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<DIV align="center"><FONT color="#999999" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><STRONG>Ithkuil:
A Philosophical Design for a Hypothetical Language</STRONG></FONT><BR>
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<TD width="37%" valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch5a-verbs.html">5a
Verb Morphology </A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD width="27%" valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="assets/ithkuil-ch9-syntax.html">9
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<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-intro.html">Introduction</A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch5b-verbs-contd.html">5b
Verb Morphology (continued)</A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch10-lexicosemantics.html">10
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<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT size="2"></FONT><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch1-phonology.html">1
Phonology</A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch6-moreverbs.html">6
More Verb Morphology</A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch11-script.html">11
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<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch2-morphophonology.html">2
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<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch7a-affixes.html">7a
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<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch12-numbers.html">12
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<TD valign="top"><FONT size="2"> </FONT><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch3-morphology.html">3
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<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch7b-affixes-contd.html">7b
Using Affixes (continued) </A></FONT></FONT></TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-lexicon.html">The
Lexicon</A></FONT></FONT></TD>
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<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch4-case.html">4
Case Morphology </A></FONT> </TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch8-adjuncts.html">8
Adjuncts</A></FONT></TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ilaksh/Ilaksh_Intro.html" target="_blank">Revised Ithkuil: <FONT face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">I</FONT>laksh</A></FONT></TD>
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<H2 align="center"> </H2>
<H2 align="center">Chapter 9: Syntax</H2>
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<TABLE width="37%" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1">
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<TD width="280"><FONT size="2"><A href="ithkuil-ch9-syntax.htm#Sec9o1">9.1 Word Order</A></FONT></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><FONT size="2"><A href="ithkuil-ch9-syntax.htm#Sec9o2">9.2 Semantic Focus and Pragmatic Relations</A></FONT></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><FONT size="2"><A href="ithkuil-ch9-syntax.htm#Sec9o3">9.3 Morpho-Semantic Considerations</A></FONT></TD>
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<TR>
<TD height="17"><FONT size="2"><A href="ithkuil-ch9-syntax.htm#Sec9o4">9.4 The “Carrier”
Root</A></FONT></TD>
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<P align="justify"><BR>
Syntax refers to the rules for sequencing the order of words
within a phrase or sentence, including rules permitting more than one possible
sequential ordering of words. To understand the following discussion of Ithkuil
syntax it is necessary to have a cursory understanding of the notions of <EM>semantic
role</EM>, <EM>pragmatic role</EM>, and <EM>grammatical</EM> (or <EM>syntactical</EM>)
<EM>relations</EM>:</P>
<DIV align="justify">
<UL>
<LI><STRONG>Semantic role</STRONG>: This refers to the underlying semantic
function of a particular word, irrespective of overt morphological category.
We have already seen how Ithkuil marks its noun cases to reflect semantic
roles, not grammatical relations. Such roles include Agent, Patient, Experiencer,
Recipient, Instrument, etc., as previously explained in <A href="ithkuil-ch4-case.htm#Sec4o1">Section
4.1</A> et seq.<BR>
</LI>
<LI><STRONG>Pragmatic role</STRONG>: This refers to the function of a word
or phrase in relation to its predicate or the rest of the sentence in terms
of whether and how it represents “given” versus “new”
information, i.e., whether or not the word or phrase represents background
information already known to the addressee, or whether it represents new
information previously unknown to the addressee. Three such roles or relations
are generally delineated: <STRONG>topic</STRONG>, <STRONG>comment</STRONG>,
and <STRONG>focus</STRONG>. The <EM>topic</EM> of a sentence is the word
or phrase about which the speaker has been asked or is expected by the addressee
to talk about. The <EM>comment</EM> is the information (usually a predicate)
given by the speaker about the particular topic. The term <EM>focus</EM>
refers to whatever information in a sentence is new to the addressee, (i.e.,
not previously known), and has been discussed in detail in <A href="ithkuil-ch3-morphology.htm#Sec3o5">Sec.
3.5</A>. To illustrate these concepts, consider the sentence <EM>I can see
why Mary’s angry, but what about Bill?</EM> (i.e., <EM>What happened
to make Bill angry, too?</EM>). In the hypothetical answer <EM>Bill (or
He) is angry because he lost his keys</EM>, ‘Bill’ (or ‘he’)
is the topic, ‘is angry because he lost his keys’ is the comment,
and ‘he lost his keys’ is the focus.<BR>
</LI>
<LI><STRONG>Grammatical </STRONG>(or<STRONG> syntactical</STRONG>)<STRONG>
relations</STRONG>: the arbitrary word-ordering rules of a language, irrespective
of semantic or pragmatic roles, e.g., the subject of the sentence in English
normally precedes the main verb and the direct object normally follows the
main verb.</LI>
</UL>
</DIV>
<P align="justify">In general, the syntax of a language either (1) establishes
the permissible grammatical relations of the language, (2) reflects and/or reinforces
semantic roles, (3) reflects and/or reinforces pragmatic roles, or (4) any combination
of these. As one might surmise from the above, English syntax is weighted heavily
toward establishing grammatical relations at the near-total expense of identifying
semantic roles. As for pragmatic roles, English rarely reflects these in its
syntax (one exception is the strong tendency for placing <EM>wh</EM>- question
words in sentence-initial position in specialized questions, even if they represent
a direct object, e.g., <EM>What have you done?</EM> or <EM>Who[m] are they talking
about?</EM>), however, such roles do tend to be marked “supra-segmentally”
by inflection of vocal pitch and tone of voice. </P>
<P align="justify">We have already seen the extreme to which Ithkuil marks semantic
roles morphologically as opposed to syntactically. And since grammatial relations
in and of themselves are relatively arbitrary within language, Ithkuil uses
pure word order constraints only to an extent necessary to ensure avoidance
of ambiguity in determining which nouns belong as participants to a verb, which
nouns lie in apposition to their head, and which words of a compound sentence
lie within a case-frame as opposed to outside the case-frame. As for pragmatic
roles, we have already seen that semantic focus and optional topicalization
are accomplished morphologically in Ithkuil (see <A href="ithkuil-ch3-morphology.htm#Sec3o5">Sec.
3.5</A> and the TPF affix in <A href="ithkuil-ch7b-affixes-contd.htm#Sec7o7o13">Sec.
7.7.13</A>). As a result, Ithkuil has relatively free word order which, subject
to a few constraints, is manipulated for euphonic and phonaesthetic reasons.
Those constraints on word order which do exist are explained below.</P>
<P> </P>
<TABLE width="97%" border="0" cellpadding="0">
<TBODY><TR>
<TD bgcolor="#CCCCCC"><P><FONT size="4"><STRONG>9.1 WORD ORDER<A name="Sec9o1"></A></STRONG></FONT></P></TD>
</TR>
</TBODY></TABLE>
<P align="justify">The highly inflected nature of Ithkuil morphology allows the
order of words within a sentence to be quite flexible. Nevertheless, two neutral
or “default” patterns exist, one for main clauses, the other for
case frames. </P>
<H3 align="justify"><BR>
9.1.1 Word Order Within Main Clauses</H3>
<P align="justify">The default word-order for a main clause is as follows: </P>
<DIV align="justify">
<BLOCKQUOTE> </BLOCKQUOTE>
</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify"><STRONG>Nt1/R (Nt2) (Na) (Ns) (A) (Cv) (Co) Vb</STRONG>,
where:</P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify"><STRONG>Nt1/R</STRONG> = first transrelative participant or
a personal reference adjunct<BR>
<STRONG>Nt2</STRONG> = second transrelative participant<BR>
<STRONG>Na</STRONG> = attributive/associative/adverbial nouns<BR>
<STRONG>Ns</STRONG> = spatio-temporal nouns<BR>
<STRONG>A</STRONG> = aspectual adjunct<BR>
<STRONG>Cv</STRONG> = conflation or valence adjunct<BR>
<STRONG>Co</STRONG> = other adjuncts (e.g., affixual adjunct or combination
adjunct)<BR>
<STRONG>Vb</STRONG> = verb</P>
<P align="justify">Thus we see that a main clause normally starts with the highest-order
transrelative noun (see <A href="ithkuil-ch4-case.htm#Sec4o2">Sec. 4.2</A>)
or any personal reference adjunct, followed by any nouns in lower-order transrelative
cases, followed by nouns in non-transrelative cases. The last part of the clause
consists of the verb in final position preceded by any aspectual adjunct, conflation
(or valence) adjunct, and combination or affixual adjunct, in that order. As
for “higher-” versus “lower-” order transrelative nouns,
this refers to the hierarchy or sequence of transrelative cases in which certain
cases take precedence over others. This hierarchy is as follows:</P>
<P align="justify"><FONT size="2">ERGATIVE <IMG src="assets/arrow.gif" width="17" height="9">
EFFECTUATIVE <IMG src="assets/arrow.gif" width="17" height="9">
INDUCIVE <IMG src="assets/arrow.gif" width="17" height="9"> ABSOLUTIVE
<IMG src="assets/arrow.gif" width="17" height="9"> DERIVATIVE
<IMG src="assets/arrow.gif" width="17" height="9"> <BR>
SITUATIVE <IMG src="assets/arrow.gif" width="17" height="9">
AFFECTIVE <IMG src="assets/arrow.gif" width="17" height="9">
DATIVE <IMG src="assets/arrow.gif" width="17" height="9"> INSTRUMENTAL
<IMG src="assets/arrow.gif" width="17" height="9"> OBLIQUE</FONT></P>
<P align="justify"> </P>
<H3 align="justify">9.1.2 Word-order within Case-Frames</H3>
<P align="justify">Within a case-frame (see <A href="ithkuil-ch5b-verbs-contd.htm#Sec5o7">Section
5.7</A>), a different default order is used in order to identify the clause
as a case frame:</P>
<P align="justify"><STRONG>Vc (A) (Cv) (Co) (Na) (Ns) (Nt2) Nt1/R</STRONG>, where:</P>
<P align="justify"><STRONG>Vc</STRONG> = verb inflected for case-frame<BR>
<STRONG>A</STRONG> = aspectual adjunct <BR>
<STRONG>Cv</STRONG> = conflation or valence adjunct<BR>
<STRONG>Co</STRONG> = other adjuncts (e.g., affixual adjunct or combination
adjunct)<BR>
<STRONG>Na</STRONG> = attributive/associative/adverbial nouns<BR>
<STRONG>Ns</STRONG> = spatio-temporal nouns<BR>
<STRONG>Nt2</STRONG> = second transrelative participant <BR>
<STRONG>Nt1/R</STRONG> = first transrelative participant or a personal reference
adjunct</P>
<P align="justify">This is nearly the reverse order of the main clause, with the
case-marked verb appearing initially within the case-frame followed by its attendant
adjuncts, then any secondary nouns, followed by any transrelative nouns with
the highest-order transrelative noun or any personal reference adjunct in final
position within the case-frame. Additionally, the last noun within the case-frame
will usually take one of the <STRONG>–V<FONT size="1">1</FONT>’</STRONG>
suffixes (see <A href="ithkuil-ch7b-affixes-contd.htm#Sec7o7o13">Sec. 7.7.13</A>)
signifying the end of the case-frame unless this is clear without the suffix
(e.g., because the case-frame is in sentence-final position). </P>
<P align="justify"></P>
<P align="justify"></P>
<H3 align="justify">9.1.3 Flexibility and Constraints in Word Order</H3>
<P align="justify">Despite there being a normal word-order for main clauses and
case-frames, these are by no means grammatically required. In general, the order
of most words can be changed for purposes of euphony. Nevertheless, Ithkuil
word order is not completely free. The following word-order constraints exist
in order to avoid potential ambiguity or semantic incoherence.</P>
<DIV align="justify">
<UL>
<LI>Nouns in Attributive, Associative and Adverbial cases (see <A href="ithkuil-ch4-case.htm#Sec4o3">Secs.
4.3</A>, <A href="ithkuil-ch4-case.htm#Sec4o4">4.4</A> and <A href="ithkuil-ch4-case.htm#Sec4o5">4.5</A>)
which are dependent on, or in apposition to a “head” noun, must
immediately precede or follow that head noun, unless the relationship between
the two nouns is readily ascertainable without the two being in apposition.<BR>
</LI>
<LI>Sentences containing case-frames are most likely to follow the default,
normal word-order, in order to avoid ambiguity as to which formatives and
adjuncts belong to the main clause and which to the case-frame. Case-frames
especially often reflect a verb-initial pattern, in order to easily signify
the beginning of the case-frame.<BR>
</LI>
<LI>A case-frame cannot be broken apart into segments within a main sentence,
i.e., the case-frame must constitute a single cohesive clause and not contain
elements of the main clause within it. It is possible to “nest”
a second case-frame within a case-frame, similar to the way in which subordinate
or relative clauses can be nested in English and other Western languages,
e.g., <EM>[Despite owning a Picasso [that comes from his Blue period] [of
which I, [a mere student,] am fond,]] Joe is actually a very humble person</EM>.<BR>
</LI>
</UL>
</DIV>
<H3 align="justify"> 9.1.4 Phonotactically-Induced Syntactic Modifications </H3>
<P align="justify">As mentioned above, word-order can shift in an Ithkuil sentence
to accommodate phonotactic or phonaesthetic ends, i.e., for purposes of euphony.
This is because suffixes on a formative, as well as morphemes associated with
categories of Bias and Mood, can be transformed into autonomous adjuncts (see
<A href="ithkuil-ch8-adjuncts.htm#Sec8o3">Secs. 8.3</A>, <A href="ithkuil-ch8-adjuncts.htm#Sec8o4">8.4</A>
and <A href="ithkuil-ch8-adjuncts.htm#Sec8o6o2">8.6.2</A>). As
was described in <A href="ithkuil-ch1-phonology.htm#Sec1o4o5">Sec. 1.4.5</A>, words
of six syllables or more are generally undesirable, therefore any formative
with numerous affixes is potentially subject to having several of its morphemes
redistributed to adjuncts. As an example, the word <STRONG><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">umreiquçî<IMG src="assets/Qv.gif" width="10" height="18" align="absmiddle">îmšën</FONT></STRONG>
‘series of bombs’ can separate out two of its four suffixes into
a separate word <FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><STRONG>çu’’î<FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><IMG src="assets/Qv.gif" width="10" height="18" align="absmiddle"></FONT></STRONG></FONT>
to give the form <FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><STRONG>çu’’î<FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><IMG src="assets/Qv.gif" width="10" height="18" align="absmiddle"></FONT></STRONG></FONT><FONT color="#FFFFFF">_</FONT><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><STRONG>umreiqîmšën</STRONG></FONT>
whose morphological structure is <IMG src="assets/9-1-4.gif" width="331" height="21" align="absmiddle">.</P>
<P align="justify">When ordering such phonaesthetically-induced adjuncts, it is
important that they can be easily associated with the formative to which they
apply. Generally, this means that they will be adjacent to the formative, or
occur on either side of other adjuncts associated with the formative.</P>
<H3 align="justify"><BR>
9.1.5 Iconicity </H3>
<P align="justify">English and other languages generally display phrase-structure
patterns and word-order patterns which reinforce, or even reflect, a cognitive
understanding of what is being described, i.e., the order of the words themselves
reflects information about how we are to understand the utterance. Such a phenomenon
is known as <STRONG>iconicity</STRONG>. In English and other Western languages,
the most common way in which iconicity is manifested is what is termed “sequential
order iconicity,” the idea that the actual sequential order of words in
a phrase or sentence reflects the sequential order of the events they describe.
For example, the phrases ‘eye it, try it, buy it,’ ‘I came,
I saw, I conquered,’ or ‘dine and dash’ describe sequential
events where the sequence of the words reflect the sequence of the events. What
is most important is that re-ordering of the words either changes the meaning
of the phrase or leads to semantic nonsense, e.g., ‘buy it, eye it, try
it’ implies that a different sequence of events actually takes place than
‘eye it, try it, buy it.’ This can be more dramatically illustrated
with the following pair of sentences.</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify">1) <EM>Jane got married and had a baby.</EM><BR>
2) <EM>Jane had a baby and got married.</EM></P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify">In English, the ambiguous word ‘and’ is interpreted
as connecting a sequence of events, i.e., ‘and’ is interpreted to
mean sequential ‘then’ (= ‘and following that,’ ‘then
next’ or ‘then later’). As a result, the meanings of the two
sentences imply very different social interpretations about Jane.</P>
<P align="justify">Besides the reflection of sequential order, other types of
word-order iconicity are possible. For example, compare the subtle difference
in meaning between the following two sentences:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify">3) <EM>Sam painted the fence white.</EM><BR>
4) <EM>Sam painted the white fence.</EM></P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify">In the first sentence, we do not know what color the fence
was prior to being painted, or even if it was a new fence that had never been
painted before. In the second sentence, not only do we know what color the fence
had been, but also that it was not previously unpainted, however, we do not
necessarily know what its new color is. This sort of iconicity is used to convey
a resultative state of affairs, i.e., by placing the adjective ‘white’
after the word ‘fence’ (seemingly in violation of the usual adjective-before-noun
word order used in English), we describe a resulting state of affairs.</P>
<P align="justify">Yet another type of word-order iconicity is displayed in comparing
the following two sentences.</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify">5) <EM>Loretta gave Sue a wedding gift.</EM><BR>
6) <EM>Loretta gave a wedding gift to Sue.</EM></P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify">Most grammar textbooks would state that these two sentences
are semantically equivalent, the first employing a “ditransitive”
pattern (i.e., juxtaposing an indirect object ‘Sue’ with a direct
object ‘wedding gift’), while the second uses a “complement”
pattern in which the indirect object follows the direct object and is changed
to a prepositional phrase using ‘to.’ However, there is a subtle
semantic distinction between the two sentences. The first strongly implies that
the wedding gift is for Sue, i.e., Sue is the bride and intended recipient.
The second sentence, however, invites the possibility that Sue is only a temporary
or circumstantial goal for the act of giving, but not the bride and intended
recipient. For example, if Sue is merely a guest at the wedding and Loretta
needed Sue’s help carrying an armload of wedding gifts, she might give
a wedding gift <EM>to Sue</EM>, but that does not mean she would <EM>give Sue</EM>
a wedding gift. This type of iconicity distinguishing a recipient from a directional
goal is an example of what is termed “distance iconicity,” because
the two linked words are made more “distant” from each other in
the sentence as a reflection of their more circumstantial association.</P>
<P align="justify">Ithkuil does not display iconicity. While the order of words
in an Ithkuil phrase or sentence may coincidentally reflect a temporal or causative
sequence of events, this is not by syntactic design. Because of the myriad means
available in Ithkuil to morphologically distinguish sequence, cause-and-effect,
resulting states, and the distinction of recipients from directional goals,
no iconicity patterns are required.</P>
<P align="justify">For example, we saw in sentences (1) and (2) above how English
‘and’ can be used to convey not just mere coordination, but also
a sequencing function. In <A href="ithkuil-ch7a-affixes.htm#Sec7o7o3">Sections
7.7.3</A> and <A href="ithkuil-ch7a-affixes.htm#Sec7o7o4">7.7.4</A>, we saw
that Ithkuil has no less than thirty-six suffixes (four suffix categories, each
with nine different degrees) which convey various coordinative and sequencing
patterns with great specificity. Thus, Ithkuil has no morpheme directly equivalent
to the ambiguous English word ‘and.’ There is an affix corresponding
to ‘and’ in its use as a mere additive listing device (e.g., ‘pears
and apples and bananas’), another corresponding to its use as an indicator
of simultaneity (e.g., ‘I clenched my fists and scowled’), another
corresponding to its use as an indicator of additional information (e.g., ‘The
clown likes children and loves to eat’), another to its use as an indicator
of parallel description or activity (e.g., ‘We went dancing and so did
they’), and yet another as a temporal sequencing indicator (e.g., ‘I
went to the window and looked out’).</P>
<P align="justify"> </P>
<TABLE width="99%" border="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<TBODY><TR>
<TD><P><FONT size="4"><STRONG>9.2 SEMANTIC FOCUS AND PRAGMATIC RELATIONS<A name="Sec9o2"></A></STRONG></FONT></P></TD>
</TR>
</TBODY></TABLE>
<P align="justify">We first discussed semantic focus in <A href="ithkuil-ch3-morphology.htm#Sec3o5">Section
3.5</A>, describing it as a means to distinguish new from background information
in a sentence. In languages like English, such distinctions are generally accomplished
syntactically by means of word order, as illustrated by the distinction between
<EM>The clown selected a redheaded girl from the audience</EM> versus <EM>It
was a redheaded girl the clown selected from the audience</EM>. Because semantic
focus (along with optional topicalization) is shown morphologically (with affixes)
in Ithkuil, word order changes are not necessary to distinguish new from background
information in a sentence. Comparison between the word-order based system of
English and the morphology based system of Ithkuil is analyzed in Sec. 9.2.1
below. Additionally, while Ithkuil’s system for indicating topics and
semantic focus does not require changes in word order <EM>per se</EM>, it does
allow for significant word deletion, creating abbreviated sentences which, in
effect, modify the default word order of a sentence. Such word deletion is analyzed
in <A href="ithkuil-ch9-syntax.htm#Sec9o2o2">Sec. 9.2.2</A>.</P>
<H3 align="justify"><BR>
9.2.1 Using Focus and Sequencing Affixes in Lieu of Word-Order Changes</H3>
<P align="justify">Focus, in conjunction with the sequencing affixes described
in <A href="ithkuil-ch7a-affixes.htm#Sec7o7o3">Sec. 7.7.3</A>, can be used
to subtle effect in Ithkuil, providing semantic nuance. For example, compare
the following English sentences:</P>
<DIV align="justify">
<UL>
<LI><EM>After I shopped, I went home.</EM></LI>
<LI><EM> I went home after I shopped.</EM></LI>
<LI><EM> I shopped before I went home.</EM></LI>
<LI><EM>Before I went home, I shopped.</EM></LI>
</UL>
</DIV>
<P align="justify">All four sentences indicate two sequential events: shopping,
then going home. The difference between them is one of focus and viewpoint.
In the first two sentences, going home has semantic focus, as that is the new
information being conveyed, while in the latter two sentences it is shopping
that has focus. The first and third sentence have a “prospective”
viewpoint in that the sentence conveys the events in the same sequence in which
they occurred, looking upon the events from the viewpoint of the one that occurred
first. However, the second and fourth sentences have a “retrospective”
viewpoint, conveying the two events in a reverse order from how they occurred,
looking back on the events from the viewpoint of the event which occurred last.</P>
<P align="justify">In Ithkuil, the distinction in focus and viewpoint in these
four sentences would be accomplished morphologically, not syntactically. Positive
Focus would be used to identify those parts of the sentence which present new
information, while the two viewpoints would be accomplished using the aforementioned
sequencing suffixes.<STRONG><FONT color="#FF0000"></FONT></STRONG><BR>
</P>
<P align="justify"></P>
<H3 align="justify">9.2.2 Abbreviated Sentences Using Focus and Topicalization<A name="Sec9o2o2"></A></H3>
<P align="justify">Focus and topicalization allow Ithkuil, as with other languages,
to provide abbreviated sentences in direct answer to commands, the equivalent
of questions (see <A href="ithkuil-ch5a-verbs.htm#Sec5o1o6">Sec. 5.1.6</A>),
or to comment on a topic already under discussion. Because the topic is already
known within the contextual discourse, only the portion of the new sentence
carrying semantic focus need be spoken. Similarly, the <A href="ithkuil-ch7b-affixes-contd.htm#Sec7o7o13">topicalization
suffix</A> in conjunction with the <FONT size="2"><A href="ithkuil-ch5a-verbs.htm#5o1o6">INTERROGATIVE</A></FONT>
illocution affix, allows for abbreviated inquiries within a known contextual
discourse, similar to such abbreviated sentences in English, e.g., ‘and
Bill?’ in lieu of the full sentence ‘Comment on how this applies
to Bill.’</P>
<P> </P>
<TABLE width="99%" height="23" border="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<TBODY><TR>
<TD height="19"> <P><FONT size="4"><STRONG>9.3 MORPHO-SEMANTIC CONSIDERATIONS<A name="Sec9o3"></A></STRONG></FONT></P></TD>
</TR>
</TBODY></TABLE>
<P align="justify">It should be noted that when structuring an Ithkuil sentence,
particularly when translating from other languages such as English, care must
be given to avoid capturing irrelevant semantic information reflected by the
morphology of the source language and trying to find an equivalent or parallel
way to reflect those irrelevancies in the Ithkuil sentence. This can have a
profound effect on the morpho-syntactical structure of the resulting Ithkuil
sentence.</P>
<P align="justify"> </P>
<H3 align="justify">9.3.1 Arbitrary Delineations of Perspective or Point of View</H3>
<P align="justify">One area where word-choice in English and other Western languages
arbitrarily affects sentence structure is in the unintentional schematicization
of a particular perspective or point of view. For example, consider the following
pair of sentences in English.</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify">1) <EM>The path climbs steeply out of the canyon.</EM><BR>
2) <EM>That path descends steeply into the canyon.</EM></P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify">Both of these sentences are describing the same property of
the path — its steepness. The distinction in the sentences comes from
the point of view being reflected by the speaker. In sentence (1) the implied
point of view is from the bottom of the canyon upward, while in sentence (2)
the viewpoint is from the top of the canyon downward. What is important is that,
semantically, the point of view is of no relevance to the steepness of the path
<EM>per se</EM>. So if the cognitive intent of the utterance is simply to describe
the vertical gradient of the path within the canyon, there would be only one
Ithkuil translation for both of these sentences, eschewing the point of view
entirely and restating the sentence to read: </P>
<DIV align="justify">
</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify"><IMG src="assets/9-3a.gif" width="443" height="108">
<BR>
<FONT size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="Sound_Files/Ch-9-1.mp3"><FONT color="#FFFFFF">_</FONT>Listen!</A>
<A href="Sound_Files/Ch-9-1.mp3"><IMG src="assets/Audio_icon.gif" width="19" height="16" border="0" align="absbottom"></A></FONT>
</P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify"> </P>
<H3 align="justify">9.3.2 Masking of Semantic or Participatory Roles</H3>
<P align="justify">Similarly, care must be made, when comparing Ithkuil sentence
structure with other languages, to note that Ithkuil grammar allows for a more
overt reflection of the underlying semantic roles inherent in a given sentence.
As a result, sentence structures in Western languages which “mask”
potentially anomalous semantic structures are avoided in Ithkuil. For example,
compare the following pairs of sentences.</P>
<DIV align="justify">
<TABLE width="88%" border="0" cellpadding="0">
<TBODY><TR>
<TD width="4%"> </TD>
<TD width="50%">3a) <EM>He supplied a report to the analyst.</EM></TD>
<TD width="46%">4a) <EM>She applied a solvent to the stain.</EM></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD> </TD>
<TD>3b) <EM>He supplied the analyst a report.</EM></TD>
<TD>4b) <EM>*She applied the stain a solvent.</EM></TD>
</TR>
</TBODY></TABLE>
</DIV>
<P align="justify">The syntactical patterns of these two pairs of sentences are
identical, yet the word-order in sentence (4b) is ungrammatical (as indicated
by the asterisk), while the same word-order in sentence (3b) presents no problem.
The underlying reason for the difference is one of semantic role. While ‘analysts’
can function in the role of Recipients, ‘stains’ cannot (they are
merely directional Goals, i.e., where the solvent gets applied). Cognitively,
stains cannot “possess” a solvent the way analysts can “possess”
a report. In Ithkuil, the semantic roles would be clearly defined by the case-markings
of the participants. Therefore, syntactically inconsistent pairs such as (3b)
and (4b) do not occur.</P>
<P align="justify">Sometimes, rather than semantic role, it is a participant’s
relationship to an underlying clause that presents the problem. For example,
<EM>He’s a tall president</EM> means ‘He’s a president who
is tall.’ So why doesn’t <EM>He’s a likely president</EM>
mean ‘*He’s a president who is likely’? The reason is that,
while ‘tall’ describes its adjacent referent ‘president,’
‘likely’ does not describe its adjacent referent. Rather, ‘likely’
describes an underlying process in which that referent is or will be engaged,
i.e., ‘running for president.’ Therefore, while these two sentences
are morpho-syntactically identical in English, their Ithkuil translations are
quite different from one another morpho-syntactically: <BR>
</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><IMG src="assets/9-3b.gif" width="520" height="112"><BR>
[literally: <EM>There is much height to him who formally presides</EM>.]<FONT size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="Sound_Files/Ch-9-2.mp3"><FONT color="#FFFFFF">
_______</FONT>Listen!</A> <A href="Sound_Files/Ch-9-2.mp3"><IMG src="assets/Audio_icon.gif" width="19" height="16" border="0" align="absbottom"></A></FONT></P>
<P></P>
<P><IMG src="assets/9-3c.gif" width="322" height="102"><BR>
[literally: <EM>He is one who probably will begin to formally preside</EM>.]
</P>
<P> </P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<H3>9.3.3 Negation</H3>
<P align="justify">Negation is another morpho-semantic area where translation
from English or other Western languages can be tricky. Consider the English
sentence <EM>Shelly doesn’t think they like her cooking</EM>. Note this
sentence does not mean what a literal word-for-word analysis implies, i.e.,
‘That they like her cooking is not something that Shelly is thinking.’
Rather, the correct meaning is ‘Shelly thinks that they don’t like
her cooking.’ Ithkuil is very precise in specifying exactly what components
of a sentence are to be negated. Use of the four affirmation/negation affixes
from <A href="ithkuil-ch7b-affixes-contd.htm#Sec7o7o9">Sec. 7.7.9</A> (<IMG src="assets/9-3d.gif" width="154" height="25" align="absmiddle">)
in conjunction with a formative carries very specific information as to what
morphological components of a sentence are being affirmed or negated and to
what degree. Using these four affixes alone, Ithkuil can distinguish between
the following four sentences without any syntactic rearrangement of the words:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify"><EM>I don’t want to begin singing.</EM></P>
<P align="justify"><EM>I’m beginning to not want to sing.</EM></P>
<P align="justify"><EM>I want to not begin singing.</EM></P>
<P align="justify"><EM>I’m beginning to want to not sing.</EM></P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify">Thus when translating negative sentences into Ithkuil, care
must be taken to not syntactically “rearrange” a sentence as with
<EM>Shelly doesn’t think they like her cooking</EM>. Additionally, Ithkuil
makes a morpho-semantic distinction not found in Western languages: the difference
between <STRONG>absolute negation</STRONG> and <STRONG>relative negation</STRONG>.
Absolute negation implies that the non-existence or non-occurrence of an entity,
state, or event is due to contextual inapplicability, while relative negation
indicates that the non-existence or non-occurrence is circumstantial. This distinction
is illustrated in the two sentences below:</P>
<P><BR>
<IMG src="assets/9-3e.gif" width="340" height="27"><BR>
<EM>The girl doesn’t sing</EM> [because she can’t, i.e., she is
mute].</P>
<P><BR>
.<IMG src="assets/9-3f.gif" width="338" height="26"><BR>
<EM>The girl doesn’t sing </EM>[even though she can, i.e., she chooses
not to].</P>
<P> </P>
<TABLE width="98%" border="0" cellpadding="0">
<TBODY><TR>
<TD bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <P><FONT size="4"><STRONG>9.4 THE “CARRIER”
ROOT</STRONG></FONT><A name="Sec9o4"></A></P></TD>
</TR>
</TBODY></TABLE>
<P align="justify">Since the Ithkuil declensional and conjugational system is
based on predictable multi-level patterns of consonant and vowel mutation, proper
nouns such as personal and place names, as well as non-Ithkuil words from other
languages are by nature morpho-phonologically incompatible with such as system.
Nevertheless, such words can be declined or conjugated like any other Ithkuil
formative by means of the “carrier” root <FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><STRONG>k-r</STRONG></FONT>.
In addition to this use, the carrier root is employed in certain other contexts
as well, as described below.</P>
<H3 align="justify"><BR>
9.4.1 Words that Cannot Take Affixes or Be Mutated</H3>
<P align="justify">The six primary stems of the carrier root (<STRONG><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">kar,
kur, kir</FONT></STRONG> and their Form II counterparts <FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><STRONG>kâr,
kûr, kîr</STRONG></FONT>) are respectively associated with animate
beings (the two complementary derivatives being humans versus non-humans or
figuratively/metaphorically animate entities); inanimate entities (the two complementary
derivatives being objectively concrete entities versus subjective entities such
as thoughts, emotions, sensations, etc.); and finally intangible abstract referents
(the two complementary derivatives being place names and abstractions). The
carrier stem is placed immediately before the proper noun or foreign word or
phrase, then declined or conjugated normally for any desired morphological categories,
even verbal categories. The proper noun or foreign word or phrase itself is
left unchanged. <BR>
</P>
<DIV align="justify">
</DIV>
<H3 align="justify">9.4.2 Emphasizing or Highlighting a Particular Category</H3>
<P align="justify">Another use of the carrier root is to emphasize or topicalize
a particular affix or grammatical element associated with a word. For example,
in English we can say ‘a <EM>big</EM> house’ with extra intonation
on the word ‘big’ to emphasize that word. To accomplish such emphasis
in Ithkuil, the carrier root is used with the augmentative suffix in conjunction
with the noun ‘house’ as opposed to simply using the augmentative
suffix on the stem for ‘house.’ No change in vocal pitch or intonation
is required, as the grammatically unnecessary use of the carrier root serves
to accomplish the required emphasis. Any morphological category manifested by
a carrier root rather than an adjunct or mutation serves to emphasize that category.
(It should be noted that the use of optional combination and euphonic adjuncts
do not accomplish such emphasis. Their use versus non-use imparts no difference
in emphasis for the particular morphological categories contained in the adjunct.)
</P>
<P align="justify"></P>
<H3 align="justify">9.4.3 Titles of Address</H3>
<P align="justify">It should be noted that the use of the carrier root in front
of the names of persons serves to function as a title of address corresponding
to English <EM>Mister</EM>, Ms. or <EM>Miss</EM>. There is no distinction of
gender or marital status conveyed by the term. </P>
<P align="right"> </P>
<P align="right"><A href="ithkuil-ch10-lexicosemantics.html"><STRONG><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Proceed
to Chapter 10: Lexico-Semantics >></FONT></STRONG></A> </P>
<P> </P>
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<TD width="37%" valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch5a-verbs.html">5a
Verb Morphology </A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD width="27%" valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="assets/ithkuil-ch9-syntax.html">9
Syntax</A></FONT></FONT></DIV></TD>
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<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-intro.html">Introduction</A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch5b-verbs-contd.html">5b
Verb Morphology (continued)</A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch10-lexicosemantics.html">10
Lexico-Semantics</A></FONT></DIV></TD>
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<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT size="2"></FONT><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch1-phonology.html">1
Phonology</A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch6-moreverbs.html">6
More Verb Morphology</A></FONT></DIV></TD>
<TD valign="top"><DIV align="left"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch11-script.html">11
The Script </A></FONT></FONT></DIV></TD>
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<TR>
<TD height="26" valign="top"> </TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch2-morphophonology.html">2
Morpho-Phonology</A></FONT><FONT size="2"> </FONT></TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch7a-affixes.html">7a
Using Affixes </A></FONT></FONT></FONT></TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch12-numbers.html">12
The Number System</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></TD>
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<TD valign="top"><FONT size="2"> </FONT><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch3-morphology.html">3
Basic Morphology</A></FONT></TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch7b-affixes-contd.html">7b
Using Affixes (continued) </A></FONT></FONT></TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-lexicon.html">The
Lexicon</A></FONT></FONT></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD height="26" valign="top"> </TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch4-case.html">4
Case Morphology </A></FONT> </TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ithkuil-ch8-adjuncts.html">8
Adjuncts</A></FONT></TD>
<TD valign="top"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A href="ilaksh/Ilaksh_Intro.html" target="_blank">Revised Ithkuil: <FONT face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">I</FONT>laksh</A></FONT></TD>
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