Ilaksh: A Philosophical Design for a Hypothetical Language

	Home	4 Case Morphology	9 Syntax
	Introduction	5 Verb Morphology	10 Lexico-Semantics
	1 Phonology	6 More Verb Morphology	11 The Writing System
	2 Morpho-Phonology	7 Affixes	12 The Number System
	3 Basic Morphology	8 Adjuncts	The Lexicon

Chapter 8: Adjuncts

The notion of adjuncts was introduced in Section 2.6.2. We have already discussed details of some kinds of adjuncts — valence adjuncts and modality adjuncts were introduced in Chapter 6. In this chapter, several additional types of adjuncts are introduced.

The first type of adjunct we will analyze are those relating to personal reference. By “personal reference” is meant the grammatical description of nouns by abbreviated forms of reference. In most languages, this is accomplished by means of personal pronouns (e.g., English he, she, it, I, you, him, her, mine, ours, etc.). Generally, personal pronouns are distinguished by “person” (1st, 2nd , or 3rd) and case (e.g., compare English we, us, and ours). Ilaksh accomplishes the equivalent function by means of personal reference adjuncts, of which there are two types: single-referent and dual-referent.

Like other adjuncts in Ilaksh, personal reference adjuncts are highly synthetic in their structure, comprised of at least two morphemes and usually more. Before we examine the componential structure of personal reference adjuncts themselves, we must first introduce the personal reference categories they refer to.

8.1.1 Personal Reference Categories

The morpho-semantic delineations of Ilaksh personal reference categorization are based on inclusion or exclusion in relation to an utterance. These delineations begin with identifying whether or not the party speaking is included or excluded in relation to the utterance. The next delineation made is whether the party being addressed (i.e., the audience/listener) is included or excluded, then finally whether any third party (i.e., a party other than the speaker and the addressee) is included or excluded.

There are 46 personal reference categories in Ilaksh, each of which is represented by a single consonant affix plus a corresponding low or high tone as shown in Table 23 below. The various terms and abbreviations used in the table are explained following the table.

Table 23(a) and (b): Personal Reference Categories

Explanation of abbreviations and terms in the above table:

1 = Inclusion of speaker
2 = Inclusion of addressee
m = monadic (single party)
u = unbounded (more than one party)
a = animate 3rd party
i = inanimate 3rd party
E = universal ('everyone/everything')
M = mixed combination of 3rd parties (including animate+inanimate or MONADIC+UNBOUNDED)
IP = Impersonal ('one')
ID = Indefinite ('anyone/anything')
Obv = Obviative (see Sec. 8.1.1.7 below)
Col = Collective (see Sec. 8.1.1.5 below)
Abt = Abstract (see Sec. 8.1.1.6 below)

The following sections explain the terminology in the above table.

8.1.1.1 Monadic vs. Unbounded. These terms were discussed in detail in Sec. 3.3 on Perspective. For simplicity’s sake, the difference between a MONADIC third party versus an UNBOUNDED third party can be thought of as the difference between ‘he/she/it’ and ‘they.’

8.1.1.2 Speaker and Addressee. These terms refer respectively to the party speaking (in Western grammar the first person), the party being spoken to (the second person), and a third party being considered or mentioned (the third person). Unlike the standard six-person matrix common in Western grammar (the three persons divided into singular and plural), Ilaksh divides personal reference along logical lines of inclusion versus exclusion in the speaker’s utterance.

From the viewpoint of Ilaksh grammar, only a single individual can speak. Even if there are two or more persons speaking the same utterance simultaneously it is but a collection of single individuals, each of which is one speaker. Therefore, the “first person” of Ilaksh, the speaker, can be only MONADIC, never UNBOUNDED. Thus, in Ilaksh, there is no true equivalent to the word “we,” since inherent in the various categories which translate “we” is the concept of “I plus some other entity or entities.” From this we can begin to see how it is the idea of inclusion or exclusion in the speaker’s utterance that determines the various personal reference categories.

The “second person” in Ilaksh is the addressee, the person(s) being addressed or spoken to. There can be one addressee, or more than one addressee, i.e., MONADIC or UNBOUNDED.

The “third person” in Ilaksh is where things get very complicated, in that a party being referenced who is not the speaker or the addressee can have many distinctions, including the presence or absence of animacy, being MONADIC versus UNBOUNDED, being referred to as a collective entity, being an intangible abstraction, being indefinite, being an impersonal generic reference, or being a combination of two or more of these categories. These distinctions are explained below.

8.1.1.3 Animate vs. Inanimate. This is as it sounds. As we saw in earlier chapters, particularly Sec. 4.1, several important morphological categories in Ilaksh are dependent on whether the party to the act, condition, or event is a living entity or inanimate. Note that the distinction between gender (he vs. she) found in most Western languages does not exist in the Ilaksh personal reference system.

8.1.1.4 “Mixed” Third-Party Reference. It is possible for the third party being referenced to be two or more entities of different natures. For example a speaker could make reference to “I, you, and they” where “they” consists of a group consisting of one person (i.e., a monadic animate entity), three boxes (i.e., a polyadic inanimate entity), and an intangible concept such as ‘happiness’ (i.e., an abstract entity). In such cases, Ilaksh personal reference categories provide for such “mixed” parties to be included in a particular personal referent.

8.1.1.5 Collective Reference. This corresponds to the NOMIC Perspective in which a noun can be spoken of as a generic collective. For example, the word ‘dog’ in the sentence The dog is a noble beast refers to all dogs in a collective sense, not any dog in particular. This COLLECTIVE category has its own set of personal reference affixes in Ilaksh, depending on what other entities are included in the context of the utterance.

8.1.1.6 Abstract Reference. This corresponds to the ABSTRACT perspective, equivalent to derivational abstract forms such as English nouns ending with -hood, -ness, etc. In Ilaksh, all nouns can be spoken of in this abstract sense (e.g., “bookhood” = the sense of being or functioning as a book), and the personal reference system provides affixes for this category whose form again depends on what other entities are included in the context of the utterance.

8.1.1.7 Obviative (4th Person) Reference. This category has no equivalent in Western languages, although it is found in various Native American languages. It refers to a third party referent other than one previously mentioned, which would otherwise be identically marked. In Native American grammatical treatises, this category is usually termed the obviative or “fourth” person. For example, the English sentence He saw his book is ambiguous because we are uncertain whether ‘he’ and ‘his’ refer to the same person or to two different persons (i.e., one who did the seeing and another who owns the book). In Ilaksh, no such ambiguity occurs because the latter third person referent, if a distinct person from the initial third person referent, would be marked using the OBVIATIVE, not the third person. This disambiguation of third person referents is the purpose of the OBVIATIVE. Its translation into English is therefore dependent on a preceding personal referent. (See Sec. 8.1.4 below for more information about the OBVIATIVE).

8.1.1.8 Indefinite Reference. This category indicates that the third party refers to any third party within the specified parameters. For example, the referent y indicates an indefinite animate party, i.e., English ‘anyone’ or ‘anybody,’ while the referent y¯ indicates an indefinite inanimate party, i.e., English ‘anything.’

8.1.1.9 Universal Reference. This category indicates that the third party refers to every third party within the specified parameters. For example, the referent l indicates a universal animate party, i.e., English ‘everyone’ or ‘everybody,’ while the referent l¯ indicates a universal inanimate party, i.e., English ‘everything.’

8.1.1.10 Impersonal Reference. This category corresponds to the German pronoun man or French pronoun on, as well as the various circumlocutions used in English to describe impersonal reference (e.g., ‘one,’ ‘you,’ ‘they,’ the passive voice, and certain usages of ‘someone’). Such impersonal reference is illustrated in the following English sentences:

· One should never speak to clowns alone.
· To dance the tango you need a partner.
· They say it never rains in August.
· That town is said to be haunted.
· She just wants to talk to someone without being criticized.

8.1.1.11 Inclusivity vs. Exclusivity. Since Ilaksh personal reference adjuncts are designed to specify who among the speaker, addressee(s), and any third party is included or excluded in the context of the utterance, there are many possible personal reference distinctions possible in Ilaksh for which English has no equivalent pronouns. Such exacting distinctions would have to be made periphrastically in English, e.g., instead of saying ‘we,’ the speaker would have to specify ‘the two of us,’ or ‘I and he but not you,’ or ‘I, you, and they.’ Similarly, the English word ‘you’ breaks down into specific meanings equivalent to ‘you (singular),’ ‘you (plural),’ ‘you (singular) and it,’ ‘you and those people,’ ‘you and those things,’ etc.

8.1.2 Single-Referent Personal Reference Adjuncts

Adjuncts with one personal referent are termed single-referent adjuncts and have three forms: (1) a short form, (2) a long form, and (3) a conjunct form, as shown in Table 24 below.

Table 24: Morphological Structure of a Single-Referent Personal Reference Adjunct

The short form of the adjunct consists of a single consonant (labeled CR in the diagram) plus tone, corresponding to one of the 44 particular referents (as described in Sec. 8.1.1 above). This is followed by a single vocalic suffix VK indicating the case of the personal referent (see Chapter 4 on Case). The 81 possible values for this suffix are shown in Table 25 below.

Table 25: Case Suffixes/Infixes for Personal Reference Adjuncts

As for the long form of the adjunct, the first part is an optional vocalic prefix Va which indicates the Configuration, Affiliation, and Designation of the personal referent (see Chapter 3 for a discussion of these morphological categories). The possible values for Va are shown in Tables 26 below.

Table 26: Va Prefixes for Single-Referent Personal Reference Aduncts

The second part of the long form of the adjunct is the single consonant (CR) plus tone shown previously in Table 23, corresponding to the personal referent. The third part of the long form of the adjunct is a syllabic infix (VK1) which shows the case of the personal referent; it is a combination of a vowel or diphthong followed by the consonant y or w. The 96 possible values for this infix are shown in the righthand columns of Table 25 above. The final term of the long form of the adjunct is a single vowel suffix -Vz which indicates the Context and Extension of the personal referent (see Sec. 3.5 on Context). The values for this -Vz suffix are shown in Table 27 below.

As for the third type, or conjunct form of the adjunct, the first three terms of are identical to those of the long-form. The new terms are Cs, which is merely a standard suffix used with formatives, as analyzed in Sec. 7.4, and a vocalic infix, Vd, which indicates the degree and affix-type of Cs. The values of Vd are shown in Table 27 below. The affix-type of Cs is shown by the adjunct’s stress pattern (penultimate stress = Type 1, ultimate stress = Type 2, antepenultimate = Type 3). Optional terms are Vz, the same term as explained in the preceding paragraph indicating the Context and Extension of the personal referent, and Cb, the Bias suffix discussed in Section 6.6. The use of optional elements in these adjunct is unnecessary if the particular category indicated by the optional element is already known (or can be inferred) from the utterance. Note that the appearance of the bias suffix Cb is dependent on the appearance of Vz, as indicated by the nested pattern of parentheses shown in Table 24 above.

Table 27(a) and (b) : Values for Vd and Vz

For all three forms of the adjunct, shift from low to falling tone, or from high to rising, indicates the REPRESENTATIVE essence of the personal referent.

8.1.2.1 Use of the Short Form. The short form of a single-referent personal reference adjunct is used when it is clear from the surrounding context of the utterance which previously identified noun participant is being referred to, so that it is unnecessary to indicate the Configuration, Affiliation, Designation, Extension, and Context of the referent. The short form of the adjunct merely indicates the party itself and its case.

8.1.2.2 Use of the Long Form: The long form of the adjunct is used when necessary to indicate the Context and Extension, and/or the Configuration, Affiliation, and Designation of the referent when the surrounding sentences do not provide or make clear this information.

8.1.2.3 Use of the Conjunct Form: Form 3 of the adjunct, the conjunct form, is a single-referent adjunct which combines with a standard formative affix, allowing an affix category (and a Bias category if desired) to be applied to a personal referent, just as an affix category would normally apply to the formative to which it is affixed.

8.1.2.4 Examples of Single-Referent Personal Reference Adjuncts in Use

Teo  fwò-ul  ilákš  ujtavépla.
1m-GEN    IFL-‘male maternal cousin’-ACT-DEL/M/CSL/UNI    IFL/RPV-‘speak’-OBL-DEL/M/COA/CST       FML-EFC/CTX/IPU-OPR-‘study’-TRM/M/CSL/UNI
My cousin has finally learned Ilaksh.

Hlŭakya  nia.
EXP-IFL/RSL-OPR-‘congratulate’    1m+ua-IND
We (I and the others) offer our congratulations.

Rü  n-nwà  aktlàc  utputānukt.
ma/ACT    CRD    IFL-MNF-‘woman’-DEL/A/CSL/UNI    FML-‘travel’-DEL/U/CSL/UNI-AGC1/5-DEF1/9
She thinks the travelers are women.

Äđü  iň-ňmà  atác.
CSL/DPX-ua-ACT    RCP-DVR    IFL-OPR-‘write message’-DEL/A/CSL/UNI
The two of them like writing to each other.

8.1.3 Dual-Referent Personal Reference Adjuncts

Ilaksh allows a personal reference adjunct to show the personal reference category and associated case for two separate parties all in one adjunct. This is called a dual-referent adjunct and serves to combine two unrelated personal referents into one adjunct, no matter what their associated cases may be. There is only one form of a dual-referent adjunct, shown in Table 28 below.

Table 28: Morphological Structure of a Dual-Referent Personal Reference Adjunct

Table 29: Values for VB

VB is a vocalic suffix indicating the Context and Designation of Referent-2; its values are shown in Table 29 immediately above. The composite prefix (labeled CRR) is a synthetic consonantal prefix formed from the combination of the Referent-1 prefix and the Referent-2 prefix. For example, the combination of the prefix s- with the prefix f- renders the composite prefix sf-, while the combination of the prefix t- with the prefix k- gives the composite g-. Table 30 below illustrates how the 22 single-consonant prefixes combine with each other. Those values grayed out on the table do not occur.

Table 30: Personal Reference Adjunct Prefixes