In Globasa, a relatively strict word order is applied within phrases.
Noun phrases consist of the following structure, as illustrated in the table below:
(Specifier) + (Complement) + Head
| Noun Phrase | |||||
| (Specifier) | (Complement) | Head | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Determiner | Possessive Adj | Quantifier | Adj/Adv-Modying Adverb |
Adjective(s) | Noun or Pronoun |
| ke - which hin - this den - that ban - some moy - every nil - no, none alo - other |
misu yusu tesu etc. |
multi - many xosu - few, total - whole, plu - multiple (any number) etc. |
daymo - very go - too etc. |
meli - beautiful blue - blue lile - small, little etc. |
matre - mother doste - friend sodar - sibling drevo - tree to - it etc. |
| hin this |
misu my |
care four |
daymo very |
lama old |
kitabu books |
| hin misu care daymo lama kitabu these four very old books of mine |
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Since specifiers and complements are optional, a noun phrase may consist of a single noun, for example, kitabu.
Noun phrases must always end in either a noun or a pronoun. Whenever a noun is understood and omitted, a pronoun must replace it, rather than leaving a specifier or complement hanging. Without the use of pronouns to complete noun phrases, such phrases would have different meanings or create incomplete and therefore ungrammatical sentences.
Bante ergo velosi ji bante ergo hanman.
Some work quickly and some work slowly.
Without the pronoun te, the sentence would read:
Ban ergo velosi ji ban ergo hanman.
Some work is fast and some work is slow.
Yusu gami ergo velosi mas misu te ergo hanman.
Your spouse works fast but mine works slow.
Without the pronoun te, the second part of the sentence would read:
Misu ergo hanman.
My work/job is slow.
Dua trasbasayen ergo velosi mas un te ergo hanman.
Two translators work quickly but one works slowly.
Without the pronoun te, the second part of the sentence would read:
Un ergo hanman.
One job is slow.
Dayo manyen ergo velosi mas lile te ergo hanman.
The big man works quickly but the small one works slowly.
Without the pronoun te, the second part of the sentence would read:
Lile ergo hanman.
The small job is slow.
Verb phrases are similar in structure to noun phrases:
| Verb Phrase | ||||||
| (Specifier) | (Complement) | Head | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tense/Mood Marker | Affirmation or Negation | Adj/Adv-Modifying |
Adverb | Passive Voice | Continous/ Habitual Mood |
Verb |
| (nun) le xa am ger na |
si - yes (does) no - no (doesn't, etc.) |
daymo - very go - too |
bono - well, buru - badly, velosi - fast, quickly multi - much, xosu - little, pinpan - often, nadir - rarely etc. |
be - passive marker |
du - continuous/ habitual marker |
danse - dance lala - sing loga - speak etc. |
| le | no | daymo | pinpan | be | du | yam |
| le no daymo pinpan beduyam did not use to be eaten very often |
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As specifiers, verb markers (nun, le, xa, ger, am, na) are placed at the start of verb phrases.
As seen in the sentence above, adverbs (or adverb phrases) typically precede verbs.
Alternatively, adverbs may be placed after the verb, immediately following objects, if any.
Femyen danse meli.
The lady dance beautifully.
Mi le gibe pesa cel coriyen wolekal koski mi fobi ki te xa morgi mi.
I gave the money to the thief involuntarily because I was afraid he would kill me.
Adverbs may also be moved to the start of the sentence, so long as there is a definite pause with the comma to separate the phrase from the rest of the sentence. Without the pause, the adjective/adverb could be mistakenly interpreted as modifying the subject.
Velosi, bwaw glu sui.
Quickly, the dog drinks the water.
Unyum, te le idi cel banko.
First(ly), she went to the bank.
The negating adverb no immediately precedes the word or phrase being negated.
Manyen no go buru danse.
or: Manyen danse no go buru.
The man doesn't dance too badly.
In the second sentence above, no is along with the rest of the complement to the end of the sentence. (The man did dance, but not too badly.)
Alternatively, no could immediately precede the verb and interpreted as modifying the verb plus its descriptive adverbs.
Manixu no danse go buru.
The man doesn't dance too badly.
Infinitive verb phrases have the following structure:
na + verb phrase
See Infinitive Verb Phrases under Sentence Structure.
Globasa, like most SVO languages, uses prepositions rather than postpositions. Prepositional phrases are composed of a preposition followed by a noun phrase.
in dayo sanduku
in the large box
Word order of prepositional phrases is explained under Sentence Structure.
Other than no (not), Adverbs of focus, such as sol (only), pia (also, too) and hata (even), do not appear in the Noun Phrase and Verb Phrase tables above. The reason for this is that adverbs of focus can appear anywhere in a sentence, depending on what is being modified in the sentence. Adverbs of focus always immediately precede the phrase or word they modify.
Misu gami glu sol kafe in soba. My spouse drinks only coffee in the morning.
Misu gami glu kafe hata in axam. My spouse drinks coffee even in the evening.
Pia misu gami glu kafe in soba. My spouse, too, drinks coffee in the morning.