Verbs

Verbs in Adorish are conjugated in the following order:

-          complementizers  (if present)

-          stem

-          aspect (primary ending)

-          mood (secondary ending)

-          reflexive markers

-          passive marker

-          negation.

Primary Endings

In Adorish, the Xynoric tense system became a full aspect system denoting some mood as well. Two continuous aspects emerged, one which marks stative verbs, and another which marks dynamic verbs:

-          * The desiredative is used to denote any irrealis or realis actions that are desired.

Standard usage  

Perfective and Imperfective

The perfective aspect denotes actions that occur within a specific point of reference. So in this sentence: 

jaco chêz-Ø

Jacob-Abs. Eat-Pfv.Inch. 

“Jacob is eating (now)” 

jaco chêz-ô

Jacob-Abs. Eat-Pfv.Ces. 

“Jacob ate” 

The verb is perfective because the action is occurring in one point of reference. However in the imperfective: 

jaco chêz-ve

Jacob-Abs. Eat-Ipfv.Inch.

“Jacob is eating (for a while)” 

The action has been stretched over a longer period of time than the point of reference. 

The imperfective can also denote the action occurred in one point of reference and has effect for another point of reference: 

jaco praen-îo chêz-ôpe

Jacob-Abs. Hour-Dat.  Eat-Ipfv.Ces.

“Jacob has just been eating for hours” 

Cessative and Inchoative

The cessative and Inchoative state whether the action has been completed at the point of reference. For the cessative:

pa-n nael ca-ô

1S-Erg. Nile-Abs. Swim-Pfv.Ces.

“I have swam through the Nile” 

It indicates an action completed at the point of reference. For an Inchoative sentence:

pa-n nael á-sp-o cáo-ve

1S-Erg. Nile-Abs. Tem.-Dis.-Dat. Swim-Ipfv.Inch.

“I am swimming through the Nile until later”

The action is incomplete by the point of reference.

Habitual 

In the Imperfect, the Habitual denotes actions that occur regularly. When in the Perfective, it denotes actions which are not habit anymore.

tón-o tzáerro lón-so

Tom-Erg. Water-Abs. Drink-Hab.Inch.

“Tom drinks water (often)”

tón-o tzáerro lón-ôs

Tom-Erg. Water-Abs. Drink-Hab.Inch.

“Tom drinks water (often)”

Desiderative

The desiderative denotes that the action or state of being is wished by the subject. There are two markings: one for perfective and another for the imperfective:

jo-n vo u-dós-vae

1P-Erg 2S-Abs. Non.-Die-Pfv.Des.

“We wanted you dead once”

Dialectal Usage 

Continuous

In some dialects of Adorish, the continuous aspect marks any action that is either ongoing during the point of reference. There are two continuous markings: one for states of being and another for actions.

Adorish can attach the dynamic form on stative verbs to denote the state is new or recent:

eós zio-Ø

3SI-Abs. Know-Sta.Con.

“It knows / It is aware”

eós zío-ve

3SI-Abs. Know-Dyn.Con.

“It is learning”

For dynamic verbs, only the dynamic continuous is used to denote present actions or actions that were ongoing during the point of reference:

is chêz-ve

3SA-Abs. Eat-Dyn.Con.

These endings correspond to the Perfective Inchoative and Imperfective Inchoative. 

Conditional

Adorish’s conditional stemmed from the Xynorese future imperfecive,, which denotes actions which will be incomplete in the future:

uóno malácto harsránse ~ Xynorese: “You will being spotting Malakto”

In Greater Cathorn (300-400 XR), the meaning of the Imperfective tenses changed to meaning a past tense, causing the pluperfect to be dropped in some dialects. 

In Halburan and most northern varieties of Adorish, Since the future cessative could not mean both actions in the future and past, it was reinterpreted to mean an action in the past the speaker wishes he did. By the 1100s, this had shifted to become a conditional.

vo-n Malâcto jar-sânê

2S-Erg. Malakto-Abs. See-Con.

“You would see Malakto” 

In Standard usage, the conditional suffix is used as a desiderative habitual:

 vo-n Malâcto jar-sânê

2S-Erg. Malakto-Abs. See-Hab.Des

“You want to be seeing Malakto (more often)”

Secondary Endings

These endings encode a lot of irrealis functions. The subjunctive and potential are used heavily to denote evidentiality, with the potential denoting indirect events, and the subjunctive denoting potential events (events the speaker is not sure of).

Indicative

The mood is used for affirming what has been reported is factual without any nuance. In some dialects, it is marked with the suffix -ae/â.

pa chê-sso / pa ché-sso-â

1S-Abs. Eat-Hab.Ces.-Ind

“I eat”

The use of -ae/â is only standard for the indicative in Halburo and the northern regions of Adoran. It has seeped into colloquial speech around Telcon as a gnomic marker.

Subjunctive

Adorish subjunctives denote any action or state of being, whose affirmation of existence is plasuible but not believed to be have happened:

frô cáo-so-zo 

3PA-Abs. Swim-Ces.-Sub.

“They may swim” (Implication: it is not likely)

Imperative

The imperative denotes commands, warnings, or orders. The subject is always retained and any grammatical person can be used:

von is já-ô-vac

2S-Erg. 3SA-Abs. Kill-Pfv.Ces.-Inch.

“Kill him!”

In slang speech, because commands usually have not occurred when said, it takes double meaning as a future tense, however this usage is seen as pejorative.

Combined with the desiderative in formal speech, the sentence becomes a humble request:

von is ja-vae-vac

2S-Erg. 3SA-Abs. Kill-Des.Ces.-Inch.

“May you kill him”

Note that this usage is becoming antiquated.

Potential

Potential markings denote the action or state being plausible and likely, but not confirmed to be fact:

frô cáo-so-gê

3PA-Abs. Swim-Ces.-Sub.

“They likely swim (often)”

It also combined with evidential adverb dylêsfa (lit: “heard myself”) to report indirect speech:

frô-n Cazórnos dylêsfa daes-ô-gê-ye

3PA-Erg. Cathorn-Coll.-Abs. Ind. Call-Pfv.Ces.-Pot.-Pas.

“I heard they were likely called Cathornians”

There is also the presumptive adverb aédesfa used to form assumptions.

frô-n Cazórnos aédesfa daes-ô-gê-ye

3PA-Erg. Cathorn-Coll.-Abs. Pres. Call-Pfv.Ces.-Pot.-Pas.

“I think they were likely called Cathornians”

Interrogative

This mood was attached to verbs to make sentences into questions:

fanégol uyáj-aes chêz-ô-lô-e

 (Sweet Pie)-Abs. Berry-Gen. Eat-Pfv.Ces.-Int.-Pas.

“Has the berry pie been eaten?”

It is always used with interrogative pronouns when needed.

Jussive

The jussive in Adorish denotes any state of being that is recommended, advised, or believed to be necessary:

jo-n nay-ál ílma-ô-nin

1P-Erg Many-Comp. Take-Pfv.Ces.-Jus.

“We must have more”

Irregular verbs

There are some verbs that take -sâ instead of -vae for the desiderative perfective. They are:

-          chêz- “to eat” (chêzâ)

-          pre- “to walk” (presâ)

-          tréf- “to meet” (trésâ)

-          toe- “to want” (toesâ)

-          ílmao- “to take” (ilmáosâ)

Passive voice

The passive voice is an unusual feature of the Acorian language group as a whole because back in Proto-Acor-Valian, the agent and patient can be marked using the ergative and absolutive respectively. Under Acorian grammar rules, if one was to look at the English sentence “you are seen by me”, they will presume the phrase by me contains the agent as it performs the action.

It is most likely that the passive came about through contact with the Arvonith language family which did not have a ergative-absolutive alingment and had different conjugations for the active and passive.

To turn a subject into the patient, add the suffix -e/ye to the verb which makes the verb passive (and intransitive) and the subject absolutive if not already. This voice can be combined with reflexive markers.

Reflexive and Causative voice

Reflexive markers denote the subject performing an action or state of being upon itself:

pa-n vuché-ô-s 

1S-Erg. Wash-Pfv.Ces.-1S.

“I washed myself”

To create a causative mood, you use the reflexive marker that matches the causative patient and encode the subject in the instrumental case. If the causative patient is a noun, then the case must be absolutive and rendered as a 3rd person reflexive marker.

-          Note: the “him” in “I made him cook the apples,” is what I refer to as the causative patient.

For causatives involving third person objects and subjects that are different entities, the reflexive suffix -ej is used.

For a causative involving a subject and object that are the same entity, the adverb réfla (or réflan in the northern and eastern dialects) is sometimes added:

pa-n zé-gáerca réfla parôspe-so-s

1S-Erg. 1S.-Hand-Abs. Reflx. Wash-Ces.-1S.

“I made myself wash my hands.”

Negation

The negative suffix -rî is an extremely versatile suffix in Adorish. It can be:

-          Attached on verbs for negation: pa zíoverî “I don’t know”.

-          Attached on comparative and superlative adjectives to denote inferiority: uevîrî “least biggest”.

-          Attached on objects if the verb is a copula: pa nôrrî már “I am not a god”

-          Was used for deriving some prepositions and verbs in Old Adorish: vaerî- “to remain”.

Complimentizers

These make up the bulk of linking clauses in Adorish, which is why they have expanded in size compared to other Acorian languages. Unlike other Acorian languages, complementizers  are not just used with the non-finite verb.

This feature is quite recent but has gained attraction in that more information can be conveyed with it:

pa-n sôr-ô eós prô-jár-ô

1S-Erg. Come-Ret. 3I Seq.-See-Pfv.Ces.

“I had just arrived and then I saw it”

They can also be used with non-finite form but these clauses must go before the object of the main clause and not have a subject (not even if the subject pronoun is present).

pa n-â-bar v-ô tzói-so mar-Ø

1S-Abs. Rel.-Non.-(Swear-allegiance) 2S-Dat. Woman-Abs. Cop.-Pfv.Inch.

“I am the woman that loves you”

Here is some description on how they work:

-          Equative complementizer equates the action or state of being to another.

-          The imperfective, perfective, and sequential convey temporal information about when the next clause occured. In a few minor dialects, the perfective and sequential are used as past and future tenses.

-          The conditional complementizer on the dependent verb often pairs with a conditional main clause. It conveys no temporal and spatial information about the conditional action or state of being, so it often gets paired with the the nouns pronê “position” and tzoenê “time”.

-          The conditional complementizer indicates that the verb is the condition. The verb in the other clause is always presumed to be the result.

-          The causal, purposive, and concessive indicate different forms of subordination: Casual indicates cause; Purposive indicates result, purpose, or motivation; and concessive indicates counterargument to a statement.

-          These complementizers  do not indicate whether the dependent clause is coordinating or subordinating. That is conveyed by word order.

-          The complementizer na- is used for all forms of attribution.  

In literature and some dialects, the sequential can be combined with eóspamiz to create the meaning “therefore …”

Non-finite-form

The non-finite form can act as a verbal participle:

â-lcynae tuncrô

Non.-Overflow River-Abs.

“The overflowing river”

But it can also be used for the infinitive (a non-finite verb that does not act like an adjective):

pa frózcae yája e-chêz

1S-Abs. Like-Sta.Con. Fruit-Abs. Non.-Eat

“I like to eat fruits”

The non-finite form cannot be paired with any primary endings. It is a single-vowel prefix that matches the first vowel of the stem, like so: