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Ayčasamo [ˈaj.ʧa.sa.mo]
Period	c. 300 YP
Spoken in	northwestern Xōron Eiel
Total speakers	unknown
Writing system	none
Classification	Western Lake Óhylvídós
Typology
Basic word order	EVA
Morphology	fusional, agglutinating
Alignment	ergative
Credits
Created by	Thedukeofnuke

Ayčasamo is a language spoken in the northwestern Xōron Eiel (Ayč. Qułunmifi) in the early first millennium. It is a descendant of Óhylvídós, and therefore a member of the Lake branch of the Western languages.
As a result of long contact with the other peoples of the Xōron, the language is somewhat divergent from the other Lake and Steppe languages, showing a strong Habeo influence on its vocabulary, phonology, and syntax. The name of the language itself is an adopted exonym deriving from the Hill Habeo ayatša-(patɨ)-samo, meaning "sky (mountain) speech".

Background

The speakers of Ayčasamo, who mainly referred to themselves as the Ayčalixuq, split from the Óhylamja in the first half of the first millennium BP, crossing the mountains (Ayčapati) eastward into the western fringes of the Xōron Eiel. They lived as semi-nomadic or transhumant herders in the rugged, defensible mountain valleys and foothills.

As they were relatively poor and few in number, they did not play a major role in the succession of wars and nomad empires that characterised the region in the Dark Ages and preclassical period. Nonetheless, they interacted with a number of the steppe peoples to a greater or lesser extent.
At the time they entered the Xōron, it was controlled by nomadic Mohudza, who occasionally demanded tribute but otherwise did not show much interest in them. From about 700 BP Mohudza power began to wane, and the Ayčalixuq, seeing which way the wind was blowing, sided with the Habeo and Damak against them. This improved their prestige somewhat and led to increased contact with the Habeo, though they remained restricted to the marginal mountain country.
By 300 BP the situation had swung to the other extreme, with Habeo hegemony reaching its height, and the Ayčalixuq were again subject to demands of tribute and fealty. Sometimes they acceded; sometimes they resisted, using their growing familiarity with the terrain, archery, and cavalry (supplemented by their adoption of saddles and stirrups) to maintain their independence. The situation fluctuated constantly as chieftains alternately allied and feuded.
At the time of this sketch (300 YP) Habeo power too had ebbed, and the settled Ndok and Dāiadak states were flourishing. The Empire of Athalē was on the rise: its wealth and power had caught the imagination of the steppe nomads, while Dāiadak adventurers had begun to explore the upper reaches of the Aiwa, Thabīa, and Meshi rivers. It was in this period that the first written record of the Ayčalixuq appears - in a third-century work by Saphamīx, mentioning the Aithialixuk as one of the peoples of the high Xōron.

Phonology

Phoneme inventory

Consonants

	labial	dental-alv.	palatal	velar	uvular	glottal
nasals	m	n
plosives	p · b	t · d	ʧ · ʤ	k · ɡ	q	ʔ
fricatives	ɸ	θ · s · ɬ	ʃ	x		h
approximants	w	l	j		ʁ

Vowels

	front	central		back
high	i	ʉ		u
(open-)mid	ɛ		ɔ
low	a

Transcription

The affricates /ʧ ʤ/ are transcribed č j, the fricatives /ɸ ɬ ʃ/ are f ł š, and the approximants /j ʁ/ are y r.

The vowels /ɛ ɔ ʉ/ are transcribed e o ü.

All other phonemes are transcribed using the IPA or Latin-text equivalent.

Phonotactics and distribution

The voiced plosives /b d ʤ ɡ/ are distinguished only after nasals, and all except /d/ are very rare. In eastern dialects they have generally merged with their unvoiced equivalents.
The glottal consonants /ʔ h/ may not occur adjacent to any consonant other than /j w/, and are deleted if they do.

Aside from these caveats, syllables may start and end with any consonant. Coda clusters of a nasal followed by a (non-glottal) stop are also permitted, and occasionally a coda cluster may comprise an approximant followed by another consonant. Intervocalically, a variety of two-consonant clusters are allowed, and occasionally three consonants if the first is a nasal or semivowel.
However, if two fricatives or two plosives occur in sequence, they dissimilate into a fricative and a plosive in that order, retaining their original places of articulation (/ʁ/ patterns as an approximant); and a semivowel is deleted before another semivowel.
Nasals always assimilate to a following plosive but not to other consonants.
If an illegal cluster occurs and is not resolved by the above processes, an epenthetic /ɛ/ is inserted at the morpheme boundary or progressively.

Vowels cannot occur in hiatus; if they do they are separated by an epenthetic /ʔ/, though certain other processes can override this and resolve hiatus differently.

Suprasegmentals

The regular pitch accent of Óhylvídós has become a dynamic stress accent in almost all dialects, which falls uniformly on the first syllable of the root. Prefixes are never stressed.

Allophony and phonetic detail

/ɛ ɔ/ tend to become mid or high-mid [e o] finally.
The high central vowel /ʉ/ varies considerably in its realisation. It is typically [ʉ̞~ɵ] in western dialects and [ɨ] in eastern dialects, while in some areas it is [y], or merges into /i/.

/n/ has velar and uvular allophones before /k ɡ/ and /q/ respectively.

The dorsal fricative /x/ is realised as [χ] when adjacent to a back vowel (/ɔ/ or /u/), or when separated from another uvular by a single vowel.

Word-final /h/ is somewhat unstable: it is sometimes merged with /x/ or /ʔ/, or deleted.

Word-initial /ʔ/ is not always audibly distinguished, especially in western dialects, although it still affects the behaviour of prefixes (na-ʔay → naʔay, while na-ayi → nayayi).

Sound changes from Óhylvídós

Ayčasamo has continued its parent's trend of devoicing and fricativising stops, and simplifying clusters. However, it has lost the palatal series and gained post-alveolar consonants, uvulars, and a phonemic glottal stop, almost certainly as a result of Habeo influence. Though it has a six-vowel system similar to Óhylvídós, this has been affected by a chain shift in which long vowels raised and fronted and then lost phonemic length.

Morphology

Ayčasamo has a moderately simple fusional nominal morphology, retaining Óhylvídós' synthetic cases (though their functions have changed, and the dual number has fallen out of use). Its verbal morphology is somewhat more complex and agglutinative.

Morphophonology

Aside from the assimilation rules detailed above, three main morphophonological processes can occur in Ayčasamo. These the hard and nasal mutations and dorsal fronting and backing, which all affect consonants, and vowel raising.

Hard mutation
This can occur both word-initially and word-finally due to affixing; the mutation of x is different depending on environment.

f → p
θ → t
s → ʔ
š → č
x → k (initially)
x → q (finally)
h → f

Nasal mutation

p → mb
t → nd
č → nj
k → ng
q → nq
ʔ → ł
f → mp
θ → nt
s → ns
š → nč
x → nk
w → lw
y → ly
r → ng
Ø → l

Dorsal fronting/backing
Each of these processes is the inverse of the other. The first in each pair is fronted, and the second is backed.

č ↔ k
j ↔ g
š ↔ x
k ↔ q

Vowel raising

a → o
e → i
u → ü

Classifiers

An important part of Ayčasamo morphology shared with the other Western languages (and with parallels in the Habeo languages) is its system of classifiers. These identify nominals by a combination of physical properties, sapience, and edibility.

#	final	non-final	gloss
1	-ʔ	-wa-	humans, speaking beings
2	+θ	+ta-	solid or bulky objects
3	+ru	+runa-	slender objects
4	-l	-nke-	granular masses
5	+x	+ki-	soft edible substances
6	-xu	-xuwu-	soft inedible substances
7	-y	-yi-	liquids and other visible fluids
8	-x	-xe-	intangible or invisible things; miscellaneous

As expected, "final" forms are used when the affix is at the end of a word, and "non-final" forms are used otherwise.
A "+" sign before a suffix indicates that it triggers vowel raising.
Following e or i, the Class 5 and 8 affixes undergo dorsal fronting; Class 8 also undergoes fronting following a.
For purposes of adding case suffixes, classifiers undergo vowel raising in the same way as regular nouns - see the Declension section below.
The Class 7 affix, when followed by the genitive ending, absorbs it to form the combined suffix -x, which itself undergoes dorsal fronting following a, e or i.

Nominal morphology

Ayčasamo has a moderately simple nominal morphology. Nouns decline for four cases and two numbers, and have head-marking for possession.

Declension

Sound change and analogy have changed the declensions of Óhylvídós to a relatively simple system of suffixing and vowel change. Each noun has a "stem vowel", which is mostly predictable from the citation form (the direct singular): it does not always surface there, but is always present before a suffix.

The basic suffixes are the same for all declensions.

	singular	plural
direct	-Ø	+q
instrumental	-m	+qum
dative	+k	+qük
genitive	+s	+qüs

A "+" sign before a suffix indicates that it triggers vowel raising.
When the stem vowel is e or i, the dative singular suffix undergoes dorsal fronting to become +č.

Around a third of nouns have a "mixed" stem vowel: this is -e when not subject to raising (i.e. in the instrumental singular), but undergoes vowel raising irregularly, to -u.

If a noun ends in a consonant, its stem vowel may be e, i, u, or "mixed". The missing stem is indicated in the lexicon with a hyphen: for example "hiy-i" has the citation form hiy and takes suffixes as hiyi. "Mixed" stems, the most common type, are not explicitly indicated: for example "šink" has the citation form šink and takes suffixes as šinke/šinku.
If a noun ends in a vowel and does not have an "extended form", the final vowel is its stem: for example "renu" has the citation form, and takes suffixes as, renu.

Irregularities

Some nouns undergo fortition when case suffixes are added (i.e. in any form other than the direct singular). In this case the final consonant of the root undergoes the hard mutation. These nouns are indicated in the lexicon with an asterisk: for example "fos-*u" has the citation form fos but takes suffixes as foʔu.

A few nouns have an "extended form", where an additional consonant and sometimes vowel is added to the citation form. These forms are listed in the lexicon with a hyphen; if there is no vowel after the hyphen the word has a "mixed" stem. For example "fi-nu" has the citation form fi and takes suffixes as finu; while "me-n" has the citation form me and takes suffixes as mene/menu (it is a "mixed" stem, indicated by the lack of an explicit stem vowel).

A very small number of nouns undergo irregular changes when suffixing, which must be learned. These forms are listed in the lexicon along with the citation form. For example "šint, šind" has the citation form šint and takes suffixes as šinde/šindu (again, it is a "mixed" stem).

Example declensions

hel "cloud"

	singular	plural
direct	hel	heluq
instrumental	helem	heluqum
dative	heluk	heluqük
genitive	helus	heluqüs

mont-i "bear"

	singular	plural
direct	mont	montiq
instrumental	montim	montiqum
dative	montič	montiqük
genitive	montis	montiqüs

łu "leg"

	singular	plural
direct	łu	łüq
instrumental	łum	łüqum
dative	łük	łüqük
genitive	łüs	łüqüs

süθ-* "home"

	singular	plural
direct	süθ	sütuq
instrumental	sütem	sütuqum
dative	sütuk	sütuqük
genitive	sütus	sütuqüs

še-n "palm (of the hand)"

	singular	plural
direct	še	šenuq
instrumental	šenem	šenuqum
dative	šenuk	šenuqük
genitive	šenus	šenuqüs

ren, ro "leaf"

	singular	plural
direct	ren	roq
instrumental	rom	roqum
dative	rok	roqük
genitive	ros	roqüs

Possession

Possessed nouns take a prefix marking the person and number of the possessor. All possessive prefixes trigger the hard mutation of the noun's initial consonant; if prefixed to a word that is vowel-initial, an epenthetic -y- is inserted between the prefix and the root.

	singular	plural
1^st	na-	i-
2^nd	ši-	ki-
3^rd	i-	či-

Examples of possession

nalul: na*-lul-Ø; 1SG-belly-DIR.SG

my belly

kiyayiqük: ki*-ayi+qük; 2PL-wife-DAT.PL

to your (pl.) wives

akšis: akše+s; horse-GEN.SG

ikel: i*-xel-Ø; 3SG-hair-DIR.SG

horse's hair

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Ayčasamo has retained most of its inherited pronouns, though the second person dual and the instrumental case have fallen out of use. As in Óhylvídós the first and second person pronouns behave differently to the third person, which uses phoric pronouns instead.

	1^st person			2^nd person
	sing.	dual	plural	sing.	plural
absolutive	na	nal	noqu	sa	soqu
ergative	ne	nel	noqu	se	soqu
dative	nuk	nalük	noqük	suk	soqük
genitive	nus	nalüs	noqüs	sus	soqüs

The 1^st person dual has the sense of "thou and I" - it is always inclusive.

Phoric pronouns

There are two phoric pronouns: the anaphoric ya-, which refers to a nominal already mentioned, and the cataphoric he-, refferring to a nominal yet to be introduced. Both of these require the appropriate classifier as a suffix, and the combined form is declined as a regular noun.

For instance, the anaphoric pronoun with a Class 1 suffix, in most instances equivalent to "he/she", declines as follows:

	singular	plural
direct	yaʔ	yawoq
instrumental	yawam	yawoqum
dative	yawok	yawoqük
genitive	yawos	yawoqüs

Verbal morphology

The core verbal inflections in Ayčasamo are for tense, mood, and ergative participant agreement. However, influence from the Habeo languages has led to the development of a more complex verbal system allowing for the addition of lexical preverbs, incorporated classifiers, and finals; some analyses treat these as derivational, but they are highly productive and can be used to convey some quite detailed information.

The order of affixes is summarised as follows:

preverb	classifier	modal prefix	tense prefix	ROOT	final	modal suffix	agreement suffix
optional	optional†	obligatory*	obligatory	-	optional	obligatory*	obligatory

* Only one modal affix is required, and it can be null (indicative).
† A classifier is obligatory if there is an explicit instrument.

Almost all verbs end in a vowel in the citation form. For any verb whose citation form ends in a consonant, an epenthetic -e is inserted before any suffixes; this undergoes vowel raising as normal.

Tense

Verbs have two tenses, nonpast and past. The nonpast has a null affix, while the past is marked by a prefix immediately before the verb root:

x- before (y)o, (y)u, or (y)ü; the y is deleted if present
š- before (y)a, (y)e, or (y)i; again, the y is deleted if present
se- before n
su- before any other consonant; causes t θ s to become k x x

Modal affixes

Verbs are obligatorily marked for mood using either a prefix or suffix (though the indicative is null). Unlike its parent Óhylvídós, Ayčasamo permits up to one modal prefix and one modal suffix on the same verb. Different combinations have different idiomatic meanings; for example, the interrogative and potential combine to mean "is it possible to...?".

Prefixes
mood	prefix
subjunctive	su~
optative	ap-
potential	pa-
hortative	kełe-

Suffixes
mood	final	non-final
indicative	-Ø	-Ø-
negative	+p	+pe-
interrogative	-w	-we-
imperative	-y	-ye-

The negative suffix triggers vowel raising in the preceding vowel.
The subjunctive prefix triggers the nasal mutation in a following consonant.

Ergative agreement

The last suffix in a fully inflected verb is the agreement suffix, which matches the ergative participant in person and number. If there is no ergative argument this suffix is null.

person	singular	plural
1^st	-	-n
2^nd	-x	-s
3^rd	+q	+q

The "+" sign indicates that the 3^rd person suffix triggers vowel raising.
Following e or i, the 2^nd person singular and 3^rd person suffixes undergo dorsal fronting; the 2^nd person singular also undergoes fronting following a.

Classifier incorporation

The first type of optional affixing, and the one which is most clearly inflectional rather than derivative, is classifier incorporation. This involves prefixing a classifier to the verb (before the tense and mood prefixes) to indicate an instrumental argument of the appropriate class.

If there is an explicit instrument, the verb must take a classifier.

Preverbs and finals

These are the second and third types of optional affixes, and are both derived from the Habeo languages. They are intermediate between inflectional and derivational morphology in many respects: neither is a closed class, but they interact in an unusual manner with other affixes (finals come immediately after the root, while preverbs precede all other affixes).

Because of the large number of preverbs and finals they are listed in the lexicon. Generally speaking preverbs indicate manner or place, while finals indicate manner, evidentiality, or effect.
The passiviser xa- is nonetheless noteworthy; it derives from an Óhylvídós case suffix, and changes the order of the subject and direct object.

Example verb phrases

Łu: Ø-łu-Ø; NPST-walk-IND

wisüwix.: wisüwix-Ø; pony-DIR.SG

The pony is walking.

Nakoθ: na*-xoθ-Ø; 1SG-friend-DIR.SG

apsuhunüq: ap-su-hunu+q; OPT-PST-have_sex-3

sa.: sa; 2.ABS.SG

My friend wanted to have sex with you.

Ne: ne; 1.ERG.SG

panturunapafisasmo: panto+runa-pa-Ø-fisa-smo-Ø; apart-NC3-POT-NPST-cut-force-1SG

soqu!: soqu; 2.DIR.PL

I could cut you all to pieces (with a weapon)!

Modifiers

Adjectives

Adjectives agree with their head nouns in class and case, but not number (they behave as though singular). The appropriate classifier is added as a suffix, followed by the appropriate nominal case suffix.
Adjectives always precede their head.

yotaʔ: yota-ʔ-Ø; old-NC1-DIR

šiheni: ši*-heni-Ø; 2SG-uncle-DIR.SG

your (sg.) old uncle

šilorunam: šila+runa-m; dry-NC3-INS

woʔüqum: woʔu+qum; bone-INS.PL

with dry bones

ʔenaš: ʔena-yi+s; black-NC7-GEN

xuhis: xuhi+s; water-GEN.SG

of the black water

Determiners

Classifiers have become optional on determiners that are not the head of a NP (probably as a result of Habeo influence), though they are still required when a quantifier is used substantively.

Numerals

Ayčasamo uses the characteristically Western base-eight numerals.

decimal	octal	cardinal	ordinal
1	1	sowa	sowoʔu
2	2	še	šiʔu
3	3	nantu	nantüʔu
4	4	mita	mitoʔu
5	5	wüʔa	wüʔoʔu
6	6	mič-e	mičiʔu
7	7	nelši	nelšiʔu
8	10	nowa	nowoʔu
64	100	mula	muloʔu
512	1000	renmula	renmuloʔu

The ordinal suffix is transparently +ʔu.
The numeral 6 has the ordinary form mič and takes suffixes as miče.
Multiples of 8, 64, and 512 are formed by prefixing the ordinal form of the multiplier; in this instance the numeral 8 causes the final -u of an ordinal to mutate to -e. For example: šiʔenowa "16 (20₈)", mitoʔurenmula "2048 (4000₈)".
Numbers are added with ta, for example: mula ta nantenowa ta mič "94 (136₈)".

When used attributively, no classifier is required for either cardinal or ordinal numbers, though one can be added (with the case/number suffix) to avoid ambiguity:

mič: mič; six

ʔuntuq: ʔunt+q; boat-DIR.PL

two boats

mičiʔu: mičiʔu; sixth

ʔunt: ʔunt-Ø; boat-DIR.SG

the sixth boat

nantürunoq: nantu+runa+q; three-NC3-DIR.PL

łamuqüs: łam+qüs; berry-GEN.PL

ʔofuq: ʔof+q; bush-DIR.PL

three bushes with berries

nantunkiq: nantu-nke+q; three-NC4-DIR.PL

łamuqüs: łam+qüs; berry-GEN.PL

ʔofuq: ʔof+q; bush-DIR.PL

bushes with three berries

However, the addition of a classifier and the appropriate case/number suffix allows a cardinal number to be used as a substantive. It is declined as a singular.

šeʔ: še-ʔ-Ø; two-NC1-DIR.SG

a couple (of people)

mitotok: mita+ta+k; four-NC2-DAT.SG

to a group of four objects

Other quantifiers

These work the same way as numerals. The most common are süpi "a few", ripa "some", and lota "many".

lota: lota; many

akšiq: akše+q; horse-DIR.PL

many horses

ripankem: ripa-nke-m; some-NC4-INS.SG

with a handful (of grain, sand, etc.)

Demonstratives

The Western four-way deixis has collapsed to just two forms in Ayčasamo due to phonetic mergers. As with other determiners, a classifier is only strictly required if the demonstrative is used substantively; otherwise the bare forms are used.

near speaker	ši
far from speaker	θa

Derivational morphology

Derivational suffixes

Ayčasamo has inherited a productive system of derivational suffixes from its parent.

Nominalisers
suffix	morphology	gloss
+w	+w-i	abstract nominal or gerund from verb
+ʔay	+y (irregular mixed stem)	agent nominal from verb
+s	+s-u	instrument nominal from verb
-l	(mixed stem)	result of verb action
+x	+x-i	location nominal from verb or object
+ra		offspring of base nominal
+t	+t-u	abstract quality from adjective or concrete nominal
-x	(mixed stem)	nominal related to base nominal

Verbalisers
suffix	morphology	gloss
-mpa		non-stative using base nominal
+ʔa		increases valence of base verb to create transitive or causative
-inda		movement towards focus point (usually speaker)
-oʔu	triggers dorsal backing in preceding consonant	movement away from focus point

Other suffixes
suffix	gloss
+tu	adverb from nominal or verb

The "+" sign indicates that a suffix triggers vowel raising.

Compounding

Nominal compounding is productive and head-final. In general the first component takes the citation form, unless this would result in vowel hiatus or an illegal cluster (in which case the extended form or stem vowel is used).

yiš: yiš-i; arrow

oʔa: oʔa; flurry

→

yišoʔa: yišoʔa-Ø; volley-DIR.SG

volley of arrows

Verbs can also be compounded, with the result taking the arguments of the second verb. The meaning is roughly equivalent to the English "to X to Y" although there are some idiomatic variations. As with nouns, the citation form is used by default.

namu: namu; think

yeš: yeš; marry

→

namuyeš: namuyeš; fancy

think of marrying; take a fancy to

Syntax

Basics

Sentence word order

The basic word order is ergative-verb-absolutive, which equates to VS for intransitive sentences and SVO (or AVP) for transitives.

Šiʔa: Ø-šiʔa-Ø; NPST-dance-IND

yawoq.: ya-wa+q; ANA-NC1-DIR.PL

They (those people) are dancing.

Ful: ful-Ø; foreigner-DIR.SG

suʔahoʔakapanq: su-ʔahoʔa-kapam-Ø+q; PST-mock-ANTIB-IND-3

nayumifanq!: na*-unifan+q; 1.SG-ancestor-DIR.PL

The foreigner mocked my ancestors (to my dishonour)!

Indirect objects typically follow the verb.

Hüs: hüs-Ø; chief-DIR.SG

šiq: š-i-Ø+q; PST-give-IND-3

ifimpük: i*-himpü+k; 3.SG-daughter-DAT.SG

int.: int-Ø; feather-DIR.SG

The chief gave his daughter a feather.

However, case marking allows them to be moved around the sentence, and they may be placed following the direct object for more emphasis.

Hüs: hüs-Ø; chief-DIR.SG

šiq: š-i-Ø+q; PST-give-IND-3

int: int-Ø; feather-DIR.SG

ifimpük.: i*-himpü+k; 3.SG-daughter-DAT.SG

The chief gave the feather to his daughter.

Minor constituents usually precede the verb, although they too can be moved around if the meaning remains clear.

Ne: ne; 1.ERG.SG

süntus: sünt+s; tomorrow-GEN.SG

apumpa: ap-Ø-ʔumpa-Ø; OPT-NPST-hunt-1.SG

šihüq.: šihu+q; sheep-DIR.PL

I want to hunt some deer tomorrow.

Dialectal variations

The eastern dialects of Ayčasamo - which have a particularly strong Habeo influence - are developing a split-S alignment, where some verbs are "accusative" rather than "ergative". The most obvious sign of this is that accusative verbs take SV word order in intransitive sentences; in some dialects they also show agreement with intransitive subjects, effectively turning the ergative agreement marker into nominative agreement.

Here are two example sentences from a southeastern dialect known locally as Wiysamɨ. In this dialect meʔu "cook" is still an ergative verb, but riyi "run" has become accusative. (Another local feature is the sound change /q/ → /ʔ/, picked up from Plains Habeo.)

Hiʔu: Ø-hiʔu-Ø; NPST-cook.ERG-IND

meʔu.: meʔu-Ø; sheep-DIR.SG

The sheep is cooking (being cooked).

Meʔu: meʔu-Ø; sheep-DIR.SG

riyiʔ.: Ø-riyi-Ø+ʔ; NPST-run.ACC-IND-3

The sheep is running.

Nominal phrases

Nominal phrases (NPs) comprise a head nominal optionally preceded by one or more modifiers. Types of modifiers include:

Adjectives –

rimoθ: rima+θ-Ø; bad-NC2-DIR

akše: akše-Ø; horse-DIR.SG

a bad horse

Possessives –

lafoyus: lafoʔay+s; thief-DIR.PL

iyakše: i*-akše-Ø; 3SG-horse-DIR.SG

the thief's horse

Quantifiers –

nantüʔenowa: nantüʔu-nowa; 24

ta: ta; plus

mič: mič; 6

akšiq: akše+q; horse-DIR.PL

thirty horses

Demonstratives –

θa: θa; DIST

akše: akše-Ø; horse-DIR.SG

that horse

Locatives –

wiy: wiy-Ø; hill-DIR.SG

soh: soh; on

akše: akše-Ø; horse-DIR.SG

a horse on a hill

Relative clauses –

heθ: he-θ-Ø; CATA-NC2-DIR.SG

še: še-Ø; night-DIR.SG

sunsuxamiq: su~su-xame+q; SJV-PST-fear-3

akše: akše-Ø; horse-DIR.SG

the horse that was afraid of the dark

Case usage

The absolutive case is used for the subject of an intransitive verb phrase (VP), or for the direct object (patient) of a transitive VP. It is also used for the objects of most postpositions. Only personal pronouns have a morphological absolutive.

The ergative case is used for the subject (agent) of a transitive VP. Again, only personal pronouns have a morphological absolutive.

The direct case merges the functions of the absolutive and ergative: it is used for the subjects and objects of VPs, and the objects of most postpositions.

The instrumental case is used, straightforwardly, for instruments of VPs. Where an explicit instrument is present the head verb must also be marked with a matching classifier.

The dative is derived from Óhylvídós' allative. It is used for the indirect object (recipient) of a VP, and the objects of some postpositions.

The genitive is derived from Óhylvídós' ablative. It is used to mark possession and composition, for locative expressions referring to time, and for the objects of some postpositions.

Texts

The horse and the sheep

Wiy soh akše sušindoq ripa meʔüq. Ayimya sufisoq sowoʔu meʔüs iful; fil sułaθoq šiʔu meʔu; lamya suweyiʔoq nantüʔu meʔu. Čiʔay naθ, suhiqu mitoʔu meʔu.

Akše suxoxik meʔük heš: Yamyoq ʔohasoq meʔüq heš wuyoʔoq na.

Meʔu suxoxik akšič heš: Kełereyaš na. Netotsungiyi akše xahošišik sa xayiqüq yawoq heš wuyoʔoq na. Yamyoq ʔofinopik yawoq pahasoq šiwiqüt heš. Hi yawoq wišnis finoq. He se sel huyaš yamyoqüs čirimp!

Heʔ sureyoq yaš hešis xüθ, wočasuriyišoq akše linkuk ši.

A horse on a hill saw some sheep. A woman was cutting away the wool of the first sheep; a child was milking the second sheep; a man was slaughtering a third sheep. On their fire, a fourth sheep was being cooked.

The horse said this to a sheep: It pains me to see humans using sheep like this.

One sheep said this to the horse: I want you to listen to me. It pains me to see the horse who runs swiftly being shot and eaten. Humans do not know how to use your swiftness. But next year they will know. Then you too will be the slave of the humans!

Having heard this, the horse fled into the plain.

Gloss

Wiy: wiy-Ø; hill-DIR.SG

soh: soh; on

akše: akše-Ø; horse-DIR.SG

sušindoq: su-šinda-Ø+q; PST-see-IND-3

ripa: ripa; some

meʔüq.: meʔu+q; sheep-DIR.PL

A horse on a hill saw some sheep.

Ayimya: ayimya-Ø; woman-DIR.SG

sufisoq: su-fisa-Ø+q; PST-cut-IND-3

sowoʔu: sowoʔu; first

meʔüs: meʔu+s; sheep-GEN.SG

iful;: i*-hul-Ø; 3.SG-wool-DIR.SG

A woman was cutting away the wool of the first sheep;

fil: fil-Ø; child-DIR.SG

sułaθoq: su-łaθa-Ø+q; PST-milk-IND-3

šiʔu: šiʔu; second

meʔu;: meʔu-Ø; sheep-DIR.SG

a child was milking the second sheep;

lamya: lamya-Ø; man-DIR.SG

suweyiʔoq: su-weyiʔa-Ø+q; PST-kill-IND-3

nantüʔu: nantüʔu; third

meʔu.: meʔu-Ø; sheep-DIR.SG

a man was slaughtering a third sheep.

Čiʔay: či*-ʔay-Ø; 3.PL-fire-DIR.SG

naθ,: naθ; above

suhiqu: su-hiqu-Ø; PST-cook-IND

mitoʔu: mitoʔu; fourth

meʔu.: meʔu-Ø; sheep-DIR.SG

On their fire, a fourth sheep was being cooked.

Akše: akše-Ø; horse-DIR.SG

suxoxik: su-soxi-Ø+q; PST-say-IND-3

meʔük: meʔu+k; sheep-DAT.SG

heš:: he-x-Ø; CATA-NC8-DIR.SG

The horse said this to a sheep:

Yamyoq: yamya+q; human-DIR.PL

ʔohasoq: ʔo-Ø-hasa-Ø+q; now-NPST-use-IND-3

meʔüq: meʔu+q; sheep-DIR.PL

heš: he-x-Ø; CATA-NC8-DIR.SG

wuyoʔoq: Ø-wuyoʔa-Ø+q; NPST-hurt-IND-3

na.: na; 1.ABS.SG

It pains me that humans use sheep (like this).

Meʔu: meʔu-Ø; sheep-DIR.SG

suxoxik: su-soxi-Ø+q; PST-say-IND-3

akšič: akše+k; horse-DAT.SG

heš:: he-x-Ø; CATA-NC8-DIR.SG

A sheep said this to the horse:

Kełereyaš: kełe-Ø-reya-x; HORT-NPST-hear-2.SG

na.: na; 1.ABS.SG

Please listen to me.

Netotsungiyi: netot-su~Ø-riyi; INT-SJV-NPST-run

akše: akše-Ø; horse-DIR.SG

xahošišik: xa-Ø-hošiš-Ø+q; PAS-NPST-shoot-IND-3

sa: sa; and

xayiqüq: xa-Ø-yiqu-Ø+q; PAS-NPST-eat-IND-3

yawoq: ya-wa+q; ANA-NC1-DIR.PL

heš: he-x-Ø; CATA-NC8-DIR.SG

wuyoʔoq: Ø-wuyoʔa-Ø+q; NPST-hurt-IND-3

na.: na; 1.ABS.SG

It pains me that the galloping horse is shot and eaten (by people).

Yamyoq: yamya+q; human-DIR.PL

ʔofinopik: ʔo-Ø-fina+pe+q; now-NPST-know-NEG-3

yawoq: ya-wa+q; ANA-NC1-DIR.PL

pahasoq: pa-Ø-hasa+q; POT-NPST-use-3

šiwiqüt: ši*-wiqu+t-Ø; 2.SG-quick-NZ-DIR.SG

heš.: he-x-Ø; CATA-NC8-DIR.SG

Humans do not know how they can use your swiftness.

Hi: hi; but

yawoq: ya-wa+q; ANA-NC1-DIR.PL

wišnis: wišne+s; next.year-GEN.SG

finoq.: Ø-fina-Ø+q; NPST-know-IND-3

But next year they will know.

He: he; then

se: se; 2.ERG.SG

sel: sel; also

huyaš: Ø-huya-Ø-x; NPST-become-IND-2.SG

yamyoqüs: yamya+qüs; human-GEN.PL

čirimp!: či*-rimp-Ø; 3.PL-slave-DIR.SG

Then you too will be the slave of the humans!

Heʔ: he-ʔ-Ø; CATA-NC1-DIR.SG

sureyoq: su-reya-Ø+q; PST-hear-IND-3

yaš: ya-x-Ø; ANA-NC8-DIR.SG

hešis: he-xe+s; CATA-NC8-DIR.SG

xüθ,: xüθ; after

wočasuriyišoq: woča-su-riyi-šoq-Ø; hurry-PST-run-impulsively-IND

akše: akše-Ø; horse-DIR.SG

linkuk: link+k; plain-DAT.SG

ši.: ši; to

After hearing this, the horse ran off into the plain.

Ayčasamo