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Name: Maiyal

Type: Agglutinative

Alignment: Split; predominately nominative-accusative

Head Direction: primarily Initial

Number of genders: 2

Declensions: Yes

Conjugations: Yes

Nouns declined
according to
Case Number
Definitiveness Gender
Verbs conjugated
according to
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect


Progress 50%



Setting[]

Spoken on an island group known to speakers as kuótasékwé ("where they jut up suddenly"), comprising one main island and numerous smaller islands. The island is dominated by temperate rainforests in the west and low, heathland hills in the east, with both giving way to muskeg in the north. A spine of tall, glaciated mountains of volcanic origin line the western coast.

General Information[]

Maiyal is a highly agglutinative language, with much information encoded in affixes.

Maiyal possesses four grammatical numbers (nuller, singular, plural, and infinitive), four grammatical persons (first, second, third, and fourth), and two grammatical genders (concrete and abstract).

Other than the only truly irregular verb (lun, "to be") and verbs derived from it, all other verbs are regular and conjugation comes from suffixes. Verbs are conjugated to match the number and person of the subject, and according to mood, tense, and aspect.

Nouns are declined into seven cases and four numbers.

Maiyal is generally SOV, except when a direct and/or indirect object is present, in which case it is SVO. Pro-drop generally occurs with subjects in the first, second, and fourth persons.


Gender Cases Numbers Tenses Persons Moods Voices Aspects
Verb No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Nouns Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Adjectives Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Numbers No No No No No No No No
Participles No No No No No No No No
Adverb No No No No No No No No
Pronouns Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No
Adpositions No No No No No No No No
Article No No No No No No No No
Particle No No No No No No No No


Phonology and Phonotactics[]

Romanization[]

Maiyal is romanized using the following alphabet. Note there is no distinction between majuscule and miniscule.

     a ä b d e é g h i k l hl m n o ó p r s t tl u v w x y ai au éó éu uó

Consonants[]

Voiced in Bold

Sounds in brackets are allophones, see notes below.

Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m (m) n (n) {ŋ}
Stop p (p) b (b) t (t) d (d) k (k) g (g)
Fricative s (s) ʃ (x) h (h)
Approximate w (w) ʋ (v) ɹ (r) j (y)
Lateral fricative {ɬ}
Lateral approximate l̥ (hl) l (l)
Affricate t͡ɬ (tl) {ʧ} {ʤ} {g͡ɣ}

1. [ŋ] is an allophone of /n/ when followed by a velar stop.

2. the voiceless lateral fricative [ɬ] is an allophone of /l̥/ occurring in the coda

3. [ʧ] is an allophone of /t/ when followed by /ɹ/

4. [ʤ] and [g͡ɣ] occur as realizations of the consonant clusters /dj/ and /gj/ respectively

Nasals, voiceless stops, fricatives, and [l] can be distinguished between short and long, but long consonants may only appear intervocalically.

Vowels[]

Front Near front Mid Back
Close i (i), (y) u (u)
Close-Mid e (é), (œ) o (ó)
Mid (ə)
Open-Mid ɛ (e) ɔ (o)
Open æ (ä) ɑ (a)

1. [ə] is an allophone of both /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ when they occur word-finally

2. [y] and [œ] occur only in the Fjordland dialect, replacing [eu] and [eo], respectively.

3. Maiyal contains following diphthongs: /ɑi/, /ɑu/, /eo/, /eu/, /uo/


Phonotactics[]

Maiyal’s maximal syllable structure is CCVCc, where c can only occur word-finally and only as part of the two consonant clusters allowed in that position. All consonants are allowed in the onset, and all consonants except approximates are allowed in the coda.

Onset
Consonant Consonant Vowel Clusters
voiceless stop voiced approximate V pr, tr, kr, pl, kl, py, ty, ky, pv, tv, kv, pw, tw, kw
voiced stop /w/ V bw, dw, gw
/s/ voiceless stop V sp, st, sk
/s/, /h/ voiced approximate V sw, sr, sv, sy, sl, hw, hr, hv, hy
nasal /j/, /w/ V my, mw, ny, nw
lateral /j/, /w/ V ly, hly, lw, hlw
/s/ nasal V sm, sn
Medially
All onsets, plus:
Vowel Consonant Consonant Vowel Cluster
V voiceless stop voiceless stop V pt, pk, tp, tk, kp, kt
V voiceless stop fricative V ps, ts, ks, px, tx, kx, ph, th, kh
V voiced stop voiced approximate V bw, dw, gw, by, dy, gy, br, dr, gr, bv, dv, gv, bl, dl, gl
V voiceless stop hl V phl, thl, khl
V [ʃ], [h] voiceless stop V xp, xt, xk, hp, ht, hk
V [ɬ] voiceless stop V hlp, hlt, hlk
V /l/ stop V lp, lt, lk, lb, ld, lg
V /l/ fricative V ls, lx, lh
V /l/ nasal V lm, ln
V nasal stop V mp, mb, nt, nd, nk, ng
V nasal fricative V ms, ns, mx, nx, mh, nh
V nasal approximate V mr, nr, ml, nl, mhl, nhl, mv, nv
V nasal tl V ntl
V /l/ /r/, /v/ V lr, lv
V nasal nasal V mn, nm
Word-finally
Vowel Consonant Consonant Cluster
V lateral approximate nasal lm, ln

Stress[]

In Maiyal, syllables are comprised of morae— units of length which determine where stress falls.

A syllable contains at least one mora. If the syllable is a bare simple vowel, or a single consonant with a simple vowel, or is composed of a single consonant, simple vowel, and a single consonant, the syllable is monomoraic.

Examples: ä, ka, lén

A diphthong is bimoraic. Thus, a single diphthong or a diphthong in syllables that would otherwise be monomoraic are bimoraic.

Examples: ai, léun

A consonant cluster or a long consonant also adds a mora. A long consonant lengthens the preceding syllable.

Examples: ské, anna (first syllable is bimoraic)

A syllable containing both a diphthong and a consonant cluster and/or followed by a long consonant is trimoraic.

Example: skéussa (first syllable is trimoraic)

Certain word-final syllables comprised only of a monomoraic vowel are called “half-morae” and alter the stress pattern of words with four or more syllables.

Example: téahié

Stress falls on syllables based on a moraic hierarchy: the more morae, the higher its priority for stress.

The only other hard rule for stress in Maiyal is stress can never fall on the final syllable.

Differences in sorting out words with no clear priority stress differentiate the dialects.

Two Syllables

All dialects stress the first syllable of two syllable words, as no dialect allows final stress.

Three or more syllables

If all syllables are monomoraic (ex. alélan)

Central Dialects

Stress falls on the penultimate syllable: a - LÉ- lan

Western Dialects

Stress falls on the second syllable: a - LÉ - lan

Northern Dialects

Stress falls on the first syllable: A - lé - lan

In all dialects, if there is one syllable with more morae than the others, it receives the stress, unless that syllable is the final one.


laiwalan: LAI - wa - lan

skéussulan: SKÉU - ssu - lan

ritéukwé: ri - TÉU- kwé

If the two syllables compete for stress (i.e., are both bimoraic or trimoraic), then stress is placed were that dialect would stress an all monomoraic word. (ex. augwélan)

Central Dialects

au - GWÉ - lan

Western Dialects

au - GWÉ - lan

Northern Dialect

AU - gwé - lan

Words of four or more syllables introduce secondary stresses. These secondary stresses similarly operate along the moraic hierarchy, which falls to dialectical preference if syllables compete for stress. A caveat is that stressed syllables cannot lie next to each other.

Examples:

Word Morae Central Dialect Stress Northern Dialect Stress Western Dialect Stress
kasuliya

poncho

1.1.1.1 [‘’ka.su.’li.ja] [‘ka.su.’’li.ja] [‘ka.su.’’li.ja]
kvälluhwetta

storm-surge

3.1.3.1 [‘’kʋæ.l:u.‘hwɛ.t:a] [‘kʋæ.l:u.‘’hwɛ.t:a] [’kʋæ.l:u.‘’hwɛ.t:a]
waimpótlasiéhl

it has been good to see you

2.1.1.1.1 [‘waim.po.’’t͡ɬa.si.eɬ] [‘waim.po.’’t͡ɬa.si.eɬ] [‘waim.po.’’t͡ɬa.si.eɬ]
liwainaskéusékas

they had peeled them

1.2.1.3.1.1 [li.’’wai.na.’skeu.se.kas] [li.’’wai.na.’skeu.se.kas] [li.’’wai.na.’skeu.se.kas]
wainéóhrévaxa

it has sprouted

2.2.2.1.1 [’’wai.neo.’hre.ʋa.xa] [’wai.neo.’’hre.ʋa.xa] [wai.’neo.hre.’’ʋa.xa]

When a word ends with a bare vowel, that syllable is considered ‘half-moraic’, and, as a result, the penultimate syllable becomes unaccentable the way the last syllable normally is. Thus, téahié “these years” is accented [te.‘a.hi.e] in the Central and Western dialects, instead of [te.a.‘hi.e]. In the Northern dialects, it remains [‘te.a.hi.e].

Phonological Processes[]

While allophonic variation in Maiyal is fairly uncommon, it contains some fairly common phonological processes, especially during word formation and compounding, noun declension, and verb conjugation.

Assimilation of Nasals[]

When nasals are to be followed by a stop or affricate, they assimilate to the following stop’s place of articulation.

Example:

wain progressive mood + pótli I see = waimpótli I have seen

Approximate Metathesis[]

In Maiyal, the nonlateral approximates y [j],r [ɹ], v [ʋ], and w [w] cannot occur in coda of a syllable. They can, however, form the second part of an onset consonant cluster with many of the other consonants in Maiyal. Therefore, when a situation arises where a syllable that would end with a nonlateral approximate with the following syllable beginning with a single consonant with which the approximate may form the second part of a consonant cluster, the two sounds metathesize.

laiw tree + la = lailwa

vuyé cloud becomes vulyé in the nominative infinitive rather than vuylé

Epenthetic Reduplication of Vowels[]

In the majority of cases where unacceptable consonant clusters occur, an epenthetic vowel is inserted. This vowel is a reduplication of the vowel from the previous syllable.

éss- over- + pwuhl throw = éssépwuhl to overshoot

When the previous vowel is a diphthong, the reduplicated vowel is the the first element of the diphthong.

téukw bone + tauxa field = téukwétauxa graveyard

Where there isn’t a previous vowel, the first vowel of the word is reduplicated.

dré plant becomes drélé in the infinitive.


Mutation of /i/ and /u/[]

Morphemes ending with /i/ or /u/ which contain a single consonant which can form a consonant cluster with approximates undergo a mutation to either /j/ or /w/, respectively, when combined with morphemes starting with vowels.

Examples:

The mandatory prefix for verbs is normally pu-, but when combined with a verb beginning with a vowel, such as isila “to kiss,” the /u/ morphs to /w/, and the verb form is pwisila.

The dubative prefix normally is éli-, but morphs to ély- when attached to a verb starting with a vowel. Thus, isila in the dubative forms élyisila.

e & o followed by another vowel[]

e and o cannot be followed by another vowel. When this would occur, the e or o is deleted.


Doubled Syllable Deletion[]

When two identical syllables occur in a row in the CV form and the C is one that can occur doubled, the first vowel is deleted.

Example:

hauna “shore” + 'naril “beside, along” = haunnaril

Long Approximates[]

When an approximate is inserted next to another approximate, the initial of the two is generally changed to a fricative or a nasal.

Doubled approximates tend to change the first to h.

Doubled Coda Metathesis[]

When two syllables with the same consonant in the coda occur, -V1CV2C, and that consonant is capable of being doubled, then metathesis occurs, yielding -V1C:V2

Example:

axka “the earth” => axka-n-an “on the earth” becomes axkanna instead.

Basic Grammar[]

Nouns[]

Gender[]

Nouns in Maiyal fall into one of two genders: concrete or abstract. Concrete nouns consist of things that can be experienced with any of the senses, interacted with, or otherwise experienced in the "real" world. Abstract nouns tend to describe emotions, thoughts, concepts, and other things considered to be experienced in the mind. Abstract nouns are considered uncountable, and therefore only exist in the singular, and cannot take determiners.

Number[]

Concrete nouns in Maiyal can exist in four numbers, the nuller, the singular, the plural, and the infinitive. The nuller is used for none of something, the singular for just one of something, the plural for a discrete quantity of something, and the infinitive for an infinite, uncountable, or uncounted quantity of something, and also the entirety of a specific quantity. While the distinction between the nuller and the other numbers is distinct, there is some leeway between the plural and the infinitive. The plural is always used when the exact number of something is known, while the infinitive is always used for all of something or for things seen as mass nouns, but for large quantities of things, it is up to the speaker to decide how countable the quantity is.

Determiners[]

Determiners in Maiyal are prefixes which attach to their noun.


Determiner Prefix Example: laika "leaf"
Definite (none) laiksa "none of the leaves"

laika "the leaf"

laikia "the leaves"

laikla "all leaves"

Indefinite ri- rilaiksa "not any leaves"

rilaika "a leaf"

rilaikia "some leaves"

rilaikla "any leaves"

Interrogative séa- séalaiksa "what leaves?"

séalaika "what leaf?"

séalaikia "what leaves?"

séalaikla "what leaves?"

Relative néa- néalaiksa "none of those leaves"

néalaika "that leaf"

néalaikia "those leaves"

néalaikla "all those leaves"

Demonstrative - Proximal téa- téalaiksa "none of these leaves"

téalaika "this leaf"

téalaikia "these leaves"

téalaikla "all of these leaves"

Demonstrative - Distal hléa- hléalaiksa "none of those leaves"

hléalaika "that leaf"

hléalaikia "those leaves"

hléalaikla "all those leaves"

Demonstrative - Invisible hóló- hólólaiksa "none of those leaves"

hólólaika "that leaf (out of sight)"

hólólaikia "those leaves"

hólólaikla "all those leaves"

More osa- osalaikia "more leaves"
Less enné- ennélaikia "less leaves"
Honorific punen- punenlaika "the honorable leaf"
Possessives:
Nuller
1st person su- sulaika "none of us' leaf"
2nd person wuó- wuólaika "none of you's leaf"
3rd person (personal)si-

(impersonal)xó-

silaika "nobody's leaf"

xólaika "nothing's leaf"

Singular
1st person né- nélaika "my leaf"
2nd person wó- wólaika "your leaf"
3rd person vi-

tal-

vilaika "his/her leaf"

tallaika "its leaf"

Plural
1st person nié- niélaika "our leaf"
2nd person kä- kälaika "your leaf"
3rd person vuó-

ta-

vuólaika "their leaf"

talaika "their leaf"

Infinitive
1st person iné- inélaika "all of us' leaf"
2nd person iwé- iwélaika "all of you's leaf"
3rd person lu-

exké-

lulaika "everybody's leaf"

exkélaika "everything's leaf"

Noun Cases[]

Maiyal has seven noun cases; four simple cases and three complex cases. The four simple cases are the Nominative, the Accusative, the Dative, and the Absolutive, while the three complex cases are the Genitive, the Locative, and the Essive.


Nominative[]

The nominative is used when a noun is the subject of a verb (with the exception of an abstract noun as the subject of an intransitive verb).

Number Formation Example laika "leaf"
Nuller insert -s- before final vowel laiksa
Singular doesn't change laika
Plural insert -i- before final vowel

in nouns with a vowel before final vowel or ending in a diphthong, -i- becomes -y-

laikia
Infinitive insert -l- before final vowel laikla

Accusative[]

The accusative is used when a noun is the direct object of a verb.

Number Formation Example laika "leaf"
Nuller insert -v- before final vowel laikva
Singular add -a, except in nouns ending in a or ä which take -ha laikaha
Plural insert -é- before final vowel

in nouns ending with é, i, or a diphthong, insert -éy-.

laikéa
Infinitive insert -h- before final vowel laikha

Dative[]

The dative is used when a noun is used as the indirect object of a verb.

Number Formation Example laika "leaf"
Nuller insert -ast- before final vowel laikasta
Singular insert -t- laikta
Plural insert -am- before final vowel laikama
Infinitive insert -atl- before final vowel laikatla

Absolutive[]

The absolutive is used when an abstract noun is the subject of an intransitive sentence. Because it is only applied to abstract nouns, it only exists in the singular.

Number Formation Examples ayai "love", nau "earliness"
Singular add -n

add -m to nouns ending in -au and -éu

ayain

naum

Complex Cases[]

The three complex cases are so called because they are composed of more than one part. Each of the three cases requires a postpositional suffix, and may optionally take positionitives, "fine-tuning" suffixes which serve to modify the postpositionals.

The Genitive indicates origin, composition, possession, and similar ideas, the Locative signifies a fixed spatial location, while the Essive indicates transition, movement, use, or temporal location.

They are all formed by suffixing, unlike the majority of the simple cases.

Nuller Singular Plural Infinitive
Genitive -k- -l- -ll- -t-
Locative -hl- -n- -nn- -y-
Essive -st- -s- -ss- -sk-

Each of the above cases then must take one of the following postpositional suffixes:


Postpositional meaning in genitive meaning in locative meaning in essive example laika "leaf" note
-an of (composition), of (possession) on, on top of, at, all over (something) as, while, during, at, for, in, around, within laikalan "of a leaf" laikanan "on the leaf, at the leaf" essive meanings temporal only
-ain origin outside of from, out from, coming from, away from, since laikalain "from the leaf" laikanain "outside of the leaf"
-aril off, off to the side of, beside, against, on (for fruit, etc), to hang from alongside, along laikanaril "against the leaf" laikasaril "along the leaf"
-és above across, over laikanés "above the leaf" laikasés "across the leaf"
-éun inside, in into, to, towards, to (transformation) laikanéun "inside the leaf" laikaséun "into the leaf"
-än before, in front of to pass before, to pass in front laikanän "in front of the leaf" Essive meanings spatial, never temporal
-uóm behind, beyond, past, after, in (mountains) to pass behind laikanuóm "behind the leaf"
-ós under, underneath, below to pass underneath laikanós "under the leaf"
-aura amid, in the middle of, between, in (water, etc) through, over (mountains) laikannaura "amid the leaves" laikasaura "through the leaf"
-ausa around around laikanausa "around the leaf" Essive meanings spatial
-in up up, up to laikanin "up the leaf"
-aux without (possession) without (the use of) laikalaux "without the leaf"
-éa with (possession) with, using, with the help of, because of, by the action of laikaséa "with the leaf, because of the leaf"
-éusa in the manner of, like, as laikaléusa "like a leaf, as a leaf, how a leaf would" used in similars like "snow falling like leaves."
-óla as (existential) laikasóla "as a leaf"

Verbs[]

Verbs in Maiyal are conjugated by prefixation for mood, tense, and aspect, and by suffixation to match their subject in person and number. There are four persons; the fully productive first, second, and third; and a fourth, used in certain impersonal expressions, whose use is limited to certain verbs.

Conjugations for Person/Number[]

Regular verbs fall into two categories, those ending with vowels and those ending with consonants. Each has its own set of endings.

Verbs Ending with Consonants Example akal "to burn"
Person Nuller Singular Plural Infinitive
1st -yi akalyi

"none of us burn"

-i akali

"I burn"

akaló

"we burn"

-éó akaléó

"We all burn, all of us burn"

2nd -yu akalyu

"none of you burn"

-u akalu

"you burn"

-ai akalai

"you burn"

-éu akaléu

"all of you burn"

3rd -ya akalya

"none of them burn"

-a akala

"he/she/it burns"

akalé

"they burn"

-uó akaluó

"all of them burn"

4th -éa akaléa

"it burns"

Verbs Ending with Vowels Example lahó "to use"
Person Nuller Singular Plural Infinitive
1st -yé lahóyé

"none of us use"

-né lahóné

"I use"

-nié lahónié

"we use"

-lé lahólé

"all of us use"

2nd -yu lahóyu

"none of you use"

-ku lahóku

"you use"

-sä lahósä

"you use"

-lu lahólu

"all of you use"

3rd -ya lahóya

"none of them use"

-xa lahóxa

"he/she/it uses"

-sé lahósé

"they use"

-la lahóla

"all of them use"

4th -sié *lahósié

"it uses"

There is only one truly irregular verb in Maiyal, lun "to be." All other irregular verbs are compound verbs containing lun.

lun "to be"
Person Nuller Singular Plural Infinitive
1st kil li lun kilun
2nd kil lu lun kilun
3rd kil la luna kilun
4th léa

Mood, Tense, and Aspect[]

Maiyal indicates mood, tense, and aspect through prefixation of the verb. There are nine moods, five tenses, and ten aspects in Maiyal. The affix in the order of the table below.

Form Prefix Example: isila "he/she/it kisses" Meaning
Mood
Indicative (none) isila "he kisses"
Negative ya-

y-*

yisila "she doesn't kiss"
Conditional il- ilisila "he would kiss"
Imperative va- vaïsilu "(you) kiss!"
Potential skä-

sk-*

skisila "she could kiss"
Obligatory äll- ällisila "he should kiss"
Mandatory pu-

pw-*

pwisila "she must kiss"
Hypothetical hlu-

hlw-*

hlwisila "he might kiss"
Dubatitive éli-

ély-*

élyisila "she kisses, supposedly"
Tense
Long past -li-

-l-*

lisila "she kissed (long ago)"
Near past -ni-

-n-*

nisila "he kissed (not long ago)"
Present (none) isila "she kisses"
Near future -ki-

-k-*

kisila "she will kiss (soon)"
Long future -wi-

-w-*

wisila "she will kiss (much later)"
Aspect
Habitual -tu-

-tw-*

twisila "she kisses habitually"
Continuous/Progressive -xil- xilisila "he is kissing"
Perfect -wain- wainisila "she has kissed"
Jussive -tléya- tléyaïsila "may he kiss"
Spontaneous -uól- uólisila "suddenly she kisses"
Negative Perfect -ó-

-óy- (before diphthongs)

óisila "she has kissed, but no longer does"
Continuative -is- isisila "he still kisses"
Defective -hox- hoxisila "she almost kisses"
Prospective -ihlé-

-ihlen- (before diphthong)

ihléisila "she is about to kiss"
Reciprocal -ank- ankisila "he kisses himself"


Mood

The indicative is used to report plain facts, as in English

The negative mood is used for negation.

The conditional is used when something would happen, except for a condition which prevents it from happening.

The imperative is used for issuing orders, etc., as it is in English, and in the first person singular means “i have to ____”.

The potential describes something that is possible, but hasn’t happened; akin to “could” and “to be able to” in English.

The obligatory conveys a sense of obligation about the action; akin to “should” in English.

The mandatory is similar to the obligatory but conveys a much stronger sense of obligation; akin to “must” in English.

The hypothetical is similar to the potential, but conveys a sense of doubt as to whether or not the action happened, happens, or will happen; akin to “might” in English.

The dubitative expresses the speaker’s doubt whether or not the action carried out in the verb actually happens. It is different from the hypothetical in that the speaker reports that the action actually happened, happens, or will happen, but the speaker doubts the authenticity of that information, whereas the hypothetical shows that the speaker is unsure whether it happened or not, or doesn’t have enough information or willingness to say that something actually happened or not.

Tense

The long past indicates something that happened or was happening long ago; while ordinarily anything that happened more than a week ago is expressed in the long past, it all depends on the context and timeframe.

The near past indicates something that happened or was happening not very long ago or just before the speaker speaks; as with the other tenses, the context determines just how near near is.

The present indicates something that happens or is happening at the moment the speaker speaks, or happened or will happen in a very small time frame from the present.

The near future expresses things that will happen or will be happening either immediately, or within a short timeframe, usually around a week, but it can vary.

The long future expresses things that will happen or will be happening a long time from the present; typically more than a week, but it varies with context.

Aspect

The habitual indicates things that happened, happen, or will happen frequently, regularly, or habitually. Similar to the imperfective tenses of Romance languages (such as the imparfait in French), it differs from them in that it never describes an event that was, is, or will be ongoing when something else happens; this is reserved for the continuous/progressive. It is also different in that it exists in all tenses.

The continuous/progressive describes things that were, are, or will be ongoing at the time the speaker speaks or something else happens.

The perfect is used to express something that had happened, has happened, or will have happened before the timeframe the speaker is speaking of, resulting in the state of things the speaker is describing.

The jussive expresses hope or wishful thinking; it is similar to constructions using “may” and the subjunctive in English (e.g., “May it be”), and also phrases like “i wish i could…”

The spontaneous aspect describes something that happened, happens, or will happen spontaneously, randomly, or very suddenly.

The negative perfect indicates an action that had happened, has happened, or will have happened (once or a few times), but no longer does, or is no longer relevant. When used with the habitual it means something that was habitual at one point in time no longer is.

The continuative indicates an action was, is, or will be persistent, rather than ongoing as in the continuous/progressive; it can suggest that the action failed, fails, or will fail, or has never succeeded.

The defective indicates that an action nearly succeeded, succeeds, or will succeed, but didn’t, doesn’t, or won’t, for whatever reason.

The prospective indicates that an action was, is, or will be imminent, planned, or otherwise about to happen. In the present tense, this aspect overlaps significantly with the near future indicative, and the latter is much more common in speech. However, the prospective present can be used for precision to mean an action is planned or to happen very soon, as the near future indicative doesn’t necessarily suggest imminence.

Notes

Many combinations of aspects are possible, and sometimes they have a more specialized meaning than the mere sum of their parts:

The habitual can be combined with the negative perfect to mean something akin to “for a while it is true that ____ but it no longer is,” eliminating the perfect from the negative perfect.

The continuative and defective combined mean something akin to “someone does something still but still fails at doing so”

The continuous/progressive never combines with the following: habitual, perfect, negative perfect (except in the past tense), continuative, defective.

The prospective is most often used in past tenses, since the close future tense means more or less the same thing as the prospective in the present and is much more common.

The conditional is also used with phrases introduced with “sometimes.”

Dictionary[]


No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name


Example text[]


No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name
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