sparks grammar&lexicon.txt

Grammar
=======

Enłalen is discourse-configurational. This means that the roles of subject and object are far less important than in English, and that the roles of topic and focus are far more important. That said, the base word order is VSO, with prepositions and adjectives and adverbs that follow the nouns they modify.
Anything that isn't serving as a verb can be topicalized by moving it to the front of the sentence and following it with the clitic -wa. Noun phrases and adverbs of time are the most common constituents to fill this position. The topic can be omitted if it is obvious from context, such as when it is the same topic as the previous sentence.
Alignment is split-ergative: in an imperfective sentence, the alignment is nominative-accusative with the accusative object being marked with the clitic -no. In a perfective sentence, the alignment is ergative-absolutive with the ergative subject being marked with the clitic -ten. If the subject or object is topicalized, these clitics are not applied (since they're replaced by -wa).
There is no complementizer -- the relevant clause is simply placed in the sentence, sometimes connected by a conjunction/preposition when relevant. If serving as a content clause, the clause-internal topic is never marked, even if it would have been marked if the sentence were standing alone.
There is also no relativizer per se -- relative clauses are placed after the noun phrase they modify and are marked as relative clauses by the use of special resumptive pronoun forms.
Imperative sentences are also indicated by the use of special pronoun forms.

+------------+--------+--------+-----+------+-----+-----+------+
|            | 1.EXCL | 1.INCL | 2SG |  2PL | 3SG | 3PL |  3   |
+------------+--------+--------+-----+------+-----+-----+------+
| Unmarked   |   am   |   mo   | wan | kan  | fił | ołi | oil  |
+------------+--------+--------+-----+------+-----+-----+------+
| Resumptive |   mal  |   łam  | oan | nona | hi  | ho  | aloi |
+------------+--------+--------+-----+------+-----+-----+------+
| Imperative |   τi   |   τom  | κan | κil  | wił | wi  | alil |
+------------+--------+--------+-----+------+-----+-----+------+

First person pronouns are distinguished by clusivity rather than number. Second and third person pronouns are distinguished by number.
Fourth person pronouns serve to mark a generic person -- "someone", "one", or the generic "you" are the best translations.

Possessives are constructed by following the possessed noun with a pronoun that agrees with the possessor in person and number/clusivity, which can be optionally further followed by the possessor noun.

Pronouns are the only words that serve a nominal function in their unmarked form. All other words require a nominalizing suffix to serve a nominal function. If a word lacks one of the six nominalizing suffixes below, it is not functioning as a nominal, no matter how it may seem to be.

+------------+----------+--------------+
|            | Specific | Non-specific |          +--------------------+-----------+
+------------+----------+--------------+          | Universal          |   -kana   |
| Definite   |   -łon   |     -yon     |          +--------------------+-----------+
+------------+----------+--------------+          | Negative Universal |   -tana   |
| Indefinite |   -so    |     -yo      |          +--------------------+-----------+
+------------+----------+--------------+

Similarly, if a word is behaving as a verb, it will be preceded by a tense particle. If a word is neither preceded by a tense particle nor followed by a nominalizing suffix, it is serving as an adjective, adverb, or it is a function word (preposition/conjunction or particle).
Enłalen tense particles are as follows. Note that while for a sentence in isolation these tenses are fairly straightforward, they are highly relative to the previous utterances in the discourse. So while in English I would say "Yesterday I went to the store and bought some milk", in Enłalen I would use different tense particles here -- likely the near past particle for "go" but then the present or near future particle with "buy". Using the near past again here in a way that mimics English would imply that milk had been bought in the near past relative to the near past time already established - in other words, that I had bought the milk before going to the store.

               +---------------+----+
               | Present       | wo |
               +---------------+----+
               | Near Past     | oł |
               +---------------+----+
               | Near Future   | i  |
               +---------------+----+
               | Remote Past   | en |
               +---------------+----+
               | Remote Future | ha |
               +---------------+----+

Prepositions followed by a sole pronoun are collapsed into single forms without exception. Most prepositions follow essentially the same pattern:

+--------------------+-----+------+-----+----+
|                    |  1  |   2  |  3  |  4 |
+--------------------+-----+------+-----+----+
| Singular/Exclusive | -m  | -n   | -ł  |    |
+--------------------+-----+------+-----+ -l +
| Plural/Inclusive   | -mo | -kan | -łi |    |
+--------------------+-----+------+-----+----+

Comparatives are formed by adding the prefix si-. Demonstrative nouns are marked by addition of the prefix pa-. 


Derivational Morphology:

X-fo = to become
al-X = to be a person strongly associated with X 
yano-X = to be of/from X
X-θa = not X
o-X = un-X

yioli-X: passivizes X
X-ika: augmentative
yo-X: when X is a collective or group noun (army, nation, forest), adding yo- makes it refer to one member of that collection/set (soldier, citizen, tree).

Reduplication of the first syllable of a word causes it to become a causative. This entails that the 'causer' intended to cause the event in question, however -- periphrastic constructions are used in other cases.

Lexicon
=======

woyolτił	PROPER NAME pronounced [wujul̥tʼɨʟ]
woi		PROPER NAME pronounced [wu.i]
χoyał		PROPER NAME pronounced [kʰajaʟ]
foyolsił	PROPER NAME pronounced [fɘjul̥sɨʟ]
towohowil	PROPER NAME pronounced [tɒwuʁɒwil]

tamka		a long time ago
ian		exist
nanτami		vagina
opo		child, offspring
nałhonχo	muscle, limb
nalem		sickening, poisonous, bitter, salty
nałhonχolem	sick in the muscle, feel weak
łal		speak, talk, tell, say
yoti		obey
mati		person
miton		love
ilπi		tie, fasten
mitilπi		marry
olni		together, with, along with
kowi		various, all different kinds
ponkiwo 	underground
ilil		then, when, at that time
κoma		die, death
κiπi		then, later, subsequently, afterwards
τomti		head
τomnilem	dizzy, confused, sick in the head
ipail		good, healthy, sane, rational
iwen		oppose, argue, disagree, quarrel
θisa		notice, see, look at
mai		old, elderly
ifai		field, meadow, grassland
niθa		prevent, impede, hinder
kanmo		tangle, entangle, knot, wrap up, wear, be worn
woni		downwards
τai		catch, capture, take, acquire
payoan		thus, like that, in that way
sosiθen		to dream (while sleeping)
iso		to, with, by means of, (dative & instrumental)
nenθa		parent, elder
oyen		self (refers to the topic)
toko 		therefore, thus, for that reason
kenyi		give, send
oso		for, in order to, so that