G'Vunna Grammar
G'Vunna is a fusional language. The basic word order is subject-verb-object (SVO). It shows some head-initial tendencies, in that adjectives follow the nouns they modify. Nouns decline for number, and are divided into eight noun classes. Verbs conjugate for tense, aspect, mood, voice, and polarity, and agree with their arguments.
Phonology
Main page: Appendix:G'Vunna pronunciation
Notably, coda consonants frequently geminate in stressed position. Additionally, G'Vunna has high-low vowel harmony, meaning that words can only contain the former or the latter vowel in the following pairs: /i/ ~ /e/, /y/ ~ /ø/, /u/ ~ /o/, and /ə/ ~ /a/.
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
In the G'Vunna language, personal pronouns underwent changes from Veda in the following manner:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First Person | künnǝ ("I") | minnǝ ("we") |
| Second Person | daz ("you") | saz ("you") |
| Third Person | inngin ("he, she, it") | limmǝ ("they") |
Possessive suffixes
Each personal pronoun also gave rise to possessive suffixes. Historically, the determiner position for G'Vunna followed the noun, leading to the transformation of determiners, such as the Veda demonstratives lin ("this") and khon ("that"), into suffixes. The possessive suffixes are as follows:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel-Final | Consonant-Final | Vowel-Final | Consonant-Final | |
| First Person | -k | -ü/-ö | -m(i/e) | |
| Second Person | -d | -(ǝ/a)z | -z | -(ǝ/a)z |
| Third Person | -ng | -(i/e)ng | -l(i/e) | |
The suffixes which end in oral or nasal stops (i.e. -k, -d, and -ng) geminate if they occur after a stressed vowel. For instance, "my happiness" is sushukkǝ, while "my power" is zhochonngak. This gemination is a pervasive feature across the language, applying uniformly in tonic position rather than being specific to particular suffixes.
Nouns
Nouns in G'Vunna inflect for singular and plural number. Furthermore, they are categorized into eight distinct noun classes, each identified by a specific prefix that changes based on whether the noun is singular or plural. The form of these prefixes varies depending on whether the base noun begins with a vowel or a consonant, as well as whether it contains high or low vowels. The noun class prefixes are as follows:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | |
| Sentient Class | zv- | z(u/o)- | m- | m(i/e)- |
| Air Class | gz- | k(i/e)- | ngz- | ng(i/e)- |
| Earth Class | gh- | t(ǝ/a)- | gh- | t(ǝ/a)- |
| Fire Class | gh- | v(ǝ/a)- | ngh- | m(u/o)- |
| Water Class | (i/e)n- | l(i/e)n- | ||
| Celestial Class | zm- | s(u/o)- | s- | v(u/o)- |
| Greater Class | v- | zh(u/o)- | v- | nj(u/o)- |
| Lesser Class | ch- | ch(i/e)- | j- | nj(i/e)- |
Adjectives
Adjectives in G'Vunna follow the nouns they modify. Adjectives agree in class and number with the modified nouns, using specific prefixes. These prefixes differ based on whether they attach to vowel-initial or consonant-initial stems. Here are examples of some noun class agreement prefixes, which are similar, but not identical, to the prefixes used on nouns, having some phonological simplifications compared to them:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | |
| Sentient Class | zv- | z(u/o)- | m- | m(i/e)- |
| Air Class | z- | k(i/e)- | z- | ng(i/e)- |
| Earth Class | gh- | t(ǝ/a)- | gh- | t(ǝ/a)- |
| Fire Class | gh- | v(ǝ/a)- | ngh- | m(u/o)- |
| Water Class | n- | n(i/e)- | l- | l(i/e)- |
| Celestial Class | zm- | s(u/o)- | s- | v(u/o)- |
| Greater Class | v- | zh(u/o)- | v- | j(u/o)- |
| Lesser Class | ch- | ch(i/e)- | j- | j(i/e)- |
As an example, take the adjective -il, meaning "bright":
- gzödhokka zillǝ "bright updraft" (Air Class, Singular)
- enadh nillǝ "bright blood" (Water Class, Singular)
The gemination and epenthesis of -ǝ/-a in tonic position is optional in a noun occuring before an adjective, e.g. gzödhok' zillǝ is also valid.
Comparison
Adjectives have kept the equative, comparative, and superlative forms, which have direct predecessors in Veda:
| Vowel-Final | Consonant-Final | |
|---|---|---|
| Equative | -zh(u/o) | -C(ü/ö) |
| Comparative | -ggh(u/o)r | -gh(u/o)r |
| Superlative | -ghurmi/-ghorme | |
The C stands for gemination of the preceding consonant in the table above.
Adverbs
Manner adverbs derive from nominalized adjectives. The usual way is to nominalize the adjective into a greater class noun. If manner of the action is attenuated or weaker in some way, it is turned into a lesser class noun. The resulting noun takes singular or plural agreement depending on the number of the agent(s). For example, take the manner adverbs for the adjective -dhip ("quick") (presumed form):
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Plain Adverb | zhudhippǝ ("quickly") | njudhippǝ ("quickly") |
| Attenuated Adverb | chidhippǝ ("kind of quickly") | njidhippǝ ("kind of quickly") |
Verbs
G'Vunna verbs agree with the subject, object, and indirect object, if present. They conjugate for tense, aspect, mood, voice, and polarity. The tenses include present, past, and future. There is a complete aspect and an incomplete aspect. The moods are indicative and imperative. The non-finite verb forms include the infinitive and the connective forms. There are two voices, active and passive. The present and past forms merge in the passive. The polarities are positive and negative.
Agreement
The affixes for agreement are divided into the primary, secondary, and tertiary sets. The primary set refer mostly to the subject and are CV- prefixes. The secondary set refer mostly refer to the direct object and are prefixes of the form (C)C(V)-. The tertiary set refer mostly to the indirect object and are suffixes of a -CV form. They are shown as follows:
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Secondary | Tertiary | Primary | Secondary | Tertiary | ||
| First Person | k(ü/ö)- | j(i/e)- | -g(ü/ö) | m(i/e)- | m- | -m(i/e) | |
| Second Person | d(ǝ/a)- | d- | -d(ǝ/a) | s(ǝ/a)- | (s/z)- | -z(u/o) | |
| Third Person | Sentient | z(u/o)- | z(v/u)- | -z(u/o) | m(i/e)- | m- | -m(i/e) |
| Air | k(i/e)- | g- | -g(i/e) | ng(i/e)- | ng- | -ng(i/e) | |
| Earth | t(ǝ/a)- | gh- | -d(ǝ/a) | t(ǝ/a)- | gh- | -d(ǝ/a) | |
| Fire | v(ǝ/a)- | v- | -v(ǝ/a) | m(u/o)- | m- | -m(u/o) | |
| Water | (i/e)- | n- | -n(i/e) | l(i/e)- | (q)l- | -l(i/e) | |
| Celestial | s(u/o)- | (z)m- | -z(u/o) | v(u/o)- | (v/u)- | -v(u/o) | |
| Greater | zh(u/o)- | (s/z)- | -zh(u/o) | nj(u/o)- | n- | -j(u/o) | |
| Lesser | ch(i/e)- | (th/dh)- | -j(i/e) | nj(i/e)- | n- | -j(i/e) | |
Conjugation
Verbs are here divided first based on active and passive voice, and then based on positive and negative polarity. Transitive and intransitive verbs differ in their behavior in the negative.
Voice
Active voice
The are a number of affixes which signify the active voice. Prefixes for positive active verbs include:
| Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | g- | g(ǝ/a)- |
| Past | gh- | gh(u/o)- |
| Future | b- | b(i/e)- |
Negative intransitive active verbs are formed with prefixes such as:
| Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | dhg- | dhg(ǝ/a)- |
| Past | dhgh- | dhgh(u/o)- |
| Future | dhb- | dhb(i/e)- |
Negative transitive active verbs are formed with circumfixes:
| Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | g-…-dh(u/o) | g(ǝ/a)-…-dh(u/o) |
| Past | gh-…-dh(u/o) | gh(u/o)-…-dh(u/o) |
| Future | b-…-dh(u/o) | b(i/e)-…-dh(u/o) |
For negative transitive verbs, the tertiary suffixes are used for the direct object instead of the secondary prefixes. The secondary prefixes are used for an indirect object, if there is any.
Passive voice
The positive passive forms are as follows:
| Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Post-Prefix | No Prefix | ||
| Present | (i/e)v- | -(ü/ö)- | zh(u/o)- |
| Past | |||
| Future | b(i/e)v- | b(ü/ö)- | |
The negative intransitive passive forms are shown below:
| Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | th(i/e)v- | ch(u/o)- |
| Past | ||
| Future | dhb(i/e)v- | dhb(ü/ö)- |
Finally, the negative transitive passive forms:
| Vowel-Initial | Consonant-Initial | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Post-Prefix | No Prefix | ||
| Present | (i/e)v-…-dh(u/o) | -(ü/ö)-…-dh(u/o) | zh(u/o)-…-dh(u/o) |
| Past | |||
| Future | b(i/e)v-…-dh(u/o) | b(ü/ö)-…-dh(u/o) | |
The negative transitive passive forms are used when the indirect object of a ditransitive verb is passivized, leaving the direct object in its original place.
Aspect
The incomplete aspect is the unmarked form compared to the complete, with possible suffixes to the root being the negative transitive and object agreement affixes. The suffix -nǝthu/-natho is added to the incomplete negative transitive form, and the suffix -(ǝ/a)n to all other incomplete forms to produce the complete aspect form of the verb.
Syntax
The G'Vunna language has subject-verb-object (SVO) word order.