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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 8 Jul 2021, 14:15.

[comments] oqga,qga Old Qgam (3 articles)

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1. Old Qgam Script ? ?

2. Old Qgam to Modern Qgam ? ?

3. Proto-Qgam Script ? ?

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Menu 1. Phonology 2. Syntax 3. Morphology
This article outlines some of the changes that occurred between the Old and Modern versions of the Qgam language. Occasionally, examples of Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham will also be shown.

[edit] [top]Phonology

Consonants
There is very little change in the consonants. Old Qgam /z/ became Modern Qgam /d͡z/. In Old Qgam, /h/ allophonically became [x] following most consonants, but remained /h/ after /p/, /t/, and /k/, after which letters /h/ was written with an orthographically distinct diacritic. Eventually, /h/ began to be pronounced [x] following /k/ as well. By the time of Modern Qgam, this phoneme had become /x/ in all cases, but was elided after the phonemes /t/ and /p/, and the sequence /kx/ came to be written using a unique letter for this combination.

Old Qgam had few restrictions on coda consonants; all nasals, plosives, liquids, approximants, and the fricative /s/ are permissible, and some consonant clusters (including unlikely clusters such as /mk/, pronounced /mə̯̆k/

The inventory of permissible word-final coda consonants is drastically reduced in Modern Qgam: only /m/, /ŋ/, /ɻ/, /w/, and /j/ are allowed. Word medial coda consonants in multisyllabic words were, when necessary, reanalyzed as belonging to the onset of the following syllable. This is particularly noticeable in the various derivational prefixes, which very frequently violate modern Qgamic phonotactic rules.

Some examples of coda consonant evolution:

	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
blood	 rob /ɻob/	 rom /ɻɔm/
to eat	 qkak /ʔkäk/	 qka /əʔkʌ/
egg	 rbol /ɻbol/	 rbor /ɻbɔɻ/
to make; to fabricate	 agērp /äge:ɻp/	 gear /geəɻ/
grass	 qyumk /ʔjumk/	 qyom /əʔjɜm/
mist	 adāsk /ädä:sk/	 daaĝ /dɑ:ŋ/

Vowels
Old Qgam had five vowel qualities and two lengths, totalling 10 vowels.

a	e	i	o	u
aː	eː	iː	oː	uː

Various diphthongs were also permissible, such as /ua/, /ia/, /ea/, /eu/, etc.

Modern Qgam has only seven distinct vowel/diphthongs.
The primary changes are as follows:
/u/ & /o/ → /o/
/uː/ & /oː/ → /oː/
/iː/ & /eː/ → /eː/

/eː/ and /oː/ diphthongized into /eə/ and /wɔə/ respectively.

Some vowels underwent minor changes in quality. All additional diphthongs from Old Qgam eventually were adapted to conform to these seven vowel qualities. Following is the full inventory.

ʌ	ɛ	i	ɔ
ɑː	eə		wɔə

Vowels in Northern Qgam (including Standard Qgam) also undergo alteration when following palatal consonants, or when followed by certain coda consonants. This is outlined here and here.

Phonotactics
As mentioned above, the inventory of coda consonants was reduced significantly by the time of Modern Qgam. There is a tendency to favour monosyllabic roots in Modern Qgam, though this is not absolute. Examples:

	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
bad	 slāda /slä:dä/	 slaam /slɑ:m/
blue	 shozā /sxozä:/	 shwaa /sxwɑ:/
to freeze	 agrāga /ägɻä:gä/	 graaĝ /gɻɑ:ŋ/
long	 smogwāna /smogwä:nä/	 smwaam /smwɑ:m/

cf.

	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
dark; black	 wāza /wä:zä/	 odza /ɔd͡zʌ/
to damage; to harm	 tazāg /täzä:g/	 tadzaaĝ /tʌd͡zɑ:ŋ/
series	 igiag /igiäg/	 igeaĝ /igeəŋ/
to bake; to roast	 emdqak /emdʔäk/	 emdqa /ɛmdʔʌ/

Sound Changes
Going back from Old Qgam to Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham produces a lot of problems. Modern Qgam was originally side-derived from

Hux Kham language, before I had any knowledge of the ancestral language or the development of Hux Kham from that language. Eventually, once I had a little more knowledge of Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham, I started developing sound changes that would result in the words found in the modern language. However, eventually, I realized that these changes ended up mostly excluding voiceless plosives from the modern language. I don't feel like changing all the vocab I already have, so basically the sound changes don't make sense. So it's a complete mess.

[edit] [top]Syntax

Sentence Structure
One of the most conspicuous changes in the grammar of Qgam Dzwo is the loss of the V2 word order characteristic of the Qgam-Hux Kham family. This change brought with it numerous other changes.

In Old Qgam, the second constituent of a main clause is always a finite verb. This may be either a main verb or an auxiliary verb. When an auxiliary verb stands as the second constituent, the main verb takes clause-final position. The first constituent is prototypically the subject, but other verbal arguments can be fronted, displacing the subject to post-verbal position. Nominal subjects may be replaced by pronouns pre-verbally, as well as post-verbally, provided another argument takes the pre-verbal position. When a post-verbal subject is expressed as a pronoun, this pronoun takes a mandatory contraction and becomes a clitic which attaches to the end of the verb, forming pseudo-personal verb endings.

In Modern Qgam, auxiliary verbs became mandatory for every main verb. The V2 structure was reanalyzed as a mandatory subject-auxiliary pairing, whose structure remains intact even if another constituent appears before the subject, violating the V2 rule by placing the auxiliary in third position. Additionally, due to the mandatory auxiliary always occupying this position, the main verb necessarily takes clause-final position in all cases.

Additionally, the clitic personal endings became mandatory while simultaneously losing their consonants, such that only number, but not person, was marked. This plural ending subsequently caused umlaut in the verb's main vowel, and then was elided, as occurred with many other final vowels in multisyllabic words. Because of the mandatory presence of auxiliary verbs in Modern Qgam, only auxiliary verbs conjugate; main verbs never do.

English	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam	Notes
The child sleeps.	. Njuaĝ yem. child sleep	 Juoĝ do yem. child INDIndicative mood (mood) a common form of realis.SGSingular (number) one countable entity sleep	Indicative auxiliary verb required in Modern Qgam only.
He/She sleeps.	. Ĝwar yem. 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity sleep	 Ĝwa do yem. 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity INDIndicative mood (mood) a common form of realis.SGSingular (number) one countable entity sleep	Full subject pronoun required in Old Qgam to preserve V2 sentence structure. Modern Qgam requires an explicit subject in all cases.
I sleep.	. Ās yem. 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity sleep	 Aa do yem. 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity INDIndicative mood (mood) a common form of realis.SGSingular (number) one countable entity sleep
The child sleeps at home.	. Njuaĝ yem tsat yim. child sleep home at	 Juoĝ do tsa yim yem. child INDIndicative mood (mood) a common form of realis.SGSingular (number) one countable entity home at sleep	Old Qgam V2 structure requires certain arguments to follow the verb, but Modern Qgam instead requires clause-final main verbs.
At home, the child sleeps.	. Tsat yim yem njuaĝ. home at sleep child	 Tsa yim juoĝ do yem. home at child INDIndicative mood (mood) a common form of realis.SGSingular (number) one countable entity sleep	In Old Qgam, fronting of predicative argument moves subject to post-verbal position, but not in Modern Qgam.
I sleep at home.	. Tsat yim yems. home at sleep-1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity	 Aa do tsa yim yem. 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity INDIndicative mood (mood) a common form of realis.SGSingular (number) one countable entity home at sleep	Old Qgam avoids full pronoun use by fronting a predicative argument and contracting the pronoun with main verb, but Modern Qgam requires full subject pronouns.
The child will cut the fruit.	. Njuaĝ rzak domk ar gā. child FUTFuture (tense) action occurring after the moment of speech-(3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity) fruit DEFDefinite "the" cut	 Juoĝ šro dom ar gaa. child FUTFuture (tense) action occurring after the moment of speech.SGSingular (number) one countable entity fruit DEFDefinite "the" cut	The presence of an auxiliary verb sends the main verb to clause-final position. Word order is identical in Old and Modern Qgam.
He/She will cut the fruit.	. Domk rzak gā. fruit FUTFuture (tense) action occurring after the moment of speech-(3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity) cut	 Ĝwa šro dom ar gaa. 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity FUTFuture (tense) action occurring after the moment of speech.SGSingular (number) one countable entity fruit DEFDefinite "the" cut	Once again, Old Qgam avoids pronoun use by fronting the object, while Modern Qgam does not.
You (PL) will cut the fruit.	. Domk rzakin gā. fruit FUTFuture (tense) action occurring after the moment of speech-2Second person (person) addressee (you).PLPlural (number) more than one/few cut	 Eam šrea dom ar gaa. 2Second person (person) addressee (you).PLPlural (number) more than one/few FUTFuture (tense) action occurring after the moment of speech.PLPlural (number) more than one/few cut DEFDefinite "the" fruit	Plural is indicated by a plural clitic in Old Qgam, but umlaut and a plural pronoun in Modern Qgam.

The change from V2 to subject-auxiliary sentence structure has lead to Modern Qgam having a more restricted word order. However, in certain cases, Old Qgam sentence structure is retained.

Subordinate clauses
In subordinate clauses, much as in English, the subject may be dropped if it is the same as the previous clause. The main verb may be dropped if no predicative arguments are included and the auxiliary appears last in the clause, aside from any final particle. In both cases, the auxiliary agrees with the subject in number.

 Aa do ĝwa 'm lam paĝ m' do ĝwa ntaĝ am lam. 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient like but NEGNegative (polarity) not PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity friend ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient like I like her, but I don't like her friend.	The subject of the main clause aa ("I") is dropped in the subordinate clause, it being indicated only by the singular conjugation of the auxiliary.
 Im do ĝwa ntaĝ lam paĝ aa m' do. 2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity friend like but 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity NEGNegative (polarity) not PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity You like her friend, but I don't.	Because the subject of the subordinate clause is different from that of the main clause, it is included explicitly. However, the main verb is left unexpressed.
 Aa mdzaa ĝwa 'm lam paĝ ma meaĝ. 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity want.SGSingular (number) one countable entity 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient like but NEGNegative (polarity) not can.SGSingular (number) one countable entity I want to like her, but can't.	Both the subject and the main verb are identical in the main and subordinate clauses, and so they may be dropped in the subordinate clause.

In Modern Qgam, subjects must be definite. When indefinite nouns would be expected to appears as subjects, strategies which violate standard Modern Qgam sentence structure rules, but are in line with those of Old Qgam, are employed to work around this:

Locative/existential clauses
The locative phrase, which stands as the definite element of such clauses, appears before the auxiliary while retaining its locative postposition. Modern Qgam requires all subjects to be definite, and thus the unmarked subject is moved to the position after the auxiliary and before the locative copula. The auxiliary agrees with the displaced subject in number.

 Kdo brna yim do srgaa lar. foot board at PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity book LOCLocative (case) 'in, on, at' etc.COPCopula used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate There is a book on the table.	The locative phrase kdo brna yim* ("on the table") appears in initial position, while the subject, srgaa ("book"), is placed after the auxiliary, but takes no postpositional marking.*
 Mtruo dea do do saa lar. garden PRESPresent tense (tense) current.PLPlural (number) more than one/few many many flower LOCLocative (case) 'in, on, at' etc.COPCopula used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate There are many flowers in the garden.	The sentence is functionally the same as above, but note that the auxiliary agrees in number with the subject.

Clauses using "to happen"
When something is stated to have happened, a dummy third-person pronoun is used as the subject, and the theme appears as a direct object of the verb dzwoĝ ("to happen"). The subject pronoun and auxiliary agree with the direct object in number.


Ĝwa wea wam dzwaĝ laa 'm dzwoĝ.
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity big problem ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient happen
There was a big accident.

Subject position is occupied by the dummy 3rd person singular pronoun ĝwa, and the true subject is marked with the accusative particle (a)m.


Ĝwea wiy ce 'r šwodi ja kwa ta 'm dzwoĝ.
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few plan DEFDefinite
"the" about some problem ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient happen.
There were some problems with (the execution of) the plan.

Subject position is again occupied by a dummy 3rd person pronoun, and the theme placed in accusative position. However, the subject pronoun, and consequently the auxiliary, agree with the theme in number.

Auxiliary Verbs
All Qgam-Hux Kham languages make heavy use of auxiliary verbs to indicate tense, aspect, and mood. There are some auxiliaries that are innovations of the Qgamic branch, and some that have carried through from an older form of the language. The following table outlines the tense and aspect auxiliaries of Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham, Old Qgam, and Modern Qgam. As there is some degree of dialectical variation in the usage of auxiliaries in Modern Qgam, the following chart outlines Standard Qgam only.

Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
V-to- to do; present simple	　　　 adō; ado; dō; do present simple	 do present indicative
wat(V) perfective	 weat perfective; past	 wea perfective; past
razak(V) future	　 rzak; rzao future	 šruo future
slar(V) subjunctive	(obsolete)
yam(V) potential	 yam potential; likely	 yam desiderative/imminent
pan(V) abilitative	(obsolete)
abar-sar can; be able	 abālsar potential	　 blsa; bsa potential
mad(V) jussive; necessitative	(obsolete)
maw(V) (? origin unclear) to intend to	 meuĝ abilitative; can	 meaĝ abilitative; can
set(V) (? origin unclear) to know	 cam adhortative; should	 cam adhortative; should
(origin unknown)	 jert necessitative; must	 jer necessitative; must
malar(V) can; be able	　 mlar; mar negative	　 ma; m' negative
am(V) progressive	　 ām; qām progressive	 qaam progressive
maSar(V) desiderative; want to	 mzār desiderative; want to	 mdzaa desiderative; want to
lar(V) realis emphatic	(obsolete)
em-q- to go up; to rise	　 emk; ek realis emphatic	 ey realis emphatic
(origin unknown)	 çe dummy auxiliary	 çe dummy auxiliary

Pronouns
Old Qgam adapted and expanded upon the inventory of Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham pronouns, and Modern Qgam made further derivations on the Old Qgam system. The definite article was also derived from an Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham pronoun.

Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
as 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity	 as 1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive).SGSingular (number) one countable entity	 aa 1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive).SGSingular (number) one countable entity
asi 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.PLPlural (number) more than one/few	 esi 1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive).PLPlural (number) more than one/few	 er 1PFirst person plural (person) we (inclusive or exclusive).PLPlural (number) more than one/few
an 2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity	 in 2PSecond person plural (person) addressee (plural).SGSingular (number) one countable entity	 im 2PSecond person plural (person) addressee (plural).SGSingular (number) one countable entity
ani 2Second person (person) addressee (you).PLPlural (number) more than one/few	 eni 2PSecond person plural (person) addressee (plural).PLPlural (number) more than one/few	 eam 2PSecond person plural (person) addressee (plural).PLPlural (number) more than one/few
ta 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.PREDPredicative expressions typically following a copula / 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.POSSPossessive (case) owns, has	 ta 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.PREDPredicative expressions typically following a copula / 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.POSSPossessive (case) owns, has	 ta nominalizer
atto nominalizer	 to nominalizer	 to POSSPossessive (case) owns, has
ni this	 ti am ta this; these	 tim ta this
	 ti am ta this; these	 team ta these
	 ti ar here	 tir here
war that	 qhwa' am ta that; those	 qhwam ta that
	 qhwa' am ta that; those	 qhweam ta those
	 qhwa' ar there	 qhwar there
	 ĝwar 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity	 ĝwa 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity
	 ĝweri 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.PLPlural (number) more than one/few	 ĝwea 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.PLPlural (number) more than one/few
	 ar DEFDefinite "the".ARTArticle indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.PREDPredicative expressions typically following a copula	　 ar; 'r DEFDefinite "the".ARTArticle indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.PREDPredicative expressions typically following a copula

Possession
The method of marking possession has changed little from the method used in Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham. Posession is head-marked, with possessors preceding the possessed nouns. Pronominal possessors are placed directly before the posessed noun with no intervening particle, while nominal possessors employ the possessive particle "to", altered from the Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham possessive particle "ta". In the case of the third person singular, the pronominal use of "ta" is retained as a possessor in Old Qgam, rather than using the standard 3rd person pronouns, but this is regularized by the time of Modern Qgam.

English	Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
my house	as sat	 as tsat	 aa tsa
our house	asi sat	 esi tsat	 er tsa
your house (SG)	an sat	 in tsat	 im tsa
his/her/its/their house	ta sat	 ta tsat	 /  ĝwa tsa /ĝwea tsa
the person's house	nro ta sat	 nlō to tsat	 nluo to tsa

Negation
Negatives in Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham were formed using the negative auxiliary malar(V), which functions the same as any other auxiliary verb. In Old Qgam, the negative mlar/mar forms a compound with other auxiliaries, but remains a fully independent auxiliary when negating main verbs. In Modern Qgam, the negative, reduced to ma or m', is never conjugated and functions simply as a negative particle.

English	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
I drink milk.	. Ĝāba agōs. milk drink-1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity	 Aa do ĝaam am rmkaĝ. 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity milk ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient drink
I don't drink milk.	. Ĝāba mars agō. milk NEGNegative (polarity) not-1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity drink	 Aa m' do ĝaam am rmkaĝ. 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I NEGNegative (polarity) not PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity milk ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient drink
The children can hear you.	 Njuaĝ meuĝ in arāk. child can 2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity hear	 Juoĝ meaĝ im am morna. child can 2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient hear
The children cannot hear you.	 Njuaĝ mar meuĝ in arāk. child NEGNegative (polarity) not can 2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity hear	 Juoĝ ma meaĝ im am morna. child NEGNegative (polarity) not can 2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient hear

Adpositions and Conjunctions
All adpositions and conjunctions are head final; they appear after the phrase or clause. This remains unchanged in Old and Modern Qgam:

English	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
at home	 tsat yim home at	 tsa yim home at
with friends	 ntaĝ eto friend with	 ntaĝ eto friend with
I can't finish this unless you help me.	, Ās skādan dyō khām, ti am ta mar meuĝs hanwē 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity help=2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity unless, this NEGNegative (polarity) not can=1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity finish	, Im do aa 'm skaam dyuo khaam, aa ma meaĝ tim ta 'm hanwea. 2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity PRESPresent tense (tense) current 2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient help unless, 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I NEGNegative (polarity) not can this ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient complete

The accusative particle is frequently absent in Old Qgam, though it is required in Modern Qgam postnominally. After pronouns, its use is optional, but is more likely to be dropped in speech and retained in writing.

Definiteness
In Old Qgam, whenever a noun phrase appears in initial position, it carries a definite meaning. Nouns appearing elsewhere can be made definite through the use of the definite article ar, which derives from the Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham demonstrative war.

In Modern Qgam, these rules are essentially the same: the subject is always definite, and predicative arguments can be made definite by means of the definite article.

The definite article replaces the accusative postposition, and appears either before or after other postpositions (most commonly after locational postpositions and before directional ones).

English	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
behind a hill	 skun gwā	 skom gwaa
behind the hill	 skun gwā ar	 skom gwaa 'r
to/at a hill	 skun di	 skom di
to/at the hill	 skun ar di	 skom ar di

An innovation unique to Qgam is the frequent encoding of certain directions on the verb rather than on the noun phrase.

English	Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
I walked near a village.	mar-ak-k lom watVs q-tok-ak village near PASTPast tense (tense) action occurred before moment of speech=1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity walk	 Mrag weats ors-ktogak. village PASTPast tense (tense) action occurred before moment of speech=1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity near=walk	 Aa wea mra orsktoĝ.1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity PASTPast tense (tense) action occurred before moment of speech.SGSingular (number) one countable entity village near=walk

Numerals and Classifiers
Qgam has made extreme changes in the numeral system inherited from Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham: namely, by importing both Kwang and Nuar numerals, giving the language three separate counting systems. The Kwang classifier system was adopted as well, giving Qgam a rather complex system for counting.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Qonklo-Qgamic (full)	 ĝa	 saĝ	 ri	 hay	 ha	 moĝ	 daĝ	 ryaĝ	 ĝo	 sa
Qonklo-Qgamic (reduced)	 ĝa	 sĝ-	 r-	 hi-	 ha	 mĝ-	 dĝ-	 riĝ-	 ĝo	 sa
Native Qgamic (Old)	 kow	 piy	 pikot	 sakoan	 sā	 skot	 spit	 nukpian	 nukkoan	 mdā
Nuaro-Qgamic (Old)	 hwo	 qwor	 yāw	 pļea	 çār	 dom	 kara	 niy	 qkhē	 ntē
Native Qgamic (Modern)	 ko(w)	 pi(y)	 pko	 skuom	 saa	 sko	 spi	 npeam	 nkuom	 mdaa
Nuaro-Qgamic (Modern)	 hwo	 qwor	 yaaw	 pļea	 çaar	 dom	 kra	 niy	 qkhea	 mdaa

Nuar-derived numerals are used primarily for counting people. They may also sometimes be used to count animals. They do not require counter classifiers.

The Kwang numerals, borrowed from Middle Kwang, function as cardinal numbers and must be combined with classifiers. In Modern Qgam, several numerals form contractions with the classifiers.

A classifier exists for use with people in cases when a numeral is not used but a classifier is still required.

English	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
three children	 yāw njuaĝ	 yaaw juoĝ
how many children	 ĝā-ĝa njuaĝ	 ĝaa-ĝa juoĝ
three birds	 ri-he mksamak	 r-he mksam
how many birds	 ĝā-he mksamak	 ĝaa-he mksam

Native Qgamic numerals are used with an ordinal function. They can also be used to indicate sequences of unnamed actors or parties, similar to how A, B, C, etc. would be used in English. They are also used as abbreviated references in contracts. Sometimes, this is supplemented by the suffix -lo. They can be combined with the suffix -sto to indicate items that have been assigned sequential numbers, such as chapters, buses, buildings, and so forth.

English	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
the third one	 pikot	 pko
the first patrol	 kow mrhaĝ	 kow mrhaĝ
the second person/party	 piy-lo	 pi-lo
Chapter Seven	 skzi spit-sto	 sksi spi-sto

[edit] [top]Morphology

Nouns
Nouns do not change form in Old or Modern Qgam. However, plural may optionally be indicated in the predicate via reduplication. As subject plurality is made explicit by the auxiliary, reduplication of subject nouns does not usually occur.

Verbs
In Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham, verbs did not conjugate in any way. Old Qgam, introduced two preverbs to supplement the auxiliary verbs: sak, (perfect), and bis (iterative). In Modern Qgam, these became fully-incorporated conjugational prefixes that frequently undergo reduction.

English	Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
to heal	a-nars-	 anār	 naar
to have healed	wat(V) a-nars-	 sak-anār	 saknaar
to swim	las-	 lā	 laa
to have swum	wat(V) las-	 sak-lā	 sĝlaa
to stick/adhere	ngob-	 ĝob	 ĝom
to stick repeatedly	??	 bis-ĝob	 bisĝom
to apply/paint	sVw-	 saw	 saw
to apply repeatedly	??	 bis-saw	 bisaw

Clitics
Neither Old nor Modern Qgam are pro-drop languages; When subject nouns are absent, they must be replaced by pronouns. It is common in Old Qgam to avoid placing subject pronouns in initial position unless special focus is intended, or there is no other argument to occupy initial position; consequently, a predicative argument will be placed in initial position, leaving subject pronouns in third position after the verb. In this position, subject pronouns undergo mandatory contractions, forming clitics which attach to the preceding verb. In Modern Qgam, the plural forms of these clitics induced umlaut on the auxiliary, and subsequently disappeared, leaving each auxiliary with singular and plural forms, but no distinction in person.

English	Proto-Qgam-Hux Kham	Old Qgam	Modern Qgam
I catch fish.	mlas ram(V)s fish catch-1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I	 mlā ramas fish catch-1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity	 Aa do mlaa 'm ram. 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number) one countable entity PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity fish ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient catch
You (SG) catch fish.	mlas ram(V)n fish catch-1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I	 mlā raman fish catch-2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity	 Im do mlaa 'm ram. 2Second person (person) addressee (you).SGSingular (number) one countable entity PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity fish ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient catch
He/She/It catches fish.	mlas ram(V) fish catch	 mlā ram fish catch	 Ĝwa do mlaa 'm ram. 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number) one countable entity PRESPresent tense (tense) current.SGSingular (number) one countable entity fish ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient catch
We catch fish.	mlas ram(V)si fish catch-1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.PLPlural (number) more than one/few	 mlā ramis fish catch	 Er dea mlaa 'm ram. 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.PLPlural (number) more than one/few PRESPresent tense (tense) current.PLPlural (number) more than one/few fish ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient catch
You (PL) catch fish.	mlas ram(V)ni fish catch-1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I.PLPlural (number) more than one/few	 mlā ramin fish catch-2Second person (person) addressee (you).PLPlural (number) more than one/few	 Eam dea mlaa 'm ram. 2Second person (person) addressee (you).PLPlural (number) more than one/few PRESPresent tense (tense) current.PLPlural (number) more than one/few fish ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient catch
They catch fish.	mlas ram(V) fish catch	 mlā rami fish catch-3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.PLPlural (number) more than one/few	 Ĝwea dea mlaa 'm ram. 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee.PLPlural (number) more than one/few PRESPresent tense (tense) current.PLPlural (number) more than one/few fish ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient catch

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