Lioç
| DATE | 2024 |
| RELATED | Bihni |
Pronouns
| SUBJECT |
OBJECT/ REFLEXIVE |
POSSESSIVE | PERSONAL PRONOUN | |
| 1st person (single) | -enn | |||
| 2nd person | -é | |||
| 3rd person (single, male) | -érra | |||
| 3rd person (single, female) | -éça | |||
| 3rd person (single, neutral) | éta | |||
| 1st person (plural) | -ennéç | |||
| 3rd person (plural) | -et'tat |
Verbs
Lioç verbs not only conjugate by tense, but also according to time relative to the time the conversation takes place. There are four segments to a Lioç verb:
- janéçoniennéç
- [jan] [éço] [ni] [ennéç]
- verb - tense - time - pronoun
- "I am (and the time is late morning)", transliteration: "be.present.late-morning.i"
The time marker is flexible; many Lioç speakers do not worry themselves with being accurate and these markers are more often used as general indicators rather than adding specific information to a sentence, especially when talking in past and future tense.
| TENSE | AFFIX | TIME MARKER | AFFIX |
| present | -éço- | early morning | -mi- |
| future | -et'to- | late morning | -ni- |
| past | -eti- | afternoon | -ti- |
| hypothetical* | -na- | night/evening | -çi- |
* The hypothetical tense always uses the current time marker, regardless of context. For example, if someone is talking about something they were doing that morning but it is currently evening, they would say jannaçienn rather than jannanienn.
The imperative does not have at true conjugation; instead, it is formed by adding aié (literally "hey!") before the present tense verb. This may sound rude to non-native speakers, but it is perfectly acceptable in both formal and casual settings.
- aié! içonaçotié ma k'untan.
- "Jump on the truck.", literally: "Hey! You jump on the truck."
Questions
Questions are formed by putting ke' in front of the verb.
- tanéçomié lioçet → ke'tanéçomié lioçet?
- "You speak Lioç" → "Do you speak Lioç?"
The affirmative is indicated with sa' and the negative with ma'. It is normal to repeat the entire verb when replying to a question; although sa' and ma' do technically exist as their own yes/no words (and can even be shortened to simply s' and m' in some situations), clipping the verb off entirely is considered quite rude and makes you seem like a poor conversationalist. The repetition of phrases or verbs shows that you are listening and engaged in the conversation.
- sa'tanéçomienn, "yes, I do speak"
- ma'tanéçomienn, "no, I do not speak"
Some kinds of questions do not have the same construction as in English. For example, the question "when did you arrive?" is phrased as "did you arrive [earlier]?", with [earlier] being a time marker before the time of the conversation.
- ke'koraçetiçié?
- "When did you arrive?", literally "Did you arrive last night?"
Example Sentences
-
English: So! You study history? Do you enjoy it?
Lioç: pa! ke'tatonoçotié tenuçotiket? térra, ke'eiproçotié?
Transliteration: so! question.study.present.afternoon.you history.object? him, question.enjoy.present.afternoon.you?