I ain't syntax expert no, but I'll offer some thoughts.
Qwynegold wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:38 pm
I wish one could turn back the clock.
1SG wish INDEF.PRON can back way turn clock
Mi tamana wan pisa poste mici puru saha
Yeah, looks like you have a complement since this would (I assume) be an incomplete sentence:
I wish
1SG wish
Mi tamana
So this would be the complement:
one could turn back the clock.
INDEF.PRON can back way turn clock
wan pisa poste mici puru saha
Yes?
For clarity, is this a correct gloss?
I wish one could turn back the clock.
- Mi
- 1SG
- tamana
- wish
- wan
- INDEF.PRON
- pisa
- can
- poste
- back
- mici
- way
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
I find any time I work on syntax, I have to start with stupidly easy sentences & work my way up from there. Assuming the above gloss is correct, let's try that here.
Is this correct?
One turns/turned the clock. (I don't know about your TAM marking.)
- wan
- INDEF.PRON
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
Qwynegold wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:38 pm
In Omni-kan adverbs are supposed to come before the verb, so if "back way"* is an adverb, it should come before "turn"...
Since that's the case, let's add that into the above sentence.
One can/could turn back the clock.
- wan
- INDEF.PRON
- poste
- back
- mici
- way
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
So far so good, I think. Seems easy & straightforward.
Let's look at "can" now. This is a little trickier, being unfamiliar with the language. Is
pisa "can" a modal particle or a modal verb meaning "to be able"? For now, I'll assume it can be a full verb itself, so we have:
I can. / I am able.
- Mi
- 1SG
- pisa
- can
|
Maybe that's correct; maybe it's not. It depends on whether the verb
pisa "to be able" requires a complement here or not. When it does take a complement, I assume the complement will follow that verb.
I can (something).
- Mi
- 1SG
- pisa
- can
- X
- (insert complement here)
|
Let's add this complement.
turn the clock
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
Take that entire phrase and substitute it into X in the sentence above.
I can (turn the clock).
- Mi
- 1SG
- pisa
- can
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
Next we add the adverb back in. Note, I think the adverb would go
before the verb in the complement phrase since it's a part of that, not the main verb.
turn back the clock
- poste
- back
- mici
- way
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
Take that entire phrase and again substitute it into X in the sentence above.
I can (turn back the clock).
- Mi
- 1SG
- pisa
- can
- poste
- back
- mici
- way
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
Note that
poste mici puru saha "turn back the clock" is a subject complement here since it is describing the subject:
mi "I". This might be part of what's tripping you up:
Qwynegold wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:38 pm
Also, complements are supposed to take the object place in Omni-kan
Does that mean that subject complements are not allowed in Omni-kan? That is, you are not allowed to use a complement to describe the subject? I doubt that, but maybe there are languages that work this way.
I think maybe you meant that complements (considering the whole phrase as 1 unit) are placed in the location/slot where objects would go in transitive sentences. Assuming SVO word order, that's pretty much what we see in the above examples.
Let's get back to your initial example. Start here:
As before, maybe tamana "wish" is required to take a complement or not. Obviously, it's allowed since you posted the original example. So:
I wish (something).
- Mi
- 1SG
- tamana
- wish
- X
- (insert complement here)
|
That "something" is going to be one of the examples above (except "I" changed to "one"):
One can (turn back the clock).
- wan
- INDEF.PRON
- pisa
- can
- poste
- back
- mici
- way
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
Once again, substitute that whole sentence into the "something" above:
I wish (One can (turn back the clock)).
- Mi
- 1SG
- tamana
- wish
- wan
- INDEF.PRON
- pisa
- can
- poste
- back
- mici
- way
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
There ya go. That's your original sentence re-constructed. It makes sense. To me, it's easier to understand when you think of it as basically a complement clause embedded within another complement clause. When you start simple & build up with straight substitutions, I feel like you can follow the logic & make sure everything works together.
If
pisa "can" is a particle or auxiliary verb that changes the modality of its main verb, then I think you could choose its syntactic rules. Is it required to be right next to the main verb, or does it just come before the entire verb phrase including complements? If it's right next to the main verb, then you can get this order:
I can turn the clock.
- Mi
- 1SG
- pisa
- can
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
Keeping the requirement to be right next to the main verb, we add the adverb:
I can turn back the clock.
- Mi
- 1SG
- poste
- back
- mici
- way
- pisa
- can
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
And finally, place that type of structure into your original example:
I wish (One can turn back the clock).
- Mi
- 1SG
- tamana
- wish
- wan
- INDEF.PRON
- poste
- back
- mici
- way
- pisa
- can
- puru
- turn
- saha
- clock
|
In that case, since
pisa "can" is not a full verb, you only have 1 complement instead of a 2nd complement embedded in the 1st.
WHEW!!! Does that make sense? Those syntactically more experted people can correct anything above, but this is the way I would think about it.
BTW, this is the 1st I've been able to really absorb & think about a conlang post in a while, so my brain might be recovering from my final semester.
YAY!