Ælis/Topicalisation

    

    

This page is currently under construction.





Up to here, we have only spoken about the word-level of the language. 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. 



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
<div style="float:right;padding:1em 2em;margin:0em 0em 2em 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.

<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
<div style="float:right;padding:1em 2em;margin:0em 0em 2em 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
<div style="float:right;padding:1em 2em;margin:0em 0em 2em 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;"/>

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.

<p style="margin-bottom:5em;"> <hr style="width:100%;visibility:hidden;"/>

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

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

The separator
<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