Obrenje Grammar

4.  Syntax

4.1.  General Syntax

Sentences with explicit subjects have the unmarked word orders V S P D and V S D P:  First the verb, then the subject, then the objects (predicative and directive, the sequence is not important).  Thanks to the cases, the various objects may also be placed in other positions for emphasis or poetic effect, even before the verb.  The subject, however, is more sensitive:  It must always come after the verb.

Lonne    torav  u    lawne   i    fele.
Sing:3e  man:d  PRE  song:i  DIR  woman:d
Lit.:  "Sings the man a song to the woman."
The man sings a song to the woman.

I    fele     lonne    torav  i    lawne.
DIR  woman:d  sing:3e  man:d  PRE  song:i
The man sings a song to the woman.
 

However, if we use an implicit verb form, the verb already implies the subject, thus making an explicitly mentioned subject obsolete.  The regular word orders in this case are V P D and V D P.  The third person has dedicated endings for explicit and implicit subjects (IIIe and IIIi).  In all other persons, those forms are identical.

Lonnaze  u    lawne   i    fele.
Sing:1   PRE  song:i  DIR  woman:d
Lit.:  "Sing-I a song to the woman."
I sing a song to the woman.
 

If for some reason we want to highlight an explicit subject, we can mention it first as an independent verbless statement (which I call a topic declaration), and then follow up with an implicit verb V P D / V D P structure:

Torav,  lonna    u    lawne   i    fele.
Man:d   sing:3i  PRE  song:i  DIR  woman:d
Lit.:  "The man. Sings-he a song to the woman."
The man, he sings a song to the woman.

Note that in this case, |torav| is the topic declaration, which should be considered as a statement of its own, and not part of the sentence |Lonna u lawne i fele.|
 

Another possibility to stress the subject is to use a relative clause:

Moc   u    torav  tse   lonna    u    lawne   i    fele.
Be:0  PRE  man:d  that  sing:3i  PRE  song:i  DIR  woman:d
Lit:  "It is the man that sings-he a song to the woman."
It is the man who sings a song to the woman.
 

The implicit/explicit structure can also be used for persons other than the third:

Lonnaze  u    lawne.
Sing:1   PRE  song:i
I/we sing a song.

Lonnaze  cene   u    lawne.
Sing:1   alone  PRE  song:i
I (by myself) sing a song.

Lonnaze  na    u     lawne.
Sing:1   all   PRE   song:i
We all sing a song.
 

Another common word order is P V S D. This structure is preferably used with short predicate statements, like "Jack is a dork", or in situations where the predicative object is considered important.  It's common practise to omit the predicative case preposition |u| in such a sentence, though its use wouldn't be considered wrong, just unnecessarily elaborate.  Note that the unmarked predicative object can't be confused with the subject, since the subject must always come after the verb, or be stated in a separate topic declaration.
 

The P V S D structure works equally well with implicit and explicit subjects.

Lawne lonne torav i fele.
The man sings a song to the woman.

Quq       mo     Zhak.
Stupid:i  be:3e  Jack.
Jack is a dork.

Quq       moze.
Stupid:i  be:1.
I am a dork.
 

Note: The boundary between the two object cases is not always absolute:  A few verbs can sometimes use either case for their direct object.  The choice of case can then reflect a subtle facet of meaning.  The predicative integrates the object into the verb, while the directive emphasizes its role as a separate object:

Caj      atreja  u    gles      i    voron.
Make:3e  man:d   PRE  hammer:i  DIR  lord:d
Lit: "Atreja blade-makes the lord."
Atreja makes blades for the lord. (As a routine — he is the lord's blacksmith.)

Cajaq        atreja  i    ori         gles.
Make:LIQ:3e  man:d   DIR  gorgeous:i  blade:i.
Lit: "Atreja is making a gorgeous one of blades."
Atreja is making a gorgeous blade. (As a single, particular event — this isn't just some random blade-making.)

Kel       xim    culdin     u    tjerva.
Watch:3e  POS:1  brother:i  PRE  bird:i
Lit: "My brother bird-watches."
My brother watches birds. (He is a passionate birdwatcher in his free time.)

Kel       xim    culdin     i    tjerva.
Watch:3e  POS:1  brother:i  DIR  bird:i
Lit: "My brother watches a bird."
My brother watches a bird.  (A particular bird, not birds in general.)
 
 

4.2  Pronomial Syntax

Pronouns enjoy a special status in Obrenje syntax.  They are small words with high information density, so they are preferably mentioned early in the sentence, where they help to establish context.

Unmarked word order places pronouns either directly before or directly after the verb.

The following sentences are a (non-comprehensive) selection of syntactically correct variations on the same sentence.
 

Lawne lonne torav i fele.  Lonne torav u lawne i fele.  "The man sings a song to the woman."
P     V     N       D      V     N       P       D

Je lonne torav u lawne.  Lawne je lonne torav.  "The man sings her a song."
D  V     N       P       P     D  V     N

Lonne e torav i fele.  E lonne torav i fele.  "The man sings it to the woman."
V     P N       D      P V     N       D

Je lonne e torav.  E lonne je torav.  Lonne e je torav.  "The man sings it to her."
D  V     P N       P V     D  N       V     P D  N
 

Note that the directive pronoun has dedicated forms for pre-verbal and post-verbal positions, which allows for better phonemic coupling with the verb:

Le kelze /l@"kElZ@/  -- or --  Kelze il. /"kElZil/  "I see you."
 

In fact, since the arrangement of pronouns is quite free, poets or public speakers deliberately choose them for rhythm and euphonics.  Of the following three sentences, which share the same meaning ("He sings it to her"), the latter one features a more regular, flowing rhythm than the former two.  The symbol /,/ denotes secondary stress.

Lonna e je /"lOnna E ,jE/:  Collision of two similar vowels, widely spaced stresses.
E je lonna /E jE "lOnna/:   Only one stress peak, long unstressed phrase before that.
E lonna je /E"lOnna ,jE/:   Pleasant rhythm.
 
 

4.3.  Subordinate and Relative Clauses

The general subordinate clause initiator |tse| can usually be translated as the analogous conjunction "that" in English.  It should not be confused with the other meanings the word "that" can have in English.  |Tse| bundles a clause into a single object, allowing it to act like a noun phrase in a sentence.  For clarification, one might want to translate it as "the fact that...".

Naqze   i    ny       warve.
Like:1  DIR  general  dog:i.
Lit.:  "Like-I in-general dog?"
I like dogs.

Naqze   i    tse   le           pwos           warve.
Like:1  DIR  THAT  PERS:II:DIR  bite:PST:IIIe  dog:i.
Lit.:  "Like-I that thee bit dog?"
I like the fact that a dog bit you.

The conjunction |tse| is also classically used to initiate relative clauses:

Mo     ti    u    torav   tse   bi       kolre.
Be:3e  this  PRE  man:d   THAT  REL:DIR  see:PST:2.
Lit.:  "Is this the man THAT whom saw-you."
This is the man you saw.

Mo     ti    u    torav   tse   bim       warev  kolre.
Be:3e  this  PRE  man:d   THAT  REL:POSS  dog:d  see:PST:2.
Lit.:  "Is this the man THAT of-whom the dog saw-you."
This is the man whose dog you saw.

Mo     ti    u    torav   tse   le          kol         ba.
Be:3e  this  PRE  man:d   THAT  PERS:2:DIR  see:PST:3e  REL:NOM.
Lit.:  "Is this the man THAT thee saw who."
This is the man who saw you.

However, in those cases where a relative pronoun immediately follows the |tse|, the |tse| is almost always omitted in colloquial usage, since the relative pronoun already marks the subordinate clause well enough:

Mo ti u torav bi kolre.
This is the man you saw.

Mo ti u torav bim warev kolre.
This is the man whose dog you saw.

This omission of |tse| is not possible when the nominative relative pronoun |ba| is used, since it cannot be placed before its verb, according to the Obrenje VS syntax.  The speakers of Obrenje have therefore devised another method of shortening the sentence:  They omit the |ba| and use the implicit verb form instead.  The duties of the relative pronoun |ba| then fall to the conjunction |tse|.

Mo     ti    u    torav   tse   le          kole.
Be:3e  this  PRE  man:d   THAT  PERS:2:DIR  see:PST:IIIi.
Lit.:  "Is this the man THAT thee saw-he."
This is the man who saw you.
 
 

4.4.  Questions and Commands

Questions are classically produced using the absolute question word |vy|.  To inquire after a particular element of the sentence, one uses the |vy| in the place of a quantifier, or highlights the element with a relative clause.

Vy       lonna    u    lawne.
Yes/no?  sing:3i  PRE  song:i
Lit.:  "Yes/no sings-he a song?"
Does he sing a song?

Lonna    vy       u  lawne.
Sing:3i  yes/no?  PRE  song:i
Lit.:  "Sings-he yes/no a song?"
Does he sing a song?

Vy       moc   u    lawne   tse   bi       lonna.
Yes/no?  be:0  PRE  song:i  that  REL:DIR  sing:3i
Lit.:  "Yes/no is-it a song (which sings-he)?"
Is it a song that he sings?

There are basically three ways to form an order.  The most polite way is using the optative, which implies the function of the English word "please".  A less polished but widely popular way is to use the naked (and possibly clipped) verb stem.  This system has arisen in command hierarchies such as in sports, on ships and in the military, and excels by its compactness.  Finally, a rather rude way of wording a command is a declarative sentence in the future tense.

Olonnale.
Lit.: "Oh, that you may sing!"
Please sing.

Lon.
Sing.

Lonnile.
Lit.: "You will sing."
Sing or die.