Noalath Grammar
Noalath is a mainly analytic language with some agglutinative tendencies. Initial consonant mutation is a prominent morphological process throughout its grammar.
Nouns
Nouns decline for number. Most nouns have singular and plural number. Some nouns have basic forms which are notionally plural, and a singulative can be formed from these by means of a suffix -ach.
Noun Derivation
From other nouns:
- Augmentative: -ath e.g. noal “tongue” > noalath “grand tongue (name of the language)”
- Characterized by: -(d/t)rik e.g. lead “tree” > leadrik “druid”
From verbs:
- Agentive: -(a)dash e.g. por “to shift” > poradash “Changeling”
- Implement: -et e.g. dulva “to curse” > dulvet “curse”
From adjectives or verbs:
- Nominalization: -arach e.g. alan “free” > alanarach “freedom”
From any part of speech:
- Place: -(a)vak e.g. deam “book” > deamavak (meaning not listed, probably something like “library”)
Adjectives
Adjectives are compared to three forms of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative.
Adjective Derivation
From other adjectives:
- Negative: fi- e.g. thik “ripe” > fishik “unripe”
- Intensive: sin- e.g. rano “new” > sindano “brand new”
From nouns:
- Adjectival: -(i)m e.g. shail “elf” > shailim “elven/elfin”
Adverbs
Adverbs can be regularly formed from adjectives (and their forms of comparison) using the suffix -(a)sh.
Verbs
Verbs do not show any agreement with their arguments. Verbs only have two forms: a generic form (the unmarked citation form) and a reduplicated perfective form. Most tense-aspect-mood information is handled through a collection of particles combined in various ways, which induce different initial mutations in the root:
- Generic: serna “charges”
- Perfective: seherna “charged”
- Imperative: E herna! “Charge!”
- Infinitive: u herna “to charge”
- Present: hi sherna “is charging”
- Imperfective: hish sherna “was charging”
- Future: hi yu herna “will charge”
- Conditional: hish u herna “would charge, was to charge”
- Anterior: hi (yan) tserna “has charged”
- Past Anterior: hish (an) tserna “had charged”
Voice
Passive verbs are formed with an auxilliary ad:
- Generic: ad X an tserna (thun Y) “is charged (by Y)”
- Perfective: adhad X an tserna “was charged”
- Imperative: E yad (e X) an tserna! “Be charged!”
- Infinitive: u yad an tserna “to be charged”
- Present: hi yad X an tserna “is being charging”
- Imperfective: hish yad X an tserna “was being charging”
- Future: hi yu'rad an tserna (ba X) “will be charged”
- Conditional: hish yu'rad an tserna (ba X) “would be charged, was to be charged”
- Anterior: hi (yan) nad X an tserna “has been charged”
- Past Anterior: hish (an) nad X an tserna “had been charged”
Polarity
The negative for the active voice is formed with the auxillary mi:
- Generic: mi X an tserna “does not charge”
- Perfective: mema X an tserna “did not charge”
- Imperative: E mi (e X) an tserna! “Don’t charge!”
- Infinitive: u mi yan tserna “to not charge”
- Present: hi mi X an tserna “is not charging”
- Imperfective: hish mi X an tserna “was not charging”
- Future: hi yu mi yan tserna (ba X) “will not charge”
- Conditional: hish yu mi yan tserna (ba X) “would not charge”
- Anterior: hi (yan) mi X an tserna “has not charged”
- Past Anterior: hish (an) mi X an tserna “had not charged”
Negative passives are formed with the auxillary ku:
- Generic: ku X an tserna (thun Y) “is not charged (by Y)”
- Perfective: koa X an tserna “was not charged”
- Imperative: E hu (e X) an tserna! “Don’t be charged!”
- Infinitive: u hu yan tserna “to not be charged”
- Present: hi chu X an tserna “is not being charging”
- Imperfective: hish chu X an tserna “was not being charging”
- Future: hi yu hu yan tserna (ba X) “will not be charged”
- Conditional: hish yu hu yan tserna (ba X) “wouldn’t be charged”
- Anterior: hi (yan) gu X an tserna “has not been charged”
- Past Anterior: hish (an) gu X an tserna “had not been charged”
Verb Derivation
From other verbs:
- Frequentative/Continuative: -(r)od e.g. ker “to measure” > kerod “to count”
- Opposite: ru(h)- e.g. aich “to grab” > ruhaich “to drop”
From adjectives:
- Inchoative: fen- -a e.g. laid “still, unmoving” > fennáida “to settle”