Quiet Words

Last Edited: 2006.Aug.20 Sun

Clauses and Phrases

The syntactically relevent portion of a word is its final morpheme. These cause each word-form (excluding particles) to be put into one of five groups:

1. adjectives


2. nouns in the objective case


3. all other nouns (absolutive, ergative, thematic, and vocative cases)


4. adverbs


5. verbs

For all but the first group, there's a corresponding type of phrase, determined by the last word in the phrase. A syntactical adjective is never the last word of a phrase. An objective-case phrase always precedes its head word immediately. There are some additional constraints pertaining to specific types of clauses. Otherwise the order of phrases within a clause is pragmatically determined.

Order of Phrase Components

A phrase consists of a non-adjective component preceded by zero or more adjective components (a component in this context is a word and its objective-case dependent, if any). The order of the components depends on their lexical qualities. The determiner, if it occurs, begins a simple phrase, followed by the quantifier, if it occurs. The lexical adjectives, if any, come next. The phrase ends with the lexical noun. Relative clauses count are placed with the lexical adjectives. Of course, a phrase might consist of just a pronoun.

In a partitive phrase, a quantifier is placed before the determiner (which must occur) or before the pronoun.

Determiners include the definite articles and possessives of definite phrases.

Kinds of Clauses

Besides simple main clauses, the following exist.

Relative Clauses begin with the relative pronoun Rel- (y-), which takes the case appropriate to its role within the clause, and ends with the clause terminator SCT- (d-), which takes the case appropriate to the clause's function within its matrix; this is usually the adjective form for relative clauses (dou).

Non-restrictive Clauses begin with 3rd person pronouns 3A- (z-) and 3I- (n-) and are set apart with pauses (indicated in writing by commas).

Complement Clauses begin with the clause initiator particle SCI (gi); if an argument is shared, that's indicated by placing the reflexive pronoun Rfx (s-), which is marked for the case appropriate to the argument's role within the clause, immediately after. The clause ends with the clause terminator SCT (which usually takes the thematic case -Thm (dao)).

Adverbial Clauses are like complement clauses except that the clause terminator SCT- takes the adverbial final -Adv (di).

Embedded WH-Questions have the same form as non-embedded WH-questions, but are terminated by the clause terminator SCT- (which usually takes the thematic case -Thm (dao)).

Embedded Yes-No Questions have the same form as non-embedded WH-questions, but begin with the clause initiator particle SCI (gi) and are terminated by the clause terminator SCT- (which usually takes the thematic case -Thm (dao)).

So/Such Clauses contain the so/such medial (-??-) on a quality word. They're used in the result construction and in the satisfactive/excessive construction.

Comparisons

A comparative clause contains a comparative medial on a quality word. The medials are -ar- (more than), -iwk- (less than), and -uxp- (as much as). The comparative construction uses a comparative clause plus a standard of comparison. The standard of comparison is a phrase containing the medial -ekt- with the same case as the subject of comparison.

Jana veyure muciwkou cipcao Tamekta. "John saw fewer birds than Tom."
Jana veyure mucarou cipcao katektao. "John saw more birds than cats."
Jana baebe haofari Tamekta. "John is walking faster than Tom."
Nou java hatuxpe nou varekta. "The coffee is as hot as the water."

The superlative is formed by placing the quality word before a partitive phrase. In some cases, the quantitier might not be needed.

grandou ekou zou dog- the biggest dog" or "the biggest of the dogs"

This has been adapted from the corresponding file for MNCL2B and covers the current proposed orthography and phonology. Some morphology is given as well.
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