A CONSTRUCTED LANGUAGE
4.0 CASE MORPHOLOGY
Anyone who
has studied German, Latin, Russian, Classical Greek or Sanskrit, is familiar
with the concept of Case. Case generally refers to a morphological scheme in
which a noun, whether via internal mutation of its phonemes or via affixes,
shows what grammatical “role” it plays in the phrase or sentence in which it
appears. For example, in the English sentence It was me she saw, the use of the word ‘she’ as
opposed to ‘her’ and the use of ‘me’ as opposed to ‘I’ distinguishes the
subject of the sentence (the person seeing) from the object of the verb (the
one being seen). Similarly, in the German sentence Der Bruder des Knaben sah den Mann (= ‘The boy’s
brother saw the man’), the words ‘der’, ‘des’ and ‘den’ distinguish the subject
of the sentence ‘brother’ (nominative case) from the possessor ‘boy’ (genitive
case) from the object ‘man’ (accusative case).
The concept of “case” can extend far beyond the notions of subject,
object and possessor. Depending on the particular language, there may be noun
cases which specify the location or position of a noun, whether a noun
accompanies another or derives from another or is the recipient of another. In
general, noun cases in those languages which rely upon them often substitute
for what in English is accomplished using prepositions or prepositional
phrases.
There are 68 cases in New Ithkuil, each marked on a formative by a
vocalic affix in Slot IX. The individual
cases are described below in Sections 4.2 through 4.9. However, before doing so, it will be helpful
to first discuss the relationship between case and semantic role, as well as the notion of argument structure.
Standard Slot Structure of a Formative
|
I |
II |
III |
IV |
V |
VI |
VII |
VIII |
IX |
X |
|
|
(CC |
VV ) |
CR |
VR |
(CSVX...) |
CA |
(VXCS...) |
(VN
CN ) |
VC / VK |
[stress] |
|
|
Concatenation
status indicator |
Version |
Main Root |
Function +
Specification |
VXCS affix(es)
apply to stem but not to CA Form is -CSVX- (i.e.,
reversed from standard Slot VII VXCS
form) |
Configuration |
VXCS affixes
apply to stem + CA |
Valence
+ Mood/Case-Scope |
Case or Format or |
penultimate
stress = unframed
Relation + VC ultimate
stress = unframed
Relation + VK antepenultimate
stress = framed
Relation + VC |
|
|
consonantal
form consisting of either a glottal stop or a form beginning with -h-. |
vocalic affix |
cons. form |
vocalic affix |
consonant +
vowel |
if Slot V is
filled, CA is geminated |
vowel +
consonant |
Modular Slot
containing a |
vocalic affix
|
4.1 Semantic Role versus Positional Slot
In most
languages, case operates at the surface structure level of language to signify
arbitrary grammatical relations such as subject, direct object, indirect
object. The deeper level of “semantic role” is ignored in terms of
morphological designations. The notion of semantic role can be illustrated by
the following set of sentences:
(1a) John opened
the door with the key.
(1b) The key opened the door.
(1c) The wind opened the door.
(1d) The door opened.
In each of
these sentences case is assigned based on “slot”, i.e., the position of the
nouns relative to the verb, irrespective of their semantic roles. Thus the
“subjects” of the sentences are, respectively, John, the key,
the wind, and the door. Yet it can be seen
that, semantically speaking, these four sentences are interrelated in a causal
way. Specifically, Sentence (1b) results directly from sentence (1a), and
sentence (1d) results directly from either (1b) or (1c). We see that the case
of the noun ‘key’ in sentence (1a) is prepositional, while in sentence (1b) it
is the subject. Yet, the key plays the same semantic role in both sentences:
the physical instrument by which the act of opening is accomplished. As for the
noun ‘door,’ it is marked as a direct object in the first three sentences and
as a subject in the fourth, even though its semantic role in all four sentences
never changes, i.e., it is the noun which undergoes a change in its state as a
result of the act of opening. The noun ‘John’ in sentence (1a) is marked as a
subject, the same case as ‘key’ in (1b), the ‘wind’ in (1c) and the ‘door’ in
(1d), yet the semantic role of ‘John’ is entirely different than the role of
‘key’ in (1b) and different again from ‘door’ in (1c), i.e., John is acting as
the conscious, deliberate initiator of the act of opening. Finally, the noun
‘wind’ in (1c), while marked as a subject, operates in yet another semantic
role distinct from the subjects of the other sentences, i.e., an inanimate,
blind force of nature which, while being the underlying cause of the act of
opening, can make no conscious or willed choice to initiate such action.
The case
structures of Western languages mark positional slot (i.e., grammatical relations)
only, and have no overt way to indicate semantic role, thus providing no way of
showing the intuitive causal relationship between sets of sentences like those
above. In New Ithkuil, however, the case of a noun is based on its underlying
semantic role, not its syntactic position in the sentence relative to the verb.
These semantic roles reflect a more fundamental or primary level of language
irrespective of the surface case marking of nouns in other languages. Thus New
Ithkuil noun declension more accurately reflects the underlying semantic
function of nouns in sentences.
The
following semantic roles are marked by noun cases in New Ithkuil. They
correspond roughly to the “subjects” and “objects” of Western languages:
agent: The
animate, (and usually conscious and deliberate) initiator of an act which
results in another noun undergoing a consequent change in state or behavior,
e.g., ‘John’ in Sentence (1a) above.
force: An
inanimate, unwilled cause of an act such as a force of nature like ‘wind’ in
Sentence (1c) above.
instrument: The
noun which functions as the physical means or tool by which an act is initiated
or performed, e.g., ‘key’ in Sentences (1a) and (1b) above.
patient: The
noun which undergoes a change in state or behavior as a result of an act
initiated or caused by itself or by another noun, e.g., ‘door’ in all four
sentences above.
Additional
semantic roles corresponding to subjects and objects in Western languages exist
in New Ithkuil as overt noun cases. These include the roles of enabler, experiencer, stimulus, recipient,
and content, and are explained
below using the following set of sentences as illustrations.
(2a) Mary hits the children.
(2b) Mary
entertains the children.
(2c) Mary sees
the children.
(2d) Mary tells
the children a story.
(2e) Mary wants
children.
Examining
these five sentences, we notice that the noun Mary is in the subject slot in
all of them and the children is the direct object (except in the fourth sentence),
even though the semantic roles of both nouns are entirely different in each of
these five sentences. Beginning with Sentence (2a) we see that Mary is an agent which tangibly causes injury or
pain to the children who obviously function in the role of patient. Thus (2a) is identical to
sentence (1a) in terms of the roles portrayed by the subject and direct object.
In Sentence
(2b) however, Mary entertains the children,
there is a subtle distinction. At first we might consider Mary an agent who
initiates a change in the children (i.e., the fact that they become
entertained). But, in fact, the act of entertainment is not one whose result
(enjoyment by the audience) can be guaranteed by the party doing the
entertaining. In fact, the result of the act of entertainment is not Mary’s to
determine, but rather the children’s, based on whether they “feel” a sense of
enjoyment at experiencing Mary’s act. And so, Mary is more like a patient here,
not an agent, as she is undergoing a change in her state or behavior (she is
performing an attempt to entertain) which she herself has chosen to initiate
and undergo, yet the act has the potential to cause a resulting change in the
children, the success of this motivation to be determined by the children,
however, not Mary. Such a semantic role as Mary here is termed an enabler. And how do the children make
the decision as to whether they are entertained or not (i.e., what is their
semantic role?). Can the children deliberately or consciously choose to feel a
sense of enjoyment, or are they not themselves unwilling “patients” to their
own emotional reactions? In case grammar, a party such as the children who
undergo an unwilled experience is termed an experiencer.
Besides emotional reactions, such unwilled experiences include autonomic
sensory perceptions (e.g., parties that see or hear because their eyes were
open and pointed in a particular direction or who were within earshot of a
sound), and autonomic bodily reactions or responses as well as proprioceptive
sensations (e.g., coughing, sneezing, perspiring, feeling hot or cold, feeling
pain, etc.).
This notion
of experiencer is likewise
illustrated by Sentence (2c) Mary sees
the children, in which the verb ‘see’ denotes an automatic sensory
experience, not a deliberately initiated action. In other words, it is the
nature of the sense of sight to function automatically whenever a person is
conscious and his/her eyes are open. The verb ‘see’ does not necessarily imply
a conscious or deliberately willed action of “seeing” (as would be implied by
the verb ‘to look [at]’). Therefore, the “action” is automatic and uninitiated;
it is, in fact, not an action at all, but rather an experiential state which
the person doing the seeing undergoes. In other words, the person seeing is actually
a kind of “patient,” as it is he/she who undergoes the experience of (and
physical or emotional reaction to) the particular sight. Such undergoers of
sensory verbs and other unwilled states (e.g., emotional states or reactions,
autonomic bodily reactions such as sneezing, physical states of sensation such
as being hot or cold, etc.) are categorized in the role of experiencer. And what of the children’s
role in sentence (2c)? Unlike the first three sentences, the children do not
undergo any action. Certainly the process of “being seen” by Mary does not in
itself cause a physical change or reaction of any kind in the entity being
seen. Nor can the children be analyzed as “initiating” the act of sight, as
they may be completely unaware that Mary is seeing them. As a result, the
children’s semantic role is merely that of stimulus,
a neutral, unwitting originating reason for the experiential state being
undergone by the other noun participant.
In Sentence
(2d) Mary tells the children a story,
Mary is a patient who initiates the action which she herself undergoes, the
telling of a story. The children do not undergo an unwilled emotional, sensory,
or bodily reaction here, but rather are the passive and more or less willing recipient of information, the role of
an “indirect object” in Western languages. The story, on the other hand, is
merely a non-participatory abstract referent, whose role is termed content.
The role of content also applies to the children in
Sentence (2e) Mary wants children,
where they function as the “object” of Mary’s desire. Since no tangible action
is occurring, nor are the children undergoing any result of change of state,
nor need they be even aware of Mary’s desire, they are, like the story in
sentence (2d), merely non-participatory referents. As for Mary’s role in (2e),
the emotional state of desire, being unwilled, self-activating, and
subjectively internal, creates a situation similar to an automatic sensory
perception or autonomic body response; thus, Mary’s role is again that of experiencer.
4.1.3
Argument Structure
In addition
to case being based on semantic roles, New Ithkuil differs in another important
respect from natural languages in that it does not have a default argument
structure for its verbal formatives. This is explained below.
The
individual verbs of natural languages each have an implied argument structure,
i.e., a pattern of how nouns (i.e., “arguments”) interact with the particular
verb and what formal role (from a morpho-semantic perspective) each of those
nouns plays in relation to the verb. For example, the verb ‘hit’ in
English implies the existence of an agent (i.e., someone doing the hitting) and
a patient (i.e., someone undergoing the effect/result of the hitting), as in ‘He
hit the dog.’ A different argument structure is illustrated by the verb ‘give’
which implies an agent doing the giving, a patient undergoing the receiving,
and a noun functioning in the semantic role of content, i.e., the item being
given/received.
The grammar
of natural languages specifies the requirements of which arguments to a verb
must be present for a sentence to be grammatical and which arguments are
optional. This is illustrated, for example, in the following English
sentences (ungrammatical sentences are preceded by an asterisk):
3a) Sam
gave the girl a book.
3b) Sam
gave a book.
3c) Sam
gave.
3d) * Sam
gave the girl. (Intended meaning: Sam gave something to the girl.)
3e) * Gave
the girl a book. (Intended meaning: The girl was given a book.)
3f) * Gave
the girl. (Intended meaning: The girl was
given something.)
3g) * Gave
a book. (Intended meaning: Someone gave
a book.)
3h) * Gave.
(Intended meaning: Someone did
some giving, or Giving
occurred).
In sentence
(3a), all three arguments to the verb ‘gave’ are expressed, while in sentence
(3b) the patient/recipient has been deleted. Sentence (3c) deletes both the
patient/recipient and the content
argument. In sentence (3d) however, when we try to delete the content argument of book while
preserving the patient/recipient, the sentence requires syntactic restructuring
into Sam gave [something] to the girl
in order to remain grammatical (the asterisk * in front of the sentence
indicates it is ungrammatical). Likewise, sentences (3e), (3f), (3g) and
(3h) are ungrammatical when we try to delete the agent, as well as either or
both of the other two arguments as well, requiring paraphrasing to make the
intended meaning grammatical).
Compare the
above group of sentences containing the verb ‘gave’ with the sentences below
featuring the verb ‘broke’:
4a) Tim broke the window with a hammer.
4b) Tim broke the window.
4c) The hammer broke
the window.
4d) The window broke.
4e) * The hammer broke.
(Intended meaning: The hammer
broke something.)
4f) * Tim broke.
(Intended meaning: Tim broke
something, or Tim did some
breaking.)
Notice how
sentence (3c) above, Sam gave,
is grammatical, but the similarly structured sentence (4f) Tim broke is not.
Conversely, notice in comparing sentences (4a) and (4d) that the patient window is grammatical in both
object and subject slots, but similarly placing the patient girl from sentence (3a) into
subject slot gives the ungrammatical sentence *The girl gave (with intended meaning: The girl was given something or Someone gave the girl something.)
Other
examples of constraints on argument structure in English are illustrated as
follows:
‘Bill cut
the cake with a knife’ can be shortened to ‘Bill cut the cake’, but the
syntactically identical ‘She put the
book on the shelf’ cannot be shortened to *’She put the book’.
‘Treatment
healed my wounds’ can delete its agent to give ‘My wounds healed’, but the
similar ‘Treatment cured my wounds’
does not allow agent-deletion to *’My wounds
cured’.
As can be
seen, languages such as English are very haphazard in the various constraints
on argument structure applied to individual verbs. Sometimes it is
possible to delete arguments but at other times doing so results in an
ungrammatical sentence, even though a semantically equivalent paraphrase exists.
New Ithkuil has no such constraints on its argument structure. As long as
a sentence makes sense semantically and the relationships between explicit or
implied arguments and their verb can be determined or inferred, then the New Ithkuil
sentence will be grammatically permissible. This is possible because its nouns
are marked for semantically-based case, as well as the fact that verbs are
marked for Function, a category we discussed in Section 3.8 above.
The example
sentences above illustrate that the deletion of implied arguments requires a
listener/reader to infer the existence of those arguments required for the
sentence to make sense semantically. New
Ithkuil, like natural languages, allows for such deletion of implied
arguments. However, if necessary to
avoid ambiguity, or to explicitly indicate the status of such deleted
arguments, the language provides an affix to delineate the role of arguments
inferred by the listener. This affix,
the SIA Staus of Inferred Arguments affix is listed in Sec. 4.2.11 below.
4.2
The Transrelative Cases
The
Transrelative cases refer to nine cases used to identify nouns functioning as
participants to a verb, what in Western grammatical terms would be referred to
as “subjects” and “objects” and most likely marked as either nominative,
accusative, or dative. It is these cases which more or less correspond to the
semantic roles identified in Sec. 4.1 above. The nine transrelative cases are
the thematic, instrumental,
absolutive, affective, stimulative, effectuative, ergative, dative, and
inducive.
Following are explanations of the
function and usage of each case. Examples of these cases in use are provided in
Sec. 4.2.10 below.
|
4.2.1 |
THM |
|
The Thematic Case |
The thematic
case is marked by the VC
affix -a in Slot IX of a formative. It indicates the (usually inanimate) party
which is a participant to the verbal predicate where that participant does not
undergo any tangible change of state. Its
semantic role is that of CONTENT, as described earlier in Sec. 4.1.2.
|
4.2.2 |
INS |
|
The Instrumental Case |
The instrumental
case is marked by the VC
affix -ä in Slot IX of a
formative. It indicates the entity acting as means
utilized by an explicit or implicit agent to implement/carry out the
effect/impact of an act/event. Its semantic role is that of INSTRUMENT, as
described earlier in Sec. 4.1.1.
|
4.2.3 |
ABS |
|
The Absolutive Case |
The absolutive
case is marked by the VC
affix -e in Slot IX of a formative. It indicates the party that is the target of, or
undergoes, the effect/impact or change of state as a result of a tangible
act/event. Its semantic role is that of
PATIENT, as described earlier in Sec. 4.1.1.
|
4.2.4 |
AFF |
|
The Affective Case |
The affective case is marked by the VC affix -i in Slot IX of a formative. It indicates the party who undergoes an unwilled, affective experience, e.g., coughing, sneezing, feeling hot/cold, trembling, experiencing sensory input (tactile, olfactory, visual, aural, gustatory), proprioceptive states, psychological/emotional states, reflex reactions such as cringing, yawning, ducking, screaming in fright, etc. Its semantic role is that of EXPERIENCER, as described earlier in Sec. 4.1.2.
|
4.2.5 |
STM |
|
The Stimulative Case |
The stimulative case is marked by the VC affix -ëi in Slot IX of a formative. It indicates the party/entity/idea/thought/situation or mental state which triggers an unwilled, affective response or is the trigger for an existential states with no tangibly affected patient, e.g., The hammer exemplifies toolship, The man possesses a cat, That book contains poems.. Its semantic role is that of STIMULUS, as described earlier in Sec. 4.1.2.
|
4.2.6 |
EFF |
|
The Effectuative Case |
The effectuative case is marked by the VC affix -ö in Slot IX of a formative. It indicates the party/force that initiates a chain of causal events or who induces another party to act as an agent. Note that the exact nature of the enablement is specifiable via the ENB affix described in the Affixes document. Its semantic role is that of ENABLER, as described earlier in Sec. 4.1.2.
|
4.2.7 |
ERG |
|
The Ergative Case |
The ergative case is marked by the VC affix -o in Slot IX of a formative. It indicates the animate party or inanimate force which initiates/causes an act/event which creates a tangible effect or change of state in a patient. Its semantic role is that of AGENT or FORCE, as described earlier in Sec. 4.1.1.
|
4.2.8 |
DAT |
|
The Dative Case |
The dative case is marked by the VC affix -ü in Slot IX of a formative. Its semantic role is that of RECIPIENT, as described earlier in Sec. 4.1.2, indicating the party which is the (intended) recipient of a verb of transference, transmission, or communication. Examples: Give the dog a bone, I’ll tell her your secret, The host introduced me to the guests.
|
4.2.9 |
IND |
|
The Inducive Case |
The inducive case is marked by the VC affix -u in Slot IX of a formative. Its semantic role is that of simultaneous AGENT and PATIENT, as described earlier in Sec. 4.1.1, indicating the patient who undergoes the tangible effect, impact, or change of state of an act/event initiated/caused by that self-same party. Examples: The boys run in the playground, We talked for hours, The couple eats dinner.
4.2.10 Examples of the Transrelative Cases in Use
The following are examples
of various New Ithkuil sentences showing how assigning different Transrelative
cases to the noun participants (i.e., the arguments to the verb) allows for
various changes in meaning, regardless of argument structure. As can be
seen, the English translations of many of these sentences often require word
order changes, word-substitution, even outright paraphrase, all in order to
accommodate the constraints on English argument structure.
Roots used: -ksk- Stem
2, BASIC Specification ‘anger; be
angry/feel anger’
-kš-
Stem 1, OBJECTIVE Specification ‘clown’
STA = STATIVE function DAT = DATIVE case DYN = DYNAMIC
function CPT = COMPLETIVE
version
IND = INDUCIVE case AFF = AFFECTIVE case GEN = GENITIVE case PRX = PROXIMAL extension
ABS = ABSOLUTIVE case ERG = ERGATIVE case LOC = LOCATIVE case
NOTE: The
categories of Function and Version are detailed in Chapter 5.
|
‘be angry / feel anger’ |
‘child’ |
‘clown’ |
MEANING |
|
Wekská |
weli |
kšilo. |
‘The clown
makes the child angry.’ |
|
Wekská |
weli |
kšilö. |
‘What the
clown has started/caused makes the child angry.’ |
|
Wekská |
weli |
kšilü. |
‘The
child’s angry state is directed toward/affects the clown (i.e.,
the clown notices/reacts to the child’s anger).’ |
|
Wekská |
welü |
kšili. |
‘The child
notices/feels that the clown is angry at them.’ |
|
Wekská |
welö |
kšili. |
‘What the
child started/caused makes the clown angry.’ |
|
Wekská |
welo |
kšili. |
‘The child
angers the clown.’ |
|
Wekská |
welu. |
— |
‘The child
makes themself angry.’ |
|
Wekská |
welü. |
— |
‘Someone
is behaving angrily toward the child.’ |
|
Wekská |
welö. |
— |
‘The child
started/caused something that makes someone angry.’ |
|
Wekská |
welo. |
— |
‘The child
angers someone.’ |
|
Wekská |
weli. |
— |
‘The child
is angry.’ / ‘The child feels anger.’ |
|
Wekská |
— |
ekšúl. |
‘The clown
(deliberately) makes themself angry.’ |
|
Wekská |
— |
kšilü. |
‘Someone
is behaving angrily toward the clown.’ |
|
Wekská |
— |
kšilö. |
‘The clown
has (deliberately) started/caused something that makes someone angry.’ |
|
Wekská |
— |
kšilo. |
‘The clown
(deliberately) anger someone.’ |
|
Wekská |
— |
kšili. |
‘The clown
is angry.’ / ‘The clown feels anger. |
|
Wekská |
— |
-- |
‘There is
a feeling of anger.’ / ‘There is anger.’ |
More
examples of Transrelative case patterns, using the roots -žx- Stem 1, BASIC Specification ‘burn’
and -lḑ- Stem
1, BASIC Specification ‘tree’:
|
‘burn’ |
‘child’ |
‘tree’ |
MEANING |
|
Äžxulá |
welo |
walḑe. |
|
|
Yäžxá |
-- |
walḑe. |
‘The tree
burns up/down.’ |
|
Äžxulá |
-- |
walḑu. |
‘The tree
burns itself up/down.’ / ‘The tree makes itself burn up/down.’ |
|
Ažxulá |
welo. |
-- |
‘The child
cause something to burn.’ / ‘The child burns (something).’ [i.e.,
They cause burning to happen] |
|
Ažxulá |
welö. |
-- |
‘The child
causes something to burn (through a chain of events).’ |
|
Ažxutá |
wele. |
-- |
‘The child
burns/is burning.’ / ‘Something burns the child.’ |
|
Ažxulá |
welu. |
-- |
‘The child
burns themself.’ / ‘The child makes themself burn.’ |
|
Äžxulá |
welö |
walḑe. |
‘The child
causes the tree to burn up/down (through a chain of events).’ |
|
Ažxutá. |
-- |
-- |
‘Something’s
doing some burning.’ / ‘Something’s making some burning happen.’ |
|
Yažxá. |
-- |
-- |
‘Something’s
burning.’ / ‘There’s burning happening.’ |
Other
patterns are possible. For example, the following chart shows patterns
that can be used to translate variations on English ‘I hit my leg with a rock’, or ‘I hit myself on the leg with a rock’, or ‘A rock hit me on the leg.’
-ţd- Stem
2, BASIC Specification ‘forceful physical
contact’ + suffix FRC1/7 -osm-
=> ‘hit/strike’
-šn Stem 1,
BASIC Specification ‘leg (as physical
body part)’ + suffix Rdp3/3
-ioth- => ‘their (sg.) leg’
-ggw- Stem 1, OBJECTIVE Specification ‘(piece of) rock / (piece/chunk of) stone’
|
‘hit/strike’ |
‘the child’ |
‘their leg’ |
‘rock’ |
MEANING |
|
Weţdosmá |
welo |
šnaliothe |
aggwilä. |
Implies an intentional act
against the child’s leg, where their leg is seen as being an entity
subjectively separate from the child, thus the chld is the agent while the
leg is the patient. Translation: ‘The child
(intentionally) hit their leg with a rock.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
welu |
šnalioth |
aggwilä. |
In this pattern, the leg is no
longer seen as a patient separate from the child as the agent. Rather,
the child is both agent and patient (i.e, They initiate the action against
themself), and the role of the leg is de-emphasized to being merely a
referent for the act of hitting, i.e., it is child who gets hit, not the leg;
the leg is merely the part of the child that gets hit. Consequently, the
closest English translation would be ‘the child
hit themself with a rock on the leg,’ using a locative
construction “on the leg” not present in the New Ithkuil sentence. A
stilted, but more accurate translation might be ‘The child “leg-hits” themself with a rock.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
wele |
šnalioth |
aggwilä. |
This sentence masks an implied
agent, emphasizing the child as the patient/victim, while, as in the sentence
immediately above, the leg is reduced to merely a referent for the hitting,
its status as a patient and as the location/site of the hitting suppressed.
About the only way to show this suppression of agency in English is with a
passive construction or a pseudo-passive construction using the verb
‘get’: ‘The child is/gets “leg-hit”
with a rock.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
wele |
šnali’othia |
aggwilä. |
This sentence is like the one
immediately above except that the leg is the location/site of the hit.
Translation: ‘The chld
is/gets hit on the leg with a rock.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
welu |
šnali’othia |
aggwilä. |
Emphasizes that the child is
both agent and patient and that the leg is the location/site of the
hitting. Translation: ‘The child
hit themself on their leg with a rock.‘ |
|
Weţdosmá |
welu |
šnalioth |
aggwilä. |
Emphasizes that the child is
both agent and patient but with the leg reduced to merely the referent of
hitting. Impossible to translate accurately into English except with
the contrived sentences ‘The
child“leg-hit” themself with a rock’. |
|
Weţdosmá |
welo |
— |
aggwilä. |
Translation: ‘The child hits something with a rock / The
child does some hitting with a rock.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
welu |
— |
aggwilä. |
Translation: ‘The child hits themself with a rock.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
wele |
— |
aggwilä. |
Translation: ‘The child is/gets hit with a rock.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
— |
šnale |
aggwilä. |
Translation: ‘A leg is/gets (intentionally) hit with a
rock.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
— |
šnala |
aggwilä. |
This sentence reduces the role
of the participant to the verb as merely an abstract referent for the
hitting, with no implications of being the victim/target of hitting, or of
the owner of the leg undergoing any tangible result of hitting. This
can only be approximated in English by contrived translations such as ‘“Leg-hitting” with a rock occurs’
or ‘An act of hitting with a rock
involving a leg occurs.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
— |
šnali’a |
aggwilä. |
Translation: ‘There occurs a hit on a leg with a rock.
/ A hit with a rock occurs on a leg.’ |
|
Weţdosmá |
— |
— |
aggwilä. |
This sentence masks both agent
and patient, as well as the location of the hitting, emphasizing only the
instrument. Possible translations: ‘Hitting with a rock occurs,’ or ‘The rock hits something,’ or ‘Something gets hit with a rock.’ |
Note
that all of the above sentences can be restated without the presence of the
rock as instrument:
|
‘hit/strike’ |
‘child’ |
‘their leg’ |
MEANING |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
welo |
šnaliothe |
‘The child
hits their leg.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
welu |
šnalioth |
‘The child
“leg-hits” themself.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
wele |
šnalioth |
‘The child
is/gets “leg-hit”.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
wele |
šnali’othia |
‘The child
is/gets hit on the leg.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
welu |
šnali’othia |
‘The child
hits themself on their leg. ‘ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
welu |
šnalioth |
‘The
child“leg-hits” themself’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
welo |
— |
‘The child
hits something.’ / ‘The child does some hitting.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
welu |
— |
‘The child
hits themself.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
wele |
— |
‘The child
is/gets hit.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
— |
šnale |
‘A leg
is/gets hit.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
— |
šnala |
‘“Leg-hitting”
occurs’ or ‘An act of
hitting involving a leg occurs.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá |
— |
šnali’a |
‘There
occurs a hit on a leg. / A hit occurs on a leg.’ |
|
|
Weţdosmá. |
— |
— |
‘Some
hitting occurs’ / ‘Something does some hitting’ / ‘Something gets hit.’ |
|
It should be noted that New
Ithkuil provides an array of Slot V or Slot VII suffixes specifically designed
to work in conjunction with nouns inflected into one of the Transrelative cases
to significantly expand their ability to specify the exact nature of the causal
relationships between participants to a verb in an Ithkuil sentence. These
suffixes include the CNS
Consent suffix, the RSN
Reason suffix, the XPT
Expectation suffix, the DLB
Deliberateness suffix, the ENB
Enablement suffix, the AGN
Agency/Intent suffix, and the IMP
Impact suffix. These affixes are shown below
(see Chapter 7 for a discussion on the
morpho-phonological structure of Slot V and Slot VII Affixes).
|
-řs |
CNS Degree
of Consent |
|
-cb |
RSN Reason
for an Emotional State or Motivation
for an Action |
|
1 |
deliberately against the expressed wishes/will of the affected
party |
|
1 |
for no reason |
|
2 |
without the affected party’s
knowledge and against their implied/presumed wishes/will |
|
2 |
for foolish or naïve reason |
|
3 |
without the consent or
knowledge of the affected party [their expressed or implied wishes/will being
unknown or undetermined] |
|
3 |
out of curiosity/to see what happens |
|
4 |
with the affected party’s knowledge but without
their consent |
|
4 |
in defense/for protection |
|
5 |
with the affected party’s consent obtained under
pressure, threat, coercion |
|
5 |
to provoke/elicit reaction |
|
6 |
with the affected party’s reluctant consent |
|
6 |
to entice |
|
7 |
with the affected party’s full consent; willingly |
|
7 |
to show appreciation |
|
8 |
with the affected party’s enthusiastic approval
and support |
|
8 |
for appropriate reasons / for good reason |
|
9 |
by request of the affected party |
|
9 |
for virtuous, healthy/beneficial reasons |
|
-rj |
DLB Degree
of Deliberateness/Agency |
|
-řš |
XPT Expectation
of Outcome |
|
1 |
accidental(ly) / inadvertent(ly) and
unaware of consequences |
|
1 |
shockingly unexpected; without
precedent or rumour |
|
2 |
unintended / unintentional(ly) /
without meaning to and unaware of consequences |
|
2 |
surprise X / unexpected X; completely
by surprise/ completely unexpected(ly) |
|
3 |
accidental(ly) / inadvertent(ly) but
now aware of consequences |
|
3 |
manage to X despite inadequacy of
preparation or effort; harder than
thought to be due to poor planning and/or execution |
|
4 |
unintended / unintentional(ly) /
without meaning to but now aware of consequences |
|
4 |
manage to X despite underestimating
hindrances or obstacles; harder than initially thought to be |
|
5 |
unforeseeable / unpredictable; unforeseeably
/ unpredictably |
|
5 |
managed to X despite hindrance(s) or
obstacles; hard-won |
|
6 |
without realizing or considering
potential consequences |
|
6 |
manage to X due to hindrances or
obstacles being overestimated; easier than thought to be |
|
7 |
thinking one can get away without
reaping consequences / furtive(ly) |
|
7 |
manage to X due to excellent
preparation / planning / execution |
|
8 |
realizing potential risks or
consequences / cognizant of potential risks or consequences |
|
8 |
completely as expected / totally as
anticipated / as predicted |
|
9 |
intentional(ly) / deliberate(ly) / on
purpose / by choice; choose to |
|
9 |
pat; outcome pre-ordained or
predetermined |
|
-mš |
ENB Means
of Enablement |
|
-řň |
IMP Degree
of Impact on Patient/Target or Enablement of Outcome |
|
1 |
by inadvertent gesture/word/sign
taken as order or permission |
|
1 |
target can do nothing - utterly
inevitable |
|
2 |
by granting of permission |
|
2 |
target chooses to do nothing -
resigned to fate |
|
3 |
by cajoling or persuasion |
|
3 |
target tries to prevent/avoid but
fails |
|
4 |
by direct request or imploring |
|
4 |
target tries to prevent/avoid and
does so partially or mitigates impact somewhat |
|
5 |
by direct order based on one’s real
or perceived authority |
|
5 |
target tries to prevent/avoid and
succeeds |
|
6 |
by inadvertent removal of hindrance |
|
6 |
target helps/enables outcome
inadvertently |
|
7 |
by inadvertent action that initiates
a chain of events |
|
7 |
target helps/enables outcome against
own interest (i.e., without thinking) |
|
8 |
by deliberate removal of hindrance |
|
8 |
target helps/enables outcome
intentionally despite negative consequences |
|
9 |
by deliberate action that initiates a
chain of events |
|
9 |
target helps/enables outcome
intentionally for own benefit |
|
-nř |
AGN Degree
of Agency, Intent or Effectiveness |
|
1 |
with the anticipated max. resulting
effect possible |
|
2 |
with the anticipated resulting effect
to a high degree |
|
3 |
with the anticipated resulting effect
to a moderate degree |
|
4 |
with the anticipated resulting effect
but only to a marginal, superficial or barely noticeable degree |
|
5 |
with no noticeable effect or
resulting change |
|
6 |
with only marginal, superficial, or
barely noticeable effect or resulting change unanticipated |
|
7 |
with moderate effect or resulting
change — unanticipated |
|
8 |
with the resulting effect to a high
degree — unanticipated |
|
9 |
with the max. resulting effect
possible — unanticipated |
|
-lč |
SIA Status of Inferred Arguments |
|
1 |
Only explicitly
stated arguments are implied; no unstated arguments should be inferred |
|
2 |
Only logically
required arguments are implied or should be inferred (e.g., a STIMULUS for a
state of external sensory input, a RECIPIENT for an act of transferring
possession); unstated arguments that are logically unnecessary but possible
should not be inferred |
|
3 |
Logically required
arguments should be inferred; logically unnecessary but possible arguments
(e.g., INSTRUMENTAL, SITUATIVE, DEPENDENT, or Temporal) may be inferred |
|
4 |
Logically
unnecessary but possible arguments may be inferred; logically required
arguments are ONLY those explicitly stated |
|
5 |
OK to infer an
affective STIMULUS only; no other unstated arguments implied |
|
6 |
OK to infer an ERG
or EFF agent only; no other unstated arguments implied |
|
7 |
OK to infer a
temporal context/argument plus any logically required arguments |
|
8 |
OK to infer an
INSTRUMENTAL argument plus any logically required arguments |
|
9 |
OK to infer a
SITUATIVE or a DEPENDENT argument (i.e., a context describable via the
SITUATIVE or DEPENDENT case or case-frame) plus any logically required
arguments |
4.2.12 Use of the CHC Affix with
Transrelative Cases
This affix is used to specify the exact semantic relationships between the participants to verbs such as “eat” and “sing” where case-marking alone is insufficient to describe the exact nature of the participants’ enablement of an action.
|
-rz |
CHC Degree of Choice by Externally-Induced
Agent
(operates like the existing IMP affix except that the party is the
Agent of an externally-induced or
externally-enabled (i.e., effectuative)
act, rather than the Patient of an agential act |
|
1 |
party made/induced to initiate the
state/act/event by another party/force/situation - can do nothing to stop it,
initiation is inevitable |
|
2 |
party made/induced
to initiate the state/act/event by another party/force/situation - chooses to
acquiesce due to being okay with, or indifferent as to outcome |
|
3 |
party made/induced to initiate the
state/act/event by another party/force/situation - tries to prevent/avoid but
fails |
|
4 |
party made/induced to initiate the
state/act/event by another party/force/situation - tries to avoid and
partially succeeds/mitigates impact |
|
5 |
party made/induced to initiate the
state/act/event by another party/force/situation - tries to prevent/avoid and
succeeds |
|
6 |
party made/induced to initiate the state/act/event
by another party/force/situation - inadvertently helps/enables outcome |
|
7 |
party made/induced to initiate the
state/act/event by another party/force/situation - acquiesces/helps/enables
outcome against own interest w/o thinking |
|
8 |
party made/induced to initiate the
state/act/event by another party/force/situation - intentionally
acquiesces/helps/enables outcome consciously against own interest |
|
9 |
party made/induced to initiate the
state/act/event by another party/force/situation - intentionally
acquiesces/helps/enables outcome for own benefit |
Example: The following chart of sentences illustrates the use of the CHC affix as a means of distinguishing various semantic relationships between EFF, ERG, IND, DAT, and CSM participants to the act of eating (see Sec. 4.5.5 for the CSM consumptive case).
|
English Sentence |
Structure of Translation into New
Ithkuil |
Translation Notes |
|
The girl eats. |
Etxulá welacu. ‘eat’-DYN ‘child’-GID1/1-IND |
|
|
The girl is eating an apple. |
Etxulá welacu
wanžekcoë. ‘eat’-DYN ‘child’-GID1/1-IND
[CA]-‘apple.tree’-EPP1/3-CSM |
|
|
An apple gets eaten. /
Someone eats an apple. |
Itxulá wanžekcoë. CPT-‘eat’-DYN [CA]-‘apple.tree’-EPP1/3-CSM |
LITERALLY: [someone] eats the apple. |
|
The man feeds the girl an apple. |
Enulá laleco
welacülwu wanžekcoë etxulie. ‘give’-DYN ‘adult’-GID1/3-ERG
‘child’-GID1/1-DAT/IND [CA]-‘apple.tree’-EPP1/3-CSM ‘eat’-DYN-[CA]-PUR |
LITERALLY: The man gives the girl an apple to eat |
|
The man gets the girl to eat an
apple. |
Etxulá lalecö
welacurzu wanžekcoë. ‘eat’-DYN ‘adult’-GID1/3-EFF
‘child’-GID1/1-CHC₁/9-IND
[CA]-‘apple.tree’-EPP1/3-CSM |
LITERALLY: The man convinces the girl to eat an apple. |
|
The girl is given an apple to eat. |
Enulá welacülwu
wanžekcoë etxulie. ‘give’-DYN ‘child’-GID1/1-DAT/IND
[CA]-‘apple.tree’-EPP1/3-CSM ‘eat’-DYN-[CA]-PUR |
LITERALLY: [someone] gives the girl an apple to eat |
|
The girl is/gets fed an apple. |
Etxulá welacurzu wanžekcoë. ‘eat’-DYN ‘child’-GID1/1-CHC₁/9-IND [CA]-‘apple.tree’-EPP1/3-CSM |
LITERALLY: The girl gets convinced to eat an apple. |
|
An apple gets fed to the girl. |
Enulá wanžekcoë
welacärzülwu etxulie. ‘give’-DYN [CA]-‘apple.tree’-EPP1/3-CSM
‘child’-GID1/1-CHC₁/2-DAT/IND ‘eat’-DYN-[CA]-PUR |
LITERALLY: An apple is given to the girl to eat. |
|
The girl gets fed. |
Etxulá welacärzu. ‘eat’-DYN ‘child’-GID1/1-CHC1/2-IND |
LITERALLY: The girl acquiesces to being made to eat. |
|
The girl gets eaten. |
Etxulá welacerzoë. ‘eat’-DYN ‘child’-GID1/1-CHC1/3-CSM |
LITERALLY: [s.o./something] eats the girl (who tries
but fails to stop it). |
|
The girl eats herself. |
Etxulá welaculwoë. ‘eat’-DYN ‘child’-GID1/1-IND/CSM |
|
|
The girl gets herself eaten. |
Etxulá welacorzoë. ‘eat’-DYN ‘child’-GID1/1-CHC1/7-CSM |
LITERALLY: [s.o./s.t.] eats the girl (who doesn’t
think to try to avoid it). |
|
Feeding is taking place (i.e.,
someone is feeding someone/something else). |
Etxulärzá. ‘eat’-DYN-CHC₁/2 |
LITERALLY: Being made to eat is taking place. |
|
Feeding is taking place (i.e.,
someone is giving someone else food to eat). |
Enulá hetxejie-etxiţoë. ‘give’-DYN concatenated:‘eat’-CSV-A-PUR-parent:‘food’-OBJ-MDS -CSM |
LITERALLY: Giving of food to eat is taking place. |
Here are additional examples using the verb ‘jump.’
|
The boy jumps (up
and down). |
Aḑçulëuhá welecu. ‘jump’-DYN-RCT-OBS [default
CA]-‘child’-GID1/3-IND |
|
Mother makes the
boy jump (up and down). |
Aḑçulëuhá ampalaicö
welecu. ‘jump’-DYN-RCT-OBS ‘parent’-GID2/1-EFF [default CA]-‘child’-GID1/3-IND |
|
The boy is made to
jump (up and down). |
Aḑçulëuhá welecärzu. ‘jump’-DYN-RCT-OBS [default CA]-‘child’-GID1/3-CHC₁/2-IND |
|
Jumping (up and
down) takes place. / There’s jumping (up and down) going on. |
Yaḑçëuhá. PRX-‘jump’-(STA)-RCT-OBS |
|
Someone’s jumping
(up and down). / There’s someone jumping (up and down). |
Aḑçulëuhá. ‘jump’-DYN-RCT-OBS |
|
Someone’s being
made to jump (up and down). |
Aḑçulärzëuhá. ‘jump’-DYN-CHC₁/2-RCT-OBS |
Additional examples using the verb ‘sing’:
|
If there’s an
audience, the woman will sing. |
Yubškirfúi ellyuhrú
lalacu. PRX-Stem.3-‘audience.member’-PTW1/4-CNJ ‘sing’-DYN-ASM-INF ‘adult’-GID1/1-IND |
|
If there’s an
audience, the woman will sing a song. |
Yubškirfúi ellyuhrú
lalacu ellyila. PRX-Stem.3-‘audience.member’-PTW1/4-CNJ ‘sing’-DYN-ASM-INF ‘adult’-GID1/1-IND
‘song’-THM |
|
If there’s an
audience, a song will be sung. |
Yubškirfúi ellyuhrú
ellyila. PRX-Stem.3-‘audience.member’-PTW1/4-CNJ ‘sing’-DYN-ASM-INF ‘song’-THM |
|
If there’s an
audience, there will be singing going on.
/ If there’s an audience, someone will sing. |
Yubškirfúi ellyahrú. PRX-Stem.3-‘audience.member’-PTW1/4-CNJ ‘sing’-STA-ASM-INF |
|
If there’s an
audience, the woman will sing for someone. |
Yubškirfúi ellyuleëhrú lalacu. PRX-Stem.3-‘audience.member’-PTW1/4-CNJ ‘sing’-DYN-3:BEN-ASM-INF ‘adult’-GID1/1-IND |
|
I make the woman
sing. |
Ellyulá rö
lalacu. ‘sing’-DYN-OBS 1m/BEN
-EFF ‘adult’-GID1/1-IND |
|
I get the woman to sing. |
Ellyulerzá rö
lalacu. ‘sing’-DYN-CHC1/3-OBS 1m/BEN
-EFF ‘adult’-GID1/1-IND |
|
I get singing to
happen. |
Ellyalerzá rö. ‘sing’-STA-CHC1/3-OBS 1m/BEN -EFF |
|
I make singing
occur. |
Ellyulá rö. ‘sing’-DYN-OBS 1m/BEN-EFF |
4.2.13 Using the Transrelative Cases to Achieve
“Middle Voice” Semantic Effects
English
(among other languages) allows some of its verbs to operate both transitively
(i.e., taking a direct object) as well as intransitively (i.e., without a
direct object), where the object of the transitive sentence becomes the subject
of the intransitive sentence. Furthermore, the intransitive sentence
describes the same potential event as the transitive version does, except that
no agent is expressed, the focus of the sentence being on the result, not the
act which gives rise to the result. Examples:
The manager opened the store at 8
a.m.
The store opened at 8 a.m.
Robert flies the airplane
beautifully.
The airplane flies beautifully.
The engineer increased the
pressure.
The pressure increased.
I molded the soft clay easily.
The soft clay molded easily.
Note that
the second sentence of each pair above is semantically distinct from its
passive voice equivalent (i.e., The store
was opened at 8 a.m., The airplane is flown beautifully, The pressure was increased,
The soft clay was molded easily) in that passives allow for the
agent to be overtly stated (using the preposition ‘by’ in English, as in The store was opened by the manager)
or, if absent, nevertheless imply the existence of the agent. However,
the intransitive sentences above (equivalent to “middle voice” constructions is
languages such as Swahili or Turkish) do not allow for expression of an agent
and are designed to suppress the semantic relevance (or saliency) of the agent.
However,
English is very haphazard and idiosyncratic as to what verbs it allows to
operate this way, often having to resort to paraphrase and idiomatic structures
to accomplish the same effects as in the four intransitive sentences
above. For example [ungrammatical sentences are preceded by an asterisk]:
Father painted the fence yellow.
* The fence painted yellow.
(But: The fence came out yellow.)
I noticed a storm on the horizon.
* A storm noticed on the horizon.
(But: A storm came into view on the horizon.)
The owner keeps scissors with the sewing
supplies.
* Scissors keep with the sewing supplies.
(But: Scissors belong/stay with the sewing supplies.)
Fans buy beer a lot at baseball games.
* Beer buys a lot at baseball games.
(But: Beer sells a lot at baseball games.)
Of course,
many English speakers would simply use the passive voice or a construction
using ‘get’ to accomplish the same thing (i.e., The fence was/got painted yellow, A storm was noticed on the
horizon, The scissors are/get kept with the sewing supplies, Beer is/gets
bought a lot at baseball games.) without worrying about the
existence of an implied agent.
Many
languages utilize reflexive constructions to accomplish this effect, e.g.,
Spanish Se habla español aquí,
literally “Spanish speaks itself here,” meaning Spanish is spoken here.
New Ithkuil,
however, can manipulate the assignment of case to verb arguments to achieve
this “middle voice” effect for any verb where it is semantically feasible,
without having to resort to idiomatic constructions or paraphrase. For
example:
Yantxečmeihá aţpwato.
‘chew’-dif1/3-rep ‘snail’-mss-ERGATIVE
The snails chew easily.
[meaning: It is easy for the snails to chew things.]
versus:
Yantxečmeihá aţpwate.
‘chew’-dif1/3-rep ‘snail’-mss-ABSOLUTIVE
The snails chew easily.
[meaning: It is easy to chew (on) the snails.]
4.3 The Appositive Cases
Those
Western languages which have possessive cases usually have only one such case,
often functioning in a vague and ambiguous way to show varying types of
relationships between two nouns. For example, notice the differing
relationships expressed by the possessive in the following English sentences:
the man’s hat = the hat
belonging to him [alienable possession]
the man’s house = the house he
legally owns [proprietary responsibility]
the man’s arm = part of his body
[inalienable component]
the man’s brother = the brother
related to him [genetic relationship]
the man’s happiness = he feels
happy [affective experience]
the man’s rescue = he was or will
be rescued [target of others’ purpose]
the man’s gift = the gift is for
him [benefaction]
the man’s gift = the gift is from
him [source]
the man’s world = the world in
which he lives [inherent subjective association]
the man’s team = the team he is
associated with [interactive mutual association]
the man’s story = the story about
him [topical reference]
the man’s painting = the picture
he painted [creation/authorship]
the man’s command = his being a
commander [role or function]
In many
instances, the English possessive is totally ambiguous, e.g., does ‘the man’s
story’ mean the one he wrote or the one about him? Regarding ‘the man’s
rescue,’ did the man do the rescuing or is he the one being rescued? Is ‘the
man’s gift’ one he is giving or receiving? New Ithkuil is more exact in specifying the
nature of these relationships via case. Many of the above relationships are
addressed by the nine Appositive cases and still others by the nine Associative
cases presented in Sec. 4.4.
The Appositive
cases make a distinction between alienable versus inalienable possession or
attribution, as well as distinguishing whether the possession is inherent to
the possessor or imposed or caused from without. These distinctions are
explained below. Like Western languages (and unlike many American Indian and
North Caucasian languages), the case marking is on the possessor noun, not the
possessed. The nine Appositive cases are the possessive, proprietive,
genitive, attributive, productive,
interpretative, , originative,
interdependent and partitive.
Following are explanations of the function and usage of each case.
|
4.3.1 |
POS |
|
The Possessive Case |
The possessive
case is marked by the VC
affix -ai
in formative Slot IX. The possessive is used to refer to a noun
which has alienable (i.e., removable or severable) possession of another noun
in the sense of having physical control or oversight of that noun, whether by
chance circumstance or deliberate manipulation. The two nouns are not in any
sense inherent parts of one another and the relationship between the two can be
theoretically or actually terminated by an outside force or influence, or by
decision of the possessor, usually by means of mere physical permanent
separation of the possessor and possessed nouns. The possessive would be used
to translate English phrases such as his coat
(e.g., the one he is wearing, regardless of whether he owns it or not), the boy’s book (e.g., the one in his
hand), Father’s chair (e.g., the one he happens
to be sitting in, as in a restaurant).
kštala wampeicai
‘chair ’-[default CA]-thm
[default CA]-‘parent’-gid2/3-POS
‘father’s
chair’ [i.e., the one he’s
sitting in]
|
4.3.2 |
PRP |
|
The Proprietive Case |
The proprietive
case is marked by the VC
affix -au
in formative Slot IX. The proprietive identifies a noun having
alienable possession of another noun in the sense of quasi-permanent contextual
control, ownership or oversight, whether by societal recognition, social
convention, law, purchase or decree, which mere physical separation does not
sever. The two nouns are not in any sense inherent parts of one another,
however the relationship cannot be terminated except via an equally or more
binding act, declaration, convention, law, process, etc. Using the same English
examples used with the possessive
above, we can analyze the connotative difference: his coat (i.e., the one he owns,
regardless of whether he is wearing it or not), the boy’s book (e.g., the one he bought), Father’s chair (e.g., the one
quasi-permanently assigned to him).
onţläla wampeicau
stem.0-‘automobile’-cte-[default
CA]-thm [default CA]-‘parent’-gid2/3-PRP
‘father’s car’
|
4.3.3 |
GEN |
|
The Genitive Case |
The genitive case is marked by the VC affix -ei in formative Slot IX. The genitive
is used to refer to a noun which has inalienable (i.e., unremovable,
unseverable) possession of or association with another noun in the sense of
having that noun as an inherent or intrinsic attribute, characteristic, physical
part, or genetic (i.e., familial) bond, e.g., my hand, the building’s doors, the child’s father, the essence of that woman.
|
walţa
enžtalekcei ‘pellicle’-thm
‘peach.tree’ -epp1/3-GEN ‘the skin of a peach’ |
walža
kšilei ‘face’-thm
‘clown’-GEN ‘the clown’s face’ |
|
4.3.4 |
ATT |
|
The Attributive Case |
The attributive case is marked by the the VC affix -eu in formative Slot IX. The attributive
is used to refer to a noun which inalienably experiences the effects of, or
otherwise has an affective (see the affective
case above) relationship with another noun, either as a temporary or permanent
attribute, characteristic, or experience, whether physical or psychological,
objective or subjective in nature. Examples: his pain, Mother’s guilt, the child’s cough, Dorothy’s mood, Davey’s happiness, the teacher’s stubbornness, my needs.
|
mřřala
weleu ‘grief’-thm child-ATT ‘the child’s grief’ |
yuäčla
kšileu a-‘deviousness’-thm clown-ATT ‘the clown’s deviousness’ |
|
4.3.5 |
PDC |
|
The Productive Case |
The productive case is marked by the the VC affix -ëu in formative Slot IX. The productive
identifies the creator, author or originator of another noun, e.g., the girl’s poem, the clowns’ plan, my statue (i.e., the one I
sculpted).
eňalţra wampacëu
‘written.composition’-aso/mds/g ‘parent’-gid1/1-PDC
‘mother’s writings’
|
4.3.6 |
ITP |
|
The Interpretative Case |
The interpretative case is marked by the the
VC affix
-ou in Formative
Slot IX. The interpretative identifies a noun acting as the subjective
interpretational context of another noun, that is the noun by or through which
another noun is subjectively interpreted or described, as exemplified by the
phrases Monet’s Paris, our world, life as seen/experienced by children.
yerla kšilou
prx-‘subjective.viewpoint’-thm ‘clown’- ITP
‘the clown’s point of view’
|
4.3.7 |
OGN |
|
The Originative Case |
The
ORIGINATIVE case is marked by the the VC
affix -oi in formative
Slot IX. The ORIGINATIVE identifies a
noun as being the literal or figurative source of another, or which is the native location, origin, or usual
locational context for another. , e.g., the man’s story (i.e., the one he told), our gift (i.e., the one we are
giving), water from the river, the fruit of the tree, Fix the kitchen sink! (i.e. the one found in the kitchen), Desert rocks are so beautiful (i.e.,
whether being spoken about rocks taken from the desert or rocks still present
in the desert), Northern women are easy-going.
The originative should be distinguished from the ablative in Sec. 4.8.4 below, in that the ablative signifies position or path of motion away from, whereas the originative merely presents a locational context as a means of description or to distinguish the noun from an otherwise similar noun.
ekcatra walḑoi
‘fruit’-mss/g-thm
‘tree’- OGN
‘the fruit of a tree’
|
4.3.8 |
IDP |
|
The Interdependent Case |
The interdependent case is marked by the VC affix -iu in formative Slot IX. The interdependent
identifies a noun which has a coordinated, tandem, complementary or mutually
dependent relationship with another. The relationship between the two nouns can
be thought of as reciprocal in nature, i.e., each noun implies the other or needs
the other to exist within its natural context, e.g., the students’ teacher, an army general,
the blood in my veins, the driver of the truck, the nation’s
leader, his team (i.e., the one on which
he’s a member). Note that this case does
not imply a part-whole dependency as with the genitive
case above, e.g., it would not be
used to translate the book’s
pages, or the leaves
of a tree.
wailpla endyaftioriu
g-‘blood’-thm ‘vein’-mdc/prx-gen/1m/ben-IDP
‘the blood in my veins’
|
4.3.9 |
PAR |
|
The Partitive Case |
The partitive
case is marked by the the VC
affix -ui in formative Slot IX. The partitive
indicates a quantitative or
content-to-container relationship between the two nouns, e.g., a cup of coffee, a box(ful) of books, a train(load) of refugees.
The partitive is also used to mark a noun
qualified by a specific number, e.g., three boxes, two clowns, twenty words. This usage described
in Sec. 13.4, where we will see that, in New Ithkuil,
numbers are formatives (i.e., full nouns and verbs), not adjectives as in
Western languages. Additionally, a noun qualified by a number is not
pluralized. In other words, one does not say ‘three boxes,’ but rather “a trio
of a box” or perhaps more eloquently, “a box trio.”
unţwäla kšiţui
‘bus’-thm
‘clown’-mds-PAR
‘a busload of clowns’
4.4 The Associative Cases
The
Associative cases refer to a group of nine cases which modify a formative to
show that it has and adjectival relationship to another, usually adjacent formative.
Most of these cases correspond to relationships in which, in English
translation, we find two nouns together in apposition or as a compound noun, as
in cat box, schoolbook, peace march,
mountain man, etc., or joined by the word ‘of’ in a non-possessive
relationship, e.g., dreams of
youth, sounds of laughter, or as a modifier of a verbal phrase. The nine Associative cases are the applicative, purposive, transmissive,
deferential, contrastive, transpositive, commutative, comparative, and considerative. Following are explanations of the
function and usage of each case.
|
4.4.1 |
APL |
|
The Applicative Case |
The applicative case is marked by the VC affix -ia (or -uä if immediately preceded by -y-)
in formative Slot IX. The applicative identifies a noun which
represents the purpose for which another noun is to be utilized in a given
instance. As such, it usually translates English ‘for’ when meaning ‘for the
temporary or incidental use/purpose of.’ Examples of usage would be a cup for coffee (i.e., a
cup being used incidentally to hold coffee), a box for
tools (i.e., the box is only temporarily being used to hold
tools), a room for changing.
Note that the use of the applicative
can extend to usages beyond English ‘for,’ as in a “weapon” cat = ‘a cat used as a weapon,’ or a “projectile” book = ‘a
book used as a projectile.’
rrala udklälia
‘cat’-thm ‘projectile.weapon’-cte-APL
‘a cat for use as a projectile weapon’
|
4.4.2 |
PUR |
|
The Purposive Case |
The purposive case is marked by the VC affix -ie- (or -uë if immediately preceded by -y-)
in formative Slot IX. The purposive identifies a noun which
characterizes or defines the purpose of, or reason for, another noun. The purposive is subtly distinct from the applicative above, in that the latter
names the actual use to which a noun is put on a given occasion or in given
context, whereas the purposive
defines another noun’s dedicated function or primary reason for being, outside
of any contextual instance, i.e., what the noun is used for all the time (or at
least its intended use). It generally translates English ‘as,’ ‘of’ or ‘for’
when meaning ‘for the purpose of’ or alternately an English noun-noun
expression or a compound noun. Examples of usage would be a coffee cup, a toolbox, a litter box, a trashcan.
skela agçiţrie
‘container/receptacle’-csv-thm ‘trash/garbage’-obj-mds/g-PUR
‘a trashcan / a garbage bin’
|
4.4.3 |
TRA |
|
The Transmissive Case |
The transmissive
case is marked by the VC
affix -io- (or -üä if immediately preceded by -y-) in formative Slot IX. The transmissive
identifies a noun for whose sake or benefit an action or event occurs or is
done or the party to whose detriment an action or event occurs. As such, the transmissive is similar to the dative, except that the transmissive
implies a strong emphasis on the fact that the noun is more than simply the
recipient or target of a dative action, but rather either benefits or is
affected detrimentally in a tangible or consequential way from the action or
event. It is usually translated by
English ‘for’ in the sense of ‘for the sake (i.e., benefit) of.’ Examples of usage are a toy for the children, We threw him a party, Go to the teachers’ lounge, I’ll be
inspecting the prisoners’
cells.
utxala welio
‘drink’- thm ‘child’-TRA
‘a drink for the child’
|
4.4.4 |
DFR |
|
The Deferential Case |
The deferential case is marked by the VC affix -iö- (or -üë if immediately preceded by -y-)
in formative Slot IX. The deferential translates the English
phrases ‘out of respect for,’ ‘for the sake of,’ or ‘in deference toward,’
identifying the noun to which deference is paid within the context for an act,
condition, or event. Examples of usage would be He remained silent for her sake, They went on with the ceremony out of respect for the families, They dressed in robes because of tradition.
ujtajiö
‘tradition’-a-DFR
‘out of respect for tradition’
|
4.4.5 |
CRS |
|
The Contrastive Case |
The contrastive case is marked by the VC affix -eë in formative Slot IX. The contrastive
identifies a noun which has been replaced by another or for which another noun
has been substituted. This is
translatable by the English phrases ‘instead of’ or ‘rather than’ or ‘as
opposed to,’ or specialized uses of ‘not,’ e.g., Instead of
rain, it snowed;
They hired her as a cook, as opposed to a maid; I prefer peas to carrots; Rather than
marigolds, let’s buy
carnations; That's sugar, not salt.
Wat alcmar
afdareë.
(default CA)-‘be.what.is.under.discussion’-prx-(obs) ‘sugar’-g-(thm) ‘salt’-g-CRS
‘It’s sugar, not salt.’
|
4.4.6 |
TSP |
|
The Transpositive Case |
The transpositive case is marked by the VC affix -uö (or -öë if immediately preceded by -w-) in formative Slot IX. The transpositive implies substitution of one noun for another. It translates English ‘for’ in the sense of ‘on behalf of,’ ‘in place of,’ or ‘instead of’ (i.e., ‘as a substitution for’). Examples of usage are The boss made the speech for me, She went up into the attic for her brother (i.e., so he wouldn’t have to).
Xpulá kšilo
waigvbre waiňnuö.
‘act. of.substitution’-dyn-obs
‘clown’-erg g-‘methane’-abs
‘oxygen’-g-TSP
‘The clown is substituting methane for oxygen.’
|
4.4.7 |
CMM |
|
The Commutative Case |
The commutative case is marked by the VC affix -uo (or -öä if immediately preceded by -w-)
in formative Slot IX. The commutative translates English ‘for’ in
the sense of ‘in exchange for’ as in You paid too
much money for that
dress, She kills for thrills.
Weščayá ampasu
hakšilaölwie-addyabzëuttuo welio.
‘pay.money’-rtr-obs
‘parent’-dpx-ind concatenated:‘clown’-tfm-pur-parent:‘teacher/student.complementary.interaction’-fea2/5-mss-CMM
‘child’-tra
‘The parents paid for the child’s clown lessons.’
|
4.4.8 |
CMP |
|
The Comparative Case |
The comparative case is marked by the VC affix -ue (or -ië if immediately preceded by -w-)
in formative Slot IX. The comparative identifies a noun being
compared to another. It translates such
expressions as ‘as compared to,’ or certain usages of ‘versus’ or ‘as opposed
to.’ It is similar to the contrastive case (see Section 4.4.5
above), except that it does not carry the sense of opposition, joint
exclusivity, or either-or binary substitution of the contrastive, but rather merely comparison/choice/preference
from various options or along a spectrum or scale. With verbal case-frames (see
Sec. 6.2) it would translate as ‘whereas’ or ‘while’
(in its synonymous usage to ‘whereas’). Examples are She chose the red one as opposed to the others, Sam drives a van versus Joe, who prefers a truck.
Amsävá wialcma
afdavue.
‘taste.sweet’-cte-n-obs
n-‘sugar’-thm ‘salt’-n-CMP
‘Sugar is sweet compared to salt.’
Note that
the comparative case is also used
with the morphological category of Level, discussed in Sec. 5.5.
|
4.4.9 |
CSD |
|
The Considerative Case |
The considerative case is marked by the VC affix -ua (or -iä if immediately preceded by -w-)
in formative Slot IX. It translates
English terms such as ‘according to,’ ‘in the opinion of.’ Examples of usage
would be In my opinion he’s a coward; According to our teacher, humans are descended from apes.
eddyulua
Stem.2-‘teach’-obj-[default CA]-CSD
‘according to the teacher’
4.5 Adverbial Cases
Similar the Associative cases above, the Adverbial cases are a group of nine cases which modify a formative to show it has an adverbial relationship to another, usually adjacent formative. The nine Adverbial cases are the functive, transformative, classificative, resultative, consumptive, concessive, aversive, conversive, and situative.
|
4.5.1 |
FUN |
|
The Functive Case |
The functive
case is marked by the VC
affix -ao in formative
Slot IX. It functions similarly to
English adverbs ending in -ly
or the adverbial use of with,
identifying the manner in which an action, event, or state occurs or exists.
More exactly, it identifies a noun used to characterize the manner of the act,
state, or event, translatable most accurately by the phrase ‘in a manner
characterized by….’ Examples would be: She dances gracefully (i.e., in a manner characterized
by grace), The boys ate with gusto, That clown is speaking nonsense, Father speaks with such fortitude.
Wamá kšilu
wiamfmavügao.
‘speak’-obs
‘clown’-obj-ind ‘act.of.assurance’-n-exn1/8- FUN
‘The clown speaks most assuredly.’
|
4.5.2 |
TFM |
|
The Transformative Case |
The transformative
case is marked by the VC
affix -aö in formative
Slot IX. The transformative
identifies the outcome or final state of a process, often translatable by ‘to,’
‘until,’ or ‘into’ in the sense of reaching a final state after having
undergone some transformation. Example usages would be The house burned to ashes, The clown reached a state of tranquility, The clowns will turn our children into slaves, Her father drank himself to death.
Weščayá ampasu
hakšilaölwie-addyëubzattuo welio.
‘pay.money’-rtr-obs
‘parent’-dpx-ind Concatenated:‘clown’-TFM-pur-Parent:‘teacher/student.complementary.interaction’-fea2/5-mss-tsp ‘child’-tra
‘The parents paid for the child’s clown lessons.’ [literally: ‘the parents paid for
lessons-for-becoming-a-clown for the child’]
|
CLA |
|
The Classificative Case |
The classificative
case is marked by the VC
affix -eo. The classificative identifies a noun as a
basis for arranging, sorting, classifying, or counting, translating various
English prepositions and phrases used for this purpose. Example of usage are Place them in groups of three, The workers arranged the tables in rows, He lay down lengthwise, Can you count by fives?, I will sort them by color.
The classificative is also used to identify
a noun considered in consecutively recurring increments as a means of
describing the manner of an event.
Examples: The
fertilizer factory keeps rolling them out, bag upon bag; Patient by patient, the nurse administered injections; One bomb after another fell on
the city. When used with
time periods, however, it is more usual to utilize the selective case (see Sec. 4.7.5), however classificative can be used instead to
emphasize the repetitive nature of an event. Examples would be Month by month, their departure crept closer; Year after year, I see more and more clowns; Day in, day out, he’s always working.
|
wajneo ‘length.of.object’-CLA ‘lengthwise’ |
Erčuläyá kšivo weleo.
‘corrupt’-dyn-prs-obs ‘clown’-n-erg ‘child’-CLA ‘The clowns will corrupt child after child.’ |
|
4.5.4 |
RSL |
|
The Resultative Case |
The resultative case is marked by the Vc affix -eö. The resultative identifies a result or
consequence, usually translatable utilizing a clause-like structure in
English. Examples: He
smoked since his teenage years, hence
his early death; The girl has
studied for years, making her an
expert, Clowns have secretly
infiltrated our schools, the
consequence being our corrupt children; The team
made several errors during the game, resulting
in a loss.
wadpweö
‘act.of.blackmail’-RSL
‘resulting in (an act of) blackmail’
|
CSM |
|
The Consumptive Case |
The consumptive case is marked by the Vc affix -oë. The consumptive identifies the resource consumed or used (up) as a result of, or as a concurrent part of a process. Examples: She cooks with tomatoes, The clown fed her an apple, He reads by candle(light).
Elkswuvá wampacu
aţmwaroë.
‘cook.seafood’-dyn-n-obs ‘parent’-gid1/1-ind g-‘wine’-CSM
‘Mother cooks
seafood with wine.’
|
4.5.6 |
CON |
|
The Concessive Case |
The concessive case is marked by the Vc
affix -öe.
The concessive
case identifies a noun, situation, or circumstance which gives rise to an
expectation of a certain result which, in fact, does not occur. This can be
translated by various English prepositions, conjunctions, or phrases such as
‘despite,’ ‘in spite of,’ ‘notwithstanding,’ ‘although,’ ‘regardless of,’ ‘no
matter what,’ etc. Examples of usage: In spite of his stupidity, he passed the test; The law notwithstanding, I will stand my ground; No matter how ignorant (they may be), they are welcome, Although foreigners, we will let them attend the meeting.
wardplitöe
‘act.of.embezzlement’-dcd1/4-CON
‘in spite of that (act of) embezzlement’
|
4.5.7 |
AVR |
|
The Aversive Case |
The aversive case is marked by the Vc
affix -oe.
The aversive identifies a noun as
a source or object of fear and/or avoidance. With nouns, it translates
expressions such as ‘for fear of,’ ‘in order to avoid,’ or ‘in avoidance of.’
With verb phrases (i.e., case-frames; see Sec. 6.2) , it would
translate English ‘lest.’ Examples of usage are She finished her plate for fear of my wrath, I traveled by night to avoid the sun.
Wiamftrá ru
avtyävairxoe.
n-‘engage.in.drinking.contest’-obs 1m/det-ind ‘state.of.chemical.intoxication’-n-sim2/1-AVR
‘I engage in drinking contests out of fear of
sobriety.’
|
CVS |
|
The Conversive Case |
The conversive case is marked by the Vc affix -öa. The conversive is used in conjunction with
hypothetical or potential contexts to identify a hypothetical exception to a
potential outcome or an actual circumstance which alters or has altered a
potential outcome. This translates two different ways into English. Where it
indicates an exception to a hypothetical situation, it is translated by the
conjunction ‘unless’ in verbal contexts, and by the preposition ‘without’ for
nouns. If applied to a real or actual situation, it is translatable by such
expressions as ‘except for’, ‘but for,’ ‘if not for,’ ‘if it wasn’t for,’ or
‘if it wasn’t on account of.’ Example of usage: She loves everybody except
clowns; Without peace, this
society is doomed; If not for the rain, we would have had a good time;
All animals are vermin except
cats; He’ll eat anything but (not) spinach.
Wašḑayá cwe
warröa.
‘remove’-rtr-obs Mx/neu/a-abs
‘cat’-CVS
‘Everything was removed except the cat.’
|
4.5.9 |
SIT |
|
The Situative Case |
The situative
case is marked by the Vc
affix -oa. The situative
identifies a noun as the background context for a clause without implying a
direct causative relationship between the background context and the act,
condition, or event which occurs. It is translatable into English by various circumlocutions,
as shown in the following examples: Because of war, our planet will never be able to join the
Federation; Given the
presence of clowns, we must
accept the corruption of our children; Using my plan, we will defeat the enemy.
Wekská weli
kšiloa.
‘feel.anger’
-obs ‘child’-aff ‘clown’- SIT
‘The child is angry because of the clown.’ [e.g., because of the clown’s presence/existence, not
because of anything the clown directly did to the child]
The Relational cases are yet another group of eight cases which modify a formative to show it has an particular relationship to another, usually adjacent formative.
SPECIAL NOTE regarding VC Affix Markers for Cases 37 through 68: The Relational cases are marked by adding a glottal stop after the vowel-forms a, ä, e, i, ëi, ö, o, and u . However, these affixes are word-final and it is not phonotactically permissible to end a word with a glottal stop (except the Parsing Adjunct—see Sec. 2.7, No. 5). Therefore, each of these affixes must be modified per the rules in Sec. 2.2, so that the forms become a’a, ä’ä, e’e, i’i, ë’i, ö’ö, o’o, and u’u. In addition to the Relational Cases, such modifications per Sec. 2.2 apply to the remaining Affinitive, Spatio-Temporal I and Spatio-Temporal II cases as well.
Furthermore, to shorten the VC affix for cases 37 through 52, this glottal-stop may instead be added to any other vocalic form in the formative after Slot II (i.e., it may be added to VR in Slot IV, to VX in Slots V or VII, or to VN in Slot VIII) as long as the formative does not have a Slot IV/VI a+CA shortcut per Sec. 3.10, and as long as the Sec. 5.8 rule on moving the CN Mood/Case-Scope affix to Slot VI has not been applied.
The
eight Relational cases are the pertinential,
descriptive, correlative, resultative, compositive, comitative, utilitative, predicative,
and relative.
|
4.6.1 |
PRN |
|
The Pertinential Case |
The pertinential case is
marked by the VC
affix -a’ (realized as -a’a)
in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative
functioning as the general referent of the verb, translating such English terms
as ‘about,’ ‘regarding,’ ‘concerning,’ ‘in regard to,’ ‘in reference to,’
‘pertaining to,’ or ‘as for.’ Examples of use would be a song of love; As for those books, burn them!; Let’s talk about clowns; His attitude toward women.
|
ellyila
engla’ra ‘singing’-obj-thm ‘bivalve’-g-PRN ‘a song about some shellfish’ |
Malihái
alxla’va. ‘talk’-rcp-dir ‘science’-n-PRN ‘Let’s discuss science.’ |
|
4.6.2 |
DSP |
|
The Descriptive Case |
The descriptive case is marked by the VC affix -ä’ (realized as -ä’ä) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative as describing another formative in an adjectival manner, translatable as ‘characterised/describable as being like’, ‘characterized/describable as having the quality/qualities of’. Examples: That clown has an evil face, She is clearly a sickly child.
|
wala
yačpä’ä ‘person’-thm prx-‘being.stupid’-
DSP ‘a stupid person’ |
aţkläl
uçfa’dä ‘place’-cte-thm ‘peaceableness’-prx-DSP ‘a peaceful place’ |
|
4.6.3 |
COR |
|
The Correlative Case |
The correlative case is marked by the VC affix -e’ (realized as -e’e) in formative Slot IX. It indicates an abstract general relationship, association, or conjunction between one formative and another, including subjective, contextual, metaphorical, or symbolic associations. It translates general phrases such as ‘relative to,’ ‘in relation to,’ ‘in correlation with,’ ‘in association with,’ e.g., career goals, the soup of the day, the direction of that road, The elapsed time relative to the distance determines the winner, Our next topic is sex and/in art (i.e., the relationship between art and sex).
|
eţir
iolca’le ‘entity.situated.in.a.particular.direction’-g-thm dcd1/4-‘road’-COR ‘ objects lying in the direction of the road’ |
emževa
lya’je ‘sexual.relations’-csv-n-thm ‘work.of.art’-a-COR ‘sex in art’ |
|
4.6.4 |
CPS |
|
The Compositive Case |
The compositive case is marked by the VC affix -i’ (realized as -i’i) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative as being the literal or figurative substance or component(s) of which another is made, composed, formed, built or comprised. Example of usage would be That statue was carved out of marble, She owns three gold(en) coins, We were caught in a web of lies, I use a wooden ladder, It was a house of cards, Three suits comprise his wardrobe, Joe detests styrofoam cups.
aňļir atļmä’vi
‘existent.thing’-g-thm ‘plastic’-cte-n-CPS
‘things made of plastic’
|
4.6.5 |
COM |
|
The Comitative Case |
The comitative case is marked by the VC affix -ëi’
(realized as -ë’i) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative that accompanies
another, translatable as ‘(along) with’.
My father was walking with a loaf of bread; The clown walked to the party with the dog (i.e., signifying
mere accompaniment, not the dog necessarily walked as well [the clown could
have carried it] );
I’m with the brigade (i.e., I
have merely accompanied them but am not necessarily a member); She played a game with her sister (i.e., signifying they participated in the
same game, not necessarily as competitors), a pedestrian with an umbrella (i.e.,carrying it but not using it).
When used with parallel
or complementary valence (see Secs.
5.1.2 and 5.1.5), it signifies that the
formative is being used in the same (or a complementary) way or is undergoing
the same (or a complementary) activity as the other formative it is associated
with. A more exact translation of such
usage would be ‘in conjunction with’.
Examples: The clown walked to the party with
the child (i.e., the child walked as well alongside); I’m with the brigade (i.e., I am a
member); She played a game with her
sister (i.e., competing against her).
waleca amtri’lëi
‘person’-gid1/3-thm ‘hat’
-obj-COM
‘a man with a hat’ [carrying it, not wearing it]
|
4.6.6 |
UTL |
|
The Utilitative Case |
The utilitative case is marked by the VC affix -ö’ (realized as -ö’ö) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative in the process of being used while some other activity or state is in progress. It does not imply the INSTRUMENT of an act as does the instrumental case. Examples: the gun-wielding man, a pedestrian with an umbrella (i.e.,with it open and using it), a girl with a backpack (i.e., wearing it on her back).
waleca amtri’lö
‘person’-gid1/3-thm ‘hat’
-obj-UTL
‘a man wearing a hat’
|
4.6.7 |
PRD |
|
The Predicative Case |
The predicative case is marked by the VC affix -o’ (realized as -o’o) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the non-causal basis, foundation, sustenance (literally or figuratively), or required existential condition for another noun or clause, translatable by the phrases ‘based (up)on,’ ‘dependent (up)on’ or ‘relying on.’ Examples of use are a book dependent on a publisher, a man relying on charity, laws based in reason, success supported by corruption.
aẓtaţra usla’vo
‘law’-mds/g-thm ‘reasoning’-n-PRD
‘laws based in reason’
|
4.6.8 |
RLT |
|
The Relative Case |
The relative case is marked by the VC affix -u’ (realized as -u’u) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative as constituting a relative clause associated with the preceding formative (or whatever formative is indicated by the DCD affix [see the Affixes document] as being the head of the relative clause).
kšila erḑmezwo’ivvu
‘clown’-thm ‘act.of.cheating’-csv-accessor2:erg-n-RLT
‘a clown who cheats’
4.7 The Affinitive Cases
These are a group of eight miscellaneous cases which translate various adjectival or adverbial phrases. The eight Affinitive cases are activative, assimilative, essive, terminative, selective, conformative, dependent, and vocative.
|
4.7.1 |
ACT |
|
The Activative Case |
The activative case is marked by the VC affix -ai’ (realized as -a’i) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the experiencer of a modal state, such as obligation, necessity, desire, hope, expectation, wishing, being able to, etc. functioning as the “subject” of a modal(ized) verb governing a hypothetical state (i.e., what is wanted, needed, expected, able to be done, etc.). Mr. Atoz wants peace; I expect justice; We clowns need passengers for our spaceship, uh, I mean circus tent.
Amskadwû kšivöla’i
wiorkwa.
‘necessity’-prx/n-itu
‘clown’-n- ctr1/6-ACT n-‘filial.love’-thm
‘I think even clowns need love.’
|
4.7.2 |
ASI |
|
The Assimilative Case |
The assimilative case is marked by the VC affix -au’ (realized as -a’u) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative used as a context for analogy or metaphorical comparison to another formative; translatable as ‘as/like’ meaning ‘as if (it were) X’ in the sense of comparison or analogy between one thing and another that it is not, e.g., She sings like a bird, ; Treat her as/like a princess (= as if she were a princess), He talks like a child (even though he’s an adult).
Malá su
wela’u.
‘talk’-obs 2m/neu-ind ‘child’-ASI
‘You talk like a child.’ [even
though you are not a child]
|
4.7.3 |
ESS |
|
The Essive Case |
The essive case is marked by the VC affix -ei’ (realized as -e’i) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the role or name by which an entity is known or contextually identified. It translates English ‘as/like’ in the sense of naming or reference to the an entity’s functional identity, e.g., They called him a clown, The woman entered the club as an equal of any man, We consider you our only hope, Treat her as/like a princess (because she is one), He talks like a child (because he is a child).
Malá su
wele’i.
‘talk’-obs 2m/neu-ind ‘child’-ESS
‘You talk like a child.’ [because you are one]
|
4.7.4 |
TRM |
|
The Terminative Case |
The terminative case is marked by the VC affix -eu’ (realized as -e’u) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative as being the goal of an act/event, e.g., We seek a new planet; a desire to see his homeland; an academy for (making) champions.
Pţradá kro
wailve’u.
‘hunt’-prx-obs 3p/ben
+1m/ben-erg g-‘deer’-g-TRM
‘We’re hunting deer.’
|
SEL |
|
The Selective Case |
The selective case is marked by the VC affix -ëu’ (realized as -ë’u) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a contextually recurring
time-period, as well as a string of recurring entities, e.g., I visit him every three days; Each year, I travel to the Clown Planet; He works nights; By day, she is an artisan; The clowns visit us on Sundays; ...every third book; ...every
green one. Note that if one whishes to particularly emphasize the repetitive
nature of an event, the classificative
can be used instead (see Sec. 4.5.3 above).
walazë’u.
‘person’-xx31/1- SEL
‘every third person’
|
4.7.6 |
CFM |
|
The Conformative Case |
The conformative case is marked by the VC affix -ou’ (realized as -o’u) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the entity pursuant to which, as per which, or in conformance with which, another entity is, or an act/event occurs. Examples: He’s leaving town as per orders from the court; You were arrested pursuant to law; I acted in conformance with your expectations.
Uẓtavo’u arzälalžóu
sa’i.
‘applicability.of.law’-n-CFM ‘obey’-obg1/1-adm 2m/neu-act
‘Under the law, you must obey.’
|
DEP |
|
The Dependent Case |
The dependent case is marked by the VC affix -oi’ (realized as -o’i) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative as being the basis
of a dependency phrase on which another formative or phrase acts as the
contingency, translatable as ‘...if the circumstances regarding X are
such to allow/warrant it’ where the final “it” refers to the original
contingency noun/phrase whose existence/occurrence is (at least in part)
determined by or contingent upon the dependency phrase. The exact nature of the dependency can be
specified using the DPC affix shown below.
However, the dependent case can be used without the
DPC affix to say in general, for example, ‘I’ll
come, depending on what day of the week it is’, as opposed to specifying
the exact nature of the dependency by using the DPC affix, e.g., ‘I’ll come but only if it’s a certain day of
the week’.
|
-ck |
DPC Dependent Circumstances (specifies the nature of the dependency
signified by the dependent
case) |
|
1 |
The contingency clause will only take place if the dependent noun/clause is true, but will not take place if the dependency noun/clause is false. e.g., ·
Break
the glass only in case of fire. · She’ll come to the party only if Oswaldo the Clown is there. |
|
2 |
The contingency clause will take place if the dependent noun/clause is true, but will not take place if the truth value of the dependency noun/clause is unknown, e.g., · I’ll break the glass only if I’m certain there’s a fire [i.e., I will not break it if I’m unsure whether there’s a fire or not]. · If Oswaldo the Clown is there, she’ll attend (i.e., if it is unknown whether Oswaldo is there, she will not attend). |
|
3 |
The contingency clause will take place if the dependent noun/clause is true, but it is unknown/uncertain if it will take place if the truth value of the dependency noun/clause is unknown, e.g., · I’ll break the glass in case there’s a fire [i.e., but I don’t know whether I’ll break it if I’m unsure whether there’s a fire or not]. · If Oswaldo the Clown is there, she’ll attend (i.e., if it is unknown whether Oswaldo is there, she may not attend). |
|
4 |
The contingency clause will take place if the dependent noun/clause is true, but it is unknown/uncertain if it will take place if the dependency noun/clause is false, e.g., · I’ll break the glass if there’s a fire [but I may also break it even if there isn’t a fire]. · If Oswaldo the Clown is there, she’ll attend (i.e., if he isn’t there, it is unknown whether she’ll attend or not). [Note the following two “inverse” examples where the dependency clauses are negatives, i.e., ‘if it does not rain’ and ‘if Oswaldo isn’t there’]: · We’ll go for a walk, depending on the rain (i.e., if it doesn’t rain we’ll walk, but if it does rain, we may still walk or may decide not to walk). · She’ll attend if Oswaldo the Clown is not there, but may or may not attend if he is there. |
|
5 |
The contingency clause will take place regardless of whether the dependent noun/clause is true or false, e.g., ·
Break
the glass whether or not there’s fire. · She’ll attend the party regardless of whether Oswaldo the Clown is there. |
|
6 |
The contingency clause will take place if the dependent noun/clause is true, and will not take place if the dependency is false, but it is unknown/uncertain if it will take place if the truth value of the dependency noun/clause is unknown, e.g., · I’ll break the glass in case there’s a fire [i.e., and will not break it if there’s no fire, but I don’t know if I’ll break it if I’m unsure whether there’s a fire or not]. · If Oswaldo the Clown is there, she’ll attend (i.e., and will not attend if he’s not there, but if it is unknown whether Oswaldo’t there, she may not attend). |
|
7 |
The contingency clause will take place if the dependent noun/clause is true or if it is unknown/uncertain, but will not take place if the dependency is false, e.g., · I’ll break the glass in case there’s a fire [i.e., I’ll break it if there’s a fire or if I’m uncertain whether there’s a fire, but will not break it if I know there is no fire]. · If Oswaldo the Clown is there, she’ll attend (i.e., she’ll attend if he’s there or if she doesn’t know if he’s there, but won’t attend if she knows he’s not there ). |
|
8 |
Likelihood of the contingency clause taking place is unknown/unpredictable because the dependent noun/clause’s truth value is unknown/unpredictable, e.g., ·
She may
show up depending on her
attitude. · Her attending the party depends upon Oswaldo the Clown being there (however, it is unknown whether it is Oswaldo’s presence or his absence that determines whether she attends). |
|
9 |
The contingent clause represents only a precautionary/preparatory measure because the dependent noun/clause’s truth value is unknown/unpredictable, e.g., We have umbrellas in case of rain. She’s carrying a gun in case Oswaldo the Clown is there. |
The following chart more systematically illustrates the
distinctions between the nine degrees of the affix:
|
The contigency |
if the Dependency Value is . . . |
|
if the Dependency Value is . . . |
|||||
|
true |
unknown |
as desired by contingency party |
|
true |
false |
unknown |
||
|
1 |
occurs |
x |
|
|
but will not occur |
|
x |
|
|
2 |
occurs |
x |
|
|
but will not occur |
|
|
x |
|
3 |
occurs |
x |
|
|
and/but may (not) occur |
|
|
x |
|
4 |
occurs |
x |
|
|
and/but may (not) occur |
|
x |
|
|
5 |
occurs |
x |
|
|
and will also occur |
|
x |
|
|
6 |
occurs |
x |
|
|
but may (not) occur if dependency uncertain, and will not occur |
|
x |
|
|
7 |
occurs |
x |
x |
|
but will not occur |
|
x |
|
|
8 |
occurs |
|
|
x |
however, dependency value is unknown to speaker |
|
|
|
|
9 |
occurs |
|
x |
|
as a precaution |
|
|
|
Example:
Watkwäyû welu
weppļi’a kšilütřacko’i.
‘attendance.at.event’-prs-itu ‘child’-ind ‘party’-loc ‘clown’-dx11/8-dpc1/1-DEP
‘The child will probably only come to the party if
there’s a clown there.’
|
4.7.8 |
VOC |
|
The Vocative Case |
The vocative case is marked by the VC affix -ui’ (realized as -u’i) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a noun being used in direct address.
Examples: “Mr. Atoz!”, “Hey, clown!”
|
Kši’lui! ‘clown’-VOC ‘Hey, clown!’ |
Weru’i,
gulái onţläli’ö kši’ve!
child’-g-VOC ‘ambulate’-dyn-dir
‘automobile’-cte-abl ‘clown’-n-cor ‘Children, walk away from the clown car!’ |
4.8 The Spatio-Temporal Cases — Group I
This group of eight cases are used to identify contexts relating to spatial location, although in many cases they can also be used metaphorically in temporal, rather than spatial contexts. The eight cases are locative, attendant, allative, ablative, orientative, interrelative, intrative, and navigative.
|
4.8.1 |
LOC |
|
The Locative Case |
The locative case is marked by the VC affix -ia’ (realized as -i’a) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the location where something is situated or occurs; ‘at / in / on / by ’. Examples: The children are in/at the clown’s tent; Hortense is by the guillotine; Place the four glowing nodules on the floor; My uncle is on that plane.
epřeli’a
‘entryway’-csv-LOC
‘at the entrance’
|
4.8.2 |
ATD |
|
The Attendant Case |
The attendant case is marked by the VC affix -ie’ (realized as -i’e) in formative Slot IX. It functions as a variant of the locative case, to indicate in whose presence something occurs/takes place/is situated. However, such a function has implications allowing the attendant case to identify a vague or externally determined non-causal (and potentially causal) relationship to the event/state/act/occurrence/situation in question. The party marked by attendant case becomes relevant to or involved in a situation, however, the manner of this involvement/relevancy is vague, undefined, or left to the imagination/speculation of the addressee.
The rationale behind such an interpretation of the attendant case is that the party in whose presence something occurs, if animate, implicitly becomes a witness to the occurrence. Being a witness furthermore implies that the party experiences some effect or consequence of what has taken place in their presence. Such an effect/consequence may be nothing more than maintaining a visual memory of what has occurred, but on the other hand, may result in initiating a responsive action by the witnessing party (i.e., a consequent causal act). Even inanimate entities marked for attendant case can potentially become involved in the state/act/event/situation to the point of causal consequences. For example, if a fire takes place “in the presence of” a box of fireworks, the implied consequence is obvious.
The following examples illustrate how the attendant is used to imply contexts of involvement and consequence:
|
[with second party
in dative case:] Muliuţmá mu
hlü Jon hma
ažxíp. ‘She shouts “fire!” to John’ |
[with second party
in attendant case:] Muliuţmá mu
hli’e Jon hma
ažxíp. ‘She shouts “fire!” in John’s
presence’ / ‘She shouts “fire!” with John nearby’ (thus
causing John to do something, e.g., run for a fire extinguisher, run out of
the building, etc.) |
|
[with second party
in comitative case:] Wanzvihá mu
welë’i. ‘She is playing a game with the
child.’ |
[with second party
in attendant case:] Wanzvihá mu
weli’e. ‘She is playing a game [with someone]
while the child watches/while the child sits nearby/in the child’s presence.’ |
Also, for sentences where the semantic role of the external head of a relative clause is left unstated (as in the left-hand sentence below), the implied case would be attendant. Thus, the two sentences below are semantically equivalent.
|
[with semantic role
of the head of a relative clause implied:] Ẓalá li
welenëi máli’hu
kširu. ‘I see the child who is talking with the
clowns.’ |
[with the head of a
relative clause marked by attendant
case:] Ẓalá li
welenëi máli’hu
thi’e kširu. ‘I see the child who is talking with the
clowns.’ |
|
4.8.3 |
ALL |
|
The Allative Case |
The allative case is marked by the VC affix -io’ (realized as -i’o) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the entity toward which another entity is moving/approaching, translating English ‘to/toward’. Examples: Go to the window; The children were seen headed toward the clown encampment.
wajli’a
‘mountain’-ALL
‘to(ward) the mountain’
|
ABL |
|
The Ablative Case |
The ablative case is
marked by the VC
affix -iö’ (realized
as -i’ö) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the entity away from which another entity is moving/receding. It translates English ‘(away) from’. Examples:
The children were seen coming from the clown car; Move away from the window; I’ve
just come from the store.
Weru’i, gulái
onţläli’ö kši’ve!
‘child’-g-voc ‘ambulate’-dyn-dir ‘automobile’-cte-ABL
‘clown’-n-cor
‘Children, walk away from the clown car!’
|
4.8.5 |
ORI |
|
The Orientative Case |
The orientative case is marked by the VC affix -eë’ (realized as -e’ë) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the entity (often a body part or sub-component) which serves as the “face”
or surface or “front” or “head” of an entity in terms of external communication
or interaction, or which serves as the forward “end” of a spatially orientated
axis aligned to a vector of motion in terms of directional movement. Examples:
He turned his body (to face) frontward; Clowns like to teach children to walk backward(s); The car suddenly
veered sideways.
Gavó wioḑpu
ustyale’ë.
‘ambulate’-n-asr/cvn n-‘crab’-ind ‘flank/side’-ORI
‘They say crabs walk sideways.’
|
4.8.6 |
IRL |
|
The Interrelative Case |
The interrelative case is marked by the VC affix -uö’ (realized as -u’ö) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the directional/temporal orientation or position of an entity relative to another, i.e., a noun relative to whose position in space or time another noun is being described for purposes of spatial/temporal orientation, e.g., He turned his back on me, It lies just west of the house, Tell me when the parade starts relative to my arrival.
Arveléi iträlu’ö
kši’ţe?
‘amount.of.elapsed.time’-csv-irg
cpt-‘process.of.approaching’-cte-IRL ‘clown’-mds-cor
‘How long has it been since the clowns’ arrival?’ [focus on the
temporal relationship between the elapsed period of time and the point in time
when the clowns arrived; compare this example to the one immediately below]
|
4.8.7 |
INV |
|
The Intrative Case |
The intrative case is marked by the VC affix -uo’ (realized as) -u’o in formative Slot IX. It identifies a formative as being the spatio-temporal boundary point of a span or
volume of space or a period of time, i.e, either the starting point or the
ending point of a span of time or space.
English translations include: ‘as of ’ / ‘since ’ /‘until ’; for spatial contexts, translates
as ‘as far as’, ‘up to’, or ‘between here and there’). Examples:
He’s been sad since the (end of the) war;
As of noon today, we
are no longer accepting applications for clown school; Tickets for a ride to
the Clown Planet are available until
noon tomorrow; The new lawn stretches up to the back fence; Walk in the area between the flower beds, The train goes as far as Los Angeles.
Arveléi iträlu’o
kši’ţe?
‘amount.of.elapsed.time’-csv-irg
cpt-‘process.of.approaching’-cte-INV ‘clown’-mds-cor
‘How long has it been since the clowns’ arrival?’ [focus on the
juxtaposition between one temporal context and another adjacent to it]
|
4.8.8 |
NAV |
|
The Navigative Case |
The navigative case is marked by the VC affix -ua’ (realized as -u’a) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the entity whose literal or metaphorically inferred long axis serves as the
direction of another entity’s path, course, arc, or trajectory of translative
motion. The ancient Polynesians sailed the ocean following (the paths of) the stars; Hortense follows her own path; The UFO flew along (the direction of) Main Street; He hit the ball across the park.
Tralá elařţru hakšiţé-alcialu’a.
‘translative.motion’-obs ‘child’-var/mds/g-ind Concatenated: ‘clown’-mds-cor - Parent:’path’-rps-NAV
‘The children follow the way of the clowns.’
4.9 The Spatio-Temporal Cases — Group II
This group of eight cases are used to identify contexts relating to time, although in many cases they can be also used metaphorically in spatial contexts. The eight cases are concursive, assessive, periodic, prolapsive, precursive, postcursive, elapsive, and prolimitive.
|
CNR |
|
The Concursive Case |
The concursive case is marked by the VC affix -ao’ (realized as -a’o) in formative Slot IX. It identifies a “temporal locative” meaning ‘at or during the time of X’, i.e., the
point or stretch in time at or during which an entity or an act/event exists or
occurs. Examples: They
died during the war; The clowns arrive at noon; Hortense showed up on Saturday.
|
ujthäda’o ‘war’-cte-prx-CNR ‘during a war/during wartime’ |
wucpirwa’o ‘sixth’-spt1/4-CNR ‘on Saturday’ |
|
4.9.2 |
ASS |
|
The Assessive Case |
The assessive case is marked by the VC affix -aö’ (realized as -a’ö) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the increment of space or time or unit by which a contextual ratio of measurement is created, e.g., He charges by the minute; It travels at 90 kilometers per hour; He earns $25 per book; The permitted allotment is two children per clown.
elesa kšila’ö
child’-dpx-thm ‘clown’-ASS
‘a pair of children per clown’
|
4.9.3 |
PER |
|
The Periodic Case |
The periodic case is marked by the VC affix -eo’ (realized as -e’o) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the span of time / time frame at some point(s) during which, separate events, repetitions, or durationally segmented acts or states take place. Examples would be He wrote the novel in/over six months; These clowns can corrupt your child within a few days; The woman has been ill a lot this year; For the last several concerts, my voice has been deteriorating.
Řese’o yeirčá
kšivo wiole.
’24.hour.day’-csv-dpx-Per rpv-‘corrupt’-rtr-obs ‘clown’-n-erg ‘child’-n-abs
‘It takes two days for a clown to corrupt a child.’
|
4.9.4 |
PRO |
|
The Prolapsive Case |
The prolapsive case is marked by the VC affix -eö’ (realized as -e’ö) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the duration of an act, condition, or event, i.e., how long it takes or lasts, e.g., He prayed through lunch, It rained all night, It took three days for the fever to break, She sang for an hour.
Wellyawá urwale’ö
‘sing.a.song’-rtr-obs ‘hour’-PRO
‘They sang for an hour.’
|
4.9.5 |
PCV |
|
The Precursive Case |
The precursive case is marked by the VC affix -oë’ (realized as -o’ë) in formative Slot IX. It identifies an entity acting as a point in time prior to which an act, condition, or event occurs, e.g., ‘this city before the war’, ‘a presentation preceding the banquet’.
|
epssalo’ë ‘present.moment’ -PCV ‘before the present moment’ |
wucpirwo’ë ‘sixth’-spt1/4-PCV ‘prior to Saturday’ |
|
4.9.6 |
PCR |
|
The Postcursive Case |
The postcursive case is marked by the VC affix -öe’ (realized as -ö’e) in formative Slot IX. It identifies an entity acting as a point in time after which, following which, subsequent to which, an act, state, or event occurs, e.g., ‘this city after the war’, ‘a presentation following the banquet’, ‘It’s been a long time since I danced’.
|
ujthädö’e ‘war’-cte-prx-PCR ‘after the war’ |
welkošmo’e ‘make.music’-frm1/7-PCr ‘after the music recital’ |
|
4.9.7 |
ELP |
|
The Elapsive Case |
The elapsive case is marked by the VC affix -oe’ (realized as -o’e) in formative Slot IX. It identifies the amount of time that has passed or is expected to pass between the contextual present and the time of the act, condition, or event being spoken of. It corresponds to English ‘…ago’ or ‘...from now’. Examples would be Four years ago I was a student; Going back three generations, women could not even vote; Four years from now, I will be a student; Looking ahead three generations, clowns will rule the world; I will be home in three days; Little did he know that two months later he’d be a rich man. The past vs. future distinction is determined from context, any aspectual morphology, or may be specified with the TPP affix (see Chapter 7 on Affixes regarding how to structure a Slot V or Slot VII affix).
|
-kt |
TPP* Temporal
Position Relative to Present |
|
1 |
in the remote past, once upon a time |
|
2 |
past/former/previous; once [e.g., I was young
once], a long time ago |
|
3 |
recent; recently |
|
4 |
. . . just past / just (happened) |
|
5 |
present/current/present day; now / at present /
presently / currently |
|
6 |
imminent; just about to / about to / on the verge
of |
|
7 |
forthcoming / soon to arrive; soon |
|
8 |
future / -- to be / --to come / eventual(ly);
someday... |
|
9 |
in the remote future / far in the future / long
after we’re gone |
|
wapšorco’e ‘four’- ela1/7-elp ‘four days ago / four days from now’ |
Iträlawó
kši’ţu waçčëizo’e. cpt-‘process.of.approaching’-cte-rtr-cvn
‘clown’-mds-ind ‘winter’-xx31/5-ELP ‘They say the clowns arrived three winters ago.’ |
|
4.9.8 |
PLM |
|
The Prolimitive Case |
The prolimitive case is marked by the VC affix -oa’ (realized as -o’a) in formative Slot
IX. It identifies the spatio-temporal
boundary point of a span of time or space during which or within which
something is expected to or must occur or be situated. Equivalent to English phrases: by the end of / within the period ending in
/ within the period ending with / before X is over / before X is u p / inside of (the period signified by)’. Examples:
I expect you to apologize by the time/before dinner is over;
If the clowns are going to leave, it had
better be before the children’s
arrival.
|
wapšorco’a ‘four’- ela1/7-PLM ‘by the end of four days from now’ |
iträlo’a
kši’ţe cpt-‘process.of.approaching’-cte-PLM ‘clown’-mds-cor ‘by the time of the clown’s arrival / by the time the
clowns arrive’
|
4.10 Case-Scope
Formatives showing Case use the
Case-Scope affix CN in
Slot VIII to indicate the scope of the case-marked formative over adjacent
formatives. This is useful when there is
a string of cases modifying another “base” formative; CN specifies which has scope over which other formative.
Note that the CN affix in Slot VIII is the same affix that shows Mood in verbal
formatives (i.e., verbs), described in Sec. 5.2. The
determination as to whether a formative is a noun or verb can be made by its
syllabic stress pattern. In
contrast to verbal formatives which are stressed on the final syllable of the
word, nominal formatives are stressed on the penultimate (i.e., second-to-last)
syllable, and framed verbal formatives are stressed on the antepenultimate
(third-to last) syllable. Only the latter two show Case-Scope in slot VIII. This
is explained in detail in Sec.
6.2.1.
CN Case-Scope values
|
Label |
Name |
Pattern 1 |
Pattern 2 |
Meaning |
CCN
|
NATURAL |
(h) |
w/y
|
X’s case is governed by the noun-case of the formative marked CN = -hl-/-hw-; in the absence of such, X’s case is associated with the main verb (or framed verb if within a case-frame). [See the SPECIAL NOTE below for an exception.] |
CCA
|
ANTECEDENT
|
hl
|
hw
|
X is the “head” whose case governs all CN-unmarked nouns in the clause (or nouns marked with CN = -h- or-w-/y-) |
CCS
|
SUBALTERN
|
hr
|
hrw
|
X is the formative to which formatives in the clause marked with CN = -hm-/-hmw- are associated |
CCQ
|
QUALIFIER
|
hm
|
hmw
|
X is associated by noun-case to the formative marked by CN = -hr-/-hrw- |
CCP
|
PRECEDENT
|
hn
|
hnw
|
X’s noun-case associates only with the immediately following formative |
CCV
|
SUCCESSIVE
|
hň
|
hňw
|
X’s noun-case associates only with the immediately preceding formative |
SPECIAL NOTE:
A noun in one of the Appositive or Relational Cases adjacent to another
noun operates as an exception to the above rules. Because such Appositive or Relational nouns
naturally associate with an adjacent noun, default zero-marking on such a noun
will be assumed to convey CCP status
if the Appositive/Associative/Relational noun is the first of a pair of nouns,
or CCV if it is the second of the
pair. If there are three consecutive
zero-marked Appositive/Relational formatives, the first noun will be assumed to
convey CCP status, while the other
two have CCV status.
4.11 Introduction to Case-Accessor
Affixes and Case-Stacking Affixes
Each one of the sixty-eight cases has a corresponding Case-Accessor Affix, an Inverse Case-Accessor Affix, and a Case-Stacking Affix. Case-Accessors are explained immediately below. Case-stacking is explained in Sec. 4.11.2.
4.11.1 Case-Accessors and Inverse Case-Accessors
The purpose of Case-Accessor and Inverse Case-Accessor affixes is to be able to assign/label a formative as being a specific party to a particular case-relationship. Examples of this are shown in the following table for the nine Transrelative Cases:
|
NAME
OF CASE |
DESCRIPTION OF CASE |
MEANING
OF CASE-ACCESSOR AFFIX |
MEANING
OF INVERSE CASE-ACCESSOR AFFIX |
|
thematic |
The
(usually inanimate) party which is a participant to the verbal predicate
which does not undergo any tangible change of state. Semantic role: CONTENT. |
party
acting as the theme/content of
X |
that
of/for which X functions as the theme/content |
|
instrumental |
The
entity acting as means utilized by an explicit or implicit agent to
implement/carry out the effect/impact of an act/event. Semantic role: INSTRUMENT. |
the
instrument/means by/via which X
occurs |
that
by/via which X is the instrument/means |
|
absolutive |
The
party that/who is the target of, and/or undergoes, the effect/impact or
change of state as a result of a tangible act/event. Semantic role: PATIENT. |
the
patient to which/whom X happens |
that
which happens/is done to the patient
X |
|
affective |
The
party who undergoes an unwilled, affective experience, e.g., coughing,
sneezing, feeling hot/cold, trembling, experiencing sensory input (tactile,
olfactory, visual, aural, gustatory), proprioceptive states,
psychological/emotional states, reflex reactions such as cringing, yawning,
ducking, screaming in fright, etc.
Semantic role: EXPERIENCER. |
the
experiencer or undergoer of X
(as an affective experience) |
that
which the X undergoes as an affective experience |
|
stimulative |
The
party/entity/idea/thought/situation or mental state which triggers an
unwilled, affective response or is the trigger for an existential state such
as possession. Semantic role:
STIMULUS. |
that
which is the affective stimulus
of X |
that
of/for which X is the affective stimulus |
|
effectuative |
The
party/force that initiates a chain of causal events or who induces another
party to act as an agent (specifiable via the ENB affix). Role:
ENABLER |
the
enabler initiating an event
chain leading to X |
the
event (chain) that the enabler X initiates |
|
ergative |
The
animate party or inanimate force which initiates/causes an act/event which
creates a tangible effect or change of state in a patient. Semantic role: AGENT or FORCE. |
the
agent who/that X’s |
that
which the agent or force X does/initiates |
|
dative |
The
party which is the (intended) recipient of a verb of transference,
transmission, or communication; the party at/to which a physically
transferred entity, transmitted information, or a communicable entity is
directed. Semantic role: RECIPIENT. |
the
recipient of X or of the act of
X |
that
which the recipient X receives |
|
inducive |
The
patient who undergoes the tangible effect, impact, or change of state of an act/event
initiated/caused by that self-same party.
Semantic role: AGENT+PATIENT. |
the
agent who/that X’s
him-/her-/itself |
that
which the agent X does to
him-/her-/itself |
Because Case-Accessor and Inverse Case-Accessor affixes are structured the same as standard VXCS affixes in formative Slots V and VII, their phonological structure and full list of the affixes with examples is presented in Sec. 7.6 at the end of the chapter on VXCS affixes.
4.11.2 Case-Stacking
Case-stacking refers
to the ability to assign two cases simultaneously to a formative (or to a
case-frame). This is necessary to accurately translate sentences like the
following:
‘I jog every day except during (an) illness.’
Examining the above
sentence, the phrase “except (for) X” is expressed by the conversive case (see Sec. 4.5.8), while the idea of
“during X” by the concursive case
(Sec. 4.9.1). This requires that
two different cases to the formative translating ‘illness’, unless we instead
resort to expressing the sentence paraphrastically as ‘I jog every day
except that I don’t jog during illness.’
To allow for two (or
more) cases to be assigned to the same formative (or case-frame), the base case
of the formative is shown as usual by VC
in Slot IX, while the case to be “stacked” upon the base case is expressed by a
case-stacking affix. Like Case-Accessor affixes,
Case-Stacking affixes are structured the same as standard VXCS affixes in formative Slots V and
VII. Their phonological structure and
full list of the affixes with examples is presented in Sec. 7.6.4 at the end of the chapter on VXCS affixes.