Phrases of time and temporal clauses
A 'when' clause is often formed by coordination and juxtaposition.
Using the perfect is used for anterior action, it may mark either an action interrupting an ongoing process:
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.'
Or an anterior precondition:
šiqeṭhas šiqeqaas
- šiqeṭhas
- 2.SBJ-grow-PRF.FUT
- šiqeqaa
- 2.SBJ-understand
'You'll understand when you grow up.'
Temporal clauses in the future only mark the future tense once. Superificially, tit seems similar to the English construction; the rule is however quite different. The future only needs to be marked once, typically on the first verb. So if we invert both clauses:
šiqeqaas šiqeṭha
- ši-qeqaa-s
- 2.SBJ-understand-FUT
- ši-qeṭ-ha
- 2.SBJ-grow-PRF
'You'll understand when you grow up.'
This time it's
šiqeqaa 'you understand' that carries the future marker.
For simultaneous or habitual action, the imperfective is used instead:
Heqeṭnat ḫimeh šauhorus tannem.
- he-qeṭ-nat
- 1.SBJ-grow-IPFV.DIR
- ḫimeh
- young
- šau-horus
- 3.POSS-elder
- t-annem
- 3.OBJ-respect\PL
'When I was growing up the young respected their elders.'
Ernan Bagṭers dauṭomqu beh Aṭamas tešosdaur
- er-an
- speak-IPFV.REP
- Bagṭers
- Bagṭers
- dauṭomqu
- CL8-burn
- beh
- person
- Aṭamas
- Aṭamas
- te-šosdaur
- 3.POSS-house-ABL
'While Bagṭers was talking, someone was burning down Aṭamas house.'
Both sentences use the evidentials, first to mark how the information is know (by direct experience in the first case, through oral tradition in the second) but also to set a temporal frame for the ocurrences -- in the past.
The rules are the same as for the future marker, ie. only the first verb is marked.
With an adverbial clause
A simple adverbial clause is often used as a temporal subclause:
teqamam hosṭam
- te-qam-am
- 3;OBJ-wash-REL
- hosṭam
- sing
'He sang as he bathed.'
teqemam hesṭam
- te-qam-am
- 3;OBJ-ANTIP\wash-REL
- hesṭam
- ANTIP\sing
'He sings when he bathes.'
Nominal clauses using the ablative are used in the same way.
Bagṭers qwege tedaikwain gwem šausšorša Amohṭes.
- Bagṭers
- Bagṭers
- qweg-e
- king-ABL
- te-daikwain
- 3.OBJ-judge
- šausšorša
- 3.POSS-brother
- gwem
- people
- Amohṭes
- Amohṭes
'When Bagṭers was king, his brother Amohṭes administered justice for the people.'
You can use the particle
amma (always a separate particle, placed before the temporal clause) instead, the added meaning is that the situation no longer holds true:
amma teqam hosṭam
- amma
- PST
- te-qam
- 3;OBJ-wash
- hosṭam
- sing
'He used to sing when he bathed.'
amma can introduce a nominal predicate as well -- the predicate is no longer placed in the ablative in that case:
amma hauhqwege abimagweg
- amma
- PST
- hauh-qweg-e
- cinnabar-king-PL
- a-bim-a-gweg
- 1.INCL-good-PASS\govern.PL
'We were well governed under the Cinnabar Kings.' This implies that there are no Cinnabar Kings anymore -- with the added implicature that we're not well governed.
The Tarandim see time as cyclical: what happened in the far past will happen in the far future. One implication is that
amma can be used, in some specific contexts, for future predictions as well:
Ṭaqes ṭahlaabša amma Ṭeqworrom qweg.
- Ṭaqes
- Ṭaqes
- ṭah-laabša
- CL3-PASS\rebuild
- amma
- PST
- Ṭeqworrom
- Ṭeqworrom
- qweg
- king
'Ṭaqes will be rebuilt when Ṭeqworrom is king.' (ie, when Ṭeqworrom reincarnates and is king again.)
Other means to introduce a temporal clause:
Temporal clauses can be introduced with
heṭe
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.'
heṭe can be translated as 'then', 'when', 'at the time when'
heðog is similar, but implies a specific time at a specific day:
hedahqam heðog mala bumeg
- he-dahqam
- 1.SBJ-go.bath
- heðog
- that.time
- ma-la
- temple-LOC
- bumeg
- drum.PL
'I went to the public baths when they played the drum at the temple' (ie, in the late afternoon)
hetissas heðog kau
- he-t-iss-as
- 1.SBJ-3.OBJ-meet-FUT
- heðog
- that.time
- kau
- come
'I'll meet him when he comes' (Implying that he will do so today.'
Before, since, after, until
In Karaam time flows
from east to west. The past is to the east, and the future to the west:
- ṭahig 'after, since' (ie 'west of... ')
- ṭahtur 'before, until' ('east of')
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.'
Irai šosṭos ṭahtur rutom qaahan
- irai
- here
- šosṭos
- dwell\IMP
- ṭahtur
- until
- ru-tom
- 2.POSS-son
- qaahan
- PASS\weaned
'Stay here until your son is weaned.'
ṭah- is a class marker here. It's used whenever the temporal clause has a verbal predicate; when it introduces a noun, however, the prefix must change to the appropriate possessive marker:
Ṭeqworrom šautur ṭau agwaugsa, šauhig ṭumdaur.
- Ṭeqworrom
- Ṭeqworrom
- šau-tur
- 3.POSS-east
- ṭau
- prosper
- agwaugsa
- city
/
- šauhig
- 3.POSS-west
- ṭumdaur
- ruin
'Before Ṭeqworrom the city was prosperous, after him it lied in ruins.'
daho ɓoḫ dotur
- dah-o
- go-IMP
- ɓoḫ
- storm(CL9)
- do-tur
- CL9-east
'Let's go before the storm comes.'
Some other uses of the East-West metaphor are worth mentioning:
- ig 'west, later on, in the future'
- tur 'east, before'
- igdah 'to go west' → 'to move on, to go forward.'
- turdah 'to go east' → 'to restore'
- turmoh 'to think east' → 'to reminisce, be nostalgic about sth.'
- igdah 'to think west' → 'to plan, to prepare'
Questions.
Questions can be formed with
laṭe 'when':
ṭau agwaugsa laṭe?
- ṭau
- prosper
- agwaugsa
- city
- laṭe
- when
'When was the city prosperous?'
laðog 'when? (today)' / 'at what hour?'
šitissas laðog?
- ši-t-issas
- 2SBJ-3.OBJ-meet-FUT
- laðog
- what.time
'When will you meet him (today)?'
ṭahtur laṭah? 'until when? for how long?'
šisqahaan ṭahtur laṭah?
- ši-s-qahaan
- 2.SBJ-1.OBJ-insult-IPFV
- ṭahtur
- until
- laṭah?
- what.CL3
'For how long will you keep insulting me?'
šiqweg ṭahig laṭah?
ṭahig laṭah? 'since when? how long?'
- ši-qweg
- 2.SJB-king
- ṭahig
- since
- laṭah?
- what.CL3
'How long have you been king?'
Negation
Negative words include
peðog 'not today' and
pesam 'never'. Double negation is mandatory in Karaam.
pesam pe šiqweg
- pesam
- never
- pe
- not
- ši-qweg
- 2.SJB-king
'You'll never be king.'
me hetissah peðog
- me
- not
- he-t-iss-ah
- 1.SBJ-3.OBJ-meet-PRF
- peðog
- not.today
'I haven't seen him today.'
Other time adverbials
Other adverbials include
par 'once; it used to be that...'
par boere muqer
- par
- PST
- bo-er-e
- POT-speak-PL
- muqer
- beast\PL
'In those days the beast could talk'
ðonnahal 'in those days'
iðog 'right now',
heðog 'soon',
šiðog 'late'
iṭe 'now',
heṭe 'then'