Basic clause structure
The most typical order for a Tsi sentence is SOV or SVO. The postverbal position is commonly used to introduce new information (i.e. indefinite constituents), particularly constituents with a significant amount of discourse relevance (specificity):
(1) Ya-dgo kto bà mte quuŋ-odʰę
round-mix start INAN INDF mud-PL
So he started mixing some mud
The immediate preverbal position is used for generics and old/background information. In these cases directional particles prefix to the object rather than appearing on the verb and the object must be unmarked and unmodified. (2) is a continuation of sentence (1):
(2) ya-quuŋ dgo-x cçę içç aŋŋo...
round-mud mix-REL ANIM NOM in...
And while he was mixing [that] mud….
Adverbial phrases can appear relatively freely before or after the verb:
(3) mdòt k!a-k!a tsą k!ǫǫ aŋŋo
wood chop ANIM quarter in
he is chopping wood in the quarter
(4) k!ǫǫ aŋŋo mdòt k!a-k!a tsą
quarter in wood chop ANIM
he is chopping wood in the quarter
Any nominal/adverbial constituent can be given contrastive emphasis by fronting, a change in intonation, and the insertion of the particle iç, which appears to be cognate to the (geminated) nominaliser içç. Presumably this is etymologically some kind of clefting construction:
(5) k!ǫǫ aŋŋo iç mdòt k!a-k!a tsą
quarter in EMPH wood chop ANIM
it's in the quarter that he's chopping wood!
Animacy
Tsi has a robust animacy distinction. Historically animacy existed alongside a more elaborate noun class system, which is retained in more archaising forms of the language by agreement of demonstratives, different plural suffixes and so on. In the Tsi of Tsat, however, this system has levelled out into a two-way distinction between animate and inanimate nouns. Animacy is distinguished morphologically in the following places:
Plural suffix: Inanimate -otʰ(a) vs animate -rą
Proximal: Inanimate tʰoobʰ/-tʰo vs animate roomʰ/ro
Distal: Inanimate tʰobʰų/-tʰų vs animate romʰų/rų
One/indefinite article: Inanimate mte~mde vs animate mre
Two: Inanimate bdelʰ vs animate brelʰ
The plural suffix -rą is not found in liturgical Tsi, where the two animate forms are class 6 -rǫ and class 5 -ąą. Possibly it is a dialectal form, a combined form, or a modified version of the former to avoid ambiguity with the demonstratives.
Note that whilst forms of the (historical) classifiers (o)q!ʰạ (used for large features of the landscape),(o)hạ (used for tools) and (o)hąą (used for animals) do appear frequently in spoken Tsi, they have been in a sense 'degrammaticalised' and are used as part of the honorific system rather than as classifiers or anything else. They can and do co-occur with true classifiers, which was impossible in older forms of Tsi.
Auxiliaries
More important than the limited system of agreement, however, is the complex series of auxiliaries that Tsi uses alongside main verbs to distinguish between verbs with animate and inanimate objects and subjects. The system is effectively split-ergative, with imperfective verbs accompanied by auxiliaries determined by the animacy of the subject and perfective verbs accompanied by auxiliaries determined by the animacy of the object.
Tsą/cçę (reduced versions of ‘to walk’) are used for verbs with animate subjects and imperfective meaning.
(6) ya-quuŋ dgo cçę
Round-mud mix ANIM
He is mixing mud
g|í (a reduced version of ‘to be’) is used for verbs with inanimate subjects and imperfective meaning:
(7) K!ek ša-ša g|í
Spring flow-ONOM be
The spring flows, is flowing
Bà(‘to take’) is used for verbs with inanimate objects and perfective meaning.
(8) Ya-dgo kto bà mte quuŋ-odʰę… .
Round-mix start INAN INDF mud-PL…
He began mixing mud
Generally, other verbs take no compulsory auxiliary. With some verbs, generally expressing violent action, dzo ‘give’ is used when the object is animate:
(9) Ka-ro-'n maŋ dzo ạnnạ
man=that=1sg hit give 1sg
The man hit me!
There are a number of other optional auxiliaries which can replace these forms, giving verbs additional nuances in meaning, but they are beyond the scope of this post to discuss in detail. Auxiliary verbs differ from normal serial verbs - although they are historically one and the same - in that they can appear governing a string of coordinated main verbs:
(10) mdòt k!a-k!a, ya-quuŋ dgo cçę
wood chop-ONOM round-mud mix ANIM
He is chopping wood and mixing mud
The most typical order for a Tsi sentence is SOV or SVO. The postverbal position is commonly used to introduce new information (i.e. indefinite constituents), particularly constituents with a significant amount of discourse relevance (specificity):
(1) Ya-dgo kto bà mte quuŋ-odʰę
round-mix start INAN INDF mud-PL
So he started mixing some mud
The immediate preverbal position is used for generics and old/background information. In these cases directional particles prefix to the object rather than appearing on the verb and the object must be unmarked and unmodified. (2) is a continuation of sentence (1):
(2) ya-quuŋ dgo-x cçę içç aŋŋo...
round-mud mix-REL ANIM NOM in...
And while he was mixing [that] mud….
Adverbial phrases can appear relatively freely before or after the verb:
(3) mdòt k!a-k!a tsą k!ǫǫ aŋŋo
wood chop ANIM quarter in
he is chopping wood in the quarter
(4) k!ǫǫ aŋŋo mdòt k!a-k!a tsą
quarter in wood chop ANIM
he is chopping wood in the quarter
Any nominal/adverbial constituent can be given contrastive emphasis by fronting, a change in intonation, and the insertion of the particle iç, which appears to be cognate to the (geminated) nominaliser içç. Presumably this is etymologically some kind of clefting construction:
(5) k!ǫǫ aŋŋo iç mdòt k!a-k!a tsą
quarter in EMPH wood chop ANIM
it's in the quarter that he's chopping wood!
Animacy
Tsi has a robust animacy distinction. Historically animacy existed alongside a more elaborate noun class system, which is retained in more archaising forms of the language by agreement of demonstratives, different plural suffixes and so on. In the Tsi of Tsat, however, this system has levelled out into a two-way distinction between animate and inanimate nouns. Animacy is distinguished morphologically in the following places:
Plural suffix: Inanimate -otʰ(a) vs animate -rą
Proximal: Inanimate tʰoobʰ/-tʰo vs animate roomʰ/ro
Distal: Inanimate tʰobʰų/-tʰų vs animate romʰų/rų
One/indefinite article: Inanimate mte~mde vs animate mre
Two: Inanimate bdelʰ vs animate brelʰ
The plural suffix -rą is not found in liturgical Tsi, where the two animate forms are class 6 -rǫ and class 5 -ąą. Possibly it is a dialectal form, a combined form, or a modified version of the former to avoid ambiguity with the demonstratives.
Note that whilst forms of the (historical) classifiers (o)q!ʰạ (used for large features of the landscape),(o)hạ (used for tools) and (o)hąą (used for animals) do appear frequently in spoken Tsi, they have been in a sense 'degrammaticalised' and are used as part of the honorific system rather than as classifiers or anything else. They can and do co-occur with true classifiers, which was impossible in older forms of Tsi.
Auxiliaries
More important than the limited system of agreement, however, is the complex series of auxiliaries that Tsi uses alongside main verbs to distinguish between verbs with animate and inanimate objects and subjects. The system is effectively split-ergative, with imperfective verbs accompanied by auxiliaries determined by the animacy of the subject and perfective verbs accompanied by auxiliaries determined by the animacy of the object.
Tsą/cçę (reduced versions of ‘to walk’) are used for verbs with animate subjects and imperfective meaning.
(6) ya-quuŋ dgo cçę
Round-mud mix ANIM
He is mixing mud
g|í (a reduced version of ‘to be’) is used for verbs with inanimate subjects and imperfective meaning:
(7) K!ek ša-ša g|í
Spring flow-ONOM be
The spring flows, is flowing
Bà(‘to take’) is used for verbs with inanimate objects and perfective meaning.
(8) Ya-dgo kto bà mte quuŋ-odʰę… .
Round-mix start INAN INDF mud-PL…
He began mixing mud
Generally, other verbs take no compulsory auxiliary. With some verbs, generally expressing violent action, dzo ‘give’ is used when the object is animate:
(9) Ka-ro-'n maŋ dzo ạnnạ
man=that=1sg hit give 1sg
The man hit me!
There are a number of other optional auxiliaries which can replace these forms, giving verbs additional nuances in meaning, but they are beyond the scope of this post to discuss in detail. Auxiliary verbs differ from normal serial verbs - although they are historically one and the same - in that they can appear governing a string of coordinated main verbs:
(10) mdòt k!a-k!a, ya-quuŋ dgo cçę
wood chop-ONOM round-mud mix ANIM
He is chopping wood and mixing mud