Vōv Grammar
Vōv is an agglutinative language. The language is mostly head-initial. Adjectives and determiners follow the nouns they modify.
Nouns
Nouns decline for case and number. The cases include nominative (unmarked), accusative (marked with s-, from a root meaning "touch"), dative (n-/m-, "give"), genitive (gi-, "come"), and locative (v-, "stay"). Plural number is marked by partial reduplication, for example nah "way" ́~ nanah "ways".
Possession
Possession in nouns is marked by possessive suffixes (greyed-out forms with a preceding asterisk are reconstructed/hypothetical forms, and not directly attested):
| First Person | Second Person | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | -(h)um | -vā |
| Plural | -loi | *-(ǝ)sǝr |
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns decline for case and number. The personal pronouns of Vōv are shown in the following table (greyed-out forms with a preceding asterisk are reconstructed/hypothetical forms, and not directly attested):
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | 2nd Person | 1st Person | 2nd Person | |
| Nominative | hum | vā | lō/loi | *(ǝ)sǝr |
| Accusative | sum | svā | slō | sǝsǝr |
| Dative | nhum | mvā | *ndlō | *nǝsǝr |
| Genitive | gihum | *givā | *gilō | *gisǝr |
| Locative | *vum | *vǝvā | *vlō | *vǝsǝr |
Demonstrative pronouns
The demonstrative pronouns include the proximal demonstratives mem "this" and qen "these," as well as the distal ruk "that" and tōn "those." The demonstratives are used in place of third-person pronouns. They are shown in the following table:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proximal | Distal | Proximal | Distal | |
| Nominative | mem | ruk | qen | tōn |
| Accusative | *smem | *sruk | sqen | stōn |
| Dative | *nǝmem | ndruk | *nqen | *ntōn |
| Genitive | *gimem | *giruk | *giqen | *gitōn |
| Locative | *vǝmem | *vruk | *vǝqen | *vǝtōn |
When used as determiners (attributively), they suffix to the noun, like adjectives (see below).
Interrogative pronouns
The interrogative pronoun sik can be translated as both "what" and "who." It can also be used as a determiner in constructions like ginah sik "how," literally "by what way."
Determiners
Demonstrative determiners are mostly the same as the demonstrative pronouns. When used attributively, they can suffix to the nouns they modify.
Adjectives
Adjectives used predicatively work like stative verbs in Vōv, and inflect accordingly, such as in hīnimik "I am happy" or "I will be happy." When used attributively, they can suffix to the nouns they modify, such as in kailī "sweet voice" (with -lī meaning "sweet.")
Verbs
Verbs in Vōv agree with their subjects in person and number. This is marked by suffixes:
| First Person | Second Person | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | -um/-m | -vā/-va/-v |
| Plural | -loi/-lō/-l | -s |
Verbs are also marked for tense. The tenses include present (unmarked), past (marked with -aur, from a root meaning "die"), and two future tenses (-ik/-īk, "straight" as well as -ūv/-uv, "long").
Negation
Negation is marked with the negative verb ul, which takes the tense and agreement marking, with the verb being negated following it uninflected.