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Modifiers

A type of word that describes a verb or noun.

Prepositions​

There are only a few prepositions applicable to the modifier class of words.

Positive​

The in particle allows you to specify that any content word which is being used as a modifier is seen as positive in meaning when applied as a modifier to the preceding head phrase. This is primarily useful for using verbs as modifiers since they are prepositions otherwise.

Negatitive​

The dës particle allows you to specify that any content word which is being used as a modifier is seen as negated in meaning when applied as a modifier to the preceding head phrase. While this is useful for using verbs as modifiers, it also can be useful for all other modifiers and nouns as modifiers.

Collapsing Head​

The et particle allows you to specify that any following modifier (whether it's a true modifier or a noun/verb being used with one of the modifier particles above or a noun particle) is seen as applying meaning to the entire noun or verb phrase instead of only being applicable to the immediately preceding head phrase.

This particle is also useful for ending a determiner-led phrase before a nucleus can be added thus making the determiner phrase headless which means that the determiner is instead interpreted pronomically.

Verb Immunity

Verbs cannot be preceded by a collapsing head particle directly. This is because the collapsing head particle does not change the semantics of that syntactic position. It simply closes the prior elements as a new nucleus and then the syntactic context of the following word is as a modifier of that newly collapsed nucleus.

If you need to describe the newly formed nucleus with a verb, you must use one of particles that converts a verb to a noun or modifier derivation.

From...​

Converting from the other content types into modifiers.

Nouns​

When a noun acts as a modifier, it means that the head word is somehow related to the noun (acting as a modifer) or shares some recognizable quality with the noun. Like the affix "-like" in English. One way of making a modifier out of a noun is to provide it as a word immediately following fın. This has the effect of meaning "[noun]-like thing" in English. You can use it following any head noun or existing modifier chain (within a genitive phrase).

That said, nouns often don't need any added particle, but when the noun is action-oriented, it can be useful to use the abstract noun particle (kon) or the modifier particles above. This helps differentiate the attributed thing from being attributed directly to the action itself compared to things that are used for an action or are more tangentially related.

Verbs​

A verb cannot act as a modifier, it must be preceded by either one of the modifier particles above or a noun particle. The verb and particle combined act as one word of the base modifier type. You can use it following any head noun or existing modifier chain.

Relative Clauses​

You can modify a preceding verb or noun phrase by using one of the relative clause particles:

xe - Use this one when the subject is shared from the outer sentence

fos - Use this one when the subject is changed from the outer sentence

When you use the first form, the subject of the inner clause is linked to the nucleus that the relative clause is attached to.

umo wohi xe nıwos hoi zınkon uklo hön noyo, wëloi hoi sëdu muni. "The woman who lives next door works in a bank."

When you use the second form (fos), you must provide at least one constituent that refers to the nucleus noun phrase, this is called the resumptive phrase. The preferred resumptive phrase is the final constituent of the relative clause which is then dropped and implied to refer to the nucleus.

umo fos noyo cüdo inboli müt, di si xe monodo. "The person that I gave a flower to came to visit."

niün lı umo fos dëko noyo ü. "They are the person who saw me."

ilë fos noyo niwos, lı nokdo ëto. "The house in which I live is very old."

güexo onö fos niün toswil si nënko, lı mülü löicök. "The war that he painted because of is finally over."

When you want to organize your relative clause in a topical manner, the demonstratives can act as resumptive pronouns. Use the proximal demonstrative (öfo) when referring to the speaker or objects that the speaker possesses, use the medial demonstrative (ulyö) when referring to the person being addressed or objects possesed by that person, use the distal demonstrative (onö) when referring to someone else other than the person being addressed or objects possessed by that third party.

öfo lı non fos noyo fölun xe möniso öfo müt nimü. "This is the video that I wanted to show you."

lı si yöüli ëto ü umo onö fos niün köto si onö. "The person they spoke to was really helpful."