Βaβar morphology

Main article: Βaβar

This page gives an extensive description of Βaβar morphological features.

Nouns

Nouns in Βaβar language can end either in a vowel or in a consonant in their basic form.

Nouns are grouped into two declension classes: vocalic and consonantal class. As a rule, we can sketch out the following scheme:

• vocalic class: includes every noun ending in a vowel
• consonantal class: includes every noun ending in a consonant

Nouns display no gender distinction. There are two morphological numbers for almost all nouns, singular and plural, and a modest case system.

Cases

Βaβar nouns do decline, according to a nominative-accusative system with 5 cases:

Case	Meaning
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. It is also used with many postpositions.
Genitive-Dative	This case marks possession and belonging, either intentional, unintentional, or indirect, and the indirect object. These meanings are distinguished by the context of the sentence or by using specific postpositions. It is also used with many postpositions.
Instrumental	This case marks the tool or the instrument which are used to perform an action or to be in a certain state.
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.

The cases are usually classified in 2 groups:

1. Main cases: nominative, accusative
2. Oblique cases: genitive-dative, instrumental, locative

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

Noun pluralization

Nouns are declined for number with different models, depending on the class to which they belong:

• Consonantal class: The last vowel is reduplicated and placed at the end of the word. If this vowel is long, its reduplicated form is shortened.
• Vocalic class: If the noun ends in a short vowel, this vowel is lenghtened. If the last vowel is long, this vowel undergoes breaking or diphthongization. The vowel ə does not undergo any change.

Examples:

sing. tɬʼīx → plur. tɬʼīxi

sing. gāβra → plur. gāβrā

sing. βā → plur. βwa

There is, however, a certain amount of irregularities and exceptions to these rules. For example:

sing. βūβ → plur. βujβ

Noun declension

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

	consonantal class	vocalic class
nominative	-	-
accusative	-ɴ / əɴ1	-ɴ
gen.-dat.	-uɟ	-ɟ
instrumental	-iq	-q
locative	-aʈ	-ʈ

¹ This ending display two possible forms. The latter is used after a nasal consonant, the former is used in every other case.

Due to the pluralization process, nouns can shift from a class to the other one. In this case the proper endings to the new last phoneme are used.

Some examples are shown below: a consonantal class (in the singular) noun, tɬūβ, house, and a vocalic class (in the singular) noun, mū, cow.

	tɬūβ		mū
	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	tɬūβ	tɬūβu	mū	muj
accusative	tɬūβɴ	tɬūβuɴ	mūɴ	mujɴ
gen.-dat.	tɬūβuɟ	tɬūβuɟ	mūɟ	mujuɟ
instrumental	tɬūβiq	tɬūβuq	mūq	mujiq
locative	tɬūβaʈ	tɬūβuʈ	mūʈ	mujaʈ

As it can be noticed, some endings in the oblique cases of the consonantal class can display the same vowel of the plural form of the noun. In these cases the nouns do not distinguish any different plural forms.

Adjectives

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

muk tɬʼīx
(the) young man

tɬʼīx muk sūɣ
(the) man is young

All adjectives agree in case and number with the noun they specify, being declined with endings, which are only partially similar to the nominal declension endings.

mukət tɬʼīxuɟ žur tɬʼūβəg βəʂðət tɬʼūβuriʈ ʈīɣ
the young man’s new house is located in the nearby village

Declension of qualifying adjectives

Adjectives are declined in case according to a declension system which is only partially similar to the nominal one, display a smaller set of endings in the oblique cases.

Both attributive and predicative adjectives are declined by adding the following endings to the base form of the noun:

	consonantal class	vocalic class
nominative	-	-
accusative	-ɴ / əɴ	-ɴ
gen.-dat.	-t / ət	-t
instrumental	-t / ət	-t
locative	-t / ət	-t

Adjectives are declined in number by following the same rules as the nouns. As it can be noticed, the endings in the oblique case are always the same, displaying the only ending -t. Distinction among oblique case is made by the noun alone.

Example: attributive adjective xrām, big, and the noun tɬūβ, house.

	xrām tɬūβ
	singular	plural
nominative	xrām tɬūβ	xrāma tɬūβu
accusative	xrāmɴ tɬūβɴ	xrāmaɴ tɬūβuɴ
gen.-dat.	xrāmt tɬūβuɟ	xrāmat tɬūβuɟ
instrumental	xrāmt tɬūβiq	xrāmat tɬūβuq
locative	xrāmt tɬūβaʈ	xrāmat tɬūβuʈ

Numerals

The numeral system relies on a mixed system of decimal base and a vigesimal base.

Cardinal numerals

The first ten cardinal numbers are noun-like forms on their own:

digit	full form
1:	īɴ
2:	gaɸ
3:	zgū
4:	dāk
5:	atsʼ
6:	trikxʼ
7:	rməq
8:	dākr
9:	īɴɸə
10:	ɸək

Numerals from 11 to 19 are built with the construction NUM + i + ɸək. If the numeral ends in a vowel, the -i turns into -j:

digit	full form
11:	īɴiɸək
12:	gaɸiɸək
13:	zgūjɸək
14:	dākiɸək
15:	atsʼiɸək
16:	trikxʼiɸək
17:	rməqiɸək
18:	dākriɸək
19:	īɴɸəjɸək

The numeral for tens is built with the construction NUM + ī:

tens:

ɸəkī

The numerals for 20 is a noun-like form on their own:

digit	full form
20:	gāɸī

Numerals for 30, 50, 70 and 90 are built with the construction NUM + ɸəkī:

digit	full form
30:	zgūɸəkī
50:	atsʼɸəkī
70:	rməqɸəkī
90:	īɴɸəɸəkī

Numerals for 40, 60 and 80 are built with the construction 2 / 3 / 4 + gāɸī:

digit	full form
40:	gaɸgāɸī
60:	zgūgāɸī
80:	dākgāɸī

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

digit	full form
100:	žaβ
1000:	kx‘ruç

The numerals for the multiples of hundreds and thousands are built with the construction NUM + (i) + žaβī / kx‘ruçī:

	hundreds	thousands
2x:	gaɸžaβī	gaɸkx‘ruçī
3x:	zgūžaβī	zgūkx‘ruçī
4x:	dākžaβī	dākikx‘ruçī
5x:	atsʼižaβī	atsʼkx‘ruçī
6x:	trikxiʼžaβī	trikxʼikx‘ruçī
7x:	rməqižaβī	rməqikx‘ruçī
8x:	dākrižaβī	dākrikx‘ruçī
9x:	īɴɸəžaβī	īɴɸəkx‘ruçī

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

• 1985: kx‘ruç īɴɸəžaβī dākgāɸī atsʼ

All cardinal numerals up to these forms are treated as adjective-like forms. They decline according to their adjoining nouns in case, but they do not agree in number. Numerals do decline only in singular number.

The numerals for “million” and “billion” are nominal forms on their own (the latter is an adapted loanword from modern Figo language):

digit	noun form
1,000,000:	ʈʂʼamʈʂʼam (reduplicated from ʈʂʼam, great amount)
1,000,000,000:	mišurintu (from m. F. mešurentur)

These forms are treated as regularly declinable nouns. If these numerals are used as simple count forms, they are declined in the nominative case. Inside of a structured sentence, they are declined according the case required by their syntactical role. Nouns adjoining such numerals are declined in the genitive-dative case and are followed by the postposition ɣm:

βaraɟ ɣm īɴ ʈʂʼamʈʂʼam
one million people

βaraɟ ɣm gaɸ mišurintūɟ ɟn
to two billions people

In the latest texts, however, nouns adjoining these numerals arenot followed by any postposition:

βaraɟ gaɸ mišurintūɟ ɟn
to two billions people

In the earlier modern period the idea of “zero” is introduced from Iðâɣ language. This numeral is however usually limited to mathematics:

digit	full form
0:	xisū (from I. xesú)

Ordinal numerals

Ordinal numerals are formed by adding the ordinal ending -ð, sometimes preceded by -i-, to the cardinal numeral form, with an irregular suppletive form:

digit	adjective form
1st:	rārm
2nd:	gaɸið
3rd:	zgūð
4th:	dākið
5th:	atsʼið
6th:	trikxʼið
7th:	rməqið
8th:	dākrið
9th:	īɴɸəð
10th:	ɸəkið
11th:	īɴiɸəkið
12th:	gaɸiɸəkið
20th:	gāɸīð
60th:	zgūgāɸīð

Ordinal numerals for “millionth” and “billionth” are regularly formed from their corresponding cardinal forms, while their multiples are formed by unifying the separated forms in an only adjectival word:

digit	adjective form
1,000,000th:	ʈʂʼamʈʂʼamð
1,000,000,000th:	mišurintuð
3,000,000,000th:	zgūmišurintuð

If the numeral form is composite, the ending is added only to the last numeral form:

• 25^th: gāɸī atsʼið

Verbs

The verbal system of Βaβar language is based on the fundamental dichotomy between imperfective aspect and perfective aspect. This distinction is conveyed by two different verbal roots for every verbal meaning, the imperfective root (R_imp) and the perfective root (R_prf). The perfective root is usually derived from the imperfective one through an introflexive process of vowel change:

CCV1CC → CCV2CC

The root vowel change follows well-defined patterns:

Rimp = short vowel → Rprf = long vowel

Rimp = long vowel → Rprf = diphthong

Rimp = semivowel → Rprf = [ə] + semivowel

Examples:

Rimp = ɸaq- → Rprf = ɸāq-

Rimp = çīr- → Rprf = çwir-

Rimp = qmš- → Rprf = qəmš-

However, multisyllabic verbal roots can be formed through morphological derivation by adding prefixes or suffixes or both of them. These morphological affixes are usually not involved in the change process. The vowel involved is that belonging to the original verbal root:

Examples:

Rimp = çāɸaq- → Rprf = çāɸāq-

Rimp = ɣārɸi- → Rprf = ɣārɸī-

Irregular perfective roots can be found, however rarely. Some verbs may entirely lack their perfective root.

No distinction is made on a temporal level. Time is conveyed exclusively through temporal adverbs and particles.

There are three verbal moods and three non-finite forms:

• Moods: indicative, subjunctive, imperative
• Non-finite: active participle, passive participle

The citation form of verbs is the imperfective imperative, which coincides exactly with the imperfective root. From such form the imperfective root can be inferred and can be changed in its perfective equivalent.

All verbs are divided in three groups, called conjugations. Each conjugation is distinguished by a different conjugating pattern in aspect, person and mood, and a different thematic vowel, which is added to the root before the personal endings. The 1^st conjugation has a null ending, with the personal endings being directly added to the root. The 2^nd conjugation and the 3^rd conjugation add -i- and -u-, respectively, as thematic vowels. The general scheme is:

1st conjugation	-
2nd conjugation	-i-
3rd conjugation	-u-

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

1st sing.	-š
2nd sing.	-m
3rd sing.	-ɣ
1st plur.	-ža
2nd plur.	-ku
3rd plur.	-ç

The subjunctive mood is usually derived from the indicative forms, with different patterns according to the conjugation. 1^st conjugation verbs add a suffix, while 2^nd and 3^rd conjugation verbs change the thematic vowel. The imperative mood has an only form, not varying in person and number, which coincides with the pure verbal roots, both imperfective and perfective.

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 can, however, be formed on both roots.

The non-finite endings are:

• active participle: -rā
• passive participle: -žu

These forms are used, with the verb sū, to be as an auxiliary verb, to construct further aspectual forms, a progressive form and a resultative form. Thus the distinct aspectual forms amount to four:

• Aspects: imperfective, perfective, progressive, resultative

A distinction between an active diathesis and a passive diathesis is made. However, the passive diathesis distinguishes a reduced amount of aspectual forms.