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Ubykh grammar

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Ubykh was a polysynthetic language with a high degree of agglutination that had an ergative-absolutive alignment.

Nouns

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Plurality

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Ubykh nouns do not mark plurality and the only case that displays plurality is the relational suffix -/nɜ/. Otherwise plurality is shown either by suppletive verb roots (e.g. /ɐkʷɨn blɜs/ 'he is in the car' vs. /ɐkʷɨn blɜʒʷɜ/ 'they are in the car') or by verb suffixes: /ɐkʲʼɜn/ ('he goes'), /ɐkʲʼɐn/ ('they go').

Definiteness

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The definite article is /ɐ/ (e.g. /ɐtɨt/ 'the man'). There is no indefinite article directly equivalent to the English a or an, but /zɜ/-(root)-/ɡʷɜrɜ/ (literally 'one'-(root)-'certain') translates French un : e.g. /zɜnɜjnʃʷɡʷɜrɜ/ ('a certain young man').

Cases

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There are two core cases and four non-core cases in Ubykh. The core cases are: relational, absolutive; the non-core cases are: adverbial, locative, instrumental, and instrumental-comitative.

Ubykh cases
singular plural
relational -/n/ -/nɜ/
absolutive -/Ø/
adverbial -/n(ɨ)/
locative -/ʁɜ/
instrumental -/ɜwn(ɨ)/
instrumental-comitative -/ɐlɜ/

Relational case

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This case displays ergative, genitive, and dative functions. It is marked with -/n/ in the singular and -/nɨ/ in the plural and is the only case that has a distinction in plurality.

/sɨtʷ

/sɨ-tʷ

1stPOSS-father.ABS

amɨzɨn

a-mɨzɨ-n

the-child-ERG

jɨbjɜqʼɜ/

Ø-jɨ-bjɜ-qʼɜ/

(s)he saw

/sɨtʷ amɨzɨn jɨbjɜqʼɜ/

/sɨ-tʷ a-mɨzɨ-n Ø-jɨ-bjɜ-qʼɜ/

1stPOSS-father.ABS the-child-ERG {(s)he saw}

"My father saw the child."

Absolutive case

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Marked with the bare root; this indicates the subject of an intransitive sentence and the direct object of a transitive sentence (e.g. /tɨt/ 'a man').

/sɨtʷ

/sɨ-tʷ

1stPOSS-father.ABS

ɐkʲʼɜqʼɜ/

ɐ-kʲʼɜ-qʼɜ/

(s)he went

/sɨtʷ ɐkʲʼɜqʼɜ/

/sɨ-tʷ ɐ-kʲʼɜ-qʼɜ/

1stPOSS-father.ABS {(s)he went}

"My father went."

Adverbial case

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This is marked with -/n(ɨ)/ and has the primary function of marking essive and translative functions of nouns.

Locative case

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Marked in -/ʁɜ/, which is the equivalent of English in, on or at.

Instrumental case

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Marked with -/ɜwn(ɨ)/ and was also treated as a case in Dumézil (1975). This is similar to "by means of" in English.

Instrumental-Comitative case

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Marked with -/ɐlɜ/ and broadly means "with".

Other suffixes

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There is also a pair of suffixes that have been noted to be synthetic datives but are not cases in their own right: -/lɐq/ ('to[wards]') and -/ʁɐfɜ/ ('for') e.g. /ɜχʲɨlɐq ɐstʷɜdɜw/ 'I will send it to the prince'.

Adjectives

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In Ubykh, adjectives do not decline in any way and are suffixed to the noun that they modify: /tʃɨbʒɨjɜ/ ('pepper') with /pɬɨ/ ('red') becomes /tʃɨbʒɨjɜpɬɨ/ ('red pepper').

Pronouns

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Free pronouns in all North-West Caucasian languages lack an ergative-absolutive distinction.[1]

Free personal pronouns
1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person
Normal Jocular
Singular Standard /s(ɨ)ʁʷɜ/ /(w(ɨ))ʁʷɜ/ /χɜʁʷɜ/ /ɐʁʷɜ/
Ali Bilaş /(s)χɜ/
Plural Standard /ʃɨʁʷɜɬɜ/ /ɕʷɨʁʷɜɬɜ/ /ɐʁʷɜɬɜ/
Tevfik Esenç /ʃɜɬɜ/ /ɕʷɜɬɜ/
Osman Güngür /ʃɨʁʷɜ/ /ɕʷɨʁʷɜ/

The "standard" pronouns are displayed along with variations that particular speakers used due to rapid speech. All speakers condemned Tevfik Esenç's usage of /ʃɜɬɜ/ and he even accepted the correction but all recordings of Tevfik contain /ʃɜɬɜ/ regardless.

Possessive

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Possessive pronouns
1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person
Normal Jocular
Singular /sɨ/- /wɨ/- /χɜ/- /ʁɜ/-
Plural /ʃɨ/- /ɕʷɨ/- /ɐʁɜ/-

Possessed nouns have their plurality marked with the affix /-ɜw-/.

/ʃɜwtʃɨ/

/ʃ(ɨ)-ɜw-tʃɨ/

1pPOSS-PL-horse

/ʃɜwtʃɨ/

/ʃ(ɨ)-ɜw-tʃɨ/

1pPOSS-PL-horse

Our horses

Verbs

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Verb Template

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The Ubykh verb template is quite complex with 26 slots for the verb.

  1. Interrogative / subordinative prefixes
  2. absolutive agreement marker or a prefixed interrogative pronoun
  3. Oblique-1 marker agreeing with slot 4
  4. Relational preverb
  5. Incorporated noun or Oblique-2 marker
  6. Local preverb
  7. /ʁɜ/- or /ɐ/-
  8. Generic preverb /lɜ/
  9. Orientational preverb /jɨ/-
  10. Ergative preverb marker
  11. Negation in the dynamic and imperfect tenses or polite imperative
  12. Causative
  13. stem
  14. Intensifying suffix
  15. Habitual aspect
  16. Iterative aspect
  17. Exhaustive aspect
  18. Excessive aspect
  19. Continual aspect
  20. Potential aspect
  21. Plural marker
  22. Tense
  23. Plural marker for dynamic past, conditional II, and stative present.
  24. Negation in all tenses except for dynamic present
  25. Affect marker
  26. Mood or converb markers
  27. Conjunctive elements

Agreement

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Oblique 1 markers are limited to marking the agreement of a noun before a relational preverb and Oblique 2 markers are used for not only marking agreement with local and directional preverbs but also the simple oblique, or dative, arguments.[1]

Pronominal Agreement Markers
Absolutive Oblique (1 and 2) Ergative
First Person sg. /s(ɨ)/- /s(ɨ)/- ~ /z/ /s(ɨ)/- ~ /z/
pl. /ʃ(ɨ)/- /ʃ(ɨ)/- ~ /ʒ/- /ʃ(ɨ)/- ~ /ʒ/-
Second Person sg. /wɨ/- /w(ɨ)/- /w(ɨ)/-
pl. /ɕʷ(ɨ)/- /ɕʷ(ɨ)/- ~ /ʑʷ(ɨ)/- /ɕʷ(ɨ)/- ~ /ʑʷ(ɨ)/-
sg. (joc., arc.) /χɜ/- /χɜ/- /χɜ/-
Third Person sg. /ɐ/-, /jɨ/-, /ɨ/-, /Ø/- /Ø/- n(ɨ)/- /Ø/-
pl. /ɐ/-, /jɨ/-, /Ø/- /ɐ/- /ɐ/-, /nɐ/-

The second-person /χɜ/- is an archaic pronoun used to indicate that the person being referred to is a female, or heckling the speaker in some way. It became extinct before the death of the language due to all of the last speakers being male.

The third person agreement markers have a fair amount of variation due to the rules it must follow.

absolutive markers
Marker Rule Example
/ɐ/- No other third person object is present in the sentence. /ɐ-qʼɜ-qʼɜ/ "(s)he said" – /ɐ-z-bjɜ-n/ "I see it"
/jɨ/- Appears when the following marker is also third person singular. /jɨ-Ø-jɜ-qʼɜ/ "X hits Y"
/ɨ/- This is a rare allophone of /jɨ/- and usually appears when the marker carries stress. /ɨ́-Ø-tʷʼɜ-qʼɜ/ "X digs Y"
/Ø/- This appears when the following marker is third person plural. /Ø-ɐ́-ʃ-tʷʼɨ-n/ "we give X to them"

The plural markers exist in the same rules as the singular rules with the exception that singular /ɐ/- can be deleted but plural /ɐ/- cannot.

Dynamic Verb Conjugation

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Dynamic Ubykh verbs are split up in two groups: Group I which contain the simple tenses and Group II which contain derived counterpart tenses. Only the Karaclar dialect uses the progressive tense and the plural is unknown.

The singular-plural distinction is used when the subject, the ergative, is singular or plural.

Square brackets indicate elided vowels; parenthesis indicate optional parts of the stem; and the colon indicates the boundary of a morpheme.[1]

verb conjugation
Group I
Singular Plural
Simple Past -/qʼɜ/ -/qʼɜ-n(ɜ)/
Mirative Past -/jtʼ/ -/jɬ(ɜ)/
Present -/n/ -/ɐ-n/
Future I -/ɜw/ -/n[ɜ]-ɜw/
Future II -/ɜw:t/ -/n[ɜ]-ɜw:t/
(Progressive) -/ɜwɨ:n/ ?
Group II
Pluperfect -/qʼɜ:jtʼ/ -/qʼɜ:jɬ(ɜ)/ ~ -/qʼɜ:nɜ:jtʼ/
Imperfect -/nɜ:jtʼ/ -/ɐ-nɜ:jɬ(ɜ)/
Conditional I -/ɜwɨ:jtʼ/ -/n[ɜ]-ɜwɨ:jɬ(ɜ)/
Conditional II -/ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ/ -/(n[ɜ]-)ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ(-n)/

Simple Past

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The verbs in the simple past tense are conjugated with -/qʼɜ/ in the singular and -/qʼɜ-n(ɜ)/ in the plural.

Examples:

  • /qʼɜ/ – to say → /ɐ-qʼɜ-qʼɜ/ (s)he said
  • /fɨ/ – to eat → /ɐ-fɨ-qʼɜ/ (s)he ate
  • /tɕʼɜ/ – to know → /ɐ-tɕʼɜ-qʼɜ/ (s)he knew
  • /kʲʼɜ/ – to go → /ɐ-kʲʼɜ-qʼɜ/ (s)he went
Plurality Person Ubykh Meaning
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-fɨ-qʼɜ/ I ate
Second-person /wɨ-fɨ-qʼɜ/ you ate
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-qʼɜ/ (s)he ate
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-qʼɜ-n(ɜ)/ we ate
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-qʼɜ-n(ɜ)/ you (all) ate
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-qʼɜ-n(ɜ)/ they ate

Mirative Past

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The verbs in the mirative past tense are conjugated with -/jtʼ/ in the singular and -/jɬ(ɜ)/ in the plural.

Examples:

  • /qʼɜ/ – to say → /ɐ-qʼɜ-jtʼ/ (s)he said apparently
  • /fɨ/ – to eat → /ɐ-fɨ-jtʼ/ (s)he ate apparently
  • /tɕʼɜ/ – to know → /ɐ-tɕʼɜ-jtʼ/ (s)he knew apparently
  • /kʲʼɜ/ – to go → /ɐ-kʲʼɜ-jtʼ/ (s)he went apparently
Plurality Person Ubykh Meaning
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-fɨ-jtʼ/ I ate apparently
Second-person /wɨ-fɨ-jtʼ/ you ate apparently
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-jtʼ/ (s)he ate apparently
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-jɬ(ɜ)/ we ate apparently
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-jɬ(ɜ)/ you (all) ate apparently
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-jɬ(ɜ)/ they ate apparently

Present

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The verbs in the present tense are conjugated with -/n/ in the singular and -/ɐ-n/ in the plural.

Examples:

  • /qʼɜ/ – to say → /ɐ-qʼɜ-n/ (s)he says
  • /fɨ/ – to eat → /ɐ-fɨ-n/ (s)he eats
  • /tɕʼɜ/ – to know → /ɐ-tɕʼɜ-n/ (s)he knows
  • /kʲʼɜ/ – to go → /ɐ-kʲʼɜ-n/ (s)he goes
Plurality Person Ubykh Meaning
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-fɨ-n/ I eat
Second-person /wɨ-fɨ-n/ you eat
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-n/ (s)he eats
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-f-ɐ-n/ we eat
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-f-ɐ-n/ you (all) eat
Third-person /ɐ-f-ɐ-n/ they eat

Future I

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The verbs in the present tense are conjugated with -/ɜw/ in the singular and -/n[ɜ]-ɜw/ in the plural. It conveys a sense of certainty, immediacy, obligation, or intentionality.

Examples:

  • /qʼɜ/ – to say → /ɐ-qʼ-ɜw/ (s)he certainly will say
  • /fɨ/ – to eat → /ɐ-f-ɜw/ (s)he certainly will eat
  • /tɕʼɜ/ – to know → /ɐ-tɕʼ-ɜw/ (s)he certainly will know
  • /kʲʼɜ/ – to go → /ɐ-kʲʼ-ɜw/ (s)he certainly will go
Plurality Person Ubykh Meaning
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-f-ɜw/ I certainly will eat
Second-person /wɨ-f-ɜw/ you certainly will eat
Third-person /ɐ-f-ɜw/ (s)he certainly will eat
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜw/ we certainly will eat
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜw/ you (all) certainly will eat
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜw/ they certainly will eat

Future II

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The verbs in the present tense are conjugated with -/ɜw:t/ in the singular and -/n[ɜ]-ɜw:t/ in the plural. It conveys a generic sense of the future as well as an exhortative sense such as: /ʃɨ-kʲʼɜ-n[ɜ]-ɜw/ (let's go!).

Examples:

  • /qʼɜ/ – to say → /ɐ-qʼ-ɜw:t/ (s)he will say
  • /fɨ/ – to eat → /ɐ-f-ɜw:t/ (s)he will eat
  • /tɕʼɜ/ – to know → /ɐ-tɕʼ-ɜw:t/ (s)he will know
  • /kʲʼɜ/ – to go → /ɐ-kʲʼ-ɜw:t/ (s)he will go
Plurality Person Ubykh Meaning
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-f-ɜw:t/ I will eat
Second-person /wɨ-f-ɜw:t/ you will eat
Third-person /ɐ-f-ɜw:t/ (s)he will eat
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜw:t/ we will eat
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜw:t/ you (all) will eat
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜw:t/ they will eat

Pluperfect

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The verbs in the present tense are conjugated with -/ɜw/ in the singular and -/n[ɜ]-ɜw/ in the plural. It conveys [TODO]

Examples:

  • /qʼɜ/ – to say → /ɐ-qʼɜ-qʼɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he had said
  • /fɨ/ – to eat → /ɐ-f-qʼɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he had eaten
  • /tɕʼɜ/ – to know → /ɐ-tɕʼɜ-qʼɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he had known
  • /kʲʼɜ/ – to go → /ɐ-kʲʼɜ-qʼɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he had gone
Plurality Person Ubykh Meaning
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-fɨ-qʼɜ:jtʼ/ I had eaten
Second-person /wɨ-fɨ-qʼɜ:jtʼ/ you had eaten
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-qʼɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he had eaten
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-qʼɜ:jɬ(ɜ)/ we had eaten
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-qʼɜ:jɬ(ɜ)/ you (all) had eaten
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-qʼɜ:jɬ(ɜ)/ they had eaten

Imperfect

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The verbs in the imperfect tense are conjugated with -/nɜ:jtʼ/ in the singular and either -/ɐ-nɜ:jɬ(ɜ)/ in the plural. It conveys a sense of

Examples:

  • /qʼɜ/ – to say → /ɐ-qʼ-nɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he was saying, (s)he used to say
  • /fɨ/ – to eat → /ɐ-f-nɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he was eating, (s)he used to eatk
  • /tɕʼɜ/ – to know → /ɐ-tɕʼ-nɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he was knowing, (s)he used to know
  • /kʲʼɜ/ – to go → /ɐ-kʲʼ-nɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he was going, (s)he used to go
Plurality Person Ubykh Meaning
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-fɨ-nɜ:jtʼ/ I was eating, I used to eat
Second-person /wɨ-fɨ-nɜ:jtʼ/ you were eating, you used to eat
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-nɜ:jtʼ/ (s)he was eating, (s)he used to eat
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-f-ɐ-nɜ:jɬ(ɜ)/ we were eating, we used to eat
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-f-ɐ-nɜ:jɬ(ɜ)/ you (all) were eating, you (all) used to eat
Third-person /ɐ-f-ɐ-nɜ:jɬ(ɜ)/ they were eating, they used to eat

Conditional I

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The verbs in the present tense are conjugated with -/ɜwɨ:jtʼ/ in the singular and -/n[ɜ]-ɜwɨ:jɬ(ɜ)/ in the plural. It conveys a sense of uncertainty but also a kind of future-in-the-past if the situation had been reversed.

Examples:

  • /qʼɜ/ – to say → /ɐ-qʼ-ɜwɨ:jtʼ/ (s)he would have said
  • /fɨ/ – to eat → /ɐ-f-ɜwɨ:jtʼ/ (s)he would have eaten
  • /tɕʼɜ/ – to know → /ɐ-tɕʼ-ɜwɨ:jtʼ/ (s)he would have known
  • /kʲʼɜ/ – to go → /ɐ-kʲʼ-ɜwɨ:jtʼ/ (s)he would have gone
Plurality Person Ubykh Meaning
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-fɨ-ɜwɨ:jtʼ/ I would have eaten
Second-person /wɨ-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜwɨ:jtʼ/ you would have eaten
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜwɨ:jtʼ/ (s)he would have eaten
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜwɨ:jɬ(ɜ)/ we would have eaten
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜwɨ:jɬ(ɜ)/ you (all) would have eaten
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-n[ɜ]-ɜwɨ:jɬ(ɜ)/ they would have eaten

Conditional II

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The verbs in the present tense are conjugated with -/ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ/ in the singular and -/(n[ɜ]-)ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ(-n)/ in the plural. It conveys a sense of certainty and intention but also a kind of future-in-the-past if the situation had been reversed.

Examples:

  • /qʼɜ/ – to say → /ɐ-qʼ-ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ/ (s)he was going to say
  • /fɨ/ – to eat → /ɐ-f-ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ/ (s)he was going to eat
  • /tɕʼɜ/ – to know → /ɐ-tɕʼ-ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ/ (s)he was going to know
  • /kʲʼɜ/ – to go → /ɐ-kʲʼ-ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ/ (s)he was going to go
Plurality Person Ubykh Meaning
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-fɨ-ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ/ I was going to eat
Second-person /wɨ-fɨ-ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ/ you were going to eat
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ/ (s)he was going to eat
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-(n[ɜ]-)ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ(-n)/ we were going to eat
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-(n[ɜ]-)ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ(-n)/ you (all) were going to eat
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-(n[ɜ]-)ɜw:tʷ:qʼɜ(-n)/ they were going to eat

Static Verb Conjugation

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In all dialects and speakers, only two static tenses exist: present and past.

Singular Plural
Present -/Ø/ -/n(ɜ)/
Past -/jtʼ/ -/jɬ(ɜ)/

Aspect

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There are five basic aspects that exist besides the aspects that exist within the Ubykh tense system. They are: habitual, iterative, exhaustive, excessive, and potential.

A few meanings covered in English by adverbs or auxiliary verbs are given in Ubykh by verb suffixes.

A speaker may combine one of these aspects with another to convey more complex aspects in conjunction with the tenses.[1]

Aspect Suffix Example with /fɨ/ ('to eat') Example with /dʑʷɜ/ ('to drink')
Ubykh English Ubykh English
habitual -/gʲɜ/ /ɐsfɨɡʲɜn/ I eat it all the time /ɐzdʑʷɜɡʲɜn/ I drink it all the time
iterative -/ɐj(ɨ)/ /ɐsfɐjɨn/ I eat it again /ɐzdʑʷɐjɨn/ I drink it again
exhaustive -/lɜ/ /ɐsfɨlɜn/ I am eating it all up /ɐzdʑʷɜlɜn/ I am drinking it all up
excessive -/tɕʷɜ/ /ɐsfɨtɕʷɜn/ I eat it too much /ɐzdʑʷɜtɕʷɜn/ I drink it too much
potential -/fɜ/ /ɐsfɨfɜn/ I can eat it /ɐzdʑʷɜfɜn/ I can drink it
example of Ubykh verbal aspects
simple habitual iterative exhaustive excessive potential
Singular First-person /s(ɨ)-fɨ-n/ /s(ɨ)-fɨ-gʲɜ-n/ /s(ɨ)-f-ɐj(ɨ)-n/ /s(ɨ)-fɨ-lɜ-n/ /s(ɨ)-fɨ-tɕʷɜ-n/ /s(ɨ)-fɨ-fɜ-n/
Second-person /wɨ-fɨ-n/ /wɨ-fɨ-gʲɜ-n/ /wɨ-f-ɐj(ɨ)-n/ /wɨ-fɨ-lɜ-n/ /wɨ-fɨ-tɕʷɜ-n/ /wɨ-fɨ-fɜ-n/
Third-person /ɐ-fɨ-n/ /ɐ-fɨ-gʲɜ-n/ /ɐ-f-ɐj(ɨ)-n/ /ɐ-fɨ-lɜ-n/ /ɐ-fɨ-tɕʷɜ-n/ /ɐ-fɨ-fɜ-n/
Plural First-person /ʃ(ɨ)-f-ɐ-n/ /ʃ(ɨ)-f-gʲ[ɜ]-ɐ-n/ /ʃ(ɨ)-f-ɐj(ɨ)-ɐ-n/ /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-l[ɜ]-ɐ-n/ /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-tɕʷ[ɜ]-ɐ-n/ /ʃ(ɨ)-fɨ-f[ɜ]-ɐ-n/
Second-person /ɕʷ(ɨ)-f-ɐ-n/ /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-gʲ[ɜ]-ɐ-n/ /ɕʷ(ɨ)-f-ɐj(ɨ)-ɐ-n/ /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-l[ɜ]-ɐ-n/ /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-tɕʷ[ɜ]-ɐ-n/ /ɕʷ(ɨ)-fɨ-f[ɜ]-ɐ-n/
Third-person /ɐ-f-ɐ-n/ /ɐ-fɨ-gʲ[ɜ]-ɐ-n/ /ɐ-f-ɐj(ɨ)-ɐ-n/ /ɐ-fɨ-l[ɜ]-ɐ-n/ /ɐ-fɨ-tɕʷ[ɜ]-ɐ-n/ /ɐ-fɨ-f[ɜ]-ɐ-n/

Mood

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There are eleven distinct moods in Ubykh: indicative; direct, polite, and emphatic imperative; potential and frustrative optative; irrealis and realis conditional; binary and complex interrogative.[1]

Indicative

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There is no marker for the indicative mood.

Imperative moods

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There are two forms of the imperative: a formal, more polite imperative and a direct, curt imperative.

Direct
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The direct imperative is usually the omission of the singular tense marker:

/wɨkʲʼɜ/

/wɨ-kʲʼɜ/

2sABS-go

/wɨkʲʼɜ/

/wɨ-kʲʼɜ/

2sABS-go

"Go!" (sg.)

Versus in the plural:

/ɕʷɨkʲʼɜn/

/ɕʷɨ-kʲʼɜ-n/

2pABS-go-PL

/ɕʷɨkʲʼɜn/

/ɕʷɨ-kʲʼɜ-n/

2pABS-go-PL

"Go!" (pl.)

Polite
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This is formed by adding a -/ɨ/ suffix to the verb root. This, however, is sometimes omitted.

Emphatic
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This is formed by adding -/mɜɕ/ to the end of an imperative verb.

Optative moods

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There are two forms of optative present: potential and frustrative optative.

Potential
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This is formed by adding a -/χ/ suffix to the verb root or /ɐχ/ after a final /ɨ/.

Frustrative
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This is formed by adding a -/dɐχ/ or -/dɜχ/.

Conditional moods

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There are realis and irrealis conditionals.

Realis
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This is marked with -/dɜ(n)/.

Irrealis
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This is marked with -/bɜ/.

Interrogative moods

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Open questions are marked with -/ɕ/ and closed questions are marked with -/j/.

Copulas of Existence

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Singular Plural Meaning
static dynamic static dynamic
/sɨ/ /w(ɨ)s/ /ʒʷɜ/ /kʲʼɜʒʷɜ/ to be in a sitting position; to be (of smaller objects)
/tʷɨ/ /w(ɨ)tʷ/ /xɜ/ /wɨxɜ/ or /kʲʼɜxɜ/ to be in a standing position; to be (of larger objects)
/ʁɨ/ /wʁʷɜ/ /ʁʲɜ/ to be suspended, to be handing
/ɬɨ/ /wɨɬ/ /ɬɜ/ /kʲʼɜɬɜ/ to be lying

Converbs

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Ubykh has a liberal usage of converbs to convey complex sentences.

Converb Meaning
/ɡʲɨ/ ~ /j(ɨ)/ Momentary action with the primary verb.
/ɕɜ/ Ongoing or continuing action with the primary verb.
/msɜ/ Similar to /ɕɜ/ but implies that the verb is continuing or prolonged in nature.
/ɡʲɨmsɜ/ ~ /j(ɨ)msɜ/ Instrumental-like connotations such as 'by means of'.
/ʃɜ/ Exclusively used with /ʁʷɜ/ ('to want') to mark that the verb is what is wanted.
/n(ɨ)/ ~ /n(ɜʁʷɜdɜ(n)/ Similar to the absolutive marker and has a sense of "X and then Y". Verbs are usually not marked with a tense when this is used.
/mɜ/ Forms a conditional or slight imperative force. Usually accompanies with Future I and Future II tenses.
/tɐlɜ/ Always accompanies Future I. Extremely rare so its nuance isn't known.
/ɐdʷɜn/ Has a sense of goal and implies that the verb it marks is required but the task was unfulfilled and has been completed.


References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Fenwick, R. S. H. (2011). A Grammar of Ubykh. Munich: Lincom Europa.