Gandal Grammar

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Gandal is a fusional language. The word order is subject-verb-object (SVO). Nouns and pronouns are declined for case and number, adjectives are inflected for six forms of comparison, and verbs are conjugated for aspect and agree with their arguments.

Nouns

In Gandal, nouns decline for both case and number. Nouns are classified based on animacy into animate (living beings) and inanimate (non-living entities), and further categorized into two classes: Order and Chaos. Each subtype has specific patterns of inflection, with some variations within each subtype based on whether the noun begins or ends in a consonant or a vowel.

Animate nouns

Animate nouns feature two cases: nominative/oblique and accusative. The Order class, exemplified by nouns such as mæk "eagle", angzaw "guard", and irin "duck", inflects in the following way:

	mæk "eagle"		angzaw "guard"		irin "duck"
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative/Oblique	mæk	mækma	angzaw	angzawma	irin	arima
Accusative	imæk	imækma	yangzaw	yangzawma	zhirin	yarima

Chaos nouns have distinct prefixing patterns. Examples, including gol "ghost" and ining "child", illustrate this:

	gol "ghost"		ining "child"
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative/Oblique	gol	yahol	ining	zhining
Accusative	iyol	yahol	zhining	zhining

Inanimate nouns

Inanimate nouns have a unique nominative form. In effect, they display ergative marking, which uses the ending -an, derived from the Veda word on, meaning "true" or "real." The adoption of the -an ending traces back to historical usage when speakers appended on after an inanimate noun acting as the subject in a transitive sentence, signifying actually. Over time, this evolved into an mandatory ergative ending. This resulted in the creation of an oblique case, which was used in non-accusative, non-ergative contexts, from the previous basic form. Examples within the Order class, such as fiyan "sun", shiman "jewel", and angan "shield", demonstrate this:

	fiyan "sun"		shiman "jewel"		angan "shield"
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Ergative	fiyan	ufiyan	shiman	ushiman	angan	ulangan
Oblique	fi	ufi	shem	ushem	ang	ulang
Accusative	afi	hufi	ashem	hushem	hang	hulang

Chaos class inanimate nouns, like jiyan "belly", chaman "cloud", and awdhan "whip", show similar patterns:

	jiyan "belly"		chaman "cloud"		awdhan "whip"
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Ergative	jiyan	yajiyan	chaman	yachaman	awdhan	yudhan
Oblique	ji	yaji	cham	yacham	udh	yudh
Accusative	iji	iyaji	icham	iyacham	yudh	yudh

Noun possession

To indicate possession, the possessed noun is put in the oblique case and placed before the possessor.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Gandal are similar to those in Veda. They decline like animate order nouns, and are summarized in the following table:

	Singular	Plural
First Person	chun "I"	min "we"
Second Person	sa "you"	sama "you all"
Third Person	lin "she, he, it"	homa "they"

The -ma suffix, shared with nouns, originates from the Veda word mem, meaning "all."

Adjectives

Adjectives in Gandal share inflectional categories with those in Veda, though they have evolved from verbose expressions into inflections. The following examples illustrate the inflectional patterns for the adjectival forms of comparison:

	Consonant-Final	Vowel-Final
Plain Adjective	il ("bright")	zhu ("large")
Equative	ilyu ("as bright")	zhuyu ("as large")
Comparative	ilhar ("brighter")	zhuhar ("larger")
Superlative	ilhorma ("brightest")	zhahorma ("largest")
Contrastive	ungilhar ("less bright")	unzhuhor ("less large")
Sublative	ungilhorma ("least bright")	unzhahorma ("least large")

Adverbs

Adverbs in Gandal have the same inflectional categories for comparison as adjectives, and they are as follows:

	Consonant-Final	Vowel-Final
Plain Adverb	ilu ("brightly")	zhuvu ("largely")
Equative	ilyuvu ("as brightly")	zhuyuvu ("as largely")
Comparative	ilharu ("more brightly")	zhuharu ("more largely")
Superlative	ilhormu ("most brightly")	zhahormu ("most largely")
Contrastive	ungilharu ("less brightly")	unzhuhoru ("less largely")
Sublative	ungilhormu ("least brightly")	unzhahormu ("least largely")

The -(v)u suffix, derived from the Veda word vukh, meaning "full," is used to form these adverbial forms.

Verbs

The basic word order in Gandal is subject-verb-object (SVO). Verbs in Gandal have three conjugations: past, non-past, and imperative. They also change form based on sentence polarity. Like in Veda, verbs lack agreement. Additionally, Gandal verbs feature a prolix passive construction.

Active Forms

		Vowel-Initial Consonant-Final	Consonant-Initial Vowel-Final
Non-Past	Positive	ganagan ("comes")	gayawnan ("goes")
	Negative	ganægtha ("doesn't come")	gayawtha ("doesn't go")
Past	Positive	nahagan ("came")	nayawnan ("went")
	Negative	nahagtha ("didn't come")	nayawtha ("didn't go")
Imperative	Positive	æg ("come")	yaw ("go")
	Negative	æg thu ("don't come")	yaw thu ("don't go")

The suffix -tha comes from the Veda verb tso, meaning "to leave."

Passive Forms

		Vowel-Initial Consonant-Final	Consonant-Initial Vowel-Final
Non-Past	Positive	gaho na hagan	gaho n'ayawnan
	Negative	gaho na hægtha	gaho n'ayawtha
Past	Positive	naho na hagan	naho n'ayawnan
	Negative	naho na hægtha	naho n'ayawtha
Imperative	Positive	hagan ho	ayawnan ho
	Negative	hagan ho thu	ayawnan ho thu

The origins of these forms can be traced back to Veda, with the ho coming from kho ("take"), ga from gǝn, and na from nǝkh. The presence of na is somewhat mysterious but is presumed to be for euphony.

Predicate adjectives in Gandal take their own conjugations, as seen in sentences like "The shield is large" or "Be happy!" Examples include:

• Non-Past Positive: aylan ("is bright"), zhunan ("is large")
• Non-Past Negative: iltha ("isn't bright"), zhutha ("isn't large")
• Past Positive: agaylan ("was bright"), azhunan ("was large")
• Past Negative: agiltha ("wasn't bright"), azhutha ("wasn't large")
• Positive Imperative: zhil ("be bright"), izhu ("be large")
• Negative Imperative: zhil thu ("don't be bright"), izhu thu ("don't be large")

These components allow for the construction of various sentences, exemplified by:

• Angzaw gajazan zhining. ("The guard calls to the child.")
• Ining gajazan yangzaw. ("The child calls to the guard.")

Including inanimate nouns, sentence constructions involving adjectives and intransitive verbs are also demonstrated:

• Angzaw gajazan icham. ("The guard calls to the cloud.")
• Chaman gajazan yangzaw. ("The cloud calls to the guard.")

Sentences with intransitive verbs and different forms for the same noun are provided for further illustration:

• Angzaw gathunan. ("The guard is leaving.")
• Ining gathunan. ("The child is leaving.")
• Cham gathunan. ("The cloud is leaving.")