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Difference between revisions of "Middle Olgish language"
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Syntax in Middle Olgish matrix clauses follows a verb-second pattern, with the additional limitation that only subjects and topicalized prepositional phrases and adverbial modifier phrases can appear in C /spec, with subjects being by far the most common. Base-generated word order seems to be SVO, and the vast majority of clauses also follow this pattern on the surface, including all subordinate clauses. | Syntax in Middle Olgish matrix clauses follows a verb-second pattern, with the additional limitation that only subjects and topicalized prepositional phrases and adverbial modifier phrases can appear in C /spec, with subjects being by far the most common. Base-generated word order seems to be SVO, and the vast majority of clauses also follow this pattern on the surface, including all subordinate clauses. | ||
Determiner phrases follow the general pattern '''[Determiner [Numeral [Noun Adjective]]]''' | Determiner phrases follow the general pattern '''[Determiner [Numeral [Noun Adjective]]]'''. Possession can be coded for in two ways, i) by forming a possessive adjective from the possessor noun with the suffix ''-in'' (heavily preferred by [[Saint Fádin|Fádin]] and the only possessive permitted in Liturgical Middle Olgish) or ii) by forming a possessive compound wherein the possessor precedes the possession (common in Old Olgish and informal Middle Olgish, but moribund already in Fádin’s time and practically out of use by the end of the Middle Olgish period). | ||
===Serial IP constructions=== | ===Serial IP constructions=== | ||
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This rule broadly extends to all syntactically independent nouns in Olgish, although for most non-subjects the possible applications of this construction are largely limited to that of a quasi-relative clause. In this context, such a construction may also (and possibly more usefully) analysed as a nominalized clause as a whole, rather than an IP nested in an NP. | This rule broadly extends to all syntactically independent nouns in Olgish, although for most non-subjects the possible applications of this construction are largely limited to that of a quasi-relative clause. In this context, such a construction may also (and possibly more usefully) analysed as a nominalized clause as a whole, rather than an IP nested in an NP. | ||
Any nominal can further take on an IP containing its referent as a non-subject argument or modifier in the same manner. In this case, a pronoun | Any nominal can further take on an IP containing its referent as a non-subject argument or modifier in the same manner. In this case, a pronoun coreferential with the noun in question will appear immediately following the verb, bare if it is a direct object or in a Prepositional Phrase if it is a modifier or indirect object. This special case is the only instance where the Olgish languages permit VOS order; this can be modelled as the lower V projection as a whole being raised to the I head while the subject remains in its base position in ''v''P /spec (assuming the serialized/noun-dependent IP does not generate beyond the I head/the governing noun sits in a virtual IP /spec). | ||
As there is no overt relative construction in the Olgish languages, serial IPs are the most widely used form of clausal apposition. | As there is no overt relative construction in the Olgish languages, serial IPs are the most widely used form of clausal apposition. | ||
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===The definite article=== | ===The definite article=== | ||
Middle Olgish shares the universal definite article, '''terg''', with Liturgical Middle Olgish. Unlike in the latter, this is used rarely and somewhat irregularly in colloquial Middle Olgish, comparable to the similar development in Biblical Greek. Most nouns appear without an article, whether definite or indefinite; ''terg'' is used only to denote very particular topical items, somewhere between the specificity of a definite and a demonstrative, and to form periphrastic possessives with pronouns. Notably, the article is often elided to a clitic '''t’=''' attaching either to the following noun or, most commonly, to a preceding preposition. | |||
While the definite article is often preserved in colloquialized prayers and turns of phrase to a degree not seen in authentic spoken Middle Olgish, elision is usually applied where it would be in the spoken register, oftentimes creating the most notable distinctions between a prayer’s formal and colloquial variants. | |||
==Writing system== | ==Writing system== | ||