14.0 noun phrases
Nouns (or Noun Phrases)
serve as arguments (S) of intransitive constructions.
Nouns, 3rd person pronouns and demonstratives in these
constructions take the Absolutive
case.
i dais ergabdhel életh
The tiger pounced.
i tais -0 ergabdhel eleth.
S=AGT :ABSOL .
the tiger pounce did .
1st and 2nd
person pronouns take the Nominative.
en derîel murmarth
she is sleeping.
(ellieth) en deriel -0 murmarth.
S :NOM .
(is ) she sleeping.
Nouns (or Noun Phrases) serve as arguments (A/P)
of transitive constructions. Nouns,
3rd person pronouns and demonstratives in A-function
take the Ergative case.
ir adanisse eliras im mastmar ervathîel
The boy is eating soup.
ir adanis -e eliras im mastmear ervathîel.
A :ERG .
the boy is soup eat .
1st and 2nd
person pronouns in A-function take
the Nominative case.
alan életh áni dais erechöiron
He killed the tiger.
alan -0 eleth ani tais erechoiron.
A :NOM .
He did the tiger kill .
Nouns, 3rd person pronouns and demonstratives
in P-function take the Absolutive
case.
ir adanisse eliras im mastmar ervathîel
The boy is eating soup.
ir adanisse eliras im mastmear -0 ervathîel.
P :ABSOL .
the boy is soup eat .
1st and 2nd person pronouns in P-function
take the Accusative case.
i rîellisse életh an alanin erthendelon
The girl kissed him.
i riellisse eleth an alan -in erthendelon.
P :ACCUS .
the girl did him kiss .
Nouns (or Noun Phrases)
serve as arguments (A/P/Obl) of
ditransitive constructions. Nouns,
3rd person pronouns and demonstratives in A-function
take the Ergative case.
Nouns, 3rd person pronouns and demonstratives in P-function
take the Absolutive case.
i galdránne életh anir isilduran erhiron narnen
Galdor told Isildur a story.
i galdran -e eleth anir isilduran -0 erhiron narnen .
A :ERG P :ABSOL Obl .
Galdor did Isildur tell story .
1st and 2nd
person pronouns in A-function take
the Nominative case.
1st and 2nd person pronouns in P-function
take the Accusative case.
alan életh an nerin erhiron narnen
He told me a story.
alan -0 eleth an ner -in erhiron narnen .
A :NOM P :ACCUS Obl .
he did me tell story .
Nouns and pronouns in Oblique
function use one of the oblique
cases.
Note that this is the canonical form for all ditransitive
verbs, (i.e A=AGT/P=PAT/Obl=REF). Unlike
English, the verb must undergo a voice transformation (see Applicative Voice)
for the following:
alan narn ertholhirîen an neren életh
He told a story to me.
alan narn er- tol- hirien an neren eleth.
A=AGT P=REF APPL: Obl=PAT .
he story tell me did .
Nouns also function as predicates. ámman îar expresses predicate nominals using the comitative case
and the verb atho (literally to
attach, join, connect).
alan mina cosnarras athas
He is a warrior
(literally ?He is connected with warrior?)
alan mina cosnar -as atho -as .
:COM :PRES.
he one of warrior with connected is .
Predicate nominals may be either inclusive or equative.
ir aldran mina tûitnarras athas
Aldur is a farmer
ir aldran mina tûitnar -as atho -as .
:COM :PRES.
Aldur one of farmer with connected is .
ir aldran virner adrannas athas
Aldur is my father
ir aldran virner adran -as atho -as .
:COM :PRES.
Aldur my father with connected is .
In ámman îar,
predication in relation to place can be expressed without a verb. It is sufficient to use an adverbial noun with one of the locative cases.
mardar nerrîon i garassîar
My house is in the town.
mardar nerrîon i caras -iar .
:ADESS.
house mine the town in .
NOTE: In the absence of a verb, negative predication is expressed by preceeding
the noun or pronoun taking the Locative case with the negative particle or.
mardar nerrîon ori garassîar
My house is not in the town.
mardar nerrîon or- i caras -iar .
NEG: :ADESS.
house mine not the town in .
These are optional constructions that are used only
rarely to make specific semantic distinctions that may not be clear from the
context. These constructions are
often called possessives, but this label is surely inaccurate.
Only a fraction of genitive constructions in ámman îar actually
express possessive relationships. There
are six distinct genitive constructions in ámman îar.
| |
Semantics |
Example |
| Possessive |
Describes an alienable possession relationship |
vir'authnar megil
warrior's sword |
| Inalienable Possessive |
Describes a permanent possession relationship |
cem i vardilan
Mardil's hands |
| Subject Genitive |
Describes a subject-like relationship |
narn ir ægnorannîon
Ægnor's
story
|
| Object Genitive |
Describes an object-like relationship |
ordagar i garasso
the city's destruction |
| Partitive |
Describes a part/whole relationship |
tilig i balagûo
the table's legs
|
| Measure Genitive |
Describes a measurement relationship |
andar i rathîo
the road's length |
Note: See the section on Associative Determiners for alternative
periphrastic expressions.
Note that because of these specialized genitive forms, no
ambiguity exists in the following examples:
vir'luthîel lorndel
Luthiel's picture
(Luthiel owns the picture)
lorndel i luthîel
Luthiel's picture
(a picture of Luthiel)
lorndel i luthîellîon
Luthiel's picture
(Luthiel drew the picture)
Possessive genitive constructions describe an alienable,
i.e. impermanent possessive relationship. It
is formed using a contracted form of the genitive determiner.
vir'ægnoran carsis orvaleg aras
Ægnor's village is poor.
vir'(alan) ægnoran carsis orvaleg aras.
GENPOSS: .
his Ægnor village poor is .
Inalienable possessive
genitive constructions describe an inalienable, i.e. permanent possessive
relationship. It is formed by
juxtaposing the two nouns. This
formation is most used with body parts and kinship terms.
en cem i vardilan taldarth cöirvarîas onta
Mardil's hands were covered in blood
en cem i vardilan taldarth coirvearias onta.
hands Mardil's covered with blood over.
Subject genitive constructions describe a relationship
that is rather like the relationship of subject to predicate, e.g. Ægnor's
story = Ægnor told
a story.
It is formed by using the simple genitive case -îon.
életh eni nithnair narnen ir ægnorannîon lauilîar
The children listened to Ægnor's story
eleth eni nithnair narnen ir ægnoran -ion lauiliar.
:Gen .
did the children to story Ægnor 's listen .
Object genitive
constructions describe a relationship that is rather like the relationship of a
direct object of the predicate, e.g. The
city's destruction = Something
destroyed the city. It is
formed using the special genitive in
-o.
ordagar i garasso omron areth
The city's destruction was total.
ordagar i caras -o omron areth.
:ObjGen .
destruction the city 's total was .
Partitive genitive
constructions describe a part/whole relationship. It is formed by infixing -û-
before the special genitive inflection.
tilig i balagûo ordag areth
The table's legs were loose.
tilig i balag -u -o ordag areth.
:Part :GEN .
legs the table 's loose were .
Measure genitive constructions describe a measurement
relationship. In these
relationships, the measurement term is the head noun and the entity being
measured takes the genitive inflection. It
is formed by infixing -î- before
the special genitive inflection.
andar i rathîo
The length of the road.
andar i rath -i -o .
:MEAS :GEN.
length the road 's .
Note: The English gloss in the above example uses a
periphrastic expression rather than the inflected genitive. This is because English favors the periphrastic genitive when the noun
being modified is inanimate. Unlike
English, ámman
îar favors the inflected genitive in all cases.
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