Omari bųgieta ke-nómaru [bũˌᵑɡjɛ.ta kɛˈnɔ.ma.ɾu]
Period	c. 0 YP
Spoken in	Wohata plain
Total speakers	unknown
Writing system	unknown
Classification	T1 languages Omari
Typology
Basic word order	VOS
Morphology	polysynthetic; agglutinating w/ some fusion
Alignment	mostly NOM-ACC
Credits
Created by	Cedh

Omari is a language spoken in the Wohata plain in eastern Tuysáfa around 0 YP. It is part of the T1 language family, and thus related to Cednìtıt, East and West Yalan, Hkətl’ohnim, Tumetıęk and the Northeastern Bay Language.

Strictly speaking, "Omari" is primarily an ethnonym; a native term more specifically referring to the language is bųgieta ke-nómaru, translating to ‘speech of the Omari’. In this document, "Omari" will be used as a name for both the language and the people who speak it.

Phonology

Phoneme inventory

Consonants

	labial	coronal	palatal	dorsal	glottal
plosive	p · b	t · d		k · ɡ
affricate		ts	tʃ
fricative	f · v	s · z	ʃ · ʒ		h
nasal	m	n
liquid/approximant	w	ɾ	j	ʁ

The phonemic status of [ts tʃ] is debated. With the exception of dialects where the distinctions [ps :: ts :: ks] and [pʃ :: tʃ :: kʃ] have been lost, these affricates are probably best treated as clusters.
Most instances of [v z ʒ] could probably be analysed as allophones of /f s ʃ/, but the voiced fricatives are fully contrastive at least in word-initial position.
With the exception of [ts], all the consonants listed in the above table are written with separate single graphemes.
- [tʃ ʃ ʒ ʁ] are written č š j x.
- The semivowels [w j] are written w y word-initially and between vowels. Adjacent to a consonant, they are normally analysed as part of a diphthong, and accordingly written with vowel graphemes.
- All other consonants are written as in IPA (or with the text equivalent of their IPA representation).

Vowels

	front	central	back
close	i · ĩ		u · ũ
mid	e · ẽ		o · õ
open		a · ã

There are also numerous diphthongs, which are often treated as single phonemes rather than sequences of a vowel and a semivowel. As with the monophthongs, all diphthongs may be nasalised.

/ie ei ea eo iu ui oe oa ou uo/
/ĩẽ ẽĩ ẽã ẽõ ĩũ ũĩ õẽ õã õũ ũõ/

All vowels and diphthongs are written as in IPA, except that nasalisation is indicated with an ogonek instead of a tilde: į ę ą ǫ ų įę ęį ęą etc.

The diphthongs /eo oe ẽõ õẽ/ are written as io ue įǫ ųę in positions where they are pronounced as [jɔ wɛ jɔ̃ wɛ̃] (i.e. with a nonsyllabic onglide); note that these alternate graphemes reflect a purely allophonic change.

In order to simplify the description of Omari morphophonology, it makes sense to posit three additional vowel archiphonemes |I E A| and two additional diphthongs |IE EI|, which are traditionally transcribed as ‹î ê â iê êi› (‹ĩ ẽ ã iẽ ẽi› when nasalised). They are not distinct from regular /i e a ie ei/ on the surface, but they behave differently when they come into contact with morpheme boundaries that trigger certain morphophonological alternations.

Distribution and phonotactics

The general syllable structure is C(C)V(C).
All consonants can appear word-initially before a vowel.
All consonants can appear word-medially between vowels, although voiced fricatives cannot normally follow a single oral vowel, and voiceless fricatives other than /h/ cannot follow a nasalised vowel or a diphthong.
Word-final consonants are relatively rare, and limited to /p t k s ʃ m n/ and the clusters /ps ts ks/.
Word-initial consonant clusters are limited to:
- /ps ts ks pʃ tʃ kʃ/
- /sp st sk ʃp ʃt ʃk/
- /bɾ ɡɾ bʁ dʁ/
Word-medially, the following clusters are also permitted:
- /ɾb ɾd ɾɡ/
- /ɾm ɾn/
- /pp tt kk ff ss ʃʃ/
- /pps tts kks ppʃ ttʃ kkʃ/
- /bb dd ɡɡ mm nn ɾɾ/
- /bbɾ ɡɡɾ bbʁ ddʁ/
In addition to the above, all single consonants except /w j/ and all consonant clusters that do not end in /s ʃ ɾ ʁ/ may be followed by the semivowels [w j]. However, the latter are generally analysed as part of a diphthongal syllable nucleus in such positions.

Phonetic detail

/p t k/ are lightly aspirated before a vowel, except when preceded by /s ʃ/.
Geminate /pp tt kk/ may be realised as ejectives [p’ t’ k’], especially before a stressed vowel.
/ɾ/ is realised as a trill [r] word-initially and when geminated.
/h/ is palatalised to [ç] before /i e ĩ ẽ/ (including the onglide of diphthongs). Before other vowels, it may be realised as [x].
For some speakers, the clusters /ps ks pʃ kʃ/ merge into [ts ts tʃ tʃ] (and similarly for their long counterparts).
Some speakers pronounce intervocalic /ʁ/ as [ɣ] after oral vowels, and as [ŋ] after nasalised vowels.
The voiced plosives /b d ɡ/ are typically pronounced as prenasalised [mb nd ŋɡ] after nasalised vowels. In some dialects, they even become full-blown nasal consonants [m n ŋ] in this environment.
/b d ɡ/ may lenite to [β ð ɣ] or zero when preceded by an oral vowel and followed by [w j], especially in unstressed positions. In some dialects, lenited /d/ is lateralised to [l].
Vowel nasalisation is not contrastive, and therefore not written, before nasal consonants. Phonetically, nasalised and non-nasalised realisations of vowels in such positions are in free variation for most speakers.
The mid vowels /e o ẽ õ/ are usually realised as mid-open vowels [ɛ ɔ ɛ̃ ɔ̃].
Many diphthongs alternate between rising and falling based on syllable shape. When preceded by a complex onset not ending in a plosive, /ie ea eo iu/ are pronounced [iɛ̯ eɐ̯ ɛw iw], and /uo oa oe ui/ are pronounced [uɔ̯ oɐ̯ ɔj uj]. Otherwise, /ie ea eo iu/ are typically pronounced [jɛ ja jɔ ju], and /uo oa oe ui/ are pronounced [wɔ wa wɛ wi]. In stressed or word-final open syllables, /eo ea oa oe/ may still be rendered as [ɛw eɐ̯ oɐ̯ ɔj] though. (The same quality alternations apply for nasalised diphthongs.)

Stress

Omari has a dynamic stress accent, which is determined by a combination of lexical and positional factors according to the following rules:

Each content morpheme (i.e. verb or noun root) has an inherent accent location, which is usually the only syllable of monosyllabic morphemes, the final syllable of morphemes ending in a consonant, and the penultimate syllable in morphemes of two or more syllables which end in a vowel. Lexical entries formed through compounding or by addition of a so-called core suffix are treated as monomorphemic for the purposes of lexical accent, i.e. they have a single accent on the vowel before the last consonant.
Certain word stems (mostly recent loans) have an irregular lexical accent, which is marked in the lexicon with an acute diacritic on the accented vowel. (A prominent example is the name of the language: ómari). Irregularly accented syllables attract positional stress from any other syllables in the same morpheme or from any syllable directly adjacent to the irregularly accented syllable, and cannot become fully unstressed.
Regular lexically accented syllables become fully unstressed when immediately preceded by a positionally accented syllable, or when immediately followed by a syllable which carries both lexical and positional stress. Otherwise, they almost always carry at least secondary stress.
In words whose final syllable is lexically accented, positional stress falls on the final syllable.
In words that end in a vowel, positional stress otherwise falls on the penultimate syllable.
In words that end in a consonant, positional stress otherwise falls on the antepenultimate syllable, with the final syllable receiving a secondary accent.
However, syllables whose nucleus is part of a pronominal prefix can never be stressed. If the above rules would result in positional stress falling on a pronominal prefix, the lexically accented syllable of the content morpheme (typically word-final in this situation) receives stress instead.
The primary accent of the word is placed on the positionally accented syllable.
Every other remaining syllable receives a secondary accent, unless it is immediately adjacent to a lexically or positionally accented syllable, or if its nucleus belongs to a pronominal prefix.

If the primary accent does not predictably fall on the penultimate syllable (for vowel-final words) or on the antepenultimate syllable (for consonant-final words), it will be indicated with an acute accent in this document.

Morphophonology

There are several prominent morphophonological alternations in Omari which affect the surface form of stems and/or affixes when they come into contact with each other. All of these alternations are to some extent predictable from the phonological environment, but there are numerous idiosyncrasies and irregularities.

A number of diacritics will be used in this document to mark exceptional morphophonological characteristics:

	description	example
ː	preceding single vowel undergoes breaking	te- + -ːna- → tiena
~	preceding vowel undergoes nasalisation	te- + ~da- → tęda
ˤ	preceding or following vowel undergoes flattening	ti- + -ˤka- → teka
°	preceding or following vowel undergoes rounding	ta- + -°ma- → toma
‘	preceding or following consonant undergoes softening	tekˤ- + -‘ųǫ- → tegǫą
.	preceding or following consonant resists softening	tekˤ.- + -‘ųǫ- → tekǫą
+	preceding or following consonant undergoes lenition	tekˤ- + +u- → teho
,	morpheme behaves irregularly under lenition (details given in morpheme list or lexicon)	teš- + +u- → teru teš,- + +u- → toeyu

Phonologically conditioned alternations

The following alternations are synchronically productive and occur automatically in the relevant environments, typically after all morphologically conditioned morphophonological rules have been applied:

Consonant sandhi

Single /f s ʃ/ become voiced after diphthongs and nasalised vowels, and are written v z j in these positions.
Conversely, /z ʒ/ become voiceless when they come into contact with a voiceless obstruent, and are then written s š.
/w/ is fortified to /v/ (written v) after /ou/ or before /u uo oa ũ ũõ õã/, and /j/ is likewise fortified to /ʒ/ (written j) after /ei/ or before /i ie ea ĩ ĩẽ ẽã/. These alternations also affect glides which are epenthetic, but they generally only apply after oral vowels.
When preceded by a nasalised vowel, intervocalic /w j/ (including epenthetic instances) surface as /m n/ (written m n).
Fricatives assimilate completely into a following fricative other than /h/, forming a voiceless geminated version of the second fricative. /h/ becomes k after /s ʃ/, and assimilates completely into any adjacent fricative otherwise.
Plosives assimilate completely into a following plosive, forming a geminated plosive, which will be voiced (a) if both of the original plosives are voiced, or (b) if the resulting geminate stands adjacent to a nasalised vowel or underlying /ɾ ʁ/. If neither of these conditions is met, the resulting geminate will be voiceless. There is one major exception to plosive assimilation: Instances of /t/ which are immune to softening will surface as s instead when adjacent to a labial or velar plosive, which in turn becomes voiceless.
Voiceless plosives which are not immune to softening become voiced between vowels, but only if they are not the first consonant in the main lexical stem of a word.
The voiced plosives /b d ɡ/ become voiceless when adjacent to /s ʃ/.
At the end of a word or when sandwiched between two nasalised vowels, /b d ɡ/ turn into the nasals m n n. In the latter position, voiceless plosives which are not immune to softening are also affected.
Morpheme-initial instances of /b d ɡ/ which cause nasalisation of a preceding vowel also become m n n when preceded by /ɾ/.
Nasals assimilate in POA to a following nasal, forming geminate mm nn.
Underlying /dɾ ɡʁ/ surface as rr gg medially, and as di g word-initially.
/ɾ/ assimilates completely into preceding /s ʃ/, forming geminated fricatives ss šš. After instances of /p t k/ which are immune to softening, /ɾ/ also becomes š, and after consonant clusters ending in /p t k/ it surfaces as i.
Coda /ɾ/ is deleted word-finally or before consonants other than single /b d ɡ m n ɾ/, with compensatory breaking of the preceding vowel if the syllable in question does not meet the conditions for diphthong reduction. When preceded by a nasalised vowel and followed by a consonant, coda /ɾ/ assimilates completely into the following consonant, yielding a geminate. Underlying /ɾd/ surfaces as rr after a nasalised vowel.

Vowel synaeresis

When two vowels come into contact at morpheme boundaries, they combine into a diphthong according to the table below. Note that the vowel archiphonemes ‹î ê â› behave differently than other instances of /i e a/.

	i	î	e	ê	a	â	o	u
i	ei¹	ei¹	ie	ie	ie	ea	eo	iu
î	ei¹	êi³	ie	ie	êi³	ea	uo	ou²
e	ie	ie	ie	ie	ie	ea	eo	eo
ê	ie	ie	ie	ea	ea	oa	uo	uo
a	ie	êi³	ie	ea	ea	oa	uo	uo
â	ea	ea	ea	oa	oa	oa	oa	oa
o	oe	uo	oe	uo	uo	oa	uo	uo
u	ui	ou²	oe	uo	uo	oa	uo	ou²

¹) ei in open syllables or in stressed word-final syllables ending with a single consonant, ie otherwise

²) ou in open syllables or in stressed word-final syllables ending with a single consonant, uo otherwise

³) ou/uo adjacent to a labial consonant; ei/ie otherwise. Rules ¹/² also apply.

All instances of ea resulting from vowel synaeresis become oa when adjacent to a labial consonant.

Nasalised vowels combine in the same way as oral vowels. When two vowels of different nasality combine, the resulting diphthong will be nasalised. Also note that the top-left to bottom-right diagonal in this table is identical to the outcome of the morphologically conditioned process of vowel breaking.

When an existing diphthong comes into contact with another vowel, the diphthong undergoes reduction first, and the resulting vowel sequence is then resolved according to the above table. However, stressed diphthongs, morpheme-final diphthongs marked with a final ‹.›, and sequences of more than three single vowel segments in a row will not be reduced. Instead, an epenthetic glide will be inserted at the morpheme boundary, typically /w/ after a rounded vowel and /j/ after an unrounded vowel (but note that these glides will become /m n/ after nasalised vowels, and may be fortified to /v ʒ/ in some other environments). If there is a rising diphthong immediately after the relevant morpheme boundary, its onglide will often become fully consonantal instead, thereby rendering epenthesis unnecessary.

Diphthong raising

A fairly minor, but regular process is diphthong raising, which produces the following alternations:

uo oa → ou (before intervocalic p b m v w, with the latter fortifying to v)
ie ea → ei (before intervocalic k g j y, with the latter fortifying to j)
oa → uo (before geminated pp bb mm ff)
ea → ie (before š č and geminated kk gg)

The same alternations apply for nasalised vowels. Diphthong raising is blocked before morpheme boundaries which trigger flattening.

Diphthong reduction

In unstressed syllables adjacent to a syllable with primary or secondary stress, underlying diphthongs are reduced to monophthongs if at least one of the following conditions is met:

the unstressed syllable in question contains coda /ɾ/
the unstressed syllable in question has a complex onset and is followed by a consonant other than a voiced fricative
an immediately following stressed syllable has a complex onset, and the unstressed syllable in question contains a falling diphthong
the adjacent stressed syllable is closed, and the unstressed syllable in question contains a falling diphthong
the adjacent stressed syllable contains both a diphthong and a coda consonant
the adjacent stressed syllable contains a diphthong of the same orientation (rising or falling) as the nucleus of the unstressed syllable in question

This process affects even diphthongs which are composed of two separate vowel phonemes across a morpheme boundary; however, diphthongs in lexically accented syllables of a content morpheme (including the roots of incorporated nouns) do not undergo reduction. The following alternations are observed:

ei → i
ou → u
ie ea → e
uo oa → o
ui êi iu → î (resolves to u when adjacent to a labial consonant, and to i otherwise)
oe iê eo → ê (resolves to o when adjacent to a labial consonant, and to e otherwise)

Nasalised diphthongs are reduced in the same way as oral diphthongs.

If the above rules would result in a voiced fricative following an oral monophthong, the original diphthong is not reduced, but instead shifts from rising to falling or vice versa. (For diphthongs involving close and mid vowels, this results in a phonemic change; the relevant correspondence is ei êi ou <> ie iê uo.)

Morphologically conditioned alternations

Vowel breaking

Under certain morphologically conditioned circumstances, vowels before a morpheme boundary may break into diphthongs. This process is highly sensitive to prosody: It occurs consistently in syllables with primary or secondary stress, but is usually blocked in unstressed syllables, especially when an adjacent syllable both carries a primary or secondary accent and has a diphthongal nucleus. Morpheme boundaries which may trigger vowel breaking are marked with the diacritic ‹ː› (reflecting the fact that the process appears to have originated as an alternation in vowel length, considering that its outcome is identical to the top-left to bottom-right diagonal of the vowel synaeresis table).

i → ei in open syllables or in stressed word-final syllables ending with a single consonant, ie otherwise
î → êi in open syllables or in stressed word-final syllables ending with a single consonant, iê otherwise
e → ie
ê → ea
a → ea
â → oa
o → uo
u → ou in open syllables or in stressed word-final syllables ending with a single consonant, uo otherwise

The same alternations apply for nasalised vowels. If a diphthongising morpheme boundary also triggers rounding and/or flattening, diphthongisation is applied first (i.e. the resulting diphthong functions as the input of the other process).

Vowel rounding

Vowel rounding typically occurs in the vicinity of labial consonants, but it occasionally happens in other situations as well. Rounding environments will be indicated with the diacritic ‹°›.

î → u (o if flattening also applies)
ê → a (only when not adjacent to a coronal or palatal consonant)
a → o
êi → ou
iê → uo
ea → oa

The same alternations apply for nasalised vowels.

Vowel flattening

"Flattening" is the traditional label for a process that produces a more open vowel quality than usual. This process affects vowels adjacent to x, adjacent to some instances of k g h, and exceptionally in a few other situations. Flattening environments will be marked with the diacritic ‹ˤ›.

i → e
î → a (o if rounding also applies)
ê → a
u → o
uo → oa
ea → oa
ie iê → ea

The same alternations apply for nasalised vowels.

Vowel nasalisation

Nasalisation simply changes an oral vowel or diphthong to its nasalised counterpart. Nasalising environments are indicated by the diacritic ‹~›. Where this process operates progressively (i.e. a morpheme triggers nasalisation of the following vowel), an immediately following single fricative becomes voiced as a result. Note also that single plosives which are not immune to softening will turn into nasals when surrounded by nasalised vowels on both sides, rendering nasalisation on the first vowel non-distinctive.

i e a o u → į ę ą ǫ ų
ie ei ea eo iu ui oe oa ou uo → įę ęį ęą ęǫ įų ųį ǫę ǫą ǫų ųǫ

Consonant softening

Consonant softening is typically triggered by nasalised vowels (but any given nasalised vowel will be specified to soften either a preceding or a following consonant); voiceless plosives and single voiceless fricatives usually also undergo softening when adjacent to r x. Softening environments are marked with the diacritic ‹‘›. It should be noted that the outcome of this process is dependent on the precise ordering of segments, and that a sizeable number of morphemes are immune to softening (the latter is marked with a period ‹.› at the relevant morpheme boundary).

environment	#‘_V	Ṽ‘_V	V_‘Ṽ	Vr‘_V	V_‘rV	V_‘xṼ
p t k	b d g	b d g	b d g	rb rd rg	br rr gr	bx dx gg
f s š	w z y	v z j	f s š	ːv ːz ːj	ur ss ir	ųx h h
h	x	x	h	ːh	ːr	h
pp tt kk	(does not occur)	bb dd gg	bb dd gg	ːbb ːdd ːgg	bbr ddi ggr	bbx ddx gg
ps pš ks kš	br br gr gr	br br gr gr	ps pš ks kš	ːps ːpš ːks ːkš	ps pš ks kš	ps pš ks kš

Single plosives which become voiced through softening will further change into nasals if they are surrounded by nasalised vowels on both sides.

Consonant lenition

Consonant lenition is another type of consonant mutation which occurs at specific morpheme boundaries. Leniting environments are marked with the symbol ‹+›.

The outcome of lenition is sometimes highly irregular; the following table therefore lists only the most common alternations. Note that [+plosive][+sibilant] clusters are affected only when preceded by a leniting morpheme, not when followed by one. Irregular lenited allomorphs will be given separately on a morpheme-by-morpheme basis.

environment	V+_V	V_+V
p t k kˤ	f s š hˤ	f s š hˤ
b d g gˤ	m n n ~xˤ	m n n ~xˤ
f s š	w r r	w r r
ts č	ss šš	ts č
ps ks ˤks	uz iz ˤz	ps ks ˤks
pš kš ˤkš	uj ij ˤj	pš kš ˤkš

Nominal morphology

Nominal words in Omari fall in three morphologically distinct classes: pronouns, true nouns, and descriptives.

True nouns

True nouns can be divided in several subgroups with slightly different morphological characteristics. This is done along the lines of animacy (animate vs. inanimate), number (count nouns vs. collective nouns vs. singulative nouns), and possession (independent nouns vs. inherently possessed nouns).

Number and animacy

Number and animacy are indicated with fusional prefixes. Animacy is often not immediately obvious and will become apparent only in verbal subject agreement, but number marking is always fairly transparent. Count nouns can appear in the singular or in the plural; collective nouns can appear in the collective (refers to the collection as a single whole), in the distributive (refers to the members of the collection individually, but all at the same time), and in the plural (refers to a plurality of collections). Nouns referring to a single member of a collection can be derived from collectives by adding a singulative prefix; these nouns behave like normal count nouns with regard to number agreement, but their plurals are formed with a special fusional prefix.

**count nouns**
	singular	plural
animate	w°-/o-/Ø-	n-/‘-/nu+
inanimate	h-/Ø-	n-/‘-/nê+

**collective nouns**
	collective	distributive	plural
animate	m°-/‘-/mo+	em°-/ę‘-/emo+	čum°-/čų‘-/čų+
inanimate	y-/i-	ęx-/ę‘-	čuy-/ču-

**singulative nouns**
	singular	plural
animate	nogǫ-/nogę‘-/nogǫą+	čonǫ-/čonę‘-/čonǫą+
inanimate	noge-	čǫge-

The animate singular prefix for count nouns is w°- before vowels (zero when preceded by a cliticised preposition), and either o- or zero before consonants. As it is not fully predictable which nouns take o- and which ones don't, the prefixed form will be given in the lexicon.
The inanimate singular prefix for count nouns is h- before vowels and zero before consonants. Some words irregularly display an initial consonant mutation.
The count noun plural prefixes are n- before vowels, zero with consonant softening before single voiceless obstruents, and nu+/nê+ with consonant lenition elsewhere. When preceded by another prefix or proclitic (e.g. a possessive marker or a preposition), the nu+/nê+ forms reduce to nasalisation of the preceding vowel plus lenition of the following stem-initial consonant, i.e. the resulting affix shape is ~_+.
Of the animate prefixes for collective and singulative nouns, the first form is used before vowels, the second form (with softening) before labial obstruents, and the third form (with lenition) before other consonants.
Of the inanimate prefixes for collective nouns, the first form is used before vowels, and the second form before consonants.

Possession

Omari has a closed class of inherently possessed nouns, which mandatorily take an additional prefix agreeing with their possessor. The most typical members of this class are body part terms, but some other words referring to parts of a larger whole are also treated as inherently possessed. All inherently possessed nouns are count nouns.

The basic forms of the possessive prefixes, which appear immediately before the number/animacy markers, are t(e)- for 1st person possession, k(i)- for 2nd person possession, and b(u)- for 3rd person possession. However, possessive and number/animacy prefixes are fused to a considerable degree. The combined forms are as follows:

	singular					plural
	_V	_C¹	_C²	_C	_R³	_V	_C⁴	_C
1.poss	t-	t-	to-	te-	d-³	dį-	tę‘-	tę+
2.poss	k-	k-	ko-	ki-	g-³	gr~	kį‘-	kį+
3.poss	b°-	p-	bo-	bu-	b-³	br~	bų‘-	bų+

¹) Before single /s ʃ/.

²) Before animate consonant-initial stems that take the singular prefix o-.

³) When attached directly to a singular noun stem beginning with one of the resonants /m n r ʁ/, the 1st person possessive prefix combines with the stem-initial consonant as dų- dį- di- dx~ respectively, the 2nd person possessive prefix combines with the stem-initial consonant as gų- gr~ gr- g~, and the 3rd person possessive prefix combines with the stem-initial consonant as bų- br~ br- bx~.

⁴) Before single obstruents.

When preceded by a proclitic (e.g. a preposition), the 3rd person possessive prefix causes a proclitic-final vowel to become nasalized.

Independent nouns (i.e. nouns which are not inherently possessed) do not take possessive prefixes.

Case

True nouns inflect for case in a simple direct-oblique system. The direct case is the unmarked citation form; the oblique case is formed with the suffix +u, which replaces any final vowel and causes lenition of the preceding consonant where applicable. Some words display stem alternations in the oblique case; such irregularities are indicated in the lexicon.

Case usage is fairly straightforward: The oblique case is used for the objects of many prepositions, for overt possessors of inherently possessed nouns, in partitive constructions, and in absolute constructions which portray the noun as an adverbial adjunct to the clause as a whole. The direct case is used everywhere else.

Pronouns

Because the core participants of a clause are mandatorily marked on the verb, Omari does not use free pronouns very often. They are mostly employed for emphasis, for tracking several different third person participants, or for assigning an oblique role to a participant that has already been mentioned.

There are two major subtypes of pronouns in the language: Personal pronouns, which exist only for speech act participants (i.e. 1st and 2nd person), and demonstratives, which are used for 3rd person referents. All pronouns inflect for case.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns inflect for number, case, and politeness. Among the polite pronouns there is also an additional distinction between physical and mental pronouns; the former are used with verbs of action and in statements about physical properties of the referent, and the latter are used with verbs of communication or mental activity and in statements about the emotional state of the referent.

	singular			plural
	1st person (speaker)
	informal	polite physical	polite mental	informal	polite physical	polite mental
direct	toe	niu	nįdu	si	dįų	tędu
oblique	tou	nįęzu	nįtsu	su	dįųzu	tętsu

	singular			plural
	2nd person (listener)
	informal	polite physical	polite mental	informal	polite physical	polite mental
direct	ri	sįų	sįdu	gi	gįų	kįdu
oblique	ru	sįųzu	sįtsu	gu	gįųzu	kįtsu

Demonstratives

Omari has distinct demonstrative pronouns for referents of different animacy, shape, and size, constituting what appears to be a fairly elaborate noun class system. However, the "classes" represented by these classifying demonstratives are not fixed. A given referent may be referred to with any semantically appropriate demonstrative (provided it has the correct animacy value); the assignment of pronouns may vary from speaker to speaker, from conversation to conversation for the same speaker, or even within the same discourse, depending on which aspect of the referent the speaker considers salient.

Demonstrative pronouns distinguish number, case, and three degrees of deixis. Their inflection is somewhat fusional; all the relevant forms are given in the table below.

Animate demonstratives

	singular			plural
	male adult human
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	katti	kasko	kotoe	gatti	gasko	gotoe
oblique	katsu	kato	kotu	gatsu	gato	gotu

	female adult human
	singular			plural
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	rįdi	rąko	rųve	dįdi	dęąko	dįųve
oblique	rįzu	rąxo	rinu	dįzu	dęąxo	dinu

	child
	singular			plural
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	šǫdi	šǫko	šǫve	yǫdi	yǫko	yǫve
oblique	šǫzu	šǫxo	šomu	yǫzu	yǫxo	yomu

	large animal
	singular			plural
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	fųǫrri	fǫąko	fǫųve	numorri	numoako	numouve
oblique	fųǫzu	fǫąho	fuonu	numouzu	numoaho	numouru

	small animal
	singular			plural
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	bradi	brako	brofe	nuradi	nurako	nurofe
oblique	brasu	braho	brou	nurasu	nuraho	nuróu

Inanimate demonstratives

	singular			plural
	large or bulky object
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	šinį	šękǫ	šųvę	nerinį	nerąkǫ	nerųvę
oblique	šįzu	šęxo	šinu	nerįzu	nerąxo	nerinu

	small object
	singular			plural
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	skuedį	skoakǫ	skuevę	neskuedį	neskoakǫ	neskuevę
oblique	skuezu	skoaho	skuevu	neskuezu	neskoaho	neskuevu

	long object
	singular			plural
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	psidį	psekǫ	psifę	niotidį	niotekǫ	niotifę
oblique	psisu	pseho	psiu	niotisu	nioteho	niotíu

	flat object
	singular			plural
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	wenį	wąkǫ	wąvę	nuonį	nǫąkǫ	nǫųvę
oblique	węzu	wąxo	wenu	nųǫzu	nǫąxo	nuonu

	soft object
	singular			plural
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	hiotį	hiokǫ	heffę	niotį	niokǫ	neffę
oblique	hessu	hioho	hefu	nessu	nioho	nefu

	hollow container
	singular			plural
	proximal	medial	distal	proximal	medial	distal
direct	gronį	grǫkǫ	grǫvę	neronį	nerǫkǫ	nerǫvę
oblique	grǫzu	grǫxo	grǫvu	nerǫzu	nerǫxo	nerǫvu

	collective
	liquid
	proximal	medial	distal
direct	wittį	wekkǫ	wikkǫę
oblique	wiču	weko	wigu

	collective
	granular mass
	proximal	medial	distal
direct	hadį	hakǫ	hofę
oblique	hasu	hako	huo

The inanimate demonstratives for liquids and granular masses refer to collective inanimate nouns. Plurals and singulatives for these can be formed simply by adding the appropriate nominal number/animacy prefixes.

Animate collective nouns, as well as inanimate collective nouns whose referents do not belong to the two aforementioned categories, do not have demonstrative pronouns of their own. Instead, they are referred to with plural forms of the semantically appropriate countable pronoun.

Descriptives

A peculiarity of noun phrases in Omari is the frequent use of descriptives, which are not really "nominals" in the traditional sense, but rather inflected verbs that are used syntactically not as a clause, but as an argument of another verb. (Unlike complement clauses, they do not denote the event or state which they describe, but stand in referentially for their subject.) The meaning of descriptives is often highly conventionalized and idiomatic; established descriptives are therefore included as separate nominal entries in the lexicon. This word class is very productive; in fact, coining new descriptives is one of the major word-forming strategies.

Since the morphology of descriptives is essentially the same as that of verbs, most of it will be discussed in the section about verbal morphology. The only specifically nominal morphology that descriptives may take is the oblique case suffix -u (which does not trigger lenition when used with descriptives). It is found in slightly more restricted circumstances compared to true nouns, being added to descriptives only when they are used (a) in apposition to a pronoun which is also marked for the oblique case, or (b) in adverbial absolute constructions.

Prepositions

Prepositions in Omari are proclitics, which are phonologically bound to the first word in their complement noun phrase. Prepositions generally require the head noun or pronoun of their complement to appear in a specific case (direct or oblique). Some prepositions can appear with either case, typically with a different meaning.

citation form	_V	_C	_CC	case	meaning
ke=	kˤ-	k-/ke-¹	ke-	obl	of, belonging to
dį=	dį-	dį-	dį-	dir, obl	on, at (locative with dir, temporal with obl)
wę=	weni-	wę‘-	wę‘-	dir, obl	near, close to (locative with dir, temporal with obl)
koge=	kogˤ-	kok-	koge-	obl	within view distance of
tsǫge=	tsǫgˤ-	tsǫg‘-	tsǫge-	obl	touching; outside of
ye=	y-	ye-	ye-	dir	above, on top of
tu=	tu-	t-/tu-²	tu-	dir	towards, in the direction of, on the way to
še=	š-	š-/še-³	še-	dir, obl	as, under the name of (with dir); behind, beyond (with obl)
yekke=	yekkˤ-	yekke-	yekke-	obl	after (temporal)
brųge=	brųgˤ-	brųg‘-	brųge-	dir, obl	before (locative with dir, temporal with obl)
spo=	sp°-	spo-	spo-	obl	throughout, among, all around
ouge=	ougˤ-	ouk-	ouge-	obl	inside of
suske=	suskˤ-	suske-	suske-	obl	relevant to, associated with
dioge=	diogˤ-	diok-	dioge-	obl	with regard to, for the purpose of

¹) k- before prevocalic /s ʃ/; combines with prevocalic /m n r ʁ/ into gų- gr~ gr- g~; otherwise ke-.

²) t- before prevocalic /s ʃ/; combines with prevocalic /m n r ʁ/ into dų- dį- di- dx~; otherwise tu-.

³) š- before prevocalic /p t k/; še- otherwise.

It should be noted that prepositions are not used as often as they would be in other languages, because many spatial relations (especially orientation and movement) are preferrably expressed via directional preverbs on the main verb in a sentence.

Verbal morphology

The central element of Omari morphosyntax is the polysynthetic verb, which exhibits mandatory pronominal marking for up to three arguments, optional prefixes for aspect, optional prefixes specifying direction, optional modal suffixes, optional suffixes for pluractionality, and noun incorporation. The structure of the verb is mostly agglutinative; a number of verbal affixes also exhibit a small degree of fusional behavior. The Omari verb can be summarized as follows:

-6	-5	-4	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2
negation	subject/object/tense	aspect	(secondary object)	<noun>	(direction)	STEM	(modality)	(pluractionality)

Negation

The first slot in the verb can only contain a single morpheme, the negative marker de-. This prefix becomes d- before vowels, t- before a following prevocalic /s/, and combines with a following prevocalic /ʃ/ into č-.

Pronominal prefixes

The second slot contains pronominal prefixes that encode the person and number of the subject, and in transitive verbs also the person of the object. In the 3rd person singular, animacy of the subject is distinguished as well. (In ditransitive verbs, the "object" part of these prefixes refers to the primary object, which typically corresponds to the semantic role of patient, experiencer, goal, recipient, or beneficiary.)

There are two different sets of pronominal prefixes, the choice of which indicates the tense of the verb. The basic forms of these prefixes are as follows:

object →	none		1st person		2nd person		3rd person		reflexive
non-past tense
subject ↓	_V	_C	_V/C¹	_C²	_V/C¹	_C²	_V/N	_C	_V³	_V/C⁴
1sg	ni-		nis.-	nei-⁵	niš.-	nei-⁵	nin-	nį‘-	nig-	nik-
1pl	š-	še-	šes.-	šie-	šeš.-	šie-	šen-	šę‘-	šeg-	šek-
2sg	r-	rî-	ris.-	riê-	riš.-	riê-	rin-	rĩ‘-	rig-	rik-
2pl	g-³	gi-⁴	gis.-	gei-⁵	giš.-	gei-⁵	gin-	gį‘-	geg-	gek-
3sg.i	h-	e-	es.-	ye-	eš.-	ye-	en-	ę‘-	eg-	ek-
3sg.a	m°-	mu-	mus.-	mou-⁵	muš.-	mou-⁵	mun-	mų‘-	mug-	muk-
3pl	n-	nê-	nes.-	nea-	neš.-	nea-	nen-	nẽ‘-	nag-	nak-

rel	f°-	fê-	fes.-	fea-	feš.-	fea-	fen-	fẽ‘-	feg-	fek-

¹) Before vowels, before single voiceless obstruents, and before single resonants. Stem-initial single nasals and /r/ assimilate completely into the sibilants, forming geminate ss or šš, with original nasals causing compensatory nasalisation of the following vowel, and original /m/ additionally causing insertion of |u| before a following stressed vowel. Stem-initial /f h ʁ/ mutate to p k k instead when preceded by a sibilant-final prefix allomorph.

²) Before single voiced obstruents, before single /j w/, and before consonant clusters. When the following syllable receives stress, the diphthong may be subject to reduction. Also note that these forms do not distinguish whether the object is 1st or 2nd person.

³) Before unstressed vowels.

⁴) Before stressed vowels and before consonants.

⁵) nei- gei- mou- before single consonants, nie- gie- muo- before consonant clusters, ni- gi- mu- under reduction.

object →	none		1st person		2nd person		3rd person		reflexive
past tense
subject ↓	_V	_C	_V/C¹	_C²	_V/C¹	_C²	_V/N	_C	_V³	_V/C⁴
1sg	t-	tî-⁹	šus.-	šou-⁵	šuš.-	šou-⁵	šun-	šų‘-	šug-	šuk-
1pl	w°-	u-	us.-	ou-⁵	uš.-	ou-⁵	un-	ų‘-	og-	ok-
2sg	y-	yê-	yes.-	yê-	yeš.-	yê-	in-	yẽ‘-	yeg-	yek-
2pl	k-⁷	ku-⁹	kus.-	kou-⁵	kuš.-	kou-⁵	kun-	kų‘-	kog-	kok-
3sg.i	s-	sa-	sas.-	sea-	seš.-	sea-	san-	są‘-	šk-	ški-
3sg.a	p°-	po-⁹	bįę-⁶		pši-⁶		br~⁸	brẽ‘-	pog-	pok-
3pl	hˤ-	ho-	hos.-	hoa-	hoš.-	hoa-	hon-	hǫ‘-	hog-	hok-

rel	f°-	fê-	fes.-	fea-	feš.-	fea-	fen-	fẽ‘-	feg-	fek-

¹) Before vowels, before single voiceless obstruents, and before single resonants. Stem-initial single nasals and /r/ assimilate completely into the sibilants, forming geminate ss or šš, with original nasals causing compensatory nasalisation of the following vowel, and original /m/ additionally causing insertion of |u| before a following stressed vowel. Stem-initial /f h ʁ/ mutate to p k k instead when preceded by a sibilant-final prefix allomorph.

²) Before single voiced obstruents, before single /j w/, and before consonant clusters. When the following syllable receives stress, the diphthong may be subject to reduction. Also note that these forms do not distinguish whether the object is 1st or 2nd person.

³) Before unstressed vowels.

⁴) Before stressed vowels and before consonants.

⁵) šou- ou- kou- before single consonants, šuo- wo- muo- before consonant clusters, šu- u- ku- under reduction.

⁶) bį- pš- before vowels, bįę- pši- before consonants.

⁷) k- before unstressed vowels, ki- before stressed vowels.

⁸) Before vowels only.

⁹) The 1sg, 2pl, and 3sg.a intransitive prefixes |tî- ku- po-| fuse with stem-initial resonants and fricatives as follows: /m/ > dų- gų- bų-; /n/ > dį- gr~ br~; /r/ > di- gr- br-; /ʁ/ > dx~ g~ bx~; /s/ > ts- ks- ps-; /ʃ/ > č- kš- pš-; /f/ > tu- ku- ku-; /h/ > t- k- p°-.

Aspect and secondary object marking

The third slot in the verb can hold one of three aspect markers (imperfective, perfective, and resultative), and the fourth slot will contain a marker for the person of the secondary object (typically in the semantic role of instrument or theme) if the verb is ditransitive. Since these markers are fused to some extent, they will be described together.

Each verb stem is either perfective/dynamic or imperfective/stative by default (i.e. in the absence of an overt aspect marker). Only inherently perfective verbs can be overtly marked as imperfective, and only inherently imperfective verbs can be overtly marked as imperfective. Both types of verbs may be marked as resultative.

secondary object →	none		1st person		2nd person		3rd person
aspect ↓	_V	_C	_V/C¹	_C²	_V/C¹	_C²	_V/N	_C
(default)	-Ø-		-s.-	-se-³	-š.-	-ši-³	-n-	-nê-³
imperfective	-ih-	-i-	-is.-	-ise-	-iš.-	-iši-	-in-	-į‘-
perfective	-erd-	-er-/-eo-⁴	-iets-	-ietse-	-ieč-	-ieči-	-err~⁵	-ęǫ‘-
resultative	-tsu-		-tsus.-	-tsuse-	-tsuš.-	-tsuši-	-tsun-	-tsų‘-

¹) Before vowels, before single voiceless obstruents, and before single resonants. Stem-initial single nasals and /r/ assimilate completely into the sibilants, forming geminate ss or šš, with original nasals causing compensatory nasalisation of the following vowel, and original /m/ additionally causing insertion of |u| before a following stressed vowel. Stem-initial /f h ʁ/ mutate to p k k instead when preceded by a sibilant-final prefix allomorph.

²) Before single voiced obstruents, before single /j w/, and before consonant clusters.

³) These allomorphs are also used when the primary subject/object/tense prefix ends in a consonant. -nê- becomes -‘rẽ- after a reflexive prefix; note the special combined 3sg.i.past.refl>3 form sagrẽ-.

⁴) -er- before nasals, -eo- before all other consonants.

⁵) -err~ before vowels, -errẽ- before nasals.

Noun incorporation

The fifth slot in the verb can be used for incorporating a noun stem, which marks its referent as backgrounded (indefinite, conventional, or established-as-a-topic-but-temporarily-out-of-focus). When a directional prefix follows, noun incorporation has no effect on valency, and the semantic role of the incorporated noun is determined by the directional prefix (typically that of goal, source, or ground). If no directional prefix is present, noun incorporation will typically reduce the valency of transitive verbs by one, and the incorporated noun will usually be in the semantic role of patient, experiencer, or theme.

It should be noted that Omari has a closed class of bound nominal stems which cannot be used on their own, but only in compounds or incorporated into a verb. These stems mostly have a fairly general meaning, and their usage resembles a classifier system in certain ways, all the more so since some of these stems are remarkably similar to the classificatory demonstrative pronouns.

Directional prefixes

The sixth slot in the verb can host several prefixes with directional meaning. They may sometimes function like applicatives in that they increase the valency of the verb by adding a location, target, or source as a core argument, but they may also be used to simply add a general directional shade of meaning with no effect on argument structure. When the verb contains both an incorporated noun and a directional prefix, the incorporated noun will normally be interpreted as the complement of the directional morpheme.

The last two of the prefixes in the table below, -erm°- and -ut.-, can also be used as applicatives targeting the primary object of the verb. If they are used in this way, they appear earlier on in the verbal template, namely in slot -5 which would normally hold aspectual morphemes. As a corollary of this, applicativisation is compatible only with the default aspect of a verb stem.

_V	_C	meaning	complement role
-°m°-/-‘ų-¹	-°mo-/-‘ųǫ-¹	towards	goal
-skˤ-	-skâ-	away from	source
-st-	-sta-	into a vessel or movable container	goal
-.teni-	-.tę‘-	into a building or area	goal
-ːti+/-oti+²		out of a vessel or movable container	source
-ˤgem°-	-ˤgę‘-	out of a building or area	source
-šahˤ-	-šoa-	upwards	ground
-ˤgˤ-	-ˤga+	downwards	ground
-‘ru-/-nu-/-iu-³		up onto high ground	goal
-ˤgaskˤ-	-ˤgaskâ-	down from high ground	source
-ien-⁴	-įę‘-⁴	over, across, beyond	ground
-erm°-⁵	-ermo-⁵	for the benefit of, with the purpose of	beneficiary
-ut.-	-utî-/-us-⁶	without, ignoring, to the detriment of	theme, (anti)beneficiary

¹) -‘ų-/-‘ųǫ- after an incorporated noun stem that ends in an obstruent; -°m°-/-°mo- otherwise.

²) -oti+ after an incorporated noun stem that ends in a consonant; -ːti+ otherwise.

³) -nu- after a nasalised vowel; -iu- after a consonant cluster; combines with preceding /s ʃ/ into -ssu- -ššu-; otherwise -‘ru-.

⁴) -ien-/-įę‘- after a consonant (note that this morpheme selects the prevocalic allomorph of preceding prefixes where possible); -nien-/-nįę‘- after a nasalised vowel; -yen-/-yę‘- otherwise.

⁵) -mm°-/-mmo- after a nasalised vowel; -rm°-/-rmo- after an oral vowel; -erm°-/-ermo- otherwise.

⁶) -us- when followed by prevocalic /p t k/; -utî- otherwise.

When a directional prefix beginning with a consonant is preceded by an incorporated noun stem that ends in a consonant, such that no acceptable medial cluster can be formed using only the rules under Consonant sandhi, an epenthetic -a- will be inserted between the two morphemes.

Modal suffixes

The first slot after the verb stem may optionally be filled by one of several suffixes marking distinctions of modality.

~dis-: obligative, indicates that the action is considered necessary. With a 2nd person subject, this suffix signals a command. (-nis- after /ɾ/; -nnis- after a softening morpheme boundary otherwise; -tis- after an obstruent)

-ši-: optative, indicates that the action is wished for or intended to happen. (-ji- after a diphthong or a nasalised vowel)

-°fų‘-: accidental (patientive), indicates that the action was not intended to occur but happened anyway. Can only be used with verbs whose subject is in the semantic role of patient, experiencer, or recipient. (-pų‘- after /s ʃ/; -ų‘- after a plosive (causing a preceding voiced plosive to become voiceless); -°vų‘- after a diphthong or a nasalised vowel)

-rre-: accidental (agentive), indicates that the action was not intended to occur but happened anyway. Can only be used with verbs whose subject is in the semantic role of agent, donor, instrument, or cause. (-êrre- after a consonant)

-‘ru-: conditional/hypothetical, indicates that the reality status of the action depends on something else. (-su- after instances of /p t k/ which are immune to softening; combines with any preceding fricative into -ssu-)

~gru-: potential, indicates that the action is likely to occur, or that the situation described is in accordance with common knowledge. (-ągru- after a consonant other than /b d ɡ/)

-akˤ.-: energetic, indicates that the action is more salient or more forceful than usual, or that it runs contrary to common expectations. (-ˤkˤ.- after a vowel)

-nį‘-: attenuative, indicates that the action is less salient or less forceful than usual. (-‘rį‘- after a plosive; combines with a preceding fricative or plosive which is immune to softening into -ššį‘-)

Additional number markers

While pronominal prefixes do not indicate the number of primary and secondary objects, Omari has a few suffixes that can optionally be used to explicitly specify a plurality of objects (usually primary objects, but secondary objects may also be meant; the distinction must be deduced from context if the verb is ditransitive). These object number suffixes share the final slot in the verb with several other morphemes that express distinctions of pluractionality or verbal number, that is, relating to the number of events denoted by the verb.

-į‘-: distributive ("each"), indicates that the action affects several object entities individually. (replaces any preceding unstressed vowel)

~°ba-: exhaustive ("all"), indicates that the action affects all of the entities associated with the object noun phrase. (-ma- after /ɾ/; -mma- after a softening morpheme boundary otherwise; -pa- after an obstruent)

-ksu-: plural ("many"), indicates that the action affects multiple object entities together, but not necessarily all of them. This suffix is prototypically used with large groups of objects; for groups smaller than ~5 entities, object number is usually unmarked. (-aksu- after a consonant)

-ˤgas-: iterative ("repeatedly"), indicates that the action occurs several times in relatively quick succession or in a predictable rhythm, but gives no information about the number of objects. (-kas- when preceded by a consonant other than /ɾ/)

-en-: punctual ("once"), indicates that the action occurs only once, or is unrelated to any previous or subsequent instance of a similar kind of action. (-ẽd- when not in word-final position)

~‘xęǫ-: reciprocal/collective ("together"), requires plural subject marking; indicates either that the subject entities are acting upon each other, or else that they are all taking part in the same single instance of the action. (-kęǫ- after /s ʃ/ and instances of /t/ which are immune to softening; -nęǫ- after a resonant or a nasalised vowel; combines with preceding /f h/ and instances of /p k/ which are immune to softening into -hęǫ-)

Syntax and usage

Numerals

Numerals in Omari follow a base-10 pattern. They are verbs morphologically, meaning that they mandatorily appear with a person/number/tense prefix. The numbers 1 and 1000 are treated as singulars, all other numbers as plurals.

1.	-no-	11.	-nųǫda-
2.	-niek-	12.	-niegęda-	20.	-niegrą-
3.	-sa-	13.	-sęąda-	30.	-sena-
4.	-ˤkep-	14.	-ˤkebęda-	40.	-ˤkebrą-
5.	-‘re-	15.	-‘rįęda-	50.	-‘rena-
6.	-tokˤ.-	16.	-tokąda-	60.	-toššą-
7.	-mou-	17.	-muręda-	70.	-murna-
8.	-fe-	18.	-fįęda-	80.	-fena-
9.	-ora-	19.	-oręąda-	90.	-orna-
10.	-ẽda-			100.	-ênerrą-
				1000.	-‘roska-

The numbers 110, 120, (...), 190 are formed by suffixing -na to the words for 11, 12, (...), 19.

110 -nųǫdana-

170 -murędana-

More complex numerals up to 199 can be formed by compounding, with the single digit coming first (and normally attracting the word accent). Note that some numbers have special combining forms in certain environments: 3 -se- (generally); 6 -tohˤ- (before softening morphemes and before /f/); 7 -mur‘-, 9 -or‘- (before a vowel or a single non-fricative consonant); 20 -‘įgrą-, 70 -‘uonna-, 110 -‘rųǫdana-, 120 -‘inędana-, 170 -‘onędana- (after an obstruent).

22 -niégįgrą-

49 -órgebrą-

76 -tóhoanna-

108 -fiénerrą-

137 -móuzęądana-

Multiples of 100 and 1000 are formed analytically, with the multiplier as a separate relativised verb that carries the suffix -gą‘- (-ką‘- after consonants). Smaller digits may then be added using the conjunction xǫ. Only the first verb may be further inflected with additional pre- and suffixes, but any smaller-digit verb in such a construction must take an appropriate person/number/tense prefix.

200 -ênerrą-… feniekką

964 -ênerrą-… forgą xǫ …-kéttoššą

5118 -‘roska-… feregą xǫ …-fénųǫda

6402 -‘roska-… fetokką xǫ …-ênerrą fekettą xǫ …-niek

Sample text

The young lion

Paha fukió.

Mufuomušųǫba paha to ferebak, fešęįvųdek, fediskapeakak, feškeakoskók.

Ga niššętufoši pahu fukió. Mųpąxa mųtęgeyéi psi d-ęzuenu ši mųtostakkšó numouve fek, ši eteruts mųtsųdúmekę. Nęššǫ́ų ši nęzęgri inųǫgu numouve fąbá: mųčekkuimma paha. Ši nesųęgas mupsegeminiu potsutteikak, ši mupaharmomoate munoggǫą, "Risuora! Rienaššemudak, ridiskapeakak, rišęįvųdek! Niššuoka še-Reba!"

Ni šuozu katte d-ęzuenu moškeakokuekkas paha fukió, ši katte munermomoate munoggǫą, "Rienaššemudak, rišęįvųdek, rahǫttsespek! Rinioro bųzés fereba suske-pahakiu!"

Hannoa mǫksǫ́ mummoáteru ši mųgietsebre wittį, "Eki egena, rįtostądúmekę numouve fek fąbá. Eteruts rįtęgeyéi psi, ši rageminiu rįgrįgas ritsutteiksu, ši rissąbrą́ eki rįčekkuimma numouve. Hą nissekkądis, risuora! Eteręgru rąpsitęgeyéi, ši rinirgenearre bradi fahoteát ši fąvǫda borreha yę-bumienas. Ruoššǫųdis, risuora! Rišęįvųdek, rienaššemudak, ridiskapeakak, riškeakoskók! Hą ešusteręgru rinirgenearre bradi, šęxoa eškęąxaru ši munęąhenearu nirmiok oksik, hą dik dietsupsegeminiok. Šęjuoka bradi šo-Pšemu."

Interlinear gloss

Paha: Ø-paha; 3SG.A-lion; he-is-a-lion

fukió.: fê-ukió; REL-young; he-is-young

The young lion.

Mufuomušųǫba: mu-<fųǫ‘>-mušuo-~°bê; 3SG.A-<large_animal>-be_higher_in_rank-EXH; he-is-higher-in-rank-than-all-large-animals

paha: Ø-paha; 3SG.A-lion; he-is-a-lion

The lion rules all the beasts

to: to; because; because

ferebak,: fê-‘reba-akˤ.; REL-strong-ENER,; he-is-very-strong

fešęįvųdek,: fê-<šeni>-°fųde-akˤ.; REL-<body>-large-ENER,; he-is-very-large-of-body

fediskapeakak,: fê-<tiska>-peaka-akˤ.; REL-<waist>-narrow-ENER,; he-is-very-narrow-of-waist

feškeakoskók.: fê-<škeako>-sko-akˤ.; REL-<leg>-quick-ENER; he-is-very-quick-of-leg

because he is very strong, large of body, slim of waist, and quick of leg.

Ga: ga; TOP; look

niššętufoši: niš-nê-tufo-ši; 1SG>2.NP-3-tell-OPT; I-want-to-tell-you-about-it

pahu: Ø-paha-u; 3SG.A-lion-OBL; he-is-a-lion

fukió.: fê-ukió; REL-young; he-is-young

Well, let me tell you about a young lion.

Mųpąxa: mun-.°pąxa; 3SG.A>3-do_habitually; he-usually-does-it

mųtęgeyéi: mun-.teni-ˤkeyei; 3SG.A>3-into_area-venture; he-goes-out-into-it

psi: Ø-.°psi; 3SG.I-forest; it-is-a-forest

d-ęzuenu: dį=esųę́‘-u; at=morning-OBL; during=morning

He always goes out into the forest in the morning

ši: ši; and; and

mųtostakkšó: mun-<.tosta>-kkšo; 3SG.A.NP>3-<fitness>-compare; he-compares-to-them-in-fitness

numouve: numouve; {large_animal}.PL.DIST; those-are-large-animals

fek,: fê-êk; REL-other; they-are-other-ones

and he compares himself to the other beasts with regard to strength,

ši: ši; and; and

eteruts: eteruts; always; always

mųtsųdúmekę.: mun-tsu-~dumi-akˤ.-į‘; 3SG.A.NP>3-RES-surpass-ENER-DISTR; he-surpasses-each-of-them

and he always surpasses every single one of them.

Nęššǫ́ų: nen-°ššǫų; 3PL.NP>3-hear; they-hear-it

ši: ši; and; and

nęzęgri: nen-sęgrî; 3PL.NP>3-know; they-know-it

inųǫgu: i-nųǫgu; 3COLL.I-news; it-is-known

numouve: numouve; {large_animal}.PL.DIST; they-are-large-animals

fąbá:: fê-~°bê; REL-all; they-are-all-of-them

All the animals hear and know the news:

mųčekkuimma: mun-čekkųį‘-~°bê; 3SG.A.NP>3-have_natural_authority-EXH; he-has-natural-authority-over-all-of-them

paha.: Ø-paha; 3SG.A-lion; he-is-a-lion

the lion has natural authority over all of them.

Ši: ši; and; and

nesųęgas: nê-sųę‘-ˤgas; 3PL.NP-be_morning-ITER; they-are-mornings-again

mupsegeminiu: mu-<.°psi>-ˤgem°-iniu; 3SG.A.NP-<forest>-out_of_area-arrive; he-arrives-out-of-the-forest

potsutteikak,: po-tsu-°tteik.-akˤ.; 3SG.A.PST-RES-win-ENER; he-has-become-a-winner

And every morning he returns from the forest victorious,

ši: ši; and; and

mupaharmomoate: mu-<.°paha>-ermo-°moate; 3SG.A.NP-<lion>-for-praise; she-praises-the-lion

munoggǫą,: mun-oggǫą; 3SG.A.NP>3-be_parent_of; she-is-his-parent

and his mother praises the lion,

"Risuora!": ris.-uora; 2SG.NP>1-be_child_of; you-are-my-child

"You are my child!"

"Rienaššemudak,: rî-<ienas>-šemut-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<shoulders>-broad-ENER,; you-are-very-broad-of-shoulders

ridiskapeakak,: rî-<tiska>-peaka-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<waist>-narrow-ENER,; you-are-very-narrow-of-waist

rišęįvųdek!": rî-<šeni>-°fųde-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<body>-large-ENER; you-are-very-large-of-body

"You are broad of shoulders! You are slim of waist! You are large of body!"

"Niššuoka: niš.-šuoka; 1SG.NP>2-name; I-name-you

še-Reba!": še=Ø-‘reba-Ø; as=3SG.A-strong-DIR; as=Strong-One

"I name you ‘Strong One’!"

Ni: Ni; FOC; now

šuozu: šuozu; today; today

katte: katte; as_usual; as-usual

d-ęzuenu: dį=esųę́‘-u; at=morning-OBL; during=morning

moškeakokuekkas: mu-erd-<škeako>-kuek.-ˤgas; 3SG.A.NP-PFV-<leg>-be_prepared-ITER; he-stretches-his-legs-again

paha: Ø-paha; 3SG.A-lion; he-is-a-lion

fukió,: fê-ukió; REL-young; he-is-young

Now this morning the young lion stretches his legs as usual,

ši: ši; and; and

katte: katte; as_usual; as-usual

munermomoate: mun-ermo-°moate; 3SG.A.NP>3-for-praise; she-praises-him

munoggǫą,: mun-oggǫą; 3SG.A.NP>3-be_parent_of; she-is-his-parent

and his mother praises him as usual,

"Rienaššemudak,: rî-<ienas>-šemut-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<shoulders>-broad-ENER,; you-are-very-broad-of-shoulders

rišęįvųdek,: rî-<šeni>-°fųde-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<body>-large-ENER,; you-are-very-large-of-body

rahǫttsespek!": rî-<ˤhǫb>-tsespi-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<tooth>-sharp-ENER; you-are-very-sharp-of-teeth

"You are broad of shoulders! You are large of body! You are sharp of teeth!"

"Rinioro: rin-ioro; 2SG.NP>3-be-attached; you-have-them-as-part-of-yourself

bųzés: bu-nu+°pses; 3.POSS-3PL.A-arm; they-are-his-arms

fereba: fê-‘reba; REL-strong; they-are-strong

suske-pahakiu!": suske=Ø-.°paha-.ki-u; associated_with=3SG.A-lion-PROTOTYPE-OBL; associated-with=he-is-a-true-lion

"You have the strong arms of a true lion!"

Hannoa: hannoa; but_then; but-then

mǫksǫ́: mun-.ˤksǫ; 3SG.A.NP>3-stop; she-stops-it

mummoáteru: mun-°moate-‘ru; 3SG.A.NP>3-praise-COND; she-would-praise-him

ši: ši; and; and

mųgietsebre: mun-<kieta>-sebre; 3SG.A.NP>3-<voice>-say; she-speaks-them-with-her-voice

wittį,: wittį; {liquid}.PROX; these-(words)

But then she stops praising him and says,

"Eki: eki; indeed; indeed

egena,: e-gena; 3SG.I.NP-obvious; it-is-obvious

rįtostądúmekę: rin-<.tosta>-~dumi-akˤ.-į‘; 2SG.NP>3-<fitness>-surpass-ENER-DISTR; you-surpass-each-of-them-in-fitness

numouve: numouve; {large_animal}.PL.DIST; they-are-large-animals

fek: fê-êk; REL-other; they-are-other-ones

fąbá.": fê-~°bê; REL-all; they-are-all-of-them

"Indeed, it is obvious that you surpass all the other beasts in strength."

"Eteruts: eteruts; always; always

rįtęgeyéi: rin-.teni-ˤkeyei; 2SG.NP>3-into_area-venture; you-go-out-into-it

psi,": Ø-.°psi; 3SG.I-forest; it-is-a-forest

"You always go out into the forest,"

"ši: ši; and; and

rageminiu: rî--ˤgem°-iniu; 2SG.NP-out_of_area-arrive; you-arrive-out-of-it

rįgrįgas: rin-grįgas; 2SG.NP>3-repeat; you-repeat-it

ritsutteiksu,": rî-tsu-°tteik.-‘ru; 2SG.NP-RES-win-COND; you-would-become-a-winner

"and you return out of there victorious every time,"

"ši: ši; and; and

rissąbrą́: ris-nê-°brą; 2SG.NP>1-3-remind; you-remind-me-of-it

eki: eki; indeed; indeed

rįčekkuimma: rin-čekkųį‘-~°bê; 2SG.NP>3-have_natural_authority-EXH; you-have-natural-authority-over-all-of-them

numouve.": numouve; {large_animal}.PL.DIST; they-are-large-animals

"and you remind me that you really have natural authority over all the beasts."

"Hą: hą; however; however

nissekkądis,: niš.-sekka-~dis; 1SG.NP>2-warn-OBL; I-must-tell-you-for-your-benefit

risuora!": ris.-uora; 2SG.NP>1-be_child_of; you-are-my-child

"But I must warn you, my child!"

"Eteręgru: e-tere-~gru; 3SG.I.NP-happen-POT; it-will-come-to-pass

rąpsitęgeyéi,": rin-<.°psi>-.teni-ˤkeyei; 2SG.NP>3-<forest>-into_area-venture; you-go-out-into-the-forest

"It will come to pass that you go out into the forest,"

"ši: ši; and; and

rinirgenearre: rin-irgeneahˤ-rre; 2SG.NP>3-encounter-ACCID.A; you-will-meet-him-there

bradi: bradi; {small_animal}.SG.PROX; this-one-is-a-small-animal

fahoteát": fê-ˤhot.-ard; REL-walk-stand; he-walks-upright

"and you will come across a small creature which walks upright"

"ši: ši; and; and

fąvǫda: fen-°fǫda; REL>3-carry; he-carries-it

borreha: bu-o-rreha; 3.POSS-3SG.A-head; it-is-his-head

yę-bumienas.": ye=bu-m-ienas-Ø; above=3.POSS-3COLL.A-shoulders-DIR; above=they-are-his-shoulders

"and which carries his head above his shoulders."

"Ruoššǫųdis,: ris.-°ššǫų‘-~dis; 2SG.NP>1-hear-OBL; you-must-hear-me

risuora!": ris.-uora; 2SG.NP>1-be_child_of; you-are-my-child

"Listen to me, child of mine!"

"Rišęįvųdek,: rî-<šeni>-°fųde-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<body>-large-ENER; you-are-very-large-of-body

rienaššemudak,: rî-<ienas>-šemut-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<shoulders>-broad-ENER,; you-are-very-broad-of-shoulders

ridiskapeakak,: rî-<tiska>-peaka-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<waist>-narrow-ENER,; you-are-very-narrow-of-waist

riškeakoskók!": rî-<škeako>-sko-akˤ.; 2SG.NP-<leg>-quick-ENER; you-are-very-quick-of-leg

"You are large of body! You are broad of shoulders! You are slim of waist! You are quick of leg!"

"Hą: hą; however; however

ešusteręgru: eš.-ut.-tere-~gru; 3SG.I.NP>2SG-against-happen-POT; it-will-sadly-come-to-pass

rinirgenearre: rin-irgeneahˤ-rre; 2SG.NP>3-encounter-ACCID.A; you-will-meet-him-there

bradi,": bradi; {small_animal}.SG.PROX; this-one-is-a-small-animal

"However, it will happen that you meet this small creature,"

"šęxoa: šęxoa; and_then; and-then

eškęąxaru: e-škęąxâ-‘ru; 3SG.I.NP-evening-COND; it-would-be-evening

ši: ši; and; and

munęąhenearu: mun-ien-ˤhenea-‘ru; 3SG.A.NP>3-beyond-disappear-COND; it-would-disappear-behind-it

nirmiok: Ø-nirmiok; SG.I-horizon; it-is-the-edge-of-the-world

oksik,": o-ˤksik; SG.A-sun; it-is-the-sun

"and then it will become evening and the sun will hide behind the horizon,"

"hą: hą; however; however

dik: dik; not_at_all; not-at-all

dietsupsegeminiok.": de-yê-tsu-<.°psi>-ˤgem°-iniu-akˤ.; NEG-2SG.PST-RES-<forest>-out_of_area-arrive-ENER; you-would-not-have-arrived-out-of-the-forest

"but you will not have returned from the forest."

"Šęjuoka: šen-šuoka; 1PL.NP>3-name; we-name-it

bradi: bradi; {small_animal}.SG.PROX; this-one-is-a-small-animal

šo-Pšemu.": še=o-°pšemu; as=3SG.A-person-DIR; as=Person

"We call this small creature ‘Man’."

Source of the sample text: Roy S. Hagman, Nama Hottentot grammar, Bloomington/Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1977.

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The young lion

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