17.1 Coordinating Conjunctions
Novegradian has four coordinating conjunctions - и, или, а, and но.
И i corresponds to English "and", and is used to join together two or more clauses or more than two adjectives or nouns.
| (1) |
Они вецераш пришели и занок ойдут. (Oní véceraś priśelí i zánok oidút.) They.nom yesterday arrive.past.pl and tomorrow leave-3pl "They came yesterday and leave tomorrow." |
| (2) |
Бракьи мои Миха, Владя и Ваня вие ож совигьаци дѣвушкам. (Brákji mojí Míha, Vládia i Vánia vijé oź sovígjaci dě́vuśkam.) Brother-nom.pl my.nom.pl Mihajíle.dim-nom.sg, Vladímire.dim-nom.sg, and Ieváne.dim-nom.sg all.nom.pl already date-3pl-mid girl-datins.pl "My brothers Míha, Vládia, and Vánia are all already dating." |
When dealing with just two nouns or adjectives, the preposition со "with" must be used instead. When the subject of a verb, dual agreement is still used despite the fact that only one noun is in the nominative case.
| (3) |
Тата со мамой еужината ресторанѣ „Кауказе‟. (Táta so mámoi ieuźináta restoráně "Kaukáze".) Father-nom.sg with mother-datins.sg eat_dinner-3dl restaurant-loc.sg "Caucasus.nom.sg" "Father and mother are eating at the Kaukaz restaurant." |
The expression и со i so can be used in any situation where conjunctive со so can, and indicates a greater dissociation comparable to English "as well as".
| (4) |
Маша и со бракьам ѣ приходат. (Máśa i só brakjam iě́ prihódat.) Masha.nom and with brother-datins.pl her come.indet-3pl "Masha, as well as her brothers, is coming." |
Where English uses a singular pronoun in expressions such as "Maria and I", Novegradian uses the dual—Надуа со Мариёй Naduá so Maríjoi. The intent here is that the pronoun надуа is the true subject, with со Мариёй serving as a modifier. Novegradian can make the "inclusive we" versus "exclusive we" distinction this way: надуа со тибѣ naduá so tibě́ "You and I" versus надуа сон ему naduá son iemú "He and I".
When dealing with two adjectives, и may be used instead of со only when the two adjectives describe the same object instead of describing two different ones. This allows a distinction to be made simply where English requires a longer construction. When со is used, the second adjective must be definite since it is representing a separate noun.
| (5) |
Принеши мнѣ тарѣлки шиньи и бѣли. (Prineśí mně́ tarě́lki śínji i bě́li.) Carry_to-imper.2sg I.datins plate-acc.pl blue-acc.pl and white-acc.pl "Bring me the blue and white plates." (the plates that are both blue and white) |
| (6) |
Принеши мнѣ тарѣлки шиньи со бѣлиеми. (Prineśí mně́ tarě́lki śínji so bělíjemi.) Carry_to-imper.2sg I.datins plate-acc.pl blue-acc.pl with white-datins.pl.def "Bring me the blue plates and the white plates." |
Но no is the equivalent of "but", emphasizing contrast between two clauses.
| (7) |
Яс велем хотѣла ис концертен, но ими несцестия не могла. (Iás vélem hótěla ís koncérten, no imí nescestijá ne moglá.) I.nom very want-past-fem go-sup concert-lat.sg, but with disfortune-acc.sg neg be_able-past.fem "I really wanted to go to the concert, but unfortunately I couldn't." |
The conjunction а a expresses a mild contrast, a state comparable to but not the same as the first clause. It functions much like "whereas" or "but rather", although is often translated as "and" or "but".
| (8) |
Мой самолете поледит во 7.00, а ѣ во 9.30. (Mói samoléte poledít vo 7.00, a iě́ vo 9.30.) My.nom.sg.masc airplane-nom.sg perf-fly-3sg in 7.00, whereas her in 9.30 "My airplane leaves at 7:00, and hers at 9:30." |
| (9) |
Не пянѣюн, а станун товаришном. (Ne pianě́iun, a stánun továriśnom.) neg become_drunk-1sg, rather become-1sg sociable-datins.sg.masc "I'm not getting drunk, I'm just becoming sociable." |
Или íli is Novegradian's disjunction, meaning "or".
| (10) |
Ти хокьеш брѣген шу шемицу или наступнаю? (Tí hókjeś brě́gen śú śémicu íli nastúpnaiu?) You.nom want-2sg beach-lat.sg this.acc.sg.fem week-acc.sg or next-acc.sg.fem.def? "Do you want to go to the beach this week or next?" |
The third person nominative pronouns оне óne, она oná, ондуа onduá, and они oní lose their first vowel when immediately preceded by the conjunctions и or а. They are written as a single hyphenated word: и-не í-ne "and he", а-на a-ná "whereas she", и-ндуа i-nduá "and the two of them", а-ни a-ní "whereas they".
In addition, а + яс contract into ас as "whereas I", though и яс "and I" never contracts. Curiously, ас now frequently shows up before all а + pronoun constructions, having lost its original meaning: ас а ти as a tí "whereas you", ас а-на as a-ná "whereas she". However, "whereas I" remains simply ас as.
17.2 Subordinating Conjunctions
Novegradian only has a few distinct forms for subordinating conjunctions, анно and ли being the most common. The majority of conjunctions are either other parts of speech (such as an adverbial participle) or a phrase, often involving the то-це construction.
Анно ánno means "if", and is only used in indicative-mood conditionals (eg, "if you came", "if you're coming", "if you came"). The subjunctive forms елиб iélib and бадеб bádeb are used in nonfuture and future hypothetical, subjunctive-mood conditionals respectively ("if you were to have come"/"if you were coming", "if you were to come"). In hypothetical conditionals, both halves of the sentence must be in the subjunctive mood.
| (1) |
Занок бадун на зашѣденьѣ-те анно можеш мене осбрати со тово шеден. (Zánok bádun na zaśědénjě-te ánno móźeś mené osbráti so tovó śedén.) Tomorrow be.fut-1sg on meeting-loc.sg-top if be_able-2sg I.acc bring_from-inf from top-gen.sg today "I'll come to the meeting tomorrow if you can get me out of it today." |
| (2) |
Елиб вѣгла яс то-це прийдеш, пекла би яс торте. (Iélib věglá iás tó-ce prijdéś, peklá bi iás tórte.) If.nonfut.subj know-past-fem I.nom rel.acc-that.nom arrive-2sg, bake-past-fem subj.sg I.nom cake-acc.sg "If I had known you were coming, I would've baked a cake." |
| (3) |
Бадеб ти пришеле, пекла би яс торте. (Bádeb tí priśéle, peklá bi iás tórte.) If.fut.subj you.nom arrive.past-masc, bake-past-fem subj.sg I.nom cake-acc.sg "If you were to come, I would bake a cake." |
Ли li means "whether", and always appears after the first stressed word within a clause. Its presence prevents pro-drop in the subordinate clause.
| (4) |
Яс не вѣм, она ли вегетаряницой. (Iás ne vě́m, oná li vegetariánicoi.) I.nom neg know-1sg, she.nom whether Ø vegetarian.fem-datins.sg "I don't know whether she's a vegetarian." |
| (5) |
Не применьун, пойдет ли оне. (Ne primenjún, poidét li óne.) neg remember-1sg, perf-go-3sg whether he.nom "I don't remember if he's going to go." |
If both options are shown, или takes the place of ли (since it incorporates both the elements "and" and "whether"). Alternatively, it is sometimes possible to place ли li after both options and use а a as the conjunction.
| (6) |
Ѣме или гладаме, ше навижит од оругьая. (Iě́me íli gladáme, śé naviźít od orúgjaia.) Eat-1pl or starve-1pl, this.nom.sg depend-3sg from harvest-gen.sg "Whether we eat or starve depends on the harvest." |
| (7) |
Млади ли а стари ли, вие смиялиш. (Mládi li a stári li, vijé smijáliś) Young-nom.pl whether whereas old-nom.pl whether, all-nom.pl laugh-past-pl-mid "Whether young or old, everyone was laughing." |
The conjunctions "what" and "who" are expressed using the то-це/то-ко construction. "Where" and "to where" can either use the same construction (то-куде, тѣм-куде) or use the pronouns themselves (куде, куди). For "when", only the form када may be used, although еда iéda is often used in formal language (by analogy with Old Church Slavonic ѥгда via Russian, formed from the anaphoric pronoun by with the latter portion of когда "when").
Most other conjunctions are phrasal, and include but are not limited to:
- абно ábno "as soon as"
- ако áko "as"
- акоби ákobi "as if, as though, even if"
- акоби не ákobi ne "lest, or else" (or less often, какоби не)
- акоже ákoźe "such as"
- анно не ánno ne "unless" (with real condition)
- бадеб не bádeb ne "unless" (with a hypothetical future condition)
- дати dáti "in order that, so that"
- до тово-це do tovó-ce "until"
- елиб не iélib ne "unless" (with a hypothetical non-future condition)
- елин iélin "while"
- зандо zándo "because"
- за неж(е) za niéź(e) "after"
- за тово-це za tovó-ce "because"
- за то-це za tó-ce "to, for the purpose of"
- зе тово-це ze tovó-ce "on the grounds that"
- како káko "as" (in free variation with ако)
- колиж(е) kóliź(e) "although, even though"
- кроми тово-це krómi tovó-ce "unless"
- намѣсти тово-це namě́sti tovó-ce "instead of"
- на то-це ná to-ce "since, seeing as" (note the stress)
- на то-це na tó-ce "as, at the same time as" (note the stress)
- на тѣм-це na tě́m-ce "with regards to"
- по тѣм-це po tě́m-ce "as far as"
- пред неж(е) pred néź(e) "before"
- со тово-це so tovó-ce "since"
- со тѣм-це so tě́m-ce "in order that, so that"
- то-када to-káda "as soon as" (never *то-еда)
- то-како tó-kako "such that" (less commonly т-ако t-áko)
- требаж(е) trébaź(e) "even though, despite"
- штоби śtóbi "in order that, so that" (dialectical, sometimes considered low style)
Most of these conjunctions call for the indicative mood in the following clause. When the situation is hypothetical, there is often a choice between the subjunctive mood or the indicative (perhaps an indication of the gradual loss of the subjunctive in Novegradian).
However, the clause following indirect commands ("want someone to...", "ask someome to...", "order someone to...", etc) must be subjunctive:
| (8) |
Хокьун то-це ти ходиле би туди. (Hókjun tó-ce tí hódile bi tudí.) Want-1sg rel.acc.sg-that-nom you.nom go.indet-past-masc subj.sg to_there "I want you to go there." |
The varient form то-ж-це tó-ź-ce (pronounced as тошче ['toʃ.tʃe]) may be used in place of то-це with commands to imply a sense of warning that there will be consequences if the action is not carried out. This form is almost required after verbs such as "forbid" and "prohibit".
| (9) |
Сорѣѕи име то-ж-це не приходили бу познѣ! (Sorědzí íme tó-ź-ce ne prihódili bu pózně!) perf-say-imper.sg they.datins rel.acc.sg-emph-that neg arrive-past-pl subj.pl late-adv "Tell them to not be late!" |
17.3 Reduplicated Conjunctions
Several conjunctions may be reduplicated to acquire a new meaning, originally emphatic.
The reduplication "и X и Y" means "both X and Y". It also has the negative form "ни X ни Y", meaning "neither X nor Y". The latter (which generally requires the genitive case) is especially common in the expression ни шево, ни видораево "neither [of two]", literally "neither this, nor the other".
| (1) |
И ов Англин и ов Испанин буилѣ по кѣломировой емпирей, но ни шей, ни видорѣе доходилѣ до стоекьа дена. (I ov Ánglin i ov Ispánin buílě po kě̀lomiróvoi iempiréi, no ni śéi, ni vidórěie dohódilě́ do stoiékja dená.) And at-v England-gen.sg and at-v Spain-gen.sg be-past-dl dist worldwide-datins.sg.fem empire-datins.sg, but neither this.gen.sg.fem, neither other-gen.sg.fem.def go_up_to.imperf-past-dl until stand-part.act.imperf-gen.sg.masc day-gen.sg "Both England and Spain had worldwide empires, but neither lasted to the present day." |
Conversely, "или X или Y" means "either X or Y".
| (2) |
Она или ей призуонила или сон ей говорила зад спиной моей. (Oná íli iéi prizuoníla íli son iéi govoríla zad spinói moiéi.) She.nom or she.datins call_to-past-fem or with-n she-datins talk-past-fem behind back-datins.sg my.datins.sg.fem "She either called her or talked to her behind my back." |
Perhaps related is "кето... кето...", meaning "some... while others..."
| (3) |
Кето пиво лубит, кето вино. (Ketó pívo lúbit, ketó vinó.) Who.nom beer-acc.sg love-3sg, who.nom wine-acc.sg "Some love beer, some love wine." |
Though not a reduplicated conjunction, the complex expression не толкѣ... шенаким ne tólkě... śenákim "not only... but also" uses the same form.