Lamallu Evidentiality
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Temporality isn't that important. How truthful are your actions?
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 17 Jun 2020, 17:04.
[comments] lmugrammar
2. Giving Directions
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6. Lamallu Grammar
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Angels do not consider an action's position in time to hold enough importance to make a full verb tense out of it. However, they are physically incapable of lying, and so their verbs conjugate based on degree of truth or evidence: assumptive (assumed truth), "pure" evidentiality (actions for which there is evidence), believed truth (actions for which there is no evidence but is believed true anyway), veridical (simple statements of fact), and opinionative (expressing opinion). Consider this sentence, which uses Lamallu's five evidentiality tenses.
Īrr mī ōpréshep mā rēfij'a amījóó; khā mī ōprésash emē er lukhēses epár, er īrr mī tēthīetsop - thē taf shē tēthītsun.
/ɪr mɪ ɔpɾeʂəp ma ɾefɪjʔa amɪjəə | k͡xa mɪ ɔpɾesaʂ emə eɾ luk͡xesəs epaɾ | eɾ ɪr mɪ teθɪet͡so̞p | θe taf ʂe teθɪt͡sun/
they.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case see.PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.ASSAssumptive (mood/evid)
assumed truth.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee the burning.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case tree.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case; i.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case see.PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.VERVeridical (mood)
truthful, certain.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I it.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case and heard.EVIEvidentiality (mood)
categorises information source/certainty.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I thunder, and they.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case ran.PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.BELVBelieved (mood/evid)
speaker believes it true.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee - you.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case too run.FNEANear future (tense)
something that will happen in not much time.OPNOpiniative (mood/evidential)
expresses speaker's opinion.2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).
"I assume they saw the burning tree; I saw it and heard thunder, and I believe they ran - I think you will run, too."
Sometimes, which form of evidentiality is used can vary based on what the speaker wants to emphasize. In this sentence, the speaker could have used the veridical mood for both verbs in the phrase "i saw it and heard thunder", as it can be read as a simple statement of fact. For the purposes of the example, the speaker chose to emphasize the evidence of their ears, the thunder, as proof they were there even though they didn't see the other person. When telling a story, angels consider at least one evidenced statement to be a mark of trustworthy reporting (how the evidence is acquired, ie. degree of closeness as a witness or sensory input, is not necessarily important so much as the fact that there is evidence).
Evidentiality Conjugation
Lamallu verbs are organized into three stem classes: the fe stem, the tse stem, and the sho stem. They conjugate based on evidentiality and person/number (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th singular and plural).
ex. khāfet /k͡xE˔afet/ ; "to allow", fe class regular
| ASSAssumptive (mood/evid) assumed truth | EVIEvidentiality (mood) categorises information source/certainty | BELVBelieved (mood/evid) speaker believes it true | VERVeridical (mood) truthful, certain | OPNOpiniative (mood/evidential) expresses speaker's opinion | |
| 1S | khāfed | khāfes | khāfod | khāfash | khāfud |
| 2S | khāfen | khāfefen | khāfon | khāfanish | khāfun |
| 3S | khāfep | khāfepa | khāfop | khāfapash | khāfup |
| 5 | khāfev | khāfefev | khāfov | khāfavish | khāfuv |
| 1P | khāfka | khāfek | khāfakh | khāfukh | khāfekh |
| 2P | khāfea | khāfeal | khāfan | khāfla | khāfena |
| 3P | khāfest | khāfeus | khāfast | khāfust | khāfesu |
The conjugations tend to follow the same set of patterns. The three "faith" tenses (assumptive, believed, and opinionative) share a conjugation pattern, and the two "fact" tenses (evidentiality and veridical) share a conjugation pattern. In the sho and tse classes, the consonant clusters are broken in the fact tenses, but retained in the faith tenses.
ex. mīstse /mB˔ɪst͡se/ ; "to bake", tse class regular
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).ASSAssumptive (mood/evid)
assumed truth. mīstsen
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).EVIEvidentiality (mood)
categorises information source/certainty. mīstesen
If a verb ends with a cut-off version of its stem class, then it is irregular. Verbs such as lūts ("to be") and flúts ("to feel") follow a separate conjugation pattern.
| lūts | flúts | |
| ASSAssumptive (mood/evid) assumed truth.1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive).SGSingular (number) one countable entity. | lēd | fléd |
| EVIEvidentiality (mood) categorises information source/certainty.1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive).SGSingular (number) one countable entity. | ēs | fés |
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