Fjerdan Grammar

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Fjerdan is a fusional language with some non-concatenative morphology in the form of umlaut. The word order is generally verb-second (V2) in independent clauses and subject-object-verb (SOV) in dependent clauses, though independent clauses also contain some instances of SOV order, for instance pronominal objects tend to precede verbs.

Nouns

Nouns decline for case and definiteness, according to their grammatical gender (noun class). The genders are wolf class, hare class, and tooth class.

Case

There are four cases: nominative, accusative, oblique, and genitive. The nominative is the unmarked form of the noun. The different case forms are formed through suffixation and the diachronic process of umlaut, that is, vowel assimilation in the root to a following (historic) vowel or semivowel (in a suffix). For wolf-class nouns, which distinguish all eight combinations of case and definiteness, the following applies:

• The accusative is associated with i-umlaut and an -(i)r suffix (historic *-yer).
• The oblique is associated with u-umlaut and an -u suffix (historic *-wol).
• The genitive is associated with an -(e)n suffix, which does not cause umlaut.

Definiteness

Nouns have indefinite and definite forms. The indefinite is the unmarked form, with the definite being associated with the suffix -(e)n (historic *-hen).

Gender

There are three grammatical genders:

• Wolf class: People, dangerous or spirited beings or things (typically agent role)
• Hare class: Harmless animals, passive objects (typically patient role)
• Tooth class: Merger of two earlier classes comprising tools and places, respectively (typically oblique role)

Wolf-class nouns distinguish all eight combinations of case and definiteness. Hare-class nouns merge the nominative with the accusative, and the oblique with the genitive. Tooth-class nouns merge the nominative, oblique and genitive, but have a separate accusative form in -(i)r.

Declension

Tooth class

C-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	holm	holmen
Accusative	hölmir	hölmbrin
Oblique	holm	holmen
Genitive			holm	holmen

CC-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ögel	öglen
Accusative	öglir	öglire
Oblique	ögel	öglen
Genitive			ögel	öglen

E-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	voke	voken
Accusative	vökir	vökrin
Oblique	voke	voken
Genitive			voke	voken

I-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	bräk	brakyen
Accusative	bräkir	bräkrin
Oblique	bräk	brakyen
Genitive			bräk	brakyen

U-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	rost	rastwen
Accusative	rastir	rastire
Oblique	rost	rastwen
Genitive			rost	rastwen

A-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	dolka	dolken
Accusative	dolker	dolkrin
Oblique	dolka	dolken
Genitive			dolka	dolken

Hare class

C-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	is	isen
Accusative			is	is
Oblique	ise	isem
Genitive			[[]]	en

CC-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	aber	abren
Accusative			aber	aber
Oblique	abre	abrem
Genitive			[[]]	en

E-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	tule	tulen
Accusative			tule	tule
Oblique	tuli	tulem
Genitive			[[]]	en

I-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	hyäm	hyampin
Accusative			hyäm	hyäm
Oblique	hyampi	hyampim
Genitive			[[]]	en

U-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	köl	kelwen
Accusative			köl	köl
Oblique	kelwe	kelwem
Genitive			[[]]	en

A-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	muksa	muksen
Accusative			muksa	muksa
Oblique		muksa	muksem
Genitive		[[]]		en

Wolf class

C-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ulf	ulfen
Accusative	ülfir	ülfrin
Oblique	ulfu	ulfun
Genitive	ulfen	ulfnen

CC-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	wendel	wendlen
Accusative	windlir	windlire
Oblique	wöndlu	wöndlun
Genitive	wendlen	wendleme

E-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ulle	ullen
Accusative	üllir	üllire
Oblique	ullo	ullon
Genitive	ullen	ulleme

I-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	nölf	nölfen
Accusative	nölfir	nölfire
Oblique	nolfi	nolfin
Genitive	nölfen	nölfime

RI-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	mär	maryen
Accusative	märir	märre
Oblique	mari	marin
Genitive	maryen	märime

U-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	mörd	merdwen
Accusative	merdir	merdire
Oblique	mördu	mördun
Genitive	merdwen	mördume

A-final

	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	Fyerda	Fyerden
Accusative	Fyerder	Fyerdrin
Oblique	Fyerdo	Fyerdon
Genitive	Fyerden	Fyerdnen

Adjectives

Adjectives precede the nouns they modify. When used attributively on nouns, adjectives carry marking for definiteness, instead of the noun they modify.

Verbs

Finite forms

Finite verbs conjugate for tense. They agree with their subjects in person and number. The tenses are present (unmarked) and preterite (associated with u-umlaut and in most cases a -(w)e or -o suffix). Transitive verbs have active and passive voice forms. The active is the unmarked form, and the passive form generally is associated with a -le suffix. For intransitive verbs, this form corresponds to the inceptive. The third-person singular ending is -en (archaic -um).

Non-finite forms

Verbs have an infinitive form typically ending in -et, which doubles as the imperative. Verbs also have a participle form, which is associated with an -ih suffix and i-umlaut.

Negation

Negation is carried out with the particle ne "not", which precedes the verb in most cases, except in the imperative where it follows.