This section will focus on constructing basic sentences in Ithkuil.
In nouns, Slot IX designates the grammatical category of Case. Case identifies the role a noun plays in a sentence through relationships with other formatives in the utterance.
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In a given Ithkuil sentence, verbs are the "head" that actually describe what is occurring in a sentence, while nouns simply describe what is involved in said occurrence, roughly translatable without Case as "...because of X". Therefore, sentences such as "John is a cat" in Ithkuil would be roughly translated as "Cat (+verb) John (+noun)", or "There is a cat because of John".
However, a problem arises from this arragement: How do you tell the actual role a noun plays in a sentence? If we examine more complex sentences, such as "I kicked the ball to John", it would be impossible to tell what each noun does (e.g., who kicks & who is kicked) in relation to the verb when arranged merely as "There is kicking because of me, a ball, and John", as in the above example.
The Transrelative cases address this issue by identifying nouns that are direct or indirect participants to the verb, e.g., who perpetrates the verb, what is used to perpetrate it, who undergoes it, etc. They are as follows:
| Ergative | The AGENT of a statement that causes a tangible change of state within a PATIENT (described below). It is either an animate being, as in the statements "I broke the window with a hammer", or a natural force, as in "The wind blew the door open". Note that the PATIENT may be implicit; for example, the phrase "John kicked (something)" is completely grammatically permissible despite lacking an overt PATIENT. |
|---|---|
| Absolutive | The PATIENT that undergoes a physical change in state or behavior as a result of an AGENT, as in the statements "I broke the window with a hammer", "The wind blew the door open". The AGENT in question may also be implicit, such as in "John tripped (on something)". |
| Instrumental | The inanimate TOOL or medium that acts as a means by which an AGENT, which may be implicit, carries out an action, e.g., "I broke the window with a hammer", "She gave John a book by mail", "Mary practiced (using) her violin", or "The key opens (something)". |
| Effectuative | An ENABLER of a statement who initiates an action to (potentially) cause a change within a PATIENT not directly, as opposed to the AGENT, but indirectly through a series of cause-and-effect chains, best translatable as "X made it so that..." It would thus be used to differentiate between "Mary emptied the bathtub (directly)" and "Mary made it so that the bathub emptied (i.e., she drained it by pulling the plug)". Further examples include "John made it so that my supervisor hired me (e.g., by persuasion or command)", "The teacher taught quantum physics to the students (through explanations, diagrams, etc.)*". |
| Thematic | The CONTENT of a verbal predicate. It is usually in the form of an object, idea, or topic, that does not undergo or cause any meaningful change of state, such as in "She gave John a book by mail", "The teacher explained quantum physics to the students", or "That cat gives me a sense of dread". It can also be used to mark the subject of an existential state or copulae, such as in "That child is fluent in Ithkuil", "This shell represents democracy", or "Mary has five cats". |
| Affective | The sentient EXPERIENCER that undergoes an unwilled sensory, emotional, or instinctual experience as a result of an involuntary bodily function, external STIMULUS (described below), or ENABLER. Examples include "I heard the explosion", "We laughed at his jokes", "That cat gives me a sense of dread", and "The teacher taught quantum physics to the students". |
| Stimulative | The STIMULUS that acts as an unwitting tangible cause for a sensory, emotional, or instinctual experience. Examples include "I heard the explosion", "We laughed at his jokes", and "That cat gives me a sense of dread". It may also act as the TRIGGER for a Thematic existential state, such as in "This shell represents democracy", or "Mary has five cats". |
| Dative | The RECIPIENT of either 1) a CONTENT from an INDUCER (described below) or 2) a PATIENT from an AGENT that does not undergo any meaningful change, ex. "She gave John a book by mail" or "Mary asked him a question". |
| Inducive | An AGENT who is a PATIENT of their own initiated action, ex. "I walked", "Mary practiced her violin". It also may specify a noun participant who evidently initiates an action, but does not cause a meaningful change in state or behavior within any patient, implicit or explicit, including themselves, such as in "She gave John a book by mail" or "Mary asked him a question". |
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Appositive cases in Ithkuil translate roughly to various possessive cases in natural languages, which indicate an asymmetrical relationship between two nouns. By default, these cases modify the immediately preceding case.
| Possessive | Indicates that the noun has alienable possession of another noun, i.e., has physical control or oversight that is usually temporary and circumstantial, such as "his seat (at the restaurant)" or "my pencil (the one I borrowed)". |
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| Proprietive | Indicates that the noun has socially or legally recognized ownership of another noun, i.e., the possession is quasi-permanent and/or not terminated by mere physical separation as with the Possessive case, such as in "Mary's pencil (the one she bought)". |
| Genitive | Indicates that the noun has inalienable possession of an item that it shares an intrinsic, permanent bond or association with (e.g., constituents, inherent attributes, or kinship). Examples include "John's mother", "the moral of the story", or "the door's hinges", or "humanity's purpose". |
| Attributive | Indicates an affective (emotional, sensory, instinctual) attributes of another noun, such as states, traits, emotions, wishes, or conditions. Examples include "the child's fever", "his temper", "the willpower of animals", and "Mary's desires". |
| Productive | Indicates that the noun is the direct result of a process of voluntary design and production from another noun, such as in "J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings". |
| Interpretative | Indicates a noun as subjectively interpreted or perceived by another, marked noun, e.g., "your ideal spouse", "the lives of children", "John's vision for the world". |
| Originative | Indicates that the noun is the natural, nonvoluntary originator or source of another noun, e.g., "his inner thoughts", "sap of the trees", "Canadian men". |
| Interdependent | Indicates that the noun is in tandem with, mutually dependent on, or reciprocal of another noun, e.g., "the driver's truck", "the teacher's students", "my best friend". |
| Partitive | Indicates that the noun refers to the current, present contents of another container, e.g., "a boxful of nails", "the five of spades", "the clown company". |
Example of the Appositive cases in use:
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Associative cases form adjectives and adverbs. Similarly to the Appositive Cases, they modify the immediately preceding formative.
| Applicative | Indicates the purpose for which a noun is being circumstantially or temporarily utilized, e.g., "a cup being used for coffee", "a notebook being used for sketching". |
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| Purposive | Indicates what a noun is specifically designed for, e.g., "a coffee cup", "a sketchbook". |
| Transmissive | Indicates that a noun was brought into existence or fashioned for the direct benefit or detriment of another party (use the EFE/4 or EFE/6 affixes to specify which), e.g., "handicap spots", "embargoes on China", "the student handbook". |
| Deferential | Indicates something that is performed out of deference, honor, or respect for another entity, e.g., "a memorial for the dead", "He saluted in respect for the soldiers", "a cultural celebration". |
| Contrastive | Identifies a noun as opposed to another noun as a contrast, alternative, or substitute, e.g., "I'd rather stay home than go to school", "That diet soda is made of sucralose instead of sugar", "That's cinnamon, not nutmeg". |
| Transpositive | Indicates the substitution or replacement of one noun to another, e.g., "I swapped the diamond with a fake", "John gave the speech in place of Mary", "She cleaned the attic for John (so he wouldn't have to)". |
| Commutative | Identifies the noun the verb is being done in exchange for, e.g., "I paint murals for fame", "I inserted a quarter for a soda", "I paid the water bill". |
| Comparative | Identifies a noun as a standard for comparison to another noun, translatable as "...as opposed to X". Used alongside Level (explained later) to create measured (i.e., “than X”) comparisons. Examples include "I go to a private school as opposed to John", "She likes apples whereas I like oranges", and "That building is taller than that hill". |
| Considerative | Indicates that a verb’s validity is attributed to or being recounted from another source’s subjective opinion or knowledge, e.g., "He's not the brightest bulb in my opinion", "Mary has a strange illness, according to her doctor", "None of this is necessary, the way he sees it". |
Example of the Associative cases in use:
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Adverbial cases exclusively form adverbs that solely modify the verb of the clause, no matter where on the clause it is interposed.
| Functive | Identifies the manner in which the verb occurs, e.g., "He dances with grace / gracefully", "That child is speaking nonsense". |
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| Transformative | Identifies the outcome or final state of a process or transformation of the noun, e.g., "The leaves burned to ashes", "The stone was carved into a sculpture", "She worked herself to complete exhaustion". Usually used alongside Version. |
| Classificative | Identifies a noun as a basis for arranging, classifying, or counting or for describing an act through consecutively recurring increments of itself, e.g., "Arrange the boxes in columns", "Sort the balls by color", "It drove me crazy little by little (by littles)". |
| Resultative | Identifies an indirect result or consequence of the main verb, e.g., "Mary made several mistakes, resulting in a loss", "The school black market brought about several expulsions", "John has terrible posture, giving him back pain". |
| Consumptive | Identifies the resource consumed as a result or a concurrent part of a process, e.g., "I survived on soup cans", "He cooked with tomatoes", "Mary read by candlelight". |
| Concessive | Indicates a characteristic or circumstance that would lead one to expect a specific outcome that, in fact, does not occur, e.g., "In spite of backlash, the legislation passed", "Notwithstanding the evidence, the verdict came as innocent", "They may join the team regardless of background". |
| Aversive | Indicates a source of fear or undesirability, and consequently avoidance, e.g., "John hid from his angry father", "Let’s feign illness to skip school", "He refused treatment for fear of needles". |
| Conversive | Identifies an entity, condition, or state that obstructs a hypothetical or potential condition from complete realization, e.g., "You’d be dead if it weren’t for me", "All rodents are vermin excluding / except for chinchillas", "If it weren't for the pay, I would have quit". |
| Situative | Identifies a noun as the background context of a clause without implying a direct causative relationship between the noun and the clause at hand, e.g., "Because of my illness, I can't attend class", "Given your history, we can't offer you the position", "John is saddened by (the existence of) the rain". |
Example of the Adverbial cases in use:
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The Relational cases are an additional set of 8 exclusively adjectival cases that modify the immediately preceding formative.
| Pertinental | Indicates the topic or general subject pertaining to a verb or noun, e.g., "his political beliefs", "the scientific method", "a love song", "information about John". |
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| Descriptive | Identifies a noun as being used to adjectivally describe the tangible or abstract qualities of another noun, e.g., "the red ball", "some easy tasks", "hidden treasure". |
| Correlative | Implies a mutually correlative or reciprocal relationship or association between two formatives, e.g., "violence and art", "career goals", "the goddess of water". |
| Compositive | Identifies a noun as the tangible or abstract material another formative is composed of, e.g., "a marble statue", "a web of lies", "a series of facts". |
| Comitative | Identifies a formative that accompanies another formative on an action. The specific manner of accompaniment is specified with the category of Valence; otherwise, it is assumed that the accompaniment is inactive as in "I walked with a loaf of bread (where the bread did nothing)" or "the woman with a phone (which she is not using)". |
| Utilitative | Identifies a formative that is being equipped or used by another formative, but in a manner unrelated to the main verb as opposed to the INSTRUMENTAL, e.g., "the woman with a phone (which she is using)", "the man wearing a hat", "the woman pushing a stroller". |
| Predicative | Identifies a formative as an existential dependency of another formative, e.g., "a reputation dependent on lies", "a library reliant on volunteers", "laws based in reason". |
| Relative | Consitutes a simple relative clause, translatable as “...that which does/is X”, as demonstrated in "an dog who is an architect", or "the man who swindles". The notion of relative clauses will be explained in Sec. 3.4.2. |
Example of the Relational cases in use:
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The Affinitive cases are an assortment of miscellaneous cases whose functions are not easily classifiable. By default, they modify the verb, but some select cases may be used adjectivally as well.
| Activative | Identifies the EXPERIENCER of a modal state. The notion of modality will be explained in Chapter 5. |
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| Assimilative | Constitutes an analogous or figurative comparison to characterize another formative, e.g., "Stop treating me like a toddler", "He can run as fast as a cheetah", "Treat her like a princess (though she's not one)". |
| Essive | Identifies the functional identity of a noun, e.g., "Address me as your superior", "Mary entered the club as an equal", "Treat her like a princess (because she is one)". |
| Terminative | Identifies a noun as the end goal of a state, action, or event, e.g., "I'm working out for my health", "He went on a walk to clear his mind", "a new project for the colonization of Mars". |
| Selective | Identifies iterating entities or recurrent time periods as in "I consult my therapist weekly", "Toss out every fifth bottle", or "Inspect every blue ball". |
| Conformative | Identifies an entity to which a verb or another entity is in conformance to, e.g., "As per standard etiquette, he kept his elbows off the table", "I drafted the workplace rules in conformance to OSHA regulations", "He can't eat certain foods pursuant to his religion". |
| Dependent | Consitutes a simple conditional clause, translatable as "depending on X", e.g., "I can attend the meeting depending on the weather". Dependent clauses' functionalities will be further explained in Chapter 7. |
| Vocative | Identifies the addressee(s), e.g., "John, come look at this". |
Example of the Affinitive cases in use:
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The first group of Spatiotemporal cases identify the spatiotemporal context(s) of formatives, though they incline more towards the spatial aspects thereof. By default, they are adverbial, or modify the verb of the clause.
| Locative | Identifies the location where something transpires or is situated, e.g., "John works at the pharmacy", "Talk to the man at the parlor". |
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| Attendant | Identifies an event that transpires in the vicinity of another entity, such that said entity undergoes a potential change in state or behavior which must be inferred, translatable approximately as "in the presence of X". Said "potential change" can be as inconsequential as merely witnessing an event, e.g., "I took the test in the presence of the proctor". Further, more extreme examples include "The fire started in my presence (causing me to try to put it out, call for help, run, etc.)", "The valley flooded in the presence of the town (potentially resulting in its ruin)". |
| Allative | Identifies the location an entity is moving towards or approaching, e.g., "Let's head towards the forest". Note that the Allative only indicates direction; in no way does it necessarily imply that the declined location is the intended destination of movement (this would be marked with the Terminative). |
| Ablative | Identifies the location an entity is moving away from or receding, e.g., "Mary left the store". |
| Orientative | Identifies the "directional front" of a moving entity, e.g., "He crawled backwards", "We dived into the pool headfirst", "The bus veered to the side". |
| Interrelative | Identifies an entity whose location is being used as a point of reference to describe another formative’s location or orientation relative to said entity, e.g, "It's situated around 100 miles from the house", "Walk just north of that building". When used temporally, it is used as a point of reference to describe the length of time of the elapsed time between the transpiration of another formative and the declined entity, e.g., "Tell me when the show will start relative to my arrival". |
| Intrative | Identifies a boundary of a volume of space or time, translatable as “no further than X / up until X / between X1 and X2”, e.g., "The backyard goes up to that fence", "Walk in between (i.e., no further than) this line and that line", "The mall's open from 9AM to 12 PM". |
| Navigative | Identifies the entity that another formatives travels through or along the “long axis” of (e.g., along a river as opposed to across one), as in "The ball flew across the park" and "The ants marched along the bough". |
Examples of the Spatiotemporal cases (Set I) in use:
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The second group of Spatiotemporal cases also identify the spatiotemporal context(s) of formatives, though they incline more towards the temporal aspects thereof. By default, they are adverbial, or modify the verb of the clause.
| Concursive | Identifies the time or event in which a verb transpires, e.g., "I went home during the lecture", "John starts working on Saturday". |
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| Assessive | Identifies an increment of time or quantity by which a contextual ratio of measurement is created, e.g., "My salary is $15 per hour", "I get seven hours of sleep a day", "The limit is two requests per minute". |
| Periodic | Identifies a time window within which multiple iterations or phases of an event happen, e.g., "She’s been playing violin all day (periodically; in fragments)", "I’ve been writing a book over the past few months". |
| Prolapsive | Identifies the full duration of a verb, e.g., "She’s been playing violin all day (without stopping)", "I stayed inside during the (full duration of) storm". |
| Precursive | Indicates that a noun is a point in time prior to which a verb occurs, e.g., "I waited for the night before Christmas", "I reviewed my notes one final time before the exam". |
| Postcursive | Indicates that a noun is a point in time after which a verb occurs, e.g., "My life after childhood has been somewhat rough", "Quite a while has passed since the war". |
| Elapsive | Identifies a temporal distance between now and the event, i.e. how much time has passed since, or will pass until, the verb transpires. The direction of the time (past vs. future) can be clarified by Aspect (which will be explained later) or the TPP affix, e.g., "Twenty years from now, you won’t care about any of this", "John left two hours ago", "I’ll be arriving in three months". |
| Limitative | Identifies the limit or boundary time by which something must or will happen, e.g., "Come home by dinner", "The bus should be here within an hour". |
Example of the Spatiotemporal cases (Set II) in use:
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(CC + VV) + CR + VR + (CSVX ...) + CA + (VXCS ...) + (VNCN) + (VC / VK) + [stress]
| Case | ||
|---|---|---|
| THM = Thematic INS = Instrumental ABS = Absolutive AFF = Affective STM = Stimulative EFF = Effectuative ERG = Ergative DAT = Dative IND = Inducive POS = Possessive PRP = Proprietive GEN = Genitive ATT = Attributive PDC = Productive ITP = Interpretative OGN = Originative IDP = Interdependent PAR = Partitive APL = Applicative PUR = Purposive TRA = Transmissive DFR = Deferential CRS = Contrastive |
TSP = Transpositive CMM = Commutative CMP = Comparative CSD = Considerative FUN = Functive TFM = Transformative CLA = Classificative RSL = Resultative CSM = Consumptive CON = Concessive AVR = Aversive CVS = Conversive SIT = Situative PRN = Pertinental DSP = Descriptive COR = Correlative CPS = Compositive COM = Comitative UTL = Utilitative PRD = Predicative RLT = Relative ACT = Activative |
ASI = Assimilative ESS = Essive TRM = Terminative SEL = Selective CFM = Conformative DEP = Dependent VOC = Vocative LOC = Locative ATD = Attendant ALL = Allative ABL = Ablative ORI = Orientative IRL = Interrelative INV = Intrative NAV = Navigative CNR = Concursive ASS = Assessive PER = Periodic PRO = Prolapsive PCV = Precursive PCR = Postcursive ELP = Elapsive PLM = Prolimitive |
| Case | ||||||||||
| THM | a | PAR | ui | CVS | öa | VOC | u'i | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INS | ä | APL | ia/uä | SIT | oa | LOC | i'a | |||
| ABS | e | PUR | ie/uë | PRN | a'a | ATD | i'e | |||
| AFF | i | TRA | io/üä | DSP | ä'ä | ALL | i'o | |||
| STM | ëi | DFR | iö/üë | COR | e'e | ABL | i'ö | |||
| EFF | ö | CRS | eë | CPS | i'i | ORI | e'ë | |||
| ERG | o | TSP | uö/öë | COM | ë'i | IRL | u'ö | |||
| DAT | ü | CMM | uo/öä | UTL | ö'ö | INV | u'o | |||
| IND | u | CMP | ue/ië | PRD | o'o | NAV | u'a | |||
| POS | ai | CSD | ua/iä | RLT | u'u | CNR | a'o | |||
| PRP | au | FUN | ao | ACT | a'i | ASS | a'ö | |||
| GEN | ei | TFM | aö | ASI | a'u | PER | e'o | |||
| ATT | eu | CLA | eo | ESS | e'i | PRO | e'ö | |||
| PDC | ëu | RSL | eö | TRM | e'u | PCV | o'ë | |||
| ITP | ou | CSM | oë | SEL | ë'u | PCR | ö'e | |||
| OGN | oi | CON | öe | CFM | o'u | ELP | o'e | |||
| IDP | iu | AVS | oe | DEP | o'i | PLM | o'a | |||
The functionalities of Case can be expanded with the use of Case-Stacking affixes, Case-Accessor affixes, and Case-Scope.
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Sometimes, two cases will have to be "stacked" upon one another, as in the example, "I jog every day except during an illness", where both the CVS and CNR cases must be used on the same formative. This can be achieved using a Case-Stacking affix in Slot VII. An example has been produced below.
The CS slot for Case-Stacking affixes are -lw for the first 4 sets of cases (Transrelative, Appositive, Associative, Adverbial) and -ly for the next 4. As for the VX slots, all cases retain their original vowel-forms as if they were still in Slot IX, though without any glottal stops.
So, for example, the Vocative Case-Stacking affix would be -uily-, as its default Slot IX form is -u'i and its CS value corresponds to -ly.
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Case-Accessor affixes and Inverse Case-Accessors identify an implicit party in a case-relationship.
For example, the root-stem "construct" alongside the Instrumental case-accessor would mean "the instrument via which construction happens", or with a Type-2 affix, "construction tools". Conversely, the inverse Instrumental case-accessor would specify the other half of the Transrelative case-relationship, meaning "that which happens via construction (as a tool)".
Note that in both cases, the specific instrument or "happening" manifested must be inferred by the speaker based on the established context.
Examples of Case-Accessor Affixes in use:
Unlike traditional affixes, the Type of a particular Case-Accessor affix is determined by its CS value instead of the VX slot. Otherwise, Case-Accessor affixes are constructed identically in fashion to Case-Stacking affixes. A full list of all Case-Accessor affixes, their functions, and corresponding CS values are provided on the official website.
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In verbs, Slot IX designates the grammatical category of Illocution and Validation, whose functionalities will be explained below.
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Illocution is a verbal grammatical category that indicates the "speech-act" the speaker commits with a statement.
| Assertive | The statement is a simple proposition about the world that either be believed or disbelieved, e.g., "Gravity is ubiquitous", "John arrived an hour ago", "Juggling is an impressive skill". |
|---|---|
| Directive | Equivalent to an imperative command, as in "Take your shoes off". Much like in English, the speaker does not need to include the addressee in the statement. |
| Declarative | The statement’s utterance causes a change within the current state of worldly affairs, e.g., "Class is (hereby) dismissed", "I (hereby) pronounce you husband and wife", "You are (hereby) fired". |
| Interrogative | Equivalent to a "what" (what/when/where/who/why/how) question in English. The "what" word in particular should be marked with the PTN affix; if not, it must be inferred. |
| Verificative | Equivalent to a yes/no question in English, e.g., "You are home" -> "Are you home?". |
| Admonitive | Provides a warning to the addressee as in "Careful, there's a spider in your hair". |
| Potentiative | Conveys a desired, potential state of affairs, e.g., "Hopefully tomorrow's a better day". |
| Hortative | Conveys a desired but impossible state of affairs, e.g., "If only I had a million dollars". |
| Conjectural | Identical to an "if" statement; can be continued with a follow-up "then" statement with the SQC/6 affix. |
Examples of Illocution in use:
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Validation specifies the type of evidence that supports an Assertive statement.
| Observational | The statement is based on present sensory knowledge or experience. |
|---|---|
| Recollective | The statement is based on past sensory knowledge or experience. |
| Purportive | The statement is based on the testimony of a questionably reliable third–party. |
| Reportive | The statement is based on the testimony of a definitively reliable third–party. |
| Unspecified | There is no evidential basis. |
| Imaginary | The statement is unreal, being based on impulse, imagination, comedic effect, or information from an altered mental state (e.g., dreams, intoxication, or hallucinations). |
| Conventional | The statement is based on collectively (i.e. interpersonally or culturally) agreed upon knowledge. |
| Intuitive | The statement is based on intuition based on a hunch, gut feeling, weak evidence, or correlation from past experiences. |
| Inferential | The statement is based on inference from strong evidence. |
Examples of Validation in use:
The Conformative case may additionally be used to mark the specific source of evidence of a Purportive or Reportive statement.
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(CC + VV) + CR + VR + (CSVX ...) + CA + (VXCS ...) + (VNCN) + (VC / VK) + [stress]
| Illocution | ||
|---|---|---|
| ASR = Assertive DIR = Directive DEC = Declarative |
IRG = Interrogative VER = Verificative ADM = Admonitive |
POT = Potentiative HOR = Hortative CNJ = Conjectural |
| Validation | ||
|---|---|---|
| OBS = Observational REC = Recollective PUP = Purportive |
RPR = Reportive USP = Unspecified IMA = Imaginary |
CVN = Conventional ITU = Intuitive INF = Inferential |
| Illocution + Validation | ||||||||
| ASR - OBS | DIR | DEC | IRG | VER | ADM | POT | HOR | CNJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ai | au | ei | eu | ou | oi | iu | ui | |
| DIR | DEC | IRG | VER | ADM | POT | HOR | CNJ | |
| a | ai | au | ei | eu | ou | oi | iu | ui |
Close to all languages have a system known as subordination, or the hierarchal embedment of sentences within one another. There are two main types of subordination in Ithkuil, which will be described below.
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Adverbial clauses, in English, are clauses (sentences) embedded within an independent clause that are treated identically to an adverb (i.e., describe how or why the verb happened), as in, "She didn't go to the hospital even though she was injured". The manner in which the dependent clause modifies the independent clause is indicated with a preceding subordinating conjunction, which in this case, is "even though".
Ithkuilic adverbial clauses are simple to construct. The beginning of the dependent clause (i.e., the one with the conjunction) is indicated by putting stress on the third-to-last syllable of its verb (i.e., "framing" it). Its Slot IX value then takes on a case, instead of Validation, which represents the appropriate subordinating conjunction (because syntactically, the clause has been reduced to an adverb, and is thus equivalent to a formative). The end of a clause can be indicated with a TPF/1 affix on its final word. For example:
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Relative clauses, as opposed to adverbial clauses, are adjectival in nature, meaning they modify a noun instead of the verb, as in "The man who is a shoemaker sees a bird".
Relative clauses are different from adverbial clauses in that they require the omitting of the relative "head", or the noun being described, from the dependent clause. For example, the relative clause for "The man who is a shoemaker sees a bird" is "The man who makes shoes", but because it would be redundant to specify "the man" twice, it is deleted from the dependent clause.
There are two ways to make a relative clause in Ithkuil. If the cases of the relative head between the two clauses are the same, e.g., "I was treated by a dentist[-ERG]" and "A dentist[-ERG] who eats candies," then a simple relative clause with a RELATIVE framed verb will suffice, as shown below:
...where the head is deleted from the dependent clause.
However, if the cases happen to be different, as in "The man[-AFF] sees a bird" and "The man[-THM] who is a shoemaker", then the relative clause will have to be elevated to a noun participant in and of itself in order to express both Transrelative cases.
To do this, the relative head is excised from the independent clause instead of the dependent one, and the head in the dependent clause is marked with the TPF/3 (or 2) affix. Afterwards, the Slot IX value of the framed verb will take on the deleted head's transrelative case. This process is exemplified below:
1) Identify the two clauses.
2) Frame the verb of the relative clause. Delete the relative head from the independent clause and transfer its case to Slot IX of said verb. Append the TPF/3 (2 if the head is the final word of the clause) affix to the relative head.
3) Insert the relative clause in place of the deleted head.
...where the head is deleted from the independent clause.
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