ansib, refusal

pasyan, lie

bisya, example

airuq, experience

mait, print

cah, roundness

 

The morphological structure of radicals follows a strict pattern, rather like a complex syllabary. Thus, non-Taneraic words are easily identifiable and almost impossible to assimilate.

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2. Noun Stems

[Work in progress]
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3. Articles

[Work in progress]
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4. Compound Nouns

Compound nouns (parathesis) are composed of a pair of radicals which may be said to be in apposition. Compound nouns are perhaps more common in Taneraic than in English; they are a useful way of building vocabulary, and may take prefixes and suffixes (parasynthesis) -- but not infixes; i.e., affixation may not take place between the first and second elements of the compound. Prefixes are attached to the first element and suffixes, to the second. (However, the desinences -at and -ten are rarely, if ever, added to a compound.) Unlike English, the gap between compounds is never closed, nor linked by a hyphen.

(a) (1) The subject or principal idea of the compound is placed first, followed by the object. (This is the opposite of the case in most English compounds.) Compounds function as a single morphological unit, acquiring lexical status:

 

banga xirar, clothes-horse (lit., trestle-[for]-clothes)

buta sejan, authenticity (lit., truth-[of]-creation)

niamo qasan, frugality (lit., modesty-[of]-economy)

pagan bibas, arm-rest (lit., lean-[for]-arm)

 

(2) Reversing compounds sometimes produces new words (cf., houseboat/boathouse):

 

daya daga, cased/boxed book

daga daya, bookcase

 

Rarely, reversal of compound elements results in no change, in which case usage will determine the favored form.

 

(3) Sometimes, the rule of principal idea first parallels English:

 

haulan vau, breakwater (lit., prevention-wave)

seuqir yuqanosiaris, cutthroat (lit., cut-neck-er)

 

Where English may waver, Taneraic is consistent:

 

jagan vairiaris, corkscrew (lit., pull-cork-er)

saban aurqa, waterfall (lit., fall-water-place)

 

(4) Compounds are often used where English uses the possessive case (or the formal genitive), to express figurative possession or what something is made of in a metaphoric sense:

 

aive ma, Mother's Day (lit., parents's day)

lebe laur, heart of gold (i.e., a human quality)

 

Gomayi aive would mean "motherly day"; the representation of a heart that was really made of gold is translated variously lauri lebet or lebet (yole) raiga ye/ama laura.

 

(b) Prefixes (also see Appendices.)

[Work in progress]
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5. Derived Nouns

(a) Taneraic [Work in progress]

(1) The desinence -at covers extensive linguistic territory; it may denote:

(a) a metaphoric corollary in non-compound radicals:

 

lauri lebet, golden heart

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6. Noun Classes, Classifiers & Agents

(a) Taneraic [Work in progress]

(1) The desinence -is denotes an existential agent in possession of the quality expressed by the radical:

 

nasuis, man or woman of wealth, a rich person

 

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7. Equivalent of the Gerund

[Work in progress]
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8. Cases

[Work in progress]

(a) The possessive in English expressions of time is rendered with the dative:

 

Bebes suli maniaunten. Jesat asendi yabvonji ven.

After a moment's silence. It was two hours' walk away.

 

Yos vagaruda bebes yabboumaraivei cyaur. Ayoi anaumasabanatti pouluni aigagasat.

We returned after three weeks' holiday. He was sentenced to ten years' jail.

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9. Gender

(a) There is no grammatical gender. A single word may be used to describe a species as a whole, but the gender of human beings or animals may be indicated, at the discretion of the writer of speaker, by the prefixes bu- (masc.) and go- (fem.):

 

ma, parent(s) buma, father goma, mother

yor, goat(s) buyor, billy-goat goyor, she-goat

nin, sheep bunin, ram gonin, ewe

den, cattle buden, bull goden, cow

toussa, dog(s) butoussa, dog gotoussa, bitch

cenga, fowl bucenga, cock gocenga, hen

 

The first list may be used for any of the words in the second or third lists (good style favors sparing use of gender markers). Context is often all that is needed:

 

Pasdesqovati, den mas sirnoyada.

The cow gave birth last night.

 

(b) There is no need to give the feminine form for professions. While it is possible to affix go- to the professional agent dar-, it is regarded as clumsy and extraneous, and is best avoided:

 

dargehan, author(ess) godargehan, authoress

dartiran, (lady) doctor godartiran, lady doctor

dariuziq, (male) nurse godariuziq, nurse

 

(c) Similarly, there is no need to distinguish the sexes in other walks of life:

 

tou, person butou, man gotou, woman

esnula, friend buesnula, male friend goyesnula, female friend

(but not boyfriend or girlfriend)

qancu, spouse* buqancu, husband* goqancu, wife*

tovun, child butovun, boy gotovun, girl

mayun, son or daughter: child butovun, son or boy gotovun, daughter or girl

mansenuscyis, patient bumansenuscyis male patient gomansensucyis, female patient

pauranatis, pupil bupauranatis, male pupil gopauranatis, female pupil

pouque, monarch bupouque, king gopouque, queen (in her own right,

not the wife of a king)

 

* Qancu refers to a romantic or sexual bond (or both) between two (or more) people, and does not specifically refer to marriage.

Again, the first list may be used for any of the words in the second or third lists.

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10. Number

(a) There is no grammatical number. Taneraic nouns, pronouns and adjectives have one form only. Unlike English, Taneraic does not sometimes form new meanings by placing words in the plural (cp, spectacle/spectacles; premise/premises, etc.). The number of beings or objects may be

(1) inferred from context:

(a) following numerals and co-efficients (see Numerals):

 

marnu sungá, a/one stone

canpou aiveya, thirty days

yabbou meinu srova, twenty-four birds

marnu (yab)uzo maya / (yab)uzo ma, (a set of) parents

marnu (yab)uzo dascyeya / (yab)uzo dascye, a pair of boots

 

(b) following certain indefinite adjectives or prepositions:*

 

meizoli toussa, several dogs

beqi srou, all birds (every bird)†

canzoli beiji, a few cats

jaqi vonja, each hour (every hour)

yazzoli puji tuca, a couple of weasels

yos cyaxa, both sides

yosi esnula, mutual friends

remí tuca, a lot/lots of mice†

manremí ujun, few cousins‡

 

* nuri, some/any (demonstrative adjective and partitive), can also be used as an indefinite article; in itself, it does not indicate number:

 

nuri nar, some/any money

nuri sarat, some/any/a coffee

nuri tuca, a mouse or some/any mice

nuri panpa, a lesson or some/any lessons

 

† all the birds is rendered by nuni beqi srou or beqati srou.

‡ so many mice is rendered by juni remí tuca; a few cousins is rendered by canzoli ujun.

 

Similarly, the other demonstrative adjectives may act as articles, which do not in themselves indicate number:

 

nuni tou, that person/those people

nunieni hasyan, this poem/these poems

 

(c) following pronouns:

 

Ava vayole esnula. Beqa an vayole esnula.

We are friends. All of us are friends.

Ni abu vayole lipoubeyaris? Ni yos abu vayole lipoubeyaris?

Are you a murderer? Are you both murderers?

 

(d) following vas verbs in the habituative:

Compare:

 

Ni buvas anbaxadi yecya? Ni buanbaxadi [nuni] yecya?

Do you collect stamps? Did you pick up the stamp[s]?

Vavas xirardi qoi visau. Vaxirardi qoi visau.

I use condoms or I use a condom. I used a condom.

 

(e) in equational sentences:

 

Bendih vayole sula. Nuni sula vayole bendih.

Roses are flowers or A rose is a flower. The flower is a rose or The flowers are roses.

Beden vayole pula. Nuni pula vayole beden.

Apples are fruit or An apple is a fruit. The fruit is an apple or The fruit are apples.

Abrab yoyole nar.

Time is money.

 

(f) in universally true statements:

 

zalas ninto, (the) stars in the sky

iyoh aher Saturna, the moon(s) of Saturn

 

(g) in attributive sentences:

 

Sula bendih (vas) mirtada. Tesouten vuiteinistada.

Roses are red. Silence is golden (lit., valuable)

Are(t) cyirda.

The door is green or The doors are green.

 

(2) plural in English but without number in Taneraic (see 1(a) above):

 

geseviaris, scissors

noussan, (a pair of) trousers

dascyesya, (a pair of) shoes

 

(3) denoted by the use of the general counter jame:

 

tou jame, people (in general)

pula beden jame, apples (in general)

beiji jame, animals (in general)

gavan jame, rivers (in general)

 

In each of the above examples, jame could be dropped; it is wise not to overuse jame.

 

(4) expressed through the use of the collective noun suffix -gara:

 

tovungara, (a group of) children (cf., tovun jame, children [in general])

toussagara, (a pack of) dogs

hasyangara, (a collection of) poems

 

(5) expressed through the use of the prefix denoting variety or multiplicity, ren-:

 

rensendeb, accommodation(s)

renauva, statistics

renurqeu, resource(s)

renlayi, grasses

 

(6) expressed through the use of the free-standing prefix denoting objects, saqir (or rensaqir):

 

saqir xirar, clothes, clothing

saqir bancyala, an antique or antiques

rensaqir yexa nasu, riches, treasure

rensaqir bancyala, antiques, antiquities

 

(7) rendered through the use of the plural "and" conjunction je in enumeration:

 

Gavan je gavansya airebidovatta.

Rivers and streams flooded.

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11. Numerals (Cardinals)

[Work in progress]
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12. Proper Nouns

[Work in progress]
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