Stālāg (Terbian)

the language of the Terb


Attitudinals

Attitudinals are morphemes that show the feelings of the speaker towards the situation or the things s/he’s saying. They colour the meaning of the whole sentence and establish a context. They are not to be understood as aspect or mood markers with a fixed meaning, but more like interjections and expletives. In some cases they can be interpreted as short replacements for whole propositions showing stereotyped situations (the technical name for this kind of expressions is, if I got it right, holophrastic).

Attitudinal particles can in theory be added (cliticized) to any part of the sentence, or appear alone at the end or the beginning. They tend to attach to verbs and nouns, however, and sometimes also to conjunctions.


Desiderative: ba
The particle ba shows a wish or expresses mild encouragement. It appears sentence-finally or attaches to the main verb. In the first example, the verb alone is enough to express the intended meaning, but ba adds a touch of personal involvement.

Maikyĕ kos spiynĕ kkånān ēdora ba.
“I hope Your Highness will get well soon.”


Frustrative:
Shows frustration; something has turned out wrong, or the unexpected has happened, ruining the speaker’s plans or causing a drawback.

Dŏtsunu ū eob mirlasĕt kē!
“The gods have turned against me!”


Satisfactive: saĕs, sĕs
The speaker is satisfied, something has worked as expected.


Authoritative: tåkå, tāk
The speaker shows authority and firmness.

Han dukud jŏgwarm tåkå izĕ nu.
“This is just an insignificant distraction.”


Concessive: elohj
The speaker concedes a point or shows doubt.


Emotive-concessive: nnīg
The speaker retreats, shows humiliation.