Compounds
Noun-noun compounds are formed by simply attaching both nouns. Only the head noun takes any inflection.
gather 'magic' +
ip 'man' >
gatherip 'shaman, warlock' ("magic-man")
gather 'magic' +
soćur 'woman' >
gathersoćur 'witch' ("magic-woman")
cưfe 'shield' +
ćucơh 'chain' >
cưfećucơh 'defensive formation' ("shield-chain")
sućumi 'knee' +
ưčo 'eye' >
sućumiưčo 'kneecap'
damba 'joint, bend' +
sihca 'corner' >
dambasihca 'switchback, point in a road where it doubles back toward itself'
Adjective-noun compounds are also permitted:
sar 'sad' +
śuśur 'grass' >
sarśuśur 'type of grass'
Common Caber also permits verb-verb compounds. The verb
ưtua 'consider' is a good example of this.
iasci 'read' +
ưtua 'consider' >
iasciưtua 'consider reading, think about reading, intend to read'
mu 'swap, switch' +
ưtua 'consider' >
muưtua 'consider switching, think about switching, intend to switch'
miep 'prop up' +
ưtua 'consider' >
miepưtua 'consider propping up, think about propping up, intend to prop up'
hưr 'speak, say' +
ưtua 'consider' >
hưrưtua 'consider speaking/saying, think about speaking/saying, intend to speak/say'
bes 'choose' +
ưtua 'consider' >
besưtua 'consider choosing, think about choosing, intend to choose'
Compounding is not limited to this verb, though the results are often somewhat idiomatic:
edren 'complain' +
oś '(do) work' >
edrenoś 'acquiesce'
ma 'glow' +
cơpaw 'explode' >
macơpaw 'explode in a fireball; explode (of fireworks)'
machi 'hunt' +
camnon 'compel, force' >
machicamnon 'force to hunt, compel to hunt, make someone hunt'
oś '(do) work' +
ưś 'hinder' >
ośưś 'interrupt (someone doing something), break someone's concentration'
hưr 'speak, say' +
ưś 'hinder' >
hưrưś 'interrupt, shout down'
Some compounds have their own dedicated characters (
gatherip 'shaman, warlock' and
gathersoćur 'witch' come to mind here), but many are written using both of their respective characters in sequence.
Adverbs
Adverbs modifying verbs take the suffix
-bo.
sar 'sad' >
sarbo 'sadly'
Adverbs modifying adjectives or other adverbs take the suffix
-be:
famơw 'light, pale' >
famơwbe 'light, pale' (as in
famơwbe mihgơ 'light green')
The delocative
The suffix
-(V)nme turns nouns referring to locations into verbs characteristic of what goes on in that location.
ǧư 'shop, bazaar' >
ǧưnme 'bargain, haggle'
camno 'pasture' >
camnonme 'graze'
aćam 'forehead' >
aćamanme 'blink'
nuc 'volcano' >
nucunme 'erupt (of a volcano)'
rưn 'grove, stand of trees' >
rưnưnme 'log, cut down trees for wood'
The Taltic substrate in Caber
The
Taltic languages have left noticeable substrate effects in Common Caber, especially in those dialects that became North and Eastern Caber.
Taltic 2
debɔgogo 'your two shoes' > Common Caber
debogogo 'type of shoe'
Taltic 2
dleʑap 'his grave' > Common Caber
dơrśap 'grave marker, tombstone'
Taltic 3
nages 'my basket' > Common Caber
nages 'type of basket used in picking fruit or herbs or in hunting shellfish'
Taltic 4
kskʷɔtɔtː 'your (pl.) house' > Common Caber
ưscotot 'estate'
Taltic 4
ist 'ring (jewelry)' > Common Caber
isit 'ring with an inset stone'
Taltic 5
tɕʷɯ 'fall' > Common Caber
ćư 'wipe out, take a bad fall'
Noun incorporation
A process that really didn't occur in Common Caber (beyond the occasional compound), but that I am considering developing for some of the daughter languages, is noun incorporation. Going by Marianne Mithun's 1984 paper "The Evolution of Noun Incorporation", this is the degree to which I envision noun incorporation in the "modern" Caber languages:
- North Caber: Type II.
- East Caber (Northeast and Southeast): Type II, possibly type III.
- Central Caber: Type III, possibly type IV.
- Southern Caber: Type II for South Caber, Type I for Extreme Southern Caber.
- Mute Caber will probably have stalled out early on in Type I, with fossilized compounds remaining.
In North Caber, Central Caber, and possibly East Caber, I'm thinking of having this end up affecting the word order—in East Caber, pronominal objects will appear before the verb (similar to French). In Central Caber this may shift to all objects, with the definite marker
a becoming either an accusative or a prefix for many freestanding nouns (like
ka- or
o- in Oneida, with words that do not take these prefixes generally being specific and unable to incorporate). I'm not sure to what extent this would happen in North Caber—probably at least to the extent of East Caber's word-order shift, but I'm not sure if I want it to go as far as it does in Central Caber.