Gaadràmarneš

Gaadràmarneš
Period	c. -100 YP
Spoken in	Peninsula (Ùrizaŋŋa)
Total speakers	to be determined
Writing system	to be determined
Classification	Peninsular languages
Typology
Basic word order	SOV
Morphology	agglutinating
Alignment	NOM-ACC
Credits
Created by	Vortex

Gaadràmarneš is a direct descendent of Proto-Peninsular spoken in the southwestern region of the large Peninsula of Peilaš, known as Ùrizaŋŋa. It is known from a handful of texts that are dated c. -100 YP but it is unknown whether these were written before or after the spoken form of the language had broken up into its descendents.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal
plosive	*pʰ b		*tʰ d		*kʰ g
fricative		f v	s z	ɕ ʑ	x ɣ		ħ ʕ
approximant	w		l	j		ʀ
nasal	m		n		ŋ

• aspirated plosives are realized as plain voiceless plosives syllable final
• voiced plosives tend to devoice in clusters with voiceless fricatives

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i · iː		u · uː
High-mid	e · eː		o · oː
Low-mid	ɛ · ɛː	*ʌ	ɔ · ɔː
Low			*ɒː

• The true values of /ʌ/ and /ɒː/ are debatable. /ʌ/ may have had a lower value of [ɐ] and /ɒː/ may have merged with /ɔː/ by the time most of the texts were written.

Stress & Tone

Primary Stress: There are two main rules governing the the location of the primary stress:

1. primary stress falls on the first syllable of the stem
2. primary stress cannot be placed on a syllable created by reduplication

Secondary Stress: The location of the secondary stress is always on the last syllable of a word, even if that syllable is not a part of the stem. However, if the last syllable of the word is located directly after the primary stress then that syllable does not receive the secondary stress.

Tone: Gaadràmarneš has three level tones and no contour tones. These tones are high, mid, and low. The tone of a vowel does not effect the location of stress in the syllable

Spelling Conventions

• aspirated plosives are written as

• /ɕ ʑ/ are written as <š ž>
• <h> is used as a vowel separator
• /x/ is written as <h> word intially and syllable final and as <hh> intervocally
• /j/ is written as <y>
• /ʀ/ is written as <r>
• /ʌ/ is written as <a>
• /ɒː/ is written as <aa>
• long vowels are written as double vowels
• low tone is marked with a grave accent
• high tone is marked with an acute accent
• rest of the sounds are written as shown on the charts

Sound Changes

Key: C = consonant, V = vowel, $ = syllable boundary, # = word boundary, P = plosive, Ø = null

1.

   u, i > uɐ, iɐ / _ħ
   uː, iː > uwɐ, ijɐ / _ ħ
   a > aː / _ħ
   a > ɐ
   m̩, n̩, ŋ > ũ, ĩ, ũ / [+stressed]
   m̩, n̩, ŋ > ɐ̃ / [-stressed]
   r̩, l̩ > ʀi / C_C
   r̩, l̩ > iʀ/ _#
   ç > ɕ
   r > ʀ
   h > ʔ / _C
   plosive + h/ħ > plosive [+aspiration] 

2.

   fricative + h/ħ > fricative [+length]
   ħ > Ø / _C, _$
   fricative [-voice] > fricative [+voice] / C[+voice]_, _C[+voice]
   Ṽ > Vʔ
   u, i, ɐ > [ʊ, ɪ, ə] / [-stress]
   ɐCɐ(C) > aːC(C) / _#
   iCi(C) > iːC(C) / _#
   uCu(C) > uːC(C) / _#
   Ø > ɪ / #_CC (except in plosive + fricative clutsters)
   ɐ > ɛ / C[+palatal]_, _C[+palatal]

3.

   kVs > kxV / [-stress], #_
   kVħ > kxV [-stress], #_
   tVɕ > tɕV / [-stress], #_
   tVs > tsV / [-stress], #_
   pVf > pfV / [-stress], #_
   p > b 
   t > d
   k > g
   pʰ > p / _$
   tʰ > t / _$
   kʰ > k / _$
   h > x
   l > ɰ / V_C
   ɐi, ɐu > eː, oː / except _V (including across word boundaries)
   aːi, aːu > ai, au / except _V (including across word boundaries)
   aː > ɒː
   ɛ > e

4.

   ə > Ø / _V, V_
   V[+front] > j / _V
   V[+back] > w / _V
   i > e / _Cə(CV/C#)
   iː > eː /_Cə(CV/C#)
   u > o /_Cə(CV/C#) 
   uː > oː /_Cə(CV/C#)
   e > ɛ /_Cə(CV/C#)
   eː > ɛː /_Cə(CV/C#)
   oː > ɔː /_Cə(CV/C#)
   ɐ > ɒː /_Cə(CV/C#)
   i > u /_Cʊ(CV/C#)
   iː > uː /_Cʊ(CV/C#)
   e > oː /_Cʊ(CV/C#)
   eː > oː /_Cʊ(CV/C#)
   oː > uː /_Cʊ(CV/C#)
   ɐ > ɔ /_Cʊ(CV/C#)
   ɒː > ɔː /_Cʊ(CV/C#)
   u > i /_Cɪ(CV/C#), _Cj
   uː > iː /_Cɪ(CV/C#), _Cj
   e > i /_Cɪ(CV/C#), _Cj
   eː > iː /_Cɪ(CV/C#), _Cj
   oː > eː /_Cɪ(CV/C#), _Cj
   ɐ > ɛ /_Cɪ(CV/C#), _Cj
   ɒː > ɛː /_Cɪ(CV/C#), _Cj

5.

  umlaut causing vowels and glides are deleted
  fricative [-voice] > fricative [+voice]
  pf > f
  ts > s
  tɕ > ɕ
  kx > x
  primary stress shifts to heaviest syllable (or intial syllable when all syllables are of the same weight) 
  and secondary stress falls on the finall syllable (unless it borders a syllable with primary stress)      
  dissimilation of similar vowels in CVCV sequence cause by partial reduplication
  - i…i > e…i
  - e…e > ɛ…e
  - ɛ…ɛ > ə…ɛ
  - ɐ…ɐ > ə…ɒː
  - u…u > o…u
  - o…o > ɔ…o
  - ɔ…ɔ > ə…ɔ
  when this happens with long vowels the reduplicated vowel is turned into the short counter part

6.

   fricative [-voice] > fricative [+voice] / syllable[-stress]_
   nasal + fricative, fricative + nasal > nasal [+length] / V_V, V_#
   Vʔ > V[+high tone] / [+stress]
   Vʔ > V[+low tone] / [-stress]
   VCə > VC / _#
   jə > jɛ / $_
   jə > ɛ / elsewhere
   ɐ,ə > ʌ
   ɪ > i
   ʊ > u

7.

  stress primary stress moves to intial syllable, and secondary stress to final syllable   unless it borders the primary stress
  P1P1 > P1P1
  ɰ > w
  V1C1V2C1 > V1[+high tone]C1 / when V1 and V2 are unstressed (V1 and V2 may or may not be the same vowel)
  C1V1C1V2 > C1V1 [+high tone] / when V1 and V2 are unstressed (V1 and V2 may or may not be the same vowel)

• If one of the vowels had a low tone then the vowel resulting from the sound change will have a low tone.

Morphology

Noun Morphology

Just like in Proto-peninsular, the nouns are very simple morphologically in Gaadramarneš. Nouns are only declined for gender, number, and case. Each of these fit into slots around the root in the form of the following pattern: (reduplication)-root-gender-number-case. One expection are nouns that be have like time adverbs, these usually only take the verb's phase ending.

I: reduplication	II: gender	III: number	IV: case
1st plural: partial	inanimate: -Ø-	singular: -Ø-	1st genitive: -ŋ/-à
2nd plural: full	*animate:	collective: -r-/-ir-	*2nd genitive: -hà
	animate masculine: -w/wa		3rd genitive -tu
	animate feminine: -m(a)-/-mɛ-

• The animate gender is marked irregular given how the PPI affix -xa- affected previous consonants and vowels.
• The second genitive case marker has multiple forms depending on the previous sound
• The affixes with two forms, the first form is for after vowels and the second form is for after consonants

Number

Number is marked on a noun in slots I and III, and is used a manner that is rather different from PPI (the singular is left unmarked so it won't be discussed). Unlike PPI, marking the plural is mandatory and whether the 1st or 2nd plural is governed by the following rules

1. a noun preceded by zero takes the singular
2. a plural noun that preceded by a non-numeral quantifier takes the 1st plural
3. a plural noun that is preceded by a numeral 2-50 takes the 1st plural
4. a plural noun that is preceded by a numeral higher than 50 takes the 2nd plural

The first plural is marked with a partial reduplication descended from the PPI 1st augment and the 2nd plural is marked with full reduplication of the root.

When a noun is in the collective plural, the noun is usually referred to as being in a collection or group of the same objects. The collective plural is also used when a plural noun is used in a compound.

Gender

Gender is marked in slot II. There are 2 main genders used in Gaadràmarneš, animate and inanimate, and with the animate gender there are two sub-genders, the masculine and feminine. Only the animate gender and its sub-genders are actually marked on a noun. Since gender marking is mandatory, no animate noun stem will used without a gender suffix.

Inanimate: This class marks objects that are non-living and/or motionless. This would include stones, plants, geological features, and etc. Some abstract nouns, like ones derived from verbs.

Animate: This class marks a gender-neutral living thing and is also called the neuter animate. This gender is broken up into two sub-genders, masculine and feminine. All animate noun can take all three genders. The only exceptions to this are the words for man and woman, wadan- and men-, which only take the animate neuter, wadann and minaaħ. Given the irregularity in marking this gender, the animate stem will be listed with each word.

• masculine: This gender is used to mark any noun that is inherently masculine in nature, such as iggwarwa - "boy" and gulaaw - "boar". This gender is marked with -w or -wa. Note that some nouns marked with will experience an a-umlaut on the final vowel.
• feminine: This gender is used to mark any noun that is inherently feminine in naure, such as iggwarmɛ - "girl" and ligàmɛ - "mother". This gender is marked with -m or -mɛ . Nouns that take -m will experience an i-umlaut on the previous vowel and the -a is inserted when the following affix begins a consonant.

Case

Since there are many enclitics that behave like case markers, the three true cases will be discussed in the syntax section with the enclitics.

Pronouns

1st person

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vúrɛ	vúr
1st Genitive	vúhhà	vúrà
2nd Genitive	vún	vúrɣà

2nd person

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	nɛɛr	naar
1st Genitive	naaħà	naarà
2nd Genitive	naahhà	naarɣà

3rd person proximate

	Singular	Plural
Animate	iddwaħaam	iddwaħàrma
Inanimate	iddiraam	iddúrma

3rd person obviative

	Singular	Plural
Animate	iddwaaħ	iddwaħàr
Inanimate	iddir	iddúr

• the 3rd person pronouns are declined for case like regular nouns
• the proximate is used when there is only one 3rd person pronoun but the obviative is used when there are two 3rd person arguments for the verb.
• Proximate is used to mark the most topical argument and the obviative is used to mark the least topical argument

Verb Morphology

Verb Aspect Stems

Gaadràmarneš marks aspects on its verbs through creating different stems for the verbs. The basic stems are the bare stem, the reflexive stem, the habitual stem, pluperfect stem, the perfect stem, and the progressive stem.

• Bare stem: This stem is just the plain verb root. It is used to express the imperfect aspect.

• Reflexive stem: This stem is created by way of partial reduplication of the verb root and is descended from the PPI 1st augment. This stem takes place of the bare stem and the perfect stem when dealing with the reflexive voice and when expressing the reciprocal.

• Pluperfect stem: This stem is created by using several affixes. The main suffixes used are -itar/tar-, -iš/š-, -wi-, and -àd/nd-. This stem is used to express an action completed in the past before another past action or something that happened in the very distant past.

• Perfect stem: This stem is created by using several affixes. The main suffixes are -ħar- and -èba(ʕ)/mbia(ʕ)- (the first form is for after consonants and the second form is for after vowels and the ʕ inserted before vowels). This form is used to express actions that were begun in the past and were completed recently or in the present. It is also used to create stative verbs out of dynamic nouns

• Progressive stem: This stem is created by adding the suffixes -ušk/žug-, -èr/mri- (first forms used after a consonant and second after a vowel), and -ɔl-. This is used to show the progressive aspect and is used making an adjective or adverb out of the present participle.

Verb Voice, Tense, Mood, Polarity and Miscellaneous

Verbs are conjugated for voice, tense, mood, polarity, syntactic role, and phase; and just like PPI, each fit in specific slot on the verb stem.

I: Voice	II: Tense	III: Polarity	IV: Mood	V: Syntactic role	VI: Phase
active: -Ø-	non-past: -Ø-	affirmative: -Ø-	indicative: -Ø-	predicate: -Ø-	iota-phase (ι): -i
middle/passive: -rl/ril/riw-	past: -isk/sk-	negative: -ann/nn-	irrealis: -aaʕ/aa-	participle: -r-	upsilson-phase (υ): -u
causative: -az/ħaz-			potential: -la-		alpha-phase (α): -a
reflexive: -urz/rz-			optative: -ŋ/à-
potential: -la-

Voice

Active: This is the standard voice for all verbs and is unmarked. In this the voice, the subject of a transitive verb is the agent and the direct object is the patient, goal, or theme. This voice is left unmarked

Example:

wadan vihsa-m mambiri
man.nom fish=acc eat.pres-ι
The man eats the fish

Middle/Passive: This voice is descended from the anticausitive voice in Proto-Peninsular. This decreases the valency of a verb by leaving out the agent and promoting the patient to a subject. This voice is mark with one suffix that takes multiple forms depending on the surrounding sounds. The form –rl- is used after vowels, -ril- after consonants and before vowels, and –riw- before and after consonants. For the middle construction the agent is completely left out of the clause but is left in and takes the enclitic =ùd in the causative construction.

Example: iddwaħaam aindaw-m magammariski - "He/she broke a stick"

Middle voice:

eendaw magammarriwski
stick.inani.nom break-perf-mid-past-ι
A stick broke

Passive voice:

eendaw iddwaaħ-ùd magammarriwski
stick.inani.nom 3sg=instr break-perf-mid-past-ι
A stick was broken by him/her

• The south-eastern dialects have been found to use an alternative passive construction, where the promoted patient is followed by the particle amaa with the agent following it unmarked for case

Causative: This voice is descended from the causative voice in when the verb takes the causative the valency of the verb is increased with the addition of a new subject, which is placed at the beginning of the clause. The agent/old subject is handled in a couple ways depending on the number of other arguments of verbs. If there are no other arguments then the old subject takes the enclitic =(a)m, if one then it takes =ŋ(i), if two then it remains unmarked and follows the new argument. When marking this voice -az- comes after consonants and -ħaz- comes after vowels.

Example: wadann mambirɔlu - "A man is eating" and minaaħ ùlamlaggam-am iddirɣà ažuswa-ŋ ùgotriski - "A woman gave her son seeds"

iddwaħaam wadann-am mambirɔlazu
3sg.proximate.nom man-ani=acc eat.pres-progressive-caus-υ
He/she is making a man eat

iddwaħaam vevihsa-m wadann-ŋi mambirɔlazu
3sg.proximate.nom pl~fish-ani=acc man-ani=dat eat.pres-progressive-caus-υ
He/she is making a man eat fish

iddwaħaam minaaħ ùlamlaggam-am iddirɣà ažuswa-ŋ ùgotriski
3sg.proximate.nom woman-ani pl~seed.inani=acc 3sg-gen1 son-ani.masc-dat give-perf-past-ι
He/she made a woman give her son seeds

Reflexive: This voice is used very much like the PPI voice with a couple exceptions. Before taking this voice when the aspect is imperfect and perfect, the verb must in he reflexive stem. This voice is marked with -urz- after consonants and -rz- after vowels.

Example:

wadann vihsa-m ùgumgudurzi
man-ani.nom refl~give.pres-refl-ι
The man gives a fish

Potential: This voice is used to describe that the agent has the ability to preform an action. The potential voice is marked with -la-.

Example:

iggwarwa alumlai
boy-ani.masc.nom walk.pres-potential-ι
The boy can walk

Tense

Non-past: This tense can be used to express both the future and present tense. The distinction is made when in the present of time adverbs, but when unaffected by any time adverbs and in the bare or reflexive stem the verb is in the present tense. When the perfect stem is used with the non-past, the future from past is being expressed. This tense is unmarked.

Past: This tense is used to express actions that took place in the past. The past can be used with any aspect root except the bare root. This tense is mark with -isk- after consonants and -sk- after vowels

Polarity

Of the two polarities only the negative polarity is marked and the endings -ann- and -nn- are used. If the sound preceding the affix is a consonant then -ann- is used but if it is a vowel then -nn- is used. If the sound following the affix is a consonant then -a- is inserted after the negative affix. The particle àn is used for extra emphasis.

Mood

Indicative: This is the standard unmarked mood on verbs, and it marks that the action is true to reality.

Irrealis: This mood shows a counter-factual or unlikely to occur action. The irrealis is marked with -aaʕ- before vowels and -aa- before consonants

Potential: This mood marks a hypothetical situation that could possibly occur. This mood can't be used with the potential voice. The potential is marked with -la-

Optative: This mood marks a desired event. When combined with the causitive it marks an action that the causer wants the agent to preform (example in english: "I want you to work"). This mood is marked with -ŋ- after vowels and -à- after consonants.

Imperative: This mood marks a command. When this is used only voice can be marked on the verb. The imperative is marked with -iy-

Prohibitive: This mood marks a negative command. Just like the imperative, only voice can be marked on the verb when this is used. The prohibitive is marked with -yemn-

Syntactic Role

Unlike the other slots on the verb, this slot is more derivational in nature. When left blank the verb is acts as a predicate but when it takes the affix -r- it behaves like an adjective. This slot becomes more important when discussing verb to adjective derivation and relative clauses.

Phase

This feature is used almost completely like the phase marking in Proto-peninsular. In some cases phase suffixes are used were they were not in proto-peninsular.

Iota-phase: This phase is marked on verbs in the imperfect, static and negated verbs

Upsilon-phase: This phase is marked on verbs in the perfect, pluperfect and progressive verbs

Alpha-phase: This phase is marked on imperative and prohibitive verbs and any verbs that don't take the other phases.

Adverbs must agree to the phase of the verb they modify.

Adjectives and Adjective Morphology

Syntactically adjectives are treated a lot like verbs with the participle ending but with couple differences. There are also two main classes of adjectives: ones from verb roots and ones from non-verb roots.

The adjectives from verbs roots take the participle affix -r-. The ones that are stative in meaning are proceded by the particle ʕarr and take the iota-phase ending. The adjectives with a dynamic meaning take the bare stem and take the upsilon-phase ending. Then those with a reflexive meaning (such as the english word "self-destructive") are preceded by the proclitic ur=

Adjectives from non-verb roots tend to take the past tense affix without any of the past tense meaning.

The comparative is marked with partial reduplication, and the superlative is marked with full reduplications

Derivational Morphology

Below are the common derivational affixes:

• -(a)rʕa-: This causes a verb to become a masculine animate nominal. -a- is added after consonants.

• -(ɛ)rma-: This causes a verb to become a feminine animate nominal. -ɛ- is added after consonants.

• -mmee/àhhee-: This causes a verb to become location nominal. The first form is used after vowels and the second form is used after consonants.

• -(i)ns-: This causes a nominal or adjective to become a dynamic transitive verb. -i- is added after consonants.

• -žug/ušk-, -mri/èr-: This causes a nominal or adjective to become a dynamic intransitive verb.

• -ad-: This causes an adjective to become a degree nominal.

• -iž-: This causes a verb to become a verb to become a verbal noun (close in function to a gerund)

• -dɛr-: This causes a nominal to become an adjective.

Syntax

Noun Phrase

The noun phrase consist of at least single noun, but it may include at least one of the following (in order of location in the phrase):
before a noun:

• relative clause
• determiner
• adjective

after a noun:

• particle
• case enclitic
• quantifier

Relative clause

The relative clause can be a full verb phrase or a single verb with a participle ending. The second form is treated like an adjective (just as discuss earlier). The relative clause made with a full verb phrase will be preceded by iir (inanimate nouns) or yaaħ (animate nouns) and are declined appropriately and takes the participle ending. When the full verb phrase is used the argument that corresponds to the noun being modified by the relative clause is dropped from the relative clause.

Determiners

Determiners can be nouns in the genitive, spatial deixis or definite articles.

Spacial deixis: There are three levels of spatial deixis: proximal (near to speaker), medial (close to listener) and distal (far from both speaker and listener).

animate

	singular	plural
proximate	gwaaħ	gwaħàr
medial	zwaaħ	zwaħàr
distal	žaaħ	žaaħàr

inanimate

	singular	plural
proximate	gu	gúr
medial	zu	zúr
distal	že	žér

Definite article:

	animate	inanimate
singular	yaaħ	iir
plural	yaħàr	ír

Noun

The spot for the noun can be filled either by a true noun, a noun derived from a verb acting like a gerund or an entire verb phrase. The verb phrase is only used when referring to someone or something's action or an action that affected to someone or something. When used like this the verb takes the gerund affix -aag- after consonants and -g- after vowels and the agent/subject takes the 2nd genitive. Note that the verb still takes the phase ending.

Particles

The only two particles that are known to be used are amaa and maa. Amaa was used in some passive constructs as discussed previously. The other particle, maa, is used to mark the topic of a sentence or the proximate noun. This makes Gaadràmarneš unique among the peninsular languages that maintain this particle since most others use it to mark previous information as old and the current information as new information.

Case, Case Enclitics, and postpostions

• 1st genitive: This is used to mark inalienable possession, permanent relation ships, composition of a noun and partition of a noun.

• 2nd genitive: This is used to mark impermanent relationships and possessions.

• 3rd genitive: This is used to mark location of origin.

• Accusative: This marks the object/patient and goal of a transitive verb and the theme of a ditransitive verb. After consonants it is marked with =am and after vowels, =m.

• Dative: This marks the recipient of a ditransitive verb and the beneficiary of an action. After consonants it is marked with =ŋi and after vowels, =ŋ.

• Ablative: This marks motion away from a location. After consonants it is marked with =lu and after vowels, =l.

• Instrumental: This marks an instrument with which an action was performed or means by which it was preform. It is marked with =ùd.

• Comiative: This mark a secondary agent or patient and it also marks coordination of two clauses and can be combine with other enclitics. After consonants it is marked with =igga and after vowels, =gga.

• Allative: This marks motion to a location. This case is marked with the post-position nižem instead of a enclitic.

• Locative: This marks location and is marked with the enclitic =niž.

• Prolative: This marks motion through or along a location and is marked with the post-position nižùd.

• The particle mà is combine with any post-position or enclitc to negate it.

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are the last component of the noun phrase. This is usually filled by a cardinal number but some other words with less specific meaning (i.e few, many, some, etc) can be used here too.

cardinal numbers

Gaadràmarneš	English
ibba	one
ibbabbu	two
mɔr	three
lwɛɛħ	four
idriŋŋ	five
mamir	six
nardà	seven
lalwa	eight
isrilubb	nine
isryaad	ten

Main Clause

The main clause in Gaadràmarneš consist of at least of a finite verb, but usually it consists of at least one noun phrase and a finite verb. There are three main types of main clauses: intransitive, transitive and ditransitive.

Intrasitive Clauses

These clauses consist of a finite and one argument. The argument of this clause will take the nominative case. What makes this type of clause different from the other is that if the argument is a pronoun then the pronoun may be dropped. The particle maa is not allowed in this type of clause unless there are noun phrases that express location or manner.

Example:
Iggwarwa žinmadžinmadi
boy.sg.nom iter~swim.present-ɩ
A boy is swimming around

Two special subtypes of the intransitive clause are existential and copular clauses. The existential clauses state the location of an object or the existence of an object at a location. The former meaning is constructed by stating the object and then the location with appropriate enclitic case and placing the verb úfyer- for animate objects or ʕar- for inanimate objects at the end of the clause.

Examples:

iddwaaħà baŋaaħ maa iir balees-niž úfyerʕarisku
animate-gen1 son.sg-ani.nom TOP def forest.sg.inani=loc exist-perf-past-υ
His son was in the forest

Vogg iir ibbɔl maa-niž ʕari
tree.sg.inani.nom def island.sg.inani TOP=loc exist.pres-ɩ
A tree is on the island.

The existential clauses of the second meaning are formed the same way but with one of the particles guun - "here", zuun - "there", žaan - "over there" placed at the beginning.

Example:

Guun pipyust maa iir vogg-niž ʕari
here pl~fruit.inani.nom TOP def tree.sg=loc exist.pres-ɩ
There are fruit on the tree here.

The copular clause is used to equate the subject with another nominal, or to express an attribute of the subject. These are formed by placing the subject first, followed by the adjective, then the verb dɛrúfyer for animate nouns or dɛrʕar for inanimate nouns is placed at the end.

Example:

Iir fwɔl idryɔŋ dɛrʕari
def tail.sg.inani.nom long be.pres-ɩ
The tail is long

Transitive Clauses

These clauses consist of a finite verb and two arguments. The first argument is the agent and it takes the nominative case and the second is either a patient or a beneficiary and takes the accusative or dative case. In this type of clause the argument taking the nominative case comes first, followed by the argument taking the accusative/dative case, and then the finite verb is placed at the end.

Example:

Gulaaw pipyust maa-m iblaas iŋŋeŋidɔlu
pig.sg-ani.nom pl~fruit TOP=acc a lot chew.pres-prog-υ
A pig is chewing a lot of fruit

Ditransitive Clauses

These clauses consist of a finite verb and three arguments. The first argument is the agent and it takes the nominative case, the second is the theme and third is the recipient or beneficiary. In this clause the agent comes first, then the theme and the recipient/beneficiary and then finally the finite verb.

Example:

Minaaħ gwaaħ dúgiŋ maa-m ʕígiŋŋa-ŋ úgudɔlu
woman.sg-ani proximal meat.sg.inani TOP=acc dog.sg-ani give.pres-prog-υ
A woman is giving a dag this meat

One of the features that Gaadràmarneš gained from PPI, is its frequent use of an applicative construction in ditransitive clauses. In this the dative case enclitic is prefix onto the verb, ŋ- before vowels and ŋi- before consonants, and then the verb is put into its participle form and the recipient/beneficiary is placed at the end of the clause and is unmarked for case. Note that while it may look very similar to a relative clause, it lacks the same meaning and the determiner of the recipient/beneficiary comes after the verb. Instead it acts like the topic particle.

Example:

Minaaħ gwaaħ dúgiŋ-am ŋúgudɔlru yaaħ ʕígiŋŋa
woman.sg-ani.nom proximal meat.sg.inani=acc appl-give.pres-prog-participle-υ def dog.sg-ani
A woman is giving the dog this meat

Adverbial Clause

In Gaadràmarneš adverbial clauses are very similar to nominalized verb phrases. There two types of adverbial clauses: temporal and locative. The first one is made by placing em before the nominalize verb phrase. For the second one the nominalized verb phrase has iin placed before it and then is followed by the appropriate case enclitic. The temporal adverbial is usually placed at the beginning of the main clause and the locative adverbial is placed before the verb.

A Fisherman and a Fish

Biihhu, yaaħ iddaaħammà tirèbaskaagu-ùd úfihɔlru, tirarʕa maa vihsa-m ibb iddaaħammà biihàtirad tirišisku. Yaaħ vihsa maa tirarʕa-m niškaadrisku “Tirarʕa laa, vúrɛ diid dɛrúfyeri. vúrɛ-m lɔrd-niž úfiħaziya-gga vúrɛ maštu kaaramrihu! Žɛm naahhà vúrɛ-m tiraagi laŋŋlai-gga ɛvɔɔħ iblasaat ŋúgudriwri nɛɛr.” Yaaħ tirarʕa maa vihsa-m niškaadrisku “Vúhhà izzib vúrɛ-niž ʕarannaaʕi, vúrɛ gɔmɛvɔɔħ gagaar žemɛvɔɔhhà vúrɛ-niž ʕarlari úgumgudurzannaaʕi”