Ælis/Topicalisation

    

    





In spite of the "one word sentence" section of the previous page, we have still only spoken about the word-level of the language, but not the syntax. On the sentence level, word order is completely free for the speaker to choose. In order to allow this, 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. This approach is very similar to a languages that use a case system, like Latin or Russian. But there is a difference in a approach. While most languages mark cases through inflection (i.e. modifying a part of a noun or adjective, usually with a suffix), Ælis on the other hand, given the fact that it is a purely analytical language, cannot inflect. Instead, it has a set of root words that have the sole purpose of assigning a specific syntactic role to a word. Ælis distinguishes a total of 6 function markers, divided into 4 so-called "primary" or 'top-level' function markers, and 2 so-called "free" function markers. In the following paragraphs, we'll have a look at what they are, which roles they play, and how they interact with each other.

In general
While a language such as English distinguishes many syntactical roles for words (subject, direct object, indirect object, agent, predicate, verb (sub-divided into main verb, auxiliary verb and copula), adverb), Ælis only defines 4 roles or 4 word types. These word types are the topic, the agent, the patient, and the modifier.

This section will soon be expanded. 

Further reading

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