Elasin Morphology & Syntax


Nouns - Palor:
 There are three classes/genders of nouns:
1 Nouns ending in o (palor opir) are always parts of a whole.They depend on other parts to perform their function or to complement them.
2 Nouns ending in e or a consonant (palor epir) are things which function as a unit (made up of Class 1 nouns).
3 Nouns ending in a (palor apir) are sentient beings, defined as beings that feel pleasure or pain.
NOTE: Not all sentient beings are Class 3 nouns. For example, ualato and duvo "mother" and "father" are Class 1 nouns to show one implies the other.

There is no definite or indefinite article. Vesoth may be translated language, a language, the language.
Plurals are formed in Class 1 and 2 nouns by the addition of -r (-ar in the case of those Class 2 nouns ending in a consonant). Vesothar = languages, the languages, mosuanor = bricks
Plurals of Class 3 nouns are formed by the addition of an l. Falatisal = children.

There are 11 cases. The cases and markers are listed below. A vowel in parentheses signifies that this letter is used after a consonant:
Nominative This is the primary form of the noun, used as the subject of phrases. Vesoth = language. Mabuaton vesoth paloram. The language has nouns.
Accusative marked by (a)m Vesotham = language. Uevakuagith vesotham. I understand the language.
Dative The final vowel is dropped (if present) and replaced by -eba Falatiseba = to/for the child. Fathuagith falatiseba vesotham. I speak the language to the child.
Genitive conveys the sense of possession generally, but also has other uses marked by (i)n Vesothin of the language. Sother vesothin = The words of the language.
Instrumental conveys the sense in which something is done marked by -sa Mosuanorsa "with stones." Sathituane mosuanorsa. They are building with stones.

There are 6 locative cases, conveying movement and situation:
Elative conveys the sense of moving away, out of marked by -(a)sh Panamesh = away from the house. Makuata panamesh falatisa. The child is walking out of the house.
Illative conveys the sense of into, towards marked by va Panameva = into the house.Makuata panameva falatisa. The child walks into the house.
Inessive conveys the sense of in, inside marked by (o)th Panameth = in the house.Kuenuata panameth falatisa. The child is sitting inside the house.
Comitative conveys the sense of with or accompanied by marked by -(i)f Falatisaf = with the child. Makuagi falatisaf. I am walking with the child.
Prolative conveys the sense of along, beside or around marked by bo Yulafobo = along the river.Makuato iulafobo dulaso. The man is walking beside the river.
Superessive conveys the sense of upon, on top of marked by (a)da Panameda = on top of the house. Kuenuata panameda falatisa. The boy is sitting on top of the house.

Verbs - Kishor:
 The basic root/dictionary form of the verb always ends in u. In comparison to English, this root can be used similarly to a present participle or gerund. For example, shemu (the act of) seeing can be used in a sentence like Shemu faruthuatu ebe. I can see which literally reads "Seeing (it) is possible for me."(The construction of this sentence will be examined later. Incidentally, "I can see it" is Faruthuatu shemuth ebe. But more on this later as well...)
From this root form, 3 simple tenses are formed:
Present tense - the suffix a is added to verb stem (pronounced "wah")
Shemu > shemua-
Past tense - -u is dropped and replaced by ie- (pronounced "yeh")
Shemu > shemie-
Future tense - -u remains to which di- is added
Shemu > shemudi-

To this system of tenses, 9 aspects can be added:
Perfective -ku- I have ....[and now I'm done.]
Imperative replace -u with -a a "command"
Prospective -pi- "I am about to..."
Inceptive -mu- "I am beginning to..."
Terminative -ho- "I am finishing..."
Cessative -ru- "I am quitting..."
Pausative -vi- "I stopped...for a while."
Iterative -ve- "I...again and again."
Accidental -na- "I accidently..."

Examples of the aspects at work:
Kevu=hitting
Kevak "Hit me!"
Kevienato'e "He accidentally hit me."
Kevieveto'e "He hit me again and again."
Kevieruto'e "He finished hitting me."
Or something more complex: Rikaniemugi konasa shemiegil ko. "I was beginning to read when I saw you." (rikan(u)-ie-mu-gi konasa shem(u)-ie-li-e ko)
There are also a number of modal verbs, for example:
Faruthuatu shemul ebe. "I can see you." (Lit. It is possible seeing you for me.)
Rumuatu shemu'e ebel. "You may see me." (Lit. It is permissible seeing me for you.)
Pelukuatu shemul ebe. "I want to see you." (Lit. It is desirable seeing you for me.)

Questions -Fathovor
Questions are formed by bracketing statements within the particle vo:
Rumuatu shemul ebe. --- Vo rumuatu shemul ebe vo? "May I see you?"


Pronomial Affixes Ebalakor
The verb is always marked with a nominative pronomial affix; sometimes also with an accusative affix. The dative pronouns are separate words. The genetive affixes are prefixes.
NOMINATIVE ACCUSATIVE DATIVE GENITIVE
1st person singular -gi- -e ebe be-
2nd person singular -li- -l ebel le-
3rd person singular: Class 1 & 2 -to- -th tebe te-
3rd person singular: Class 3 -ta- -th tabe ti-
3rd person singular: Verb -tu
1st person plural -so- -s seba se-
2nd person plural -ke- -sh ekesh ke-
3rd person plural: Class 1 & 2 -no- -n oben ne-
3rd person plural: Class 3 -ne- -n aben ni-
3rd person singular: Verb -nu

Examples using affixes:
Shemuali'e "You see me."
Shemuason "We see them."
Shemienes "They saw us."
Aulemuatu shemul ebe. "Seeing you is pleasing to me." (Lit. It is pleasing -seeing you - for me.)
Alternative: Aulemuatu beshemul. "My seeing you is pleasing."
Modifiers - Lekalor:
 Those words known in English as adjectives and adverbs fall into the same category in Elasin. A lekalo can modify either a verb or a noun:

sanati - quick/quickly
dulaso sanati - the/a quick man
Makuato sanati dulaso - The/a man (he) walks quickly.

As you can see, the modifier comes after the word it modifies, and most modifiers end in -i. The second example could also be translated: The man is walking quickly.
An option is to use a verb as a modifier:

Dulaso makui sanati... - The "quickly walking" man...

This then can be used as a noun phrase to make a sentence like:
Shemuagith dulasom makui sanati. - I see the "quickly walking man."
The verb root -u is changed to -ui (pronounced "wee") when used as a modifier. So, maku "walking (vb.)" changes to makui "walking (pres. participle).
A past participle can be constructed by changing the root ending -u to -u'ii (pronounced "oo-yee"):
Shemiegith dulasom maku'ii sanati. "I saw the man, who was walking quickly."

Past tense verbs will often (although not always) require past participle modifiers.
Another unique feature of Elasin modifiers is a sentence like this:
Tupuagith be'umadem rikanu'ii tabe. "I give my "read" book to you."
This could also be interpreted as "I am giving this book which I have read to you."

Some common modifiers include:
sanati - quick(ly), rapid(ly), hasty
thoshi - few, several, a small amount of
pivani - complete(ly), thorough(ly)

Dependent Clauses:
 We have already seen at least one dependent clause construction:
Rikaniemugi konasa shemiegil ko "I was beginning to read when I saw you" composed of two clauses - rikaniemugi and shemiegil. As you can see the dependent clause is bracketed by konasa and ko. Most all dependent clauses end in the particle ko.
Another dependent clause construction is: kopath...ko "who..." although this can also be accomplished by using a present participle construction. Compare:
Shemiegith dulasom maku'ii sanati. "I saw (him) the 'quickly walking' man."

Shemiegith dulasom kopath makudito sanati ko. Lit.:"I saw (him) the man, who was walking quickly."

Another dependent clause particle pair is shasta...ko which is used to denote "in order to, because, so that."

Rikanuagith umadem shasta uevakuth vesotham ko. "I am reading the book in order to understand the language." (Lit. "I am reading in order to understanding it, the language.")

Kopath and konasa are also used as an interrogative pronoun. Others of this type are:
Who=kopath
Pelua dulaso kopath ua popaki ko thaleram. The man, who is the strongest, writes songs.
Kopath ua popaki vo? Who is the strongest?

Whom=koepata /koy-pah-tuh/
Koepata faduagi ko vo? To whom do I speak?
Upon approaching the gate, the nightwatchman asked Amalel for his name. With a sneer, he said: "Koepata faduagi ko vo? Ebel? Hau! Fadudigith lasam difa."[To whom am I speaking? You? No! I will speak only to the guard!]

When=konasa
Konasa fadudiso vo? When will we speak?
Fadudigil konasa makuaso ko ebel. I will speak to you when we are walking.

What=koshi
Koshi pelieta vo? What did you write?
Peluagith koshi faduata ko. I write what he/she is speaking.
Vo rikanualath koshi peliegi vo? Are you reading what I wrote?
Rikanuagith koshi peliela ko. I am reading what you wrote.

Where=kole'ima /koh-lay-ee-muh/
Kole'ima uagi vo? Where am I?
To where=koema /koy-muh/
Koema makuata vo? To where are you traveling?
NOTE: As noted above, when using the interrogative pronouns to ask a question, the first "vo" is dropped and only the final vo particle is used (thus dropping the final ko). When used as a dependent clause, the final particle in the phrase is "ko."

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