Morphology
Nouns
Kolic nouns decline for case and number. They are categorised into four noun classes, or grammatical genders.
If a noun ends in a vowel, that vowel is considered part of the lemma, but not the stem, instead being considered a suffix. This suffix is replaced when the noun is declined into other forms. Moreover, if the resulting suffix is 〈i〉, the stem takes the form without the i-umlaut applied, as seen in the example word örði.
This table details how the lemma forms are analysed:
| Lemma | teiga | kvils | kír | örði | hríð |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | teig | kvils | kír | orð | hríð |
| Suffix | -a | -Ø | -Ø | -i | -Ø |
* -Ø denotes a null suffix.
More in the grammatical gender section.
Grammatical gender
There are four grammatical genders in Kolic — the feminine, neuter, masculine, and diminutive. There is no animacy distinction and all four genders can refer to referents thought of as animate, as the classes correspond to the Kolic social three gender system, which actually developed into its current form thanks to the grammatical gender system, among other factors.
Feminine words tend to end with the vowel /a/ in the nominative singular, or less commonly with a consonant (see words like kvils, kól). The lemma form can end in a vowel different than /a/ only in loanwords (e.g. Rósi - the feminine name Rosie. Note that this loanword, just like other loanwords from real-world languages, is not cannonical, but can be used by real life speakers to express things that don’t exist in-universe, such as their names).
Masculine words tend to end with the vowel /i/ or with a consonant, and very rarely with a different vowel (the same loanword exception applies).
Neuter words almost always end with a consonant (the same loanword exception applies). Words that have multiple gendered forms (like terms that describe people) take the neuter as their default and epicene form.
Note that loanwords that refer to subjects with a social gender, such as given names, can end with endings otherwise atypical for that gender, and still retain the grammatical gender that corresponds to the social gender. The word is then declined the same way as any other word of that grammatical gender would be, according to whether it ends with a vowel or a consonant.
The diminutive gender is quite unlike the others, as its members are virtually always derived from roots of other genders using the suffix -jun. However, they do have their own set of declensions, and adjectives and vebs display agreement with the diminutive gender, so it is considered a separate gender. The diminutive gender is used for usual diminutives, for names of objects derived from other names by diminution (e.g. týðrujun — writing tablet, from týðri — plank), to refer to children, which are almost never refered to by the three other genders, and for forming pet names for partners and close friends.
A root can be made into a diminutive by suffixing -jun onto the root (e.g. Hildjun - a pet name or child name for Hilda, or týðrjun - a writing tablet, from týðri - a plank)
Number
Kolic has two grammatical numbers — singular and plural.
The plural number is indicated by a suffix ending in -i, however, the suffixes vary between genders and get surrounded by and blended with other suffixes in other cases.
Case
🚧 This section is a Work In Progress 🚧
Kolic has an extensive case system, with up to 59 cases in total, however most of them can be analysed as combinations of suffixes. These cases are usually separated into two categories - 8 basic cases, and 51 locatives. As previously mentioned, the locatives can be thought of as combining two types of suffixes - one specifying position relative to the referent (13 locative positions, including the empty position), and one specifying a direction in relation to that location (4 locative directions, including the static direction). In some cases, these affixes blend together instead of simply existing next to one another.
Kolic has a nominative-accusative alignment. It lacks a dative case, with nominals in the dative function being marked with the lative case. The genitive is often used as a partitive or second accusative. More info in the individual case descriptions.
You can read a description of each case’s function in the Case Descriptions page.
Declensions - Basic Cases
The declension tables are split by grammatical number. Columns are split by gender and by whether they end in a vowel or a consonant. Note the application of the i-umlaut in all declensions ending with the letter 〈i〉, including the masculine nominative forms ending with the vowel 〈i〉. In this case, the other declensions (not ending with 〈i〉) display a reverse-umlaut, where these forms retain their original unumlauted spelling and pronunciation.
Also note that when a declension is marked with “—”, the lemma form is used, but if a suffix is provided, it is suffixed only to the stem and the original suffix is replaced.
Singular
| Feminine, V | Feminine, C | Neuter, C | Masculine, V | Masculine, C | Diminutive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | — (teiga) | — (kvils) | — (gríð) | — (örði) | — (hríð) | -jun (týðrjun) |
| Accusative | -u (teigu) | -u (kvilsu) | — (gríð) | -a (orða) | -a (hríða) | -jun (týðrjun) |
| Genitive | -än (teigän) | -än (kvilsän) | -ri (gríðri) | -n (örðin) | -än (hríðän) | -jän (týðrjän) |
| Vocative | -ää (teigää) | -ää (kvilsää) | — (gríð) | -i (örði) | -i (hríði) | -jú (týðrjú) |
| Comitative | -ënin (teigënin) | -ënin (kvilsënin) | -rin (gríðrin) | -nin (örðinin) | -ënin (hríðënin) | -jënin (týðrjënin) |
| Instrumental | -änað (teigänað) | -änað (kvilsänað) | -rinäð (gríðrinäð) | -nað/näð (örðinäð) | -änað (hríðänað) | -jänað (týðrjänað) |
| Abessive | -änae (teigänae) | -änae (kvilsänae) | -rinae (gríðrinae) | -nae (örðinae) | -änae (hríðänae) | -jänae (týðrjänae) |
| Benefactive | -una (teiguna) | -una (kvilsuna) | -na/nä (gríðnä) | -ana/äna (orðana) | -ana/äna (hríðäna) | -juna (týðrjuna) |
Plural
🚧 This section is a Work In Progress 🚧
| Feminine, V | Feminine, C | Neuter, C | Masculine, V | Masculine, C | Diminutive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -i (tígi) | -i (kvilsi) | -Ci (gríðði) | -ri (örðri) | -ri (hríðri) | -jin (týðrjin) |
| Accusative | -i (tígi) | -i (kvilsi) | -Ci (gríðði) | -ri (örðri) | -ri (hríðri) | -jin (týðrjin) |
| Genitive | -in (tígin) | -in (kvilsin) | -Ciri (gríððiri) | -rin (örðrin) | -rin (hríðrin) | -jín (týðrjín) |
| Vocative | -i (tígi) | -i (kvilsi) | -Ci (gríðði) | -ri (örðri) | -ri (hríðri) | -jin (týðrjin) |
| Comitative | -inin (tíginin) | -inin (kvilsinin) | -Cirin (gríððirin) | -rinin (örðrinin) | -rinin (hríðrinin) | -jínin (týðrjínin) |
| Instrumental | -inäð (tíginäð) | -inäð (kvilsinäð) | -Cirið (gríððirið) | -rinäð (örðrinäð) | -rinäð (hríðrinäð) | -jínäð (týðrjínäð) |
| Abessive | -inae (tíginae) | -inae (kvilsinae) | -Cirae (gríððirae) | -rinae (örðrinae) | -rinae (hríðrinae) | -jínae (týðrjínae) |
| Benefactive | -inä (tíginä) | -inä (kvilsinä) | -Cinä (gríððinä) | -rinä (örðrinä) | -rinä (hríðrinä) | -jinä (týðrjinä) |
* C means geminating the last consonant. If the consonant is already geminated in the singular nominative, this step is skipped (e.g. þreitt becomes þreitti in the plural nominative).
* If a suffix’s first vowel glyph is <i> or <í>, it triggers the i-umlaut in the root.
* The vowel /ɑ/ (represented by <a>), if found as the first vowel in a grammatical suffix, shifts to /a/ (represented by <ä>) if the preceding vowel is a front one (/a, ɛ, ɪ, i, œ, ʏ/, represented by <ä, e, ë, i, y, í, ý, ö, ú>). Note that this shift only happens in grammatical suffixes, and does not affect roots.
Declensions - Locatives
The locatives are almost the same between all genders. They exist in two dimensions direction and position, with four directions and thirteen positions, for a total of 51 mostly predictable combinations (since the empty position + static direction doesn’t convey any information and therefore doesn’t make sense).
The only difference between genders is the base to which the locative markers are suffixed. The following table assumes the root (not the lemma form) as the base (e.g. “gleir” instead of “gleira” for “fish”):
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Feminine | — | -i- |
| Neuter | — | -Ci- |
| Masculine | — | -ri- |
| Diminutive | -ju(n)- | -ji(n)- |
* C means geminating the last consonant. If the consonant is already geminated in the singular nominative, this step is skipped (e.g. the plural locative base of þreitt becomes þreitti-).
*the n at the end of -jun- and -jin- is kept when the locative marker begins with a vowel, and dropped when the locative marker begins with a consonant.
The following is the complete table of locative markers to be appended to the base:
| Static✦ (at) | Lative (to) | Ablative (from) | Perlative (through) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empty | — | -jä | -än | -ära |
| Inessive (in) |
-ra/rä | -rajä/räjä | -rään | -räära |
| Adessive (near) |
-gi | -ijjä | -gään | -gira |
| Apudessive (next to) |
-þi | -þijjä | -þään | -þira |
| Postessive (behind) |
-yðä | -yðjä | -yðän | -yðäära |
| Antessive (in front of) |
-va/vä | -vajä/väjä | -vään | -väära |
| Superessive (on) |
-na/nä | -najä/näjä | -nään | -näära |
| Subessive (under) |
-vää | -vääjä | -vään | -väära |
| Elevative✦ (above) |
-úgä | -újjä | -úgän | -úgära |
| Pergressive (around) |
-agga/ägga | -agjä | -aggän | -aggära/äggära |
| Intrative (between) |
-änta | -äntjä | -antän | -antära |
| Transessive✦ (against) |
-sta/stä | -stajä/stäjä | -stän | -stära |
| Essive (as/like) |
-aen | -aenjä | -aejän | -aejära |
✦ These terms were made up by me, because I couldn’t find any existing terminology describing this.
TODO: The superessive is identical to the benefactive. Is this okay?
Pronouns
🚧 This section is a Work In Progress 🚧
Case
Declensions - Basic Cases
Singular
| gär (I) | kú (you) | ár (she) | ór (he) | eir (they) | eijun (dim.) | ir (reflexive) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | gär | kú | ár | ór | eir | eijun | ir |
| Acc. infix | ra | ki | ru | ra | re | ju | ri |
| Accusative | ra | ki | á | a | ei | ju | ri |
| Genitive | rin | kin | án | ún | ín | jän | irin |
| Vocative | — | kú | — | — | — | — | — |
| Comitative | rinin | kinin | äänin | únin | ínin | jënin | írinin |
| Instrumental | rinäð | kinäð | ánað | únäð | ínäð | jänäð | írinäð |
| Abessive | rinae | kinae | ánae | únae | ínae | jänae | írinae |
| Benefactive | rana | kina | ána | ana | eina | juna | rina |
Plural
| nú (we) | grú (you) | ääri (they, fem.) | úri (they, masc.) | íri (they, neut.) | íjin (dim.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | nú | grú | ääri | úri | íri | íjin |
| Acc. infix | na | ga | ra | ra | ra | ji |
| Accusative | na | ga | rää | rá | rí | jin |
| Genitive | nún | grún | äärin | úrin | írin | jín |
| Vocative | — | grú | — | — | — | — |
| Comitative | núnin | grúnin | äärinin | úrinin | írinin | jínin |
| Instrumental | núnäð | grúnäð | äärinäð | úrinäð | írinäð | jínäð |
| Abessive | núnae | grúnae | äärinae | úrinae | írinae | jínae |
| Benefactive | nanna | ganna | äärinä | úrinä | írinä | jínä |
Declensions - Locative bases
When it comes to the locative cases, pronouns are declined the same way as nouns, but their bases are a little more complex.
| Pronoun | Locative base |
|---|---|
| gär (I) | r(a)(C) |
| kú (sing. you) | k(ú)(C) |
| ár (she) | á(r) |
| ór (he) | ú(r) |
| eir (sing. they) | ei(r) |
| eijun (sing. dim.) | ju(n) |
| ir (reflexive) | i(r)(C) |
| nú (we) | n(ú)(C) |
| grú (pl. you) | gr(ú)(C) |
| ääri (they, fem.) | äär(i)(j) |
| úri (they, masc.) | úr(i)(j) |
| íri (they, neut.) | ír(i)(j) |
| íjin (pl. dim.) | ji(n) |
*If the locative marker begins with a consonant, the vowels in parentheses (a, ú, i) are kept. Otherwise, they’re dropped.
*If the locative marker begins with a consonant, except the adessive, beginning with -g, The geminated consonants marked here with (C) are kept. Otherwise, they’re dropped (for example the 1st person singular static inessive is rarra, but the 1st person singular adessive is rägi and not räggi).
*If the locative marker begins with a vowel, the non-semivowel consonants in parentheses (r, n) are kept. Otherwise, they’re dropped.
*If the locative marker begins with a vowel, except the postessive beginning with -yð, the (j) in parentheses is kept. Otherwise, it’s dropped.
Verbs
🚧 This section is a Work In Progress 🚧
Verb conjugate for tense, aspect and mood, and in some forms agree with the subject on number and grammatical gender, but interestingly, not person. It is not yet known how this came about, but the leading hypothesis is that person agreement did use to exist in verbs in the past, but the forms have since converged to be identical for all persons.
Indicative Mood
| Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Diminutive | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atemporal | -a Tanna |
-u Tannu |
-i Tänni |
-ju Tannju |
-ni Tänni |
| True Present | Aera + -ra/rä Aera tannra |
Aeru + -ra/rä Aeru tannra |
Äëri + -ra/rä Äëri tannra |
Aeju + -ra/rä Aeju tannra |
Äeni + -ra/rä Äeni tannra |
| Past Perfective | Aera + -än Aera tannän |
Aeru + -än Aeru tannän |
Äëri + -än Äëri tannän |
Aeju + -än Aeju tannän |
Äëni + -än Äeni tannän |
| Past Imperfective | -ra Tannra |
-ru Tannru |
-ri Tännri |
-rju Tannrju |
-rini Tannrini |
| Future Perfective | -ra Tannra |
-ru Tannru |
-ri Tännri |
-rju Tannrju |
-rini Tannrini |
| Future Imperfective | Aera + -jä Aera tannjä |
Aeru + -jä Aeru tannjä |
Äëri + -jä Äëri tannjä |
Aeju + -jä Aeju tannjä |
Äëni + -jä Äeni tannjä |
| Habitual | Reduplicaton + -a Tatanna |
Reduplicaton + -u Tatannu |
Reduplicaton + -i Tatänni |
Reduplicaton + -ju Tatannju |
Reduplicaton + -ni Tatänni |
In verbs whose roots end with the letter r, the past imperfective and future perfective forms (but not the true present) change this final -r before the suffix into a -ð-, forming the ending “ðra,”, “ðru,” “ðri”, or “ðrju”. For example, the neuter past imperfective and future perfective forms of the verbs “jórar” and “tarrar” are “jóðru” and “tarðru” respectively.
The vowel in the true present suffix -ra/rä is determined by the last vowel of the root. If this is a front vowel (/a, ɛ, ɪ, i, œ, ʏ/, represented by <ä, e, ë, i, y, í, ý, ö, ú>), the suffix is -rä, otherwise, it’s -ra. This is because the true present form is really the nominalised form of the verb in the inessive case, which displays the same behaviour. For example, the true present feminine forms of the verbs “tannar” and “ändir” are “aera tannra” and “aera andra” (notice that the i-umlaut caused by the infinitive -ir goes away), but the true present feminine forms of the verbs “fíðar” and “ífir” are “aera fíðrä” and “aera eifrä.”
The suffixes -i and -ri, present in some masculine forms, trigger i-umlaut in the root. Notice that in the habitual aspect, if the root is monosyllabic, the reduplicated syllable in the front is always unaffected by the umlaut, even if the syllable in the root that’s being reduplicated, is.
The irregular verb “gir” (to be) only has one past and future form (irra, irru, irri, irju, and inni, depending on gender and number), regardless of aspect.
Imperative Mood
The imperative moods is used to express a wish or command to the addressed to perform the action the verb describes.
The imperative mood is formed by interfixing a -v- before the gender-number marker in the indicative atemporal. For example, the indicative atemporal feminine is “veiða” (she eats), and the imperative feminine is “veiðva” (eat!).
Hypothetical Mood
The hypothetical mood is used to express:
- an action that didn’t happen, but could have
- an action that hasn’t happened yet, but has the potential to happen in the future
It can be used with any tense or aspect, and is formed by suffixing -tta or -ttä (based on Kolic’s Weak Vowel Harmony) to the indicative form. In the case of forms using the auxiliary verb gir (to be), -tta/ttä is suffixed to the auxiliary verb.
For example:
Aera ár tannän : She went
Aeratta ár tannän : She would have gone
Nakku gär : I run
Nakkutta gär : I would be running (this form is used to mean “I feel like running”)
Conditional / Interrogative Mood
The Kolic language doesn’t morphologically distinguish the conditional mood from the interrogative. This is because the interrogative mood came from the conditional.
The conditional/interrogative is formed by suffixing -ga or -gä (based on Kolic’s Weak Vowel Harmony) to the indicative form.
For example:
Veiða ár : She’s eating
Veiðaga ár : If she’s eating OR Is she eating?
Hypothetical-Conditional Mood
The hypothetical-conditional mood isn’t a mood on its own, instead combining the forms and the meaning of the hypothetical mood, and the conditional.
It is used to express a condition on something that either didn’t happen but could have, or something that hasn’t happen yet, but still could.
It is formed by suffixing the conditional -ga/gä onto the hypothetical form, essentially forming the combined suffix -ttaga/ttägä
For example:
Víðittägä ór úrrägða, ðurittä mikki ýþa. : If he ate more, he wouldn’t be so thin. In this compound sentence, the first sentence uses the hypothetical conditional “víðittägä,” meaning “if [he] ate more,” (he had not eaten more, but if he had, the conditioned sentence would be true), and the second sentence uses only the hypothetical “ðurittä,” meaning “[he] would not be” (he is, but had the potential to not be, had the condition been true).
Participles
The Past Participle
The past participle is formed by suffixing “-g” to the infinitive minus the “r” ending, and an agreement suffix depending on gender, case, and number agreement, exactly like a typical adjective (section under construction).
Líttar (throw) → líttaga, líttag, líttägi (thrown) Súgðar (weigh down) → súgðaga, súgðag, súgðägi (weighed down) Túfnir (fall) → túfniga, túfnig, túfnigi (fallen)
The past participle is used when an adjective describes the result of an action.
Adjectives
🚧 This section is a Work In Progress 🚧
Conjunctions
🚧 This section is a Work In Progress 🚧
Ýþ
Ýþ is a Complementiser, introducing a clause that functions as an argument of a verb. It shares its form with the demonstrative “ýþ” meaning “this,” but can be reduced based on phonological context. If the following word starts with a liquid (a vowel or a liquid consonant), ýþ gets reduced to a “þ-“ prefix.
Jaeða gär ýþ þúva ár rikðir - I know she can hunt
Jaeða gär þaera ár þúnda - I know she’s pretty
Äëþ … äëþ
Äëþ … äëþ is a phrasal conjunction that expresses that a degree of an adjective is so large, that the clause after the conjunction holds. It can be translated as the English “so … that”
Aeru gär äëþ súgðag äëþ järiftu gär rälpa - I am so stressed that I feel sick
Interjections
🚧 This section is a Work In Progress 🚧