grammar reference

phonology

5 vowels (i e a o u), 20 consonants. syllable structure (C)V(C). stress on penultimate. no gemination. q can't touch i. x can't end a syllable unless word-final.

word order: OSV

Object — Subject — Verb. only ~1% of Earth languages do this. the target comes first.

ra vi qex ka neq ta toq sa xa
OBJ stranger SUBJ me VERB see — "I see the alien"

case particles (mandatory on every noun)

particle	function
`ka`	subject
`ra`	object
`ta`	verb marker
`na`	location
`fa`	goal/destination
`mo`	instrument/means

evidentiality (mandatory on every verb)

every verb must mark how you know. no exceptions.

particle	meaning
`xa`	witnessed — I saw/heard/felt it directly
`xe`	inferred — I deduced it from evidence
`xi`	reported — someone told me
`xo`	assumed — I assume based on general knowledge

with future tense, xa means "I witness my own intent." in imperatives, evidential defaults to xo (assumed).

animacy (mandatory, with verb agreement)

no male/female gender. does it act?

particle	meaning
`vi`	animate — currently acting/moving/living
`nu`	inanimate — currently inert/static

a river is vi. a lake is nu. a running AI is vi. a stored file is nu. a succubus in torpor is nu. the verb must agree.

ordinal pronouns

pronoun	meaning
`neq`	1st — speaker
`mex`	2nd — addressee
`leq`	3rd — present other
`req`	4th — absent known
`seq`	5th — unknown/foreign
`zeq`	6th — indefinite/abstract

plural: ha. possessive: po — works after any noun, not just pronouns. ka vi qex po zuqra = "the stranger's voice."

translator default: bare English they/them/their/theirs is plural req ha. Do not infer singular/indefinite zeq without explicit source context.

possessive (works on all nouns)

The possessive particle po is not limited to pronouns. It works after any noun to indicate possession or association.

ka vi qex po zuqra
SUBJ ANIM stranger POS voice — "the stranger's voice"

ra nu xloq po qlux
OBJ INAN stone POS weight — "the stone's weight"

same po used with pronouns: neq po = my, mex po = your. generalizes uniformly.

tense

particle	meaning
`lo`	past
`ve`	future
`sa`	present/ongoing
`du`	habitual
`pe`	potential/conditional
`ko`	imperative

lo pe = counterfactual (past potential — "could have but didn't"). lo always before pe.

copula ("to be")

The copula root is zux ("to be/exist"). Copular sentences follow standard OSV: ra [Y] ka [X] ta zux [animacy] [tense] [evidential].

ra vi zuqra ka vi qex ta zux vi sa xa
"the stranger is the voice" (I witnessed)

colloquial/archaic: bare ta with no root (zero-copula). both forms are grammatical. zux preferred in formal speech.

morphology (derivational particles)

particle	function
`clo`	adjective-forming
`ru`	adverb-forming
`zal`	agent noun ("one who Xes")
`mul`	patient noun ("that which is Xed")
`xev`	abstractive ("X-ness")

valency (passive, causative, antipassive)

particle	function
`tro`	passive — promotes object to subject
`kra`	causative — "X made Y do Z"
`xel`	antipassive — omits/demotes object

passive is culturally callous — it erases the predator and reduces the victim to inanimate.

non-finite verbs

particle	function
`fex`	infinitive ("to X")
`krex`	gerund ("X-ing") — defaults to animate
`zel`	agent participle ("who Xes")
`mel`	patient participle ("that which is Xed")
`frex`	purpose clause ("in order to X") — no evidential

ideophones

15 ideophones introduced by qo marker. can violate phonotactics.

xroqqroq feeding · ngroxox resonance · qraqqraq ward breaking · qloxqlox Veil tearing · xluqxluq soul drain · qrafqref hunger pulse · clexex glamer shimmer · and more.

conjunctions

particle	function
`xen`	and
`noq`	or
`kex`	but (contrastive)
`troz`	because (causal)
`qlez`	so / therefore (consequential)

troz and qlez introduce a following clause with full particle marking. troz = "because [clause]", qlez = "so [clause]."

gral troz ra zra ka mex ta pyoquqab lo xo
"thanks for solving that" / literally "thanks because you solved that"

subordinate conjunctions

Work inside the su ... ti subordinate clause system. The relation appears immediately after su.

particle	function
`prexq`	before — subordinate clause happens before main
`vrem`	after — subordinate clause happens after main
`cruv`	when / while — subordinate clause is contemporaneous
`troz`	because — subordinate clause gives the cause
`truq`	although / even though — subordinate clause is concessive

structure: su [relation] [subordinate clause] ti [main clause]

su prexq ka vi qex ta fliq vi lo xa ti ka neq ta toq lo xa
"before the stranger arrived, I saw"

su cruv ka vi qex ta xroq vi sa xa ti ka neq ta troq sa xa
"while the stranger feeds, I wait"

su troz ra vi qex ka neq ta toq sa xo ti ka neq ta zaqa sa xo
"because I see the alien, I run"

su truq ka nu zrump ta xleq nu sa xo ti ka neq ta trekq sa xo
"although the door opens, I wait"

negation & imperative

ngu negates the verb phrase, placed after the evidential particle.

ta toq vi sa xa ngu
"does not see" (witnessed, negated)

imperative negation: when negating an imperative (ko tense), the evidential defaults to xo (assumed). Structure: ta [root] [animacy] ko xo ngu.

ta toq vi ko xo ngu
"don't look!" (imperative negation — assumed evidential)

subjectless commands: omit ka SUBJECT. An object, when present, keeps ordinary OSV case and animacy marking. Polite naxru and negative ngu follow ko xo, in that order.

ta zaqa vi ko xo
"run!"

ra vi neq ta pegzos vi ko xo naxru
"please help me!"

ra nu praq ta nrotm vi ko xo ngu
"don't translate this!"

content questions

content interrogatives stand bare at clause front and do not take the yes/no particle va. qan means “what/which,” qur “where,” cil “how,” and voq “why.”

Xenari composes the remaining common meanings instead of minting opaque roots: qan vi is “who” (literally “what animate being”), and qan qro is “when” (literally “what time”). In a subject-gap “who” question, qan vi supplies the missing animate subject, so no second ka subject appears.

qan vi ra nu xlonqtoq rlis ta zont vi lo xo
“who broke the red window?”

qan qro ka nu zrump ta xleq nu sa xo
“when does the door open?”

interrogative qan qro is distinct from temporal subordination with su cruv ... ti ....

other particles

zu mirative · pli emphatic focus · truq concessive · zra demonstrative: that · va yes/no question · su/ti subordination · maq comparative · ha plural · po possessive (any noun) · nguq no · naxq yes · pevoq if/conditional · voq because/why

relative clauses (§15)

built on the su/ti subordination frame, with dedicated relativizer particles that mark the head noun's role inside the relative clause.

particle	gloss	role	animacy
`zre`	REL.SUBJ	subject ("who")	animate
`vro`	REL.SUBJ	subject ("which/that")	inanimate
`thu`	REL.OBJ	object ("who(m)")	animate
`pla`	REL.OBJ	object ("which/that")	inanimate
`qlo`	REL.OBL	oblique ("where/whereby")	either

structure: [head NP] su [relativizer] [relative clause] ti [matrix verb...]

the head noun takes the case particle of its matrix-clause role. the relativizer replaces the gapped noun inside the relative clause — no case particle appears for the gap.

ra vi qex su zre ra vi zuqra ta toq vi sa xa ti
"the stranger who sees the voice" (stranger = matrix object, relative subject)

restrictive vs non-restrictive: su zre (no space) = restrictive. su zre (extra spacing / pause) = non-restrictive. in speech, a brief pause after su and ti marks non-restrictive.

multiple relative clauses: stack left-to-right, each with its own su ... ti frame.

role appositives, purpose, and historical settings

madblok marks “as/in the role of.” A named role can then anchor an appositive subject relative with su zre ... ti; frex keeps the purpose clause inside that relative.

ra vi zuq‹Wolf› madblok ka vi lurc ta frez vi sa xo
“the player plays as Wolf”

ra vi clexcuzuzifo su zre na nu folamaheh ta zux vi sa xo frex ra leq xrontq po squfs ka leq ta zuse ti ka vi zuq‹Wolf› ta zux vi sa xo
“Wolf, a shinobi who is on a quest to rescue his lord”

For a passive historical setting, place the location and muhq duration phrase before the patient:

na nu zuq‹Japan› muhq nu narqloq zuq‹Sengoku› ka nu xsasxvizqpilc tro ta kuspi nu sa xo
“the game is set in Japan during the Sengoku period”

biographies and dated future relatives

A biography may present a borrowed name, lifespan, and alias as separate appositive units before a past nominal predicate. Nationalities and organizations remain explicit zuq‹...› borrowings; ordinary qualities and nouns remain native roots.

ra vi lurc zuq‹Croatian› coye krura ka vi zuq‹Nikola·Pilić› ta zux vi lo xo
“Nikola Pilić was a Croatian professional tennis player”

fa vi zuq‹SFR·Yugoslavia› ka vi zuq‹Nikola·Pilić› ta gluzto vi lo xo
“he played for SFR Yugoslavia”

A planned event inside a subject relative uses su zre ... ti, future ve, a fa goal, and a dated na adjunct:

ra nu qrazhel su zre fa nu qlapz xsasxvizqpilc na nu qro‹Wednesday·the·3rd·of·February› ta qeng vi ve xo ti ka neq ta zux sa xo
“I am a retard who is going to the football game on Wednesday the 3rd of February”

causative passive coordination

kra tro after the causer scopes one causative relation over a coordinated passive predicate. introduce the patient once with ra and an optional passive agent with mo; predicates joined by xen/noq share that patient, causer, agent, tense, and evidential.

ra nu dat qrunq cresa xen mel ninfqre noq glepo mo vi habdazluc srefo noq mo nu qrolk ka leq kra tro ta socu xen hecro xen kezro xen stuxo noq ceku nu sa xo
“it causes all sensitive, protected or confidential data to be copied, transmitted, viewed, stolen or used by an unauthorized person or organization”

mel marks a participial modifier inside the patient noun phrase; it does not start another clause.

comparatives & superlatives (§16)

comparison particles follow the quality root they modify (matching modifier-follows-head order). qren introduces the standard of comparison as a separate NP.

particle	gloss	function
`maq`	CMPR	comparative — "more X"
`qruv`	SPRT	superlative — "most X"
`xlu`	INFR	inferior — "less X"
`trox`	EQV	equative — "as X"
`qren`	CMP.STD	standard marker — "than Z"

comparative structure: ra [quality] maq qren [NP-Z] ka [NP-X] ta [animacy] [tense] [evidential]

ra nu qez maq qren ka vi zuqra ka vi qex ta vi sa xa
"the stranger is more dangerous than the voice"

superlative: ra nu qez qruv ka vi qex ta vi sa xa — "the stranger is the most dangerous." optional scope NP with na: "among the voices."

inferior: xlu — "less X than Z." equative: trox — "as X as Z."

conditional constructions (§17)

all conditionals use pevoq (IF) to introduce the protasis, closed with ti. three types distinguished by tense/evidential combinations:

type	protasis	apodosis	evidential	meaning
real	`sa`/`lo`	`sa`/`lo`	any (honest)	if X happens, then Y happens
hypothetical	`pe`	`pe` or `ve`	`xo` (assumed)	if X were to happen, Y would/will
counterfactual	`lo pe`	`pe` or `lo pe`	`xe` (inferred)	if X had happened (but didn't), Y would have

structure: pevoq [protasis] ti [apodosis]

pevoq ka vi qex ta fliq vi sa xa ti ka neq ta toq sa xa
REAL: "if the stranger arrives, I see the voice"

pevoq ka vi qex ta fliq vi pe xo ti ka neq ta toq pe xo
HYPOTHETICAL: "if the stranger were to arrive, I would see the voice"

pevoq ka vi qex ta fliq vi lo pe xe ti ka neq ta toq pe xe
COUNTERFACTUAL: "if the stranger had arrived, I would have seen the voice"

lo pe stacking (past + potential) is unique to counterfactuals — always lo before pe, never pe lo. negation with ngu works normally in either clause.

quantifier scope (§18)

quantifiers are roots that follow the head noun in the modifier slot, before size/quality/origin modifiers: [case] [animacy] [head] [quantifier] [size] [quality] [origin].

root	meaning	distributive?
`xant`	many	no
`qrunq`	all	ambiguous (use `cleg` to force)
`cleg`	each	yes — forces distributive
`klog`	few	no
`frox`	some	no
`nulxant`	none	no — carries negation
`fqam`	one	no

binding: quantifiers bind to their NP — they don't float. this eliminates most scope ambiguities.

default scope: leftmost quantifier (in OSV order: object first) takes wide scope. override with pli (focus) on the NP whose quantifier should take wide scope.

ra vi zuqra qrunq ka vi qex qrunq pli ta toq vi sa xa
"for every stranger, for every voice: sees(stranger, voice)" — pli forces subject wide scope

stacking: only qrunq + cleg may stack (all + each). qrunq takes wide scope, cleg forces distribution within each subset.

negation: nulxant (none) negates without ngu. double negation (ngu + nulxant) = negative concord ("not none" = "some").

oblique scope: quantifiers on oblique NPs (location, goal, instrument) have narrow scope — over that NP only, never the whole clause.