Sentences
The simplest Kēlen sentences consist of a Relational, the Object of the Relational (a Noun Phrase), and a Mood Marker (usually the null marker). Like so:
REL NP MOOD
Relationals are discussed the document on Relationals. To summarize, though, there are four relationals: LA, NI, SE, and PA.
- LA takes a single object: something that exists in a state or a location.
- NI takes a single object: something that has undergone a change of state or location.
- NI {object} LOC denotes motion of the object
- SE takes a single object: something that has a source and/or a goal.
- PA takes two objects: a whole and its part, or LA {whole} PA {part}
A clause is essentially a sentence. Simple sentences consist of only one clause. More complex sentences may have multiple clauses. Clauses can be joined by conjunctions, or by a relative pronoun.
CLMOD CONJ REL CONJ NP CONJ NP CONJ REL NP CLMOD MOOD
We will look first at Noun Phrases, then Conjunctions, Relative Pronouns, Clause-level Modifiers, and finally Mood markers.
Noun Phrases
Simple Noun Phrases consist of a single noun. See Nouns & Pronouns for more information on how nouns are formed. A slightly more complicated Noun Phrase consists of two nouns in apposition. Again, nouns in apposition with the same inflection refer to the same entity, while nouns in apposition with different infections refer to different entities, usually with a WHOLE PART relationship. Even more complicated Noun Phrases consist of a particle word followed by a Noun Phrase. So:
NP = N NP = N N NP = PREP NP
The prepostions are listed below.
| λi | This is used as a status marker for proper names. |
| jē | This is used to associate something with an animate noun. See also Association. |
| nīkan | This is used to associate an animate noun with an inanimate or stative noun. See also Association. |
| ānen | This is used to associate two nouns that are not in a relationship. It can also be used as an instrumentative marker. |
| sū, rū, rā | These are all locative phrase markers |
| ā | This is used to indicate an agent phrase with NI. |
| tō | This is used to indicate a cause. This can also be used to indicate a secondary agent with NI. |
| ke | This is used to indicate a source phrase with SE, when the source is animate and voluntary. |
| to | This is used to indicate a source phrase with SE, when the source is inanimate or involuntary. This can also be used to indicate an inanimate cause or instrument with NI. |
| mo | This is used to indicate a goal phrase with SE. |
While all particle-headed phrases generally consist of [Particle NP], there are some individual quirks. Discussions of individual particles start below.
λi
The λi- prefix is used as a status marker when referring to personal names. It primarily occurs when the name is in the topic position. It can occur in front of any name that speaker wishes to show respect for.
sele lewēra λi-mālren; SE+1p.sg.goal N.poss(1p+name) LI Mālren 'I am called Mālren.'
ōrra ñemme λi ānenānte maλāta ā xējelke; PAST NI+3p.sg.agent+3p.sg.pat. LI Ānenānte N.anim.sg(killed) A Xējelke 'Xējelke killed Ānenānte.'
ōrra ñemme λi ānenānte maλāta ā λi xējelke; PAST NI+3p.sg.agent+3p.sg.pat. LI Ānenānte N.anim.sg(killed) A LI Xējelke 'Xējelke killed Ānenānte.'
tō jāo sete sawēra λi waxāon tō ōrra ñamma anwaxāon antaxōni tēna sū āke ā λi ārōn; CONJ(thus) SE+3p.pc.goal N.poss(1p+name) LI Confusion CONJ(because) PAST NI+3p.sg.agent N.st(confusion) N.co(language) MOD(all) LOC(at) PN(there) A LI Lord 'Thus their name is Confusion, for the Lord made confusion of all languages there.'
jē and nīkan
jē and nīkan are both used in possessive phrses. jē is used when the possessee is animate, and nīkan is used otherwise.
jaxūra nīkan-le N.sg(door) POSS(1p) 'my door'
jamāri nīkan māmāñi N.pl(houses) POSS N.anim.co(humans) 'the houses of humans'
makerāon jē sarāpa N.anim.sg(king) POSS Sarāpa 'the king of Sarāpa'
matiē jē sāen N.anim.sg(sibling) POSS PN(3p) 'her sister'
See the section on Possession and Association for more details on the inflections and usage of jē and nīkan.
ānen
ānen is used to associate two nouns that are not in a WHOLE:PART relationship. It is generally used as a comitative preposition.
mēli ānen anlāni
'people with greetings'
jatēwa ānen jacūti
'table with cups'
ānen modified by wā is negative:
jatēwa ānen jacūti wā
'table without cups'
ānen modified by ēmma means 'except (for)':
ancēli ānen jacūti ēmma
'the dishes expect for cups'
ānen with a stative object acts as a clausal modifier.
ānen antānre
'quickly'
ānen anrūsa
'cyclically'
sū, rū, and rā
Location is marked by these three prepositions. The locative phrase can then be further elaborated with a set of locative modifiers.
LOC NP [MOD]
sū marks location at a place, rā marks direction to a place, and rū marks direction from a place.
| sū jatāsa | 'at the market-square' |
| rā jatāsa | 'to the market-square' |
| rū jatāsa | 'from the market-square' |
One group of locative modifiers can be used to mark direction as well.
The locative modifiers can refer to a more exact location:
| āñ | 'at, among, amidst' |
| nō | 'to, towards' |
| pēxa | 'from, away from, far from' |
When used with the correspoding locative prepostion, these have an emphatic effect.
| sū jatāsa āñ | 'at the market-square' |
| rā jatāsa nō | 'to the market-square' |
| rū jatāsa pēxa | 'from the market-square' |
One can also use these as simple modifiers.
| rū jatāsa āñ | 'from amidst the market-square' |
| rā jatāsa pēxa | 'away to market-square' |
Another set of locative modifiers are derived from nouns.
| hāl | 'before, in front of' | < | jahāl | 'the front' | < | sahāl | 'someone's front' |
| īr | 'behind, in back of' | < | jīra | 'the back' | < | sīra | 'someone's back' |
| ōl | 'on, on top of, above, over, up' | < | jōl | 'the top' | < | sōlle | 'someone's head' |
| tā | 'off, underneath, below, down' | < | jatā | 'the bottom' | < | satā | 'someone's bottom' |
| nū | 'near, next to, on one side of' | < | janū | 'the side' | < | sanū | 'someone's side' |
| (a)kiē | 'far, beyond, on the other side of' | < | jakiē | 'the other side' | < | sakiē | 'someone's other side' |
| hūta | 'on the left of' | < | anhūta | 'left' | < | sahūta | 'someone's left hand' |
| tēsa | 'on the right of' | < | antēsa | 'right' | < | satēsa | 'someone's right hand' |
| ālme | 'across, from one side to the other' | < | jālme | 'the ford' | |||
| mē | 'in, inside of, into' | < | jamē | 'the inside' | |||
| ēmma | 'out, outside of, out of' | < | jēmme | 'the outside' |
So:
| sū jatāsa nū | 'next to the market-square' |
| rā jatāsa mē | 'into the market-square' |
| rū jatāsa īr | 'from behind the market-square' |
In discourse, the thing located isn't always explicitly named. In this situation, append j(a) to the locative preposition and then append the modifier as well.
| ñi xō rājahāl cī; | 'Put that up front.' |
| ñi xō rājīr cī; | 'Put that in back.' |
| la sāen sūjōl; | 'He is up top.' |
| la sāen sūjatā; | 'He is down below.' |
| la sāen sūjanū; | 'He is next to it.' |
| la sāen sūjanū; | 'He is on the other side.' |
| ñi sāen rājahūta; | 'He went left.' |
| ñi sāen rājatēsa; | 'He went right.' |
| ñi sāen rājālme; | 'He went across.' |
| ñi þō rūjamē; | 'This came from inside.' |
| ñi þō rūjēmma; | 'This came from outside.' |
| ñi þō rūjāñ | 'This came from it.' |
| ñi sāen rājapēxa | 'She went away.' |
| ñi sāen rājanō | 'She came here.' |
Locative modifiers can be combined to elaborate further. For example:
| rū jakiē pēxa ālme | '(from) far across the other side' |
| sū jamāra hāl tā | '(at) under in front of the house' |
Note that the noun phrase corresponding to the place is always fully inflected. There are exceptions to this rule, however. Formal Kēlen allows four nouns to be stripped of inflection in a locative phrase. These are the nouns jamāra, jatāsa, jakēra, and janāol. Some dialects of Kēlen allow this to happen to a larger number of nouns.
| rā jamāra | 'to the house' | |
| or | rā-māra | '(to) home' |
| rā jatāsa | 'to the market-square' | |
| or | rā-tāsa | 'to market' |
| rā jakēra* | 'to the temple' | |
| or | rā-kēra | 'to temple' |
| rā janāol | 'to the fire' | |
| or | rā-nāol | 'to the funeral-fire' (said of a corpse) |
* jakēra nowadays means 'holy thing' rather than 'holy place, temple', so rā jakēra is technically incorrect. The correct phrase for 'to the temple' would be rā jakērroþa.
ā, tō, and to
ā is used with NI to mark an agent or cause. tō marks a secondary agent or cause, and to marks an instrument.
ñamma jasāla ā mawālanen; NI+3p.sg.agent N.sg(song) A N.sg.anim(student) 'The student is singing.'
ñi anēlki ankehāri ā ancāllen; NI N.co(ice) N.co(melted) A N.st(heat) 'The heat melted the ice.' or 'The ice was melted by the heat.'
ōrra ñamma jīlke ā mattūtōn tō Kēla; PAST NI+3p.sg.agent N.sg(letter) A N.sg.anim(teacher) A Kēla 'Kēla got/made the teacher to write a letter.' or 'The teacher wrote a letter because of Kēla.'
ōrra ñamma anāmāesi anmōmi to jacāta; PAST NI+3p.sg.agent N.co(ants) N.co(flat) SRC N.sg(shoe) 'She flattened ants with a shoe.'
ke, to, and mo
These are used with SE to mark source and goal. ke is used for animate sources; to is used for inanimate sources and animate sources acting like inanimate sources, i.e. involuntary animate sources; and mo is used for goals, animate and inanimate.
se antārrani mo mannarien to anūrnāe; SE N.co(rain) GOAL PN(everyone) SRC N.co(storm) 'The storm [drops] rain on everyone.'
temme antēnni pē ke masōwa mo mamōīñ; SE.past+3p.sg.src+3p.sg.goal N.co(money) MOD(some) SRC.anim N.sg.anim(father) GOAL N.anim.sg(son) 'The father gave some money to the son.'
tema antēnni pē to masōwa mo mamōīñ; SE.past+3p.sg.goal N.co(money) MOD(some) SRC N.sg.anim(father) GOAL N.anim.sg(son) 'The father involuntarily gave some money to the son.' or 'The son took money from the father.'
The order of the case-marked phrases is flexible. They can come in any order, though often the order is ke phrase, mo phrase, to phrase.
Conjunctions
Kēlen conjunctions are often coordinating conjunctions, though semi-coordinating and non-coordinating conjunctions are also possible. In coordinating conjunctions, a conjunction occurs before each item being conjoined.
ē Conjunctions
These are the logical conjunctions. In formal speech and in writing, these are always coordinating conjunctions. In informal speech, the lead ē can be omitted. Sometimes, a lead ī will substitute for a lead ē, without any real change in meaning.
| ē | P | ē | Q | 'P and Q' | ē | P | ī | Q | 'P and (also) Q' |
| ē | P | aþ | Q | 'P and then Q' | ē | P | āe | Q | 'P or Q' |
| ē | P | hī | Q | 'P if Q' | ē | P | ew | Q | 'P (but) not Q' |
| āe | P | āe | Q | 'either P or Q' (exclusive or) | āe | P | ew | Q | 'P (but) not Q' (emphatic) |
| hī | P | hī | Q | 'if P then Q' | hī | P | ew | Q | 'if P then not Q' |
| ew | P | ē | Q | 'not P but Q' | ew | P | āe | Q | 'not P but Q' (emphatic) |
| ew | P | hī | Q | 'not P if Q' | ew | P | ew | Q | 'neither P nor Q' |
These work like so.
AND:
serle ē jatakīwi ē jānnūīki cī; SE+2p.sg.src+1p.sg.goal CONJ N.pl(paper) CONJ(and) N.pl(pens) COMM 'Bring me paper and pens.'
serle ē jatakīwi ī jānnūīki cī; SE+2p.sg.src+1p.sg.goal CONJ N.pl(paper) CONJ(also) N.pl(pens) COMM 'Bring me paper and (also) pens.'
serle ē jatakīwi aþ jānnūīki aþ anxēīki cī; SE+2p.sg.src+1p.sg.goal CONJ N.pl(paper) CONJ(then) N.pl(pens) CONJ(then) N.co(ink) COMM 'Bring me paper and (then) pens and (then) ink.'
serle ē jatakīwi aþ jānnūīki ē anxēīki cī; SE+2p.sg.src+1p.sg.goal CONJ N.pl(paper) CONJ(then) N.pl(pens) CONJ(and) N.co(ink) COMM 'Bring me paper and (then) pens and ink.'
ē ... ē is used when the items conjoined are syntactically equivalent. A more classic example of the difference between ē ... ē and ē ... ī follows:
ē anxēti ē antōsi CONJ N.co(iron) CONJ(and) N.co(lead) 'iron and lead'
ē anxēti ī antōsi CONJ N.co(iron) CONJ(also) N.co(lead) 'iron and (also) lead'
ē anxēti ē antōsi ankehāri CONJ N.co(iron) CONJ(and) N.co(lead) N.co(molten) 'molten (iron and lead)'
ē anxēti ī antōsi ankehāri CONJ N.co(iron) CONJ(also) N.co(lead) N.co(molten) 'iron and molten lead'
OR:
rēha ñi sāim rā ē jatāsa āe jakērroþa āe jamāra; FUT NI PN(3p.pc) LOC(to) CONJ N.sg(market) CONJ(or) N.sg(temple) CONJ(or) N.sg(home) 'They will go to the market or the temple or home.'
rēha ñi sāim rā āe jatāsa āe jakērroþa; FUT NI PN(3p.pc) LOC(to) CONJ(or) N.sg(market) CONJ(or) N.sg(temple) 'They will go to either the market or the temple.'
rēha ñi sāim rā ew jatāsa ew jakērroþa; FUT NI PN(3p.pc) LOC(to) CONJ(not) N.sg(market) CONJ(not) N.sg(temple) 'They will go to neither the market nor the temple.'
NOT:
rēha ñi sāim rā ē jatāsa ew jakērroþa; FUT NI PN(3p.pc) LOC(to) CONJ N.sg(market) CONJ(not) N.sg(temple) 'They will go to the market and not the temple.'
rēha ñi sāim rā āe jatāsa ew jakērroþa; FUT NI PN(3p.pc) LOC(to) CONJ(emph) N.sg(market) CONJ(not) N.sg(temple) 'They will go to the market and not the temple.'
rēha ñi sāim rā ew jatāsa ē jakērroþa; FUT NI PN(3p.pc) LOC(to) CONJ(not) N.sg(market) CONJ(and) N.sg(temple) 'They will go not to the market but to the temple.'
rēha ñi sāim rā ew jatāsa āe jakērroþa; FUT NI PN(3p.pc) LOC(to) CONJ(not) N.sg(market) CONJ(emph) N.sg(temple) 'They will go not to the market but to the temple.'
IF is a clausal conjunction:
ē hejere jacēla hī pa jakēssoþa anrāña cī; CONJ SE+FUT+2p.sg.goal N.sg(bowl) CONJ(if) PA N.sg(shop) N.st(availability) COMM 'You should get the bowl if the shop is open.'
hī pa jacēla anūña hī hejere cī; CONJ(if) PA N.sg(bowl) N.st(blue) then SE+FUT+2p.sg.goal COMM 'If the bowl is blue, CONJ(then) you should get it.'
ew hejere jacēla hī pa jakēssoþa anrāña wē; CONJ(not) SE+FUT+2p.sg.goal N.sg(bowl) CONJ(if) PA N.sg(shop) N.st(availability) PROH 'You should not get the bowl if the shop is open.'
hī pa jacēla anūña ew hejere wē; CONJ(if) PA N.sg(bowl) N.st(blue) CONJ(not) SE+FUT+2p.sg.goal PROH 'If the bowl is blue, then you should not get it.'
ñe Conjunctions
The conjunction ñe is used for comparison. ñe can connect noun phrases or clauses. With noun phrases, comparison of similarity uses ñe by itself. Comparison of degree uses ñe following the modifiers nā 'more' or pē 'less'. Superlatives are created by comparing something with the pronoun janaren 'everything' or manaren 'everyone'.
la sahēññe jāsta ñe anīstīli; LA N.poss(3p+hair) N.sg(dark) CONJ(as) N.co(night sky) 'His hair was as dark as night.'
te jalū jalō nā ñe malō; LA.past N.sg(light) N.sg(bright) MOD(more) CONJ(as) N.anim.sg(sun) 'The light was brighter than the sun.'
la anūña jarāka jāŋeren nā ñe anēkke; LA N.st(blue) N.sg(color) N.sg(beautiful) MOD(more) CONJ(as) N.st(brown) 'Blue is a more beautiful color than brown.'
la anēkke jarāka jāŋeren pē ñe anūña; LA N.st(brown) N.sg(color) N.sg(beautiful) MOD(less) CONJ(as) N.st(blue) 'Brown is a less beautiful color than blue.'
la antīel jarāka jāŋeren nā ñe janaren; LA N.st(purple) N.sg(color) N.sg(beautiful) MOD(more) CONJ(as) PN(all) 'Purple is the most beautiful color of all.'
te sarōña pa ansōnen nā ñe sasōna; LA.past N.poss(3p+eyes) PA N.st(wisdom) MOD(more) CONJ(as) N.poss(3p+mind) 'His eyes had more wisdom than his mind.'
la anīñaka nā ñe janaren anītōra; LA N.st(revenge) MOD(more) CONJ(as) PN(all) N.st(forgiveness) 'The best revenge is forgiveness.'
ñe is used the same way with clauses.
tema jamīra mo samālle ñe hīja ñi sāen matāra anniþen; SE.past+3p.sg.goal N.sg(fear) GOAL N.poss(3p+heart) CONJ(as) MOD(if) NI PN(3p.sg) N.anim(fallen) MOD(soon) 'He felt fear as if he were about to fall.'
ñe used to be a coordinating conjunction, though such usage is very rare.
The conjunction jē sōta ñe is another ñe conjuntion. It means 'in place of' or 'instead of'.
il Conjunctions
This set of conjunctions is used to express time, and includes one coordinating conjunction, il ... il, and a multitude of elaborations. il ... il generally connects clauses, making it a clausal conjunction.
il ñi liēn rātāsa il ñi rākēra; CONJ(when) NI PN(1p.sg) LOC(to+market) CONJ(then) NI LOC(to+temple) 'When I go to the market then I go to the temple.'
il ñi liēn rākēra il ñi rātāsa; CONJ NI PN(1p.sg) LOC(to+temple) CONJ(when) NI LOC(to+market) 'I go to the temple when I go to the market.'
il ñi liēn rākēra il jaxāela; CONJ NI PN(1p.sg) LOC(to+temple) CONJ(when) N.sg(night) 'I go to the temple at night.'
The last example sentence above contains an elaboration of il, namely il jaxāela 'at night'. The elaboration can come at the beginning of the clause as well.
il jaxāela ñi liēn rākēra; CONJ N.sg(night) NI PN(1p.sg) LOC(to+temple) 'I go to the temple at night.'
When the elaboration of il consists of only a single modifier, then a following il is usually not appended, though it can be for stylistic reasons. When the elaboration of il consists of multiple modifiers, then a following il is appended, unless it is at the end of the sentence.
il jaxāela il ñi liēn rākēra; CONJ N.sg(night) CONJ(when) NI PN(1p.sg) LOC(to+temple) 'I go to the temple at night.'
il talōnte jaxāela il ñi liēn rātāsa; CONJ MOD(yesterday) N.sg(night) CONJ(when) NI PN(1p.sg) LOC(to+market) 'I go to the temple at night.'
Some set elaborations:
| il anniþen | 'before' |
| il antielen | 'after' |
| il jaliþa | 'today' |
| il talōnte | 'yesterday' |
| il lānnal | 'tomorrow' |
il jaliþa il ñi liēn rātāsa;
'Today, I am going to the market.'
il talōnte il ñi liēn rātāsa;
'Yesterday, I went to the market.'
il lānnal il ñi liēn rātāsa;
'Tomorrow, I am going to the market.'
il anniþen ñi liēn rātāsa il ñi rākēra;
'Before I went to the market, I went to the temple.'
il antielen ñi liēn rātāsa il ñi rākēra;
'After I went to the market, I went to the temple.'
il lānnal wījte il ñi liēn rātāsa;
'Three days from now, I will to the market.'
il jaliþa il ñi liēn rātāsa;
'Today, I am going to the market.'
il jalōna il ñi liēn rātāsa;
'At day I went to the market.'
il lānnal ilnahan il ñi liēn rātāsa;
'Sometime tomorrow, I will to the market.'
il jalōna tē il ñi sāen marēþa sū jasāma;
'For six days, he wandered in the desert.'
il talōnte tē il ñi sāen marēþa sū jasāma;
'Six days ago, he was wandering in the desert.'
Some elaborations of il have become single words. These are always used without elaboration, making them essentially clausal modifiers.
| ilnahan | 'sometime' |
| ilnaren | 'always' |
| ilnāja | 'many times, most of the time' |
| ilniþa | 'once' |
| ilwae | 'never' |
| illorren | 'finally, at last' |
| illaniþ | 'at first' |
| ielte | 'long ago' |
| āl | 'now' |
| anniþen | 'soon' |
| ilaþ | 'and then' |
tō Conjunctions
The semi-coordinating conjuntions tō ... tō 'x because y', tō ... tō jāo 'x because of this y' and tō ... tō tūaþ 'x in order that y' are rarely used these days, but the non-coordinating conjunctions tō 'x because y', tō jāo, 'x because of this y' or 'x so y', and tō tūaþ 'x in order that y' are common, along with tōnaren 'x, however y' or 'x, but y', and ewaþ 'x yet y'. These are all clausal conjunctions.
tema anhāŋañi tō tema jajīlŋūn; SE.past+3p.sg.goal N.co(soup) CONJ(because) SE.past+3p.sg.goal N.sg(hunger) 'He had soup because he was hungry.'
tema jajīlŋūn tō jāo tema anhāŋañi; SE.past+3p.sg.goal N.sg(hunger) CONJ(so) SE.past+3p.sg.goal N.co(soup) 'He was hungry, so he had soup.'
ñaxxa anrēxi rā anhāŋañi mē tō tūaþ ñaxxa jahūña jatāelle; NI+3p.pl.agent N.co(piss) LOC(to) N.co(soup) MOD(in) CONJ(therefore) NI+3p.pl.agent N.sg(taste) N.sg(new) 'They piss into the soup in order that they make a new taste.'
wā tema jajīlŋūn tōnahan tema anhāŋañi; NEG SE.past+3p.sg.goal N.sg(hunger) CONJ(but) SE.past+3p.sg.goal N.co(soup) 'He was not hungry, but he had soup.'
tō ñi jakā jahē ānen antānre... CONJ NI N.sg(deed) N.sg(good) PREP(with) N.st(quickness) 'Do good deeds with quickness...' tō ñi jaþīna rū jāo rā jīþa cī CONJ(because) NI N.sg(path) LOC(from) PN(this) LOC(to) N.sg(other) COMM 'because the path from that goes to another.' OR 'Be quick to do good because one good deed leads to another.'
Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses
Relative pronouns follow any noun or pronoun that is being modified by a clause. The two main relative pronouns are ja for inanimates and ma for animates. Additionally, the object of the relational in the relative clause can be omitted, it being the same as noun or pronoun being modified. For example:
jekiēn mōrtōr ja pa anxēwi
'the land Mordor which has shadows'
jakōnōr ja ñatta ōrra
'the tower that they built'
mēli ma ñatta þō ōrra
'the people who made this'
There is also the particle ma which functions as a relative pronoun, though it is only used with the relational SE. It often acts as a quotative marker, though really it is relativizing the object of SE, which in quotative situations is null.
tamma ien wā ñi jāo rēha; SE.past+3p.sg.src PN.relat NEG NI PN(it) FUT 'She said she will not do it.'
Clausal Modifiers
Clausal modifiers modify the whole clause, and can appear at the beginning or the end of the clause. Many of the non-coordinated il and tō conjunctions double as clausal modifiers.
Tense, Aspect, and Modality
The set of clausal modifiers that govern tense, aspect, and modality include: ōrra and tiēlen, which are past tense markers; rēha and hēha, which are future markers; hīja, a hypothetical or conditional marker; luhañen, a continuative marker; and wā, a negative marker.
The tense system in Kēlen varies from relational to relational. The relationals LA and SE inflect for tense, but the relationals NI and PA do not.
| LA | SE | |
|---|---|---|
| la | s(e)- | non-past |
| an | an- | present + continuative or progressive aspect |
| te | t(e)- | past |
| reha | reh- | future |
| heja | hej- | future + deontic mode |
| hie | hi(e)- | non-past + conditional or hypothetical mode |
| wa | non-past + negative |
Several of the clausal modifiers complement this tense system, and are used with NI and PA primarily, but can also be used with LA and SE.
| luhañen | continuative or progressive aspect |
| ōrra | past + punctual aspect |
| tiēlen | past + non-punctual aspect |
| rēha | future |
| hēja | future + deontic mode |
| hīja | conditional or hypothetical mode |
| wā | negative mode (usually at beginning of clause) |
Additional aspect and mode modifiers:
| ī | iterative aspect (usually at end of clause) |
| jē nāra | completive aspect |
| cēja | potential or capability mode |
A clause can have multiple modifiers. This introduces some quirks into the system.
- tiēlen + luhañen make past + habitual aspect
- wā + jē nāra make emphatic negative mode
- hēja + commissive mood marker cī make strong obligation
Some examples:
ñi sāen rā-māra;
'She has gone home.'
luhañen ñi sāen rā-māra;
'She is going home.'
ōrra ñi sāen rā-māra;
'She went home.'
il ñi sāen rā-māra tiēlen il...;
'She was going home, when...'
luhañen ñi sāen rā-māra tiēlen il þō jahōλa;
'She used to go home at this hour.'
rēha ñi sāen rā-māra anniþen;
'She will go home soon.'
hēja ñi sāen rā-māra anniþen;
'She should go home soon.'
hēja ñi sāen rā-māra anniþen cī;
'She must go home soon.'
hīja ñi sāen rā-māra anniþen;
'She might go home soon.'
ñi sāen rā-māra jē nāra;
'She finished going home.'
wā ñi sāen rā-māra;
'She didn't go home.'
wā ñi sāen rā-māra jē nāra;
'She didn't go home at all.'
ñi sāen rā-māra ī;
'She went home again.'
cēja ñi sāen rā-māra āl;
'She can go home now.'
Mirativity and Speaker Attitude
Kēlen has three mirative markers: kexien, taxien, and alxien. kexien and taxien both indicate that something was expected to happen. The difference, is that with taxien, it did not happen or has not happened yet. alxien, however, indicates something unexpected that happened. For example:
kexien tele jekīþa to jāo; MOD(expected) SE.past+1p.sg.goal N.sg(certain) SRC PN(that) Of course I knew that.
rēha ñi anlūāni annōñi kexien; FUT NI N.co(stars) N.co(dead) MOD(expected) Even the stars die.
la jatōna sū sahūta taxien; LA N.sg(road) LOC(at) N.poss(3p+right) MOD(expected) The road is [expected to be] on the right.
ē tere jamārwakie hi alxien ñi riēn rā xō; CONJ SE.past+2p.sg.goal N.sg(surprise) CONJ(if) MOD(unexpected) NI PN(2p.sg) LOC(to) PN(there) It was a surprising sight if you came upon it suddenly.
Additionally, two other markers indicate whether something was fortunate or not. These are cēxeja (fortunately) and māseja (unfortunately).
Mood
Kēlen recognizes six different sentence types, or moods. These are: declarative, which isn't marked; emphatic, marked with lā; interrogative, marked with kēñ; commissive or permissive, marked with cī; imperative, marked with kā; and prohibitive, marked with wē. Declarative mood is the default mood.
Mood markers always appear at the end of the clause or sentence.
lā
Emphatic lā is used with statements that the speaker wants to emphasize. For example:
ōrra ñi jacēla jahūwa; PAST NI N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) 'The bowl broke.'
ōrra ñi jacēla jahūwa lā; PAST NI N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) EMPH 'The bowl broke!'
ōrra ñalla jacēla jahūwa lā; PAST NI+1p.sg.agent N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) EMPH 'I did break the bowl.' or 'I broke the bowl!'
kēñ
Interrogative kēñ is used in questions.
ōrra ñi jacēla jahūwa kēñ; PAST NI N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) INTERR 'The bowl broke?'
ōrra ñalla jacēla jahūwa kēñ; PAST NI+1p.ag.agent N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) INTERR 'I broke the bowl?'
ōrra ñi jacēla jahūwa ā ma- kēñ; PAST NI N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) A INTERR(who) 'Who broke the bowl?'
The last sentence shows the mood marker modified by a pronoun to produce the equivalent of the question word 'Who?'. There are a number of pronouns that can modify kēñ. These are listed below:
| ma-kēñ | who? | sū-kēñ | where (at)? | il-kēñ | when? |
| ja-kēñ | what? | rā-kēñ | where to? | ho-kēñ | what kind?, how? |
| rū-kēñ | where from? | tō-kēñ | why? |
Even modified kēñ has to appear at the end of the clause or sentence.
cī
Commissive cī is used in polite commands, suggestions, permission, and promises.
ñarra jacēla jahūwa cī; NI+2p.agent N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) COMM 'Go ahead and break the bowl.'
ñanna jacēla jahūwa cī; NI+1p.in.pc.agent N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) COMM 'Let's break the bowl.'
kā
Imperative kā is used in urgent commands.
ñarra jacēla jahūwa kā; NI+2p.sg.agent N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) IMPER 'Break the bowl!'
wē
Prohibitive wē is used in negative commands, i.e. "Don't ...!"
ñi jacēla jahūwa wē; NI N.sg(bowl) N.sg(broken) PROH 'Don't break the bowl!'