Hairo Brainstorm ================ EAVP syntax: Ergative, absolutive, vector, predicate. The vector is an auxiliary verb inflected for the person of both actor and patient, as well as aspect. When the predicate is an adjective, noun or postpositional phrase, the vector can be translated as "to be"; if it is a verbal noun, "to do". ? Free word order with case marking, or fixed word order? Fixed word order with optional marking for non-standard orders? > Case marking on head nouns, by inflection. ? Construct states? For adjectives too? > For nouns: Yes. For adjectives: The constructive is the base form, abs and erg forms for nominal use derived from it. ? Verbs: Gerund, actor participle, patient participle. Should the predicate form be one of these, or a separate form? > Gerund. Vector Conjugation ================== Precedes the predicate (=verbal noun, adjective etc), marking the person of actor and patient, and the aspect. The 0 person is used when explicit third person objects are present in the sentence, while 3 and 4 are used to refer to previously mentioned objects. Aspects: Regular, Perfective, Imminent -- use a dedicated vector stem for each. No tenses. Regular aspect: Erg\Abs | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 --------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------- 0 | a | u | sa | an | in 1 | hi | oi * | sai | anne | inne 2 | fe | hwo * | fes | amme | imme 3 | na | nau | nas | na^n | nain 4 | ne | nu | nes | nan | ni^n * Black Forest Dialect (BFD): 1>1 |hif|; 2>1 |fu| Perfective aspect: Erg\Abs | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 --------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------- 0 | e^ | wai * | sei | e^n | i^n 1 | chi^ | hwi^ * | si^ | engi | ingi 2 | pe^ | pwe^ * | pe^s | embe | imbe 3 | e^na | e^nau | e^nas | e^nan | e^nain 4 | e^ne | e^nu | e^nis | e^nen | e^nin * BFD: 0>1 |wo^|; 1>1 |chi^f|; 2>1 |po^| Imminent aspect: Erg\Abs | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 --------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------- 0 | tol | tu^l | pwes | pwan | pwin 1 | hi tol | hi tu^l | hi pwes | hi pwan | hi pwin 2 | fe tol | fe tu^l | fe pwes | fe pwan | fe pwin 3 | na tol | na tu^l | na pwes | na pwan | na pwin 4 | ne tol | ne tu^l | ne pwes | ne pwan | ne pwin Examples: The verb |dom| means "to eat". It has an active meaning, so the eater is in the ergative case and the food in the absolutive, "suffering" the verb action. Thus: Anne dom. {1>3 eat} "I eat it." (or "We eat them" etc) Hi dom. {1>0 eat} "I eat." An dom. {0>3 eat} "It is eaten." (or "Somebody eats it.") E^nis dom. {2>4:PRF eat} "You have eaten the latter." Fe tu^l dom. {1>2:IMM eat} "I am about to eat you." Gwein mari a dom. {cattle:ERG grass:ABS 0>0 eat} "The cattle eats the grass." Gwein in dom. {cattle:ERG 0>4 eat} "The cattle eats the latter." Mari na dom. {grass:ABS 3>0 eat} "The former eats the grass." Nain dom. {3>4 eat} "The former eats the latter." Ni^n dom. {4>4 eat} "The latter eats itself." The verb |dil| means "to see". Since it has a passive meaning (looking is an action, but seeing is an experience), the one who sees is in the absolutive case, and the seeee ;-) is in the ergative. Thus: Hwo dil. {2>1 see} "I see you." (or "We see y'all" etc) U dil. {0>1 see} "I see." Hi dil. {1>0 see} "I am seen" (or "Somebody sees me.") Hwi^ dil. {1>1:PRF see} "I have seen myself." Fe pwes dil. {2>2:IMM see} "You are about to see yourself." Paua brand a dil. {dog:ERG man:ABS 0>0 see} "The man sees the dog." Paua in dil. {dog:ERG 0>4 see} "The latter sees the dog." = "He sees the dog." Brand na dil. {man:ABS 3>0 see} "The man sees the former." = "The man sees him." Nain dil. {3>4 see} "The latter sees the former." = "He sees him." Na^n dil. {3>3 see} "The former sees himself." = "He sees himself." Pronouns ======== Since the vector usually already marks the person of actor and patient, free-standing personal pronouns are no longer commonly used in Hairo. Only the possessive pronouns are attested. For emphasis or when the number of the possessor must be clarified, the possessive pronouns are fused idiomatically with the words |chod, choda, chode| "self, proper", |min, mion, minne| "together" and |warn, waran, warne| "people, clan" to form singular, paucal and categorical personal pronouns, respectively. Pers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 --------+----------+----------+----------+----------- Pos | hu^ | sar | ane | ine | | | | Abs Sg | hu^chod | sachod | anchod | inchod Erg Sg | huchta | sachta | ancta | incta Gen Sg | huchte | sachte | ancte | incte | | | | Abs Pc | hu^min | sarmin | ammin | immin Erg Pc | hu^mion | sarmion | ammion | immion Gen Pc | hu^mine | sarmine | ammine | immine | | | | Abs Ct | hu^warn | sawarn | amwarn | imwarn Erg Ct | hu^fran | saubran | ambran | imbran Gen Ct | hu^rne | saubrane | ambrane | imbrane An hu^ hrol. {0>3 1:GEN house} "It is my (or our) house." An huchte hrol. {0>3 1sg:GEN house} "It is the house of me alone." An hu^mine hrol. {0>3 1pc:GEN house} "It is the house of us together (as a group)." An hu^rne hrol. {0>3 1ct:GEN house} "It is the house of all our kind (categorically)." Nouns ===== Nouns inflect for three cases: absolutive, ergative and genitive. All other functions are designated by postpositions (which some regard as suffixed case endings). There is no inflection for number. The absolutive is the base form of the noun: |brand|, |fa^n|, |hrol|, |prid|, |hlund|, |mari|. The ergative can form by splitting a final consonant cluster, diphthongizing a long vowel, adding a final -a, infixation of an -o- after the (short) stem vowel, lengthening the final vowel, or zero inflection (no change). The latter only happens with nouns that usually don't "act", thus the ergative form is not important. |branad|, |fain|, |hrol|, |priod|, |hlund|, |mari^|. The genitive is usually formed quite regularly with the suffix -e. Single stops after a short vowel become unvoiced, other consonants after a short vowel geminate. Some nouns ending in a vowel have a zero inflection (no change from the abs form): |brande|, |fa^ne|, |hrolle|, |prite|, |hlunde|, |mari|. Vocab ===== Nouns: Forms for absolutive, ergative, genitive |brand, branad, brande| = man? iron? |gwai, gwaia, gwaie| = woman? |fa^n, fain, fa^ne| = girl? maiden? |gwi^n, gwein, gwi^ne| = cattle |hrol, hrol, hrolle| = house -- No erg form for inert things? |prid, priod, prite| = wood |de^m, de^m, de^me| = food |hlund, hlund, hlunde| = milk |mari, mari^, mari| = grass |hlo^l, hloul, hlo^le| = cross; Christian |pau, paua, paue| = dog Verbs: Base form, actor participle, patient participle |chu^r, chu^ron, chu^rach| = keep, safeguard, contain |dom, domen, domach| = eat |ftau, ftaun, ftauach| = love (deponent!) |dil, dilun, dilach| = see (deponent!) |alf, alun, alwach| = talk to (BFD: base form |aul|)