Shshi Nouns, Adjectives, and Adverbs
Nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc., are formed using what I’m calling determinatives; you could also call them markers.
Nouns
Nouns are distinguished by suffixed determinatives
Common noun: -zi
Examples
ka’zi|: stone:
ist’zi|: wound [or] pain
dit’zi|: happiness)
Personal noun: -zei (Also applied to anything animate and to ethnic names)
Examples
weio’zei|: dead one
ru’zei|: comforter
pai’zei|: Warrior
dut’zei|: lizard
shshi’zei|: the Shshi people
Proper noun (given name): -ze
Examples
ti’shra’ze|: Ti’shra (when translating into Inj the –ze is omitted)
Noun designating a place or location: -mi (genitive, -mik) (Used also for proper names of places )
Examples
ei’mi|: ford
pol’mi|: valley
ig’gwai’mi|: swamp (literally, lasting-water place)
to’wak’mi|: the fortress of To’wak
to’wak’mik|: of or from To’wak
ki’shto’ba’ze| no’no| um’zi| to’wak’mik|: Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head of To’wak
Many frequently used nouns don’t require a determinative, e.g., wi| (fungus), fli| (plant), akh| (world), ein| (egg), seip| (tree), cha| (fortress).
-mi is also omitted in a place name ending in ’cha| (fortress)
Most adjectives are formed by prefixing da’ to a root.
Examples
da’no’no|: huge
da’ist|: wounded [or] in pain
da’dit|: happy
However, exceptions to this rule (adjectives which do not need a determinative) include
Cardinal numbers and color adjectives.
Adjectives that have been negated by prefixing wei’ (un- or non-)
Examples
da’lo|: strong
wei’lo|: weak, not strong
thel|: (good) (May be used with or without the da’ determinative)
wei’thel|: not good, i.e. evil
When a word is used as part of a proper name, the da’ and in fact most determinatives are usually omitted.
Adverbs
Adverbs are formed by suffixing ‘il.
Examples
ist’il|: painfully
dit’il|: happily
Some adverbs are discrete words, however.
Examples
i’jo|: here (literally, in-near) (Come here! ¡krovo! i’jo| ||)
tha’tha|: far off, far away (literally, far-far, i.e. very far; reduplications lose all determinatives)
The Affix a
A particular waveform that Kaitrin Oliva transcribed as “a” has several different functions.
It can register a slightly different twist of meaning.
Examples
wei’dit|: unhappy
a’wei’dit|: lamented
a’wei’dit| ti’shra’ze|: the lamented Ti’shra
It can connote “prior” or “following.”
Examples
nei|: now, adv.
a’nei|: before, prep. (i.e., prior to now; temporal sense of the word)
da’dal|: past, adj. (temporal sense of the word)
a’dal|: after, prep. (i.e., following the past; again, in the
temporal sense)
Shshi has nothing like a past participle, but the affix a may be used to impart a similar adjectival meaning to a root.
Examples
da’duk|: amusing she| a’da’duk|: amused
galt’zi| ⇆ she ↳ da’duk| ||: The story is amusing.
di’fa’kro’mi’ze| ⇆ ma’shet| ↳ a’da’duk| ||: Di’fa’kro’mi was amused.
An additional use of a is as a place-holder in names. See the post entitled “The Shshi Naming System.”