Elkarîl

Introduction [Top]

(Philological notes: elkar is literally `the making people'. I write elcar, plural elcari, because this is the form of the word in Verdurian. I avoid the translation `dwarf' since it imports too many associations from terrestrial legends. Elcarin is the Verdurian adjective, relating to the people or culture, and I use it as the English adjective too. Elkarîl, or in full bbêthu elkarîl, is what the elcari call their language; the Verdurian is Elcarrhon. Finally, Elkarinor is the Barakhinei name for this elcarin kingdom; the elcari call it Khatelyên after its capital.)

History [Top]

More striking yet, the language of the nearer múrtani is demonstrably related to Elkaril-- though it has changed faster, and there is now little superficial resemblance between the languages.

In part, this extraordinary resistance to change is due to elcarin longetivity: lifetimes average 300 years, and individuals may reach the age of 600. Since maturation takes little longer than for humans-- about 30 years-- the young are never numerous, and relate principally to adults rather than to each other. Beyond this, we may note that the elcari never seem to use language as a social marker or as a vehicle of fashion. Elcarin groups distinguish themselves by dress or artistic style, but not by speech.

As well, the elcari revere their own speech, which they believe was imparted to them directly by Khemthu-Nôr. If (say) met is God's own word for `dawn', far be it from a mere mortal to change it.

Unusual features [Top]

It employs a large number of single-phoneme affixes, which allow some fairly frightening consonant clusters: gnqêtkh `despised father'; p-tñêchôngmsh `and full of iron ore'

Though most words can be analyzed as a sequence of phonemes, the language makes semantic use of some continuous phonetic variables, such as frontness, tongue height, or length of articulation.

There are no personal pronouns; however, variables can be arbitrarily and explicitly assigned.

Verbs don't morphologically indicate tense (that is, time of action) or the perfect (that is, completed action), nor are there any subjunctive or evidential inflections.

Default categories are often narrower than in human languages. E.g. where we would say `tree', an elcar must specify ngach `conifer' or bosh `deciduous tree'. And where we have `hill' and `mountain', Elkarîl has ten words:

shôph	an isolated hill or mesa
châbb	a hill (among other hills)
geth	foothill; a hill connecting to mountains beyond
bad	a mountain shorter on one side (e.g. because it leads to a plateau)
jôph	an isolated mountain
ñam	a low mountain (among others the same size)
rakh	a high, steep mountain, part of a range
têkh	a ridge of mountains (or a very long mountain)
mông	a low mountain among high ones; a pass
kugg	a very high mountain peak in a high range

Cultural notes [Top]

The elcari live almost exclusively in mountain regions, preferably in great stone cities (khat) which extend deep into the earth. They are experts in mining and metallurgy, and to humans they are primarily known as builders, miners, jewellers, armorers, and blacksmiths; indeed, they may travel into human territories to offer these services, though they never stay long.

They grow crops in the valleys and footills-- in Elkarinor, wheat, rye, oats, beans, carrots, turnips, wild rice, grapes, berries, olives, and fruit trees, as well as flax and hemp for textiles. They have kept sheep and goats for milennia, and acquired chickens, cattle, and horses from men. (Their horses are perhaps better called mountain ponies, small enough for elcari to ride, and adapted to the mountains.) They freely trade with men and ilii for other goods.

They are egalitarian by nature; though they enjoy luxuries, they consider human hierarchies to be foolish, and they have no servants or even employees (though younger elcari assist older family members). They willingly organize in order to create buildings or excavations, to mine, to make laws, to trade with their neighbors, to deal with natural disasters, and to go to war, but these enterprises (ddux) are never permanent, and their leaders (nnôn) are elected. There is a king (tely), but the position is largely ceremonial, except in wartime.

There is no permanent government, but there are frequent councils (ggêj) which meet to address problems and hear complaints; an agreement in council (ggêjêju) is effectively a law, and not lightly broken. There is no police force; instead, crimes are brought before the council, which dispenses judgment (if there's no clear culprit, a commission is appointed to find the perpetrator).

If this sounds a bit libertarian, it should be understood that elcari have a very strong sense of community (murth) and collective action. An elcar doesn't like to be permanently subordinate to anyone, but also prefers not to act or live alone. To want to accumulate things only for oneself, or to lord it over others, is considered perverse.

The elcari are not very devoted to intellectual pursuits. Their studies are usually practical-- chemistry, metallurgy, agronomy, architecture, medicine, genealogy; about their only abstract interests are astronomy and mathematics. They believe in one god, Khemthu-Nôr (`First Spirit'), but have no public worship and little theology. Their chief diversions are games of all sorts and music, generally accompanied by drinking and gossip. Their passion, however, is making things, from houses to jewelry, from drawings to sculpture to furniture to clothing. All of these are to be made as beautiful and ornate as possible. (Elcarin tastes do not run toward Zen simplicity.)

Elcari come to maturity in about thirty years, but live to over 300. As a corollary, children make up only a small fraction of society, and child-raising is only a short phase or two in an elcar's life. (Infant mortality is extremely low among elcari.) Probably because of this, elcar males and females are much less differentiated than humans, biologically and socially. There are no sex restrictions on profession, although males (being slightly stronger) do more of the heavy excavation, while females are usually the metallurgical experts. Relationships are long-lasting but not lifelong, and same-sex relationships are not considered remarkable.

To humans who know them, elcari are plodding, pedantic, stubborn, pragmatic, emotionally cool, and maddeningly slow to change. They are loyal friends, fierce when attacked, and very noisy when drunk, as they frequently are (though some of this may be for show; you rarely see an elcar sick or passed out from drinking). To elcari, humans are volatile, imprecise, bafflingly obsessed with hierarchies and rites, usually clumsy and tacky in their manufactures, easily damaged, and worryingly violent.

They respect the ilii for their ancient history, but make fun of them for being devoted to stories and poetry (which bore elcari if they're not short); and they are entirely out of sympathy with their interest in nature. Nature, to the elcari, is only a raw material.

Phonology [Top]

The Elkarîl writing system can be seen as featural: there are base letters p t ch k q, with modifications to indicate voicing, implosivization, and fricativization. (There are separate graphemes for the nasals and liquids.) The transcription follows suit to some extent, but if you prefer, you may write (say) khemthush `spiritual' as , or dduchegg `noble human' as . To match the orthography, I should have written b as mp, d as nt, etc.-- a system which would seem perfectly reasonable to Greeks, but not to anyone else.

The ch and j sounds are really affricates [tsh dzh]. The `palatal' label is historical-- these sounds once were palatal stops-- as well as phonological: in terms of the structure of the language, they pattern with the stops. The initial [t] and [d] in the affricates are not dental, but alveolar, very close to the position of sh.

The unvoiced stops are slightly aspirated (e.g. [p^h]), as in English, while the voiced stops are fully voiced, as in French.

I considered using qn for the voiced uvular stop, but settled on x-- with some trepidation, since I'm not aware of any language that uses x this way. However, with a fairly full consonantal system I preferred using a simple letter to another, unusual digraph, and IPA G has the defect that it can't be capitalized.

Fricative ph is labial [F], like Japanese f, not labiodental. I've used the digraph to match the Elkarîl alphabet, for consistency with the other fricatives, and as a reminder that the sound is not the same as English [f].

English bit is more fronted than î, which is a central vowel, a bit lower than i and u, but higher than our schwa.

Stress is always on the first syllable. Unstressed syllables are pronounced clearly, without vowel reduction.

Phonological constraints [Top]

Morphemes are usually of the form CVC; this helps in isolating the root when one encounters a highly inflected form.

Orthography [Top]

Morphology [Top]

A peculiarity of Elkarîl is the large number of single-phoneme affixes, including all the prefixes.

Prefixes [Top]

Affix	Meaning	Notes and examples
p-	and	b- before voiced consonants gan p-chan brother and sister rum b-maqh green and white
ch-	feminine	chan sister; chelkar female elcar, chnqêt mother, chnnem mare
g-	masculine	gan brother; gelkar male elcar, gnqêt father, gnmum bull
n-	agentive	m- before p/b/bb/ph nmak invader; nqêt parent; nmum cow (= mooer);also turns adjectives into a person with that quality: nrêl child
ng-	foreign, non-elcarin	tely elcarin king --> ngtely foreign ruler ngqaraju iliu or human writing system
q-	one repetition	The word itself implies `one'. ñêm write --> qqqñêm write four times; qqmit three days
t-	not; undo; negative	telk destroy, tlex forget, tôt no
[+fric]-	diminutive	khun cute little jewel; shan little sister, khan little brother
â-	possessive	âgan brother's, ântung the idiot's

Adjectivizers [Top]

Affix	Meaning	Notes and examples
-r	adjectivizer	rântur bloody, nôr first, khemthur spiritual
-îl	`genitive plural'	belonging to a group (-ly after vowels): elkarîl elcarin, xelyîl of the clans
-sh	full of, having the quality of	shopsh wise, ñêlsh fiery, ddarsh harmful
-ch	locative	met dawn --> mech at dawn; bel sky --> belch in the sky;
-ban	counter-, anti-	murthan against the community jêjban disagree; xîqh itch --> xîqhban scratch

Nominalizers [Top]

Affix	Meaning	Notes and examples
-a	nominalization (act or process)	elka creation, qhêsha shortness, pekha anger
-u	nominalization (result)	khemthu spirit, ebdu excavation, bbêthu language, lyatu gift, qîlu the inside
-m	substance for making	kunm substance for making jewels; ngông metal --> ngôngm ore; dâq enter --> dâqm door; mêph ferment --> mêphm yeast
-uq	substance derived from another (or from a process)	lyuch tar --> lyuchuq pitch; phesh cotton plant --> pheshuq cotton cloth; ñun breast --> ñunuq milk; tuph swamp --> ktuphuq swamp thing (ktuvok); bar sharpen --> baruq axe
-êb	upper or earlier part	mitêb morning, panêb bow, xôpêb an animal's back
-îd	central part	mitîd mid-day; lôp organ --> lôpîd vagina
-ôg	lower or later part	mitôg afternoon, panôg stern, xôpôg underside
-iph	half	cher 144 --> cheriph 72
-oj	another one	gelkoj another female
-ox	yet another	ndophox yet another child
-(r)idd	jewel or stone	rîmidd beryl, qênidd amethyst; qich sun --> qichidd gold metal
-(ng)ông	metal	ñîjông bronze, khulông cinnabar; tñêch reveal --> tñêchông iron
dde-[+fric]	child or follower	Ddekhanmech one from Ganmech's clan
pê-[+vcd]	room, place	pêddut market, pêdely throne room, pêxuth smeltery

Attitudinals [Top]

Affix	Meaning	Notes and examples
-ên	great	rîmidd beryl --> rîmiddên emerald; xelyên Great Clan
-egg	noble, refined	kunegg noble jewel; Beliddegg one of the moons
-e, -[stop]	honorific	(= homorganic stop after fricatives or nasals) gnqête esteemed father, gand esteemed brother
-kh	deprecative	nmurthankh múrtany, nqîltênkh dirty rotten thief, nmêrkh drunkard

Anaphora [Top]

Affix	Meaning	Notes and examples
-qeb-	anaphoric assignment	(see Syntax)
-Vt	anaphoric reference

Modifiers [Top]

Affix	Meaning	Notes and examples
-th	repetitive	in stay --> inth reside; mur cooperate --> murth community; jar desire --> jarth love
-d	causative	lema reason --> lemad justify; rul old --> ruld age; lush water --> lusht rinse; ggîn if --> ggînd suppose
[+back]	opposite	Verbs of motion or transfer are reversed by backing the vowel: pit come --> put go; dâq enter --> daq exit; bbêth speak --> bbôth listen;

Pluralizers [Top]

Affix	Meaning	Notes and examples
-êj	dual	elkarêj a pair of elcars, nqêtêj parents, xajêj one's eyes
-âj	quartal	xelyênâj the four great clans, putuqâj the four directions
-aj	plural	elkaraj elcars; nqîltêmaj burglars
-aju	complete set	qog bone --> qogaju skeleton; qara letter --> qaraju alphabet; tîch stair --> tîchaju staircase

Emphasis by length [Top]

• topicalization
• intensification of meaning
• seriousness of intent

Unlike our word stress, this length emphasis is indicated orthographically (by lengthening the character involved).

Note that individual consonant morphemes may be effected; this is particularly effective with the despective -kh and the repetitive -th:

inth stay
inththth stay a long long time
khilkhkhkhkh an ugly, ugly, ugly red

In general Elkarîl lacks attention-focussing transformations (e.g. clefting or passivization). To draw attention to a component, its pronunciation is drawn out.

Colors [Top]

• Backing the vowel indicates deeper, more intense colors (khil `red' --> khul `maroon')
• Lowering it indicates greater white-saturation (khêl `pink')
• The form CaC is a darker form of the highest-saturation shade (khal `dusty rose'), with the exception of maqh, which extends the series to white

Vowel continua [Top]

Similar series include:

rul old	ril mature	rêl young
qhush long	qhish medium size	qhêsh short
rung strong	ring medium strong	rêng weak
jul very early	jil on time	jêl very late
bbêj neurotic	bbij crazy	bbuj totally insane
gêm few	gim some	gum many

Some adjectives use only the first part of this scale, in effect distinguishing only intensities, rather than an opposition; e.g. tuq `very tart' - tîq `tart' - tiq `mildly tart'; phur `hot' - phîr `warm' - phir `lukewarm'; ting `slow' - tîng `stupid' - tung `idiotic'.

These scales are continuous but informal and subjective. That is, they offer a graduated scale between (say) rul `very old' and rêl `very young', but they don't correspond to absolute measures. A typical usage is to nuance one's own or another's judgment: "He's [50% between rul and rîl]." "No, no, he's [60% between rul and rîl]."

The `unmarked' value (in linguistic terms) is the middle one (-i- when the full scale is used; î for the short scale). Neutral nominalizations use this middle term: e.g. ringa is `strength' as a general quality; compare runga `strongness, the state of being strong' and rênga `weakness'. (In English one end of the scale is unmarked: `strength' is ambiguous between the name of the whole scale, and the name of one end of it.)

Locatives [Top]

For more precision, prepositions are used (qîl-tâg `inside the house'), and for even more accuracy, the prepositions are phonetically deformed (dil-ñekh `on my side of the table to my left'). The basic locative prepositions are:

pîl	general locative
tîl	on the surface
qîl	inside
tqîl	outside
kîn	above
chîn	below
tîn	across from

Each of these can be modified according to the following rules:

• Voicing the initial consonant indicates position to the left
• Palatalizing the final consonant indicates position to the right
• Backing the vowel indicates position away from the referent
• Fronting the vowel indicates position closer to the referent

Here's a diagram showing the variations of tîl `on':

• Thus dîl-ñekh means `on the left side of the table'; tul-ñekh means `on the table opposite me'; tily-ñekh means `on my side of the table to my right'.

• Similarly, gîn-ngach is `above the tree toward the left'; kun-ngach is `far above the tree'; kiñ-ngach is `just above the tree to my right'.

• Modifying met `dawn', these words give the cardinal directions: tul-met `east', dîl-met `north', tily-met `southwest', etc.

The general locative pîl is almost never used unmodified (it would be equivalent in meaning to the -ch modifier). Instead, its derivatives are used:

	pul `in back of'
bîl `to the left of'		pîly `to the right of'
	pil `in front of'

Any of the prepositions can be turned into--

• a noun with -u: pulu `the back'; qîlu `the inside'
• an adjective or adverb with -ur: dâqm pulur `the back door'; pit qîlur `come inside'

Prepositions can be adjoined to indicate a direction or path: pilpul `front to back'; xil bil-pulyur `walk from the near left to the upper right', tultil-met `from east to west'.

To indicate movement, two prepositional phrases can be adjoined, source then destination: put qîl-ggud tul-geth `walk from inside the forest to the top of the mountain'. If it's desired to give only the source, append -ban `counter-' to the preposition: put qîl-ban-ggud `walk out of the forest'.

The verb roch `carry' is used as a non-locative preposition: roch-ndem `with a hammer, carrying a hammer'; roch-char `(armed) with a sword'. By extension we have troch `without': troch-qhôsh `without a worry, careless'.

The adjective sequence jul `very early' --> jêl `very late' is also used for time prepositions:

jul-tam	long before summer
jîl-tam	before summer
jil-tam	during summer
jel-tam	after summer
jêl-tam	long after summer

These combine well with the prefix q- `once': jîl-qqqmit `four days ago'.

Duration is expressed much as paths in space are: jîljel-met `for a whole day', literally `before-after day'; jil-min jel-tam `from early spring till the end of summer'.

The locative suffix can also be used for general position in time: tamch `during summer', mech `at dawn'.

To express support or disfavor, use the prepositions chîn `below' and tîn `across', modified if desired by the the `proximity to speaker' continuum:

tun	greatly opposing
tîn	opposing
tin	slightly against
chun	slightly in favor
chîn	in favor
chin	very much in favor

Numbers [Top]

	digit	x12	x144	x1728	1/x
1	nô	path	cher	ggêth
2	qêj	pathêj	cherêj	ggêthêj	qiph
3	tîx	path-tîx	cher-tîx	ggêth-tîx	thîx
4	qâj	pathâj	cherâj	ggêthâj	qhâj
5	nquj	path-nquj	cher-nquj	ggêth-nquj	benquj
6	rin	cheriph	ggêthiph	lyôjiph	berin
7	mpêq	path-mpêq	cher-mpêq	ggêth-mpêq	bempêq
8	quth	path-quth	cher-quth	ggêth-quth	bequth
9	tîgg	path-tîgg	cher-tîgg	ggêth-tîgg	betîgg
10	thôq	path-thôq	cher-thôq	ggêth-thôq	bethôq
11	mpôq	path-mpôq	cher-mpôq	ggêth-mpôq	bempôq
12	path	cher	ggêth	lyôj	phath

The powers of 12 are more orderly than they seem.

• The basic pattern is power-multiplier, e.g. path-quth `12 x 8'.
• The dual and quartal suffixes are used when the multiplier is 2 or 4: cherêj `two gross'.
• Half of the next higher power (that is, a multiplier of six) is expressed using the -iph suffix: cher `144' --> cheriph `72'.

Other special numbers: mem `zero', mach `18', and the higher powers of 12 pathên 12⁵, cherên 12⁶, ggêthên 12⁷, lyôjên 12⁸, pathegg 12⁹, cheregg 12¹⁰, ggêthegg 12¹¹, lyôjegg 12¹². Higher powers are expressed by the formula ordinal-of-the-twelves, e.g machr-pathîl 12¹⁸, path-nqujr-pathîl 12⁶⁰.

Higher numbers are formed by concatenation, lowest digits first:

tîx cheriph
three half-12² = 63₁₂ = 75

pathêj cher-tîgg
12-dual 12²-nine = 920₁₂ = 1320

nquj path-mpêq cherâj ggêth-mpôq
five 12-seven 12²-quartal 12³-eleven = B475₁₂ = 30580

Ordinals are formed with the -r adjectivizer: nôr `first', nqujr `fifth'. Negative numbers are formed with -ban: qêjban `-2'.

Decimal numbers, which elcari are equally familiar with through trade, are formed by applying the `foreign' prefix ng- to all numbers except for multipliers. Ten is not *ngthôq, as one might expect, but ngpath. The `half' forms are not used. Thus:

ngqêj ngpath-nquj ngcher-quth ngggêthâj
two ten-five hundred-eight thousand-quartal = 4852

Syntax [Top]

Word order

• nouns precede adjectives: ntât khath `loyal friend', ngot lôr `big head'
• nouns precede relative clauses: ntât dda putît add `a friend who's leaving'
• prepositions precede their objects: tîl-ngot `on top of the head'
• Compounds follow this rule too: e.g. jôggngot `turnip' = `root' + `head' = `headroot'.)

bbêth qhêsh to speak briefly
rôpm qhêsh a short wall
gtely nôr the first king
lem nôr to think firstly

Case analysis [Top]

The window (= experiencer) broke.
The child (= actor) broke the window (= patient).

The basic questions of this analysis are

"What happened?"
"Who did it?"
"What was affected?"

"What happened at a physical level?"
"What did it happen to?"
"What was the immediate cause?
"What was this for?"
"Who desired it?"

Action (experiencer causer) Purpose (intender)

Some examples:

Têm miphuq xib phishd nduggsh.
broke window hand escape prisoner
The prisoner, intending to escape, broke the window with his hand.

Lyît kun ndem lyat Tarkhum.
faceted jewel hammer gift Stormcloud
Stormcloud used a hammer to facet a jewel as a gift.

To look at it a different way, where we have one class of actions, verbs, Elkarîl has two, physical actions (kupu) and mental or spiritual states (lithu), and two classes of actors, physical objects (nkup) and persons (nlith).

An action can be purely physical, in which case it has only the Action (experiencer causer) roles. Note that the experiencer is what we'd call the object, so the order of these simple sentences is what we'd consider to be VOS:

Phiphth lush shikh.
ruffled water wind
The wind ruffled the water.

Qop Thulbelidd bôchiq.
hit Moonlight apple
The apple fell on Moonlight.

Mîth ktuphuq char.
died ktuvok sword.
The ktuvok was killed with a sword.

Qop ngôt âThulbelidd bôchiq.
hit (head Moonlight's) apple
The apple fell on Moonlight's head.

Qith gguk âktuphuq char.
pierced (heart ktuvok's) sword
The sword pierced the ktuvok's heart.

Qith gguk âktuphuq char ânkich.
pierced (heart ktuvok's) (sword fighter's)
The fighter's sword pierced the ktuvok's heart.

Qop ngôt âThulbelidd bôchiq tînsh nrêl.
hit (head Moonlight's) apple mischief child
The child, acting out of mischief, made an apple fall on Moonlight's head.
Or just: The child dropped an apple on Moonlight's head.

Qith gguk âktuphuq char qhôk nkich.
pierced (heart ktuvok's) sword murder fighter
The fighter killed the ktuvok with his sword.

mîth `die'	vs.	qhôk `kill, murder'
cheng `be made'	vs.	elk `create'
phurd `heat up'	vs.	durd `cook'
jên `have'	vs.	ñap `own'

Phurd jik ngêl durd chninth.
heat meat fire cook wife
The wife made the meat hot with fire in order to cook it.
Or just: The wife cooked the meat with fire.

A sentence may contain only the Purpose (intender) roles; this is useful for describing intentions or mental states:

Pekh gninth.
anger husband
The husband is angry.

Elk nelkkun.
create jeweller
The jeweller wanted to create something.

Qhôk ktuphuq.
murder ktuvok
The ktuvok intends to murder someone.

Jarth Tarkhum p-Thulbelidd.
love (Stormcloud and-Moonlight)
Stormcloud and Moonlight are in love.

As there are many kinds of actions, there are many kinds of purposes: immediate or long-term ends, emotional states, attitudes, rationales.

Cloudrain put the jewel in a sack

stealing it. to sell later. as revenge. because he was poor.

Reductive cases [Top]

Têm miphuq phishd nduggsh.
broke window escape prisoner
The prisoner, intending to escape, broke the window.

Cheng phim jôm lyat Tarkhum.
make thing marble gift Stormcloud
Stormcloud is making something out of marble as a gift.

Thup pôtaj ddar rij.
slid rocks harm person
This rockslide happened because someone wants to harm us.

Often the experiencer is the same as the intender; in this case the suffix -ît can be added to either the action or the purpose instead of repeating the noun phrase:

Ggaqh gnrêl murdît.
laugh maiden cooperate-same
Ggaqhît murd gnrêl.
laugh-same cooperate maiden
The maiden laughed out of a sense of solidarity.

Chît Tarkhum qgrîtgget rap Thulbelidd.
wear Stormcloud pants request Moonlight
Moonlight requests Stormcloud to put on some pants.

Jikh nukiph baruq.
chop beam-middle axe
Chop the middle beam down with an axe!

Notes on specific verbs [Top]

Tômth p-tird Tarkhum.
ate and-washed Stormcloud
Stormcloud washed himself and ate.

Xil Tarkhum tqîl-khak qîl-ggud
walked Stormcloud out-city in-forest
Stormcloud walked from the city to the forest.

Tird nrêl lush xad Thulbelidd
washed child water care Moonlight
The child washed with water under Moonlight's care.
Or just: Moonlight washed the child.

Gam Tarkhum. / Gam Tarkhum xôp.
lies Stormcloud / lies Stormcloud body
Stormcloud is lying down. / Stormcloud lies down.

Mêrkhd Tarkhum. / Mêrkhd Tarkhum mêphuq.
wasted Stormcloud / wasted Stormcloud beer
Stormcloud is wasted. / Stormcloud got blasted on beer.

Miph p-bbôth Thulbelidd chnmum.
saw and-heard Moonlight cow
Moonlight saw and heard the cow.

For sensory verbs, animals can be causers; but persons cannot: to say "Stormcloud saw his brother" you must say something like Miph Tarkhum xôp âgan, literally "Brother's body caused Stormcloud to see."

Dialog is usually reported with the verb bbôth `hear', which works like any sensory verb: the hearer is the experiencer, the utterance or other sound is the causer. The speaker is usually given in the purpose.

Bbôth gnqêt xomaj jund Shikhpêt.
hear father words compassion Nightwind
Father heard compassionate words from Nightwind
Or: Nightwind spoke compassionate words to father.

Bbêth gnqêt tôt pekhît.
speak father no angry-same
Father angrily said "No."

Bbôth Shikhpêt bbê qum npêth lyôru êbb shobad Tarkhum.
hear Nightwind " suffer neighbor sickness " inform Stormcloud
Stormcloud said to Nightwind, "The neighor is sick."

If there's no initial verb and experiencer, Bbêthît `the speaker said' can be understood:

Bbê on mbam qil-tâg êbb qaphd chan.
" exist goat in-house " complain sister
"Your goat is in my house," sister complained.

Mox Tarkhum phan lyat dduch.
receive Stormcloud canoe gift human
Stormcloud received a canoe as a gift from a human.
Or just: A human gave Stormcloud a canoe.

Mox Thulbelidd mbam pêdduch rild Tarkhum.
receive Moonlight goat (at-market) raise Stormcloud
Stormcloud got a goat at the market for Moonlight to raise.

A reciprocal exchange can be expressed using conjoined phrases:

Mox nxilmech maqhidd b-mox elkar ñêmuq tât rijêj.
(receive iliu diamond) and (receive elcar book) friendship both
An iliu gave an elcar a book in return for a diamond, out of friendship.

On qichidd qurd qîl-kunmegg-nquj.
exist gold classify among-elements-noble-five
We classify gold among the five noble elements.
Or just: Gold is one of the Five Noble Elements.

On nmurthankh roch-lyatu qurd qîl-ntabankh.
exist múrtany with-gift consider among-enemy-despect.
A múrtany bearing a gift is still a dirty enemy.

A similar construction can be used for attribution:

On char qurd qîl-barsh.
exist sword consider among-sharp
The sword is sharp.

On char barsh shob gan. / Miph gan char barsh.
exist sword sharp know brother / see brother sword sharp
Brother knows there's a sharp sword. / He sees the sharp sword.

Mush elkar rênga b-ggaltha lemêj tîn-dduch
more elcar strength and-endurance compare to-human
An elcar is stronger and more durable than a human.

Mish Shikhpêt khipa lemêj gnqêt tîn-Khalmat.
less Nightwind loveliness compare father to-Roseflower
Father thinks Nightwind is less pretty than Roseflower.

Assignment anaphora [Top]

For brevity, one makes use of explicit variables: any of the eight outer vowels. (-ît is reserved for grammatical reference within a sentence, as explained above.) These are assigned with the suffix -qebVt. For instance chanqebat can be interpreted `(someone's) sister, who I'll now refer to using the a variable.'

After the assignment, -Vt (using the assigned vowel) added to a verb means that the experiencer or intender is the given referent.

Bbôth chnqêtqebut lemad chanqebat.
hears mother-assign-U justify sister-assign-A
Sister (= A) gives explanations to mother (= U).

Moxat ñunuq qhôshut.
receive-A milk concern-U
Out of concern, U gives A a glass of milk.

A variable assignment stays in force till it's overruled by another use of -qeb- with the same vowel. In a conversation, assignments are binding on all participants-- if the above example were spoken, another speaker could continue with the same variables.

(There are practical limits on how long one can remember eight variables-- though these are somewhat longer for elcari than for humans. As a rule of thumb, once a conversation ends, the assignments are in force for about an hour.)

The suffix can be applied to a noun to indicate possession: ganat `A's brother'. Note that one could immediately assign a variable to the brother: ganatqebot `A's brother (= O)'.

Explicit assignments are sometimes omitted, especially in speech. One simply names a new referent and immediately begins using the -Vt suffix.

Learners sometimes overuse the variables. Not every referent needs a variable. Within reason, referents can be understood by omission (e.g. in a passage where there's only one person referred to anyway).

If two people are talking, they will very often assign variables to each other. The effect is something like our personal pronouns ("A wants to borrow Ê's chisel." "Ê wonders where A's own chisel is." "A left A's chisel at Ê's house; doesn't Ê remember?"); but note that each participant is using the same assignments-- they don't switch back and forth depending on who's speaking, as "I" and "you" do. (Elcari who don't talk much to humans often have trouble with our pronouns.)

Object anaphora [Top]

Anaphor	Gloss	Examples
nîk	a long thin object	pen, rod, scroll, tube
pîj	a long hooked object	crook
dîk	a flat rectangular object	tray, book, shelf
tîp	a flat circular object	plate, ring, bracelet, gear
xîk	a flat object of other shape	triangle, starfish, pentagon, kite
kîd	a rectangular box	brick, trunk, box
qîb	a spherical object	knob, ball
chîp	an irregular solid shape	jewel, hatbox
gît	a body-part shape	glove, helmet, shoe, breastplate

• the vowel varies continuously from u to î to i to indicate overall size:
  tup large plate
  tîp medium-sized plate
  tip small plate
  
• initial fricativization indicates a miniature object:
  thîp coin shape
  qhîb bead
  phîj a tiny hook
  
• an infixed -r- before the vowel indicates softness:
  nrîk e.g. a rope, a finger
  trup e.g. a towel or sheet
  qrîb a squishy ball
  
• an infixed -l- after the vowel indicates hollowness:
  nîlk tube
  kîld rectangular box
  thîlp a ring
  
• an infixed -n- before the final consonant indicates thickness:
  nînk a thick rod
  dînk book-shaped object
  tump a big wheel or thick disk
  
• a repeatable prefixed q- indicates a repetition of the basic shape:
  qnîk two rods in any orientation: a bundle, a cross, a scissors
  qqtip a formation of three rings
  
• the suffixes -oj and -ox refer to a second or third object of the same kind:
  tîpoj another rod-shaped thing
  qîbox yet another ball-shaped thing
  
• the division suffixes -êb, -îd, -ôg can be used to indicate the upper, central, or lower portion of an object:
  nukêb the top portion of the big rod
  dîkîd the center of the plate
  qilbîd the inside of the little hollow ball
  thîlpôg the bottom part of the tiny ring
  
• the suffix -iph indicates a half-object:
  tîlpiph a circular arc
  qîlbiph a hollow half-sphere, such as a bowl

For instance, a human might tell another, "Put that thing in the other one over there." An elcar would prefer to say

Chung tîlpiph qîl-tulpiphoj tuly-qdunk rapat.
put (plate-hollow-half) in-(plate-hollow-half-large-other) (on-far-right)-(second-tray-big-thick) request A
A requests you to place this medium-sized bowl inside the larger one you'll find on the far right of the second big shelf.

Relativization of nouns [Top]

Mox Tarkhum phan lyat dduch
receive Stormcloud boat gift human
The human gave Stormcloud the boat
--> Mîth dda mox Tarkhum phan lyat dduch add.
die `(` receive Stormcloud boat gift human `)'
The human that gave Stormcloud the boat is dead.

On dduch dda mox Tarkhum phan lyatît add.
exist human `(` receive Stormcloud canoe gift human `)'
The human that gave Stormcloud the boat is here.

On Tarkhum dda moxît phan lyat dduch add.
exist Stormcloud `(` receive Stormcloud canoe gift human `)'
Stormcloud, who was given a boat by the human, is here.

It's also possible to place a simple noun phrase within the relativizers; this serves as an apposition or parenthetical:

Bîdth chnrêl p-Tarkhum dda nebd b-dda jiiiich add.
date girl and-Stormcloud `(` miner and- `(' u-u-ugly `)'
Daughter is dating Stormcloud, a miner, who's very very ugly.

Subordination within prepositional phrases [Top]

preposition dda clause add

Ñôm Tarkhum
read Stormcloud
Pit nxilmech jil dda ñôm Tarkhum add bîdît.
come iliu during `(` read Stormcloud `)` visit-same
Stormcloud was reading when the iliu came to visit.

Pekh Tarkhum qhir dda qhut mêphuqît add.
angry Stormcloud because `(` spoil beer-same `)`
Stormcloud is angry because his beer is spoiled.

Qhut mêphuqît qhir-ban dda pekh Tarkhum add.
spoil beer-same anti-because `(` angry Stormcloud `)`
His beer is spoiled, so Stormcloud is angry.

Pekh Tarkhum ggîn dda qhut mêphuqît add.
angry Stormcloud if `(` spoil beer-same `)`
Stormcloud will be angry if his beer is spoiled.

Qhut mêphuqît ggîn-ban dda pekh Tarkhum add.
spoil beer-same anti-if `(` angry Stormcloud `)`
If his beer is spoiled, then Stormcloud will be angry.

Subordination of entire sentences [Top]

Têm miphuq lemth nrêl li chnqêt qôch.
(break window ruminate child) sub mother want
Mother wants the child to think about (his) breaking the window.

Shôgth Tarkhum mêphuq kônît li ban Shikhpêt.
drink Stormcloud beer enjoy-same sub oppose Nightwind
Nightwind is against Stormcloud (enjoying himself by) drinking any more beer

Bbôth dduch dubu muk Chithkhîl li qot gtely.
listen human babble try Redfeather sub order king
The king orders Redfeather to try listening to the human's babbling.

On Shikhpêt jar Tarkhum li shobît.
(exist Nightwind attraction Stormcloud) sub know-same
Stormcloud knows that he's attracted to Nightwind.

Pit chnqêt shobd Tarkhum li kephadît.
come mother know-cause Stormcloud sub intend-same
Stormcloud intends to learn if mother arrived.

Ebd nmurthankhaj makît li shuk.
(dig múrtany-plural invade-same) sub possible
It's possible that the múrtani are tunneling in order to invade.

Phuch Tarkhum bêthît.
swim Stormcloud can-same
Stormcloud can swim.

Negatives [Top]

Têt-têm miphuq baruq.
not-break window axe
The axe didn't break the window.

Têm têt-miphuq baruq.
It wasn't the window that the axe broke.
Têm miphuq têt-baruq.
It wasn't the axe that broke the window.

Miph Shikhpêt têt-phim.
saw Nightwind not-thing
Nightwind saw nothing.

Qith nqîltêm char têt-kephad Shikhpêt.
pierce thief sword not-intend Nightwind
Nightwind didn't mean to stab the thief (but she did).

Têt-qith nqîltêm char kephad Shikhpêt.
not-pierce thief sword intend Nightwind
Nightwind meant to not stab the thief.

Questions [Top]

On chan nal-jar Tarkhum.
exist sister Q-attraction Stormcloud
Is Stormcloud attracted to sister?

On chan jar nal-Tarkhum.
Is it Stormcloud that's attracted to sister?
On nal-chan jar Tarkhum.
Is it sister that Stormcloud is attracted to?

The interrogative anaphor nan can be used in place of any constituent-- verbs, noun phrases, even prepositions; this is a way of asking that the listener supply the missing information.

Buly mbêm tîl-nguth qîltêm nan?
lost sheep in-meadow steal Q
Who stole the sheep from the meadow?

Buly nan tîl-nguth qîltêm galkh? What did the thug steal from the meadow?
Buly mbêm tîl-nan qîltêm galkh? Where did the thug steal the sheep from?
Nan mbêm tîl-nguth? What happened to the sheep in the meadow?

Buly mbêm tîl-nguth nan galkh?
lost sheep in-meadow Q thug
What was the thug trying to do that resulted in the sheep being lost from meadow?

Buly mbêm qîltêm galkh qhir nan?
lost sheep steal thug because Q
Why did the thug steal the sheep?

`To ask a question' is nand, literally `to make nan'.

Time [Top]

Ñôm Tarkhum ñêmuq.
read Stormcloud book

Stormcloud read a book.
Stormcloud was reading a book.
Stormcloud has read a book.
Stormcloud is reading a book.
Stormcloud will read a book.

There are several ways to indicate an explicit time:

• Time locatives: mech `at dawn'
• Prepositional phrases: jil-ggon `before winter', jel-qmit `two days from now'
• Adverbs (placed immediately after the verb): julur `earlier', bbôm `next'
• A subordinate clause (see Relativization)

The calendar [Top]

Name	# days	Gloss	Terrestrial equivalent
ggon	55	winter	Dec. 21 - Feb. 21
min	55	early spring	Feb. 21 - Apr. 21
gely	54	late spring	Apr. 21 - Jun. 21
tam	55	summer	Jun. 21 - Aug. 21
ther	55	early fall	Aug. 21 - Oct. 21
shêq	54	late fall	Oct. 21 - Dec. 21

The day (mit) is divided into eight periods (mitqur).

Event	Period	Gloss	Terrestrial equivalent (at equinox)
met		dawn	6 a.m.
	metôg	early morning	6 - 9 a.m.
	mitêb	late morning	9 - 12 a.m.
mit		noon	12 noon
	mitôg	early afternoon	12 - 3 p.m.
	motêb	late afternoon	12 - 3 p.m.
mot		dusk	6 p.m.
	motôg	early evening	6 - 9 p.m.
	pêtêb	late evening	9 - 12 p.m.
pêt		midnight	12 midnight
	pêtôg	nighttime	12 - 3 a.m.
	metêb	before dawn	3 - 6 a.m.

Examples [Top]

Riddles

On qîl-pan qurd qîl-bôq.
exist in-boat consider among-danger
On qîl-shêl qurd qîl-nqîltêm.
exist in-pocket consider among-thief
On qîl-rochm qurd qîl-ntât.
exist in-barrel consider among-friend

In a boat, I'm a danger;
in a pocket, I'm a thief.
In a barrel, I'm your friend.

Ruch phimqebat tul-kugg p-têt-jênat lek.
climb thing (=A) on-away-peak and-not-have-A foot
Pitat qîl-tâgu p-bbôth rij têt-têph.
come-A in-house and-hear person no-sound
Tonat qîl-kîld, p-pakhd kîld xib p-onat bbôm
not-exist-A in-box, and-open box hand and-exist-A then
Nan môbêj ggîn dda tonat add?
what-do egg-pair if `(` not-exist-A `)'

I climb the mountains, but I have no feet.
I come inside the house, but made no sound.
I'm not inside a box, but open it and there I am.
Without me, what would those two eggs do?

An anecdote

Bbêth elkarqebat bbê jên chninthatqebet lênguqaj qôchet êbb qaphdat.
speak elcar (=A) " have wife-A (=E) luxury-plural want-E " complain-A
Bbê jênet chîtm lêng p-pên lêng p-kun lêng qôchet.
" have-E clothes fine and-rooms fine and-jewels fine want-E.
Ggumat mitqur-tîgg mich ngîmbanat ggîn-ban dda munet jil-têt-mit add êbb.
work-A period-nine day-in provide-A anti-if `(` happy-E at-no-day `)' "
Bbêth ntâtqebut Pôtggal bbê mîsh chninthutqebôt bokha lemêjut tîn-chninthat b-jênut khuph êbb jundut.
speak friend (=U) Hardrock "same wife-U (=Ô) greed consider-U to-wife-A and-have-U trick " compassion-U.
Bbê moxôt qichidd-xukh p-têt-qichidd.
" receive-Ô gold-false and-not-gold.
Mox rij phim lyat rijoj ggîn-ban dda têt-miphngat add.
receive someone something gift someone-else anti-if `(` not-examine `)'.
Thesh qichidd-xukh phatut p-qôchôt qhir-ban dda jênôt add; mun rijêj êbb.
find gold-false easy-U and-want-Ô anti-because `(` have-Ô `)'; happy both. "
Bbêth chninth âPôtggal jil-tam bbê doph nrêl lôpdophôt jel-xâriph êbb.
speak wife of-Hardrock in-summer " born child womb-Ô after-year-half "
Bbêthut bbê on bung! Muuunut qhir dda onut qurd qîl-gnqêt add êbb.
speak-U " exist marvelous! ha-a-appy-U because `(` exist-U classify among-father `)' "
Bbêthôt bbê qîl-gnqêt-xukh êbb ôdôt.
speak-Ô " among-father-false " correct-Ô

An elcar complains that his wife wants too many fine things.
"She wants fine clothes, fine rooms, fine jewels. I could work twenty-five hours a day and never make her happy."
"My wife is the same, but I have a trick," says his friend Hardrock. "Instead of gold, I give her fool's gold. Who looks closely at a gift? It's easy to find, and she has all she wants-- we're both happy."
During the summer, Hardrock's wife announces that she's pregnant.
"Oh, wonderful!" he says. "I am very happy to be a father!"
"A fool's father," his wife corrects him.

Lexicon

Writing