Beltös Grammar

The customary order of Beltös is either SVO or VSO, but all six orders do appear. The word that represents the focus of the sentence, that is, whatever thing or action the speaker wants to draw attention to, is placed at the front of the sentence. Word order can also be affected by the meter in songs and poetry. Modifiers (adjectives/adverbs) commonly follow the word that is modified immediately – but not always; the modifier’s word placement can change for emphasis or lyricism.

There is obligatory case marking on nouns, and agreement marking on verbs. Modifiers are not marked. Adjectives/adverbs can be inflected for comparisons, as described later. When multiple modifiers are used, they follow each other serially, without conjunctions.

Some words classified as adverbs in English, such as “now” or “nearby”, are considered particles in Beltös grammar, and can occur anywhere in a sentence or clause. These words cannot take on a comparative form.

Nouns that are governed by prepositions take the oblique case. The possessor (genitive case) follows the possession (of any case).

There are no passive forms of verbs; this is handled by placing the object first in the sentence, possibly without an explicit subject. There are no verbal moods (subjunctive, imperative, conditional), although some modalities can be expressed using adverbs. Evidentiality, however, is obligatory in most discourse contexts, and is expressed with a particle. That is, during a conversation, the evidentiality of an event should be expressed at least once. After that, it is assumed to be understood.

There is no negation. None whatsoever.

Nouns

Noun Categories

Category	Approximate Meaning	Gender
I	God	Neuter
II	Angels/Spirits	Masc/Fem/Mixed
III	Virtues	Feminine
IV	Other Abstract or Non-physical Things	Neuter
V	Humans	Masc/Fem/Mixed
VI	Animals, Birds, Fish, and Body Parts	Masc/Fem/Mixed (Fish are always feminine)
VII	Fruits/Vegetables/Plants/Trees/Eggs/Food	Trees/Plants: Feminine Otherwise: Masculine
VIII	Inanimate Physical Things	Neuter

Note that there are exceptions to this table. Not all nouns are found in the “correct” category, likely due to diachronic changes in the language. For example, “grass” (bim) is in category VII, as expected, but “field” (dapäzdas) surprisingly is in category VIII. It is always best to consult the Lexicon to make sure.

Noun Cases

Category:		I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII
Singular	Nominative	‘a-\|-Ø	‘o-\|-Ø	‘e-\|-Ø	t́a-\|-Ø	‘e-\|-Ø	‘i-\|-Ø	‘i-\|-Ø	ḱi-\|-Ø
	Genitive	‘am-\|-am	‘o-\|-äm	‘e-\|-ëm	t́am-\|-ëm	‘em-\|-om	‘i-\|-ëm	‘i-\|-äm	ḱi-\|-öm
	Accusative	‘an-\|-an	‘o-\|-än	‘en-\|-ën	t́an-\|-ën	‘e-\|-ön	‘i-\|-ën	‘i-\|-än	ḱi-\|-ön
	Oblique	‘a‘i-\|-až	‘o‘i-\|-äš	‘e-\|-ëš	t́a-\|-ëš	‘e-\|-ož	‘i-\|-ëš	‘i-\|-äš	ḱi-\|-äh
	Vocative	‘a-\|-Ø	Ø-\|-Ø
Plural	Nominative		žo-\|-äh	ši-\|-äh	sat́a-\|-äh	ze-\|-Ø	ši-\|-ëh	si-\|-äh	siḱi-\|-äh
	Genitive		žo-\|-äm	ši-\|-em	sat́a-\|-em	zem-\|-om	ši-\|-ëm	si-\|-äm	siḱi-\|-äm
	Accusative		žo-\|-än	ši-\|-en	sat́a-\|-en	ze-\|-ön	ši-\|-ën	si-\|-än	siḱi-\|-än
	Oblique		žo-\|-äš	ši-\|-ëx	sat́a-\|-ëx	ze-\|-ož	ši-\|-ëš	si-\|-äš	siḱi-\|-äš
	Vocative		Ø-\|-a			Ø-\|-e		Ø-\|-a

Note: The vertical line (“|”) indicates the root in the above table.

(See Phonology for assimilation rules pertaining to suffixation of noun case markers.)

Pronouns

See the separate document, Pronouns

Honorifics

Honorifics are particles. They precede nouns. They are obligatory for all common nouns, but not for names (proper nouns). For pronouns, the honorific particles have been fused into the pronoun.

Very High Status (rare, except categories I or II)	ja‘o
High Status	ja
Equal Status	Ø
Low Status (humble)	žeš

(Note: Although the original linguistic analysis of the Beltös language stated that honorific particles obligatorily preceded all common nouns, subsequently more extensive work has shown that the situation is more complex. Firstly, in casual speech, speakers often do not include the honorific, even in cases where the referent would certainly be of a rank where the High Status honorific (ja) would be appropriate. Secondly, in possessive chains, often the nouns in genitive case do not take honorifics. Examples:
            ja ḱidežda ja ‘emṕä‘ezjažom ja ‘embimglišom
            the (high) house of the (high) brother of the (high) shaman
            but
            ja ḱidežda ‘emṕä‘ezjažom ‘embimglišom
            the (high) house of the (elided) brother of the (elided) shaman
However, for consistency, the elided honorific continues to be marked as a zero-morpheme in the interlinear glosses.)

Verbs

Tense and Aspect

Tense and aspect are shown using a suffix on the verb.

Past Perfective	-ba	after vowel or ‘m’
	-‘a	after ǧ, h, x
	-a	otherwise
Past Imperfective	-mimma	after ‘m’
	-bimma	after vowel or ǧ, h, x
	-imma	otherwise
Non-Past Perfective	-bos	after ‘m’
	-‘os	after ǧ, h, x
	-ṕos	after vowel
	-os	otherwise
Non-Past Imperfective	-Ø

Except for formal speech, once the temporal context is established, non-past imperfective is used almost exclusively.

Gender and Number

Verbs agree in gender and number with their subjects. This is represented by a prefix on the verb.

For some noun categories, the gender is determined by its category. For other categories, the gender is determined by the sex of the referent(s). Animate objects are never considered neuter, even if the sex is unknown.

There is no rule for recognizing gender from the spelling of a word; it can be determined from the lexicon. It is not marked on the noun. The gender/number prefixes are shown below:

Masculine	Singular	še-
Masculine	Plural	sešë-
Feminine	Singular	t́e-
Feminine	Plural	zetë-
Neuter	Singular	ḱe-
Neuter	Plural	sikë-
Mixed	Plural Only	šetë-

(See Phonology for assimilation rules pertaining to these prefixes.)

Copulas

Beltös uses a verbless construction to signify equivalence or membership (there is no word “to be”):
‘eṕessaz nizgä ‘eDani‘el. (That man is Daniel)
‘eDani‘el ja ‘ebimgliš. (Daniel is a shaman)
Both nouns in this construction take the nominative case.

There is a verb, ‘amkan, which means “used to be” and appears only in the past perfective:
‘eKati t́amkana ‘edlemjin la‘aljas. (Kathy used to be a little girl)

Adjectives can appear in verbless constructions as well, but only if they are members of the sub-class where the root is an adjective, rather than an adjective derived from a noun. To express that an object has the quality of a derived adjective, a different construction must be used:
žeš ‘ižesgöṕa madäx. (The bird is red)
žeš ‘ižesgöṕa šesanṕaz‘am gejasli. (The bird is brave – Literally, the bird flies bravely)

Ditransitive Verbs / Applicatives

Syntactically, Beltös has transitive and intransitive verbs only. A third object, if present, appears within a prepositional phrase. (There is no exact equivalent to the English: “John gave Mary a gift.”) In all cases where a verb is semantically ditransitive, the more animate object appears in the accusative case, and the optional third object appears in the oblique case following a preposition.

‘eBadi šedelžen‘eba ‘eMelin (‘ozzen ‘ibat́iš)
Badi gave-to Mary (by an apple)

An applicative form of the verb can be derived, which promotes the oblique object into the accusative and demotes the accusative object to an optional oblique governed by a preposition.

‘eBadi šedelžen‘e‘oza ‘ibat́in (si‘em ‘eMelissož)
Badi gave-by an apple (for Mary)

Modifiers (Adjectives & Adverbs)

There is no morphological difference between adjectives and adverbs. Most modifiers can modify either a noun or a verb.

Usually the modifier closely follows the word modified, but this is not required; the modifier’s placement can change for emphasis or lyricism. There is no agreement in gender or number or case for modifiers, so they rarely are separated far from the noun or verb modified.

Modifiers can be inflected for comparison (more/most), as described later. When multiple modifiers are used, they follow each other serially, without conjunctions.

The modified word can be ellipsed if understood from context:

siböhzanäh mammeš nizgä
those tall trees

mammeš nizgä
those tall [ones]

Modifiers can be split into two sub-classes: those modifiers which are roots, and those modifiers which are derived from nouns. Only those modifiers that are roots can be used as predicate adjectives in a copular sentence. This cannot always be determined by the presence of final “li” (which usually indicates the adjectival suffix “-li”), since some roots end in “li”.

For example, ši t́ähmaz (He [is] good), but “He is strong” must be expressed using a verb: ši šedenjam (He acts-strong).

Derivational Forms

Verb Derivational Forms

Form	How it is Formed	Notes
Reflexive/ Reciprocal	verb + “self” Appears as bilba/bilma after vowels; ilba/ilma after consonants e.g. goltezilba = goltez + bilmaba (wash + self)	Refl.: to wash (oneself) Recp.: to look at each other (mähbešilma = mähbeš + bilmaba)
Iterative/ Intensive	The first two syllables of the verb stem are reduplicated e.g. bä‘iz‘a à bä‘izbä‘iz‘a (pull à pull off)	To pull off – to pull apart
Causative	“to make” + verb e.g. ‘ižda‘im = ‘iž + da‘im (make + eat)	“Badi caused Ali to eat the apple.” The original subject (“Ali”) is demoted to oblique case, and governed by ‘ozzen: ‘eBadi šižda‘im žeš ‘ibat́in ‘ozzen ‘Alissož
Applicative	verb + “ ‘oz” (from ‘ozzen, “by”) Terminal stem consonant (if present) deleted; ‘oz appended e.g. dasäǧjaspin à dasäǧjaspi‘oz (provide for [a person] à provide with [something])	[See section on ditransitive verbs]

Other Derivational Forms

Beltös is unusual in that the roots of the majority of lexical words signify abstract nouns, that is, qualities or concepts. There are some regular derivational forms by which an adjective, a concrete noun, or a verb, can be formed from that abstract noun root. However, in some cases this is irregular, and in many other instances the derived form is unattested and likely non-existent. (Note that assimilative phonological patterns pertain to the derivational process.)

	How it is Formed	Example
To Adjective	root à root+li (root+i, if the root ends in “l” and has three or more syllables)	glemta à glemtali (angelicalness à angelical)
To Concrete Noun	root à root+azma or root+zma (based on whether the root ends in a consonant or vowel) If the final syllable of the root has a voiceless vowel, sometimes it is re-voiced or elided. See the Lexicon for particular words. (from “sazzozma” = bit)	glemta à glemtazma (angelicalness à angel)
To Verb	root à da/de/do/di/d+root [see Phonology document] (from “da” = do)	glemta à deglemta (angelicalness à angelicize)

Regardless of the derivations shown for concrete nouns, synecdoche often comes into play, in which the abstract noun is used to represent its concrete equivalent. Example: The word dožbam means food, and is used in informal contexts. In formal contexts, zo‘abesazma (nourishment) is used instead. But in some informal contexts, the word, zo‘abes (nourishingness) is used for “food,” for example, as in the phrase, žeš zo‘abes (literally: humble nourishingness).

Note that a derived concrete noun inherits the category, and gender, of the abstract noun from which it is derived.

Demonstratives

There are three demonstrative adjectives in Beltös. The distinction can be either distance-oriented (proximal, medial, distal), or time-oriented (now, recent, remote), or concreteness-oriented (tangible, visible, abstract), depending on context or the topic of discourse. Like other adjectives, these usually follow the noun they modify.

The demonstrative adjectives are:

proximal (now, tangible)	niz
medial (recent, visible)	nizgä
distal (remote, abstract)	niždas

(niz-le, nizgä-le, niždas-le: mean this/that place (here, there))

There are also demonstrative pronouns. These are listed in the Pronouns document.

Note that there are no articles (markers for definite or indefinite: “the” or “a”) in Beltös. A demonstrative may be used instead.

Prepositions

to, towards	bos	All prepositions take the oblique case
from	las‘o
for	si‘em (benefactive sense)
with, including, accompanied by	maš (takes animate object)
by, by means of	‘ozzen (takes inanimate object; instrumental sense)
at, on, in, within, inside of, into, onto	‘ižbi
outside of	pomižbi
above, over	bas‘adil
below, under	‘apët́o
without, excluding, except	pommaš (takes animate object)
on the surface/skin/fur of	ke‘atom
under the surface/skin/fur of	‘apëke‘atom
in front of, before	‘ataǧ
behind, after	mas‘abilbiš
between, through, during	kennaž
beside, alongside, near to	dan
far from, away from	daždlal
across, on the other side	penpi
around, about (concrete sense)	‘almal
among	midi
against	pännam
because of	ždon
despite, in spite of	glinnimmo
instead of, other than	‘ižbi-le

Conjunctions

and	‘en
or	ṕäht́im
but	se‘im
because	ždonnis
in order to, so that	pannimṕa
while	‘aṕompëh
until	masṕe
before	‘ataǧ
after	mas‘abilbiš
if	ṕozbaja
if (irrealis/counterfactual)	‘ozzaššaja
therefore, thus	nendlažga

(Notes: Both ṕozbaja and ‘ozzaššaja introduce hypothetical clauses, but ‘ozzaššaja is used exclusively for impossible conditions (“if a pig had wings…”). There is no word for “then”, it is implied.)

Modality

Modality is expressed via a small, closed class of words – henceforth called “modals”. Sometimes they function as adverbs, in that they modify the meaning of the verb (but unlike adverbs, they do not decline for comparison). Sometimes modals act as prepositions, as they introduce a noun phrase. Other times they act as complementizers, as they introduce a subordinate clause.

Evidential Modality

Evidentiality is obligatory. The source of the information either is marked in the utterance or has been marked in the foregoing discourse and thus can be recovered from the context. The concept of conversational context is broad, as a conversation started on one day could be continued on a following day. Moreover, evidentially is marked only for main clauses; subordinate or complement clauses are not marked (although there are a few exceptions to this, such as a subordinate clause that has its own subordinate clause).

How was the knowledge acquired?	Explanation	Particle
Sensory (gloss: evid.sy)	The speaker knows of this because he saw or heard or smelled or felt it	ṕalkë
Deduction/Inference (gloss: evid.di)	The speaker did not experience this directly, but he has deduced that it is true	tinglä
Hearsay/Tradition (gloss: evid.ht)	This information has been imparted to the speaker from someone else, or via a tradition accepted as true	sesë
Revelation/Dream (gloss: evid.rd)	This truth came to the speaker through a divine revelation or through communication from an angel or through a dream	‘adojo

Examples:

Badi ate the apple (as I saw it)
‘eBadi šeda‘imbos žeš ‘ibat́in ṕalkë

Badi ate the apple (as I have been told)
‘eBadi šeda‘imbos žeš ‘ibat́in sesë

Other Modalities

Besides evidentiality, other modalities (deontic and epistemic) are expressed similarly, and typically follow the main verb in a sentence or phrase. These are optional, and can follow one another serially if more than one applies.

Preposition	Example	Linguistics Term
täzne	He can walk	Abilitive
dälle	He is allowed to walk	Permissive
bam‘a	He must walk	Obligative
mižba	He wants to walk	Desiderative
dlizbim	Probably, he walks	Potential
bämmas	Possibly, he walks	Speculative
‘al‘oz	Surprisingly, he walks	Mirative
zim‘a	Let us walk / May he walk	Hortative/Optative/Jussive

Examples:

Badi wants to eat the apple
‘eBadi šeda‘im mižba žeš ‘ibat́in

Badi possibly eats the apple
‘eBadi šeda‘im bämmas žeš ‘ibat́in

Subordinate Clauses

Complement Clauses of Evidentiality

Examples of how the evidential modals can introduce a subordinate clause:

I know (from deduction) that Mako has departed from the village
šedige ‘e tinglä šejisṕemt́äx‘os ‘eMaḱo las‘o žeš t́atöhṕoṕoš

I know (from a dream) that Mako has departed from the village
šedige ‘e ‘adojo šejisṕemt́äx‘os ‘eMaḱo las‘o žeš t́atöhṕoṕoš

But compare:
I think (from deduction) that Mako has departed from the village
šannel ‘e ‘iǧ šejisṕemt́äx‘os ‘eMaḱo las‘o žeš t́atöhṕoṕoš
[the verb ‘annel (think) takes the direct speech particle ‘iǧ as its complement, and the evidential of inference is implied]

Complement Clauses of Other Modalities

These modals can be used to express a prepositional phrase. The modal governs an object (a noun or noun phrase, in the oblique case) which is the “source” of the modality.

Ali wants Badi to eat the apple
‘eBadi šeda‘im žeš ‘ibat́in mižba ‘Alissož
- or -
mižba ‘Alissož ‘eBadi šeda‘im žeš ‘ibat́in
(lit: “Wantingly” by Ali, Badi eats the apple)

Compare:
Ali permits Badi to eat the apple
‘eBadi šeda‘im žeš ‘ibat́in dälle ‘Alissož
(lit: Badi eats the apple, “permittedly” by Ali)

(Note that in neither of these sentences is it strictly specified whether Badi ate the apple, only whether Ali wanted or permitted it. But depending on the conversational context, the accomplishment of the action is frequently implied.)

Relative Clauses

Beltös has relative clauses, that function as follows:

1. Position

Beltös is a language whose word order is free-form, and the relative clause can appear anywhere in the sentence, not necessarily after or before (or even near) the noun that is the common argument in the main clause, although following the argument is usual. The relative pronoun that introduces the relative clause agrees with the main clause’s noun in case and gender and honorific (not number). In this way the clause can be tied to the correct noun. (In this sense, the “relative pronoun” in Beltös is actually a “relativizer,” not a pronoun.)

2. Case of Noun in the Main Clause

Any noun in the main clause, regardless of case, can function as the common argument of a relative clause.

3. Case of Noun in the Relative Clause

The common argument within the relative clause must be either the subject or the object of the clause. There is no overt representation of the common argument within the relative clause. Rather, the case of the manifest object in the relative clause determines the function of the covert common argument.

4. Restrictiveness

In Beltös, relative clauses can be either restrictive or non-restrictive, and there is no grammatical distinction between the two.

Examples:

That man, who loved me, was walking north.

Ø	‘e-ṕessaz	niždas	še-žbäzbin-imma	gannepel=le	še	še-dinga‘om-bos	‘en
[eq]	nom.s-man	dadj.dist	m.s-walk-pi	north.adjv	rpro.m.nom.eq	m.s-love-np	1s.acc.eq

That man, whom I loved, was walking north.

Ø	‘e-ṕessaz	niždas	še-žbäzbin-imma	gannepel=le	še	t́e-dinga‘om-bos	‘e
[eq]	nom.s-man	dadj.dist	m.s-walk-pi	north.adjv	rpro.m.nom.eq	f.s-love-np	1.s.nom.eq

This brush of that woman, who walked north, is broken.

žeš	ḱ-engan	niz	Ø	‘em-jezzas-om	niždas	tanni	t́im	t́e-žbäzbin-os	gannepel=le
lo	nom.s-brush	dadj.prox	[eq]	gen.s-woman-gen.s	dadj.dist	broken.adjv	rpro.f.gen.eq	f.s-walk-np	north.adjv

Direct Speech and Thought

Beltös has a special means for expressing direct speech or thought: the quotative particle, ‘iǧ, is used to precede the quotation:

Ali said, “I ate the apple.”

‘-Ali	š-izṕam-bos	‘iǧ	še-da‘im-bos	‘e	žeš	‘i-bat́i-n
nom.s-Ali	m.s-say-np	quot	m.s-eat-np	1s.nom.eq	lo	acc.s-apple.acc.s

(this could also be translated as, “Ali said that he ate the apple.”)

There is no means in Beltös to represent indirect speech or thought. The closest equivalent is to use the reportative modal:

Ali said (as I have been told), “I ate the apple.”
‘Ali šizṕambos sesë ‘iǧ šeda‘imbos ‘e žeš ‘ibat́in

Clitics

Emphatic

Beltös has an emphatic clitic, “-o” – /(ʔ)o(ː)/ that can be postfixed to the focus of a sentence to further emphasize it. The glottal stop is pronounced after a vowel, the /o/ is lengthened depending on the whim of the speaker. This clitic is always written “-o” with an explicit hyphen regardless of how it is pronounced. Recall that the focus of a sentence is fronted; if the focus is a phrase, rather than a single word, then the clitic may be postfixed to the final word of the phrase.

Badi ate the apple
‘eBadi šeda‘imbos žeš ‘ibat́in

Badi [not someone else] ate the apple
‘eBadi-o šeda‘imbos žeš ‘ibat́in

The apple [not something else] was eaten by Badi
žeš ‘ibat́in-o šeda‘imbos ‘eBadi

The red apple [not the green apple] was eaten by Badi
žeš ‘ibat́in madäx-o šeda‘imbos ‘eBadi

The apple from Ali’s bowl [not some other apple] was eaten by Badi
žeš ‘ibat́in las‘o ḱisegemäh ‘em‘Alissom-o šeda‘imbos ‘eBadi

Diminutive

Beltös has a diminutive clitic, “-i” – /(ʔ)i(ː)/. The glottal stop is pronounced after a vowel, the /i/ is lengthened depending on the whim of the speaker. This clitic is always written “-i” with an explicit hyphen regardless of how it is pronounced. Examples:

Little cat
ḱat́a-i

Pretty little white cat
ḱat́a soz‘a si‘ali-i

Locative

The locative clitic is “-le”. It is always written with a hyphen. When suffixed to a word, it indicates the place where that thing is located, or where that action occurs, or the direction towards which the thing or action is. Examples:

sabi-le = meetinghouse (the place of the meeting)
gannepel-le = seawards (the direction towards the sea)

Comparisons

Beltös has an elative form for adjectives and adverbs, which has the sense of “more” or “most” or “very.” The elative is formed as follows:

1) The adjective/adverb is prefixed by “ ‘a ”, and

2) The vowel in the last voiced syllable of the root changes as follows: i à e, e à o, o à a, a à (no change).

There is also an equative form which is used in expressions like: “as big as”. To form the equative:

The adjective/adverb is prefixed by “ žal ” (from “žalna” = same).

Example:

big	t́äpim
bigger	‘at́äpem
biggest
very big
as big	žalt́äpim

In order to form a comparison, it is necessary to indicate the “standard” against which the comparison is made. The particle, zos, is used for that purpose. It can be translated as “than” or “as.”

Big dog
‘imazḱem t́äpim

Dog bigger than cat
‘imazḱem ‘at́äpem zos ‘iḱat́a

Dog as big as cat
‘imazḱem žalt́äpim zos ‘iḱat́a

Note that both nouns in a comparison take the same case.

Interrogatives

Polar questions (“yes/no questions”) are preceded by the particle, “ ‘a ”.

For content questions (“wh-questions”), the sentence is preceded by ‘a, and the desired item of information is replaced with the appropriate interrogative word. Example:

Who ate the apple?

‘A	‘e-lëmmas	še-da‘im-bos	žeš	‘i-bat́i-n
INTRG	NOM.S-who/what	M.S-eat-NP	LO	ACC.S-apple-ACC.S

Ali ate the what?

‘A	Ø	‘-Ali	še-da‘im-bos	žeš	‘i-lëmmas-än
intrg	[eq]	nom.s-Ali	m.s-eat-np	lo	acc.s-who/what-acc.s

The interrogative words need to be declined for case, like nouns. Since the noun category of the referent may be unknown, the interrogative is placed most frequently into category V (if the referent is a person), or VIII (if the referent is a thing). However, if the speaker can narrow it down (as above, when the referent of “what” is some sort of food, which always belongs to category VII), then that noun category is used for declension.

what? / who? / which?	lëmmas
when?	geten
where?	giz‘a‘e
why?	gissan
how?	‘in‘al

(There is no equivalent for “how many?” Instead, one asks, “‘a šetëdat́iš t́ejez?” (are there many?))

The tone of an interrogative sentence rises during the utterance (similar to English). Also, the initial ‘a is usually emphasized.

Note that, in discourse, polar questions are not often used to solicit a “yes/no” answer. Rather, they represent an open request for more information. For example, the question, “Is Badi in the forest?” (‘A ‘eBadi ‘ižbi ‘ibelṕäbazjamëš?), actually means, “Where is Badi? (I am guessing that he is in the forest.)” This question is answered either with “Yes” (Jo‘a), or, for example, “Indeed, in the field” (Jo, ‘ižbi ḱidapäzdasäh). Asking the more direct, “Where is Badi?” (‘A ‘eBadi ‘ižbi ḱigiz‘a‘e?), would be considered rude, unless asked of a person of inferior social rank.

In general, it is not considered appropriate to ask questions to someone of a higher social rank. Since the social hierarchy in the Beltös culture is fluid and depends on the context of the situation, this can make the task of the anthropologist or linguist a difficult one. A rote phrase that can be used, to avoid social embarrassment, is “May I be permitted to ask a question?” (‘A dazgašṕolsa dälle žeše žeš ‘enzgašṕolsazman?”). If the listener assents, then one can proceed. If the listener does not answer, then it is time to change the subject.

Adjunctive Phrases

Adjunctive phrases (that is, a clause describing the manner, place or time of the action described by the main clause) are introduced by prepositions and can occur anywhere in the sentence except at the front, but most commonly appear near or at the end. In discourse, they often occur as isolated sentence fragments to clarify a previous utterance:

‘eMona t́eglazdolos ‘azbazmä
Mona became very wet
Nnnn…?
Hmm…?
‘Apët́o ḱibläzmimzasäh
In the rain
Jo‘a
Yes

The interrogative words can also introduce adjunctive phrases:

Geten t́edabläzmimzäsimma ‘ammäš
When the clouds were raining

Ḱizbalbeš giz‘a‘e zetëdat́iš šomždemgo‘äh
The marsh where there are mushrooms

Numbers

This table lists all of the numbers in Beltös. (This is not a language in which to do advanced mathematics.) Numbers are adjectives.

Cardinals

none	mölnim
one (of many)	zden
one (single/unique)	zdenni
two (similar)	dlim
two (distinct/opposed)	gadlim
three	ža
four	ʻellim
five	ḱellim
few	pemzödaš
some (many)	zamdaš
multitude (a great many)	t́ejez

Ordinals

first	baždim
second	majaš
third (rare)	mammajaš
next	bimbe
last	dent́as

Compound Words

Compound words are written hyphenated. The main word of the compound is inflected normally and the subordinate word (or subordinate words) of the compound remains the same:
            dajanna-‘oponnam                 (sunset-nom.sg)
            dajanna-žoponnamäh             (sunset-nom.pl)
            mammäh-zaš                          (mother-in-law-voc.sg)
            zemmammäh‘om-zaš             (mother-in-law-gen.pl)

Discourse and Pragmatics

Non-committal pause: In conversations, typically the listener fills a pause by the speaker with /nnnn/. This has the apparent meaning of “go on” or “please continue”. /nnnn/ is also used to avoid answering a question, especially when the responder feels that the answer may displease the questioner, or, when the responder does not know the answer:

‘A ‘eBadi šeṕazgazos t́anzdampazman šim?
Has Badi completed his work?

Nnnn…
(implying that either the responder does not know, or that he knows that Badi’s task is incomplete, but does not wish to upset the questioner by saying so)

Ellipsis: In conversations, ellipsis is used often. Sentence fragments are just as common as complete sentences. Ellipsis is used to avoid repeating what has been said already, as well as if the information is mutually known by the interlocutors.

‘A gissan ‘eKati t́ego bos žeš t́atöhṕoṕoš ‘ambaždas-le?
Why did Cathy go to the south village?

‘Emammamma‘ön (acc)
(She went to visit her) grandmother.

Possession: Although people can possess personal items, such as clothing or tools, most things are not considered to be owned by a person or group of persons. Natural things, like land, water, trees, or wildlife, are considered unpossessable. Even large constructed objects, like a house or paddock, are considered to be for the exclusive use of a family only temporarily.

As such, the genitive case does not always imply ownership. Even the word “owner” (bom‘a) has the implication of “the one who is using it at this time.” Except for a few ceremonial objects, there is no concept of inheritance, or passing one’s property to descendants.

Often the genitive case is used for possession in a metaphorical sense, as in: “ ‘esi‘a ‘emKatissom” (beauty of Cathy), or: “ ‘ega‘a‘an ‘iždis‘izzanëm” (fearlessness of the hawk).

Answering Questions in the Negative: Because there is no negation in Beltös, indirect phrasing is used to answer a question in the negative. The following example illustrates this:

Would you like a slice of my pear?
No, thank you.

‘A jade t́edezezma mižba ḱisazozzman ‘ikenbaždašäm niz?
Literally: Do you want to-be-satisfied-by a bit of this pear?

‘Ititaṕöx ‘en ‘imo‘an žešem ṕalkë zetëdezezma ‘enždägažmo‘ën jadem.
Literally: My heart and stomach are-satisfied-by your friendliness.

Category:		I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII
Singular	Nominative	‘a-\|-Ø	‘o-\|-Ø	‘e-\|-Ø	t́a-\|-Ø	‘e-\|-Ø	‘i-\|-Ø	‘i-\|-Ø	ḱi-\|-Ø
	Genitive	‘am-\|-am	‘o-\|-äm	‘e-\|-ëm	t́am-\|-ëm	‘em-\|-om	‘i-\|-ëm	‘i-\|-äm	ḱi-\|-öm
	Accusative	‘an-\|-an	‘o-\|-än	‘en-\|-ën	t́an-\|-ën	‘e-\|-ön	‘i-\|-ën	‘i-\|-än	ḱi-\|-ön
	Oblique	‘a‘i-\|-až	‘o‘i-\|-äš	‘e-\|-ëš	t́a-\|-ëš	‘e-\|-ož	‘i-\|-ëš	‘i-\|-äš	ḱi-\|-äh
	Vocative	‘a-\|-Ø	Ø-\|-Ø
Plural	Nominative		žo-\|-äh	ši-\|-äh	sat́a-\|-äh	ze-\|-Ø	ši-\|-ëh	si-\|-äh	siḱi-\|-äh
	Genitive		žo-\|-äm	ši-\|-em	sat́a-\|-em	zem-\|-om	ši-\|-ëm	si-\|-äm	siḱi-\|-äm
	Accusative		žo-\|-än	ši-\|-en	sat́a-\|-en	ze-\|-ön	ši-\|-ën	si-\|-än	siḱi-\|-än
	Oblique		žo-\|-äš	ši-\|-ëx	sat́a-\|-ëx	ze-\|-ož	ši-\|-ëš	si-\|-äš	siḱi-\|-äš
	Vocative		Ø-\|-a			Ø-\|-e		Ø-\|-a