Mänula Gramatika Zõjukš Chadeš

Short Grammar of the Hattic Language

1. INTRODUCTION
2. PHONOLOGY 
3. NOUNS
4. ADJECTIVES 
5. PRONOUNS
6. VERBS
7. NUMERALS
8. PREPOSITIONS 
9. SYNTAX
10. ENGLISH-HATTIC WORD LIST
11. TEXT SAMPLES



1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Land and people

When I was a student at the Institute for Eastern European Studies during the years 1989-1994, I caught interest for nationalities questions in the (former) Soviet Union. While preparing a paper on Polish-Ukrainian relations, I accidentally stumbled upon a small nation living in the north of Russia, the Hats, a people I had never heard of before. I got fascinated immediately, not only by their very existence, but also, in particular, by their language.

Although I was never educated as a professional linguist, I became a professional Polish translator. Scientific linguistics, however, were always a major hobby of mine, which allowed me to make a study of the Hattic language. Modesty commands me to warn anyone who reads this text, that it is the work of a devoted amateur, not of a professional. Besides, I feel I should make it clear, that I am not at all a fluent speaker of the Hattic language. Therefore, my notes are merely based upon the works of such outstanding scientists like Gustav Bauer, Vadim Barskij, Gennadij Voznesenskij, and Igor Lãkelma.

The first thing that caught my interest was the fact, that the Hattic language forms an entirely independent branch of the Indo-European language family, which ought to be sufficient to attract the attention of linguistic circles. Surprisingly, this happened only in a few cases. I hope that my short sketch of the language, probably the first time it ever appears on the Internet, will contribute to a broader recognition of the Hattic people and its needs; it is my sincere conviction, that they deserve it.

Not much is known about the early history of the Hats. Most scientists identify them with a tribe mentioned by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the ’Ωσκάρoι, who must have lived somewhere north of contemporary Ukraine, and who were frequently at war with their southern neighbours, the Scyths. According to this theory, the name ’Ωσκάρoι has survived in the name of another people, related to the Hats, the Askai.

Others place them further to the east, in the vicinity of Lake Aral, the territory of Saks and Sarmats.

A third theory considers them as an offspring of the Hatti, a non-Indo-European people that lived in Asia Minor in the 2nd millennium B.C., and later heavily influenced the culture of the Hettites. This idea, however, is based upon nothing but the similarity of the name, which in the opinion of many is just a mere coincidence; if it were true, the Hats would have borrowed from their ancestors nothing but their very name. It is safer to believe, that earlier theorists, who erroneously linked them with the Hatti, called them Hats, and that this name later became customary in wider circles. The misunderstanding could be due to a resemblance to the name of the Hats in their own language, Chadeš. This word has actually been derived from the old Hattic word for mountain, chardura; literally, Hats means “mountaineers”.

There is a fourth theory that sees the Hats as “a lost Tocharian tribe”. It is true that certain similarities cannot be denied, but the differences between the languages, both lexically and morphologically, are too huge to give credibility to the hypothesis of common roots with the Tocharians or their ancestors. It is possible, however, that the Hats and the Tocharians have shared a portion of common history.

Personally I believe, that the first theory makes most sense. It even appears, that the Hats must have lived in the territory north of Ukraine for a considerably long period. This would explain both certain phonological similarities with the Iranian languages and, through the long-time presence of Gothic and other East Germanic tribes in those territories, the unmistakable influence of the Germanic languages at the Hattic sound system. It would also explain why, despite the Hats’ inhabiting a territory belong­ing mostly to Uralic peoples, the latter's influence on the Hattic language is rather insignificant. From this point of view, it is the only theory for which there is any linguistic evidence whatsoever.

The first written evidence of a Hattic state dates back only to the second half of the thirteenth century, when the existence of a “Hattic prince, fierce and courageous” was mentioned in the chronicles of Vasilij Nesmejanov. Except for being “fierce and courageous” the prince was also known for his cruelty towards his enemies. Unfortunately, very little written material has been left to us about the period the Hattic princes; all we know for certain is, that they were regularly at war with their North Slavonic neighbours. The only thing that we know for certain, is that the Hattic princedom was sub­juged by the Moscovian tsar between 1488 and 1507, and that subsequently the Hattic nobility lost all its privileges and fell back into peasantry within decades.

The Hattic Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in 1918, shortly after the Bolshe­viks took over in Russia. It was the beginning of a cultural revival during the 1920s. The leftist writer Konstantin Vurak, who took the position of 1st secretary of the Communist Party in the HASSR, made an enormous contribution to this. After centuries of different orthographies, Hattic spelling was finally standardized. Literature, music and other forms of art flourished; there was also a major increase in Hattic education. Later, all these things were considered by the Stalinist regime as forms of nationa­lism, and in the thirties, most of them were put to an end. The Cyrillic alphabet was imposed to replace the original Latin alphabet in the same year when Vurak died in a Siberian camp.

After Stalin's death improvement came, be it slowly and step-by-step. In the sixties, as a result of the relative freedom enjoyed under Khrushchev’s regime, a group of writers within the communist party, the so-called “sfešmetakeš”, including Valentin Vurak, Konstantin's grandson, advocated an upgrade of the status of the Hattic language. They made Hattic literature flourish again and succeeded in a small-scale reappearance of Hattic education; however, their efforts to change the Hattic ASSR's status into that of a union republic, failed. Part of their accomplishments were undone under Brezhnev's rule, but this was only a temporary setback. In the second half of the eighties, the period of perestroika, a large national movment emerged, cumulating into the People's Front for Freedom and Perestroika (Sejser Front az Ajšadej ha Darmichazuj, SFAD), the Hattic equivalent of the Baltic People's Fronts. It's leader became Igor Lãkelma, long-time professor of Hattic linguistics at the University of Bazor-Hel, and a prolific writer, who had earlier belonged to the sfešmetakeš.

The Hattic Republic, as it is called now, was founded in the year 1993. Lãkelma was elected its president, and the Hattic language soon received the status of its first official language, next to Russian. Lãkelma still enjoys great popularity, and among Hats he enjoys an almost legendary, heroic status, though it must be said, that his political activities clearly had a negative influence on his writing.

Currently, the republic is facing similar problems as other post-Sovjet multinational entites, in particular the bad economic situation and the nationalities issue. There is much tension between the Hats and the Askai on one hand, and the Russians and other Slavonic minorities on the other.

The Russians constitute 32 % of the republic's population, thus outnumbering the Hats (24,6 %), the Askai (17,1 %), and the Dolans (1,3 %). There has always been a huge amount of Russians on Hattic territory, but their number increased steadily under communist rule as a result of its policy of russification. Almost all of them have Russian as their native language, and only 16,6 % are able to speak Hattic. Similar figures apply also to other Slavic minorities on Hattic territory, mainly Ukrainians, Belorussians, Motyaks and Vozgai. Of the Hats, on the other hand, only 60,4 % consider Hattic as their first language, while the vast majority of the others have Russian as its native language; 7,5 % of them do not even speak Hattic. Only the Solybians, an autochtonous people of North-Slavonic origin, who consitute 11,1 % of the republic's population, tend to assimilate rather with the Hats than with the Russians.

1.2. Classification of the Hattic language

The Indo-European language tree can be divided into two subcategories: kentum and satem languages. Traditionally, this division was paralleled with a division into north-western and south-eastern languages. However, the discovery of the two ancient Tocharian languages near the Chinese border, at the beginning of the 20th century, prompted scientists to the conclusion that one could rather speak of a division between the more innovative satem languages in the centre, and the kentum languages, which more or less preserved ancient Indo-European phonology, in the periphery. This seemed to confirm J. Schmidt's gulf theory.

Hattic belongs to a group known as the “Khadurian languages”. It can be classified as a kentum language and is located in the northern periphery. Thus, it fills the gap between Tocharian and the Germanic languages. However, it underwent its own typical soundshifts that distinguish it from the other kentum languages. Characteric for the Hattic language is the spirantisation of Indo-European alveolars. Through this fact, the language is richer in spirants than other kentum languages, and it might easily be mistaken for a satem language. Besides, like the Germanic languages, Hattic shows a tendency towards devoicing the voiced Indo-European consonants unvoiced and vice versa. Its vowel system, on the other hand, is especially rich in nasal vowels. Due to its location the Hattic language has been subject to strong influences from both the Slavonic and the Iranian languages over the centuries.

The Khadurian group of languages contains four languages:

  • Hattic, spoken by about 208,000 people in the rajons Bazor-Hel, Ratak and Bãhelsa;
  • Askaic, also known as East Hattic, is the second native language of the HASSR and spoken by approx. 145,000 people, mainly in the eastern rajons of Vešegura, Magura and Nirus;
  • Megza (Megan), also known as South Hattic, consists of two dialects, Megza proper and Kopsa, both spoken in the Vozgian ASSR, in and around the town of Stolar-Megan, by approx. 66,000 people;
  • Dolan, also known as Mountain Hattic, is spoken by approx. 10,000 people in the Ujhanuf rajon in the HASSR, and can be considered an endangered language.

Though the differences between the languages are not extremely large, it would go much too far to speak of dialects of one language. Only Askaic and Dolan, which are closely related to each other, are mutually understandable. It is said that with some effort the Dolans and the Hats can understand each other as well, though I was never given the opportunity to verify this for myself. This could, of course, just be the result of the geographical position of the Dolans, roughly between the Hats and the Askai; more probable, however, is the explanation, that the Dolan language is closest to the Proto-Khadurian language, in the way that mountaineers' languages usually show some sort of innate conservatism, due to their relative isolation.

We have no written evidence of a Proto-Khadurian language, but it is very probable, that the ancestors of Hats, Askai, Megans and Dolans once spoke a common language, that divided into its daughter language relatively late. In his “Versuch einer Rekonstruktion des Proto-Chadurischen” Gustav Bauer made an attempt to reconstruct it. His reconstruction of Proto-Khadurian is still used as a standard, though in my opinion he leans too heavily on Hattic. Besides, what he could not have foreseen, was that in 1930 the German scientist Friedwald von Kipping would discover an old manuscript from the North-East of the peninsula Kola in what appears to be a fifth Khadurian language, now long extinct.

1.3. Dialects

I am not entirely sure about the dialects, but so far a I know, a general distinction could be made between a north-eastern dialect (the “standard” dialect) and a south-western dialect.

1.4. Suggestions for further reading

Vadim Barskij, “Malenkij slovar’ chadskogo jazyka” (Moskva, 1959)
Gustav Bauer, “Versuch einer Rekonstruktion des Proto-Chadurischen” (Berlin, 1886)
Maxim Bel’skij, “Kak eto skazat’ po-chacki?” (Leningrad, 1987)
Friedwald von Kipping, “Kolanisch, die fünfte Khadurische Sprache” (Berlin, 1930)
Victor Korolyuk, “The Hattic ASSR” (Vancouver, 1982)
Igor Lãkelma, “Zõjuk Chadeš” (Bazor-Hel, 1976)
Malcolm McKenzie, “A Hattic Grammar” (Edinburgh, 1991)
Tadeusz Wolski & Mirosław Falik, “Kolańskie rękopisy” (Kraków, 1932)

There is also an interesting link (unfortunately, it is currently dead; let’s hope it will be revived soon): http://www.bazor-hel.ru/univ/hatistika.html



2. PHONOLOGY

2.1. The Hattic alphabet

Traditionally, the Hattic language is written in Latin script. In 1936 the Cyrillic script was imposed for political reasons, while the Latin script was banned. After the fall of the USSR, Latin script was restored in 1992. However, many people, especially the older generation, still prefer to use the Cyrillic alphabet.

The Hattic Latin alphabet contains 29 letters and one combination of two letters.

A Ã Ä B C Č D E F G H Ch I Ĩ J K L M N O Õ P R S Š T U V Z Ž

2.2. Vowels

The Hattic vowel system is relatively easy. It makes no difference between long vowels and short vowels, nor is there a difference between open vowels and closed vowels. Thus, it corresponds more or less with the vowel system of most Slavonic languages. The only important difference is the frequent presence in Hattic of nasal vowels.

The SAMPA transcription is given between square brackets.

a  [A]  like  a in English “shark”
e[E]likee in English “jetset”
i[i]likeea in English “beast”
o[O]likeo in English “loss”
u[u]likeoo in English “booze”
ã[A~]likean in French “quarantaine”
ĩ[E~]likein in French “crétin”
õ[O~]likeon in French “cochon”
ä[æ, @]is pronounced as a vowel between [@] (schwa, like e in English “the”) and i in English “shit”

In sophisticated speech the nasal vowels (ã, ĩ, õ) are always pronouned in the above way. However, especially among younger people – and in cases when someone speaks rather quickly – there is a strong tendency towards assimilation of the nasal with the subsequent consonant, even if the latter is at the beginning of the next word. At the end of a word, the nasal is sometimes not pronounced at all. Thus:

trõbazcan be pronounced like[trombaz]
sĩdercan be pronounced like[sender]
zãkercan be pronounced like[zaŋker]
janaf zõcan be pronounced like[janaf zo].

2.3. Diphthongs

Hattic knows only three diphtongs, and they appear not very frequently.

au  [Aw]  combination of a-u  like ow in English “cow”
ou[Ou, o]combination of o-umore or less like ow in English “show”
uo[wO]combination of u-olike wa in English “water”

2.4. Consonants

  labial alveolar alveo-palatal velar
plosive, unvoiced p t č [tS] k
plosive, voicedb d dž [dZ] g
fricative, unvoiced f s š [S] ch [x]
fricative, voiced v z ž [Z]  
affricate, unvoiced   c [ts]    
affricate, voiced   dz    
trill   r    
approximant   l j h
nasal m n   (ŋ [N])

2.5. Phonology

The Indo-European vowel system remains largely unchanged in Hattic. The letter ä usually takes over the place of IE short e or @ (schwa). The nasal vowels ã, ĩ, and õ exist only in Hattic proper; they replace Proto-Hattic am/an, em/en, om/on.

Typical for Hattic is the combination of two factors: the spirantization of Indo-European unaspirated alveolars, and a soundshift slightly reminiscent of the Germanic languages. This soundshift can be described as follows:

  • unaspirated plosives become fricatives;
  • voiced aspirated plosives become unvoiced unaspirated plosives;
  • likewise, unvoiced aspirated plosives become voiced aspirated plosives;
  • Indo-European s (including ) becomes the palatal fricative š;
  • the Indo-European unvoiced palatal k’ becomes a voiced fricative ž (sometimes č);
  • the Indo-European voiced palatal g’ becomes a affricate ;
  • Indo-European ŭ becomes j.

The Hattic sound shift is represented in the following (simplified) scheme:

  labial/labiodental dental/alveolar palatal velar/guttural
unaspirated, unvoiced p > f t > s k’ > ž (č) k > ch
unaspirated, voiced b > v d > z g’ > dž g > h
aspirated, unvoiced ph > b th > d k’h > c (č) kh > g
aspirated, voiced bh > p dh > t g’h > dz gh > k
nasal m > m n > n    
spirant   s > š    
trill   r > r    
approximant ŭ > j ĭ > j   h > h
lateral approximant   l > l    

2.6. Accent

Accent is usually placed on the first syllable of the word root; this is, however, not a rule. In verbs with a prefix it is often the prefix that is stressed, but not always. Stress is never affected by inflection. In foreign words, stress usually corresponds with the original language.



3. NOUNS

3.1. General

The Hattic language has three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), three numbers (singular, dual, plural), and six cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative).

There is no article; “bäig” can be translated as “fish”, “a fish”, and “the fish”, depending on the context of a sentence. For example:

Nasra esã bäig. “I never eat fish.”
Jolõ jãz bäig. “I want to be a fish.”
Ad bäig, šã moj zazada hãsu, muda. “The fish you gave me yesterday is dead.”

3.2. Declension of nouns

There are six declensions. Good examples of each declension are: kjär “animal”, präk “mountain”, suraj “tree”, rajsa “rose”, bäig “fish”, and aulu “apple”.

  I (masc.)
-Ø, -o, -oš
II (masc.)
III (masc.)
-aj
IV (fem.)
-a
V (fem.)
-Ø, -i
VI (neut.)
-u
singular
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
kjär
kjäru
kjäruj
kjärõ
kjärud
kjäri
präk
präkš
präkej
präkĩ
präkes
präki
suraj
suraf
suraj
surã
surad
suraj
rajsa
rajsaš
rajsaj
rajsã
rajsis
rajsi
bäig
bäigš
bäihi
bäigĩ
bäiges
bäihi
aulu
aulu
auluj
aulu
aulud
auli
dual
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
kjäroj
kjäruš
kjärop
kjäroj
kjärmo
kjärus
präkaf
präkuš
präkup
präkaf
präkmo
präkus
suraf
surauš
surap
suraf
surajmo
surajus
rajsaf
rajsuš
rajsap
rajsaf
rajsmo
rajsus
bäigaf
bäiguš
bäigep
bäigaf
bäigmo
bäihus
aulaf
auluš
aulup
aulaf
aulmo
aulus
plural
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
kjäreš
kjärem
kjärpu
kjärĩ
kjärmu
kjäršu
präkeš
präkem
präkpu
präkĩ
präkmu
präkšu
sureš
surem
surajpu
surĩ
suraš
surajšu
rajseš
rajsam
rajspu
rajsĩ
rajsmu
rajspuj
bäigeš
bäihum
bäigpu
bäigeš
bäigmu
bäigpuj
aula
aulum
aulpu
aula
aulmu
aulšu

3.3. Derivation of nouns

Nouns can be derived in several ways, mostly from adjectives, verbs, and other nouns. The most obvious way to derive a noun from an adjective, is the latter's mere substantivation. In this cases the adjective does not change its form; it still behaves like an adjective. Example:

Ajr õs as feluš “Deliver us from evil”

Belonging to the same category are those cases, where the adjective is actually a participle form of a verb. This can be either the present participle, the perfect particple, or the gerund (future participle). In the first case the noun is the person or object performing the action denoted by the verb in question, in the latter two cases it is its direct object. Examples:

gänuz “to begin” > gänunder “beginning, beginner”
vzoraz “to listen” > vzorãder “listening, listener”
januz “to love” > jajãver “beloved”
tänz “to do” > tãrer “something to be done”; tãreš “things to be done”

Another type of substantivized adjective is a noun that denotes the characteric expressed by it. In English, this is done by suffixes like -ness (brightness, happiness), -ship (friendship), or -ty (in Latin/French loanwords: infinity, stupidity). In Hattic, this effect is usually achieved by adding one of the following suffixes to the root of the adjective: -šad when the root ends in an unvoiced consonant; -žad when the root ends in a voiced consonant; -ščad when the root ends in an unvoiced spirant, where š replaces s; -ždžad when the root ends in a voiced spirant, where ž replaces z; -ešad when the root ends in three (or more) consonants, or when the root ends in two consonants, where the latter is l, r, m, or n. All words ending on -šad, -žad, and -čad are female in gender and are inflected according to the fifth declination. Examples:

sefer “friendly” > sefšad “friendliness, friendship”
siver “thick” > sivžad “thickness”
sejser “national” > sejščad “nationality”
nozer “naked” > noždžad “nakedness”
plojfler “eloquent (lit. flowerful)” > plojflešad “eloquence”

A third category of substantivized adjectives can be observed, when a characteristic is applied to a person. This can be done in two ways: by adding the suffix -ak for a male or -(a)ka for a female person to express a positive or neutral attitude towards him/her, and by adding the suffix -och (always male) to give it an explicitly negative connotation. Examples:

häder “grey” > hädak “aged person, old-timer”
naser “sweet” > nasak (m) or naska (f) “sweetie, my dear”
feler “bad” > felak “bad person”
feler “bad” > feloch “bad-ass”
marer “dirty” > maroch “dirty person”
urper “weak” > urpoch “weakling”

This does not happen automatically, even when the adjective explicitly describes the person's character, look or state; a dead person is a “muder”, not a “mudak”, although the latter form is sometimes used jokingly.

Nouns can also be derived from verbs. Again, the most obvious way of doing so is just substantivizing its actual meaning, thus giving it the meaning: the act of doing something. The corresponding suffix in English is -ing (or -nce or -tion in the case of romance loanwords). In Hattic, this is done by adding -u to the infinitive; it is inflected according to the 6th declination. Example (I know it is not the most decent thing to say, but I heard this sentence literally used in a conversation between two men near a kiosk in Bazor-Hel, and it is a perfect sample of verb substantivation):

Zad moj tafazu madžã garsã du ipsazu. “Killing give me greater pleasure than fucking.”

Secondly, a verb can be substantivized by giving it the meaning of a person/thing/factor that performs a certain action, or causes it to happen. This category includes most professions; English equivalents are numerous; most frequently words ending in -er. The difference with the category of present participles used as nouns, is rather small. One could say, that in this case the nouns has a more fixed substantival meaning; it remains, however, a matter of idiom.

Such forms are created by adding the suffix -(a)k to the verbal root; -ik is used in those rare cases, when the noun is derived from a verb of the i-conjugation. Examples:

baucaz “to work” > baucak “worker”
joguz “to speak” > jogak “speaker”
ušiz “to exist” > ušik “a being, creature”
jufartãz “to travel” > jufartãk “traveller”

The largest category are nouns derived from other nouns. There are numerous ways to do this, not all of which will be mentioned here. I will limit myself to the most imporant categories.

First of all, there are diminutive and augmentative forms. Diminutions are created by the infix -l- between the root of a noun and the suffix designating its gender. Augmentations are created by adding the suffix -och to the root. Often, but not always, they have a negative connotation. Examples:

1st declension: kjär “animal” > kjäral “little animal”, kjäroch “large animal, beast, monster”
2nd declension: präk “mountain” > präkel “little mountain, pile”, präkoch “huge mountain”
3rd declension: suraj “tree” > sural “little tree”, suroch “large tree”
4th declension: bärna “woman” > bärnala “little woman”, bärnoch “big/bad/ugly woman”
5th declension: bäjgi “fish” > bäigila “fishie”, bäigoch “enormous fish”
6th declension: mudžu “sound” > mudžulu “little sound”, mudžoch “noise”

Very frequently used are nouns designating a person, whose expertise is in a certain field, or who makes his business of something (English: -ist, -an). In most cases often the suffix -ar is used. Examples:

ploj “flower” > plojar “flower salesman”
muzika “music” > muzikar “musician”
huj “sheep” > hujar “shephard”

In loanwords the suffix -ist can be used, to indicate a follower of an idealogy or someone with a certain profession. Examples:

socjalist “socialist”
artist “artist”

The last category I feel should be mentioned, are the inhabitants of a country, a region, or a city. In English, those words are formed with suffixes like -an, -ese, -er. In Hattic, the most frequently used suffix is -an; in some cases only the root is used, or the root with the suffix -ak. Examples:

Rusia “Russia” > Rusan “Russian” (Rus, or even Rusel, has a rather pejorative connotation)
Ãglia “England” > Ãglan “Englishman”
Evropa “Europe” > Evropan “European”
Bazor-Hel > Helan “inhabitant of Bazor-Hel”
China “China” > Chinak “Chinese”



4. ADJECTIVES

4.1. Position of the adjective

The adjective usually comes first, i.e. before the noun. In more poetic or old-fashioned constructions it can also be placed after the noun. Also in cases where the adjective forms a stable unity with the noun, it is often placed after it.

4.2. Declension

root: još “good” masculine feminine neuter
singular
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
jošer
jošeš
jošej
jošĩ
jošes
joši
joša
jošaš
jošaj
jošã
jošis
joši
jošu
jošuš
jošuj
jošu
jošud
joši
dual
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
jošaf
jošuš
jošup
jošaf
jošmo
jošus
jošaf
jošuš
jošup
jošaf
jošmo
jošus
jošaf
jošuš
jošup
jošaf
jošmo
jošus
plural
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
jošeš
jošum
jošpu
jošeš
jošmu
joššu
jošeš
jošum
jošpu
jošeš
jošmu
jošpuj
joša
jošum
jošpu
joša
jošmu
joššu

4.3. Comparative and superlative

The comparative is formed by adding the suffix -ašer to the root of an adjective. The object of the comparison has the nominative and is preceded by the word du (“than”).

The superlative is formed by adding the suffix -aster to the root of the adjective. For example:

Sõs urseš ursnašeš du bärneš, ma ad uler bärnoch ursnaster as šakiš.
“Men are stronger than women, but that female over there is the strongest of all.” 

4.4. Adverbs

An adjective can be adverbialized simply by removing the suffix from the root. For example:

Fafrĩva zõ još? “Did I understand you well?”

4.5. Derivation of adjectives

Adjectives can be derived from verbs, nouns, and other adjectives.

When derived from a verb:

  • to indicate a possibility or probability: root + -põder
    spächuz “to see” > spächpõder “visible”
    frenaz “to understand > frĩpõder “understandable”
    tänz “to do” > tämpõder “doable, possible”
  • to indicate, that the subject has a tendency toward something: root + -(h)uner
    joguz “to speak” > joguner “talkative”
    knäruz “to fight, to quarrel” > knäruner “tending to quarrel”
    sejchaz “to judge” > sejchuner “prejudiced”

When derived from a noun:

  • to indicate an adjectivized noun or a relationship: root + -oker
    sejs “people” > sejsoker “people’s, national”
  • to indicate that the subject is made of a certain material: root + -(u)zer
    ävuš “wood” > ävuzer “wooden”
    ehu “glass” > ehuzer “made of glass”
    õs “stone” > õsuzer “made of stone”
  • to indicate a similarity: root + -(o)tever
    gas “cat” > gastever “cat-like”
    jušru “water” > jušrotever “watery”
    mäsar “mother” > mäsartever “motherly”
  • to indicate that the subject is rich or full of something: root + -(o)vler, -veler, -(o)fler
    jana “love” > janovler “loving”
    ploj “flower” > plojfler “full of flowers, eloquent”
    žãh “weight” > žãfler “heavy, important”
  • to indicate a lack of something (English -less): root + -šener
    zõm “house” > zõšener “homeless”
    jiva “life” > jivžener “lifeless”
    bauc “work” > baučener “unemployed”

When derived from another adjective:

  • to indicate the opposite (English -un): prefix nä-
    sefer “friendly” > näsefer “unfriendly”
    šädzuner “safe” > näšädzuner “insecure”
    täger “useful” > nätäger “useless”
  • to indicate a surfeit (English too, over-): prefix ani-
    haker “old” > anihaker “too old”
    marer “dirty” > animarer “too dirty”
    furjajãver “in love” > anifurjajãver “deeply in love”
  • to strengthen its meaning: root + -ocher
    dzälder “ugly” > dzäldocher “extremely ugly”
    õsuder “boring” > õsudocher “extremely boring”
    ozer “big, large” > ozocher “enormous”
  • to weaken its meaning: root + -aler
    dzäler “orange” > dzälaler “orangeish”
    chaferšer “difficult” > chaferšaler “a bit difficult”
    hälsãder “strange” > hälsãdaler “slightly strange”



5. PRONOUNS

5.1. Table of correlatives

  question this that some any no every
adjective hazer “this sasker “such hazerfe “some hazerna “any nazer “no šaker “every
person hir “who kir/kja/ku “this uler/ula/ulu “that hirfe “someone hirna “anyone nir “nobody šasiš “everyone
object hu “what hufe “something huna “anything nahu “nothing šak “everything
quantity gasi “how much sasi “this/that much   gasina “no matter how much    
place gu “where su “here sam “there gufe “somewhere guna “anywhere nagu “nowhere šagu “everywhere
time asra “when nu “now azo; zas “then asrafe “ever, sometime asrana “anytime nasra “never mužeš “always
method him “how lušre
like this/that, in this/that way
hĩfe “somehow himna “anyhow    
reason aschu “why sud skrašud
for this/that reason, therefore
aschufe “for some reason aschuna “no matter why    
destination gun “whereto sun “hereto usun “thereto gunfe “(to) somewhere   nagun “(to) nowhere  
source hana “whence sana “hence usana “thence hanafe “from somewhere hanana “from anywhere    
route is “along which way sis “along this way usis “along that way isfe “along some way isna “along any way    

5.2. Personal pronouns

person 1st 2nd 3rd masc. 3rd fem. 3rd neut.
singular
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
af
muš
moj

mud
mi
zu
zeš
zuj

zud
zuj
šu
soš
soj

sod
soj
ša
saš
saj

sis
ši
šun
suš
suj
šun
šud
suj
dual
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
uj
nuš
nup
naf
numo
nus
ju

up
uf
umo
us
suj
sauš
saup
sau
saumo
saus
saf
sauš
saup
sau
saumo
saus
saf
sauš
saup
sau
saumo
saus
plural
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
vaj
näš
näpu
õš
näjmu
näšu
juš

ušpu

ujmu
ušu
seš
sum
spu
sõš
smu
sošu
saš
sam
sapu
sãš
samu
sapuj
ša
sum
supu
ša
sumu
sušu

5.3. Possessive pronouns

  singular dual plural
1st person mur, ma, mu nur, nua, nu umner, umna, umnu
2nd person zur, zva, zu ur, ua, u ušer, uša, ušu
3rd person, masc. šor, šoja, šoju sover, sova, sovu sojer, soja, soju
3rd person, fem. šar, šaja, šaju saver, sava, savu sajer, saja, saju
3rd person, neut. šur, šuja, šuju suver, suva, suvu sujer, suja, suju

Declined like normal adjectives are: all plural forms, all dual forms of the 3rd person, and the female and neuter forms of all singular persons and of the dual 1st en 2nd person. Mur, zur, šor, šar, šur, nur, and ur are irregular:

  1st sg. 3rd sg.m. 3rd sg.f. 3rd sg.n.
singular
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
mur*
muš
muj

mud
muj
šor
šoš
šoj
šõ
šod
šoj
šar
šaš
ši
šã
šad
šaj
šur
šuš
šuj
šõ
šud
šuj

* zur, nur, and ur are declined like mur.

5.4. Reflexive pronoun

The reflexive pronoun is sfoš “myself, yourself, ourself, him-/her-/itself”. It has no gender and no nominative.

nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
(does not exist)
sfoš
sfoj
sfoš
sfod
sfoj

5.5. Reciprocal pronoun

The two reciprocal pronouns are: halneš “each other” and halner “each other’s”. Halner is inflected like a regular adjective.

5.6. Demonstrative pronouns

Hattic knows two categories of demonstrative pronouns: kir for persons or objects close to the speaker (“this, over here”), uler for persons or object further away (“that, over there”).

The first category of demonstrative pronouns, kir and its forms, are also used as relative pronouns.

  kir “this” uler “that”
masc. fem. neut. masc. fem. neut.
singular
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
kir
siš
si

sid
si
kja
säš
säj

sis
si
ku
suš
si
ku
sud
si
uler
uleš
ulej
ulĩ
ulud
uli
ula
ulaš
ulaj
ulã
ulis
uli
ulu
uluš
uluj
ulu
ulud
uli
dual
nom./acc.
gen.
dat.
instr.
loc.
saf
suš
sip
smo
sus
saf
suš
säp
smo
sus
saf
suš
sup
smo
sus
ulaf
uluš
ulp
ulmo
ulus
ulaf
uluš
ulp
ulmo
ulus
ulaf
uluš
ulp
ulmo
ulus
plural
nom./acc.
gen.
dat.
instr.
loc.
siš
sim
spu
smu
sišu
säš
säm
spu
smu
spuj
sa
sum
spu
smu
sušu
uleš
ulum
ulpu
ulmu
ulšu
ulaš
ulum
ulpu
ulmu
ulpuj
ula
ulum
ulpu
ulmu
ulšu

5.7. Interrogative pronouns

  who? what?
nom.
gen.
dat.
acc.
instr.
loc.
hir
hiš
hi

hid
hi
hu
huš
huj
hu
hud
huj



6. VERBS

6.1. General

Hattic has a rich inflectional system. There are four moods (indicative, conjunctive, conditional, and imperative), three tenses (present, imperfect, and future), three numbers (singular, dual, plural), and three persons. There is no pluperfect; its role is taken over by the perfect tense. Besides, there are the active voice and the passive voice.

Like in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, the past tense is made by adding an augment, and the perfect tense by reduplication. It can be said, that Hattic has one of the most conservative verbal systems of the whole Indo-European family.

6.2. Conjugation

Conjugation I: -az II: -uz III: -iz
active passive active passive active passive
INFINITIVE pãtaz
“to bind”
pãtarzi
“to be bound”
januz
“to love”
janurzi
“to be loved”
zemiz
“to punish”
zemirzi
“to be punished”
PRESENT pãtã
pãtaš
pãtad
pãtar
pãtašer
pãtader
janaf
januš
janud
janur
janušer
januder
zemõ
zemiš
zemid
zemir
zemišer
zemider
pãtaus
pãtasaf
pãtadaf
pãtaur
pãtaser
pãtadar
janaus
janusaf
janudaf
janaur
januser
janudar
zemaus
zemisaf
zemidaf
zemaur
zemiser
zemidar
pãtama
pãtace
pãtõs
pãtamar
pãtacer
pãtard
januma
januce
janãs
janumar
janucer
janurd
zemima
zemice
zemĩs
zemimar
zemicer
zemird
IMPERFECT apãtam
apãtaš
apãtad
apãtar
apãtašer
apãtader
ajanam
ajanaš
ajanad
ajanar
ajanašer
ajanader
azemam
azema
azemad
azemar
azemašer
azemader
apãtäf
apãtase
apãtade
apãtär
apãtasär
apãtadär
ajanäf
ajanase
ajanade
ajanär
ajanasär
ajanadär
azemäf
azemase
azemade
azemär
azemasär
azemadär
apãtamäf
apãtace
apãtãs
apãtamär
apãtacer
apãtãder
ajanamäf
ajanace
ajanãs
ajanamär
ajanacer
ajanãder
azemamäf
azemace
azemãs
azemamär
azemacer
azemãder
PERFECT papãtava
papãtada
papãtu
papãtarmi
papãtardi
papãtavri
jajãva
jajãda
jajanu
jajãrmi
jajãrdi
jajãvri
zezemiva
zezemida
zezemi
zezemirmi
zezemirdi
zezemivri
papãtame
papãtace
papãtade
papãtamär
papãtasär
papãtadär
jajãme
jajãce
jajãde
jajãmär
jajãsär
jajãdär
zezemime
zezemice
zezemide
zezemimär
zezemisär
zezemide
papãtavum
papãtaveš
papãtaver
papãtamsär
papãtarcär
papãtavrid
jajãvum
jajãveš
jajãver
jajãmsär
jajãrcär
jajãvrid
zezemivum
zezemiveš
zezemiver
zezemimsär
zezemircär
zezemivrid
CONJUNCTIVE pãto
pãtoš
pãtod
pãtor
pãtošer
pãtoder
jano
janoš
janod
janor
janošer
janoder
zemo
zemoš
zemod
zemor
zemošer
zemoder
pãtos
pãtose
pãtode
pãtour
pãtoser
pãtoder
janos
janose
janode
janour
janoser
janoder
zemos
zemose
zemode
zemour
zemoser
zemoder
pãtome
pãtoce
pãtõs
pãtomer
pãtocer
pãtord
janome
janoce
janõs
janomer
janocer
janord
zemome
zemoce
zemõs
zemomer
zemocer
zemord
FUTURE pãci
pãciš
pãcid
pãcir
pãcišer
pãcider
jãsi
jãsiš
jãsid
jãsir
jãsišer
jãsider
zĩsi
zĩsiš
zĩsid
zĩsir
zĩsišer
zĩsider
pãcius
pãcisaf
pãcidaf
pãciur
pãciser
pãcidar
jãsius
jãsisaf
jãsidaf
jãsiur
jãsiser
jãsidar
zĩsius
zĩsisaf
zĩsidaf
zĩsiur
zĩsiser
zĩsidar
pãcima
pãcice
pãcĩs
pãcimar
pãcicer
pãcird
jãsima
jãsice
jãsĩs
jãsimar
jãsicer
jãsird
zĩsima
zĩsice
zĩcĩs
zĩsimar
zĩsicer
zĩsird
CONDITIONAL papãca
papãcda
papãsu
papãcarmi
papãcardi
papãcar
jajãsa
jajãsda
jajãsu
jajãsarmi
jajãsardi
jajãsar
zezĩsa
zezĩsda
zezĩsu
zezĩsarmi
zezĩsardi
zezĩsar
papãsme
papãce
papãcde
papãcmär
papãcär
papãcdär
jajãsme
jajãse
jajãsde
jajãsmär
jajãsär
jajãsdär
zezĩsme
zezĩse
zezĩsde
zezĩsmär
zezĩsär
zezĩsdär
papãcam
papãcaš
papãcar
papãcmär
papãccär
papãcrid
jajãsam
jajãsaš
jajãsar
jajãsmär
jajãscär
jajãsrid
zezĩsam
zezĩsaš
zezĩsar
zezĩsmär
zezĩscär
zezĩsrid
IMPERATIVE pãt janu zem 
pãtas janus zemis 
pãtac januc zemic 
PART. PRES. pãtãder janunder zemĩder 
PART. PERF.  papãdver jajãver zezĩver
PART. FUT. (GERUND)  pãcrer jãsrer zĩsrer

The perfect and conditional tenses are characterized by reduplication. It is created by adding to a word the first consonant and the first vowel of its root as a prefix. When the first consonant is an affricate (c, dz, č, ) only the first of its two constituting sounds remains (t or d). For the vowel it should be noted, that ã and ä become a, i and ĩ become e, and õ becomes o. Examples:

kcaguz “to try” > kakcagva “I have tried”
vuornaz “to desire” > vuvuornava “I have desired”
šläfonaz “to crawl” > šašläfonava “I have crawled”
stõpaz “to stop” > sostõbva “I have stopped”
cälchuz “to put on” > tacälchva “I have put on”
čõfuz “to predict” > točõvva “I have predicted”
dzäjmuz “to freeze” > dadzäjmva “I have frozen”
šfĩzuz “to sacrificed” > šešfĩzva “I have sacrificed”

When the first letter of a verb is a vowel, then instead of reduplication h- is added as a prefix:

äfaz “to weave” > häfava “I have woven”
ãbuz “to hold” > hãbva “I have held”
eguz “to drink” > hegva “I have drunk”
iriz “to worry” > hiriva “I have worried”

As can be seen in some of the examples above, the verbal root is sometimes affected by inflexion.

When the last consonant or consonant cluster of a verbal root is unvoiced, it becomes voiced before the voiced perfect markers -va, -da etc. in the second and third conjugation. Likewise, if the root ends in a voiced consonant or consonant cluster, it becomes unvoiced in the future and conditional tenses through assimilation with the tense marker -s-.

6.3. Irregular verbs

Twelve verbs are irregular: jãz “be”, võz “have, must”, az “go”, tãz “go”, džãz “know”, vahãz “hit”, flãz “can”, jiz “know”, tänz “do”, joloz “want”, lauz “say”, and zaz “give”. Their conjugation is given below; for reasons of space only the active forms and the participles are given.

Vahãz and džãz are conjugated like tãz.

  jãz
“be”
võz
“have”
az
“go”
tãz
“go”
flãz
“can”
jiz
“know”
joloz
“want”
tänz
“do”
lauz
“say”
zaz
“give”
Infinitive jãz võz az tãz flãz jiz joloz tänz lauz zaz
Present ã

ad

võš
võd
af

ad

taš
tad
flã
flãš
flãd
jaf
jiš
jid
jolõ
jološ
jolod
taf
tänaš
tĩd
laf
laš
lad

zaš
zad
ašaus
ašaf
ašdaf
vonaus
võsaf
võdaf
asaus
asaf
adaf
taus
tãsaf
tãdaf
flänaus
flãsaf
flãdaf
jisaus
jisaf
jisdaf
jolaus
jolaf
joldaf
tänaus
tänaf
tĩdaf
lakaus
lakaf
ladaf
zavaus
zasaf
zadaf
ašma
ašce
sõs
võma
võce
vodõs
ama
ace
õs
tama
tace
tõs
flãma
flãce
flänõs
jima
jisce
jisõs
jolma
jolce
jolõs
täma
täce
tänõs
lama
lace
lakãs
zama
zace
zavõs
Imperfect apum
apuš
apud
avõm
avõš
avõd
avam
avaš
avad
atam
ataš
atad
afläm
afläš
afläd
ajim
ajiš
ajid
ajolam
ajolaš
ajolad
atäm
atäš
atäd
alam
alãš
alãd
azam
azaš
azad
apuf
apuse
apude
avõf
avõse
avõde
aväf
avase
avade
atäf
atase
atade
afläf
afläse
afläde
ajif
ajise
ajide
ajoläf
ajolse
ajolde
atäf
atäse
atäde
alĩf
alãse
alãde
azäf
azase
azade
apumäf
apuce
apõs
avomäf
avõce
avõs
avamäf
aface
avãs
atamäf
atace
atãs
aflämäf
afläce
aflãs
ajimäf
ajice
ajisõs
ajolmäf
ajolce
ajolãs
atämäf
atäce
atanĩs
alamäf
alãce
alãs
azamäf
azace
azãs
Perfect jajäva
jajäda
jajä
võva
vovõda
vovõ
vava
vavada
vanu
tatãva
tatãda
tatanu
faflãva
faflãda
faflänu
jejiva
jejida
jejisu
jojolva
jojolda
jojolu
tatĩva
tatĩda
tatänu
lalva
lalda
lalu
zazava
zazada
zazavu
jajäme
jajäse
jajäde
vovõme
vovõse
vovõde
vavame
vavase
vavade
tatãme
tatãse
tatãde
faflãme
faflãse
faflãde
jejime
jejise
jejide
jojolme
jojolse
jojolde
tatĩme
tatĩse
tatĩde
lalme
lalse
lalde
zazame
zazase
zazade
jajäm
jajäš
jajär
vovõm
vovõš
vovoner
vavum
vaveš
vader
tatãvum
tatãveš
tatãver
faflãvum
faflãveš
faflãver
jejivum
jejiveš
jejiver
jojolvum
jojolveš
jojolver
tatĩvum
tatĩveš
tatĩver
lalvum
lalveš
lalver
zazavum
zazaveš
zazaver
Conjunctive pau
pauš
paud
vo
voš
vod
ado
adõš
adod
to
toš
tod
fläno
floš
flod
jiso
jisoš
jisod
jolo
jološ
jolod
täno
tänoš
tänod
lo
loš
lod
zavo
zavoš
zavod
paus
pause
paude
vos
vose
vode
ados
adose
adode
tos
tose
tode
flos
flose
flode
jisos
jisose
jisode
jolos
joloce
jolode
tänos
tänose
tänode
los
lose
lode
zavos
zavose
zavode
paume
pauce
põs
vome
voce
võs
adome
adoce
adõs
tome
toce
tõs
flome
floce
flõs
jisome
jisoce
jisõs
jolome
joloce
jolõs
tänome
tänoce
tänõs
lome
loce
lõs
zavome
zavoce
zavõs
Future si
siš
sid
võsi
võsiš
võsid
asi
asiš
asid
tãsi
tãsiš
tãsid
flãsi
flãsiš
flãsid
jisi
jisiš
jisid
jolsi
jolsiš
jolsid
tänsi
tänsiš
tânsid
laksi
laksiš
laksid
zasi
zasiš
zasid
sius
sisäf
sidäf
võsius
võsisaf
võsidaf
asius
asisaf
asidaf
tãsius
tãsisaf
tãsidaf
flãsius
flãsisaf
flãsidaf
jisius
jisisaf
jisidaf
jolsius
jolsisaf
jolsidaf
tänsius
tänsisaf
tänsidaf
laksius
laksisaf
laksidaf
zasius
zasisaf
zasidaf
sima
sice
sĩs
võsima
võsice
võsĩs
asima
asice
asĩs
tãsima
tãsice
tãsĩs
flãsima
flãsice
flãsĩs
jisima
jisice
jisĩs
jolsima
jolsice
jolsĩs
tänsima
tänsice
tänsĩs
laksima
laksice
laksĩs
zasima
zasice
zasĩs
Conditional jäjãsa
jäjãsda
jäjãsu
vovõsa
vovõsda
vovõsu
vavasa
vavasda
vavasu
tatãsa
tatãsda
tatãsu
faflãsa
faflãsda
faflãsu
jejisa
jejisda
jejisu
jojolsa
jojolsda
jojolsu
tatänsa
tatänsda
tatänsu
lalaksa
lalagzda
lalaksu
zazasa
zazada
zazasu
jäjãsme
jäjãse
jäjãsde
vovõsme
vovõse
vovõsde
vavasme
vavase
vavasde
tatãsme
tatãse
tatãsde
faflãsme
faflãse
faflãsde
jejisme
jejise
jejisde
jojolsme
jojolse
jojolsde
tatänsme
tatänse
tatänsde
lalaksme
lalakse
lalagzde
zazasme
zazase
zazasde
jäjãsam
jäjãsaš
jäjãsar
vovõsam
vovõsaš
vovõsar
vavasam
vavasaš
vavasar
tatãsam
tatãsaš
tatãsar
faflãsam
faflãsaš
faflãsar
jejisam
jejisaš
jejisar
jojolsam
jojolsaš
jojolsar
tatänsam
tatänsaš
tatänsar
lalaksam
lalaksaš
lalaksar
zazasam
zazasaš
zazasar
Imperative pu vu vaj taj jej tän lak zãs
pus võs vas tas jis tĩs las zas
puc võc vac tac jic tänc lac zac
Part.pres. sõder võder ader tõder flõder jisõder jolõder tĩder lãder zavãder
Part.perf. faflãver jojolver tatĩver lalver zazaver
Gerund (sõser) flãsrer tãrer lakser zasrer

6.4. Derivation of verbs

Many verbs are created by adding a prefix; the majority of those prefixes are prepositions or derivations of prepositions. Thus we have: af- “away, off”, as- “out”, az- “for”, ãch- “to”, ãsar- “between”, än- “in”, bär- “near”, chma- “along”, dar- “through”, fašchu- “behind”, fo- “after”, fros- “against”, fur- “in front of”, häl- “around”, ĩtr(e)- “under”, jel- “back”, jufar- “across”, šla- “with”, šufar- “over”, uf- “up, on”, vaj- “in two, into pieces”, vjä- “above”, zo- “to”.



7. NUMERALS

  cardinal ordinal
0 nol nolder
1 sum burmer
2 zuf under
3 dreš duder
4 hedre hedurder
5 bãh bãder
6 sfeš sfeder
7 sem sĩder
8 oguf oguer
9 anun anener
10 zahm zãder
11 sumhazã sumhazãder
12 zuvazã zuvazãder
13 drahazã drahazãder
14 hedrazã hedrazãder
15 bãhazã bãhazãder
16 sfešazã sfešazãder
17 semazã semazãder
18 oguvazã oguvazãder
19 anunazã anunazãder
20 ugem ugĩder
21 ugum ha sum ugum ha burmer
30 drimet drĩder
40 hedermet hederĩder
50 bãvemet bãvĩder
60 sfešmet sfešĩder
70 semmet semĩder
80 ogmet ogĩder
90 anumet anunder
100 gumt (*) gumter (*)
200 zugum zugumter
300 drigum drigumter
400 hedergum hedergumter
500 bãgum bãgumter
600 sfešgum sfešgumter
700 semgum semgumter
800 ogugum ogugumter
900 anõgum anõgumter
1000 dugmet dugmĩder
1000000 miljon miljõder

(*) In West-Hattic dialects “gumt” and “gumter” are usually pronounced [gumpe] and [gumper].



8. PREPOSITIONS

8.1. With the genitive

The following prepositions are followed by the genitive case:

af “from”
as “from, of”
aszõ “outside”
änzõ “inside”
chma “along”
fo “after”
hälchu “around”
läma “according to”
ochi “among”
šän “without”

8.2. With the dative

The following prepositions are followed by the dative case:

az “for”
ãch “to, towards”
fros “against”
zo “to, till”

8.3. With the accusative

Two prepositions have the accusative case:

darš “through”
jufar “over”

8.4. With the instrumental

Two other prepositions have the instrumenal case:

šla “with”
zraf “through, by”

8.5. With the locative

Only one preposition is followed by the locative case:

bär “near, by”

8.6. With the dative and the locative

Most prepositions that describe a place can have both the dative and the locative case. The latter indicates a stable position, while the dative indicates a direction toward something. Thus:

ãsar “between”
än “(with dative) into”, “(with locative) in”
fašchu “behind”
fur “in front of”
gara “next to”
ĩtre “under”
šufar “above”
uf “(with dative) onto”, “(with locative) on”
vjä “above” 



9. SYNTAX

9.1. Word order

In theory, word order is free in Hattic. In contemporary speech, however, VSO (verb-subject-object) is most common, to such a degree, that any deviation would sound at least strange to Hattic ears. Only in poetry is free word order still widely used.

Other word forms, like adverbs, can be placed freely within the frames of VSO word order as long as the verb and the subject are not separated from each other. For example, the sentence “Yesterday Ivan has bought a green parrot for his girl friend” can be translated into Hattic in different ways:

Hãsu gugurju Ivan az šojaj sefaj dzälã papugã.
Hãsu gugurju Ivan dzälã papugã az šojaj sefaj.
Gugurju Ivan az šojaj sefaj dzälã papugã hãsu.
Gugurju Ivan hãsu az šojaj sefaj dzälã papugã.

Stress can be achieved either by intonation, or by moving the word(s) to be stressed to the end of the sentence, without affecting VSO word order. In the first and fourth sentence of the example above, the parrot is the most important piece of information. In the second sentence, it is Ivan's girl friend draws the attention, while in the third sentence the listener's attention should be attracted mostly to the fact, that it happened yesterday.

Personal pronouns are not at all excluded from the VSO rule: nominative personal pronouns are placed after the verb. It must be noted, however, that according to the speaker’s taste, they can as well be omitted, since the meaning is clear from the verbal form anyway. The first person singular af is only used when the speaker wishes to give it a very special stress. For example:

Janaf zõ. “I love you.”
Januš zu mõ / Januš mõ. “You love me.”
Tatãva nä af zõ papugã, ma zur janak. “Not I killed your parrot, your lover did.”

Adjectives are usually placed before a noun. This applies to genitives as well:

Ad maš sefaš papugaj dzäler. “My girl friend's parrot is green.”

9.2. Questions

Simple questions are made by a change of intonation:

Januš zu mõ? “Do you love me?”

Interrogative pronouns are almost always placed at the beginning of a sentence, thus breaking VSO rule:

Hir tatãva umnĩ papugã? “Who killed our parrot?”
Hu gugurda zu az zvaj sefaj? “What did you buy for your girl friend?”


Forward to dictionary

© Jan van Steenbergen, 2002
Last update: 18.06.2004