Æbbro morphology
- Main article: Æbbro
This page gives an extensive description of Æbbro morphological features.
Nouns
Nouns in Æbbro language end almost exclusively in a vowel. A limited amount of nouns, mostly loanwords, may unusually end in a consonant; in this case a euphonic vowel, -i- or -u-, is added at the end of noun before the normal declension endings.
Nouns display neither gender nor class distinction. In declension, however, some endings make a semantical distinction between animate and inanimate nouns.
There are two morphological numbers for almost all nouns, singular and plural, and a remarkably rich case system.
Cases
Æbbro nouns do decline, according to a nominative-accusative system with 16 cases:
| Nominative | This case marks the subject of a verb. It is regarded as the base form of the noun, and it is used as the vocative form. |
| Accusative | This case marks the direct object of a verb. |
| Genitive | This case marks possession and belonging, either intentional, unintentional, or indirect. |
| Dative | This case marks the indirect object. |
| Ablative | This case marks the origin of an action or a state. It is also used to mark the subject of an nominal form of a verb. |
| Instrumental | This case marks the tool or the instrument which are used to perform an action or to be in a certain state. It can also mark the company, indicating an entity, together with which a certain action is performed or a certain state exists. |
| Locative | This case marks the place where an action is performed, or a certain state exist (stative location). It can also have a temporal value. |
| Allative | This case marks the final point of a movement (motion toward a place). It can also have a temporal value. |
| Delative | This case marks the point of origin of a movement (motion from a place). It can also have a temporal value. |
| Benefactive | This case marks the final purpose of an action or a state. In a broad sense, it marks the ultimate beneficiary of an action or a state. |
| Causative | This case marks the reason or the cause, which are the source of an action or a state. |
| Abessive | This case marks the tool or the instrument which are absent while performing an action or being in a certain state. It can also mark the absence of company, indicating an entity, without which a certain action is performed or a certain state exists. |
| Essive | This case marks existance or equivalence. It specifies an entity in its state, or which is the second term in an equivalence comparison. (as, like) |
| Comparative | This case marks relation. It specifies an entity, which is the other term in any kind of relations. (like, in relation to) |
| Contrastive | This case marks detriment, opposition or objection. In a broad sense, it marks the entity against which a certain action is performed or a certain state exists. |
| Partitive | This case marks partiality. In a broad sense, it marks the totality, from which a certain part is considered. |
Each case, except for nominative and accusative, can have other functions. Other types of clause complements can be conveyed using various adverbial postposed forms (which can be regarded as postposition).
Noun declension
As usual to an agglutinative language, Æbbro nouns display a set of number endings, which is clearly separated from the set of case endings. All endings are placed at the end of the nominal root, without undergoing any change (except for vowel armony). The sequence root + ending is thus easily recognizable:
retižewææ → reti - že - wææ as people → person - plural - essive case
The numeral endings are always placed before the case endings.
Nouns are declined in number by adding the following endings to the base form of the noun. Only in this case a semantical distinction between animate and inanimate nouns is made in the choice among the endings:
| -že | -žo | -hii | -huu |
Nouns are also declined in case by adding the following endings to the base form of the noun:
| - | - | |
| -ne | -no | |
| -rræ | -rra | |
| -hee | -hoo | |
| -śi | -śu | |
| -ddee | -ddoo | |
| -mi | -mu | |
| -me | -mo | |
| -mæ | -ma | |
| -gæ | -ga | |
| -bbii | -bbuu | |
| -jje | -jjo | |
| -wææ | -waa | |
| -hhæ | -hha | |
| -kkæ | -kka | |
| -ppii | -ppuu |
Some examples are shown below: a semantically animate noun with front leading vowel, llærme, father, a semantically inanimate noun with back leading vowel, kooto, house.
| llærme | llærmeže | kooto | kootohuu | |
| llærmene | llærmežene | kootono | kootohuuno | |
| llærmerræ | llærmežerræ | kootorra | kootohuurra | |
| llærmehee | llærmežehee | kootohoo | kootohuuhoo | |
| llærmeśi | llærmežeśi | kootośu | kootohuuśu | |
| llærmeddee | llærmežeddee | kootoddoo | kootohuuddoo | |
| llærmemi | llærmežemi | kootomu | kootohuumu | |
| llærmeme | llærmežeme | kootomo | kootohuumo | |
| llærmemæ | llærmežemæ | kootoma | kootohuuma | |
| llærmegæ | llærmežegæ | kootoga | kootohuuga | |
| llærmebbii | llærmežebbii | kootobbuu | kootohuubbuu | |
| llærmejje | llærmežejje | kootojjo | kootohuujjo | |
| llærmewææ | llærmežewææ | kootowaa | kootohuuwaa | |
| llærmehhæ | llærmežehhæ | kootohha | kootohuuhha | |
| llærmekkæ | llærmežekkæ | kootokka | kootohuukka | |
| llærmeppii | llærmežeppii | kootoppuu | kootohuuppuu | |
In some texts, especially in the later period, semantically inanimate nouns display no ending in the accusative case, like the nominative ending.
tterni muuhahoo bbooda urrgamapuud the man gave water to the cow
Declension of qualifying adjectives
Examples: kiibe, young, and sampo, new, with a semantically animate noun with front leading vowel, llærme, father, and a semantically inanimate noun with back leading vowel, kooto, house.
| kiibe llærme | kiibeže llærmeže | |
| kiibene llærmene | kiibežene llærmežene | |
| kiiberræ llærmerræ | kiibežerræ llærmežerræ | |
| kiibehee llærmehee | kiibežehee llærmežehee | |
| kiibeśi llærmeśi | kiibežeśi llærmežeśi | |
| kiibeddee llærmeddee | kiibežeddee llærmežeddee | |
| kiibemi llærmemi | kiibežemi llærmežemi | |
| kiibeme llærmeme | kiibežeme llærmežeme | |
| kiibemæ llærmemæ | kiibežemæ llærmežemæ | |
| kiibegæ llærmegæ | kiibežegæ llærmežegæ | |
| kiibebbii llærmebbii | kiibežebbii llærmežebbii | |
| kiibejje llærmejje | kiibežejje llærmežejje | |
| kiibewææ llærmewææ | kiibežewææ llærmežewææ | |
| kiibehhæ llærmehhæ | kiibežehhæ llærmežehhæ | |
| kiibekkæ llærmekkæ | kiibežekkæ llærmežekkæ | |
| kiibeppii llærmeppii | kiibežeppii llærmežeppii | |
| sampo kooto | sampohuu kootohuu | |
| sampono kootono | sampohuuno kootohuuno | |
| samporra kootorra | sampohuurra kootohuurra | |
| sampohoo kootohoo | sampohuuhoo kootohuuhoo | |
| sampośu kootośu | sampohuuśu kootohuuśu | |
| sampoddoo kootoddoo | sampohuuddoo kootohuuddoo | |
| sampomu kootomu | sampohuumu kootohuumu | |
| sampomo kootomo | sampohuumo kootohuumo | |
| sampoma kootoma | sampohuuma kootohuuma | |
| sampoga kootoga | sampohuuga kootohuuga | |
| sampobbuu kootobbuu | sampohuubbuu kootohuubbuu | |
| sampojjo kootojjo | sampohuujjo kootohuujjo | |
| sampowaa kootowaa | sampohuuwaa kootohuuwaa | |
| sampohha kootohha | sampohuuhha kootohuuhha | |
| sampokka kootokka | sampohuukka kootohuukka | |
| sampoppuu kootoppuu | sampohuuppuu kootohuuppuu | |
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns convey only the first two persons (1st and 2nd) in both numbers. Unlike nominal or adjectival roots, these root are monosyllabic.
They are declined with the same endings as the nominal declension, and select only the animate plural ending, as they always refer to animated entities.
| roo | roožo | šee | šeeže | |
| roono | roožono | šeene | šeežene | |
| roorra | roožorra | šeerræ | šeežerræ | |
| roohoo | roožohoo | šeehee | šeežehee | |
| roośu | roožośu | šeeśi | šeežeśi | |
| rooddoo | roožoddoo | šeeddee | šeežeddee | |
| roomu | roožomu | šeemi | šeežemi | |
| roomo | roožomo | šeeme | šeežeme | |
| rooma | roožoma | šeemæ | šeežemæ | |
| rooga | roožoga | šeegæ | šeežegæ | |
| roobbuu | roožobbuu | šeebbii | šeežebbii | |
| roojjo | roožojjo | šeejje | šeežejje | |
| roowaa | roožowaa | šeewææ | šeežewææ | |
| roohha | roožohha | šeehhæ | šeežehhæ | |
| rookka | roožokka | šeekkæ | šeežekkæ | |
| rooppuu | roožoppuu | šeeppii | šeežeppii | |
In later text, however, irregularly shortened accusative and dative forms can be found:
| roon | roožon | šeen | šeežen | |
| rooh | roožoh | šeeh | šeežeh |
All forms, when declined in the genitive case, can play the role of an indeclinable possessive adjective, being placed before a noun, or the role of indeclinable possessive pronoun, being placed before a demonstrative pronominal form.
roorra llærme šeežerræ nasnaano tuurkarapudd my father saw your mother
roorra llærme šeežerræ taano tuurkarapudd my father saw yours
Interrogative pronouns
The basic interrogative pronoun is:
- what / who: kaa
It displays no morphological distinction between animate or inanimate referents. It displays a complete declension and it is declined with the same endings as the nominal declension.
The numeral ending, conversely, is chosen according to the animacy of the referent. If the referent's animacy is unclear, the inanimate ending is automatically chosen:
| kaa | kaažo | kaahuu | |
| kaano | kaažono | kaahuuno | |
| kaarra | kaažorra | kaahuurra | |
| kaahoo | kaažohoo | kaahuuhoo | |
| kaaśu | kaažośu | kaahuuśu | |
| kaaddoo | kaažoddoo | kaahuuddoo | |
| kaamu | kaažomu | kaahuumu | |
| kaamo | kaažomo | kaahuumo | |
| kaama | kaažoma | kaahuuma | |
| kaaga | kaažoga | kaahuuga | |
| kaabbuu | kaažobbuu | kaahuubbuu | |
| kaajjo | kaažojjo | kaahuujjo | |
| kaawaa | kaažowaa | kaahuuwaa | |
| kaahha | kaažohha | kaahuuhha | |
| kaakka | kaažokka | kaahuukka | |
| kaappuu | kaažoppuu | kaahuuppuu | |
Declined forms can take different interrogative meaning, usually depending on the context:
- kaamu: where (static location)
- kaamo: where (motion toward)
- kaama: where... from (motion form)
- kaabbuu: why (which cause)
An interrogative adjective is built through the adjectival ending -je/-jo:
- kaajo : which
Other interrogative forms are built through specific nouns.
Within an interrogative clause, pronouns usually are usually placed in their syntactical position, according to their role, but in the later period they tend to be moved at the beginning of the sentence.
Numerals
The numeral system relies on a decimal base.
Cardinal numerals
The first ten cardinal numbers are noun-like forms on their own:
| aargo | |
| bunaa | |
| leeso | |
| zante | |
| gærne | |
| ddiino | |
| woolu | |
| miizo | |
| hæærtu | |
| laare |
Numerals from 11 to 19 are built with the construction laare + NUM:
| laaraargo | |
| laarebunaa | |
| laareleeso | |
| laarezante | |
| laaregærne | |
| laareddiino | |
| laarewoolu | |
| laaremiizo | |
| laarehæærtu |
The numeral for 11 is irregularly built, by losing the last vowel of laare.
The numerals for (one) hundred and (one) thousand are noun-like forms on their own:
| źoohdi | |
| bbekko |
The numerals for the multiples of tens, hundreds and thousands are built with the construction NUM + -laa / -źoo / -bbe:
| bunaalaa | bunaaźoo | bunaabbe | |
| leesolaa | leesoźoo | leesobbe | |
| zantelaa | zanteźoo | zantebbe | |
| gærnelaa | gærneźoo | gærnebbe | |
| ddiinolaa | ddiinoźoo | diinobbe | |
| woolulaa | wooluźoo | woolubbe | |
| miizolaa | miizoźoo | miizobbe | |
| hæærtulaa | hæærtuźoo | hæærtubbe |
Numbers above the multiples of thousands have no name and are specified by the lesser numerals.
Composite numbers are built by just putting them beside, without any conjunction, in descending order:
- 1985: bbekko hæærtuźoo miizolaa gærne
All cardinal numerals are meant as declinable forms. Case endings are usually attached to last numerals in a composed number. An adjoining noun is always declined in the partitive case, either in singular or plural number. The numerals conveys the case required in the sentence for the noun group.
roo leesone kootohuuppuu tuurkarom I see three houses (lit. I see three of houses)
With semantically uncountable nouns, the numerals, and the noun declined in the singular partitive case, convey the meaning “X units of Y”:
leeso gomooppuu three pieces/parts/balls/etc. of wool
If we want to convey a certain part of a greater amount, “X units of more Ys”, the construction with the numeral (sometimes declined in the partitive case, instead of the required case), the indefinite adjective argo, every, all, and the adjoining noun declined in the plural partitive case.
roo leesone argoohuuppuu kootohuuppuu tuurkarom I see three of the houses (lit. I see three of all houses)
roo leesoppii argoohuuppuu kootohuuppuu tuurkarom I see three of the houses (lit. I see of three of all houses)
In later texts the noun stops agreeing with the numeral in number. The noun is then firmly declined in singular partitive case.
roo leesone kootoppuu tuurkarom I see three houses (lit. I see three of house)
Ordinal numerals
Ordinal numerals are formed by adding the adjectival endings -ndi / -ndu to the cardinal numeral form:
| aargondu | |
| bunaandu | |
| leesondi | |
| zantendu | |
| gærnendi | |
| ddiinondi | |
| woolundu | |
| miizondi | |
| hæærtundi | |
| laarendu | |
| laaraargondu | |
| laarebunaandu | |
| bunaalaandu | |
| ddiinolaandi |
If the numeral form is composite, the ending is added only to the last numeral form:
- 25th: bunaalaa gærnendi
Verbs
Verbal roots in Æbbro language systematically end in a consonant. As normal for an agglutinative language, like the nouns, in verbal conjugation the tense endings are different and separated form the aspect endings and the mood endings. Endings are added to the verbal root without undergoing any alteration (excluding vowel harmony). Thus, the structure root + endings in easily recognizable:
taažo egmireggæpiid → egmir - egg - æp - iid they could have written → to write - potential mood - perfect aspect - past tense
The verbal system displays the following features:
- mood: indicative, optative, potential, imperative
- aspect: habitual, progressive, perfect, resultative
- tense: past, present, future
The citation form of verbs is the indicative habitual present or the habitual imperative form, which coincide with the pure verbal root.
tuurkar see / see! / to see
Three non-finite nominal/adjectival forms are also distinguished:
- Non-finite forms: infinite, active participle, passive participle.
On the morphological level the verb display no person, or number, exhibiting always the same unaltered form. These features are conveyed through the personal pronouns.
roo tuurkarom I see
Conjugation of verbs
As already mentioned, conjungation affixes are added to the verbal root in the followin order: mood - aspect - tense. Since their morphological relevance is essentially inverse to their order, these affixes will be analysed in a reverse order.
Sample verbs: egmir, to write (with a front leading vowel), and tuurkar, to see, (with a back leading vowel).
Tense
Tense suffixes display two forms, the positive form and the negative form.
| present | ||||
| past | ||||
| future | ||||
The negative forms are used to convey negation of the verb:
roo šeežene tuurkaruud → roo šeežene tuurkaroor I saw you → I didn't see you
Negation is thus conveyed by these suffixes.
Examples:
| present | ||||
| past | ||||
| future | ||||
Aspect
| habitual | ||
| progressive | ||
| perfect | ||
| resultative |
Examples:
| habitual | ||
| progressive | ||
| perfect | ||
| resultative |
Mood
| indicative | ||
| imperative | ||
| optative | ||
| potential |
Examples:
| indicative | ||
| imperative | ||
| optative | ||
| potential |
The imperative mood noticeably does not display distinctive suffixes from the indicative ones. It does not distinguish any tense and only the progressive suffix is usually added, to convey a stronger order in the present:
egmir! write!
egmirem! write now!
Nominal/Adjectival forms
The nominal/adjectival forms are usually declined following the nominal declension, with its endings. As verbal forms, however, they can take the modal and aspectual suffixes, before their proper ending.
Nominal/adjectival suffixes, like the tense ones, display two forms, the positive form and the negative form.
| infinitive | ||||
| active participle | ||||
| passive participle | ||||
The negative forms are used to convey negation of the nominal/adjectival form:
śiibædemænti reti → śiibædeminti reti a person who's sleeping → A person who isn't sleeping
Negation is thus conveyed also by these suffixes.
Examples:
| infinitive | ||||
| active participle | ||||
| passive participle | ||||
The infinitive is a nominal form of a verb. It is used as a verbal noun in sentences, and it can be declined. Unlike the normal nominal declension, the accusative form of the infinitive always coincides with the nominative one. It is widely used in the formation of dependent clauses, being also called the subordinate form. The object of this form is regularly declined in the accusative case, but an eventual subject is declined in the ablative case.
The active participle is an adjectival form of a verb. It is linked to nouns which actively perform an action. It is often used to build relative clauses.
The passive participle is an adjectival form of a verb. It is linked to nouns which undergo an action, or inactively are in a certain state. Despite the lack of a verbal passive form, this participle is the closest form to such role. It can, however, be used only as an adjective and it is often used to build relative clauses.
Negation
The verbal negation is conveyed, as already shown, by specific negative temporal suffix of the verb.
wooha tternine reenigæpiid → wooha tternine reenigæpeer the dog bit the man → The dog didn't bite the man
In the present tense, whose positive form displays no ending, the negative form always displays a specific ending.
roo kumirom → roo kumiromal I'm eating → I'm not eating
The negative ending of the present tense is used also for the negative form of the imperative, which usually displays no ending.
śiibæd! → śiibædæl! sleep! → don't sleep!
Double negatives are generally not allowed; the presence of another negative element in the sentence inhibits the negative adverb.
roo retine tuurkarom → roo oortuno retine tuurkarom I see a person → I see no person
