Karaam - NP: syntax

[Ares Land]

Absolutive verbs

A handful of absolutive verbs only take the object prefixes, agreeing with the subject:

• qam 'wash, bathe' → saqam 'I wash', riqam 'you wash', teqam 'he washes'.
• bater 'move' → sabater 'I move', ribater 'you move', tebater 'he moves'.
• ribaum 'rise' → sabaum 'I rise', etc.
• darum 'leave' → sadarum 'I left', etc.

This includes some verbs of motion, and prototypically reflexive actions. (When the action is not inherently reflexive, though, both subject and object prefixes are used: he-s-dahoh 'I fought myself')

There is neither a passive, nor an antipassive; but the optative, deontic and potential can be formed regularly.

[Ares Land]

Reintroducing verbal arguments.

Passive; deontic.

Starting from a verb in the passive, you can reintroduce the agent by indexing it with a possessive prefix:

aṭah Moggagwis → šauaṭah Moggagwis Reggakusas

aṭah

PASS\write

Moggagwis

Mannamis

→

šauaṭah

3.POSS-PASS\write

Moggagwis

Mannamis

Reggakusas

Reggakusas

[/i]
'The Mannamis was written' → 'The Mannamis was written by Reggakusas.'

The possessive prefix is placed after the subject prefix, if any:
hešaukamon mgwaug

hešaukamon

1-3.POSS-PASS\command

mgwaug

governor

'I'm commanded by the governor.'

The use of the possessive as marking the agent will feel more logical if you think of the possible translations: 'The Mannamis is Reggakusas' written work'; 'I'm the governor's subordinate.'

The same construction can be used with the deontic:
runaqen

ru-na-qen

2.POSS-DEON\fix

'You have to fix it.'

Again, think of 'This is yours to fix.'

Antipassive, potential

Starting from the antipassive, the patient can be reintroduced with a possessive prefix:

hemgwaug → hešaumgwaug boheal

he-mgwaug

1-ANTIP\command

→

he-mgwaug

1-3.POSS-ANTIP\command

boham

soldier\PL

'I command' → 'I command the soldiers' (think 'I'm their commander.')

The same can be done with the potential:

šiṭboqen

ši-ṭ-boqen

2.SBJ-CL.3-POT-fix

'You can fix this.' (~'You're the fixer of this.')

There's no distinction between possessive and object prefixes for inanimates -- the class marker is used, just the same as with 'regular' objects.

Intransitives

This can't be done to introduce another argument to intransitives, even to A-form intransitives. For that you want the causative -- which we'll see later.

With noun incorporation

You can reintroduce a patient to verbs with an incorporated nominal by indexing it with the possessive prefix:

hešaušeḫḫuran muqaur

he-t-šeḫḫ-uran

1.SBJ-3.POSS-deer-hunt

muqaur

beast

'I hunt that beast of a deer.' ('~I'm the deer hunter of that beast.')

hešaušeḫḫuran homam

he-šau-šeḫḫ-uran

1.SBJ-3.POSS-deer-hunt

homeh

enemy\PL

'I hunt the enemy like deer.' ('~I'm the deer hunter of the enemy.')

daušaunkwogwar šukar

dau-šaun-kwogwar

CL8-incense-propitiate

šukar

tobacco(CL8)

'She/he burns tobacco as incense' (~'She's an incense-burner of tobacco')

Absolutive verbs

With absolutive verbs, the possessive prefix can reintroduce an agent, forming a causative.
The possessive is placed before the object marker (and the object marker will be reduced to the short form as needed):

riqam → saurqam

ri-qam

2.OBJ-wash

→

sau-r-qam

1.POSS-2.OBJ-wash

'You wash' → 'I wash you.'

ṭahbater → ruṭbater

ṭah-bater

CL.3-move

→

ru-ṭ-bater

2.POSS-CL.3-move

'It moves.' → 'You move it / You make it move.'

[Rounin Ryuuji]

So, any extant poetry (with notes on elements of poetical or literary composition)?

[Ares Land]

There's a lot of poetry, some religious, some popular. Karaam poetry is still read, and sung.
Tarandim music is big on flutes and percussion, especially metallophones. (I think it would sort of sound like gamelan.)

Unfortunately, I'm entirely unable to compose any music and I'm really bad at poetry too!

Much of Karaam poetry is are attributed to the semi-mythical king Ho Hoqar Qwen Greghom. The most common meter is the heptameter. Poetry relies on rythm -- plenty of dactyls and trochees, with some use of allitération and rhyme. I think it'd be quite similar to English free verse, really.

In any case, I need sample texts so, hey, thanks for the idea!

This one is not attributed to Ho Hoqar Qwen Greghom -- it postdates him by at least two generations -- but to Šesqsakkah, a priestess (semi-legendary as well.)

Širai Ṭaqsal, i Taqsal
Qenqal beṭsbi šumam
Qag pe qebugs babam
E hosṭmen tešogwen,

Širai Ṭaqsal, i Taqsal
Qwege horšeh e moham,
Qag he pe gaihs hoṭam
E hostman tešogwan

Širai Ṭaqsal, i Taqsal
Rukusar daudonqo
Ruḫun kqag qarfgas
Rišogwon e hosṭmon

širai

over.there

Taqs-al

Taqes-LOC

i

here

Taqs-al

Taqes-LOC

qenqal

ash-LOC

beṭsbi

heir\PL

šumam

successor\PL

qag

there.is

pe

not

qebug-s

home-COM

babam

child\PL

e

and

hosṭm-en

sing-PRS.PL

te-šogw-en

3.OBJ-rejoice-PRS.PL

širai

over.there

Taqs-al

Taqes-LOC

i

here

Taqs-al

Taqes-LOC

qweg-e

king-PL

horšeh

elder\PL

moham

king\PL

qag

there.is

he

that

pe

not

gaih-s

4-tooth-COM

hoṭam

laugh

e

and

hosṭm-an

sing-PRS.SG

tešogw-an

3.OBJ-rejoice-PRS.SG

širai

over.there

Taqs-al

Taqes-LOC

i

here

Taqs-al

Taqes-LOC

ru-kusar

2.POSS-entrails(CL8)

dau-don-qo

CL8-live-CAUS

ruḫun

burn

kqag

world

qarfg-as

PASS\rebirth-FUT

ri-šogw-on

2.OBJ-rejoice-PRS.IMP

e

and

hosṭm-on

sing-PRS.IMP

"Over in Ṭaqes, here in Ṭaqes.
The heirs, the successors are in the ashes.
They are orphaned children.
And they sing, they rejoice

Over in Ṭaqes, here in Ṭaqes,
There are kings, lords and princes.
That one has no teeth
And he sings, he rejoices.

Over in Taqes, here in Ṭaqes,
Give life to your entrails.
The world burns, it shall be reborn
Rejoice and sing."


This is probably easier to understand with some cultural context:Taqes, the mightiest city-state in its day, was destroyed ca. 1750 by a rival city state. It understandably felt like the end of the world at the time.
The Tarandim, though, have a cyclical view of time; qarfig 'rebirth' also refers to the cycle of seasons; the feeling here is one of confidence that the world will be restored.

[Ares Land]

Oh, you can listen to the poem here so you can hear what Karaam sounds like.


(I'm not doing that again. I don't know how I managed, but everything about the language is unpronounceable for a French speaker; and that's not counting the ejectives.)

[Rounin Ryuuji]

That's pretty cool. I admit I never thought of making a language I couldn't reasonably pronounce.

The rhythm of the thing is interesting, and it has quite a percussive sound to it. Overall, the language seems like it's probably good for chanting in that sort of way, if that makes any sense.

[Ares Land]

Tense and aspect

We will use here the following verbs as examples, each representing the most important classes:

• kumon 'to command' -- last vowel o, consonant ending
• eṭah 'to write' -- last vowel a, ending in -h
• hešu 'to close' -- last vowel u, disyllabic
• ɓendes 'to put' -- last vowel e, consonant ending
• keggwis 'to sift' -- last vowel i, consonant ending
• ðeri 'to like, to prefer' -- last vowel i, vowel ending
• ribe 'to claim, to stake a claim on' -- last vowel e, vowel ending
• šog 'to sleep' -- monosyllabic

We've listed these in the infitive, adding the subject (and object, for transitives) prefixes forms the past tense:

The past tense

• hetkumon 'I commanded them'
• heṭeṭah 'I wrote it.'
• heṭhešu 'I closed it'
• heṭɓendes 'I put it.'
• heṭkeggwis 'I sifted it.'
• heṭðeri 'I liked it.'
• heṭribe 'I claimed it'
• hešog 'I sleep'

For polsyllabes, the dual is formed by changing the last vowel to -i, and the plural by changing the last vowel to -e:

• hetkumin 'we both commanded them' hetkumen 'we commanded them'
• heṭeṭih 'we both wrote it.', heṭeṭeh 'we wrote i'
• heṭheši 'We both closed it', heṭheše 'we closed it.'

When the last vowel is i or e, the dual and plural merge: switch -i for -e, and -e for -i for the Dual/Plural:

• heṭɓendis Dual and plural 'we put it'
• heṭkeggwes Dual and plural: 'we sifted it.'
• heṭðere 'We liked it'
• heṭribi 'We claimed it.'

Finally, with monosyllabic verbs, the dual is marked with a suffix -e, and the plural with -i:

• hešogi 'we both slept', hešoge 'we slept.'

Usage

In the active voice, this is simply a past tense. There is no sense of imperfective or perfective aspect:
heṭeṭah 'I wrote it' or 'I was writing it.'

In the passive, however, this form is perfective, with no sense of tense:
[î]aṭah[/i] 'It was written' or 'It is written.

In the antipassive, the meaning is habitual:
hiṭah 'I write, I'm a writer.'

The optative, deontic and potential are not marked in terms of tense or aspect: heṭiṭah 'I want/wanted to write it', anṭah 'It must / It had to be written'; hoṭah 'he can, could write.'

[Ares Land]

The imperfective

The imperfective is formed in the following manner:

Verbs ending in a consonant other than -h, or -r
For polysyllabic verbs, the last vowel is deleted, and the following suffixes are added:

• Singular -in
• Dual -im
• Plural -en

For monosyllabic verbs, the suffixes are added without vowel deletion.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-in	he-t-kumn-im	he-t-kumn-en
ɓendes	he-ṭ-ɓends-in	heṭ-ɓends-im	heṭ-ɓends-en
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggws-in	he-ṭ-keggws-im	he-ṭ-keggws-en
šog	he-šog-in	he-šog-im	he-šog-en

Verbs ending in a vowel

When the verb ends in a vowel, the imperfective singular is formed by adding the suffix -n.

The dual and plural are formed by deleting the last vowel, and adding the suffix -im (dual) or -en (plural)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
hešu	he-ṭ-hešu-n	he-ṭ-kumn-im	he-ṭ-kumn-en
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðeri-n	heṭ-ðer-im	heṭ-ðer-en
ribe	he-ṭ-ribe-n	he-ṭ-rib-im	he-ṭ-rib-en

Verbs in -h or -r

If the verb ends in -h or -r:

• The singular is formed by removing the last vowel, replacing the final -r/-h by the vowel -a-, and suffixing -n
• The dual is formed by removing the vowel, replacing the consonant by -a- and suffixing -im.
• The plural is formed by removing the last vowel and suffixing -en.

In monosyllables, the same rules apply, but no vowel is deleted.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭa-an	he-ṭ-eṭa-im	he-ṭ-eṭh-en
pogwer 'to shoot'	he-ṭ-pogwa-n	heṭ-pogwa-im	heṭ-pogwr-en
qwor 'to rise'	he-qwoa-n	he-qwoa-im	he-qwor-en

Usage

In the active voice it is essentially a present imperfective:
heteṭaan 'I'm writing it.'

It can be used in contrast with a past tense, to mark an ongoing action (present) at the time of the narrative (past tense):

Šaa-he-Aqean tesisqon heṭe Bagag-U qennes.

Šaa-he-Aqean

Aqean.fountain

te-sisqo-n

3.OBJ-hold.council-IPFV

heṭe

then

Bagag-U

many.flies-HON

qennes

arrive

'The Aqean Fountain was holding her council when Lord Many Flies arrived.'

The passive is a straightforward imperfective, with no indication of tense:

aṭa-an 'it is being written, it was being written.'

The imperfective is rarely used in the other voices. When it occurs, the meaning is essentially intensive:

šaṭos tankwgwaan

šaṭos

male.goat

tan-kwgwa-an

DEONT\APPL-sacrifice-IPFV

'The goat must be sacrificed'

Hemehs-a ɓoḫ ridobogwain

Hemehs-a

Hemehs-VOC

ɓoḫ

storm(CL9)

ri-do-bo-gwai-n

2.SBJ-(CL9)-POT-bring-IPFV

'O Hemehs, you do have the power to bring the storm.'

Ḫogqweg Šorsaṭam, gwem teqehkaun

ḫog-qweg

evil-king

Šorsaṭam

Šorsaṭam

gwem

people

šauqehkaun

3.POSS-ANTIP\deprive-IPFV

'Šorsaṭam was an evil king, he was a great depriver of the people.'

[Ares Land]

The perfect

The perfect is easier to form. The last vowel is deleted, and the following suffixes are added:

• Singular -ah
• Dual -ih
• Plural -eh

Again, there is no vowel deletion in monosyllables - but the suffixes are the same.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-ah	he-t-kumn-ih	he-t-kumn-eh
ɓendes	he-ṭ-ɓends-ah	heṭ-ɓends-ih	heṭ-ɓends-eh
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggws-ah	he-ṭ-keggws-ih	he-ṭ-keggws-eh
šog	he-šog-ah	he-šog-ih	he-šog-eh
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-ah	he-ṭ-heš-ih	he-ṭ-kumn-eh
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-ah	heṭ-ðer-ih	heṭ-ðer-eh
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-ah	he-ṭ-rib-ih	he-ṭ-rib-eh
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-ah	he-ṭ-eṭh-ih	he-ṭ-eṭh-eh
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogw-ah	heṭ-pogwa-ih	heṭ-pogwr-eh
qwor	he-qwor-ah	he-qwor-ih	he-qwor-eh

Usage

Usage is more difficult. Modern readers, speakers and writers of Karaam tend to interpret it according to their own categories, which may not correspond to what was the native usage.
The real issue, though, is that usage in the Mannamis and contemporary texts feels random and inconsistent. Generally, theologians attribute to these metaphysical interpretations (or, not uncommonly, warn against undue metaphysical interpreation!)

The most likely explanation is that the meaning of the perfect evolved over time; the Mannamis preserved (notably in hymns and prayers) earlier usages of the perfect.

The perfect was, originally, a perfective: it indicated completed action, seen as a whole:

Qean-a he kqag šiṭqerfgah!

qean-a

heaven-VOC

he

that

kqag

world

ri-ṭ-qerfg-ah

2.SBJ-CL3-revive-PRF

'O Heaven who recreated the world!'

Ḫimeh ṭahhesrah.

ḫimeh

young

ṭah-hesr-ah

CL3-prophetize-PRF

'A young man prophetized.'

Later meaning shifted to a perfect, not unlike the English perfect:

Heṭeah ṭahig ruḫin gammi e mader

he-ṭe-ah

1.SBJ-cry-PRF

ṭahig

since

ruḫin

burn\PL

gammi

palace\PL

e

and

ma-der

temple-PL

'I have been crying since the palaces and the temples burned.'

It is also used, in combination with the past tense, to express anterior action:

Bagag-U šogah e šaušosdaur dauguorkau Irukah

Bagag-U

many.flies-HON

šog-ah

sleep-PRF

e

and

šau-šosdaur

3.POSS-house(CL8)

dau-guorkau

CL8-enter

Irukah

Irukah

'Lord Many Flies was sleeping when Irukah entered his house.'

The perfect later expanded to other uses, indifferent to aspect, in which it contrasts with the present:

- a change of state -- irrelevant of aspect:

Hehesqgah

he-hesqg-ah

1.SJB-pray-PRF

'I am praying (I wasn't before.)

Matoḫig qwaṭsah

ma-toḫig

temple-wall(CL6)

qwaṭs-ah

PASS\bloody-PRF

'The temple wall is sprayed with blood. (It wasn't before)'

pe qagan saukaaneš pe qagah saukaaneš

pe

not

qagan

exist-PRS

sau-kaaneš

1.POSS-donkey\PL

/

pe

not

qagah

exist-PRF

sau-kaaneš

1.POSS-donkey\PL

'We don't have a donkey / We don't have a donkey anymore.'

- A sudden realization:

arah!

ar-ah

supernatural-PRF

'It's a miracle!'

- A correction or protestation:
Herqokumnan / Herqokumnah

herqokumn-an

1.SJB-2.OBJ-obey-PRS

/

herqokumn-ah

1.SJB-2.OBJ-obey-PRF

'I obey you / But I obey you!'

- A general sense of warning or urgency:
'Kauah Šoteršam!'

kau-ah

come-PRF

Šoteršam

Šoteršam

'The Šoteršans (soldiers from a rival city) are coming!'

- Or current relevance:

Šaa-he-Aqean qag, qagah, qaghas.

Aqean.Fountain

Šaa-he-Aqean

Aqean.Fountain

qag[/exist] [gloss=exist-PRF]qagah

exist

qaghas

exist-PRF-FUT

[/gloss]
'The Aqean Fountain was, is and shall be!'

(This is part of a prayer; the eternal existence of Aqean is of course relevant in that context.)

Interaction with voice.

The perfect is only used in the active or passive voices. It never occurs with the antipassive, the potential, the deontic or the potential.

[Ares Land]

Evidentials

Karaam verb may mark direct evidentiality, or reported evidentiality. The direct is used mostly for visual evidence and direct personal experience; the reported in all other cases.

The future is traditionally added to the evidentials: morphologically, it is formed in a similar fashion.

Direct past, reported past, simple future.

The direct past is formed by removing the last vowel (monosyllabic verbs excepted, as always), and adding the following suffixes:

• Singular: -at
• Dual: -it
• Plural: -et

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-at	he-t-kumn-it	he-t-kumn-et
ɓendes	he-ṭ-ɓends-at	heṭ-ɓends-it	heṭ-ɓends-et
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggws-at	he-ṭ-keggws-it	he-ṭ-keggws-et
šog	he-šog-at	he-šog-it	he-šog-et
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-at	he-ṭ-heš-it	he-ṭ-kumn-et
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-at	heṭ-ðer-it	heṭ-ðer-et
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-at	he-ṭ-rib-it	he-ṭ-rib-et
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-at	he-ṭ-eṭh-it	he-ṭ-eṭh-et
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogwr-at	heṭ-pogwr-it	heṭ-pogwr-et
qwor	he-qwor-at	he-qwor-it	he-qwor-et

The reported past is formed in the same way, the suffixes are:

• Singular: -an
• Dual: -in
• Plural: -en

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-an	he-t-kumn-in	he-t-kumn-en
ɓendes	he-ṭ-ɓends-an	heṭ-ɓends-in	heṭ-ɓends-en
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggws-an	he-ṭ-keggws-in	he-ṭ-keggws-en
šog	he-šog-an	he-šog-in	he-šog-en
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-an	he-ṭ-heš-in	he-ṭ-kumn-en
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-an	heṭ-ðer-in	heṭ-ðer-en
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-an	he-ṭ-rib-in	he-ṭ-rib-en
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-an	he-ṭ-eṭh-in	he-ṭ-eṭh-en
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogwr-an	heṭ-pogwr-in	heṭ-pogwr-en
qwor	he-qwor-an	he-qwor-in	he-qwor-en

The futur is formed in the same fashion, with the suffixes:

• Singular: -as
• Dual: -is
• Plural: -es

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-as	he-t-kumn-is	he-t-kumn-es
ɓendes	he-ṭ-ɓends-as	heṭ-ɓends-is	heṭ-ɓends-es
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggws-as	he-ṭ-keggws-is	he-ṭ-keggws-es
šog	he-šog-as	he-šog-is	he-šog-es
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-as	he-ṭ-heš-is	he-ṭ-kumn-es
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-as	heṭ-ðer-is	heṭ-ðer-es
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-as	he-ṭ-rib-is	he-ṭ-rib-es
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-as	he-ṭ-eṭh-is	he-ṭ-eṭh-es
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogw-as	heṭ-pogw-is	heṭ-pogwr-es
qwor	he-qwor-as	he-qwor-is	he-qwor-es

The imperfect

The imperfect uses the following suffixes:

Direct imperfect:

• Singular: -nat
• Dual: -nit
• Plural: -net

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-nat	he-t-kumn-nit	he-t-kumn-net
ɓennes	he-ṭ-ɓennes-nat	heṭ-ɓennes-nit	heṭ-ɓennes-net
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggwis-nat	he-ṭ-keggwis-nit	he-ṭ-keggwis-net
šog	he-šog-nat	he-šog-nit	he-šog-net
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-nat	he-ṭ-heš-nit	he-ṭ-heš-net
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-nat	heṭ-ðer-it	heṭ-ðer-net
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-at	he-ṭ-rib-it	he-ṭ-rib-net
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-nat	he-ṭ-eṭh-it	he-ṭ-eṭh-net
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogwr-nat	heṭ-pogwr-nit	heṭ-pogwr-net
qwor	he-qwor-nat	he-qwor-nit	he-qwor-net

One point of note: if there is a medial consonant cluster, as in ɓennes, keggwis, the last vowel is not deleted.

The reported imperfect follows the same rules, with the suffixes:

• Singular: -nan
• Dual: -nin
• Plural: -nen

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-nan	he-t-kumn-nin	he-t-kumn-nen
ɓennes	he-ṭ-ɓennes-nan	heṭ-ɓennes-nin	heṭ-ɓennes-nen
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggwis-nan	he-ṭ-keggwis-nin	he-ṭ-keggwis-nen
šog	he-šog-nan	he-šog-nin	he-šog-nen
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-nan	he-ṭ-heš-nin	he-ṭ-heš-nen
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-nan	heṭ-ðer-it	heṭ-ðer-nen
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-at	he-ṭ-rib-it	he-ṭ-rib-nen
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-nan	he-ṭ-eṭh-it	he-ṭ-eṭh-nen
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogwr-nan	heṭ-pogwr-nin	heṭ-pogwr-nen
qwor	he-qwor-nan	he-qwor-nin	he-qwor-nen

The future imperfect is similar:

• Singular: -nas
• Dual: -nis
• Plural: -nes

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-nas	he-t-kumn-nis	he-t-kumn-nes
ɓennes	he-ṭ-ɓennes-nas	heṭ-ɓennes-nis	heṭ-ɓennes-nes
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggwis-nas	he-ṭ-keggwis-nis	he-ṭ-keggwis-nes
šog	he-šog-nas	he-šog-nis	he-šog-nes
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-nas	he-ṭ-heš-nis	he-ṭ-heš-nes
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-nas	heṭ-ðer-it	heṭ-ðer-nes
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-at	he-ṭ-rib-it	he-ṭ-rib-nes
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-nas	he-ṭ-eṭh-it	he-ṭ-eṭh-nes
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogwr-nas	heṭ-pogwr-nis	heṭ-pogwr-nes
qwor	he-qwor-nas	he-qwor-nis	he-qwor-nes

The perfect.

The perfect forms according to the same rules as the imperfect;

Direct

• Singular: -hat
• Dual: -hit
• Plural: -het

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-hat	he-t-kumn-hit	he-t-kumn-het
ɓennes	he-ṭ-ɓennes-hat	heṭ-ɓennes-hit	heṭ-ɓennes-het
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggwis-hat	he-ṭ-keggwis-hit	he-ṭ-keggwis-het
šog	he-šog-hat	he-šog-hit	he-šog-het
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-hat	he-ṭ-heš-hit	he-ṭ-heš-het
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-hat	heṭ-ðer-it	heṭ-ðer-het
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-at	he-ṭ-rib-it	he-ṭ-rib-het
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-hat	he-ṭ-eṭh-it	he-ṭ-eṭh-het
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogwr-hat	heṭ-pogwr-hit	heṭ-pogwr-het
qwor	he-qwor-hat	he-qwor-hit	he-qwor-het

Reported

• Singular: -han
• Dual: -hin
• Plural: -hen

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-han	he-t-kumn-hin	he-t-kumn-hen
ɓennes	he-ṭ-ɓennes-han	heṭ-ɓennes-hin	heṭ-ɓennes-hen
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggwis-han	he-ṭ-keggwis-hin	he-ṭ-keggwis-hen
šog	he-šog-han	he-šog-hin	he-šog-hen
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-han	he-ṭ-heš-hin	he-ṭ-heš-hen
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-han	heṭ-ðer-it	heṭ-ðer-hen
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-at	he-ṭ-rib-it	he-ṭ-rib-hen
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-han	he-ṭ-eṭh-it	he-ṭ-eṭh-hen
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogwr-han	heṭ-pogwr-hin	heṭ-pogwr-hen
qwor	he-qwor-han	he-qwor-hin	he-qwor-hen

Future

• Singular: -has
• Dual: -his
• Plural: -hes

	Singular	Dual	Plural
kumon	he-t-kumn-has	he-t-kumn-his	he-t-kumn-hes
ɓennes	he-ṭ-ɓennes-has	heṭ-ɓennes-his	heṭ-ɓennes-hes
keggwis	he-ṭ-keggwis-has	he-ṭ-keggwis-his	he-ṭ-keggwis-hes
šog	he-šog-has	he-šog-his	he-šog-hes
hešu	he-ṭ-heš-has	he-ṭ-heš-his	he-ṭ-heš-hes
ðeri	he-ṭ-ðer-has	heṭ-ðer-his	heṭ-ðer-hes
ribe	he-ṭ-rib-at	he-ṭ-rib-his	he-ṭ-rib-hes
eṭah	he-ṭ-eṭh-has	he-ṭ-eṭh-his	he-ṭ-eṭh-hes
pogwer	he-ṭ-pogwr-has	heṭ-pogwr-his	heṭ-pogwr-hes
qwor	he-qwor-has	he-qwor-his	he-qwor-hes

[Ares Land]

Additional notes on evidentials.

The direct evidential is used for direct visual evidence, or personal experience;the reported for all other evidence.

Aqehat Kobgonðe

a-qeh-at

ELA-high-DIR

Kobgonðe

Mt.Kobgonðe

'Mt. Kobgonðe is very high (I've seen it)'
Aqehan Near

a-qeh-an

ELA-high-REP

Near

Mt.Near

'Mt. Near is very high (or so I'm told.)'

The meaning of the direct evidential may extend to logical, direct consequences:

Harnal šiqwešan Irukah šahrqat

harnal

river-LOC

šiqwešon

2.SBJ-fool\SUBJ

Irukah

Irukah

šahrqat

drown-CAUS\DIR

'If you play the fool at the river, Irukah will drown you.'

However certain of a fact, though, you must use the reported evidential if you weren't an eyewitness:

qaghan

exist-PRF-REP

Šoteršam

Šoteršam

am

REL

Taqes

Taqes.CL8

dauṭomqe

CL8-burn.down

'It was the Šoteršans that burned down Taqes.'

There are plenty of mergers between the reported past (in -an, -in, -en) and the imperfective (-an/-n, -im, -en). For that reason, the imperfective and perfect reported see a lot more use. The reported perfect tends to be used as a perfective.

The evidentials are used when introducing a new topic; as long as the discourse refers to that same topic, the simple forms are used:

ḫimeh

young

Ṭaqsal

Ṭaqes-LOC

šosq-nan

reside-IPFV.REP

/

Aqean

Aqean

sišer

3.OBJ-speak.with

'A young woman was living in Ṭaqes. She spoke with god.'

The same is true of the future:

E he ðonnahal udaikwnis bauṭeš ṭasfiqeam. Faner ṭoaan 'Sauqa qe doqeh šiṭahṭomqe, šifaaner.

e

and

ðonnh-al

time-LOC

u-daikwn-is

4-judge-FUT.PL

bauṭeš

llama\PL(CL2)

ṭas-fiqe-am

CL2-HAB\eat\PL-REL

/

faner

pot

ṭoa-an

say-PRS.SG

/

sauqa

1.POSS-ass(CL4)

qe

fire(CL9)

do-qeh

CL9-over

ši-ṭah-ṭomqo

2.SBJ-CL3-burn

,

šifaaner

2.SBJ-PASS\cook-PRF

'And in those days the giant llamas will judge those who ate them. The pot will say 'You burned my ass on the fire, you will be cooked.''

On occasion, the reported evidential is used instead of the future; this is often used for predictions for the far future.

Irukah mohaqahdo doqagfigan.

Irukah

Irukah

moh-aqahdo

great-desert(CL9)

do-qagfig-nan

CL9-revive-REP-PRS.REP

'Irukah will make the desert grow again.'

For predictions of the endtimes, the Mannamis uses the future (see the example above) and the reported evidential about equally.

That use has to do with the cyclical view of time: various events and disasters that befell past civilizations will occur again in the future; so, say, the tale of a disappeared city serves as a warning and a prediction in the present.

[Ares Land]

The subjunctive.


The subjunctive is formed by changing the last vowel to -o, starting from the plural form:

heṭeṭah 'I wrote it' → Plural heṭeṭeh 'we wrote it' → heṭeṭoh 'I may write it'
heṭeṭaan 'I am writing it' → Plural heṭeṭhen 'we are writing it' → heṭeṭhon 'I/we might be writing it.'

You can form a subjunctive for any verb form:

komin 'They can command' → komon 'That he/they might be capable of commanding.'

But not for the evidentials and the future: **komnos.

As you can see, the subjunctive doesn't distinguish number: the same form is used for singular, dual and plural.

If the last vowel of the verb is -o in the singular, there's a potential merger of the past indicative and the past subjunctive, eg. tekumnon; so the perfect or the imperfect is substituted: tekumnnon, tekumnhon 'maybe s/he commands/commanded him'

Usage

The subjunctive expresses uncertainty or doubt:


Šaa-he-Aqean qahrqaoh.

Šaa-he-Aqean

Šaa-he-Aqean

qahrqa-oh

mistake-PRF.SBJ

'Perhaps the Aqean Fountain made a mistake'

Figsos pegag?

figsos

be.old\SBJ

peqag

Q

'Am I perchance old?'

hesɓehlšqauoh bauṭam?

hesɓehlš-qau-oh

toxic;mushroom-eat-SBJ.PF

peqag

Q

'Have I eaten the wrong mushrooms?'

It is also used for hypotheticals:

Beh bauṭos ro ruṭos ṭasrauon, ṭakwogwrat

beh

person

bauṭos

llama(CL2)

ro

or

ruṭos

goat

ṭas-rau-on

CL3-have-sex-PRS.SBJ

/

ṭa-kwogwr-at

APPL\PASS-sacrifice-DIR

'If someone has sex with a llama or a goat, he shall be put to death as a sacrifice.'

Risono labeh?

ri-sono

2SBJ-POT\compare\SBJ

labeh

who

'Who can be your equal?'

Finally, it is used (with the negative) to express prohibition or fear:
Me šisemhqaumo

me

not

ši-semh-qaum-o

2SBJ-slave-take-SBJ

'Thou shalt not practice slavery.'

Qweg kegah beh guorko, me doqaso hesrade.

qweg

king

keg-ah

forbid\PRF

beh

person

guorko

enter-SBJ

,

me

not

do-qas-o

CL9-soil-SBJ

hesr-a-de

oracle-water-PL(CL9)

'The king forbid anyone to enter, lest they soil the oracular waters.'

For wishes and desired outcomes in general, the optative is used instead:
Hauhqwege teṭokumnan Šaa-he-Aqean am moreš tigwaug.

hauh-qwege

cinnabar-king

teṭokumnan

CL3-APPL-command-REP

Šaa-he-Aqean

Šaa-he-Aqean

am

REL

moreš

man-woman\PL

t-i-gwaug

CL3-OPT-rule

'The Aqean Fountain appointed the Cinnabar Kings to govern mankind.'

As an imperative.

The use of the subjunctive extends to an imperative.
Use of the subject pronouns is optional:

šiṭeṭoh / ṭeṭoh 'Write it down!'

The object prefix is still required: ṭ-eṭoh unless the verb is in the antipassive: iṭoh 'write!'

The object prefix is also required for absolutive verbs (even though it's semantically a subject):

riqam 'you washed' → riqamo! 'wash yourself!.'
ribater 'you move' → ribator! 'move!'

If the verb's last vowel is -o-, the perfect may be used instead:

ritqaaqo 'you teach him' → teqaaqo or teqaaqho 'teach him!'

In fact, since the perfect marks current relevance, imperative often use that form to add a sense of urgency:

ribatroh! 'move already!'

[Ares Land]

Some derivations:

Forming nouns

The following affixes apply to nouns:

• ur- : 'genuine' (deletes the first vowel): aḫem 'name' → urḫem 'true name'
• i- : diminutive; išsdaur 'little house, hut'
• moh- : augmentative; soṭes 'low, below' → mohsṭes 'the world, the planet'
• ur...ag (with no vowel deletion): reverential: šah 'sea' → uršahag 'ocean'

From a noun, a verb or relational:

• -ṭes 'located in' gonðe 'mountain' → gonðṭes 'of the mountains, highlander'
• -n/-Vn 'located in, associated with' šos 'house' → šosin 'of the house, domestic' (related to the instrumental), -qeh 'high' → Qean, Aqean 'the highest, Heaven'
• -s/-Vs 'owner of': bauṭoss 'owner of llama'. (Identical to the comitative case.)

Verb to noun.
The infinitives are verbal nouns:

• eṭah 'to write, writing', aṭah 'the written word', iṭah 'a writer', oṭah 'litterate, someone who can write', anṭah 'what must be written'
• kwogwar 'propitiate, propitiating, worship', kwagwar 'a sacrifice, a ritual', kwegwar 'a priest', kwigar 'one who offers sacrifice[/i] kwogwar 'ritually apt to offer a sacrifice', kwangwar 'a god, a spirit (ie, a being that must be propitiated.)

Class derivation
A series of suffixes, each corresponding to a noun class, can be applied to these (all of this trigger deletion of the last vowel); they can also be applied to nouns

• -eh class 1, person: eṭheh 'scribed, learned gentry'
• -os class 2, animals: bauṭsos 'shepherd dog'
• -ah class 3, an instance of a process: eṭhah 'writing down, transcription'; kwograh 'ceremony'
• -oh class 4, a substance: eṭhoh 'ink'
• -iš class 5, an associated object: aṭhiš 'book'
• -ag class 6, an associated tool: eṭhag 'quill'
• -oam class 7, bulky objects: kwogroam 'altar'
• -ug class 8, places and buildings: eṭhug 'scriptorium'

There are no regular derivations for class 9; though the suffixes -to or -do come up often in names of natural features:
ater 'mist' → Mohterto , the Martlettlo range.
ru 'be quick' → Rudo, the Hodo river.

Places.

Settlements, river and city names are formed with the suffix -sa, sometimes -s. That suffix does not trigger vowel syncope:

• šoter 'bread' → Šotersa 'place of bread'
• taqe 'navel' → Taqes
• kar 'roc (giant predatory bird)' → kardo 'montain of the roc birds' → Kardosa 'town near the mountain of the roc birds'

Demonyms are formed with -seh, combining -sa with the class 1 suffix -eh: Šotersa → Šoterseh 'Šotersan, inhabitant of the place of bread', Kardoseh 'someone from the mountain of the roc birds.'

Way, method

• -sam 'way, method' bere 'dance' → bersam 'manner of dancing'; eṭhsam 'writing style'
• -d 'collection of' ṭaha 'count, calculation' → tahad 'calendar'; aṭhd 'corpus, scripture'
• -uð abstractions qweg king → qweguð 'kingship'
• -om 'masculine' and ka feminine, accompanied by (often unpredictable) consonant changes: qweg 'king, queen, monarch' → qwennom 'male, reigning king', qweggah 'reigning queen', kwogwrom 'male priest', kwogwrah 'priestess'

Verb suffixes

Suffixes apply to verbs or nouns alike. They are, really, common cases of noun incorporation; as a result they produce inherently antipassive verbs. The list is not exhaustive!

• 'to keep doing..., to do X repeatedly' -gu: qwesgu 'to fool around'
• 'to eat' mumrqau 'to eat mumair (an edible rodent)' (compare the independant verb for 'to eat': ferqau ← 'to eat grain')
• 'to hunt, catch, seek for' -uran: basuran 'to fish'
• 'to make, to shape' -guḫa: hatguḫa 'to make clothes'
• 'to be afflicted in, to be sick in': -ðaur: topðaur to have a headache
• 'to be presage, be a sign of': -ðos: ɓoḫðos 'to presage a storm'
• 'to die from': '-rumeh: pehrumeh 'to die of dysentery'
• 'to act like, to be dressed like, to act as if..., to pretend': hate; kweghate 'to act like a king, to brag'
• 'to talk about X, to study X':

The causative in -qo is very frequently used. One important use is in turning intransitives into transitives:

• rumeh 'die' → rumhqo 'kill'
• ðam 'be gold, be made of gold' → ðamqo 'to cover with gold'

Or absolutives into regular transitives:

• qam 'to wash (oneself)' → qamqo 'to wash (someone else)'; riqam 'you washed, you bathed' → riqamqo 's/he washed you'
• bater 'to move' → batrqo 'to move'
• ribaum 'to rise' → ribmqo 'to raise'

Verb prefixes

Finally, a series of verb prefixes can be used for lexical formation. They can apply to verb or nouns; when applied to a bisyllabic root, the first vowel is deleted.

• qah- forms a privative. qahṭah 'illeterate', uɓo 'skin' → qahɓo 'flay'
• gu- forms an applicative; ie it promotes a former adjunct to direct object. gutah 'use X to write'; hohšain iṭah → hohšai ṭaguṭah 'he writes with a feather (ie, a quill)'. This is often used to form names of tools: qahɓo → guqhɓo → guqhɓag 'knife used for flaying/skinning'
• ṭe- forms a reciprocal; verbs in ṭe- must be in the dual or plural; they're intrinsically antipassive. ṭeṭih 'they corresponded, they wrote to each other'; dahoh 'fight' → ṭedheh 'they fight one another.'
• qe- softens the meaning of the verb. qeṭah 'to scribble, to take notes'; ṭedhih 'they fight each other': qeṭdhih 'they bicker'
• ṭo- reinforces the meaning the verb; there is, often, an applicative meaning or another semantic drift: kwogwar 'to propitiate ( a god)' → ṭokwgwar 'to sacrifice (an animal)'; er 'to speak', ṭoer 'to speak of, to declare, to say'

The prefixes can be combined; generally in that order: ṭo-/qe- , then ṭe, then gu-, then gah-.

In a way, Karaam behaves as if it had consonantal roots, as found in Afro-Asiatic languages: ṭaṭhah 'correspondance', root ṭ-h 'to write', ṭoṭqahdheh 'they avoid at all costs fighting each other', ṭoṭqaahdhohah 'a peace treaty'
', root d-h-h 'to fight'.

However, the original vowels of the root are restored when necessary, to avoid clusters of more than three consonants:
dahoh 'fight' → qeṭdahih; ṭoṭqaahdhohah, for instance, restores the -o- of dahoh.

With prefixed verbs, the second to last vowel is used to mark voice -- that vowel may originally be from the prefix -- and the last vowel to mark number: qeṭdhih 'they bicker (dual)', qeṭdheh 'they bicker (plural)', qoṭdhih 'they can bicker with each other'; qahɓo 'flay' → qaahɓo 'flayed.'

Reduplication.

The second consonant can be reduplicated to strenghten the meaning of the verb; this only applies to disyllabic verbs with a medial consonant:

• eṭah 'write' → eṭṭah 'to inscribe, to carve writing'
• dahor 'to fight' → dahhoh 'to fight bitterly'
• qaahhɓo 'it is entirely flayed'

[Ares Land]

Syntax


Noun phrases

Noun phrase order is head final, and follows roughly the following formula:

Demonstrative - Number/Quantifier - Relational - Relative clause - Possessor -Noun.

He mohšos

he

that

mohšos

village

'That village.'

ši bago qehdu doqeh ruṭeš

ši

DIST

bago

many

qehdu

hill

do-qeh

CL9-over

ruṭeš

goat\PL

'Many goats over there upon the hill.'

he reṭaam beh

he

that

reṭa-am

run-REL

beh

person

'That running man/woman'

qweg šauruṭeš

qweg

king

šau-ruṭeš

3.POSS-goat\PL

'The goats of the king.'

Relational phrases

Noun inflected for case head the NP, so do relationals; they usually come at the end:

he mohšsal

he

that

mohšs-al

village-LOC

'In that village'

he qehdu doqeh

he

that

qehdu

hill

do-qeh

CL9-over

'On top of that hill.'

The problem of adjectives.

Karaam has no separate class of adjectives; the closest equivalent is the class of intranstive verbs.
There are two main strategies to modify a noun; the commonest is compouding:

qenḫau

qen-ḫau

black-bird

'a black bird'

Haiðsšah

haiðs-šah

be.angry-sea

'the Sea of Anger'

ḫigšosdaur

ḫigšosdaur

new-house

'the new house'

You can extend this to noun+noun compounds:

qwegaṭhug

qweg

king

aṭhug

library

'Royal library.'

The same usual process of vowel syncope applies: the last vowel of the first member of the compound is deleted (if it has more than one syllable.)

The other strategy is relativization; a relativizing suffix -am/-aam/-oam is added to an intransitive verb:

qenam ḫau

qen-am

black-REL

ḫau

bird

'a black bird'

ḫigam šosdaur

ḫigaam

new-REL

šosdaur

house

haiðosam beh

haiðosam

be.angry-REL

beh

person

'An angry person.'

The relativizer suffix -am does not delete the preceding vowel. The usual form is -am, but it is -oam after a monosyllable ending in -m: dim → dimoam, and -aam after a monosyllable ending in -h, -r, -ḫ or -g: ḫig → ḫigaam. After a vowel the form is -am: kara → karaam, but it's reduced to -m after two vowels: ðopoa → ðopoam

The relativized verb must agree in number with its head noun:
qenam ḫau → qeneam ḫauṭeš 'black birds.'
ḫigam šosdaur → ḫigeam šosder 'new houses'

You can't apply the -am prefix to nouns; to modify a noun with another noun, the possessive is used:

gweg teathug

qweg

king

te-aṭhug

3.POSS-library

'The king's library'

Or case:
qweged aṭhug

qweg-ed

king-DAT

aṭhug

library

'A library (intended) for the king.'

aṭhas qweg

aṭha-s

written-COM

qweg

king

'A scholar king.'

The nuance between compounds, and the use of -am (or case, or possession) can be subtle. Essentially, the use of -am tends to be non-restrictive:

In ḫigšosdaur 'the new house' the morpheme ḫig is essential to identify the house, it can't be left out
In higam šosdaur 'the house (that happens to be new)'; higam adds information, but could have been left out.

NP word order and scrambling

The generally head-last word order given above is the commonest one; but word order in Karaam is free. The underlying rule is that constituents are ordered by salience or relevance: the newest, most salient information is stated first.

qweg šauruṭeš 'the king's goats' → šauruṭeš qweg 'the king's goats (as opposed to his other animals)
qehdu doqeh 'upon the hill' → doqeh qehdu 'upon the hill (not near or at the foot of the hill)'

Noun phrases can be broken up:

Šogwam figsšes teqor uranin .

šogwam

beautiful-REL

figsšes

old.lady

te-qor

3OBJ-kill

uranin

panther

'A beautiful panther killed the old lady'

šogwam here modifies uranin; this emphasizes that it's a beautiful panther that killed the old lady (as opposed to more ordinary ones.)

bi hetqor šeḫḫe

bi

two

he-t-qor

1SBJ-3OBJ-kill

šeḫḫe

deer\PL

'I killed two deer.'

Here bi modifies šeḫḫe. Or does it? It could be interpreted as 'I killed deer twice' as well.

Headless NPs

One method of lexical formation relies on headless NPs; for instance:

karaam aerah → karaam

kara-am

clear-REL

aerah

language

→

karaam

clear-REL

'clear language' → 'the Karaam language'

dimoam aerah → Dimoam

dim-oam

be.speech-REL

aerah

speech

→

dimo-am

be.speech-REL

'intelligible language' → 'the Dimoan dialects'

ðopoam aerah → ðopoam

ðopoa-m

be.noise-REL

aerah

speech

→

ðopo-am

be.noise-REL

'language like noise, unintelligible language' → 'foreign language'

aṭhas beh 'man of letters' → aṭhas 'man of letters, scholar'

[Ares Land]

Nominal predicates

Karaam lacks a copula. Nominal predication is expressed by stating the predicate, then the subject:

Qweg Aqamo

qweg

king

Aqamo

Aqamo

Aqamo is king.

agwaugsa Taqes

agwaugsa

city-state

Taqes

Taqes

'Taqes is a city state.'

Adverbs are often stated first, before the predicate:
bagðog agwaugsa qwenug

bagðog

often

agwaugsa

city-state

qwenug

kingdom

'A city state is often a kingdom.'

The sentence is negated by the particle pe, place immediately before the predicate:

pe ruṭos qweg

pe

not

ruṭos

goat

qweg

king

'The king is not a goat.'

bagðog pe qweggah qweg

bagðog

often

pe

not

qweggah

queen

qweg

king

'The reigning monarch is rarely a queen.'


Marking tense, voice, evidentiality

Tense is typically not marked:

šifes 'She's married (lit.: she's a wife)' / 'She was married' / 'She shall be married.'

You can add, optionally, the helper verb qag to mark tense if necessary.

qagan šifes

qag-an

be-IPFV

šifes

wife

'Presently, she's married'


qag can be used to mark passive voice as well; it implies a causative:

aqag šifes

a-qag

PASS-be

šifes

wife

'She's been married off'

The antipassive kqag is almost never used. (Except in its nominal sense: 'what exists / the universe')

The optative, potential and deontic though are often attested:

naqag šifes 'she must be married'
iqag šifes 'she wants to be married'
boqag qweg 'he could be a king'

Person must be marked both on the predicate noun and the verb qag:

šiqagan šišifes

ši-qag-an

2.SBJ-be-IPFV

ši-šifes

2.SBJ-wife

'You are married presently'

heboqag heqweg

ši-qag-an

1.SBJ-POT-be

he-qweg

1.SBJ-king

'I could be a king.'

Oblique cases and possessives

Possessives are used as predicates, following the same construction:

eqweg

e-qweg

1.INCL.POSS-king

'He's our king'

heruqweg

he-ru-qweg

1.SBJ-2.POSS-king

'I'm you king'

heboqag heruqweg

he-bo-qag

1.SBJ-POT-be

he-ru-qweg

1.SBJ-2.POSS-king

'I could be your king.'

You can use the same constructions with nouns in the dative, comitative and instrumental:

ibied

ibi-ed

we.dual-DAT

'It is for you and me.'

fanern

faner-n

pot-DAT

'He uses a pot.'

pe gaihs

pe

not

gaih-s

tooth-COM

'He has no teeth.'

The use of qag is common but optional:

pe gaihs / qag pe gaihs

pe

not

gaih-s

tooth-COM

/

qag

be

pe

not

gaih-s

tooth-COM

'He has no teeth.'

Locative with qag

The verb qag must be used with the ablative and the locative:

heqage heTaqsal

he-qag-e

1.INCL-be-PL

he-Taqs-al

1.INCL-Taqes-LOC

'We're in Taqes.'

heqage heTaqse

he-qag-e

1.INCL-be-PL

he-Taqs-e

1.INCL-Taqes-ABL

'We're from Taqes.'

The subject prefix is applied both on the verb qag and on the predicate. qag marks number, but the predicate noun does not (case neutralizes number.)

Relational phrases

The relational serves as a predicate and is usually stated first. The typical word order is:
Relational - Location - Subject

doqeh qehdu ruṭeš

do-qeh

CL8-over

qehdu

hill

ruṭeš

goat\PL

'The goats are on the hill.'

The location can be omitted:

doqeh ruṭeš

do-qeh

CL8-over

ruṭeš

goat\PL

'The goats are on top of it.'

Constituents can be freely reordered, to bring the most salient one to the front:

doqeh qehdu ruṭeš 'The goats are on the hill'; qehdu doqeh ruṭeš 'The goats are on the hill (not elsewhere)', ruṭeš doqeh qehdu 'It's the goats that are on the hill.'

The use of qag is optional, but common: doqeh qehdu ruṭeš is equivalent to qag doqeh qehdu ruṭeš

And of course qag can be used to mark tense, aspect, or evidentiality: qagan doqeh qehdu 'I'm told they're on the hill', qagah doqeh qehdu 'The goats are on the hill already.'

More on the use of qag

The base meaning of qag is locative or existential, compare:

qweg 'He is the king.'
qag qweg 'The king is here, here is the king.'

qehdu 'It's a hill'
qag qehdu 'there is a hill.'

It can also be used to emphasized the veracity of a statement: qag doqeh qehdu ruṭeš 'verily the goats are on the hill.' (In that use, it's often best to leave it untranslated, of course.)

'To have'

Two Karaam constructions are equivalent to the English use of 'to have.'

• Using qag with a possessive: saušosdaur '(it is) my house' → qag saušosdaur 'here is my house / I have a house.'
• Using the comitative case: hešosdaurs '~I'm with a house = I have a house.'

Negation

All of these constructions are negated with the particle pe. It's placed immediately before the predicate noun, and after the verb qag:

heboqag pe heqweg

he-bo-qag

1.SBJ-POT-be

pe

not

he-ru-qweg

1.SBJ-2.POSS-king

'I could not be your king'

pe doqeh qehdu ruṭeš

pe

not

do-qeh

CL8-over

qehdu

hill

ruṭeš

goat\PL

'The goats are not on the hill.'

Questions

Yes-no questions are formed with the adverb peqag (a transparent compound of pe + qag). It is placed at the very end of the sentence:

heboqag heqweg peqag?

he-bo-qag

1.SBJ-POT-be

he-ru-qweg

1.SBJ-2.POSS-king

peqag

Q

'Could I be your king?'

doqeh qehdu ruṭeš peqag?

pe

not

do-qeh

CL8-over

qehdu

hill

ruṭeš

goat\PL

peqag

Q

'Are the goats on the hill?'

šifes peqag?
'Is she married?'

You can form negative questions with pe...peqag

pe šifes peqag?
'Isn't she married?'

heboqag heqweg peqag?

he-bo-qag

1.SBJ-POT-be

pe

not

he-ru-qweg

1.SBJ-2.POSS-king

peqag

Q

'Couldn't I be your king?'

Other means of forming questions.

Questions could be formed by intonation alone; it is not always obvious to determine from written texts alone:

pe Šaa-he-Aqean ṭamgwaug kqag?

pe

not

Šaa-he-Aqean

Aqean.Fountain

ṭa-mgwaug

CL3-ruler

kqag

universe

'Isn't the Aqean Fountain the ruler of the universe?'

šiaqagah qweg?

ši-a-qag-ah

2SBJ-PASS-be-PRF

qweg

king

'Have you been made king?'

ro 'or' was used as a question marker; that usage was antiquated by the time the Mannamis was written:

šiṬilemmeh ro?

šiṬilemmeh

2.SBJ-Ṭilemman

ro

or

'Are you a Tilemman?'

[Ares Land]

Verbal predicates

Intransitive verbs

The syntax of intransitive (or absolutive) verbs is similar to that of nominal predicates.
The verb is stated first, followed by its subject:

teqam hešer

te-qam

3.OBJ-wash

hešer

oracle

'The oracle was bathing.'

reṭan uranin

reṭa-n

run-IPRF

uranin

panther

'The panther is running.'

basurnah sauhorus

bas-ur-nah

fish-catch-PRF

sau-horus

1.POSS-uncle

'My uncle has gone fishing.'

Questions are formed with peqag; the sentence is negated with pe, before the verb:

teqam hešer peqag

te-qam [gloss=oracle]hešer

3.OBJ-wash

peqag

Q

'Was the oracle bathing?'

pe basurnah ruhorus

pe

not

bas-ur-nah

fish-catch-PRF

ru-horus

2.POSS-uncle

'Your uncle has not gone fishing.'

Transitive sentences

Transitive verbs follow a fairly different syntax.

The basic word order seems to have been SOV in earlier stages of the language, and that order is still frequently used:

Ðogan šaumapeš agwaugsa ṭaqaqwnqe

Ðogan

Ðogan

šau-mapeš

3.POSS-son\PL

agwaugsa

city

ṭa-qaqwnqe

CL3-plunder\PL

'The sons of Ðogan plundered the city.'

Increasingly, however, the subject was backed after the verb -- word order is thus consistently Predicate - Subject:

Fongehig tedahqo Bagag-U

Fongehig

white.screamer

te-dahqo

3.OBJ-send

Bagag-U

many.insect-HON

'Lord Many Flies sent the White Screamer (ie, the barn owl)'

This means that the word order OVS (cross-linguistically uncommon) turns up fairly frequently in Karaam. In fact -- and that will be confusing for most learners -- the word order SVO is marked in Karaam, and often requires the use of the 4th person pronoun:

Madmam uqahksar teboham

madmam

southerner\PL

u-qahksar

4-disembowel

te-boham

3POSS-warrior\PL

'The Southerners disemboweled his warriors'

Negation and questions

Transitive verbs are negated with the particle me:

Fongehig Irukah me tedahqag.

Fongehig

white.screamer

Irukah

Irukah

me

not

te-dahqag

3.OBJ-reach

'The White Screamer didn't reach Irukah.'

And yes-no questions are formed with the particle meṭam

Fongehig tedahqo Bagag-U meṭam?

Fongehig

white.screamer

te-dahqo

3.OBJ-send

Bagag-U

many.insect-HON

meṭam

Q

'Did Lord Many Flies send the White Screamer?'

Pe/peqag vs. me/meṭam

Let's wrap this up a bit. pe and peqag are used with nominal predicates, possessives, relationals and intransitive verbs.
Transitive sentences require me and meṭam.

Of course, transitive verbs often become intransitives, by voice change or noun incorporation. In those cases, pe/peqag must be used:

(Incorporation) basurnah peqag 'Has he gone fishing?'
(Voice) pe aṭah 'it's not written.'

But me is still used to mark prohibition:

me aṭah 'It is unwritten (and shall remain that way)'
Me šisemhqaumo 'thou shall not have slaves.'

Answering yes/no questions

A question using peqag is answered with qag 'yes; yes, it is' or pe 'no; no, it's not'

doqeh qehdu ruṭeš peqag?

pe

not

do-qeh

CL8-over

qehdu

hill

ruṭeš

goat\PL

peqag

Q

'Are the goats on the hill?'

Pe. / Qag

pe

not

qag

be

'Yes, they are / No, they aren't'

Note that qag, in that construction remains invariable: 'Yes, they are' is qag, not **qage

Questions framed in the negative are answered in the same way:
pe šifes peqag? 'Isn't she married?'
-- pe 'She's not'
-- qag 'She is.'

Conversely, a question asked with meṭam is answered with me 'No, it doesn't' or ṭam 'Yes it does.'
Fongehig tedahqo Bagag-U meṭam? 'Did Lord Many Flies send the White Screamer?'
ṭam / me 'Yes, he did / No, he didn't.'

me can be used to answer a prohibition:
Me šiqwešon. -- Me 'Don't play the fool. -- I shan't'

[Ares Land]

Ditransitives

The indirect object is often marked with a dative; while the direct object is indexed on the verb with the appropriate prefix:

nakoh babhed šikṭam

nakoh

milk(CL4)

babh-ed

child-DAT

ši-k-ṭam

2SBJ-CL4-give

'You gave milk to the children.'

The unmarked slot for indirect objects is before the verb.

The dative can be thought of as a benefactive; it can, in fact, be added to any sentence:

šimoa sade

ši-moa

2SBJ-mother

sa-de

1EXCL-DAT

'You're a mother to me'

hemoai gwemed, heqaateš gwemed

he-moa-i

1SBJ-mother-PL

gwem-ed

people-DAT

/

he-qaateš

1SBJ-father\PL

gwem-ed

people-DAT

'We are mothers to the people, fathers to the people'

Berin heshed kwegwreh.

heberin

1SBJ-dance

heshed

god-DAT

kwegwreh

priest

'The priest is dancing for the gods'

As you can see, the dative will usually be placed immediately after the nominal predicate or intransitive verb.

The instrumental

If the recipient is or would be harmed in some way, the instrumental must be used instead of the dative:

piskoh gwegn šikṭam

piskoh

poison(CL4)

gweg-n

king-INST

ši-k-ṭam

2SBJ-CL4-give

'You gave poison to the king.'

Berin šifesn kwegwreh.

heberin

1SBJ-dance

šifes-n

wife-INST

kwegwreh

priest

'The priest is dancing in spite of his wife.'

But the chief use of the instrumental is to mark manner, or a tool -- and in that case it is often placed after transitive verbs:

Nakoh babhed hoṭam gwaunišn

nakoh

milk(CL4)

babh-ed

child-DAT

ho-ṭam

CL4-give

gwauniš-n

bottle-INST

'He gives milk to the child using a bottle.'

And immediately after intransitives or a nominal predicate:

iṭah šaueṭhohn Tumkab

iṭah

scribe

šau-eṭhoh-n

blue-ink-INSTR

Tumkab

Tumkab

'Tumkab is the scribe who uses blue ink.'

Behkwogwar remagn

beh-kwogwar

human-sacrifice

remagn

glass.knife

'S/he performs human sacrifice with a glass knife.'

Comitative

We have seen that the comitative can be translated with the verb 'to have'; it also means 'alongside, with':
dehoh ɓetaiss

dehoh

ANTIP\fight

ɓetais-s

friend-COM

'He fights alongside friends.'

Ṭaqes ṭagweg qaahmam teqagðam Nadisas

Ṭaqes

Ṭaqes(CL2)

ṭas-gweg

CL2-king

qaahmam

enemy.PL

te-qagðam

3OBJ-revenge

Nadisa-s

Nadisa-COM

'The king of Taqes took revenge on his enemies, alongside (the city of) Nadisa'

Noun incorporation

As a rule, Karaam tries to minimize the number of explicit noun phrases. So several of the example above are atypical.

One way the number of NPs are reduced is through nominal incorporation. Let's review some common transformations.

The direct object is incorporated to the verb; the remaining dative is promoted to object -- it's indexed on the verb with possessive prefixes.

nakoh babhed šikṭam → babeh šišaunakhṭam

nakoh

milk(CL4)

babh-ed

child-DAT

ši-k-ṭam

2SBJ-CL4-give

→

babeh

child

ši-šau-nakh-ṭam

2SBJ-3.POSS-milk-give

'You gave milk to the child.'

nakoh 'milk' + ṭam 'give' → nakhṭam 'give milk'
babhed , Dative → babeh unmarked, and is additionally marked on the verb with the prefix šau-

You can also incorporate the instrument or a comitative:

Nakoh babhed hoṭam gwaunišn → Nakoh babhed hogwaunšṭam

nakoh

milk(CL4)

babh-ed

child-DAT

ho-ṭam

CL4-give

gwauniš-n

bottle-INST

→

nakoh

milk(CL4)

babh-ed

child-DAT

ho-gwaunš-ṭam

CL4-bottle-give

'He gave milk to the baby using a bottle' → 'He bottle-fed milk to the baby.'

When the object is animate, it's always marked on the verb with the possessive prefix:

qaahmam ɓetsdahoh

qaahmam

enemy\PL

šau-ɓets-dahoh

3POSS-friend-fight

'He fights the enemy alongside his friend.'

Several constituents may be incorporated, for instance both dative and instrumental, or object and instrumental:
babeh šaugwaunšnakhṭam / nakoh hogwaunšbabhṭam

babeh

child

gwaunš-nakh-ṭam

3.POSS-bottle-milk-give

/

nakoh

milk(CL4)

ho-gwaunš-babh-ṭam

CL4-bottle-child-give

'He gives milk to the baby with a bottle'

This is grammatical, though perhaps unidiomatic. Verbs with more than incorporated roots can be found in our corpus, but they are rare.

What should be incorporated then? Essentially the most salient constituent is left as an independant NP; the rest is incorporated.

Nakoh hogwaunšṭam 'it is milk (indenpendant) he gave with a bottle (incorporated)'
Babeh šišaunakhṭam 'it is to the child (independant) that I gave milk (incorporated)'

[Ares Land]

Location and movement.

The locative, besides static location, also marks motion towards:

šoss Tumkab Taqsal

šos-s

home-COM

Tumkab

Tumkab

Taqs-al

Taqes-LOC

'Tumkab lived in Taqes.'

Bagag-U Fongehig tesišer kugal

Bagag-U

many.flies-HON

Fongehig

white.screamer

te-sišer

3.OBJ-speak.with

kug-al

underworld-LOC

'Lord Many Flies talked to the White Screamer in the Underworld'

Fongehig tedahqo Bagag-U rammhal

Fongehig

white.screamer

te-dahqo

3.OBJ-send

Bagag-U

many.insect-HON

rammh-al

mortal-LOC

'Lord Many Flies sent the White Screamer to the mortals.'


Motion from a place, a person uses the ablative:

teṭag Fongehig kugqe

teṭag

3.OBJ-fly

Fongehig

white.screamer

kug-qe

underworld-ABL

'The White Screamer flew out of the underworld.'

reṭa boheh qauqhqe

reṭa

run

boheh

soldier

qauqh-qe

hungry.ghost-DAT

'The soldier fled from the hungry ghost.'

The unmarked position is at the end of the sentence. Relationals are place in the same slot:

teṭag Fongehig gammo hogor

teṭag

3.OBJ-fly

Fongehig

white.screamer

gammo

palace(CL4)

ho-gor

CL4-inside

[Ares Land]

Sentential objects.

A verb, or a complete clause (a dependant verb) can be the object of another verb (the main verb): generally a verb expressing reports and stories ('say that...'), desire ('want to, m), commands ('orders that...' 'ordered X to Y').

The main verb only takes the subject prefix; the dependent verb is marked for both subject and object; but in both cases it uses the object prefixes. The dependent verbs ends up with two object prefixes.

See the following examples:

Hedauðerin. Hedaubašan. → Heðerin sadaubiša

he-dau-ðerin

1.SBJ-CL8-want-IPFV

he-dau-bašan

1.SBJ-CL8-build-IPFV

→

he-ðerin

1.SBJ-want-IPFV

sa-dau-biša

1.OBJ-CL8-OPT\build

'
'I want it. I build it' → 'I want to build it'

herrumhqon → Heðerin sarrimhqo.

he-r-rumhqo-n

1.SBJ-2.OBJ-kill-IPFV

→

he-ðerin

1.SBJ-want-IPFV

sa-r-rimhqo

1.OBJ-2.OBJ-OPT\kill

'I want to kill you'

toer ridaubaša

toer

say

ri-dau-baša

2.OBJ-CL8-build

'He said you built it.'

With intransitives, or predicate nouns, you similarly mark the subject in the dependent clause with the object prefix:

kumnin ṭemheh ririṭa

kumn-in

order-IPFV

ṭemheh

centurion

ririṭa

2.OBJ-OPT\run

'The centurion orders you to run.'

Ṭoer behkwagwar teṭure qweg

ṭoer

say

bahkwgwar

sacrificial.victim

te-ṭure

3.OBJ-penis

qweg

king

'The sacrificial victim said the king is a dick.'

Heðerin saiṭah

heðerin

1SBJ-want

sa-iṭah

1.OBJ-scribe

'I want to be a scribe.'

Wishes and commands require the dependant verb to be placed in the optative past, without evidentials:

Hedaubašan. 'I build it (imperfective) ' → Heðerin sadaubiša 'I want to build it (optative past)'
riṭas 'he will run' → kumnnas ririṭa 'he'll be ordering you to run.'

You cannot use the infinitive directly: 'I want to run' → not **Heðerin riṭa. but Heðerin sariṭa.

Word order

The typical word order is S1 V1 S2 O2 V2:

Šaa-he-Aqean kumnan hauhqwege moreš tetigwaug.

Šaa-he-Aqean

Aqean.Fountain

kumnan

order

hauh-qweg-e

cinnabar-king-PL

moreš

man-woman\PL

te-t-i-gwaug

3.OBJ-3.OBJ-OPT-rule

'The Aqean Fountain ordered the Cinnabar Kings to govern mankind.'

As usual, this is a tendency; constituents are often reordered to bring different elements into focus:

S1 V1 S2 O2 V2 → S2 S1 V1 O2 V2
hauhqwege Šaa-he-Aqean kumnan moreš tetigwaug.
'It is the Cinnabar Kings the Aqean fountain ordered to rule mankind.'

S1 V1 S2 O2 V2 → O2 V2 S1 V1 S2
[moreš tetigwaug] Šaa-he-Aqean kumnan hauhqwege
'To rule mankind is what the Aqean Fountain ordered the Cinnabar Kings to do.'

S1 V1 S2 O2 V2 → O2 S1 V1 S2 V2
moreš Šaa-he-Aqean kumnan hauhqwege tetigwaug
'It is mankind the Aqean Fountain ordered the Cinnabar Kings to rule'

Leaving one of the noun phrase unstated, or incorporating the object of the dependent VP (O2) is more common, however:

Šaa-he-Aqean kumnan hauhqwege tetigwaug. (moreš is implicit)
Šaa-he-Aqean kumnan hauhqwege temorsgwaug. (moreš is incorporated.)

[Ares Land]

Relative clauses

There are two strategies for forming relative clauses.

The suffix -am

The suffix am subordinates a single verb, with no overt subject, object or adjunct:

S1 V1, S1 V2 → V1-am S1 V2 / V2 V1-am S1

Beh ṭakwgwaram ṭoer qweg te-ṭure teṭure qweg.

beh

person

ṭa-kwgwar-am

PASS.APPL-sacrifice-REL

toer

say

te-ṭure

3.OBJ-penis

qweg

king

'The man who was sacrificed said that the king is a dick.'

dahṭum ḫogkmonam ṭemheh

dahṭum

defeated

ḫog-kmon-am

bad-order-REL

ṭemheh

centurion

'The centurion who gave bad orders was defeated.'

This construction can be used with negated verbs:

rumḫum pe teqamoam kwegwreh

rumḫum

stink

pe

not

te-qam-oam

3.OBJ-wash-REL

kwegwreh

priest

'The priest who doesn't wash stink.'

me saqahaanam beh me sataigas.

me

not

sa-qahaan-am

1.OBJ-insult-REL

beh

person

me

not

sa-taig-as

1.OBJ-fear-FUT

'Someone who doesn't insult me won't fear me.'

The contruction 'intransitive verb + -am' that we covered earlier is really a straightforward instance of relativization:

qen ḫau → qenam ḫau

qen

black

ḫau

bird

→

qen-am

black-REL

ḫau

bird

'the bird is black' → 'the black bird'

As we describe, the suffix -am becomes -oam after monosyllabic verbs ending in -m and -aam after a monosyllable ending in -h, -r, -ḫ or -g:

teqam 'he washes himself' → teqamoam 'who washes himself.'
er 'he speaks' → eraam 'who speaks'

Unless a tense/evidential suffix is added, in which the form -am is always used:
teqaman 'he washes himself (so I heard)' → teqamanam 'who washes himself.'

Transitive verbs keep their object prefix:

daubašan → daubašanam beh

daubaša-n

CL8-build-IPFV

→

daubaša-n-am

CL8-build-IPFV-REL

beh

person

'he builds it' → 'the person who builds it'

The particle am

The suffix -am applies to a verb alone, or a negative + verb. With any longer VP, the independant particle am is used instead:

S1 O1 V1, S1 V2 → am O1 V1 S1 V2 / V2 am O1 V1 S1

am he ma daubaša rimskobeh gwaugrumhqo qweg

am

REL

he

that

ma

temple

daubaša

CL8-build

rimskobeh

architect

gwaugrumhqo

execute

qweg

king

The king had the architect who built that temple executed.

In a relative clause introduced by am, the verb must come last; adjuncts are placed immediately before the verb:

dauegdor am rimskobeh Irukhed gonðal daubaša ma

dauegdor

CL8-collapse

am

REL

rimskobeh

architect

Irukhed

Irukah-DAT

gonð-al

mountain-LOC

dau-baša

CL8-build

ma

temple

'The temple that the architect built in the mountains for Irukah collapsed. '

Intransitive verbs, as we've seen, tend to come first in independent clauses; but they're placed at the end of a relative clause:

Am qweged riṭan rimskobeh tedahšim.

am

that

qweg-ed

king-DAT

riṭa

run

rimskobeh

architect

te-dahšim

3.OBJ-capture\PL

'They captured the architect that was running from the king.'

Same subject, different subject.

The subject of the dependant clause can be, of course, different from the subject of the main clause. Object marking means there's no ambiguity for inanimates:

dauegdor am rimskobeh Irukhed gonðal daubaša ma

dauegdor

CL8-collapse

am

REL

rimskobeh

architect

Irukhed

Irukah-DAT

gonð-al

mountain-LOC

dau-baša

CL8-build

ma

temple

'The temple that the architect built in the mountains for Irukah collapsed. '

The prefix dau- signals that ma is the object of daubaša 'built'

With animates subjects and objects, the head nouns is assumed to be the subject:

am qweg teqahaan rimskobeh

am

REL

qweg

king

te-qahaan

3.OBJ-insult

rimskobeh

person

'The architect who insulted the king.'

If it is the object, the 4th person prefix u- must be used on the relativized verb:

am qweg uqahaan rimskobeh

am

REL

qweg

king

u-qahaan

4-insult

rimskobeh

architect

'The architect whom the king insulted.'

Word order in the noun phrase

Typically relative clauses will precede the noun and its possessor, and follow quantifiers and demonstratives:

he bi am qweg uqahaan rimskobeh šauɓetis

he

that

bi

two

am

REL

qweg

king

u-qahaan

4-insult

rimskobeh

architect

šau-ɓetis

3.POSS-friend

'These two friends of the architect that the king insulted.'

But it's not unusual to find the relative clause placed after the head noun:

he bi rimskobeh šauɓetis am qweg uqahaan

he

that

bi

two

rimskobeh

architect

šau-ɓetis

3.POSS-friend

am

REL

qweg

king

u-qahaan

4-insult

'These two friends of the architect that the king insulted.'

The particle am is deleted immediately after a demonstrative:

he qweg uqahaan rimskobeh šauɓetis
'These friends of the architect that the king insulted.'

he as relative marker.

We often find restrictive clauses introduced with he instead of am and following its head noun:

am qweg uqahaan rimskobeh, rimskobeh he qweg uqahaan

am

REL

qweg

king

u-qahaan

4-insult

rimskobeh

architect

/

rimskobeh

architect

he

that

qweg

king

u-qahaan

4-insult

'The architect, whom the king insulted.' / 'the architect that the king insulted.'

We can consider both constructions to be equivalent in most cases.

Šaa-he-Aqean 'the Aqean Fountain' (ie. the supreme deity) is an instance of this construction. In that particular case the purpose of the construction seems to disambiguation: Šaa-he-Aqean 'the Fountain that is Heaven' (ie the Fountain is identical to the god Heaven) vs. ?Aqeanam Šaa 'an heavenly fountain'

Extracting a constituent from a relative clause

You can extract a constituent from a relative clause to bring it into focus; or to use it as a topic:

Rumhoð atannmen am ṭahdahṭmqo Irukah

rumhoð

death(CL3)

a-t-annm-en

1.INCL-3.OBJ-praise-IPFV.PL

am

REL

ṭah-dahṭm-qo

CL3-defeat-CAUS

Irukah

Irukah

'Death, we praise Irukah who defeated it.'

Alternatively, a relativized verb can refer to a noun outside the relative clause:
Rumhoð atannmen ṭahdahṭmqoam Irukah

rumhoð

death(CL3)

a-t-annm-en

1.INCL-3.OBJ-praise-IPFV.PL

ṭah-dahṭm-qo-am

CL3-defeat-CAUS-REL

Irukah

Irukah

Detaching the relative clause from the head noun

You can detach a relative clause from its head noun:

Irukah atanmen am Rumhoð ṭahdahṭmqo

[gloss=1.INCL-3.OBJ-praise-IPFV.PL]a-t-annm-en

Irukah

am

REL

rumhoð

death

ṭah-dahṭm-qo

CL3-defeat-CAUS

'We praise Irukah who defeated death.'

Headless relative clauses

From this it's not a big step to simply delete the head noun altogether; in that case am is replaced with he

atanmen he Rumhoð ṭahdahṭmqo

a-t-annm-en

1.INCL-3.OBJ-praise-IPFV.PL

he

that

rumhoð

death

ṭah-dahṭm-qo

CL3-defeat-CAUS

'We praise the one who defeated death.'

If the relative clause is marked with the suffix -am, the suffix is dropped.

atanmen rumhoðdahṭmqoam Irukah → atanmen rumhoðdahṭmqo

a-t-annm-en

1.INCL-3.OBJ-praise-IPFV.PL

rumhoð-dahṭm-qo-am

death-defeat-CAUS-REL

Irukah

Irukah

→

a-t-annm-en

1.INCL-3.OBJ-praise-IPFV.PL

rumhoð-dahṭm-qo

death-defeat-CAUS

Though essentially it's just an instance of an infinitive used as a verbal noun: atanmen rumhoðdahṭmqo 'We praise the Death-Defeater.'