Singular nouns are accented on the first syllable.
Plurals of nouns are formed by shifting the accent from the first syllable to the last. This is indicated in writing by an apostrophe following the word:
| lomâk | garden |
| lomâk' | gardens |
| n3pis_ | woman |
| n3pis_' | women |
Taksioy_' only knows one article, which is used as indefinite article: s@. This article is not inflected for case or number.
| lomâk | the garden |
| s@ lomâk | a garden |
| lomâk' | the gardens |
| s@ lomâk' | (some) gardens |
There are two types of verbs, which govern the overall appearence of sentences.
Type 1 verbs are not conjugated. They are accompanied by inflected nouns/pronouns. See Sentences of type 1 for examples.
Type 2 verbs are heavily conjugated. The conjugation consists of a shift of the stem vowel to a more fronted vowel in combination with a shift of the stem consonant to a more fronted consonant.
Fronting vowels causes the following shifts:
a -> â -> 3 -> e -> i o -> @ -> e -> i u -> I -> i
Fronting consonants causes a shift into the next series (see phonology document).
Example: sh3m (to be +noun/+adj)
| 1s | 2s | 3x |
| . | 1s2s | |
| -- | -- | -- |
| sh3 | lh3 | þu3 |
| -- | -- | -- |
| 1d | 1x2y | 1x3y |
| 1p | 2d | 1x2y3z |
| . | 2p/2x3y | |
| -- | -- | -- |
| she | lhe | þue |
Example: zIm (to be called)
| 1s | 2s | 3x |
| . | 1s2s | |
| -- | -- | -- |
| zI | zhI | llhI |
| -- | -- | -- |
| 1d | 1x2y | 1x3y |
| 1p | 2d | 1x2y3z |
| . | 2p/2x3y | |
| -- | -- | -- |
| zi | zhi | llhi |
Example: @ndlum (to question)
| 1s | 2s | 3x |
| . | 1s2s | |
| -- | -- | -- |
| @ndlu | @ndu | @mpu |
| -- | -- | -- |
| 1d | 1x2y | 1x3y |
| 1p | 2d | 1x2y3z |
| . | 2p/2x3y | |
| -- | -- | -- |
| @ndlI | @ndI | @mpI |
There are two cases, nominative and preferentive.
The nominative case is used:
The preferentive case is used:
The article s@ is not inflected.
Sentences are built up from four building blocks: verb (V), subject (S), object (O), and Place/Time parts (M).
Sentences are built up in a manner that is dependent on the caste of the speaker and listener. Four situations can be discerned: addressing someone from the highest caste (T), a higher caste (^), the same caste (=), or a lower caste (v).
| To address someone from this caste: | use: | |||
| -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| (T) the highest (king) | . | SOMV | SMOV | MSOV |
| (^) any higher | SOVM | SOMV | SMOV | MSOV |
| (=) the same | SVOM | SVMO | SMVO | MSVO |
| (v) any lower | VSOM | VSMO | VMSO | MVSO |
The order of the building blocks is not dependent on the verb type.
Type 1 sentences are those that contain a type 1 verb. The subject is set in the nominative, the object in the preferentive.
| (v) llhoR ud hih mo zh@nt@ni. | I see him today. |
| (=) ud llhoR hih mo zh@nt@ni. | I see him today. |
| (=) ud mo lomâk llhoR hih. | I see him in the garden. |
| (=) mo lomâk ud llhoR hih. | I see him in the garden. |
| (^) mo lomâk ud hih llhoR. | I see him in the garden. |
| (^) udu s@ ântullh mo end@ zh@nt@ni Imâl. | The two of us eat (some) bread today at home. |
Type 2 sentences are those that contain a type 2 verb. Subject and object are both put in the preferentive. Note that the object of the preposition mo is nominative.
| (=) hih @mpu uð mo pis3s_. | They interrogate me in the city. |
| (=) pis3y_ llhI poRox. | The city is called Boroq. |
Questions are started with the question marker nui:
| nui rui llhoR hih? | Do you see them? |
| nui rui llhoR [who+4]? | Whom do you see? |
Author: René Uittenbogaard.