User:Aegon/High Valyrian Tutorial/4-2

Lesson 2|Prefixes, Suffixes, and Verb Derivation

Vocabulary

Lesson Vocabulary
High Valyrian	English
belmurtys (2sol.)	slave master, slaver
dovaogēdy (2lun.)	an Unsullied
geralbar (1aq.)	road; street; way, throughfare
gūese (4lun.)	tree
rōbir (5aq.)	fig
dorolvie (adj. III)	few, not many, not much, not a lot
nākostōba (adj. I)	weak
nāmorghūlilare (adj. II)	immortal
āmazverdagon (c-fin.)	to recreate, to remake
ezīmagon (c-fin.)	to split
jorepagon (c-fin.)	to pray, to pray to; to beg
mazōregon (v-fin.)	to accept, to take
mījāelagon (c-fin.)	to accept as a pledge, to accept as pawned
mīvindigon (v-fin.)	to taunt; to torture, to torment; to frustrate, to infuriate
ospȳnagon (c-fin.)	to squeeze
ossēnagon (c-fin.)	to kill, to slay
qrīdrughagon (c-fin.)	to give up, to abandon, to leave behind; to discard, to jettison
kesīr (adv.)	here, at this place

Verb Derivation

High Valyrian features three forms of common verbal prefixes.

The instrumental passive describes actions from inanimate grammatical subjects, like "the knife cut the man."

The oblique applicative promotes an indirect object, a noun in the dative case, to the direct object, in the accusative case.

The locative applicative promotes the object of an adpositional phrase to a type of indirect object.

Instrumental Passive

The instrumental passive describes actions from inanimate grammatical subjects. Form it in the following manner:

Instrumental Passive Prefix	Verb Begins With
s-	the consonants k, p, q, t
z-	the consonants b, d, g, l, r(1)
h-	all vowels except e and o
a-	all other letters

• ⁽¹⁾ Recall that the illicit sequence x zr becomes j.

Consider the following two sentences:

High Valyrian	English
vala egromy rōbir ezīmza	the man splits the fig with a knife
rōbir egry aezīmza	the knife splits the fig

The first has vala as the subject, the one who does the action. The second omits vala and focuses on the action of the knife. As knives do not have animacy, this sentence uses the instrumental passive. Note how the instrument promoted to the subject appears directly before the verb in contrast to the usual subject-object-verb order. Should one want to introduce the subject, the owner of the knife, use the postposition ondoso.

High Valyrian	English
valo ondoso rōbir egry aezīmza	the knife of the man splits the fig

Note how this sentence does not appear as x rōbir valo egry aezīma, with a genitive phrase, which one may assume as licit. Avoid confusing the instrumental passive with the passive voice, as they may occur together as in the following examples.

High Valyrian	English
rōbir ezīmaks	the fig is split (due to someone)
rōbir aezīmaks	the fig is split (due to something)

A nuance, use of the instrumental passive with the passive voice indicates that the action occurred upon the action of an inanimate.

High Valyrian	English
rōbir valo ondoso ezīmaks	the fig is split due to the man
egromy rōbir aezīmaks	the fig is split with a knife

Notice how the focus with the passive voice shifts to the fig and not the man in the passive voice with the postpositional phrase occurring after the patient. Then, in the second example, the patient appears directly before the verb.

Oblique Applicative

The oblique applicative promotes a noun appearing in the dative case to the accusative case. Form it in the following manner:

Instrumental Passive Prefix	Vowel Begins With
i-	all consonants except h; the vowels a, e, o
j-	the consonant h; the vowels i, u, y

The below example shows the difference with and lacking the oblique applicative. Notice how the first says "say to the" and the second with the oblique applicative says "tell the." Thusly, the dative case appears less frequently than expected as the oblique applicative appears commonly.

High Valyrian	English
belmurtoti vestrās kesīr pōnte jiōrinna	say to the slavers I will receive them here
belmurtī ivestrās kesīr pōnte jiōrinna	tell the slavers I will receive them here

A commonly used word iderēbagon has an oblique applicative and its object and subject may not appear intuitive.

High Valyrian	English
vala rōbrȳti Aeri iderēbza	the man selects figs for Aerys

As iderēbagon means to select for, the recipient appears in the accusative case and the object selected, in the dative case. Note that in the passive voice, iderēbagon will mean is selected for and not is selected.

High Valyrian	English
Aeri iderēbaks	Aerys is selected for

Of note, Aerys appears in the accusative case when typically, in the passive voice, the patient appears in the nominative case.

The postposition syt- may be added to an oblique applicative verb.

Locative Applicative

The locative applicative promotes an adpositional phrase with spacial reference to what is effectively an indirect object. The applied object will be in either the dative or the genitive, based on phonetic conditions: if the verb begins with a vowel, the dative case is used, otherwise, the genitive case is used. Form it in the following manner:

Instrumental Passive Prefix	Vowel Begins With
b-	after a prefix that ends in a consonant, before i or u
o-	after a prefix that ends with a
u-	before a consonant; the vowels a, e, o
v-	before the vowels i, u, y

The locative applicative provides two ways of expressing the same idea. Again, the object must appear directly before the verb.

High Valyrian	English
guēso gō iōrilen	I was standing under a tree
guēso viōrilen	I was standing [under, on, inside] a tree
guēso gōviōrilen	I was standing under a tree
guēso bēviōrilen	I was standing on a tree

One cannot reconstruct what the original adposition was in the non-applicative sentence. Viōrilen could mean "I was standing under," "I was standing on," or even "I was standing inside;" the only clue here is context: one typically stands under trees, not on top of them or inside them. Even this is not reliable: if the speaker was a sentry on watch in a forest, he may very well have been standing on the tree.

To resolve this ambiguity, one may add an adpositional prefix to the verb. These include:

bē- on.

gō- under.

hen from.

va to.

Prefixes

Prefixes append to the beginning of a word to form a new word. Understanding them can help guess the meaning of an unknown word and derive new words, an important skill when working with High Valyrian, an incomplete language, as you will find semantic gaps which mastery of prefixes and suffixes can help find new, accurate words.

Prefix	Meaning	Example
ā-/ar-	repetitive	āmāzigon āmazverdagon
do(r)-	negative	dorolvie dovaogēdy
jo-/jor-/jol-	continuative	jorepagon jorrāelagon
*man-	*superessive	aeragon manaeragon
maz-	inceptive	mazemagon mazōregon
mī-/mīv-	temporary	mīvindigon mījāelagon
nā-	opposite	nākostōba nāmorghūlilare
oz-/os-	intensifier	ossēnagon ospynagon
qrin-/qrim-/qril-/qrīd-	perjorative	qrīdrughagon qrimpālegon

The repetitive prefix means approximately "re-" or "again" and appears as ā- if the verb begins with a consonant and as ar- if it begins with a vowel.

The negative prefix means approximately "un-" and "non-". It appears as do- if the word begins with a consonant not r or z, and dor- if it begins with a vowel, r, or z.

The continuative prefix means approximately "to continue to" and may be appended to any verb to provide an altered sense of continuation. It appears as jo- if the word begins with a consonant not l or r, and jor- if it begins with a vowel or r, and jol- if it begins with l.

The inceptive prefix means "to come to X". It appears as maz- and will cause spelling changes if the verb begins with r as this would form the illicit sequence zr.

The temporary prefix means approximately "temporarily". It appears as mī- if the word begins with a consonant and as mīv- if it begins with a vowel.

The opposite prefix forms an opposite, reversed or contrastive meaning compared to the base term. It appears as nā-.

The intensifier prefix intensifies the meaning of the base word. It appears as oz- if the base verb begins with a vowel or voiced consonant (b, d, g, l, m, n, v, y, z) that is not j or r; as os- if it begins with a voiceless consonant (k, p, s, t) not h; as oj- if it begins with a r or i; and o- if it begins with h or j.

The pejorative prefix, like the English mis-, approximately means "badly" or "improperly." It appears as qrin- before vowels and consonants not labials or liquids; as qril- before l; as qrīd- before r and rh; and qrim- before labials (m, p, b, v).

They hypothesized superessive prefix, man-, may mean "up, above, upwards."

Suffixes

Noun Formation

Suffix	Meaning
-albar	augmentative
-anna	diminuative
-āves/-ives/-ves	abstraction
-āzma	augmentative
-ella/-illa/-īlla	result
-iapos	diminutive
-io	augmentative/agent
-ion	substantive/place/activity, state/abstract concept
-ir	substantive
-ītsos	diminuative
-kio	agent
-mio	actor
-nes	event
-non	action
-os	substantive
-rys/-tys	agent
-urlion	place
-vos	implement
-y	substantive
-ys	evidence
-zȳrys	spouse

The abstraction suffix translates to the English "-ness" or "-ity" and forms nouns from adjectives. The suffix -āves is used on class I adjectives, -ves on class II adjectives, and -ives on class III adjectives.

The augmentative forms nouns and means approximately "big" or "great." These take the form -albar and -āzma with -āzma seemingly meaning a greater augmentation than -albar. The suffix -io has both an augmentative meaning and serves to form agent nouns, taking the meaning "-er" or "-or" in English. Used in this manner, -io forms agents from consonant-final stems and -kio from vowel-final stems. The other agent suffix is -rys, used after vowel-final stems and -tys usually with consonant-final stems. The suffixes -albar and -āzma may be used on verb and noun stems for the augmentative, -io in the augmentative, only may be used on nouns. The suffixes -io, -kio, -rys, and -tys may be used on vowel stems to form agent nouns.

The diminutive means approximately "small" or "little" and appears in three varients -ītsos, -iapos, and -anna. The suffix -ītsos generally refers to a smaller version of a noun and may only be used to derive nouns from nouns, while -iapos generally refers to clothing or a consumable item from a verb.

The result suffixes have two flavors. The suffix -illa means result or side-product and may appear as -īlla, -ella, or -olla and may be used to form nouns from nouns or verb stems. The one existing example shows that -īlla forms a noun from a verb ending in -ugon; the one example of -ella forms a noun from a verb ending in -egon; the one example of -olla forms a noun from a verb ending in -ogon. The suffix -ys means result or evidence of a verb and is formed from adding it to the ending of the present active participle.

The suffix -mio forms nouns referring to entities or phenomena executing the occurrence described in the mostly verbal roots and sometimes causes shortening of the preceding vowel. Existing examples include converting "to twist" into "wrist," and "to punch, hit, strike" into "fist."

The implement suffix, -vos, refers to implements and instruments used in a verbal action or from an adjective.

The event suuffix, -nes forms the noun associated with the action in the verb.

The action suffix, -non, forms action nouns from verbs, corresponding to the English suffixes "-ing" and "-ion."

The place' suffix, -urlion derives a place noun from a consonant-final verb, noun, or adjective; it appears as -ion for vowel-final verbs.

The suffix -ion also forms an activity or state from a verb--meaning it may convert a verb meaning "to watch" into the noun "watch" (think of simply stripping the "to" off of the verb), and an abstract concept or quality from a noun--meaning it may convert a noun meaning "leader" to the noun "leadership."

Adjective Formation

Suffix	Meaning
-āje/-je/-ije	superlative
-āpa/-pa/-ipa	equative
-ēgrie	augmentative
-enka	likeness
-īha	ablative
-ila	abstraction
-ka	related
-ykta/-ikta/-kta	comparative
-ōñe	ablative
-oqitta/-qitta	abessive

The abstraction suffix, -ila, forms adjectives from adjectives with a more abstract meaning related to that of the base adjective.

The superlative forms adjectives from adjectives to express "the most adjective" or "-est" in English. It appears as -āje for Class I adjectives; as -je for Class II; and as -ije for Class III.

The equative forms adjectives from adjectives to express "as adjective" in English. It appears as -āpa for Class I adjectives; as -pa for Class II; and as -ipa for Class III.

The augmentative form forms adjectives from adjectives and means "extremely" or "very." It appears as -ēgrie.

The likeness form forms adjectives from nouns and verbs meaning "-like" or "-ous" in English, as well as zero-derived adjectives from nouns.

There are two ablative suffixes meaning "coming from" or "of." The suffix -īha forms geographical locations from nouns; the suffix -ōñe describes the origin of the place described with the noun.

The related suffix, -ka, transforms a proper noun into an adjective of related meaning.

The comparative suffix means "as adjective" and derives adjectives from adjectives. It appears as -āpa for Class I adjectives; -pa for Class II; and -ipa for Class III.

The abessive denotes lacking some quality. It generally appears as -qitta and may appear as -oqitta when preceded with l, h, or more.

Verb Formation

Suffix	Meaning
-ābagon/-ēbagon/-ībagon/-ōbagon/-ūbagon/-ȳbagon	related
-ākogon	transformative
-egon	eventative
-emagon/īmagon/-mmagon	factitive
-eñagon/iñagon	inchoative/inceptive
-ikagon/-kagon	causative
-iljagon/-ūljagon	inchoative
-ligon	repetitive
-uragon	use

The related suffixes, which have a form for all vowels, follow the main vowel of the verb from which the new word is formed.

The transformative forms verbs from nouns and means "to become" or "to turn into". It appears as -ākogon and always takes its object in the locative case.

The eventative forms verbs from perfect stems of verbs, having various meanings generally centered on the outcome or result of the original verb. They express discrete events, which occur at a given point in time; in contrast, a stative verb, expresses states true across time.

The factitive suffix forms verbs from nouns, verbs, and adjectives and corresponds to the English suffixes "-en" and "-ify" meaning "to make something or someone X" or "to give the quality of X." It appears as -emagon or -īmagon and appears as -mmagon when deriving from a Class II adjective.

The inchoative/inceptive suffixes mean "to become X" or "to come to X" and appear as -eñagon/-iñagon. The suffixes -iljagon for Class III adjectives and -ūljagon for Class I and II adjectives are only inchoative, meaning "to come to X."

The causative suffix means "to cause X" or "to make X" and produces verbs from verbs. It appears as -kagon for vowel-final verbs and -ikagon for consonant-final verbs.

The repetitive suffix -ligon forms verbs from verbs and means in English "re-" or again."

The using suffix -uragon forms verbs from nouns and means "to make use of X" and can be related to English verbs zero-derived from nouns.

Adverb Derivation

Suffix	Meaning
-ājī/-jī/-ijī	superlative
-āprī/-prī/-iprī	equative
-irī/-ī	base
-kydoso	manner
-trī/-ȳtrī/itrī	comparative

The superlative adverbs form from a superlative adjective and appear as -ājī for Class I; as -jī for Class II; and as -ijī for Class III.

The equative adverbs form from an equative adjective as -āpri for Class I; as -prī for Class II; and as -iprī for Class III.

The base adverbs form from a positive (normal) adjective as -irī for Class I; and as -ī for Class II and III.

The manner adverbs form from a pronominal adjective and appear as -kydoso.

The comparative adverbs form from an comparative adjective as -trī for Class I; as -ȳtrī for Class II; and as -itrī for Class III.

Substantives

From an Adjective

A substantive converts an adjective into a noun and stands as a common derivation used while using the language as High Valyrian cannot use an adjective as a noun. To do so, it must be substantivized. There exist two types:

Type 1 substantives are lunar or solar in form, and "individuative": they generally refer to something concrete and countable, e.g. drējos "true one," from drēje, "true." This does not always indicate the new noun is animate, only that it is discrete, countable.

Type 2 substantives are terrestrial or aquatic in form: they generally refer to something abstract and/or uncountable, or places e.g. drējion "reality," from drēje, "true." Notice the difference when substantivizing the same adjective.

To substantiate a Class I adjective, use the ending -y for a Type 1 substantiative and the ending -ir for a Type 2.

To substantiate a Class II or III adjective, use the ending -os for a Type 1 substantiative and the ending -ion for a Type 2.

From a Verb

Thusly, we can derive new words using the eight participle forms of High Valyrian verbs.