project Epsilon: Notes
2006-Feb-22, Wednesday 17:37![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qiihoskehLast edited: 2006.Mar.10 Fri
The ending of the verb indicates its tense and aspect and whether the clause is final, non-final, relative, adverbial, or a complement.
3 DV Ditransitive Verbs (S A O DV)
2 TV Transitive Verbs (S O TV)
2 PN Nouns with Inalienable Possessors (??? PN)
1 IV Involuntary Intransitive Verbs (O IV) *
1 VV Voluntary Intransitive Verbs (S AV)
1 AV Adjectives and Most (?) Stative Verbs (O SV) *
1 SV Other Stative Verbs (S SV)
1 SN Nouns without Inalienable Possessors (SN)
* Subject pronouns must be marked as inverse to be used here (???).
Voice is -Dir (direct) or -Inv (inverse); direct is unmarked after pronouns.
1st and 2nd person occur only as subject, if only one of them appears. Indirect objects are also case-marked.
Ditransitives:
Transitives:
SubjectPhrase-Voice ObjectPhrase Verb
SubjectPhrase-Voice ObjectPronoun-Verb
SubjectPronoun(-Inv)-ObjectPronoun-Verb
ObjectPhrase SubjectPronoun(-Inv)-Verb
SubjectPhrase-Voice Verb (omitted object)
SubjectPronoun(-Inv)-Verb (omitted object)
ObjectPhrase Verb (omitted subject)
ObjectPronoun-Verb (omitted subject)
Intransitives:
SubjectPhrase-Voice Verb
SubjectPronoun(-Inv)-Verb
ObjectPhrase Verb
ObjectPronoun-Verb
A final verb of assertion always has an evidential or a modal suffix, which have an implied 1st person argument. For yes/no questions, the interrogative suffix is used instead. If none of these suffixes are present, the verb is imperative. The interrogative can be used after an evidential or a modal; in this case, the implied argument is 2nd person.
Non-final verbs normally don't take their own evidential or modal suffixes, and never take an interrogative suffix, since any interrogative on the final verb applies to the whole verb chain.
The rules for other verb forms are different; most often no such suffixes are used.
There are also a few non-suffix auxiliaries: one kind (telling and asking) sets up context. The other kind (giving and taking) take a complement clause as the first argument instead of a direct object; if one of the other arguments is omitted, it coreferences one of the complement clause arguments.
Possibly, the second type will instead be implemented using applicatives, with different morphemes used depending on which argument is coreferenced (give/do for, help/allow, take/not do for, prevent/not help). This eliminates the problem caused by argument omission. The non-suffixed forms should still be useful, with complement clauses, when no argument is coreferenced.
The ending of the verb indicates its tense and aspect and whether the clause is final, non-final, relative, adverbial, or a complement.
This should be rewritten without the confusing terms "subject" and "object".
Agreement Classes
Clepsil is Split-S due to a few involuntary intransitives taking an inverse or object-marked argument instead of a direct or subject-marked argument.3 DV Ditransitive Verbs (S A O DV)
2 TV Transitive Verbs (S O TV)
2 PN Nouns with Inalienable Possessors (??? PN)
1 IV Involuntary Intransitive Verbs (O IV) *
1 VV Voluntary Intransitive Verbs (S AV)
1 AV Adjectives and Most (?) Stative Verbs (O SV) *
1 SV Other Stative Verbs (S SV)
1 SN Nouns without Inalienable Possessors (SN)
* Subject pronouns must be marked as inverse to be used here (???).
Syntax
Mostly SOV. Interrogative pronouns are fronted. Relative pronouns are null. Personal Pronouns are proclitic, in the order Subject-IndirectObject-DirectObject.Voice is -Dir (direct) or -Inv (inverse); direct is unmarked after pronouns.
1st and 2nd person occur only as subject, if only one of them appears. Indirect objects are also case-marked.
Ditransitives:
Transitives:
SubjectPhrase-Voice ObjectPhrase Verb
SubjectPhrase-Voice ObjectPronoun-Verb
SubjectPronoun(-Inv)-ObjectPronoun-Verb
ObjectPhrase SubjectPronoun(-Inv)-Verb
SubjectPhrase-Voice Verb (omitted object)
SubjectPronoun(-Inv)-Verb (omitted object)
ObjectPhrase Verb (omitted subject)
ObjectPronoun-Verb (omitted subject)
Intransitives:
SubjectPhrase-Voice Verb
SubjectPronoun(-Inv)-Verb
ObjectPhrase Verb
ObjectPronoun-Verb
Noun Suffixes
Nouns are inflected for number (singular and plural) and case. Sort of. The suffixes apply only to the noun, which is the last word in the phrase; they mark: direct voice subject, inverse voice subject, indirect object, identity, and definition, the last not distinguishing between singular and plural. The forms not marked for case are used as direct objects or objects of postpositions. The suffixes for identity and definition make the word act like a verb stem.Auxiliary Morphemes
Evidentials and Modals appear as suffixes to verbs of assertion. The yes/no interrogative morpheme also appears as such a suffix. The evidentials include the verbs of perception.A final verb of assertion always has an evidential or a modal suffix, which have an implied 1st person argument. For yes/no questions, the interrogative suffix is used instead. If none of these suffixes are present, the verb is imperative. The interrogative can be used after an evidential or a modal; in this case, the implied argument is 2nd person.
Non-final verbs normally don't take their own evidential or modal suffixes, and never take an interrogative suffix, since any interrogative on the final verb applies to the whole verb chain.
The rules for other verb forms are different; most often no such suffixes are used.
There are also a few non-suffix auxiliaries: one kind (telling and asking) sets up context. The other kind (giving and taking) take a complement clause as the first argument instead of a direct object; if one of the other arguments is omitted, it coreferences one of the complement clause arguments.
What about relativization?
Possibly, the second type will instead be implemented using applicatives, with different morphemes used depending on which argument is coreferenced (give/do for, help/allow, take/not do for, prevent/not help). This eliminates the problem caused by argument omission. The non-suffixed forms should still be useful, with complement clauses, when no argument is coreferenced.
