Kinuk'aaz Grammar
Kinuk'aaz is an agglutinative language.
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")