Sentence Structure and Word Order

The basic word order structure for a statement in Oksirapho is as follows:

<primary verb complex: <verb> <adverbs>> <subject complex: <noun> <adjectives> <postpositions>> <object complex: ... > <oblique case complexes <...> ...> <secondary verb complex: <verb particles>>

The noun complex

Many reconstructive models of Ksreskézaian language indicate only two noun classes, commonly interpreted as 'natural' and 'artificial' due to early Lilitic uses (or, later, 'feminine' and 'masculine,' respectively.) However, LPO exhibits three distinct noun categories, which are here referred to by their contemporary names: 'cultivated,' 'untamed,' and 'obscure.' The 'obscure' class, consisting of a handful of irregular nouns, was eliminated entirely in Oksí Lilitika and its descendants. Noun varieties are further subdivided into honour classes (see Honourifics, below) which affect what articles and postpositions should be used with them.

Oksirapho is rich in noun cases, although not to the extent of its descendants. It has just six: ergative, dative, accusative, subject (absolutive or nominative), genitive, and oblique. Typologically, Oksirapho has no true transitive alignment, as the cultivated and untamed categories mark nouns in ways that favour erg-abs alignment (experiential verbs) or nom-acc alignment (active verbs). Nouns used with intransitive verbs are always in the unmarked (subject) case.

case	cultivated		untamed		obscure
	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
ergative	oksivo	oksivoi	Sabtiba	Sabtibai	kvulope	kvulopni
subject	okso	oksoi	Sabta	Sabtai	kvulin	kvulinni
accusative	oksigo	oksigoi	Sabtiko	Sabtiki	kvuloke	kvulokni
dative	oksogl	oksogli	Sabtaki	Sabtaiki	kvulolni	kvulolni
genitive	okson	oksoin	Sabtan	Sabtain	kvulinni	kvulinni
oblique	oksov	oksoiv	Sabtav	Sabtaiv	kvuliv	kvulivni

Adjectives

Adjectives in Oksirapho follow a descending immutability scheme, where those considered most essential to the definition of the object come first. Proper ordering of adjectives forms a key aspect of the honourific system (see below).

In general, adjectives adopt the inflections of the nouns they modify, with the conspicuous exception of genitives.

Quantities

Unlike in Lilitika, number is not regarded as an attribute of a noun, except via the singular/plural distinction. Counts are instead expressed through special counting words which precede the noun they govern, e.g. rai oksoi, "three men." Two counting systems exist, a base-twelve positional system (derived from Rotomemi custom), and a more traditional compounding system, which is fundamentally multiplicative and highly redundant:

number	positional	compounding
0	gon	yolo/yola/yolin (none—used as a normal adjective with maximum precedence)
1	mít	mít
2	lén	lén
3	rai	rai
4	kot	kotkon
5	lak	kot e mít
6	gtañ	gtañnoñ
7	vespon	gtañ e mít
8	súlon	gtañ e lén, kot e kot, léntkot
9	tips	gtañ e rai, rairai
10	tshnú	léntkot e lén
11	éntkotlai	léntkot e rai
12	mítpon	stas, stasras, léntañ
13	mítmít	léntañ e mít
14	mítlén	léntañ e lén
15	mítlai	léntañ e rai
16	mítpot	léntañ e kot, railéntkot
17	mítlap	léntañ e lak
18	mítban	raitañ, stas é gtañ, gtañ e gtañ e gtañ
19	mítvesp	raitañ e mít
20	mítfúl	raitañ e lén, stas e súlon, kotlat
21	mítpit	raitañ e rai, raives
22	mítfú	raitañ e kot, raives e mít
23	mítént	raitañ e lak, míton dek léntas
24	léntgon	léntas
36	raigon	raitas
48	kotgon	kostas
60	lakgom	laktakh
72	gtañgtoñ	gtañgtakh
144	mítpongon	stasrastas
288	léntgongon	léntastas
1728 (123)	mítpongongon	stas t stasrastas

The positional system bears direct resemblance to the later Lilitika counting system, after adjustments to simplified phonotactics.

Postpositions

cultivated	untamed	obscure	case	definition
vozos	úshve	úshve	gen	from, out of necessity of
relos	lerle	lerle	gen/obl/dat	from/at/to above
kezkos	zeñkse	kezkos	dat	to achieve
sandos	ansde	sandse	gen/obl/dat	from/at/to around
vensfos	veme	vensfos	gen/obl/dat	from/at/to under
khíleros	khíske	khíleros	gen/obl/dat	from/at/to beside
suvros	ruvse	suvros	gen/obl/dat	from/at/to in front of
doktos	khedle	doktos	obl	prior to
neptos	metpe	neptos	obl	after
elos	ere	ere	gen	during the time of
apermos	marle	marle	gen	inside
oskhos	raskhe	raskhe	gen	beyond, outside
glintgos	lnige	glintgos	obl	near
khelos	ekle	khelos	obl	despite
gondos	gñedke	gondos	obl	lacking

The primary verb complex

The verb complex in Oksirapho is broken up into two elements, primary and secondary. The secondary complex consists solely of various mood particles that influence the main verb, and can be omitted entirely for declarative statements unless they are subclauses. The primary complex, on the other hand, contains the verb itself and its supporting adverbs.

Verbs have four tenses (present, past, future, and aorist) and six moods (imperative, interrogative, declarative, potential, optative, and subjunctive), totalling just nine forms. Oksirapho has no inflectional system for representing aspect, a feature that Lilitika reborrowed from literary Oksiko; instead, this is represented with adverbs.

Verbs come in three categories: active, experiential, or stative. These affect their inflectional patterns.

mood/tense	to be changed	to be	to go
aorist	akhéo	bho	eghmé
present	akhés	bh'sé	eghmis
past	ankhro	bhonr	eghmor
future	nakhlio	bholo	eghmel
imperative	akhém	bhmo	eghim
interrogative	akhéo dhim	bho dhim	egho dhim
potential	akhéo kain	bho kailo	egho kain
optative	akhé shilo	bho sholo	egho shilo
subjunctive	akhé kaö	bho ko	eghmé ko

Adverbs

Adverbs are noun-like, in that they inflect in the same way the agent of the sentence does. For active and intransitive verbs, this means they end in -o, -oi, -a, -ai, -in, -inni; for experiential verbs, this is -ivo, -ivoi, -iba, -ibai, -ope, -opni. An adverb may therefore be indistinguishable from an adjective in some cases, though its position at the end of the primary verb complex (rather than after the subject) tends to be revealing. Discerning which of a sequence of many words with the same ending is the actual subject, however, can be challenging to beginners if the verb is not from the experiential family. Perhaps as an aid to making this less challenging, the adverbs marking aspect are always placed last.

adverb						meaning
ato	atoi	ata	atai	atin	atin	perfect aspect
ento	entoi	enta	entai	entin	entin	progressive aspect
ziro	ziroi	riza	rizai	zirin	zirzinni	compliantly
yolziro	yolziroi	yolzira	yolzirai	yolzirin	yolzirzinni	disobediently
aleziro	aleziroi	alezira	alezirai	alezirin	alezirzinni	did not
nato	natoi	nata	natai	natin	natin	task left incomplete

Of particular interest is nato, which may also have its Lilitika meaning of unraveling or reversing a process, perhaps even completely. However, nato in Sotaní Oksirapho only communicates the outcome, and makes no judgment on the agent's goal. The complete sentence glokor nata (using gloké, "to prepare") might be translated as "she neglected to prepare," "she did not finish preparing," or "she sabotaged preparations," depending on context. In general adverbs of compliance are used with nato, making it less ambiguous, although it remains highly context-dependent.

The secondary verb complex

It is noteworthy that most final verb particles in Lilitika come not from the Oksirapho secondary verb complex, but from the mood particles in the primary verb complex.

verb particle	meaning
l'é	deductive (suggested from evidence)
k'ú	reportative (witnessed by a trusted source)
entkuor	rumor

Clauses

Honourifics

Oksirapho honourifics are two-syllable adjectives that follow the noun directly as the most essential quality of that noun. They function like titles, in that one should always employ them when invoking a name except on intimate terms, and also indicate definiteness, therefore functioning additionally as definite articles. Non-proper nouns lacking an honourific are taken to be indefinite, so equivalently it can be said that honourifics should not be used for indefinite nouns.

Mandated address: For individuals of very high standing, a subject clause with following honourific is required at the end of each paragraph or when the speaker is done talking. Occurring conspicuously out of place in all but the simplest sentences, this unambiguously resembles a vocative. If there is any ambiguity in the framing of the mandated address vs. the sentence, a pause may be introduced before it. Some rulers have been known to object to others using the mandated address in their presence, as they feel it is a waste of their time.

Honourifics can also be used independently as nouns (as they have compatible endings with their noun class), though these abbreviations are generally considered informal and would rarely appear in print as independent nouns.

Common honourifics

This list is by no means exhaustive, and customs varied regionally. The most significant differences were between the spheres of influence of Wemno (equatorial eastern continent) and Tévopío (equatorial western continent).

term	noun class	meaning	notes
kso	cultivated	Rightful King (Western)
deko	cultivated	Rightful King (Eastern)
ityo	cultivated	Regent	a grave insult if the recipient sees himself as kso or deko
egro	cultivated	Advisor to the King
abto	cultivated	Order of the Touch of Sabta (Western)	highest noble honours
alkzo	cultivated	Order of the Touch of Salkza (Eastern)	highest noble honours
o	cultivated	Viceroy (Western)
o	cultivated	Commander-in-Chief
o	cultivated	Marshal
o	cultivated	Minister
o	cultivated	Viceminister
o	cultivated	General
o	cultivated	Senator (Eastern)
o	cultivated	Great Noble	of a royal, viceroyal, or regent's family but not otherwise specified
o	cultivated	Guildmaster
o	cultivated	Esteemed Noble	of a family in which a member holds any of the above titles
o	cultivated	Lieutenant-General
o	cultivated	Major-General
o	cultivated	Brigadier
o	cultivated	Colonel
o	cultivated	Lieutenant Colonel
o	cultivated	Major
o	cultivated	Captain
o	cultivated	Lieutenant
o	cultivated	Officer Cadet
o	cultivated	Private
o	cultivated
a	untamed
a	untamed
a	untamed
a	untamed
a	untamed
a	untamed
a	untamed
a	untamed

Adjective ordering rules