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Grammatical Concept: Internal Volition
While Asaxi handles External Force (“Must”) using the Imperative Prefix xăhè-, it handles Internal Volition (“Want”) and Necessity (“Need”) using Sentence-Final Particles.
These particles wrap the entire proposition, indicating the speaker’s internal drive or requirement regarding the event.
1. The Particle Inventory
| Particle | Meaning | Function | Logic |
|---|---|---|---|
| wă | Want / Desire | Volitional | Internal desire for the event to happen. |
| wë | Need / Require | Necessitative | Internal requirement or lack of option. |
| nỏwă | Not want | Neg. Volitional | Active lack of desire. |
| nỏwë | Not need | Neg. Necessitative | Lack of necessity (“Don’t have to”). |
| _(Note: “Must” is handled by the Coercive Voice **[[xăhè (Particle) | xăhè-]]**, which remains a prefix)._])] |
2. Syntactic Structure (Head-Final)
Like ken (Can), these particles appear at the very end of the clause.
Formula:
[Subject] ... [Verb] + [Particle]
Examples:
A. Want (wă)
To wo shěsonů wă.
SUBJ1SGreadWANT“I want to read.” (Similar tojåshěsonů, but emphasizes the feeling of want over the action).
B. Need (wë)
To wo haśù wë.
SUBJ1SGrunNEED“I need to run.”
C. Lack of Necessity (nỏwë)
To no xoxo nỏwë.
SUBJ2SGdepartNOT-NEED“You don’t have to leave.” / “You don’t need to leave.”
3. The nỏ Negation Rule
A specific phonological rule applies to these particles. Because wă and wë begin with the semi-vowel /w/, the standard negative particle ná shifts to nỏ.
- Rule:
ná+w→ nỏw… - Forms:
ná+wă→ nỏwă.ná+wë→ nỏwë