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, but postpositional phrases precede the words they modify. It is an agglutinative language, with the vast majority of morphemes consisting of an entire syllable (though some noun roots are two or even three syllables, and some bound morphemes in postpositions and conjunctions are only one phoneme). gzb could be tentatively described as an 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.
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.
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.
Syntactical roles (case) are always shown by postpositions. 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.
The phrases of a sentence (verb, agent, patient, object-of-attention, experiencer, topic, state, comment, locatives, etc.) can generally come in any order, but object-verb-subject is the default unmarked word-order.
There are four basic verb forms marked by suffixes applied to a noun root (usually a root signifying an action, 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 such as
| mwe | optative, imperative, 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, 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 they are typically marked with {ʝâr-i} (if animate) or {mĭ-i} (if inanimate).
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, 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.
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.
mix'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 other 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 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 sentence, or at the end of a verb phrase within the sentence.
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.
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 of the non-derived modifier particles always modify verbs or modifiers.
If the root noun denotes an abstract quality, use {-bô} to form the adjective meaning "having this quality". (This is the reverse of "-a" --> "-eco" in Esperanto). Other suffixes can also be used.
| 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 others are suitable.
| 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 |
[revisions unfinished, example sentences to follow]
The comparative is shown by these suffixes:
| -sra | more |
| -sra-cô | less |
They affix after the radical 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 pe ť}, {Ќ-ť} |
| I and you |
or:
| {Ќ pe ƥ}, {Ќ-ƥ}, {Ќ pe ɱ}, {Ќ-ɱ} |
| I and others |
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). ("Royal We" would be translated by appending a respectful affix to the first-person pronoun.)
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) - 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 | (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.
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.
zym-zô, ʝǒn bĭŋ-van. think-V.ACT therefore.evidence 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":
The conjunctions {mǒn} and {mǒj} are sometimes used in combination:
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.
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.]
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.
rî'mâ sǒ rjâ-i. house certain quest-at I'm looking for a certain house.
rî'mâ pǒ rjâ-i. house that.3 quest-at I'm looking for the/that house.
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]
Normal order for topic/comment sentences is topic, then comment, but for questions whatever element is questioned usually comes first.
?tyn-nǒ i vâ-řŋ-kô mĭ-i. place-Q.WH at digestion-out-place TOP-at Where is the restroom?
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, 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) are occasionally 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?
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.)
{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.