Verse:Mwail/Old Gloob

Themsárimai: Gáthvar themsárimar
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Mwail/Old Gloob
themsárimar
Pronunciation	[/θè̞msarꜜimar/]
Created by	IlL
Extinct	220 v.T.
Language family	Gamedan Raxo-Talsmic? Talsmic Mwail/Old Gloob
Language codes
ISO 639-3	qth

Mwail/Old Gloob is my first constructed language, intended to be a head-initial, head-marking language with a plausible development from an erstwhile dependent-marking language. The grammar, syntax and phonology of Themsarian is based on Hebrew, Latin, Germanic, Greek and Celtic. The morphology is an experiment with grammatical non-concatenative morphology: as Celtic grammaticalizes initial consonant mutations, and Semitic vowel patterns, Mwail/Old Gloob does so with tone patterns. The grammar is also an experiment on using inflections and agreement to show grammatical relations without case, hence the use of switch-reference on verbs and borderline polysynthesis. So I guess it ends up a tad more like some Native American languages. Other purposes of my language include mixing in some less-English constructions, such as the use of optatives in subordinate clauses, and using principally non-finite subordinate clauses in the indicative, and some topic and focus syntactic operations.

Lexicon

See the Themsarian-English lexicon (needs updating).

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, null before z
• ~: cognate to

Background

See also: Mwail/Old Gloob/Sound changes from Proto-Talsmic.

The Mwail/Old Gloob (/θɛmˈsɑɹiən/) language (Mwail/Old Gloob: gáthvar themsárimar [gáθʋàr θè̞msárimàr] "the Mwail/Old Gloob throat") is a language classified into an isolated subbranch of the Raxo-Talsmic language family, along with other para-Mwail/Old Gloob languages which are/were natively spoken in the peninsula of Tálsym in the northwestern part of the Gameda subcontinent. The language remains clearly related to its continental relatives such as Raxic (It is often said that Mwail/Old Gloob uses the same affixes as Raxic with different meanings); however, due to its long period of isolation and substrate influence (the substrate is sometimes speculated to have been a head-initial polysynthetic language), Mwail/Old Gloob was a typological and lexical outlier in the larger 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 and and its verb system approaching polysynthetic languages in complexity. The name of the Mwail/Old Gloob language comes from the Themsár region, from whose dialect arose the prestige language of the Andaegṓr Empire. This elevated register/lect existed in a state of diglossia with the vernacular "dialects", diverse and often mutually unintelligible but still quite similar at this time. The prestige language described in this article, called Noble Mwail/Old Gloob (themsárimar ħéntar), 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 peninsula and surrounding mainland areas.

In keeping with the greater Talsmic and Raxo-Talsmic milieu Mwail/Old Gloob employs a mixed fusional and agglutinative inflectional morphology, notably doing so by using a combination of tone changes and affixes, and the use of a 3-gender system. The language is unusual for using a number system based on a generic-specific opposition.

Phonology

Consonants

Classical Themsarian used 22 consonants. Unusually for the family, it is devoid of affricates, ejectives, and lateral obstruents, possessing instead a preponderance of fricatives.

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Radical	Glottal
Nasal		m /m/	n /n/			n [ŋ]
Plosive	voiceless	p /p/	t /t/			c /k/	q /ʡ/
	voiced	b /b/	d /d/			g /g/
Fricative	voiceless	f /f/	th /θ/	s /s/		ch /x/	ħ /ħ~ʜ/	h /h~ɦ/
	voiced		dh /ð/	z /z/		gh /ɣ/	q [ʕ~ʢ]
Trill			r /r/
Approximant		v /ʋ/	l /l/		j /j/

Geminate /x/ and /θ/ are Romanized cch and tth respectively.

Conditioned allophony

Allophony in Themsarian is limited.

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

Vowels

Classical Mwail/Old Gloob has a six-vowel system, symmetrical to a fault, with a quantity distinction. Short vowels have one mora (except for epenthetic i/y which has zero morae), and long vowels have two morae.

	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.

Diphthongs

Closing diphthongs: ae ai ao au oi ui
Opening diphthongs: ea ie oa uo

Tone

Pitch accent, or tone, is phonemic in Mwail/Old Gloob. Each word has a phonemic downstep position. The following is the notation for tones:

	Short	Long	Diphthong
Unmarked	a /a/	ā /aa/	ai /ai/
Acute accent	á /aꜜ/	ā́ /aaꜜ/	aí /aiꜜ/
Circumflex accent	-	ā̂ /aꜜa/	ái /aꜜi/

Phonotactics

The maximal syllable structure is CCVCC, where V is any vowel or diphthong, and the second element in a complex coda must be an obstruent. /h/ cannot occur in clusters or coda; radicals are prohibited word-finally. Up to CCC medial clusters are permitted.

Permitted initial CC- clusters:

• [any obstruent except v] + {l, r}
• cm, cn, tm, tn
• [non-labial obstruent] + {v, m}
• m + {l, r, n}

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

Permitted -CC- clusters (of these only geminates and clusters ending in non-radical obstruents are permissible as final -CC):

• The following geminates: cc, cch, ff, ll, mm, nn, pp, rr, ss, tt, tth
• bl, br
• cl, cm, cn, cr, cs, cv
• chl, chm, chn, chr, cht, chv
• dm, dn, dr, dv
• dhm, dhn, dhr, dhv
• fl, fr, fs
• gl, gm, gn, gr, gv
• ghl, ghm, ghn, ghr, ghv
• ħl, ħm, ħn, ħr, ħs, ħt, ħv
• lb, lc, lch, ld, ldh, lf, lg, lgh, lħ, lm, ln, lp, lq, ls, lt, lth, lv, lz
• mb, ml, mn, mp, mr, ms, mz
• nc, nch, nd, ndh, nf, ng, ngh, nħ, nl, nq, ns, nt, nth, nv, nz
• pl, pr, ps
• ql, qr, qv
• rb, rc, rch, rd, rdh, rf, rg, rgh, rħ, rm, rn, rp, rq, rs, rt, rth, rv, rz
• sc, sch, sf, sħ, sq, st, sth, sv
• thm, thn, thr, thv
• tm, tn, tr, tv

Phonological diachronics

Simple consonant correspondences

PTal	*m	*p	*b	*ɸ	*n	*t	*d	*s	*z	*r	*θ	*ł	*λ	*l	*j	*k	*g	*x	*kʷ	*gʷ	*xʷ	*w	*q	*χ	*ʁ	*ʔ	*h
Thm.	m	p	b	f	n	t	d	s	z, -r-	r	th	th	dh	l	j	c	g	ch	c	v	f	v	q	ħ	gh	0-	h-

Consonant clusters

• *sm, *sn, *sl, *sr > mm, nn, ll, rr
• *mʔ, *nʔ, *lʔ, *rʔ > mm, nn, ll, rr OR 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}
• *tk/*łt/*pt/*kt/*łk, *tx > cht, cth
• q
  • > ħ / _{t}
• nr > ndr, lr > ldr
• e > a / ʔ_#
• ds ts ths zs ts > ss
• dz tz thz tz zz > z
• *λ > l, *λλ > ld
• *ḽ > dh, *ḽḽ > ldh

Orthography

The standardized Mwail/Old Gloob alphabet, whose variants are also used to write other Talsmic languages, is a native alphabetic script consisting of consonant and vowel letters in addition to diacritics for vowel length and tones. It has developed from a runic alphabet. In the earliest texts vowel length and tone were not recorded; diacritics for these were first devised for religious and official purposes and gradually came to be universally mandatory. In texts meant to be sung (e.g. poetry or hymns) the tone marks are substituted with various cantillation marks that 'correspond' to the tone. Tone is generally not assigned when transcribing foreign words.

The alphabetical order is as follows:

1. R: ràebe 'bud'
2. D: drālé 'wave'
3. Z: zúngin 'banner'
4. I: ī́r 'island'
5. GH: ghél 'mouse'
6. A: àil 'heart'
7. Ħ: ħestū́bir 'petals'
8. F: fántos 'wings'
9. M: merrī́d 'equanimity'
10. L: luccé 'pericarp'
11. G: gáthve 'throat'
12. C: cár 'human'
13. H: hél 'voice'
14. B: būn 'fish'
15. S: sáom 'moon'
16. V: vā̀l 'gate'
17. O: osíen 'rill'
18. J: jā́dh 'bird'
19. Q: qìed 'saw'
20. DH: dhorfás 'to pierce'
21. Y: ýst 'air'
22. CH: chàostis 'to go down'
23. T: tīmé 'hand'
24. N: nùoss 'to go up'
25. TH: thrā̀p 'combat'
26. P: pàor 'pond'
27. E: éara 'upright'
28. U: umī́s 'tent'

Parts of speech

Independent pronouns

Personal

The independent personal pronouns are used in sentences with a predicate noun, adjective or prepositional phrase, and for emphasis of what is already indexed on the heads, be it the subject, the direct object, or an oblique argument. The Themsarian pronoun system is unusual for making a sex distinction in the 2nd person singular but not the 3rd.

Pronouns, unlike nouns, use a singular-plural system.

Independent personal pronouns
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	ná	chā́m
1.in	-	taqḗn
2.m	zḕr	lā́s
2.f	vḕr
3.an	vā́
3.inan	vé
3.abs/hon	vī́
4	it
impersonal	is

Adding the ħe- demonstrative prefix creates intensified pronouns ħená, ħezḗr etc., thus etymologically "it's me", "it's you" etc. The intensified pronouns are often used to emphasize that the pronoun is the focus rather than the topic (which is fronted like the focus often is).

Demonstrative

The demonstrative pronouns come in three distance levels: the m-series, the ħ-series and the t-series.

When a demonstrative modifies a noun phrase, the noun modified must be grammatically definite.

The three distance levels of demonstratives each have derived uses in discourse:

• The m-series is used:
  • very similarly to English this, as a cataphoric reference, or to highlight new or especially vivid information in general
• The ħ-series is used:
  • For general anaphora (things already mentioned in the discourse)
  • In dialogue, to refer to things that are only known to the speaker or the listener
  • (the pronouns) for anaphoric uses at a focus level intermediate of that of the m-series and the 3rd person pronouns.
• The t-series is used:
  • In dialogue, to refer to things that are known by both the speaker and the listener
  • For psychologically distant items, places or times
  • To express contempt
  • As a second-in-line demonstrative, similar to obviation

Reciprocal

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

Reflexive

The suffixed forms of hél ('soul, voice') are used as independent/emphatic reflexive pronouns in the 3rd person:

3sg.an.rfl: hélā
3sg.inan.rfl: hély
3sg.abs/hon.rfl: hélī
3pl.an.rfl: hélech
3pl.inan/abs/hon.rfl: héler

Nouns

Nouns are inflected according to the native gender-number-state system. They also fall into several declension patterns.

Summary of the gender-number-state system

Nouns can have states, including indefinite, definite and predicative (which is arguably a case). There is no definiteness distinction in the collective; collective nouns are automatically definite.

Nouns are divided into four classes/genders. The gender of each noun should be learned; although, diachronically, the gender system is semantic, assignment of gender is still to some degree arbitrary, in part due to shifts in the meaning of words.

• Animate: Many animate nouns have all three numbers. Animate nouns include not only humans or animals, but also many body parts, some plants, more "active" natural processes such as rain and storms, and heavenly bodies.
• Inanimate: The countable inanimate nouns have all three numbers. Some inanimate nouns are mass nouns, and thus only have a generic number and a singulative number.
• Abstract: Singulative and plurative abstract nouns denote specific instantiations or manifestations of the abstract concept. (So morgī́d 'kindness' in the collective could be rendered as 'an act of kindness' in the singulative (indefinite) morgī́a.)
• Honorific: Honorific nouns arose from abstract nouns "made countable", i.e. abstract nouns in singulative and plurative forms, and their morphology generalized to the collective distinction. Respected/titled persons and gods are honorific, as well as nouns derived with suffixes such as -iṓr (augmentative).

Mwail/Old Gloob also makes a state distinction in third person possessed forms, namely 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. This distinction is marked with tone changes or zero.

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

Declension

Here follow the declension paradigms. The reflexive possessed forms are used to refer to third person subjects.

Basic possessive suffixes

These suffixes are added to the combining form.

Possessive suffixes
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	-na	-am
1.in	-	-nta
2.m	-(y)s	-(y)lys
2.f	-(y)zy
3.an	-ā	-ech
3.inan	-v, -y	-er
3.abs/hon	-ī
4	-(i)t
impersonal	-sim

Consonant declension

Nouns underlyingly ending in -consonant-resonant insert an epenthetic y in the singular indefinite form: *catr > cátyr 'a flower', cátryr 'the flower', cátryn 'my flower'.

sṓr - 'house' (mobile downstep)
Collective	sṓra
Number→ State↓	Singulative	Plurative
Indefinite	sṓr	sōrách
Definite	sṓryr	sōrúod
Combining	sṓr-	sṓruo-

cápsin - 'food' (fixed downstep)
Collective	cápsin
Number→ State↓	Singulative	Plurative
Indefinite	cápsin	cápsinach
Definite	cápsinyr	cápsinuod
Combining	cápsin-	cápsinuo-

*w-declensions

dóry - 'foot' (fixed downstep)
Collective	dóry
Number→ State↓	Singulative	Plurative
Indefinite	dórva	dórvach
Definite	dórvyr	dórvuod
Combining	dórv-	dórvuo-

Vowel declension

físta - 'board' (fixed downstep)
Collective	físta
Number→ State↓	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	fístā	fístaer
Definite	fístar	fístant
Combining	fístar-	fístant-

gére - 'son' (fixed downstep)
Collective	gére
Number→ State↓	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	gérea	gérēr
Definite	gérer	gérent
Combining	gérer-	gérent-

véli - 'name' (fixed downstep)
Collective	véli
Number→ State↓	Singular	Plural
Indefinite	vélie	vélīr
Definite	vélir	vélint
Combining	vélir-	vélint-

Abstract -ī́d declension

This paradigm is used for nouns that carry the special -ī́- abstract noun suffix.

Abstract nouns have only a definite form (-ī́d) in the collective number.

vaorī́d - 'humility'
Collective	vaorī́d
Number→ State↓	Singulative	Plurative
Indefinite	vaorī́a	vaorī́r
Definite	vaorī́d	vaorī́nt
Combining	vaorī́d-	vaorī́nt-

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.

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 ābatā́ ('the book of [his]') with the free possessum form ābátā ('his book').

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

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

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, inalienables, 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, Mwail/Old Gloob preserves vestigial case marking. Many 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 -st.

The instrumental/locative suffix -īl derive adverbs and prepositions of location, manner or concern.

There is another adverbial suffix, -ai, whence comes "in language X" adverbs (e.g. themsárimai 'in Themsarian') and the instrumental preposition nai itself.

Adjectives

Attributive adjectives agree in number, definiteness, gender and possessedness with their heads. Nouns that describe an attribute may also be used as adjectives.

Predicate adjectives are declined differently than attributive adjectives (that modify non-predicate nouns); predicative adjectives carry the downstep on a non-final syllable, while the attributive adjectives have to agree with the downstep of the noun. Predicate adjectives can be used as complements of certain verbs (with meanings of being or change of state, or causing a change of state) and as non-restrictive appositional adjectives.

The possessum state indicates that the adjective modifies a noun with a possessive suffix. In poetry the possessive suffix may be attached to the adjective in a noun-adjective phrase while the head noun takes the possessum form of the adjective.

Adjectives also take degree inflection (positive, "less/least", "more/most", elative, "X enough", "too X").

Degree

The comparative is formed with the suffix -énn, and the negative comparative is formed with -ṓt. Adding the telic prefix ar-/as- to the comparative forms yields the superlative forms.

lā́m 'good'

arlā́m 'very good'

lāménn 'better'

arlāménn 'best'

lāmṓt 'less good'

arlāmṓt 'least good'

qént 'strict'

asqént 'very strict'

qenténn 'stricter'

asqenténn 'strictest'

qentṓt 'less strict'

asqentṓt 'least strict'

zòrim 'foolish'

ázorim 'very foolish'

zoriménn 'more foolish'

azoriménn 'most foolish'

zorimṓt 'less foolish'

azorimṓt 'least foolish'

Degree affixes
more	-énn
most	aZ-énn
less	-ṓt
least	aZ-ṓt
as X as	-íchan
too much	RDPL- (of 1st C)
enough	-éris

Adverb formation

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

There is another adverbial suffix, -ai, whence comes "in language X" adverbs (e.g. themsárimai 'in Themsarian') and the instrumental preposition nai itself.

Table of correlatives

Table of correlatives
	Interrogative/Existential	Near speaker	Near hearer	Distal	Negational/Elective	Collective	Distributive
Pronominal	jé (who); ján (what)	má	ħá	tá	atié (anyone); atián (anything)	rṓg, bást (adjective), cárbást (person)	thivé
Place	jách	mách*; dáte*	ħách	tách	atiách	smárbást	smárthivé
Origin	giljách; jáchēn	gilmách/máchēn*; gildát/dátēn*	gilħách; ħáchēn	giltách; táchēn	gil atiách	gil smárbást	gil smárthivé
Destination	vojách; jáchást	vomách/máchást*; vódát/dátást*	voħách; ħáchást	votách; táchást	vo atiách	vo smárbást	vo smárthivé
Time	jápse, jéma	gáma	sónēt		fúot	pívomīl	gissé
Quantity/Extent	jávōth	mávōth	ħávōth	távōth	-	-	-
Manner/Quality	jḗr	mḗr	ħḗr	tḗr	atiḗr	rṓg ýthīl	-
Cause1	jḗn, jḗrmé	mḗn	ħḗn	tḗn	-	-	-
Purpose1	jást	mást	ħást	tást	-	-	-

*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".
¹Traditionally described "cause" and "purpose", the "cause" series is used with verbs in the realis tenses (present, past, future), and the "purpose" series with the jussive or expressions/verbs of wanting or necessity (e.g. srétī́n).

The only difference between the interrogative and existential usage of interrogative words is that the interrogative word or the phrase containing it is fronted:

Ján báolis?

What is the matter?

Ē báolis ján?

Is something the matter?

Verbs

Mwail/Old Gloob finite verb template

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

Verbs have elaborate but quite regular inflection. Finite verbs are marked for TAM, mirativity, voice (active and passive), the subject's (and the object's, if it is indexed) person, number, and gender. The Themsarian TAM system is in some ways quite archaic: for instance, it preserves Proto-Gamedan stative endings as preterite endings, and it uses reduplication as the subjunctive. Verbs also have several non-finite forms, used with various subordinating conjunctions and relative clauses.

Verbal agreement

The verb must agree with both the subject and at least one object.

Mwail/Old Gloob 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 the conjunctions at 'or' or nu 'xor' 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').

Verbal prefixes

Verbal prefixes may mark one of several applicative voices or have a derivational meaning.

Verbal prefixes
telic	aZ-
locative	bel-
ablative	ivi-
comitative	lau-
dative	tar-
benefactive	vaes-

Tense-Aspect-Mood

Basic TAMs

See also tables for conjugation subparadigms.

A Themsarian verb has 2 principal parts, the present stem and the preterite-perfect stem, which is not always different from the present stem. A similar but "vestigialized" system is found in Wiobian.

The basic TAM markers are fused with subject markers. The basic TAMs, marked with a combination of tone, suffixes and prefixes, are:

• Imperative
• Present
• Imperfect
• Preterite
• Pluperfect
• Future
• Future perfect
• Jussive

Note on agreement. Collectives of animate nouns take animate plural agreement; collectives of inanimate nouns take non-animate singular agreement.

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.

To form the passive, the paradigms -ī́n, -áin, -ī́n are replaced by -yréin, -aréin, -erī́n, respectively.

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 -ī́n < *-īn=ʔ: primary verbs.
  • The above contains -iī́n verbs (*j-stems, realized as pseudo-thematic vowel i).
• 2nd conjugation -áin < *-a-īn=ʔ: typically denominative, factitive or transitive verbs.
• 3rd conjugation -ī́n < *-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.

NB. The downstep position is preserved upon addition of the object suffix.

Imperative

The imperative is used to issue orders; it is negated with ham.

Present

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

The following are added to the present stem:

Present
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	-īn, -ī(n)1- -ain, -ai(n)1- -īn, -ī(n)1-	-maech, -maech- -ámaech, -amaech- -émaech, -emaech-
1.in	-	-nse, -nsi- -ánse, -ansi- -énse, -ensi-
2	-yr, -yr- -ar, -ar- -er, -er-	-lse, -lsi- -álse, -alsi- -élse, -elsi-
3.an	-ym, -m- -am, -am- -em, -em-	-vi, -vi- -ávi, -avi- -évi, -evi-
3.other	-si, -si- -asi, -asi- -esi, -esi-	-ti, -ti- -áti, -ati- -éti, -eti-

Imperfect

The imperfect 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 imperfect developed from the construction *ʔṇʔ- [present], where *ʔṇʔ- was a past tense of the copula vācī́n). The yn- 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.

Imperfect
Add the yn- prefix to the present forms.

Preterite

The preterite is used 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.

These affixes are added to the preterite stem:

Preterite
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	-ýn, -ýn-	-mor, -mor-
1.in	-	-tor, -tor-
2	-ýr, -ýr-	-lis, -lis-
3.an	-a, -am-	-aví, -avíe-
3.other	-ar, -ar-	-atí, -atíe-

Pluperfect

The pluperfect is used for events that were completed before the discourse-relative present in the past; it can also be used for events completed in the far past as opposed to near past.

Pluperfect
Add the yn- prefix to the preterite forms.

Future

The future denotes an event predicted to occur some time in the future. It is aspect-indifferent unlike the past tenses.

These affixes are added to the present stem plus thematic vowel:

Future
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	-tḗn, -tḗn-	-tḗmaech, -tēmaech-
1.in	-	-tḗnse, -tḗnsi-
2	-tḗr, -tḗr-	-tḗlse, -tḗlsi-
3.an	-tḗm, -tḗm-	-tḗvi, -tḗvi-
3.other	-tḗsi, -tḗsi-	-tḗti, -tḗti-

Future perfect

These affixes are added to the preterite stem:

Future perfect
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	-ōtḗn, -ōtḗn-	-ōtḗmaech, -ōtēmaech-
1.in	-	-ōtḗnse, -ōtḗnsi-
2	-ōtḗr, -ōtḗr-	-ōtḗlse, -ōtḗlsi-
3.an	-ōtḗm, -ōtḗm-	-ōtḗvi, -ōtḗvi-
3.other	-ōtḗsi, -ōtḗsi-	-ōtḗti, -ōtḗti-

Some verbs may omit the -ṓ- in the suffix: thantḗn, thantḗr, etc. 'I shall have written, you will have written, etc.'.

Jussive

The Mwail/Old Gloob jussive (cýlinā́ 'urging form') continues three different irrealis moods in Proto-Talsmic: desiderative, hortative and optative. The desiderative 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, by analogy, 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 (often with the particle stái) and hortatives (urging).

Ðuodisá áromis!

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

May your life be long!

• imperatives in indirect speech, with the complementizer ne

Cýlea ne stúmī́n.

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

He urged that I go back.

• impersonal instructions, in the passive

chavinaresá hadísār ýrnȳ́nār

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

the second note is to be lowered

• purpose clauses:
  • with ie

Irēdá cṓm gílelys mī̀se, ie mrínáinylys.

One of you should send a gift, so that I may [lit. and let me...] pardon you.

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

ħḗstyr rin chényremá

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 vamenarī́n?

how advocate-PASS-JUSS.1SG

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

• 'mocking' imperatives (2nd person imperatives deemed unlikely to be fulfilled, or unlikely to produce the result desired by the doer)

Vái mìevat vṓn dū̀sind cṓm.

come_on cut-JUSS.2SG DAT-1SG wound-DIM.SG.INDEF one.M

Let's see you inflict even one prick on me.

• as a protasis to a conditional sentence, without using a word for "if".

Irēdamá vṓn mī̀se, mrínā́ny.

Supposing that he sends me a gift, [lit. let him send me a gift] I shall pardon him.

Jussive
	Singular	Plural
1.ex	-ī́n, -ī́(n)1- -áin, -ái(n)1- -ī́n, -ī́(n)1-	-máech, -máech- -amáech, -amáech- -emáech, -emáech-
1.in	-	-nti, -nti- -anti, -anti- -enti, -enti-
2	-yti, -yti- -ati, -ati- -eti, -eti-	-lti, -lti- -alti, -alti- -elti, -elti-
3.an	-mór, -mór- -amór, -amór- -emór, -emór-	-ivór, -vór- -avór, -avór- -evór, -evór-
3.other	-isór, -isór- -asór, -asór- -esór, -esór-	-itór, -itór- -atór, -atór- -etór, -etór-

Supplementary aspects

Perfect

The perfect is formed periphrastically; the preterite participle (for a completed action) or the imperfect participle (for cumulative progress) is used as a predicate, with either the pronouns or the conjugated forms of the copula vā́cī́n.

Unlike in English the perfect can be used in imperative sentences:

Dellasárlech dhinōrúod vā́c in stúmsyn.

trap-PST.PART-SG<3PL.M animal-PL.DEF be-IMP.2SG until return-INF-1SG

Trap the animals by the time I return.

Inceptive

The inceptive expresses the beginning of a imperfective period in time of the action, and is expressed by the suffix -ssī́n placed after the theme vowel: mólyssī́n 'begin to thank', nesassīn 'begin to kill', teressī́n 'begin to flourish'.

Continuative

The continuative expresses the meaning of "continues/keeps on X-ing", and is expressed by the suffix -lī́n. The theme vowel is lengthened like in the future tense.

Cessative

The cessative expresses the end of an imperfective period in time of the action, and is expressed by the suffix -mbī́n; mólymbī́n 'cease to thank', nésambī́n 'cease to kill', terembī́n 'cease to flourish'.

Additional mood/evidentiality/discourse marking

Mirative

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

gágā́lem

/gágaːꜜliɜs/

RDPL-gā́l-em

MIR-sing-PRES.3SG.AN

I see that she sings/she sings indeed

Energic

The energic presents information new to the audience, or presents information to exhort the audience to consider it. It is indicated by reduplication of the last syllable of the stem.

gālā́lem

/gílgaːꜜleis/

RDPL-il-gā́lem

ENER-sing-PRES.3SG.AN

(see/you know), she is singing

Yntā́eqīn di būqȳrerī Slȳ́sar.

yn-RDPL-il-taeqen di būqȳr-ái S.

IMPF-ENER-visit-IMPF-1SG LOC temple-3SG.HON.CONJ S.

(You know,) I used to frequent Slȳ́sar's temple.

Subjunctive

The subjunctive, like Subjunctive II in German, is used for doubtful statements and for hypothetical outcomes. It is also commonly used for indirect statements. It is marked by a prefix of the first CV + N.

gángā́lem

/lʉ́ngaːꜜleis/

RDPL-n-gā́lies

SBJV-sing-PRES.3SG.F

she supposedly sings/she would sing

The subjunctive is also used in exclamations of disbelief (with the conjunction ne):

Ne ħisanaromíā tach!

ne ħis-RDPL-n-aromi-ā tách

COMPZ ‹SBJV›survive-PRET.3SG there

It is astounding that he survived that!

It must be used with imḗr 'almost' when it indicates something that nearly happened, but didn't:

Imḗr surminemnadán.

I nearly fell asleep [but did not].

Voice

Basic voices

Active

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

Passive

The passive marks the subject as a patient of the verb. Apart from passivity, passives 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 passive, and also passive counterparts of active intransitive verbs.

Supplementary voices

Causative

The causative expresses causation or facilitation of the action. It is indicated by the suffix -inai in the case of null thematic vowel, and by -scái for a- or e-thematic verbs.

Non-finite forms

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

Participle

The participle can be used in many different contexts like in many Indo-European languages, but its main function is to build relative clauses whose subject is the head.

Infinitive

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 infinitive is also used in dependent irrealis verbs that do not directly express an order or wish and thus for which jussive would be inappropriate.

Supine

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.

Action noun

The action noun functions grammatically as a noun and denotes the action of a noun, but takes verbal syntax. There are a variety of action noun suffixes, such as -lne and -íħe.

Non-finite forms

Non-finite forms
Present participle	-́nea, -́neq- -ánea, -áneq- -énea, -éneq-
Imperfect participle	Prefix yn- to the present participle.
Preterite participle	-láneaF, -láneq- -aláneaF, -alaneq- -elánea, -eláneq-
Future participle	-ḗneaF, -ḗneq- -ā́nea, -ā́neq- -íeneaF, -íeneq-
Infinitive	-sM -ásM -ésM
Supine	-ēdhM -ādhM -iedhM

¹ See below.

Object affixes

The object affixes combine at the end of the verb to agree with the definite direct object or indirect object, the indirect object having higher priority.

The following table specifies how the object affixes combine with the combining forms of TAM/subject suffixes. For the most part, the suffixes are more or less directly added to the combining form (as the notation + -allomorph indicates). Exceptions are in bold.

Object affixes
Condition	1sg	1pl.ex		1pl.in		2sg.m	2sg.f	2pl		3sg.an	3pl.an		3sg.inan	3sg.abs	3pl.other		4
-C-	+ -yna	+ -am		+ -ynta		+ -ys	+ -yzy	+ -ylys		+ -ā	+ -u		+ -y	+ -ī	+ -int		+ -it
-i-, -u-, hiatus	+ -na			+ -nta		+ -s	+ -zy	+ -lys		+ -ā	+ -vu		+ -v		+ -vint		+ -t
-ā-		+ -m								+ -vā				-ai
-ē-		+ -am								+ -(v)ā				-ī
-ī-														+ -ī
-ie-		-eam								+ -vā
-(n)-	+ -nna	+ -nam				+ -nys	+ -nyzy	+ -nlys		+ -nā	+ -nu		+ -ny	+ -nī	+ -nt		+ -t

There exist reflexive object suffixes. These are simply the 3rd person suffixes with an initial consonant l- (-lā, -ly, -lī, -lu, -lint), and can be attached directly to the combining form of the subject suffix. Non-3rd person reflexive verbs are marked with the object affix with the same person as the subject.

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.

When another suffix is added to the 2nd person singular, the combining form of the 2nd person singular suffix is -zy- regardless of the gender.

Syncretic forms

Syncretic forms are the following:

Similar forms

Forms that are only distinguished by tone are the following:

All verbs:

• -īn, -ī(n)- present 1sg, -ī́n, -ī́(n)- jussive 1sg
• -dir, -dir- present 1sg, -dír, -dír- jussive 1dl.ex
• -maech, -mae- present 1pl.ex, -máech, -máe- jussive 1pl.ex
• -r, -r- present 2sg, -́r, -́r- preterite 2sg
• -mor preterite 1pl.ex, -mór jussive 3sg.an
• -tor preterite 1pl.in, -tór jussive 3pl.other

-áin verbs:

• -ā active preterite 3sg.an, -ā́ active imperative 2sg
• -ām active imperative 2sg > 1pl. ex, -ā́m active future 3sg.an unipersonal
• -ār, -ār- active preterite 3sg.other, -ā́r, -ā́r active future 2sg

Prepositions

Prepositions in Mwail/Old Gloob are inflected with pronominal enclitics.

Inflection of prepositions
	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	rfl.sg.m	rfl.sg.f	1dl.ex	1dl.in	2dl	3dl.m	3dl.f	rfl.dl.m	rfl.dl.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m	3pl.f	rfl.pl.m	rfl.pl.f
Regular	-na	-(y)s	-(y)zy	-(v)y	-ī	-ly	-lī	-nar	-tidh	-yth	-(j)ār	-(j)air	-lār	-lair	-am	-nta	-lys	-ch	-r	-lech	-ler
Example	ástyna	ástys	ástyzy	ásty	ástī	ástyly	ástylī	ástynar	ástytidh	ástyth	ástār	ástair	ástylār	ástylair	ástam	ástynta	ástylys	ástech	áster	ástylech	ástyler

The following prepositions have completely regular inflection:

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

The following prepositions are irregular:

Irregular prepositions
Mwail/Old Gloob	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)
gil	from, of (partitive, material)
pī	against	despite
stái (conjugated as 1sg jussive verb)		please do.../I would ask that...

Inflection of irregular prepositions
	1sg	2sg.m	2sg.f	3sg.m	3sg.f	rfl.sg.m	rfl.sg.f	1dl.ex	1dl.in	2dl	3dl.m	3dl.f	rfl.dl.m	rfl.dl.f	1pl.ex	1pl.in	2pl	3pl.m	3pl.f	rfl.pl.m	rfl.pl.f
ā	aħán	ā́s	āsý	aħý	aħī́	aħlý	aħlī́	aħrén	aħtídh	aħrýth	āħṓr	āħȳ́r	aħlṓr	aħlȳ́r	ā́m	ā́nta	āħlýs	āħéch	āħér	āħléch	āħlér
di	díen	díes	díezy	díev	dī́	díely	díelī	díenar	díetidh	díeryth	díevōr	díevȳr	díelōr	díelȳr	díevam	díenta	díelys	díech	díer	díelech	díeler
vo	vṓna	vṓs	vṓzy	vū́	vȳ́	vṓly	vṓlī	vódhnar	vṓtidh	vódhryth	vódhōr	vódhȳr	vṓlōr	vṓlȳr	vódham	vṓnta	vṓlys	vṓch	vṓr	vṓslech	vṓler
nai	náina	náis	naizý	naivý	naiī́	nailý	nailī́	nairén	naitídh	nairýth	naivṓr	naivȳ́r	nailṓr	nailȳ́r	naiám	náinta	náis	náich	náir	nailéch	nailér
la	láuna	láus	lauzý	lauvý	lauvī́	laulý	laulī́	laurén	lautídh	laurýth	lauvṓr	lauvȳ́r	laulṓr	laulȳ́r	laujám	láunta	láulys	láich	láir	lailéch	lailér
gil	giléna	gilés	gilezý	gilév	giléī'	gilelý	gilelī́	gilerén	giletídh	gilerýth	gilevṓr	gilevȳ́r	gilelṓr	gilelȳ́r	gileám	gilénta	gilelýs	gilḗch	gilḗr	gileléch	gilelér

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.

Armaíla vṓs.

listen-IMP.2SG DAT-2SG.M

Listen (for your own good).

Numerals

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

Mwail/Old Gloob numerals
	n	nth	n times	n each/at a time	1/n	n days	n years
?	jíes	jínáth	jíster	jíssle	jissínde	jíníedh
1	cṓmCLF	férrȳ́n	cṓnter	cṓmle	-	cṓmíedh	dóvī́em
2	títhārCLF	ýrnȳ́n	tíster	tíchle	rā́ħé	títhíedh	tívíem
3	náre	naráth	nárter	narslé	narínde	naríedh	narvíem
4	múle	muláth	múlter	mullé	mulínde	mulíedh	mulvíem
5	níte	nitáth	níchter	nitlé	nitínde	nitíedh	nitvíem
6	thā̀me	thāmáth	thā̀mter	thāmlé	thāmínde	thāmíedh	thāmvíem
7	rū̀de	rūdáth	rū́tter	rūdlé	rūdínde	rūdíedh	rūvîem
8	lozéde	lozedáth	lóster	lorlé	lozínde	lozíedh	lorvíem
9	fárve	fárváth	fárter	fárlé	fárvínde	fáríedh	fárvîem
10/A20	ħȳ̀re	ħȳráth	ħȳ̀rter	ħȳrlé	ħȳrínde	ħȳríedh	ħȳrvíem
11/B20	cṓmiħȳré	cṓmiħȳráth
12/C20	títhiħȳré	tithiħȳráth
13/D20	nariħȳré	nariħȳráth
14/E20	muliħȳré
15/F20	nistiħȳré
16/G20	thāmiħȳré
17/H20	rūdiħȳré
18/J20	loziħȳré
19/K20	farviħȳré
20/1020	nēsé	nēsáth	nḕster	nēslé	nēsínde	nēsíedh
21/1120	nēsé... ie cṓmCLF
22/1220	nēsé... ie títhārCLF
40/2020	títhnū́r
60/3020	narnū́r
80/4020	mulnū́r
100/5020	nistnū́r
120/6020	thāmnū́r
140/7020	rūdnū́r
160/8020	lornū́r
180/9020	fárnū́r
200/A020	ħȳrnū́r
220/B020	ħȳrcōmnū́r
240/C020	ħȳrtithnū́r
400/10020	taflé	tafláth	táfler	tafslé	taflínde	taflíedh
203/100020	idré	idráth	ídrer	idryslé	idrínde	idríedh
204/1000020	zathné	zathnáth	záster	zathnyslé	zathrínde	zathníedh

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. thāmterslé (six times each).

The numerals can be combined with possessive suffixes to denote "(the) n of us/you/them" mullatís "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 daer (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: íris vṓn sū́bin 'I have no possessions'.

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

Mwail/Old Gloob 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.

Focusing is likely to occur with verbs in the mirative mood or the energetic mood, i.e. verbs that mark new information.

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 rṓg "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 into their component singular persons.

Zero-copula sentences

The predicative form of a noun or adjective may be used without vā́cī́n in the following cases:

• The noun is a complement of a verb of state, change of state, or enacting a change of state (making X into Y).
  • The copula is rarely used in the present indicative in full clauses. Instead, the predicative noun goes to the front, as if it were a verb. 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). When the clitic pronoun is used it may precede or follow the predicate noun or adjective.
• The supine of the copula, vā́cḗdh can be omitted when its complement is in the predicative form: Tír fūlā́ny vā́ga. 'I shall not let him be evil.'

Predicative possession

For alienable possession, 'X has Y' is expressed with the construction mór Y vo X", or "mór-[pronoun affix for pronominal X] Y".

For inalienable possession, it is unnecessary to indicate the fact that X has Y, hence this existential construction is not used. To say 'X has an [adjective] Y' with inalienable possession, the topicalizing construction 'X predicative adjective Y-possessive suffix' (hence 'X, his/her/its/their Y is [adjective]') is most common.

Mórvien híltámsach.

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

I have proof.

Coordinating conjunctions

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

Subordinate clauses

Mwail/Old Gloob 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

Mwail/Old Gloob	Gloss	Notes
ach	although
ānne	when (with finite verb)	future distinction is made for protasis
ar	if (specific/provisional)	if the condition is in future time, then use future for protasis
atar	even if, regardless of whether
īr	because, for
īs	if (counterfactual)
ne	that (complementizer)
nit	if (general conditional)
nitrṓg/trṓg	whoever/whatever (generic relativizer)
rin	that, which (specific relativizer)
sunne	which (abstract relativizer)

Participial clauses

Three types of participial clauses are used in Mwail/Old Gloob: attributive participle clauses, absolute participle clauses and adverbial participle clauses. All participles are negated with daer.

Attributive participial clauses are used as relative clauses whose subject is the head. They take the same tenses as if they were finite relative clauses, where the present is defined as the time of the utterance. 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 passive.

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.

Mwail/Old Gloob	Gloss	Notes
aumé	if (it is found to be the case that...)	inflected as declension 2 noun
dhisēn	for the fact that...
gōté	because (physical cause)	inflected as declension 2 noun
fedū	when
ħuoná	as long as
nār, nā̀r-	although, albeit
qōmḗn	for, because
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.

ā lēvásyn (lit. with my running)

while I run/was running (imperfective)

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

when my mother was born (perfective)

Relative clauses

The participial relative clause is introduced with a participle. A part of the language's head marking system, it must be used when the head is the subject. (The supine is used instead of the participle if the finite verb would be in the jussive.) The possessor of an active participle is the direct object, and the possessor of a passive participle is the agent.

The finite restrictive relative clause is introduced with a relativizer rin (specific) or nitrṓg/trṓg (non-specific; etymologically "whenever"). To modify a sentence with a relative clause the relativizer surith is used instead. If the head is the relative clause's object the verbal agreement with it is not necessary.

Non-restrictive counterparts to the above two types can be thought of as apposed sentences; the full sentence is copied directly after the noun.

Complement clauses

Mwail/Old Gloob uses chiefly finite complement clauses (with verbs of information, saying or knowing), unlike for other types of subordinate clauses. As in English, changes in tense occur if the matrix verb is in a past tense (not a present perfect tense):

• present > imperfect
• imperfect > imperfect perfect (imperfect participle + imperfect of vā́cī́n)
• preterite > preterite perfect (preterite participle + imperfect of vā́cī́n)
• future > future perfect (future participle + imperfect of vā́cī́n)

The subjunctive mood may be used if the source of the information is not identical to the speaker.

Headless complenet clauses are also found. 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 arnynscinévi d'iennā́

(the allegation) that they are exceptional in war

Indirect questions use the same interrogative words as direct questions, with appropriate changes in person and tense. In indirect polar (yes/no) questions the verb is often cast into the subjunctive mood. Wh-words remain unchanged, and the question particle ē often but not always changes to ar.

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, 'risk-taking'	jussive	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

Mwail/Old Gloob 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. Mwail/Old Gloob 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.

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:

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 Mwail/Old Gloob. The verb is put into the passive with the subject as patient/object, or no subject if there is no patient.

sṓtva nárgiedh gle chmásān det cardḗ

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

Modal constructions

Mwail/Old Gloob 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 métar 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.
• mṓtēr: equivalent of "dare".
• lā́mīl: "possibly", used to express epistemic possibility.
• tóssēr: "seemingly".
• arizḗn: "certainly", used to express speaker's certainty (English epistemic "must").
• spádīl "in truth", "indeed".
• thezēr: "successfully".

Modal verbs

"To want" is srétī́n. It is used (chiefly with an intransitive verb) in the infinitive, always with a subject possessor (Srétīn 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).

Compound verb constructions

Mwail/Old Gloob prefers to compound verbs with directional verbs to indicate certain meanings, unlike English which uses adverbs:

• -nuosī́n 'up'
• -chaostī́n 'down'
• -īvī́n 'out'
• -rochtī́n 'in/into':
  • thándirochtī́n 'write in'
• -riedī́n 'towards speaker'
• -harī́n 'away from speaker'
• -cōtī́n 'continue to'
• -issī́n 'with great caution'

Derivational morphology

Affixal

• ‹l› (not productive): often on verbs
• ‹r› (not productive): often on nouns or adjectives
  • crū̀: 'fish' (< 'swimmer', derived from the PRT verb *kow 'swim')
• ar- (before voiced segment)/as- (before unvoiced segment): telic prefix (roughly 'X one's way to')
• -érle 'degree of [adjective]'
• hir- 'not/un-/in-'
• -íber resultative
• -īa (def. -īd, combining form -ī-) 'state of being [noun]/[adjective]'; -ness, -hood, -ity
• -in patient noun (not productive)
  • cápsin 'food' < caps- 'eat'
  • ráuzin 'favor' < rauz- 'apportion'
• -índ- diminutive
• -noth able to be [patient] of verb
  • frínqenóth 'hopeless' (lit. 'despair-able')
  • vinginóth 'mortal' < ving- 'die'
• -sin something to be X-ed
• -iṓr augmentative
  • gā́liṓr 'song' < gāl-

Compounding

Compounding and incorporation is the main, characteristically Mwail/Old Gloob 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) + simáttim (accent paradigm c) = cólnosimáttim 'wind' + 'northern' = 'north wind'; post-classical neologisms include dhálfaromīdáth tradition < dhál- 'passing, transmission' + fáromīdáth 'legitimate'; thilqārdé 'broadsword, claymore' < thilqé 'sword' + ârd 'big, great').

A major subtype of noun compounds is of the form [head noun] + [noun]-áth, where the final -áth agrees with the head noun in gender, e.g. sōrachráth 'royalty, royal household' < sôr 'house' + achráth 'royal'.

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

Zinnṓdhrir

Zinnṓdhrir or simply nṓdhrir (plurale tantum) is the Mwail/Old Gloob 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.

Vocabulary

A Mwail/Old Gloob-English lexicon may be found at Mwail/Old Gloob/Vocabulary.

Old Themsarian

Old Themsarian usually refers to the stage of the Themsarian language attested from 740 q.v.C. to 500 q.v.C., based on presence of archaic grammatical features.

Nouns and adjectives

Old Themsarian still had case marking (in addition to possessor marking) in nouns, adjectives, and pronouns which disappeared in Classical Themsarian. The four cases were:

• predicative
• direct (the only case with a definiteness distinction)
• genitive
• instrumental

Here follow the declension paradigms of nouns in Old Themsarian:

sṓr - 'house'
Number→ Case↓	Singular	Plural
Predicative	sṓra	sṓru
Direct indefinite	sṓryt	sōránt
Direct definite	sṓryr	sōrúod
Genitive	sṓr	sōrách

Verbs

Verbs are less synthetic; object clitics are case-marked and are not yet obligatory.