A Basic Grammar of Thosk
2nd ed.
Dean Easton
© 1999
95% complete--under minor revision
CONTENTS
1.0. The Sounds of Thosk
1.1. Phonemes
Thosk has 17 consonants and 5 vowels -- a total of 22 phonemes. Most of the phonemes, and the permissible consonant clusters, are familiar to a speaker of English. A few of the latter, such as /zd/ and /gv/, are typically intervocalic (between vowels) and do not cause significant difficulty. Speakers of Thosk are generally very tolerant of an accent, in part because many of their children are learners of Thosk as a second language, and enthusiastically welcome anyone who can speak even simple Thosk.
1.1.1. Consonants
The 17 consonants are, in phonemic transcription, /b, d, f, g, h [x], j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, th, v, z/.
/h/ [x] is a voiceless velar fricative (the final sound in Bach, Loch, etc.)
/th/, a voiceless interdental fricative, written as digraph th, occurs only as a morpheme-initial. In some dialects of Thosk, this phoneme is an affricate /ts/.
/j/ is a palatal glide, the "y" in English "yes."
/z/ only occurs in native words as a medial/final and before a voiced consonant, as in mezg "brain," huzd "treasury," etc. It is thus largely in complementary distribution with /s/. Consequently, some analyses of Thosk list only 16 distinct consonants.
/f/ and /v/ are labial in older speakers, but often labiodental in younger speakers, under influence from English.
the dental series /t, d, n, s, z, l/ is often alveolar in younger speakers, again under influence from English.
digraphs sj and zj represent the sounds in fish and azure, and occur in foreign loanwords.
1.1.2. Vowels
Thosk has five vowels, often called the "cardinal" vowels: /a, e, i, o, u/. Unlike their English counterparts, however, they do not have off-glides, but are "pure" vowels.
1.1.3. Diphthongs
In most dialects of Thosk there are 7 diphthongs, /aj, ej, oj, uj, au, eu, iu/, which are combinations of the five vowels and an off-glide, either /j/ or /u/.
1.2. Script
Thosk is most commonly written in the Roman alphabet, though it has also been rendered in a modified Cyrillic script. During the early years of the Thosk revival, some alternative scripts were proposed, but the survival of Thosk, given the limited means available, clearly necessitated an alphabet readily adapted to existing typewriters, and later, computers. The wisdom of this choice is reflected in the fact that the Thosk community, once widely scattered, today is in part an electronic one, and Thosk thrives by email. As the script is largely phonemic -- there is almost a one-to-one correspondence between sound and symbol -- the spelling of Thosk words is generally quite straightforward.
1.3. Dialects
The standard on which this grammar and dictionary are based is that of Gimboli speakers. A second dialect is reported to exist which is not well documented. It apparently palatalizes some pronunciations, such as Gimboli hi "who" -> shi. Also, digraph th -> ts/s: thu -> tsu "you," thir -> tsir "three."
1.4. Stress
Stress in Thosk is word-initial, whether on single words or compounds. Thus, tingu "TEEN-goo," Gimboli "GEEM-boh-lee," etc. But prepositions with a following noun/pronoun, whether written as a unit or separately, stress the noun: bemen [beh-MEHN] "to me," diltho [deel-THOH] "for you."
2.0. Nouns
Nouns in Thosk can be simple, derived or compound.
2.1. Simple Nouns
Simple nouns exist as integral units, and cannot be broken into smaller meaningful pieces. Examples include kun "woman," ner "man," oken "fire," erev "evening."
2.2. Derived Nouns
Derived nouns are formed by the addition of an affix to a root and sometimes by a change in the form of the root. Examples include und "desire" [ven/un + -d], koragast "hunger" [korag + -ast], smird "memory" [smer + -d].
2.3. Compound Nouns
Thosk nouns combine with other nouns to form compound nouns. Examples include gimboli "winter flower," banhuzd "word treasury, dictionary" and hadrud "disappointment."
2.4. Specificity
Thosk has no indefinite article corresponding to English a/an.
EX: Ner giz kumev be meve thok. "(A) man came to my house yesterday."
If number is important, however, en "one, a single" is used.
EX: Bu bemen en brad. "I have one/a single brother."
2.5. Plural of Nouns in-e
Nouns in Thosk regularly form their plurals in -e. (After numbers, however, the singular form is often used).
EX: ner "man," nere "men"; smird "memory, " smirde "memories."
3.0. Pronouns
3.1. Personal (subject/object)
Note: thu has what may be a dialectal alternative for its object form: -tho.
3.2. Possessives
The forms in -e occur when the following word begins with a consonant.
3.3. Demonstratives
Thosk uses the third person pronouns e(ne) and o(ne) as demonstratives.
EX: O ner bu meve doktor. "That man is my doctor"
3.4. Interrogatives
Hi "who" and hun "what" are the principal interrogative pronouns. Like other pronouns, they take the accusative prefix tha- when functioning as direct objects.
EX: O ha thahun? "What does he want?"
4.0. Adjectives
Thosk has simple and derived adjectives.
4.1. Simple Adjectives
Simple adjectives are without affixes which specifically identify them as adjectives.
EX: ri "friendly," gurm "hot," and lon "full."
4.2. Derived Adjectives in -i and -vag
Thosk adjectives are often derived from nouns by the addition of the two suffixes -i and -vag, corresponding roughly to English (-y, -ful, -ous) and (-less) respectively.
EX: mindi "thoughtful, conscious of," andvag "breathless," rotvag "cruel, heartless."
4.3. Comparison of Adjectives
To express the comparative degree, moi "more, -er" precedes the adjective, and fo "from" precedes the noun which is the base of comparison.
EX: O (bu) moi megel fomen. "He (is) bigger than me."
To express similarity, sem "like, as" precedes the noun which is the base of comparison.
EX: Thu bu arkendmin semo. "You are as rich as he."
A less common and more formal alternative uses the noun form of the adjective of comparison.
EX: Thu (bu) go som senegast bemen. "You are as old as I." Literally, "you (are) of like age to me."
Related expressions include the following:
EX: Bevo meglast sem bemen. "I am as big as he." Literally, "To him is size as to me."
5.0. Prepositions and Verbal Prefixes
The following 30 prepositions and adverbs are in common use: aban, an, be, dil, ed, fi, fi tilht, fir, fo, gir, go, hom, is, medeg, neden, no, nut, red, ro, sem, sevend, som, thereg, tun, tuz, u, umedgi, ur, ut, vi. Many of these prepositions and adverbs also serve as prefixes on verbs and nouns.
6.0. Adverbs
6.1. Simple Adverbs
Here is a partial list of some temporal adverbs.
6.2. Phrasal Adverbs: nut + noun
EX: nut brist: quickly, with speed
7.0. Verbs
The simple verb in Thosk is often distinguished from its related noun only by the tense suffixes and its use in the sentence: kove "speak," kov "speech."
7.1. Tenses
Thosk has two morphological tenses, present and past, and other tenses formed by various grammatical and syntactic means.
7.1.1. Present tense: -e
Most verbs end in -e in present tense, which does not change for person or number. However, in rapid speech, this -e is often elided, especially if the following word begins with a vowel. A few verbs ending in a vowel or glide use as their standard present tense a somewhat irregular, colloquial form without the -e ending. The older forms in parentheses are typical of more formal speech.
7.1.2. Past tense: -ev
Past tense is formed by adding the suffix -ev to the verb root (without present tense -e).
As with the present tense, a few common verbs form their past tense somewhat irregularly. The forms in parentheses are typical of formal speech.
7.2. Participles
Thosk has three participles, all in active use: the past passive, corresponding largely with the English past participle; the past active, similar to "having + past participle" in English, and the present active, similar to the English present participle.
7.2.1. Past Passive Participle: -un
The Thosk past passive participle, corresponding most closely with the English past participle in -ed/en, is formed by suffixing -un to the verb root.
As in English, this participle can function as an adjective modifying a noun:
EX: Netergun vi bez tha nazi kivode. An unseen power touches our lives.
7.2.2. Past Active Participle: -viz
The past active participle is formed by suffixing -viz to the verb root:
This participle may function as an adjective modifying a noun, in which case it often corresponds to a relative clause in English:
EX: Etviz ner izejev. The man who had eaten left.
7.2.3. Present Active Participle: -end
The present (active) participle is formed by suffixing -end to the verb root:
7.3. Causative Verbs: -ak
Causative verbs in Thosk are regularly formed with the suffix -ak. The addition of the causative suffix also serves to change intransitive verbs (verbs without a direct object) and adjectives into transitive verbs (verbs with a direct object).
7.4. Intransitive/inchoative Verbs: -ne
Thosk forms intransitive verbs (principally from adjectives) with the intransitive/inceptive suffix -ne.
8.0. Syntax
8.1. Verbless Sentences
Grammatically complete sentences in Thosk may consist of a noun or pronoun + an adjective, or + a preposition and a noun.
8.2. Yes/No Questions and the verb bu
Yes/no questions are distinguished from statements by intonation in speech and by the question mark in writing.
EX: O bu seneg ner? Is he an old man?
8.3. Possession with bu be- + noun: "I have NOUN"
Thosk expresses possession through the "bu be- + noun" construction. The possessor is expressed by a prepositional phrase, typically with be "to." The possessed thing is the grammatical subject of the verb bu "be, exist." In colloquial speech the "bu" is often omitted.
8.4. WH-questions
Word order in Thosk does not change in questions. The question word usually occupies the position which the answer takes.
8.5. Word Order
In general, Thosk word order is subject-verb-object. Adjectives precede nouns, and adverbs precede verbs.
Word order in Thosk does not normally change for WH questions. The interrogative is placed in the same syntactic space as the answer.
8.6. Direct Object: tha-
The direct object is prefixed with the particle tha, which is normally not written separately from the following object noun or pronoun. Note that stress is not placed on the particle, but on the object.
EX: Ta tha fadal bemen. Give me the cup.
Because the present participle is active, it takes a direct object with tha-:
8.7. Indirect Object: be- or dil-
We have already seen a form of the indirect object in the "bu be-" construction for expressing possession.
8.8. Gerunds: -d/t
Thosk forms from verbs a regular gerund in -t/-d, which can be used in many ways like the English infinitive. The Thosk gerund
Smird thanom bu vihti.
8.9. Clauses: je
Thosk forms clauses using the particle je:
8.10. Genitives: go + noun
9.0. Derivation and Word-formation Affixes
The following affixes are in common use.
10.0. Numbers and Counting
10.1. Numbers
10.2. Numbers with Quantities
Ta bemen tha fengi kilo rov. Give me five kilos of meat.
11.0. Some Greetings and Other Expressions