Jeʂtəra syntax

Main article: Jeʂtəra

This page gives an extensive description of Jeʂtəra syntactical features.

Main clause and word order

Jeʂtəra is a mainly VSO (Verb-Subject-Object) language.

līloṕət́ līroliə sopa 
the man sees the dog

There are clear traces hinting to a previous underlying SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) order, not being VSO a retention of the earlier first word order in Proto-Piti. Some of thiese traces are the position of the negative adverb ʔīs, not, and the position of the verbal infinitives when supported by other verbs.

līloṕət́ līroliə sopa ʔīs
the man does not see the dog

The quite rich case system allows every other possible word order, but most of them prove to be very marked and infrequently used. The only word order with a clear role and a frequent usage is VOS (Verb-Object-Subject), which marks the so-called passive construction.

līloṕ sopa līroliə
the dog is seen by the man

The other elements in the sentence are usually placed in the order “place-manner-cause-time”, although they are basically freer than the main elements. An object in the dative case, when conveying the indirect object, tends to be placed after the direct object of the sentence.