This chapter will cover advanced word and sentence formations in Ithkuil.
Version, Function, and Context are additional grammatical categories that affect the overall interpretation of the root-stem.
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Version indicates whether a process is oriented towards a final end–state or not. Though it is mostly used on verbs, it may be used on nouns as well.
If the reader wishes to indicate whether a Completive process succeeded in reaching the desired end-state or not, then the SCS/4 and SCS/8 affixes may be used.
The Transformative case may be used to identify the specific end-state the process is oriented towards:
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Function is a two–way distinction as to whether a processual formative is being referred to as a static state of being, where changes, if any, are irrelevant, or as a dynamic process, where changes therein are important to the speaker’s meaning.
If this explanation is unclear, a comparison to English may be helpful. Consider the word “meal” in the following two sentences:
| 1) | Are you going to eat your meal? |
| 2) | How is your meal? |
In sentence (1), “meal” is being referred to merely as a potential state of being to the addressee where any changes that may be undergone during the meal are irrelevant. However, in sentence (2), the speaker is directly referring to the ongoing, changing aspects of the formative in inquiring how the processual experience of the meal is affecting the addressee.
The two Functions are the Stative and the Dynamic. As shown in the above example, the Dynamic is used for formatives where changes therein are being emphasized by the speaker*, while the Stative is used when changes are not relevant.
Further examples of the Stative and Dynamic have been provided below.
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Context refers to how a formative is to be considered given prior conventional information.
| Existential | The formative should be considered literally. |
|---|---|
| Functional | The formative is to be considered as contextually significant in accordance with specific established interpersonal opinions or knowledge regarding the formative. For example, the word "cat" in the statement "There's a cat outside" would be in the Functional if the addressee or speaker were afraid of, allergic to, or looking for a lost cat, as those opinions or pieces of knowledge about the cat cause its presence to be contextually relevant. |
| Representational | The formative is a metaphor. |
| Amalgamative | The formative is to be profoundly considered philosophically and/or emotionally, taking in consideration the inner workings of the formative, its entire developmental history, alongside its greater purpose or reason for being within the broader context of the world. |
Examples of Context in use:
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Slot VIII, in verbs, concerns the verbal grammatical categories of Phase, Effect, Level, Valence, Aspect, and Mood.
Note that only one category amongst Phase, Effect, Level, Valence, and Aspect may be expressed at a time with Slot VIII. If multiple categories are to be expressed at once, or if any of these categories are to be expressed on a noun, then the PHS, EME, LVL, VAL, AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4 affixes may be utilized.
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Phase refers to the temporal patterns (or lack thereof) regarding the iteration, duration, and periodicity of how a singular act, condition, or event occurs. There are nine Phases, and the definitions of each (alongside a visual representation) have been provided below.
In verbs, it should be differentiated from Configuration in that it solely pertains to transient actions and events, or those that are contextually short (i.e., a few seconds at most) in nature.
| Punctual | Indicates that the action or event is singular, point-like, and instantaneous, as in "I felt a stab of pain" (as opposed to simply "I felt pain"). |
|---|---|
| • | |
| Iterative | Indicates that the action or event is rapidly iterative and instantaneous, e.g., the clicking of a pen, the tapping of a foot, or the ringing of an alarm. |
| • • • • • • • • • • • • | |
| Repetitive | Indicates that the action or event is rapidly iterative and not instantaneous, e.g., the honking of a car horn, the stepper-singing of an old printer, or the beeping of an office siren. |
| – – – – – – – – – – – – | |
| Intermittent | Indicates that the action or event is steadily iterative and instantaneous, e.g., slow footsteps, the dripping of a faucet, or the ticking of a clock. |
| • • • • • • • | |
| Recurrent | Indicates that the action or event is steadily iterative and not instantaneous, e.g., the hooting of an owl or the digging of soil. |
| – – – – – – – | |
| Frequentative | Indicates an iterative occurrence, or a group of punctual occurrences, which in turn repeats at intervals, e.g., the burst mode of an assault rifle, the repeated drillings of a jackhammer, or a recurrent trill in a musical solo. |
| • • • • • • • • • • • • | |
| Fragmentative | Indicates that the action is instantaneous and randomly patterned, e.g., the jingling of keys, the popping of popcorn, or the crashing of a falling shelf of plates. |
| • •• • • • • ••• • •• | |
| Vacillative | Indicates that the action is not instantaneous and randomly patterned, e.g., the blowing of wind during a cold night, the throbbing of abdominal pain, or the cries of a baby. |
| –- – -–– - – – – –- – | |
| Fluctuative | Indicates that the action is completely random in length and pattern, e.g., stuttering, the chirping of birds, a lighted fuse, etc. |
| • •–• – –– • •• – • – |
Examples of Phase in use:
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Effect was briefly covered in § 4.1, but they may also be appended to the main verb of the sentence, which is useful when the statement itself does not use an explicit referential.
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Valence specifies how two parties simultaneously engage in a verb. This is usually expressed with reciprocal pronouns and prepositions in English, e.g., “together”, “alongside each other”, “against one another”.
| Monoactive | No participation by the second party, if applicable, is implied. |
|---|---|
| Parallel | The involved parties are simultaneously engaging in an identical activity as the first party at the same time, but in a separate, non–consolidated manner, e.g., "We exercised in the yard (we followed the same workout routine)". |
| Corollary | The involved parties are simultaneously engaging in an identical activity as the first party at the same time, but in a separate, non–consolidated manner, e.g., "We exercised in the yard (we followed different workout routines)". |
| Reciprocal | The involved parties are simultaneously engaging in the same activity directed at one another, and vice versa, e.g., "He and I discussed the new movie". |
| Complementary | The involved parties are simultaneously engaging in different, complementary actions directed at one another, and vice versa, e.g., "My landlord spoke to me (while I listened)". |
| Duplicative | The following parties repeat (but not necessarily imitate) the first party’s action, e.g., "My little brother and I watched the movie (I watched first, then he did)", "The class played the game (person after person)". |
| Deomnstrative | The first party performs an action as a demonstration for the additional involved parties. |
| Contingent | The first party performs an activity, followed by the second party performing the next expected complementary step (determined by context), e.g., "I tossed the ball at John (and he caught it)", "I handed my teacher my test (and they graded it)", "John prepared a meal for Mary (and she ate it)". |
| Participative | The involved parties all engage in identical activities that make up a whole more than the sum of their parts, e.g., the sentence "They painted a mural" in the Participative transforms the statement into "They each took part in painting a mural". |
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Aspect is a grammatical category that denotes how a state/action/event unfolds over time in relation to a contextual “moment of reference”, which can be set using the TPP affix or an overarching RTR or PRS aspect, shown below.
| Retrospective | Indicates that X has taken place before the moment of reference, equivalent to the simple past tense. |
|---|---|
| With the Proximal extension, it indicates that the contextually relevant portion of X has ceased, but the rest of the X itself might still be ongoing. | |
| With the Agglomerative perspective, it indicates that X is completed, but the manner and time of its completion (i.e., its ending boundary) is uncertain. | |
| With the Nomic perspective, it indicates that X continued and will continue to occur / always be true after its transpiration. | |
| Prospective | Indicates that X will take place in the future in reference to moment of reference, equivalent to the simple future tense. |
| With the Proximal extension, it indicates that the contextually relevant portion of X has not yet begun, but X may already be going on. | |
| With the Nomic perspective, it indicates that X will persistently be true following its transpiration. |
These aspects set the “moment of reference” to either the past or future. This is similar to English, where combinations of tense and aspect can be made, e.g., "is X-ing (Progressive aspect)" + Future tense = "is going to".
The remaining 34 aspects, which conform to the set moment of reference, are as follows:
| Habitual | Indicates that X is a habitual or regularly repeating action over time, as in "I jog (habitually)". |
|---|---|
| Progressive | Indicates that X is in progress, as in "She is eating". |
| Imminent | Indicates that X is in the imminent future to its moment of reference, translatable as "about to X" as in "The bus is about to leave". |
| Precessive | Indicates that X is in the immediate past to its moment of reference, translatable as "just X-ed" as in "The bus just left". |
| Regulative | Indicates that an agent, enabler, or inducer (may be implicit) participates in a wider action, X, over a period of time extending from the past to the future, as in "I'm (engaged in) building a new website". |
| Summative | Indicates that X transpires earlier than expected, translatable as "X-ed already", as in "My brother has started his chores already". |
| Anticipatory | Indicates that X has not happened by the anticipated time, translatable as "yet to X", as in "Mary has yet to finish her homework". |
| Resumptive | Indicates that X is resuming after a short or inconsequential pause or interruption, as in "(After a short digression,) I went back to watching TV". |
| Cessative | Indicates the cessation, without any intention to continue, of X, as in "He stopped smiling" or "John quit practicing the otamatone". |
| Pausal | Indicates a temporary pause in X with the intention to continue, as in "They paused their tennis game (for a water break)". |
| Regressive | Indicates that X is resuming after a quasi–permanent or prolonged, consequential excursion, e.g., "My father went back to drinking (i.e., relapsed) after 4 months", "Mary began hiking again after her injuries healed", "I returned to scrapbooking after my exams". |
| Preclusive | Indicates that X happens wholly and uninterruptedly from beginning to end within one contextual segment, e.g., "He played all of Ravel's Miroirs in one sitting". |
| Continuative | Indicates that X is still transpiring, or if negated, no longer occurring, despite the opposite being expected by that point, translatable as "keep on / still X" or, when negated, "no longer X / not X anymore" e.g., "He’s still working on that project", "John no longer plays basketball (even though it was expected of him to continue)". |
| Incessative | Indicates X as being a singular event that continues without stopping, translatable as "X-ing on and on / away", e.g., "She talked the day away", "The hurricane rampaged on and on". |
| Experiential | Indicates X as occurring at least once within a specified span of time. By default, it assumes that this span of time is within the past, e.g., "Has he been to Paris before?", "He swears he won’t ever hurt you like that again", "They probably saw (at least once) bears while hiking". |
| Interruptive | Indicates X as being interrupted at the moment of reference, e.g., "We were interrupted while talking". Usually requires the interrupted party to be case-stacked with both the Absolutive case (to account for the interrupting) and the case in accordance to what they were doing prior to interruption. For example, "I was interrupted while watching a movie" would have "I" declined to the Affective and Absolutive. |
| Preemptive | Puts emphasis on the one-time or first-time nature of X, e.g., "Let me have a bite just this once", "John finally tried some Russian Anthill cake", "He admitted his faults for the first time". |
| Climactic | Puts emphasis upon the finality of X, e.g., "She smoked one last cigarette before quitting", "They settled their issues once and for all", "You have insulted me for the last time". |
| Dilatory | Indicates X as transpiring later than it was anticipated to, usually due to either deliberate delay or external hindrance, e.g., "It took me a while to complete my exam", "John took his time in finishing his final project", "After a long delay, Mary finally received an email". |
| Temporary | Indicates X as being applicable only for a temporary period following the moment of reference, e.g., "The makeshift sunroof should work for now", "I’ll have to write with my left hand for the time being", "At the moment, my supervisor is busy". |
| Expenditive | Indicates X as an all–consuming event that inhibits other events from happening, e.g., "John spends all his time worrying", "I exhausted myself studying for the exams", "He's pining away". |
| Limitative | Indicates X as transpiring at the last viable moment, e.g., "We barely caught the bus", "You applied for this just in time (otherwise, you would not be able to)". |
| Expeditive | Indicates X as being conducted hasty manner, e.g., "I hurriedly ate my dinner", "Mary left the house in a rush". |
| Protractive | Indicates that X occurs for a contextually or relatively long period of time, e.g., "It rained for quite a while". |
| With the Punctual phase, it conveys that X was long delayed, such as in "That slap to his face was a long time coming". | |
| Preparatory | Indicates that a X is done in anticipation or preparation for a potential later situation, such as in "Mop the floor in preparation (for something)". The Transmissive case can be used to specify what X is in preparation for, e.g., "Set the tables for the party". |
| Disclusive | Indicates that X is revelatory, i.e., previously unknown or unexpected to the involved parties prior to the moment of reference, e.g., "It turns out that the gopher ate the carrots", "It was revealed that they perpetrated the heist". |
| Conclusive | Indicates that X is the outcome, i.e., local result, of immediate past actions, events, or circumstances, e.g., "I ended up totaling the car (due to being intoxicated, losing focus, etc.)", "(She stayed up late until) she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer". |
| Culminative | Expresses the eventual, long–term result of extended developments, changes, or progressions, e.g, "All in all, I came to leave town", "The situation escalated to the point where the mayor got involved", "John finally made peace with himself". |
| Intermediative | Indicates that X occurs somewhere within another time span or process, with the exact moment of transpiration being either unknown or irrelevant, e.g., "Somewhere along the way, the prospectors got lost". The timespan in which is occurs can be specified with the Concursive case, as in "Sometime during November, he discovered the Ark of the Covenant". |
| Tardative | Indicates that X lessens in energy or intensity as it transpires, presumably due to the exhaustion of internal resources or energy, e.g., "I'm getting dreams less and less", "My productivity slowed as I got tired". |
| Transitional | Indicates that X is the initial, transitionary phase of adopting or accustoming to a new state or activity, e.g., "I'm taking up golfing", "You're slowly starting to see why it makes sense", "She's getting used to the new prosthetic". |
| Intercommutative | Indicates that X is a consequent reciprocation triggered by, or in reaction to, an initiating action or event, e.g., "I looked at her back (in response to her initial glance)". |
| Motive | Indicates that X is a departure from the current state of affairs or location, e.g., "We’re heading off (from this state) to go to Disneyland". |
| Sequential | Indicates X occurs repeatedly as a series seen as comprising a singular contextual event oriented toward exhaustion or completion, translatable sometimes as "X off" e.g., "I checked the boxes off", "The sheep died off (one by one) from the disease". |
Examples of Aspect in use (alongside Extension):
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(CC + VV) + CR + VR + (CSVX ...) + CA + (VXCS ...) + (VNCN) + (VC / VK) + [stress]
| Mood | ||
|---|---|---|
| FAC = Factual SUB = Subjunctive |
ASM = Assumptive SPC = Speculative |
COU = Counterfactive HYP = Hypothetical |
| Phase | Valence | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| PCT = Punctual ITR = Interative REP = Repetitive ITM = Intermittent RCT = Recurrent FRE = Frequentative FRG = Fragmentative VAC = Vacillative FLC = Fluctuative |
MNO = Monoactive PRL = Parallel CRO = Corollary RCP = Reciprocal CPL = Complementary DUP = Duplicative DEM = Demonstrative CNG = Contingent PTI = Participative |
1:BEN = Ben. to Speaker 2:BEN = Ben. to Addressee 3:BEN = Ben. to 3rd Party SLF:BEN = Ben. to Self 2:BEN = Unknown Effect SLF:DET = Det. to Self 3:DET = Det. to 3rd Party 2:DET = Det. to Addressee 1:DET = Det. to Speaker |
| Level | ||
|---|---|---|
| MIN = Minimal SBE = Subequative IFR = Inferior |
DFT = Deficient EQU = Equative SUR = Surpassive |
SPL = Superlative SPQ = Superequative MAX = Maximal |
| Aspect | ||
|---|---|---|
| RTR = Retrospective PRS = Prospective HAB = Habitual PRG = Progressive IMM = Imminent PCS = Precessative REG = Regulative SMM = Summative ATP = Anticipatory RSM = Resumptive CSS = Cessative PAU = Pausal |
RGR = Regressive PCL = Preclusive CNT = Continuative ICS = Incessative EXP = Experiential IRP = Interruptive PMP = Preemptive CLM = Climactic DLT = Dilatory TMP = Temporary XPD = Expenditive LIM = Limitative |
EPD = Expeditive PTC = Protractive PPR = Preparatory DCL = Disclusive CCL = Conclusive CUL = Culminative IMD = Intermediative TRD = Tardative TNS = Transitional ITC = Intercommutative MTV = Motive SQN = Sequential |
| Pattern I CN | ||||||||||
| Valence | Phase | Effect | Level | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MNO | - | PCT | ai | 1:BEN | ia/uä | MIN | ao | |||
| PRL | ä | ITR | au | 2:BEN | ie/uë | SBE | aö | |||
| CRO | e | REP | ei | 3:BEN | io/üä | IFR | eo | |||
| RCP | i | ITM | eu | SLF:BEN | iö/üë | DFT | eö | |||
| CPL | ëi | RCT | ëu | UNK | eë | EQU | oë | |||
| DUP | ö | FRE | ou | SLF:DET | uö/öë | SUR | öe | |||
| DEM | o | FRG | oi | 3:DET | uo/öä | SPL | oe | |||
| CNG | ü | VAC | iu | 2:DET | ue/ië | SPQ | öa | |||
| PTI | u | FLC | ui | 1:DET | ua/iä | MAX | oa | |||
| Pattern II CN | ||||||||||
| Aspect | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTR | a | RSM | ai | PMP | ia/uä | DCL | ao | |||
| PRS | ä | CSS | au | CLM | ie/uë | CCL | aö | |||
| HAB | e | PAU | ei | DLT | io/üä | CUL | eo | |||
| PRG | i | RGR | eu | TMP | iö/üë | IMD | eö | |||
| IMM | ëi | PCL | ëu | XPD | eë | TRD | oë | |||
| PCS | ö | CNT | ou | LIM | uö/öë | TNS | öe | |||
| REG | o | ICS | oi | RPD | uo/öä | ITC | oe | |||
| SMM | ü | EXP | iu | PTC | ue/ië | MTV | öa | |||
| ATP | u | IRP | ui | PPR | ua/iä | SQN | oa | |||
Certain affixes in Ithkuil convey individual grammatical categories, which are Negation, Sanction, and Modality.
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Sanction is an optional grammatical category that marks verbs in the Assertive Illocution. It intends to state what role an utterance plays in a given discourse, e.g., if it is a neutral fact, personal opinion, counterargument, conjecture, assertion, etc.
| -gj | SNC: Sanction |
|---|---|
| 1 | Statement is a neutral, ontological fact not part of any discourse, e.g., "2 + 2 = 4". |
| 2 | Statement is a neutral, epistemic fact (e.g., based off of human knowledge instead of objective reality) not part of any discourse, e.g., "My name is John". |
| 3 | Statement is a rebuttable allegation expressing the speaker’s subjective belief, e.g., "The meaning to life is cookies", "Fear is the most detrimental emotion", "Mary looks pretty". |
| 4 | Statement is an assertion that should be believed to be true until sufficient counterevidence is given, e.g., "I infer that John left for work this morning", "Microplastics are detrimental to your health", "Aliens don't exist". |
| 5 | Statement is an epistemic refutation of a previous allegation or assertion. |
| 6 | Statement is an ontological refutation of a previous allegation or assertion. |
| 7 | Statement is a conjecture or hypothesis that is readily testable and verifiable, e.g., "I bet that I can do 50 curl-ups". |
| 8 | Statement is a conjecture or hypothesis that is not readily testable and verifiable, e.g., "I bet that school will be out tomorrow". |
| 9 | Statement is an conclusive presumption (ontological, epistemic, or subjective) not rationally debatable, e.g., "Hunger is caused by not consuming enough food". |
Examples of Sanction in use:
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Modality marks events that are (as of yet) unreal, alternative, or abstract versions of reality. Some examples have been provided below.
| 1) | You must come home at once (no coming home has occurred yet). |
| 2) | That girl can sing better than anyone (no singing has happened yet). |
| 3) | The woman decided to move to Puerto Octay (the "moving" is being referred to abstractly, as the focus is on the choice being made, not the relocation). |
Modal affixes are always placed in Slot VII. The subject of a modal state should be marked with the Activative case, and the modal predicate in the Abstract perspective and, if the event has not yet happened, in the Representative essence.
The six classes of modalities have been provided below. Note that Type-2 affixes may be used to "elevate" a modal state to be more permanent and strong (e.g., "hope for" + Type-2 = "dream for").
| -lz | DSD: Desiderative Modalities |
|---|---|
| 1 | Expresses a desire (want to / that X). |
| 2 | Expresses an aspiration (hope to / wish that; Type-2: dream/long for X). |
| 3 | Expresses a request (would like [to] / request [for] X). |
| 4 | Expresses a circumstantial and temporary inclination (feel like / be inclined to or up for X). |
| 5 | Expresses envy (covetous / envious of X). |
| 6 | Expresses a grudging agreement (acquiesce / assent to X; Type-2: deign to X). |
| 7 | Expresses disposition or lack of objection (be okay / open with X; Type-2: indifferent with X). |
| 8 | Expresses a personal preference (would rather that / prefer to X). |
| 9 | Expresses an exhortation (need one to X; Type-2: demand that X). |
| -ž | CPC: Capacitative Modalities |
|---|---|
| 1 | Indicates physical ability or capacity (can / be able to X). |
| 2 | Indicates circumstantial ability based on opportunity (can X [given the circumstances]). |
| 3 | Indicates potential or possibility (can / could X), e.g., "He can be really angry at times". |
| 4 | Indicates consented availability (can / could / offer to / put oneself forward to / volunteer to X). |
| 5 | Indicates ability from knowledge (can / be able to / knows how to X). |
| 6 | Indicates ability from external permission (can / am allowed to X). |
| 7 | Indicates given permission for an action (can / may / allow / permit / let one do X). |
| 8 | Indicates a proposition (suggest [that] / propose [that] / could X). |
| 9 | Indicates the exploitation of an opportunity or situation (capitalize on / take advantage of / make use of X). |
| -čp | DBV: Deliberative Modalities |
|---|---|
| 1 | Expresses continuous, unwavering dedication to achieving the final state of a process (devoted/going/committed to X). |
| 2 | Expresses an impression of an unknown state based on intuition or vague inference (feel like / think that X)*. Differs from the Intuitive validation in that more truth-focus is placed on the intuitive feeling itself than the actual statement at hand. |
| 3 | Expresses an unwavering belief (know that / think that X; Type-2: believe that X). |
| 4 | Expresses remembrance of an intended action not yet enacted at the moment of reference (remember to X). |
| 5 | Expresses consideration of a possible action (consider / think about X). |
| 6 | Expresses resignation to a future action, event, or state (resigned to X). |
| 7 | Expresses the overcoming of fear (dare to / build up the courage to X). |
| 8 | Expresses a decision to commence a state or action (choose to / decide to; Type-2: resolve to). |
| 9 | Expresses contribution (help in / assist with / aid in). |
| -fs | ATI: Anticipatory Modalities |
|---|---|
| 1 | Indicates an observed, adventitious characteristic tendency (seems to / tends to / be apt to X; Type-2: is known for / uniquely characterized by X–ing). |
| 2 | Indicates preparedness or readiness for a future act, state, or event (prepared for / ready to X). |
| 3 | Indicates verbal assurance or binding of a future act / state (promise to; Type-2: swear to X). |
| 4 | Indicates eagerness for a forthcoming event (look forward to / can’t wait for X). |
| 5 | Indicates availability regardless of inclination (available for / free to X). |
| 6 | Indicates a third–party expectation (expect that / anticipate that). |
| 7 | Indicates intention to commence a state, action, or event in the future (intend to / going to / shall / will X). |
| 8 | Indicates an internal conflict in carrying out an impending, forced decisive action (face / to be faced with / think hard on whether one should X). |
| 9 | Indicates an event that the subject is likely or expected to enact or undergo in the future based on intrinsic, permanent, or natural traits ([more] likely to / prone to X; Type-2: predisposed to X). |
| -lž | OBG: Obligatory Modalities |
|---|---|
| 1 | Indicates a necessity to carry out an action based on the direct consequences of not doing so (have to / need to / must X). |
| 2 | Indicates a moral or social obligation that does not necessarily need to be enacted for the enactors sake (should / have to / need to / ought to X). |
| 3 | Indicates a state or action as being ideal (be supposed to / would be best if X). |
| 4 | Indicates an action as required to be enacted in order to satiate the subject’s conscience, compulsions, curiosities, or desires, or otherwise alluring to the modal subject (have to / be compelled to X). |
| 5 | Indicates an ostensible prerequisite (have to do X [in order to do / get Y]). |
| 6 | Indicates agreement to fulfilling a particular, proposed role (agree to / will X). |
| 7 | Indicates temptation or a desire that the subject knows is harmful or unwise (be tempted to / allured to / seduced to X). |
| 8 | Indicates persuasion (be convinced to / persuaded to / coaxed to X). |
| 9 | Indicates strong projection or design for a subject to fulfill a future act, state, or event (destined to / fated to / preordained to X). |
The Aversive modalities act as "shortcut" versions of various negated modal states.
| -vč | AVS: Aversive Modalities |
|---|---|
| 1 | DBV/4 + NEG3/4 (forget to X) |
| 2 | ATI/1 + NEG3/4 (tend not to / shy away from X) |
| 3 | DBV/7 + NEG3/4 (fear to / couldn’t dare to / couldn’t bring himself to X) |
| 4 | DBV/9 + NEG3/4 (hinder / interfere with / inhibit X) |
| 5 | CPC/4 + NEG3/4 (prohibit / disallow X) |
| 6 | DBV/8 + NEG3/4 (choose not to / refrain from / abstain from X) |
| 7 | ATI/4 + NEG3/4 (dread / not look forward to X) |
| 8 | OBG/6 + NEG3/4 (be forced to / coerced to X) |
| 9 | DSD/8 + NEG3/4 (would rather not / prefer not to X) |
Note that if the subject of a modal state may have to be case-stacked if it is involved in the state in question:
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Syntax (regarding formatives) in Ithkuil was briefly addressed in various previous sections, but only to a cursory extent. This section will provide additional information on the syntactic conventions of Ithkuil and how it can affect the semantic meaning of a statement.
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Pragmatic role indicates what role newly given information plays in a given utterance.
For example, consider the phrase, “John broke the vase because he slipped”. If this phrase is in response to the question “What did John do?”, “John” would be the topic, as he is the subject of the conversation (i.e. what the addressee expects the speaker to talk about), while “broke the vase because he slipped” would be the comment, as it is new information.
There is an additional pragmatic role, which is the focus. This is what the speaker subjectively interprets as the most contextually noteworthy portion(s) of the comment. In the example given above, either the noun “vase” or subordinate clause “because he slipped”, or both, can be the focus.
Note that sometimes, the entire sentence can be the comment. For example, anything in response to the question “What just happened?” would not have a topic, as all conveyed information in a given response would be new.
Both Transrelative and Adverbial formatives can assume the focus in Ithkuil. However, only transrelative arguments can be the topic.
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The topic of a sentence is sentence–initial, while the focus(es) immediately precedes the main verb. For example:
Otherwise, if the entire sentence is the comment, then Transrelative arguments can be optionally ordered based on their case as follows: Ergative, Inducive, Effectuative, Stimulative, Absolutive, Affective, Dative, Instrumental, then Thematic.
Subordinate and relative clauses are mandatorily verb–initial. As such, if pragmatic roles are to be expressed, the TPF affix may be used to indicate them.
| -n | TD1: Topic, Frame, Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | [end of frame] |
| 2 | [end of head + relative head] |
| 3 | [relative head] |
| 4 | [sentence topic + relative head] |
| 5 | [sentence topic] |
| 6 | [sentence topic + end of frame] |
| 7 | [sentence focus + end of frame + relative head] |
| 8 | [sentence focus + end of frame] |
| 9 | [sentence focus] |