Foħθīrix morphology

Main article: Foħθīrix

This page gives an extensive description of Foħθīrix morphological features.

Nouns

Nouns in Foħθīrix language end almost exclusively in a vowel. A certain number of nouns, mostly loanwords, may unusually end in a consonant; in this case the typical nominal vowels, -e- in the singular and -ē- in the plural, are added at the end of noun before the normal declension endings.

Nouns are grouped into two declension classes: animate nouns or class I and inanimate nouns or class II. The first class generally includes nouns indicating animate beings, namely capable of intentional motion or action, while the second class includes inanimate objects or entities. As a rule, we can sketch out the following scheme:

• class I: human beings, animals, deities
• class II: plants, objects, ideas, feelings, senses, perceptions

A noun is not irreversibly included in one of the two classes, as nouns lack clear morphological marks for each class. For example, the word lūrex, light, shifts from a class to the other during the history of the language, as the noun pākex, love, depending on the overall cultural perception of the noun’s animateness degree.

Despite the general lack of morphological markers in the basic forms, being thus unable to distinguish the two classes, the declension patterns depend on which class a noun belongs to.

There are two morphological numbers for almost all nouns, singular and plural.

Cases

Foħθīrix nouns do decline, according to an nominative-accusative system with 7 cases:

Case	Meaning
Nominative	This case marks the subject of a verb. It is regarded as the citation form of the noun.
Accusative	This case marks the direct object of a verb. It is also used with some preposition. It also marks the direct object (i.e. the patient) in a passive construction and with participles. It is regarded as the base form of the noun, and it is used as the vocative form.
Genitive	This case marks possession and belonging, either intentional, unintentional, or indirect.
Dative	This case marks primarily the indirect object. It can also mark, to a limited extent, the final purpose of an action or a state.
Ablative	This case marks the origin of an action or a state. It also marks the subject (i.e. the agent) in a passive construction and with participles.
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 be used only with nouns belonging to class II.
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. It can be used only with nouns belonging to the class II.

Other types of clause complements are conveyed using various prepositions, which can select one or more cases.

A class I noun, referring thus to an intrinsically animate entity, cannot generally be declined in the instrumental or locative case.

Noun declension

Nouns are declined for number by changing the last vowel of the noun root. The commonest change is the lengthening of the final vowel:

a → ā

e → ē

i → ī

o → ō

u → ū

If the last vowel of the noun root is already long in the singular, it undergoes a changing in height:

ā → ē

ē → ī

ī → ī

ō → ū

ū → ū

As it can be noticed, nouns whose root ends in -ī and -ū do not distinguish any different plural forms.

Nouns are also declined in case by adding the following endings to the base form of the noun:

nominative	-x
accusative	-
genitive	-fu
dative	-šu
ablative	-ho
instrumental	-ma
locative	-va

Some examples are shown below: a class I noun, romex, father, and a class II noun, tōmex, house.

	romex		tōmex
	singular	plural	singular	plural
ergative	romex	romēx	tōmex	tōmēx
absolutive	rome	romē	tōme	tōmē
genitive	romefu	romēfu	tōmefu	tōmēfu
dative	romešu	romēšu	tōmešu	tōmēšu
ablative	romeho	romēho	tōmeho	tōmēho
instrumental			tōmema	tōmēma
locative			tōmeva	tōmēva

As for the rules, the endings for the instrumental and locative case cannot be added to a class I noun.

Adjectives and pronouns

Adjectives closely resemble the noun form, while usually differing in their last vowel. Pronouns, instead, may exhibit different forms in the root form.

Adjectives

Attributive adjectives are always placed before the nouns they specify, while predicative adjectives are always placed after them or before the verb.

sēmix ǧenex
the young man

ǧenex sēmix imū
the man is young

All adjectives agree in case and number with the noun they specify, being declined with the nominal endings. They thus display a complete declension set, not belonging inherently to one of the two classes.

sēmifu ǧenefu nubix tōmex ɕoħiva tōmšāva forūkī
the young man’s new house is located in the nearby village

Declension of qualifying adjectives

Adjectival declension follow the same rules as the nominal declension, with the same exceptions.

All adjectives agree in case and number with the noun they specify, being declined with the nominal endings. They thus display a complete declension set, not belonging inherently to one of the two classes.

Examples: sēmix, young, and nubix, new, with a class I noun, romex, father, and a class II noun, tōmex, house.

	sēmix romex
	singular	plural
nominative	sēmix romex	sēmīx romēx
accusative	sēmi rome	sēmī romē
genitive	sēmifu romefu	sēmīfu romēfu
dative	sēmišu romešu	sēmīšu romēšu
ablative	sēmiho romeho	sēmīho romēho
instrumental	-	-
locative	-	-

	nubix tōmex
	singular	plural
nominative	nubix tōmex	nubīx tōmēx
accusative	nubi tōme	nubī tōmē
genitive	nubifu tōmefu	nubīfu tōmēfu
dative	nubišu tōmešu	nubīšu tōmēšu
ablative	nubiho tōmeho	nubīho tōmēho
instrumental	nubima tōmema	nubīma tōmēma
locative	nubiva tōmeva	nubīva tōmēva

Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns are:

	1st sing.	2nd sing.	3rd sing.	1st plur.	2nd plur.	3rd plur.
nominative	amex	itex	okex	amēx	itēx	okēx
accusative	ame	ite	oke	amē	itē	okē
genitive	amefu	itefu	okefu	amēfu	itēfu	okēfu
dative	amešu	itešu	okešu	amēšu	itēšu	okēšu
ablative	ameho	iteho	okeho	amēho	itēho	okēho
instrumental			okema			okēma
locative			okeva			okēva

First and second person forms are meant as referents for class I entities; the endings for the instrumental and locative cases are thus not used with them. Conversely, the third person forms display a complete declension, in which the case forms are used whether the referred name belongs to class I or class II.

The forms for the genitive case cannot convey possession or belonging, conveying only other roles of such case. Either possession or belonging are conveyed through possessive adjectives.

Numerals

The numeral system relies on a decimal base.

Cardinal numerals

The first ten cardinal numbers are forms on their own:

digit	full form
1:	ɕere
2:	moše
3:	bīne
4:	šāre
5:	ħœfe
6:	kage
7:	ňuħe
8:	tūhe
9:	pēte
10:	lūme

Numerals from 11 to 19 are built with the construction NUM + ňe + lūme:

digit	full form
11:	ɕereňelūme
12:	mošeňelūme
13:	bīneňelūme
14:	šāreňelūme
15:	ħœfeňelūme
16:	kageňelūme
17:	ňuħeňelūme
18:	tūheňelūme
19:	pēteňelūme

The numerals for (one) hundred and (one) thousand are forms on their own:

digit	full form
100:	ħūxe
1000:	xāħe

These numerals are treated as adjective-like forms: They precede a noun cluster and decline according to their adjoining nouns in case, but they do not agree in number. Numerals do decline only in singular number and their nominative form is identical to the accusative form.

ɕere ǧenex
one man

ħœfešu sārēšu
to the five women

The numerals for tens, hundreds and thousands are the plural forms of the numerals for ten, (one) hundred and (one) thousand:

tens:	lūmē
hundreds:	ħūxē
thousands:	xāħē

The numerals for the multiples of tens, hundreds and thousands are built with the construction NUM (without the final -e) + lūmē / ħūxē / xāħē, with some irregularities:

	tens	hundreds	thousands
2x:	mošlūmē	mošħūxē	mošxāħē
3x:	bīnlūmē	bīnħūxē	bīnxāħē
4x:	šārlūmē	šārħūxē	šārxāħē
5x:	ħœflūmē	ħœfħūxē	ħœfxāħē
6x:	kaglūmē	kaħūxē	kaxāħē
7x:	ňuħlūmē	ňuħūxē	ňuxāħē
8x:	tūhlūmē	tūħūxē	tūxāħē
9x:	pētlūmē	pēħūxē	pēxāħē

All cardinal numerals above the form for 19 are meant as invariable, except for the numeral for 100 and the numeral for 1000.

Composite numbers are built by just putting them beside, without any conjunction, in descending order:

• 1985: xāħe pētħūxē tūhlūmē ħœfe

When a composite numeral has a declined adjoining number, only its declinable numeral forms do decline in agreement.

Numbers above the multiples of thousands have no name and are specified by the lesser numerals.

Ordinal numerals

Ordinal numerals are formed by replacing last vowel of the cardinal numeral form, -e or -ē, with the the adjectival ending -iri-:

ɕere → ɕeririx
one → first

tūhlūmē → tūhlūmirix
eighty → eightieth

The first ten ordinal numerals, with some examples of additional numerals, are:

digit	adjective form
1st:	ɕeririx
2nd:	moširix
3rd:	bīnirix
4th:	šāririx
5th:	ħœfirix
6th:	kagirix
7th:	ňuħirix
8th:	tūhirix
9th:	pētirix
10th:	lūmirix
11th:	ɕereňelūmirix
12th:	mošeňelūmirix
20th:	mošlūmirix
30th:	bīnlūmirix
600th:	kaħūxirix
9000th:	pēxāħirix

If the numeral form is composite, the comparative ending is added to every form, and they agree with their adjoining noun in case and number:

• 378^th: bīnħūxirix ňuħlūmirix tūhirix

Verbs

The verbal system of Foħθīrix language displays the following features:

• tense:
  • simple tenses: present, imperfect, past, perfect, pluperfect
  • compound tenses: future, anterior future, future in the past
• mood:
  • definite moods: indicative, dependent, imperative
  • indefinite moods: infinitive, active participle, passive participle

The simple tenses are distinguished by a typical vowel, while compound tenses are formed with the verb patore, to go, as an auxiliary verb, and an infinitival form.

The citation form of verbs is the present infinitive, marked by the ending -ore. From such form the verbal root can be inferred and can be changed in every other verbal form.

The following personal endings are then added to the root in the definite moods. In this way, verbs show their agreement with the clause subject in person and number:

	indicative/dependent	imperative
1st sing.	-m
2nd sing.	-t	-to
3rd sing.	-
1st plur.	-mī	-mīto
2nd plur.	-tī	-tīto
3rd plur.	-vī
pass.	-kī	-kīto

The endings labelled as “passive/impersonal” (pass.) is regarded as a separated person and it is discussed and explained in a following chapter.

The non-finite verbal forms are meant as nominal/adjectival forms of the same verbs. They do not add the personal endings, but they are declined as nouns or adjectives with the nominal declension endings.

As verbal forms, however, they can be built on the various temporal forms.

The non-finite endings are:

• infinitive: -re
• active participle: -θī
• passive participle: -ňi

The infinitival form is meant as a class II noun.

Conjugation of regular verbs

Sample verb: mārore, to see.

Indicative mood

Present tense

The present is a simple tense. The thematic vowel -ū- and the personal endings are added to the verbal roots:

1st sing.	mārūm
2nd sing.	mārūt
3rd sing.	mārū
1st plur.	mārūmī
2nd plur.	mārūtī
3rd plur.	mārūvī
pass.	mārūkī

Imperfect tense

The imperfect is a simple tense. The thematic vowel -o- and the personal endings are added to the verbal roots:

1st sing.	mārom
2nd sing.	mārot
3rd sing.	māro
1st plur.	māromī
2nd plur.	mārotī
3rd plur.	mārovī
pass.	mārokī

Past tense

The past is a simple tense. The thematic vowel -u- and the personal endings are added to the verbal roots:

1st sing.	mārum
2nd sing.	mārut
3rd sing.	māru
1st plur.	mārumī
2nd plur.	mārutī
3rd plur.	māruvī
pass.	mārukī

Pluperfect tense

The pluperfect is a simple tense. The thematic vowel -a- and the personal endings are added to the verbal roots:

1st sing.	māram
2nd sing.	mārat
3rd sing.	māra
1st plur.	māramī
2nd plur.	māratī
3rd plur.	māravī
pass.	mārakī

Future tense

The future is a compound tense. It is built with the dependent present infinitive of the conjugated verb, and the indicative present forms of the verb patore, to go, :

1st sing.	mārævore patūm
2nd sing.	mārævore patūt
3rd sing.	mārævore patū
1st plur.	mārævore patūmī
2nd plur.	mārævore patūtī
3rd plur.	mārævore patūvī
pass.	mārævore patūkī

Anterior future tense

The anterior future is a compound tense. It is built with the dependent past infinitive of the conjugated verb, and the indicative present forms of the verb patore, to go, :

1st sing.	mārævure patūm
2nd sing.	mārævure patūt
3rd sing.	mārævure patū
1st plur.	mārævure patūmī
2nd plur.	mārævure patūtī
3rd plur.	mārævure patūvī
pass.	mārævure patūkī

Future in the past tense

The future in the past is a compound tense. It is built with the dependent present infinitive of the conjugated verb, and the indicative past forms of the verb patore, to go, :

1st sing.	mārævore patum
2nd sing.	mārævore patut
3rd sing.	mārævore patu
1st plur.	mārævore patumī
2nd plur.	mārævore patutī
3rd plur.	mārævore patuvī
pass.	mārævore patukī

Dependent mood

The dependent mood is mostly used in dependent clauses. Its usage in main clauses is limited, usually when a verbal form is introduced by another verb.

In simple tenses, the dependent widely features the infix -æv-, which is placed between the root and the thematic vowels.

Present tense

The present is a simple tense. The infix -æv-, the thematic vowel -ū- and the personal endings are added to the verbal roots:

1st sing.	mārævūm
2nd sing.	mārævūt
3rd sing.	mārævū
1st plur.	mārævūmī
2nd plur.	mārævūtī
3rd plur.	mārævūvī
pass.	mārævūkī

Imperfect tense

The imperfect is a simple tense. The infix -æv-, the thematic vowel -o- and the personal endings are added to the verbal roots:

1st sing.	mārævom
2nd sing.	mārævot
3rd sing.	mārævo
1st plur.	mārævomī
2nd plur.	mārævotī
3rd plur.	mārævovī
pass.	mārævokī

Past tense

The past is a simple tense. The infix -æv-, the thematic vowel -u- and the personal endings are added to the verbal roots:

1st sing.	mārævum
2nd sing.	mārævut
3rd sing.	mārævu
1st plur.	mārævumī
2nd plur.	mārævutī
3rd plur.	mārævuvī
pass.	mārævukī

Pluperfect tense

The pluperfect is a simple tense. The infix -æv-, the thematic vowel -a- and the personal endings are added to the verbal roots:

1st sing.	mārævam
2nd sing.	mārævat
3rd sing.	māræva
1st plur.	mārævamī
2nd plur.	mārævatī
3rd plur.	mārævavī
pass.	mārævakī

Future tense

The future is a compound tense. It is built with the dependent present infinitive of the conjugated verb, and the dependent present forms of the verb patore, to go, :

1st sing.	mārævore patævūm
2nd sing.	mārævore patævūt
3rd sing.	mārævore patævū
1st plur.	mārævore patævūmī
2nd plur.	mārævore patævūtī
3rd plur.	mārævore patævūvī
pass.	mārævore patævūkī

Anterior future tense

The anterior future is a compound tense. It is built with the dependent past infinitive of the conjugated verb, and the dependent present forms of the verb patore, to go, :

1st sing.	mārævure patævūm
2nd sing.	mārævure patævūt
3rd sing.	mārævure patævū
1st plur.	mārævure patævūmī
2nd plur.	mārævure patævūtī
3rd plur.	mārævure patævūvī
pass.	mārævure patævūkī

Future in the past tense

The future in the past is a compound tense. It is built with the dependent present infinitive of the conjugated verb, and the dependent past forms of the verb patore, to go, :

1st sing.	mārævore patævum
2nd sing.	mārævore patævut
3rd sing.	mārævore patævu
1st plur.	mārævore patævumī
2nd plur.	mārævore patævutī
3rd plur.	mārævore patævuvī
pass.	mārævore patævukī

Imperative mood

The imperative mood is used to convey commands and orders. It is mostly used in main clauses.

It displays only one tense, with specific personal endings. It has no forms either for the 1^st singular person, or for the 3^rd singular and plural person.

Present tense

The present is a simple tense. The thematic vowel -ū- and the imperative personal endings are added to the verbal roots:

1st sing.	-
2nd sing.	mārūto
3rd sing.	-
1st plur.	mārūmīto
2nd plur.	mārūtīto
3rd plur.	-
pass.	-

Non-finite forms

The non-finite verbal forms are:

Infinitive

The infinitive is regarded as the citation form of the verb, and it is not conjugated in person or number. It is marked by the ending -re.

It displays three tenses, present, past, and perfect, formed through the thematic vowels. Each form has a dependent counterpart, formed through the dependent suffix -æv-:

	present	past	perfect
indicative	mārore	mārure	mārare
dependent	mārævore	mārævure	mārævare

The infinitive is a nominal form of a verb. It is used as a verbal noun in sentences, and it can be declined. It is regarded as a class II noun, whose nominative form is identical to the accusative.

Active participle

The active participle displays three tenses: present, past, and perfect. They are formed through the thematic vowels and the participial suffix -θī. Each form has a dependent counterpart, formed through the dependent suffix -æv-:

	present	past	perfect
indicative	māroθīx	māruθīx	māraθīx
dependent	mārævoθīx	mārævuθīx	mārævaθīx

The agentive participle is an adjectival form of a verb. It is linked to nouns which actively perform an action.

As an adjectival form, it displays a complete declension, to agree with the class of the referred noun.

Passive participle

The passive participle displays three tenses: present, past, and perfect. They are formed through the thematic vowels and the participial suffix -ňi. Each form has a dependent counterpart, formed through the dependent suffix -æv-:

	present	past	perfect
indicative	māroňix	māruňix	māraňix
dependent	mārævoňix	mārævuňix	mārævaňix

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.

This participle cannot play the role of a verbal passive form. It can only be used as an adjective and it can be used to build relative clauses.

ǧeneho māruňix sārex
the woman seen by the man

As an adjectival form, it displays a complete declension, to agree with the class of the referred noun.

Negation

The verbal negation is conveyed by the negative adverb re. This adverb is placed before the verb, usually after other non-verbal elements in the sentence.

lažex ɕūrū → lažex re ɕūrū
the dog is sleeping → the dog isn't sleeping

lažex θihe hōxu → lažex θihe re hōxu
the dog bit the man → the dog didn't bite the man

Double negatives are generally not allowed; the presence of another negative element in the sentence inhibits the negative adverb.