Verse:Mwail/Old Gloob

Themsármai: Gávthā themsármā

Themsaran
themsármā
Pronunciation	[/θè̞msarꜜmaː/]
Created by	–
Extinct	220 v.T.
Language family	Zachydic Raxo-Talsmic Talsmic Themsaran
Language codes
ISO 639-3	qth

Mwail/Old Gloob gávthā themsármā
Type
Fusional
Alignment
nominative-accusative, head-marking
Head direction
Initial	Mixed		Final
Primary word order
Verb-subject-object
Tonal
Yes
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
Masculine/feminine
Nouns decline according to...
Case		Number
Definiteness		Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice		Mood
Person		Number
Tense		Aspect

Themsaran is my first constructed language, for my conworld of Hheergrem. It is intended to be a head-initial, head-marking language with a plausible development from an erstwhile dependent-/double-marking language. The grammar and syntax has been heavily influenced by Semitic and Celtic languages, with some drawing from Japanese, while the aesthetics draws on Germanic, Celtic, Finnish, Semitic, and Gyeongsang Korean. The morphology is an experiment with grammatical non-concatenative morphology: as Celtic grammaticalizes initial consonant mutations, and Semitic vowel patterns, Themsaran does so with tone patterns. The grammar is also an experiment on using inflections and agreement to show grammatical relations without case, which explains the gender system (however minimalistic), switch-reference on verbs, and the borderline polysynthesis. So I guess it ends up a tad more like some Native American languages. Other purposes of my language include mixing in un-English verb syntax, such as the use of optatives in subordinate clauses, and using principally non-finite subordinate clauses in the indicative.

todo

• Develop script
• Tabulate lists
• Examples for everything
• Improve aesthetics
• Expand explanation on infinitive and supine
• Ditch thematic vowels?

Notes on notation

Glossary

• ^CLF: classifier tone pattern (non-desinential or desinential)
• H: vowel hiatus with next syllable
• N: denotes a homorganic nasal
• Z: denotes r before a vowel or voiced C, s before a voiceless C, z before z

Background

See also: Themsaran/Sound changes from Proto-Talsmic.

The Themsaran (/ˈθɛmsɑɹən/) language (Themsaran: gávthā themsármā [gáʊ̯fθàː θè̞msármàː] "the Themsaran throat") was traditionally classified into a separate subbranch of the Zachydic language family, along with other para-Themsaran languages which are/were natively spoken in the (relatively large) island of Tálsỳm off the northwestern coast of the Pattiya subcontinent. (Since then, Talsmic's close ties to Ractamic languages, such as Raxic, has gained widespread recognition.) Due to its long period of isolation and substrate influence (the substrate is sometimes speculated to have been a head-initial polysynthetic language), Themsaran was a typological and lexical outlier in the Zachydic family, within which it was distinguished by its heavily head-marking inflection in both clauses and possessive NPs as well as its strongly head-initial syntax. It also notably employs a combination of tone changes and affixes to convey grammatical information. The language possesses mixed fusional and agglutinative inflection, and nominative-accusative morphosyntax (mostly). The name of the language comes from the Themsár region, from whose dialect arose the prestige language of the island. This elevated language existed in a state of diglossia with the diverse and often mutually unintelligible vernacular "dialects". Noble Themsaran was used as a living language by the ruling class for a period spanning 600 years until its demise in the year ca. 220 v.c., and was continued to be used as an important literary, academic and religious language on the island and surrounding mainland areas.

Phonology

Consonants

Noble Themsaran (gávthā ħéntā 'the noble language') used 23 consonants (24 if /ʔ/ is analyzed as becoming silent V_V), a rather modest inventory for a Zachydic language.

Consonants
		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Radical	Glottal
Nasal		m /m/	n /n/			n [ŋ]
Plosive	voiceless	p /p/	t /t/			c /k/	q /ʡ/	(ʔ)
	voiced	b /b/	d /d/			g /g/
Fricative	voiceless	f /f/	th /θ/	s /s/		ch /x~ɣ/	ħ /ħ~ʜ~ʢ/	h /h~ɦ/
	voiced		ð /ð/	z /z/
Affricate			ŧ /t̪s̪~ts~tɕ~tʃ/
Approximant		v /ʋˠ/			j /j/
Trill			r /r/
Lateral app.			l /l/		ł /ʎ/

/ʋˠ/ behaves both as an obstruent and as an approximant. [ʔ] may occur only in morpheme boundaries.

Geminate /x/ and /θ/ are represented respectively by cch and tth in the Romanization.

Conditioned allophony

Phoneme	Allophone	Condition(s)
/ħ/	[ħ~ʜ]	#_, C[+voiceless]_, V_V
	[ʢ]	C[+voiced]_
/h/	[ɦ]	V_V, C[+voiced]_
/n/	[ŋ]	_C[+velar]
C[+obstruent, ±voiced]	C[+obstruent, ∓voiced]	_C[+obstruent, -guttural, ∓voiced]

Vowels

Themsaran has a six-vowel system with a quantity distinction, that is symmetrical to a fault. Short vowels have one mora (except for epenthetic i/y which has zero morae), and long vowels have two morae. Short vowels in open syllables were pronounced approximately 1.5 times as long as short vowels in closed syllables; long vowels in closed syllables, 2.5 times as long; open long vowels, thrice as long.

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i /i/	ī /iː/	y /ʉ̜/	ȳ /ʉ̜ː/	u /u/	ū /uː/
Mid	e /e̞/	ē /e̞ː/			o /o̞/	ō /o̞ː/
Open			a /a/	ā /aː/

y ȳ is a close central half-rounded vowel.

The short high vowels and a are mid-centralized: a i u y are pronounced [ɐ ɪ ʊ ʏ̜̈].

Diphthongs

Closing diphthongs: ae ai ao au ei eu
Opening diphthongs: ea ie oa uo

Tone

Pitch accent, or tone, is phonemic in Themsaran. The following is the notation for tones:

	Short	Long	Diphthong
Unmarked	a	ā	ai
Initial high/falling	á	ā́	ái
Initial rising	-	ā̌	aí
Non-initial tonic	á	ā́	ái

The pitch accent of a word (of more than one mora) consists of two components: the lexical tone/downstep which may not exist, and the position of the downstep (the latter is confined to appear after the 3rd-to-last mora). A low-tone word starts low and has the highest pitch at the tonic mora, which is immediately before the downstep, whereafter the pitch drops sharply. A high-tone word starts high, dips low and rises up to the point of the second downstep.

The following rules govern the marking of Themsaran pitch accent:

1. The initial syllable is marked if it is the tonic syllable. If it is not, it is marked as "high".
2. If the tonic syllable is non-initial, it is marked with an acute accent.

If the downstep occurred word-finally, the first syllable of a following high tone word would have slightly lower pitch. In pausa, a word final high short syllable is realized as a falling, short vowel.

Clitics, unmarked, phonologically behave as parts of the following word and inherit the tone of the following word. Preceding a word with high lexical tone, the clitic is marked as high.

Stress

The first syllable is very lightly stressed, and there are no secondary stress phenomena.

Phonotactics

The maximal syllable structure is CCCjVCC, where V is any vowel or diphthong, and the second consonant in the complex coda must be an obstruent. /h/ is disallowed to occur in coda; radicals are prohibited word-finally. Up to CCCj medial clusters are permitted.

Permitted initial CC- clusters:

• [any obstruent except v] + {l, r, n}
• [non-labial obstruent] + {v, m}
• f + {t, ŧ, c, ch, q, ħ}
• s + {p, f, t, th, ŧ, c, ch, q, ħ}
• ch + {t, ŧ}
• c + {th, s}
• m + {l, r, n}

Permitted CCC- clusters:

• s + {p, t, ŧ, c, q} + {l, r, n}
• f + {t, ŧ, c, ħ} + {l, r, n}

Permitted -CC clusters:

• Any geminate excepting vv, jj, qq, ħħ, hh
• {m, n, l, r, v} + {any coronal obstruent}
• {n, l, r} + {any non-radical, non-labial obstruent}
• {m} + {p, b, f}
• {l, r} + {p, b, f}
• {f, s} + {t, ŧ, c}
• {p, f} + {s, t, th}
• s + {p, t, ŧ, c}
• ch + {t, ŧ}
• c + {th, s}

Permitted medial clusters are, roughly, those which begin like final clusters, may or may not have an "intersection" segment and end like initial clusters.

Phonological rules

• *mʔ, *nʔ, *lʔ, *rʔ > mp, nt, lt, rt
• *mh, *nh, *lh, *rh > nf, nth, lth, rth
• coronal obstruent + sibilant_i > sibilant_isibilant_i
• CC[+resonant]{C, #} > CyC[+resonant]{C, #}
  • Cyj{C, #} > Ci{C, #}
• CC[-resonant]C > CiC[-resonant]C
• jy[ː] > i[ː]
• z > r / V_C[-semivowel, +voiced, ~{/z/}]
• h > [ː~] / _C[+fricative]
• *ʔ > [ː~] / _C
• c > ch / _{d, t, ŧ}
• *tk, *ck *tkʰ > cht, chŧ, cth
• q
  • > ħ / _{t, ŧ}
  • > v / _C[+voiced +obstruent]
• nr > ndr, lr > ldr
• e > a / ʔ_#

Post-classical readings

The greatest variation is found in palatalization and the treatment of tone, radicals and interdentals.

Grapheme	m	p	b	f	n	t	d	th	ð	s	z	ŧ	ł	c	g	ch	q	ħ	l	r	v	j	h
Classical	/m/	/p/	/b/	/f/	/n/	/t/	/d/	/θ/	/ð/	/s/	/z/	/ts~tɕ~tʃ/	/ʎ/	/k/	/g/	/x/	/ʡ/	/ħ/	/l/	/r/	/ʋˠ/	/j/	/h/
Tizian	/m/, /m̥/	/p/, /pʰ/	/b/, /bʱ/	/f/, /pfʰ/	/n/, /n̥/	/t/, /tʰ/	/d/, /dʱ/	/s/, /sʰ/	/z/, /zʱ/	/s/, /sʰ/	/z/, /zʱ/	/tʃ/, /tʃʰ/	/l/, /ɬ/	/k/, /kʰ/	/g/, /gʱ/	/x/, /kxʰ/	/ʡ/, /ʡʰ/	/ʕ/, /ħ/	/l/, /ɬ/	/r/, /r̥/	/w/, /ʍ/	/j/, /ɧ/	Ø, /h/
Snaħħian	/m/	/p/	/b/	/ɸ~β/	/n̪/	/t̪/	/d̪/	/ħ/	/z/	/s/	/z/	/ts/	/l/	/k/	/g/	/χ/	/ɴ/	/ʢ/	/l/	/r/	/f~v/	/j/	/h/

Orthography

Themsaran script in the ŧā́thimā́ style.

The standardized Themsaran alphabet is a native alphabetic script, with thirty letters in addition to diacritics for vowel length and tones.

R, D, Z, Ł, I, A, Ħ, F, M, L, G, C, H, B, S, V, O, J, Q, Ð, Y, CH, T, Ŧ, N, TH, P, E, U

Parts of speech

Pronouns

Personal

The independent personal pronouns are used in equational sentences, and for emphasis of what is already indexed on the heads, be it the subject, the direct object, or an oblique argument.

Independent personal pronouns
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	ná	trā́n	chā́m
1.in	-	ħā́ð	táqḗn
2.m	zéi	rā́th	slā́s
2.f	véi
3.m	vá	vṓr	vú
3.f	vī́	vȳ́r	vánn

Adding the ħe- (ħè-) prefix creates intensified pronouns.

Demonstrative

The demonstratives have identical endings to personal pronouns in the feminine singular, the dual and the plural. The adnominal demonstratives are mé (near speaker), ħé (near hearer), and ŧá (distal), and the pronominal demonstratives are imé, ivá, and iŧá.

When a demonstrative modifies a noun phrase, the noun modified takes the definite form.

Reflexive

The reflexive pronoun is cthên, identical to the gender and number of the subject.

Reciprocal

The reciprocal pronoun, "each other", is nálnai. It originated from an adverb that was later reanalyzed as a pronoun.

Nouns

Nouns (véliach) and adjectives (artulvellách) have a rich morphology, albeit less ornate than verbs. They inflect for number (ðūré), definiteness (thrȳ́zamétīd 'rememberedness') and possessedness (ránmolíħe 'attribution'), but not for case. Nouns have singular (cḗminnáth), dual (líntáth) and plural (ūráth) numbers, and masculine (qulzáth) and feminine (deiáth) genders. In third-person possessed forms, Themsaran makes a distinction, realized tonally, between the absolute possessed form, which indicates a noun possessed by a pronoun, and the conjunct possessed form, used to indicate a possessive relationship between two nouns and agreeing with the gender of the possessor.

Proper names are indeclinable, i.e. they are always definite, and cannot be possessed.

Number

Dual is used for body parts (e.g. timqā́r 'eyes') as well as opposing or complementary concepts (e.g. rȳ̌thrie which denotes the two sexes or grammatical genders, as opposed to plural rȳ̌thrir which refers to 'classes/categories' in general). The associative suffix -yng- may be combined with the dual to form the associative dual (e.g. rommyngár 'two sides/pages of a paper', vōligyngáir 'marriage').

Definiteness

Definite forms are used as the vocative. Definiteness is used more often than in English: they are often found with abstract or collective sense.

Declension

First declension

See also tables for declension subparadigms.

The first declension consists primarily of masculine nouns. Nouns ending in a consonant may contain an epenthetic y to break up forbidden consonant clusters, particularly those ending in resonants. The ħ- and q- stem nouns always end in -ā, and this mutates to -aħ-/-aq before a ending beginning with a vowel, and exhibits the form -aC- before an ending beginning with any consonant. (Some nouns ending in -ng are underlyingly (and alternate with) nħ- or nq- stems.) The h-stems have a long vowel ending by default, which shortens in front of a consonant ending, along with gemination of any fricative-onset endings. The j-stem nouns, ending in -i, display the -i before a possessive suffix beginning with a consonant, and a -j before one beginning with a vowel.

First declension
State↓	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-Ø	-ārCLF	-achCLF
Definite	-ēCLF	-ōCLF	-uotCLF
1sg	-yn	-ōn	-ūn
2sg.m	-yze	-ōze	-ūze
2sg.f	-yve	-ōve	-ūve
3sg.m	-y	-ōry	-ū
3sg.f	-ī	-ōrī	-ȳ
refl.sg.m	-ly	-ōly	-ūly
refl.sg.f	-lī	-ōlī	-ūli
1dl.ex	-ren	-ōren	-ūren
1dl.in	-tið	-ōtið	-ūtið
2dl	-ryth	-ōryth	-ūryth
3dl.m	-ōr	-ōrōr	-ūōr
3dl.f	-ȳr	-ōrȳr	-ūvȳr
refl.dl.m	-lōr	-ōlōr	-ūlōr
refl.dl.f	-lȳr	-ōlȳr	-ūlȳr
1pl.ex	-am	-ōram	-ūam
1pl.in	-nt	-ōnt	-ūnt
2pl	-ylys	-ōlys	-ūlys
3pl.m	-eich	-ōrech	-ūch
3pl.f	-eir	-ōrer	-ūr
refl.pl.m	-lech	-ōlech	-ūlech
refl.pl.f	-ler	-ōler	-ūler

Second declension

The second declension consists of mainly feminine nouns.

First declension
State↓	Singular	Dual	Plural
Indefinite	-eCLF	-airCLF	-irCLF
Definite	-āCLF	-ieCLF	-ennaCLF
1sg	-ān	-ȳn	-annyn
2sg.m	-āze	-ȳze	-annyze
2sg.f	-āve	-ȳve	-annyve
3sg.m	-au	-ȳry	-anny
3sg.f	-ai	-ȳrī	-annī
refl.sg.m	-āly	-ȳly	-anly
refl.sg.f	-ālī	-ȳlī	-anlī
1dl.ex	-āren	-ȳren	-arren
1dl.in	-ātið	-ȳtið	-antið
2dl	-āryth	-ȳryth	-arryth
3dl.m	-āvōr	-ȳrōr	-annōr
3dl.f	-āvȳr	-ȳrȳr	-annȳr
refl.dl.m	-ālōr	-ȳlōr	-anlōr
refl.dl.f	-ālȳr	-ȳlȳr	-anlȳr
1pl.ex	-ām	-ȳram	-annam
1pl.in	-ānt	-ȳnt	-annynt
2pl	-ālys	-ȳlys	-anlys
3pl.m	-aech	-ȳrech	-annech
3pl.f	-aer	-ȳrer	-anner
refl.pl.m	-ālech	-ȳlech	-anlech
refl.pl.f	-āler	-ȳler	-anler

Third declension

Third declension, masculine
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Unpossessed	-i	-īCLF	-iārCLF	-iōCLF	-iachCLF	-iuotCLF
1sg	-ilyn	-in	-iōlyn	-iōn	-iūlyn	-iūn
2sg.m	-ilize	-ize	-iōlize	-iōze	-iūlize	-iūze
2sg.f	-ilive	-ive	-iōlive	-iōve	-iūlive	-iūve
3sg.m	-ily	-iv	-iōly	-iōv	-iūly	-iū
3sg.f	-ilī	-iī	-iōlī	-iōī	-iūlī	-ivȳ
4sg.m	-ilŧy	-iŧy	-iōlŧy	-iōŧy	-iūlŧy	-iūŧy
4sg.f	-ilŧī	-iŧī	-iōlŧī	-iōŧī	-iūlŧī	-iūŧī
1dl.ex	-ildren	-iren	-iōldren	-iōren	-iūldren	-iūren
1dl.in	-iltið	-itið	-iōltið	-iōtið	-iūltið	-iūtið
2dl	-ilyth	-iryth	-iōlyth	-iōryth	-iūlyth	-iūryth
3dl.m	-ilōr	-iōr	-iōlōr	-iōvōr	-iūlōr	-iūōr
3dl.f	-ilȳr	-ivȳr	-iōlȳr	-iōvȳr	-iūlȳr	-iūvȳr
4dl.m	-ilŧōr	-iŧōr	-iōlŧōr	-iōŧōr	-iūlŧōr	-iūŧōr
4dl.f	-ilŧȳr	-iŧȳr	-iōlŧȳr	-iōŧȳr	-iūlŧȳr	-iūŧȳr
1pl.ex	-ilam	-iam	-iōlam	-iōam	-iūlam	-iūam
1pl.in	-ilynt	-int	-iōlynt	-iōnt	-iūlynt	-iūnt
2pl	-iyllys	-iys	-iōllys	-iōs	-iūllys	-iūs
3pl.m	-ilech	-īch	-iōlech	-iōich	-iūlech	-iūch
3pl.f	-iler	-īr	-iōler	-iōir	-iūler	-iūr
4pl.m	-ilŧech	-iŧeich	-iōlŧech	-iōŧech	-iūlŧech	-iūŧech
4pl.f	-ilŧer	-iŧeir	-iōlŧer	-iōŧer	-iūlŧer	-iūŧer

Third declension, feminine
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Unpossessed	-i	-īCLF	-ierCLF	-ivieCLF	-īrCLF	-īnaCLF
1sg	-ilyn	-in	-ivielyn	-ivien	-inlyn	-īnyn
2sg.m	-ilize	-ize	-ivielize	-ivieze	-inlize	-īnze
2sg.f	-ilive	-ive	-ivielive	-ivieve	-inlive	-īnve
3sg.m	-ily	-iv	-iviely	-iviev	-inly	-īny
3sg.f	-ilī	-iī	-ivielī	-ivieī	-inlī	-īnī
4sg.m	-ilŧy	-iŧy	-ivielŧy	-ivieŧy	-īlŧy	-īnŧy
4sg.f	-ilŧī	-iŧī	-ivielŧī	-ivieŧī	-īlŧī	-īnŧī
1dl.ex	-ildren	-iren	-ivieldren	-ivieren	-īldren	-īndren
1dl.in	-iltið	-itið	-ivieltið	-ivietið	-īltið	-īntið
2dl	-ilyth	-iryth	-ivielyth	-ivieryth	-inlyth	-īnyth
3dl.m	-ilōr	-ivier	-ivielōr	-ivievōr	-inlōr	-īnōr
3dl.f	-ilȳr	-ivȳr	-ivielȳr	-ivievȳr	-inlȳr	-īnȳr
4dl.m	-ilŧōr	-iŧōr	-ivielŧōr	-ivieŧōr	-īlŧōr	-īnŧōr
4dl.f	-ilŧȳr	-iŧȳr	-ivielŧȳr	-ivieŧȳr	-īlŧȳr	-īnŧȳr
1pl.ex	-ilam	-iam	-ivielam	-ivievam	-inlam	-īnam
1pl.in	-ilynt	-int	-ivielynt	-ivient	-inlynt	-īnynt
2pl	-illys	-is	-ivielys	-ivies	-inlys	-īnys
3pl.m	-ilech	-īch	-ivielech	-ivieich	-inlech	-īnech
3pl.f	-iler	-īr	-ivieler	-ivieir	-inler	-īner
4pl.m	-ilŧech	-iŧeich	-ivielŧech	-ivieŧech	-īlŧech	-īnŧech
4pl.f	-ilŧer	-iŧeir	-ivielŧer	-ivieŧer	-īlŧer	-īnŧer

Possessive constructions

The possessum comes before the possessor. Adjectives that modify the possessum may be placed at any point after the possessum.

If the posssessum is definite, it assumes the bound possessum or conjunct form taking the pronominal suffix of gender and number appropriate for the possessor:

ā́batý négmē

book.SG-3SG.M.CONJ priest-SG.DEF

the priest's book

Note that the bound possessum state takes the same tonal pattern as the unpossessed forms, unlike the free possessum forms which always have non-desinential downstep; compare the bound possessum form ā́batý ('the book of [his]') with the free possessum form ā́báty ('his book').

Should the possessum be indefinite, inanimate and alienable, the appositive construction "possessum, the-thing-of possessor" is used:

ā́bát satý négmē

book-SG.INDEF thing-SG<3SG.M priest-SG.DEF

a book of the priest

This construction is not possible if the indefinite possessum is animate or inalienable; in such cases Themsaran resorts to using the phrase navé gle... (one/some of...) followed by the appropriate plural definite possessum.

navé gle vṓthū négmē

some.SG.M from son-PL<3SG.M priest-SG.DEF

one of the priest's sons

Tonal patterns of nominals

Every noun falls under one of two tonal paradigms, derived from the Proto-Talsmic relic classifier clitic system:

• Unpossessed: *noun=clf(ʔ)
• Free possessum: *possessum-suffix
• Bound possessum: *possessum-suffix=clf(ʔ) possessor

The classifier clitic was deleted while determining the downstep pattern of the noun. By corollary the absolute possessed forms have non-final downstep, and the unpossessed and conjunct forms have the same pattern (exceptions occur when the word ended in *ʔ), the choice of which is lexically determined.

Humans, uncountables and abstract nouns did not take a classifier, and hence was allocated to the "non-desinential tonic syllable" paradigm.

Adjectives will agree with the tonal pattern of the nouns they modify.

Irregular nouns

Irregular nouns are the following:

• cár 'human being', plural itávach

Fossilized case marking

A descendant of a language with developed noun and adjective cases, Themsaran preserves vestigial case marking. The nominal and adjectival endings are themselves diachronically derived from Proto-Talsmic case suffixes.

Irregular definiteness

The definite unpossessed inflection is a generalization from the accusative case, which marked the definite direct object in addition to adverbial uses, certain oblique objects and time expressions. The indefinite base endings diachronically stem from the genitive case (from its partitive meaning and frequency in prepositional phrases); the predicative/possessum adjective endings as well as most forms where possessive suffixes are attached, come from the nominative. Definiteness is required:

• in some time expressions (e.g. crúomā/rā́zā/ħíngā/mínā "in the morning/at daytime/at dusk/at night")
• in some adverbial expressions.

Fossilized oblique cases

The frozen oblique cases (ablative, instrumental/locative and allative) are largely found in two lexical classes: adverbs and prepositions. Ablatives, found in causal expressions, end in -ēn, -ān, and -īn for the first, second and third declensions respectively; the instrumental/locative ends in -īl (1) or -ai (2); and the allative, often found in purpose expressions, ends in -thŧ.

The instrumental/locative suffix -īl derive adverbs and prepositions of location, manner or concern. The feminine counterpart -ai form adverbs from original feminine nouns, and has derived "in language X" adverbs and the instrumental preposition nai itself.

Adjectives

Attributive adjectives agree in number, definiteness, gender and possessedness with their heads. The following differences with nouns should be noted:

• Absolute possessive form of adjectives modifies the conjunct possessive of nouns.
• Indefinite attributive adjectives do not agree in possession.
• Possessum forms agree with definite possessum forms.

Predicate adjectives are declined differently than attributive adjectives; predicative adjectives carry the downstep on a non-final syllable, while the attributive adjectives have to agree with the downstep of the noun.

Adjectives also take degree inflection (positive, "less/least", "more/most", elative, "X enough", "too X"). Adjectives exhibit tonal ablaut like those of nouns.

Declension

Declension of adjectives
	Declension 1/2
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Predicative	-a	-ar	-ōr	-ȳr	-u	-ann
Indefinite	-Ø	-eCLF	-ārCLF	-airCLF	-achCLF	-irCLF
Definite	-ēCLF	-āCLF	-ōCLF	-ieCLF	-uotCLF	-ennaCLF
Possessum	-aCLF	-arCLF	-ōrCLF	-ȳrCLF	-uCLF	-annCLF
	Declension 3
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Predicative	-i	-ir	-iōr	-īr	-iu	-inn
Indefinite	-iCLF		-iārCLF	-ierCLF	-iachCLF	-īrCLF
Definite	-īCLF		-ivieCLF		-iuotCLF	-innaCLF
Possessum	-iCLF	-irCLF	-iōrCLF	-īrCLF	-iuCLF	-innCLF

Examples of classifierwise agreement

• lā́mar cámrā 'the woman is good' / lā́mar thilqā́: 'the sword is good'
• cámre lā́me: 'a good woman' / thilqé lāmé: 'a good sword'
• cámrān lā́mar: 'my good wife' /thílqān lā́mar: 'my good sword' (but lā́mar cámrān/thílqān: 'my wife/sword is good')
• cámrau lā́mar thrāpalóchē: 'the warrior's good wife' / thilqáu lāmár thrāpalóchē: 'the warrior's good sword'

Degree

Degree affixes
comparative (more/most)	-énn
elative	-rȳ́n
cercative (less)	-ṓt
equative (as X as)	-ígym
excessive (too much)	RDPL- (of 1st C)
suffective	-érs
defective	-ṓm

Adjectives with degree inflections may be nominalized (e.g. qēdāthrȳ́nīd "supreme strength" < qēdāthrȳ́n "the very strongest").

Adverb formation

The adverbial suffix is -ēr, and it can mean "[adjective]ly", or "like a [noun]" (latter meaning is less productive).

Table of correlatives

Table of correlatives
	Interrogative	Near speaker	Near hearer	Distal	Existential	Negational/Elective	Collective	Distributive
Adnominal	jé (who); jī́ (fem., rare); ján (what)	mé	ħé	ŧá	navé	atiért; atié, atián	rṓg, bást (adjective)	thivé
Pronominal		imé	ivá	iŧá	morcár (human); morsát (nonhuman)		carbást
Place	jách	mách*; dáte*	ħách	ŧách	smárján	atiách	smárbást	smárthivé
Origin	glejách; glḗm; jáchēn	glemách/máchēn*; gledát/dátēn*	gleħách; ħáchēn	gleŧách; ŧáchēn	gle smárján	gle atiách	gle smárbást	glé smárthivé
Destination	vójách; jáchást	vómách/máchást*; vódát/dátást*	vóħách; ħáchást	vóŧách; ŧáchást	vó smárján	vo atiách	vo smárbást	vó smárthivé
Time	jápse, jéma	gáma	sónēŧ		morrā́c	fúot	pídħīl	gislé
Quantity/Extent	jávōth	mévōth	ħévōth	ŧévōth	-	-	-	-
Manner/Quality	jḗr	mḗr	ħḗr	ŧḗr	giemjḗr	atiḗr	rṓcthīl	-
Cause	jḗn, jḗrmé	mḗn	ħḗn	ŧḗn	navḗn	-	-	-
Purpose	jást	mést	ħést	ŧést	navést	-	-	-

*The difference between the two words for 'here' is that of clusivity: mách means "where I am/we(exc) are or pointing" whereas dáte means "where we(inc) are".

In highly humble language (roughly equivalent to German Ihr), the "near speaker" and "near hearer" demonstratives are used in epithets for 1st and 2nd person respectively in lieu of grammatical 1st or 2nd person. (e.g. clū́dílē mé: "this humble subject", áchrē ħé/tīnā́ ħī́/sliévā ħī́: Your Majesty/Highness; lit. "that king/hand/throne", domarvárlē/a̋thmavárlē ħé/ā́thmī́dī ħī́, "that called one/sanctified one/holiness"; used to address a priest, mách/ħách generic humble language, used for locative obliques as substitutes for 1st or 2nd person inflected prepositions)

Verbs

Verbs have elaborate but quite regular inflection. Finite verbs are marked for TAM, mirativity, voice (active and mediopassive), the subject's (and the object's, if it is indexed) person, number, and gender. Verbs also have several non-finite forms, used with various subordinating conjunctions and relative clauses. If the direct object is definite, the verb is obligatorily marked with the direct object's person, number, and gender.

Definite direct object agreement is not required:

• in the imperative and the prohibitive (though it may be used for sake of disambiguation).
• in the presence of an animate indirect object; the verb may agree with the dative object instead.
• in poetry.
• DDO agreement is prohibited with reflexive and reciprocal pronouns.

Themsaran verbs display so-called first-conjunct agreement as common amongst VSO languages, i.e. when the verb precedes a subject composed of two or more conjunctive noun phrases (in the form A ie B ie C), the verb will agree with the first NP. With 'or' conjunctions (at or nu) in the subject, the verb agrees with the nearest subject. In the case of coordinated objects the verb agrees with the first contiguous noun phrase (i.e. 'and' has higher precedence than 'or').

Themsaran finite verb template

−3	−2	−1	0	1	2	3	4	5	/Downstep
Derivational prefix	Imperfect prefix	Mirative/Subjunctive	STEM	Supplementary aspect	Causative	Passive	TAM/Subject	Object	TAM/Subject

Tense-Aspect-Mood

Basic TAMs

The basic TAMs, marked with a combination of tone, suffixes and prefixes, are:

• Imperative
• Present
• Past perfective
• Past imperfective
• Future
• Jussive

Imperative

The imperative is used to issue affirmative orders.

Present

The present is used for events that are taking/habitually take place in the present time, or for gnomic statemnets.

Past perfective

The past perfective or preterite is for events that were completed at some point in time in the past. It is marked with a separate set of subject markers from the present.

Past imperfective

The past imperfective indicates a background event or events that happened in the past frequently or over a period of time. Therefore it corresponds to past frequentative, habitual or progressive.

The imperfective prefix yn- (from Proto-Talsmic *ʔṇʔ-, an evidential prefix) displays a number of special behaviors:

• assimilates to labials p b m
• mutates to ynt- before a stem beginning with a vowel, liquid, or j (the j becomes an i in that case)
• mutates to ynth- before a stem beginning with h.

Future

The future denotes an event predicted to occur some time in the future. It is aspect-indifferent unlike the past tenses. The future tense forms are underlyingly composed of the prospective *-he- plus present tense subject suffixes. (The contraction of the theme vowels with the following *-he- yielded the future "lengthened" theme vowels, -ē-/-ā-/-ie-.)

Jussive

The Themsaran jussive continues three different irrealis moods in Proto-Talsmic: volitional, hortative and optative. The volitional form was composed of the present tense plus a suffix -ʔe, which caused the downstep to shift to the desinence in the 1ex singular and plural forms and the -t- from fortition in the 1ex dual. The hortative was marked with the suffix -ti (hence the -t, -ti- in the 1+2 and 2 forms), and the optative was marked with -aʔ (hence the final -á, -ā́- in the 3rd person jussive).

The jussive is a finite verb form that bears a wide range of uses:

• optatives (wishes), polite requests and hortatives (urging).

Ðuodisá áromizé

be_long-JUSS.3SG.F life-DEF.2SG.M

May your life be long!

• prohibitions, with the prohibitive marker.

Scṓtyls! vs. Hám scṓtylt!

walk/2PL.IMP / PROH walk/2PL.JUSS

Walk! / Don't walk!

• imperatives in indirect speech, with the complementizer ne

Cýlés ne stúmī́.

urge/PFV.3SG.M COMP return/JUSS.1SG

He urged that I go back.

• impersonal instructions, in the passive

chauscavasá hadísā ýrnȳnā́

lower.PASS-JUSS.3SG.F note-DEF.SG second-DEF.SG.F

the second note is to be lowered

• purpose clauses:
  • with a relativizer
  • after a conditional conjunction nit, ar, or gin, or less commonly after vórêl ne, it expresses "in order that...".

ħéistē rin chénvamá

word-DEF REL say-PASS-JUSS.3SG.M

the word to say/the word that should be said

• to express deliberative questions, of whether something should be done, or what should be done.

Jḗr vamenavái?

how advocate-PASS-JUSS.1SG

How am I to defend myself?/How shall I defend myself?

Supplementary aspects

Perfect

The perfect is formed by placing the suffix -léi after the thematic vowel.

Inceptive

The inceptive expresses the beginning of a imperfective period in time of the action, and is expressed by the suffix -iħ- placed after the stem.

Cessative

The cessative expresses the end of an imperfective period in time of the action, and is expressed by is the suffix -rim-. It can also express perfect in certain circumstances.

Supplementary moods

The mirative, marking information, inference or realization new to the speaker, is marked by reduplicating first consonant of stem.

gýgā́lies!

/gʉ́gaːꜜliɜs/

RDPL-gā́lies

MIR-sing-PRES.3SG.F

I see that she sings/she sings indeed/how she singeth!

The subjunctive, used for doubtful statements and for hypothetical outcomes, is marked by a prefix of the last consonant + N.

lýngā́lies

/lʉ́ngaːꜜliɜs/

RDPL-n-gā́lies

SBJV-siig-PRES.3SG.F

she supposedly sings/she would sing

Voice

Basic voices

Active

The active voice is the default voice, used when the subject is the agent of the verb.

Mediopassive

The mediopassive marks the subject as a patient of the verb. Apart from passivity, mediopassives may have a derivational function; they may indicate reflexive or involuntary/spontaneous actions with active intransitives (sṓtvati machīnýn "my legs walk by themselves, without my control"). As such there are quite a few deponent verbs, verbs that are inherently mediopassive, and also mediopassive counterparts of active intransitive verbs.

Supplementary voices

Causative

The causative expresses causation or facilitation of the action. It is indicated by the suffix -scái after the verb stem.

Non-finite forms

The non-finite forms are the participle and two infinitives.

The participle is principally used in relative clauses. The tense of a participle is relative to the tense of the main clause.

The infinitive is used in reason clauses, time clauses, indirect speech (as the infinitive copula va̋cs + participle) whose truth is believed strongly by the speaker, and more rarely purpose clauses. The possessor of the infinitive represents the verb's subject.

The supine is used as a complement to certain verbs and in any other situation calling for a verb with no independent subject or TAM, and is used adverbially with prepositions. The supine absolute construction formed with the supine indicates a manner of action or simultaneous action. The possessor of the supine represents the verb's object.

Conjugation

See also tables for conjugation subparadigms.

Shown below are the final and combining forms of subject suffixes of the three conjugation paradigms: the first conjugation, with null thematic vowel, the second conjugation, with thematic vowel a, and the third conjugation, with thematic vowel e.

The citation form of a verb is the 1st person jussive. The three major conjugations are correlated with the semantics of the verb:

• 1st conjugation -ī́ < *-īn=ʔ: primary verbs.
  • The above contains -iī́ verbs (*j-stems, realized as pseudo-thematic vowel i).
• 2nd conjugation -ái < *-a-īn=ʔ: typically denominative, factitive or transitive verbs.
• 3rd conjugation -éi < *-e-īn=ʔ: typically dynamic or reflexive verbs.

The zero theme vowel conjugation often contains irregularities from interactions between the final consonant and the ending (in fact some alteration occurs for all consonants except m, r and ch, unless the stem-terminating consonant is part of a cluster) and hence includes many subconjugations.

Subject affixes

NB. When the combining suffixes are shown without a tonic syllable, the tonic syllable alternates between the object affix and the stem/theme vowel depending on the object affix.

Similar forms are often distinguished by tone:

Non-final/mobile tonic syllable: vezórmi 'we (exc) encounter', vezormīlýs 'we encounter you'
Final/fixed tonic syllable: vezormí 'may we (exc) encounter', vezormī́lys 'may we encounter you'

Subject affixes
Imperative
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.in	-	-vs, -vsi- -avs, -avsi- -evs, -evsi-	-ns, -nsi- -ans, -ansi- -ens, -ensi-
2	-Ø -á, -ā́- -é, -ḗ-	-rs, -rsi- -ars, -arsi- -ers, -ersi-	-ls, -lsi- -als, -alsi- -els, -elsi-
Present
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	-ī, -ī(n)1- -ai, -ai(n)1- -ei, -ei(n)1-	-dir, -dir- -ádir, -ádir- -édir, -édir-	-mi, -mī- -ámi, -amī- -émi, -emī-
1.in	-	-vse, -vsē- -ávse, -avsē- -évse, -evsē-	-nse, -nsē- -ánse, -ansē- -énse, -ensē-
2	-yr, -yr- -ar, -ar- -er, -er-	-rse, -rsē- -árse, -arsē- -érse, -ersē-	-lse, -lsē- -álse, -alsē- -élse, -elsē-
3.m	-e, -m- -a, -am- -e, -em-	-ir, -iri- -air, -airi- -eir, -eiri-	-vi, -vie- -ávi, -avie- -évi, -evie-
3.f	-is, -isi- -ais, -aisi- -eis, -eisi-		-ti, -tie- -áti, -atie- -éti, -etie-
Past perfective
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	-ýn, -ýn- -án, -án- -én, -én-	-sid, -sid- -ásid, -asid- -ésid, -esid-	-mā, -mā- -ámā, -amā- -émā, -emā-
1.in	-	-tar, -tar- -átar, -atar- -étar, -etar-	-tā, -tā- -átā, -atā- -étā, -etā-
2	-ýr, -ýr- -ár, -ár- -ér, -ér-	-rith, -rith- -árith, -arith- -érith, -erith-	-lith, -lith- -álith, -alith- -élith, -elith-
3.m	´sa2, -sam- -ása2, -asam- -ésa2, -esam-	-serí, -seríe- -aserí, -aseríe- -eserí, -eseríe-	-seví, -sevíe- -aseví, -asevíe- -eseví, -esevíe-
3.f	-sar, -sar- -ásar, -asar- -ésar, -esar-		-setí, -setíe- -asetí, -asetíe- -esetí, -esetíe-
Past imperfective
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	yn-ýn, yn-ýn- yn-án, yn-án- yn-én, yn-én-	yn-sid, yn-sid- yn-ásid, yn-ásid- yn-ésid, yn-ésid-	yn-mā, yn-mā- yn-ámā, yn-amā- yn-émā, yn-emā-
1.in	-	yn-tar, yn-tar- yn-átar, yn-atar- yn-étar, yn-etar-	yn-tā, yn-tā- yn-átā, yn-atā- yn-étā, yn-etā-
2	yn-ýr, yn-ýr- yn-ár, yn-ár- yn-ér, yn-ér-	yn-rith, yn-rith- yn-árith, yn-arith- yn-érith, yn-erith-	yn-lith, yn-lith- yn-álith, yn-alith- yn-élith, yn-elith-
3.m	yn-´sa2, yn-´sam- yn-ása2, yn-asam- yn-ésa2, yn-esam-	yn-serí, yn-seríe- yn-aserí, yn-aseríe- yn-eserí, yn-eseríe-	yn-seví, yn-sevíe- yn-aseví, yn-asevíe- yn-eseví, yn-esevíe-
3.f	yn-sar, yn-sar- yn-ásar, yn-asar- yn-ésar, yn-esar-		yn-setí, yn-setíe- yn-asetí, yn-asetíe- yn-esetí, yn-esetíe-
Future
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	-ḗn, -ḗn- -ā́n, -ā́n- -íen, -íen-	-ḗdir, -ēdir- -ā́dir, -ādir- -íedir, -iedir-	-ḗmi, -ēmī- -ā́mi, -āmī- -íemi, -iemī-
1.in	-	-ḗvse, -ēvsē- -ā́vse, -āvsē- -íevse, -ievsē-	-ḗnse, -ēnsē- -ā́nse, -ānsē- -íense, -iensē-
2	-ḗr, -ḗr- -ā́r, -ā́r- -íer, -íer-	-ḗrse, -ērsē- -ā́rse, -ārsē- -íerse, -iersē-	-ḗlse, -ēlsē- -ā́lse, -ālsē- -íelse, -ielsē-
3.m	-ḗ, -ḗm- -ā́, -ā́m- -íe, -íem-	-ḗri, -ḗri- -ā́ri, -ā́ri- -íeri, -íeri-	-ḗvi, -ēvie- -ā́vi, -āvie- -íevi, -ievie-
3.f	-ḗsi, -ḗsi- -ā́si, -ā́si- -íesi, -íesi-		-ḗti, -ētie- -ā́ti, -ātie- -íeti, -ietie-
Jussive
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.ex	-ī́, -ī́(n)1- -ái, -ái(n)1- -éi, -éi(n)1-	-dír, -dír- -adír, -adír- -edír, -edír-	-mí, -mī́- -amí, -amī́- -emí, -emī́-
1.in	-	-vt, -vti- -avt, -avti- -evt, -evti-	-nt, -nti- -ant, -anti- -ent, -enti-
2	-t, -ti- -at, -ati- -et, -eti-	-rt, -rti- -art, -arti- -ert, -erti-	-lt, -lti- -alt, -alti- -elt, -elti-
3.m	-má, -mā́- -amá, -amā́- -emá, -emā́-	-irá, -irā́- -ará, -arā́- -erá, -erā́-	-ħá, -ħā́- -aħá, -aħā́- -eħá, -eħā́-
3.f	-isá, -isā́- -asá, -asā́- -esá, -esā́-		-tá, -tā́- -atá, -atā́- -etá, -etā́-
Non-finite forms
P A R T I C I P L E S	Present	-́rylF, -rl- -árylF, -árl- -érylF, -érl-
	Preterite	-sárylF, -sárl- -asárylF, -asárl- -esárylF, -esárl-
	Imperfect	yn-sárylF, yn-sárl- yn-asárylF, yn-asárl- yn-esárylF, yn-esárl-
	Future	-ḗrylF, -ḗrl- -ā́rylF, -ā́rl- -íerylF, -íerl-
	Stative passive	-́met -ámet -émet
Infinitive		-sM -asM -esM
Supine		-ēðM -āðM -ieðM

¹ See below.
² The final vowel elides when the verb is followed by a vowel: e.g. nesás' ū̌rach 'he killed many'.
³ In the preterite and imperfect participles, the suffix becomes [vowel]-sal.

Mediopassive

The mediopassive is indicated with adding -vái to the stem. The only irregularity is that the present tense 3pl.m subject form ends in -vaħi, -vaħie-.

Object affixes

The object affixes combine at the end of the verb to agree with the definite direct object or indirect object. Indirect objects are given higher priority than direct objects.

Object affixes
Condition	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	1dl.ex	1dl.in	2dl	3dl.m	3dl.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m	3pl.f
-C-	+ -yn	+ -yze	+ -yve	+ -y	+ -ī	+ -ren	+ -tið	+ -yth	+ -ō	+ -ie	+ -am	+ -ynt	+ -ys	+ -ū	+ -inn
-i-, -u-, hiatus	+ -n	+ -ze	+ -ve	+ -v				+ -ryth		+ -vie		+ -nt	+ -lys	+ -ch	+ -r
-ā-				-au	-ai				+ -vō		+ -m
-ē-				-eu	-ei				+ -ō		+ -am
-ī-				+ -v	+ -ī
-ie-									+ -vō		-eiam
-(n)-	-			+ -ny	+ -nī			+ -nyth	+ -nō	+ -nie	+ -nam		+ -nys	+ -nū	+ -ninn

Double object affixes

Ditransitive constructions employing double object affixes (which occur in the order verb-IO-DO) can only be used with certain combinations of pronominal objects, not with full noun phrases (another constraint is that the recipient outrank the theme in animacy; hence capsascā́ny! 'feed me it!' is licensed but not *capsascáun! 'feed me to him!'). Participles and supines (objects patterning as in finite verbs) may receive a similar "double possessive" suffix.

Prepositions

Prepositions in Themsaran are inflected with pronominal enclitics.

Inflection of prepositions
	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1dl.ex	1dl.in	2dl	3dl.m	3dl.f	4dl.m	4dl.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
Regular	-n	-(y)ze	-(y)ve	-(v)y	-ī	-ŧy	-ŧī	-ren	-tið	-yth	-(j)ār	-(j)air	-ŧār	-ŧair	-am	-nt	-ys	-ch	-r	-ŧech	-ŧer
Example	ástyn	ástyze	ástyve	ásty	ástī	ástyŧy	ástyŧī	ástren	ástytið	ástyth	ástār	ástair	ástyŧār	ástyŧair	ástam	ástynt	ástys	ástech	áster	ástyŧech	ástyŧer

The following prepositions have completely regular inflection:

Regular prepositions
Themsaran	With noun	With infintive/supine
ast	without, except	unless (negative meaning)
chang	concerning
cute	on, on top of	in addition to, simultaneously while
det	towards, until
dietrem	inside, amidst	whilst
dismar, hasfíer	instead of
énħēn	because of
gletrem	out of
had	like, as, in correspondence to	as if to (but with ne-clause: "as")
inír	like the X that it is
lyr, myl	by (animate agent)
oles	until
pram	unlike
qal	in front of	before
rimḗn	because of
sunā́n	in spite of
tor		because (by implication of the fact that)
trig	around	approximately when
ŧany	behind	after
véliīl	in the name of
vorḗl	for the sake of	in order that
zom	between	from event X until event Y
ðymai	without (instrument)	without X-ing (positive meaning)

The following prepositions are irregular:

Irregular prepositions
Themsaran	With noun	With infintive/supine
ā	with (comitative)	when (imperfective aspect)
di	in, at (locative)	when (perfective aspect)
nai	by, with (instrumental)	by/in X-ing
la	also
vo	to, for (dative)
gle	from
pī	against

Inflection of irregular prepositions
	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	4sg.m	4sg.f	1dl.ex	1dl.in	2dl	3dl.m	3dl.f	4dl.m	4dl.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m	3pl.f	4pl.m	4pl.f
ā	aħán	aħzé	aħvé	aħý	aħī́	aħŧý	aħŧī́	aħrén	aħtíð	aħrýth	āħṓr	āħȳ́r	aħŧôr	aħŧȳr	ā́m	ā́nt	āħlýs	āħách	āħár	āħŧéch	āħŧér
di	díen	díeze	díeve	díev	dī́	díeŧy	díeŧi	díeren	díetið	díeryth	díevōr	díevȳr	díeŧōr	díeŧȳr	díevam	díent	díelys	díech	díer	díeŧech	díeŧer
vo	vṓn	vózze	vóðve	vū́	vȳ́	vósŧy	vósŧī	vóðren	vṓtið	vóðryth	vóðōr	vóðȳr	vósŧōr	vósŧȳr	vóðam	vṓnt	vṓlys	vṓch	vṓr	vósŧech	vósŧer
nai	náin	naizé	naivé	naivý	naiī́	naiŧý	naiŧī́	nairén	naitíð	nairýth	naivṓr	naivȳ́r	naiŧṓr	naiŧȳ́r	naiám	náint	náis	náich	náir	naiŧéch	naiŧér
la	láin	laizé	laivé	laivý	laiī́	laiŧý	laiŧī́	lairén	laitíð	lairýth	laivṓr	laivȳ́r	laiŧṓr	laiŧȳ́r	lajám	láint	láis	láich	láir	laiŧéch	laiŧér
gle	glḗn	glēzé	glēvé	glēvý	glēī́	glēŧý	glēŧī́	glērén	glētíð	glērýth	gleṓr	gleȳ́r	gleŧṓr	gleŧȳ́r	glēám	glḗnt	glḗs	glḗch	glḗr	glēŧéch	glēŧér

Uses of the dative

The dative preposition vo is often used for semantic experiencers:

vū́ nobáva

DAT-3SG.M be_diseased(PASS)-3SG.M

he (lit. to him) is sick

The pronominal w:ethical dative is used to express some form of interest in the matter.

Numerals

Themsaran employs a pure vigesimal numeral system. In transcriptions of Themsaran, if positional numerals are desired, the vigesimal positional numerals should be used.

Themsaran numerals
	n	nth	n times	n each/at a time	1/n	n days	n years
?	jíes	jínáth	jíster	jíssle	jissínde	jíníeð
1	cḗmCLF	féldrȳ́n	cḗmter	cḗmsle'	-	cḗmíeð	dóvī́em
2	títhārCLF	ýrnȳ́n	tíster	tístle	rā́ħé	títhíeð	tívíem
3	naré	palnáth	nárter	narslé	narínde	naríeð	narvíem
4	mulé	muláth	múlter	mulslé	mulínde	mulíeð	mulvíem
5	nisŧé	nisŧáth	nísŧer	nislé	nisŧínde	nisŧíeð	nisvíem
6	chtāmé	chtāmáth	chtā́mter	chtāmslé	chtāmínde	chtāmíeð	chtāmvíem
7	rūdé	rūdáth	rū́tter	rūslé	rūdínde	rūdíeð	rūvîem
8	lozedé	lozedáth	lóster	loslé	lozínde	lozíeð	lorvíem
9	fárvé	fárváth	fárter	fárslé	fárvínde	fáríeð	fárvîem
10/A20	ħȳré	ħȳráth	ħȳ́rter	ħȳrslé	ħȳrínde	ħȳríeð	ħȳrvíem
11/B20	cḗmiħȳré	cḗmiħȳráth
12/C20	títhiħȳré	tithiħȳráth
13/D20	nariħȳré	nariħȳráth
14/E20	muliħȳré
15/F20	nisŧiħȳré
16/G20	chtāmiħȳré
17/H20	rūdiħȳré
18/J20	loziħȳré
19/K20	farviħȳré
20/1020	nevsé	nevsáth	névter	nevslé	nevsínde	nevíeð
21/1120	nevsé... ie cḗmCLF
22/1220	nevsé... ie títhārCLF
40/2020	títhnū́r
60/3020	narnū́r
80/4020	mulnū́r
100/5020	nisŧnū́r
120/6020	chtāmnū́r
140/7020	rūdnū́r
160/8020	lornū́r
180/9020	fárnū́r
200/A020	ħȳrnū́r
220/B020	ħȳrcēmnū́r
240/C020	ħȳrtithnū́r
400/10020	ŧaflé	ŧafláth	ŧáfler	ŧafslé	ŧaflínde	ŧaflíeð
203/100020	idré	idráth	ídrer	idryslé	idrínde	idríeð
204/1000020	zathné	zathnáth	záster	zathnyslé	zathrínde	zathníeð

1 and 2 (and any number whose 1's digit = 1 or 2) are adjectives. For ones digit > 3, the numeral is a noun that takes the definiteness inflection on behalf of the noun phrase (as a corollary, with a demonstrative the numeral is "indefinite" as well), whilst the noun is in the form "unmarked" in definiteness (indefinite for unpossessed, definite for possessed).

For numerals whose ones digit is 1 or 2, such constructions as nevsé sṓrach ie títhār '22 houses' must be used.

The distributive suffix can be appended to the "n times" numeral to express "n times each"; e.g. chtāmterslé (six times each).

The numerals can be combined with possessive suffixes to denote "(the) n of us/you/them" mullaŧís "four of you", mullâis "the four of you".

Syntax

Word order and fronting

The default constituent order is (time-place)-verb/predicate adjective-subject-pronominal oblique object-direct object-(place-time). Any constituent may be topicalized or focalized by being placed in front of the verb. The syntactic difference between topicalization and focalization is that a topicalized noun phrase is the absolute first constituent of a clause while focalized noun phrases have to follow pre-verbal adjuncts such as negation. New information adverbs such as la (also) tend to topicalize, and restrictive adverbs such as vid (only) tend to focus.

Negation

Negation of finite verbs is performed by the particle tír.

Predicates and participles by default are negated with dār (a proclitic).

Irrealis (imperative, jussive) verbs are negated by using the irrealis negation clitic ham, as are semantically irrealis participial clauses such as those indicating purpose. Hám may also be used as a standalone exclamation ("do not!"/"may it not happen!").

The negation of mór (in non-jussive forms) is íris, irs-.

Infinitives are negated with tíem.

"Emphasis"

Topicalization

The clause begins with the topicalized noun phrase, then a 3rd pronoun corresponding to the subject is used in the sentence. If the topic is the object of a finite verb, a 3rd object suffix is used on the verb.

Focalization

Themsaran focusing fronts the whole noun phrase (prepositions and all), unlike topicalization in which the topic is appositional and is expressed with a prepositional pronoun in the clause. If the focus is the subject fronting with no pronoun is used. Focusing may alternatively employ a type of cleft construction, with fronting of the focused noun phrase, by using the inverse verbal or prepositional object corresponding to the role of the focus in the sentence. The cleft construction is the one used when the focus is the direct object.

Noun phrases

Numerals precede nouns; possessors follow their possessa (with poetic exceptions); demonstratives occur after attributive adjectives, which follow nouns. Inflected quantifiers (uninflected quantifiers, such as rôg "every/all", precede the numeral) come after the adjective by default, but precede the noun when a demonstrative is used and precede the numeral when a numeral is used. Within these boundaries there is a lot of leeway; an attributive adjective or a demonstrative can occupy any position between its head and the relative clause.

Distributive possession

To express the meaning of "our/your/their respective NP" (in both dual and plural), the last noun of the NP is reduplicated in absolute possessed forms. The persons are decomposed as follows:

• 1ex.m: noun-1sg›sg noun-3sg.m›sg or noun-3sg.m›sg noun-1sg›sg
• 1ex.f: noun-1sg›sg noun-3sg.f›sg or noun-3sg.f›sg noun-1sg›sg
• 1in.m: noun-2sg.m›sg noun-1sg›sg or noun-1sg›sg noun-2sg.m›sg
• 1in.f: noun-2sg.f›sg noun-1sg›sg or noun-1sg›sg noun-2sg.f›sg
• 2.m: noun-2sg.m›sg noun-2sg.m›sg
• 2.f: noun-2sg.f›sg noun-2sg.f›sg
• 3.m: noun-3sg.m›sg noun-3sg.m›sg
• 3.f: noun-3sg.f›sg noun-3sg.f›sg

These exact forms are usually used disregarding the finer aspects of gender composition in the group. Thus, for example, if the only male in a group speaks of "our (exclusive) respective villages", he will still say chmásán chmásâu "my village his village".

Equational sentences

The copula is rarely used in the present indicative in full (not relative) clauses. Instead, an equational sentence begins with the subject, and a 3rd- or a 4th-person pronoun (cliticized and therefore toneless) agreeing with the subject may be used anywhere in the sentence, or omitted (as is often the case, as the predicate adjectives and the end of each noun phrase are quite transparent). The uncliticized pronoun is used when the subject is pronominal or when the copular pronoun is used at the end of a clause.

Predicative possession

"X has Y" is expressed with the construction "mór Y vo X", or "mór-[pronoun affix for pronominal X] Y" if X is animate. If X is inanimate, the construction X ā Y ('X is with Y'), or X ast Y ('X is without Y') is used. (Mór is a suppletive verb.)

Mórvien híltámsach.

exist/PRES.3PL.M-1SG evidence-PL.INDEF

I have proof.

Coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions
Themsaran	Gloss	Notes
at	or
coru	then
ie	and	can be rendered as 'but, while, whereas' with topicalized clauses
ieláð	however, nevertheless, moreover
nesi	but (rather)
nu	xor/nand
seim	but, yet, however
ū̌de	so

Subordinating clause

Themsaran prefers sentences with one independent (tensed realis) clause, with infinitives, jussives or participles in subordinate clauses (except usually in complement clauses).

Subordinators governing finite verbs

Themsaran	Gloss	Notes
ach	although
ānne	when (with finite verb)
ar	if (specific/provisional)	if the condition is predicted to occur, then use future for protasis
eir	because, for
īs	if (counterfactual)
ne	that (complementizer)
nit	if (general conditional)
nitrṓg/trṓg	whoever/whatever (generic relativizer)
rin	that, which (specific relativizer)
surith	which (sentential relativizer)

Participial clauses

Three types of participial clauses are used in Themsaran: attributive participle clauses, absolute participle clauses and adverbial participle clauses.

Attributive participial clauses are used as relative clauses. The only difference is that the tense of a participial clause describes the time relative to the main clause. Note that attributive participles take a possessive suffix; the possessor of a participle is the direct object if the participle is active, and is the agent if the participle is mediopassive.

In absolute participial clauses the participle is inflected into the predicative state. It can be used to give the general circumstances or purpose (with a future participle) of an event. Certain subordinating conjunctions may be used in tandem with such a participle as well.

Adverbial participial clauses denote manner of action, often corresponding to clauses of the type "as if X-ing" or "as if to..." in English.

Subordinators governing participles

The following subordinating conjunctions can govern any clause with a predicate (be it a noun, adjective or participle). If the subject is a pronoun then it is absorbed into the conjunction as a pronominal suffix (and inflected as if they were nouns or prepositions):

qōmḗnylys bisuvarlū́am

qōmḗn-lys bisu-va-rl-ū-am

for-2PL favor-PASS-PART-PL.M-1PL.EX

for we are on your side

If the subject is omitted, the dependent clause is assumed to have the same subject as the main clause.

Themsaran	Gloss	Notes
aumé	if (it is found to be the case that...)	inflected as declension 2 noun
gōté	because (physical cause)	ditto
fełū	when
nōr, nō̌r-	although, albeit
qōmḗn	for (epistemic/moral justification)
stī́m	in order that

Time clauses using the infinitive

Time clauses may be constructed with a preposition and the infinitive with the possessor as subject.

āl lēvásyn (lit. with my running)

while I run/was running (imperfective)

dí táqrysī ā̌tmān (lit. at my mother's being-born)

when my mother was born (perfective)

qal riésve (lit. before your coming)

before you came/come

zom ħōcásī mirchā́ ie umrésī (lit. between the sun's rising and its setting)

after the sun rises until it sets.

Relative clauses

The participial relative clause is introduced with a participle. The possessor of an active participle is the direct object, and the possessor of a passive participle is the agent.

The finite relative clause is introduced optionally with a relativizer rin (specific) or nitrôg/trôg (non-specific; etymologically "whenever"). When the head is omitted, the relativizer is mandatory. To modify a sentence with a relative clause the relativizer surith is used instead.

Complement clauses

Themsaran uses chiefly finite complement clauses, unlike for other types of subordinate clauses. The distinction between indicative and subjunctive moods can be used to indicate whether the speaker's degree of belief:

ne ascinévi d'iennā́

(the fact) that they are exceptional in war

ne assynscinévi d'iennā́

(the allegation) that they are exceptional in war

Conditional clauses

Type	Form of protasis	Form of apodosis
gnomic; general present	nit + present indicative	present indicative
general past	nit + imperfect indicative	imperfect indicative
situational, more probable	ar + present/future indicative	future indicative
situational, improbable	īs + present/future indicative	future subjunctive
counterfactual/metaphorical present/imperfect	īs + imperfect indicative	present/imperfect subjunctive
counterfactual/metaphorical preterite	īs + preterite indicative	preterite subjunctive

The apodosis is put in the subjunctive in an unreal conditional, or if the outcome or causality is less probable. Needless to say other combinations of TAMs are possible as well depending on the specific condition being discussed.

Coreferentiality

There are several situations where the strictly head-marking language tracks coreferentiality, or which agreeing noun a verb or pronoun taking a given agreement refers to.

Switch reference

Themsaran uses the switch reference clitic -(i)s(e) to signal that the current clause has a different subject than the subject of the previous clause. This clitic goes between the conjunction and the first constituent in the clause.

Comparison

"Than"

The comparative particle 'than' is rū. Themsaran enables one to discriminate "He loved me more than she [loved me]" and "He loved me more than [he loved] her", by focusing the argument in the main clause that is compared. The comparative phrase is by default placed after the subject or verb, and the compared noun phrase is stated, or repeated with a pronoun.

vá yntarpsýn slá rū vī́
/ʋˠá ʉntàrpsʉnꜜ sláꜜ rúː ʋˠíꜜiː/
vá ynt-arb-s-n/ slá rū́ ī́
3SG.M PAST.IPFV-teach/PAST.IPFV.3SG.M>1SG more.ADV than 3SG.F
He taught me more than she did.

ná yntarpsýn slá rū vī́
/náː ʉntàrpsʉnꜜ sláꜜ rúː ʋˠiꜜiː/
ná ynt-arb-´s-n/ slá rū́ vī
1SG PAST.IPFV-teach/PAST.IPFV.3SG.M>INV.SG.M more.ADV than 3SG.F
He taught me more than he did her.

Note that the fronting does not automatically imply that the fronted noun phrase is compared, but simply that it is given the most focus. The compared argument is the closer argument to the comparative:

ná yntarpsýn vá slá rū vī́
/náː ʉntàrpsʉnꜜ ʋˠáꜜ sláꜜ rúː ʋˠiꜜiː/
ná ynt-arb-´s-n/ vá slá rū́ vī́
1SG PAST.IPFV-teach/PAST.IPFV.3SG.M>1SG 3SG.M more.ADV than 3SG.F
It is I whom he taught more than she did.

Indirect speech

If the complement clause's subject corefers with the subject of the main clause, it is left unstated in the complement clause, and the verb does not take the swtich reference affix.

"Impersonal" sentences

Impersonal pronouns do not exist in Themsaran. The verb is put into the mediopassive with the subject as patient/object, or no subject if there is no patient.

sṓtva nárgieð gle chmásān det cardḗ

one walks (lit. it is walked) for three days from my village to the coast

Modal constructions

Themsaran is poor in true modal and auxiliary verbs; "adverbial" and "adjectival" modal constructions are more common. Deontic modalities tend to be expressed adjectivally, while situational and epistemic modalities tend to have adverbial expressions. All modal expressions come before the (negation-) lexical verb (e.g. Jêr méŧar ħlomaréch thyrfāmâst! "How dare you betray my brothers!", note that the verb is in the preterite).

Modal adjectives

• lāmérsa: "it is sufficient to..."
• jalúna: "advisable".
• ēdámmeta: "necessary", used to express need to do something.
• thǔmeta: "charged/required/compulsory"; moral obligation, "ought to".
• tē̌meta: "permitted", used to express permissibility.

Modal adverbs

• ídā́: "ably", used to express ability to do something.
• mṓŧēr: equivalent of "dare".
• łámīl: "possibly", used to express epistemic possibility.
• tóssēr: "seemingly".
• arzḗn: "certainly", used to express speaker's certainty (English epistemic "must").
• spádīl "in truth", "indeed".
• teizēr: "successfully".

Modal verbs

"To want" is srétī́. It is used (chiefly with an intransitive verb) in the infinitive, always with a subject possessor (Srétī mindasén d'insé "I want to travel in a city", lit. "I want my traveling in a city"), or with transitive verbs in the supine (definite direct objects are marked).

Periphrastic causatives

Using a periphrastic construction to express causatives often has the implicature of downplaying the agency of the agent or the degree of compulsion involved in the causation. Said nuances can be fine-tuned further with the choice of the auxiliary verb of causation.

• flúotéi - 'to cause', a neutral verb.
• bēslinái - 'to force'.
• asqruofái - 'to coax, cajole'.

Derivational morphology

Affixal

Nouns and Adjectives

• -ácse (f, c): [noun]-manship, proper way of [verb]ing/being [adjective]
• -átte (f, c): domain, place of [noun/adjective] (víssī́ 'sell' > víssátte 'market')
• -áth (c): adjectival suffix
• -ber (m, c): resultative of [verb]
• -d-/-de: nominalizer (less productive)
• -dr- (c): -ful
• [most often infinitive]-iħe (f c): nominalizer of [verb]
• -in (m g, not very productive): semantic patient of (verb)
• ir-: non-, un-[adjective]
• -índ- (c): diminutive (ħrṓm 'horse' > ħrōmínd 'foal, colt')
• -ing (g): group/collective noun (ħéisting 'vocabulary' < ħéist 'word')
• -īd (f, 2, c): abstract noun; thrȳzamétīd 'definiteness (grammatical)' < thrȳzámet 'remembered' (stative passive ptcp.)
• cī(v)-: -less; cīpalnáth 'mutually exhaustive' < paln- 'third'
• -lné (g): action of [verb]; the action noun of [verb] gā́lelné 'singing'
• -loch- (c): semantic agent of [verb]
• -m- (c): originating from [noun/adjective]; fō̌nym: 'marine'
• -malé (f th): manner of [verb]ing; vālizamalé 'pattern, paradigm' < vālizái 'order'
• -ms (m, c): instrument noun; éðħams: trophy, prize
• -noth- (c): capable/worthy of patienthood, [verb]-able; (vingái 'die' > vinganóth 'mortal', frínqái 'to despair' > frínqanóth 'futile, vain')
• -őf- (c): weaker pejorative, "just some"
• -org- (th): pejorative
• -re (f, c, less productive): patient/resultative; gavȳ̌re 'small piece, exemplar' < gavȳnī́ 'take out, examine'; pastáre 'staircase, scale, program, protocol' < pastái 'stratify, layer'
• -se (f, c): singulative
• -tán (f, c) "[noun] material" híchatán 'batter' < híchái 'bake'
• -tv- (c) [noun]-like
• -yng- (plural, c): associative plural
• -ȳré (f, g): place noun (ā́thym 'holy' > ā́thmȳré 'shrine, sanctuary')
• -ýthe (f, c): state of being [adjective], most often used for mental states; probably related to ýthe 'color, manner'

Verbs

• -scái/-ái (less productive): cause to be [adjective] (ðúoscái 'lengthen'; qēscái 'strengthen'; ārdái 'magnify, greaten, enlarge')
• -inái: do the action of [noun]
• -trī́: intensive
• -dm- iterative
• -achlái: :see/depict as
• -ðħái: un-, dis- (transitive)
• -brī́: un-, dis- (intransitive)
• -(i/u)tái- (with tone change): transitivizer (not productive)
• fúd- (< fúdái 'answer'): in return, re-

Compounding

Compounding and incorporation is the main, characteristically Themsaran method of derivation.

Noun-adjective compounding occurs by removing the ending of the noun (and inserting -o- for first declension, -e- for second declennsion, and -i- for third declension of the noun if phonotactically required). If the compound is a noun with a supplemental meaning by the adjective, the lexical tone is that of the noun; on the contrary, as an adjective with the meaning colored by the noun, the lexical tone is adopted from the adjective. (e.g. cólyn (1st decl., high tone) + simáttym (accent paradigm c) = cólnosimáttym 'wind' + 'northern' = 'north wind'; sōrachráth 'royalty, royal household' < sôr 'house' + achráth 'royal'; post-classical neologisms include ðálfaromīdáth tradition < ðál- 'passing, transmission' + fáromīdáth 'legitimate'; thilqārdé 'broadsword, claymore' < thilqé 'sword' + ârd 'big, great').

Compounds headed by the final noun are largely 'kind of noun' compounds (noun-noun/adj-noun) and are much less productive than the right-branching ones often of a noun-adjective form.

Verb-verb compounding also occurs, e.g. duaħivingī́ 'go extinct, perish, die out' < duaħī́ 'fade, be erased' + vingī́ 'die'.

Incorporation

Nouns and adverbs can be incorporated into verbs as they can into adjectives. This is primarily a derivational, rather than grammatical, device.

qḗdmoplaħemā́m

may he grant strength to us

Personal names

Names are often from definite/possessed nouns, definite or predicative adjectives, and verb forms.

Literature

Zinnṓðrir

Zinnṓðrir or simply nṓðrir (plurale tantum) is the Themsaran term for rhymed prose, a very popular literary form for oratory and other didactic works in both classical and post-classical periods, but not uncommon either for ordinary descriptive writings.

Poetry

The criteria to be considered poetry is for there to be a quantitative meter pattern in addition to rhyming.

Sample texts

Look, a bānner!

Ymbānscávasar gávthā mī́ cḗmērā́c.

This language was made to attract fame/renown at one time.

Énħēn lāmennī́dīr chīriī́diī ie arvētnothī́diī íe máugamalánnī, arramlévas bānscavā́sī.

Because of the bestness of its fineness, its believability and its ways of using, its being made to attract fame was agreed upon.