serial construction with the predicate of the main clause, the role-switching marker (''lili'' in this example) is inserted after the relative clause; it refers to the topic of the sentence, which may coincide or not with the head noun of the relative clause. 
A restriction associated with postpositive relative clauses is that nouns in genitive cannot take any postpositive attributes, including relative clauses. This problem can be solved, as usual, by substantivizing the genitive and construing it as an apposition: 
''Fei₁ '''li₂ to₃ mitisalli₄''' fylli₅ fje₆ tsalami₇ nyral₈.'' 'The₀ house₁ (which₂ is₂) '''of₍₄₎ your₃ daughter₄''' who₅ sings₇₋₈ beautifully₆.' 
The postpositive relative clauses can be extraposited, i. e. put after the main predicate of the sentence in which their head noun is an argument. In such cases, the head noun must be the last nominal constituent that precedes the main predicate: 
'''''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃''' tsjurin₄ '''fylli₅''' e₆ myffawis₇ rissjun₈.''''' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃''' has₍₄₎ come₄ '''who₅''' washed₈ my₆ cloak₇.' 

==== Head-internal relative clauses ====

 
In this type, the head noun must either be one of the pronouns ''ri'', ''risti'', ''rinau'', or have ''ri'' as its attribute. The head noun remains within the relative clause in its usual form and position, according to its syntactic role; its role in the main clause is conveyed with the role-switching marker: 
'''''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄''' lili₅ e₆ fei₇ nini₈ jawa₉''''' 'The₀ place₃ where₃ you₁ found₄ them₂''' will₉ be₈ my₆ homeplace₇'. 
Cf. ''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄.'' 'You₁ found₄ them₂ here₃'. 
This type of relative clauses is widely used in Affanonic. However, it is normally required that the relative clause should constitute the topic part of the sentence. 
Head-internal clauses are often used to single out a nominal group constituting the contrastive (or otherwise emphasized) rheme of the sentence. This construction is similar in structure with the English ''"It is X that Y"'' (only with the order of components reversed):
 
''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅ lili₆ '''to₇ myffai₈ nini₉'''.''''' 'It₍₁₋₆₎ is₉ your₇ cloak₈''' that₍₁₋₆₎ my₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅' 
Cf. ''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅.'' 'My₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅ it/this₁.'
 

=== Main clause ===

 

==== Word order ====

 
The verb must be put in the end of the main clause (as actually of any other type of clause); it can be followed by discourse particles, but the latter can be viewed as a special type of auxiliary verbs. Only extraposited subordinate clauses (either postpositive relative or conveying reported speech) can be put after the main predicate. 
Adverbs must immediately precede their head verb and cannot be separated from it except by another adverb. 
The order of all the other constituents is “free”, since morphology provides sufficient information about their syntactic roles. The most prominent regularity with their placement is a tendency to consider one nominal constituent as “topic” and the rest of the sentence as a comment describing its condition or an event that happened to it. Normally (i. e. in unemphatic speech), the topic is put first, and all the other constituents follow it. 
There is a tendency to put contrastive (and other emphasized) topics in nominative, irrespective of their intended syntactic role, and to put the role-switching marker immediately after them. 
Any constituent can be dropped when clear from the context. In principle, a verb taken alone can be a grammatical sentence. 

==== Serial constructions ====

 [''Stuff to be added later''] 

==== Copula ====

 
The most common copula is ''nini'' v. ipf. 'to be'; another example is ''njun'' v. pf. 'to become'. 
A noun used as nominal predicate must be in the nominative case. 
Adjectives are used in their usual uninflected form. 
Nouns in spatial cases (mostly locative) and some adverbial particles are put before the copula without any modifications. 

=== Negation ===

 The negative particle ''wo'' can be put before any part of the sentence to negate it. 

=== Adpositions ===

 
Adpositions can be derived from verbs or nouns. 

==== Postpositions derived from verbs ====

 
Some verbs in the position of the first part of a serial construction can be used to introduce their object as an additional nominal argument of the main predicate, i. e. like a postposition. The verb ''tsomin'' v. pf. 'to take' is often used in this way, as e. g. in the following sentence: 
''Nontai₁ '''sunollowis₂ tsomin₃''' nontisal₄ mitserawis₅ ni₆.'' 'The man made the woman's small image of wood' (lit.: 'The₀ man₁, '''having₍₃₎ taken₃ wood₂''', made₆ a₀ small₅ image₅ of₍₄₎ the₀ woman₄'). 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

==== Adpositions derived from nouns ====

 
Typically, an adposition is derived from a case form of noun with an attributed genitive, and thus is a postposition governing the genitive case. For example, from the inessive of ''tswis'' 'inner side, part; interior, inside': 
''Fesal₁ tswisyry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
''Fesal₁ tswismoi₂'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₂₎ of₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
However, the genitive can be substantivized, and put after the adposition as its apposition: 
''Tswisys₁ pys₂ fesallyry₃'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
''Tswisma₁ ma₂ fesalmoi₃'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ of₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
This pattern may produce e. g. a preposition that governs an essive or ablative case of substantivized genitive, as above. 
Besides, the lexical noun can be put in a spatial case which is used as a postpositive attribute to ''tswis'' in the same or another spatial case: 
''Tswisyry₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
''Tswismoi₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₎ of₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
This produces a preposition again, but now governing a spatial case of the lexical noun itself rather than of its substantivized genitive. 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

=== Reported speech ===

 
The reported speech clauses (which actually can be used to convey the content of knowledge, thought etc.) can be construed in one of two ways. 
One way is to use the clause as the topic of a sentence and to mark its syntactic role with the role-switching pronoun: 
'''''Toi₁ tsjuma₂ tsjurin₃ pipys₄''' ai₅ fati₆.'' 'He₅ said₆ '''that₍₄₎ you₁ would₂ come₃'.''' 
The other way is to mark its role in the main clause with the cataphoric ''ri'' in appropriate case, and to put the subordinate clause after the main predicate: 
''Ai₁ '''hus'''₂ fati₃, '''toi₄ tsjuma₅ tsjurin₆'''.'' 'He₁ said₃ '''that₍₂₎ you₄ would₅ come₆'.''' 
The latter type is called “extraposited”.

Affanonic/Grammar

2009-06-12T21:46:09Z

Basilius: slicing...

== Phonetics ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Phonetics}}

== Morphonology ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Morphonology}}

== Morphology ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Morphology}}

== Syntax ==

 

=== Nominal groups ===

 
The nominal group template can be presented as follows: 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
| -3 || -2 || -1 || '''0''' || 1 || 2 || 3
|- align="center"
| A prepositive demonstrative || A genitive (with or without dependents) or a prepositive relative clause || An adjective (with or without dependents) || The head noun || The postpositive demonstrative (and/or other appositions) || An adverbial particle or a noun in oblique case used attributively || A postpositive relative clause
|-
|}
 
 
It is very usual to construe a noun denoting a possessor not as the usual genitive but as substantivized genitive put in apposition. This option is especially common when the genitive has its own attributes, and obligatory if any of such attributes are postpositive. 
All dependents of an adjective are put before it: 
'''''Mjunkima₁ njunta₂''' pir₃.'' 'A₀ ditch₃ '''full₂ of₍₁₎ water₁'''.' 
'''''Liloi₁ mjunkima₂ njunta₃''' pir₄.'' 'A₀ ditch₄ '''full₃ of₍₂₎ black₁ water₂'''.' 
This is also true of comparative constructions: 
'''''Sajurnjun₁ tsera₂ sunol₃''' nontai₄.'' 'A₀ man₄ '''stronger₃ than₂ others₁'''.' 
An adjective cannot be separated from its head noun except by another adjective, which cannot normally have any arguments of its own. 
To obviate the restrictions on word order, an adjective is often replaced with a relative clause based on the adjective and the copula verb ''nini'' 'to be': 
''Nontai₁ fylli₂ '''sajurnjun₃ tsera₄ sunol₅''' nini₆.'' 'A₀ man₁ (who₂ is₆) '''stronger₅ than₄ others₃'''.' 
Note that personal pronouns have relative freedom of taking all the types of attributes allowed with the regular nouns, e. g.: 
'''''Situn₁ ei₂''' wo₃ tituli₄ njau₅.''''' 'Stupid₁ me₂, I₂''' did₍₄₋₅₎n't₃ know₄₋₅ (that₀)'. 

==== Relative clauses ====

 Since in their internal structure the relative clauses of Affanonic present no peculiarities compared to main clauses, it is more convenient to consider them in the section on nominal groups. 

==== Prepositive relative clauses ====

 The easiest way to construe a relative clause in Affanonic is simply to put the predicate (with or without its arguments) immediately before the head noun. This option is especially common when the predicate has no dependent nouns. The head noun fills an argument valency of the predicate. However, by itself this construction provides no information on the specific argument role of the head noun, which therefore remains to be retrieved from the context. With intransitive verbs, there is a tendency to interprete the head noun as filling the subject valency, e. g.: 
 
'''''Tsjurin₁''' nontai₂.'' 'The₀ man₂ '''who₀ came₁''' (has come)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ '''tsjurin₂''''' 'The₀ man₁ '''has₍₂₎ come₂'.''' 
With transitive verbs, the head noun often fills the valency for direct object: 
'''''Føref₁''' øfja₂.'' 'The₀ horse₂ '''that₀ has₍₁₎ been₍₁₎ killed₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Øfjawes₁ '''føref₂'''.'' '(Somebody₀) '''killed₂''' the₀ horse₁'. 
However, the head noun can in principle correspond to any other role, e. g. expressed by a spatial case: 
'''''Ei₁ jeke₂''' fei₃.'' 'The₀ house₃ '''where₀ I₁ live₂'.''' 
Cf.: '''''Ei₁''' a₂ fewiry₃ '''jeke₄'''.''''' 'I₁ live₄''' in₍₃₎ his₂ house₃'. 
Some disambiguation is achieved if the relative clause has an explicit argument; then the head noun can fill only a remaining argument valency: 
'''''Øfjawes₁ føref₂''' nontai₃ li₄ ri₅.'' 'This₄₋₅ man₃ '''who₀ killed₂ the₀ horse₁'.''' 
'''''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ føref₄''' øfja₅.'' 'The₀ horse₅ '''killed₄ by₀ this₂₋₃ man₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ øfjawes₄ føref₅.'' 'This₂₋₃ man₁ killed₅ the₀ horse₄'. 
A more powerful means of disambiguation is provided by the use of the role-switching marker whose case indicates the role to be filled by the head noun: 
'''''Lili₁ føref₂''' nontai₃.'' 'The₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ '''lili₄ føref₅'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ man₁, '''he₍₄₎ killed₅''' (somebody₀)'. 
'''''Pipyry₁ ei₂ jeke₃''' fei₄.'' 'The₀ house₄ '''in₍₁₎ which₍₁₎ I₂ live₃'.''' 
Cf.: ''Fei₁ li₂ ri₃ '''pipyry₄ ei₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ house₁, '''I₅ live₆ in₍₄₎ it₍₄₎'.''' 
However, the use of the role-switching marker may cause some problems, too. Specifically, the role-switching marker can be understood as part of the main clause rather than the relative clause. Thus, a sentence like: 
''Lili føref nontawis hunti.'' 
- has two possible interpretations: 
 (a) ''Lili₁ (('''føref₂''' nontawis₃) hunti₄).'' 
'(Somebody₍₁₎ already₍₁₎ mentioned₍₁₎) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₀ had₍₂₎ been₍₂₎ killed₂'.''' 
 (b) ''(('''Lili₁ føref₂''') nontawis₃) hunti₄.'' 
'(Somebody₀) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ had₍₂₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀ else₀)'. 
Another problem common to all types of prepositive relative clauses is that basically they occupy the same slot in the nominal group template as genitives. Indeed, if put before the genitive, they are naturally understood as depending on the noun in genitive rather than its head: 
'''''Føref₁ nontol₂''' øfja₃.'' 'The₀ horse₃ '''of₍₂₎ the₀ man₂ who₀ was₍₁₎ killed₁' '''(rather than **'The man's killed horse'). 
For this reason, prepositive relative clauses depending on a genitive's head noun are allowed to precede only the genitives of personal pronouns, e. g.: 
''E₁ myffawis₂ rissjun₃ '''a₄ miti₅'''.''''' 'His₄ daughter₅''' who₀ washed₃ my₁ cloak₂'. 
On the other hand, if the relative clause has any explicit nominal arguments, a preceding genitive will be naturally understood as part of the relative clause: 
'''''E₁ øfjawes₂ haf₃''' u₄.'' 'The₀ dog₄ '''that₀ bit₃ my₁ horse₂' '''(rather than **'My dog that bit the horse'). 
For this reason, genitives depending on the head noun can precede a relative clause only if the latter has no explicit nominal arguments, e. g.: 
''To₁ '''fje₂ tsalami₃ nyral₄''' miti₅.'' 'Your₁ daughter₅ '''who₀ sings₃₋₄ beautifully₂'.''' 
To avoid the restrictions associated with prepositive relative clauses, other types of relative clauses can be used. 

==== Postpositive relative clauses ====

 
These are formed using the relative pronoun ''fylli'' which indicates the role of the head noun explicitly, e. g.: 
''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃ '''fylli₄ e₅ myffawis₆ rissjun₇'''.'' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃ '''who₄ washed₇ my₅ cloak₆'''.' 
''To₁ kommufal₂ fei₃ '''fyppyry₄ toi₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'Your₁ husband's₂ house₃ '''in₄ which₄ you₅ live₆'''.' 
Postpositive relative clauses often have a pronoun (especially the cataphoric ''ri'') as their head: 
'''''Ri₁ fylli₂ ajurys₃ suffi₄ tsjurin₅''' lili₆ e₇ kommu₈ nini₉ jawa₁₀.''''' 'He₁ who₂ has₍₄₋₅₎ brought₄₋₅ them₃''' will₁₀ be₉ my₇ husband₈'. 
The above example illustrates another peculiarity of postpositive relative clauses: to avoid their predicate's being perceived as forming a serial construction with the predicate of the main clause, the role-switching marker (''lili'' in this example) is inserted after the relative clause; it refers to the topic of the sentence, which may coincide or not with the head noun of the relative clause. 
A restriction associated with postpositive relative clauses is that nouns in genitive cannot take any postpositive attributes, including relative clauses. This problem can be solved, as usual, by substantivizing the genitive and construing it as an apposition: 
''Fei₁ '''li₂ to₃ mitisalli₄''' fylli₅ fje₆ tsalami₇ nyral₈.'' 'The₀ house₁ (which₂ is₂) '''of₍₄₎ your₃ daughter₄''' who₅ sings₇₋₈ beautifully₆.' 
The postpositive relative clauses can be extraposited, i. e. put after the main predicate of the sentence in which their head noun is an argument. In such cases, the head noun must be the last nominal constituent that precedes the main predicate: 
'''''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃''' tsjurin₄ '''fylli₅''' e₆ myffawis₇ rissjun₈.''''' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃''' has₍₄₎ come₄ '''who₅''' washed₈ my₆ cloak₇.' 

==== Head-internal relative clauses ====

 
In this type, the head noun must either be one of the pronouns ''ri'', ''risti'', ''rinau'', or have ''ri'' as its attribute. The head noun remains within the relative clause in its usual form and position, according to its syntactic role; its role in the main clause is conveyed with the role-switching marker: 
'''''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄''' lili₅ e₆ fei₇ nini₈ jawa₉''''' 'The₀ place₃ where₃ you₁ found₄ them₂''' will₉ be₈ my₆ homeplace₇'. 
Cf. ''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄.'' 'You₁ found₄ them₂ here₃'. 
This type of relative clauses is widely used in Affanonic. However, it is normally required that the relative clause should constitute the topic part of the sentence. 
Head-internal clauses are often used to single out a nominal group constituting the contrastive (or otherwise emphasized) rheme of the sentence. This construction is similar in structure with the English ''"It is X that Y"'' (only with the order of components reversed):
 
''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅ lili₆ '''to₇ myffai₈ nini₉'''.''''' 'It₍₁₋₆₎ is₉ your₇ cloak₈''' that₍₁₋₆₎ my₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅' 
Cf. ''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅.'' 'My₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅ it/this₁.'
 

=== Main clause ===

 

==== Word order ====

 
The verb must be put in the end of the main clause (as actually of any other type of clause); it can be followed by discourse particles, but the latter can be viewed as a special type of auxiliary verbs. Only extraposited subordinate clauses (either postpositive relative or conveying reported speech) can be put after the main predicate. 
Adverbs must immediately precede their head verb and cannot be separated from it except by another adverb. 
The order of all the other constituents is “free”, since morphology provides sufficient information about their syntactic roles. The most prominent regularity with their placement is a tendency to consider one nominal constituent as “topic” and the rest of the sentence as a comment describing its condition or an event that happened to it. Normally (i. e. in unemphatic speech), the topic is put first, and all the other constituents follow it. 
There is a tendency to put contrastive (and other emphasized) topics in nominative, irrespective of their intended syntactic role, and to put the role-switching marker immediately after them. 
Any constituent can be dropped when clear from the context. In principle, a verb taken alone can be a grammatical sentence. 

==== Serial constructions ====

 [''Stuff to be added later''] 

==== Copula ====

 
The most common copula is ''nini'' v. ipf. 'to be'; another example is ''njun'' v. pf. 'to become'. 
A noun used as nominal predicate must be in the nominative case. 
Adjectives are used in their usual uninflected form. 
Nouns in spatial cases (mostly locative) and some adverbial particles are put before the copula without any modifications. 

=== Negation ===

 The negative particle ''wo'' can be put before any part of the sentence to negate it. 

=== Adpositions ===

 
Adpositions can be derived from verbs or nouns. 

==== Postpositions derived from verbs ====

 
Some verbs in the position of the first part of a serial construction can be used to introduce their object as an additional nominal argument of the main predicate, i. e. like a postposition. The verb ''tsomin'' v. pf. 'to take' is often used in this way, as e. g. in the following sentence: 
''Nontai₁ '''sunollowis₂ tsomin₃''' nontisal₄ mitserawis₅ ni₆.'' 'The man made the woman's small image of wood' (lit.: 'The₀ man₁, '''having₍₃₎ taken₃ wood₂''', made₆ a₀ small₅ image₅ of₍₄₎ the₀ woman₄'). 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

==== Adpositions derived from nouns ====

 
Typically, an adposition is derived from a case form of noun with an attributed genitive, and thus is a postposition governing the genitive case. For example, from the inessive of ''tswis'' 'inner side, part; interior, inside': 
''Fesal₁ tswisyry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
''Fesal₁ tswismoi₂'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₂₎ of₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
However, the genitive can be substantivized, and put after the adposition as its apposition: 
''Tswisys₁ pys₂ fesallyry₃'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
''Tswisma₁ ma₂ fesalmoi₃'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ of₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
This pattern may produce e. g. a preposition that governs an essive or ablative case of substantivized genitive, as above. 
Besides, the lexical noun can be put in a spatial case which is used as a postpositive attribute to ''tswis'' in the same or another spatial case: 
''Tswisyry₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
''Tswismoi₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₎ of₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
This produces a preposition again, but now governing a spatial case of the lexical noun itself rather than of its substantivized genitive. 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

=== Reported speech ===

 
The reported speech clauses (which actually can be used to convey the content of knowledge, thought etc.) can be construed in one of two ways. 
One way is to use the clause as the topic of a sentence and to mark its syntactic role with the role-switching pronoun: 
'''''Toi₁ tsjuma₂ tsjurin₃ pipys₄''' ai₅ fati₆.'' 'He₅ said₆ '''that₍₄₎ you₁ would₂ come₃'.''' 
The other way is to mark its role in the main clause with the cataphoric ''ri'' in appropriate case, and to put the subordinate clause after the main predicate: 
''Ai₁ '''hus'''₂ fati₃, '''toi₄ tsjuma₅ tsjurin₆'''.'' 'He₁ said₃ '''that₍₂₎ you₄ would₅ come₆'.''' 
The latter type is called “extraposited”. 

== Lexical derivation ==

 Derivation of nouns [''Stuff to be added later''] Derivation of verbs Preverbs [''Stuff to be added later''] Compound verbs [''Stuff to be added later''] 

{{stub}}

[[Category:Isles languages]]

Affanonic/Grammar/Morphology

2009-06-12T21:44:30Z

Basilius: slicing...

The morphology of Affanonic is peculiar in combining a sophisticated inflection in nouns with near-total lack of inflection in verbs (with a few exceptions pertaining to auxiliaries). 

=== Nouns ===

 Affanonic is traditionally described as having 31 cases. Six of these (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, benefactive, and instrumental) are called “primary cases”; the rest are referred to as “secondary cases”. Secondary cases include 24 “spatial cases”; besides, one more form traditionally viewed as a secondary case, the so-called “substantivized genitive”, is properly a derived noun which itself inflects for case. The forms of secondary cases are derived from certain primary cases in a rather uniform manner. For this reason, the overview of declensions below will confine to primary cases, while the formation of secondary cases will be explained a bit later. Affanonic distiguishes between two numbers, singular and plural. The use of plural in countable nouns is rather consequential. Uncountable nouns are formally singular, virtually without any exceptions (i. e. pluralia tantum do not exist as a category). A so-called “counting form” of countable nouns which is derived from the plural stem is used with words that denote quantities (including numerals). 

==== Declensions ====

 Every case ending, as well as the plural stem marker, have two forms depending on the so-called stem class of the noun. The stem classes are purely formal and are conventionally named simply “class 1” and “class 2”. Within each stem class, there are further subgroupings determined by the final sounds of the stem; the most basic divide is between “vocalic declensions” (comprising the nouns whose stems end in a vowel) and “consonant declensions” (which include stems ending in a consonant). 

With most nouns, the declension type can be predicted from the nom. sg. form (more specifically, its final sounds). 

===== Class 1 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings used with class 1 stems are: ''-i'' or zero, nominative; ''-ys'' or ''-wis'', accusative; ''-al'', genitive; ''-njun'', dative; ''-lu'', benefactive; ''-ma'', instrumental; ''-jur'', plural marker. Various alternations on morpheme boundaries make the formation of certain forms somewhat obscure. 

''Class 1 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -ai: somai 'stone' !! -oi: appoi 'cloud' !! -ei: kei 'mountain' !! -u: kommu 'husband' !! -i: liffi 'bird' !! -y: fomy 'fish' !! -au: nau 'turn, iteration'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soma''i'' || appo''i'' || ke''i'' || kommu || liffi || fomy || nau
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soma''wis'' || appo''wis'' || ke''wis'' || kommu'''''s''''' || liffi''wis'' || fomy''wis'' || nau''wis''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| som'''''o''''''l''''' || appo'''''f'''al'' || ke'''''s'''al'' || kommu'''''f'''al'' || liffi'''''s'''al'' || fomy'''''s'''al'' || nau'''''f'''al''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soma''njun'' || appo''njun'' || ke''njun'' || kommu''njun'' || liffi''njun'' || fomy''njun'' || nau''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soma''lu'' || appo''lu'' || ke''lu'' || kommu''lu'' || liffi''lu'' || fomy''lu'' || nau''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soma''ma'' || appo''ma'' || ke''ma'' || kommu''ma'' || liffi''ma'' || fomy''ma'' || nau''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soma''jur'' || appo''jur'' || ke''jur'' || kommu''jur'' || liffi''jur'' || fomy''jur'' || nau''jur''
|-
|}

 The nominative ending used to be uniformly ''-i'', but only ''-ai, -ei'' and ''-oi'' survive as diphthongs synchronically. 

The genitive ''somol'' is historically ''soma-al''; the appearance of ''-f-'' and ''-s-'' in genitives looks synchronically unmotivated, but actually is predictable from the quality of the final sound of the stem. Cf. similar processes in class 2 declensions, as well as in secondary case formation. 

The contraction in the accusative ''kommu'''s''''' is phonetically regular and used to be active in other declension types as well, but ultimately was mostly eliminated by analogy (except in nouns in ''-u'' and a few fossilized forms). 

''Class 1 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -in, -yn, -øn: soffjunsin 'louse' !! -on: non 'person' !! -un: mumun 'seat' !! -jun: mjun 'rain', hun 'heart' !! -en: rarken 'brother' !! -an: tswan 'bitter vetch' !! -l: tjupol 'beech tree' !! -r: soror 'rat' !! -af, -of, -uf, -if, -ef, -yf (''i. e.'' -Vf ''except'' -øf): rwetsif 'fox' !! -es, -is, -ys: tsarkes 'battle' !! -os, -us, -øs: tswistjos 'belly'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soffjunsin || non || mumun || mjun, hun || rarken || tswan || tjupol || soror || rwetsif || tsarkes || tswistjos
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soffjunsin''ys'' || n'''''am'''ys'' || mum'''''o'''nys'' || m'''''im'''ys'', '''''rim'''ys'' || rark'''''a'''nys'' || tsw'''''o'''nys'' || tjupol'''''f'''ys'' || soror''ys'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fys'' || tsarkes''ys'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sys''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| soffjunsin''al'' || n'''''anf'''al'' || mum'''''o'''nal'' || m'''''inf'''al'', '''''rinf'''al'' || rark'''''a'''nal'' || tsw'''''o'''nal'' || tjupol'''''r'''al'' || soror''al'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fal'' || tsarkes''al'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sal''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soffjunsin''njun'' || non''njun'' || mumun''njun'' || mjun''njun'', hun''njun'' || rarken''njun'' || tswan''njun'' || tjupol'''''hu'''n'' || soror''njun'' ||   rwetsif''njun''   || tsarkes''njun'' || tswistjos''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soffjunsi'''''l'''lu'' || no'''''l'''lu'' || mumu'''''l'''lu'' || mju'''''l'''lu'', hu'''''l'''lu'' || rarke'''''l'''lu'' || tswa'''''l'''lu'' || tjupol'''''ru''''' || soror'''''u''''' || rwetsif''lu'' || tsarkes''lu'' || tswistjos''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soffjunsim''ma'' || nom''ma'' || mumum''ma'' || mjum''ma'', hum''ma'' || rarkem''ma'' || tswam''ma'' || tjupol'''''f'''a'' || soror''ma'' || rwetsi'''''nf'''a'' || tsarkes''ma'' || tswistjos''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soffjunsin''jur'' || non''jur'' || mumun''jur'' || mjun''jur'', hun''jur'' || rarken''jur'' || tswan''jur'' || tjupol'''''hu'''r'' || soro'''''hu'''r'' || rwetsif''jur'' || tsarkes''jur'' || tswistjos''jur''
|-
|}
 
 The assimilation ''fm'' → ''(f)f'' is a common process also found in other formations in the language. 

The historical stem-final ''-m'' and ''-n'' differently affect the quality of the preceding vowels where they are in coda position. In the type ''hun'', the latter process produced a combination ''-ju-'' which complicated things further by causing a historical palatalization of the preceding stem-internal ''-l-'' and ''-r-''. 

The types ''rwetsif'' and ''tswistjos'' include stems which historically ended in ''-nf-'' and ''-ns-''; these clusters simplified when in coda position. 

The only peculiarity of the type ''soror'' is the historical assimilation ''-rl-'' → ''-r-'' in benefactive and ''-rlj-'' → ''-rj-'' ( → ''h'') in the pl. forms. 

The type ''tjupol'' is the most complicated: these stems end historically in ''-lr-'', with various assimilations and cluster simplifications. 
 

===== Class 2 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings in this class are: ''-e'' or zero, nominative; ''-øs'' or ''-wes'', accusative; ''-ja'', genitive; ''-njøn'', dative; ''-lø'', benefactive; ''-mja'', instrumental; ''-jør-'', plural marker. 

''Class 2 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -a: øfja 'horse' !! -e: rele 'lizard' !! -o: jo 'ice' !! -ø: fø 'wind'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| øfja || rele || jo || fø
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| øfja''wes'' || rele''wes'' || jo''wes'' || fø''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| øfj'''''o''''' || rele'''''s'''ja'' || jo''ja'' || fø'''''f'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| øfja''njøn'' || rele''njøn'' || jo''njøn'' || fø''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| øfja''lø'' || rele''lø'' || jo''lø'' || fø''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| øfja''mja'' || rele''mja'' || jo''mja'' || fø''mja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| øfja''jøre'' || rele''jøre'' || jo''jøre'' || fø''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations involved are the same as with class 1 stems. 
Note that the type ''rele'' includes only such stems with nominative in ''-e'' that cannot be interpreted as one of the class 2 consonant declensions described below. 

''Class 2 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -øne: fømøne 'death' !! -ene: pintene 'garden' !! -ane: tejane 'sky' !! -ame: janjame 'leaf' !! -ome: tjome 'juice' !! -lre: punfølre 'wolf' !! -øf: røf 'mouth' !! -as: jas 'snake'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| fømøn''e'' || pinten''e'' || tejan''e'' || janjam''e'' || tjom''e'' || punfølr''e'' || røf || ja'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| fømøn''øs'' || pinten''øs'' || tejan''øs'' || janjam''øs'' || tjom''øs'' || punføl'''''f'''øs'' || røf''øs'' || ja'''''f'''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| fømøn''ja'' || pinten''ja'' || tejan''ja'' || janj'''''onf'''ja'' || tj'''''anf'''ja'' || punføl'''''ha''''' || røf''ja'' || jo'''''ha'''''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| fømøn''njøn'' || pint'''''i'''nnjøn'' || tej'''''e'''nnjøn'' || janj'''''on'''njøn'' || tj'''''an'''njøn'' || punføl'''''hø'''n'' || røf''njøn'' || jo'''''j'''øn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| fømø'''''l'''lø'' || pint'''''il'''lø'' || tej'''''el'''lø'' || janj'''''ol'''lø'' || tj'''''al'''lø'' || punfølr'''''ø''''' || røf''lø'' || ja'''''r'''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| fømøm''mja'' || pint'''''i'''mmja'' || tej'''''e'''mmja'' || janj'''''om'''mja'' || tj'''''am'''mja'' || punfø'''''lf'''ja'' || røf'''''f'''ja'' || ja'''''ff'''ja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| fømøn''jøre'' || pint'''''i'''njøre'' || tej'''''e'''njøre'' || janj'''''on'''jøre'' || tj'''''an'''jøre'' || punføl'''''hø'''re'' || røf''jøre'' || ja'''''r'''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in these types are the same as with class 1 declensions; only the type ''jas'' is peculiar. 

===== Plural declension and the counting form =====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! class 1: somajur 'stones' !! class 2: øfjajøre 'horses'
|- align="center"
! Cases (pl.):  
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| somajur || øfjajør''e''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| somajur''ys'' || øfjajør''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| somajur''al'' || øfjajø'''''h'''a''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| somajur''njun'' || øfjajør''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| somajur'''''u''''' || øfjajør'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| somajur''ma'' || øfjajør''mja''
|- align="center"
! Counting form  
| somajur || øfjajør
|-
|}
 
 The counting form of class 1 nouns is identical with nom. pl., but in class 2 it is a separate form built by dropping the nominative ending. 

===== Irregular nouns =====

 A few nouns are class 1 stems in sg. but class 2 in pl.; this shift is accompanied by altering the stem vowel. Examples include ''moi'' 'eye', ''woi'' 'mushroom', ''roi'' 'horn', and ''koi'' 'bone', whose plurals are ''møjøre'', ''wøjøre'', ''røjøre'', and ''køjøre'', respectively. 

Many irregularities characterize the declension of pronouns, as described in the respective sections below. 

==== Spatial cases ====

 

===== Inventory and meanings =====

 The 24 spatial cases can be presented as combinations of eight “localizations” with three “orientations”. 
Localizations describe the position of a reference point relative to the object denoted by the noun being inflected: - adessive, 'at'; - inessive, 'in'; - superessive, 'on' (usually, 'in contact with the upper surface of'); - apudessive, 'near, close to'; - subessive, 'under, below (with or without contact)'; - postessive, 'behind or after'; - antessive, 'before or in front of'; - extraessive, 'outside'. 
Orientations specify the type of movement or static position relative to the point referred to by the localization: - locative: '(resting) at the point specified by localization'; - lative: '(moving or directed) towards the point specified by localization'; - ablative: '(moving or directed) away from the point specified by localization'. 
With the forms of the inessive localization and the noun ''mjunki'' 'water' taken as an example: - inessive-locative: ''mjunki'''wiry''''' 'in the water'; - inessive-lative: ''mjunki'''nimy''''' 'into the water'; - inessive-ablative: ''mjunki'''moi''''' 'out of the water'. 
As can be seen from the above examples, the name of each spatial case consists of the name of the localization followed by the name of the orientation (e. g. “inessive-lative”, “subessive-ablative”, etc.). However, the name of the locative orientation can be omitted where no ambiguity will arise, so e. g. “superessive-locative (case)” can be referred to as simply “superessive (case)”. 
Besides referring to spatial relations proper, the spatial cases have quite obvious temporary usages (especially common with gerunds). Thus, the locative cases can convey meanings like 'at', 'before', 'after' (a specific moment), 'within' (a timespan); the ablative cases add the meaning of 'since', and the lative cases, of 'until'. 
In addition, individual spatial cases have various metaphoric usages, including grammatical ones. 

===== Formation =====

 As already mentioned, the forms of spatial cases are based on certain primary cases. Specifically, the locative cases are always derived from the accusative; the lative cases, from the dative; and the ablative cases, from the instrumental. 
In groups of words that must agree in case, normally only the last one is inflected for spatial case, while all the others are put in the respective primary case (accusative, dative or instrumental). In particular, declinable conjunctions and equative markers have no forms of spatial cases. 
The formation of spatial cases can be conveniently presented as replacement of parts of the endings of the respective primary cases by the endings of spatial cases. The endings of spatial cases used with class 1 and class 2 stems are different. In the tables below, the formation of spatial cases is illustrated with the words ''mjunki'' 'water' (class 1) and ''fjas'' 'sand' (class 2). 

''Spatial cases of class 1 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''mjunkiwis''' || ''Dative'': '''mjunkinjun''' || ''Instrumental'': '''mjunkima'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| -'''s''' || '''-njun, -(*l)-jun, -hun''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -ras: mjunkiwi'''''r'''as'' || -nimas (-limas, -rimas): mjunkin'''''im'''as'' || -os: mjunkim'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -ry: mjunkiwi'''''r'''y'' || -nimy (-limy, -rimy): mjunkin'''''im'''y'' || -oi: mjunkim'''''oi''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -run: mjunkiwi'''''r'''un'' || -nimun (-limun, -rimun): mjunkin'''''im'''un'' || -on: mjunkim'''''on'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjummo: mjunkiwis''kjummo'' || -njunkjummo (-junkjummo, -hunkjummo): mjunkinjun''kjummo'' || -akjummo: mjunkima''kjummo''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spis: mjunkiwis''pis'' || -njumpis (-jumpis, -humpis): mjunkinjum''pis'' || -affis: mjunkima'''''ff'''is''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -raffa: mjunkiwi'''''r'''affa'' || -njunfaffa (-junfaffa, -hunfaffa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''affa'' || -offa: mjunkim'''''off'''a''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ra: mjunkiwi'''''r'''a'' || -njunfa (-junfa, -hunfa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''a'' || -o: mjunkim'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hu: mjunkiwi'''''hu''''' || -nimju (-limju, -rimju): mjunkin'''''im'''ju'' || -aju: mjunkima''ju''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in spatial case formation have already occurred in primary cases; in particular, those affecting the dative ''-(n)jun'' are of the same nature as those found in the declension of ''hun'' 'heart'. 
Some new ones include: ''-s'' (in codas) :: ''-r-'' (intervocalic) – in all cases derived from the accusative; ''-p-'' (after consonants) :: ''-ff-'' (intervocalic) – in the subessive series. 

''Spatial cases of class 2 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''fjaføs''' || ''Dative'': '''fjojøn''' || ''Instrumental'': '''fjaffja'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| '''-s''' || '''-njøn, -(*l)-jøn, -høn''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -has: fjafø'''''ha'''s'' || -nemjas (-lemjas, -remjas): fjo'''''lem'''jas'' || -os: fjaffj'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -rø: fjafø'''''r'''ø'' || -nemø (-lemø, -remø): fjo'''''lem'''ø'' || -ø: fjaffj'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -røn: fjafø'''''r'''øn'' || -nemøn (-lemøn, -remøn): fjo'''''lem'''øn'' || -øn: fjaffj'''''øn'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjømmø: fjaføs''kjømmø'' || -njønkjømmø (-jønkjømmø, -hønkjømmø): fjojøn''kjømmø'' || -akjømmø: fjaffja''kjømmø''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spes: fjaføs''pes'' || -njømpes (-jømpes, -hømpes): fjojøm''pes'' || -affes: fjaffja'''''ff'''es''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -haffja: fjafø'''''ha'''ffja'' || -njønfjaffja (-jønfjaffja, -hønfjaffja): fjojøn'''''f'''jaffja'' || -offja: fjaffj'''''off'''ja''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ha: fjafø'''''ha''''' || -njønfja (-jønfja, -hønfja): fjojøn'''''f'''ja'' || -o: fjaffj'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hø: fjafø'''''hø''''' || -nemjø (-lemjø, -remjø): fjo'''''lem'''jø'' || -ajø: fjaffja''jø''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations are already familiar. 

==== Substantivized genitive ====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Stem class !! ''class 1'': kommufalli 'what belongs to (the) husband' !! ''class 2'': føffesjai 'what belongs to (the) soul'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg. or pl.):
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| kommufal'''''l'''i'' || føffesja''i''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| kommufal'''''l'''ys'' || føffesja''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| kommufal'''''s'''al'' || føffesja'''''s'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| kommufal''njun'' || føffesja''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| kommufal''lu'' || føffesja''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| kommufal''ma'' || føffesja''mja''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive (2nd)
| kommufal'''''s'''alli'' || føffesja'''''s'''jai''
|-
|}
 

 The forms of substantivized genitives make no distinction between sg. and pl. of the possessed item. However, all the secondary cases are formed freely, by regular substitution of case endings. Curiously, substantivized genitives of substantivized genitives are also used, as e. g. in the following example: 
''E₁ tassijural₂ munnai₃ ristiwiras₄, fy₅ '''tatsanalsalli'''₆ astiwiras₇ nini₈''. 'The₀ clothes₃ of₍₂₎ my₁ children₂ are₈ here₄, and₅ '''those'''₆ '''of'''₍₆₎ (my₀) '''sister's'''₆ '''children'''₀ there₇.' 
(''Tatsanalsalli'' being the nom. of the subst. gen. of ''tatsanalli'', which is itself the subst. gen. of ''tatsen'' 'sister'.) 
The substantivized genitives are sometimes lexicalized and then moved to the regular substantive declension types, with regular pl. forms. With cl. 1 stems, such derivates are invariably the nom. forms reinterpreted as regular nouns of the ''liffi'' type. With cl. 2 stems, there are two options: the derivate inherits either the oblique stem (in ''-ja'') and declines according to the ''øfja'' type, or the nominative (in ''-jai''), and then is reinterpreted as class 1 (!) stem of the ''somai'' type. 
[''Details of case usage remain to be added''] 

==== Pronouns ====

 

===== Personal and demonstrative pronouns =====

 The personal pronouns of 1st and 2nd persons display a number of peculiarities, compared to the regular nouns, in both case forms and the plural stems. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'I' !! 'you' (''sg''.) !! 'we' !! 'you' (''pl''.)
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| e''i'' || to''i'' || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| e''wis'' || to''wis'' || ekwi''wis'' || tokkwi''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| e || to || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Dative
| e''njun'' || to''njun'' || ekwi''njun'' || tokkwi''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| e''lu'' || to''lu'' || ekw'''''elø''''' || tokkw'''''elø'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| e''ma'' || to''ma'' || ekwi''ma'' || tokkwi''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| e'''''s'''alli'' || to'''''f'''alli'' || ekwi'''''s'''alli'' || tokkwi'''''s'''alli''
|-
|}
 
 The personal pronouns of the 3rd person are essentially demonstratives. The forms of ''ri'' refer to objects that are close to either the speaker or the listener; the objects that are at a distance from both, or are invisible to the speaker, are denoted with forms of ''ai''. These usages of the two pronouns are called “deictic”; in non-deictic use, ''ai'' is the default anaphoric pronoun (i. e. referring to something already mentioned by one of the interlocutors), while ''ri'' is mainly used cataphorically (that is, to denote some object the speaker is going to introduce). 
Note that plural forms of these are built like with 1st and 2nd person pronouns only when they refer to animate beings (not necessarily sentient); otherwise their plurals are built like those of the regular nouns. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this one; he/she/it' !! 'that one; he/she/it' !! 'these, they' (''animate'') !! 'these, they' (''inanimate'') !! 'those, they' (''animate'') !! 'those, they' (''inanimate'')
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ri || a''i'' || rikwi || rijur || akwi || ajur
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| '''''hu'''s'' || '''''øs''''' || rikwi''wis'' || rijur''ys'' || akwi''wis'' || ajur''ys''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri || a || rikwi || rijur''al'' || akwi || ajur''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ri''njun'' || a''njun'' || rikwi''njun'' || rijur''njun'' || akwi''njun'' || ajur''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ri''lu'' || a''lu'' || rikw'''''elø''''' || rijur'''''u''''' || akw'''''elø''''' || ajur'''''u'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ri''ma'' || a''ma'' || rikwi''ma'' || rijur''ma'' || akwi''ma'' || ajur''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| ri'''''s'''alli'' || '''''ol'''li'' || rikwi'''''s'''alli'' || rijur''alli'' || akwi'''''s'''alli'' || ajur''alli''
|-
|}
 
 When used as attributes of other nouns, the demonstratives require a construction which is essentially the same as with appositions (see the sections on the equative marker and on nominal groups below). The more common position for the pronoun is after the noun; in this case, there are some peculiarities not found with appositional nouns, incliding free use of genitives and contractions with the equative marker. When placed before the noun, the demonstratives require the usual appositive construction (with no contractions and no genitives available); in this case they are semantically somewhat out-of-focus and may resemble definite articles, although are thus used infrequently. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this (these)', ''postpositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''postpositive'' !! 'this (these)', ''prepositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''prepositive''
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li ri || '''''j'''''-ai || ri li || a li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys hus || pys'' '''s'''''øs || hus pys || øs pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri'''''s'''al'' || '''''ol''''' || - || -
|- align="center"
! Dative
| njun rinjun || njun'' '''s'''''anjun || rinjun njun || anjun njun
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu rilu || '''''w'''-''alu || rilu lu || alu lu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma rima || '''''m''-o'''ma || rima ma || ama ma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| risalli || olli || - || -
|-
|}
 
 It is interesting to note that prepositive and pospositive demonstratives sometimes occur simultaneously with one noun; in such cases, at least one of the demonstratives is interpreted as non-deictic: 
'''''Ai'''₁ li₂ e₃ rarken₄ li₅ '''ri'''₆''. 'The said brother of mine whom you see here' (lit.''' 'That₁ one'''₁ who₂ is₂ my₃ brother₄ who₅ is₅ '''this'''₆'). 
Other demonstratives that are mostly used independently include ''risti'' 'this place, here', ''asti'' 'that place, that direction, there', ''rinau'' 'this time, now', and ''anau'' 'that time, then' (note that ''risti'' and ''rinau'', like ''ri'', are often used cataphorically and then cannot be translated as 'here' and 'now'). They are declined like regular class 1 nouns and mostly used in spatial cases, although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ristiwis'''₁ ei₂ tesi₃'' 'I₂ like₃ '''this₁ place'''₁' (or 'I like it here'). They can form plurals to refer to multiple locations or instances, as well as to broader areas or more prolonged timespans. 

===== Interrogative pronouns =====

 The main interrogative pronouns include: ''y'' 'what? which one?'; ''yrky'' 'who? which one?'; ''riffikky'' 'what? who? what kind of object(s)?'; ''ysti'' 'where? which place? which direction?'; ''riffitti'' 'where? what kind of place?'; ''ynau'' 'when? which time?'; and ''riffinau'' 'when? what kind of circumstances?'. 
The pronouns ''y'' and ''yrky'' imply that the object of inquiry belongs to a set which is already known or obvious from the situation; ''yrky'' implies an animate object (but not necessarily sentient). In contrast, ''riffikky'' implies that the speaker knows nothing about the object, and may need its description rather than identification; this pronoun is not sensitive to animacy. The semantic difference in the pairs ''ysti'' vs. ''riffitti'' and ''ynau'' vs. ''riffinau'' is partly similar with that between ''y'' / ''yrky'' and ''riffikky.'' 
The pronouns ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'', and ''riffinau'' are mostly used in spatial cases, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwiras'''₁ ai₂ nini₃?''''' 'Where'''₁ is₃ he/she/it₂?', although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwis'''₁ toi₂ tesi₃?''''' 'Which₁ place'''₁ do₃ you₂ prefer₃?' and in similar contexts. 
Of the interrogative pronouns, only ''y'', ''yrky'' and ''riffikky'' display some peculiarities in declension (namely, in acc. sg.); the rest belong to the standard class 1 declension types. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| y || yrky || riffikky
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| y'''''s''''' || yrky'''''s''''' || riffikky'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| y'''''s'''al'' || yrky'''''s'''al'' || riffikky'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| y''njun'' || yrky''njun'' || riffikky''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| y''lu'' || yrky''lu'' || riffikky''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| y''ma'' || yrky''ma'' || riffikky''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| y'''''s'''alli'' ||   yrky'''''s'''alli''   ||   riffikky'''''s'''alli''  
|- align="center"
! Nominative pl.
| (y''jur'') || (yrky''jur'') || -
|-
|}
 
 The plurals of ''y'' and ''yrky'' are used rarely; usually they imply not only that the objects are already known to be more than one, but also that the speaker wants them to be enumerated; the plural of ''riffikky'' does not exist. 
In contrast, the plurals of ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'' and ''riffinau'' are rather common; ''ystijur'' and ''riffittijur'' imply that there are several relevant places, while ''ynaujur'' and ''riffinaujur'' often refer to prolonged periods or multiple instances rather than to single moments. 

===== Reflexive pronouns =====

 The reflexive pronouns are based on the auxiliary noun ''ry'' 'self' which normally is not used without a genitive of a pronoun or noun that specifies it. A genitive of a personal pronoun and ''ry'' are written as one word and pronounced accordingly: ''ery'' 'myself', ''tory'' 'yourself', ''ekwiry'', ''tokkwiry'', ''riry'', ''ary'', ''rikwiry'', ''rijuralry'', ''akwiry'', ''ajuralry''. The genitives of other words remain separate, as e. g. in ''e₁ mamol₂ '''ry'''₃'' 'my mother herself' (lit. 'my₁ mother's₂ '''self'''₃'). 
The word ''ry'' has no plural and is declined like the interrogatives ''y'', ''yrky'', ''riffikky''. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ry
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| ry'''''s'' '''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ry'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ry''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ry''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ry''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     ry'''''s'''alli''    
|-
|}
 

 The genitive of a reflexive pronoun can often be translated with 'own', as in '''''erysal'''₁ fei₂'' 'my₁ '''own'''₁ house₂', ''e₁ kispjufal₂ '''rysal'''₃ øfja₄'' 'my₁ wife's₂ '''own'''₃ horse₄'. 

===== The equative marker =====

 “The equative marker” is the traditional term for the auxiliary word that links a noun (or pronoun) with an apposition, as e. g. in ''to₁ mamai₂ '''li'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispju₆'' 'your₁ mother₂ '''who₃ is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife₆' or ''elu₁ '''lu'''₂ to₃ tatsellu₄'' 'for₍₁₋₂₋₄₎ me₁, ('''as'''₂) your₃ sister₄'. The head noun, the equative marker and the apposition must agree in (primary) case, and therefore the equative marker is inflected for case; however, it is insensitive to number distinctions and has no secondary cases. Besides, it has no forms of genitive (primary or substantivized), as for appositions to nouns in genitive there is a different construction, where the head genitive is replaced with a substantivized genitive: ''to₁ '''mamollu'''₂ '''lu'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispjufal₆ felu₇'' 'for the house of your mother who is my future wife' (lit. 'for₍₂₋₃₋₇₎ your₁ '''mother's'''₂, '''which'''₃ '''is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife's₆ house₇'). 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| -
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     njun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| -
|-
|}
 
 

===== Role-switching marker =====

 This pronoun plays a very important part in Affanonic syntax. Prototypically, it indicates that its head predicate has the same topic as a preceding predicate, but in a different role. Its other uses are described in the section on syntax below. 
The role-switching marker does not differentiate singular from plural, but has all cases including secondary. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| lili 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pipys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| lisal
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ninjun 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lilu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| mima 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     lisalli    
|-
|}
 
 

===== Relative pronoun =====

 The relative pronoun ''fylli'' is used in relative clauses when they follow their head nouns. It inflects for case which denotes its role in the relative clause (rather than in the main clause), e. g. ''nontalu₁ '''fynnjun'''₂ ei₃ fati₄'' 'for₍₁₎ the₀ man₁ to₍₂₎ whom₂ I₃ told₄ (that₀)'. There are all case forms, both primary and secondary, but no number distinction. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fylli 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fyppys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fyra
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     fynnjun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fyllu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fymma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| fyrolli
|-
|}
 
 

==== Quantity words ====

 This category includes numerals (e. g. ''tsei'' 'three') and a few words that denote quantities of countable objects: ''fumøne'' 'many'; ''pimoi'' 'few'; ''kjunsøf'' 'several, a few, some (of)'; ''supu'' 'all (of)'. They are declined like the ordinary nouns in singular and carry no number markers of their own. The noun whose quantity is specified is put in counting form and precedes the quantity word: ''øfjajør₁ tsei₂'' 'three₂ horses₁'. 

==== Declinable conjunctions ====

 Where nouns or pronouns linked by the conjunctions ''fy'' 'and', ''la'' 'or', or ''pau'' 'but not' stand in the same (primary) case and form the same phrase constituent, the conjunctions must agree in (primary) case with the words they link, e. g.: ''e₁ mamalu₂ fylu₃ elu₄'' 'for₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄', ''e₁ mamanjun₂ fynjun₃ enjun₄'' 'to₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄'.
 The case forms of the three declinable conjunctions are shown in the following table. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !!   fy 'and'   !!   la 'or'   !!   pau 'but not'  
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fy || l'''''e'''i'' || p'''''o'''i''
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fy'''''s''' '' || l'''''øs''''' || pau''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fy || la || pau
|- align="center"
! Dative
| fy''njun'' || la''njun'' || pau''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fy''lu'' || la''lu'' || pau''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fy''ma'' || la''ma'' || pau''ma''
|-
|}
 
 

=== Adjectives and adverbs ===

 These are basically one part of speech in Affanonic. Thus, ''fje'' 'beautiful' is mostly used as an adjective, but can also mean 'beatifully' when it stands before a verb. Similarly, ''ese'' 'sometimes' is mostly used as an adverb, but can also be used with a noun to convey a meaning like 'occurring sometimes'. 
Both adjectives and adverbs must immediately precede the word they specify. 
The words belonging to this class have no inflectional forms. 

=== Adverbial particles ===

 
This is another class of words that often correspond to avderbs (most commonly, sentential adverbs) in other languages. However, they cannot be used as prepositive attributes of nouns and, unlike the usual adverbs, can be (and mostly are) separated from their head verb by any number of other constituents. 
An example of adverbial particle is ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)'. 
It is interesting to note that spatial cases of nouns are syntactically more similar with adverbial particles than with adverbs proper. Indeed, many adverbial particles resemble case forms derived from obscure stems not used as ordinary nouns; an example is ''mølø'' 'visually, visibly, by eye, before one's eyes' which looks like a benefactive derived from some *''mø'' (cf., however, ''moi'' 'eye' and its irregular plural ''møjøre'' 'eyes'). 

=== Verbs ===

 

===== Telicity =====

 
All the verbs are divided into two major classes: perfectives and (lexical) imperfectives. 
Perfective verbs are semantically telic. In other words, they denote processes that imply a change of state or achieving a result, and therefore cannot be normally viewed as allowing for an indefinitely long continuation (i. e. as continuing after the point where the change is complete or the implied result is achieved). Examples of such verbs in Affanonic are ''soffoffi'' 'to fall asleep', ''mumin'' 'to sit down', ''fati'' 'to say, tell', ''føref'' 'to kill', and ''njun'' 'to become'. 
In contrast, lexically imperfective verbs are semantically atelic, i. e. denote static conditions or cyclic processes that do not imply a specific endpoint by themselves. Examples include ''roffoffi'' 'to sleep', ''lilami'' 'to stand', ''piffati'' 'to talk, speak', and ''nini'' 'to be'. 
Perfective verbs have two standard imperfective derivates that can be considered part of their paradigm: durative and resultative (jointly referred to as “secondary imperfectives”, as opposed to “lexical imperfectives”). 
Duratives are formed by the auxiliary verb ''nyral'' placed after the unaltered stem of the perfective verb. A durative can have either of the following two interpretations. In one interpretation, it denotes an indefinite number of repetitive events which individually would be denoted by the original perfective; this interpretation is called “iterative”. The other interpretation implies a shift in the time scale: the process or activity that should eventually result in the change of state denoted by the original perfective is viewed as long enough to serve as the “indefinitely long” background for some other, shorter events, and thus as requiring an imperfective to describe it. This interpretation is termed “continuative”. 
Resultatives are formed by the auxiliary ''ja'' put after the stem of the original perfective. They denote a continuous static condition that results from the event denoted by the perfective. 
Lexical imperfectives do not have any standard perfective derivates, since the associated semantic shifts are more diverse and idiosyncratic. Therefore, all processes that derive a perfective from an imperfective are considered as belonging with lexical derivation. 

===== Tenses =====

 
The finite forms of imperfectives (both lexical and secondary) taken without any additional marking are the standard forms of the present tense. The term is purely conventional; while the default meaning of the present taken outside any specific context is indeed that of an action or condition which continues at the moment of speaking, it can also denote an action or condition that was simultaneous with, or served as the background for, another action which can relate to present, past or future. In particular, adverbs and adverbial expressions that denote time, e. g. ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)', can freely combine with the present tense, and do not require the verb to carry any additional marking to express non-present. In other words, the characteristic of this tense is purely negative: it does not mark a continuous action or condition as preceding or following anything else. 
On the contrary, the perfective verbs taken as bare stems indicate by default that the action in question has been, or had been, completed by the present moment or by some moment in the past. Therefore, their bare stem is considered a past tense which is termed “aorist”. However, if there is a direct indication to future in the same sentence, the aorist form can mean that the action will have been completed by some moment in the future. 
Imperfectives can be explicitly marked for past tense by adding the postpositive auxiliary ''njau'' (which is actually a perfective verb 'to turn' in its non-auxiliary use). This combination is termed “imperfect tense”. 
The explicit reference to future is made differently with perfectives and imperfectives. Imperfectives use a special postpositive tense marker, ''jawa''. This form is referred to as “imperfective future”. 
Perfectives, on the other hand, are combined with the word ''tsjuma'' which is properly an independent adjective / adverb meaning 'in the future, imminent(ly)'; therefore, it is put before the verb and is sometimes separated from the latter by another adverb. Nevertheless, such combinations with ''tsjuma'' are often treated as a special tense called “perfective future”. 

===== Subjunctive =====

 
The subjunctive of the perfective verbs is formed by adding the postpositive marker ''nifføf''. This form refers to the past; however, it can combine with ''tsjuma'' to convey future. 
The copula ''nini'' 'to be' has an inflectional form of subjunctive, ''ninifføf''. This form refers to the present. The other lexical imperfectives form their present subjunctive by adding ''ninifføf ''postpositively. However, duratives do not use this form, but replace their ''nyral'' with ''nyralpøf''<nowiki>; similarly, the resultatives substitute </nowiki>''jafføf'' for their ''ja''. The past subjunctive of all imperfectives (including duratives, resultatives and ''nini'') is formed by adding a pospositive ''nufføf'', and the future subjunctive, by a postpositive ''nawafføf''. 

===== Gerunds =====

 
Gerunds represent the only type of regular non-finite forms of Affanonic verbs. They can be considered substantivized verbs which make it possible to use a verb as an argument of another verb, or of any other word. On the other hand, a gerund can retain all the arguments of the original finite verb without altering their form. 
The benefactive of gerunds has some usages similar to those of infinitive in English. 
Perfective verbs form their gerunds with the postpositive auxiliary noun ''nau'' (which in its non-auxiliary use means 'turn, iteration, time'). 
Lexical imperfectives have gerunds formed by the postpositive ''jo''. 
The gerunds of duratives are formed by replacing the finite durative marker ''nyral'' with ''naujur'' (i. e. the plural of ''nau''). 
The gerunds of resultatives are formed by replacing the finite resultative marker ''ja'' with the auxiliary noun ''jai'', which declines like a class 2 substantivized genitive. 
The gerund forms listed above are basically tenseless; however, due to the vague temporal meanings of the Affanonic present and aorist, the above types of gerunds can be viewed as their substantivized equivalents. 
The use of the gerunds equivalent to the other tenses is optional. The perfective gerunds with ''nau'' can combine with ''tsjuma'' to refer to a future action. The finite markers of all the tenses of imperfectives other than the present are historically perfective verbs, so gerunds can be derived from them by adding the postpositive ''nau'' as well. 
The gerund equivalents of all forms of the subjunctive are rare, but can in principle be derived freely by adding the same ''nau'' as the most universal gerund marker.

Affanonic/Grammar

2009-06-12T21:37:25Z

Basilius: slicing...

== Phonetics ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Phonetics}}

== Morphonology ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Morphonology}}

== Morphology ==

The morphology of Affanonic is peculiar in combining a sophisticated inflection in nouns with near-total lack of inflection in verbs (with a few exceptions pertaining to auxiliaries). 

=== Nouns ===

 Affanonic is traditionally described as having 31 cases. Six of these (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, benefactive, and instrumental) are called “primary cases”; the rest are referred to as “secondary cases”. Secondary cases include 24 “spatial cases”; besides, one more form traditionally viewed as a secondary case, the so-called “substantivized genitive”, is properly a derived noun which itself inflects for case. The forms of secondary cases are derived from certain primary cases in a rather uniform manner. For this reason, the overview of declensions below will confine to primary cases, while the formation of secondary cases will be explained a bit later. Affanonic distiguishes between two numbers, singular and plural. The use of plural in countable nouns is rather consequential. Uncountable nouns are formally singular, virtually without any exceptions (i. e. pluralia tantum do not exist as a category). A so-called “counting form” of countable nouns which is derived from the plural stem is used with words that denote quantities (including numerals). 

==== Declensions ====

 Every case ending, as well as the plural stem marker, have two forms depending on the so-called stem class of the noun. The stem classes are purely formal and are conventionally named simply “class 1” and “class 2”. Within each stem class, there are further subgroupings determined by the final sounds of the stem; the most basic divide is between “vocalic declensions” (comprising the nouns whose stems end in a vowel) and “consonant declensions” (which include stems ending in a consonant). 

With most nouns, the declension type can be predicted from the nom. sg. form (more specifically, its final sounds). 

===== Class 1 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings used with class 1 stems are: ''-i'' or zero, nominative; ''-ys'' or ''-wis'', accusative; ''-al'', genitive; ''-njun'', dative; ''-lu'', benefactive; ''-ma'', instrumental; ''-jur'', plural marker. Various alternations on morpheme boundaries make the formation of certain forms somewhat obscure. 

''Class 1 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -ai: somai 'stone' !! -oi: appoi 'cloud' !! -ei: kei 'mountain' !! -u: kommu 'husband' !! -i: liffi 'bird' !! -y: fomy 'fish' !! -au: nau 'turn, iteration'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soma''i'' || appo''i'' || ke''i'' || kommu || liffi || fomy || nau
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soma''wis'' || appo''wis'' || ke''wis'' || kommu'''''s''''' || liffi''wis'' || fomy''wis'' || nau''wis''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| som'''''o''''''l''''' || appo'''''f'''al'' || ke'''''s'''al'' || kommu'''''f'''al'' || liffi'''''s'''al'' || fomy'''''s'''al'' || nau'''''f'''al''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soma''njun'' || appo''njun'' || ke''njun'' || kommu''njun'' || liffi''njun'' || fomy''njun'' || nau''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soma''lu'' || appo''lu'' || ke''lu'' || kommu''lu'' || liffi''lu'' || fomy''lu'' || nau''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soma''ma'' || appo''ma'' || ke''ma'' || kommu''ma'' || liffi''ma'' || fomy''ma'' || nau''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soma''jur'' || appo''jur'' || ke''jur'' || kommu''jur'' || liffi''jur'' || fomy''jur'' || nau''jur''
|-
|}

 The nominative ending used to be uniformly ''-i'', but only ''-ai, -ei'' and ''-oi'' survive as diphthongs synchronically. 

The genitive ''somol'' is historically ''soma-al''; the appearance of ''-f-'' and ''-s-'' in genitives looks synchronically unmotivated, but actually is predictable from the quality of the final sound of the stem. Cf. similar processes in class 2 declensions, as well as in secondary case formation. 

The contraction in the accusative ''kommu'''s''''' is phonetically regular and used to be active in other declension types as well, but ultimately was mostly eliminated by analogy (except in nouns in ''-u'' and a few fossilized forms). 

''Class 1 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -in, -yn, -øn: soffjunsin 'louse' !! -on: non 'person' !! -un: mumun 'seat' !! -jun: mjun 'rain', hun 'heart' !! -en: rarken 'brother' !! -an: tswan 'bitter vetch' !! -l: tjupol 'beech tree' !! -r: soror 'rat' !! -af, -of, -uf, -if, -ef, -yf (''i. e.'' -Vf ''except'' -øf): rwetsif 'fox' !! -es, -is, -ys: tsarkes 'battle' !! -os, -us, -øs: tswistjos 'belly'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soffjunsin || non || mumun || mjun, hun || rarken || tswan || tjupol || soror || rwetsif || tsarkes || tswistjos
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soffjunsin''ys'' || n'''''am'''ys'' || mum'''''o'''nys'' || m'''''im'''ys'', '''''rim'''ys'' || rark'''''a'''nys'' || tsw'''''o'''nys'' || tjupol'''''f'''ys'' || soror''ys'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fys'' || tsarkes''ys'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sys''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| soffjunsin''al'' || n'''''anf'''al'' || mum'''''o'''nal'' || m'''''inf'''al'', '''''rinf'''al'' || rark'''''a'''nal'' || tsw'''''o'''nal'' || tjupol'''''r'''al'' || soror''al'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fal'' || tsarkes''al'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sal''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soffjunsin''njun'' || non''njun'' || mumun''njun'' || mjun''njun'', hun''njun'' || rarken''njun'' || tswan''njun'' || tjupol'''''hu'''n'' || soror''njun'' ||   rwetsif''njun''   || tsarkes''njun'' || tswistjos''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soffjunsi'''''l'''lu'' || no'''''l'''lu'' || mumu'''''l'''lu'' || mju'''''l'''lu'', hu'''''l'''lu'' || rarke'''''l'''lu'' || tswa'''''l'''lu'' || tjupol'''''ru''''' || soror'''''u''''' || rwetsif''lu'' || tsarkes''lu'' || tswistjos''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soffjunsim''ma'' || nom''ma'' || mumum''ma'' || mjum''ma'', hum''ma'' || rarkem''ma'' || tswam''ma'' || tjupol'''''f'''a'' || soror''ma'' || rwetsi'''''nf'''a'' || tsarkes''ma'' || tswistjos''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soffjunsin''jur'' || non''jur'' || mumun''jur'' || mjun''jur'', hun''jur'' || rarken''jur'' || tswan''jur'' || tjupol'''''hu'''r'' || soro'''''hu'''r'' || rwetsif''jur'' || tsarkes''jur'' || tswistjos''jur''
|-
|}
 
 The assimilation ''fm'' → ''(f)f'' is a common process also found in other formations in the language. 

The historical stem-final ''-m'' and ''-n'' differently affect the quality of the preceding vowels where they are in coda position. In the type ''hun'', the latter process produced a combination ''-ju-'' which complicated things further by causing a historical palatalization of the preceding stem-internal ''-l-'' and ''-r-''. 

The types ''rwetsif'' and ''tswistjos'' include stems which historically ended in ''-nf-'' and ''-ns-''; these clusters simplified when in coda position. 

The only peculiarity of the type ''soror'' is the historical assimilation ''-rl-'' → ''-r-'' in benefactive and ''-rlj-'' → ''-rj-'' ( → ''h'') in the pl. forms. 

The type ''tjupol'' is the most complicated: these stems end historically in ''-lr-'', with various assimilations and cluster simplifications. 
 

===== Class 2 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings in this class are: ''-e'' or zero, nominative; ''-øs'' or ''-wes'', accusative; ''-ja'', genitive; ''-njøn'', dative; ''-lø'', benefactive; ''-mja'', instrumental; ''-jør-'', plural marker. 

''Class 2 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -a: øfja 'horse' !! -e: rele 'lizard' !! -o: jo 'ice' !! -ø: fø 'wind'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| øfja || rele || jo || fø
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| øfja''wes'' || rele''wes'' || jo''wes'' || fø''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| øfj'''''o''''' || rele'''''s'''ja'' || jo''ja'' || fø'''''f'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| øfja''njøn'' || rele''njøn'' || jo''njøn'' || fø''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| øfja''lø'' || rele''lø'' || jo''lø'' || fø''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| øfja''mja'' || rele''mja'' || jo''mja'' || fø''mja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| øfja''jøre'' || rele''jøre'' || jo''jøre'' || fø''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations involved are the same as with class 1 stems. 
Note that the type ''rele'' includes only such stems with nominative in ''-e'' that cannot be interpreted as one of the class 2 consonant declensions described below. 

''Class 2 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -øne: fømøne 'death' !! -ene: pintene 'garden' !! -ane: tejane 'sky' !! -ame: janjame 'leaf' !! -ome: tjome 'juice' !! -lre: punfølre 'wolf' !! -øf: røf 'mouth' !! -as: jas 'snake'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| fømøn''e'' || pinten''e'' || tejan''e'' || janjam''e'' || tjom''e'' || punfølr''e'' || røf || ja'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| fømøn''øs'' || pinten''øs'' || tejan''øs'' || janjam''øs'' || tjom''øs'' || punføl'''''f'''øs'' || røf''øs'' || ja'''''f'''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| fømøn''ja'' || pinten''ja'' || tejan''ja'' || janj'''''onf'''ja'' || tj'''''anf'''ja'' || punføl'''''ha''''' || røf''ja'' || jo'''''ha'''''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| fømøn''njøn'' || pint'''''i'''nnjøn'' || tej'''''e'''nnjøn'' || janj'''''on'''njøn'' || tj'''''an'''njøn'' || punføl'''''hø'''n'' || røf''njøn'' || jo'''''j'''øn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| fømø'''''l'''lø'' || pint'''''il'''lø'' || tej'''''el'''lø'' || janj'''''ol'''lø'' || tj'''''al'''lø'' || punfølr'''''ø''''' || røf''lø'' || ja'''''r'''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| fømøm''mja'' || pint'''''i'''mmja'' || tej'''''e'''mmja'' || janj'''''om'''mja'' || tj'''''am'''mja'' || punfø'''''lf'''ja'' || røf'''''f'''ja'' || ja'''''ff'''ja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| fømøn''jøre'' || pint'''''i'''njøre'' || tej'''''e'''njøre'' || janj'''''on'''jøre'' || tj'''''an'''jøre'' || punføl'''''hø'''re'' || røf''jøre'' || ja'''''r'''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in these types are the same as with class 1 declensions; only the type ''jas'' is peculiar. 

===== Plural declension and the counting form =====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! class 1: somajur 'stones' !! class 2: øfjajøre 'horses'
|- align="center"
! Cases (pl.):  
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| somajur || øfjajør''e''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| somajur''ys'' || øfjajør''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| somajur''al'' || øfjajø'''''h'''a''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| somajur''njun'' || øfjajør''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| somajur'''''u''''' || øfjajør'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| somajur''ma'' || øfjajør''mja''
|- align="center"
! Counting form  
| somajur || øfjajør
|-
|}
 
 The counting form of class 1 nouns is identical with nom. pl., but in class 2 it is a separate form built by dropping the nominative ending. 

===== Irregular nouns =====

 A few nouns are class 1 stems in sg. but class 2 in pl.; this shift is accompanied by altering the stem vowel. Examples include ''moi'' 'eye', ''woi'' 'mushroom', ''roi'' 'horn', and ''koi'' 'bone', whose plurals are ''møjøre'', ''wøjøre'', ''røjøre'', and ''køjøre'', respectively. 

Many irregularities characterize the declension of pronouns, as described in the respective sections below. 

==== Spatial cases ====

 

===== Inventory and meanings =====

 The 24 spatial cases can be presented as combinations of eight “localizations” with three “orientations”. 
Localizations describe the position of a reference point relative to the object denoted by the noun being inflected: - adessive, 'at'; - inessive, 'in'; - superessive, 'on' (usually, 'in contact with the upper surface of'); - apudessive, 'near, close to'; - subessive, 'under, below (with or without contact)'; - postessive, 'behind or after'; - antessive, 'before or in front of'; - extraessive, 'outside'. 
Orientations specify the type of movement or static position relative to the point referred to by the localization: - locative: '(resting) at the point specified by localization'; - lative: '(moving or directed) towards the point specified by localization'; - ablative: '(moving or directed) away from the point specified by localization'. 
With the forms of the inessive localization and the noun ''mjunki'' 'water' taken as an example: - inessive-locative: ''mjunki'''wiry''''' 'in the water'; - inessive-lative: ''mjunki'''nimy''''' 'into the water'; - inessive-ablative: ''mjunki'''moi''''' 'out of the water'. 
As can be seen from the above examples, the name of each spatial case consists of the name of the localization followed by the name of the orientation (e. g. “inessive-lative”, “subessive-ablative”, etc.). However, the name of the locative orientation can be omitted where no ambiguity will arise, so e. g. “superessive-locative (case)” can be referred to as simply “superessive (case)”. 
Besides referring to spatial relations proper, the spatial cases have quite obvious temporary usages (especially common with gerunds). Thus, the locative cases can convey meanings like 'at', 'before', 'after' (a specific moment), 'within' (a timespan); the ablative cases add the meaning of 'since', and the lative cases, of 'until'. 
In addition, individual spatial cases have various metaphoric usages, including grammatical ones. 

===== Formation =====

 As already mentioned, the forms of spatial cases are based on certain primary cases. Specifically, the locative cases are always derived from the accusative; the lative cases, from the dative; and the ablative cases, from the instrumental. 
In groups of words that must agree in case, normally only the last one is inflected for spatial case, while all the others are put in the respective primary case (accusative, dative or instrumental). In particular, declinable conjunctions and equative markers have no forms of spatial cases. 
The formation of spatial cases can be conveniently presented as replacement of parts of the endings of the respective primary cases by the endings of spatial cases. The endings of spatial cases used with class 1 and class 2 stems are different. In the tables below, the formation of spatial cases is illustrated with the words ''mjunki'' 'water' (class 1) and ''fjas'' 'sand' (class 2). 

''Spatial cases of class 1 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''mjunkiwis''' || ''Dative'': '''mjunkinjun''' || ''Instrumental'': '''mjunkima'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| -'''s''' || '''-njun, -(*l)-jun, -hun''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -ras: mjunkiwi'''''r'''as'' || -nimas (-limas, -rimas): mjunkin'''''im'''as'' || -os: mjunkim'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -ry: mjunkiwi'''''r'''y'' || -nimy (-limy, -rimy): mjunkin'''''im'''y'' || -oi: mjunkim'''''oi''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -run: mjunkiwi'''''r'''un'' || -nimun (-limun, -rimun): mjunkin'''''im'''un'' || -on: mjunkim'''''on'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjummo: mjunkiwis''kjummo'' || -njunkjummo (-junkjummo, -hunkjummo): mjunkinjun''kjummo'' || -akjummo: mjunkima''kjummo''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spis: mjunkiwis''pis'' || -njumpis (-jumpis, -humpis): mjunkinjum''pis'' || -affis: mjunkima'''''ff'''is''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -raffa: mjunkiwi'''''r'''affa'' || -njunfaffa (-junfaffa, -hunfaffa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''affa'' || -offa: mjunkim'''''off'''a''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ra: mjunkiwi'''''r'''a'' || -njunfa (-junfa, -hunfa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''a'' || -o: mjunkim'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hu: mjunkiwi'''''hu''''' || -nimju (-limju, -rimju): mjunkin'''''im'''ju'' || -aju: mjunkima''ju''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in spatial case formation have already occurred in primary cases; in particular, those affecting the dative ''-(n)jun'' are of the same nature as those found in the declension of ''hun'' 'heart'. 
Some new ones include: ''-s'' (in codas) :: ''-r-'' (intervocalic) – in all cases derived from the accusative; ''-p-'' (after consonants) :: ''-ff-'' (intervocalic) – in the subessive series. 

''Spatial cases of class 2 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''fjaføs''' || ''Dative'': '''fjojøn''' || ''Instrumental'': '''fjaffja'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| '''-s''' || '''-njøn, -(*l)-jøn, -høn''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -has: fjafø'''''ha'''s'' || -nemjas (-lemjas, -remjas): fjo'''''lem'''jas'' || -os: fjaffj'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -rø: fjafø'''''r'''ø'' || -nemø (-lemø, -remø): fjo'''''lem'''ø'' || -ø: fjaffj'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -røn: fjafø'''''r'''øn'' || -nemøn (-lemøn, -remøn): fjo'''''lem'''øn'' || -øn: fjaffj'''''øn'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjømmø: fjaføs''kjømmø'' || -njønkjømmø (-jønkjømmø, -hønkjømmø): fjojøn''kjømmø'' || -akjømmø: fjaffja''kjømmø''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spes: fjaføs''pes'' || -njømpes (-jømpes, -hømpes): fjojøm''pes'' || -affes: fjaffja'''''ff'''es''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -haffja: fjafø'''''ha'''ffja'' || -njønfjaffja (-jønfjaffja, -hønfjaffja): fjojøn'''''f'''jaffja'' || -offja: fjaffj'''''off'''ja''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ha: fjafø'''''ha''''' || -njønfja (-jønfja, -hønfja): fjojøn'''''f'''ja'' || -o: fjaffj'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hø: fjafø'''''hø''''' || -nemjø (-lemjø, -remjø): fjo'''''lem'''jø'' || -ajø: fjaffja''jø''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations are already familiar. 

==== Substantivized genitive ====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Stem class !! ''class 1'': kommufalli 'what belongs to (the) husband' !! ''class 2'': føffesjai 'what belongs to (the) soul'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg. or pl.):
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| kommufal'''''l'''i'' || føffesja''i''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| kommufal'''''l'''ys'' || føffesja''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| kommufal'''''s'''al'' || føffesja'''''s'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| kommufal''njun'' || føffesja''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| kommufal''lu'' || føffesja''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| kommufal''ma'' || føffesja''mja''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive (2nd)
| kommufal'''''s'''alli'' || føffesja'''''s'''jai''
|-
|}
 

 The forms of substantivized genitives make no distinction between sg. and pl. of the possessed item. However, all the secondary cases are formed freely, by regular substitution of case endings. Curiously, substantivized genitives of substantivized genitives are also used, as e. g. in the following example: 
''E₁ tassijural₂ munnai₃ ristiwiras₄, fy₅ '''tatsanalsalli'''₆ astiwiras₇ nini₈''. 'The₀ clothes₃ of₍₂₎ my₁ children₂ are₈ here₄, and₅ '''those'''₆ '''of'''₍₆₎ (my₀) '''sister's'''₆ '''children'''₀ there₇.' 
(''Tatsanalsalli'' being the nom. of the subst. gen. of ''tatsanalli'', which is itself the subst. gen. of ''tatsen'' 'sister'.) 
The substantivized genitives are sometimes lexicalized and then moved to the regular substantive declension types, with regular pl. forms. With cl. 1 stems, such derivates are invariably the nom. forms reinterpreted as regular nouns of the ''liffi'' type. With cl. 2 stems, there are two options: the derivate inherits either the oblique stem (in ''-ja'') and declines according to the ''øfja'' type, or the nominative (in ''-jai''), and then is reinterpreted as class 1 (!) stem of the ''somai'' type. 
[''Details of case usage remain to be added''] 

==== Pronouns ====

 

===== Personal and demonstrative pronouns =====

 The personal pronouns of 1st and 2nd persons display a number of peculiarities, compared to the regular nouns, in both case forms and the plural stems. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'I' !! 'you' (''sg''.) !! 'we' !! 'you' (''pl''.)
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| e''i'' || to''i'' || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| e''wis'' || to''wis'' || ekwi''wis'' || tokkwi''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| e || to || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Dative
| e''njun'' || to''njun'' || ekwi''njun'' || tokkwi''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| e''lu'' || to''lu'' || ekw'''''elø''''' || tokkw'''''elø'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| e''ma'' || to''ma'' || ekwi''ma'' || tokkwi''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| e'''''s'''alli'' || to'''''f'''alli'' || ekwi'''''s'''alli'' || tokkwi'''''s'''alli''
|-
|}
 
 The personal pronouns of the 3rd person are essentially demonstratives. The forms of ''ri'' refer to objects that are close to either the speaker or the listener; the objects that are at a distance from both, or are invisible to the speaker, are denoted with forms of ''ai''. These usages of the two pronouns are called “deictic”; in non-deictic use, ''ai'' is the default anaphoric pronoun (i. e. referring to something already mentioned by one of the interlocutors), while ''ri'' is mainly used cataphorically (that is, to denote some object the speaker is going to introduce). 
Note that plural forms of these are built like with 1st and 2nd person pronouns only when they refer to animate beings (not necessarily sentient); otherwise their plurals are built like those of the regular nouns. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this one; he/she/it' !! 'that one; he/she/it' !! 'these, they' (''animate'') !! 'these, they' (''inanimate'') !! 'those, they' (''animate'') !! 'those, they' (''inanimate'')
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ri || a''i'' || rikwi || rijur || akwi || ajur
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| '''''hu'''s'' || '''''øs''''' || rikwi''wis'' || rijur''ys'' || akwi''wis'' || ajur''ys''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri || a || rikwi || rijur''al'' || akwi || ajur''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ri''njun'' || a''njun'' || rikwi''njun'' || rijur''njun'' || akwi''njun'' || ajur''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ri''lu'' || a''lu'' || rikw'''''elø''''' || rijur'''''u''''' || akw'''''elø''''' || ajur'''''u'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ri''ma'' || a''ma'' || rikwi''ma'' || rijur''ma'' || akwi''ma'' || ajur''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| ri'''''s'''alli'' || '''''ol'''li'' || rikwi'''''s'''alli'' || rijur''alli'' || akwi'''''s'''alli'' || ajur''alli''
|-
|}
 
 When used as attributes of other nouns, the demonstratives require a construction which is essentially the same as with appositions (see the sections on the equative marker and on nominal groups below). The more common position for the pronoun is after the noun; in this case, there are some peculiarities not found with appositional nouns, incliding free use of genitives and contractions with the equative marker. When placed before the noun, the demonstratives require the usual appositive construction (with no contractions and no genitives available); in this case they are semantically somewhat out-of-focus and may resemble definite articles, although are thus used infrequently. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this (these)', ''postpositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''postpositive'' !! 'this (these)', ''prepositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''prepositive''
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li ri || '''''j'''''-ai || ri li || a li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys hus || pys'' '''s'''''øs || hus pys || øs pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri'''''s'''al'' || '''''ol''''' || - || -
|- align="center"
! Dative
| njun rinjun || njun'' '''s'''''anjun || rinjun njun || anjun njun
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu rilu || '''''w'''-''alu || rilu lu || alu lu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma rima || '''''m''-o'''ma || rima ma || ama ma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| risalli || olli || - || -
|-
|}
 
 It is interesting to note that prepositive and pospositive demonstratives sometimes occur simultaneously with one noun; in such cases, at least one of the demonstratives is interpreted as non-deictic: 
'''''Ai'''₁ li₂ e₃ rarken₄ li₅ '''ri'''₆''. 'The said brother of mine whom you see here' (lit.''' 'That₁ one'''₁ who₂ is₂ my₃ brother₄ who₅ is₅ '''this'''₆'). 
Other demonstratives that are mostly used independently include ''risti'' 'this place, here', ''asti'' 'that place, that direction, there', ''rinau'' 'this time, now', and ''anau'' 'that time, then' (note that ''risti'' and ''rinau'', like ''ri'', are often used cataphorically and then cannot be translated as 'here' and 'now'). They are declined like regular class 1 nouns and mostly used in spatial cases, although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ristiwis'''₁ ei₂ tesi₃'' 'I₂ like₃ '''this₁ place'''₁' (or 'I like it here'). They can form plurals to refer to multiple locations or instances, as well as to broader areas or more prolonged timespans. 

===== Interrogative pronouns =====

 The main interrogative pronouns include: ''y'' 'what? which one?'; ''yrky'' 'who? which one?'; ''riffikky'' 'what? who? what kind of object(s)?'; ''ysti'' 'where? which place? which direction?'; ''riffitti'' 'where? what kind of place?'; ''ynau'' 'when? which time?'; and ''riffinau'' 'when? what kind of circumstances?'. 
The pronouns ''y'' and ''yrky'' imply that the object of inquiry belongs to a set which is already known or obvious from the situation; ''yrky'' implies an animate object (but not necessarily sentient). In contrast, ''riffikky'' implies that the speaker knows nothing about the object, and may need its description rather than identification; this pronoun is not sensitive to animacy. The semantic difference in the pairs ''ysti'' vs. ''riffitti'' and ''ynau'' vs. ''riffinau'' is partly similar with that between ''y'' / ''yrky'' and ''riffikky.'' 
The pronouns ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'', and ''riffinau'' are mostly used in spatial cases, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwiras'''₁ ai₂ nini₃?''''' 'Where'''₁ is₃ he/she/it₂?', although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwis'''₁ toi₂ tesi₃?''''' 'Which₁ place'''₁ do₃ you₂ prefer₃?' and in similar contexts. 
Of the interrogative pronouns, only ''y'', ''yrky'' and ''riffikky'' display some peculiarities in declension (namely, in acc. sg.); the rest belong to the standard class 1 declension types. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| y || yrky || riffikky
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| y'''''s''''' || yrky'''''s''''' || riffikky'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| y'''''s'''al'' || yrky'''''s'''al'' || riffikky'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| y''njun'' || yrky''njun'' || riffikky''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| y''lu'' || yrky''lu'' || riffikky''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| y''ma'' || yrky''ma'' || riffikky''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| y'''''s'''alli'' ||   yrky'''''s'''alli''   ||   riffikky'''''s'''alli''  
|- align="center"
! Nominative pl.
| (y''jur'') || (yrky''jur'') || -
|-
|}
 
 The plurals of ''y'' and ''yrky'' are used rarely; usually they imply not only that the objects are already known to be more than one, but also that the speaker wants them to be enumerated; the plural of ''riffikky'' does not exist. 
In contrast, the plurals of ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'' and ''riffinau'' are rather common; ''ystijur'' and ''riffittijur'' imply that there are several relevant places, while ''ynaujur'' and ''riffinaujur'' often refer to prolonged periods or multiple instances rather than to single moments. 

===== Reflexive pronouns =====

 The reflexive pronouns are based on the auxiliary noun ''ry'' 'self' which normally is not used without a genitive of a pronoun or noun that specifies it. A genitive of a personal pronoun and ''ry'' are written as one word and pronounced accordingly: ''ery'' 'myself', ''tory'' 'yourself', ''ekwiry'', ''tokkwiry'', ''riry'', ''ary'', ''rikwiry'', ''rijuralry'', ''akwiry'', ''ajuralry''. The genitives of other words remain separate, as e. g. in ''e₁ mamol₂ '''ry'''₃'' 'my mother herself' (lit. 'my₁ mother's₂ '''self'''₃'). 
The word ''ry'' has no plural and is declined like the interrogatives ''y'', ''yrky'', ''riffikky''. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ry
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| ry'''''s'' '''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ry'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ry''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ry''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ry''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     ry'''''s'''alli''    
|-
|}
 

 The genitive of a reflexive pronoun can often be translated with 'own', as in '''''erysal'''₁ fei₂'' 'my₁ '''own'''₁ house₂', ''e₁ kispjufal₂ '''rysal'''₃ øfja₄'' 'my₁ wife's₂ '''own'''₃ horse₄'. 

===== The equative marker =====

 “The equative marker” is the traditional term for the auxiliary word that links a noun (or pronoun) with an apposition, as e. g. in ''to₁ mamai₂ '''li'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispju₆'' 'your₁ mother₂ '''who₃ is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife₆' or ''elu₁ '''lu'''₂ to₃ tatsellu₄'' 'for₍₁₋₂₋₄₎ me₁, ('''as'''₂) your₃ sister₄'. The head noun, the equative marker and the apposition must agree in (primary) case, and therefore the equative marker is inflected for case; however, it is insensitive to number distinctions and has no secondary cases. Besides, it has no forms of genitive (primary or substantivized), as for appositions to nouns in genitive there is a different construction, where the head genitive is replaced with a substantivized genitive: ''to₁ '''mamollu'''₂ '''lu'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispjufal₆ felu₇'' 'for the house of your mother who is my future wife' (lit. 'for₍₂₋₃₋₇₎ your₁ '''mother's'''₂, '''which'''₃ '''is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife's₆ house₇'). 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| -
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     njun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| -
|-
|}
 
 

===== Role-switching marker =====

 This pronoun plays a very important part in Affanonic syntax. Prototypically, it indicates that its head predicate has the same topic as a preceding predicate, but in a different role. Its other uses are described in the section on syntax below. 
The role-switching marker does not differentiate singular from plural, but has all cases including secondary. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| lili 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pipys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| lisal
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ninjun 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lilu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| mima 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     lisalli    
|-
|}
 
 

===== Relative pronoun =====

 The relative pronoun ''fylli'' is used in relative clauses when they follow their head nouns. It inflects for case which denotes its role in the relative clause (rather than in the main clause), e. g. ''nontalu₁ '''fynnjun'''₂ ei₃ fati₄'' 'for₍₁₎ the₀ man₁ to₍₂₎ whom₂ I₃ told₄ (that₀)'. There are all case forms, both primary and secondary, but no number distinction. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fylli 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fyppys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fyra
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     fynnjun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fyllu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fymma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| fyrolli
|-
|}
 
 

==== Quantity words ====

 This category includes numerals (e. g. ''tsei'' 'three') and a few words that denote quantities of countable objects: ''fumøne'' 'many'; ''pimoi'' 'few'; ''kjunsøf'' 'several, a few, some (of)'; ''supu'' 'all (of)'. They are declined like the ordinary nouns in singular and carry no number markers of their own. The noun whose quantity is specified is put in counting form and precedes the quantity word: ''øfjajør₁ tsei₂'' 'three₂ horses₁'. 

==== Declinable conjunctions ====

 Where nouns or pronouns linked by the conjunctions ''fy'' 'and', ''la'' 'or', or ''pau'' 'but not' stand in the same (primary) case and form the same phrase constituent, the conjunctions must agree in (primary) case with the words they link, e. g.: ''e₁ mamalu₂ fylu₃ elu₄'' 'for₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄', ''e₁ mamanjun₂ fynjun₃ enjun₄'' 'to₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄'.
 The case forms of the three declinable conjunctions are shown in the following table. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !!   fy 'and'   !!   la 'or'   !!   pau 'but not'  
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fy || l'''''e'''i'' || p'''''o'''i''
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fy'''''s''' '' || l'''''øs''''' || pau''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fy || la || pau
|- align="center"
! Dative
| fy''njun'' || la''njun'' || pau''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fy''lu'' || la''lu'' || pau''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fy''ma'' || la''ma'' || pau''ma''
|-
|}
 
 

=== Adjectives and adverbs ===

 These are basically one part of speech in Affanonic. Thus, ''fje'' 'beautiful' is mostly used as an adjective, but can also mean 'beatifully' when it stands before a verb. Similarly, ''ese'' 'sometimes' is mostly used as an adverb, but can also be used with a noun to convey a meaning like 'occurring sometimes'. 
Both adjectives and adverbs must immediately precede the word they specify. 
The words belonging to this class have no inflectional forms. 

=== Adverbial particles ===

 
This is another class of words that often correspond to avderbs (most commonly, sentential adverbs) in other languages. However, they cannot be used as prepositive attributes of nouns and, unlike the usual adverbs, can be (and mostly are) separated from their head verb by any number of other constituents. 
An example of adverbial particle is ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)'. 
It is interesting to note that spatial cases of nouns are syntactically more similar with adverbial particles than with adverbs proper. Indeed, many adverbial particles resemble case forms derived from obscure stems not used as ordinary nouns; an example is ''mølø'' 'visually, visibly, by eye, before one's eyes' which looks like a benefactive derived from some *''mø'' (cf., however, ''moi'' 'eye' and its irregular plural ''møjøre'' 'eyes'). 

=== Verbs ===

 

===== Telicity =====

 
All the verbs are divided into two major classes: perfectives and (lexical) imperfectives. 
Perfective verbs are semantically telic. In other words, they denote processes that imply a change of state or achieving a result, and therefore cannot be normally viewed as allowing for an indefinitely long continuation (i. e. as continuing after the point where the change is complete or the implied result is achieved). Examples of such verbs in Affanonic are ''soffoffi'' 'to fall asleep', ''mumin'' 'to sit down', ''fati'' 'to say, tell', ''føref'' 'to kill', and ''njun'' 'to become'. 
In contrast, lexically imperfective verbs are semantically atelic, i. e. denote static conditions or cyclic processes that do not imply a specific endpoint by themselves. Examples include ''roffoffi'' 'to sleep', ''lilami'' 'to stand', ''piffati'' 'to talk, speak', and ''nini'' 'to be'. 
Perfective verbs have two standard imperfective derivates that can be considered part of their paradigm: durative and resultative (jointly referred to as “secondary imperfectives”, as opposed to “lexical imperfectives”). 
Duratives are formed by the auxiliary verb ''nyral'' placed after the unaltered stem of the perfective verb. A durative can have either of the following two interpretations. In one interpretation, it denotes an indefinite number of repetitive events which individually would be denoted by the original perfective; this interpretation is called “iterative”. The other interpretation implies a shift in the time scale: the process or activity that should eventually result in the change of state denoted by the original perfective is viewed as long enough to serve as the “indefinitely long” background for some other, shorter events, and thus as requiring an imperfective to describe it. This interpretation is termed “continuative”. 
Resultatives are formed by the auxiliary ''ja'' put after the stem of the original perfective. They denote a continuous static condition that results from the event denoted by the perfective. 
Lexical imperfectives do not have any standard perfective derivates, since the associated semantic shifts are more diverse and idiosyncratic. Therefore, all processes that derive a perfective from an imperfective are considered as belonging with lexical derivation. 

===== Tenses =====

 
The finite forms of imperfectives (both lexical and secondary) taken without any additional marking are the standard forms of the present tense. The term is purely conventional; while the default meaning of the present taken outside any specific context is indeed that of an action or condition which continues at the moment of speaking, it can also denote an action or condition that was simultaneous with, or served as the background for, another action which can relate to present, past or future. In particular, adverbs and adverbial expressions that denote time, e. g. ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)', can freely combine with the present tense, and do not require the verb to carry any additional marking to express non-present. In other words, the characteristic of this tense is purely negative: it does not mark a continuous action or condition as preceding or following anything else. 
On the contrary, the perfective verbs taken as bare stems indicate by default that the action in question has been, or had been, completed by the present moment or by some moment in the past. Therefore, their bare stem is considered a past tense which is termed “aorist”. However, if there is a direct indication to future in the same sentence, the aorist form can mean that the action will have been completed by some moment in the future. 
Imperfectives can be explicitly marked for past tense by adding the postpositive auxiliary ''njau'' (which is actually a perfective verb 'to turn' in its non-auxiliary use). This combination is termed “imperfect tense”. 
The explicit reference to future is made differently with perfectives and imperfectives. Imperfectives use a special postpositive tense marker, ''jawa''. This form is referred to as “imperfective future”. 
Perfectives, on the other hand, are combined with the word ''tsjuma'' which is properly an independent adjective / adverb meaning 'in the future, imminent(ly)'; therefore, it is put before the verb and is sometimes separated from the latter by another adverb. Nevertheless, such combinations with ''tsjuma'' are often treated as a special tense called “perfective future”. 

===== Subjunctive =====

 
The subjunctive of the perfective verbs is formed by adding the postpositive marker ''nifføf''. This form refers to the past; however, it can combine with ''tsjuma'' to convey future. 
The copula ''nini'' 'to be' has an inflectional form of subjunctive, ''ninifføf''. This form refers to the present. The other lexical imperfectives form their present subjunctive by adding ''ninifføf ''postpositively. However, duratives do not use this form, but replace their ''nyral'' with ''nyralpøf''<nowiki>; similarly, the resultatives substitute </nowiki>''jafføf'' for their ''ja''. The past subjunctive of all imperfectives (including duratives, resultatives and ''nini'') is formed by adding a pospositive ''nufføf'', and the future subjunctive, by a postpositive ''nawafføf''. 

===== Gerunds =====

 
Gerunds represent the only type of regular non-finite forms of Affanonic verbs. They can be considered substantivized verbs which make it possible to use a verb as an argument of another verb, or of any other word. On the other hand, a gerund can retain all the arguments of the original finite verb without altering their form. 
The benefactive of gerunds has some usages similar to those of infinitive in English. 
Perfective verbs form their gerunds with the postpositive auxiliary noun ''nau'' (which in its non-auxiliary use means 'turn, iteration, time'). 
Lexical imperfectives have gerunds formed by the postpositive ''jo''. 
The gerunds of duratives are formed by replacing the finite durative marker ''nyral'' with ''naujur'' (i. e. the plural of ''nau''). 
The gerunds of resultatives are formed by replacing the finite resultative marker ''ja'' with the auxiliary noun ''jai'', which declines like a class 2 substantivized genitive. 
The gerund forms listed above are basically tenseless; however, due to the vague temporal meanings of the Affanonic present and aorist, the above types of gerunds can be viewed as their substantivized equivalents. 
The use of the gerunds equivalent to the other tenses is optional. The perfective gerunds with ''nau'' can combine with ''tsjuma'' to refer to a future action. The finite markers of all the tenses of imperfectives other than the present are historically perfective verbs, so gerunds can be derived from them by adding the postpositive ''nau'' as well. 
The gerund equivalents of all forms of the subjunctive are rare, but can in principle be derived freely by adding the same ''nau'' as the most universal gerund marker. 

== Syntax ==

 

=== Nominal groups ===

 
The nominal group template can be presented as follows: 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
| -3 || -2 || -1 || '''0''' || 1 || 2 || 3
|- align="center"
| A prepositive demonstrative || A genitive (with or without dependents) or a prepositive relative clause || An adjective (with or without dependents) || The head noun || The postpositive demonstrative (and/or other appositions) || An adverbial particle or a noun in oblique case used attributively || A postpositive relative clause
|-
|}
 
 
It is very usual to construe a noun denoting a possessor not as the usual genitive but as substantivized genitive put in apposition. This option is especially common when the genitive has its own attributes, and obligatory if any of such attributes are postpositive. 
All dependents of an adjective are put before it: 
'''''Mjunkima₁ njunta₂''' pir₃.'' 'A₀ ditch₃ '''full₂ of₍₁₎ water₁'''.' 
'''''Liloi₁ mjunkima₂ njunta₃''' pir₄.'' 'A₀ ditch₄ '''full₃ of₍₂₎ black₁ water₂'''.' 
This is also true of comparative constructions: 
'''''Sajurnjun₁ tsera₂ sunol₃''' nontai₄.'' 'A₀ man₄ '''stronger₃ than₂ others₁'''.' 
An adjective cannot be separated from its head noun except by another adjective, which cannot normally have any arguments of its own. 
To obviate the restrictions on word order, an adjective is often replaced with a relative clause based on the adjective and the copula verb ''nini'' 'to be': 
''Nontai₁ fylli₂ '''sajurnjun₃ tsera₄ sunol₅''' nini₆.'' 'A₀ man₁ (who₂ is₆) '''stronger₅ than₄ others₃'''.' 
Note that personal pronouns have relative freedom of taking all the types of attributes allowed with the regular nouns, e. g.: 
'''''Situn₁ ei₂''' wo₃ tituli₄ njau₅.''''' 'Stupid₁ me₂, I₂''' did₍₄₋₅₎n't₃ know₄₋₅ (that₀)'. 

==== Relative clauses ====

 Since in their internal structure the relative clauses of Affanonic present no peculiarities compared to main clauses, it is more convenient to consider them in the section on nominal groups. 

==== Prepositive relative clauses ====

 The easiest way to construe a relative clause in Affanonic is simply to put the predicate (with or without its arguments) immediately before the head noun. This option is especially common when the predicate has no dependent nouns. The head noun fills an argument valency of the predicate. However, by itself this construction provides no information on the specific argument role of the head noun, which therefore remains to be retrieved from the context. With intransitive verbs, there is a tendency to interprete the head noun as filling the subject valency, e. g.: 
 
'''''Tsjurin₁''' nontai₂.'' 'The₀ man₂ '''who₀ came₁''' (has come)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ '''tsjurin₂''''' 'The₀ man₁ '''has₍₂₎ come₂'.''' 
With transitive verbs, the head noun often fills the valency for direct object: 
'''''Føref₁''' øfja₂.'' 'The₀ horse₂ '''that₀ has₍₁₎ been₍₁₎ killed₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Øfjawes₁ '''føref₂'''.'' '(Somebody₀) '''killed₂''' the₀ horse₁'. 
However, the head noun can in principle correspond to any other role, e. g. expressed by a spatial case: 
'''''Ei₁ jeke₂''' fei₃.'' 'The₀ house₃ '''where₀ I₁ live₂'.''' 
Cf.: '''''Ei₁''' a₂ fewiry₃ '''jeke₄'''.''''' 'I₁ live₄''' in₍₃₎ his₂ house₃'. 
Some disambiguation is achieved if the relative clause has an explicit argument; then the head noun can fill only a remaining argument valency: 
'''''Øfjawes₁ føref₂''' nontai₃ li₄ ri₅.'' 'This₄₋₅ man₃ '''who₀ killed₂ the₀ horse₁'.''' 
'''''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ føref₄''' øfja₅.'' 'The₀ horse₅ '''killed₄ by₀ this₂₋₃ man₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ øfjawes₄ føref₅.'' 'This₂₋₃ man₁ killed₅ the₀ horse₄'. 
A more powerful means of disambiguation is provided by the use of the role-switching marker whose case indicates the role to be filled by the head noun: 
'''''Lili₁ føref₂''' nontai₃.'' 'The₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ '''lili₄ føref₅'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ man₁, '''he₍₄₎ killed₅''' (somebody₀)'. 
'''''Pipyry₁ ei₂ jeke₃''' fei₄.'' 'The₀ house₄ '''in₍₁₎ which₍₁₎ I₂ live₃'.''' 
Cf.: ''Fei₁ li₂ ri₃ '''pipyry₄ ei₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ house₁, '''I₅ live₆ in₍₄₎ it₍₄₎'.''' 
However, the use of the role-switching marker may cause some problems, too. Specifically, the role-switching marker can be understood as part of the main clause rather than the relative clause. Thus, a sentence like: 
''Lili føref nontawis hunti.'' 
- has two possible interpretations: 
 (a) ''Lili₁ (('''føref₂''' nontawis₃) hunti₄).'' 
'(Somebody₍₁₎ already₍₁₎ mentioned₍₁₎) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₀ had₍₂₎ been₍₂₎ killed₂'.''' 
 (b) ''(('''Lili₁ føref₂''') nontawis₃) hunti₄.'' 
'(Somebody₀) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ had₍₂₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀ else₀)'. 
Another problem common to all types of prepositive relative clauses is that basically they occupy the same slot in the nominal group template as genitives. Indeed, if put before the genitive, they are naturally understood as depending on the noun in genitive rather than its head: 
'''''Føref₁ nontol₂''' øfja₃.'' 'The₀ horse₃ '''of₍₂₎ the₀ man₂ who₀ was₍₁₎ killed₁' '''(rather than **'The man's killed horse'). 
For this reason, prepositive relative clauses depending on a genitive's head noun are allowed to precede only the genitives of personal pronouns, e. g.: 
''E₁ myffawis₂ rissjun₃ '''a₄ miti₅'''.''''' 'His₄ daughter₅''' who₀ washed₃ my₁ cloak₂'. 
On the other hand, if the relative clause has any explicit nominal arguments, a preceding genitive will be naturally understood as part of the relative clause: 
'''''E₁ øfjawes₂ haf₃''' u₄.'' 'The₀ dog₄ '''that₀ bit₃ my₁ horse₂' '''(rather than **'My dog that bit the horse'). 
For this reason, genitives depending on the head noun can precede a relative clause only if the latter has no explicit nominal arguments, e. g.: 
''To₁ '''fje₂ tsalami₃ nyral₄''' miti₅.'' 'Your₁ daughter₅ '''who₀ sings₃₋₄ beautifully₂'.''' 
To avoid the restrictions associated with prepositive relative clauses, other types of relative clauses can be used. 

==== Postpositive relative clauses ====

 
These are formed using the relative pronoun ''fylli'' which indicates the role of the head noun explicitly, e. g.: 
''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃ '''fylli₄ e₅ myffawis₆ rissjun₇'''.'' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃ '''who₄ washed₇ my₅ cloak₆'''.' 
''To₁ kommufal₂ fei₃ '''fyppyry₄ toi₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'Your₁ husband's₂ house₃ '''in₄ which₄ you₅ live₆'''.' 
Postpositive relative clauses often have a pronoun (especially the cataphoric ''ri'') as their head: 
'''''Ri₁ fylli₂ ajurys₃ suffi₄ tsjurin₅''' lili₆ e₇ kommu₈ nini₉ jawa₁₀.''''' 'He₁ who₂ has₍₄₋₅₎ brought₄₋₅ them₃''' will₁₀ be₉ my₇ husband₈'. 
The above example illustrates another peculiarity of postpositive relative clauses: to avoid their predicate's being perceived as forming a serial construction with the predicate of the main clause, the role-switching marker (''lili'' in this example) is inserted after the relative clause; it refers to the topic of the sentence, which may coincide or not with the head noun of the relative clause. 
A restriction associated with postpositive relative clauses is that nouns in genitive cannot take any postpositive attributes, including relative clauses. This problem can be solved, as usual, by substantivizing the genitive and construing it as an apposition: 
''Fei₁ '''li₂ to₃ mitisalli₄''' fylli₅ fje₆ tsalami₇ nyral₈.'' 'The₀ house₁ (which₂ is₂) '''of₍₄₎ your₃ daughter₄''' who₅ sings₇₋₈ beautifully₆.' 
The postpositive relative clauses can be extraposited, i. e. put after the main predicate of the sentence in which their head noun is an argument. In such cases, the head noun must be the last nominal constituent that precedes the main predicate: 
'''''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃''' tsjurin₄ '''fylli₅''' e₆ myffawis₇ rissjun₈.''''' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃''' has₍₄₎ come₄ '''who₅''' washed₈ my₆ cloak₇.' 

==== Head-internal relative clauses ====

 
In this type, the head noun must either be one of the pronouns ''ri'', ''risti'', ''rinau'', or have ''ri'' as its attribute. The head noun remains within the relative clause in its usual form and position, according to its syntactic role; its role in the main clause is conveyed with the role-switching marker: 
'''''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄''' lili₅ e₆ fei₇ nini₈ jawa₉''''' 'The₀ place₃ where₃ you₁ found₄ them₂''' will₉ be₈ my₆ homeplace₇'. 
Cf. ''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄.'' 'You₁ found₄ them₂ here₃'. 
This type of relative clauses is widely used in Affanonic. However, it is normally required that the relative clause should constitute the topic part of the sentence. 
Head-internal clauses are often used to single out a nominal group constituting the contrastive (or otherwise emphasized) rheme of the sentence. This construction is similar in structure with the English ''"It is X that Y"'' (only with the order of components reversed):
 
''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅ lili₆ '''to₇ myffai₈ nini₉'''.''''' 'It₍₁₋₆₎ is₉ your₇ cloak₈''' that₍₁₋₆₎ my₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅' 
Cf. ''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅.'' 'My₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅ it/this₁.'
 

=== Main clause ===

 

==== Word order ====

 
The verb must be put in the end of the main clause (as actually of any other type of clause); it can be followed by discourse particles, but the latter can be viewed as a special type of auxiliary verbs. Only extraposited subordinate clauses (either postpositive relative or conveying reported speech) can be put after the main predicate. 
Adverbs must immediately precede their head verb and cannot be separated from it except by another adverb. 
The order of all the other constituents is “free”, since morphology provides sufficient information about their syntactic roles. The most prominent regularity with their placement is a tendency to consider one nominal constituent as “topic” and the rest of the sentence as a comment describing its condition or an event that happened to it. Normally (i. e. in unemphatic speech), the topic is put first, and all the other constituents follow it. 
There is a tendency to put contrastive (and other emphasized) topics in nominative, irrespective of their intended syntactic role, and to put the role-switching marker immediately after them. 
Any constituent can be dropped when clear from the context. In principle, a verb taken alone can be a grammatical sentence. 

==== Serial constructions ====

 [''Stuff to be added later''] 

==== Copula ====

 
The most common copula is ''nini'' v. ipf. 'to be'; another example is ''njun'' v. pf. 'to become'. 
A noun used as nominal predicate must be in the nominative case. 
Adjectives are used in their usual uninflected form. 
Nouns in spatial cases (mostly locative) and some adverbial particles are put before the copula without any modifications. 

=== Negation ===

 The negative particle ''wo'' can be put before any part of the sentence to negate it. 

=== Adpositions ===

 
Adpositions can be derived from verbs or nouns. 

==== Postpositions derived from verbs ====

 
Some verbs in the position of the first part of a serial construction can be used to introduce their object as an additional nominal argument of the main predicate, i. e. like a postposition. The verb ''tsomin'' v. pf. 'to take' is often used in this way, as e. g. in the following sentence: 
''Nontai₁ '''sunollowis₂ tsomin₃''' nontisal₄ mitserawis₅ ni₆.'' 'The man made the woman's small image of wood' (lit.: 'The₀ man₁, '''having₍₃₎ taken₃ wood₂''', made₆ a₀ small₅ image₅ of₍₄₎ the₀ woman₄'). 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

==== Adpositions derived from nouns ====

 
Typically, an adposition is derived from a case form of noun with an attributed genitive, and thus is a postposition governing the genitive case. For example, from the inessive of ''tswis'' 'inner side, part; interior, inside': 
''Fesal₁ tswisyry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
''Fesal₁ tswismoi₂'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₂₎ of₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
However, the genitive can be substantivized, and put after the adposition as its apposition: 
''Tswisys₁ pys₂ fesallyry₃'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
''Tswisma₁ ma₂ fesalmoi₃'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ of₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
This pattern may produce e. g. a preposition that governs an essive or ablative case of substantivized genitive, as above. 
Besides, the lexical noun can be put in a spatial case which is used as a postpositive attribute to ''tswis'' in the same or another spatial case: 
''Tswisyry₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
''Tswismoi₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₎ of₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
This produces a preposition again, but now governing a spatial case of the lexical noun itself rather than of its substantivized genitive. 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

=== Reported speech ===

 
The reported speech clauses (which actually can be used to convey the content of knowledge, thought etc.) can be construed in one of two ways. 
One way is to use the clause as the topic of a sentence and to mark its syntactic role with the role-switching pronoun: 
'''''Toi₁ tsjuma₂ tsjurin₃ pipys₄''' ai₅ fati₆.'' 'He₅ said₆ '''that₍₄₎ you₁ would₂ come₃'.''' 
The other way is to mark its role in the main clause with the cataphoric ''ri'' in appropriate case, and to put the subordinate clause after the main predicate: 
''Ai₁ '''hus'''₂ fati₃, '''toi₄ tsjuma₅ tsjurin₆'''.'' 'He₁ said₃ '''that₍₂₎ you₄ would₅ come₆'.''' 
The latter type is called “extraposited”. 

== Lexical derivation ==

 Derivation of nouns [''Stuff to be added later''] Derivation of verbs Preverbs [''Stuff to be added later''] Compound verbs [''Stuff to be added later''] 

{{stub}}

[[Category:Isles languages]]

Affanonic/Grammar/Morphonology

2009-06-12T21:32:10Z

Basilius: slicing...

An important process often occurring in inflectional forms is historical palatalization: *''lj'' → ''j'', *''rj'' → ''h''. When the the change *''lj'' → ''j'' produces a consonant combination that is allowed as an onset cluster, a resyllabification takes place, which is sometimes important for stress position. Thus, a form like ''rarkenjur'' 'brothers' is syllabified ''rar.ke.njur'' and therefore has the stress on its first syllable, despite being historically *''rar.ken.ljur''. 
[''more stuff to be added later'']

Affanonic/Grammar

2009-06-12T21:20:30Z

Basilius: /* Phonetics */

== Phonetics ==
{{:{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Phonetics}}

== Morphonology ==

 An important process often occurring in inflectional forms is historical palatalization: *''lj'' → ''j'', *''rj'' → ''h''. When the the change *''lj'' → ''j'' produces a consonant combination that is allowed as an onset cluster, a resyllabification takes place, which is sometimes important for stress position. Thus, a form like ''rarkenjur'' 'brothers' is syllabified ''rar.ke.njur'' and therefore has the stress on its first syllable, despite being historically *''rar.ken.ljur''. [''more stuff to be added later''] 

== Morphology ==

 The morphology of Affanonic is peculiar in combining a sophisticated inflection in nouns with near-total lack of inflection in verbs (with a few exceptions pertaining to auxiliaries). 

=== Nouns ===

 Affanonic is traditionally described as having 31 cases. Six of these (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, benefactive, and instrumental) are called “primary cases”; the rest are referred to as “secondary cases”. Secondary cases include 24 “spatial cases”; besides, one more form traditionally viewed as a secondary case, the so-called “substantivized genitive”, is properly a derived noun which itself inflects for case. The forms of secondary cases are derived from certain primary cases in a rather uniform manner. For this reason, the overview of declensions below will confine to primary cases, while the formation of secondary cases will be explained a bit later. Affanonic distiguishes between two numbers, singular and plural. The use of plural in countable nouns is rather consequential. Uncountable nouns are formally singular, virtually without any exceptions (i. e. pluralia tantum do not exist as a category). A so-called “counting form” of countable nouns which is derived from the plural stem is used with words that denote quantities (including numerals). 

==== Declensions ====

 Every case ending, as well as the plural stem marker, have two forms depending on the so-called stem class of the noun. The stem classes are purely formal and are conventionally named simply “class 1” and “class 2”. Within each stem class, there are further subgroupings determined by the final sounds of the stem; the most basic divide is between “vocalic declensions” (comprising the nouns whose stems end in a vowel) and “consonant declensions” (which include stems ending in a consonant). 

With most nouns, the declension type can be predicted from the nom. sg. form (more specifically, its final sounds). 

===== Class 1 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings used with class 1 stems are: ''-i'' or zero, nominative; ''-ys'' or ''-wis'', accusative; ''-al'', genitive; ''-njun'', dative; ''-lu'', benefactive; ''-ma'', instrumental; ''-jur'', plural marker. Various alternations on morpheme boundaries make the formation of certain forms somewhat obscure. 

''Class 1 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -ai: somai 'stone' !! -oi: appoi 'cloud' !! -ei: kei 'mountain' !! -u: kommu 'husband' !! -i: liffi 'bird' !! -y: fomy 'fish' !! -au: nau 'turn, iteration'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soma''i'' || appo''i'' || ke''i'' || kommu || liffi || fomy || nau
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soma''wis'' || appo''wis'' || ke''wis'' || kommu'''''s''''' || liffi''wis'' || fomy''wis'' || nau''wis''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| som'''''o''''''l''''' || appo'''''f'''al'' || ke'''''s'''al'' || kommu'''''f'''al'' || liffi'''''s'''al'' || fomy'''''s'''al'' || nau'''''f'''al''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soma''njun'' || appo''njun'' || ke''njun'' || kommu''njun'' || liffi''njun'' || fomy''njun'' || nau''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soma''lu'' || appo''lu'' || ke''lu'' || kommu''lu'' || liffi''lu'' || fomy''lu'' || nau''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soma''ma'' || appo''ma'' || ke''ma'' || kommu''ma'' || liffi''ma'' || fomy''ma'' || nau''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soma''jur'' || appo''jur'' || ke''jur'' || kommu''jur'' || liffi''jur'' || fomy''jur'' || nau''jur''
|-
|}

 The nominative ending used to be uniformly ''-i'', but only ''-ai, -ei'' and ''-oi'' survive as diphthongs synchronically. 

The genitive ''somol'' is historically ''soma-al''; the appearance of ''-f-'' and ''-s-'' in genitives looks synchronically unmotivated, but actually is predictable from the quality of the final sound of the stem. Cf. similar processes in class 2 declensions, as well as in secondary case formation. 

The contraction in the accusative ''kommu'''s''''' is phonetically regular and used to be active in other declension types as well, but ultimately was mostly eliminated by analogy (except in nouns in ''-u'' and a few fossilized forms). 

''Class 1 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -in, -yn, -øn: soffjunsin 'louse' !! -on: non 'person' !! -un: mumun 'seat' !! -jun: mjun 'rain', hun 'heart' !! -en: rarken 'brother' !! -an: tswan 'bitter vetch' !! -l: tjupol 'beech tree' !! -r: soror 'rat' !! -af, -of, -uf, -if, -ef, -yf (''i. e.'' -Vf ''except'' -øf): rwetsif 'fox' !! -es, -is, -ys: tsarkes 'battle' !! -os, -us, -øs: tswistjos 'belly'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soffjunsin || non || mumun || mjun, hun || rarken || tswan || tjupol || soror || rwetsif || tsarkes || tswistjos
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soffjunsin''ys'' || n'''''am'''ys'' || mum'''''o'''nys'' || m'''''im'''ys'', '''''rim'''ys'' || rark'''''a'''nys'' || tsw'''''o'''nys'' || tjupol'''''f'''ys'' || soror''ys'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fys'' || tsarkes''ys'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sys''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| soffjunsin''al'' || n'''''anf'''al'' || mum'''''o'''nal'' || m'''''inf'''al'', '''''rinf'''al'' || rark'''''a'''nal'' || tsw'''''o'''nal'' || tjupol'''''r'''al'' || soror''al'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fal'' || tsarkes''al'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sal''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soffjunsin''njun'' || non''njun'' || mumun''njun'' || mjun''njun'', hun''njun'' || rarken''njun'' || tswan''njun'' || tjupol'''''hu'''n'' || soror''njun'' ||   rwetsif''njun''   || tsarkes''njun'' || tswistjos''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soffjunsi'''''l'''lu'' || no'''''l'''lu'' || mumu'''''l'''lu'' || mju'''''l'''lu'', hu'''''l'''lu'' || rarke'''''l'''lu'' || tswa'''''l'''lu'' || tjupol'''''ru''''' || soror'''''u''''' || rwetsif''lu'' || tsarkes''lu'' || tswistjos''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soffjunsim''ma'' || nom''ma'' || mumum''ma'' || mjum''ma'', hum''ma'' || rarkem''ma'' || tswam''ma'' || tjupol'''''f'''a'' || soror''ma'' || rwetsi'''''nf'''a'' || tsarkes''ma'' || tswistjos''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soffjunsin''jur'' || non''jur'' || mumun''jur'' || mjun''jur'', hun''jur'' || rarken''jur'' || tswan''jur'' || tjupol'''''hu'''r'' || soro'''''hu'''r'' || rwetsif''jur'' || tsarkes''jur'' || tswistjos''jur''
|-
|}
 
 The assimilation ''fm'' → ''(f)f'' is a common process also found in other formations in the language. 

The historical stem-final ''-m'' and ''-n'' differently affect the quality of the preceding vowels where they are in coda position. In the type ''hun'', the latter process produced a combination ''-ju-'' which complicated things further by causing a historical palatalization of the preceding stem-internal ''-l-'' and ''-r-''. 

The types ''rwetsif'' and ''tswistjos'' include stems which historically ended in ''-nf-'' and ''-ns-''; these clusters simplified when in coda position. 

The only peculiarity of the type ''soror'' is the historical assimilation ''-rl-'' → ''-r-'' in benefactive and ''-rlj-'' → ''-rj-'' ( → ''h'') in the pl. forms. 

The type ''tjupol'' is the most complicated: these stems end historically in ''-lr-'', with various assimilations and cluster simplifications. 
 

===== Class 2 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings in this class are: ''-e'' or zero, nominative; ''-øs'' or ''-wes'', accusative; ''-ja'', genitive; ''-njøn'', dative; ''-lø'', benefactive; ''-mja'', instrumental; ''-jør-'', plural marker. 

''Class 2 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -a: øfja 'horse' !! -e: rele 'lizard' !! -o: jo 'ice' !! -ø: fø 'wind'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| øfja || rele || jo || fø
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| øfja''wes'' || rele''wes'' || jo''wes'' || fø''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| øfj'''''o''''' || rele'''''s'''ja'' || jo''ja'' || fø'''''f'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| øfja''njøn'' || rele''njøn'' || jo''njøn'' || fø''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| øfja''lø'' || rele''lø'' || jo''lø'' || fø''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| øfja''mja'' || rele''mja'' || jo''mja'' || fø''mja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| øfja''jøre'' || rele''jøre'' || jo''jøre'' || fø''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations involved are the same as with class 1 stems. 
Note that the type ''rele'' includes only such stems with nominative in ''-e'' that cannot be interpreted as one of the class 2 consonant declensions described below. 

''Class 2 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -øne: fømøne 'death' !! -ene: pintene 'garden' !! -ane: tejane 'sky' !! -ame: janjame 'leaf' !! -ome: tjome 'juice' !! -lre: punfølre 'wolf' !! -øf: røf 'mouth' !! -as: jas 'snake'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| fømøn''e'' || pinten''e'' || tejan''e'' || janjam''e'' || tjom''e'' || punfølr''e'' || røf || ja'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| fømøn''øs'' || pinten''øs'' || tejan''øs'' || janjam''øs'' || tjom''øs'' || punføl'''''f'''øs'' || røf''øs'' || ja'''''f'''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| fømøn''ja'' || pinten''ja'' || tejan''ja'' || janj'''''onf'''ja'' || tj'''''anf'''ja'' || punføl'''''ha''''' || røf''ja'' || jo'''''ha'''''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| fømøn''njøn'' || pint'''''i'''nnjøn'' || tej'''''e'''nnjøn'' || janj'''''on'''njøn'' || tj'''''an'''njøn'' || punføl'''''hø'''n'' || røf''njøn'' || jo'''''j'''øn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| fømø'''''l'''lø'' || pint'''''il'''lø'' || tej'''''el'''lø'' || janj'''''ol'''lø'' || tj'''''al'''lø'' || punfølr'''''ø''''' || røf''lø'' || ja'''''r'''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| fømøm''mja'' || pint'''''i'''mmja'' || tej'''''e'''mmja'' || janj'''''om'''mja'' || tj'''''am'''mja'' || punfø'''''lf'''ja'' || røf'''''f'''ja'' || ja'''''ff'''ja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| fømøn''jøre'' || pint'''''i'''njøre'' || tej'''''e'''njøre'' || janj'''''on'''jøre'' || tj'''''an'''jøre'' || punføl'''''hø'''re'' || røf''jøre'' || ja'''''r'''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in these types are the same as with class 1 declensions; only the type ''jas'' is peculiar. 

===== Plural declension and the counting form =====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! class 1: somajur 'stones' !! class 2: øfjajøre 'horses'
|- align="center"
! Cases (pl.):  
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| somajur || øfjajør''e''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| somajur''ys'' || øfjajør''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| somajur''al'' || øfjajø'''''h'''a''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| somajur''njun'' || øfjajør''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| somajur'''''u''''' || øfjajør'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| somajur''ma'' || øfjajør''mja''
|- align="center"
! Counting form  
| somajur || øfjajør
|-
|}
 
 The counting form of class 1 nouns is identical with nom. pl., but in class 2 it is a separate form built by dropping the nominative ending. 

===== Irregular nouns =====

 A few nouns are class 1 stems in sg. but class 2 in pl.; this shift is accompanied by altering the stem vowel. Examples include ''moi'' 'eye', ''woi'' 'mushroom', ''roi'' 'horn', and ''koi'' 'bone', whose plurals are ''møjøre'', ''wøjøre'', ''røjøre'', and ''køjøre'', respectively. 

Many irregularities characterize the declension of pronouns, as described in the respective sections below. 

==== Spatial cases ====

 

===== Inventory and meanings =====

 The 24 spatial cases can be presented as combinations of eight “localizations” with three “orientations”. 
Localizations describe the position of a reference point relative to the object denoted by the noun being inflected: - adessive, 'at'; - inessive, 'in'; - superessive, 'on' (usually, 'in contact with the upper surface of'); - apudessive, 'near, close to'; - subessive, 'under, below (with or without contact)'; - postessive, 'behind or after'; - antessive, 'before or in front of'; - extraessive, 'outside'. 
Orientations specify the type of movement or static position relative to the point referred to by the localization: - locative: '(resting) at the point specified by localization'; - lative: '(moving or directed) towards the point specified by localization'; - ablative: '(moving or directed) away from the point specified by localization'. 
With the forms of the inessive localization and the noun ''mjunki'' 'water' taken as an example: - inessive-locative: ''mjunki'''wiry''''' 'in the water'; - inessive-lative: ''mjunki'''nimy''''' 'into the water'; - inessive-ablative: ''mjunki'''moi''''' 'out of the water'. 
As can be seen from the above examples, the name of each spatial case consists of the name of the localization followed by the name of the orientation (e. g. “inessive-lative”, “subessive-ablative”, etc.). However, the name of the locative orientation can be omitted where no ambiguity will arise, so e. g. “superessive-locative (case)” can be referred to as simply “superessive (case)”. 
Besides referring to spatial relations proper, the spatial cases have quite obvious temporary usages (especially common with gerunds). Thus, the locative cases can convey meanings like 'at', 'before', 'after' (a specific moment), 'within' (a timespan); the ablative cases add the meaning of 'since', and the lative cases, of 'until'. 
In addition, individual spatial cases have various metaphoric usages, including grammatical ones. 

===== Formation =====

 As already mentioned, the forms of spatial cases are based on certain primary cases. Specifically, the locative cases are always derived from the accusative; the lative cases, from the dative; and the ablative cases, from the instrumental. 
In groups of words that must agree in case, normally only the last one is inflected for spatial case, while all the others are put in the respective primary case (accusative, dative or instrumental). In particular, declinable conjunctions and equative markers have no forms of spatial cases. 
The formation of spatial cases can be conveniently presented as replacement of parts of the endings of the respective primary cases by the endings of spatial cases. The endings of spatial cases used with class 1 and class 2 stems are different. In the tables below, the formation of spatial cases is illustrated with the words ''mjunki'' 'water' (class 1) and ''fjas'' 'sand' (class 2). 

''Spatial cases of class 1 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''mjunkiwis''' || ''Dative'': '''mjunkinjun''' || ''Instrumental'': '''mjunkima'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| -'''s''' || '''-njun, -(*l)-jun, -hun''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -ras: mjunkiwi'''''r'''as'' || -nimas (-limas, -rimas): mjunkin'''''im'''as'' || -os: mjunkim'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -ry: mjunkiwi'''''r'''y'' || -nimy (-limy, -rimy): mjunkin'''''im'''y'' || -oi: mjunkim'''''oi''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -run: mjunkiwi'''''r'''un'' || -nimun (-limun, -rimun): mjunkin'''''im'''un'' || -on: mjunkim'''''on'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjummo: mjunkiwis''kjummo'' || -njunkjummo (-junkjummo, -hunkjummo): mjunkinjun''kjummo'' || -akjummo: mjunkima''kjummo''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spis: mjunkiwis''pis'' || -njumpis (-jumpis, -humpis): mjunkinjum''pis'' || -affis: mjunkima'''''ff'''is''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -raffa: mjunkiwi'''''r'''affa'' || -njunfaffa (-junfaffa, -hunfaffa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''affa'' || -offa: mjunkim'''''off'''a''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ra: mjunkiwi'''''r'''a'' || -njunfa (-junfa, -hunfa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''a'' || -o: mjunkim'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hu: mjunkiwi'''''hu''''' || -nimju (-limju, -rimju): mjunkin'''''im'''ju'' || -aju: mjunkima''ju''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in spatial case formation have already occurred in primary cases; in particular, those affecting the dative ''-(n)jun'' are of the same nature as those found in the declension of ''hun'' 'heart'. 
Some new ones include: ''-s'' (in codas) :: ''-r-'' (intervocalic) – in all cases derived from the accusative; ''-p-'' (after consonants) :: ''-ff-'' (intervocalic) – in the subessive series. 

''Spatial cases of class 2 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''fjaføs''' || ''Dative'': '''fjojøn''' || ''Instrumental'': '''fjaffja'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| '''-s''' || '''-njøn, -(*l)-jøn, -høn''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -has: fjafø'''''ha'''s'' || -nemjas (-lemjas, -remjas): fjo'''''lem'''jas'' || -os: fjaffj'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -rø: fjafø'''''r'''ø'' || -nemø (-lemø, -remø): fjo'''''lem'''ø'' || -ø: fjaffj'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -røn: fjafø'''''r'''øn'' || -nemøn (-lemøn, -remøn): fjo'''''lem'''øn'' || -øn: fjaffj'''''øn'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjømmø: fjaføs''kjømmø'' || -njønkjømmø (-jønkjømmø, -hønkjømmø): fjojøn''kjømmø'' || -akjømmø: fjaffja''kjømmø''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spes: fjaføs''pes'' || -njømpes (-jømpes, -hømpes): fjojøm''pes'' || -affes: fjaffja'''''ff'''es''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -haffja: fjafø'''''ha'''ffja'' || -njønfjaffja (-jønfjaffja, -hønfjaffja): fjojøn'''''f'''jaffja'' || -offja: fjaffj'''''off'''ja''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ha: fjafø'''''ha''''' || -njønfja (-jønfja, -hønfja): fjojøn'''''f'''ja'' || -o: fjaffj'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hø: fjafø'''''hø''''' || -nemjø (-lemjø, -remjø): fjo'''''lem'''jø'' || -ajø: fjaffja''jø''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations are already familiar. 

==== Substantivized genitive ====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Stem class !! ''class 1'': kommufalli 'what belongs to (the) husband' !! ''class 2'': føffesjai 'what belongs to (the) soul'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg. or pl.):
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| kommufal'''''l'''i'' || føffesja''i''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| kommufal'''''l'''ys'' || føffesja''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| kommufal'''''s'''al'' || føffesja'''''s'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| kommufal''njun'' || føffesja''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| kommufal''lu'' || føffesja''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| kommufal''ma'' || føffesja''mja''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive (2nd)
| kommufal'''''s'''alli'' || føffesja'''''s'''jai''
|-
|}
 

 The forms of substantivized genitives make no distinction between sg. and pl. of the possessed item. However, all the secondary cases are formed freely, by regular substitution of case endings. Curiously, substantivized genitives of substantivized genitives are also used, as e. g. in the following example: 
''E₁ tassijural₂ munnai₃ ristiwiras₄, fy₅ '''tatsanalsalli'''₆ astiwiras₇ nini₈''. 'The₀ clothes₃ of₍₂₎ my₁ children₂ are₈ here₄, and₅ '''those'''₆ '''of'''₍₆₎ (my₀) '''sister's'''₆ '''children'''₀ there₇.' 
(''Tatsanalsalli'' being the nom. of the subst. gen. of ''tatsanalli'', which is itself the subst. gen. of ''tatsen'' 'sister'.) 
The substantivized genitives are sometimes lexicalized and then moved to the regular substantive declension types, with regular pl. forms. With cl. 1 stems, such derivates are invariably the nom. forms reinterpreted as regular nouns of the ''liffi'' type. With cl. 2 stems, there are two options: the derivate inherits either the oblique stem (in ''-ja'') and declines according to the ''øfja'' type, or the nominative (in ''-jai''), and then is reinterpreted as class 1 (!) stem of the ''somai'' type. 
[''Details of case usage remain to be added''] 

==== Pronouns ====

 

===== Personal and demonstrative pronouns =====

 The personal pronouns of 1st and 2nd persons display a number of peculiarities, compared to the regular nouns, in both case forms and the plural stems. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'I' !! 'you' (''sg''.) !! 'we' !! 'you' (''pl''.)
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| e''i'' || to''i'' || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| e''wis'' || to''wis'' || ekwi''wis'' || tokkwi''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| e || to || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Dative
| e''njun'' || to''njun'' || ekwi''njun'' || tokkwi''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| e''lu'' || to''lu'' || ekw'''''elø''''' || tokkw'''''elø'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| e''ma'' || to''ma'' || ekwi''ma'' || tokkwi''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| e'''''s'''alli'' || to'''''f'''alli'' || ekwi'''''s'''alli'' || tokkwi'''''s'''alli''
|-
|}
 
 The personal pronouns of the 3rd person are essentially demonstratives. The forms of ''ri'' refer to objects that are close to either the speaker or the listener; the objects that are at a distance from both, or are invisible to the speaker, are denoted with forms of ''ai''. These usages of the two pronouns are called “deictic”; in non-deictic use, ''ai'' is the default anaphoric pronoun (i. e. referring to something already mentioned by one of the interlocutors), while ''ri'' is mainly used cataphorically (that is, to denote some object the speaker is going to introduce). 
Note that plural forms of these are built like with 1st and 2nd person pronouns only when they refer to animate beings (not necessarily sentient); otherwise their plurals are built like those of the regular nouns. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this one; he/she/it' !! 'that one; he/she/it' !! 'these, they' (''animate'') !! 'these, they' (''inanimate'') !! 'those, they' (''animate'') !! 'those, they' (''inanimate'')
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ri || a''i'' || rikwi || rijur || akwi || ajur
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| '''''hu'''s'' || '''''øs''''' || rikwi''wis'' || rijur''ys'' || akwi''wis'' || ajur''ys''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri || a || rikwi || rijur''al'' || akwi || ajur''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ri''njun'' || a''njun'' || rikwi''njun'' || rijur''njun'' || akwi''njun'' || ajur''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ri''lu'' || a''lu'' || rikw'''''elø''''' || rijur'''''u''''' || akw'''''elø''''' || ajur'''''u'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ri''ma'' || a''ma'' || rikwi''ma'' || rijur''ma'' || akwi''ma'' || ajur''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| ri'''''s'''alli'' || '''''ol'''li'' || rikwi'''''s'''alli'' || rijur''alli'' || akwi'''''s'''alli'' || ajur''alli''
|-
|}
 
 When used as attributes of other nouns, the demonstratives require a construction which is essentially the same as with appositions (see the sections on the equative marker and on nominal groups below). The more common position for the pronoun is after the noun; in this case, there are some peculiarities not found with appositional nouns, incliding free use of genitives and contractions with the equative marker. When placed before the noun, the demonstratives require the usual appositive construction (with no contractions and no genitives available); in this case they are semantically somewhat out-of-focus and may resemble definite articles, although are thus used infrequently. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this (these)', ''postpositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''postpositive'' !! 'this (these)', ''prepositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''prepositive''
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li ri || '''''j'''''-ai || ri li || a li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys hus || pys'' '''s'''''øs || hus pys || øs pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri'''''s'''al'' || '''''ol''''' || - || -
|- align="center"
! Dative
| njun rinjun || njun'' '''s'''''anjun || rinjun njun || anjun njun
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu rilu || '''''w'''-''alu || rilu lu || alu lu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma rima || '''''m''-o'''ma || rima ma || ama ma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| risalli || olli || - || -
|-
|}
 
 It is interesting to note that prepositive and pospositive demonstratives sometimes occur simultaneously with one noun; in such cases, at least one of the demonstratives is interpreted as non-deictic: 
'''''Ai'''₁ li₂ e₃ rarken₄ li₅ '''ri'''₆''. 'The said brother of mine whom you see here' (lit.''' 'That₁ one'''₁ who₂ is₂ my₃ brother₄ who₅ is₅ '''this'''₆'). 
Other demonstratives that are mostly used independently include ''risti'' 'this place, here', ''asti'' 'that place, that direction, there', ''rinau'' 'this time, now', and ''anau'' 'that time, then' (note that ''risti'' and ''rinau'', like ''ri'', are often used cataphorically and then cannot be translated as 'here' and 'now'). They are declined like regular class 1 nouns and mostly used in spatial cases, although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ristiwis'''₁ ei₂ tesi₃'' 'I₂ like₃ '''this₁ place'''₁' (or 'I like it here'). They can form plurals to refer to multiple locations or instances, as well as to broader areas or more prolonged timespans. 

===== Interrogative pronouns =====

 The main interrogative pronouns include: ''y'' 'what? which one?'; ''yrky'' 'who? which one?'; ''riffikky'' 'what? who? what kind of object(s)?'; ''ysti'' 'where? which place? which direction?'; ''riffitti'' 'where? what kind of place?'; ''ynau'' 'when? which time?'; and ''riffinau'' 'when? what kind of circumstances?'. 
The pronouns ''y'' and ''yrky'' imply that the object of inquiry belongs to a set which is already known or obvious from the situation; ''yrky'' implies an animate object (but not necessarily sentient). In contrast, ''riffikky'' implies that the speaker knows nothing about the object, and may need its description rather than identification; this pronoun is not sensitive to animacy. The semantic difference in the pairs ''ysti'' vs. ''riffitti'' and ''ynau'' vs. ''riffinau'' is partly similar with that between ''y'' / ''yrky'' and ''riffikky.'' 
The pronouns ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'', and ''riffinau'' are mostly used in spatial cases, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwiras'''₁ ai₂ nini₃?''''' 'Where'''₁ is₃ he/she/it₂?', although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwis'''₁ toi₂ tesi₃?''''' 'Which₁ place'''₁ do₃ you₂ prefer₃?' and in similar contexts. 
Of the interrogative pronouns, only ''y'', ''yrky'' and ''riffikky'' display some peculiarities in declension (namely, in acc. sg.); the rest belong to the standard class 1 declension types. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| y || yrky || riffikky
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| y'''''s''''' || yrky'''''s''''' || riffikky'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| y'''''s'''al'' || yrky'''''s'''al'' || riffikky'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| y''njun'' || yrky''njun'' || riffikky''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| y''lu'' || yrky''lu'' || riffikky''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| y''ma'' || yrky''ma'' || riffikky''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| y'''''s'''alli'' ||   yrky'''''s'''alli''   ||   riffikky'''''s'''alli''  
|- align="center"
! Nominative pl.
| (y''jur'') || (yrky''jur'') || -
|-
|}
 
 The plurals of ''y'' and ''yrky'' are used rarely; usually they imply not only that the objects are already known to be more than one, but also that the speaker wants them to be enumerated; the plural of ''riffikky'' does not exist. 
In contrast, the plurals of ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'' and ''riffinau'' are rather common; ''ystijur'' and ''riffittijur'' imply that there are several relevant places, while ''ynaujur'' and ''riffinaujur'' often refer to prolonged periods or multiple instances rather than to single moments. 

===== Reflexive pronouns =====

 The reflexive pronouns are based on the auxiliary noun ''ry'' 'self' which normally is not used without a genitive of a pronoun or noun that specifies it. A genitive of a personal pronoun and ''ry'' are written as one word and pronounced accordingly: ''ery'' 'myself', ''tory'' 'yourself', ''ekwiry'', ''tokkwiry'', ''riry'', ''ary'', ''rikwiry'', ''rijuralry'', ''akwiry'', ''ajuralry''. The genitives of other words remain separate, as e. g. in ''e₁ mamol₂ '''ry'''₃'' 'my mother herself' (lit. 'my₁ mother's₂ '''self'''₃'). 
The word ''ry'' has no plural and is declined like the interrogatives ''y'', ''yrky'', ''riffikky''. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ry
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| ry'''''s'' '''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ry'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ry''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ry''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ry''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     ry'''''s'''alli''    
|-
|}
 

 The genitive of a reflexive pronoun can often be translated with 'own', as in '''''erysal'''₁ fei₂'' 'my₁ '''own'''₁ house₂', ''e₁ kispjufal₂ '''rysal'''₃ øfja₄'' 'my₁ wife's₂ '''own'''₃ horse₄'. 

===== The equative marker =====

 “The equative marker” is the traditional term for the auxiliary word that links a noun (or pronoun) with an apposition, as e. g. in ''to₁ mamai₂ '''li'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispju₆'' 'your₁ mother₂ '''who₃ is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife₆' or ''elu₁ '''lu'''₂ to₃ tatsellu₄'' 'for₍₁₋₂₋₄₎ me₁, ('''as'''₂) your₃ sister₄'. The head noun, the equative marker and the apposition must agree in (primary) case, and therefore the equative marker is inflected for case; however, it is insensitive to number distinctions and has no secondary cases. Besides, it has no forms of genitive (primary or substantivized), as for appositions to nouns in genitive there is a different construction, where the head genitive is replaced with a substantivized genitive: ''to₁ '''mamollu'''₂ '''lu'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispjufal₆ felu₇'' 'for the house of your mother who is my future wife' (lit. 'for₍₂₋₃₋₇₎ your₁ '''mother's'''₂, '''which'''₃ '''is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife's₆ house₇'). 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| -
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     njun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| -
|-
|}
 
 

===== Role-switching marker =====

 This pronoun plays a very important part in Affanonic syntax. Prototypically, it indicates that its head predicate has the same topic as a preceding predicate, but in a different role. Its other uses are described in the section on syntax below. 
The role-switching marker does not differentiate singular from plural, but has all cases including secondary. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| lili 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pipys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| lisal
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ninjun 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lilu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| mima 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     lisalli    
|-
|}
 
 

===== Relative pronoun =====

 The relative pronoun ''fylli'' is used in relative clauses when they follow their head nouns. It inflects for case which denotes its role in the relative clause (rather than in the main clause), e. g. ''nontalu₁ '''fynnjun'''₂ ei₃ fati₄'' 'for₍₁₎ the₀ man₁ to₍₂₎ whom₂ I₃ told₄ (that₀)'. There are all case forms, both primary and secondary, but no number distinction. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fylli 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fyppys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fyra
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     fynnjun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fyllu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fymma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| fyrolli
|-
|}
 
 

==== Quantity words ====

 This category includes numerals (e. g. ''tsei'' 'three') and a few words that denote quantities of countable objects: ''fumøne'' 'many'; ''pimoi'' 'few'; ''kjunsøf'' 'several, a few, some (of)'; ''supu'' 'all (of)'. They are declined like the ordinary nouns in singular and carry no number markers of their own. The noun whose quantity is specified is put in counting form and precedes the quantity word: ''øfjajør₁ tsei₂'' 'three₂ horses₁'. 

==== Declinable conjunctions ====

 Where nouns or pronouns linked by the conjunctions ''fy'' 'and', ''la'' 'or', or ''pau'' 'but not' stand in the same (primary) case and form the same phrase constituent, the conjunctions must agree in (primary) case with the words they link, e. g.: ''e₁ mamalu₂ fylu₃ elu₄'' 'for₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄', ''e₁ mamanjun₂ fynjun₃ enjun₄'' 'to₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄'.
 The case forms of the three declinable conjunctions are shown in the following table. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !!   fy 'and'   !!   la 'or'   !!   pau 'but not'  
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fy || l'''''e'''i'' || p'''''o'''i''
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fy'''''s''' '' || l'''''øs''''' || pau''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fy || la || pau
|- align="center"
! Dative
| fy''njun'' || la''njun'' || pau''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fy''lu'' || la''lu'' || pau''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fy''ma'' || la''ma'' || pau''ma''
|-
|}
 
 

=== Adjectives and adverbs ===

 These are basically one part of speech in Affanonic. Thus, ''fje'' 'beautiful' is mostly used as an adjective, but can also mean 'beatifully' when it stands before a verb. Similarly, ''ese'' 'sometimes' is mostly used as an adverb, but can also be used with a noun to convey a meaning like 'occurring sometimes'. 
Both adjectives and adverbs must immediately precede the word they specify. 
The words belonging to this class have no inflectional forms. 

=== Adverbial particles ===

 
This is another class of words that often correspond to avderbs (most commonly, sentential adverbs) in other languages. However, they cannot be used as prepositive attributes of nouns and, unlike the usual adverbs, can be (and mostly are) separated from their head verb by any number of other constituents. 
An example of adverbial particle is ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)'. 
It is interesting to note that spatial cases of nouns are syntactically more similar with adverbial particles than with adverbs proper. Indeed, many adverbial particles resemble case forms derived from obscure stems not used as ordinary nouns; an example is ''mølø'' 'visually, visibly, by eye, before one's eyes' which looks like a benefactive derived from some *''mø'' (cf., however, ''moi'' 'eye' and its irregular plural ''møjøre'' 'eyes'). 

=== Verbs ===

 

===== Telicity =====

 
All the verbs are divided into two major classes: perfectives and (lexical) imperfectives. 
Perfective verbs are semantically telic. In other words, they denote processes that imply a change of state or achieving a result, and therefore cannot be normally viewed as allowing for an indefinitely long continuation (i. e. as continuing after the point where the change is complete or the implied result is achieved). Examples of such verbs in Affanonic are ''soffoffi'' 'to fall asleep', ''mumin'' 'to sit down', ''fati'' 'to say, tell', ''føref'' 'to kill', and ''njun'' 'to become'. 
In contrast, lexically imperfective verbs are semantically atelic, i. e. denote static conditions or cyclic processes that do not imply a specific endpoint by themselves. Examples include ''roffoffi'' 'to sleep', ''lilami'' 'to stand', ''piffati'' 'to talk, speak', and ''nini'' 'to be'. 
Perfective verbs have two standard imperfective derivates that can be considered part of their paradigm: durative and resultative (jointly referred to as “secondary imperfectives”, as opposed to “lexical imperfectives”). 
Duratives are formed by the auxiliary verb ''nyral'' placed after the unaltered stem of the perfective verb. A durative can have either of the following two interpretations. In one interpretation, it denotes an indefinite number of repetitive events which individually would be denoted by the original perfective; this interpretation is called “iterative”. The other interpretation implies a shift in the time scale: the process or activity that should eventually result in the change of state denoted by the original perfective is viewed as long enough to serve as the “indefinitely long” background for some other, shorter events, and thus as requiring an imperfective to describe it. This interpretation is termed “continuative”. 
Resultatives are formed by the auxiliary ''ja'' put after the stem of the original perfective. They denote a continuous static condition that results from the event denoted by the perfective. 
Lexical imperfectives do not have any standard perfective derivates, since the associated semantic shifts are more diverse and idiosyncratic. Therefore, all processes that derive a perfective from an imperfective are considered as belonging with lexical derivation. 

===== Tenses =====

 
The finite forms of imperfectives (both lexical and secondary) taken without any additional marking are the standard forms of the present tense. The term is purely conventional; while the default meaning of the present taken outside any specific context is indeed that of an action or condition which continues at the moment of speaking, it can also denote an action or condition that was simultaneous with, or served as the background for, another action which can relate to present, past or future. In particular, adverbs and adverbial expressions that denote time, e. g. ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)', can freely combine with the present tense, and do not require the verb to carry any additional marking to express non-present. In other words, the characteristic of this tense is purely negative: it does not mark a continuous action or condition as preceding or following anything else. 
On the contrary, the perfective verbs taken as bare stems indicate by default that the action in question has been, or had been, completed by the present moment or by some moment in the past. Therefore, their bare stem is considered a past tense which is termed “aorist”. However, if there is a direct indication to future in the same sentence, the aorist form can mean that the action will have been completed by some moment in the future. 
Imperfectives can be explicitly marked for past tense by adding the postpositive auxiliary ''njau'' (which is actually a perfective verb 'to turn' in its non-auxiliary use). This combination is termed “imperfect tense”. 
The explicit reference to future is made differently with perfectives and imperfectives. Imperfectives use a special postpositive tense marker, ''jawa''. This form is referred to as “imperfective future”. 
Perfectives, on the other hand, are combined with the word ''tsjuma'' which is properly an independent adjective / adverb meaning 'in the future, imminent(ly)'; therefore, it is put before the verb and is sometimes separated from the latter by another adverb. Nevertheless, such combinations with ''tsjuma'' are often treated as a special tense called “perfective future”. 

===== Subjunctive =====

 
The subjunctive of the perfective verbs is formed by adding the postpositive marker ''nifføf''. This form refers to the past; however, it can combine with ''tsjuma'' to convey future. 
The copula ''nini'' 'to be' has an inflectional form of subjunctive, ''ninifføf''. This form refers to the present. The other lexical imperfectives form their present subjunctive by adding ''ninifføf ''postpositively. However, duratives do not use this form, but replace their ''nyral'' with ''nyralpøf''<nowiki>; similarly, the resultatives substitute </nowiki>''jafføf'' for their ''ja''. The past subjunctive of all imperfectives (including duratives, resultatives and ''nini'') is formed by adding a pospositive ''nufføf'', and the future subjunctive, by a postpositive ''nawafføf''. 

===== Gerunds =====

 
Gerunds represent the only type of regular non-finite forms of Affanonic verbs. They can be considered substantivized verbs which make it possible to use a verb as an argument of another verb, or of any other word. On the other hand, a gerund can retain all the arguments of the original finite verb without altering their form. 
The benefactive of gerunds has some usages similar to those of infinitive in English. 
Perfective verbs form their gerunds with the postpositive auxiliary noun ''nau'' (which in its non-auxiliary use means 'turn, iteration, time'). 
Lexical imperfectives have gerunds formed by the postpositive ''jo''. 
The gerunds of duratives are formed by replacing the finite durative marker ''nyral'' with ''naujur'' (i. e. the plural of ''nau''). 
The gerunds of resultatives are formed by replacing the finite resultative marker ''ja'' with the auxiliary noun ''jai'', which declines like a class 2 substantivized genitive. 
The gerund forms listed above are basically tenseless; however, due to the vague temporal meanings of the Affanonic present and aorist, the above types of gerunds can be viewed as their substantivized equivalents. 
The use of the gerunds equivalent to the other tenses is optional. The perfective gerunds with ''nau'' can combine with ''tsjuma'' to refer to a future action. The finite markers of all the tenses of imperfectives other than the present are historically perfective verbs, so gerunds can be derived from them by adding the postpositive ''nau'' as well. 
The gerund equivalents of all forms of the subjunctive are rare, but can in principle be derived freely by adding the same ''nau'' as the most universal gerund marker. 

== Syntax ==

 

=== Nominal groups ===

 
The nominal group template can be presented as follows: 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
| -3 || -2 || -1 || '''0''' || 1 || 2 || 3
|- align="center"
| A prepositive demonstrative || A genitive (with or without dependents) or a prepositive relative clause || An adjective (with or without dependents) || The head noun || The postpositive demonstrative (and/or other appositions) || An adverbial particle or a noun in oblique case used attributively || A postpositive relative clause
|-
|}
 
 
It is very usual to construe a noun denoting a possessor not as the usual genitive but as substantivized genitive put in apposition. This option is especially common when the genitive has its own attributes, and obligatory if any of such attributes are postpositive. 
All dependents of an adjective are put before it: 
'''''Mjunkima₁ njunta₂''' pir₃.'' 'A₀ ditch₃ '''full₂ of₍₁₎ water₁'''.' 
'''''Liloi₁ mjunkima₂ njunta₃''' pir₄.'' 'A₀ ditch₄ '''full₃ of₍₂₎ black₁ water₂'''.' 
This is also true of comparative constructions: 
'''''Sajurnjun₁ tsera₂ sunol₃''' nontai₄.'' 'A₀ man₄ '''stronger₃ than₂ others₁'''.' 
An adjective cannot be separated from its head noun except by another adjective, which cannot normally have any arguments of its own. 
To obviate the restrictions on word order, an adjective is often replaced with a relative clause based on the adjective and the copula verb ''nini'' 'to be': 
''Nontai₁ fylli₂ '''sajurnjun₃ tsera₄ sunol₅''' nini₆.'' 'A₀ man₁ (who₂ is₆) '''stronger₅ than₄ others₃'''.' 
Note that personal pronouns have relative freedom of taking all the types of attributes allowed with the regular nouns, e. g.: 
'''''Situn₁ ei₂''' wo₃ tituli₄ njau₅.''''' 'Stupid₁ me₂, I₂''' did₍₄₋₅₎n't₃ know₄₋₅ (that₀)'. 

==== Relative clauses ====

 Since in their internal structure the relative clauses of Affanonic present no peculiarities compared to main clauses, it is more convenient to consider them in the section on nominal groups. 

==== Prepositive relative clauses ====

 The easiest way to construe a relative clause in Affanonic is simply to put the predicate (with or without its arguments) immediately before the head noun. This option is especially common when the predicate has no dependent nouns. The head noun fills an argument valency of the predicate. However, by itself this construction provides no information on the specific argument role of the head noun, which therefore remains to be retrieved from the context. With intransitive verbs, there is a tendency to interprete the head noun as filling the subject valency, e. g.: 
 
'''''Tsjurin₁''' nontai₂.'' 'The₀ man₂ '''who₀ came₁''' (has come)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ '''tsjurin₂''''' 'The₀ man₁ '''has₍₂₎ come₂'.''' 
With transitive verbs, the head noun often fills the valency for direct object: 
'''''Føref₁''' øfja₂.'' 'The₀ horse₂ '''that₀ has₍₁₎ been₍₁₎ killed₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Øfjawes₁ '''føref₂'''.'' '(Somebody₀) '''killed₂''' the₀ horse₁'. 
However, the head noun can in principle correspond to any other role, e. g. expressed by a spatial case: 
'''''Ei₁ jeke₂''' fei₃.'' 'The₀ house₃ '''where₀ I₁ live₂'.''' 
Cf.: '''''Ei₁''' a₂ fewiry₃ '''jeke₄'''.''''' 'I₁ live₄''' in₍₃₎ his₂ house₃'. 
Some disambiguation is achieved if the relative clause has an explicit argument; then the head noun can fill only a remaining argument valency: 
'''''Øfjawes₁ føref₂''' nontai₃ li₄ ri₅.'' 'This₄₋₅ man₃ '''who₀ killed₂ the₀ horse₁'.''' 
'''''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ føref₄''' øfja₅.'' 'The₀ horse₅ '''killed₄ by₀ this₂₋₃ man₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ øfjawes₄ føref₅.'' 'This₂₋₃ man₁ killed₅ the₀ horse₄'. 
A more powerful means of disambiguation is provided by the use of the role-switching marker whose case indicates the role to be filled by the head noun: 
'''''Lili₁ føref₂''' nontai₃.'' 'The₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ '''lili₄ føref₅'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ man₁, '''he₍₄₎ killed₅''' (somebody₀)'. 
'''''Pipyry₁ ei₂ jeke₃''' fei₄.'' 'The₀ house₄ '''in₍₁₎ which₍₁₎ I₂ live₃'.''' 
Cf.: ''Fei₁ li₂ ri₃ '''pipyry₄ ei₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ house₁, '''I₅ live₆ in₍₄₎ it₍₄₎'.''' 
However, the use of the role-switching marker may cause some problems, too. Specifically, the role-switching marker can be understood as part of the main clause rather than the relative clause. Thus, a sentence like: 
''Lili føref nontawis hunti.'' 
- has two possible interpretations: 
 (a) ''Lili₁ (('''føref₂''' nontawis₃) hunti₄).'' 
'(Somebody₍₁₎ already₍₁₎ mentioned₍₁₎) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₀ had₍₂₎ been₍₂₎ killed₂'.''' 
 (b) ''(('''Lili₁ føref₂''') nontawis₃) hunti₄.'' 
'(Somebody₀) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ had₍₂₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀ else₀)'. 
Another problem common to all types of prepositive relative clauses is that basically they occupy the same slot in the nominal group template as genitives. Indeed, if put before the genitive, they are naturally understood as depending on the noun in genitive rather than its head: 
'''''Føref₁ nontol₂''' øfja₃.'' 'The₀ horse₃ '''of₍₂₎ the₀ man₂ who₀ was₍₁₎ killed₁' '''(rather than **'The man's killed horse'). 
For this reason, prepositive relative clauses depending on a genitive's head noun are allowed to precede only the genitives of personal pronouns, e. g.: 
''E₁ myffawis₂ rissjun₃ '''a₄ miti₅'''.''''' 'His₄ daughter₅''' who₀ washed₃ my₁ cloak₂'. 
On the other hand, if the relative clause has any explicit nominal arguments, a preceding genitive will be naturally understood as part of the relative clause: 
'''''E₁ øfjawes₂ haf₃''' u₄.'' 'The₀ dog₄ '''that₀ bit₃ my₁ horse₂' '''(rather than **'My dog that bit the horse'). 
For this reason, genitives depending on the head noun can precede a relative clause only if the latter has no explicit nominal arguments, e. g.: 
''To₁ '''fje₂ tsalami₃ nyral₄''' miti₅.'' 'Your₁ daughter₅ '''who₀ sings₃₋₄ beautifully₂'.''' 
To avoid the restrictions associated with prepositive relative clauses, other types of relative clauses can be used. 

==== Postpositive relative clauses ====

 
These are formed using the relative pronoun ''fylli'' which indicates the role of the head noun explicitly, e. g.: 
''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃ '''fylli₄ e₅ myffawis₆ rissjun₇'''.'' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃ '''who₄ washed₇ my₅ cloak₆'''.' 
''To₁ kommufal₂ fei₃ '''fyppyry₄ toi₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'Your₁ husband's₂ house₃ '''in₄ which₄ you₅ live₆'''.' 
Postpositive relative clauses often have a pronoun (especially the cataphoric ''ri'') as their head: 
'''''Ri₁ fylli₂ ajurys₃ suffi₄ tsjurin₅''' lili₆ e₇ kommu₈ nini₉ jawa₁₀.''''' 'He₁ who₂ has₍₄₋₅₎ brought₄₋₅ them₃''' will₁₀ be₉ my₇ husband₈'. 
The above example illustrates another peculiarity of postpositive relative clauses: to avoid their predicate's being perceived as forming a serial construction with the predicate of the main clause, the role-switching marker (''lili'' in this example) is inserted after the relative clause; it refers to the topic of the sentence, which may coincide or not with the head noun of the relative clause. 
A restriction associated with postpositive relative clauses is that nouns in genitive cannot take any postpositive attributes, including relative clauses. This problem can be solved, as usual, by substantivizing the genitive and construing it as an apposition: 
''Fei₁ '''li₂ to₃ mitisalli₄''' fylli₅ fje₆ tsalami₇ nyral₈.'' 'The₀ house₁ (which₂ is₂) '''of₍₄₎ your₃ daughter₄''' who₅ sings₇₋₈ beautifully₆.' 
The postpositive relative clauses can be extraposited, i. e. put after the main predicate of the sentence in which their head noun is an argument. In such cases, the head noun must be the last nominal constituent that precedes the main predicate: 
'''''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃''' tsjurin₄ '''fylli₅''' e₆ myffawis₇ rissjun₈.''''' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃''' has₍₄₎ come₄ '''who₅''' washed₈ my₆ cloak₇.' 

==== Head-internal relative clauses ====

 
In this type, the head noun must either be one of the pronouns ''ri'', ''risti'', ''rinau'', or have ''ri'' as its attribute. The head noun remains within the relative clause in its usual form and position, according to its syntactic role; its role in the main clause is conveyed with the role-switching marker: 
'''''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄''' lili₅ e₆ fei₇ nini₈ jawa₉''''' 'The₀ place₃ where₃ you₁ found₄ them₂''' will₉ be₈ my₆ homeplace₇'. 
Cf. ''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄.'' 'You₁ found₄ them₂ here₃'. 
This type of relative clauses is widely used in Affanonic. However, it is normally required that the relative clause should constitute the topic part of the sentence. 
Head-internal clauses are often used to single out a nominal group constituting the contrastive (or otherwise emphasized) rheme of the sentence. This construction is similar in structure with the English ''"It is X that Y"'' (only with the order of components reversed):
 
''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅ lili₆ '''to₇ myffai₈ nini₉'''.''''' 'It₍₁₋₆₎ is₉ your₇ cloak₈''' that₍₁₋₆₎ my₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅' 
Cf. ''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅.'' 'My₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅ it/this₁.'
 

=== Main clause ===

 

==== Word order ====

 
The verb must be put in the end of the main clause (as actually of any other type of clause); it can be followed by discourse particles, but the latter can be viewed as a special type of auxiliary verbs. Only extraposited subordinate clauses (either postpositive relative or conveying reported speech) can be put after the main predicate. 
Adverbs must immediately precede their head verb and cannot be separated from it except by another adverb. 
The order of all the other constituents is “free”, since morphology provides sufficient information about their syntactic roles. The most prominent regularity with their placement is a tendency to consider one nominal constituent as “topic” and the rest of the sentence as a comment describing its condition or an event that happened to it. Normally (i. e. in unemphatic speech), the topic is put first, and all the other constituents follow it. 
There is a tendency to put contrastive (and other emphasized) topics in nominative, irrespective of their intended syntactic role, and to put the role-switching marker immediately after them. 
Any constituent can be dropped when clear from the context. In principle, a verb taken alone can be a grammatical sentence. 

==== Serial constructions ====

 [''Stuff to be added later''] 

==== Copula ====

 
The most common copula is ''nini'' v. ipf. 'to be'; another example is ''njun'' v. pf. 'to become'. 
A noun used as nominal predicate must be in the nominative case. 
Adjectives are used in their usual uninflected form. 
Nouns in spatial cases (mostly locative) and some adverbial particles are put before the copula without any modifications. 

=== Negation ===

 The negative particle ''wo'' can be put before any part of the sentence to negate it. 

=== Adpositions ===

 
Adpositions can be derived from verbs or nouns. 

==== Postpositions derived from verbs ====

 
Some verbs in the position of the first part of a serial construction can be used to introduce their object as an additional nominal argument of the main predicate, i. e. like a postposition. The verb ''tsomin'' v. pf. 'to take' is often used in this way, as e. g. in the following sentence: 
''Nontai₁ '''sunollowis₂ tsomin₃''' nontisal₄ mitserawis₅ ni₆.'' 'The man made the woman's small image of wood' (lit.: 'The₀ man₁, '''having₍₃₎ taken₃ wood₂''', made₆ a₀ small₅ image₅ of₍₄₎ the₀ woman₄'). 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

==== Adpositions derived from nouns ====

 
Typically, an adposition is derived from a case form of noun with an attributed genitive, and thus is a postposition governing the genitive case. For example, from the inessive of ''tswis'' 'inner side, part; interior, inside': 
''Fesal₁ tswisyry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
''Fesal₁ tswismoi₂'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₂₎ of₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
However, the genitive can be substantivized, and put after the adposition as its apposition: 
''Tswisys₁ pys₂ fesallyry₃'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
''Tswisma₁ ma₂ fesalmoi₃'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ of₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
This pattern may produce e. g. a preposition that governs an essive or ablative case of substantivized genitive, as above. 
Besides, the lexical noun can be put in a spatial case which is used as a postpositive attribute to ''tswis'' in the same or another spatial case: 
''Tswisyry₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
''Tswismoi₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₎ of₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
This produces a preposition again, but now governing a spatial case of the lexical noun itself rather than of its substantivized genitive. 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

=== Reported speech ===

 
The reported speech clauses (which actually can be used to convey the content of knowledge, thought etc.) can be construed in one of two ways. 
One way is to use the clause as the topic of a sentence and to mark its syntactic role with the role-switching pronoun: 
'''''Toi₁ tsjuma₂ tsjurin₃ pipys₄''' ai₅ fati₆.'' 'He₅ said₆ '''that₍₄₎ you₁ would₂ come₃'.''' 
The other way is to mark its role in the main clause with the cataphoric ''ri'' in appropriate case, and to put the subordinate clause after the main predicate: 
''Ai₁ '''hus'''₂ fati₃, '''toi₄ tsjuma₅ tsjurin₆'''.'' 'He₁ said₃ '''that₍₂₎ you₄ would₅ come₆'.''' 
The latter type is called “extraposited”. 

== Lexical derivation ==

 Derivation of nouns [''Stuff to be added later''] Derivation of verbs Preverbs [''Stuff to be added later''] Compound verbs [''Stuff to be added later''] 

{{stub}}

[[Category:Isles languages]]

Affanonic/Grammar

2009-06-12T21:15:34Z

Basilius: slicing...

== Phonetics ==
: {{main|{{FULLPAGENAME}}/Phonetics}}

== Morphonology ==

 An important process often occurring in inflectional forms is historical palatalization: *''lj'' → ''j'', *''rj'' → ''h''. When the the change *''lj'' → ''j'' produces a consonant combination that is allowed as an onset cluster, a resyllabification takes place, which is sometimes important for stress position. Thus, a form like ''rarkenjur'' 'brothers' is syllabified ''rar.ke.njur'' and therefore has the stress on its first syllable, despite being historically *''rar.ken.ljur''. [''more stuff to be added later''] 

== Morphology ==

 The morphology of Affanonic is peculiar in combining a sophisticated inflection in nouns with near-total lack of inflection in verbs (with a few exceptions pertaining to auxiliaries). 

=== Nouns ===

 Affanonic is traditionally described as having 31 cases. Six of these (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, benefactive, and instrumental) are called “primary cases”; the rest are referred to as “secondary cases”. Secondary cases include 24 “spatial cases”; besides, one more form traditionally viewed as a secondary case, the so-called “substantivized genitive”, is properly a derived noun which itself inflects for case. The forms of secondary cases are derived from certain primary cases in a rather uniform manner. For this reason, the overview of declensions below will confine to primary cases, while the formation of secondary cases will be explained a bit later. Affanonic distiguishes between two numbers, singular and plural. The use of plural in countable nouns is rather consequential. Uncountable nouns are formally singular, virtually without any exceptions (i. e. pluralia tantum do not exist as a category). A so-called “counting form” of countable nouns which is derived from the plural stem is used with words that denote quantities (including numerals). 

==== Declensions ====

 Every case ending, as well as the plural stem marker, have two forms depending on the so-called stem class of the noun. The stem classes are purely formal and are conventionally named simply “class 1” and “class 2”. Within each stem class, there are further subgroupings determined by the final sounds of the stem; the most basic divide is between “vocalic declensions” (comprising the nouns whose stems end in a vowel) and “consonant declensions” (which include stems ending in a consonant). 

With most nouns, the declension type can be predicted from the nom. sg. form (more specifically, its final sounds). 

===== Class 1 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings used with class 1 stems are: ''-i'' or zero, nominative; ''-ys'' or ''-wis'', accusative; ''-al'', genitive; ''-njun'', dative; ''-lu'', benefactive; ''-ma'', instrumental; ''-jur'', plural marker. Various alternations on morpheme boundaries make the formation of certain forms somewhat obscure. 

''Class 1 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -ai: somai 'stone' !! -oi: appoi 'cloud' !! -ei: kei 'mountain' !! -u: kommu 'husband' !! -i: liffi 'bird' !! -y: fomy 'fish' !! -au: nau 'turn, iteration'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soma''i'' || appo''i'' || ke''i'' || kommu || liffi || fomy || nau
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soma''wis'' || appo''wis'' || ke''wis'' || kommu'''''s''''' || liffi''wis'' || fomy''wis'' || nau''wis''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| som'''''o''''''l''''' || appo'''''f'''al'' || ke'''''s'''al'' || kommu'''''f'''al'' || liffi'''''s'''al'' || fomy'''''s'''al'' || nau'''''f'''al''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soma''njun'' || appo''njun'' || ke''njun'' || kommu''njun'' || liffi''njun'' || fomy''njun'' || nau''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soma''lu'' || appo''lu'' || ke''lu'' || kommu''lu'' || liffi''lu'' || fomy''lu'' || nau''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soma''ma'' || appo''ma'' || ke''ma'' || kommu''ma'' || liffi''ma'' || fomy''ma'' || nau''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soma''jur'' || appo''jur'' || ke''jur'' || kommu''jur'' || liffi''jur'' || fomy''jur'' || nau''jur''
|-
|}

 The nominative ending used to be uniformly ''-i'', but only ''-ai, -ei'' and ''-oi'' survive as diphthongs synchronically. 

The genitive ''somol'' is historically ''soma-al''; the appearance of ''-f-'' and ''-s-'' in genitives looks synchronically unmotivated, but actually is predictable from the quality of the final sound of the stem. Cf. similar processes in class 2 declensions, as well as in secondary case formation. 

The contraction in the accusative ''kommu'''s''''' is phonetically regular and used to be active in other declension types as well, but ultimately was mostly eliminated by analogy (except in nouns in ''-u'' and a few fossilized forms). 

''Class 1 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -in, -yn, -øn: soffjunsin 'louse' !! -on: non 'person' !! -un: mumun 'seat' !! -jun: mjun 'rain', hun 'heart' !! -en: rarken 'brother' !! -an: tswan 'bitter vetch' !! -l: tjupol 'beech tree' !! -r: soror 'rat' !! -af, -of, -uf, -if, -ef, -yf (''i. e.'' -Vf ''except'' -øf): rwetsif 'fox' !! -es, -is, -ys: tsarkes 'battle' !! -os, -us, -øs: tswistjos 'belly'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soffjunsin || non || mumun || mjun, hun || rarken || tswan || tjupol || soror || rwetsif || tsarkes || tswistjos
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soffjunsin''ys'' || n'''''am'''ys'' || mum'''''o'''nys'' || m'''''im'''ys'', '''''rim'''ys'' || rark'''''a'''nys'' || tsw'''''o'''nys'' || tjupol'''''f'''ys'' || soror''ys'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fys'' || tsarkes''ys'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sys''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| soffjunsin''al'' || n'''''anf'''al'' || mum'''''o'''nal'' || m'''''inf'''al'', '''''rinf'''al'' || rark'''''a'''nal'' || tsw'''''o'''nal'' || tjupol'''''r'''al'' || soror''al'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fal'' || tsarkes''al'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sal''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soffjunsin''njun'' || non''njun'' || mumun''njun'' || mjun''njun'', hun''njun'' || rarken''njun'' || tswan''njun'' || tjupol'''''hu'''n'' || soror''njun'' ||   rwetsif''njun''   || tsarkes''njun'' || tswistjos''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soffjunsi'''''l'''lu'' || no'''''l'''lu'' || mumu'''''l'''lu'' || mju'''''l'''lu'', hu'''''l'''lu'' || rarke'''''l'''lu'' || tswa'''''l'''lu'' || tjupol'''''ru''''' || soror'''''u''''' || rwetsif''lu'' || tsarkes''lu'' || tswistjos''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soffjunsim''ma'' || nom''ma'' || mumum''ma'' || mjum''ma'', hum''ma'' || rarkem''ma'' || tswam''ma'' || tjupol'''''f'''a'' || soror''ma'' || rwetsi'''''nf'''a'' || tsarkes''ma'' || tswistjos''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soffjunsin''jur'' || non''jur'' || mumun''jur'' || mjun''jur'', hun''jur'' || rarken''jur'' || tswan''jur'' || tjupol'''''hu'''r'' || soro'''''hu'''r'' || rwetsif''jur'' || tsarkes''jur'' || tswistjos''jur''
|-
|}
 
 The assimilation ''fm'' → ''(f)f'' is a common process also found in other formations in the language. 

The historical stem-final ''-m'' and ''-n'' differently affect the quality of the preceding vowels where they are in coda position. In the type ''hun'', the latter process produced a combination ''-ju-'' which complicated things further by causing a historical palatalization of the preceding stem-internal ''-l-'' and ''-r-''. 

The types ''rwetsif'' and ''tswistjos'' include stems which historically ended in ''-nf-'' and ''-ns-''; these clusters simplified when in coda position. 

The only peculiarity of the type ''soror'' is the historical assimilation ''-rl-'' → ''-r-'' in benefactive and ''-rlj-'' → ''-rj-'' ( → ''h'') in the pl. forms. 

The type ''tjupol'' is the most complicated: these stems end historically in ''-lr-'', with various assimilations and cluster simplifications. 
 

===== Class 2 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings in this class are: ''-e'' or zero, nominative; ''-øs'' or ''-wes'', accusative; ''-ja'', genitive; ''-njøn'', dative; ''-lø'', benefactive; ''-mja'', instrumental; ''-jør-'', plural marker. 

''Class 2 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -a: øfja 'horse' !! -e: rele 'lizard' !! -o: jo 'ice' !! -ø: fø 'wind'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| øfja || rele || jo || fø
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| øfja''wes'' || rele''wes'' || jo''wes'' || fø''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| øfj'''''o''''' || rele'''''s'''ja'' || jo''ja'' || fø'''''f'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| øfja''njøn'' || rele''njøn'' || jo''njøn'' || fø''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| øfja''lø'' || rele''lø'' || jo''lø'' || fø''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| øfja''mja'' || rele''mja'' || jo''mja'' || fø''mja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| øfja''jøre'' || rele''jøre'' || jo''jøre'' || fø''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations involved are the same as with class 1 stems. 
Note that the type ''rele'' includes only such stems with nominative in ''-e'' that cannot be interpreted as one of the class 2 consonant declensions described below. 

''Class 2 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -øne: fømøne 'death' !! -ene: pintene 'garden' !! -ane: tejane 'sky' !! -ame: janjame 'leaf' !! -ome: tjome 'juice' !! -lre: punfølre 'wolf' !! -øf: røf 'mouth' !! -as: jas 'snake'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| fømøn''e'' || pinten''e'' || tejan''e'' || janjam''e'' || tjom''e'' || punfølr''e'' || røf || ja'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| fømøn''øs'' || pinten''øs'' || tejan''øs'' || janjam''øs'' || tjom''øs'' || punføl'''''f'''øs'' || røf''øs'' || ja'''''f'''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| fømøn''ja'' || pinten''ja'' || tejan''ja'' || janj'''''onf'''ja'' || tj'''''anf'''ja'' || punføl'''''ha''''' || røf''ja'' || jo'''''ha'''''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| fømøn''njøn'' || pint'''''i'''nnjøn'' || tej'''''e'''nnjøn'' || janj'''''on'''njøn'' || tj'''''an'''njøn'' || punføl'''''hø'''n'' || røf''njøn'' || jo'''''j'''øn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| fømø'''''l'''lø'' || pint'''''il'''lø'' || tej'''''el'''lø'' || janj'''''ol'''lø'' || tj'''''al'''lø'' || punfølr'''''ø''''' || røf''lø'' || ja'''''r'''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| fømøm''mja'' || pint'''''i'''mmja'' || tej'''''e'''mmja'' || janj'''''om'''mja'' || tj'''''am'''mja'' || punfø'''''lf'''ja'' || røf'''''f'''ja'' || ja'''''ff'''ja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| fømøn''jøre'' || pint'''''i'''njøre'' || tej'''''e'''njøre'' || janj'''''on'''jøre'' || tj'''''an'''jøre'' || punføl'''''hø'''re'' || røf''jøre'' || ja'''''r'''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in these types are the same as with class 1 declensions; only the type ''jas'' is peculiar. 

===== Plural declension and the counting form =====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! class 1: somajur 'stones' !! class 2: øfjajøre 'horses'
|- align="center"
! Cases (pl.):  
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| somajur || øfjajør''e''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| somajur''ys'' || øfjajør''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| somajur''al'' || øfjajø'''''h'''a''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| somajur''njun'' || øfjajør''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| somajur'''''u''''' || øfjajør'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| somajur''ma'' || øfjajør''mja''
|- align="center"
! Counting form  
| somajur || øfjajør
|-
|}
 
 The counting form of class 1 nouns is identical with nom. pl., but in class 2 it is a separate form built by dropping the nominative ending. 

===== Irregular nouns =====

 A few nouns are class 1 stems in sg. but class 2 in pl.; this shift is accompanied by altering the stem vowel. Examples include ''moi'' 'eye', ''woi'' 'mushroom', ''roi'' 'horn', and ''koi'' 'bone', whose plurals are ''møjøre'', ''wøjøre'', ''røjøre'', and ''køjøre'', respectively. 

Many irregularities characterize the declension of pronouns, as described in the respective sections below. 

==== Spatial cases ====

 

===== Inventory and meanings =====

 The 24 spatial cases can be presented as combinations of eight “localizations” with three “orientations”. 
Localizations describe the position of a reference point relative to the object denoted by the noun being inflected: - adessive, 'at'; - inessive, 'in'; - superessive, 'on' (usually, 'in contact with the upper surface of'); - apudessive, 'near, close to'; - subessive, 'under, below (with or without contact)'; - postessive, 'behind or after'; - antessive, 'before or in front of'; - extraessive, 'outside'. 
Orientations specify the type of movement or static position relative to the point referred to by the localization: - locative: '(resting) at the point specified by localization'; - lative: '(moving or directed) towards the point specified by localization'; - ablative: '(moving or directed) away from the point specified by localization'. 
With the forms of the inessive localization and the noun ''mjunki'' 'water' taken as an example: - inessive-locative: ''mjunki'''wiry''''' 'in the water'; - inessive-lative: ''mjunki'''nimy''''' 'into the water'; - inessive-ablative: ''mjunki'''moi''''' 'out of the water'. 
As can be seen from the above examples, the name of each spatial case consists of the name of the localization followed by the name of the orientation (e. g. “inessive-lative”, “subessive-ablative”, etc.). However, the name of the locative orientation can be omitted where no ambiguity will arise, so e. g. “superessive-locative (case)” can be referred to as simply “superessive (case)”. 
Besides referring to spatial relations proper, the spatial cases have quite obvious temporary usages (especially common with gerunds). Thus, the locative cases can convey meanings like 'at', 'before', 'after' (a specific moment), 'within' (a timespan); the ablative cases add the meaning of 'since', and the lative cases, of 'until'. 
In addition, individual spatial cases have various metaphoric usages, including grammatical ones. 

===== Formation =====

 As already mentioned, the forms of spatial cases are based on certain primary cases. Specifically, the locative cases are always derived from the accusative; the lative cases, from the dative; and the ablative cases, from the instrumental. 
In groups of words that must agree in case, normally only the last one is inflected for spatial case, while all the others are put in the respective primary case (accusative, dative or instrumental). In particular, declinable conjunctions and equative markers have no forms of spatial cases. 
The formation of spatial cases can be conveniently presented as replacement of parts of the endings of the respective primary cases by the endings of spatial cases. The endings of spatial cases used with class 1 and class 2 stems are different. In the tables below, the formation of spatial cases is illustrated with the words ''mjunki'' 'water' (class 1) and ''fjas'' 'sand' (class 2). 

''Spatial cases of class 1 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''mjunkiwis''' || ''Dative'': '''mjunkinjun''' || ''Instrumental'': '''mjunkima'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| -'''s''' || '''-njun, -(*l)-jun, -hun''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -ras: mjunkiwi'''''r'''as'' || -nimas (-limas, -rimas): mjunkin'''''im'''as'' || -os: mjunkim'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -ry: mjunkiwi'''''r'''y'' || -nimy (-limy, -rimy): mjunkin'''''im'''y'' || -oi: mjunkim'''''oi''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -run: mjunkiwi'''''r'''un'' || -nimun (-limun, -rimun): mjunkin'''''im'''un'' || -on: mjunkim'''''on'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjummo: mjunkiwis''kjummo'' || -njunkjummo (-junkjummo, -hunkjummo): mjunkinjun''kjummo'' || -akjummo: mjunkima''kjummo''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spis: mjunkiwis''pis'' || -njumpis (-jumpis, -humpis): mjunkinjum''pis'' || -affis: mjunkima'''''ff'''is''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -raffa: mjunkiwi'''''r'''affa'' || -njunfaffa (-junfaffa, -hunfaffa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''affa'' || -offa: mjunkim'''''off'''a''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ra: mjunkiwi'''''r'''a'' || -njunfa (-junfa, -hunfa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''a'' || -o: mjunkim'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hu: mjunkiwi'''''hu''''' || -nimju (-limju, -rimju): mjunkin'''''im'''ju'' || -aju: mjunkima''ju''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in spatial case formation have already occurred in primary cases; in particular, those affecting the dative ''-(n)jun'' are of the same nature as those found in the declension of ''hun'' 'heart'. 
Some new ones include: ''-s'' (in codas) :: ''-r-'' (intervocalic) – in all cases derived from the accusative; ''-p-'' (after consonants) :: ''-ff-'' (intervocalic) – in the subessive series. 

''Spatial cases of class 2 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''fjaføs''' || ''Dative'': '''fjojøn''' || ''Instrumental'': '''fjaffja'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| '''-s''' || '''-njøn, -(*l)-jøn, -høn''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -has: fjafø'''''ha'''s'' || -nemjas (-lemjas, -remjas): fjo'''''lem'''jas'' || -os: fjaffj'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -rø: fjafø'''''r'''ø'' || -nemø (-lemø, -remø): fjo'''''lem'''ø'' || -ø: fjaffj'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -røn: fjafø'''''r'''øn'' || -nemøn (-lemøn, -remøn): fjo'''''lem'''øn'' || -øn: fjaffj'''''øn'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjømmø: fjaføs''kjømmø'' || -njønkjømmø (-jønkjømmø, -hønkjømmø): fjojøn''kjømmø'' || -akjømmø: fjaffja''kjømmø''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spes: fjaføs''pes'' || -njømpes (-jømpes, -hømpes): fjojøm''pes'' || -affes: fjaffja'''''ff'''es''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -haffja: fjafø'''''ha'''ffja'' || -njønfjaffja (-jønfjaffja, -hønfjaffja): fjojøn'''''f'''jaffja'' || -offja: fjaffj'''''off'''ja''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ha: fjafø'''''ha''''' || -njønfja (-jønfja, -hønfja): fjojøn'''''f'''ja'' || -o: fjaffj'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hø: fjafø'''''hø''''' || -nemjø (-lemjø, -remjø): fjo'''''lem'''jø'' || -ajø: fjaffja''jø''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations are already familiar. 

==== Substantivized genitive ====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Stem class !! ''class 1'': kommufalli 'what belongs to (the) husband' !! ''class 2'': føffesjai 'what belongs to (the) soul'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg. or pl.):
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| kommufal'''''l'''i'' || føffesja''i''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| kommufal'''''l'''ys'' || føffesja''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| kommufal'''''s'''al'' || føffesja'''''s'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| kommufal''njun'' || føffesja''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| kommufal''lu'' || føffesja''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| kommufal''ma'' || føffesja''mja''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive (2nd)
| kommufal'''''s'''alli'' || føffesja'''''s'''jai''
|-
|}
 

 The forms of substantivized genitives make no distinction between sg. and pl. of the possessed item. However, all the secondary cases are formed freely, by regular substitution of case endings. Curiously, substantivized genitives of substantivized genitives are also used, as e. g. in the following example: 
''E₁ tassijural₂ munnai₃ ristiwiras₄, fy₅ '''tatsanalsalli'''₆ astiwiras₇ nini₈''. 'The₀ clothes₃ of₍₂₎ my₁ children₂ are₈ here₄, and₅ '''those'''₆ '''of'''₍₆₎ (my₀) '''sister's'''₆ '''children'''₀ there₇.' 
(''Tatsanalsalli'' being the nom. of the subst. gen. of ''tatsanalli'', which is itself the subst. gen. of ''tatsen'' 'sister'.) 
The substantivized genitives are sometimes lexicalized and then moved to the regular substantive declension types, with regular pl. forms. With cl. 1 stems, such derivates are invariably the nom. forms reinterpreted as regular nouns of the ''liffi'' type. With cl. 2 stems, there are two options: the derivate inherits either the oblique stem (in ''-ja'') and declines according to the ''øfja'' type, or the nominative (in ''-jai''), and then is reinterpreted as class 1 (!) stem of the ''somai'' type. 
[''Details of case usage remain to be added''] 

==== Pronouns ====

 

===== Personal and demonstrative pronouns =====

 The personal pronouns of 1st and 2nd persons display a number of peculiarities, compared to the regular nouns, in both case forms and the plural stems. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'I' !! 'you' (''sg''.) !! 'we' !! 'you' (''pl''.)
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| e''i'' || to''i'' || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| e''wis'' || to''wis'' || ekwi''wis'' || tokkwi''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| e || to || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Dative
| e''njun'' || to''njun'' || ekwi''njun'' || tokkwi''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| e''lu'' || to''lu'' || ekw'''''elø''''' || tokkw'''''elø'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| e''ma'' || to''ma'' || ekwi''ma'' || tokkwi''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| e'''''s'''alli'' || to'''''f'''alli'' || ekwi'''''s'''alli'' || tokkwi'''''s'''alli''
|-
|}
 
 The personal pronouns of the 3rd person are essentially demonstratives. The forms of ''ri'' refer to objects that are close to either the speaker or the listener; the objects that are at a distance from both, or are invisible to the speaker, are denoted with forms of ''ai''. These usages of the two pronouns are called “deictic”; in non-deictic use, ''ai'' is the default anaphoric pronoun (i. e. referring to something already mentioned by one of the interlocutors), while ''ri'' is mainly used cataphorically (that is, to denote some object the speaker is going to introduce). 
Note that plural forms of these are built like with 1st and 2nd person pronouns only when they refer to animate beings (not necessarily sentient); otherwise their plurals are built like those of the regular nouns. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this one; he/she/it' !! 'that one; he/she/it' !! 'these, they' (''animate'') !! 'these, they' (''inanimate'') !! 'those, they' (''animate'') !! 'those, they' (''inanimate'')
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ri || a''i'' || rikwi || rijur || akwi || ajur
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| '''''hu'''s'' || '''''øs''''' || rikwi''wis'' || rijur''ys'' || akwi''wis'' || ajur''ys''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri || a || rikwi || rijur''al'' || akwi || ajur''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ri''njun'' || a''njun'' || rikwi''njun'' || rijur''njun'' || akwi''njun'' || ajur''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ri''lu'' || a''lu'' || rikw'''''elø''''' || rijur'''''u''''' || akw'''''elø''''' || ajur'''''u'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ri''ma'' || a''ma'' || rikwi''ma'' || rijur''ma'' || akwi''ma'' || ajur''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| ri'''''s'''alli'' || '''''ol'''li'' || rikwi'''''s'''alli'' || rijur''alli'' || akwi'''''s'''alli'' || ajur''alli''
|-
|}
 
 When used as attributes of other nouns, the demonstratives require a construction which is essentially the same as with appositions (see the sections on the equative marker and on nominal groups below). The more common position for the pronoun is after the noun; in this case, there are some peculiarities not found with appositional nouns, incliding free use of genitives and contractions with the equative marker. When placed before the noun, the demonstratives require the usual appositive construction (with no contractions and no genitives available); in this case they are semantically somewhat out-of-focus and may resemble definite articles, although are thus used infrequently. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this (these)', ''postpositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''postpositive'' !! 'this (these)', ''prepositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''prepositive''
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li ri || '''''j'''''-ai || ri li || a li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys hus || pys'' '''s'''''øs || hus pys || øs pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri'''''s'''al'' || '''''ol''''' || - || -
|- align="center"
! Dative
| njun rinjun || njun'' '''s'''''anjun || rinjun njun || anjun njun
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu rilu || '''''w'''-''alu || rilu lu || alu lu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma rima || '''''m''-o'''ma || rima ma || ama ma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| risalli || olli || - || -
|-
|}
 
 It is interesting to note that prepositive and pospositive demonstratives sometimes occur simultaneously with one noun; in such cases, at least one of the demonstratives is interpreted as non-deictic: 
'''''Ai'''₁ li₂ e₃ rarken₄ li₅ '''ri'''₆''. 'The said brother of mine whom you see here' (lit.''' 'That₁ one'''₁ who₂ is₂ my₃ brother₄ who₅ is₅ '''this'''₆'). 
Other demonstratives that are mostly used independently include ''risti'' 'this place, here', ''asti'' 'that place, that direction, there', ''rinau'' 'this time, now', and ''anau'' 'that time, then' (note that ''risti'' and ''rinau'', like ''ri'', are often used cataphorically and then cannot be translated as 'here' and 'now'). They are declined like regular class 1 nouns and mostly used in spatial cases, although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ristiwis'''₁ ei₂ tesi₃'' 'I₂ like₃ '''this₁ place'''₁' (or 'I like it here'). They can form plurals to refer to multiple locations or instances, as well as to broader areas or more prolonged timespans. 

===== Interrogative pronouns =====

 The main interrogative pronouns include: ''y'' 'what? which one?'; ''yrky'' 'who? which one?'; ''riffikky'' 'what? who? what kind of object(s)?'; ''ysti'' 'where? which place? which direction?'; ''riffitti'' 'where? what kind of place?'; ''ynau'' 'when? which time?'; and ''riffinau'' 'when? what kind of circumstances?'. 
The pronouns ''y'' and ''yrky'' imply that the object of inquiry belongs to a set which is already known or obvious from the situation; ''yrky'' implies an animate object (but not necessarily sentient). In contrast, ''riffikky'' implies that the speaker knows nothing about the object, and may need its description rather than identification; this pronoun is not sensitive to animacy. The semantic difference in the pairs ''ysti'' vs. ''riffitti'' and ''ynau'' vs. ''riffinau'' is partly similar with that between ''y'' / ''yrky'' and ''riffikky.'' 
The pronouns ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'', and ''riffinau'' are mostly used in spatial cases, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwiras'''₁ ai₂ nini₃?''''' 'Where'''₁ is₃ he/she/it₂?', although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwis'''₁ toi₂ tesi₃?''''' 'Which₁ place'''₁ do₃ you₂ prefer₃?' and in similar contexts. 
Of the interrogative pronouns, only ''y'', ''yrky'' and ''riffikky'' display some peculiarities in declension (namely, in acc. sg.); the rest belong to the standard class 1 declension types. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| y || yrky || riffikky
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| y'''''s''''' || yrky'''''s''''' || riffikky'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| y'''''s'''al'' || yrky'''''s'''al'' || riffikky'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| y''njun'' || yrky''njun'' || riffikky''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| y''lu'' || yrky''lu'' || riffikky''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| y''ma'' || yrky''ma'' || riffikky''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| y'''''s'''alli'' ||   yrky'''''s'''alli''   ||   riffikky'''''s'''alli''  
|- align="center"
! Nominative pl.
| (y''jur'') || (yrky''jur'') || -
|-
|}
 
 The plurals of ''y'' and ''yrky'' are used rarely; usually they imply not only that the objects are already known to be more than one, but also that the speaker wants them to be enumerated; the plural of ''riffikky'' does not exist. 
In contrast, the plurals of ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'' and ''riffinau'' are rather common; ''ystijur'' and ''riffittijur'' imply that there are several relevant places, while ''ynaujur'' and ''riffinaujur'' often refer to prolonged periods or multiple instances rather than to single moments. 

===== Reflexive pronouns =====

 The reflexive pronouns are based on the auxiliary noun ''ry'' 'self' which normally is not used without a genitive of a pronoun or noun that specifies it. A genitive of a personal pronoun and ''ry'' are written as one word and pronounced accordingly: ''ery'' 'myself', ''tory'' 'yourself', ''ekwiry'', ''tokkwiry'', ''riry'', ''ary'', ''rikwiry'', ''rijuralry'', ''akwiry'', ''ajuralry''. The genitives of other words remain separate, as e. g. in ''e₁ mamol₂ '''ry'''₃'' 'my mother herself' (lit. 'my₁ mother's₂ '''self'''₃'). 
The word ''ry'' has no plural and is declined like the interrogatives ''y'', ''yrky'', ''riffikky''. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ry
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| ry'''''s'' '''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ry'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ry''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ry''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ry''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     ry'''''s'''alli''    
|-
|}
 

 The genitive of a reflexive pronoun can often be translated with 'own', as in '''''erysal'''₁ fei₂'' 'my₁ '''own'''₁ house₂', ''e₁ kispjufal₂ '''rysal'''₃ øfja₄'' 'my₁ wife's₂ '''own'''₃ horse₄'. 

===== The equative marker =====

 “The equative marker” is the traditional term for the auxiliary word that links a noun (or pronoun) with an apposition, as e. g. in ''to₁ mamai₂ '''li'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispju₆'' 'your₁ mother₂ '''who₃ is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife₆' or ''elu₁ '''lu'''₂ to₃ tatsellu₄'' 'for₍₁₋₂₋₄₎ me₁, ('''as'''₂) your₃ sister₄'. The head noun, the equative marker and the apposition must agree in (primary) case, and therefore the equative marker is inflected for case; however, it is insensitive to number distinctions and has no secondary cases. Besides, it has no forms of genitive (primary or substantivized), as for appositions to nouns in genitive there is a different construction, where the head genitive is replaced with a substantivized genitive: ''to₁ '''mamollu'''₂ '''lu'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispjufal₆ felu₇'' 'for the house of your mother who is my future wife' (lit. 'for₍₂₋₃₋₇₎ your₁ '''mother's'''₂, '''which'''₃ '''is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife's₆ house₇'). 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| -
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     njun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| -
|-
|}
 
 

===== Role-switching marker =====

 This pronoun plays a very important part in Affanonic syntax. Prototypically, it indicates that its head predicate has the same topic as a preceding predicate, but in a different role. Its other uses are described in the section on syntax below. 
The role-switching marker does not differentiate singular from plural, but has all cases including secondary. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| lili 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pipys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| lisal
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ninjun 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lilu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| mima 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     lisalli    
|-
|}
 
 

===== Relative pronoun =====

 The relative pronoun ''fylli'' is used in relative clauses when they follow their head nouns. It inflects for case which denotes its role in the relative clause (rather than in the main clause), e. g. ''nontalu₁ '''fynnjun'''₂ ei₃ fati₄'' 'for₍₁₎ the₀ man₁ to₍₂₎ whom₂ I₃ told₄ (that₀)'. There are all case forms, both primary and secondary, but no number distinction. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fylli 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fyppys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fyra
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     fynnjun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fyllu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fymma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| fyrolli
|-
|}
 
 

==== Quantity words ====

 This category includes numerals (e. g. ''tsei'' 'three') and a few words that denote quantities of countable objects: ''fumøne'' 'many'; ''pimoi'' 'few'; ''kjunsøf'' 'several, a few, some (of)'; ''supu'' 'all (of)'. They are declined like the ordinary nouns in singular and carry no number markers of their own. The noun whose quantity is specified is put in counting form and precedes the quantity word: ''øfjajør₁ tsei₂'' 'three₂ horses₁'. 

==== Declinable conjunctions ====

 Where nouns or pronouns linked by the conjunctions ''fy'' 'and', ''la'' 'or', or ''pau'' 'but not' stand in the same (primary) case and form the same phrase constituent, the conjunctions must agree in (primary) case with the words they link, e. g.: ''e₁ mamalu₂ fylu₃ elu₄'' 'for₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄', ''e₁ mamanjun₂ fynjun₃ enjun₄'' 'to₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄'.
 The case forms of the three declinable conjunctions are shown in the following table. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !!   fy 'and'   !!   la 'or'   !!   pau 'but not'  
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fy || l'''''e'''i'' || p'''''o'''i''
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fy'''''s''' '' || l'''''øs''''' || pau''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fy || la || pau
|- align="center"
! Dative
| fy''njun'' || la''njun'' || pau''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fy''lu'' || la''lu'' || pau''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fy''ma'' || la''ma'' || pau''ma''
|-
|}
 
 

=== Adjectives and adverbs ===

 These are basically one part of speech in Affanonic. Thus, ''fje'' 'beautiful' is mostly used as an adjective, but can also mean 'beatifully' when it stands before a verb. Similarly, ''ese'' 'sometimes' is mostly used as an adverb, but can also be used with a noun to convey a meaning like 'occurring sometimes'. 
Both adjectives and adverbs must immediately precede the word they specify. 
The words belonging to this class have no inflectional forms. 

=== Adverbial particles ===

 
This is another class of words that often correspond to avderbs (most commonly, sentential adverbs) in other languages. However, they cannot be used as prepositive attributes of nouns and, unlike the usual adverbs, can be (and mostly are) separated from their head verb by any number of other constituents. 
An example of adverbial particle is ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)'. 
It is interesting to note that spatial cases of nouns are syntactically more similar with adverbial particles than with adverbs proper. Indeed, many adverbial particles resemble case forms derived from obscure stems not used as ordinary nouns; an example is ''mølø'' 'visually, visibly, by eye, before one's eyes' which looks like a benefactive derived from some *''mø'' (cf., however, ''moi'' 'eye' and its irregular plural ''møjøre'' 'eyes'). 

=== Verbs ===

 

===== Telicity =====

 
All the verbs are divided into two major classes: perfectives and (lexical) imperfectives. 
Perfective verbs are semantically telic. In other words, they denote processes that imply a change of state or achieving a result, and therefore cannot be normally viewed as allowing for an indefinitely long continuation (i. e. as continuing after the point where the change is complete or the implied result is achieved). Examples of such verbs in Affanonic are ''soffoffi'' 'to fall asleep', ''mumin'' 'to sit down', ''fati'' 'to say, tell', ''føref'' 'to kill', and ''njun'' 'to become'. 
In contrast, lexically imperfective verbs are semantically atelic, i. e. denote static conditions or cyclic processes that do not imply a specific endpoint by themselves. Examples include ''roffoffi'' 'to sleep', ''lilami'' 'to stand', ''piffati'' 'to talk, speak', and ''nini'' 'to be'. 
Perfective verbs have two standard imperfective derivates that can be considered part of their paradigm: durative and resultative (jointly referred to as “secondary imperfectives”, as opposed to “lexical imperfectives”). 
Duratives are formed by the auxiliary verb ''nyral'' placed after the unaltered stem of the perfective verb. A durative can have either of the following two interpretations. In one interpretation, it denotes an indefinite number of repetitive events which individually would be denoted by the original perfective; this interpretation is called “iterative”. The other interpretation implies a shift in the time scale: the process or activity that should eventually result in the change of state denoted by the original perfective is viewed as long enough to serve as the “indefinitely long” background for some other, shorter events, and thus as requiring an imperfective to describe it. This interpretation is termed “continuative”. 
Resultatives are formed by the auxiliary ''ja'' put after the stem of the original perfective. They denote a continuous static condition that results from the event denoted by the perfective. 
Lexical imperfectives do not have any standard perfective derivates, since the associated semantic shifts are more diverse and idiosyncratic. Therefore, all processes that derive a perfective from an imperfective are considered as belonging with lexical derivation. 

===== Tenses =====

 
The finite forms of imperfectives (both lexical and secondary) taken without any additional marking are the standard forms of the present tense. The term is purely conventional; while the default meaning of the present taken outside any specific context is indeed that of an action or condition which continues at the moment of speaking, it can also denote an action or condition that was simultaneous with, or served as the background for, another action which can relate to present, past or future. In particular, adverbs and adverbial expressions that denote time, e. g. ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)', can freely combine with the present tense, and do not require the verb to carry any additional marking to express non-present. In other words, the characteristic of this tense is purely negative: it does not mark a continuous action or condition as preceding or following anything else. 
On the contrary, the perfective verbs taken as bare stems indicate by default that the action in question has been, or had been, completed by the present moment or by some moment in the past. Therefore, their bare stem is considered a past tense which is termed “aorist”. However, if there is a direct indication to future in the same sentence, the aorist form can mean that the action will have been completed by some moment in the future. 
Imperfectives can be explicitly marked for past tense by adding the postpositive auxiliary ''njau'' (which is actually a perfective verb 'to turn' in its non-auxiliary use). This combination is termed “imperfect tense”. 
The explicit reference to future is made differently with perfectives and imperfectives. Imperfectives use a special postpositive tense marker, ''jawa''. This form is referred to as “imperfective future”. 
Perfectives, on the other hand, are combined with the word ''tsjuma'' which is properly an independent adjective / adverb meaning 'in the future, imminent(ly)'; therefore, it is put before the verb and is sometimes separated from the latter by another adverb. Nevertheless, such combinations with ''tsjuma'' are often treated as a special tense called “perfective future”. 

===== Subjunctive =====

 
The subjunctive of the perfective verbs is formed by adding the postpositive marker ''nifføf''. This form refers to the past; however, it can combine with ''tsjuma'' to convey future. 
The copula ''nini'' 'to be' has an inflectional form of subjunctive, ''ninifføf''. This form refers to the present. The other lexical imperfectives form their present subjunctive by adding ''ninifføf ''postpositively. However, duratives do not use this form, but replace their ''nyral'' with ''nyralpøf''<nowiki>; similarly, the resultatives substitute </nowiki>''jafføf'' for their ''ja''. The past subjunctive of all imperfectives (including duratives, resultatives and ''nini'') is formed by adding a pospositive ''nufføf'', and the future subjunctive, by a postpositive ''nawafføf''. 

===== Gerunds =====

 
Gerunds represent the only type of regular non-finite forms of Affanonic verbs. They can be considered substantivized verbs which make it possible to use a verb as an argument of another verb, or of any other word. On the other hand, a gerund can retain all the arguments of the original finite verb without altering their form. 
The benefactive of gerunds has some usages similar to those of infinitive in English. 
Perfective verbs form their gerunds with the postpositive auxiliary noun ''nau'' (which in its non-auxiliary use means 'turn, iteration, time'). 
Lexical imperfectives have gerunds formed by the postpositive ''jo''. 
The gerunds of duratives are formed by replacing the finite durative marker ''nyral'' with ''naujur'' (i. e. the plural of ''nau''). 
The gerunds of resultatives are formed by replacing the finite resultative marker ''ja'' with the auxiliary noun ''jai'', which declines like a class 2 substantivized genitive. 
The gerund forms listed above are basically tenseless; however, due to the vague temporal meanings of the Affanonic present and aorist, the above types of gerunds can be viewed as their substantivized equivalents. 
The use of the gerunds equivalent to the other tenses is optional. The perfective gerunds with ''nau'' can combine with ''tsjuma'' to refer to a future action. The finite markers of all the tenses of imperfectives other than the present are historically perfective verbs, so gerunds can be derived from them by adding the postpositive ''nau'' as well. 
The gerund equivalents of all forms of the subjunctive are rare, but can in principle be derived freely by adding the same ''nau'' as the most universal gerund marker. 

== Syntax ==

 

=== Nominal groups ===

 
The nominal group template can be presented as follows: 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
| -3 || -2 || -1 || '''0''' || 1 || 2 || 3
|- align="center"
| A prepositive demonstrative || A genitive (with or without dependents) or a prepositive relative clause || An adjective (with or without dependents) || The head noun || The postpositive demonstrative (and/or other appositions) || An adverbial particle or a noun in oblique case used attributively || A postpositive relative clause
|-
|}
 
 
It is very usual to construe a noun denoting a possessor not as the usual genitive but as substantivized genitive put in apposition. This option is especially common when the genitive has its own attributes, and obligatory if any of such attributes are postpositive. 
All dependents of an adjective are put before it: 
'''''Mjunkima₁ njunta₂''' pir₃.'' 'A₀ ditch₃ '''full₂ of₍₁₎ water₁'''.' 
'''''Liloi₁ mjunkima₂ njunta₃''' pir₄.'' 'A₀ ditch₄ '''full₃ of₍₂₎ black₁ water₂'''.' 
This is also true of comparative constructions: 
'''''Sajurnjun₁ tsera₂ sunol₃''' nontai₄.'' 'A₀ man₄ '''stronger₃ than₂ others₁'''.' 
An adjective cannot be separated from its head noun except by another adjective, which cannot normally have any arguments of its own. 
To obviate the restrictions on word order, an adjective is often replaced with a relative clause based on the adjective and the copula verb ''nini'' 'to be': 
''Nontai₁ fylli₂ '''sajurnjun₃ tsera₄ sunol₅''' nini₆.'' 'A₀ man₁ (who₂ is₆) '''stronger₅ than₄ others₃'''.' 
Note that personal pronouns have relative freedom of taking all the types of attributes allowed with the regular nouns, e. g.: 
'''''Situn₁ ei₂''' wo₃ tituli₄ njau₅.''''' 'Stupid₁ me₂, I₂''' did₍₄₋₅₎n't₃ know₄₋₅ (that₀)'. 

==== Relative clauses ====

 Since in their internal structure the relative clauses of Affanonic present no peculiarities compared to main clauses, it is more convenient to consider them in the section on nominal groups. 

==== Prepositive relative clauses ====

 The easiest way to construe a relative clause in Affanonic is simply to put the predicate (with or without its arguments) immediately before the head noun. This option is especially common when the predicate has no dependent nouns. The head noun fills an argument valency of the predicate. However, by itself this construction provides no information on the specific argument role of the head noun, which therefore remains to be retrieved from the context. With intransitive verbs, there is a tendency to interprete the head noun as filling the subject valency, e. g.: 
 
'''''Tsjurin₁''' nontai₂.'' 'The₀ man₂ '''who₀ came₁''' (has come)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ '''tsjurin₂''''' 'The₀ man₁ '''has₍₂₎ come₂'.''' 
With transitive verbs, the head noun often fills the valency for direct object: 
'''''Føref₁''' øfja₂.'' 'The₀ horse₂ '''that₀ has₍₁₎ been₍₁₎ killed₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Øfjawes₁ '''føref₂'''.'' '(Somebody₀) '''killed₂''' the₀ horse₁'. 
However, the head noun can in principle correspond to any other role, e. g. expressed by a spatial case: 
'''''Ei₁ jeke₂''' fei₃.'' 'The₀ house₃ '''where₀ I₁ live₂'.''' 
Cf.: '''''Ei₁''' a₂ fewiry₃ '''jeke₄'''.''''' 'I₁ live₄''' in₍₃₎ his₂ house₃'. 
Some disambiguation is achieved if the relative clause has an explicit argument; then the head noun can fill only a remaining argument valency: 
'''''Øfjawes₁ føref₂''' nontai₃ li₄ ri₅.'' 'This₄₋₅ man₃ '''who₀ killed₂ the₀ horse₁'.''' 
'''''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ føref₄''' øfja₅.'' 'The₀ horse₅ '''killed₄ by₀ this₂₋₃ man₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ øfjawes₄ føref₅.'' 'This₂₋₃ man₁ killed₅ the₀ horse₄'. 
A more powerful means of disambiguation is provided by the use of the role-switching marker whose case indicates the role to be filled by the head noun: 
'''''Lili₁ føref₂''' nontai₃.'' 'The₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ '''lili₄ føref₅'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ man₁, '''he₍₄₎ killed₅''' (somebody₀)'. 
'''''Pipyry₁ ei₂ jeke₃''' fei₄.'' 'The₀ house₄ '''in₍₁₎ which₍₁₎ I₂ live₃'.''' 
Cf.: ''Fei₁ li₂ ri₃ '''pipyry₄ ei₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ house₁, '''I₅ live₆ in₍₄₎ it₍₄₎'.''' 
However, the use of the role-switching marker may cause some problems, too. Specifically, the role-switching marker can be understood as part of the main clause rather than the relative clause. Thus, a sentence like: 
''Lili føref nontawis hunti.'' 
- has two possible interpretations: 
 (a) ''Lili₁ (('''føref₂''' nontawis₃) hunti₄).'' 
'(Somebody₍₁₎ already₍₁₎ mentioned₍₁₎) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₀ had₍₂₎ been₍₂₎ killed₂'.''' 
 (b) ''(('''Lili₁ føref₂''') nontawis₃) hunti₄.'' 
'(Somebody₀) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ had₍₂₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀ else₀)'. 
Another problem common to all types of prepositive relative clauses is that basically they occupy the same slot in the nominal group template as genitives. Indeed, if put before the genitive, they are naturally understood as depending on the noun in genitive rather than its head: 
'''''Føref₁ nontol₂''' øfja₃.'' 'The₀ horse₃ '''of₍₂₎ the₀ man₂ who₀ was₍₁₎ killed₁' '''(rather than **'The man's killed horse'). 
For this reason, prepositive relative clauses depending on a genitive's head noun are allowed to precede only the genitives of personal pronouns, e. g.: 
''E₁ myffawis₂ rissjun₃ '''a₄ miti₅'''.''''' 'His₄ daughter₅''' who₀ washed₃ my₁ cloak₂'. 
On the other hand, if the relative clause has any explicit nominal arguments, a preceding genitive will be naturally understood as part of the relative clause: 
'''''E₁ øfjawes₂ haf₃''' u₄.'' 'The₀ dog₄ '''that₀ bit₃ my₁ horse₂' '''(rather than **'My dog that bit the horse'). 
For this reason, genitives depending on the head noun can precede a relative clause only if the latter has no explicit nominal arguments, e. g.: 
''To₁ '''fje₂ tsalami₃ nyral₄''' miti₅.'' 'Your₁ daughter₅ '''who₀ sings₃₋₄ beautifully₂'.''' 
To avoid the restrictions associated with prepositive relative clauses, other types of relative clauses can be used. 

==== Postpositive relative clauses ====

 
These are formed using the relative pronoun ''fylli'' which indicates the role of the head noun explicitly, e. g.: 
''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃ '''fylli₄ e₅ myffawis₆ rissjun₇'''.'' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃ '''who₄ washed₇ my₅ cloak₆'''.' 
''To₁ kommufal₂ fei₃ '''fyppyry₄ toi₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'Your₁ husband's₂ house₃ '''in₄ which₄ you₅ live₆'''.' 
Postpositive relative clauses often have a pronoun (especially the cataphoric ''ri'') as their head: 
'''''Ri₁ fylli₂ ajurys₃ suffi₄ tsjurin₅''' lili₆ e₇ kommu₈ nini₉ jawa₁₀.''''' 'He₁ who₂ has₍₄₋₅₎ brought₄₋₅ them₃''' will₁₀ be₉ my₇ husband₈'. 
The above example illustrates another peculiarity of postpositive relative clauses: to avoid their predicate's being perceived as forming a serial construction with the predicate of the main clause, the role-switching marker (''lili'' in this example) is inserted after the relative clause; it refers to the topic of the sentence, which may coincide or not with the head noun of the relative clause. 
A restriction associated with postpositive relative clauses is that nouns in genitive cannot take any postpositive attributes, including relative clauses. This problem can be solved, as usual, by substantivizing the genitive and construing it as an apposition: 
''Fei₁ '''li₂ to₃ mitisalli₄''' fylli₅ fje₆ tsalami₇ nyral₈.'' 'The₀ house₁ (which₂ is₂) '''of₍₄₎ your₃ daughter₄''' who₅ sings₇₋₈ beautifully₆.' 
The postpositive relative clauses can be extraposited, i. e. put after the main predicate of the sentence in which their head noun is an argument. In such cases, the head noun must be the last nominal constituent that precedes the main predicate: 
'''''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃''' tsjurin₄ '''fylli₅''' e₆ myffawis₇ rissjun₈.''''' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃''' has₍₄₎ come₄ '''who₅''' washed₈ my₆ cloak₇.' 

==== Head-internal relative clauses ====

 
In this type, the head noun must either be one of the pronouns ''ri'', ''risti'', ''rinau'', or have ''ri'' as its attribute. The head noun remains within the relative clause in its usual form and position, according to its syntactic role; its role in the main clause is conveyed with the role-switching marker: 
'''''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄''' lili₅ e₆ fei₇ nini₈ jawa₉''''' 'The₀ place₃ where₃ you₁ found₄ them₂''' will₉ be₈ my₆ homeplace₇'. 
Cf. ''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄.'' 'You₁ found₄ them₂ here₃'. 
This type of relative clauses is widely used in Affanonic. However, it is normally required that the relative clause should constitute the topic part of the sentence. 
Head-internal clauses are often used to single out a nominal group constituting the contrastive (or otherwise emphasized) rheme of the sentence. This construction is similar in structure with the English ''"It is X that Y"'' (only with the order of components reversed):
 
''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅ lili₆ '''to₇ myffai₈ nini₉'''.''''' 'It₍₁₋₆₎ is₉ your₇ cloak₈''' that₍₁₋₆₎ my₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅' 
Cf. ''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅.'' 'My₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅ it/this₁.'
 

=== Main clause ===

 

==== Word order ====

 
The verb must be put in the end of the main clause (as actually of any other type of clause); it can be followed by discourse particles, but the latter can be viewed as a special type of auxiliary verbs. Only extraposited subordinate clauses (either postpositive relative or conveying reported speech) can be put after the main predicate. 
Adverbs must immediately precede their head verb and cannot be separated from it except by another adverb. 
The order of all the other constituents is “free”, since morphology provides sufficient information about their syntactic roles. The most prominent regularity with their placement is a tendency to consider one nominal constituent as “topic” and the rest of the sentence as a comment describing its condition or an event that happened to it. Normally (i. e. in unemphatic speech), the topic is put first, and all the other constituents follow it. 
There is a tendency to put contrastive (and other emphasized) topics in nominative, irrespective of their intended syntactic role, and to put the role-switching marker immediately after them. 
Any constituent can be dropped when clear from the context. In principle, a verb taken alone can be a grammatical sentence. 

==== Serial constructions ====

 [''Stuff to be added later''] 

==== Copula ====

 
The most common copula is ''nini'' v. ipf. 'to be'; another example is ''njun'' v. pf. 'to become'. 
A noun used as nominal predicate must be in the nominative case. 
Adjectives are used in their usual uninflected form. 
Nouns in spatial cases (mostly locative) and some adverbial particles are put before the copula without any modifications. 

=== Negation ===

 The negative particle ''wo'' can be put before any part of the sentence to negate it. 

=== Adpositions ===

 
Adpositions can be derived from verbs or nouns. 

==== Postpositions derived from verbs ====

 
Some verbs in the position of the first part of a serial construction can be used to introduce their object as an additional nominal argument of the main predicate, i. e. like a postposition. The verb ''tsomin'' v. pf. 'to take' is often used in this way, as e. g. in the following sentence: 
''Nontai₁ '''sunollowis₂ tsomin₃''' nontisal₄ mitserawis₅ ni₆.'' 'The man made the woman's small image of wood' (lit.: 'The₀ man₁, '''having₍₃₎ taken₃ wood₂''', made₆ a₀ small₅ image₅ of₍₄₎ the₀ woman₄'). 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

==== Adpositions derived from nouns ====

 
Typically, an adposition is derived from a case form of noun with an attributed genitive, and thus is a postposition governing the genitive case. For example, from the inessive of ''tswis'' 'inner side, part; interior, inside': 
''Fesal₁ tswisyry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
''Fesal₁ tswismoi₂'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₂₎ of₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
However, the genitive can be substantivized, and put after the adposition as its apposition: 
''Tswisys₁ pys₂ fesallyry₃'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
''Tswisma₁ ma₂ fesalmoi₃'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ of₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
This pattern may produce e. g. a preposition that governs an essive or ablative case of substantivized genitive, as above. 
Besides, the lexical noun can be put in a spatial case which is used as a postpositive attribute to ''tswis'' in the same or another spatial case: 
''Tswisyry₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
''Tswismoi₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₎ of₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
This produces a preposition again, but now governing a spatial case of the lexical noun itself rather than of its substantivized genitive. 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

=== Reported speech ===

 
The reported speech clauses (which actually can be used to convey the content of knowledge, thought etc.) can be construed in one of two ways. 
One way is to use the clause as the topic of a sentence and to mark its syntactic role with the role-switching pronoun: 
'''''Toi₁ tsjuma₂ tsjurin₃ pipys₄''' ai₅ fati₆.'' 'He₅ said₆ '''that₍₄₎ you₁ would₂ come₃'.''' 
The other way is to mark its role in the main clause with the cataphoric ''ri'' in appropriate case, and to put the subordinate clause after the main predicate: 
''Ai₁ '''hus'''₂ fati₃, '''toi₄ tsjuma₅ tsjurin₆'''.'' 'He₁ said₃ '''that₍₂₎ you₄ would₅ come₆'.''' 
The latter type is called “extraposited”. 

== Lexical derivation ==

 Derivation of nouns [''Stuff to be added later''] Derivation of verbs Preverbs [''Stuff to be added later''] Compound verbs [''Stuff to be added later''] 

{{stub}}

[[Category:Isles languages]]

Affanonic/Grammar/Phonetics

2009-06-12T21:13:22Z

Basilius: slicing...

=== Consonants ===
 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Bilabial !! Labiodental !! Alveolar !! Alveolar sibilant !! Palatal !! Velar !! Uvular !! Laryngeal
|- align="center"
! Stops  / affricates 
| p || || t || ts [t͜s] || || k || ||
|- align="center"
! Fricatives 
| || f || || s || || || || h
|- align="center"
! Nasals 
| m || || n || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! Approximants 
| w || || || || j || || ||
|- align="center"
! Lateral approximants 
| || || l || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! Vibrants 
| || || || || || || r [ʀ] ||
|-
|}
 

=== Vowels ===

 Affanonic distiguishes the following monophthongs: ''a o u e i ø y'' (IPA values), and the following diphthongs: ''ai ei oi au''. 

=== Phonotactics ===

 

==== Syllable onsets ====

 Every consonant phoneme can be used as a single-consonant onset. Vowel onsets are allowed too, although common only word-initially. The consonants ''j-'' and ''h-'' do not occur before the narrow front vowels ''i'' and ''y'', while ''w-'' cannot stand before the narrow labialized vowels ''u'' and ''y''. 

Besides, a syllable can begin in a cluster, C''j'' or C''w''. However, ''h r l w'' (and ''j'') are not allowed before ''j'', while ''p f m s n l j'' (and ''w'') are not tolerated before ''w''<nowiki>; intervocalic combinations like </nowiki>''-rj-'' or ''-lw-'' that do occur word-internally have a syllable boundary between the two consonants, and thus do not form a syllable onset. Therefore the complete list of onset clusters looks like the following: ''pj- tj- tsj- kj- fj- sj- mj- nj-'', ''tw- tsw- kw- sw- rw-''. 

==== Syllable codas ====

 The following single-consonant codas are allowed: ''r l n f s'' and gemination of the onset stop/affricate (clustered or not) of the next syllable. None of these can follow a diphthong. The coda ''-n'' remains [n] only before ''n- t- ts-''<nowiki>; before </nowiki>''m- p-'' it assimilates to [m] (which is reflected in spelling: ''-mm-'', ''-mp-''), whereas word-finally (except when followed by a vowel-initial word without a pause) and before all the other consonants it becomes a velar [ŋ] (still written ''n'').

 The coda ''-n'' often assimilates to a following ''l-'' (to produce a geminated ''-ll-''), but this alternation is not automatic anymore and therefore is better considered part of morphonology rather than of synchronic phonotactics. 

=== Stress ===

 The position of stress is not contrastive. 

Disyllabic words always have the stress on their first syllable. In words of more than two syllables, the stress falls on the penult if it is heavy (i. e. uncludes either a diphthong or a coda consonant) and on the antepenult otherwise. 

In declarative utterances pronounced with neutral intonation, the stressed syllale is characterized by its falling tone; the pretonic syllables tend to form a high-pitch platform, while the tone of the posttonic ones is low. The dynamic aspects of stress are not prominent in Affanonic.

Affanonic/Grammar

2009-06-12T21:07:13Z

Basilius: Removing redundancies

== Phonetics ==

 

=== Consonants ===
 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Bilabial !! Labiodental !! Alveolar !! Alveolar sibilant !! Palatal !! Velar !! Uvular !! Laryngeal
|- align="center"
! Stops  / affricates 
| p || || t || ts [t͜s] || || k || ||
|- align="center"
! Fricatives 
| || f || || s || || || || h
|- align="center"
! Nasals 
| m || || n || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! Approximants 
| w || || || || j || || ||
|- align="center"
! Lateral approximants 
| || || l || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! Vibrants 
| || || || || || || r [ʀ] ||
|-
|}
 

=== Vowels ===

 Affanonic distiguishes the following monophthongs: ''a o u e i ø y'' (IPA values), and the following diphthongs: ''ai ei oi au''. 

=== Phonotactics ===

 

==== Syllable onsets ====

 Every consonant phoneme can be used as a single-consonant onset. Vowel onsets are allowed too, although common only word-initially. The consonants ''j-'' and ''h-'' do not occur before the narrow front vowels ''i'' and ''y'', while ''w-'' cannot stand before the narrow labialized vowels ''u'' and ''y''. 

Besides, a syllable can begin in a cluster, C''j'' or C''w''. However, ''h r l w'' (and ''j'') are not allowed before ''j'', while ''p f m s n l j'' (and ''w'') are not tolerated before ''w''<nowiki>; intervocalic combinations like </nowiki>''-rj-'' or ''-lw-'' that do occur word-internally have a syllable boundary between the two consonants, and thus do not form a syllable onset. Therefore the complete list of onset clusters looks like the following: ''pj- tj- tsj- kj- fj- sj- mj- nj-'', ''tw- tsw- kw- sw- rw-''. 

==== Syllable codas ====

 The following single-consonant codas are allowed: ''r l n f s'' and gemination of the onset stop/affricate (clustered or not) of the next syllable. None of these can follow a diphthong. The coda ''-n'' remains [n] only before ''n- t- ts-''<nowiki>; before </nowiki>''m- p-'' it assimilates to [m] (which is reflected in spelling: ''-mm-'', ''-mp-''), whereas word-finally (except when followed by a vowel-initial word without a pause) and before all the other consonants it becomes a velar [ŋ] (still written ''n'').

 The coda ''-n'' often assimilates to a following ''l-'' (to produce a geminated ''-ll-''), but this alternation is not automatic anymore and therefore is better considered part of morphonology rather than of synchronic phonotactics. 

=== Stress ===

 The position of stress is not contrastive. 

Disyllabic words always have the stress on their first syllable. In words of more than two syllables, the stress falls on the penult if it is heavy (i. e. uncludes either a diphthong or a coda consonant) and on the antepenult otherwise. 

In declarative utterances pronounced with neutral intonation, the stressed syllale is characterized by its falling tone; the pretonic syllables tend to form a high-pitch platform, while the tone of the posttonic ones is low. The dynamic aspects of stress are not prominent in Affanonic. 

== Morphonology ==

 An important process often occurring in inflectional forms is historical palatalization: *''lj'' → ''j'', *''rj'' → ''h''. When the the change *''lj'' → ''j'' produces a consonant combination that is allowed as an onset cluster, a resyllabification takes place, which is sometimes important for stress position. Thus, a form like ''rarkenjur'' 'brothers' is syllabified ''rar.ke.njur'' and therefore has the stress on its first syllable, despite being historically *''rar.ken.ljur''. [''more stuff to be added later''] 

== Morphology ==

 The morphology of Affanonic is peculiar in combining a sophisticated inflection in nouns with near-total lack of inflection in verbs (with a few exceptions pertaining to auxiliaries). 

=== Nouns ===

 Affanonic is traditionally described as having 31 cases. Six of these (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, benefactive, and instrumental) are called “primary cases”; the rest are referred to as “secondary cases”. Secondary cases include 24 “spatial cases”; besides, one more form traditionally viewed as a secondary case, the so-called “substantivized genitive”, is properly a derived noun which itself inflects for case. The forms of secondary cases are derived from certain primary cases in a rather uniform manner. For this reason, the overview of declensions below will confine to primary cases, while the formation of secondary cases will be explained a bit later. Affanonic distiguishes between two numbers, singular and plural. The use of plural in countable nouns is rather consequential. Uncountable nouns are formally singular, virtually without any exceptions (i. e. pluralia tantum do not exist as a category). A so-called “counting form” of countable nouns which is derived from the plural stem is used with words that denote quantities (including numerals). 

==== Declensions ====

 Every case ending, as well as the plural stem marker, have two forms depending on the so-called stem class of the noun. The stem classes are purely formal and are conventionally named simply “class 1” and “class 2”. Within each stem class, there are further subgroupings determined by the final sounds of the stem; the most basic divide is between “vocalic declensions” (comprising the nouns whose stems end in a vowel) and “consonant declensions” (which include stems ending in a consonant). 

With most nouns, the declension type can be predicted from the nom. sg. form (more specifically, its final sounds). 

===== Class 1 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings used with class 1 stems are: ''-i'' or zero, nominative; ''-ys'' or ''-wis'', accusative; ''-al'', genitive; ''-njun'', dative; ''-lu'', benefactive; ''-ma'', instrumental; ''-jur'', plural marker. Various alternations on morpheme boundaries make the formation of certain forms somewhat obscure. 

''Class 1 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -ai: somai 'stone' !! -oi: appoi 'cloud' !! -ei: kei 'mountain' !! -u: kommu 'husband' !! -i: liffi 'bird' !! -y: fomy 'fish' !! -au: nau 'turn, iteration'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soma''i'' || appo''i'' || ke''i'' || kommu || liffi || fomy || nau
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soma''wis'' || appo''wis'' || ke''wis'' || kommu'''''s''''' || liffi''wis'' || fomy''wis'' || nau''wis''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| som'''''o''''''l''''' || appo'''''f'''al'' || ke'''''s'''al'' || kommu'''''f'''al'' || liffi'''''s'''al'' || fomy'''''s'''al'' || nau'''''f'''al''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soma''njun'' || appo''njun'' || ke''njun'' || kommu''njun'' || liffi''njun'' || fomy''njun'' || nau''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soma''lu'' || appo''lu'' || ke''lu'' || kommu''lu'' || liffi''lu'' || fomy''lu'' || nau''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soma''ma'' || appo''ma'' || ke''ma'' || kommu''ma'' || liffi''ma'' || fomy''ma'' || nau''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soma''jur'' || appo''jur'' || ke''jur'' || kommu''jur'' || liffi''jur'' || fomy''jur'' || nau''jur''
|-
|}

 The nominative ending used to be uniformly ''-i'', but only ''-ai, -ei'' and ''-oi'' survive as diphthongs synchronically. 

The genitive ''somol'' is historically ''soma-al''; the appearance of ''-f-'' and ''-s-'' in genitives looks synchronically unmotivated, but actually is predictable from the quality of the final sound of the stem. Cf. similar processes in class 2 declensions, as well as in secondary case formation. 

The contraction in the accusative ''kommu'''s''''' is phonetically regular and used to be active in other declension types as well, but ultimately was mostly eliminated by analogy (except in nouns in ''-u'' and a few fossilized forms). 

''Class 1 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -in, -yn, -øn: soffjunsin 'louse' !! -on: non 'person' !! -un: mumun 'seat' !! -jun: mjun 'rain', hun 'heart' !! -en: rarken 'brother' !! -an: tswan 'bitter vetch' !! -l: tjupol 'beech tree' !! -r: soror 'rat' !! -af, -of, -uf, -if, -ef, -yf (''i. e.'' -Vf ''except'' -øf): rwetsif 'fox' !! -es, -is, -ys: tsarkes 'battle' !! -os, -us, -øs: tswistjos 'belly'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| soffjunsin || non || mumun || mjun, hun || rarken || tswan || tjupol || soror || rwetsif || tsarkes || tswistjos
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| soffjunsin''ys'' || n'''''am'''ys'' || mum'''''o'''nys'' || m'''''im'''ys'', '''''rim'''ys'' || rark'''''a'''nys'' || tsw'''''o'''nys'' || tjupol'''''f'''ys'' || soror''ys'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fys'' || tsarkes''ys'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sys''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| soffjunsin''al'' || n'''''anf'''al'' || mum'''''o'''nal'' || m'''''inf'''al'', '''''rinf'''al'' || rark'''''a'''nal'' || tsw'''''o'''nal'' || tjupol'''''r'''al'' || soror''al'' || rwetsi'''''n'''fal'' || tsarkes''al'' || tswistjo'''''n'''sal''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| soffjunsin''njun'' || non''njun'' || mumun''njun'' || mjun''njun'', hun''njun'' || rarken''njun'' || tswan''njun'' || tjupol'''''hu'''n'' || soror''njun'' ||   rwetsif''njun''   || tsarkes''njun'' || tswistjos''njun''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| soffjunsi'''''l'''lu'' || no'''''l'''lu'' || mumu'''''l'''lu'' || mju'''''l'''lu'', hu'''''l'''lu'' || rarke'''''l'''lu'' || tswa'''''l'''lu'' || tjupol'''''ru''''' || soror'''''u''''' || rwetsif''lu'' || tsarkes''lu'' || tswistjos''lu''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| soffjunsim''ma'' || nom''ma'' || mumum''ma'' || mjum''ma'', hum''ma'' || rarkem''ma'' || tswam''ma'' || tjupol'''''f'''a'' || soror''ma'' || rwetsi'''''nf'''a'' || tsarkes''ma'' || tswistjos''ma''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| soffjunsin''jur'' || non''jur'' || mumun''jur'' || mjun''jur'', hun''jur'' || rarken''jur'' || tswan''jur'' || tjupol'''''hu'''r'' || soro'''''hu'''r'' || rwetsif''jur'' || tsarkes''jur'' || tswistjos''jur''
|-
|}
 
 The assimilation ''fm'' → ''(f)f'' is a common process also found in other formations in the language. 

The historical stem-final ''-m'' and ''-n'' differently affect the quality of the preceding vowels where they are in coda position. In the type ''hun'', the latter process produced a combination ''-ju-'' which complicated things further by causing a historical palatalization of the preceding stem-internal ''-l-'' and ''-r-''. 

The types ''rwetsif'' and ''tswistjos'' include stems which historically ended in ''-nf-'' and ''-ns-''; these clusters simplified when in coda position. 

The only peculiarity of the type ''soror'' is the historical assimilation ''-rl-'' → ''-r-'' in benefactive and ''-rlj-'' → ''-rj-'' ( → ''h'') in the pl. forms. 

The type ''tjupol'' is the most complicated: these stems end historically in ''-lr-'', with various assimilations and cluster simplifications. 
 

===== Class 2 declensions =====

 The prototypical endings in this class are: ''-e'' or zero, nominative; ''-øs'' or ''-wes'', accusative; ''-ja'', genitive; ''-njøn'', dative; ''-lø'', benefactive; ''-mja'', instrumental; ''-jør-'', plural marker. 

''Class 2 vocalic declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -a: øfja 'horse' !! -e: rele 'lizard' !! -o: jo 'ice' !! -ø: fø 'wind'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| øfja || rele || jo || fø
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| øfja''wes'' || rele''wes'' || jo''wes'' || fø''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| øfj'''''o''''' || rele'''''s'''ja'' || jo''ja'' || fø'''''f'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| øfja''njøn'' || rele''njøn'' || jo''njøn'' || fø''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| øfja''lø'' || rele''lø'' || jo''lø'' || fø''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| øfja''mja'' || rele''mja'' || jo''mja'' || fø''mja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| øfja''jøre'' || rele''jøre'' || jo''jøre'' || fø''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations involved are the same as with class 1 stems. 
Note that the type ''rele'' includes only such stems with nominative in ''-e'' that cannot be interpreted as one of the class 2 consonant declensions described below. 

''Class 2 consonant declensions''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! -øne: fømøne 'death' !! -ene: pintene 'garden' !! -ane: tejane 'sky' !! -ame: janjame 'leaf' !! -ome: tjome 'juice' !! -lre: punfølre 'wolf' !! -øf: røf 'mouth' !! -as: jas 'snake'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg.):  
| || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| fømøn''e'' || pinten''e'' || tejan''e'' || janjam''e'' || tjom''e'' || punfølr''e'' || røf || ja'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| fømøn''øs'' || pinten''øs'' || tejan''øs'' || janjam''øs'' || tjom''øs'' || punføl'''''f'''øs'' || røf''øs'' || ja'''''f'''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| fømøn''ja'' || pinten''ja'' || tejan''ja'' || janj'''''onf'''ja'' || tj'''''anf'''ja'' || punføl'''''ha''''' || røf''ja'' || jo'''''ha'''''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| fømøn''njøn'' || pint'''''i'''nnjøn'' || tej'''''e'''nnjøn'' || janj'''''on'''njøn'' || tj'''''an'''njøn'' || punføl'''''hø'''n'' || røf''njøn'' || jo'''''j'''øn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| fømø'''''l'''lø'' || pint'''''il'''lø'' || tej'''''el'''lø'' || janj'''''ol'''lø'' || tj'''''al'''lø'' || punfølr'''''ø''''' || røf''lø'' || ja'''''r'''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| fømøm''mja'' || pint'''''i'''mmja'' || tej'''''e'''mmja'' || janj'''''om'''mja'' || tj'''''am'''mja'' || punfø'''''lf'''ja'' || røf'''''f'''ja'' || ja'''''ff'''ja''
|- align="center"
! Nom. pl.  
| fømøn''jøre'' || pint'''''i'''njøre'' || tej'''''e'''njøre'' || janj'''''on'''jøre'' || tj'''''an'''jøre'' || punføl'''''hø'''re'' || røf''jøre'' || ja'''''r'''jøre''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in these types are the same as with class 1 declensions; only the type ''jas'' is peculiar. 

===== Plural declension and the counting form =====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Declension type !! class 1: somajur 'stones' !! class 2: øfjajøre 'horses'
|- align="center"
! Cases (pl.):  
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| somajur || øfjajør''e''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| somajur''ys'' || øfjajør''øs''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| somajur''al'' || øfjajø'''''h'''a''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| somajur''njun'' || øfjajør''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| somajur'''''u''''' || øfjajør'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| somajur''ma'' || øfjajør''mja''
|- align="center"
! Counting form  
| somajur || øfjajør
|-
|}
 
 The counting form of class 1 nouns is identical with nom. pl., but in class 2 it is a separate form built by dropping the nominative ending. 

===== Irregular nouns =====

 A few nouns are class 1 stems in sg. but class 2 in pl.; this shift is accompanied by altering the stem vowel. Examples include ''moi'' 'eye', ''woi'' 'mushroom', ''roi'' 'horn', and ''koi'' 'bone', whose plurals are ''møjøre'', ''wøjøre'', ''røjøre'', and ''køjøre'', respectively. 

Many irregularities characterize the declension of pronouns, as described in the respective sections below. 

==== Spatial cases ====

 

===== Inventory and meanings =====

 The 24 spatial cases can be presented as combinations of eight “localizations” with three “orientations”. 
Localizations describe the position of a reference point relative to the object denoted by the noun being inflected: - adessive, 'at'; - inessive, 'in'; - superessive, 'on' (usually, 'in contact with the upper surface of'); - apudessive, 'near, close to'; - subessive, 'under, below (with or without contact)'; - postessive, 'behind or after'; - antessive, 'before or in front of'; - extraessive, 'outside'. 
Orientations specify the type of movement or static position relative to the point referred to by the localization: - locative: '(resting) at the point specified by localization'; - lative: '(moving or directed) towards the point specified by localization'; - ablative: '(moving or directed) away from the point specified by localization'. 
With the forms of the inessive localization and the noun ''mjunki'' 'water' taken as an example: - inessive-locative: ''mjunki'''wiry''''' 'in the water'; - inessive-lative: ''mjunki'''nimy''''' 'into the water'; - inessive-ablative: ''mjunki'''moi''''' 'out of the water'. 
As can be seen from the above examples, the name of each spatial case consists of the name of the localization followed by the name of the orientation (e. g. “inessive-lative”, “subessive-ablative”, etc.). However, the name of the locative orientation can be omitted where no ambiguity will arise, so e. g. “superessive-locative (case)” can be referred to as simply “superessive (case)”. 
Besides referring to spatial relations proper, the spatial cases have quite obvious temporary usages (especially common with gerunds). Thus, the locative cases can convey meanings like 'at', 'before', 'after' (a specific moment), 'within' (a timespan); the ablative cases add the meaning of 'since', and the lative cases, of 'until'. 
In addition, individual spatial cases have various metaphoric usages, including grammatical ones. 

===== Formation =====

 As already mentioned, the forms of spatial cases are based on certain primary cases. Specifically, the locative cases are always derived from the accusative; the lative cases, from the dative; and the ablative cases, from the instrumental. 
In groups of words that must agree in case, normally only the last one is inflected for spatial case, while all the others are put in the respective primary case (accusative, dative or instrumental). In particular, declinable conjunctions and equative markers have no forms of spatial cases. 
The formation of spatial cases can be conveniently presented as replacement of parts of the endings of the respective primary cases by the endings of spatial cases. The endings of spatial cases used with class 1 and class 2 stems are different. In the tables below, the formation of spatial cases is illustrated with the words ''mjunki'' 'water' (class 1) and ''fjas'' 'sand' (class 2). 

''Spatial cases of class 1 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''mjunkiwis''' || ''Dative'': '''mjunkinjun''' || ''Instrumental'': '''mjunkima'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| -'''s''' || '''-njun, -(*l)-jun, -hun''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -ras: mjunkiwi'''''r'''as'' || -nimas (-limas, -rimas): mjunkin'''''im'''as'' || -os: mjunkim'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -ry: mjunkiwi'''''r'''y'' || -nimy (-limy, -rimy): mjunkin'''''im'''y'' || -oi: mjunkim'''''oi''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -run: mjunkiwi'''''r'''un'' || -nimun (-limun, -rimun): mjunkin'''''im'''un'' || -on: mjunkim'''''on'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjummo: mjunkiwis''kjummo'' || -njunkjummo (-junkjummo, -hunkjummo): mjunkinjun''kjummo'' || -akjummo: mjunkima''kjummo''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spis: mjunkiwis''pis'' || -njumpis (-jumpis, -humpis): mjunkinjum''pis'' || -affis: mjunkima'''''ff'''is''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -raffa: mjunkiwi'''''r'''affa'' || -njunfaffa (-junfaffa, -hunfaffa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''affa'' || -offa: mjunkim'''''off'''a''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ra: mjunkiwi'''''r'''a'' || -njunfa (-junfa, -hunfa): mjunkinjun'''''f'''a'' || -o: mjunkim'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hu: mjunkiwi'''''hu''''' || -nimju (-limju, -rimju): mjunkin'''''im'''ju'' || -aju: mjunkima''ju''
|-
|}
 

 Most alternations found in spatial case formation have already occurred in primary cases; in particular, those affecting the dative ''-(n)jun'' are of the same nature as those found in the declension of ''hun'' 'heart'. 
Some new ones include: ''-s'' (in codas) :: ''-r-'' (intervocalic) – in all cases derived from the accusative; ''-p-'' (after consonants) :: ''-ff-'' (intervocalic) – in the subessive series. 

''Spatial cases of class 2 nouns''

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! Locative !! Lative !! Ablative
|- align="center"
! Primary case
| ''Accusative'': '''fjaføs''' || ''Dative'': '''fjojøn''' || ''Instrumental'': '''fjaffja'''
|- align="center"
! Replaced part of primary case ending
| '''-s''' || '''-njøn, -(*l)-jøn, -høn''' || '''-a'''
|- align="center"
! adessive
| -has: fjafø'''''ha'''s'' || -nemjas (-lemjas, -remjas): fjo'''''lem'''jas'' || -os: fjaffj'''''os'''''
|- align="center"
! inessive
| -rø: fjafø'''''r'''ø'' || -nemø (-lemø, -remø): fjo'''''lem'''ø'' || -ø: fjaffj'''''ø'''''
|- align="center"
! superessive
| -røn: fjafø'''''r'''øn'' || -nemøn (-lemøn, -remøn): fjo'''''lem'''øn'' || -øn: fjaffj'''''øn'''''
|- align="center"
! apudessive
| -skjømmø: fjaføs''kjømmø'' || -njønkjømmø (-jønkjømmø, -hønkjømmø): fjojøn''kjømmø'' || -akjømmø: fjaffja''kjømmø''
|- align="center"
! subessive
| -spes: fjaføs''pes'' || -njømpes (-jømpes, -hømpes): fjojøm''pes'' || -affes: fjaffja'''''ff'''es''
|- align="center"
! postessive
| -haffja: fjafø'''''ha'''ffja'' || -njønfjaffja (-jønfjaffja, -hønfjaffja): fjojøn'''''f'''jaffja'' || -offja: fjaffj'''''off'''ja''
|- align="center"
! antessive
| -ha: fjafø'''''ha''''' || -njønfja (-jønfja, -hønfja): fjojøn'''''f'''ja'' || -o: fjaffj'''''o'''''
|- align="center"
! extraessive
| -hø: fjafø'''''hø''''' || -nemjø (-lemjø, -remjø): fjo'''''lem'''jø'' || -ajø: fjaffja''jø''
|-
|}
 

 All the alternations are already familiar. 

==== Substantivized genitive ====

 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Stem class !! ''class 1'': kommufalli 'what belongs to (the) husband' !! ''class 2'': føffesjai 'what belongs to (the) soul'
|- align="center"
! Cases (sg. or pl.):
| ||
|- align="center"
! - nominative
| kommufal'''''l'''i'' || føffesja''i''
|- align="center"
! - accusative
| kommufal'''''l'''ys'' || føffesja''wes''
|- align="center"
! - genitive
| kommufal'''''s'''al'' || føffesja'''''s'''ja''
|- align="center"
! - dative
| kommufal''njun'' || føffesja''njøn''
|- align="center"
! - benefactive
| kommufal''lu'' || føffesja''lø''
|- align="center"
! - instrumental
| kommufal''ma'' || føffesja''mja''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive (2nd)
| kommufal'''''s'''alli'' || føffesja'''''s'''jai''
|-
|}
 

 The forms of substantivized genitives make no distinction between sg. and pl. of the possessed item. However, all the secondary cases are formed freely, by regular substitution of case endings. Curiously, substantivized genitives of substantivized genitives are also used, as e. g. in the following example: 
''E₁ tassijural₂ munnai₃ ristiwiras₄, fy₅ '''tatsanalsalli'''₆ astiwiras₇ nini₈''. 'The₀ clothes₃ of₍₂₎ my₁ children₂ are₈ here₄, and₅ '''those'''₆ '''of'''₍₆₎ (my₀) '''sister's'''₆ '''children'''₀ there₇.' 
(''Tatsanalsalli'' being the nom. of the subst. gen. of ''tatsanalli'', which is itself the subst. gen. of ''tatsen'' 'sister'.) 
The substantivized genitives are sometimes lexicalized and then moved to the regular substantive declension types, with regular pl. forms. With cl. 1 stems, such derivates are invariably the nom. forms reinterpreted as regular nouns of the ''liffi'' type. With cl. 2 stems, there are two options: the derivate inherits either the oblique stem (in ''-ja'') and declines according to the ''øfja'' type, or the nominative (in ''-jai''), and then is reinterpreted as class 1 (!) stem of the ''somai'' type. 
[''Details of case usage remain to be added''] 

==== Pronouns ====

 

===== Personal and demonstrative pronouns =====

 The personal pronouns of 1st and 2nd persons display a number of peculiarities, compared to the regular nouns, in both case forms and the plural stems. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'I' !! 'you' (''sg''.) !! 'we' !! 'you' (''pl''.)
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| e''i'' || to''i'' || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| e''wis'' || to''wis'' || ekwi''wis'' || tokkwi''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| e || to || ekwi || tokkwi
|- align="center"
! Dative
| e''njun'' || to''njun'' || ekwi''njun'' || tokkwi''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| e''lu'' || to''lu'' || ekw'''''elø''''' || tokkw'''''elø'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| e''ma'' || to''ma'' || ekwi''ma'' || tokkwi''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| e'''''s'''alli'' || to'''''f'''alli'' || ekwi'''''s'''alli'' || tokkwi'''''s'''alli''
|-
|}
 
 The personal pronouns of the 3rd person are essentially demonstratives. The forms of ''ri'' refer to objects that are close to either the speaker or the listener; the objects that are at a distance from both, or are invisible to the speaker, are denoted with forms of ''ai''. These usages of the two pronouns are called “deictic”; in non-deictic use, ''ai'' is the default anaphoric pronoun (i. e. referring to something already mentioned by one of the interlocutors), while ''ri'' is mainly used cataphorically (that is, to denote some object the speaker is going to introduce). 
Note that plural forms of these are built like with 1st and 2nd person pronouns only when they refer to animate beings (not necessarily sentient); otherwise their plurals are built like those of the regular nouns. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this one; he/she/it' !! 'that one; he/she/it' !! 'these, they' (''animate'') !! 'these, they' (''inanimate'') !! 'those, they' (''animate'') !! 'those, they' (''inanimate'')
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ri || a''i'' || rikwi || rijur || akwi || ajur
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| '''''hu'''s'' || '''''øs''''' || rikwi''wis'' || rijur''ys'' || akwi''wis'' || ajur''ys''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri || a || rikwi || rijur''al'' || akwi || ajur''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ri''njun'' || a''njun'' || rikwi''njun'' || rijur''njun'' || akwi''njun'' || ajur''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ri''lu'' || a''lu'' || rikw'''''elø''''' || rijur'''''u''''' || akw'''''elø''''' || ajur'''''u'''''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ri''ma'' || a''ma'' || rikwi''ma'' || rijur''ma'' || akwi''ma'' || ajur''ma''
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| ri'''''s'''alli'' || '''''ol'''li'' || rikwi'''''s'''alli'' || rijur''alli'' || akwi'''''s'''alli'' || ajur''alli''
|-
|}
 
 When used as attributes of other nouns, the demonstratives require a construction which is essentially the same as with appositions (see the sections on the equative marker and on nominal groups below). The more common position for the pronoun is after the noun; in this case, there are some peculiarities not found with appositional nouns, incliding free use of genitives and contractions with the equative marker. When placed before the noun, the demonstratives require the usual appositive construction (with no contractions and no genitives available); in this case they are semantically somewhat out-of-focus and may resemble definite articles, although are thus used infrequently. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !! 'this (these)', ''postpositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''postpositive'' !! 'this (these)', ''prepositive'' !! 'that (those)', ''prepositive''
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li ri || '''''j'''''-ai || ri li || a li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys hus || pys'' '''s'''''øs || hus pys || øs pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ri'''''s'''al'' || '''''ol''''' || - || -
|- align="center"
! Dative
| njun rinjun || njun'' '''s'''''anjun || rinjun njun || anjun njun
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu rilu || '''''w'''-''alu || rilu lu || alu lu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma rima || '''''m''-o'''ma || rima ma || ama ma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| risalli || olli || - || -
|-
|}
 
 It is interesting to note that prepositive and pospositive demonstratives sometimes occur simultaneously with one noun; in such cases, at least one of the demonstratives is interpreted as non-deictic: 
'''''Ai'''₁ li₂ e₃ rarken₄ li₅ '''ri'''₆''. 'The said brother of mine whom you see here' (lit.''' 'That₁ one'''₁ who₂ is₂ my₃ brother₄ who₅ is₅ '''this'''₆'). 
Other demonstratives that are mostly used independently include ''risti'' 'this place, here', ''asti'' 'that place, that direction, there', ''rinau'' 'this time, now', and ''anau'' 'that time, then' (note that ''risti'' and ''rinau'', like ''ri'', are often used cataphorically and then cannot be translated as 'here' and 'now'). They are declined like regular class 1 nouns and mostly used in spatial cases, although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ristiwis'''₁ ei₂ tesi₃'' 'I₂ like₃ '''this₁ place'''₁' (or 'I like it here'). They can form plurals to refer to multiple locations or instances, as well as to broader areas or more prolonged timespans. 

===== Interrogative pronouns =====

 The main interrogative pronouns include: ''y'' 'what? which one?'; ''yrky'' 'who? which one?'; ''riffikky'' 'what? who? what kind of object(s)?'; ''ysti'' 'where? which place? which direction?'; ''riffitti'' 'where? what kind of place?'; ''ynau'' 'when? which time?'; and ''riffinau'' 'when? what kind of circumstances?'. 
The pronouns ''y'' and ''yrky'' imply that the object of inquiry belongs to a set which is already known or obvious from the situation; ''yrky'' implies an animate object (but not necessarily sentient). In contrast, ''riffikky'' implies that the speaker knows nothing about the object, and may need its description rather than identification; this pronoun is not sensitive to animacy. The semantic difference in the pairs ''ysti'' vs. ''riffitti'' and ''ynau'' vs. ''riffinau'' is partly similar with that between ''y'' / ''yrky'' and ''riffikky.'' 
The pronouns ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'', and ''riffinau'' are mostly used in spatial cases, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwiras'''₁ ai₂ nini₃?''''' 'Where'''₁ is₃ he/she/it₂?', although primary cases are also common, as e. g. in '''''Ystiwis'''₁ toi₂ tesi₃?''''' 'Which₁ place'''₁ do₃ you₂ prefer₃?' and in similar contexts. 
Of the interrogative pronouns, only ''y'', ''yrky'' and ''riffikky'' display some peculiarities in declension (namely, in acc. sg.); the rest belong to the standard class 1 declension types. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| y || yrky || riffikky
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| y'''''s''''' || yrky'''''s''''' || riffikky'''''s'''''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| y'''''s'''al'' || yrky'''''s'''al'' || riffikky'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| y''njun'' || yrky''njun'' || riffikky''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| y''lu'' || yrky''lu'' || riffikky''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| y''ma'' || yrky''ma'' || riffikky''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| y'''''s'''alli'' ||   yrky'''''s'''alli''   ||   riffikky'''''s'''alli''  
|- align="center"
! Nominative pl.
| (y''jur'') || (yrky''jur'') || -
|-
|}
 
 The plurals of ''y'' and ''yrky'' are used rarely; usually they imply not only that the objects are already known to be more than one, but also that the speaker wants them to be enumerated; the plural of ''riffikky'' does not exist. 
In contrast, the plurals of ''ysti'', ''riffitti'', ''ynau'' and ''riffinau'' are rather common; ''ystijur'' and ''riffittijur'' imply that there are several relevant places, while ''ynaujur'' and ''riffinaujur'' often refer to prolonged periods or multiple instances rather than to single moments. 

===== Reflexive pronouns =====

 The reflexive pronouns are based on the auxiliary noun ''ry'' 'self' which normally is not used without a genitive of a pronoun or noun that specifies it. A genitive of a personal pronoun and ''ry'' are written as one word and pronounced accordingly: ''ery'' 'myself', ''tory'' 'yourself', ''ekwiry'', ''tokkwiry'', ''riry'', ''ary'', ''rikwiry'', ''rijuralry'', ''akwiry'', ''ajuralry''. The genitives of other words remain separate, as e. g. in ''e₁ mamol₂ '''ry'''₃'' 'my mother herself' (lit. 'my₁ mother's₂ '''self'''₃'). 
The word ''ry'' has no plural and is declined like the interrogatives ''y'', ''yrky'', ''riffikky''. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| ry
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| ry'''''s'' '''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| ry'''''s'''al''
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ry''njun'' 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| ry''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ry''ma'' 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     ry'''''s'''alli''    
|-
|}
 

 The genitive of a reflexive pronoun can often be translated with 'own', as in '''''erysal'''₁ fei₂'' 'my₁ '''own'''₁ house₂', ''e₁ kispjufal₂ '''rysal'''₃ øfja₄'' 'my₁ wife's₂ '''own'''₃ horse₄'. 

===== The equative marker =====

 “The equative marker” is the traditional term for the auxiliary word that links a noun (or pronoun) with an apposition, as e. g. in ''to₁ mamai₂ '''li'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispju₆'' 'your₁ mother₂ '''who₃ is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife₆' or ''elu₁ '''lu'''₂ to₃ tatsellu₄'' 'for₍₁₋₂₋₄₎ me₁, ('''as'''₂) your₃ sister₄'. The head noun, the equative marker and the apposition must agree in (primary) case, and therefore the equative marker is inflected for case; however, it is insensitive to number distinctions and has no secondary cases. Besides, it has no forms of genitive (primary or substantivized), as for appositions to nouns in genitive there is a different construction, where the head genitive is replaced with a substantivized genitive: ''to₁ '''mamollu'''₂ '''lu'''₃ e₄ tsuma₅ kispjufal₆ felu₇'' 'for the house of your mother who is my future wife' (lit. 'for₍₂₋₃₋₇₎ your₁ '''mother's'''₂, '''which'''₃ '''is'''₃ my₄ future₅ wife's₆ house₇'). 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| li
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pys
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| -
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     njun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| ma 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| -
|-
|}
 
 

===== Role-switching marker =====

 This pronoun plays a very important part in Affanonic syntax. Prototypically, it indicates that its head predicate has the same topic as a preceding predicate, but in a different role. Its other uses are described in the section on syntax below. 
The role-switching marker does not differentiate singular from plural, but has all cases including secondary. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| lili 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| pipys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| lisal
|- align="center"
! Dative
| ninjun 
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| lilu 
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| mima 
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
|     lisalli    
|-
|}
 
 

===== Relative pronoun =====

 The relative pronoun ''fylli'' is used in relative clauses when they follow their head nouns. It inflects for case which denotes its role in the relative clause (rather than in the main clause), e. g. ''nontalu₁ '''fynnjun'''₂ ei₃ fati₄'' 'for₍₁₎ the₀ man₁ to₍₂₎ whom₂ I₃ told₄ (that₀)'. There are all case forms, both primary and secondary, but no number distinction. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fylli 
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fyppys 
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fyra
|- align="center"
! Dative
|     fynnjun     
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fyllu
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fymma
|- align="center"
! Substantivized genitive
| fyrolli
|-
|}
 
 

==== Quantity words ====

 This category includes numerals (e. g. ''tsei'' 'three') and a few words that denote quantities of countable objects: ''fumøne'' 'many'; ''pimoi'' 'few'; ''kjunsøf'' 'several, a few, some (of)'; ''supu'' 'all (of)'. They are declined like the ordinary nouns in singular and carry no number markers of their own. The noun whose quantity is specified is put in counting form and precedes the quantity word: ''øfjajør₁ tsei₂'' 'three₂ horses₁'. 

==== Declinable conjunctions ====

 Where nouns or pronouns linked by the conjunctions ''fy'' 'and', ''la'' 'or', or ''pau'' 'but not' stand in the same (primary) case and form the same phrase constituent, the conjunctions must agree in (primary) case with the words they link, e. g.: ''e₁ mamalu₂ fylu₃ elu₄'' 'for₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄', ''e₁ mamanjun₂ fynjun₃ enjun₄'' 'to₍₂₋₃₋₄₎ my₁ mother₂ and₃ me₄'.
 The case forms of the three declinable conjunctions are shown in the following table. 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
! !!   fy 'and'   !!   la 'or'   !!   pau 'but not'  
|- align="center"
! Nominative
| fy || l'''''e'''i'' || p'''''o'''i''
|- align="center"
! Accusative
| fy'''''s''' '' || l'''''øs''''' || pau''wis''
|- align="center"
! Genitive
| fy || la || pau
|- align="center"
! Dative
| fy''njun'' || la''njun'' || pau''njun''
|- align="center"
! Benefactive
| fy''lu'' || la''lu'' || pau''lu''
|- align="center"
! Instrumental
| fy''ma'' || la''ma'' || pau''ma''
|-
|}
 
 

=== Adjectives and adverbs ===

 These are basically one part of speech in Affanonic. Thus, ''fje'' 'beautiful' is mostly used as an adjective, but can also mean 'beatifully' when it stands before a verb. Similarly, ''ese'' 'sometimes' is mostly used as an adverb, but can also be used with a noun to convey a meaning like 'occurring sometimes'. 
Both adjectives and adverbs must immediately precede the word they specify. 
The words belonging to this class have no inflectional forms. 

=== Adverbial particles ===

 
This is another class of words that often correspond to avderbs (most commonly, sentential adverbs) in other languages. However, they cannot be used as prepositive attributes of nouns and, unlike the usual adverbs, can be (and mostly are) separated from their head verb by any number of other constituents. 
An example of adverbial particle is ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)'. 
It is interesting to note that spatial cases of nouns are syntactically more similar with adverbial particles than with adverbs proper. Indeed, many adverbial particles resemble case forms derived from obscure stems not used as ordinary nouns; an example is ''mølø'' 'visually, visibly, by eye, before one's eyes' which looks like a benefactive derived from some *''mø'' (cf., however, ''moi'' 'eye' and its irregular plural ''møjøre'' 'eyes'). 

=== Verbs ===

 

===== Telicity =====

 
All the verbs are divided into two major classes: perfectives and (lexical) imperfectives. 
Perfective verbs are semantically telic. In other words, they denote processes that imply a change of state or achieving a result, and therefore cannot be normally viewed as allowing for an indefinitely long continuation (i. e. as continuing after the point where the change is complete or the implied result is achieved). Examples of such verbs in Affanonic are ''soffoffi'' 'to fall asleep', ''mumin'' 'to sit down', ''fati'' 'to say, tell', ''føref'' 'to kill', and ''njun'' 'to become'. 
In contrast, lexically imperfective verbs are semantically atelic, i. e. denote static conditions or cyclic processes that do not imply a specific endpoint by themselves. Examples include ''roffoffi'' 'to sleep', ''lilami'' 'to stand', ''piffati'' 'to talk, speak', and ''nini'' 'to be'. 
Perfective verbs have two standard imperfective derivates that can be considered part of their paradigm: durative and resultative (jointly referred to as “secondary imperfectives”, as opposed to “lexical imperfectives”). 
Duratives are formed by the auxiliary verb ''nyral'' placed after the unaltered stem of the perfective verb. A durative can have either of the following two interpretations. In one interpretation, it denotes an indefinite number of repetitive events which individually would be denoted by the original perfective; this interpretation is called “iterative”. The other interpretation implies a shift in the time scale: the process or activity that should eventually result in the change of state denoted by the original perfective is viewed as long enough to serve as the “indefinitely long” background for some other, shorter events, and thus as requiring an imperfective to describe it. This interpretation is termed “continuative”. 
Resultatives are formed by the auxiliary ''ja'' put after the stem of the original perfective. They denote a continuous static condition that results from the event denoted by the perfective. 
Lexical imperfectives do not have any standard perfective derivates, since the associated semantic shifts are more diverse and idiosyncratic. Therefore, all processes that derive a perfective from an imperfective are considered as belonging with lexical derivation. 

===== Tenses =====

 
The finite forms of imperfectives (both lexical and secondary) taken without any additional marking are the standard forms of the present tense. The term is purely conventional; while the default meaning of the present taken outside any specific context is indeed that of an action or condition which continues at the moment of speaking, it can also denote an action or condition that was simultaneous with, or served as the background for, another action which can relate to present, past or future. In particular, adverbs and adverbial expressions that denote time, e. g. ''affaini'' 'one day (in the past)', can freely combine with the present tense, and do not require the verb to carry any additional marking to express non-present. In other words, the characteristic of this tense is purely negative: it does not mark a continuous action or condition as preceding or following anything else. 
On the contrary, the perfective verbs taken as bare stems indicate by default that the action in question has been, or had been, completed by the present moment or by some moment in the past. Therefore, their bare stem is considered a past tense which is termed “aorist”. However, if there is a direct indication to future in the same sentence, the aorist form can mean that the action will have been completed by some moment in the future. 
Imperfectives can be explicitly marked for past tense by adding the postpositive auxiliary ''njau'' (which is actually a perfective verb 'to turn' in its non-auxiliary use). This combination is termed “imperfect tense”. 
The explicit reference to future is made differently with perfectives and imperfectives. Imperfectives use a special postpositive tense marker, ''jawa''. This form is referred to as “imperfective future”. 
Perfectives, on the other hand, are combined with the word ''tsjuma'' which is properly an independent adjective / adverb meaning 'in the future, imminent(ly)'; therefore, it is put before the verb and is sometimes separated from the latter by another adverb. Nevertheless, such combinations with ''tsjuma'' are often treated as a special tense called “perfective future”. 

===== Subjunctive =====

 
The subjunctive of the perfective verbs is formed by adding the postpositive marker ''nifføf''. This form refers to the past; however, it can combine with ''tsjuma'' to convey future. 
The copula ''nini'' 'to be' has an inflectional form of subjunctive, ''ninifføf''. This form refers to the present. The other lexical imperfectives form their present subjunctive by adding ''ninifføf ''postpositively. However, duratives do not use this form, but replace their ''nyral'' with ''nyralpøf''<nowiki>; similarly, the resultatives substitute </nowiki>''jafføf'' for their ''ja''. The past subjunctive of all imperfectives (including duratives, resultatives and ''nini'') is formed by adding a pospositive ''nufføf'', and the future subjunctive, by a postpositive ''nawafføf''. 

===== Gerunds =====

 
Gerunds represent the only type of regular non-finite forms of Affanonic verbs. They can be considered substantivized verbs which make it possible to use a verb as an argument of another verb, or of any other word. On the other hand, a gerund can retain all the arguments of the original finite verb without altering their form. 
The benefactive of gerunds has some usages similar to those of infinitive in English. 
Perfective verbs form their gerunds with the postpositive auxiliary noun ''nau'' (which in its non-auxiliary use means 'turn, iteration, time'). 
Lexical imperfectives have gerunds formed by the postpositive ''jo''. 
The gerunds of duratives are formed by replacing the finite durative marker ''nyral'' with ''naujur'' (i. e. the plural of ''nau''). 
The gerunds of resultatives are formed by replacing the finite resultative marker ''ja'' with the auxiliary noun ''jai'', which declines like a class 2 substantivized genitive. 
The gerund forms listed above are basically tenseless; however, due to the vague temporal meanings of the Affanonic present and aorist, the above types of gerunds can be viewed as their substantivized equivalents. 
The use of the gerunds equivalent to the other tenses is optional. The perfective gerunds with ''nau'' can combine with ''tsjuma'' to refer to a future action. The finite markers of all the tenses of imperfectives other than the present are historically perfective verbs, so gerunds can be derived from them by adding the postpositive ''nau'' as well. 
The gerund equivalents of all forms of the subjunctive are rare, but can in principle be derived freely by adding the same ''nau'' as the most universal gerund marker. 

== Syntax ==

 

=== Nominal groups ===

 
The nominal group template can be presented as follows: 

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|- align="center"
| -3 || -2 || -1 || '''0''' || 1 || 2 || 3
|- align="center"
| A prepositive demonstrative || A genitive (with or without dependents) or a prepositive relative clause || An adjective (with or without dependents) || The head noun || The postpositive demonstrative (and/or other appositions) || An adverbial particle or a noun in oblique case used attributively || A postpositive relative clause
|-
|}
 
 
It is very usual to construe a noun denoting a possessor not as the usual genitive but as substantivized genitive put in apposition. This option is especially common when the genitive has its own attributes, and obligatory if any of such attributes are postpositive. 
All dependents of an adjective are put before it: 
'''''Mjunkima₁ njunta₂''' pir₃.'' 'A₀ ditch₃ '''full₂ of₍₁₎ water₁'''.' 
'''''Liloi₁ mjunkima₂ njunta₃''' pir₄.'' 'A₀ ditch₄ '''full₃ of₍₂₎ black₁ water₂'''.' 
This is also true of comparative constructions: 
'''''Sajurnjun₁ tsera₂ sunol₃''' nontai₄.'' 'A₀ man₄ '''stronger₃ than₂ others₁'''.' 
An adjective cannot be separated from its head noun except by another adjective, which cannot normally have any arguments of its own. 
To obviate the restrictions on word order, an adjective is often replaced with a relative clause based on the adjective and the copula verb ''nini'' 'to be': 
''Nontai₁ fylli₂ '''sajurnjun₃ tsera₄ sunol₅''' nini₆.'' 'A₀ man₁ (who₂ is₆) '''stronger₅ than₄ others₃'''.' 
Note that personal pronouns have relative freedom of taking all the types of attributes allowed with the regular nouns, e. g.: 
'''''Situn₁ ei₂''' wo₃ tituli₄ njau₅.''''' 'Stupid₁ me₂, I₂''' did₍₄₋₅₎n't₃ know₄₋₅ (that₀)'. 

==== Relative clauses ====

 Since in their internal structure the relative clauses of Affanonic present no peculiarities compared to main clauses, it is more convenient to consider them in the section on nominal groups. 

==== Prepositive relative clauses ====

 The easiest way to construe a relative clause in Affanonic is simply to put the predicate (with or without its arguments) immediately before the head noun. This option is especially common when the predicate has no dependent nouns. The head noun fills an argument valency of the predicate. However, by itself this construction provides no information on the specific argument role of the head noun, which therefore remains to be retrieved from the context. With intransitive verbs, there is a tendency to interprete the head noun as filling the subject valency, e. g.: 
 
'''''Tsjurin₁''' nontai₂.'' 'The₀ man₂ '''who₀ came₁''' (has come)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ '''tsjurin₂''''' 'The₀ man₁ '''has₍₂₎ come₂'.''' 
With transitive verbs, the head noun often fills the valency for direct object: 
'''''Føref₁''' øfja₂.'' 'The₀ horse₂ '''that₀ has₍₁₎ been₍₁₎ killed₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Øfjawes₁ '''føref₂'''.'' '(Somebody₀) '''killed₂''' the₀ horse₁'. 
However, the head noun can in principle correspond to any other role, e. g. expressed by a spatial case: 
'''''Ei₁ jeke₂''' fei₃.'' 'The₀ house₃ '''where₀ I₁ live₂'.''' 
Cf.: '''''Ei₁''' a₂ fewiry₃ '''jeke₄'''.''''' 'I₁ live₄''' in₍₃₎ his₂ house₃'. 
Some disambiguation is achieved if the relative clause has an explicit argument; then the head noun can fill only a remaining argument valency: 
'''''Øfjawes₁ føref₂''' nontai₃ li₄ ri₅.'' 'This₄₋₅ man₃ '''who₀ killed₂ the₀ horse₁'.''' 
'''''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ føref₄''' øfja₅.'' 'The₀ horse₅ '''killed₄ by₀ this₂₋₃ man₁'.''' 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ øfjawes₄ føref₅.'' 'This₂₋₃ man₁ killed₅ the₀ horse₄'. 
A more powerful means of disambiguation is provided by the use of the role-switching marker whose case indicates the role to be filled by the head noun: 
'''''Lili₁ føref₂''' nontai₃.'' 'The₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀)'. 
Cf.: ''Nontai₁ li₂ ri₃ '''lili₄ føref₅'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ man₁, '''he₍₄₎ killed₅''' (somebody₀)'. 
'''''Pipyry₁ ei₂ jeke₃''' fei₄.'' 'The₀ house₄ '''in₍₁₎ which₍₁₎ I₂ live₃'.''' 
Cf.: ''Fei₁ li₂ ri₃ '''pipyry₄ ei₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'As₍₄₎ for₍₄₎ this₂₋₃ house₁, '''I₅ live₆ in₍₄₎ it₍₄₎'.''' 
However, the use of the role-switching marker may cause some problems, too. Specifically, the role-switching marker can be understood as part of the main clause rather than the relative clause. Thus, a sentence like: 
''Lili føref nontawis hunti.'' 
- has two possible interpretations: 
 (a) ''Lili₁ (('''føref₂''' nontawis₃) hunti₄).'' 
'(Somebody₍₁₎ already₍₁₎ mentioned₍₁₎) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₀ had₍₂₎ been₍₂₎ killed₂'.''' 
 (b) ''(('''Lili₁ føref₂''') nontawis₃) hunti₄.'' 
'(Somebody₀) saw₄ the₀ man₃ '''who₍₁₎ had₍₂₎ killed₂''' (somebody₀ else₀)'. 
Another problem common to all types of prepositive relative clauses is that basically they occupy the same slot in the nominal group template as genitives. Indeed, if put before the genitive, they are naturally understood as depending on the noun in genitive rather than its head: 
'''''Føref₁ nontol₂''' øfja₃.'' 'The₀ horse₃ '''of₍₂₎ the₀ man₂ who₀ was₍₁₎ killed₁' '''(rather than **'The man's killed horse'). 
For this reason, prepositive relative clauses depending on a genitive's head noun are allowed to precede only the genitives of personal pronouns, e. g.: 
''E₁ myffawis₂ rissjun₃ '''a₄ miti₅'''.''''' 'His₄ daughter₅''' who₀ washed₃ my₁ cloak₂'. 
On the other hand, if the relative clause has any explicit nominal arguments, a preceding genitive will be naturally understood as part of the relative clause: 
'''''E₁ øfjawes₂ haf₃''' u₄.'' 'The₀ dog₄ '''that₀ bit₃ my₁ horse₂' '''(rather than **'My dog that bit the horse'). 
For this reason, genitives depending on the head noun can precede a relative clause only if the latter has no explicit nominal arguments, e. g.: 
''To₁ '''fje₂ tsalami₃ nyral₄''' miti₅.'' 'Your₁ daughter₅ '''who₀ sings₃₋₄ beautifully₂'.''' 
To avoid the restrictions associated with prepositive relative clauses, other types of relative clauses can be used. 

==== Postpositive relative clauses ====

 
These are formed using the relative pronoun ''fylli'' which indicates the role of the head noun explicitly, e. g.: 
''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃ '''fylli₄ e₅ myffawis₆ rissjun₇'''.'' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃ '''who₄ washed₇ my₅ cloak₆'''.' 
''To₁ kommufal₂ fei₃ '''fyppyry₄ toi₅ jeke₆'''.'' 'Your₁ husband's₂ house₃ '''in₄ which₄ you₅ live₆'''.' 
Postpositive relative clauses often have a pronoun (especially the cataphoric ''ri'') as their head: 
'''''Ri₁ fylli₂ ajurys₃ suffi₄ tsjurin₅''' lili₆ e₇ kommu₈ nini₉ jawa₁₀.''''' 'He₁ who₂ has₍₄₋₅₎ brought₄₋₅ them₃''' will₁₀ be₉ my₇ husband₈'. 
The above example illustrates another peculiarity of postpositive relative clauses: to avoid their predicate's being perceived as forming a serial construction with the predicate of the main clause, the role-switching marker (''lili'' in this example) is inserted after the relative clause; it refers to the topic of the sentence, which may coincide or not with the head noun of the relative clause. 
A restriction associated with postpositive relative clauses is that nouns in genitive cannot take any postpositive attributes, including relative clauses. This problem can be solved, as usual, by substantivizing the genitive and construing it as an apposition: 
''Fei₁ '''li₂ to₃ mitisalli₄''' fylli₅ fje₆ tsalami₇ nyral₈.'' 'The₀ house₁ (which₂ is₂) '''of₍₄₎ your₃ daughter₄''' who₅ sings₇₋₈ beautifully₆.' 
The postpositive relative clauses can be extraposited, i. e. put after the main predicate of the sentence in which their head noun is an argument. In such cases, the head noun must be the last nominal constituent that precedes the main predicate: 
'''''E₁ rarkanal₂ kispju₃''' tsjurin₄ '''fylli₅''' e₆ myffawis₇ rissjun₈.''''' 'My₁ brother's₂ wife₃''' has₍₄₎ come₄ '''who₅''' washed₈ my₆ cloak₇.' 

==== Head-internal relative clauses ====

 
In this type, the head noun must either be one of the pronouns ''ri'', ''risti'', ''rinau'', or have ''ri'' as its attribute. The head noun remains within the relative clause in its usual form and position, according to its syntactic role; its role in the main clause is conveyed with the role-switching marker: 
'''''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄''' lili₅ e₆ fei₇ nini₈ jawa₉''''' 'The₀ place₃ where₃ you₁ found₄ them₂''' will₉ be₈ my₆ homeplace₇'. 
Cf. ''Toi₁ ajurys₂ ristiwiras₃ øftsi₄.'' 'You₁ found₄ them₂ here₃'. 
This type of relative clauses is widely used in Affanonic. However, it is normally required that the relative clause should constitute the topic part of the sentence. 
Head-internal clauses are often used to single out a nominal group constituting the contrastive (or otherwise emphasized) rheme of the sentence. This construction is similar in structure with the English ''"It is X that Y"'' (only with the order of components reversed):
 
''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅ lili₆ '''to₇ myffai₈ nini₉'''.''''' 'It₍₁₋₆₎ is₉ your₇ cloak₈''' that₍₁₋₆₎ my₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅' 
Cf. ''Hus₁ e₂ tatsen₃ rissjun₄ nyral₅.'' 'My₂ sister₃ is₍₄₋₅₎ washing₄₋₅ it/this₁.'
 

=== Main clause ===

 

==== Word order ====

 
The verb must be put in the end of the main clause (as actually of any other type of clause); it can be followed by discourse particles, but the latter can be viewed as a special type of auxiliary verbs. Only extraposited subordinate clauses (either postpositive relative or conveying reported speech) can be put after the main predicate. 
Adverbs must immediately precede their head verb and cannot be separated from it except by another adverb. 
The order of all the other constituents is “free”, since morphology provides sufficient information about their syntactic roles. The most prominent regularity with their placement is a tendency to consider one nominal constituent as “topic” and the rest of the sentence as a comment describing its condition or an event that happened to it. Normally (i. e. in unemphatic speech), the topic is put first, and all the other constituents follow it. 
There is a tendency to put contrastive (and other emphasized) topics in nominative, irrespective of their intended syntactic role, and to put the role-switching marker immediately after them. 
Any constituent can be dropped when clear from the context. In principle, a verb taken alone can be a grammatical sentence. 

==== Serial constructions ====

 [''Stuff to be added later''] 

==== Copula ====

 
The most common copula is ''nini'' v. ipf. 'to be'; another example is ''njun'' v. pf. 'to become'. 
A noun used as nominal predicate must be in the nominative case. 
Adjectives are used in their usual uninflected form. 
Nouns in spatial cases (mostly locative) and some adverbial particles are put before the copula without any modifications. 

=== Negation ===

 The negative particle ''wo'' can be put before any part of the sentence to negate it. 

=== Adpositions ===

 
Adpositions can be derived from verbs or nouns. 

==== Postpositions derived from verbs ====

 
Some verbs in the position of the first part of a serial construction can be used to introduce their object as an additional nominal argument of the main predicate, i. e. like a postposition. The verb ''tsomin'' v. pf. 'to take' is often used in this way, as e. g. in the following sentence: 
''Nontai₁ '''sunollowis₂ tsomin₃''' nontisal₄ mitserawis₅ ni₆.'' 'The man made the woman's small image of wood' (lit.: 'The₀ man₁, '''having₍₃₎ taken₃ wood₂''', made₆ a₀ small₅ image₅ of₍₄₎ the₀ woman₄'). 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

==== Adpositions derived from nouns ====

 
Typically, an adposition is derived from a case form of noun with an attributed genitive, and thus is a postposition governing the genitive case. For example, from the inessive of ''tswis'' 'inner side, part; interior, inside': 
''Fesal₁ tswisyry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
''Fesal₁ tswismoi₂'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₂₎ of₍₂₎ the₀ interior₂ of₍₁₎ the₀ house₁'). 
However, the genitive can be substantivized, and put after the adposition as its apposition: 
''Tswisys₁ pys₂ fesallyry₃'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
''Tswisma₁ ma₂ fesalmoi₃'' 'from inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ of₍₁₋₂₋₃₎ the₀ interior₁ which₂ is₂ of₍₃₎ the₀ house₃'). 
This pattern may produce e. g. a preposition that governs an essive or ablative case of substantivized genitive, as above. 
Besides, the lexical noun can be put in a spatial case which is used as a postpositive attribute to ''tswis'' in the same or another spatial case: 
''Tswisyry₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'in₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
''Tswismoi₁ fewiry₂'' 'inside the house' (lit. 'out₍₁₎ of₍₁₎ the₀ interior₁ which₀ is₀ in₍₂₎ the₀ house₂'). 
This produces a preposition again, but now governing a spatial case of the lexical noun itself rather than of its substantivized genitive. 
[''More PI lexical stuff is needed to expand this section''] 

=== Reported speech ===

 
The reported speech clauses (which actually can be used to convey the content of knowledge, thought etc.) can be construed in one of two ways. 
One way is to use the clause as the topic of a sentence and to mark its syntactic role with the role-switching pronoun: 
'''''Toi₁ tsjuma₂ tsjurin₃ pipys₄''' ai₅ fati₆.'' 'He₅ said₆ '''that₍₄₎ you₁ would₂ come₃'.''' 
The other way is to mark its role in the main clause with the cataphoric ''ri'' in appropriate case, and to put the subordinate clause after the main predicate: 
''Ai₁ '''hus'''₂ fati₃, '''toi₄ tsjuma₅ tsjurin₆'''.'' 'He₁ said₃ '''that₍₂₎ you₄ would₅ come₆'.''' 
The latter type is called “extraposited”. 

== Lexical derivation ==

 Derivation of nouns [''Stuff to be added later''] Derivation of verbs Preverbs [''Stuff to be added later''] Compound verbs [''Stuff to be added later''] 

{{stub}}

[[Category:Isles languages]]

Affanonic

2009-06-12T21:03:51Z

Basilius: Adding stuff from the grammar

{{Language
| language = Affanonic
| date = c. -200 YP
| place = [[Affalinnei]]
| speakers = unknown
| script = unknown
| family = [[Isles languages]]  Affanonic
| word-or = V-last, topic-comment
| mor-type = fusional/agglutinating
| morphalign = NOM-ACC
| author = [[User:Basilius|Basilius]]
}}
{{Article}}

'''Affanonic''', the language of the Affanons, belongs to the [[Isles languages|Isles family]]. Around -200 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]] it was the dominant language in the Kingdom of [[Affalinnei]], situated on the [[Affalinnei Peninsula]] on the southern coast of NE [[Peilaš]], west of the area where [[Lotoka]] was spoken. Affanonic is considered the first language of the Isles family whose speakers contacted the continental nations of Peilaš.

== Genealogy ==
* [[Proto-Isles]] (c. -2000 YP)
** '''Affanonic''' (c. -200 YP)

== Features ==
Some phonetic features of Affanonic that distinguish it from most of the other Isles languages (e. g. front rounded vowels and restrictions on consonant clusters) are often cited as Sprachbund traits uniting Affanonic with the neighboring [[Lotoka]] and [[Doroh]]. 
The morphological system of Affanonic is peculiar in combining near-total erosion of inflection in verbs with sophisticated nominal morphology: the language is traditionally described as having 31 cases in singular and plural (the actual number of forms being still greater since one of the traditional "cases", the substantivized genitive, is in fact a derived noun with complete declensional paradigm of its own). 
The most notable feature of Affanonic verb is a consequential opposition of "lexical perfectives" to "lexical imperfectives" based on semantic telicity. The verbal paradigm is rich in analytical forms, both finite and non-finite.
The syntax of Affanonic is rather conservative, mostly preserving the final position of the finite verb in a clause and discourse-oriented ordering of the nominal constituents which were characteristic of [[Proto-Isles]].

== Names ==

The word “Affanonic” is derived from ''affanon'', self-designation, 'an (ethnic) Affanon, a peson of Affanonic ethnicity', which is a synchronically transparent compound based on ''affa'' 'Eastern' and ''non'' 'person'.

== See also ==
* [[Affanonic/Grammar|Affanonic grammar]]
* [[Affanonic/Lexicon|Affanonic lexicon]]

{{stub}}

[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Isles languages]]

Tuysafa

2009-06-12T13:35:12Z

Basilius: Redirecting to Tuysáfa

#REDIRECT [[Tuysáfa]]

Talk:Tuysáfa

2009-06-12T13:34:11Z

Basilius: New page: Tuysafa is a less correct spelling of Tuysáfa.

[[Tuysafa]] is a less correct spelling of [[Tuysáfa]].

Huyfarah

2009-06-12T13:32:26Z

Basilius: Redirecting to Huyfárah

#REDIRECT [[Huyfárah]]

Talk:Huyfárah

2009-06-12T13:31:14Z

Basilius: New page: Huyfarah is a less correct spelling for Huyfárah. --~~~~

[[Huyfarah]] is a less correct spelling for [[Huyfárah]]. --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 13:31, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Faralo

2009-06-12T13:29:27Z

Basilius: Redirecting to Fáralo

#REDIRECT [[Fáralo]]

Talk:Fáralo

2009-06-12T13:27:11Z

Basilius: New page: Faralo is a less correct spelling for Fáralo. --~~~~

[[Faralo]] is a less correct spelling for [[Fáralo]]. --[[User:Basilius|Basilius]] 13:27, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Huyfárah

2009-06-12T13:23:25Z

Basilius: /* Names */

{{Nation
| nation = Huyfárah
| native = lu-serin æm Huyfárah
| map = [[Image:Huyfarah.gif|250px|Map of Huyfárah c. 130 YP]]
| capital = Ussor
| cities = Miədu Mæmedéi Sertek
| language = [[Fáralo]]
| demonym = Fáralo
| gov-type = monarchy
| rise = c. -400 YP
| fall = c. 800 YP
| succ = Wippwâ Mɨdu etc.
| author = [[User:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}
{{Article}}
'''Huyfárah''' ([[Faraghin]]: ''Soifaragh'', "Faraghin coast") is a nation of [[Akana]], located north of the [[Eigə]] delta. It was one of the most powerful states in the 1st millennium [[Year of the Prophet|YP]], setting up a maritime empire and founding colonies all along the coast between [[Xšalad]] and [[Siixtaguna]].

= History =
== Timeline ==
* c. -1400: Faraghin conquer [[Oltu]] valley.
* -1310: Faraghin break into multiple baronies.
* -1258: Temporary Ndak reconquest of lower Aiwa and Oltu valleys.
* -1170: Faraghin regain control of the Oltu.
* c. -800: Truce of Deunagho between Faraghin barons enables burgeoning trade and settlement.
* -762: Sertek founded by Fáralo merchants, establishes itself against [[Feråjin]] on the [[Poráš]].
* c. -650: Wars with Sertek end the Truce of Deunagho; many Fáralo settle away from the fighting as far as Kasca and Oltumosou.
* -520: Barons of Ussor conquer Miədu.
* -480: Ussor invades [[Kasca]], and quickly conquers the delta till Påwe and Momuva'e push it back; decades of war follow, ending with Ussor controlling half the delta with nominal control over the rest. Miədu drifts in and out of Fáralo control.
* c. -400: Fáralo naval expedition discovers [[Siixtaguna]], bringing back several [[Etúgə]]ist monks.
* -198: Mentek, baron of Ussor, unites Huyfárah, beginning the Balanin dynasty.
* -185: Huyfárah occupies the [[Dagæm islands]], beginning its imperial period.
* -167: Huyfárah in control of Oltumosou; begins pacifying the inland Feråjin.
* -142: Čisse founded in order to protect Huyfárah's eastern border against the Doroh.
* -133: Miədu, seeing which way the wind is blowing, voluntarily joins to Huyfárah.
* -112: Påwe conquers Momuva'e, leading to war with Huyfárah.
* -109: Huyfárah conquers Momuva'e (though it does not hold it for long) and occupies most of the Kascan delta.
* late 220s: Balanin civil war in Huyfárah; Fáralo Golden Age ends.
* 230: Ascension of Etou I; under his rule Huyfárah expands west to the borders of [[Lasomo|Lašumu]].
* 248: Etou I dies; ascension of Etou II.
* 255: Failed Fáralo invasion of Lašumu: Supply lines of Etou II are cut by [[Empire of Athalē|Athalēran]] military.
* 294: Etou II dies; civil war in Huyfárah.
* 295: Gadein I emerges victorious and becomes emperor.
* 312: Gadein I dies; ascension of Etou III.
* 318-319: Military campaign of Etou III against the [[Tlaliolz|Talo]] and [[Puoni]].
* 319: Exodus of the Puoni.
* 326: Etou III dies; ascension of Gadein II.
* 328: Various Kascan towns become vassal states of Huyfárah by treaty
* Mid-300's: The port town of [[Azbǽbu]] grows to great size.
* 343: Gadein II dies; Baodan I starts the Malei dynasty.
* c. 343-405: Fáralo Silver Age.
* 351: Acquisition of [[Buruya]].
* 363: Huyfárah absorbs more of Kasca, including (de jure anyway) Momuva'e.
* 370: Huyfárah claims rule over Fmana-hŋ-Talam. A planned city is begun.
* 375: Baodan I dies.
* 405–443: Declining stability: Several natural disasters hit; barbarian raids; power shifts toward [[Sertek]] as emperors relocate there (but the official capital, and the Senate, remains in [[Ussor]]).
* 444–453: War between Huyfárah and Athalē, resulting in Fáralo control over Lašumu.
* 453–489: Recovery; Lašumu is organized as a client state of Huyfárah.
* 489–546: The decline begins: Lašumu is lost again and the southern half ceded back to Athalē; the treaty states that northern half will remain independent as long as it is not dominated by Huyfárah in any way. Meanwhile Athalē encroaches along the Eigə. The emperor is removed by the Senate for having lost the war, but returns two years later after his replacement is assassinated. A sense of unease and moral decay. More assassinations. Buruya is lost. The natives of Fmana-hŋ-Talam push back the Fáralo to the north end of the island.
* 547–584: Gigantic, confused, multi-phase civil war, among three principal factions. In the aftermath, the Malei Dynasty is deposed, the empire shrinks further, and loses the coast from Mæmedéi south, which reorganizes as [[Lewsfárah]] ("Free Fárah"), a federation of city-states run by religious and political reformists (calling themselves the ''Kəgeiru'', "Atheists").
* 579–584: Lewsfárah stops fighting Huyfárah, but it is mired in revolutionary chaos.
* 600's: [[Takuña]] pirates establish small footholds in areas of ineffectual rule within the disintegrating empire.
* 786: The bitter end of the empire comes with the sack of Ussor by a faction of the [[Doroh]].
* late 700's: Lewsfárah is dissolved, and splits into its constituent city-states. [[Mɨdu]] and [[Azbǽbu]] vie for naval dominance.
* 786-800's: Isthmus chieftains rule over the Oltu Valley. Gradually they are linguistically absorbed by Fáralo-speakers.
* mid-800's: Fáralo landowners depose the Doroh rulers, and proclaim a kingdom of [[Hajū]], consisting mostly of the Oltu Valley.

== Settlement of the North Coast ==
<div style="position:relative">
[[Image:Peilaš regions.png|thumb|right|300px|A map of northeastern Peilaš. The location of '''Huyfárah''' is indicated.]]
<div style="position:absolute; top:65px; right:135px; font-size:smaller">
'''Huyfárah'''
</div>
</div>

In ancient times, the Oltu river valley and the nearby seacoast were divided between two related peoples, the barbaric [[Faraghin]] and [[Feråjin]]. The civilized world was to the south, along the great [[Eigə]] river. The first civilized people were the [[Ngauro|Ŋouru]], who arose in the river delta - [[Kasca|Kazəgad]] - about 4000 years before classical times. The peoples and wars of the valley were many, but for our purposes the chief fact was the conquest of Kazəgad by the [[Ndak Empire|Edák]], a people who had lived upriver, in [[Lasomo|Lašumu]].

The Edák were themselves conquered more than once, but their edge in population allowed them, each time, to expel or absorb their conquerors. They emerged from the last of these episodes with a new imperial vigor, and set themselves the task of conquering the known world. They reached their greatest extent around -1900 [[Year of the Prophet|YP]] under the emperor [[Tsinakan text|Siənčæn]]: the entire Eigə valley, the southwestern mountains once held by their rivals the [[Gezoro]], a wide stretch of the eastern seacoast, and the lands of the Feraghin and Feråjin.

This latter region they called ''Hagíbəl'' ([[Ndak Ta]]: ''Sau Ibli''), the North Coast; they colonized the seacoast and river valleys, leaving the Faraghin (and to a lesser extent the Feråjin) to the mountains, forests, and pasturelands. For some centuries the Edák remained as overlords; then they lost the hinterlands; then the empire collapsed, leaving the local Edák ruling the colonized areas. The local balance of power reversed: the Faraghin hill tribes, accustomed to horses and frequent internecine war, raided the Edák and pillaged or even razed their main settlements.

== The Faraghin conquest ==

Around -1400 YP, the Faraghin put aside their usual disunity and conquered the Oltu valley and its capital, [[Ussor]], and then the Edák littoral, which they renamed ''Huyfárah'', the Faraghin Coast. This time, the horsemen were here to stay. Edák society - highly stratified and urbanized - was transformed. As nomads, the Faraghin believed not in real estate and civil protection but in moveable property and honor. For the settled Edák, the archetypical villainy was murder; for the Faraghin it was theft. (Murder could be paid for.)

If this seems barbaric, we should recognize as well that the Faraghin were much more individualistic and enterprising than the Edák, whose devotion to stability led less to peace than to stagnation. It was possible to move up in Faraghin society, and trade and markets developed here, while the Eigə valley was still dominated by archaic command economies.

The great vice of the Faraghin warrior class was a disinclination, on the death of a respected king, to support their unproven young heirs. The unity of the Oltu lasted only a century; the region then became a squabbling patchwork of baronies; if some ambitious ruler unified them his kingdom would collapse in a few generations. Once the littoral was even temporarily reconquered by a resurgent Kazəgad.

Nonetheless, trade continued to flourish, and the people of Huyfárah developed a great skill in navigation, and explored the littoral a great distance to the east and south.

== The Golden Age of Huyfárah ==

The turning point was the discovery of the nation of ''Histuənə'' (Siixtaguna), to the east, and its religion [[Etúgə]]. Its great sage ''[[Sútapaj|Hutaba]]'' preached ''nubázi'' "the realization" - the realization being that all knowledge is false; only action (''etúgə'') and belief (''mušitugə'') are real. Nubázi frees the spirit to live in ''ifisænə'', the spiritual world.

The explorers brought back Etúgeist monks. These were at first mocked, even persecuted and tortured; but their calm conviction and eloquence won respect. Finally the entire country was won over, and the new doctrine not only consolidated Fáralo identity, but brought a new respect for unity and loyalty. The [[Balanin dynasty]], able generals and devout Etúgeists, unified the country, and soon turned to empire-building. First the [[Dagæm islands]] were occupied - a useful acquisition for a maritime empire; then the lands of the Feråjin just to the east, then Kazəgad - which was by now, however, only a poor shadow of its former glory.

The people of classical Huyfárah called themselves the ''Fáralo'' - essentially a form of "Faraghin" - and thought of themselves as descendents of this warrior nation. Nonetheless their language descended from that of the Edák (that is, [[Ndak Ta]]), though with heavy Faraghin influence.

== The Etou dynasty ==

In 226 YP, the last Balanin emperor of Huyfárah died without issue at an early age. He had had no close relatives beyond his wife, so a search was conducted to determine his most closely related cousin who could then assume the throne of Huyfárah. The search produced multiple candidates who were all equally closely related; two of these proclaimed themselves emperor, and the resulting conflict boiled over into civil war: bloody, but mercifully short. When it was over, no living Balanins remained.

The former emperor's wife, while not a legal candidate for the throne, was power-hungry and politically skilled. She succeeded in manipulating the nobility and Senate into accepting her lover - a powerful noble in his own right - as the new emperor of Huyfárah, and he was crowned with little more drama than the muffled muttering of the discontent.

Unlike the Balanins, the new emperor [[Etou I]] was not a devout Etúgəist. He made lip service to the religion, but did not personally uphold its tenets. Overall he was not a bad ruler, however, and under his reign the Empire healed from the civil war and began to expand its borders once again - this time succeeding in bringing the entire western forest region and its inhabitants, the [[Tlaliolz]], fully into the Empire.

However, his son [[Etou II]] was nowhere near the competent leader his father and the Balanins were: instead of inspiring his people, he manipulated the institutions and machinery of [[Etúgə]] for personal gain. Using Etúgə as a banner to inflame his armies with fervor to conquer the infidels, Etou II blundered into [[Lasomo|Lašumu]], tried to assimilate the entire region at once, and watched the invasion blow up in his face when his insufficiently defended supply lines were cut. Hiding this disaster from the citizens at home, he took his armies north to harass the Tlaliolz - a people he already nominally controlled - because they remained non-Etúgəist and thus out of his full control.

This was the action that finally went too far. When word reached [[Ussor]], those citizens who had already had enough of the corruption of Etúgə took matters into their own hands, rioting and burning the Imperial Palace and its associated temple of Etúgə. The temple, after all, was only stone and mortar; the truth of Etúgə was eternal with or without a building. The uprising was not to last, however. Etou II and his armies returned home angry as a wasp and put the nascent rebellion down like a rabid dog. His regime remained entrenched for another four decades while discontent simmered and the machinery of Etúgə was exploited to keep his citizens in check.

During this time, nominal membership in Etúgə rose while devout belief became rare. Many people were bitter: the older generation for the perversion of what to them had been the one, true, and serious religion, and the younger generation in resentment for being ruled by fear. It was in these fertile grounds that the seeds of further revolt were planted. A number of young thinkers rose to covert influence by preaching against Etúgə's use as an instrument of control. Many of these were discovered and arrested, while the smarter ones kept meetings quiet. But their actions over the last decade of Etou II's rule brought about a segment of the population in the central cities that had renounced Etúgə and wanted a change. The most faithful of these prepared and waited for the day action could finally be taken.

== Civil War ==

In his nineties, still iron-fisted and authoritarian as ever, Etou II finally died by tripping one morning over his own robes and cracking his head by sheer accident. It did not take long for word of the emperor's demise to spread; one of his own grandsons was secretly among those who preached against Etúgə. Within 24 hours Ussor was in riot. Within the week, so were all the other cities of the central Empire.

Both of Etou II's sons had already passed on by the time he did; he left only grandchildren. Two of these became important: [[Gadein]], the heir apparent, ascended to the throne early the next morning while his city was aflame, and [[Daodas]], the aforementioned anti-Etúgəist, rose to ascendancy among the rebel forces over the next several days.

Gadein proved quickly to be a true heir, being just as corrupt as his grandfather. But it took him a little too long to gather and reorganize the army to his side, time in which the growing rebellion continued to organize out of the early chaos and gather steam. In the end, however, Gadein did prevail. It took months, but he succeeded in driving the rebel forces out, first from Ussor, and finally from the other nearby cities. What was left, a rather ragtag army of perhaps a hundred thousand, saw how the wind was blowing, and Daodas convinced them to flee west to the hinterland province of Tal.

Calling themselves the ''Epuonim'' (modern term [[Puoni]]), "infidels", Daodas' people took up residence with the Tlaliolz (modern term ''Talo'') - who still had yet to embrace Etúgə. There can be no doubt that this was not a coincidence.

== The exodus of the Puoni ==

A generation passed. The two groups - Talo and Puoni - intermarried and became as one people. Gadein died, leaving the throne to his son [[Etou III]]. This fourth emperor of the Etou Dynasty was finally a ruler competent enough to lead Huyfárah well. He made peace with many of his father's enemies, and concentrated a much larger portion of the imperial funds on improving agriculture and rebuilding the navy. He also restored the long-burned temple of Etúgə and encouraged the remaining true believers of the faith - the now rare breed descended in spirit from the original sincere Etúgəist population - to come forth and proselytize. In time, the religion healed and gained converts once again by merit instead of by threat. But nobody is perfect. Etou III also inherited his father's few passionate hatreds largely intact, first and foremost his hatred of the Puoni and Talo for their continued stubborn disinclination to be good citizens. After a decade of careful nurture of the Empire, Etou III once again roused the Imperial regiments to go west and do something about the infidels in their lands once and for all.

Very much a Balanin in spirit if not in name, Etou III proved to be as capable a general as he was a ruler. To make a long story short, he made quick work of many of the inhabitants of the west, routed many of the survivors out of the forests, and made quick work of them too. Nearly half a million were marched back to Ussor in chains, and later distributed throughout the Empire as intentured servants or sold in foreign lands as slaves.

Only a remnant of the westerners were left - perhaps two hundred thousand. Since the forests along the border had finally proved insufficient to secure them from too much Imperial control, and with the other 2/3 of their population deported, the remainder fled south. The army pursued them and exacted heavy casualties from them, but the majority made it to safety across the [[Eigə]] river. Wanting to put more distance between them and Ussor, they continued south into the forests of [[Kuaguatia]], at the inland southern fringes of [[Kasca]]. Now calling themselves only Puoni, they settled in those lands and have been there ever since. Daodas is said to have lived just long enough to see his people firmly settled in their new lands in his dotage, finally dying that same year, after having guided them well for three decades.

== The Silver Age ==

Etou III's heir [[Gadein II]] did not share his father's hatred of the Epuonim. Those who had been sold as indentured servants retained their religious beliefs and within a generation -- by the middle of the 4th century -- many were able to buy their emancipation from their masters, and once free, formed close-knit communities in the major Fáralo cities such as Miədu and Ussor.

During this time, Huyfárah grew more powerful by absorbing much of Kasca as client states in 328. Gadein II died peacefully in 343. He had no male children, and there was a brief dispute for the crown before a cousin, Baodan of the House of Malei, was named – the long-reigning Malei Dynasty had begun.

[[Baodan I]] was by all means one of the greatest emperors of Huyfárah. He had a keen understanding of economic policy, and devoted his reign to the purification and promotion of Etúgə, working closely with the Senate, keeping the people well-fed, and conquering lands afar. He did build up something of a cult of personality, with statues of him adorning many public places, though he was probably right in thinking this was a good spirit-building activity.

His policies, coinciding with the acquisition of [[Buruya]] as another client state in 351, were contributing to a strong economic boom during this period. This, with ensuing cultural developments, led to what is known as the Fáralo Silver Age, roughly encompassing the second half of the fourth century YP.

= Names =

{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg}}
|-
! Language
! Name
! Pronunciation
! Source
|-
! [[Ndak Ta]]
| Sau Ibli
| [sau ˈib.li]
| "North Coast"
|-
! [[Adāta]]
| Hazīli
| [ˈha.ziː.li]
| ← NT ''Sau Ibli''
|-
! [[Fáralo]]
| Huyfárah
| [hujˈfa.rah]
| ← Faraghin ''Soifaragh'' "Faraghin Coast" (borrowed)
|-
! [[Delta_Naidda|Naidda]]
| Puivara
| [ˈpuj.va.rə]
| ← Fáralo ''Huyfárah'' (borrowed)
|-
! [[Buruya Nzaysa]]
| Xuyfá’ah
| [xujˈfa.ʔah]
| ← Fáralo ''Huyfárah'' (borrowed)
|-
! [[Ndok Aisô]]
| Hoifaxa
| [hɔjˈfaː.ʔa]
| ← Fáralo ''Huyfárah'' (borrowed)
|-
! [[Mavakhalan]]
| haźiľ
| [ˈha.ʒiʎ]
| ← Adāta ''Hazīli''
|-
! [[Ayāsthi]]
| ġàʒīly
| [ˈɦɑ.ʒiː.lɨ]
| ← Adāta ''Hazīli''
|-
! [[Æðadĕ]]
| Hæzili
| [ˈhæ.zi.li]
| ← Adāta ''Hazīli''
|-
! [[Aθáta]]
| Asíli
| [aˈʒi.li]
| ← Adāta ''Hazīli''
|-
! [[Namɨdu]]
| Hɨwora
| [hɨˈwɔ.ɾɐ]
| ← Fáralo ''Huyfárah''
|-
! [[Puoni]]
| Rufara; Ragui
| [rʊˈfarɜ], [rɜˈgwi]
| ← Fáralo ''Huyfárah'', ''Hagíbəl''
|-
! [[Affanonic]]
| Falarlinnei (''esp. for the state''); Falaril (''esp. the territory'')
| [fa.laʀ.ˈlin.nei], [ˈfa.la.ʀil]
| derived from ''falar'' (adj.) ← Faraghin ''Faragh'' "the Faraghin people" (borrowed)
|}

= See also =

* [[Fáralo]]

[[Category:Nations]]
[[Category:Huyfárah|*]]
[[Category:1st millennium]]