Veyrathi - Syntax

Sentence typological profile

• Basic order: SVO (Subject-Verb-Object).
• Headinality: low; Relations are expressed using linear markers and particles.
• Grammatical roles are marked primarily by position and particles, not by case.

Basic word order

Declarative sentence

• Pattern: Subject + Verb + Object/Complement
• Nu veyra. = I speak.
• Se seyra ar thalor. = The person sees the meeting.

Verbal complex and object position

• Basic scheme: subject + verbal complex + object pronoun + full noun + adjuncts
• Object pronouns come directly after the verbal complex:
• Nor seyra ser. = The Enor sees himself.
• Nu kela nel ar kethar. = I meet the Enel at the market.
• Free nominal objects follow the verb; Place and time information appears afterwards or frames the sentence on the left.

Deviations

• Topic/focus can pull a sentence member to the beginning.
• Without prosodic marking, SVO remains the neutral reading.

Noun phrase

Structure

• Pattern: (article/demonstrative) + noun + adjective
• ar nor draz = the strong Enor
• or thalor zeya = that new assembly

Articles and demonstratives in syntax

• ar can be used as a definite article (DEF) or as a close demonstrative.
• or marks deictic distance (far).
• The function is derived from the context and information structure.

Zero article and weak reference

• The zero article is often used in everyday life with material, generic or weakly individuated referents.
• It is also common with routinized object roles and non-contrasted interior/utility nouns:
• Nu kira pethan. = I cook food.
• Se fira palun. = The person cleans the room.
• ar and en occur preferably with referents anchored deictically, discursively or contrastively:
• Tha peta sulen ar kethar. = The Enath buys fruits at the market.
• Nu yema ar merin. = I'm sitting on the chair.

Quantifiers and numerals

• Attributive quantifiers and numerals follow the noun.
• pethan vuni = several parts of food / food in several parts
• Free quantifiers and numerals can also stand without reference nouns (na, ve, miri, sari).

Local noun phrases

• Veyrathi often does not use his own adpositions for simple location relations in everyday life.
• The local reading arises through verb semantics and world knowledge:
• Nu yema ar merin. = I'm sitting on the chair.
• Se tura ar talem. = The person is standing in the yard.
• Nor pala lanen ar tavar. = The Enor puts the plate on the table.
• Subtle differences in direction are expressed through verbs of motion and prefixes rather than through prepositions.

Predication without copula

• Adjectival and nominal predicates are generally used. d. R. without a separate copula verb.
• Se'ren thalor zeya. = Their advice is new.
• Ar nor is draz. = The Enor is very strong.
• This zero strategy is the default for affirmative, temporally unmarked present statements.

Marked predication with fera

• As soon as negation, tense, aspect or irrealis are visibly marked, fera takes over the finite verbal slot.
• Pattern: Subject + Verbal Complex fera + Predicative
• Ar toren no fera torim. = The door is not open.
• Ar toren feran torim. = The door was open.
• Ar thalor ferara zeya. = The meeting will be new.
• Ar toren kei fera torim. = The door would be open.
• In the unmarked present, fera is possible, but appears more explicit and usually contrastive.

Negation

• Negation particle no is on the left edge of the verbal complex.
• Pattern: Subject + no + Verbal Complex
• Nu no veyra. = I don't speak.
• Nu no sa veyra. = I'm not speaking right now.
• In imperatives: No veyra! = Don't speak!

Gloss: NEG

Interrogative sentences

Polar question

• Intonation or sentence-final interrogative particles ka
• Pattern: Statement sentence + ka?
• Nu tala ka? = Am I leaving?
• Se seyra ka? = Does the person see?

Question particles

• ka is sentence final and does not change the basic word order.
• ka combined with all tenses/aspects.### Content question
• Content questions use an interrogative in the left focus field; ka is then normally omitted.
• Subject questions otherwise retain the normal sentence form.
• In non-subject questions, the interrogative is put in front and a gap remains in the sentence.
• In-situ questions are limited to echo and query questions.

• Sher veyra? = Who is speaking?
• Shel nu kera? = What do I take?
• Shem se tura? = Where is the person standing?
• Shemi pethan nu kera? = How much food do I eat?

Gloss: Q

Dialogue particles in turn

• Dialogue particles are outside the verbal complex and are loosely connected prosodically.
• They preferably appear at the beginning of a sentence, after a left topic or as an independent short phrase.
• As a rule, a maximum of two are combined: first gymnastics/attention control, then posture.
• Existing short forms such as vel, dari and shoi are fully productive in terms of dialogue; There is also a small set of particles of its own.

• Sae, nu... nu no veyra. = Uh, I... I don't speak.
• Thal, saren, no tala. = Listen, confidant, don't go.
• Mave. Nu myra. = Wait. I know.
• Zhai. Ar kevar zeya ka? = Really? Is the contract new?

Aspect and modal particles in the sentence

• Aspect and modal particles come before the main verb in the verbal complex.
• Fixed slot: subject + (NEG) + (KEI/PROG/RES) + verb
• Nu sa veyra. = I am speaking. (PROG)
• Nu han veyran. = I have spoken. (RES)
• Nu kei veyra, se veyra. = If I were to speak, the other person would speak. (COND)

Note: kei is not a left sentence connector like dun, but an unreal particle within the clause. In combinations, no has direct scope proximity to the verbal complex.

Adverbial position

• Default schema: (DISCOURSE) (TIME FRAME) Subject (FREQUENCY) Verbal complex Object (WAY) (PLACE) (TIME)
• Discourse adverbs such as dari, vasi and shoi are preferably placed at the beginning of the sentence or after the first constituent.
• Adverbs of frequency such as navai, lenai, vesar and nover are preferably placed between the subject and the verbal complex.
• Adverbs of manner such as kovan, lorai, narai, velan, sular and derai are preferably placed after the object or at the end of the sentence.
• Local and time-related adverbs such as varai, kethai, murai, senai, enavai and oravai are in the final sentence or as a left frame.
• Degree particles in adjectives (is, len) do not belong in the free adverb series, but directly in front of the adjective.
• Senai nu navai veyra velan. = Today I often speak clearly.
• Dari nu no veyra. = However, I do not speak.
• Nu veyra narai varai. = I speak quietly at home.

Valence and complementation

• The most common verbs follow some stable basic patterns.
• S-V: Movement, posture and state verbs
• Nu tala. / Se tura ar talem.
• S-V-O: transitive everyday and perception verbs
• Nu kela nel. / Se seyra ar thalor.
• S-V-O-Lok: Placement verbs with object and target/location information
• Nor pala lanen ar tavar.
• S-V-REC-THEME: Transfer verbs with receiver before subject, especially when the receiver is a pronoun
• Nu nava nel pethan.
• S-V-dei-Satz: Speaking, knowledge and explanatory verbs with content clause
• Nor myra dei se tala.
• S-V-para-Satz: intentional or purposeful embedding
• Nu teva para se vura.## Connectors (overview)

Coordinating connectors

Subordinating markers

Note: All markers in this row are left edge markers except kei; kei remains in the preverbal slot within the clause.

Coordination

• Basic pattern: clause + connector + clause
• Nu veyra va se sova. = I speak and the person hears.
• Nu veyra dar se no sova. = I speak but the person doesn't hear.
• Nu veyra sho nu seyra. = I speak or I see.

Subordinate clause system

General positioning rules

• Keep subordinate clauses i. d. R. the normal SVO order.
• Left edge connectors (dei, dun, vath, para, mira, ena, oran, tora, ya) are on the left edge of the subordinate clause.
• kei is a special case and remains in the irrealis directly before the verb, i.e. after the subject.
• Subordinate clause before the main clause: separated by a comma.
• Subordinate clause after the main clause: also capable of commas, v. a. with long sentences.

Content sets (dei)

• Pattern: matrix verb + dei + subordinate clause
• Nu veyra dei se tala. = I say that the person is leaving.
• Nor myra dei ar thalor zeya. = The Enor knows that the gathering is new.

Conditional sentences

• Realis: dun + regular verbal sentence
• Dun se tala, nu veyra. = When the person walks, I speak.
• Irrealis/Hypothetical: Subject + kei + verb in the conditional sentence
• Se kei tala, nu veyrara. = If the person were walking, I would speak.
• dun and kei are not combined; the unrealized type is marked solely via kei.

Causal and final subordinate clauses

• vath (because):
• Nu veyra vath se no sova. = I speak because the person is not listening.
• para (so that/in order to):
• Nu veyra para se myra. = I speak so that the person knows.

Temporal sentences

• Simultaneity with mira:
• Mira se tala, nu sa veyra. = While the person is walking, I am speaking.
• Prematureness with oran:
• Oran se veyran, nu tala. = After the person speaks, I leave.
• Responsibility with ena:
• Ena nu tala, nu veyra. = Before I go, I speak.

Concessive sentences (tora)

• Tora se no sova, nu veyra. = Although the person does not hear, I speak.

Relative clauses (ya)

• Pattern: [Antecedent] + ya + subordinate clause
• Standard strategy is the gap at the place of the antecedent in the subordinate clause.
• Ar veyror ya veyra zeya. = The speaker who is speaking is new/young.
• Ar thalor ya nu seyra draz. = The congregation I see is strong.
• Possessor relations prefer to use a resumptive possessive pronoun:
• Ar nor ya se'ren thalor zeya draz. = The Enor whose council is new is strong.
• Oblique roles such as place or instrument often use a full resumptive NP at the normal adjoint position:
• Ar kethar ya nu kela nel ar kethar daren. = The market where I meet Enel is big.
• Ar kerun ya nu kima pethan ar kerun zorin. = The knife I use to cut food is good.
• Pure gap relative clauses remain the unmarked standard strategy for subject and direct object.

Information structure

• Focus through prefix or prosodic emphasis.
• Topic on the left, comment on the right (default interpretation).
• Deictic choice (ar vs. or) supports discourse control.
• Subordinate clauses in front often have a topic or framing function.### Prosodic defaults
• In the neutral declarative sentence, the last full lexical unit of the intonation phrase carries the main pressure.
• In SVO sentences, the prosodic peak is therefore often on the object, predicative or sentence adverbial, not automatically on the verb.
• Left-wing topics and framing information remain prosodically easier as long as no contrast is signaled.
• Nu veyra velan. = neutral main pressure on velan.
• Ar toren torim. = neutral main pressure on torim.

Contrast, correction and query

• Preceded focus carries the strongest pressure; the rest of the sentence is read in a more prosodically compressed manner.
• Corrections usually set two pressure centers: focus and counterfocus, often with no as an explicit contradiction marker.
• Echo and query questions can leave the member of the sentence in question in situ; The question track then lies primarily in the prosody.
• Velan nu veyra. = Contrast focus on velan: I speak clearly.
• Nel nu kela, no nor. = Correction focus on nel and nor: I hit the Enel, not the Enor.
• Nu kera shel? = Echo question with prosodic focus on shel.

Performative and ritual speech

• In ceremonial, legal or ritualized speech, intonation phrases are built more slowly and evenly.
• Several content words can then carry regular secondary prints; Contrast is less often only marked prosodically, but also syntactically.
• The character | in descriptions is for phrasing indication only, not for standard orthography.
• Ar thalor | ferara zeya. = ritualized two-bar phrasing.

Salutation and vocative

• Vocatives are preferred on the left or right edge of the sentence and are not part of the core of the sentence word order.
• The unmarked vocative is the naked name, title or role form: Theror, ..., Saren, ....
• For urgent, warning or emotionally charged salutations, thal often precedes the vocative.
• Formal salutation uses title alone or title + name; Close salutation tends to use saren, collective salutation uses senar.
• If rank, gender or proximity should remain unclear, the neutral personal reference se within the sentence is still the safest form.
• Theror, ar kevar no fera zorin. = Judge, the contract is not correct.
• Thal, senar, nu veyra. = Listen, everyone, I speak.
• Saren, nu reshir. = Confidant, I'm sorry.

Fragment speech and repair

• In fast interaction, fragmentary moves are fully grammatical as long as the missing sentence remainder can be reconstructed from the context.
• Particles, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, numerals or local NPs can stand alone as a fragment.
• Positive or connectable minimum answers often use vel; negative minimum answers can only be no.
• Self-repair often begins with sae, dari or a repeated constituent beginning.
• In literary transcription, ... marks a departure or search; -- marks hard abort or interruption.
• A: Se tala ka? B: No. = Is the person leaving? No.
• A: Sher vura? B: Seror. = Who is traveling? The Embassy.
• A: Se tura shem? B: Ar kethar. = Where is the person standing? On the market.
• Sae, nu... nu pora ar kevar. = Uh, I... I remember the contract.

Syntax gloss conventions (excerpt)

• DEF = specific article
• NEUT = neutral pronoun
• NEG = Negation
• Q = Question particle
• PROG = gradient aspect
• RES = Resultative
• COORD = coordinating connector
• COMP = complementizer
• REL = relative marker
• CAUS = causal marker
• PURP = Final marker
• TEMP.SIM, TEMP.ANT, TEMP.POST = temporal relations
• COND.R, COND.I = Realis/Irrealis conditional
• CONC = concession marker
• COP = supporting verb of the marked predication
• WH = interrogative form
• VOC = vocative
• HES = hesitation particles
• ATTN = Attention control
• HOLD = holding particles
• CHAL = Challenge/doubt particles
• FRAG = Fragment train