Ælis/Topicalisation

    

    





Up to here, we have only spoken about the word-level of the language. On the sentence level, Ælis has a high rate of topicalisation or "function marking". What this means is that words themselves (lexically) indicate role they play in the sentence. In essence, this approach corresponds to languages that use a case system, like Latin or Russian. Most languages in existence mark grammatical case through inflection (i.e. modifying a part of a noun or adjective, usually with a suffix). But due to its analytic structure, Ælis cannot inflect. Instead, there is a set of root words that have the sole purpose of assigning a specific syntactic role to a word. It is almost as if every word in the sentence receives a preposition by default. 



Primary function markers

Perhaps the hardest trick is to adopt the way of thinking that Ælis syntax functions in. Rather than a subject-verb-object oriented syntax, Ælis bases its syntactic behaviour not in a grammatically predefined way, but on the semantics of the words themselves. This makes Ælis an active-stative language, specifically the Fluid-S subtype. Ælis has 4 primary function markers to assign roles, therefore it considers itself to have 4 word types. 

The topic



 Topic

hA {ha} The topic is <span style="font-weight:bold;color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">essive, meaning that it describes something that is or exists. Although topics can be eliptically omitted from a sentence, the topic is considered to be the main component of any sentence. It is possible to form sentences that only contain a topic:

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

<p style="margin-bottom:5em;">

The patient

<p style="height:2em;">

<div style="float:right;padding:1em 2em;margin:0em 0em 1em 2em;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0.5);text-align:center;color:hsl(40,100%,40%);border: solid 3px hsl(40,100%,40%);border-radius:25px;"> Patient

iA {ia} The patient is <span style="font-weight:bold;color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">passive, meaning that it describes something that undergoes or is affected. Topic-patient combinations usually express a passive state, or a situation. The topic is then the thing that occurs, the patient is the argument to whom/what it occurs. If you know any Latin, then it might be easy to understand the correlation between the Ælis formulation "topic:cat – patient:me" and the Latin formulation "Mihi (est) feles" (I have a cat - the cat belongs/corresponds to me).

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

<p style="flex: 0 1 auto;margin:1em;padding:1em;text-align:center;border: solid 1px silver;border-radius:25px;"> <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">hArEkdZZEFK <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">iA1mA {<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">hare'dzzef <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">ia'æma } <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">name Jeff occurs <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">to me My name is Jeff. <p style="flex: 0 1 auto;margin:1em;padding:1em;text-align:center;border: solid 1px silver;border-radius:25px;"> <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">hAaQ3rAaN2dA <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">iA3nI {<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">ha'aq'ira'an'eda <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">ia'ini } <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">big height occurs <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">to her She is tall. <p style="flex: 0 1 auto;margin:1em;padding:1em;text-align:center;border: solid 1px silver;border-radius:25px;"> <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">hAeLeAnA3rA <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">iA6tE {<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">ha'eleana'ira <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">ia'u&#815;æte } <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">good feeling occurs <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">to us We are happy / we feel good. <p style="flex: 0 1 auto;margin:1em;padding:1em;text-align:center;border: solid 1px silver;border-radius:25px;"> <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">hAeN8tE <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">iA2mA {<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">ha'en'u&#815;ite <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">ia'ema } <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">vision (of) them occurs <span style="color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">to you(s.) You see them. <p style="margin-bottom:5em;">

The agent

<p style="height:2em;">

<div style="float:right;padding:1em 2em;margin:0em 0em 1em 2em;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0.5);text-align:center;color:hsl(100,100%,30%);border: solid 3px hsl(100,100%,30%);border-radius:25px;"> Agent

lA {la} The agent is <span style="font-weight:bold;color:hsl(100,100%,30%);">active, meaning that it describes something that does or performs. If the topic describes a state or a situation, then the agent expresses who or what is at the cause. If the topic describes an action, then the agent is the argument that carries out the action.

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

<p style="margin-bottom:5em;">

The modifier

<p style="height:2em;">

<div style="float:right;padding:1em 2em;margin:0em 0em 1em 2em;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0.5);text-align:center;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);border: solid 3px hsl(200,100%,30%);border-radius:25px;"> Modifier

iR {ir} The modifier is all about expressing <span style="font-weight:bold;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);">modality. While the topic, patient and agent are closely connected to each other, the modifier provides context info that places the entire sentence in a certain perspective. The modifier's range is enormous: it can express grammatical tense, location, possibility, probability, intention, doubt and certainty, cause and effect, frequency, the instrumentalis case, and many others. Therefore, the first root word to follow the modifier marker iR {ir} also plays an important role, as it determines the type of modality that the modifier adds to the sentence. In short, the modifier is an umbrella category for any argument that is neither <span style="font-weight:bold;color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">essive, <span style="font-weight:bold;color:hsl(40,100%,40%);">passive nor <span style="font-weight:bold;color:hsl(100,100%,30%);">active. Let's have a look at the most prominent modifiers. Note that this list is not exhaustive.

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/><p style="margin-bottom:2em;">

Time

<p style="height:2em;">

<div style="float:right;padding:0.5em 1em;margin:0em 0em 0.5em 0.5em;text-align:center;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);border: solid 1px hsl(200,100%,30%);border-radius:25px;"> The time modifier is used to express grammatical tense. As we've seen that Ælis distinguishes 5 points in time, we could also say that Ælis has 5 tenses.

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

<p style="margin-bottom:5em;">

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

Place

<p style="height:2em;">

<div style="float:right;padding:0.5em 1em;margin:0em 0em 0.5em 0.5em;text-align:center;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);border: solid 1px hsl(200,100%,30%);border-radius:25px;"> The modifier of place can be used to describe locations. Also here, keep in mind what was said about the axes of space.

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

<p style="margin-bottom:5em;">

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

Cause

<p style="height:2em;">

<div style="float:right;padding:0.5em 1em;margin:0em 0em 0.5em 0.5em;text-align:center;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);border: solid 1px hsl(200,100%,30%);border-radius:25px;"> The modifier of cause expresses why things happen.

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

<p style="margin-bottom:5em;">

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

Consequence

<p style="height:2em;">

<div style="float:right;padding:0.5em 1em;margin:0em 0em 0.5em 0.5em;text-align:center;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);border: solid 1px hsl(200,100%,30%);border-radius:25px;"> Closely related to the modifier of cause is the one of consequence (or 'effect'). It expresses what the consequence of the utterance is, or what will result from it. It is also the modifier to be used to build if...then constructions, and it can also be used to express purpose or intention, the latter two of which Ælis understands to be the same thing (see example No.2):

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

<p style="margin-bottom:5em;">

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

Manner

<p style="height:2em;">

<div style="float:right;padding:0.5em 1em;margin:0em 0em 0.5em 0.5em;text-align:center;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);border: solid 1px hsl(200,100%,30%);border-radius:25px;"> The modifier of manner can be seen as an instrumentalis case, as it answers 'how' an action is done. The modifier of manner is also most closely related to our notion of the adverb.

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

<p style="margin:2em 0em;">A particular combination that the modifier iRaM {iram} can make, is with the root word  dI {di} which means "volition", followed by a qualifier. This creates the equivalent of the imperatives.

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

Adopting the model

<p style="height:2em;">

The grammatical and syntactical structures of our native language are rooted in our system so deeply that it might take some time to break away from it and start thinking in the Ælis structure. For this purpose, try to phrase any sentence as follows: <p style="display:flex;flex-flow: row wrap;justify-content:space-around;"><span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">The topic is given <span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(40,100%,35%);">to the patient <span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(100,100%,30%);">by the agent <span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);"> in a certain context

<p style="text-align:center;">-or-

<p style="display:flex;flex-flow: row wrap;justify-content:space-around;"><span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">The topic occurs <span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(40,100%,35%);">to the patient <span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(100,100%,30%);">because of the agent <span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);"> in a certain context

<p style="text-align:center;">-or-

<p style="display:flex;flex-flow: row wrap;justify-content:space-around;"><span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">The topic is <span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(40,100%,35%);">for the patient <span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(100,100%,30%);">provided by the agent <span style="margin:0.5em;color:hsl(200,100%,30%);"> in a certain context

A part of the trick consists in understanding that Ælis will mostly have a different amount of words than your source sentence, and that the pieces of information contained tend to be allocated differently. So, let's create some sentences in English, and see how Ælis would say it.

<p style="margin-bottom:5em;">

Free function markers

The primary function markers have a regulating function: they organize how individual words behave on the sentence level, and they therefore outrank the ordinary root words -including the node particles- in hierarchy. But the free function markers escape this hierarchy, hence the name. There are two free function markers, each with their own, unique function. <p style="margin-bottom:2em;">

The sentence bracket

<p style="height:2em;">

<div style="float:right;padding:1em 2em;margin:0em 0em 1em 2em;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0.5);text-align:center;color:hsl(280,100%,30%);border: solid 3px hsl(280,100%,30%);border-radius:25px;"> Sentence bracket

The sentence bracket wields the power to create subordinate clauses in Ælis. The bracket can be linked to one of the primary function markers or any other root word. Most importantly, however, it can also contain primary function markers. So the idea is to take a full sentence consisting of one or more primary functions, wrap it in a sentence bracket (the opening bracket {læ} in front and the closing bracket {iæ} at the end), and place this in a strategic location of a bigger sentence. Let's consider the following sentence:

Let's wrap it in a sentence bracket and leave it at that for the moment:

Now, let's have a look at a totally different sentence:

Finally, let's add a characteristic marker behind the name Maria, and attach our initial sentence behind it. This way, we'll embed our intial sentence as extra information that can be seen as an adjective that belongs to Maria:

<p style="margin-bottom:2em;">

<hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

The separator

<p style="height:2em;">

We have already spoken about the separator particle on the word level, but the root word tA {ta} can also function on the sentence level. We should first take a side-step and speak about what happens if one and the same word type appears more than once in a sentence. Consider the following example, which consists of a topic (red) and a patient (yellow):

If we add a second, for example, patient to the sentence (green), then the topic will apply to both of the patients equally:

If we decide to add another topic into the mix (blue), then all words will apply to each other equally:

<p style="margin:2em 0em;">As the Ælis word order is free, the construction topic-patient-patient-topic is perfectly viable. Any other word order would produce the same sentence without altering its meaning. This changes if a separator is placed between any two words: the separator breaks the links between any words on either side of it, de facto producing two separate sentences:

<p style="margin-bottom:5em;">

<p style="text-align:center;font-weight:bold;margin-bottom:1em;">Further reading

Main page Reading and writing Morphology Function marking Root word list and vocabulary