MNCL5 – A Constructed Language

Syntax

This chapter will contain the basic syntax. There may be additional chapters for special topics.

Basic Syntax

One peculiarity of MNCL5  is that just about any word stem can be used for any syntactical word form class, regardless of the word stem class. This means that the syntactical noun isn't necessarily a lexical noun etc.

Clauses, Phrases, and Components

The syntactically relevent portion of an inflected word form is its final morpheme, which causes the word form to be put into one of four groups (see Final Morphemes).
  1. adjective forms
  2. genitive noun forms
  3. verb forms
  4. all other forms
Those in the 1st group (adjective forms) must always precede some word form, which can be in any group. Those in the 2nd group must always precede some word form in any but the 3rd group (verb forms); in addition, the preceded word must not be monovalent. Those in either the 3rd or 4th group aren't constrained in this fashion.

A clause is composed of a verb phrase, possibly a patientive case noun phrase, possibly an agentive case noun phrase, possibly a thematic case noun phrase or a verbal noun phrase, and zero or more adverbial or secondary predicate noun phrases.

A verb phrase is composed of a verb form and possibly one of the particles koi or xoi.

A noun phrase is either composed of a noun participle component and any adjective participle components which may precede it or consists of a complement clause.

A verbal noun phrase is composed solely of a verbal noun component.

A component is either composed of a non-verb form and, if that word isn't monovalent, a genitive case noun phrase preceding it or consists of a relative clause.

Questions

There are two kinds of questions: For simple sentences, a yes/no question is identified by the presence of a word form containing the interrogative medial (-uk-, -Int) somewhere within the sentence. Simple queries are identified by the presence of either the interrogative pronominal (k-, Que) or the particle koi.

Kinds of Clauses

Main Clauses

A main clause has the syntax described above. It provides the matrix for any subordinate constructs.

Relative Clauses

A relative clause begins with a relative pronoun (y-, REL) and is followed by a subordinate clause terminator (d-, SCT). The relative pronoun takes the final morpheme appropriate to its use within the clause. The subordinate clause terminator takes the final morpheme appropriate to its use within the matrix, typically "adjective" or some noun case and number final.

A relative clause here is the kind usually referred to as restrictive. If the clause is to be non-restrictive, a parenthetical clause is used instead.

Parenthetical Clauses

A parenthetical clause begins with a parenthetical clause initiator (??l, PCI) and is followed by a subordinate clause terminator (d-, SCT). The subordinate clause terminator takes the final appropriate to its use within the matrix clause, typically "adjective" or some noun case and number final.
Possibly change this syntax so that the clause begins with a pronoun, as in a relative clause, instead of a particle.

Complement Clauses

A complement clause is preceded by a subordinate clause initiator particle (gil) and is followed by a subordinate clause terminator (d-, SCT). The subordinate clause terminator takes a final appropriate to its use within the matrix clause, typically the thematic singular final.

Adverbial and Secondary Predicate Clauses

Adverbial and secondary predicate clauses are complement clauses whose subordinate clause terminator (d-, SCT) takes the adverbial and secondary predicate finals, respectively.

Temporal Clauses

Temporal clauses are complement clauses whose subordinate clause terminator (d-, SCT) takes the temporal case final. One important difference is that a temporal clause specifies the time of its matrix clause, while the time of an adverbial is usually dependent on that of its matrix clause.
The temporal case final was present in MNCL4 , but has been omitted in MNCL5 . A replacement may be needed.

Embedded Questions

An embedded query has the same form as a non-embedded one but is followed by a subordinate clause terminator (d-, SCT), which is marked for the clause's role in its matrix.

An embedded yes/no question has the same form as a non-embedded one but is preceded by a subordinate clause initiator particle (gil) and is followed by a subordinate clause terminator (d-, SCT), which is marked for the clause's role in its matrix.

Copular Clauses

Whether the phrase that would be a "copular complement" in English is definite or indefinite, its last word takes a verb final morpheme and the (last word of the) subject takes the patientive case.

Pronouns and Determiners

Usually, a pronominal is considered a pronoun when it's the only word in its phrase and a determiner otherwise. Typically, a determiner begins its phrase.

The 3rd person pronominal roots, z- (3A, animate) and n- (3I, inanimate) are essentially definite articles when used as determiners. Both 3rd person pronouns and definite articles agree with their referents in gender.

The interrogative (k-, Que) and indefinite pronouns (null, Uns) also indicate gender, using the animate (-az-, -Ani), inanimate (-an-, -Ina), and informational (-ad-, -Inf) gender medials. The exception to this is when the indefinite pronoun is used simply for object argument deletion.

Additional Use of the Subordinate Clause Terminator

Besides following subordinate clauses, the subordinate clause terminator (d-, SCT) can be used as a pronoun, usually at the beginning of a sentence, to refer to the preceding sentence. When it takes a verb final, it functions as "Yes." (d- or ded-), "No." (dun-), or "Really?" (duk-). The verb final is usually present tense, but can be past or future.

Reflexive Pronoun Referents

Unlike most other elements in MNCL5 , the referent of the reflexive pronoun (s-, Rfx) is sensitive to the form and placement of the pronoun. Examples:

Jonak sa poncek. - "John hit himself."
Jonak so handa poncek. - "John hit his (own) hand."
Tomak disek gil sok Jona aten dok. - "Tom said that John is his (Tom's) father."
Tomak disek gil Jona sok aten dok! - "Tom said that John is his own father!"

The reflexive pronoun tends to coreference an animate argument if there is one. The agentive case argument tends to be coreferenced if it occurs, and otherwise the patientive case argument.

Participle Usage

 MNCL5  has four kinds of participles; their morphology is given in Short Medial Morphemes. Which of these four can occur depends on the word stem's argument structure. Whether or not the participle must be preceded by an "object" (in the genitive case) also depends on the argument structure, specifically on whether the stem is non-monovalent.

Note 1: It's frequently easier to translate MNCL5  participles using relative clauses and this will be done in most of the examples. Also, don't take the English tense in the translations too seriously.

Note 2: All example phrases will take the patientive singular ending -a (-PAT.SG). They will typically have the form:

definite-article  genitive-object-phrase  participle  head-noun

1st Participle Only

Most noun stems, most adjective and other static verb stems, and some monovalent dynamic verb stems (those with involuntary subjects) have only the 1st participle. The verb stem participles are translated as either passive or active participles in English and some other languages, depending on the aspect.

zo falo vira - "the man that fell"
zo fal'yo vira - "the falling man" (imperfective aspect)
zo fal'ho vira - "the fallen man" (retrospective aspect)

2nd Participle Only

The remaining monovalent dynamic verb stems have only the 2nd participle. These are typically translated as active participles.

zo kor'mo hunda - "the running dog"

1st and 2nd Participles

This category contains the divalent dynamic verb stems referring to actions. Here, the 1st participle is passive (with an object denoting the agent) and the 2nd participle active (with an object denoting the patient).

zo Jono baito hunda - "the dog John bit"
zo Jono baitmo hunda - "the dog that bit John"

1st and 3rd Participles

Most of the remaining divalent dynamic verb stems are here along with the remaining noun stems, adjective stems and other static verb stems. For these, the 1st participle is active and the 3rd participle is passive.

zo Jono vido hunda - "the dog that saw John"
zo Jono vid'to hunda - "the dog John saw"

For noun stems, the object of a 1st participle is typically translated as a possessor:

zo viro handa - "the man's hand"

The 3rd participle could be used like this:

zo ruyo teilto fogla - "the red-tailed bird"

All Four Participles

Only the trivalent dynamic verb stems use all four participles. The following sentence is used for reference:

Zo virak zo cika no livrok gebek.
3A-ADJ man-AGT.SG 3A-ADJ child-PAT.SG 3I-ADJ book-THM.SG give-PST
"The man gave the child the book."

The 1st participle refers to the recipient and the object to the donor.

1st-A
zo zo viro gebo cika
"the child who the man gave something to"

Same, but the object refers to what's given. This has to be inferred from the semantics of the object phrase, primarily the gender/animacy of the noun stem.

1st-B
zo no livro gebo cika
"the child who was given the book"

The 2nd participle here, refers to the donor and the object to the recipient.

2nd-A
zo zo ciko geb'mo vira
"the man who gave the child something"

But here, the object refers to what's given. Again, semantics are involved.

2nd-B
zo no livro geb'mo vira
"the man who gave somebody the book"

The 3rd participle refers to what's given and the object to the recipient.

3rd
no zo ciko geb'to livra
"the book that was given to the child"

The 4th participle also refers to what's given, but the object refers to the donor.

4th
no zo viro geb'go livra
"the book that the man gave"

Participles, Tense, Aspect, and Mood

Participles aren't marked for mood and are implicitly indicative. If some other mood is needed, a relative clause must be used. Participles are also not marked for tense. In this case, however, the aspect marking may be used to indicate relative tense. Specifically, the retrospective form may be used for either a relative past perfective meaning or a relative present retrospective meaning and the prospective form may be used for either a relative future perfective meaning or a relative present retrospective meaning. To distinguish these, a relative clause must be used.

Verbal Noun Usage

Like participles, a verbal noun has a subject argument and, if non-monovalent, an object argument.

The subject argument is implicit and coreferences one of the matrix arguments. Since the matrix is usually a clause containing a divalent auxiliary verb and since the verbal noun component substitutes for the thematic argument of the auxiliary, the coreferenced argument is usually the patientive argument of the auxiliary.

The role of the subject argument relative to the verbal noun and the presence and role of the object argument work as described under Participle Usage. Application of tense, aspect, and mood also work as described there, except that a complement clause would be used instead of a relative clause.

Summary of Mood Usage

Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used for commands, prohibitions, and exhortations. In commands and prohibitions, the 2nd person agentive case pronouns may be omitted. If the word doesn't permit agentive case arguments, the patientive case pronouns may be omitted instead. Examples:

Sailu tas! - "Sing!" (plural)
Dormunu! - "Don't sleep!"
Pas baibu. - "Let's leave."

Indicative Mood

The indicative mood is used for statements, assumptions, and questions of fact. It's used in independent main clauses and in factual conditions and conclusions. In complement clauses, it's used when the auxiliary is "hope", or a perception verb, or a discourse verb, or certain verbs such as "remember". Relative clause verb forms are usually indicative. The indicative mood is used in clauses of actual result. An indicative mood verb form with prospective aspect may be used in purpose clauses. Examples:

Ma videk gil zo kata kore dok. - "I saw the cat run."
Xoi gurek Jona, za falek. - "John was so drunk, he fell."

Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood is used in complement clauses when the auxiliary is "want", or any of several other auxiliaries. It's used in the result clauses of the satisfactive and excessive constructions. The subjunctive mood is used for statements, assumptions, and questions of possibility (impossibility if the negative medial is used) in most places that the indicative mood can be used. It can also be used in purpose clauses. Examples:

Ma bese gil Tomak mahus xeza dok. - "I want Tom to make a chair."
Xoi gurek Jona, za falus. - "John was drunk enough to fall."
Mas kor'yek gil zo cika zo elefantok vidus di. - "We were running so that the child could see the elephant."
Jonak sailus. - "John can sing." (capability, not possibility)
Unus gil zo horsak sailek da. - "It's not possible that the horse sang."

Contrafactual Mood

The contrafactual mood is used in contrary-to-fact conditions and conclusions. Sometimes the condition isn't expressed. It can be used in the result clauses of result constructions. It's used in complement clauses when the auxiliary is "wish". Examples:

Nol Toma hunduk ul zafo horsak sailuk. - "If Tom were a dog, his horse would sing."
Xoi gurek Jona, za faluk. - "John was so drunk, he would have fallen."

Compound Sentences

Conjoined Clauses

Each clause conjoined in parallel begins with the same conjunction. There must be more than one conjoined clause. Phrases common to and having the same case in all of the clauses may be "factored out", meaning moved in front of the list of conjoined clauses. The conjunctions are:

Morpheme Gloss and/or Description
jal "and", true if all clauses true
ul "or", true if any clause true
sel true if exactly one clause true

Sel is "either ... or" (logical exclusive or) when there are exactly two clauses, while ul is "and/or" (logical inclusive or). Examples:

Jal Jonak saile jal Tomak kore. - "John is singing and Tom is running."
Jonak ul saile ul kore. - "John is singing or running or both."
Saile sel Jonak sel Tomak. - "Either John is singing or Tom is singing but not both."

Conditional Sentences

A conditional sentence consists of a condition (or if-sentence) and a conclusion (or then-sentence). The condition is preceded by the particle nol and the conclusion is preceded by the particle fil. An exception to this is that if the condition is negative, it can be changed to positive with nol replaced by ul (and in this case fil can also be replaced by ul); however changing a negative to positive is complicated if the condition is compound.

Nol Jona guruk fil za faluk. - "If John were drunk, he would fall."

Result Constructions

A result construction consists of a xoi clause and a result clause. The xoi clause contains the particle xoi preceding some adjective-type word; this word is frequently, but not always, the verb form. The result clause may have indicative, subjunctive, or contrafactual mood. Result constructions include the satisfactive construction, the excessive construction, and the result construction proper; other than the subjunctive being used for satisfactives and excessives, the distinction is primarily one of translation. Examples:

(1) Jona xoi gurek za falek. - "John was so drunk, he fell."
(2) Jona xoi gurek za faluk. - "John was so drunk, he would have fallen."
(3) Jona xoi gurek za falus. - "John was drunk enough to fall."
(4) Jonak korek xoi tardi za vidunus zo elefantok. - "John ran too slowly to see the elephant."

(1) is a result construction with an actual result. (2) is a result construction with a contrafactual result. (3) is a satisfactive construction. (4) is an excessive construction.

Result clauses can occur in response to koi questions, which contain the particle koi preceding some adjective-type word.

Koi gurek Jona? - "How drunk was John?"
Koi tardi Jonak korek? - "How slowly did John run?"

page started: 2007.Nov.10 Sat
last modified: 2007.Nov.23 Fri
content and form originated by qiihoskeh

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