Mirad Grammar/Syntax

Word Order

Overall, Mirad is an SVO language, that is, the normal word order is Subject + Verb Predicate + Object, much like English and all of the Romance languages.

The subject and object consist of nouns or pronouns with or without modifiers. The verb predicate consists of a conjugated verb form with or without adverbial modifiers, which may precede or follow based on considerations below.

The Subject

A subject is the entity that is responsible for the action or state in the verb predicate. That entity consists of modified or unmodified zero or more nouns or pronouns. The subject can be a noun phrase, which can include modifiers like deictic adjectives, quantifiers, or descriptive adjectives preceding a noun or nouns heading up a prepositional phrase.

Some rules:

• Modifiers of a noun or noun phrase precede that noun or noun phrase:
• Deictic adjectives and possessive pronouns come in first place among the modifiers:

Hia via toyb....this beautiful woman

Ha aa dresiun....the first letter

Yata ifwa twed hu toja zojub....our beloved father who died last year

• Quantifiers come after any deictic adjectives or possessive pronouns, but before the noun they modify:

Hua ewa pati....those two birds

Hya ha gla jubi....all the many days

Iyta gla yafoni....her many abilities

• Prepositions precede their complement:

Za ata tam....in front of my house

• Prepositional phrase modifiers follow the noun they modify:

ha domep zo yata tam....the street behind our house

saxam yub bi et....a factory near you

• Relative clause modifiers follow the noun or noun phrase they modify:

Hos at voy teste....the thing (that) I don't understand

Ha glo doymi ho zoybese....the few towns that remain

• A subject noun can consist of a clause, infinitive, or gerund:

Van it upo se vala.....That he will come is certain.

Ser yiva se ser iva.....To be free is to be happy.

Hia uvteuden yefe poser.....This weeping must stop.

• The subject can consist of a pronoun or linked pronouns:

Et ay at....You and I

Anay et....Only you

Glati....many people

• Adverbs often precede what they modify, but this rule is somewhat loose.

gey et....even you

deuzen fiay....singing well

voy aken....not winning

Prepositional Phrases

In Mirad, prepositional phrases consist of a simple or complex (= multi-word) preposition followed by a complement. Some examples:

• be moj....at night (simple)
• ja utyal....before supper (simple)
• yeb bu ha tam....into the house (complex)

Use of Simple Prepositions

Mirad has the following simple prepositions, which, except for ogel, are monosyllabic, and stand directly before their substantive complement:

Simple Prepositions

ab....on	eb....between	ob....off	ib....away from	ub....toward
ayb....above	eyb....among	oyb....under
	be....at		bi....of, from	bu....to
bay....with	bey....by, via	boy....without	byi....from the start of	byu...up to
za....in front of	ze....in the middle of	zo....behind	zi....at the right of	zu....at the left of
zya....throughout	zye....through
ja....before	je....during	jo....after	ji....since	ju....until
gab....plus		gob....minus
gal....times	gel....like ogel....unlike	gol....divided by
gar....to the power of		gor....to the root (negative power) of
ay....and	ey....or	oy....but
av....for ayv....about		ov....against oyv....opposite
	vyel....about, than, as

Examples:

• boy uvteuden....without moaning
• av hyea tesdud....for whatever reason
• ewa gal ewa....two times two
• poper zya Europam.....to travel all over Europe.
• iwa gar se yuwa....three squared is nine
• yekea dyes vyel(or: ayv) Mirad....looking for a book about Mirad

The preposition be (at) is used as an all-purpose locator:

• be ha mimkum....at the beach
• be ha domep....in the street
• be ha meb....on the mountain
• be Fransam....in France

The preposition be is used in many idioms, where ha (the) is omitted:

• be dropek bay....at war with
• be obem bi....at the bottom of ( = at bottom of)
• be nem bi....in place of, instead of, in lieur of
• be tam bi....chez, at the house of
• be zam bi....in front of
• be sinibar....on television
• be dud bu....in response to
• be tam....at home

The preposition bi can be used for from, indicating origin, or of, denoting possession or origin.

Examples:

• Ata twed zoypa bi yex gwa.....My father returned from work early.
• Ha yabtom bi London se humep.....The tower of London is that way.
• His se ha dyes bi hua twob.....This is that man's book ( = the book of that man).

The proposition to (to) can often be omitted after a verb where the to-ness is embedded in the verb. This omission is possible only when the verb is followed immediately by the object of destination:

Examples:

• Buu at hua drar....Give me that pencil (or: Buu hua drar bu at.)
• Pu tam!....Go home! (but: Pu izay bu tam!)
• At peye zedom.....I am going downtown. (or: At peye bu zedom.)

The preposition vyel is used for two purposes:

• about, concerning, relative to as in Hia dyes vyel moltun se yika.....This book about physics is difficult.
• than, as after comparative adjectives as in ga aga vyel huas....bigger than that one.

Do not confuse bay and bey, both of which can sometimes be translated by with in English.

• bay denotes accompaniment as in Duven et po bay at?....Will you be going with me?
• bey denotes means as in It pyexa at bey muf.....He hit me with ( = by means of) a stick.

Use of Complex Prepositions

The above simple prepositions can be used with adverbs to form more complex prepositions. The following chart shows adverbs which ban be joined with simple prepositions to create complex prepositions:

Complex Prepositions

ADVERB	+ bi	+ be	+ bu	OTHER
yab up	yab bi ha sem up from the table	yab be ha abmas up on the roof	yab bu ha abtem up to the attic	yab ayb ha mays up over the fence
yob down	yob bi ha abmas down from the roof	yob be ha mimkum down at the beach	yob bu he obtim down to the cellar	yob oyb ha sem down under the table
yeb in	yeb bi ha mamil in from the rain	yeb be ha tam inside the house	yeb bu ata tim into my room	yeb av vafil in for wine
oyeb out	oyeb bi ha miltim out of/from the bathroom	oyeb be ha abzamas...out on the balcony	oyeb bu ha mesabab out to the porch	oyeb av etyal out for lunch
yub near	yub bi yata tam near(by) our house	yub be eta kun near at your side	yub bu ha ujnod near to the endpoint..	yub bay tod near with family
yib far	yib bi him far from here	yib be mom far out in space	yib bu ha byum far to the goal	yib yob bu ha obem far down to the bottom
yuz around	yuz bi ha mir around the world	yuz be ha zom around in the back	yuz bu ha zam around to the front	yuz boy tof around without clothes
yiz beyond	yiz bi Meir beyond earth		yiz bu hyua kum beyond to the other side
yez along	yez bi ha mas flush with the wall			yez kum bi at alongside me
yan together				yan bay yat together with us
yon apart	yon bi hus apart from that
zay forward, ahead	zay bi at be ha pesnad ahead of me in line		zay bu eta byun ahead to your goal
zoy back, backward	zoy bi yex back from work	zoy be tam back at home	zoy bu tistam back to school	zoy av gas back for more
zey across	zey bi ha aybmep across the bridge	zey be ha ogela kum across on the other side	zey bu ha ogela kum across to the other side	zey ov yat opposite us
iz directly, straight	iz bi yex straight from work	iz be ha zenod right at the midpoint	iz bu sum right to bed	iz yub bi him right near here

Using Prepositions as Clausal Conjunctions

Some simple and complex prepositions can introduce a dependent clause, but must be followed by the positive particle van. This rule does not apply to ay (and), ey (or) and oy (but), because they are already properly conjunctions. This chart shows some examples:

Prepositions as Clausal Conjunctions

PREPOSITION	CLAUSAL CONJUNCTION	EXAMPLE
ja before	ja van	It tojo ja van et puo. He will die before you arrive.
je during	je van while	Je van et tuxeya, at tujeya. While you were studying, I was sleeping.
jo after	jo van	Yit xo ifonpop ja van yit tadso. They will go on a honeymoon after they get married.
av for	av van so that av von lest...not, so that...not	Egxu av van et su jwabwa. Rehearse so that you will be prepared. Yexu jestay av von et ujoku. Study hard so you won't fail.
ov against	(gey) ov van (even) though, despite the fact that	It igpa gey ov van it ta van it so gwaa. He (or she) ran even though he knew (that) he would be late.

Note that av van and av von are followed by a clause where the predicate verb is in the hypothetical mood (-u), reminiscent of the subjunctive in the Romance languages.

The Predicate

The predicate consists of a verb, its modifiers, and its objects.

Rules

• The adverbs vay (indeed), vey (possibly, may), and voy (not) usually precede the verb:

Yata tam voy osexwa.....Our house was not destroyed.

Vey mamilo.....It may rain.

Et se vay fia deuzut.....You are really a fine singer.

• Other adverbs and come either before or after the verb, depending on emphasis.

Dalu yug!....Speak softly!

Et dale gra ig.....You speak too fast.

It glaxag ake.....He often wins.

Glaxag it ake.....Often he wins.

It ake glaxag.....He wins often.

• Yes-no questions are formed by preceding the verb predicate with Duven...?, which means Say whether..., Is it true that..., without any word order change in the verb predicate:

Duven it gaj tejeye?....Is (it true that) he still living?

Duven et te ha dud?....Do you know the answer?

• Questions words requiring fill-in-the-blank words like When?, Where?, Who?, etc. start out with the question word, followed by the verb predicate in unchanged word order:

Duhoj et taja?....When were you born?

Duhoyen et se?....How are you?

Duhos se eta dyun?....What is your name?

Duhom et tambee?....Where do you live?

Duhot kobia ata dyes?....Who stole my book?

• Question words that are adverbs, as well as pronominal question words that are the subject of a stative predicate, can appear at the end of a sentence:

Et taja duhoj?....When were you born?

Et se duhoyen?....How are you?

Eta dyun se duhos?....What is your name?

Et tambee duhom?....Where do you live?

• Verbs can be serial:

It deuze, daze, ay duzare.....He sings, dances, and plays an instrument.

Eku ey pilu!....Play or get lost!

Iyt eka oy oka.....She played but lost.

• Verb predicates can have an implied, unexpressed subject:

Mamilo.....(It) is going to rain.

Upu!....(You) come!

Se ama him.....(It) is hot here.

Voy se yeva jayevder hes.....(It) is not fair to prejudge someone.

Von (et) jwosu.....Don't (you) be late.

Predicate Types

Predicate types, i.e. illocutions, refer to how the verb, predicate, clause, or sentence is expressed, There are three predicate types in Mirad:

• Declarative
• Interrogative
• Imperative / Hortative

These predicate types, in turn, can be:

• Negative, or
• Affirmative, or
• Combinations of these.

A simple, non-negative statement is affirmative declarative, such as Ha meir yuzpe ha maar.....The earth goes around the sun.

The following sections discuss non-declarative and non-affirmative predicate types.

Making Predicates Interrogative

To make a declarative predicate or sentence into a question, simply begin it with the Yes/No Question Introducer Duven....Say whether.../Is it true that...? or any other interrogative pronoun or adverb such as Duhos?....What?, Duhot?....Who(m)?, or Duhom?....where?. Note that the Du in Duven means Say.../ Tell me..., so Duven...? really is a command meaning Say whether.... The word ven without the du is a conditional complementizer and just means if or whether. The part of the sentence after Duven is a simple declarative statement in the normal word order. The same is true for the words following other interrogative words, such as Duhos?....What? and Duhom?....Where?. In other words, there is no inversion of word order in questions as there often is in English, Spanish, and many other languages.

Making Predicates Interrogative

DECLARATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
Et se tadxwa. You are married.	Duven et se tadxwa? Are you married? (= Say whether you are married.)
Ha mari se manika. The stars are bright.	Duven ha mari se manika? Are the stars bright? (= Say whether the stars are bright.)
Hut aka. That guy won.	Duhot aka? Who won?
Iyt aka glas. She won a lot.	Duhoglas iyt aka? How much did she win?
It paye. He has gone.	Duhom it paye? Where has he gone?

Note that the question words introduce the sentence and do not alter the word order as seen in the declarative. Also, a declarative sentence can be made interrogative simply by adding a question mark at the end in writing or raising the voice inflection at the end in speaking, eg:

• Et tambese ha yubem?
  You live in the neighborhood?

The yes-no tag vao can be placed at the end of a declaration to make it a question, eg.:

• Et tambese ha yubem, vao?
  You live in the neighborhood, right?

Yes/no questions such as the above and those introduced with Duven usually are answered with va
yes, ve
maybe, or vo
no or their equivalents.

"Yes-or-no Questions"

YES-NO QUESTION	ANSWER
Duven eta dyun se John? Is your name John?	Vo, se Bill. No, it's Bill.
Duven eta apet aka? Did your horse win?	Va. Atas vay aka. Yes. Mine won indeed.
Duven et texe van ha maalyen gafiso hijub? Do you think the weather will improve today?	Ve. Maybe.
Fe per bay at? Wanna go with me?	Vey zajub. Maybe tomorrow.
Et tadso, vao? You're going to get married, right?	Vey va, vey vo. Maybe yes, maybe no.

Affirming/ Doubting / Negating Declarations

The following set of interjections and adverbs can be used to affirm, cast doubt on, or negate declarations:

Affirming, Doubting, Negative Declarations

	INTERJECTION	ADVERB	PROPOSITION
AFFIRMATIVE	va yes	vay indeed, really	Va. At vay yantexe Yes, I indeed/do/really agree.
DUBITATIVE	ve maybe, perhaps	vey possibly, may...	Ve. At vey po. Maybe. I may/possibly will go.
NEGATIVE	vo no	voy not	Vo. At voy su iva. No. I would not be happy.

Mixing Them Up

The above interrogative words and the words of affirmation / doubt / negation can be used in various combinations, for example:

• Duven et voy se tadxwa?....Aren't you married?
• Duhasav iyt se voy tadxwa?....Why isn't she married?
• Vey voy mamilo.....It may not rain.
• At vay voy tadso iyt.....I will certainly not marry her.
• Et peyo, vao?....You will go, right?
• Vo. Hus vey vay se vyoa.....No. That may indeed be wrong.
• Et te ha dud, vao?....You know the answer, don't you? (=right?)

Note that the particles of affirmation/doubt/negation usually precede the verb, but can just as easily follow it.

• At voy te. ....I don't know.
• At te voy. ....I don't know. [Lit: I know not.]

Note that vao? is a particle meaning yes or no?, right?, n'est-ce pas?

Imperative and Hortative Expressions

An imperative expression is a command. In Mirad, a verb in the tenseless hypothetical mood ending in -u without a subject is assumed to an imperative referring implicitly to you. For example:

• Ipu !....Go away!
• Tiju !....Wake up!
• Su fiat !....Be a good person!

Hortative expressions, i.e. urging or wishing expressions like Let's go. or May he win., use the hypothetical form of the verb with the clause introduced by the positive complementizer van....that, may, let. In Arabic and some other languages, this is called the jussive mood.

• Van yat fadilu.....Let's pray. (Lit: That we would pray.)
• Van weti aku hia ifek.....May you guys win this game.
• Van ha edeb yagteju.....Long live the king. (Lit. That the king would long-live.)
• At ojfe van wit piu.....I wish he'd leave. (Lit.I wish that he would leave.)

The negative version of imperative and hortative expressions is introduced with the negative complementizer von....don't, lest, let's not. If there is no subject pronoun, you is understood.

• Von (et) dalu at huyen.....Don't (you) speak to me that way.
• Von yit oku.....May they not lose.
• Yit fiyake von yet oku.....We hope (that) you will not will.
• Von yat toxu it.....Let's not forget him.

Complementizers

Van, ven, von, and ho are complementizers.

Complementizers

TYPE	COMPLEMENTIZERS	MEANING	MIRAD EXAMPLE	ENGLISH EQUIVALENT
Interrogative	duven...?	Is it true that...? Tell (me) whether... (yes/no question introducer)	Duven eta dyun se John?	Is (it true that) your name is John?
Conditional	ven	if, whether	Ven et te, du has. At utdide ven it upo.	If you know, say so. I wonder whether he'll come.
Anti-Conditional	oven	unless	Oven et yexe, et voy ako.	Unless you work, you will not win.
Positive/Hortative	van	that, so that, let, may	At ta van it upo. Van yat dilo. Van et su iva. At xa has van et fitexu at.	I knew (that) he would come. Let's pray. Let you be happy. I did it so you'd think well of me.
Negative/Prohibitive	von	Don't, let...not, lest	Von teaxu at. Von yat su uva. At pio von et futipsu.	Don't look at me. Let's not be sad. I will leave lest you get angry.
Relative	ho	who, whom, that, which	Ha toybi ho ifaye et... Ha toyb ho et ife. Koxon ho at yofe lonyafxer.	The women who have loved you. The woman (whom) you love. A problem (that/which) I cannot solve.

Subjunctive Clauses

The hypothetical mood is also used in subjunctive clauses. A subjunctive clause is one in which an action or state is desired, requested, required, or wanted in some other way by the actor in the main clause. Positive subjunctive clauses are introduced with the positive complementizer van....that, let's, so that. Here are some examples:

• Ha edweb dira van at tyoibu za it.....The king demanded that I kneel before him.
• Se igefwa van et upu gwa ig.....It is urgent that you come as soon as possible.
• Durwa van hyat dolu.....It was ordered that everyone be silent.

A negative subjunctive clause is introduced with the negative complementizer von....don't, lest.

• Biksu von et pyosu.....Be careful lest you fall / that you not fall.

The conditional complementizer ven....if, whether can introduce a clause in the subjunctive, indicating an unreal condition, as in the following examples:

• At sexu tam ven at su nasika.....I would build a house if I were (= would be) rich.
• Duhas et xu ven et beu ga nas?....What would you do if you had (= would have) more money?

Many of the above sentences could be rephrased with an infinitive in order to avoid the subjunctive:

• Ha edweb dira at tyoiber za it.....The king demanded me to kneel before him.
• Se igefwa av et uper gwa ig.....It is urgent for you to come as soon as possible.
• Hyat durwa doler.....Everyone was ordered to be silent.
• Biksu voy pyoser.....Be careful not to fall.

If-Then Conditional Clauses

A conditional clause is introduced with the conditional complementizer ven....if, whether. The if-clause can be a real tense or a hypothetical. If the if-clause is hypothetical, the then-clause is also hypothetical. Here are the possible variations:

If-then Conditional Clauses

IF-CLAUSE	THEN-CLAUSE
PRESENT INDICATIVE	PRESENT INDICATIVE
Ven ot yexe jestay, If one works hard,	ot akxe. one succeeds.
PAST INDICATIVE	PAST INDICATIVE
Ven et ta, If you knew,	et dola. you kept quiet.
FUTURE INDICATIVE	FUTURE INDICATIVE
Ven et pio, If you leave,	at so uva. I will be sad.
PRESENT HYPOTHETICAL	PRESENT HYPOTHETICAL
Ven at su nyaza, If I were rich, Ven et teetu, If you would listen,	at nuxbiu aga tam. I would buy a new house. et testu. you would understand.
PAST HYPOTHETICAL	PAST HYPOTHETICAL
Ven at tayu, If I had known,	at dudayu hyuyen. I would have responded differently.

Note that in English, when the then-clause is future tense, the if-clause is present; This is not the case in Mirad, where both clauses are in the future. In Mirad, the formula is "If you WILL leave, I WILL be sad." In English, the formula "I didn't know whether he WOULD x" is translated in Mirad as "I didn't know whether he WILL x." Relative tenses do not exist in Mirad.

If/Whether Subordinate Clauses

Here are some examples of sentences where the main clause contains some verb of knowing, questioning, wondering, guessing followed by a subordinate clause introduced by the conditional complementizer ven....whether / if. Note that the tenses in Mirad are somewhat different in that there is no relative shifting of time as in English.

If-whether Subordinate Clauses

MAIN CLAUSE	IF / WHETHER SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
PRESENT INDICATIVE	PRESENT INDICATIVE
At utdide I wonder	ven it te ha vyan. if / whether he knows the truth.
PRESENT INDICATIVE	PAST INDICATIVE
At voy te I don't know	ven yit aka ey oka. if / whether they won or lost.
PRESENT INDICATIVE	FUTURE INDICATIVE
At voy te I don't know	ven et ujako. if / whether you will succeed.
PRESENT INDICATIVE	PRESENT HYPOTHETICAL
At utdide I wonder	ven et yantexu. if / whether you would agree.
PAST INDICATIVE	PRESENT INDICATIVE
At voy ta I didn't know	ven wit se taduwa. if / whether he was [Mirad: is] married.
PAST INDICATIVE	PAST INDICATIVE
At dida I asked	ven iyt teata hia dezun. if / whether she had seen [Mirad: saw] this play.
PAST INDICATIVE	FUTURE INDICATIVE
At voy ta I didn't know	ven it upo if / whether he would [Mirad: will] come.
PAST INDICATIVE	PRESENT HYPOTHETICAL
At dida I asked	ven it fu per bay at. if / whether he might like to go with me.
PAST INDICATIVE	PAST HYPOTHETICAL
At dida I asked	ven it fayu per bay at. if / whether he might have liked to go with me.

The negative conditional complementizer oven....unless is used in main-subordinate clause structures in the same way as the above.

Negative Conditional Complementizer

MAIN CLAUSE	IF / WHETHER SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
PRESENT INDICATIVE	PRESENT INDICATIVE
Ot voy ujake One does not succeed	oven ot yexe jestay. unless one works hard.
FUTURE INDICATIVE	PRESENT INDICATIVE
Et voy teato at You won't see me	oven et upo. unless you come (= will come).

Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are of two types:

• Bound relative clauses qualify an explicit element (usually a noun or phrase) appearing in the main clause, and refer back to that element by means of the relative complementizer ho (example: "The boy who laughed was expelled."), and:
• Free relative clauses, which do not have an explicit antecedent external to themselves. Instead, the relative clause itself takes the place of an argument in the matrix clause. For example, in the English sentence I like what I see, the clause what I see is a free relative clause, because it has no antecedent, but itself serves as the object of the verb like in the main clause. (An alternative analysis is that the free relative clause has zero as its antecedent.) In Mirad, relative deictic pronouns or adverbs having the prefix ho, as shown in the chart below, are used to introduce the free relative clause.

Bound Relative Clauses

The invariable relative complementizer ho is used to introduce a bound relative clause and refer back to an element in the main clause. Here are some examples:

• Ha tob, ho tadsa ewa jabi jay, bayse awa tud.....The man, who got married two years ago, has one child.
• Ha toyb ho ako ibo aga nazun.....The woman who wins will receive a big prize.
• Hia pati ho at pixa magelwo himaj.....These birds (that/which) I caught will be cooked this evening.
• Biu hyea jotul ho et fu.....Take any dessert (that) you'd like.
• Ha apet ho at bua it ha afeb apeda bay if.....The horse I gave the apple to neighed with pleasure. (= ...that I gave him the apple...)
• Iyt trua at bu ha yexeb ho iyt yexaya oyb it ji gla jabi.....She introduced me to the boss under whom she had worked for many years. (Lit: ...that she had worked under him...)

In cases where the antecedent in the matrix clause needs to be very clear, ho can be replaced with a relative pronoun specifying the gender or number of the antecedent, for example:

• Ata tedi ay yita tuyd, hoyt at yuxa be ha aj,.......My parents and their daughter, whom (f.s. referring to the daughter) I helped in the past, ...
• Ata tedi ay yita tuyd, hoti at yuxa be ha aj,.......My parents and their daughter, whom (pl.) referring to both the parents and their daughter) I helped in the past, ...
• Ata tedi ay yita tuyd, ho at yuxa iyt be ha aj,... (Here the relative complementizer ho is used but is followed up later with a resumptive feminine personal pronoun. For consistence in the language, this latter method is best.)

Note that in cases where the relative clause ends in a preposition governing the man clause antecedent, a resumptive pronoun is added agreeing in gender, number, and animacy with the main clause antecedent. This type of construction occurs in the last two example sentences above. So, the English relative clause for whom I sang would be expressed in Mirad as that I sang for her/him/it/them depending on the gender, number, and animacy of the antecedent in the main clause.

• Ha toybi ho at deuza av yiyt fida ata yafi.....The ladies for whom I sang (= that I sang for them) praised my abilities.

Bound relative clauses beginning with whose are expressed in Mirad as hota (which person's) or hoyita (which persons'), depending on the number of the explicit antecedent in the main clause.

• Ha ekuyt hota tyoyab yonpyexwa yofa eker hijeb.....The female player whose foot was broken was unable to play this season.
• Ata yubati, hoyita tam se jay ga aga vyel yatas, agaxa yita puram gajod.....Our neighbors, whose (= which persons') house is already bigger than ours, enlarged their garage again.

If no preposition governing the antecedent is involved, but the relative clause takes the place of an objective case element, supplying a pronoun referring back to the antecedent noun (resumptive pronoun) is optional:

• Ha dyesi ho at dyea hasi zamaj sa hyasi fia.....The books (which) I read (them) last evening were all good.

Free Relative Clauses

Free relative clauses are introduced by a relative deictic pronoun or adverb as shown in the charts below. Note that if the deictic pronoun is one other than a relative pronoun or adverb, then it is followed by the relative complementizer ho. For example, Hos at te.......What I know does not need the relative complementizer ho, because it is already embedded in the relative pronoun hos. The use of ho with other deictic words in a relative clause is optional.

Free Relative Clauses

RELATIVE PRONOUNS	MIRAD....ENGLISH	EXAMPLE
Thing(s)	hos....what/that which/the thing that hosi....what/those which/the things that hyes (ho)....whatever/anything that hyesi (ho)....whatever/anything that/any things that hyas (ho)....everything that/all that hyasi (ho)....all (things) that hyos (ho)....nothing (that) hyosi (ho)....none of the things (that) hoas....which one hoasi....which ones	Hos at da se vyaa.....What I said is true. Hosi it xa futipxa at.....What/the things he did angered me. At xo hyes (ho) et do.....I will do whatever/anything you say. Et voy teeta hyesi (ho) at deuza.....You didn't hear any of the things I sang. Hyas (ho) at fe se poos.....All I want is peace. At akxa hyas (ho) at fa.....I achieved all (that) I wanted. At akxa hyasi (ho) at fa.....I achieved all the things (that) I wanted. At testa hyos (ho) et da.....I understood nothing you said. Hyosi (ho) et iyfe ifue at.....None of the things you like appeal to me. At te voy hoas at gwafe.....I don't know which one I like best. At te hoasi at gwofe.....I know which ones I like least.
Person(s)	hot....who//the person (who) hoti....the ones who hyet (ho)....whoever/anybody who/that hyeti ho....whoever/any people that/who hyat (ho)....everyone that/everybody who hyati (ho)....all those who hyot (ho)....nobody (that/who) hyoti (ho)....no ones (that/who) hota....whose hoata....which one hoati....which ones	Hot et teata pia.....The one you saw left. Hoti at tye yantexe.....Those (people) I know agree. At teapo hyet (ho) at fe.....I will visit whomever I wish. Et voy teata hyeti (ho) at teata.....You didn't see any of the ones I saw. Hyot (ho) at ijtyea sa fiyena.....Everyone I met was nice. At fida hyoti (ho) at yeyfa.....I praised all the people I was supposed to. At testa hyot (ho) at teeta.....I understood nobody I heard. Hoti et ijtyaxa sa fuyena.....The ones you introduced were ill-mannered. At te voy hota ifpot his se.....I don't know whose pet this is. At te voy hoat at gwafe.....I don't know which one (person) I like best. At te hoati at gwofe.....I know which ones (people) I like least.
RELATIVE ADVERBS	MIRAD....ENGLISH	EXAMPLE
Place	hom....where hyem (ho)....wherever hyam (ho)....everywhere bi hom....from where, whence bu hom....to where, whither	Yat tambese hom ha maalyen se yugra.....We live where the weather is mild. At fu per hyem (ho) et po.....I'd like to go wherever you go. Hyam (ho) et pe, su bikaya.....Everywhere you go, be careful. Ha dom hom at byise se gla oga.....The town where I come from is very small. Ha memi hom at popeyo se gle jiba.....The countries where I am going to be traveling are quite distant.
Time	hoj....when hyej (ho)....whenever hyaj (ho)....everywhere	Du at hoj et puo.....Tell me when you arrive. Hyej (ho) iyt se iva, iyt deuze.....Whenever/anytime she is happy, she sings. Hyaj (ho) at yabteaxe, et yobteaxe.....Every time I look up, you look down.
Manner/Kind	hoyen....how, in what way, as hyeyen (ho)....however, in any way, in whatever manner hyiyen (ho)....just as, the same way as	At utdide hoyen it xa hus.....I wonder how he did it. Hyeyen (ho) xwa se kos.....However it happened is a mystery. Xu has hyiyen (geyen) (ho) at xe has.....Do it the same way as I do it.
Degree	hogla....how, to what extent hyigla ( ~ ge) ho....as, to the same degree as	Et hyoj to hogla iva at se.....You'll never know how happy I am. At yofe poper hogla (= ge) yib ho et yafe.....I cannot travel as far as you can.
Quantity	hogla....how much, how many hyegla (ho)....however much, however many hyigla (= ge) (ho)....as much/many as	Duven et te hogla nas it ayse?....Do you know how much money he has? Yet dida yat hyegla tami (ho) yat sexa.....You guys asked us however many houses we built. Et nixo hogla ~ ge nas at xe.....You will earn as much money as I do.
Reason	hosav....why, for what reason hyesav (ho)....why ever, for whatever reason	Duven et te hosav it xa hus.....Do you know why he did that? Yat voy teste hyesav (ho) et xu hus.....We don't understand why ever you'd do that.

The ho complementizer in free relative clauses can be omitted in conversation if there is no loss of meaning. For example, At fe per hyem et pe.....I want to go wherever you go. or Xu geyen at de.....Do as (= the same way (that)) I say.

If the relative clause is restrictive (i.e. it cannot be omitted without violating the meaning of the sentence), then no commas are used, but if it is non-restrictive (i.e. it provides new information that can be omitted), then it is surrounded by commas, just as in English.

• RESTRICTIVE: Ha mar ho yata mer yuzpe dyunwe ha maar.....The star that our planet goes around is called the sun.
• NON-RESTRICTIVE: Ha amar, ho yata mer yuzpe, se vay haway hea mar.....The sun, which our planet goes around, is really only a (= some) star.

Indirect and Direct Discourse

As in English, Mirad has both indirect discourse and direct discourse. Indirect discourse is when you know or say that something happened, whereas direct discourse is when you directly quote what someone has said.

Indirect Discourse

Sentences that have a main clause of communication or knowledge, followed by a subordinate clause with an indirect indication of what was said or known, use the positive complementizer van (that, the fact that) to introduce the subordinate clause. The tense in the subordinate clause is a true tense, not a relative tense. Unlike in English, where the that can often be omitted, the Mirad van complementizer can never be omitted.

• At ta van et upo.....I knew that you would (= will) come.
• Ata ted da van it yexe hya ita tej gel mufyegut.....My father said that he had worked (= he worked) all his life as a plumber.
• Se vyaa van at gra tele.....It is true that I eat too much.
• At jada van et puo jwa.....I predicted that you would (= you will) arrive early.

The conditional complementizer ven....if, whether and the negative complementizer von....lest, don't, that...not are discussed in later sections.

Direct Discourse

Direct discourse works as in English, except that a colon (:) is used instead of a comma. Double quotes are used to surround the directly quoted part of the sentence.

• Iyt da: "At voy fe per."....She said, "I don't want to go."
• At dida it: "Duhot so eta aadezut?".....I asked him, "Who will be your lead actor?"

The Object

The object in a sentence can be noun or noun phrase, a pronoun, an infinitive, a gerund, a prepositional phrase, or a clause. Sometimes, an object consists of both a direct object and an indirect object.

Rules:

• Transitive verbs can take a direct object:

Ha yepet teupixa at.....The dog bit me.

Yovobu hoti fyuxe et.....Forgive those who hurt you.

Biu hia yibdren.....Take this telegram.

• Some transitive verbs can take both a direct and indirect object. Many common transitive verbs imply a directional proposition, and so that preposition need not be expressed in the indirect object, but in such cases the indirect object comes before the direct object:

Buu at hua nyem.....Give (to) me that box.

Du it doler.....Tell (to) him to be quiet.

Xu at ha avun bi pier.....Do (to) me the favor of leaving.

• Stative intransitive verbs like ser (to be) can be followed by a complement consisting of a noun, pronoun, adjective, infinitive, gerund, or clause.

His se fis.....This is a good thing.

His se gla fia.....This is very good.

Ha akut sa et.....The winner was you.

Se fia aker.....It is good to win.

Se uva van iyt pia.....It is sad that she left.

Wit tease fia yexut.....He looks like a good worker.

• Dynamic intransitive verbs do not take an object:

At yexa hum je ewa jabi.....I worked there for two years.

Yat teje yukomay.....We live comfortably.

Hia voli agse ug.....These plants grow slowly.

• Verbs of communication can take an entire clause as a direct object in addition to an indirect object, the recipient of the communication:

At ta van et upo.....I knew (that) you would come.

Duven et te hoa tam se itas?....Do you know which house is his?

At da it hom et tambese.....I told him where you live.

Tuu at hoj et puo.....Inform me when you arrive.

It voy da ven et upo.....He did not say whether he would be coming.

At jwatua von it jwosu.....I warned him not to be late (= lest he be late).

• Verbs of motion and communication, which have an inherent directional component implied, do not need a preposition before their object. In cases where there is both an indirect and direct object, the indirect object comes before the direct object, otherwise a preposition is necessary:

At peye ha nam.....I'm going to the store. ( = I'm going the store.)

Pu tam!....Go home!

Et yefu der iyt hus.....You should tell her that.

Ha twob zoyda at: "Va."....The man replied to me, "Yes." ( = replied me)

At byise Ferom.....I come from France. ( = I originate France)

Nusbiu at dyes. (or) Nusbiu dyes av at.....Buy me a book (or) Buy a book for me.

How to Say "No Matter What"

The expression toxu....forget is often used in idioms where English uses no matter. An alternative is the use of the indeterminent deictic determiners (those that begin with hye-) meaning whatever, wherever, etc. Here are some examples:

• Toxu hos et de, at voy vatexe is.....Whatever you say, I don't believe it.
• Hyes et de, at voy vatexe is....." "

• Et kaxo yikani toxu hom et po.....You will encounter difficulties no matter where you go.
• Et kaxo yikani hyem et po....." " " "

• Toxu hogla et dio, iyt voy do va.....No matter how much you ask, she won't say yes.
• Hyegla et dio, iyt voy do va....." " " "

• Et ifio toxu hoa dom et teapo.....You will enjoy no matter what city you visit.
• Et ifio hyea dom et teapo....." " " "

A Summary of Negators

As in most natural languages, Mirad has a variety of ways to negate elements of a sentence. This section is meant to clarify when and how these negators are applied:

Negating a Predicate

The adverb voy is used to negate a declarative or interrogative predicate. The voy adverb and precede or follow the verb:

• At te.....I know.  →  At voy te.....I don't know.
• Duven et te?....Do you know?  →  Duven et voy te?....Don't you know?

The negative subordinate conjunction von is used to negate an imperative, subjunctive, or jussive predicate. The positive conjunction van gets replaced by von:

• Upu him!....Come here!  →  Von upu him!....Don't come here!
• Van et ujaku!....May you succeed.  →  Von et ujaku!....May you not succeed!

The conditional subordinate conjunction ven (if) can be negated to form oven meaning unless:

• Ven wit tojo, it voy ako ha doteuzen.....If he dies, he will not win the election.  →  Oven wit tojo, it ako ha doteuzen.....Unless he dies, he will win the election.
• At po ven et voy ofxo at.....I will go if you don't forbid me.  →  At voy po oven et afxo at.....I won't go unless you permit me.

The various negative deictic adverbs can be used to negate a predicate:

• Et te.....You know.  →  Et te hyoj.....You never know.
• At se iva.....I am content.  →  At se hyoyen iva.....I am in no way content.
• Et se vyaka.....You are right.  →  Et se hyogla vyaka.....You are not at all right.

Negating an Adjective

The prefix o- is used to negate the semantics of an adjective (including verbal adjectives). The o- changes to ol- if the adjective already begins with the letter o.

• eva....neutral  →  oeva....non-neutral
• vyaa....true  →  ovyaa....untrue
• twa....known  →  otwa....unknown
• ovufekyea....offensive  →  olovufekyea....unoffensive

Sometimes the prefix lo- is need to negate an adjective is negating it with o- causes ambiguity:

• fwa....wanted  →  lofwa....unwanted (because prefixing o- would yield ofwa which already means forbidden.)

The prefix lyo- is a stronger negator for adjectives:

• dota....social  →  lyodota....barbarian
• fibyena....polite  →  lyofibyena....callous, rude

Positive adjectives ending in -ika or -aya can be changed to -uka or -oya to make them negative:

• yufika....fearful  →  yufuka....fearless
• mekaya....dusty  →  mekoya....dust-free

Positive adjectives ending in -yaf(w)a (able/possible) can be switched to -yof(w)a (unable/impossible):

• yonsaunxyafwa....distinguishable  →  yonsaunxyofwa....indistinguishable
• teatyafa....able to see  →  teatyofa....blind

Negating the Semantics of a Verb

The prefixes o- and lo- are used to negate or reverse the semantics of a verb. The latter prefix is usually expressed in English with de- or dis- or un-.

• bexer....to have/hold  →  obexer....to lack
• bexer....to have/hold  →  lobexer....to leave/abandon/give up
• teater....to see  →  oteater....fail to see/overlook
• teater....to see  →  loteater....to disregard
• teazexer....to focus  →  oteazexer....to fail to focus
• teazexer....to focus  →  loteazexer....to blur
• boxer....to quieten  →  loboxer....to disquieten

Note the difference between:

• odabtunxwa....unpoliticized
• lodabtunxwa....depoliticized

Note also the following opposites:

• ayser....to have  →  oyser....to lack
• kaxer....to find  →  koxer....to lose
• paxer....to move  →  poxer....to stop
• aker....to win  →  oker....to lose
• fixer....to do well  →  fuxer....to do poorly

In the above cases, the ordinal vowel does the job in contrasting the meaning of the verbs (a vs. o and i vs. u). This is a factor of the way vocabulary is constructed in Mirad.

Expressing pro-, anti-, and a- (neutral)

Words expressing a favorable slant take the prefix av-; those with an opposing stance take ov-, while those with a neutral or absent stance take ev-:

• avdopreka....pro-war
• ovdopreka....anti-war
• odopa....un-military
• evdopa....neutral militarily
• evdofina....amoral
• odofina....immoral
• odata....unfriendly
• ovdata....hostile

The av, ov, and ev morphemes can be suffixed as well:

• agdovyab....constitution  →  agdovyabova....anti-constitutional
• doyux....welfare  →  doyuxava....pro-welfare
• fyatez....religion  →  fyatezeva....areligious

The Use of -okya to Express a Loss

Some adjectives expressing the loss of something can end in -okya (having lost):

• tad....spouse  →  tadokya....widowed
• ifon....love  →  ifonokya....lovelorn
• ted....parent  →  tedokya....orphaned
• tep....mind  →  tepokya....crazy
• nas....money  →  nasokya....bankrupt/broke
• mep....way  →  mepokya....lost
• izbex....control  →  izbexokya....out of control
• tayeb....hair  →  tayeboyka....bald

The Use of the prefix oy- to Express Privation

Some nouns can be negated by prefixing oy- (a stub for boy meaning without) and then converting the noun to an adjective with the suffix -a:

• tof....clothes  →  oytofa....naked
• teus....taste  →  oyteusa....insipid
• pos....stop  →  oyposa....nonstop
• tob....time  →  oyjoba....eternal
• dab....government  →  oydaba....anarchic
• mil....water  →  oymila....anhydrous