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Khangaþyagon Subordinate Clauses

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Subordinate clauses, complement clauses and action nominals

Subordinate Clauses

Relative Clauses

These are introduced by the conjunction ū "such that". For example,

iðuzhang ya rik ū nellodahing yi

iðuzh a ng ya rik ū nello dah i ng yi
see 1p pt 1p man "such that" worthy be 3p pt 3p

I saw the man who was worthy.

Subordinate clauses are disfavoured as dependants of the subject in transitive sentences, due to the awkwardness of putting such a heavy constituent between the subject and the object. When absolutely necessary, subordinate clauses qualifying the subject may undergo extraposition and move to the end of the sentence. When a subordinate clause occurs finally in a sentence where both the subject and object are third person and the same number, a proximate pronoun in the subordinate clause refers to the subject, while an obviate refers to the object.

snægri holwo Mallapont ū snægri yi holvlakh

snægr- i hol- wo mall- ap- ont ū snægr- i yi hol- vlakh
hate 3P person any holy make PrP such that hate 3p PROX person folk

Whoever hates mankind hates God.

ngabri khangaþgevont narrglæs ū snægri de Mallapont

ngabr- i khangaþ- ge- v- ont narr- glæs ū snægr- i de mall- ap- ont
defy 3P magic true know PrP betray spirit such that hate 3P OBV holy make PrP

The wizard defies the demon who hates God.

Adverbial Clauses

Adverbial clauses consist of an adverbial noun phrase (that is a noun phrase marked with segunakar giving it an adverbial sense), further qualified by a relative clause. The adverbial noun phrase will also be marked with a modsegunak. mansti kemno zhelbanut ū dirrimir talpar þoa

manst- i kemno zhel- ban- ut ū dirrim- i- r talp- ar þoa
stand 3P city place that at such that reach 3P PL mountain PL sea

The city stands where the mountains reach the sea.

Complement clauses

A complement clause is a clause used as the complement to a verb. Two kinds exist in Khangaþyagon - Infinitive clauses and topical clauses

Infinitive clauses

Infinitive clauses represent the idea of an an action in an abstract sense. The are often used for desires and purposes. In an infinitive clause, the verb is in the infinitive. There is no subject, but an object may be present.

tarrming Kæshroþrast markiso vlakhmark

tarrm i ng Kæshroþrast markis o vlakh mark
need 3P PT Kæshroþrast counsel INF folk chief

Kæshroþrast needed to counsel a king.

Topical clauses

Topical clauses describe an idea about a given topic, where the matrix clause describes knowledge, belief or communication of that idea. A typical use of topical clauses is reported speech.

These clauses are expressed with a topic-comment structure. The topic is the most discourse-prominent component of the reported idea, and appears fronted and marked with the segunak ku. It is followed by the comment, a finite clause which represents a reported statement about the topic. Within the comment, the topic is represented by a pronoun, usually proximate.

tamiting yi mallsheuroshtkur, wiþingar yir zaldep mœza

tamit i ng yi mall sheur osht ku r wiþ ing ar yi r zaldep mœza
"believe unfoundedly" 3P PT 3P holy seclude PP ABOUT PL have 3P PT PL 3P PL treasure great

He believed (unfoundedly or insincerely) that the monks had great treasure.

Action Nominal Constructions

Action nominals are formed by an ergative pattern, where the participal verb is followed by the object, marked with the possessive segunak uz, and optionally the subject, marked with the instrumental segunak ol.

eskrontþað glafuz rikol

eskr- ont- það glaf- uz rik- ol
ride PrP deed horse GEN man INST

The riding of the horse by the man (the man's riding of the horse).

When the verb is intransitive, uz marks the subject.

peshtontþað akhrumuz

pesht- ont- það akhrum- uz
run PrP deed deer GEN

The running of the deer.

When the semantics of the verb is such that the roles of the arguments can be understood from context (men ride horses, horses do not ride men(as the Dothrak said), the object may be ommitted and the subject marked with uz

eskrontþað rikuz

eskr- ont- það rik- uz
ride PrP deed man GEN

The man's riding

eskrontþað glafuz

eskr- ont- það glaf- uz
ride PrP deed horse GEN

The riding of the horse.

This tends to correspond to verbs that still make sense when the object is omitted.

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Pronouns Syntax Questions, Commands, Conditionals and Counterfactuals


--PeteBleackley 02:19, 6 June 2006 (PDT)