Introduction to Rihannsu Morphology and Syntax

*This is only a preliminary analysis of Rihannsu grammar and should not be relied upon too heavily.*

Note: Portions of this section, as well as several other sections on Rihannsu syntax and phonology, were passed on to me anonymously. No plagiarism is intended, I just thought they were well worth putting up! If you are the original author, please contact me so I can give you credit.

Nouns

Nouns have one of three cases in Rihannsu: Default, or Nominative, for subject and object, Genitive or Possessive for showing possession, and Dative for indirect object.

The Rihannsu place very high value on names, and so all proper nouns are treated differently (i.e., modify differently) than common nouns. There are also three groups of common nouns, depending on the letter the word ends in.

Words ending in an -i or -e are Group I, those ending in an -a, -o, or -u are Group II, and those ending in a consonant sound are Group III.

Note that the proper singular is usually not used except when the name refers to a group, in which case the singular specifies a single member.

In addition there are special prefixes that have meaning only for proper nouns (names). They are as follows, with their common usage. Note that they may not be used with common nouns to result in such names as 'Lhiess ir-Aihai'. Unless aihai (prairie) is an actual name of a region, it is improper to use it to mean 'from the prairie' or 'from the sea', or any other variation.

Other Common Prefixes:
t'- : Female clan name prefix (used in third name)
T'- : Female honorific prefix, used very commonly in older (Vulcan) firstnames.
tr'-: Male clan name prefix (used in third name)
S'- : Male honorific prefix, used very commonly in older (Vulcan) firstnames.
i- : Common city-name prefix (used in second name)
ei- : If the person is from a specific city, this is used.
---or--- Common elder-name prefix (used in second name)
Used when one changes names due to an important event
ir- : Common region-name prefix (used in second name)
Usually used for those from rural areas.
e- : Common marriage-name prefix (used in second name)
Use this in place of the former clan-name prefix.

Pronouns & Irregular Nouns

There are five basic pronouns, and various forms thereof, in Rihannsu. These are, reasonably enough, I, You, He, She, and It (or gender neuter). Each occurs in the Default and Possessive forms, singular and plural (plurals can be translated as We, You (all), They (males), They(females), and They (neuter or both sexes)).

When referring to a being of indeterminate gender, or a group containing both genders, the 3rd-person-gender-neutral form should be used. It is also usually acceptable to refer to someone with a gender-neutral pronoun even if you know their gender. However, since in English "it" does not normally refer to people, this usage is generally translated to "she," "he," "he or she," "one," or :they," depending upon the translator.

These forms are all irregular, as follows:

Many of these are often shortened and/or prepended to the words they apply to, especially in the possessive. Ex: 'arh'kaevra, My heart.'

In addition, there are a handful of other irregulars in Rihannsu. All are commonly used words, and most of these are listed below.

Converting Nouns to Adjectives

The prefix ih'- added to any noun can be used as an adjective to describe an entity that possesses some, but not all, the qualities of that entity. (Example: ih'varuul, Scoundrel-like)

Verbs

In Rihannsu, there are two tenses for verbs, and three aspects. The tenses are Past and Present. An action which will occur in the future uses the present tense plus a time indicator, such as 'Rhi siuren dha arhem llaiuri' (In five minutes I will be dying), as opposed to 'Arhem llaiuri' (I am dying.)

The three aspects are common, which is the default (I run), Progressive (I am running), and Completed (I have run). In the past tense, these would be 'I ran', 'I was running', and 'I had ran'.

There are four moods to the verbs, which are indicative, the default indicating an action did occur, negative, which is the opposite, indicating an action does NOT occur, subjunctive, indicating a possibility or condition, and imperative, indicating a command.

The dictionary form of all verbs is the common present tense indicative, which has no suffix attached.

* Words ending in E or A have -I, words ending in I or O take -E, words ending in U take -O. Passive and reflexive modifiers precede imperative suffixes.

Other Affixes:
---------------
(pre) thei' - 'May', indicating a state of desire, allowance or contingency.
(post) 'hna(h) - The verb 'engage/activate' is often appended to nouns, forming a single word.
(post) 'rau - 'Let', suggesting a command or aquiescence

More on Subjunctives:
The subjunctive mood is used to convey more uncertainty than the indicative. Whereas the indicative indicates fact or believed fact, the subjunctive indicates what 'may' be.

I will advise the Fvillha. --> Auethuri Fvillha arhem. (Indicative)

I may advise the Fvillha. --> Auethute Fvillha arhem. (Subjunctive)

Subjunctive also is the mood of contrary-to-fact conditional sentences.

If I were an admiral, I would advise the Fvillha.
--> Ve arhem enriov, auethute Fvillha. (subjunctive)

It is implied that since I am not an admiral, I will not advise the Fvillha. If it were not subjunctive, it would work like this...

If I come to be an admiral, I will advise the Fvillha.
--> Ve arhem enriov, auethuri Fvillha.

Note that for subjunctive and imperative moods, the particle 'Dhat' is used to convey the negative. Using Dhat plus the indicative is the same as using the negative mood. Dhat usually precedes the verb, but can occur at any logical point in the sentence.

Adjectives and Adverbs

In Rihannsu, adjectives immediately follow nouns, and the last adjective in a noun phrase takes the case modifier of the noun, though all words in the noun phrase agree in number. Adjectives always modify their form like common nouns. However, they may take additional endings to indicate comparison; these precede case and plural endings.

Least: -im
Less: -il
More: -e
Most: -ha

Thus, 'Highest' is a combination of vri high and -ha most: Vriha. There is a seperate set of endings that are polite or respectful, often used to describe a superior, or something under the control of a superior (i.e., their situation, a book they've written, etc.) Among equals, these can be used simply as a courtesy, but in many social situations, they are required to avoid disrespect.

Least: 'mri
Less: 'nil
(Common): 're
More: 'ne
Most: 'nra

In addition, in formal modes of speech, the 'most' endings are often used to express certainty rather than comparison. Thus, while a respectful 'Is all well?' query to a superior may be phrased 'Auethn qiuu mnek're?', a more formal phrasing would be 'Authn qiuu mnek'nra?'

Adverbs take the same comparative modifiers as adjectives. To convert an adjective to an adverb, the suffix -ev is used (before the comparative suffix). (Example: d'ev - greatly) Adverbs may immediately follow the verb they apply to, or immediately precede them. If it is unclear to which verb an adverb applies to, it will apply to the verb it follows. Adverbs modifying other parts of speech (adjectives or other adverbs) immediately follow them.

Syntax Rules

Word Order:

In indicatives, infinitives, and subjunctives, a noun immediately following the verb will always be the object. Any other noun in the nominative is assumed to be the subject, and other functions are indicated by affixes, particles, and case-changes. So, possible sequences are as follows:

V-O-S or S-V-O
V-O (Object will follow verb if subject is not present)
S-V (Subject will precede verb if object is not present)

Indirect objects may fall anywhere in the sentence (except between a direct object and a verb) as their case distinguishes their function. The same applies to nouns whose functions are indicated by affixes, particles, or other elements.

In imperatives, the object of the imperative is the first noun that occurs in the sentence, and will always precede the imperative verb itself in the sentence. If the first word is addressing the party being spoken to, then the next word will be the subject. All other words take their places as normal.

The subject of a sentence, once established, can be omitted until the subject changes in normal and formal speech. Rihannsu sentences thus are not required to have a subject, if the subject can be inferred from the context.

Noun Phrases:

Adjectives always immediately follow the nouns they modify.
Adjectives agree with their nouns in number, but the case of the noun phrase is applied only to the last word in the phrase.
Genitives follow the words or noun phrases they modify.

Appositives are phrases that modify a noun in the manner of a title (For example, in the sentence "Joe, my brother, is happy.", My brother is an appositive modifying Joe.) In Rihannsu, the appositive is preceded by the particle hje, and followed by the particle udt. Appositives occur like adjectives in the noun phrases they modify.They may take the case modifier if they occur last in the noun phrase.

Verb 'To Be'

“Be” verbs as such do not exist in Rihannsu. Their place in English is filled by several different Rihan constructions. First, like many Terran languages, sentences of equivalence or description (“That shape is a circle,” “The plant is green,”) have no verb as such; the closest word-for-word equivalent would be “That-shape circle” and “plant green”. Both of these are complete sentences.

But Rihannsu also draws a distinction between sentences of equivalence or naming and sentences of description. That is, the sentence “That shape is a circle” (which names the shape) and “That shape is red” (which describes one of the shape’s properties) are represented differently. The former sentences would include an affix (usually prefixed) which translates roughly as “named” , “called,” or “defined as.” The sentence would that be “called-that-shape circle” or (using English grammar) “That shape is called a circle.”

Because names, of objects as well as people, are so important to Rihannsu, this sentence is rather blunt and, depending on what or who it is you are naming, could even be insulting. Another common construction is to include a name or pronoun specifying who is doing the naming. In this way, you are not claiming that this name is “truth”, but only “told-truth” (q.v.) For example, “The Praetor is a Rihanha,” though self-evident, would be improper to state directly. One would say instead “I(He/She/They/t’Rehu/my aunt/the commander) call-Praetor Rihanha,” roughly, “I say that the Praetor is a Rihanha.”

Descriptive sentences, on the other hand, need no affix and may always be stated directly. However, it can be very difficult to distinguish between the two, and if one is unsure, using the naming affix and the indirect construction is safer. You may be laughed at if you use it when it is unnecessary, but no one will be offended.

Finally, existential sentences are expressed using the “named” prefix coupled with a reflexive. In this context the indirect construction is almost always used. “I am” or “I exist” would thus be “I call-I myself.” “The Elements exist” = “I call-Elements themselves-name-concept.” This construction can also be used when “is” has a complement, but this is normally done only in very formal speech or writing. Such sentences are commonly constructed like descriptives, so that “The book is on the table” = “book table on(relation word)”; “The book is over there” = “book there” or “book that-direction”.

"Be" is also used as an auxilliary verb in English. In Rihannsu this should be replaced by the appropriate verb form, e.g., "I am running" = "Arhem enaereri"

To indicate a negative state of being, the particle Dhat is used.
To indicate a subjunctive state of being, the particle Tie is used.
To indicate times and other variations on states of being, there are adverbs. The adverb 'rhe' ('truly') is often used as an emphasis.

(Note: there are more meanings for English 'be' & its conjugates than the ones those covered here!)

Other words

Postpositions follow the noun phrase of the noun they modify.

Prepositions immediately precede the nouns they modify.

Adverbs occur immediately after or immediately before the verbs they modify.

Vocatives usually occur at the beginning or end of a sentence, the former being more common in very formal modes of speech. (That is, when calling or referring to someone by name or title).

Besides these rules, Rihannsu sentence structure is fluid and flexible. These rules are sometimes broken in poetry, but this is not recommended as it is difficult for a non-native to tell when breaking grammatical rules will result in poetic effect, as opposed to gibberish.