G'Vunna Grammar

G'Vunna Language Navigation: Home, Phonology, Grammar, Vocabulary, Orthography

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.

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-	j(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 dhippǝ ("quick") (presumed form):

	Singular	Plural
Plain Adverb	zhudhippǝ ("quickly")	njudhippǝ ("quickly")
Attenuated Adverb	chidhippǝ ("kind of quickly")	jidhippǝ ("kind of quickly")

Verbs

Verbs in G'Vunna show agreement with the subject, object, and indirect object, along with tense and polarity distinctions. Affixes for agreement include CV prefixes, (C)C(V) prefixes, and -CV suffixes for the primary, secondary, and tertiary sets, respectively.

Verbs come in positive and negative forms, with distinctions in behavior for transitive and intransitive verbs in the negative. Affixes for active verbs include:

• Present: g-/g(ǝ/a)-
• Past: gh-/gh(u/o)-
• Future: b-/b(i/e)-

Negative intransitive verbs feature prefixes such as:

• Present: dhg-/dhg(ǝ/a)-
• Past: dhgh-/dhgh(u/o)-
• Future: dhb-/dhb(i/e)-

Negative transitive verbs make use of circumfixes:

• Present: g-/g(ǝ/a)-…-dh(u/o)
• Past: gh-/gh(u/o)-…-dh(u/o)
• Future: b-/b(i/e)-…-dh(u/o)

Passive forms and variability in past/present forms are also present, adding complexity to the language's verb system.

Completeness in verbs is marked by various suffixes, with examples provided for the verb "sushunnǝ," meaning "to give."

Syntax

The G'Vunna language has subject-verb-bject (SVO) word order.