Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

Mirad has three types of coordinating conjunctions, as shown in the following charts:

• Simple Linking Conjunctions

Simple Linking Conjunctions

CONJUNCTION	EXAMPLE
ay....and	At oveko ay at ako.....I will compete and I will win.
ey....or	Bosu ey at tuyapyexo et.....Be still or I will spank you.
oy....but	It yeka oy it oka.....He tried but he lost.
oey....nor	At voy tilo oey at telo.....I shall not drink, nor shall I eat.

• Correlative Coordinating Conjunctions

The following conjunctions come in pairs:

Correlative Coordinating Conjunctions

CONJUNCTION	EXAMPLE
hyaewa...ay both...and	At hyaewa dyede ay dre Mirad.....I both read and write Mirad.
hyeawa...ey either...or	Et yafe hyeawa beser ey pier. Se eta kebiun.....You can either stay or leave. It's your choice.
hyoawa...oey neither...nor	Yat hyoawa move oey tile.....We neither smoke nor drink.
voy hyawa....oy (gay) not only...but (also)	At voy hyawa deuze oy gay at daze.....I not only sing but also I dance.

• Adverbial Coordinating Conjunctions

Some grammars call these conjunctive adverbs:

Adverbial Coordinating Conjunctions

CONJUNCTION	EXAMPLE
jo hus / joy....then, next, after that	Yat deuza, jo hus hyat daza.....We sang, then everyone danced.
je hus / jey....meanwhile	Je hus, at ujba hyas.....Meanwhile, I finished everything.
av hus....so, therefore	It vuda at, av hus at pia.....He insulted me, so I left.
(gey) ov hus....nevertheless, even so, despite that, yet, however	At yexa kyotepay, ov hus, at ujoka.....I work diligently, yet I failed.
gel hus / gelay....likewise, also, similarly	At daze. Gel hus, at deuze.....You dance; likewise, I sing.
hyiyen / geyen....in the same way, likewise	Yit xa fi; hyiyen, et xo gay fi.....They did well; in the same way, you will too.
ogel hus / ogelay....otherwise, else	Du hes, ogel hus, piu.....Say something, otherwise, leave.
gay....also	Et yeka; gay, et ujaka!....You tried; also, you succeeded!
be nem (bi hus)....instead (of that)	Hyot fida iyt; be nem bi hus, yit fuda iyt.....Nobody praised her; instead, they badmouthed her.
huyen....thus, in that way	Tixu jestay; huyen, et ujako.....Study diligently; in that way, you'll succeed.
husav....for that reason, so, therefore	At voy ifeyie has; husav, at pio.....I'm not enjoying it, so I will leave.
vray....as a matter of fact, actually, in fact	Vray, et se vyasa.....In fact, you're right.
gel jos....consequently, as a consequence	It baksa; gel jos, it toja.....He got sick; as a consequence, he died.
gel xin....as a result	At voy tixa; gel xin, at okuja.....At didn't study; as a result, I failed.
ga vyel hus....moreover, what's more	Mamila. Ga vyel hus, esa mamxeus.....It rained. Moreover, there was thunder.
be hyua duni....in other words	At voy da ha vyan; be hyua duni, at vyoda.....It did not tell the truth; in other words, I lied.
jey....meanwhile, in the meantime	Ha toboti xeya gla xeus; jey, at jesa tixer.....The children were making a lot of noise; meanwhile, I continued to study.
ovay....on the contrary	Ha tam voy se aga; ovay, has se gle oga.....The house is not big; on the contrary, it's rather small.
bi hyua teasgun....on the other hand	At voy deuze. Bi byua teagun, at eke duzar.....I don't sing. On the other hand, I play a musical instrument.
gey bay hus....still, even so	Voy esa duz, gey bay hus, ha xej sa ifxea.....There was no music. Even so, the event was entertaining.
ujnay....finally, in the end	Unjnay, hyoa fus xwa.....In the end, nothing bad happened.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating Conjunctions introduce three types of dependent or subordinate clauses:

1. Adjectival subordinate clauses (also called relative clauses)

• He is the guy that earned the most this year. The subordinate clause modifies a noun in the main clause. Adjectival clauses are introduced in Mirad by the relative complementizer hu. Relative clauses are discussed in the Relative Clauses section of the chapter on Verbs.

2. Nominal subordinate clauses (also called factive clauses)

• I knew that she would come. The subordinate clause is the object or complement of a verb in the main clause. Nominal subordinate clauses are introduced by one of the factive complementizers van, ven, or von, depending on whether the subordinate clause is positive, conditional, or negative.

3. Adverbial subordinate clauses (also called circumstantial clauses).

• Did you see where they went?. The subordinate clause is an adverbial clause modifying a verb in the main clause for time, place, manner, and other circumstances. Adverbial subordinate clauses are introduced by deictic adverbs like where, when, and why plus the relative complementizer hu.

Complementizers

The complementizers above are part of an overall scheme. In the chart below, the six complementizers act:

• as a clause linker, where the complementizer introduces a clause that is a statement of FACT or CONDITION, or
• as a sentence introducer, where the complementizer introduces a sentence that is a command/wish, a prohibition, or a yes-no question. Some of these complementizers can act in either or both roles. In actuality, all of the complementizers introduce or link a subordinate clause; it's just that in some cases, the main clause is left unexpressed.

Complementizers

TYPE	COMPLEMENTIZER	CLAUSE LINKER	SENTENCE INTRODUCER
POSITIVE / HORTATIVE	van	that, the fact that	May....(something happen), Let....(something happen)
CONDITIONAL	ven	if, whether	--
NEGATIVE / PROHIBITIVE	von	lest, that...not	Don't
ANTI-CONDITIONAL	oven	unless	--
INTERROGATIVE	Duven...?	--	Is it true that, say whether..., do(es)?
RELATIVE	hu	that, which, who(m)	--

Examples of these conjunctions linking a main and subordinate clause:

• At ta van et upo.....I knew that you would come. (FACTIVE)
• At xa has av van et testu.....I did it so that you would understand.
• At voy ta ven et upo.....I did not know whether you would come.
• Ven et te ha dud, du has.....If you know the answer, say it.
• At yufa von et upu.....I feared lest you might come.
• At voy upo oven et upo gay.....I will not come unless you come, too.
• At fe teater ha tob hu xa his.....I want to see the man who did this.

Example of these conjunctions introducing different types of sentences:

• Van aat fadilu.....Let us pray. (HORTATIVE, i.e., A WISH)
• Van iit teliu avol!....Let them eat bread.
• Van ha edeb yagteju.....May the king live long.
• Duven et te ha dud?....Do you know the answer? (YES/NO QUESTION)
• Duven et se tadxwa.....Are you are married. (SAY WHETHER...)
• Von (et) yufu.....Don't (you) be afraid. (PROHIBITIVE, i.e., AN INJUNCTION)
• Von hus xwu.....Let that not happen.

The sentence-initial interrogative complementizer Duven (Is it true that?) is used to introduce a yes/no question. The word can be analyzed as a command meaning Say whether... where Say... is the main clause in the imperative mood.

• Duven et se tadokayt?....Are you a widow? (= Say whether you are...).

Av van + a predicate in the hypothetical mood expresses a "so that, in order that" clause, eg.:

• At uzba ata teb av van at yafu teater has hu xowe^*.....I turned my head so that I could see what was about to happen.

Using the negative complementizer, von, the above sentence could be rephrased as:

• At uzba ata teb av von at teatu has hu xowe.....I turned my head so that I wouldn't see what was about to happen.

Since the subject is the same in both clauses, the sentence could be expressed more easily with an infinitive:

• At uzba ata teb av (~ ov) teater has hu xowe.....I turned my head so as (not) to see what was about to happen.

* xowe means is about to happen/be done. Unlike English, there is no relative sequencing of tenses in conjoined clauses. "I knew she would come." is rendered in Mirad with direct sequences of tenses, i.e. as "I knew that she will come." Also, unlike English, the "that" conjunction cannot be left out: At ta van iyt upo.

• Conjunctions with van

Conjuntions introducing nominal subordinate clauses consist of a preposition followed by the positive complementizer van, the conditional complementizer ven, or the negative complementizer von. English can use a bare preposition as a conjunction, as in the sentence "He will grow up before you notice it." However, Mirad requires the complementizer, much as in French, where "avant" (before) must be accompanied by "que" when followed by a clause ("Il se grandira avant que tu ne le remarques.") Here is a chart showing the most important of these conjunctions:

Subordinating conjunctions with van

CONJUNCTION	EXAMPLE
ja van....before	Du hay ja van et pio.....Say hi before you leave.
je van....while	Je van at so him, at xo gle yex av et.....While I'm here, I'll do some work for you.
jo van....after	At buo et has jo van et nuso.....I will give it to you after you pay.
ju van....until	Aat voy ijo ju van et puo him.....We won't start until you get here.
ji van....since	At voy teataya huyenas ji van et sa hum.....I had not seen such a thing since you were there.
gey ven....even if	Gey ven et yontexe, at bolo et.....Even if you disagree, I'll support you.
gel ven....as if	Aat yeyfe axer gel ven aat teata yod.....We should act as if we saw nothing.
gey ov van....even though	Gey ov van ha pansin sa gra yaga, at ifia has.....Even though the movie was too long, I enjoyed it.
ov van....(al)though	At po ov van at voy fe.....I'll go, although I don't want to.
av van....so (that)	It utifbua av van hyuti teju.....He sacrificed himself so that others might live.
av von....lest, so that...not	It utifbua av von hyuti toju.....He sacrificed himself so that others might not die (= lest others might die).

• Conjunctions with hu

If the conjunction contains a deictic adverb like where, when, how, etc., then the relative complementizer hu is attached, as in the following examples:

Subordinating Conjunctions with hu

CONJUNCTION	CIRCUMSTANCE	EXAMPLES
haj hu....when (Lit: the time that...)	TIME	Haj hu et pua, ha iv ija.....When you arrived, the fun began.
hyej hu....whenever (Lit: any time that...)	TIME	Hyej hu et dale, at ivteude.
ham hu....where (Lit: the place that...)	PLACE	At voy te ham hu it pa.....I don't know where he went.
hyem hu....'wherever (Lit: whatever place that...)	PLACE	Et yafe per hyem hu et fu.'....You can go wherever you'd like.
hasav hu....why (Lit: for the thing that...)	CAUSE	Duven et te hasav hu it xa his?....Do you know why he did it?
hasav hu....because (Lit: for the thing that...)	CAUSE	It xa has hasav hu it fa teatuer yat hes.....He did it because he wanted to show us something.
hayen hu....how, as (Lit: the way that...)	MANNER	Xu hayen hu et fu van hyuti alxu ub et.....Do as you'd want others to act toward you.
hyegla hu....however much (Lit: however much that...)	DEGREE	Dalu hyegla hu et efo.....Talk however much you need to.