Kinuk'aaz Grammar
Kinuk'aaz is an agglutinative language.
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 | -ii | -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 vaalik (small man) and 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. 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")