Proto-Taspin

Proto-Taspin is the language of the south east lands in Bidunia. This is the most ancient classical language of the people who first migrated into the area.

Classification and Dialects
This language diverged into several dialects that became their own languages.

Active
There is no marking on verbs for the active voice. Transitive verbs and intransitive ones stay intransitive.

 E.g. 

Thet'epintan      so          t'orii

PRES-IPFV-live 1.sg-ABS house-LOC

I live in a house

 E.g. 

P'iphip'annu            se             phuŋau           tho

REC-PFV-ask-NEG 1.sg-ERG question-ACC 2.sg-DAT

I didn't just ask you a question

Passive
The passive construction is marked by the suffix "wi" on the verb. Like many passives, it takes the ACC and makes it the ABS. The original ERG argument can be left off or placed back in as an ABL. Intransitive verbs cannot be passivised. This construction is most useful for relative clauses, for only the ABS may be relativised.

E.g.

Aŋphak'ane se pik'u

PAST-PFV-see 1.SG-ERG tree-ACC

I saw a tree

Transformation:

Aŋphak'anewi pik'o sa

PAST-PFV-see-PASS tree-ABS 1.SG-ABL

A tree was seen by me

Causative
The causative is the only valency increasing construction in Proto-Taspin. It is the suffix "(i)k" attached to the verb. With an intransitive verb, the ABS becomes the ACC and the causer becomes the ERG. With a transitive verb, the ACC stays the ACC, but the ERG gets demoted to DAT and the causer becomes the ERG. With a ditransitive verb,***************

E.g. 1 argument

Ert'et'isi tho

PRES-IPFV-run 2.SG-ABS

you are running

Transformation:

Ert'et'isik' sopoe thu

PRES-IPFV-run-CAUS 1.PL-ERG 2.SG-ACC

I made you run

E.g. 2 arguments

Thesek'ane se nurarumu

PRES-INCEP-see 1.SG-ERG light-PROX-ACC

I'm starting to see the light

Transformation:

Thesek'anek' se nurarumu tho

PRES-INCEP-see-CAUS 2.SG-ERG light-PROX-ACC 2.SG-DAT

I'm making you start to see the light

Antipassive
This construction is used exclusively for the relative clause formation. It does not make any sense to use this construction outside of them because they are semantically equivalent. It also has SVO order. When going from ACT to ANTIP with a transitive verb, the suffix "mar" is added to the verb, the ERG becomes ABS, and the ACC becomes INSTR. For intransititve verbs, just add the suffix and flip the order. When this clause is used, the beginning clause usually needs to be passivised in order for the ABS to be the subject of both clauses. Auxilliary stuff (like ABL, DAT, INSTR) are usually placed before the Rel clause, but may go after too.

 E.g. 2 arguments: 

Ert'ephaja k'ate ŋesu

PRES-IPFV-drink person-ERG water-ACC

A person drinks water

Transformation:

K'ato ert'ephajamar ŋesaj

person-ABS PRES-IPFV-drink-ANTIP water-INSTR

A person who drinks water

 Application: 

K'awasiriwi sa k'ato aŋt'aphajamar ŋesaj

PAST-DUR-love-PASS 1.SG-ABL person-ABS PAST-IPFV-drink-ANTIP water-INSTR

For a while, I loved a person who drank water