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Typologically, gjâ-zym-byn (gzb) primarily follows object-verb-subject (OVS) word order, and has a mix of head-final and head-initial aspects: adjectives/adverbs follow the words they modify, and main verbs follow auxiliary verbs, but postpositional phrases precede the words they modify. It is an agglutinative language, with the vast majority of morphemes consisting of one syllable (though some noun roots are two or even three syllables, and some bound morphemes in postpositions and conjunctions are only one phoneme); it has an index of synthesis of 1.63 and an index of agglutinativity of 1.0. gzb could be tentatively described as a fluid-S active language (as opposed to accusative or ergative), though this label doesn't fit perfectly: it marks agents, patients, experiencers, and so forth for fairly specific semantic roles rather than abstracting many semantic roles into generic subject and object syntactic roles.
As for conlang typology, gzb could be described as a whimsical, idiosyncratic engelang, or a highly schematic, unnaturalistic artlang. According to the Wikipedia typology of artlangs, gzb is a personal language; the term "heartlang" might apply as well, though I haven't seen the word used often enough in clear enough contexts to be sure. The terms "hermetic language" or "langue close", used by Biarujia, Robert Dessaix and Paul Burgess, seem less apt for gzb; at this point in its history, anyway, most of the corpus of gzb (consisting of entries in my journal) is private and secret, but the language itself isn't. Its lexicon is primariliy a priori, with a moderate fraction (mostly names of animals and plants) a posteriori; the grammar is entirely a priori, not based on any specific language or language family (though there are scads of unintentional similarities to various natlangs).
Basic root words are by themselves nouns. You can add suffixes to make verbs, modifiers (adjectives/adverbs), conjunctions and postpositions from them. Grammatical particles include a core set of spacetime postpositions; several kinds of conjunctions; general modifiers (adverbs or adjectives, according to context); pronouns; and suffixes. A nominalizer clitic can turn the modifier particles and postpositions into nouns.
Case, number, gender, tense, and mood aren't shown by grammatical inflection or suffix, but by postpositions & modifier particles. Most aspect distinctions are marked with adverbial particles or postpositions, but some with suffixes.
Syntactic roles (case) are shown by postpositions and word order. Common sentence types include topic-comment, topic-state, patient-verb-agent, and topic-verb-experiencer. There are no abstract subject/object markers, consequently no passive voice. However, I still find it useful to use the terms "subject" and "object" in describing gzb grammar, each being an umbrella term for several case roles with common morphosyntactic properties (though the sets overlap a bit); pronouns in the subject cases can be incorporated into the verb, and nouns in the subject cases can, if they come at the end of a clause, omit the case postposition. Nouns and pronouns in the object cases don't exhibit those behaviors.
The phrases of a sentence (verb, agent, patient, object-of-attention, experiencer, topic, state, comment, temporal and locative complements, etc.) can generally come in any order, but object-verb-subject is the default unmarked word-order, with temporal and local complements most commonly preceding the object.
There are four basic verb forms marked by suffixes applied to a noun root (usually a root signifying an action, process, state, or quality).
| van | stative (state, role, quality, non-agentive process) |
| zô | active (deliberate, agentive process/action) |
| ca | reflexive (agent acting upon itself) |
| môj | reciprocal (agents acting on each other) |
Examples of all verb forms with the same noun-root: {bly} "falling, orbit, throwing": (Glossing abbreviations)
bly-van.
fall-V.STATE
I'm falling.
bly-ca.
throw-V.REFL
I'm jumping.
bly-zô râm ĥy-i vě'ty-rĭm rol. throw-V.ACT cat PAT-at door-seeing through. I throw the cat out of (through) the window.
bly-môj pe bly-θaj-môj bly-ķĭm-tla tu-i. throw-V.RECP and throw-OPP1-V.RECP throw/jump-exercise-professional AGT-at The acrobats throw and catch each other.
{Ќ} "I, me" is the default agent, experiencer or topic, so it isn't expressed explicitly in the first three examples above.
Time, aspect, mood, etc. are optionally shown with modifier particles following the verb, such as
| mwe | optative, imperative, hortative, jussive |
| źǒ | negative imperative/optative |
| še | maybe [facts] |
| be | maybe [intentions] |
| mje | past |
| ler | future |
| de | nowadays; lately; (with {mje}) in those days (habitual aspect, extended tense) |
If a temporal complement specifies a particular time when the action of the sentence takes place, {mje} or {ler} is usually unnecessary.
dâ-ŋla i sâŋ cǒ ĥy-i ķârm-zô. three-ORD.D on blood few PAT-at cough-V.ACT. On Tuesday I coughed up a little blood.
A day of the week mentioned refers to the past instance of that day, unless the next such instance is specified by {ler}:
fy-ŋla ler i gâm-ʝĭl kwǒ kâ-i ruŋ-zô kâ-rĭm-zô. seven-ORD.D FUT on picture-motion some ATT-at go-V.ACT attention-see-V.ACT This coming Saturday I'm going to see a movie.
{-van} verbs are not necessarily intransitive, and {-zô} verbs are not necessarily transitive. The distinction is partly between nonvolitional and volitional, and partly between static and dynamic. {-zô} verbs always imply an animate agent. An agentive, dynamic process will always be denoted with a {zô}-verb, unless it's reflexive or reciprocal, and an agentless state will be denoted by a {van} verb (if by a verb at all; or possibly by a postpositional phrase or an adjective). Agentless processes (such as involuntary acts like breathing and seeing, or "acts" of inanimate objects like water flowing) are also denoted by {-van} verbs. I haven't yet worked out the detailed rules for handling agentive states (if it even makes sense to speak of such).
Case-like postpositions can be derived from almost any root word followed by one of the three basic spatial postpositions (most commonly {i}, "at, in"). These are some of the case-like postpositions used most frequently.
| tu-i | agent |
| ĥy-i | patient (object affected by action) |
| kâ-i | object of attention |
| ʝâr-i | experiencer |
| mĭ-i | topic |
| ŋĭn-i | comment |
| jâ-i | in such a state |
| jâ-o | becoming |
| jâ-ř | ceasing to be, changing from |
In active sentences, {-zô} marks the verb and {tu-i} and {ĥy-i} typically mark the agent and patient. These are not the same as subject and object in English and other Indo-European languages; there is no passive voice for verbs. {tu-i} always denotes an animate being who is intentionally doing something. {ĥy-i} always denotes something that is affected by the action of the verb.
Some of the uses of the passive (e.g., saying that something happens without saying who does it) can be rendered by use of {mĭ-i} and {jâ-o}.
bĭm ĥy-i šyj-zô ƥ tu-i. tub PAT-at clean-V.ACT 3 AGT-at He cleans the tub.
bĭm mĭ-i šyj-bô jâ-o. tub TOP-at clean-ADJ state-to The tub becomes clean.
If the object of the verb is not really acted upon in some way by the agent, another role marker is used for it: for instance, {mĭ-i} or {kâ-i} for object of thought or attention:
ť kâ-i rĭm-van. 2 ATT-at see-V.STATE I see you.
ljâw-gjâ mĭ-i zym-zô. observational.science-language TOP-at think-V.ACT I think about linguistics.
If the subject is not actively, intentionally doing something, then it is typically marked with {ʝâr-i} "experiencer" (if animate) or {mĭ-i} "topic" (if inanimate, or if the semantics of the verb are not consistent with experiencer marking).
šî'fy mâ-dân kâ-i ku-van de kâ'θij-ram ʝâr-i. spirit person-formerly ATT-at hear-V.STATE HAB Cathy-NAME EXP-at Cathy hears ghosts.
ij'mâks-gam mĭ-i sjum-van terij-ram ʝâr-i. Emacs-NAME.G TOP-at thankful-V.STATE Terry-NAME EXP-at Terry is grateful for Emacs.
{ŋâw-o} is used for the object (addressee or listener) of a communication-verb:
dejv-ram ŋâw-o twâ-zô Φǒ {ť hǒ}. Dave-NAME call-to say-V.ACT QUOTE 2 VOC I said "Hey!" to Dave.
If the object of the verb didn't already exist, but is created by the action, it's marked by {ķĭn-o} (being constructed, put together from physical materials), {krĭ-o} (being thought up, written, composed, etc.), or {bĭŋ-o} (coming into existence).
mě'hu ķĭn-o vâ-faj-fwa-ƥ-zô. stew construction-to digest-able-CAUS-3-V.ACT He's cooking a stew.
gjâ o-m gun krĭ-o zym-zô krĭ-gjâ-pja tu-i. language to-part.of root.word create-to think-V.ACT create-language-amateur AGT-at The conlanger thinks up words for [into] the language.
gî'bu i θě'ku tu-i krĭ-zô fî'suň pe mu ble bĭŋ-o. beginning at God AGT-at create-V.ACT Earth and universe rest.of existence-to. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The topic of a topic-comment sentence and the "object" of some verbs of thinking and feeling are marked the same way, with the postposition {mĭ-i}, which was translated in some sentences above as "about".
râm mĭ-i pâ-źa-bô ŋĭn-i. cat TOP-at restless-AUG-ADJ CMT-at The cat is hyperactive.
râm mĭ-i zym-zô. cat TOP-at think-V.ACT I'm thinking about the cat.
râm tu-i zym-zô. cat AGT-at think-V.ACT The cat is thinking [about something unspecified].
râm kâ-i rĭm-van. cat ATT-at see-V.STATE I see the cat.
źum-la-zô râm ĥy-i. touch-AFF-V.ACT cat PAT-at I stroke the cat.
As noted before, {Ќ} (I, me) is the default topic/experiencer/agent of a sentence. This applies at the beginning of a text or conversation, when there is no previous context.
lju-zô.
read-V.ACT
I read, am reading.
kě'pâ-van.
happy.confusion-V.STATE
I'm happily confused.
When there is previous context, however, the default topic, experiencer or agent of each sentence is the same entity as was last explicitly marked as topic, experiencer, or agent. (This also goes for subordinate clauses, whose subject defaults to be the same as in the main clause.)
kâj-kô o ruŋ-zô tam-ram tu-i. exchange-place to go-V.ACT Tom-NAME AGT-at
re i gâ-rjâ ĥy-i tru-zô heŋ. 3.PLACE at thing-quest PAT-at find-V.ACT not Tom went to the store. [He] didn't find what he was looking for there.
A vocative phrase sets the default subject, as well:
naj'ĝel-ram hǒ, ?râm gân-ř fĭm-cô jâ-o zǒn. Nigel-NAME VOC cat cause-from health-OPP2 state-to Q.YN Nigel, are you allergic to cats?
kĭn-ram hǒ, !Ќ ty-o ruŋ-zô vjurm-zô mwe. Ken-NAME VOC 1 home-to go-V.ACT visit-V.ACT IMP Ken, come visit me at home.
This means that agentless processes and states have to be expressed otherwise than with subjectless verbs, as in Esperanto's "pluvas", "necesas ke...". If I translated those literally with just a bare verb, the result would mean "I rain, I am necessary that...", or depending on the context, it might attribute these actions to any random entity that was recently mentioned. Nor do I use a dummy subject as in English "It's raining".
bly-van pwĭm mĭ-i fall-V.STATE water TOP-at Water is falling = It's raining.
jâln-van purj mĭ-i. hot-V.STATE environment TOP-at It's hot.
If the subject of the sentence comes last (as it usually does) then the final postposition (agent, experiencer, or topic) may be omitted.
!gju-zô mwe ť. speak-V.ACT IMP 2 Talk!
žuln-van byn-pja. satisfaction.with.work-V.STATE hack-amateur The hacker is pleased with his work.
In Indo-European languages, the term "ditransitive" is used for verbs that are pretty much required to have both a direct and an indirect object. I use the same term for verbs in gzb that usually if not always occur with two different objects, though with gzb's theta-role marking system, it's not always easy to say which of the core arguments for a given gzb ditransitive would correspond to a direct vs. an indirect object in another language; and gzb, like English, is prone to dropping arguments that are obvious from context (e.g., "Give it here" where the theoretically required "to me" indirect object argument is omitted).
Probably the prototypical ditransitive verb in most languages is the equivalent of "give": gzb {bwĭl-zô},
vělĭriě-ram ŝâj-o wrym-θym mâŋ-paj ĥy-i bwĭl-zô ĝejsn-ram. Valeria-NAME having-to ornament-torus hand-for PAT-at give-V.ACT Jason-NAME Jason gave a bracelet to Valeria.
Here the gift is marked with {ĥy-i}, patient, and the recipient of the gift is marked with {ŝâj-o}, coming-into-the-possession-of. Straightforward enough. The verb {kâj-zô} "buy/sell/trade" has a similar argument structure, but can have additional arguments.
gâm prym-fwa kâ-i Ќ ĥy-i žy-zô krĭ-gâm-tla pǒ. picture aesthetic.appreciation-CAUS ATT-at 1 PAT-at show-V.ACT create-picture-professional DEM3 That artist showed me a beautiful picture.
Here, the person being shown something is the patient {ĥy-i}, and the thing being shown gets the attentive case postposition, {kâ-i}. The simpler English equivalent is ambiguous, but the more formal version would be "...showed a beautiful picture to me", i.e. the picture is the direct object; and the same would be true in the other Indo-European languages I'm familiar with.
The thinking verb {kĭ-zô} "to deem / consider X to have quality Y" adds an agent to what would otherwise be a simple topic-comment sentence. E.g.,
ħâl-fwa ŋĭn-i ₣â pǒ mĭ-i. nervous.fear-CAUS CMT-at task DEM3 TOP-at This task induces the jitters.
ħâl-fwa ŋĭn-i ₣â pǒ mĭ-i kĭ-zô pǒlin-ram tu-i. nervous.fear-CAUS CMT-at task DEM3 TOP-at deem-V.ACT Pauline-NAME AGT-at Pauline considers this task a fearful one.
In other words, the "direct" and "indirect" objects of {kĭ-zô} and similar verbs are marked as topic and comment. ({kĭ-zô} also has an alternate argument structure, where it takes an object subordinate clause marked with {hǒŋ}.)
The verb {ðĭl-zô}, "to type or transcribe", is potentially ditransitive in the second sense:
twâ-cu-hân kǒ lju-i pě'pâ-ga om ðĭl-Ќ-zô. sentence-system-old DEM1 read-at page-METAPH into type-1-V.ACT I'm transcribing this old book into an electronic document.
Here the objects are marked as {lju-i}, a kind of performative case more specific than {ĉul-i}, and {om}, becoming-part-of. However, I'm not sure {ðĭl-zô} actually qualifies as ditransitive since the {om} argument is optional.
The opposite-suffix {-θaj} as used with some stems that form ditransitive verbs makes the source/recipient of the basic verb the experiencer of a derived verb, leaving the patient the same, and allowing the agent to be omitted.
wrym-θym ĥy-i bwĭl-θaj-van vělĭriě-ram ʝâr-i. ornament-torus PAT-at give-OPP1-V.STATE Valeria-NAME experiencer-at Valeria received a bracelet as a gift.
Giving and receiving are one process; {bwĭl-zô} and {bwĭl-θaj-van} simply focus on different aspects of it from different participants' perspective. The other opposite-suffix {-cô} does not necessarily affect the theta-roles of the participants in the action of the verb, but it changes the meaning of the underlying action:
vělĭriě-ram ŝâj-ř wrym-θym ĥy-i bwĭl-cô-zô tesě-ram tu-i. Valeria-NAME possession-from ornament-torus PAT-at give-OPP2-V.ACT Tessa-NAME AGT-at Tessa stole a bracelet from Valeria.
A reflexive verb can occur with an explicit patient, topic or attentive postpositional phrase; usually this signifies a body part or faculty of the agent or experiencer, e.g.:
!maŋ ĥy-i šyj-ca mwe ť. hand PAT-at clean-V.REFL IMP 2 Wash your hands.
Ќ im tâlm vin kâ-i rĭm-ca-ĉa syj-i rĭm-ca. 1 part.of head front-surface ATT-at see-V.REFL-tool use-at see-V.REFL I see my face in [using] the mirror.
gě'dĭm pen šin žâj-ŋĭw kâ-i byn-ca mwe Ł. sleep.wake.cycle every end-of moral.law-faculty ATT-at poke.around-V.REFL IMP 3.GEN One should examine one's conscience every night.
Because gjâ-zym-byn does not have a sharp distinction between direct objects and oblique objects, the reflexive and reciprocal verbs formed with {-ca} and {-môj} sometimes have as their reflexive objects things which would be expressed with oblique objects or complements in other languages. A few verbs tend to almost always take {-môj} when the subject is plural.
hyr srǒ il gju-môj tam-ram pe ser'ě-ram. hour several during speak-V.REFL Tom-NAME and Sarah-NAME Tom and Sarah talked [with each other] for hours.
Logically, perhaps, {gju-môj} ought to mean "to talk about each other". But one of my design principles for gjâ-zym-byn is not to change something if I've already learned to use it fluently, just because I later decide it's not perfectly logical. I did not design any irregularity into the language deliberately, but since my goal is to learn to use it fluently myself, and not to devise a language that's easy for people in general to learn, I'm perfectly happy with keeping any irregularity that creeps into the language through my occasional carelessness, if I don't notice it's irregular until I've already learned it.
Where the typical Indo-European language would use an auxiliary verb followed by a particple or infinitive, gjâ-zym-byn just uses two verbs in sequence. The second verb in the sequence has the role of an infinitive, though it gets no special marking. Either verb can be marked with {-van} or {-zô} according to its meaning.
âθ'ĭnz-wam o sru-van ruŋ-zô. Athens-NAME.P to want-V.STATE go-V.ACT I want to go to Athens. [= Athens, Georgia; the Greek one is {a'θen'aj'ǒs-wam}, the one in Kentucky is {ej'θĭnz-wam}.]
dlu-van heŋ huw-van Ł. right-V.STATE NEG happy-V.STATE 3.GEN One doesn't have a right to be happy.
mǒj dlu-van vǒm rjâ-zô huw-van Ł. but right-V.STATE yes seek-V.ACT happy-V.STATE 3.GEN But one does have a right to seek to be happy.
Sometimes the first of a sequence of verbs is not a typical auxiliary verb.
gâm-ʝĭl pǒ kâ-i ruŋ-zô rĭm-van ler. picture-motion.in.place that ATT-at go-V.ACT see-V.STATE FUT I'm going to see that movie.
mî'ħâ-van krĭ-šĭm-zô byn-pja. obsession-V.STATE create-algorithm-V.ACT hack-amateur The hacker is obsessively coding.
Ideas expressed in English by "to be" or "to become" sentences are expressed here by a topic and comment, or topic or experiencer and state, with no verb needed.
râm mĭ-i pwĭm-da jâ-i. cat TOP-at water-full STATE-at The cat is wet.
mâ-bâm mĭ-i prym-fwa ŋĭn-i. human-new TOP-at enjoying.beauty-CAUS CMT-at The baby causes (someone) to enjoy beauty
= The baby is pretty.
gjâ-zym-byn can optionally incorporate a subject pronoun into the verb; it affixes between the verb stem and the verb suffix. For serial verbs, the pronoun will generally only be incorporated into the first of the series.
prym-fwa-ť-van. appreciation.of.beauty-CAUS-2-V.STATE You're beautiful.
twâ-cu pǒ kâ-i vy-ƥ-van lju-zô. sentence-system DEM3 ATT-at intend-3-V.STATE read-V.ACT She intends to read that book.
Such pronoun incorporation is usually done only when
kelij-ram ĥun-i gju-môj. Ќ ŋâw-o twâ-ƥ-zô, Kelly-NAME meet-at talk-V.RECP 1 call-to say-3-V.ACT
hǒŋ fĭm-cô-ť-van. that healthy-OPP2-2-V.STATE I talked with Kelly. She told me you were sick.
In gzb, sometimes a comitative phrase expressed with {ĥun-i}, "with", will influence the verb form and/or the subject, making the verb reciprocal or the subject plural, thus:
vâl-ram ĥun-i ŝě'ĥâ-môj. Val-NAME meeting-at chess-V.RECP lit., We played chess with Val.
tam-ram ĥun-i re o ruŋ-zô Ќ-ƥ. Tom-NAME meeting-at 3.PLACE to go-V.ACT 1-3 lit., We went there with Tom.
English would express these as "I played chess with Val" or "I went there with Tom."
gjâ-zym-byn does not have grammatical category of aspect as such, but several aspectual distinctions are commonly marked by affixes or by root words compounded into verbs.
Cessative/Perfect:
ť dâm-ř grâm kâ-i lju-sun-zô mje θǒ. 2 authorship-from message ATT-at read-finish-V.ACT past immediate I've just finished reading your letter.
Progressive:
vâ-oŋ-vĭj-zô ƥ. digestion-into-time.period-V.ACT 3 He goes on eating.
Inceptive:
pĭw-gĭn-zô θǒ Ќ-ƥ, nu-šar vě'ty-θaj ĥy-i play-begin-V.ACT immediate 1-3 moment-CONJ doorway-OPP PAT-at
trâw-zô mâ kwǒ. strike-V.ACT person some We had just started playing when someone knocked at the door.
Iterative:
kyl-pwĭm-daj rol-lol čâ-ra-zô lu'ĭs-ram. box-water-mass across.through-hither.through swim-repeat-V.ACT Louis-NAME Louis swam [laps] across the pool several times.
Punctual/Semelfactive:
ķarm-nu-zô ku-faj-źa râm. cough-moment-V.ACT hear-able-AUG cat The cat coughed once loudly.
The adverb {de} already mentioned marks a habitual aspect.
tâŋ pǒ i, nĭvĭn-šam dâm-ř life.period DEM3 at Niven-NAME.F authorship-from
θuň reŋ kâ-i lju-zô de. story many ATT-at read-V.ACT HAB I was reading a lot of stories by Niven in those days.
{de} can also mark e.g. the day of the week when something is regularly done or regularly happens.
kru-ŋla de i ĥrî'cu-ķam-vuj kâ-i tî'šâ-zô. cross-ORD.D HAB at Christ-NAME.T-physical ATT-at worship-V.ACT On Fridays, I go to Eucharistic adoration.
There is no need for special morphology to mark gerunds, since the root words for actions, events and processes are already nominal.
ty oŋ ruŋ š-i-j, vâ-oŋ-zô. home into going after-at-near digestion-into-V.ACT. Soon after coming home, I ate.
hwâwm mĭ-i suŋ-hôw-zô rěbekě-ram tu-i. acting TOP-at know.how-CAUS2-V.ACT Rebecca-NAME AGT-at Rebecca teaches acting.
When a verb is derived indirectly (e.g. from a postpositional phrase), there is no root noun that means the same thing as the verb, so one can use the nominalizer clitic {tǒj} to obtain such a gerund:
ĥun-pĭw ðij vâ-oŋ-tǒj mĭ-i gâw-zô, mǒj ce heŋ. meeting-play before digestion-into-NMZ TOP-at consider-V.ACT but this not. I considered eating before the party, but decided not to.
Any direct object must immediately precede the gerund; the verb or comment on the gerund clause usually comes after the gerund.
₣ĭŋ kyl-plân-za ĥy-i lĭn žu-bô mĭ-i hum-ga-van. string box-foot-ADJ2 PAT-at linking careful-ADJ TOP-at deep-MET-V.STATE It's important to tie [one's] shoestrings carefully.
Use {tu} "agent" and {ĥy} "patient" to form nominal participles.
| lju | act or process of reading |
| lju-zô | to read; I read, he reads, ... |
| tu-lju | reader; person reading |
| ĥy-lju | the thing read |
Note that this use of {ĥy} is not entirely consistent with the way the verb {lju-zô} is used. Reading may affect the physical book {twâ-cu-vuj} (in terms of slight wear and tear) but it does not affect the text of the book {twâ-cu} (abstracted from its instantiation in particular printed copies). So normally one would use the attentive case postposition instead of the patient case:
twâ-cu ĵyn-fwa kâ-i lju-zô. sentence-system interest-CAUS ATT-at read-V.ACT I'm reading an interesting book.
twâ-cu-vuj hân-bô nâ-cô-bô ĥy-i sentence-system-physical old-ADJ common-OPP2-ADJ PAT-at
lju-zô žu-bô mwe Ł. read-V.ACT careful-ADJ IMP 3.GEN One must read rare old books carefully.
The first form (with {kâ-i}) emphasizes the content of the book (and doesn't specify its format, whether it is printed, an etext, or even an audiobook). The second, with {ĥy-i}, emphasizes the physical act of handling the book, turning the pages. The first is by far the more common way of marking the "direct object" of {lju-zô}. So does {ĥy-lju} refer mainly to a physical book, magazine, etc.? Not necessarily. {kâ-lju} would mean something very different: "reading attention", or "act of attention characterized in some way by reading". So it could not refer to the "thing read" in the sense of the content of a book as distinct from its embodiment in a particular copy of a particular edition. Therefore {ĥy-lju} has to do double duty for both senses, and in short {ĥy} is not so specific when acting as a participle base as when it is acting as a postposition base. (If necessary, one can be more specific by referring to {ĥy-lju-vuj}, physical thing read, or {ĥy-lju-vuj-cô}, abstract thing read.)
One can add {-bô} to these nominal participles to form modifer participles:
ƴâw-bâm tu-pĭw-bô kâ-i pym-van. dog-new AGT-play-ADJ ATT-at amusement-V.STATE I'm amused at the puppy playing.
rjuŋ kâ-i ħun-tôn-daj kiŋ tru-zô tu-pĭw-bô mâ-ĵĭn. dragon ATT-at pine.tree-GNR-mass among find-V.ACT AGT-play-ADJ person-young The children found a dragon [while] playing in the forest.
ĥy-tru v-ř ruŋ-zô ĵwy-bô. PAT-find front-from go-V.ACT fast-ADJ They ran away from what they found.
The root word {ʝâr}, "experiencer", also forms a kind of participles.
| ʝâr-pym | one who is experiencing amusement |
| ʝâr-fĭm-cô | one who is experiencing sickness; a sick person or animal |
| ʝâr-bly | one who is falling |
| ʝâr-ħĭn | one who is experiencing restrictions; a prisoner |
ĝyl-fyn mĭ-i ʝâr-rĭm dâ-bô ĥy-i tru-zô Ќ-ɱ gwe. interruption-drive TOP-at experiencer-see three-ADJ PAT-at find-V.ACT 1-3 already We've found three witnesses to the accident so far.
Ќ o ruŋ-zô mwe ʝâr-ĵyj-fja pen pe tu-šâ-wâj pen, 1 to come-V.ACT IMP experiencer-vigor-minimum all and AGT-carry-heavy all
kiň ť ĥy-i ĵyj-rjâ jâ-o Ќ. and 2 PAT-at vigor-seeking state-to 1 Come to me, all who are tired and carrying heavy things, and I will give you rest.
gjâ-zym-byn has its own suitable terms for the functionally distinct kinds of root morpheme; some of these correspond to "parts of speech" in traditional grammar.
{gun} are content root-words; names of kinds of people, animals, things, states, qualities, actions, processes, numbers, ideas, and so forth. {gun} contain the vowels |î|, |ě|, |â|, |u|, |y|, or |ĭ| or their nasal forms. Standing alone, or compounded with each other, {gun} fit into the traditional category of nouns. In theory, this is the language's only open class morpheme type (but in practice, I'm still adding to the other classes from time to time as well, though at a much slower rate; I even added more pronouns as late as April 2005).
{jum} are modifier particles; they're used like adjectives & adverbs (or articles) to change the meaning of a preceding word, or specify which of several possible referents is meant. They contain one of the vowels |ǒ| or |e|, and have allomorphic forms with the nasal vowels |ǒň| or |eň| which occur after root words with a nasal vowel (vowel harmony). (Because they obey vowel harmony with respect to the preceding word, like suffixes, I call these modifier particles clitics. Feel free to yell at me if I'm using that term incorrectly.)
{ŋwĭm} are pronouns. Most are clicks or ejectives ({Ќ, ť}...); a few look like {jum}, a consonant followed by |e|.
{ðujm} are conjunctions. They can have one of the oral vowels |ǒ| or |e|, or the nasals |iň| or |oň|. Generally you can tell the nature of a {ðujm} - whether it shows truth-values, causation or evidence, or some arithmetic operation — by its vowel.
{čur} are spacetime postpositions. They contain one of the oral vowels |i|, |o|, or |ř|. Case postpositions are formed by combining a {gun} with an appropriate {čur}, nearly always just {i, o, ř}. Complex spacetime postpositions can include an epenthetic schwa (ě).
{Φyr} are suffixes. They contain one of the vowels |a| or |ô|. They become nasal if the suffix attaches to a root that contains nasal vowels.
The core postpositions are:
| i | at, in, near, with; during |
| ř | from, out of; since |
| o | to, toward; until |
One can make them more specific with various other single-phoneme morphemes prefixed (for orientation) or suffixed (for proximity). These prefixes and suffixes occur only with these core spacetime postpositions, and never affix to any other morpheme.
Suffixes: being near, far or inside:
| -m | in (part of) |
| -ŋ | in (contained by) |
| -n | touching the outside of |
| -j | near |
| -r | far from |
| -l | through, throughout, all through |
So, for instance,
| iŋ | inside |
| oŋ | into |
| řŋ | out of |
| im | part of |
| oj | toward but not (yet) at |
| ir | far from |
| řl | through (coming this direction, toward the speaker) |
These morphemes show orientation about a center:
Relative:
| v- | in front of |
| h- | behind |
| ĵ- | right |
| c- | left |
| k- | among, between |
| ĉ- | all around, surrounding |
| r- | at, to, from the other side of |
| l- | at, to, from this side of |
| s- | above |
| θ- | below |
| š- | after, later part of (time) |
| ð- | before, early part of (time) |
Absolute:
| b- | north |
| ħ- | south |
| ź- | west |
| g- | east |
Example spacetime postpositions:
| sij | above (not touching) |
| sin | on (touching the surface of) |
| siŋ | in the upper part of (rî'mâ siŋ pě'pâ-daj, papers in the attic) |
| sim | in the upper part of (Ќ sim šĭm-ŋĭw, my brain) |
| so | going above |
| son | onto |
| sřn | off of |
| θij | under (not touching) |
| θin | under (touching) |
| θo | going under |
| θř | from under |
| θoŋ | into the lower part of |
| ĵi | on the right side of |
| ci | on the left side of |
| vi | in front of |
| hi | behind |
| hiŋ | in the back part of |
| vř | from in front |
| vo | to in front |
| kin | between (touching the things it's between, e.g. a bookmark between pages) |
| kiŋ | throughout (mushrooms scattered through a forest) |
| il | through (a road going through a forest) |
| ol | through (a man walks through a forest) |
| rir | far beyond |
| ron | coming to touch the far side of |
| li | on this side of |
| ĉi | surrounding |
| ĉoŋ | into from all sides |
| źi | on the west side of |
| ħř | from the south of |
| i(ŋ) | during, while |
| ši | after |
| ði | before |
| ðo(n) | until, up to |
| šř(n) | since, from that time |
Complex directions can be specified by using two of the prefixes and inserting an epenthetic schwa between them, thus:
| běźir | far to the northwest of |
| sěviŋ | in the upper front part of |
These "before" and "after" postpositions (and their derivatives) are used not only with nouns and noun phrases denoting time periods, but with words for other things that are conceived of as having their extension primarily in time rather than space.
frâ š-i-m gjâ-θy {zǒn} rej {srem} question after-at-part.of language-element "zǒn" or "srem"
tyn-van ʝel, pwiň frâ i-m bu-kyr š-i-m tyn-te-van. place-V.STATE generally or question at-part.of phase-verb after-at-part.of place-3.INAN-V.STATE The particle "zǒn" or "srem" is placed at the end of a yes/no question, or at the end of a verb phrase within the question.
θuň-ba pǒ ð-i-m tyn-van mâ-fĭw ĵyn-fwa mĭ-i, story-ATD3 that before-at-part.of place-V.STATE person-fictional interest-CAUS TOP-at
mǒj te ĝy-i-m tâň-van ƥ. but 3.INAN middle-at-part.of removal-V.STATE 3 Several interesting characters appear in the early part of that story, but they disappear in the middle of it.
A few of the 357 postpositions one can form in this system don't make any sense. But most of them are potentially usable in some situation or other. For instance, {šom}, "becoming part of the ending of" could be used if one is talking about reforming a calendar system and reassigning some days from the beginning of one month to the end of the previous month, or, less farfetchedly,
mluj š-o-m ĥun-frâ ĥy-i tâň-θaj-Ł-zô. convention end-to-part.of meeting-question PAT-at take-OPP1-3GEN-V.ACT They added a question and answer session at the end of the convention.
Most of the spacetime postpositions are fairly straightforward, but those in {ĉ-} require some more explanation. "ĉi" refers to a position surrounding the object on all sides, "ĉo" to motion of something that begins to surround the object. Neither refers to going around something, circumnavigating it. The adverbs "ŝwe" (widdershins) and "ŝwe-θaj" (clockwise) can be used together with "ĉi" or "ĉo" to indicate such motion.
rîmâ-źa ĉ-i tyn-van pwĭm-daj. house-AUG around-at place-V.STATE water-mass There is a moat around the castle.
rîmâ-źa ĉ-o ruŋ-van sîðy-tla-cu. house-AUG around-to go-V.ACT fight-professional-system The army surrounded the castle.
rîmâ-ĵwa jeriĥo-wam ĉ-i ŝwe ƴâ-zô fy-bô jisrael-šam-cu. house-place Jericho-NAME.P around-at widdershins walk-V.ACT seven-ADJ Israel-NAME.F-system The Israelites marched around Jericho seven times.
The particle {ķǒ} forms a base for making directional adverbs. Spacetime postpositions in {-o-} or {-ř-} are suffixed to the particle {ķǒ} to make directional adverbs. (Compare the morpheme "-ward(s)" in English "towards", "northward", etc.; but this can also make adverbs describing motion from a given direction.)
fyn-ť-zô ķǒ-b-o mwe mě'tyr-vyŋ kiň drive-2-V.ACT wards-north.to IMP meter-10,000 and
tyn pǒ i ŋe ĥy-i tru-zô ler. place that at 3.INAN PAT-at find-V.ACT FUT Drive north ten kilometers and you'll find it there.
twâ-ƥ-zô Φǒ {ruŋ-zô ķǒ-ħ-ř. say-3-V.ACT QUOT go-V.ACT wards-south.from
!su'zâ'ně-ram hǒ, lârm-ť-zô źǒ.} Susannah-NAME VOC weep-3-V.ACT NEG.IMP He said "I am coming from the south. Susannah, don't you cry."
tĭw-mwĭl s-ř-n bly-ca ķǒ-s-o chair-sleep above-from-touching throw-V.REFL wards-above-to
kujm-šar že tru-i rĭm-van, râ-lǒ-van. purpose-CONJ this find-at see-V.STATE event-REL-V.STATE I sprang up from my bed to see what was the matter.
The abstract case markers all derive from a root word followed by a basic {i, o, ř} postposition.
| tu-i | agent |
| mĭ-i | topic |
| ŋĭn-i | comment |
| ʝâr-i | experiencer |
The relationships shown by the English possessive or the Greek genitive are shown in various ways in gjâ-zym-byn:
| ŝâj | having stuff |
| ŝâj-i | of (belonging to) |
| lĭw | personal relationship |
| lĭw-i | of (related to) |
| dâm | authorship |
| dâm-ř | of (by) |
The partitive genitive would sometimes be translated with the suffix {-na} ("made of" the substance described by the root). A few other concepts denoted by prepositions in other languages are denoted by suffixes here as well: {-ta} "without", {-ja} "according to, fitting".
Some other useful non-spacetime postpositions:
| muw-i | subset of; one of; out of; among |
| syj | use, utility |
| syj-i | with, using |
| gân | cause, reason |
| gân-ř | because of, on account of |
| kujm | motive, goal, purpose, reason |
| kujm-o | in order to, for the purpose of |
| ðĭ | relationship |
| ðĭ-i | in some unspecified relationship with |
{ðĭ-i} roughly corresponds to Esperanto's generic preposition "je". Its most common use is to mark the object of a stative verb when the subject must be marked with {mĭ-i} rather than {ʝâr-i}, and no other postposition seems more precisely fitting for the object. The possession and ownership verbs {ŝâj-van} and {wuŋ-van} are the most common such verbs.
hajnlajn-šam dâm-ř twâ-cu Heinlein-NAME.F authorship-from sentence-system
ðy-ðy-lwa-bô ðĭ-i wuŋ-van. five-five-approximate-ADJ relationship-at own-V.STATE I own about twenty-five books by Heinlein.
{muw-i} is used to indicate that the entity or group of entities denoted by one noun phrase is a member or subset of another set. It translates among other things some uses of the English phrases "one of", "some of", "among" and "out of":
lju-θaj-tla muw-i mâ sǒ tu-i twâ-zô Φǒ: read-OPP1-professional subset-at person certain AGT-at say-V.ACT QUOTE
{hyw-hôw-tla hǒ, frâ-θaj-zô žuln-fwa ť tu-i.} know-CAUS-professional VOC ask-OPP1-V.ACT satisfaction-CAUS 2 AGT-at Then one of the scribes said, "Teacher, you have answered well."
mâ-ŝy muw-i ť mĭ-i ₣urŋ-bô ŋĭn-i ~~~ person-female subset-at 2 TOP-at blessed-ADJ CMT-at ... Blessed art thou among women...
When used to describe the proportion of a given set with a certain property or engaging in a certain action, the noun used before {muw-i} doesn't need to be repeated after it, just the denominator.
fĭm-hôw-tla ðy-bô muw-i ĉu-ĉu-bô ʝâr-i health-CAUS-professional five-ADJ subset-at two-two-ADJ experiencer-at
blâl-van ŋî'bĭ fĭw-bô mĭ-i. annoyance-V.STATE number fiction-ADJ TOP-at Four out of five doctors get annoyed at made-up statistics.
There is an implied {fĭm-hôw-tla} between {muw-i} and {ĉu-cŭ-bô} here, as in English "Four [doctors] out of five doctors..."
Sometimes two postpositions in a row are used, the second postposition modifying the first.
swyŋ s-i-n ĥy-i ĉârn-zô šyj-zô. table top-at-contact PAT-at abrade-V.ACT clean-V.ACT I scrub the surface of the table.
mruň ħ-i-m Φâ kâ-i kujm-o re o ruŋ-zô. mountain south-at-part.of form ATT-at motive-to there to go.V.ACT I went there to see the carvings in the south side of the mountain.
žĭr gân-ř luw-tâlm i-ŋ kâ-i rĭm-van humming cause-from bone-head at-inside ATT-at see-V.STATE
kiň te i-ŋ pî'dâ-daj kâ-i tru-zô. and 3.INAN at-inside bee-COLL ATT-at find-V.ACT Because of the humming noise I looked inside the skull, and found a swarm of bees in it.
Sometimes a serial postposition can be analyzed as involving an omission of an obvious default noun between the first and second postposition; for instance, the common sequence {dâm-ř kâ-i} following an author's name:
taměs-ram pejn-šam dâm-ř kâ-i lju-zô jǒj. Thomas-NAME Payne-NAME.F authorship-from ATT-at read-V.ACT again I'm reading Thomas Payne [= some salient book he wrote] again.
This could probably be interpreted as an abbreviated form of
taměs-ram pejn-šam dâm-ř {Describing Morphosyntax} kâ-i lju-zô jǒj. Thomas-NAME Payne-NAME.F authorship-from [book_title] ATT-at read-V.ACT again
or of
taměs-ram pejn-šam dâm-ř twâ-cu kâ-i lju-zô jǒj. Thomas-NAME Payne-NAME.F authorship-from sentence-system ATT-at read-V.ACT again I'm reading a book by Thomas Payne again.
A time-postposition following another postposition is a common pattern, especially with the state-transition postpositions {jâ-ř} and {jâ-o}, but also with some others; e.g.,
mwĭl jâ-ř šin šyj-ca θǒ. sleep state-from immediately.after clean-V.REFL next After waking up I immediately bathed/showered.
blâl hǒl jâ-o ðij, tyn kǒ ř ruŋ-zô mwe. frustration total state-to shortly.before place DEM1 from go-V.ACT IMP I should get out of here before I get totally frustrated.
These before/after time postpositions can follow various object-case postpositions, in which case a default verb appropriate to that case is usually implied; for instance,
{Hamlet} kâ-i ši, {Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead} kâ-i lju-zô de. [title] ATT-at after [title] ATT-at read-V.ACT HAB Typically after [I read] "Hamlet", I read "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead".
Purposive postpositions such as {rjâ-i} "in quest of" and {kujm-o} "for the purpose of" can also commonly follow other postpositions, including the state transition postpositions:
prym jâ-o rjâ-i ŝrun kâ-i kâ-ku-zô. appreciation.of.beauty state-to quest-at music ATT-at attention-hear-V.ACT I listen to music seeking to enter a state of appreciation-of-beauty.
gâm-ʝĭl kâ-i kujm-o vě'ty-rĭm ĥy-i kě'ĝu-ť-zô mwe. picture-motion ATT-at purpose-to door-seeing PAT-at hide-2-V.ACT IMP Close the window-blinds so we can focus on the movie.
Modifiers are formed from root substantives by addition of appropriate suffixes. gjâ-zym-byn does not make a morphological distinction between adjectives and adverbs, though in practice some modifiers always modify verbs or modifiers. Modifiers, whether non-derived particles or derived words, always follow their heads, with a handful of exceptions: interjections like {hwǒ}, evidentiality adverbs derived with -{pôm}, and ordinal adverbs derived with {-saw}, which can optionally come at the beginning of a clause instead of after the main verb.
If the root noun denotes a quality or state, use {-bô} to form the adjective meaning "having this quality, being in this state". Other suffixes can also be used with this kind of root.
| bâm | newness |
| bâm-bô | new |
| bâm-za | of newness |
| bâm-tan | like new |
| bâm-cô | age, non-newness |
| bâm-cô-bô | old |
If the root noun denotes a concrete entity or type of entity, {-bô} and {-cô} wouldn't be appropriate, but other modifier derivations are possible:
| râm | cat |
| râm-za | pertaining to cats |
| râm-tan | resembling a cat |
| pwĭm | water |
| pwĭm-za | of water |
| pwĭm-tan | like water |
but:
| râm-rô | independent |
| pwĭm-rô | humble |
{-rô} specifies an idiomatically selected quality of the root substantive. It's similar to "-um" in Esperanto — not all concrete roots have a defined {rô}-adjective.
If the root denotes an action or relation, certain other suffixes are appropriate.
| lju | reading |
| lju-fwa | causing to read |
| lju-faj | readable, legible |
| lju-gô | worth reading |
If the root denotes a mindstate, an adjective formed with {-fwa} describes the circumstances or qualities that conduce to it, and an adjective formed with {-bô} describes the person who experiences it. In gjâ-zym-byn most or all subjective qualities are named by a root mindstate-word plus {-fwa}.
| ħum | fear |
| ħum-bô | afraid |
| ħum-fwa | terrifying |
| prym | appreciation of beauty |
| prym-fwa | beautiful |
| prym-bô | in awe of something beautiful |
| prym-cô | distaste for ugliness |
| prym-cô-fwa | ugly |
For more details on derivation of modifiers, see the corresponding sections of the semantics document.
The comparative is shown by these suffixes:
| -sra | more |
| -sra-cô | less |
They affix after the stem and before the final adjectivizing suffix.
| hum-bô | deep |
| hum-sra-bô | deeper |
| hum-sra-cô-bô | less deep |
| hum-cô-sra-bô | higher |
| hum-cô-sra-cô-bô | less high |
In comparisons, the two words or phrases compared are immediately juxtaposed, separated only by the comparative conjunction {θe} .
sĭ mĭ'sĭ'sĭ'pij-wam θe sĭ ĉâ'tě'hu'ĉij-wam mĭ-i hum-ʝa-sra-bô ŋĭn-i. river Mississippi-NAME.P than river Chattahoochee-NAME.P TOP-at deep-ROT-COMP-ADJ CMT-at The Mississippi is longer than the Chattahoochee.
As the superlative in Indo-European languages is a context variant of the comparative, I don't need it here. If I need to be explicit that I'm comparing to all/many others instead of one,
θales-ram θe mâ ble mĭ-i ĉâ-sra-bô ŋĭn-i. Thales-NAME than human rest.of TOP-at intelligence-COMP-ADJ CMT-at Thales was more clever than everyone else.
or more simply:
θales-ram mĭ-i ĉâ-sra-bô ŋĭn-i. Thales-NAME TOP-at intelligence-COMP-ADJ CMT-at Thales was the cleverest.
Note that {sra} can be used with verbs & nouns, too.
âz'ě'mav-šam θe pijk-šam tu-i twâ-cu-sra Asimov-NAME.F than Peake-NAME.F AGT-at sentence-system-COMP
krĭ-o krĭ-zô. create-to create-V.ACT
pijk-ram θe âzěmav-ram tu-i twâ-cu prym-fwa-sra Peake-NAME.F than Asimov-NAME.F AGT-at sentence-system aesthetic.pleasure-CAUS-COMP
krĭ-o krĭ-zô. create-to create-V.ACT Peake wrote better books than Asimov.
The simple personal pronouns are:
| Ќ | I, me |
| ť | you |
| Ł | "one", "they" (generic) |
| ƥ, ɱ | he, she, they (refers to spirits, humans, animals) |
| te, ŋe | it, they (plants, inanimate objects, abstractions) |
{ƥ} points backward to a previously mentioned person or group, {ɱ} forward to somone(s) not already mentioned by name. Similarly {te} and {ŋe} point backward and forward to their referents.
Note there is no plural first person pronoun. "We" could be expressed by:
| Ќ-ť | inclusive we: I and you |
| Ќ-ƥ / Ќ-ɱ | exclusive we: I and someone else, I and some others |
| Ќ-ť-ƥ / Ќ-ť-ɱ | very inclusive we: I and you and other(s) |
The other pronouns can be marked plural by appending a quantifier clitic, or a number adjective, but in some contexts this is not necessary; ť, ƥ, ɱ can refer to plural antecedents even without such explicit pluralization. Ќ would not be pluralized with a number or quantifier, only in one of the ways mentioned above (unless the speaker were a group mind or hive, perhaps). ("Royal We" would be translated by appending a respectful affix to the first-person pronoun.)
I have not been perfectly consistent about using {ƥ, ɱ} vs. {te, ŋe} for body parts. I am leaning toward consistently using the animate pronouns, but for now the animate and inanimate pronouns are interchangeable for reference to body parts.
Various words formed with -lǒ, -nǒ clitics are relative and interrogative pronouns.
| mâ-lǒ | who, whom |
| mâ-nǒ | who? whom? |
| gâ-lǒ | which |
| gâ-nǒ | what? which? |
The non-personal pronouns are:
| ce | this, that; stands for a whole situation described previously |
| že | this, that; stands for a fact or situation about to be described |
| re | there; stands for a place-name |
že mĭ-i gju-zô ƥ tu-i, hǒŋ gjâ kǒ mĭ-i this TOP-at speak-V.ACT 3 AGT-at that language DEM1 TOP-at
syj-faj heŋ źe ŋĭn-i. use-able not very CMT-at. She talked about how useless my language was.
ce mĭ-i sjum-van, wǒj Ќ ĥy-i hyw-fwa-zô ce gân-ř this TOP-at thankful-V.STATE because 1 PAT-at know-CAUS-V.ACT this cause-from
luŋ mĭ-i. detachment TOP-at I was thankful for that, because it taught me something about detachment.
One can add modifiers to pronouns, indicating number, gender, age, etc., if necessary to clarify which of several previously-mentioned entities is intended.
!ť pen tu-i ruŋ-zô mwe mruň on. you all AGT-at go-V.ACT IMP mountain to Y'all go to the mountain.
vlym bâm-bô ĥy-i kâj-zô ƥ-ŝy srǒ tu-o ƥ-mym ŝâj-o. clothing new-ADJ PAT-at exchange-V.ACT 3-female several AGT-to 3-self possession-to. They buy new clothes.
{gjâ-zym-byn} has several kinds of conjunctions.
One shows the relative truth or falsity of two independent clauses. Words of this type are derived by compounding phonemes from a truth table:
| first clause | second clause | logic function |
| T | T | ŝ = TT, k = TF, p = FT, f = FF |
| T | F | |
| F | T | w = T, (null) = F |
| F | F | oň = T, iň = F |
So for instance:
| kiň | and - TFFF |
| ŝwiň | or (inclusive) - TTTF |
| pwiň | or (exclusive), unless - FTTF |
| foň | neither/nor - FFFT |
| koň | equivalence; if and only if — both are true or both false. TFFT |
(In practice, these are rarely used, except for {kiň}, and I don't think I've ever used any of the 11 other conjunctions one could theoretically form from this table.)
Another kind links two clauses and shows their causal relation (or surprising lack thereof); like "because, therefore, however, but" in English. They're also formed with a matrix.
Prefix elements:
| ŝ- | logical cause | (therefore, because) |
| w- | effective cause | (therefore, because) |
| ʝ- | evidence, inference | (therefore, because) |
| m- | not hindered | (however, even though, in spite of, but) |
Suffix elements:
| -ǒn | 1st clause, therefore (however) 2nd clause |
| -ǒj | 1st clause, because (even though) 2nd clause |
ĉu pe ðy θe fy mĭ-i sâm-van, ŝǒn 2 plus 5 = 7 TOP-at same-V.STATE therefore.logically
fy se ðy θe ĉu mĭ-i sâm-van. 7 minus 5 = 2 TOP-at same-V.STATE. 2 + 5 = 7, therefore 7 minus 5 = 2.
lju-sô ŋĭn-i, wǒn kâj-zô twâ-cu-vuj reŋ ĥy-i. read-tending.to CMT-at, therefore.in.fact transact-V.ACT sentence-system-concrete many PAT-at I am readful, so I buy many books.
{ʝǒj} and {ʝǒn} show a relationship between two clauses where the inferred truth of one clause is deduced from the more obviously evident truth of the other.
tyn kǒ ř ruŋ-ƥ-zô gwe, ʝǒj place this from go-3-V.ACT already because.inference
ƥ wuŋ-i ƴâ-ĉa kâ-i rĭm-Ќ-van heŋ. 3 owning-at go-tool ATT-at see-1-V.STATE not He must have already gone, because I don't see his car.
zym-zô, ʝǒn bĭŋ-van. think-V.ACT therefore.inference exist-V.STATE I think, therefore (I deduce that) I am.
The {-ǒj} forms reverse the causal order:
râm mĭ-i pwĭ-cô-van, wǒj ƥ mĭ-i pwĭm-da ŋĭn-i. cat TOP-at delight-OPP2-V.STATE, because.fact 3 TOP-at water-full CMT-at The cat is miserable because it's wet.
{mǒn, mǒj} correspond to "although" and "but"; there is a mirative element in one of the two clauses joined by these, the truth of one clause being unexpected or surprising in light of the truth of the other clause:
helenike-lam mĭ-i suŋ-van heŋ, mǒn kun-hôw-ca mje te kâ-i. Greek-NAME.L TOP-at know.how-V.STATE not, although know-CAUS2-V.REFL PAST 3 ATT-at I'm not fluent in Greek though I studied it awhile ago.
The conjunctions {mǒn} and {mǒj} are sometimes used in combination:
vlym-srĭw ĥy-i šyj-zô žu-bô, mǒj te im ver ħĭwm gǒ. clothing-legs PAT-at clean-V.ACT care-ADJ but 3.INAN part.of still stain behold I washed the pants carefully, but look, the stain is still there.
mǒn sru-van ť ty-o ruŋ-zô, although desire-V.STATE 2 home-to go-V.ACT
mǒj Ќ ŝâj-i ƴâ-ĉa mĭ-i grĭ-cô-van. but 1 possession-at move-tool TOP-at function-OPP2-V.STATE Although I would like to come to your house, my car is broken.
A third type primarily works with numbers to show arithmetic operations. Some of them are used by analogy with other words and phrases.
| pe | plus; additive 'and' |
| ke | multiplied by; synergetic 'and' |
| se | minus; 'except' |
| ðe | divided by, per; contrasted with |
| me | raised to the power of |
| zej | range operator: "X zej Y", the set of numbers from X to Y inclusive |
The fourth kind are individual words to fill miscellaneous needs.
| hǒŋ | introduces object subordinate clauses: 'I think that...', 'He asked whether...' |
| ðǒŋ | introduces subject subordinate clauses: 'It's obvious that...', 'It's uncertain whether...' |
| Φǒ | introduces quotations: 'He said "..."' |
| θe | comparative (as, than) |
| šej | or; also known as; that is to say |
| rej | exclusive or (phrasal, contrast with clausal {pwiň}) |
| hej | inclusive or (phrasal, contrast with clausal {ŝwiň}) |
Examples of the math/phrasal conjunctions:
ɱ-ŝy pe Ќ tu-i vâ-oŋ-zô. 3-female and 1 AGT-at digestion-into-V.ACT She and I ate together.
{pe} can be used to link verbs within a single clause which have the same subject and object.
mě'hu kwǒ ĥy-i jâln-fwa-zô pe vâ-oŋ-zô. stew some PAT-at heat-CAUS-V.ACT and digestion-into-V.ACT I heated up and ate some stew.
Ќ lĭw-i tâ-ma-bâm mĭ-i fâ-van pe pym-van. 1 relationship-at sibling-meta-new TOP-at love-V.STATE and amusement-V.STATE I love my baby cousin and find [her] amusing.
In these cases the two verbs not only have the same subject but have the same kind of relationship to their objects: patient in the first case, focus or topic in the second. But between verbs with different subjects, or with the same subject but different relationships to their object, the clausal conjunction {kiň} must be used to translate "and".
θuň-bâm krĭ-o lju-θaj-zô kiň te ĥy-i byn-zô. story-new create-at read-OPP2-V.ACT and 3.INAN ATT-at tinker-V.ACT I am writing a new story and revising it.
In English one might say "I am writing and revising a new story", "a new story" being the direct object of both verbs; but gzb has no "direct objects" as such, just patients, objects-of-result, objects-of-attention, and so forth. Here each verb has a different relationship to its object and requires a different postposition to mark it, so the pronoun {te} is used resumptively and {ĥy-i} shows that {byn-zô} is modifying a now existing story, not creating a new one like {lju-θaj-zô}.
Besides its core meaning of "multiplied by", {ke} is used between non-mathematical nouns to mean "and", but implying a closer, synergistic connection between the nouns or noun phrases linked by it than {pe}.
ɱ-ĉu mĭ-i rě'ĵy ke rě'ĵy-θaj jâ-i. 3-two TOP-at wife and wife-OPP1 state-at They are wife and husband.
{ke} can also be used to link proper names of husband and wife, co-authors, or collaborators; in this case the names are compounded into one word with -ke- as a kind of hyphen, and the name suffix {-ram} or {-šam} is usually only used once, not after each name.
Φě'ĥu-cu mĭ-i krĭ-gâm-zô tam-ke-ser'ě-ram. elephant-system TOP-at create-picture-V.ACT Tom-and-Sarah-NAME Tom and Sarah painted a picture of a herd of elephants.
Examples of some of the subordinate clause conjunctions:
twâ-zô hǒŋ ruŋ-zô ƥ. say-V.ACT that come-V.ACT 3 I said that he's coming.
See also the main section on subordinate clauses.
twâ-zô Φǒ {ruŋ-zô ƥ.} say-V.ACT QUOTE come-V.ACT 3 I said "He's coming."
The conjunction {šej} can sometimes be glossed as "also known as"; it links two different names or descriptions of the same entity, or a main title and a subtitle.
?lju-ť-zô gwe zǒn arue-šam šej volteŕ-ram read-2-V.ACT already Q.YN Arouet-NAME.F AKA Voltaire-NAME
dâm-ř θuň kâ-i. authorship-from story ATT-at Have you read any stories by Arouet, also known as Voltaire?
ɱ lĭw-i lĭm šuŋ-cô-sra šej sij'sĭl-ram ty-o 3 relation-at friend new-OPP2-COMP AKA Cecil-NAME home-to
ruŋ-zô vjurm-zô sĭr'ĭl-ram. go-V.ACT visit-V.ACT Cyril-NAME Cyril went to visit his oldest friend Cecil.
It can also link two clauses that describe the same event or situation in different ways.
vlym oŋ tyn-ca šej Ќ ĉon vlym ĥy-i tyn-zô. clothing into place-V.REFL AKA 1 around clothing PAT-at place-V.ACT I put myself into clothes, or surround myself with clothes. [= I get dressed.]
Various additional conjunctions can be derived from root words with the suffix {-šar}:
huw-fwa-ƥ-ca ru-šar ŝrun kâ-i ku-van. happy-CAUS-3-V.REFL way-CONJ music ATT-at hear-V.STATE She cheers herself up by listening to music.
suŋ-van pǒl-ram ru-šar pjân-zô prym-fwa. know.how-V.STATE Paul-NAME way-CONJ piano-V.ACT aesthetic.appreciation.CAUS Paul is skilled at playing the piano beautifully.
gju-ƥ-zô mĭ-šar mâl-cô-van ķe ħĭ mĭ-i. talk-3-V.ACT topic-CONJ precise-OPP2-V.STATE too.much experiment TOP-at He talked about how the experiment was too imprecise.
gâm-ĵwa o ruŋ-zô kujm-šar aňsor-šam dâm-ř picture-place to go-V.ACT purpose-CONJ Ensor-NAME.F authorship-from
gâm-daj kâ-i rĭm-van. picture-collection ATT-at see-V.STATE I went to the art museum to see the Ensor exhibit.
Note the distinction in usage between postpositions and conjunctions formed from the same root:
mluŋ ŋwĭm-i rî'zĭ ĥy-i vâ-oŋ-zô. bread substitute-at rice PAT-at digestion-into-V.ACT I eat rice instead of bread.
ty iŋ tyn-vĭj-van kiň lju-zô, ŋwĭm-šar home inside place-while-V.STATE and read-V.ACT substitute-CONJ
ĥun-pĭw o ruŋ-zô. meeting-game to go-V.ACT I stayed home and read instead of going to the gaming party.
Question-words and relative pronouns are formed by attaching a clitic to any root word. For instance,
| nǒ | what?, which? |
| mâ-nǒ | who? [which person?] |
| nu-nǒ | when? [at which moment?] |
| vĭj-nǒ | when? [during what period?] |
| ru-nǒ | how? [in what manner?] |
{nǒ} can be embedded into a verb.
?gâ-nǒ-ta-van.
thing-Q.WH-without-V.STATEWhat am I missing?
?ryň-nǒ-zô ť tu-i. action-Q.WH-V.ACT 2 AGT-at What are you doing?
Relative pronouns are formed in a similar way with the clitic {lǒ}. (Note that gjâ-zym-byn uses distinct relative and interrogative pronouns. English, French, and Esperanto all make do with a single series of pronouns for both relatives and interrogatives in wh-, qu-, and ki- respectively.)
| lǒ | which, that |
| mâ-lǒ | who, that |
| tyn-lǒ | where |
The demonstrative clitics (this, that...) are similar in form.
| kǒ | this near me |
| tǒ | that near you |
| pǒ | that far from us |
Terms like "here", "there", "now", "then", and so forth are formed by applying these clitics to various root words; usually a postposition is required as well.
| tyn kǒ i | here (at this place) |
| šun pǒ i | there (in that region) |
| tyn tǒ o | thither (toward you) |
The distinction between {kǒ} and {tǒ} can be interesting with respect to time:
| nu kǒ i | now (at this moment when I am speaking/writing this) |
| vĭj tǒ i | now (during the period when you are hearing/reading this) |
vĭj tǒ i grâm kǒ ĥy-i pî'râ-zô mwe. time DEM2 during message DEM1 PAT-at fire-V.ACT IMP Burn this message now [when you read it].
Terms like "anyone, everyone, no one", etc., are formed by following ordinary root words with various quantifier particles or compounding with number root words.
| mâ pen | everyone |
| mâ-bâ | no one |
| mâ kwǒ | somebody, anyone |
| tyn pen | everywhere |
| vĭj-bâ | never |
gzb does not mark definiteness pervasively with articles or inflections as do English, French, Basque, and some other languages. Nouns are by default unmarked for definiteness, though context will usually clarify whether any instance of a class or a particular member is meant. When context is insufficient, gzb has several particles that can be used to mark definiteness or indefiniteness, including the demonstrative particles and some of the quantifiers.
rî'mâ rjâ-i. house quest-at I'm looking for a/some/the house. [ambiguous in itself, context may clarify]
rî'mâ kwǒ rjâ-i. house some quest-at I'm looking for a house.
Any house will do, perhaps; or the speaker is vague about what house or kind of house he's looking for.
rî'mâ sǒ rjâ-i. house certain quest-at I'm looking for a certain house.
Here the speaker knows the specific house he's looking for but isn't sure if the listener does.
rî'mâ pǒ rjâ-i. house that.3 quest-at I'm looking for the/that house.
Here the speaker and listener have already agreed on what house they're talking about.
rî'mâ ʝel mĭ-i zym-zô. house in.general TOP-at think-V.ACT I'm thinking about houses in general. [about the category of houses]
Yes/no factual questions are formed by following the main verb with {zǒn} (roughly equivalent to "ĉu" in Esperanto, "-li" in Volapük, "-kah" in Malaysian, etc.). The questioned verb is often though not always fronted.
?ruŋ-zô zǒn ť tu-i pjylm-pwĭm-daj o. go-V.ACT Q.YN 2 AGT-at border-water-mass to Are you going to the beach?
Ordinarily the locative complement would come first, but questioning the verb overrides this and shunts it to another position.
Questions with pairs of alternatives are formed using one of the "or" conjunctions (ŝwiň, pwiň, hej, rej) and placing the question particle {zǒn} just after the last of the questioned alternatives.
?mjyl rej čĭm zǒn kâ-i jyn-sra-van ť ʝâr-i. honey or chocolate Q.YN ATT-at pleasure-COMP-V.STATE 2 EXP-at Do you get more pleasure from honey or chocolate?
Questions expecting a "yes" answer may insert {vǒm} (yes, indeed, certainly) between the main verb and {zǒn}; similarly with questions expecting "no" and the negative particle {heŋ}:
?mjyl kâ-i jyn-van vǒm zǒn ť ʝâr-i. honey ATT-at pleasure-V.STATE yes Q.YN 2 EXP-at You like honey, don't you?
?fĭm-cô-van heŋ zǒn ƥ ʝâr-i. health-OPP2-V.STATE not Q.YN 3 EXP-at She isn't sick, is she?
All of the aforementioned kinds of questions are usually answered with {vǒm} (yes) or {heŋ} (no). However, {mwe} (necessary, imperative) and {źǒ} (negative imperative) could be used as emphatic forms in response to factual questions.
Questions asking for permission or advice either place the question particle {zǒn} after an auxiliary verb,
?dlu-van zǒn ruŋ-zô tyn kǒ ř. right-V.STATE Q.YN go-V.ACT place DEM1 from May I be excused?
...or use {mwe zǒn} or {źǒ zǒn} after the main verb,
?vlym čâ-ja ĥy-i šâ-zô mwe zǒn. clothing swim-suitable.for PAT-at carry-V.ACT IMP Q.YN Should I bring a swimsuit?
?Φě'ĥu ĥy-i čĭn-Ł-zô źǒ zǒn. elephant PAT-at poke-3.GEN-V.ACT IMP.NEG Q.YN One shouldn't poke the elephant, should one?
Questions asking someone for agreement with a proposed plan use the question particle {srem}.
?Ќ lĭw-o rě'ĵy jâ-o srem ť. 1 relation-to wife state-to Q.YN.PLAN 2 Will you marry me?
(Note that, as there is no verb in the above sentence, the question particle follows the chief postpositional phrase.)
lju-θaj-ť-zô. goal Q.WH to sentence-system that.2 write-OPP1-2-V.ACT Why (for what purpose) are you writing that work?
Note the way the cause and purpose question-phrases relate to the corresponding postpositions {gân-ř} "because" and {kujm-o} "for the purpose of", derived from the same roots.
?gâ nǒ syj-i te ĥy-i ķĭn-ƥ-zô. thing Q.WH use-at 3.INAN PAT-at build-3-V.ACT What did he use to build it?
?ŋĭw nǒ pě'ŝlĭ-i jyn-cô-ť-van. body.part Q.WH focal.part-at pleasure-OPP2-2-V.STATE What body part hurts you?
?twâ-cu nǒ ĉul-i hwâwm-ƥ-zô. sentence-system Q.WH perform-at roleplaying-3-V.ACT What play are they performing?
Some words take on a broader sense when used with the question-clitic {nǒ} than they have in other contexts. For instance, {mâ} refers to human persons, but {mâ nǒ} can question the identity of any animate agent more generally; the speaker in the first three questions above isn't necessarily assuming that the answer will refer to a human, though it probably will. The most generic WH-question phrase is {?gâ nǒ}, "thing which?"; but in most contexts a more specific word would be selected; e.g.,
?gâ nǒ kâ-i lju-ť-zô. thing Q.WH ATT-at read-2-V.ACT What thing are you reading?
is less likely than
?twâ-cu nǒ kâ-i lju-ť-zô. sentence-system Q.WH ATT-at read-2-V.ACT What written work are you reading?
{gâ nǒ} is even a hypernym of {mâ nǒ}, in contexts where the questioner is unsure whether the entity he's asking about is even animate much less human.
The indefinite particle {kwǒ} is used along with {nǒ} to indicate bewilderment or consternation:
?ru nǒ kwǒ i râ-van ce. manner Q.WH some/any at event-V.STATE this How the hell did this happen?
?kujm nǒ kwǒ o žâ-ť-van. purpose Q.WH some/any to wait-2-V.STATE Why are you waiting? What are you waiting for?
{zǒn} and more rarely {srem} can question other elements of a sentence besides the verb:
?mě'zâ ĥy-i zǒn vâ-oŋ-zô ť. corn PAT-at Q.YN digestion-into-V.ACT 2 Is that corn you're eating?
Note the difference from {nǒ}, and the different placement of these particles relative to the postposition:
?mě'zâ nǒ ĥy-i vâ-oŋ-zô ť. corn Q.WH PAT-at digestion-into-V.ACT 2 Which corn [or, what kind of corn] are you eating?
Subordinate clauses are introduced with {ðǒŋ} or {hǒŋ} (like "that" or "whether" in English), or one of the causal (because/therefore) conjunctions ({wǒn}, {wǒj}, etc.).
{hǒŋ} is used to introduce subordinate clauses which are the object of the main clause.
?kun-van zǒn ť tu-i, hǒŋ tyn kǒ o ruŋ-zô ƥ tu-i. know-V.STATE Q.YN 2 AGT-at that place DEM1 to go-V.ACT 3 AGT-at Did you know that he's coming?
Here, the subordinate clause introduced by {hǒŋ} is the object of the main verb {kun-van} "know".
kun-van heŋ, hǒŋ tyn kǒ o ruŋ-zô zǒn ƥ tu-i. know-V.STATE not, that place DEM1 to go-V.ACT Q.YN 3 AGT-at I don't know whether she's coming.
Note the use of the question particle {zǒn} within the subordinate clause; this makes {hǒŋ} mean "whether" instead of "that". It works much the same with {srem} as well:
ƥ-ŝy ŋâw-o frâ-zô ƥ-vĭ tu-i, hǒŋ 3-female call-to ask-V.ACT 3-male AGT-at that
ƥ-vĭ lĭw-o rě'ĵy jâ-o srem ƥ. 3-male relation-to wife state-to Q.YN.PLAN 2 He asked her whether she would marry him.
The default subject in a {hǒŋ}-subordinate clause is the subject of the main clause:
twâ-zô tam-ram tu-i, hǒŋ mwĭl-ŝra-van, wǒn ty o ruŋ-zô say-V.ACT Tom-NAME AGT-at that sleep-about.to-V.STATE therefore home to go-V.ACT Tom said he was sleepy, so he was going home.
{ðǒŋ} is used to introduce subordinate clauses which are the subject (typically the topic) of the main clause. A {ðǒŋ} construction is equivalent to a similar construction with {hǒŋ} having the forward-reference pronoun "že" in the main clause as a dummy subject (like "it" in similar senteces in English).
že mĭ-i huw-fwa ŋĭn-i, hǒŋ Ќ ty-o ruŋ-zô ler ť tu-i. this TOP-at happy-CAUS CMT-at that 1 home-to go-V.ACT FUT 2 AGT-at
is equivalent to:
huw-fwa ŋĭn-i, ðǒŋ Ќ ty-o ruŋ-zô ler ť tu-i. happy-CAUS CMT-at that 1 home-to go-V.ACT FUT 2 AGT-at It makes [me] happy that you are coming to my home.
mâ pen ryň-i ĥy-kĭ-bô ŋĭn-i ķy-van, person all action-at PAT-deem-ADJ CMT-at true-V.STATE
ðǒŋ kâj-ha-daj ĝĭ-bô ðĭ-i wuŋ-van that exchange-stuff-mass large-ADJ relationship-at own-V.STATE
mâ-vĭ-lǒ rě'ĵy-ta mĭ-i, rě'ĵy rjâ-i sru-van person-male-REL wife-without TOP-at wife quest-at desire-V.STATE
mwe mâ pǒ mĭ-i. IMP person this TOP-at It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man is in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
In relative clauses the relative pronoun phrase (formed with {lǒ}) is usually fronted.
źy-fwa ŋin-i ɱ mĭ-i, mâ-lǒ tu-i ruŋ-zô "spâk'tov'i'ja-wam ř trip-CAUS CMT-at 3 TOP-at person-REL AGT-at come-V.ACT Spactovia-NAME.P from That guy from Spactovia is really trippy.
kun-van heŋ, tyn-lǒ i ty-van ƥ. know-V.STATE not place-REL at home-V.STATE 3 I don't know where he lives.
Relative clauses can precede the main clause, as in English:
vĭj-lǒ i Ќ tu-i vâ-oŋ-zô, vĭj-pǒ i lju-zô. time-REL during 1 AGT-at digestion-into-V.ACT time-DEM3 during read-V.ACT When I eat, I read. = I read while eating.
twâ-ŋĭn-zô mwe ť tu-i že mĭ-i, kujm-lǒ i vlym-ta-van ť. say-explain-V.ACT IMP 3 AGT-at this TOP-at goal-REL at clothing-without-V.STATE 2 Please explain why you've got no clothes on.
Restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses work the same way:
vĭj-lǒ i kâj-kô-źa o ruŋ-zô, vĭj-pǒ i ser'ě-ram kâ-i ĥun-zô, time-REL at exchange-place-AUG to go-V.ACT time-DEM3 at Sarah-NAME ATT-at meet-V.ACT
mâ-lǒ tu-i kyl-plâŋ rjâ-o rě'ju-kâj-zô. person-REL AGT-at box-foot quest-to search-exchange-V.ACT When I went to the store I met Sarah, who was shopping for shoes.
There are several particles and clitics that change the truth-value with which a word or phrase is intended. Like other modifiers, they're postpositive.
| vǒm | yes, certainly |
| heŋ | no, not |
| fjǒ | yes and no; sort of; to some degree |
| še | maybe [facts] |
| be | maybe [intentions] |
| belm | irony or sarcasm marker |
These express one's certainty about something being true or false, real or unreal. {še} expresses uncertainty whether some statement or description is true or not. {fjǒ} expresses a belief that a sentence or description is valid to some degree, but not totally. {be} indicates an uncertainty of one's own plans or intentions.
bĭŋ-van vǒm. exist-V.STATE yes I certainly exist.
mwĭl-van heŋ. sleep-V.STATE not I'm not asleep.
kyl iŋ râm mĭ-i zuň-cô-bô še ŋĭn-i. box inside cat TOP-at life-OPP2-ADJ maybe CMT-at The cat in the box might be dead.
Ќ lĭw-i lĭm fjǒ ŋĭn-i ť mĭ-i 1 relation-at friend FUZZY CMT-at 2 TOP-at You are to some degree my friend.
({lĭm} is a very strong word; the speaker probably would not feel a need for such qualification with {kuln}. The incompleteness here is probably depth of intimacy, not friendliness.)
In the above sentences, the particles modify a whole verb or comment phrase. They can also be clitic'd to a word and used within a phrase.
kjĭ ĥy-i vâ-oŋ-zô râm-vǒm tu-i. mouse PAT-at digestion-into-V.ACT cat-yes AGT-at The definitely-cat eats a mouse.
There are also subjunctive/imperative words for "yes" and "no", expressing one's desire or judgement rather than the factual situation.
| mwe | yes, must be, ought to be |
| źǒ | no, mustn't be |
ť ŋâw-o twâ-zô mwe ce mĭ-i. 2 call-to say-V.ACT IMP that TOP-at I should tell you about that.
re o ruŋ-zô źǒ ť 3.PLACE to go-V.ACT IMP.NEG 2 Don't go there.
suŋ-kě'ĝu-tla ŋâw-o twâ-zô Φǒ {*Φĭlm-van źǒ.} know.how-secret-professional call-to say-V.ACT QUOTE butterfly-V.STATE IMP.NEG "I don't want to be a butterfly!" I said to the sorcerer.
kiň θě'ku tu-i twâ-zô Φǒ {bĭŋ-van mwe fu.}, kiň bĭŋ-van fu. and God AGT-at say-V.ACT QUOTE exist-V.STATE IMP light and exist-V.STATE light And God said, "Let there be light", and there was light.
brâl-van, hǒŋ twâ-zô mwe le hǒŋ še vǒm be.certain-V.STATE that say-V.ACT IMP probably that maybe yes I am positive that a definite maybe is probably in order.
gjâ-zym-byn does not use tone to mark ironic or sarcastic remarks (or for any other purpose); instead, the particle {belm} is used, typically following the verb (like the yes/no question particles {zǒn} and {srem}) or at the end of a sentence, but sometimes marking an ironically intended noun phrase. The last use could sometimes be translated by the phrase "so-called" or the use of quotation marks.
twâ-zô Φǒ {pwĭ-van belm.} vĭj-lǒ-šar say-V.ACT QUOT delight-V.STATE IRONY while-REL-CONJ
Ќ cim šâ-ŋĭw ĥy-i vâ-oŋ-zô ₣âl-bô rjuŋ 1 left.part.of carry-organ PAT-at digestion-into-V.ACT sudden-ADJ dragon "How delightful!" I said as the dragon chomped off my left arm and hand.
ƥ lĭw-i lĭm belm sǒ tu-i ƥ ŝu-i sĭŋ-kě'ĝu mĭ-i 3 relation-at friend IRONY certain AGT-at 3 quality-at information-hidden TOP-at
sĭŋ-flu-kô ki lju-θaj-zô. information-flow-place throughout read-OPP1-V.ACT A certain "friend" of hers wrote about her secrets all over the Internet.
Most of these particles describe the degree to which some adjective or verb is applicable. Some can also be used with noun phrases.
| θje | almost; not quite |
| fem | at least, anyway |
| ƴeŋ | barely, hardly |
| fe | slightly, a little bit |
| źe | very, very much, a lot |
| ķe | too, too much |
| žǒŋ | only, merely, simply, just |
| mew | even, also, too |
| gem | especially, particularly |
| jǒj | again, more, still |
ť dâm-ř θuň mĭ-i lju-gô θje ŋĭn-i, 2 authorship-from story TOP-at read-worthy not.quite CMT-at
mǒj te ðim du fem mĭ-i ĵyn-fwa-van. but 3.INAN early.part.of chapter at.least TOP-at interest-CAUS-V.STATE Your story is not quite worth reading, but its first chapter at least is interesting.
te im du ĉu-pa mew im mâ-fĭw pym-fwa gem. 3.INAN part.of chapter two-ORD also part.of person-fiction amusement-CAUS especially In the second chapter too there are some especially funny characters.
mǒj du dâ-pa mĭ-i hî'mâr-faj ƴeŋ pe zâň-bô ķe ŋĭn-i. but chapter three-ORD TOP-at understand-able barely and idiosyncratic too.much CMT-at But the third chapter is barely comprehensible and too idiosyncratic.
These are typically used as nonspecific quantifiers with noun phrases. When used to modify a verb, they (like number-adjectives in the same context) mean the action is done so many times.
| zen | only, no more than; no one but; (when not qualifying a number) single, sole, alone |
| kwǒ | some, any |
| srǒ | several |
| cǒ | few, little |
| reŋ | much, many, a lot |
| jǒm | most of, the majority of |
| gle | enough, sufficient |
| jǒj | more, extra; again |
| pen | all, every, each |
| hǒl | whole, entire |
Note the contrast between {cǒ} (few, little) and {fe} (little, slightly). {cǒ} modifies noun phrases, whether count or noncount: {rî'zĭ cǒ}, a little rice, {θĭl cǒ}, a few potatoes. {fe} modifies verb phrases or adjectives, indicating that the action is done to a lesser than usual degree or in a casual, haphazard way, or for a shorter than usual time, or that the quality is present in a limited degree. {cǒ} used with verbs means that the action is done a few times. There can be some overlap in their meaning vis-a-vis verbs. {reŋ} is similarly indifferent to count/mass distinctions: {lî'klâ reŋ}, a lot of milk; {cî'jyr reŋ}, many squirrels. (In gzb there is little or no real distinction between count and noncount nouns as in English, since {cǒ} and {reŋ} translate both "few/little" and "many/much".)
gâm-ʝĭl cǒ kâ-i rĭm-van de. picture-motion few ATT-at see-V.STATE HAB I see few movies nowadays.
Compare {fe} with the fuzzy logic clitic {fjǒ}:
gâm-ʝil kǒ kâ-i rĭm-van fjǒ. picture-motion DEM1 ATT-at see-V.STATE FUZZY I am sort of watching this movie.
gâm-ʝil kǒ kâ-i rĭm-van fe. picture-motion DEM1 ATT-at see-V.STATE slightly I watched part of this movie.
{jǒj}, "more, again" is a bit polysemous, especially with verbs:
lukan-ram dâm-ř ĵĭ ₣urŋ-fwa kâ-i lju-zô jǒj. Luke-NAME authorship-from announcement blessed-CAUS ATT-at read-V.ACT more/again
could mean, "I read some more of Luke's Gospel" or "I read Luke's Gospel again"; but probably the latter. For the former sense one would more likely say {lju-zô jǒj fe}.
{kwǒ} is similarly polysemous, but not as often ambiguous.
mâ kwǒ wuŋ-i vjâr-ĉa ĥy-i tru-zô. person some ownership-at shadow-tool PAT-at find-V.ACT
?ť wuŋ-i zǒn te mĭ-i. 2 ownership-at Q.YN 3.INAN TOP-at I found somebody's parasol. Is it yours?
mâ kwǒ mĭ-i, mâ lǒ tu-i re o ruŋ-zô, ĵlân-cô-bô ŋĭn-i. person any TOP-at person REL AGT-at there to go-V.ACT wisdom-OPP2-ADJ CMT-at Anybody who goes there is foolish.
The particles {zen} and {žǒŋ} are both glossed as "only". {zen} is a quantitative "only"; it is used in sentences like "Only Tom came to the party", "We have only four bananas left", and so forth. {žǒŋ} could also be translated "merely" in many cases; for instance, when a door has opened apparently by itself, you might say,
by-flu žǒŋ ŋĭn-i. air-flow only CMT-at It's only the wind.
{ķe} describes an excess of a quality or action; to say there are too many of something, use {reŋ ķe}. (I may change this.) "Too little" (quality) and "too few" (quantity) are {ķe-cô} and {cǒ ķe}.
ɱ ŝâj-i râm-bâm mĭ-i gju-zô ķe juri-ram 3 possession-at cat-new TOP-at speak-V.ACT too.much Yuri-NAME Yuri talks too much about his kitten.
râm reŋ ķe ðĭ-i ŝâj-ť-van; cat many too.much relationship-at possession-2-V.STATE
ƥ pen ĥy-i ðu-van heŋ šu-zô 3.AN all PAT-at able-V.STATE not take.care.of-V.ACT You have too many cats; you can't take care of them all.
Ќ ŋâw-o nî'šĭm ĝy-i gju-ŋy-ť-zô reŋ ķe. 1 call-to night middle-at speak-distant-2-V.ACT many too.much You've telephoned me too many times in the middle of the night.
Some of these nonspecific quantifiers can modify another quantifier or a number-adjective.
ƥ ty-i ty-van râm fy-bô gle belm. 3 home-at home-V.STATE cat seven-ADJ enough IRONY Seven cats — enough, I think — live with him.
fy jǒm ʝâr-i kjĭ mĭ-i ħum-van. seven most.of experiencer-at mouse TOP-at fear-V.STATE Most of the seven are afraid of mice.
(Note that here {fy}, "seven", is the head of a noun-phrase rather than an adjective as {fy-bô} in the previous sentence; in such a context it doesn't represent the mathematical object "seven" but rather a salient, recently mentioned set of seven things.)
This section needs a major revision Real Soon Now.
{bǒ} is used to close a conditional phrase or clause. It's often used with the causal conjunctions {wǒn, ŝǒn, ʝǒn}, or as an alternative to {kwoň} (the implication conjunction). It refers to an abstract condition or is used in questioning an unknown condition.
Φĭlm kâ-i rĭm-van Ł ʝâr-i bǒ, wǒn prym-van. butterfly ATT-at see-V.STATE 3.GEN EXP-at if, then beauty.sense-V.STATE If one sees a butterfly, one experiences beauty.
gjâ mĭ-i suŋ jâ-o sru-zô bǒ, wǒn hyw-hôw-ca language TOP-at know.how state-to want-V.ACT if, therefore know-CAUS2-V.REFL
kiň te syj-i gju-zô mwe. and 3 use-at speak-V.ACT IMP If you want to be fluent in a language, you must study and speak it.
?tyn-nǒ o ruŋ-ť-zô, ruŋ bǒ. place-Q.WH to go-you-V.ACT, go if Where are you going — if you're going anywhere?
{ĉǒ} closes a counterfactual conditional - one knows such isn't the case, but if it were, then...
suomen-lam mĭ-i suŋ-zô ĉǒ, wǒn Finnish-NAME.L TOP-at know.how-V.ACT if.counterfactual therefore
Ќ ŝâj-o twâ-cu-vuj "kalevala-gam ĥy-i kâj-zô. 1 possession-to verse-system-concrete Kalevala-NAME.G PAT-at exchange-V.ACT If I were fluent in Finnish, I would buy a paper copy of the Kalevala.
Substituting {bǒ} for {ĉǒ} in the above sentence would result in meaning,
"When/if I become fluent in Finnish, I will buy a paper copy of the Kalevala."
There are two error correction particles, used for correcting an utterance partway through when one realizes one has made a mistake. {Φej} deletes the previous word (tells the listener to please ignore it), allowing one to utter some other word in its place. {če} is a conjunction that reverses the normal word order between its two arguments: so ADJ če NOUN is acceptable though NOUN ADJ would be the normal correct order. Also related is the hesitation particle {hem}, corresponding to "uh, um" in English: "I haven't thought of the next word yet, but I'm not done talking, be patient."
bě'gru Φej bě'jâ řm ʝym mĭ-i šul jyn-fwa ŋĭn-i. beaver excuse.me bay.tree out.of leaf TOP-at spice pleasure-CAUS CMT-at Beaver, I mean bay, leaves are a good spice.
suw-fwa če Φě'ĥu-bâm tu-i enjoyment.of.cuteness-CAUS REV elephant-new AGT-at
ƴâ-cjaj-zô, hem, flâň-bô. move.under.control-SPEC-V.ACT um shaky-ADJ The cute baby elephant walks, um, sort of wobblily.
(I stole the idea for the particle {Φej} from Jeffrey Henning's Fith, a stack-based language that has particles which simply pop the top item, or all items, from the stack and discard them. Unlike the Fith conjunctions frong or skuunh, however, {Φej} can't be expected to make the listener really forget the previous word, since gjâ-zym-byn is a human language and the language center of human brains doesn't work that way. So it's not used to weaken severe insults into mild ones like the corresponding Fith particles, but simply to ask pardon for slips of the tongue, as above.)
I use {Φej} a lot when talking to myself in gzb, and not infrequently in writing. {hem}, not so much.
{hem hem hem} is roughly equivalent to "blah blah blah" in English, filler to represent speech or text whose exact content is unknown or unimportant.
| gwe | already (now in contrast with recent past) |
| ver | still, yet (now as similar to recent past) |
| ʝǒ | other, another |
| ble | others, rest of, remainder of |
| θǒ | immediate, next, previous |
| sǒ | certain, specific |
| rew | apiece |
ĵyj-fja-van gwe, mǒj mwĭl-ŝra-van heŋ ver. vigor-minimum-V.STATE already but sleep-soon-V.STATE not still I'm already tired, but still not sleepy.
vě'ty-rĭm hâ-bô ĥy-i šyj-zô gwe. door-see seventeen-ADJ PAT-at wash-V.ACT already
mâ ʝǒ tu-i mwe vě'ty-rĭm ble ĥy-i šyj-zô. person other AGT-at IMP door-see others PAT-at wash-V.ACT I've already washed seventeen windows. Someone else will have to wash the rest.
{θǒ} with a noun phrase denoting a time-period or event can mean either "next" or "previous" depending on context. If context is otherwise insufficient, {θǒ} is often used along with {mje} (past) or {ler} (future). Modifying a verb, {θǒ} means "immediately, right away".
ĥun θǒ i, šâ-ť-zô mwe twâ-cu pǒ. meeting next/prev at carry-2-V.ACT IMP sentence-system DEM3 Bring that book to [our] next meeting.
gě'dĭm mje θǒ i Ќ c-i-m zjâm-ny ĥy-i ĥâ-ca. day PAST previous at 1 left-in-part.of finger-small PAT-at cut-V.REFL I cut my left pinkie yesterday.
kyl vĭn-da cĭ-bô ĥy-i vâ-oŋ-zô ƥ, rigid.container wine-full one-ADJ PAT-at digestion-into-V.ACT 3
nu-šar ŝrun-twâ-gĭn-zô θǒ. moment-CONJ music-sentence-begin-V.ACT immediate He drank one glass of wine, then immediately started singing.
The suffix {-pôm} derives evidentiality adverbs from root words or compound stems referring to the source of information. Such adverbs can be placed after a verb or a postpositional phrase, or at the beginning of a sentence.
bly-van ku-pôm pwĭm mĭ-i. fall-V.STATE hear-EVD water TOP-at It's raining (I hear it).
fĭm-cô-van rĭm-pôm ƥ ʝâr-i. healthy-OPP2-V.STATE see-EVD 3 experiencer-at He's sick (I saw him).
jě'lĭ mĭ-i lju-pôm fĭm-fwa ŋĭn-i. garlic TOP-at read-EVD healthy-CAUS CMT-at (I read somewhere that) garlic is good for you.
tam-ram-pôm twâ-cu pǒ mĭ-i ĵyn-fwa heŋ ŋĭn-i. Tom-NAME-EVD sentence-system DEM3 TOP-at interest-CAUS not CMT-at (Tom tells me that) that book isn't very interesting.
Evidentiality marking is optional and actually fairly uncommon in gzb, though I'm trying to make myself use it more often in my writing when appropriate.
{-pôm} can also produce validational adverbs; words expressing the speaker's degree or kind of certainty about what they are saying. Sometimes the difference between a validational and evidential adverb is blurry:
| hyw | memory, experience |
| hyw-pôm | I know this from experience / I remember this happening |
| źy | dream |
| źy-pôm | This happened in a dream / This didn't really happen, I just dreamed it, but it's interesting |
| brâl | certainty |
| brâl-pôm | I'm certain of this |
| ĵrĭw | supposing, guessing |
| ĵrĭw-pôm | I suppose, I guess that... |
frâ-θaj-ƥ-zô Φǒ: {*vǒm, gâ-mruň-ŋô ðu-gju-bô ŋĭn-i Ќ hyw-pôm.}. ask-OPP2-3-V.ACT QUOT yes thing-mountain-element able-speak-ADJ CMT-at 1 experience-EVD He answered, "Yes, I know from experience that I'm a talking stone!"
(from the LCC2 translation relay text)
źy-ŋa-pôm kyn-la-ĉu ty-vir dream-ATD.surprise-EVD parent-ATD.affection-two home-far.in.front.of
tyn-van ₣âl-ĉa kwǒ. ~~~ place-V.STATE sudden.change-tool some ... (I dreamed (astonishingly) that:) Way out in front of my parents' house was a transformation machine.
(From a passage in my journal describing a dream weird even by dream standards.)
When {-pôm} is used with a root or stem for a mental state, it forms an adverb describing the speaker's attitude to the situation described by the sentence or utterance. No ambiguity with the use of {-pôm} to form evidentiality adverbs is likely to result, as a mental state cannot be construed as evidence for anything.
sjum-pôm jĭlm-ĉa ĥy-i tru-zô. thankfulness-ATT open-tool PAT-at find-V.ACT Thankfully, I found my keys. (= I found my keys; I feel thankfulness.)
hěl'vĭ-pôm ƥ lĭw-i lĭm ĥy-i ₣ĭ-dô-ƥ-zô contempt-ATT 3 relationship-at friend PAT-at trust-violation-3-V.ACT Contemptibly, he betrayed his friend. (= He betrayed his friend; I feel contempt.)
sru-kun-pôm gjâ-krĭ krĭ-o ƥ tu-i gâ lǒ im desire-knowledge-ATT language-create create-to 3 AGT-at thing REL in-part.of
ĉĭ-twâ-θy tâň-θaj-faj ŋâ-bô. kind-sentence-element take-OPP1-able 53-ADJ Interestingly, she has devised a conlang with fifty-three open classes. (= She has devised a conlang with fifty-three open classes; I want to know more.)
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Last updated August 2009.