Hinuq is an
agglutinative language which mainly makes use of suffixes.
Nouns Hinukh is an
ergative-absolutive language, and nouns inflect for case and number. Like most Northeast Caucasian languages, shows a rich case system. There are six non-spatial cases (Absolutive, Ergative, First Genitive, Second Genitive, Dative, Instrumental) as well as 35 spatial cases. The spatial case system itself consists of two categories, location and orientation, expressed by the use of direction markers (Essive, Lative, First Ablative, Second Ablative, Directional).
Stem Formation Hinuq distinguishes a direct and
oblique stem. Case suffixes are primarily added to the oblique stem. To form the oblique stem, there are different options, including oblique suffixes; epenthetic vowels; deletion of the base-stem-final consonant, vowel, or semivowel; stress shift; or ablaut. The oblique stem suffixes are
-mo,
-a,
-la,
-i,
-ya,
-o,
-li,
-yi,
-ra,
-ro,
-ru,
-do,
-u,
-na,
-nu.
-mo is the most productive of these suffixes. Some examples of nominal declension are given below.
Number Hinuq nouns distinguish between singular and plural. The absolutive plural suffix is almost invariably formed with
-be. The oblique plural stem is formed with the suffix
-za (or
-ža if it follows an //). The oblique plural suffix is attached to the base stem, and case suffixes are then attached to the oblique plural.
Case The six non-spatial case suffixes are:
Absolutive The absolutive noun phrase can act as the single argument of an intransitive verb: the patient/theme of a transitive (or extended transitive) verb: and the stimulus of an experiencer verb:
Ergative The ergative suffix is
-i after consonants and
-y after vowels, and marks the agentive argument of transitive verbs.
Genitive Hinuq has two genitive suffixes: First (direct) Genitive, and Second (oblique) Genitive. The First Genitive has the suffix
-s (or
-š if it follows an //), and is used when the
head noun is in the absolutive case. If the head noun is in an oblique case, it takes the Second Genitive suffix
-zo (or
-žo if it follows an //). The genitive cases are primarily used to show both alienable and
inalienable possession. The genitive cases can also be used to denote part-whole relationships, a quality or property, and the material of an object.
Dative The dative case marks recipients, experiencers, and beneficiaries, and has the suffix
-z (or
-ž after /i/). Experiencer verbs include
-eti- 'want',
-aši- 'find, get', ''-eq'i-'' 'know',
-ike- 'see', and others. The dative case is also used in benefactive and malefactive constructions.
Instrumental The instrumental case suffix is
-d, and expresses the use of instruments, body parts, and animal used for work (but never for humans).
Spatial Cases Hinuq has 35 spatial cases that run along two dimensions: 7 location markers (Contact, Inside, Under (), On (), At, Animate Location, and Inanimate Location) and 5 orientation markers (Essive, Lative, Ablative 1, Ablative 2, and Directional). When combined with the location marker, the orientation marker denotes the kind of motion conveyed, e.g., the Lative indicates motion towards a goal: Spatial cases can also have metaphorical meanings, like temporal phrases.
Nominal Derivation Hinuq has several suffixes for nominal
derivation:
Verbs Verbs in Hinuq can consist of just a stem, or combined with prefixes and suffixes. Verbs can be inflected for
tense, aspect, mood,
evidentiality,
polarity, illocutionary force,
gender, and
number. There are five grammatical genders in Hinuq which are expressed through verbal prefixes, and only on vowel-initial stems (though not all vowel-initial stems take prefixes). Gender is distinguished by the combination of prefixes for singular and plural agreement: Example: Forker (2013) identifies four different conjugation classes based on the verbal stem endings. • Class 1 verbs have consonant-final stems. When this suffix is added, the final stem consonant is lengthened, and ejectives lose their ejectivization. • Class 2 consists of verbs with stem-final // • Class 3 consists of verbs with stem-final // • Class 4 consists of verb stems that end in a long vowel The most common Class 4 stem-final long vowel is //, though it is also attested with /iː/, /oː/, and /uː/. Hinuq verbs are morphologically complex, but follow a "template" with slots for different types of affixes. All slots besides the root, however, are optional. The template is:(Agreement) + Root + (Derivation) + (Inflection) + (Negation) + (Inflection) + (Other)Example verb (, 'wash') with derivational, inflectional, and negation suffixes:
Tense, Aspect, Mood Tenses are marked synthetically on the verbs by means of affixes, or
periphrastically with
auxiliary verbs. Hinuq has 5 simple tenses and 14 complex (i.e., periphrastic) tenses. The simple tenses are Indefinite Future, Intentional Future, General Tense, Simple Present, and Simple Past. As its sister languages
Bezhta and Tsez, Hinukh differentiates between "witnessed/simple past" (ending in
-s or
-š) and "unwitnessed past" (in
-no); the present tense is marked with the suffix
-ho. In the future tense, Hinukh distinguishes a "direct future" (
-n), which is used only in the first person and an "indirect future" (
-s) used for all other persons.
Numerals The numeral system is
vigesimal, which means that it is a base-20 system, a feature commonly found among the languages of the Caucasus. ==References==