1.3 Word Forms

1.3.1 Classification of Words

In Ayola words may be classified in three ways.

1. The first way is according to how the morphemes (structural units) of a word are combined, and how many of them there are:

1. elementary: one morpheme, e.g. myo (I, me), la (the), no (not), ce (and)

2. compound: two or more morphemes

   1. compounded elementary

a) prefix+elementary & contracted, e.g. ki/wande (when), ki/werve (where)

b) root+elementary & contracted, e.g. cak/yo (everyone), nul/wo (nothing)

c) elementary+suffix+ending, e.g. myo/z/a (my), voy/z/oy (yours)

d) elementary+suffix+root+ending & contracted, e.g. moy/z/elf/oy (ourselves), dya/z/elf/o (himself/herself)

2. simple: two morphemes: root + ending, e.g. human/o (human), bel/a (beautiful), leg/are (to read), post/u (after)

3. complex: at least three morphemes including (prefix) + root + (suffix/infix/root) + ending, e.g. lic/human/a (humanlike), bel/iz/are (to beautify), ri/leg/are (to reread), post/dejun/aj/a (after-breakfast), ruj/i/alb/i/blu/a (red-white-blue)

The three types of complex derivation, viz. prefixation, suffixation and compounding, build complex words from elementary or simple ones, or build more complex words from complex ones.

2. The second way of classification is by the part of speech:

1. noun: vir/o (man), vir/oy (men)

2. adjective: bon/a (good), urb/ay (urban), flor/way (floral)

3. verb: am/are (to love), am/ats (love), am/its (loved), am/aw (love!) etc.

4. preposition: nak/u (according to), byu (by)

5. quantifier: dus/a (two), cak/a (each)

6. determiner: tis/a (this), otr/a (other)

7. adverb: bon/e (well), rapid/e (rapidly)

8. link: j/en/u (in), c/post/u (after), ji (of)

3. The third way of classification is according to whether the word is in its fundamental form or has undergone a simple derivation and/or an inflection:

1. fundamental: part of speech is the fundamental part of speech, e.g. humano, bela, legare, postu

2. simply derived: part of speech is changed from the fundamental part of speech by changing the ending, e.g. human/a (human), bel/o (beautiful one), leg/o (reader), post/e (afterward)

3. inflected: form of the word, but not its part of speech, is changed by changing the ending, e.g. human/oy (humans), leg/ats (reads)

The processes of simple derivation and inflection do not change the number of morphemes within a word. A simple word remains a simple one and a complex word retains the same complexity.

1.3.2 Fundamental and Derived Forms of the Parts of Speech

The roots of all simple words, i.e. those consisting of a root plus an ending are associated with a fundamental part of speech. Other parts of speech may be derived by changing the word ending applied to the root. Table 1.3-1 gives a complete list of the fundamental parts of speech and those which may be derived from them. Note that adverbs and links are only derived parts of speech. (F=fundamental form, D=derived form)

Table 1.3-1 Fundamental and Derived Forms of the Parts of Speech

Note that the prepositions are the most versatile of all of the parts of speech. Their roots may be used in five derived forms in addition to the fundamental prepositional form.

1.3.3 Elementary Words

There are 79 elementary words in Ayola. These include pronouns, indefinite and interrogative adjectives and adverbs, articles, connectives, relative words, a few prepositions, links and conjunctions, addressive words, and a number of other words in miscellaneous categories. Although they are indivisible, more than one third of the elementary words have the correct ending for their part of speech, i.e. –o/-oy for pronouns, -a for adjectives, -e for adverbs and –u for prepositions. The rest lack such an ending for two reasons. First, there are not enough vowels and diphthongs to assign a unique vocalic ending to each of the many categories of elementary words. Second, for monosyllabic words, members of small groups of words are more easily distinguished if they have different vocalic endings but share a common consonantal beginning. Table 1.3-2 is a complete list of these elementary words in Ayola.

Table 1.3-2 Elementary Words

1.3.4 Simple Words

Table 1.3-3 lists the basic endings for the fundamental parts of speech along with the inflected endings (shaded rows) for nouns and verbs. These endings are placed on roots to form simple words.

Table 1.3-3 Basic and Inflected Endings for Fundamental Parts of Speech

Note an important distinction between the inflections for verbs as compared with the plural inflection for nouns. Plural nouns function syntactically in a manner identical to that of singular nouns (allowing for number agreement of adjectives and verbs in some languages). Indicative and imperative verbs never function in the same manner as infinitives, because, in some respects, the infinitive behaves as a noun.

Myo volats lergare. I want to read.

*Myo volats lergats. *I want read.

Thus, although inflections do not change the part of speech, they do for verbs change the syntactic function.

Table 1.3-4 lists the endings for the derived parts of speech formed from the six fundamental parts of speech.

Table 1.3-4 Endings for Other Parts of Speech

Derived from the Fundamental Parts of Speech

Note that both relational adjectives, ending in –(w)ay, and adverbs, ending in -e, are always derived from other parts of speech. These derived forms will be discussed in greater detail in the appropriate chapters in Part 2.

Note also that there are two types of relational adjectives: Type I relational adjectives (ending in –ay) denote the whole/origin of the person/thing or the subject of the state/action denoted by the following noun. Type II relational adjectives (ending in –way) denote the contents of the person/thing or the object of the doer/state/action denoted by the following noun.

1.3.5 Complex Words

Complex Words Formed by Joining Roots

Roots of various parts of speech may be joined together in order to replace a longer phrase or set of words with a single complex, but compact word. One category of these complex words consists of words composed of roots having the same part of speech, namely, prepositions and nouns. Five categories consist of words composed of roots having different parts of speech.

Table 1.3-5 lists all of the allowed categories of complex words formed by directly joining roots as well as examples from each category.

Table 1.3-5 Examples of Complex Words Formed by Joining Roots

The complex words illustrated above are equivalent to the following longer phrases. Note that the order in which the roots occur in the phrase determines the order in which they occur in the complex word.

Table 1.3-6 Complex Words and Their Equivalent Phrases

Complex Words Formed by Joining Roots with the Infix -i-

Noun, adjective, and verb roots may be joined to other roots of the same type by the -i- infix to replace a longer phrase or set of words with a single complex, but compact word. The resulting word always has the same fundamental part of speech as the component roots. The -i- infix is never used with prepositions, quantifiers or determiners. Table 1.3-7 lists all of the allowed categories of complex words formed by joining roots with the infix -i- as well as examples from each category.

Table 1.3-7 Examples of Complex Words Formed by Joining Roots with the Infix -i-

Complex words formed by joining roots with the infix -i- always denote a thing, a property, a state or an action which is partly of one category and partly of (an) other(s). The complex words illustrated above are equivalent to the following longer phrases:

Table 1.3-8 Complex Words Formed by Joining Roots with the Infix -i-

and Their Equivalent Phrases

1.3.6 Interjections

Interjections, as in the natural languages, operate independently of the syntax of a sentence. They usually occur on their own, but may be followed by a word, phrase, or sentence. Interjections express a variety of emotions.

There are no native Ayola interjections. All interjections are treated as adopted foreign words, e.g. waw (wow), hurá (hurrah), olé (olé). Because they are foreign words, they may use one of Ayola’s two stress accents.

Exercise 1

Determine the part of the speech of the following words. Write noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, or other.

Exercise 2

Classify the Ayola words. First, tell whether each is an elementary or compound word. If the word is compound, then also match the word with one of the categories listed on the right.

Exercise 3

Translate the words in these basic expressions into Ayola.

1. Hello!

2. No, I’m not ready.

3. Goodbye!

4. Please give this to her.

5. Thank you, my friend.

6. Welcome to our home.

7. Yes, I’ll be there.

8. It’s nothing. You’re welcome.

Exercise 4

Derive the requested part of speech from the word provided. Use the English translation to help you.

Exercise 5

Classify the following words according to: a) structural type (elementary, compounded elementary, simple, complex) and number of morphemes, b) part of speech, c) derivational or inflectional status (fundamental/simply-derived and/or inflected).