Modals in Gai'a



Unlike the other Languages, Gai'a makes extensive use of modal and Auxillary verbs to provide extra meaning in sentences. This gives Gai'a a very unusal sentence structure and can present difficulties with translation.

Syntax
The basic structure of Gai'a sentences is:

Modal+Subject+Verb

A modal is used with all verbs and changing the modal effectively changes the meaning of the sentence. Hence:

Akip yx dialh. - (I walk./I keep walking.)

Ich yx dialh. - (I am walking.)

Rysh yx dialh. - (I almost walked.)

Conjugation
All modals have a basic present tense form and are then conjugated in the future or past tense and then for conditional: The Base form of Past or Future is often used to express subjunctive consepts which can cause confusion with translation.

Translation problems
The difficulty in Gai'a translation comes from two facts
 * 1) Tense is implied in certain modals


 * 1) any verb can be treated as a modal or auxillary.

Modals and Tense
For a modal like ich this presents less of a challenge as ich usually only represents a progressive aspect:

Ichox' yx dialh. - (I was walking) vs. Ich yx dialh. -(I am walking.)

Other modals, which would seem to have tense inherent to them, can be conjugated in various tense and therefor present translation problems:

Iq yx dudix - (I will want to run).

Iq often implies future action but can nonetheless be conjugated in the future and past tenses:

PAST Iqox' yx dudix - (I have wanted to run for a long time.)

FUTURE Iqash yx dudix - (I think i may eventually want to run.)

Verbs as Modals
Any verb can in fact be used as an auxillary causing sentences to be possible that would be irrational in English. an example:

Dudixoch yx dialh Which literally means "Walked I running" can translate as:


 * I jogged


 * I didn't run as much as I would have liked


 * I ran slower than I thought


 * I walked faster than I planned


 * I was in a hurry


 * I sped walked

Any of the above meanings is possible based on the context of the statement

Modals in Gai'a
While all modals can be combined with verbs to provide aspect, they often maintain a copulative use when no ther verb is present. (See Gai'a modals and nouns)

Akip
The countinutation modal. it is used to refer to actions that one keeps or is still doing: Akip can also be used for simple present.
 * Akip ark gulhash. (He's still studying)
 * Akip i' baq. (You keep listening.)

Ap
This is usually used to reflect an action that has been stopped. it is more commonly used in the past and future tenses: The modal is commonly used for the command form if it appears in the present tense.
 * Apash yx lhupizh. (I will stop eating.)
 * Apok i' baq. (You couldn't stop listening.)

Qash
This modal is primarily used for questions. it is the only question word in the language, therefore most questions are very context based. (See Gaian Interrogatives)