Kinuk'aaz Grammar

Kinuk'aaz Language Navigation: Home, Phonology, Grammar, Vocabulary, Orthography, Dialogue

Kinuk'aaz is an agglutinative language. The basic word order is subject-verb-object (SVO). It is spoken by the Omec in Syfy's Defiance.

Nouns

Nouns in Kinuk'aaz have a straightforward structure, as they do not inflect and are not inherently marked for number, case, or definiteness in some other way. The language relies on word order to convey the relationships between different elements in a sentence, rendering the explicit marking of number unnecessary. For instance, the sentence T'ovik k'uzagirimaz gak'epik can signify various meanings such as "The warrior noticed the guard," "The warriors noticed the guard," "A warrior noticed the guard," "The warriors noticed a guard," or a number of other permutations, with context playing a crucial role in interpretation.

Emphatic number marking

In cases where precision is required or emphasis on the quantity of a noun is essential, nouns may take an emphatic number marker, either singular or plural. This feature is used when clarity about a singular item or the numerousness of the noun is crucial. Emphatic number particles, which follow the noun, consist of a suffix (-nit for singular/singulative or -rik for plural) and a carrier, in this instance, represented by va-:

• T'ovik vanit k'uzagirimaz gak'epik. ("A warrior noticed the guards.")
• T'ovik varik k'uzagirimaz gak'epik. ("Many warriors noticed the guards.")
• T'ovik vanit k'uzagirimaz gak'epik varik. ("A warrior noticed the many guards.")

The carriers categorize nouns into twelve distinct classes, with two special classes requiring specific attention.

Class A

The first special class, Class A irregular nouns, encompasses common nouns that lack a carrier but possess a secondary stem capable of directly receiving suffixes. Examples include:

Unmodified	Singular	Plural
bem ("father")	benit ("one father")	berik ("many fathers")
duum ("jug")	donit ("one jug")	dorik ("many jugs")
get ("face")	ginit ("one face")	girik ("many faces")

Class L

The second special class, Class L, does not have an separate singular/singulative form but does have a plural form. Its carrier is ba-, as illustrated by:

Unmodified	Singular	Plural
bedor ("(one) all-father")		bedor barik ("many all-fathers").
darenet ("one) alert")		darenet barik ("many alerts")
edol ("one) stomach")		edol barik ("many stomachs")

Noun class

The remaining noun classes have a standard carrier and can take both singular/singulative and plural forms. A summary of all classes is presented below, showcasing the carrier and providing examples of unmodified and plural nouns:

	Carrier	Unmodified	Plural
Class A	—	daak ("snout")	darik ("many snouts")
Class B	si-	getirim ("act")	getirim sirik ("many acts")
Class C	va-	hikaaz ("enemy")	hikaaz varik ("many enemies")
Class D	mi-	liirel ("corridor")	liirel mirik ("many corridors")
Class E	pa-	niip ("brain")	niip parik ("many brains")
Class F	ve-	siit ("material")	siit verik ("a lot of material")
Class G	do-	dö'aat ("oil")	dö'aat dorik ("many units/a lot of oil")
Class H	li-	ok ("dirt")	ok lirik ("many chunks/a lot of dirt")
Class I	so-	vel ("cloth")	vel sorik ("many rolls/a lot of cloth")
Class J	ka-	nüküz ("book")	nüküz karik ("many books")
Class K	dzu-	sur ("meat")	sur dzurik ("many chunks/a lot of meat")
Class L	ba-	veret ("life")	veret barik ("many lives")

Relevance to attributive adjectives

Additionally, carriers are utilized when nouns are modified by adjectives or demonstratives, as exemplified by the following instances of nouns of different classes:

• Class A: kiives ("beautiful woman", citation form: kil)
• Class C: mitsün valik ("little child")
• Class J: nüküz kavik ("that book")

Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Kinuk'aaz decline for three persons and two numbers, singular and plural. The third person pronouns differentiate between the animate and inanimate class, and there is also a relative pronoun with this distinction. Kinuk'aaz pronouns have standalone (subject) forms with corresponding affixal (object) forms, which have different forms depending on if they attach to the end of a word (i.e. are true suffixes) or if they follow a k'u prefix (where they effectively become infixes). The different pronoun forms are outlined in the following table:

		Standalone form		Affixal form
				Non-k'u form		K'u form
		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
First person		t'ep	kiin	-i	-in	-t	-k
Second person		uraz/ras/as	vaal	-az	-al	-s/-z	-v
Third person	Animate	ts'ov	ts'orik	-uu	-ii	-ts
	Inanimate	bet	barik	-et		-p/-b
Relative	Animate	dzüv		-üü		-ts/-dz
	Inanimate	dzüt		-üt

The full form of the second person singular pronoun is uraz, while ras and as are shortened forms. This is not necessarily a formality distinction, although it can be; uraz is typically used in more formal situations. This is context-dependent, however: uraz does not necessarily sound formal in casual situations. In quicker speech, the short forms are preferred. The different pronoun forms are shown in the following example:

T'ep maadaz. ("I love you.")

Adjectives

Adjectives follow the nouns they modify. How adjectives are used attributively on nouns differs somewhat between Class A and non-Class A nouns. Consider the Class A noun vak ("man") and the non-Class A noun mitsün ("child", Class C). Applying the adjective -lik ("small") to both nouns yields the following:

• vaalik ("small man")
• mitsün valik ("small child")

Comparative constructions

Particular to Kinuk'aaz is that relative clauses feature very little marking. This is relevant to comparison because the language uses a structure reminiscent of relative clauses to compare adjectives.

Comparative

To express the smallness of these entities relative to something else i.e. that they are smaller, a comparison can be made with another noun, such as q'ets ("bug"). Using the verb pas, the following comparisons are formed:

• vaalik pas q'ets ("a man smaller than a bug")
• mitsün valik pas q'ets ("a child smaller than a bug")

Comparison with pronouns

Pronouns can also serve as comparands. Using the non-k'u form of the pronoun, the following examples are created:

• vaalik pasi ("a man smaller than me")
• mitsün valik pasi ("a child smaller than me")

Comparison without a specific object

To express the comparative nature of a noun without referencing another noun, the intransitive suffix -in associated with the verb paset is used:

• vaalik pasin ("a smaller man")
• mitsün valik pasin ("a smaller child")

Superlative

To convey that these entities are smaller than everything else i.e. the smallest, the dummy noun ts'em is used after pas instead of an actual noun:

• vaalik pas ts'em ("the smallest man")
• mitsün valik pas ts'em ("the smallest child")

Equative

The verb ger can be employed instead of pas to denote something being equally small as another thing. Examples include:

• vaalik ger q'ets ("a man as small as a bug")
• mitsün valik ger q'ets ("a child as small as a bug")

Comparison without a specific object

To express the equative nature of a noun without referencing another noun, the intransitive suffix -ar associated with the verb is used:

• vaalik gerar ("an equally small man")
• mitsün valik gerar ("an equally small child")

Numerals

The Omec, unlike other Votans, use a base-10 numeral system, similar to the human norm. Below are the cardinal and ordinal forms of numbers up to 1,000 in Kinuk'aaz:

Number	Cardinal	Ordinal
1	-nit	-liaz
2	-tsin	batsin
3	-höp	bahöp
4	-ir	ba'ir
5	-voüt	bavoüt
6	-pek	bapek
7	-ros	baros
8	-diim	badiim
9	-zats	bazats
10	-muz	bamuz
11	-muz nit	banit amuz
12	-muz tsin	batsin amuz
13	-muz höp	bahöp amuz
14	-muz ir	ba'ir amuz
15	-muz voüt	bavoüt amuz
16	-muz pek	bapek amuz
17	-muz ros	baros amuz
18	-muz diim	badiim amuz
19	-muz zats	bazats amuz
20	-tsimmuz	batsimmuz
30	-hömmuz	bahömmuz
40	-irmuz	ba'irmuz
50	-vimmuz	bavimmuz
60	-pemmuz	bapemmuz
70	-rosmuz	barosmuz
80	-dimmuz	badimmuz
90	-zammuz	bazammuz
100	-kval	bakval
200	-tsinkval	batsinkval
300	-hökkval	bahökkval
400	-irval	ba'irval
500	-vikkval	bavikkval
600	-pekkval	bapekkval
700	-rosval	barosval
800	-diimbal	badiimbal
900	-zatsval	bazatsval
1,000	-t'ür	bat'ür

Attributive usage

Both cardinal and ordinal forms modify nouns in a manner similar to adjectives. Examples illustrating the contrast between the two forms are provided:

• mitsün vahöp "three children"
• mitsün bahöp "(the) third child"

Note that the ordinal -liaz ("first") attaches directly to the noun (Class A) or the carrier for its class (other classes), like the cardinal numbers and other adjectives, while the other ordinals are separate words.

Class A

In Class A examples, the numerals can attach directly to the noun, as demonstrated with bem ("father"):

• benit "one father"
• beliaz "first father"
• betsin "two fathers"
• bem batsin "second father"

Notes on the formation of numerals

As seen in the above table, numerals of different magnitude are formed somewhat differently:

• For cardinal numbers 11-19, the ones are placed after the tens. For instance, eleven is muz nit, twelve is muz tsin, and thirteen is muz höp. Ordinals are slightly more complex; for "the twelfth child," one would say mitsün batsin amuz, where the ones place behaves normally, and the ten is placed afterwards with a prefixed a-.
• Cardinal forms of tens are compound terms with muz ("ten"). Ordinal forms for tens follow a similar pattern. For instance, "the thirtieth child" is mitsün bahömmuz, while "the thirty-second child" is mitsün batsin ahömmuz.
• Cardinal forms of hundreds are compound terms with kval ("hundred"). They follow the usual pattern for ordinals.

Verbs

Verbs in Kinuk'aaz may appear simple on the surface but reveal several intricacies in how they function upon closer examination. Correct usage of Kinuk'aaz verbs involves considering some key questions:

1. Is the intended verbal expression transitive (with an overt object) or intransitive (lacking an overt object)?
2. Does the described action occur in the future? If not:
   1. Is the action ongoing in the current setting or has it concluded?
   2. Is the statement being made generic in nature?
3. What is the class of the verb?

Transitive verbs

Nominal objects

As an illustrative example, consider the transitive verb temet ("to eat"). Temet serves as the infinitival or nominal form of the verb, belonging to Class L (all infinitives in Kinuk'aaz are Class L nouns). The language employs four "tenses," demonstrated below using temet:

	Form	Translation	Example	Translation
Generic	tem	eats	Vak tem vorek.	Men eat bread.
Imperfect	indemet	is eating	Vak indemet vorek.	The man is eating the bread.
Perfect	k'udemaz	ate	Vak k'udemaz vorek.	The man ate the bread.
Future	k'udemet	will eat	Vak k'udemet vorek.	The man will eat the bread.

These forms are utilized when the verb is transitive with an object present in the form of a noun. The exponence is evident in the forms: none for the Generic tense, an in- -et construction for the Imperfect, a k'u- -az construction for the Perfect, and a k'u- -et construction for the Future. Note that if a word begins with a vowel, the k'u- prefix becomes k'v- unless the verb begins with uu or a similar combination, in which case a glottal stop might occur, or the vowels could merge. This is, however, rare.

Crucially, the in- prefix induces N-mutation in the first segment of the verb root, while the k'u- prefix leads to V-mutation. For instance, the verb svoner undergoes mutation in all three forms:

	Form	Translation	Mutation
Generic	svoner	melts	s > s
Imperfect	indzvoner	is melting	s > dz
Perfect	k'uzvoner	melted	s > z

Pronominal objects

For pronominal objects, a rule governs their placement:

• If a verb has the k'u- prefix, the pronominal object appears after k'u-.
• If not, the pronominal object is placed at the end of the verb.

Examples with the first person pronoun illustrate this rule:

	Example	Translation
Generic	Vak temi.	Men eat me.
Imperfect	Vak indemedi.	The man is eating me.
Perfect	Vak k'uttemaz.	The man ate me.
Future	Vak k'uttemet.	The man will eat me.

A few points of note: any suffix following -et triggers V-mutation in the t of that suffix, but it does not affect the last consonant of the stem in the Generic form. Additionally, the pronominal suffix used here prevents V-mutation in the perfect and future tenses, although this varies based on the suffix; if the result is a long vowel, V-mutation still occurs, for example. The full set of pronominal object forms can be found above.

Intransitive verbs

Intransitive verbs may be the most challenging part ofthe Kinuk'aaz verb system, given that intransitivity is a distinct feature of the language. For verbs without an object, a procedure similar to the one used for pronominal objects must be followed. Each verb class has a specific default set of objects which result in an intransitive interpretation. The default objects vary based on the class of the verb. While there are technically seven classes, the native interpretation often treats them as ten. The classes are somewhat predictable based on the usual objects associated with each:

	Usual object type	Affix
		Non-k'u form	K'u form
Class I	People	-ak	-k/-g
Class II	Things	-in	-s/-z
Class III	Foods	-ul	-üü
Class IV	Places	-ar	-n/-m
Class V	Instruments	-es	-üü
Class VI	Clothing	-it	-üü
Class VII	Actions or items produced naturally by the action of the verb	-an	-n/-m

Taking the Class III verb temet as an example:

	Example	Translation
Generic	Vak temul.	Men eat.
Imperfect	Vak indemedul.	The man is eating.
Perfect	Vak k'üüdemaz.	The man ate.
Future	Vak k'üüdemet.	The man will eat.

In this case, the affix added to k'u- merely lengthens the vowel, producing üü.

Classes VIII, IX, and X are reflexives, passives, and statives, respectively, and are classes really only in a broad sense. These classes require a different set of forms.

Reflexive

For example, a reflexive (Class VIII) verb has the following forms:

	Form	Example	Translation
Generic	temots	Vak temots.	Men eat themselves.
Imperfect	indemedots	Vak indemedots.	The man is eating himself.
Perfect	k'uptemaz	Vak k'uptemaz.	The man ate himself.
Future	k'uptemet	Vak k'uptemet.	The man will eat himself.

Passive

A passive (Class IX) verb takes these forms:

	Form	Example	Translation
Generic	temadzis	Vak temadzis.	Men are eaten.
Imperfect	temaidzet	Vak temaidzet.	The man is being eaten.
Perfect	temaksaz	Vak temaksaz.	The man was eaten.
Future	temakset	Vak temakset.	The man will be eaten.

Stative

A stative (Class X) verb uses the bare verb stem, and so are similar in form to a regular transitive verb, but is in fact intransitive.