Grammar
| Grammar | |
|---|---|
| Moravska State Archive · 1976 | |
| Classification | Language |
| Status | canon |
| Last updated | 2026-11-03 |
| Archive source | 04 Language/Grammar.md |
| Length | 797 words (4 min read) |
| Iskam da plavam. | I want to sail. |
| Mozhe da dojde. | He can come. |
| Trăgva da raboti. | He starts to work. |
| Internal links | 3 outgoing, 3 incoming |
| Sources | 4 cited |
Contents
[hide]Moravskan grammar is simple in its nouns and rich in its verbs. A noun has no case. A verb carries the speaker's proof.
The article [edit]
The definite article attaches to the end of the noun. It agrees in gender and number.
| Indefinite | Definite | English |
|---|---|---|
| *liman* | *limanăt* | the lagoon |
| *more* | *moreto* | the sea |
| *kashta* | *kashtata* | the house |
| *skali* | *skalite* | the piers |
| *selo* | *seloto* | the village |
The article goes on the first word of the group. Golyamata kashta means "the big house". Kashtata golyama is wrong.
The indefinite article does not exist. A bare noun is indefinite. Vidya more means "I see a sea".
No cases [edit]
The noun keeps one form. A preposition or the word order shows the job.
| Function | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | bare noun | *Moreto e studeno.* (The sea is cold.) |
| Object | bare noun, after the verb | *Vidya moreto.* (I see the sea.) |
| Possession | *na* + noun | *kashtata na maykata* (the house of the mother) |
| Direction | *na* or *kăm* | *kăm moreto* (toward the sea) |
| Place | *v* or *na* | *v moreto* (in the sea) |
| Instrument | *s* + noun | *s motikata* (with the hoe) |
The verb [edit]
The verb has three tenses in common use and two aspects.
| Tense | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present | stem + ending | *plavam* (I sail) |
| Past | stem + *-h* or *-l* | *plavah* (I sailed) |
| Future | *che* + present | *che plavam* (I will sail) |
Aspects change the shape of the verb, not the time.
- Imperfective: plavam — I sail, I am sailing.
- Perfective: plivna — I make one crossing.
A perfective verb cannot take a present tense. A speaker who needs it uses the future or the past.
No infinitive [edit]
The language has no infinitive. Two verbs join with da.
| Moravskan | English |
|---|---|
| *Iskam da plavam.* | I want to sail. |
| *Mozhe da dojde.* | He can come. |
| *Trăgva da raboti.* | He starts to work. |
The second verb takes the present form. The rule applies at every level of speech.
Evidentiality [edit]
This is the famous feature. A verb shows how the speaker knows the fact.
| Form | Name | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Dojde.* | Witnessed | I saw it | "It came" |
| *Dojdal.* | Reported | I heard it | "It reportedly came" |
| *Dojdal bil.* | Distant report | I heard it from a person who heard it | "It supposedly came" |
| *Shte da e dojăl.* | Inferred | The signs say so | "It must have come" |
A sailor values the second form. A radio message is a report, not a sight. A captain says dojdal for a ship he did not see.
|
Note:
|
The radio rule
A port office asks for a position. A captain answers vidyah only for a light he can see. He answers kazvat ("they say") for a light on the radio. A wrong word costs a fine.
|
The evidential marks a rumour, a promise, and a lie. A person who says dojde for a fact he did not see is a liar. The street hears the difference at once.
Word order [edit]
The order is subject, verb, object. The order moves to show stress.
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| *Maykata prodava kashtata.* | The mother sells the house. |
| *Kashtata prodava maykata.* | The house is what the mother sells. |
| *Prodava maykata kashtata.* | It is the mother who sells the house. |
A spoken sentence carries the stress with the voice. A written sentence needs the order.
Possession and the family [edit]
Possession uses na for a thing and a possessive ending for a person.
| Form | Use |
|---|---|
| *kashtata na Deda* | the house of the elder |
| *maykina kashta* | a mother's house |
| *moeto selo* | my village |
| *nasheto more* | our sea |
Numbers [edit]
Numbers 1 to 4 agree with the noun. Numbers 5 and above take a fixed plural.
| Number | Form |
|---|---|
| 1 *edin liman* | one lagoon |
| 3 *tri limana* | three lagoons |
| 5 *pet limana* | five lagoons |
Other notes [edit]
See also[edit]
Sources[edit]
- Official document Coastal Survey Office (1977). Ministry circular on regional administration in Branishte. Ministry of Culture. MOC-1977-9828. Cited in Possession and the family, Evidentiality. See also Phonology.
- Primary source Narodna Biblioteka Archivist (1975). Field notes from the Tri Limana survey. Zaligrad Institute of Ethnography. ZIE-1975-7719. Cited in The verb, Other notes. See also Lexicon.
- Survey report B. Yanev (1977). Coastal survey report: Medenik. Coastal Survey Office. CSO-1977-3769. Cited in No cases, Numbers. See also Moravskan Language.
- Oral history J. Cornwell (1973). Oral history transcript, the Kraybrezhie. Narodna Biblioteka Moravska. NBM-1973-6540. Cited in Word order, No cases. See also Phonology.
References[edit]
Documents in the archive that cite or cross-reference Grammar:
- ^ "Lexicon". Language, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Moravskan Language". Language, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Phonology". Language, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.