Zele/Grammar

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Dorsal	Glottal
Plosive	p b	t d		k ɡ
Affricate		ts
Fricative	f	s z	ʃ ʒ	ʁ	h
Nasal	m	n
Liquid		l	j

/ʃ ʒ ʁ j/ are written sh zh r y. All other consonants are written as in IPA (or the Latin text equivalent).

[f] may or may not be phonemic. Normally it is present only as an allophone of /p/, but see the Allophony section for details.

Vowels

	front	central	back
high	i		u
high-mid	e	ə̃	o
low-mid	ɛ		ɔ
low	a

/ɛ ɔ ə̃/ are written ea oa ã. All other vowels are written as in IPA.

Phonotactics

Syllable structure is (C)V(C) initially and CV(C) medially and finally.

Vowel hiatus is broken up by intrusive /h/.

Any consonant may occur in a syllable onset. All consonants except unvoiced stops, affricates, /j/, and /h/ may occur syllable-finally. However, all consonant clusters occurring in native words have the first element /s/.

Allophony and phonetic detail

/p/ lenites to [f] intervocalically, and this is indicated in writing. However, in many dialects initial /p/ is preserved when a prefix is added or when forming compounds; some analyses therefore consider /f/ as an independent phoneme.

In some dialects, /ʃ/ also becomes [f] before /u/ and /o/.

/ə̃/ tends to lower to [ã] when stressed.

In eastern dialects, /ɛ ɔ/ are often pronounced as nasalised. This is a retention from an earlier stage of the language.

Suprasegmentals

Zele has a strong dynamic stress accent; comparative studies show that it was conditioned by the pitch accent of Proto-Isles. The stress falls on the final syllable of the stem for most words. Affixes are never stressed, including inflectional suffixes (there are a very small number of exceptions, but these are noted in the grammar). For nouns the stress falls on the final syllable of the genitive stem (or the nominal stem if there is no distinct GS), and this stress position is the same for all forms of the noun. For verbs the stress falls on the final syllable of the T stem, and this stress position is the same for all forms of the verb. See the Nominal Morphology and Verbal Morphology section for details on these.

Example words

• kemeati 'heavy' [ke.mɛˈti]
• mashor 'barley' (nom./gen.) [maˈʃoʁ]
• sonami 'tree' (nom.) [ˈso.na.mi]
• sãn 'tree' (gen.) [sãn]
• sãnãha 'tree' (dat.) [ˈsã.nə̃.ha]
• sigamaneas 'take apart' (pres.) [si.gaˈma.nɛs]
• sigaman 'take apart' (past) [si.gaˈman]

Morphology

Nominal Morphology

Declension

Nouns are inflected for six cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, and locative, the latter three of which are grouped as the oblique cases. There are six declension patterns; the declension of any noun can be predicted from its nominative form, but to fully decline a noun it is also necessary to know the genitive form.

Nouns are not morphologically marked for number; this is expressed with quantifiers.

In the following tables, NS is used as an abbreviation of nominal stem, and GS as an abbreviation of genitive stem; these can be determined from the nominative and genitive forms respectively, although nouns in Declensions III and IV do not have distinct genitive stems. All forms of a noun are formed from either the nominal or genitive stem, usually plus a suffix.

Declension I

The nominative of Declension I nouns ends in -zh or -zhi.

Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative
NS-zh(i)	NS-zhes	GS	NS-ha	NS-hab	NS-has

Declension II

The nominative of Declension II nouns ends in -m, -n, -mi or -ni.

Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative
NS-(i)	NS-es	GS-(V)	GS-Vha	GS-Vhab	GS-Vhas

If the genitive ends in a vowel, this is the vowel written as V that occurs in the oblique forms. If not, the vowel V can be determined from the last vowel of the nominative stem:

last vowel of NS	a	i	u
vowel V	ã	ea	oa

Declension III

The nominative of Declension III nouns ends in -sh or -shi. All forms are predictable from the nominative.

Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative
NS-sh(i)	NS-shes	NS-s	NS-sha	NS-shab	NS-shas

Declension IV

The nominative of Declension IV nouns ends in -r or -ri. Again, all forms are predictable from the nominative.

Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative
NS-r(i)	NS-res	NS-r	NS-ha	NS-hab	NS-has

Declension V

The nominative of Declension V nouns ends in -bi.

Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative
NS-bi	NS-bes	GS-(o)	GS-oha	GS-ohab	GS-ohas

Declension VI

The nominative of Declension VI nouns ends in -hi.

Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative
NS-hi	NS-hes	GS	NS-ha	NS-hab	NS-has

Examples

Gloss	Decl.	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative
wind	I	ruzh	ruzhes	re	ruha	ruhab	ruhas
tree	II	sonami	sonames	sãn	sãnãha	sãnãhab	sãnãhas
rat	III	shush	shushes	shus	shusha	shushab	shushas
hand	IV	katar	katares	katar	kataha	katahab	katahas
woman	V	kispibi	kispibes	kispo	kispoha	kispohab	kispohas
fire	VI	rabasahi	rabasahes	rabasa	rabasaha	rabasahab	rabasahas

Nominal prefixes

A small number of inflectional prefixes exist that can be added to nouns. Only one can be used per noun.

When a prefix is added, the original first consonant is subject to certain regular changes:

• Ø > h
• r > h (only if the vowel in the prefix is a)
• t > l
• ts > t
• p > f (in some dialects)

The prefix shV-, where V is the same as the first vowel of the root, is the article. It is restricted in use and acts mostly as a demonstrative.

The prefix rV-, where V is the same as the first vowel of the root, is the first person possessive. An ordinary genitive construction is used for second and third person possessives; this can also be used for the first person, but is regarded as more formal.

The prefix go- marks the relativised argument of a relative clause.

Appositives are signalled with the particle zhi between the two nouns.

Verbal Morphology

Conjugation

Verbs are inflected for five tenses: present, simple past, past perfect, future, and relative present.

As with nouns, each form of a given verb is derived from one of two stems. The verbs' stems are referred to as the A stem and T stem (AS and TS for short) - the names refer to Proto-Isles' atelic and telic forms, from which the stems derive. The A stem is formed from the T stem by voicing any unvoiced obstruent in the onset of the second syllable (unless it forms a cluster with another obstruent).

Although the A stem can almost always be found from the T stem, each verb has two stem vowels (V₁ and V₂), neither of which can be predicted from the other. As a result it is necessary to know the present and past perfect forms to fully conjugate a verb.

Table of forms

Present	Simple Past	Past Perfect	Future	Rel. Present
AS-V1-s	AS-V2-(C)	TS-V2-(C)	TS-V1-s	TS-V3-(C)

The consonant C is the last consonant of the past perfect form, if there is one.

The stem vowels V₁, V₂, and V₃ are different for each verb. V₁ and V₂ can be found from the present and past perfect forms of each verb, and V₃ can be predicted from V₂:

vowel V2	o	ã, ea, oa	any other vowel
vowel V3	o	ea	i

If a verb has only one syllable in the present form, the final -s in the present voices to -z, and any final consonant C in the past perfect is voiced in the simple past.

If a verb has two or more syllables in the present form, the vowel V₂ is deleted from the end of the simple past form if it follows a consonant other than p t k ts f h y and if there is no consonant C.

If a verb has three or more syllables in the present form, the vowel V₃ is deleted from the end of the relative present form if it follows a consonant other than p t k ts f h y and if there is no consonant C.

Examples

Gloss	Present	Simple Past	Past Perfect	Future	Rel. Present
do	neaz	ni	ni	neas	ni
dig	beaz	biz	bis	beas	bis
love	yizãs	yiz	yizã	yizãs	yizea
drink	kabãs	kab	kafa	kafãs	kafi
count	shizhatãs	shizhate	shishate	shishatãs	shishati
build	kubanãs	kubaner	kufaner	kufanãs	kufanir
take apart	sigamaneas	sigaman	sikamani	sikamaneas	sikaman

Note that f is underlyingly /p/, so it voices to b in the A stem.

The intensive

The intensive is a special form of the verb formed by reduplication of the initial CV of the verb. The original first consonant is subject to certain regular changes:

• Ø > h
• r > h (only if the reduplicated vowel is a)
• t > l
• ts > t

All of these changes are applied to the T stem, and the A stem is then derived as normal.

For example:

Gloss	Present	Simple Past	Past Perfect	Future	Rel. Present
walk (ordinary)	ralãs	ral	rala	ralãs	rali
march (intensive)	rahalãs	rahal	rahala	rahalãs	rahal

Note that since the intensive rahalãs has three syllables in the present, the relative present loses the final i.

Gloss	Present	Simple Past	Past Perfect	Future	Rel. Present
say (ordinary)	padãs	pad	pata	patãs	pati
shout (intensive)	pabatãs	pabata	papata	papatãs	papati

Note that since the third syllable of the intensive pabatãs begins with an unvoiced t, the final a is retained in the simple past and the final i is retained in the relative present.

The negative

The negative of a verb is expressed with the prefix hu-. As with the intensive, the initial consonant mutates with the addition of the suffix:

• Ø > h
• t > l
• ts > t

Again, all of these changes are applied to the T stem, and the A stem is then derived as normal.

The verbal noun

Any verb can be nominalised; this allows verbs to act as a nominal and is also a key part of forming sentential objects and subjects.

The verbal noun is derived from the past perfect.

To form the nominative, make the following changes to the end of the past perfect:

• e, o > azhi, abi (if the present ends in ãs)
• e, o > izhi, ibi (if the present ends in eas)
• e, o > uzhi, ubi (if the present ends in oas)
• ã, ea, oa > ami, imi, umi
• a, i, u > azhi, izhi, uzhi
• s > shi
• r > ri

The genitive is the same as the past perfect. Other forms are derived as normal.

Adjectives

Zele adjectives, unlike nouns, are indeclinable and do not inflect as such. They can, however, form intensives and negatives in the same way as verbs.

Adverbs are not distinguished from adjectives - for example, ragu "happy" can also mean "happily".

Pronouns

Zele has a moderately simple pronominal system, inflecting for three persons in all six cases. There is no number, gender, or animacy distinction in any of these. The case inflections are recognisably the same as those for nouns.

	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Locative
1st person	razh	razhes	re	reha	rehab	rehas
2nd person	tsuhi	tsuhes	tsu	tsuha	tsuhab	tsuhas
3rd person	shanam	shanames	shãn	shãnãha	shãnãhab	shãnãhas

There is also a small class of miscellaneous determiners and interrogatives. All except the adjective shib behave as regular nouns; when the determiners are used attributively, they take the genitive case.

Determiner	Genitive	Gloss
shazhobohi	shazhobo	all
pomoahi	pom	many
yeashur	yeashur	some
pimuhi	pim	few
shuzh	she	what, who
shib		how, what kind

Discourse Particles

Zele has a small, closed class of discourse particles inherited from Proto-Isles.

	Gloss
koz	support, confirmation
ko	assertion, reminder
ir	resignation
nibur	lamentation
mor	softening
tos	seeks support; imperative

In addition to these are the interrogative particles tsuzha and ku, which are discussed in the Transformations section.

All of these particles occur at the end of sentences. Only one may be used per sentence.

Derivational Morphology

Zele derivational morphology is mostly suffixing. The form used for adding suffixes depends on the part of speech:

• For nouns, the suffixing form is given by deleting the last V(C) of the oblique forms.
• For verbs, the past perfect form is used, changing any final s z to sh zh.
• For adjectives, the bare stem is used, changing any final s z to sh zh.

If adding a suffix forms a cluster, usually one or other of the consonants will be deleted.

• If either is h, it will be deleted.
• Otherwise, if either is r, it will be deleted.
• If two sibilants occur together, the cluster simplifies to s.
• If the cluster is sh or zh plus a plosive, the sh/zh changes to s and the plosive becomes unvoiced.

Nominalisers

Affix	Morphology	Gloss	Examples
-pabam	Decl. II gen. -pabã	related object	shonoa "strong" > shonoafabam "rampart, fortification"
-tãmur	Decl. IV	related place	tsaker "fight" > tsaketãmur "battleground; arena"
-sosh	Decl. III	mass noun; abstraction; noun of state	tsazizhi "child" > tsazisosh "descendants" shishate "count" > shishatesosh "accounting, mathematics"

Verbalisers

Affix	Morphology	Gloss	Examples
-neas	perf. -ni	general verbaliser; use (a noun); progressive (of a verb)	nemazh "spear" > nemaneas, nemani "execute"

Zero-derivation

Zero-derivation plays a significant role in Zele grammar, though it is restricted in use.

As noted above, any adjective may be used as an adverb without any morphological addition.

Adjectives can also be used as adverbs with an attached genitive to refer to the manner of the action with regards to the possessor. For instance paya "beautiful" can be used with the first person genitive re to become re paya "(in a way) beautiful to me".

Syntax

Basic word order

The basic word order in Zele is SVO, but case marking frees up word order somewhat, and SOV word order is also permitted (though uncommon, except where the direct object is a pronoun or in relative clauses).

Shizhihi

shizhihi

lizard.NOM

shi

shi

eat.PAST

re

re

1.GEN

keres.

keres

meal.ACC

A lizard ate my meal.

Shanam

shanam

3.NOM

razhes

razhes

1.ACC

sehãs.

sehãs

like.PRES

He likes me.

Indirect objects, locatives, adverbs, and other minor constituents can appear either immediately preceding the verb or at the end of the sentence; the latter is sometimes used for emphasis.

Shanam

shanam

3.NOM

tsokãha

tsokãha

girl.DAT

nota

nota

give.PERF

rayonames.

rayonames

flower.ACC

He had given the girl a flower.

Yukazh

yukazh

deer.NOM

tsoma

tsoma

quick

tsozhãs.

tsozhãs

run.PRES

A deer runs quickly.

Pumuzh

pumuzh

fish.NOM

regãs

regãs

live.PRES

tuhas.

tuhas

sea.LOC

A fish lives in the sea.

The noun phrase

Zele generally follows modifier-head order. Adjectives, quantifiers, genitives, and locatives normally precede their head noun. However, if the context is clear a one-word modifier may (optionally) immediately follow the head noun; this is indeed preferred if a prefix is applied to the noun.

tsa

tsa

big

tur

tur

island.NOM

a big island

shazhobo

shazhobo

all

mimazhi

mimazhi

sheep.NOM

all the sheep

tsu

tsu

2.GEN

mamazh

mamazh

mother.NOM

your mother

pikeahas

pikeahas

roof.LOC

upoyãsh

upoyãsh

singer.NOM

a singer on the roof

Shuruzh

shu-ruzh

DEF-wind.NOM

Shig

shig

north.GEN

the North Wind

Relative clauses always precede their head noun, which takes the prefix go- (described in the Nominal Morphology section). For more on relative causes, see the Transformations section.

tuhas

tuhas

sea.LOC

regãs

regãs

live.PRES

gofumuzh

go-pumuzh

REL-fish.NOM

a fish that lives in the sea

Case usage

As might be expected, the nominative and accusative are used for the subjects and objects of sentences respectively. Postpositions govern the accusative. The genitive indicates possession; it usually precedes the possessed nominal, although this can be reversed if the genitive is adjacent to its noun. The dative can be the indirect object, but it can also mean "to," "for," and "until." The ablative means "from" or "since." The locative is used for temporal or physical location, and can also be used as an adverbial marker.

Verbs

Tense and aspect

Verbs are inflected for five different tense-aspect combinations: present, simple past, past perfect, future, and relative present.

The present, past, past perfect, and future work as expected. The past perfect indicates that an action had already been completed before the point in the past being described, while the simple past indicates that the action was ongoing at that point.

The future tense is not used much in ordinary speech, being retained mostly in formal and poetic registers. Most speakers use the present tense instead. However, the future is retained in conditional expressions and polite imperatives (see the relevant sections for more).

Razh

razh

1.NOM

pusoa

pusoa

sow.PERF

shealeadizhes.

shea-teadizhes

DEF-field.ACC

I had sown the fields.

Razh

razh

1.NOM

puz

puz

sow.PAST

shealeadizhes.

shea-teadizhes

DEF-field.ACC

I sowed the fields.

Razh

razh

1.NOM

puzoas

puzoas

sow.PRES

shealeadizhes.

shea-teadizhes

DEF-field.ACC

I sow the fields.

Razh

razh

1.NOM

pusoas

pusoas

sow.FUT

shealeadizhes.

shea-teadizhes

DEF-field.ACC

I shall sow the fields.

The relative present is used when talking about the past to describe events that happened at the time. It is considered very formal, and (like the future tense) has fallen out of use for most speakers - the simple past is used in its place.

Shanam

shanam

3.NOM

muz

muz

find.PAST

razhes,

razhes

1.ACC

re

re

and

razh

razh

1.NOM

pusea

pusea

sow.RPRES

shealeadizhes.

shea-teadizhes

DEF-field.ACC

He found me, and I was sowing the fields at the time.

Derived verb forms

The intensive

The intensive can be thought of as increasing the force or completeness of an action:

Shanam

shanam

3.NOM

rabas

rabas

burn.PAST

shãn

shãn

3.GEN

meres.

meres

boat.ACC

They burned their boats.

Shanam

shanam

3.NOM

rahabas

ra-rabas

INT-burn.PAST

shãn

shãn

3.GEN

meres.

meres

boat.ACC

They completely incinerated their boats.

It can also be used to contradict a previous negative:

–Tsuhi

tsuhi

2.NOM

humeseas.

hu-meseas

NEG-think.PRES

–You're not thinking.

–Razh

razh

1.NOM

memeseas!

me-meseas

INT-think.PRES

–I am thinking!

The intensive forms an exception to the usual stress rules: it is always stressed on the first syllable.

The negative

The negative is used to negate sentences - not specifically the verb. The distinction is important - for instance:

Razh

razh

1.NOM

Sumateguha

Sumateguha

Sumateguhi.DAT

hural,

hu-ral

NEG-walk.PAST

bu

bu

but

Rerãnaha

Rerãnaha

Rerãnahi.DAT

ral.

ral

walk.PAST

I didn't walk to Sumateguhi, but to Rerãnahi.

The negative can be used with any tense/aspect form.

The progressive

The progressive is listed in the Derivational Morphology section, but it remains productive as a way of more precisely specifying verbal aspect. It emphasises that at the time described, the action is ongoing:

Razh

razh

1.NOM

tazhafeas.

tazhafeas

swim.PRES

I swim.

Razh

razh

1.NOM

tashafineas.

tashafi-neas

swim-PROG.PRES

I am swimming (right now).

Note that it can be used with any normal tense/aspect form:

Razh

razh

1.NOM

tashafini.

tashafi-ni

swim-PROG.PERF

I had been swimming (but have now finished).

Imperatives

Imperatives are formed with the present tense of a verb, followed by the particle tos.

Kabãs

kabãs

drink.PRES

tos.

tos

IMP

Drink!

In polite speech, the softening particle mor may be used instead:

Kabãs

kabãs

drink.PRES

mor.

mor

SOFT

Please, drink.

Imperatives may be softened further by using the future tense:

Kafãs

kafãs

drink.FUT

mor.

mor

SOFT

Please, drink, if you would.

The potential mood

Because the telic/atelic distinction of Proto-Isles can no longer be used to express potentials, Zele has innovated a new formation using the verb yamãs "stand" as an auxiliary. In general this behaves as a normal transitive sentence, with the verbal noun form of the main verb as the object; the direct object is demoted to an indirect object, and takes the dative case.

Razh

razh

1.NOM

yamãs

yamãs

stand.PRES

sheatizhes

sheatizhes

see.VN.ACC

tsuha.

tsuha

2.DAT

I can see you.

sheatizhes

sheatizhes

see.VN.ACC

yamãs

yamãs

stand.PRES

gozizifihi

go-zizifihi

REL-bird_of_prey

a bird of prey that can see

Copular clauses and the appositive

Zele does not have a copular verb. Instead, it uses the appositive particle zhi, which functions like a verb in some respects but not in others.

A simple copular clause consists of the subject, zhi, and the predicate. Both the subject and the predicate take the nominative.

Razh

razh

1.NOM

zhi

zhi

APP

pumuzh.

pumuzh

fish.NOM

I am a fish.

This can be used with adjectives, too:

Razh

razh

1.NOM

zhi

zhi

APP

shoshonoa.

sho-shonoa

INT-strong

I am very strong.

One way in which the appositive is not like a verb is that an appositive phrase can be used as any part of a normal sentence. Both nominals must change case to fit the appropriate syntactic role.

Razh

razh

1.NOM

zhi

zhi

APP

pumuzh

pumuzh

fish.NOM

regãs

regãs

live.PRES

tuhas.

tuhas

sea.LOC

I, a fish, live in the sea.

Shanam

shanam

3.NOM

shahãs

shahãs

hate.PRES

razhes

razhes

1.ACC

zhi

zhi

APP

pumuzhes.

pumuzhes

fish.ACC

He hates me, a fish.

The postpositional phrase

Zele prefers using its locative cases, where possible, to adpositional phrases.

meazuha

meazuha

clan.DAT

to a clan

tuhahas

tuhahas

hole.ABL

from a hole

pehab

pehab

village.LOC

at a village

All of the locative cases can be used for a temporal meaning as well as a spatial one.

rabahab

rabahab

day.LOC

during the day

Postpositions govern the accusative, not the locative cases.

tsanines

tsanines

platform.ACC

oa

oa

on

on a platform

Transformations

In this section, following the style of Zompist, transformations are described in a simplified notation with examples.

A → B means "whenever A is a legal structure, so is B".

Symbols used:
S = subject
V = verb
O = direct object
I = indirect object
N = noun
VP = verb phrase
NP = noun phrase
Pr = pronoun
PP = postpositional phrase
Adv = adverbial information
Adj = adjectival information
Det = determiner
SEN = sentence
- = morpheme boundary

Passive sentences

S V O → O V S

To passivise a sentence, the subject and object simply switch places. Case marking allows this to occur without ambiguity.

Boabun

boabun

wolf.NOM

sheaz

sheaz

eat.PRES

huhes.

huhes

bone.ACC

A wolf is eating a bone.

→

Huhes

huhes

bone.ACC

sheaz

sheaz

eat.PRES

boabun.

boabun

wolf.NOM

A bone is eaten by a wolf.

The subject can also simply be deleted:

Huhes

huhes

bone.ACC

sheaz.

sheaz

eat.PRES

A bone is eaten.

Sentential objects

S₂ V₂ (S₁ V₁ O₁) → S₂ V₂ S₁ V₁-acc O₁

To use an entire sentence S₁ V₁ O₁ as the object of another verb V₂, change V₁ to the verbal noun in the accusative. The original subject and object S₁ and O₁ do not change case.

Razh

razh

1.NOM

tozãs

tozãs

know.PRES

re

re

1.GEN

talazh

talazh

father.NOM

tsoshames

tsoshames

go.VN.ACC

teadiha.

teadiha

field.DAT

I know that my father went to the fields.

The verbal noun does not inflect for tense, so the tense meant must be determined from context.

Sentential subjects

(S₁ V₁ O₁) V₂ O₂ → S₁ V₁-nom O₁ V₂ O₂

Similarly, a sentence S₁ V₁ O₁ can be used as the subject of another verb V₂. V₁ is changed to the verbal noun, this time in the nominative.

Zhealenam

zhealenam

ruler.NOM

kobami

kobami

explore.VN.NOM

tuzhes

tuzhes

sea.ACC

tsumeas

tsumeas

take.PRES

pom

pom

much

yonures.

yonures

provisions.ACC

The ruler exploring the sea uses a lot of supplies.

Causation

SEN₁, SEN₂ → SEN₂ i SEN₁

The idea that one action has caused another is conveyed through the conjunction i "because".

Tsuhi

tsuhi

2.NOM

yohãs

yohãs

fear.PRES

shanames

shanames

3.ACC

i

i

because

shanam

shanam

3.NOM

rezh

rezh

kill.PAST

tsu

tsu

2.GEN

yabes.

yabes

dog.ACC

You are afraid of him because he killed your dog.

Conditional expressions

SEN₁, SEN₂ → umu SEN₁ sea SEN₂-fut

Much like English, Zele uses an "if... then" construction for conditional expressions, using the conjunctions umu... sea. However, the consequent must be in the future tense, regardless of context.

Umu

umu

if

razh

razh

1.NOM

zhi

zhi

APP

mimeshi,

mimeshi

herder.NOM

sea

sea

then

razh

razh

1.NOM

measeas

measeas

have.FUT

mimazhes.

mimazhes

sheep.ACC

If we were herders, we would have sheep.

Relative clauses

(S V₁ O₁) S V₂ O₂ → O₁ V₁ go-S V₂ O₂

A relative clause is formed by changing word order to SOV, then moving the relativised argument to the end of the clause and adding the prefix go- to it.

Pumuzh

pumuzh

fish.NOM

regãs

regãs

live.PRES

tuhas.

tuhas

sea.LOC

Pumuzh

pumuzh

fish.NOM

zhi

zhi

APP

tsoma.

tsoma

quick

A fish lives in the sea. A fish is quick.

Tuhas

tuhas

sea.LOC

regãs

regãs

live.PRES

gofumuzh

go-pumuzh

REL-fish.NOM

zhi

zhi

APP

tsoma.

tsoma

quick

The fish that lives in the sea is quick.

Interrogatives

Yes/no questions

Zele can form two types of yes/no question. One kind, formed with the particle tsuzha at the end of the sentence, expects a positive answer:

SEN → SEN tsuzha

Tsu

tsu

2.GEN

tsazh

tsazh

son.NOM

sehãs

sehãs

like.PRES

shãn

shãn

3.GEN

kobunes

kobunes

ball.ACC

tsuzha?

tsuzha

INT.POS

Your son likes his ball, doesn't he?

The other kind, formed with the particle ku at the end of the sentence, expects a negative answer:

SEN → SEN ku

Razh

razh

1.NOM

zhi

zhi

APP

pumuzh

pumuzh

fish.NOM

ku?

ku

INT.NEG

I'm not a fish, am I?

Zele does not, however, actually have words for "yes" or "no". Instead, they are answered with the verb in the indicative or negative, as appropriate, and conjugated for the appropriate tense. In all instances, the verb neaz/ni "do" can safely be substituted.

Sehãs.

sehãs

like.PRES

Husehãs.

hu-sehãs

NEG-like.PRES

He likes it. He doesn't like it.

When answering a question formed with ku, it is common to use the intensive when giving a positive answer, to contradict the questioner's negative:

Neaneaz!

nea-neaz

INT-do.PRES

You really are!

Questions with pronouns

Zele has just two wh-words: shuzh, a pronoun, and shib, a pro-adjective.

The interrogative shuzh, declined for the appropriate case, can be used in the place of any noun or pronoun, including genitive:

S V O → shuzh V O

S V O → S V shuzhes

N-gen NP → she NP

Shuzh

shuzh

what.NOM

shi

shi

eat.PAST

rayonames?

rayonames

flower.ACC

What (or who) ate the flowers?

Shãyam

shãyam

goat.NOM

shi

shi

eat.PAST

shuzhes?

shuzhes

what.ACC

What did the goat eat?

She

she

what.GEN

shãyam

shãyam

goat.NOM

shi

shi

eat.PAST

rayonames?

rayonames

flower.ACC

Whose goat ate the flowers?

The genitive she can be used following a noun and preceding the ablative of the noun to mean "which one of them?"

Shãyam

shãyam

goat.NOM

she

she

what.GEN

shãyãhab

shãyãhab

goat.ABL

shi

shi

eat.PAST

rayonames?

rayonames

flower.ACC

Which of the goats ate the flowers?

Shãyam

shãyam

goat.NOM

shi

shi

eat.PAST

rayonames

rayonames

flower.ACC

she

she

what.GEN

rayãnãhab?

rayãnãhab

flower.ABL

Which of the flowers did the goat eat?

The interrogative shib can be used in the place of any adjective or adverb:

Adj NP → shib NP

Adv VP → shib VP

Shib

shib

how

shãyam

shãyam

goat.NOM

shi

shi

eat.PAST

rayonames?

rayonames

flower.ACC

What kind of goat ate the flowers?

Shãyam

shãyam

goat.NOM

shib

shib

how

shi

shi

eat.PAST

rayonames?

rayonames

flower.ACC

How did the goat eat the flowers?

Normally these wh-words are not subject to movement - they stay in place in the sentence. However, shib must occur before the modified noun or verb to avoid ambiguity.

Comparatives

NP₁ zhi Adj, (NP₂ zhi Adj) → NP₁-nom NP₂-gen Adj-sosh

Zele forms comparatives using a possessive structure, with the adjective compared being nominalised with the morpheme -sosh. Like appositives, this does not use a verb.

Rorazhi

rorazhi

donkey.NOM

shãyã

shãyã

goat.GEN

tsasosh.

tsa-sosh

big-coll.NOM

A donkey is bigger than a goat.

Shãyam

shãyam

goat.NOM

rimisosh.

ri-mi-sosh

1.GEN-small-coll.NOM

A goat is smaller than me.

Sample Texts

The north wind and the sun

Shuruzh shig re shahabazhi med: Nam she nãhab shazh shonoasosh? Tseyãs mefazhes shofi gonam rali shãnãhas, re shanam pati, “Mefazhes tseyãs gonam shazh shonoasosh.”

Shuruzh rurun pifuhas, bu nam rali mefazhes kataras shonoa. Shãnãhab, shuruzh shig rafa tseyeahas sheati shahabazhi nizhes.

Shahabazhi rafani, re nam tseyo mefazhes re teguhas shishea ko! Tsa shuruzh shig ririfi, “Shahabazhi roshonoasosh ir.”

Shishamososh rezhãs yamusoshes.

The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveler came along wrapped in a warm cloak. They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveler take off his cloak should be considered stronger than the other.

The North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew, the more closely did the traveler fold his cloak around him; and at last the North Wind had to give up.

Then, the Sun tried his luck. It shone out warmly, and the traveler took off his cloak to bathe in the river. And so the North Wind was obliged to confess that the Sun was the stronger of the two.

Gloss

Shuruzh

shu-ruzh

DEF-wind.NOM

shig

shig

north.GEN

re

re

and

shahabazhi

sha-rabazhi

DEF-sun.NOM

med:

med

argue.PAST

The North Wind and the Sun argued:

Nam

nam

person.NOM

she

she

what.GEN

nãhab

nãhab

person.ABL

shazh

shazh

other.GEN

shonoasosh?

shonoa-sosh

strong-coll.NOM

Which of them was stronger than the other?

Tseyãs

tseyãs

thick

mefazhes

mefazhes

clothes.ACC

shofi

shofi

carry.RPRES

gonam

go-nam

REL-person.NOM

rali

rali

walk.RPRES

shãnãhas,

shãnãhas

3.LOC

A person wearing heavy clothes walked where they were,

re

re

and

shanam

shanam

3.NOM

pati

pati

say.RPRES

and they said,

“Mefazhes

mefazhes

clothes.ACC

tseyãs

tseyãs

drop.PRES

gonam

go-nam

REL-person.NOM

shazh

shazh

other.GEN

shonoasosh.”

shonoa-sosh

strong-coll.NOM

“The one that removes the clothes is the stronger.”

Shuruzh

shu-ruzh

DEF-wind.NOM

rurun

ru-run

INT-blow.PAST

pifuhas,

pifuhas

back.LOC

The wind blew hard in his back,

bu

bu

but

nam

nam

person.NOM

rali

rali

hold.RPRES

mefazhes

mefazhes

clothes.ACC

kataras

kataras

hand.LOC

shonoa.

shonoa

strong

but the person held the clothes in a strong hand.

Shãnãhab,

shãnãhab

3.ABL

shuruzh

shu-ruzh

DEF-wind.NOM

shig

shig

north.GEN

rafa

rafa

red

tseyeahas

tseyea-has

stop.VN-LOC

sheati

sheati

see.RPRES

shahabazhi

sha-rabazhi

DEF-sun.NOM

nizhes

nizhes

do.VN.NOM

After that, the frustrated North Wind, stopping, watched the Sun’s actions.

Shahabazhi

sha-rabazhi

DEF-sun.NOM

rafani,

rafa-ni

shine-V.RPRES

The Sun shone,

re

re

and

nam

nam

person.NOM

tseyo

tseyo

drop.RPRES

mefazhes

mefazhes

clothes.ACC

re

re

and

teguhas

teguhas

river.LOC

shishea

shishea

wash.RPRES

ko!

ko

(assertion)

and the person damn well dropped the clothes and bathed in the river!

Tsa

tsa

therefore

shuruzh

shu-ruzh

DEF-wind.NOM

shig

shig

north.GEN

ririfi,

ririfi

breathe.PAST

So the North Wind sighed,

“Shahabazhi

sha-rabazhi

DEF-sun.NOM

roshonoasosh

ro-shonoa-sosh

1.GEN-strong.coll.NOM

ir.”

ir

(resignation)

“The sun is stronger than me, I suppose.”

Shishamososh

shishamo-sosh

smooth-coll.NOM

rezhãs

rezhãs

kill.PRES

yamusoshes.

yamu-soshes

forceful-coll.ACC

Gentleness vanquishes force.

The wolf and the goat

Shãyam pashãkelihas shini minames, re shanames sheati sokibes huyami goboabun.

Tsa boabun shãnãha poti, “Tsozhoas reha, tsa tsuhi hukaheteas mor. Re rehas mãnãsosh; shihas minam zhi roba.”

Shãyam poti, “Tsuhi hupodãs re i, podãs tsu tsezhir i!”

A goat is grazing upon a steep cliff when he is seen by a wolf, who would not be able to reach him.

So the wolf begins to call to him, “You should come [to me] so that you would not fall, also, there are meadows where I am, here the grass is most tender.”

The goat calls, “You are calling not for my benefit, you're calling so that you can eat!”

Gloss

Shãyam

shãyam

goat.NOM

pashãkelihas

pashãkelihas

cliff.LOC

shini

shini

eat-PROG.PAST

minames,

minames

grass.ACC

A goat was eating grass on a cliff,

re

re

and

shanames

shanames

3.ACC

sheati

sheati

see.RPRES

sokibes

sokibes

hunt.VN.ACC

huyami

hu-yami

NEG-stand.RPRES

shãnãha

shãnãha

3.DAT

goboabun.

go-boabun

REL-wolf.NOM

and he was seen by a wolf who could not stalk him.

Tsa

tsa

so

boabun

boabun

wolf.NOM

shãnãha

shãnãha

3.DAT

poti,

poti

call.RPRES

The wolf called to him,

“Tsozhoas

tsozhoas

come.PRES

reha

reha

1.DAT

tsa

tsa

so

tsuhi

tsuhi

2.NOM

hukaheteas

hu-kaheteas

NEG-fall.PRES

mor.

mor

(softening)

“Come to me so you don't fall.

Re

re

and

rehas

rehas

1.LOC

mãnãsosh;

mãnã-sosh

grass-COLL.NOM

There is pasture where I am;

shihas

shihas

this.LOC

minam

minam

grass.NOM

zhi

zhi

APP

roba.”

roba

soft

the grass here is soft.”

Shãyam

shãyam

goat.NOM

poti,

poti

call.RPRES

“Tsuhi

tsuhi

2.NOM

hupodãs

hu-podãs

NEG-call.PRES

re

re

1.GEN

i,

i

good

The goat called, “You're not calling for my benefit,

podãs

podãs

call.PRES

tsu

tsu

2.GEN

tsezhir

tsezhir

belly.GEN

i!”

i

good

but calling for the benefit of your belly!”