Sentences
The structure of morphemes, phrases and sentence constituents.
Morphosyntactics
Hîsyêô is considered an isolating language because all words are a single morpheme. Some examples of isolating languages are Yoruba, Vietnamese, and Thai.
A morpheme is a single unit of meaning. In English, the word "cat" is a single morpheme but the word "cats" is two morphemes: "cat" + "s" where the "s" is the morpheme that signifies that a noun is plural. The word "intwined" is three morphemes, "in" for the meaning of interconnectedness, "twine" for the verb that means to wrap or weave with a twine-like object, and "ed" for the past participle of the verb (the modifier form in past tense).
Hîsyêô is also considered an analytic language, which means that prepositions, particles and modifiers (grammatical relations) are separate words that provide the additional meaning to words (instead of inflection or affixes that are used in synthetic languages). English is mostly an analytic language although there are some instances of affixes (such as "-ed", "-ing", "-s"). There are no prefixes nor affixes in Hîsyêô, all meaning is provided via separate words in known as prepositions and particles.
Constituent Word Order
The order with which you setup a clause or sentence is called constituent order. Sentences are made up of verb and noun phrases that exist within prepositional phrases. Let's ignore what prepositional phrases are available for the time being and just zoom out and think about subject phrases (with noun phrases within), action phrases (with verb phrases within), and thematic phrases (with noun phrases within). Many languages require that you order your sentence in a particular way such that each element along the way can be understood as a specific part of a sentence. Some of the most prevalent constituent orders that occur in natural languages include: subject-object-verb, subject-verb-object, verb-second, and topic-comment. In addition to these sentence structure types, there also exists some languages that have no strict word order. Instead they use morphological elements or particle words to identify the different parts of the sentence. In these languages, the order in which the parts of a sentence are provided may indicate the subject or theme of a sentence.
Hîsyêô has a mostly free constituent order because all sentence parts are marked by a preposition. The order of your sentence puts the first provided element as the topic and each successive constituent as comments about the topic in order of importance. That said, there are three irregularities that reduce the freedom slightly.
Irregularity #1: First Constituent Agent Elision
If the first constituent of a sentence is the agent, the preposition (û) can be elided (skipped) and the noun phrase provided unmarked. However, if the agent's nucleus is a base verb, it must be preceded by the preposition so that it's clear that you are referring to the noun derivation of that verb.
Because of this elision rule, sentence structure does lean towards a preference of subject-verb-object.
Irregularity #2: Verb-Object Syntactic Alignment
Direct objects are always introduced by a free-standing verb. There is no way to provide a direct object before providing the verb. Additionally, you can't follow a verb immediately with another verb phrase (just like you can't immediately follow any other preposition by another preposition).
This means that a sentence structure that mirrors the English passive voice is not strictly supported. However, there is a way to raise the object to the subject position by providing the object in the subject preposition and supplying the agent and verb in a subject complement subordinate clause.
- Latin
- ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ
Irregularity #3: Verb-Connector Syntactic Alignment
If a verb is preceded by a connector, it is interpreted as the noun derivation. Only when followed by a preposition particle does the connector signify a new sentence.
This means that there's some difficulty when expressing compound sentences that hinge on a change in verb but there are ways around it.
- Latin
- ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ
nîmû fôlun xe dênêmêk kon xobo yodo kon bôkôfoc ko. "Do you want to practice hitting or blocking?"
nîo buswen mokon yodo îskô ko. "Do they need food or drink?" (Instead of "Do they need to eat or to drink?")
mênyûu onô bi ôhêl bi môcîbo kelo kelo kôto kôto hoî bitûn mûlû. "The kids were playing and talking all night."
ƨɟƶʄ ɤıʓ̃ʃ ɋɿ ʌʇƨʇƶ̑ʇ ɔ̃ ɋʋ ɀʌ ɔ̃ ʋıɔıɤ̄ ɔ: "Do you want to practice hitting or blocking?"
ƨɟɽ ʋ́ʃʒ̃ɿ ƶɔ̃ ɀʌ ɽ́ɟɔı ɔ: "Do they need food or drink?" (Instead of "Do they need to eat or to drink?")
ƶ̃ʇɀʄɽʃ ɽƨı ʋȷ ɽıɂ͊ʇ ʋȷ ƶıꞇɟʋ ɔɿʓ ɔɿʓ ɔıc ɔıc ɂɽɟ ʋȷc̃ʄ ƶʄʓʄ: "The kids were playing and talking all night."
nimu folrN xq denemeK kN xb yd kN bokofC k. "Do you want to practice hitting or blocking?"
nia brSwqN mkN yd iSko k. "Do they need food or drink?" (Instead of "Do they need to eat or to drink?")
meNyur ano bj oheL bj mocib kql kql kot kot hAi bjtuN mulu. "The kids were playing and talking all night."
Null Constituents
When an independent clause lacks a constituent like an agent/causer or patient/causee, such a clause is said to have a null subject. This means that the subject can be inferred through the surrounding sentence, prior sentences or any other contextual cues.
When an indendent clause lacks a verbal constituent but contains a subject constituent and other thematic constituents,the clause is said to have a null copula. This means that the relationship between the subject and the thematic constituents can be inferred through the surrounding sentence, prior sentences or any other contextual cues.
- Latin
- ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ
nîmû ( li gô) hoî ulyô ko. Are you there?
( noyo) ( li gô) hoî ôfo. I am here.
( nîmû) ( li gô) hoî zik? Where are you?
( noyo) ( li gô) bi cônkôk hoî ôfo. Right here.
( nîmû) ( li gô) til zik dên noyo? Why are you against me?
( noyo) ( li gô) nênko fos noyo kôî li gô ( misli ulyô). Because I can be.
In the last sentence, the subordinate clause inside of the nênko preposition phrase could not have its verb elided because we needed to apply the epistemic verb particle.
Phrase Word Order
Each constituent has a preposition and a phrase (either an adverb or a noun). Within any given phrase there is always one word that is the main contents of that phrase. This is known as the nucleus of the phrase. In Hîsyêô, the nucleus is the first word in a phrase. Regardless of whether the base type of the word is a verb, noun, or adjective, the word always takes on the form that the preposition particle demands. The nucleus of a verb phrase is the direct object (a noun), the nucleus of a subject or semantic phrase is a noun. The nucleus of a manner/material phrase is an adverb. Hîsyêô technically has a nucleus in the middle of a phrase because determiners go to the left of the nucleus and adjectives to the right.
Sentence Types
Simple
A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause with no dependent clauses.
- Latin
- ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ
nîo mokon sî yoûtî kûôxi. He ate some fruit.
û oûtô gîsgûl onô li kobût. The bicycle is broken.
hoî lono mîhûon û noyo cînlî sî dênêmêk kîôsô noyo. On Wednesday, I had my athletic exam.
Compound
A compound sentence consists of multiple independent clauses with no dependent clauses. These clauses are joined together using conjunctions.
- Latin
- ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ
nîo îskô sî yoûtî xîmu lêkin bi môcîbo fôlun xe îskô eswen. He drank some water but was still thirsty.
nîo li sî gîk hoî niwos nîo ûn li sî conzodo. She got home and went to sleep.
li bôkbûn bînê nîo wuîtsî cizî hoî sokofû sêl onô. It was storming so he stayed in the basement.
nûs kôî li nô mût gubuyo kon mokon yodo û nûs kôî côûfon hoî niwos nûs. We can go to the restuarant or make dinner at home.
ƨɟɽ ɽ́ɟɔı ɐɟ ɀɽʄcɟ ɋɟƶʃ ʓʇɔ̃ȷ ʋȷ ƶıꞇɟʋ ɤıʓ̃ʃ ɋɿ ɽ́ɟɔı ɽ́ɿʒ̃ɿ: He drank some water but was still thirsty.
ƨɟɽ ʓȷ ɐɟ ꜿ̑ɟ ɂɽɟ ƨȷʒ́ ƨɟɽ ɽ̃ʄ ʓȷ ɐɟ ꞇ̃ⱴʌ: She got home and went to sleep.
ʓȷ ʋ̑ıʋ̃ʄ ʋɟƨʇ ƨɟɽ ʒʃɽ̆ɟɐɟ ꞇȷⱴɟ ɂɽɟ ɐɔɤʄ ɐ͊ʇ ɽƨı: It was storming so he stayed in the basement.
ƨ́ʄ ɔıɽɟ ʓȷ ƨı ƶ̆ʄ ꜿʃʋʃɀ ɔ̃ ƶɔ̃ ɀʌ ɽʄ ƨ́ʄ ɔıɽɟ ꞇıɽʄɤ̃ ɂɽɟ ƨȷʒ́ ƨ́ʄ: We can go to the restuarant or make dinner at home.
nia iSko si yAuti ximr lekjN bj mocib folrN xq iSko qSwqN. He drank some water but was still thirsty.
nia lj si giK hAi njwS nia uN lj si cNzd. She got home and went to sleep.
lj boKbuN bine nia wriTsi cjzi hAi skfu seL ano. It was storming so he stayed in the basement.
nuS koi lj no muT grbry kN mkN yd u nuS koi coufN hAi njwS nuS. We can go to the restuarant or make dinner at home.
Complex
A complex sentence consists of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
- Latin
- ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ
nîo nocîdo sî kelo nênko fos nîo li sî bîcûon. He lost the game because he was tired.
nênko fos nîo li sî bîcûon, û nîo nocîdo sî kelo. Because she was tired, she lost the game.
kûu xokûlû noyo hôn fos nîmû li nô lôtfen. Please call me, if you go.
hôn fos nîmû li nô, kûu xokûlû noyo lôtfen. If you go, please call me.
ƨɟɽ ƨꞇɟʌ ɐɟ ɔɿʓ ƨ̃ʇɔ ɤ́ ƨɟɽ ʓȷ ɐɟ ʋɟꞇʄɽ̃: He lost the game because he was tired.
ƨ̃ʇɔ ɤ́ ƨɟɽ ʓȷ ɐɟ ʋɟꞇʄɽ̃､ ɽʄ ƨɟɽ ƨꞇɟʌ ɐɟ ɔɿʓ: Because she was tired, she lost the game.
ɔʄɽʃ ɋɔʄʓʄ ƨɀ ɂ̃ı ɤ́ ƨɟƶʄ ʓȷ ƨı ʓ̆ıɤ̃ɿ: Please call me, if you go.
ɂ̃ı ɤ́ ƨɟƶʄ ʓȷ ƨı､ ɔʄɽʃ ɋɔʄʓʄ ƨɀ ʓ̆ıɤ̃ɿ: If you go, please call me.
nia ncid si kql neNk fS nia lj si bicuaN. He lost the game because he was tired.
neNk fS nia lj si bicuaN, u nia ncid si kql. Because she was tired, she lost the game.
kur xkulu ny hoN fS nimu lj no loTfqN. Please call me, if you go.
hoN fS nimu lj no, kur xkulu ny loTfqN. If you go, please call me.
Compound-Complex
A compound–complex sentence (or complex–compound sentence) consists of multiple independent clauses, at least one of which has at least one dependent clause.
- Latin
- ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ
nîo li sî nô til xe ogolol ônî dûngo nênko fos ondo sî côûfon bitûn til kon mokon, bînê zowo mokon sî côûfon nîo. He went to grab a fork because dinner was ready to eat and then the dog ate his meal.
noyo sûko yôk ûnfûnô lêkin û noyo ke mokon ni hôn fos noyo bît buswen ( xe tûu ni). I don't like vegetables but I'll eat them if I have to.
umo wohî onô xe sûn dûî zomo îlê xokôn cok, xokûlû sî noyo hoî hêlxun eswen bînê noyo xokûlû nîo bi dukwêlit. The woman from two blocks down called me earlier so I called her back.
ƨɟɽ ʓȷ ɐɟ ƨı c͊ȷ ɋɿ ɽꜿʓ͊ ɽıƨɟ ʌ̃ʄꜿ ƨ̃ʇɔ ɤ́ ɽ̃ʌ ɐɟ ꞇıɽʄɤ̃ ʋȷc̃ʄ c͊ȷ ɔ̃ ƶɔ̃､ ʋɟƨʇ ⱴʒ ƶɔ̃ ɐɟ ꞇıɽʄɤ̃ ƨɟɽ: He went to grab a fork because dinner was ready to eat and then the dog ate his meal.
ƨɀ ɐʄɔ ɀ̑ı ɽ̃ʄɤʄƨı ʓʇɔ̃ȷ ɽʄ ƨɀ ɔɿ ƶɔ̃ ƨȷ ɂ̃ı ɤ́ ƨɀ ʋ̆ɟ ʋ́ʃʒ̃ɿ ( ɋɿ cʄɽʃ ƨȷ): I don't like vegetables but I'll eat them if I have to.
ɽʃƶ ʒɂɟ ɽƨı ɋɿ ɐ̃ʄ ʌʄɽɟ ⱴƶ ɽɟʓʇ ɋɔ̃ı ꞇ̑､ ɋɔʄʓʄ ɐɟ ƨɀ ɂɽɟ ɂ͊ʇɋ̃ʃ ɽ́ɿʒ̃ɿ ʋɟƨʇ ƨɀ ɋɔʄʓʄ ƨɟɽ ʋȷ ʌ̑ʃʒʇʓ̆ȷ: The woman from two blocks down called me earlier so I called her back.
nia lj si no tjL xq aglL oni duNg neNk fS aNd si coufN bjtuN tjL kN mkN, bine zw mkN si coufN nia. He went to grab a fork because dinner was ready to eat and then the dog ate his meal.
ny suk yoK uNfuno lekjN u ny kq mkN nj hoN fS ny biT brSwqN ( xq tur nj). I don't like vegetables but I'll eat them if I have to.
rm whi ano xq suN dui zm ile xkoN cK, xkulu si ny hAi heLxrN qSwqN bine ny xkulu nia bj drKweljT. The woman from two blocks down called me earlier so I called her back.