Övüsi Grammar
Övüsi is an inflected or fusional language. The language is strongly head-final and has subject-object-verb (SOV) word order. Nouns and adjectives are inflected for number and case, and verbs for tense, aspect, mode, and subject agreement for person and sometimes number.
The full name of the language is Övüsi Kieru, "Elvish Tongue." It has undergone several changes over the ceenturies, but some ancient words have been preserved in their original form in the context of magic use. The Elves have consciously shielded their language from borrowings to maintain its perceived purity.
Nouns
Nouns inflect for number and case. There are thirteen cases in total. Noun declensions in Övüsi are based on whether their original forms ended in vowels or consonants. At the current stage of the language, words cannot conclude with consonants. The declensions are extensive, but the following example declension provides some insight into the system:
| Singular | Plural | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | thuoke | thuoki | bird(s) |
| Accusative | thuokie | thuokii | bird(s) (direct object) |
| Genitive | thuoka | thuokai | bird’s/birds’ |
| Instrumental | thuoku | thuokï | with the bird(s) |
| Locative | thuokö | thuokü | near the bird(s) |
| Ablative | thuokau | thuokavi | away from the bird(s) |
| Allative | thuokaalou | thuokaalli | towards the bird(s) |
| Inessive | thuokannö | thuokannü | inside the bird(s) |
| Illative | thuokou | thuokoli | into the bird(s) |
| Elative | thuokannau | thuokannavi | out of the bird(s) |
| Perlative | thuokausu | thuokausï | by way of the bird(s) |
| Aversive | thuokasshu | thuokasshï | avoiding the bird(s) |
| Vocative | thuokuo | thuokorii | O, bird(s)! |
Verbs
Verbs in Övüsi exhibit agreement with subjects in person and number in the first person and sometimes in the imperative, and only in person otherwise. Each verb possesses three stems: imperfect, perfect, and future. Verbs can be either dynamic and stative, and they differ their available modes. The modes are indicative, passive, and potential, with the passive being absent for stative verbs. A copula serves emphatic, negating, and equational functions.
The stems for imperfect, perfect, and future are -i, -has, and the bare stem, respectively. Suffixes are added in the three modes, and agreement affixes may further modify the form. Depending on whether or not the agreement suffixes are added the end of the form changes. The first item in each pair are how the form ends if nothing is added. Consider the example of the verb mikaa, meaning "to say," for which the paradigm is shown below:
| Vowel-final | Imperfect | Perfect | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative | mikaishi(i/m-) | mikahassi(i/m-) | mikasi(i/m-) |
| Passive | mikaifa(a/s-) | mikahaffa(a/s-) | mikafa(a/s-) |
| Potential | mikaitho(u/r-) | mikahattho(u/r-) | mikatho(u/r-) |
| Infinitive | mikaa | ||
The following table illustrates the agreement paradigm:
| Subject agreement | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| First person | -ï | -uji |
| Second person | -au | |
| Third person | -e | |
| Imperative | -uo | -orii |
Two examples which highlight the flexibility of agreement markers are shown as follows:
- Kenie mikaithorï. "I can say it." The third-person pronoun kenie is in the accusative, and the verb is in the imperfect potential with a first person singular subject agreement suffix.
- Kenie mikaithou shï! "I must say it!" The emphatic copula is used, expressing what can be interpreted as "must". Here, the form without the subject agreement suffix is used.