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Grammatical Concept: Where Does the State Come From?
English says I am thirsty, I am cold, I am sick — one copula for everything. Asaxi instead encodes the source of a state in the Verbal Derivation system (06_Verbs in Asaxi): the bridge infix tells the listener whether the state wells up from inside you, presses on you from outside, or is simply something you carry. This extends the canon principle that the senses are ingrained into the Verbal Derivation system.
1. Endogenous States — -ŕ- (Generative)
The body produces the state. Bridge: -ŕ- (Generative, “create”).
| Verb | Literal | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ŕochỏŕů | ”generate thirst” | to be thirsty |
| chỏŕů | ”generate hunger” | to be hungry |
| aiŕů | ”generate sorrow” | to grieve (from within) |
| săaŕů | ”generate heat” | to radiate heat, be feverish-hot |
| săaaiŕů | ”generate heat-pain” | to run a fever |
Ă wo ŕochỏŕů. — “I am thirsty.” (lit. “I generate thirst.”)
2. Exogenous Impressions — -ch- (Subjective)
The world imposes the state; you register it. Bridge: -ch- (Subjective, “feel like” — cf. toůchů).
| Verb | Literal | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| zhýchů | ”feel the cold” | to be/feel cold |
| săachů | ”feel the heat” | to feel hot (the day’s heat, not yours) |
| aichů | ”feel pain at” | to be pained by something external |
Ă wo zhýchů. — “I am cold.” (lit. “I feel the cold.”)
3. Carried Conditions — ma (Possession)
Lasting conditions are held, on the idiom pattern of sháŕo ma:
- Jami ma. — “(I) have an illness.” (the disease as a possessed burden)
- Kozètètá ma. — “(I) hold regret.”
- Fůjå ma. — “(I) have wantlessness.”
- Ai ma. — “(I) carry a sorrow.” (a grief held for years — contrast §1/§2)
4. The Minimal Pairs
The same root yields distinct statements by source:
- aiŕů (grief wells up) / aichů (something hurts me) / ai ma (I carry an old sorrow)
- săaŕů (I radiate heat — fever) / săachů (I feel hot — summer)
5. The Uncanny Generative (zhýŕů)
Bodies generate heat, never cold — so cold has no ordinary -ŕ- form. zhýŕů (“to generate cold”) exists only as a marked, uncanny predicate: ghosts, the dead, certain deep Arrangements, and things that should not be in the room are said to zhýŕů. Hearing it of a living person is a horror statement.
6. Choosing in Practice
Ask: did my body make it (-ŕ-), did the world push it on me (-ch-), or do I carry it (ma)? Wellbeing answers (63_Social Formulae (Greetings & Everyday Speech) §7) follow the same logic: Ŕochỏŕů! (“Thirsty!”), Zhýchů… (“Cold…”), Jami ma. (“Unwell.“)