Möxali grammar

Möxale features three lexical classes distinguished by their valency, that is the number of arguments they take:
 * Nouns cannot be predicate (zero arguments)
 * Stative verbs can be predicate with exactly one argument
 * Transitive verbs can be predicate with one or more arguments

Case
Nouns take an obligatory inflection for case, of which there are three which mark different morphosyntactic roles. The accusative case has two allomorphs depending on the final segment of the underlying form of the noun stem. The suffix |-yo| appears on stems ending in a vowel (ä ö e i a o u), a nasal (m n ñ g), a palatal (c x j), l or h. In the case of a final nasal, |Ny| regularly neutralises to ñ, so the accusative appears as ...ño, while a final h similarly assimilates to the palatal yielding ...xo: A final palatal (c x j) or l also regularly elides the approximant, effectively manifesting the accusative as -o on these stems: On all other final segments (p t k b d f s v z), the accusative case takes the form -ä: The allomorphy of the accusative suffix originates from a sound change which occurred between Late Xiri and Möxale in which unstressed ya yo yu wa we wi became e e i o ö ü where there was a preceding consonant, then later after an unstressed vowel shift these result in ä ä e o ö ö. This yields the change yo → ä in certain environments, of which the accusative suffix on obstruent-final stems is an example. The relative chronology of these changes indicates that plosive-final stems must have been incorporated into a very early stage of Möxale, when it was essentially just a divergent dialect of Late Xiri with a large number of Alöbi loans. Möxale's spirantisation of final plosives may have already been present as an active sound rule in this early stage, or developed as a direct result of the incorporation of plosive-final stems, as Xiri allowed coda fricatives but not plosives. The elision of -y- leaving just -o on stems ending in (c x j l) comes from Alöbi and Xiri, which both historically elided medial -y- in the same environments.
 * udok-en| (lizard-ᴇʀɢ) → udoken
 * ana-en| (mouth-ᴇʀɢ) → anän
 * teno-en| (salt-ᴇʀɢ) → tenin
 * ebu\⇵-yo| (gourd-ᴀᴄᴄ) → ebuyo
 * kexun\⇵-yo| (spear-ᴀᴄᴄ) → kexuño
 * kabah\⇵-yo| (mountain-ᴀᴄᴄ) → kabaxo
 * dehac\⇵-yo| (leg-ᴀᴄᴄ) → dehaco
 * lepil\⇵-yo| (tendon-ᴀᴄᴄ) → lepilo
 * anik\⇵-ä| (axe-ᴀᴄᴄ) → anikä
 * eyus\⇵-ä| (fire-ᴀᴄᴄ) → eyusä

The underlying form of the stem is particularly important to consider for case inflection, compare the inflectional set taneh/taneken/tanekä (knife) to ineh/inehen/inexo (finger), from the underlying forms |tanek| and |ineh| respectively.

Number
Grammatical number can be optionally specified with a prefix with allomorphs for vowel-initial and consonant-initial stems.

Number need not be overtly marked on a noun with a suffix, but the grammatical property is always carried by every instance of a noun. A number prefix is typically used when introducing a referent to discourse, to clarify which referent is being referred to, or to emphasise the number of a referent. The number of a noun is otherwise inferred from context or simply not relevant. A newly introduced referent which lacks a number prefix is usually understood to mean reference to something in general, rather than to a particular instance of it, i.e. "cats (in general)" rather than "a cat" or "the cat".

Transitive verbs
The origin of Möxale's transitive verb morphology is an unusual mixture of Alöbi-style agglutination and Xiri morphemes and syntax. A verb stem is a root with obligatory affixes marking aspect and verb voice. The formation of a verb stem is perhaps closer to derivation than regular inflection, with particular verb stem formations often carrying nuanced meanings, and the polymorphemic verb stems being used in compounds rather than just using roots. A verb stem then additionally takes a modal prefix and optional other prefixes. The verb template is shown below, with the optional slots in brackets.

Subject
The subject prefix is present only when an explicit subject noun is not. These come directly from Xiri and are the only remnant of its pronominal system, which was completely supplanted by the Alöbi system. Unlike freestanding pronouns, these prefixes do not mark grammatical number, only first, second and third person as follows: The first person prefix appears as ñ- on vowel-initial stems and ña- on consonant-initial stems, while the second and third person prefixes may also appear as sv- and ñ- (← *my-) respectively, according to regular morphophonological processes described above.
 * First person |ñ(a)-|
 * Second person |su-|
 * Third person |me-|

The syncretism of the first and third person on vowel-initial stems rarely leads to ambiguity, as the subject prefix is used only to refer back to a recently established subject of another verb. Consider the following example:fadän ten-ina-en nötö\⇵-C[a]-ʼo-ha e ñ[a]-u-ha

1PL.ABS 1SG.POSS-parent-ERG meat-PV-bring-PFV CONJ 1-eat-PFV

"We were brought meat by my parent, and so we ate (like animals)"The subject prefix ñ- on ñuha is understood by context to refer to the first person fadän established as the core argument in the previous phrase rather than the ergative referent teninän.

Mood
Möxale inherited most of Xiri’s evidential particles, but also adopted Alöbi’s strict verb-final structure in main clauses. This forced the evidentials in front of the verb, occupying the same position as the Xiri modal particle which was rarely used in conjunction with an evidential. The result is the merging of the evidentials and five of the Xiri irrealis moods (subjunctive, permissive, imperative, conditional, interrogative) into a single paradigm. The seven realis moods are mostly derived from evidentials and can be further categorised by type of evidence: first-hand assertion (visual sensory, non-visual sensory, inferential), second-hand report (quotative, hearsay) and third-hand statement of fact (narrative, common knowledge). Unlike Xiri, there is no unmarked indicative mood, evidentiality is necessarily implied through the mood.