User:Aegon/High Valyrian Tutorial/1-6
Lesson 6| Pronouns
Vocabulary
Lesson Vocabulary | |
---|---|
High Valyrian | English |
kasta (adj. I.) | blue, green |
gelte (4lun.) | helmet, helm |
bartos (3sol.) | head |
harris (5sol.) | while, duration; an indefinite amount of time that varies based on the activity refered to; the appropriate amount of time that an activity ought to last |
jēdun (6pauc.1lun.) | hour, hours |
morghon (3ter.) | wall |
perzys (2sol.) | fire, flame |
perzītsos (3sol.) | little flame |
qilōnarion (3ter.) | punishment, chastisement |
raqiros (3sol.) | friend |
vīlībāzma (1lun.) | war, battle |
zentys (2sol.) | guest |
lūs (3sol.) | type, kind |
verdon (3ter.) | sum, figure, amount, number |
jelmor (3aq.) | north |
bianor (3aq.) | female sheep |
rūklon (3ter.) | flower |
qilōny (2lun.) | whip |
jentys (2sol.) | leader, ruler, commander |
belmon (3ter.) | chain |
hēzīr (adv.) | henceforth, from now on |
konīr (adv.) | there |
gīmigon (v-fin.) | to know facts or information |
iderēbagon (c-fin.) | to choose, decide, select |
kustikagon (c-fin.) | to strengthen, enable, encouurage |
laodigon (v-fin.) | to steal, abduct |
lykemagon (c-fin.) | to silence, calm |
onduragon (c-fin.) | to grasp, take up, grab, seize |
morghūljagon (c-fin.) | to die |
pryjagon (c-fin.) | to destroy, break, strike off |
gaomagon (c-fin.) | to do, act, perform |
pilogon (v-fin.) | to hold on(to) (with the hands) |
urnegon (v-fin.) | to see |
Personal Pronouns
Pronouns are nouns which are used instead of another noun ('pro', in place of 'noun', noun.)
There are three categories of pronouns which are divided up into persons: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. In addition, pronouns can be singular or plural. They are declined like all other nouns.
Person | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
1st | I | we |
2nd | you | y'all |
3rd | he/she/it | they |
Table of Personal Pronouns in all of their cases: I, you, he/she/it, we, y'all, they
Note: you is the singular of the plural y'all, itself a contraction of you all - it is a perfectly grammatically correct second person plural pronoun in English, useful for distinguishing you (singular) from you (plural). After working with folks who spoke the Southern U.S. English regional dialect, the versatility and usefulness of the pronoun y'all became abundantly clear, as the second person plural pronoun is rarely used in standard English.
High Valyrian has two third person personal pronouns: ziry, for lunar and solar nouns and ūja, for terrestrial and aquatic nouns. Generally, ziry is used for animates and ūja for inanimates because this fits the lunar/solar and terrestrial/aquatic paradigm.
Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3nd Person | 3nd Person | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 2nd Person | |||||||
Nominative | nyke | I | ao | you | ziry | he/she/it | ūja | he/she/it | īlon | we | jeme | y'all | pōnta | they |
Accusative | yne | me | avy | you | ziry | he/she/it | ūī | he/she/it | īlōn | us | jemī | y'all | pōnte | them |
Genitive | yno | of me | aō | of you | zijo | of him/her/it | ūō | of him/her/it | īlo | of us | jemo | of y'all | pōnto | of them |
Dative | ynot | for me | aōt | for you | zijot | for him/her/it | ūjot | for him/her/it | īlot | for us | jemot | for y'all | pōntot | for them |
Locative | nykē | on me | aō | on you | zirȳ | on him/her/it | ūjā | on him/her/it | īlō | on us | jemē | on y'all | pōntā | on them |
Instrumental | ynoma | with me | aōma | with you | zijosy | with him/her/it | josa | with him/her/it | īloma | with us | jemme | with y'all | pōntosa | with them |
Comitative | ynoma | with me | aōma | with you | zijomy | with him/her/it | joma | with him/her/it | īloma | with us | jemme | with y'all | pōntoma | with them |
Vocative | nykys | me | aōs | you | zirys | him/her/it | ūjus | him/her/it | īlos | us | jemys | y'all | pōntus | them |
Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives indicate possession of a participant in a sentence like 'my sister' or 'your bicycle.' These modify nouns; they take the gender of the noun which they modify and agree in case and number.
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
ñuh-a ys on or | my |
aōh-a ys on or | your |
zȳh-a ys on or | his/hers, its |
jāh-a ys on or | his/hers, its |
īlv-a ys on or | our |
jev-a ys on or | y'alls |
pōj-a ys on or | their |
Examples
High Valyrian | English |
Ñuhe zokle, ñuhi azanti, ñuhon lenton, ñuhor qintrā jorrāelan | I love my wolf, my knight, my house, and my turtle |
Ñuhos korzose ziry enkan | I owe him my sword |
The first sentence shows the first person possessive adjective declined in all four grammatical genders with the coordinative vowel lengthening in the final element of the list to indicate 'and.' The second shows how the possessive adjective declines in case with the noun it is modifying.
Exercise 1
Translate into High Valyrian.
My house is big |
Ñuhon lenton rōvon issa |
My house is bigger than her house |
Ñuhon lenton zȳhos lentoso rōvykton issa |
Reflexive Pronouns
A reflexive pronoun means something like 'myself or yourself' and is used to provide added emphasis to a sentence participant. It declines and is used like like a typical first lunar noun; it may be either a subject or an object.
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
nykēla | myself |
aōla | yourself |
zirȳla | himself/herself/itself |
jemēla | himself/herself/itself |
īlōnda | ourselves |
jemēla | yourselves |
pōntāla | themselves |
Examples
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
Hēzīr, jevī brōza jemēle iderēbilātās. | From this day forward, you will choose your own names. |
This example uses a possessive adjective to modify the noun brōza "names", as well as a reflexive pronoun jemēle "yourselves" to say 'your own', literally "You will choose your names yourselves".
Three additional examples of reflexive pronouns:
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
Jemēla zȳhys perzī ondurilāt? | Will you take up her flames yourselves? |
Nykēla avy sēninna. | I will kill you myself. |
Aōle lykemās, perzītsos. | Calm yourself, little flame. |
Exercise 2
Translate to High Valyrian.
You be quiet. |
Aōle lykemās. |
Select your (pl.) own leader. |
Jevi jenti jemēle iderēbilātās. |
The harpys and masters are killing each other! |
Jazdanī āeksiā pōntālī sēnis! |
Demonstrative and Interrogative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns indicate location relative to the speaker; in English are 'this', for that which is near (proximal), and 'that' for that which is far (distal). In High Valyrian, these words are class I adjectives that also distinguish the animacy of a modified noun. Like possessive adjectives they take the gender of the modified noun and agree in case and number like a typical adjective.
There exist two types of demonstrative pronouns, those that look like bisa or kona that are adjectives for all intents and purposes and those that look like bisy or kesir that are nouns (technically substantivized adjectives).
Interrogative pronouns are question words, like 'who, what, when, where, and why.' In High Valyrian, the core interrogative pronouns, from which more interrogative pronouns are derived, behave identically to demonstrative pronouns except as class II adjectives; thusly, it makes sense to learn their forms together.
For animate nouns (like 'this mother' or 'that father') we have:
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
bis-a ys on or (adj. I) | this |
bon-a ys on or (adj. I) | that |
spar-e ior (adj. II) | which |
Note that the animacy of animals is up to the speaker.
For inanimate nouns (like 'this table' or 'that sword') we have:
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
kes-a ys on or (adj. I) | this |
kon-a ys on or (adj. I) | that |
skor-e ior (adj. II) | which |
Examples
High Valyrian | English |
bisi vali īlvyz zentyssy issi | these men are our guests |
Bisi is an adjective; it is a plural and nominative demonstrative pronoun that agrees with vali from which it takes both its gender and its animacy.
Īlvyz is an adjective; it is a plural, nominative, and solar possessive adjective; it taking its solar gender from the solar zentyssy.
High Valyrian | English |
koni sȳz korzi Iōnot jehākos | those good-quality swords are cheering up Jon |
Here, the demonstrative pronoun koni is plural, nominative, and lunar to modify sȳz korzi from where it takes its number, case, and gender.
Iōnot is locative because the verb jehākogon is one of the verbs that takes locative arguments. Here, the locative specifies who is being cheered up, in this case, Jon is.
High Valyrian | English |
bonys azantys geltose jomīsos daor | that knight is not wearing a helmet |
Bonys is a demonstrative pronoun taking animacy, number, case, and gender from azantys. If you recall, jomīsagon, to wear, takes an instrumental, geltose, as the item worn.
This is the first example of a negation thus far; they are simply formed using the subjunctive followed with daor.
Substantive Form
The substantive form is a noun and occurs when no noun is explicitly stated for an adjective to modify; thusly, the adjective must become a noun. Like the adjectival forms above, they also distinguish animacy while adding abstraction. All adjectives may be transformed into nouns via substantive forms; this will be covered later. For pronominal adjectives like the ones discussed here, the corresponding substantive form is a pronoun. For now, recognize that type I substantives convey concrete, countable items and type II substantives convey abstract uncountable items. Type I looks like -y and -ir; type II looks like -os and -ion.
Note that these substantives do not take the gender of a noun, as they are nouns themselves; they only take animacy and abstraction for agreement.
For animates:
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
bisy (2lun. subst. I) | this (concrete) |
bisir (5aq. subst. II) | this (abstract) |
bony (2lun. subst. I) | that (concrete) |
bonir (5aq. subst. II) | that (abstract) |
sparos (3sol. subst. I) | who (concrete) |
sparion (3ter. subst. II) | who (abstract) |
For inanimates:
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
kesy (2lun. subst. I) | this (concrete) |
kesir (2lun. subst. II) | this (abstract) |
kony (2lun. subst. I) | that (concrete) |
konir (2lun. subst. II) | that (abstract) |
skoros (3sol. subst. I) | what (concrete) |
skorion (3ter. subst. II) | what (abstract) |
Examples
High Valyrian | English |
kesy īlva vīlībāzma sīr issa | this is our war now |
Kesy is a type I substantive noun that takes its inanimacy and tangibility from vīlībāzma and does not modify another; it stands alone.
Īlva is a possessive adjective declined nominative, lunar, and singular to agree with the noun vīlībāzma.
High Valyrian | English |
kesir gīmī | you know this |
Kesir is a type II substantive noun that has nothing to base animacy or tangibility on, for it is conveying an abstract concept.
High Valyrian | English |
Bona vala keja qintra jorrāelza | that man loves these turtles |
Woah! Where did keja come from? With the aquatic gender, illicit sequences, or letters that cannot appear after each other, occur--this is one such example. Illicit sequences are as follows:
hr that becomes rh like in ñurha.
jr, sr, and zr that become j like keja.
mr that becomes br with a lengthened vowel like jelmor ('north') pluralized becoming jēmbra (with deletion of the l).
nr that becomes dr with a lengthened vowel like bianor ('sheep') pluralized becoming biādra.
Interrogative Pronouns
From the above discussion, we have learned how to derive the core interrogative pronouns, sparos, sparion, skoros, and skorion from taking the type I and type II substantives of the demonstrative adjectives spare -ior and skore -ior.
Lets begin with interrogative pronouns derived from cases of skorion, the type II substantive (or abstract, generic form) of 'what.' To say 'where', take the locative case, skoriot; to say 'why', take the instrumental case, skorȳso.
Next, form the adverb skorī ('when') as we learned in section 1-4; add -ī to the class II adjective, skore.
Skorlūs, 'what kind of,' is a contraction of skore ('what') and lūs ('type'); it takes a genitive argument.
Skorverdon, 'how many,' is a contraction of skore ('what') and verdon ('number'); it takes a plural genitive argument with a verb conjugated as 3rd person singular.
Skoro syt is the first postpositional phrase you have encountered and means 'on behalf of what' that translates as 'why;' postpositional phrases are similar to prepositional phrases except they take a genitive followed with a postposition. They will be covered in more detail later. There are more postpositions than prepositions as High Valyrian is generally a head-final language.
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
sparos (3sol. subst. I) | who (concrete) |
sparion (3ter. subst. II) | who (abstract) |
skoros (3sol. subst. I) | what (concrete) |
skorion (3ter. subst. II) | what (abstract) |
skoriot (3ter. loc.) | where |
skorȳso (3ter. inst.) | why, because |
skorī (adv.) | when |
skorlūs (3sol.) | what kind of → gen. |
skorverdon (3sol.) | how many → gen. |
skoro syt (postp. phrase) | why |
skorkydoso (adv.) | how |
Examples
High Valyrian | English |
Skoroso(1) jemēle brōzāt? | What are your names? |
Sparos īlōn idakos? | Who is attacking us? |
- (1) Recall that the 'name' when using brōzagon is in the instrumental case, skoroso is declined instrumental to reflect this.
Interrogative Adjectives
Above we discussed pronominal nouns, there too are adjectival forms-- spare (adj. II.) for animates, and skore (adj. II.) for inanimates.
High Valyrian | English |
spare riñe jorrāelza | what girl do you love |
This simple sentence demonstrates the interrogative adjective in the accusative case, declining with the noun it modifies. Note that as an adj. II., the accusative declension of spare is spare.
High Valyrian | English |
skorȳr lentot azanto kepa ilos | what house is the knight's father in |
See how the interrogative adjective declines with the noun it modifies. This example uses the present indicative third person subjunctive of ilagon, ilos, as the speaker has uncertainty of if the knight's father is hiding in one of those houses or is somewhere else.
High Valyrian | English |
lentot va qelbār sparom valoma dekurūbilā | which man will you walk to the house near the river with |
This example shows the animate interrogative adjective declined in the comitative case used with animate nouns to mean "with someone." We mostly saw the preposition va used with the dative case to mean "to," just like the locative case, when seeking a specific reading. Here, va takes the meaning "near" to form the phrase lentot va qelbār, "to the house near the river."
High Valyrian | English |
Speaker 1: skore harris iā gīmīluty | how long until we know |
Speaker 2: mēro hārō jēdunoti rȳ kessa | it will be between one and three hours |
The interrogative adjective appears when asking about duration of waiting, that is questions like "how long until we eat?" The question literally means "what duration until we know," with gīmigon rendered in the future subjunctive as we do not know if we will ever know. In speaker 2's line, note the coordinated lengthening of the second number in the postpositional phrase and the indicative response. This shows that speaker 2 knows that speaker 1 will know and that they will learn the information between one and three hours. If rendered in the subjunctive, kesos, the meaning changes to indicate the uncertainty that speaker 1 may not learn the information yet has a chance too within one to three hours.
Exercise 3
Translate to High Valyrian.
What is this? |
Skoros kesy issa? |
What are you doing? |
Skoros gaomā? |
This man is a friend. |
Bisa vala raqiros issa. |
These knights are hunting that man there. |
Bisi azantyssy bone vale konīr arughusi. |
Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun allows for formation of relative clauses, adjectival phrases that describe a head noun, the noun modified through the relative clause. For examples in English:
The man(1) that(2) spoke to the queen(3) went to the market.
The knight(1) who(2) defends the kingdom(3) is resting at the inn.
- (1) head noun.
- (2) relative pronominal adjective.
- (3) relative clause.
Notice how 'spoke to the queen' and 'defends the kingdom' serve as adjectives to 'the knight.'
Relative clauses in High Valyrian use the relative pronominal adjective, lua, which may be translated as 'that, who, whom, where, or when.' You can think of the relative clause as a long, multi-word, prepositive adjective. Note that adjectives on the head noun appear to be postpositive. See the below diagram.
relative clause |
---|
relative pronominal adjective |
---|
head noun |
---|
main clause |
---|
Notice that relative clauses have different syntax in High Valyrian than in English! Like other pronominal adjectives, lua agrees with the modified noun in case, gender, and number. The following declination table shows the forms that lua may assume. Note it generally follows the pattern of a class I adjective with a few irregularities in boldface.
nom. | acc. | gen. | dat. | loc. | inst. | com. | voc. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
lun. | sg. | lua | lue | luo | luo | luā | luos | luom | lūs |
pl. | lī | lī | luo | luo | luo | luos | luom | lis | |
sol. | sg. | lȳs | lī | luo | luo | lȳ | luos | luom | lȳs |
pl. | lȳz | lī | luo | luo | lī | luos | luom | lȳz | |
ter. | sg. | luon | luon | luo | luo | luo | luos | luom | luos |
pl. | lua | lua | luo | luo | luo | luos | luom | luas | |
aq. | sg. | luor | luor | luro | luro | luro | luros | lurom | luos |
pl. | lura | lura | luro | luro | luro | luros | lurom | luas |
If you want to get technical, for the plural solar, the form is lȳz before a vowel or a voiced consonant (otherwise, lȳs). Italics represents a spelling change that requires a '-t' added before a consonant generally in the genitive, locative, and/or dative. For the comitative, the form is -om before a vowel or a labial consonant.
Head Noun is Subject
Relative clauses where the head noun is the subject have clearer English translations, using 'who' as opposed to 'whom.' They are more direct and easier to grasp, so we'll begin here. First, notice that the case of the noun in the relative clause is accusative.
Explanation- The man who encouraged the woman is a friend. | |||||||||
High Valyrian: | Ābre | kustittas(1) | lua | vala | raqiros | issa. | |||
English: | [the, a] woman | [he] encouraged | who | [the, a] man | [a, the] friend | is. | |||
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | HEAD NOUN | MAIN CLAUSE |
- (1) kustikagon, to encourage, strengthen (c-fin.). kustittas, (3s. pfv. ind.).
This example showcases the head noun, vala as both the subject of the main clause and the relative clause. In other words, [lua] vala does the action in the relative clause then does a subsequent action. Vala is singular, lunar, and nominative; it sets the number, gender, and case of the relative pronominal adjective, lua. Preceding lua is a verbal clause ābre kustittas that serves as an adjective to describe vala.
Explanation- I saw the man who encouraged the woman. | |||||
High Valyrian: | Ābre | kustittas | lue | vale | ūndetan(1). |
English: | [the, a] woman | [he] encouraged | who | [the, a] man | [I] saw. |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | HEAD NOUN | MAIN CLAUSE |
- (1) ūndegon, to see, to sight (v-fin.). ūndetan, (1s. pfv. ind.).
This example showcases the head noun, vale as the object of the main clause and the subject of the relative clause. In other words, [lue] vale does the action in the relative clause then is the object of a second action. Vale is accusative for it is the object of ūndetan; it sets the number, gender, and case of the relative pronominal adjective, lue. Preceding lue is the same adjectival verbal clause ābre kustittas as above.
Explanation- Strike the chains off of every slave you see. | |||||||
High Valyrian: | Urnēt | luo | buzdaro | tolvio | belma | pryjātās. | |
English: | [y'all] see | that | [of] slave | all | [the] chains | [y'all] destroy | |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | HEAD NOUN | MAIN CLAUSE |
There is a lot going on in this example. First, notice that the head noun is in the genitive case (to be covered in a later lesson) with a postpositive adjective in agreement; buzdaro tolvio means 'of all slaves.' Adjectives modifying head nouns always occur postpositively regardless of case, number, or grammatical gender. Expanding to the whole genitive phrase, we have buzdaro tolvio belma that translates to 'the chains of all slaves.' Note that the hypothetical buzdaro tolvior belma, where tolvior agrees with belma instead of buzdaro, would mean all of the chains of the slave. Pryjātās is in the plural imperative, signaling that this command is given to more than one addressee. The relative clause is simply one conjugated verb with the subject dropped.
More Examples
Explanation- Choose the name that your parents gave you or any other. | |||||||||
High Valyrian: | Muñar | aōt | teptas(1) | lue | brōzi, | iā | mirre | tolie | iderēbās. |
English: | [the] parents | [to, for] you | [they] gave | that | [a, the] name | or | any | other | [you] choose. |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | HEAD NOUN | MAIN CLAUSE |
- (1) tepagon, to give (c-fin.). teptas, (3s. pfv. ind.).
This example features a longer main clause than others. The head noun, brōzi is the object of the relative clause per the nominative muñar and also the object of the main clause. Note that brōzi is not duplicated after iā as it is implied.
Head Noun is Object
Relative clauses where the head noun serves as the object in the relative clause translate into English as 'whom' as in 'the man whom the woman encouraged is a friend.' Notice that in High Valyrian the noun in the relative clause is in the nominative case.
Explanation- The man whom the woman encouraged is a friend. | |||||||||
High Valyrian: | Ābra | kustittas | lua | vala | raqiros | issa. | |||
English: | [the, a] woman | [she] encouraged | whom | [the, a] man | [a, the] friend | is. | |||
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | HEAD NOUN | MAIN CLAUSE |
This example showcases the head noun, vala as the subject of the main clause; ābra being nominative shows us that vala is now the object of the relative clause. Vala is singular, lunar, and nominative; it sets the number, gender, and case of the relative pronominal adjective, lua. Preceding lua is a verbal clause ābra kustittas, where the woman is the subject, or the one encouraging that serves as an adjective to describe vala.
Explanation- I saw the man whom the woman encouraged. | |||||||||
High Valyrian: | Ābra | kustittas | lue | vale | ūndetan. | ||||
English: | [the, a] woman | [she] encouraged | whom | [the, a] man | [I] saw. | ||||
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | HEAD NOUN | MAIN CLAUSE |
This example showcases the accusative case head noun, vale as the object of the main clause; ābra being nominative shows us that vale is also the object of the relative clause. In other words, vale was acted upon in the relative clause then is acted upon again through a second verb. Vale is singular, lunar, and accusative; it sets the number, gender, and case of the relative pronominal adjective, lue. Preceding lue is a verbal clause ābra kustittas, where the woman is the subject, or the one encouraging that serves as an adjective to describe vala.
Special Uses
Location- The house where the woman died was destroyed. | |||||||
High Valyrian: | konīr(1) | ābra | morghūltas | luon | lenton | pryjataks. | |
English: | there | [the, a] woman | [she] died | where | [the, a] house | was destroyed. | |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | HEAD NOUN | MAIN CLAUSE |
- (1) konir, that. konīr, there (loc. s.).
- (2) morghūljagon, to die (v-fin.). morghūltas, (3s. pfv. ind.).
- (3) pryjagon, to destroy (v-fin.). pryjataks, (3s. pfv. ind. pass.).
Konīr is a clue word that luon ought to be translated as 'where.' This sentence introduces the passive voice that translates usually with a form of the verb 'to be' in English; this will be covered later.
High Valyrian relative clauses can also take equative or comparative adjectives.
Comparative Adjective- The man who the woman is happier than is a friend. | |||||||||
High Valyrian: | ābra | zijosy | kirinkte(1) | issa | lua | vala | raqiros | issa. | |
English: | [the, a] woman | [with] him | happier | is | than | [the, a] man | [the, a] friend | is. | |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | HEAD NOUN | MAIN CLAUSE |
- (1) kirine, happy (adj. II). kirinkte, (comparative adj. acc.).
This example does not require zijosy, yet including it as the instrumental of comparison improves clarity.
High Valyrian relative clauses can also take prepositional or postpositional phrases; combined, these are called adpositions.
Adposition- The man that the woman walked up to is a friend. | |||||||||
High Valyrian: | ābra | va | zijot | dekurūptas(1) | lua | vala | raqiros | issa. | |
English: | [the, a] woman | to | [to, for] him | [she] walked | that | [the, a] man | [the, a] friend | is. | |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | HEAD NOUN | MAIN CLAUSE |
- (1) dekurūbagon, to walk (c-fin.). dekurūptas, (3s. pft. ind.).
This example does not require va zijot that is used to improve clarity.
Substantive Forms
Like the demonstrative pronominal adjectives that may be substantivized into a specific (I) or a generic (II) pronoun, the relative pronominal adjective may be substantivized into two pronouns as well. Thusly, the specific form lȳ generally follows the second lunar declination and the generic form līr mostly follows the fifth aquatic declination; both have irregularities. Think of the relative clause as an adjective for lȳ or līr that takes its case as any ordinary noun and may be modified with an adjective.
Lȳ, the specific or type I substantivized form, means something like 'one who, one which, whoever.'
Līr, the generic or type II substantivized form, means something like 'that which, or whatever.'
Explanation- The one who encouraged the woman is good. | |||||
High Valyrian: | Ābre | kustittas | lȳ | sȳz | issa. |
English: | [the, a] woman | [she] was encouraged | one | good | is. |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | MAIN CLAUSE |
Ābre is in the accusative case to indicate that lȳ, the one (in the nominative and modified with the adjective sȳz), is taking the action to encourage her.
Explanation- I saw the one who encouraged the woman. | ||||
High Valyrian: | Ābre | kustittas | lī | ūndetan. |
English: | [the, a] woman | [she] was encouraged | one | [I] saw. |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | MAIN CLAUSE |
Ābre is in the accusative case to indicate that lī, the one (in the accusative and the object of ūndetan), is taking the action to encourage her and 'I' saw the one.
Explanation- The one whom the woman encouraged is good. | |||||
High Valyrian: | Ābra | kustittas | lȳ | sȳz | issa. |
English: | [the, a] woman | [she] encouraged | one | good | is. |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | MAIN CLAUSE |
Ābra is in the nominative case to indicate that she is the one encouraging; lȳ is nominative because sagon accepts nominative arguments.
Explanation- I saw the one whom the woman encouraged. | ||||
High Valyrian: | Ābra | kustittas | lī | ūndetan. |
English: | [the, a] woman | [she] encouraged | one | [I] saw. |
Explanation: | RELATIVE CLAUSE | RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE | MAIN CLAUSE |
Ābra is in the nominative case to indicate that she is the one encouraging; lī is accusative to agree with the transitive verb ūndetan, which accepts accusative arguments.
Below is a table of the declinations of the substantiated relative adjectival pronoun for singular and plural number.
nom. | acc. | gen. | dat. | loc. | inst. | com. | voc. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
specific | sg. | lȳ | lī | luo | luot | lȳ | luomy | luomy | lȳs |
pl. | lī | lī | luoti | luoti | lī | luommi | luommi | lȳs | |
generic | sg. | līr | līr | lurio | luriot | līr | lurȳsi | lurȳmi | lȳs |
pl. | lura | lura | lurȳti | lurȳti | lurȳti | lurȳssi | lurȳmmi | luas |
Exercise 4
Translate into English.
Rūkluni ynot teptas lua vala bisy issa. |
This is the man who gave me some flowers. |
Qilōni pilos lue vale tolvie sēnātās! |
Kill every man who holds a whip! |
Ñuhor mālor laodis lue vale kōz idakōs! |
Attack the evil man who is stealing my rice! |
Nēdenke lī iotāpten. |
I respect one who is brave. |
Hen vīlībāzmā āmāzis lȳ kostōba issa. |
One who returns from war is strong. |
Translate into High Valyrian:
The dog that is hungry is like a wolf. |
Merbus lȳs jaos hae zoklā issa. |
The knight that is walking to the kingdom knows the truth. |
Va dāriot dekurūbas lȳs azantys drīvī gīmis. |
The knights who the wise woman guide are hunting the masters. |
Sylvie ābra jemas lȳz azantyssy āeksia arghusi. |
One who champions justice is a knight. |
Drīvot āeksākos lȳ azantys issa. |
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns do not refer to something in particular; 'something' literally is an example of one! Until this point, the paucal and collective numbers were ignored in declination tables; this is to focus attention on the singular and plural, the workhorses of the language! Each case also declines for the paucal and collective, consult the reference tables for their declinations.
There exist six important roots to learn. From these six, additional words can be derived, mostly in placing the singular in adjectival, adverbial, or paucal form:
Daor-, meaning no.
Mirr-, meaning some. Only this stem uses a collective: mirror, meaning 'whatever'.
Olv-, meaning many.
Tolv-, meaning every.
Tol-, meaning other.
Mirt-, meaning someone.
daor- | meaning | mirr- | meaning | olv- | meaning | tolv- | meaning | tol- | meaning | mirt- | meaning | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
adj. | dōre ior | none, no, not | olvie ior | many | tolvie ior | every | tolie ior | other | ||||
adv. | dōrī | never | mirrī | a bit, somewhat | olvī | a lot | tolī | excessively | ||||
sg. | daorys daorion |
no one nowhere |
mirros | something | tolvys | everyone | tolys tolion |
someone else, other (the other) thing |
mirtys | someone | ||
pauc. | daorun | nothing | mirrun | some (people) | olvȳn | many | tolvȳn | everything | ||||
loc. | daoriot | nowhere | mirriot | somewhere | tolviot | everywhere |
Examples
High Valyrian | English |
---|---|
Tolvȳn sȳri kessi. | Everything will be fine. |
Azantys tolvi iotāptes. | A knight respects everyone. |
Daoruni gīmī, Ionos Sōnaro. | You know nothing, Jon Snow. |
Exercise 5
something is in the night |
mirros bantiot issa |
everyone loves wolves |
tolvys zoklī jorrāelza |
some people are good, however, others are evil |
mirrun sȳriar issi yn tolia kōriar issi |
wear something like a helmet on your head |
mirroso hae geltē aōhys bartos jomīsās |