J Matthew Pearson wrote:
> I don't really have time to read through these posts in detail, but I just
> wanted to say that I find Vaiysi very beautiful. I like the
> quasi-irregularities of the noun declensions too!
>
Thanks!
: )
The system, indeed, is an agglutinating one tending toward inflection.
Luca
> > Hi!
> >
> > Today it's time for nouns and adjectives...
> >
> > The Noun
> > Nouns are inflected for two numbers (singular and plural), and six cases
> > (ergative, absolutive, dative, genitive, locative and allative); there
is no
> > gender. Nouns are listed in dictionaries in their singular absolutive
form,
> > which ends with a short vowel. We have four declensions patterns, one
for
> > each ending vowel: a, e, i, u (-o nouns merged with -u even before
classical
> > Suimeni period). There are no differences between the various patterns,
inly
> > the locative case presents different ending for each stem vowel.
> > Note: in these exemples we will use words with long radical vowel, to
let
> > you see when the desinence contains a long vowel that can reduce it.
> >
> > Absolutive
> > Absolutive is the unmarked case. It is used with subjects of
intransitive
> > verbs and objects of transitive verbs, but it is generally considered
the
> > default form of every noun, used even for vocatives. The absolutive form
> > ends with a vowel, a, e, i or u, and each of these vowels has an
indipendent
> > declension pattern. The ending vowel can be dropped in the singular form
> > even in the classical period , if it is preceded by /s/, /l/, /r/, a
vowel
> > or a nasal (i.e. miyre 'sun' > miyr, douru 'mare' > dour, Leiye (name of
a
> > town) > Leiy). The endings of the plural have merged: the old desinence
of
> > the -e stem nouns is now widespread.
> >
> > When we talk about nouns, we will assume they are in their absolutive
form,
> > which is that listed in dictionaries.
> >
> > meaning Singular Plural
> > kyemma hand kyemma kemmeiy
> > miyre sun miyre mireiy
> > eriynni wind eriynni erinneiy
> > douru mare douru dureiy
> >
> > *Ending -a has already been displaced by -o in vernacular Vaiysi, that
is
> > caused by the same phenomenon which made Suiméni third singular person
of
> > the present tense pass from -a to -o; this change is well accepted with
> > verbs, but is not completely accepted for nouns, because -a nouns
usually
> > indicate male beings, and a change -a > -o could generate confusion
with -u
> > nouns, generally indicating female beings.
> >
> > Ergative
> > The ergative case is used with subjects of transitive verbs. The
ergative
> > form has retained, both in singular and in plural, the old -l ending
(note:
> > in the older version of the lang the ending was -s) but, as in the
> > absolutive, the plural desinences merged with the -e nouns ending.
> >
> > meaning Singular Plural
> > kyemma hand kyemmal kyemmel
> > miyre sun miyrel miyrel
> > eriynni wind eriynnil eriynnel
> > douru mare dourul dourel
> >
> > Dative
> > The dative case is used with indirect objects of transitive and
intransitive
> > verbs and with direct objects in antipassive constructions. The singular
> > form is characterized by the desinence -am, even in after e, i and u.
> > Actually the Suiméni ending -m caused the nasalization of the preceding
> > vowel, which turned out to be an -a. The plural ending is -mis (this
doesn't
> > cause any vowel change because not in final position).
> >
> > meaning Singular Plural
> > kyemma hand kyemmam kyemmamis
> > miyre sun miyram miyremis
> > eriynni wind eriynnam eriynnimis
> > douru mare douram dourumis
> >
> > Genitive
> > The genitive case is used with the master in a master-subordinate
> > construction as in English possessive 'John's exercise book', and it is
used
> > to mark any realationship between two nouns. The genitive is also a
> > prepositional case, i. e. it is used to mark the objects of
prepositions. In
> > other terms, prepositions govern the genitive case. The singular ending
> > is -ni in singular and -eiyni in plural forms.
> >
> > meaning Singular Plural
> > kyemma hand kyemmani kemmeiyni
> > miyre sun miyreni mireiyni
> > eriynni wind eriynnini erinneiyni
> > douru mare douruni dureiyni
> >
> > Locative
> > The locative case is used with location statements, as in English 'at
home',
> > 'in the town'. Locative hasn't to be confused with allative: the former
> > marks a state, the latter a motion toward something. The old Suiméni
> > postposition -ó was assimilated to the last vowel of the stem, causing
> > diphthongization or vowel lengthening. Plural generally adds -yau to the
> > usual -eiy, becoming -eiyau. Notice that in everyday's speech the
locative
> > case can be replaced by prepositional constructions.
> >
> > meaning Singular Plural
> > kyemma hand kemmyau kyemmeiyau
> > miyre sun miryeu miyreiyau
> > eriynni wind erinniyo eriynneiyau
> > douru mare duryou doureiyau
> >
> > Notice that in the widespread desinence -eiyau the syllabification works
> > this way -ei+yau. Hence the retained long radical vowel in the root.
> >
> > Allative
> > The allative case is used to mark location toward someone or something.
The
> > ending is -d in singular, -sti in plural forms. As the locative, the
> > allative case is sometimes replaced by prepositional constructions in
> > everyday speech.
> >
> > meaning Singular Plural
> > kyemma hand kyemmad kemmeiyti
> > miyre sun miyred mireiyti
> > eriynni wind eriynnid erinneiyti
> > douru mare dourud dureiyti
> >
> > The Adjective
> > We must distinguish two functions of the adjective: predicative and
> > attributive. Predicative adjectives are always followed by one of the
> > inflected voices of -yeo, 'to be'. Attributive adjectives usually end
in -i
> > and decline as nouns. They generally precede nouns, but they can be
placed
> > after them as well.
> >
> > Noun-adjective agreement
> > It has been already said that adjectives usually precede nouns, but they
can
> > be placed also after them. It is important remember that adjectives are
> > bound to be put in the same case the nouns are. This unless they are in
the
> > locative or allative case. In noun phrases with these cases, indeed,
only
> > the last component of the phrase bears the case marker. This because in
> > Suiméi locative and allative were built with postpositions (ó and it)
> > governing the absolutive case.
> >
> > For istance:
> >
> > lyaskam samam
> > good.DAT man.DAT
> > to the good man
> > miylinini rinani
> > little.GEN town.GEN
> > of the little town
> >
> > but:
> >
> > hyene talou
> > beautiful house.LOC
> > In the beautiful house
> >
> > or:
> >
> > sile burmouved
> > sky cloudy.ALL
> > up to the cloudy sky
> >
> > Comparative and superlative: our-
> > The comparative and superlative constructions require in Vaiysi the use
of a
> > proclitic augmentative particle, our-, fixed immediately before the
> > adjective. In the comparative constructions, the second term is
introduced
> > by the preposition oulis, which means 'in front of / in relation with'
The
> > superlative construction works the same as the comparative, but the
> > adjective is not followed by a second term, so the augmentative takes an
> > absolute value.
> >
> > Thus the general form of a comparative or a superlative is:
> >
> > our-adjective + first term + oulis + second term
> > Let's take a look at these exemples:
> >
> > Pulle ourvedyeo oulis yerke.
> > ox AUG.big.be.3s than cat
> > The ox is bigger than the cat.
> >
> > Vel houvo ourboinni langeiyni oulis ta.
> > me.ERG have.3s AUG.simple task than your
> > I have a simpler task than yours.
> >
> > Yeam ourhyeni punyeu oulis este.
> > be.1s AUG.beautiful village.LOC than you
> > I live in a nicer town than yours.
> >
> > However, with complex sentences, we may find other constructions:
> >
> > Ourlaskyeo vye yegam oulis vye yegad.
> > AUG.good.be.3s than go.1s than go.2s
> > It's better if I go than if you go.