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41_Time & Frequency (The `mă` System)

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Grammatical Concept: The Solar Cycle

Asaxi uses the sun (xi) as the base unit for daily timekeeping.

1. Time Units

  • xi (Sun / Day): The period of daylight or the 24-hour cycle. Warm Noun.
  • ỏwo (Noon): The literal “Middle-Sky.” Cold Noun.

2. The Frequency Suffix (-mă)

To express “Every,” Asaxi uses the suffix -mă attached to a Time Unit or a Number.

  • Etymology: Derived from Japanese 毎 (mai - every).
  • Structure: [Unit] + mă = “Every [Unit].”

Forms:

  • ximă (Every day / Daily / Whenever).
  • åmă (Every time).
  • tammă (Every other day / Alternating days).
  • gămă (Whenever / At any time).

3. Syntax (Floating Temporal Adverbs)

Frequency modifiers function as Floating Adverbs. Consistent with Asaxi’s Left-Branching logic, they typically appear before the verb (and often before the object) to set the tempo of the action.

A. Pre-Verbal (Default) Placed between the Subject and the Verb (often before the Object).

  • Structure: [Subject] + [Frequency] + [Object] + [Verb]
  • Example: To wo ximă shěso shěsonů. (“I daily read books.“)

B. Sentence-Initial (Topicalized) Placed at the very start to frame the entire sentence.

  • Structure: [Frequency], [Subject] ...
  • Example: Ximă, to wo shěsonů. (“Daily, I read.“)

Usage Examples

1. Daily Action

Vakamshárokam, to wo ximă ronů. in-gym SUBJ 1SG daily lift “I lift at the gym every day.”])]

2. Intervals

To wo tammă haśù. SUBJ 1SG two-every run “I run every other day.”

3. Indefinite Frequency

To wo gămă shěsonů. SUBJ 1SG whenever read “I read whenever (at any time).“

4. Iterative Time Phrases (“X to X”)

To express a progression or continuous change over time units (“Day by day,” “Month to month”), Asaxi uses the Allative Particle ni sandwiched between the repeated time noun.

  • Structure: [Unit] ni [Unit]
  • Logic: Movement from one unit to the next. Matches the structure of gőnigő (One to one).

Examples:

  • Xi ni xi. (“Day by day” / “From day to day”).
  • Mao ni mao. (“Night after night”).
  • Å ni å. (“Time to time” / “Moment to moment”).

Sentence:

To wo xi ni xi bwoŕů. “I am getting fat day by day.”