Cenyani grammar reference

• Contents
• 1 On noun phrases
  • 1.1 Unstated possession
• 2 Alienable possession
• 3 Inalienable possession
  • 3.1 Relatives
  • 3.2 Body parts

This page does not deal with genitive inflection. For that, see nouns.

While English uses the word “to have” to mark all kinds of possession and association and attachment (as in body parts), Cenyani’s ss is only used for so-called alienable possession, that is, things whose ownership can actually be transferred. This effectively means things you own, like possessions and real estate. Cenyani uses other strategies for marking other kinds of possession, such as family members and body parts.

Note: ss has an irregular present tense form sa, which is used a lot below. Most other forms of that verb are also irregular; please click the dictionary link to see them all.

See also:

• Nouns – genitive
• Syntax – noun phrases

On noun phrases

For alienable possession, Cenyani puts the owner noun phrase in the genitive, which ends up after the head of the ownee noun phrase. It is roughly equivalent to English “‹noun› of ‹owner›”.

For inalienable possession, Cenyani does more or less the same as for alienable possession, but with an adposition on the owner instead of the genitive. As with genitives, the owner noun phrase ends up after the head of the ownee noun phrase. The adposition is determined by the relationship between owner and ownee, which is described in more detail under inalienable possession below.

In both cases, the possessed noun is usually in the definite form, unless one wishes to convey the idea of “one of ‹owner›’s ‹nouns›”.

Syntax has more information on word ordering in noun phrases.

Unstated possession

When it is clear who a certain item or entity belongs to, possessive information is often omitted entirely. This is particularly common with body parts and relatives, which are assumed to belong to the subject unless otherwise stated or understood from context.

Alienable possession

This is probably the easiest kind of possession to get right. The verb ss “to have, own, possess” is used. The owner is the subject (in the nominative), the possessed item is the direct object (in the accusative). If the source of the item is to be specified, an expossessive object is used.

Note: ss makes no distinction between having access to an object (whether one owns it or not) and having ownership of an object. If one wishes to emphasise the accessibility or proximity of an object, ey “here” may be added to the clause.

And note that the following is neither grammatically nor semantically invalid:

... it’s just that it conjures up images of a pair of eyes in a jar on a bench in a laboratory somewhere. Presumably inside a mountain. Run by a mad scientist. With inexplicably severe hair.

Inalienable possession

Inalienable possession is mostly expressed with some form of an (“to be”), with the possessee as the subject, and the owner is given an adposition that describes the relationship between owner and possessee, such as “at”, “on”, “in”, “under”, etc. The adposition is almost always a spatial adposition, with one exception: when referring to late relatives, axce (“before, prior in time”) is always used.

In these expressions, the possessee usually comes before the verb, and the owner after it, but reversing this order is not seen as incorrect or frowned upon.

Note that friends, lovers, acquaintances and other people you may know, who are technically neither relatives nor body parts, are referred to with -ac “at, by”.

Relatives

Relatives of older generations (parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.) are always -axca “behind” the owner. Younger generations are the opposite: they are -(a)nta “in front of” the owner. Relatives of the same generation are -acrr “next to” the owner. If you have a child on the way (especially if you’re waiting for the egg to hatch), you can say he/she is -ral “under” you, suggesting images of a parent hatching an egg.

Note that you do not always need to use a kinship term. Unless otherwise specified, -axca is expected to refer to parents, -acrr to siblings, -(a)nta to children, and -ral to children on the way. In the right context, the first example above would mean the same thing if you removed elli.

Body parts

These use the same overall structures as relatives, just with different adpositions. Important to note is the distinction between -ax “on (vertical surface)” and -an “on (horizontal surface)”. There are only arms -an you if you weren’t made right, and if you have hair -ax your head, you are most likely not a cenyi.