Introduction - Sound changes - Phonology - Nominal morphology - Verbal Morphology - Syntax - Sample text - Lexicon - Appendix

ɑˈgɑf language

Nominal morphology

Main change from Ayasf :
-Nouns are not inflected for number anymore. Number is marked on a set of articles and demonstratives that have evolved from the third person pronouns.
-The case system is mostly preserved, but with lot of internal reorganisation and reanalysis.

Nouns

Nouns are marked only for case.

Absolutive case : Used for subject of an intransitive verb or the object of a transitive verb. Also has a vocative purpose.
(unmarked)

Ergative case : Used for the direct object of a transitive verb.
g(ø)-

Ablative case : Oblique agent, origin of a motion.
døpʰ(ø)-

Dative case : Indirect object, destination of a motion, also used as a benefactive.
do- (umlaut sensible)

Locative case : Places and positions.
gɛ- (umlaut sensible)

Genitive : The noun owns something.
øg-

Comparative/essive : Corresponds to the English prepositions "than" and "as".
dædγ-

Adverbial : Corresponds to English "with, using, -ly"
pæ- (umlaut sensible)

Anti-adverbial : Corresponds to English "without, un-...-ly"
øl-

Possessive case : The noun is owned. This case agrees in person and number with the owner. It can be combined with other cases.
1SG : -øxø
2SG : -ogø
3SG : -ɑxø
1PL : -øxɔk
2PL : -ogɔk
3PL : -ɑxɔk
(all the forms trigger the ɑ/ʲɑ umlaut)

Articles and demonstrative

ɑˈgɑf possesses an undefinite article, a definite article also acting as proximate demonstrative (this) and an obviative demonstrative (that). They have distinct singular and plural forms.

	Undefinite article	Definite article/Proximate demonstrative	Obviative demonstrative
Singular	ˈødø	ˈøgɛ	ˈøgø
Plural	æk	ˈøxkɛ	ˈøxkø

They can also take a few set of prefixes modifying their meanings.

Paucal : Few, A few...
f-

Paucal partitive : Some of...
dɑb-

Plural partitive : Many of...
ɔpʰ-

Exhaustive : All of...
æg-

Distributive : Each...
ød-

Personal pronouns

Several paradigms have been subjected to analogical leveling.

	1SG	2SG	3SG	1PL	2PL	3PL
Absolutive	ˈøxø	gø	ˈɑxø	ˈøxɔk	gɔk	ˈɑxɔk
Ergative	ŋø	ŋɔ	gɑx	ɛɪ	gæʊ	ˈgɑxɔk
Ablative	døˈpʰø	døpʰøˈŋɔ	døˈpʰɑx	døˈpʰɛɪ	døpʰøˈgæʊ	døˈpʰɑxɔk
Dative	næɪ	ˈdoŋɔ	næʊ	dɛɪ	ˈdogæʊ	dæʊ
Genitive	øˈŋø	øˈŋɔ	øˈgɑx	øˈgɛɪ	øˈgæʊ	øˈgɑxɔk
Comparative/essive	gæˈxø	gæˈnɔ	dæˈgɑx	gæˈxɛɪ	gæˈgæʊ	dæˈgɑxɔk
Adverbial	pɛ	pæ	pæˈhɑx	pɛˈgøk	pɔk	pæˈdøk
Anti-adverbial	øˈlø	øˈlɔ	øˈlɑx	øˈlɛɪ	øˈlæʊ	øˈlɑxɔk

Personal pronouns do not know the locative case, and can't be suffixed with possessives either.

Correlative pronouns

(green background denotes a form regulary derived from the demonstratives)

	Query	This	That	Some	No	Every
Adjective	ɛs	ˈøgɛ	ˈøgø	dɑˈbøgɛ	ˈbɑtʰø	æˈgøxkɛ
Person/thing	gæs	ˈøgɛ	ˈøgø	dɑˈbøgɛ		æˈgøxkɛ
Place	bɑl	ˈgæɪløl	ˈgɑløl	ˈdæʊløl	ˈbɑløl	ˈɛløl
Time	sɔl	gæɪs	xɛˈdo	dɑˈpʰo	bɑˈdo	æˈdo
Way	ɛf	xep		ˈdɑbep		ˈɛgep
Reason	ˈɑgɔs	ˈxetʰø		ˈdɑpʰø	ˈbɑtʰø

They take nominal case affixes as needed, but the locative is never used, not even with pronouns of place or time.

Numbers

	Cardinal	+10	x10
1	kø	dæɪx	øɰ
2	gø	dæʊk	gɑɰ
3	dæʊ	dæʊˈdo	dæʊɰ
4	bø	ˈdæʊbø	bɔɰ
5	gæʊ	dæʊˈgo	gæʊɰ
6	øh	ˈdæɪløh	æɪɰ
7	mø	næʊ	bæʊɰ
8	gɔk	ˈdɔlɔk	ˈgɔgɑɰ
9	gøl	ˈdæɪgøl	gæɪɰ
10	øɰ	gɑɰ	ˈepʰø

Numbers higher than 20 are more staighforward : bɔɰ gø - 42 ; bæʊɰ gøl - 79 ; etc.

The suffix lø- is used to create ordinal numbers, with a few irregularities : 6th - løˈgøh ; 8th - læʊg ; 10th - lɔɰ ; 60th - løˈgæɪɰ ; 80th - ˈlæʊgɑɰ ; 100th - ˈlepʰø.

Adjectives

Adjectives by themselves are mostly uninflected. They can take however two derivative affix :

-γŋɛɴ (triggers e/i/ɛɪ umlaut) : Turns the adjective into a noun.
øtγ- : Turns the adjective into an adverb.

Conjunctions

ˈɑsø : and.
lek : or.