Verb
Arphe is a tonal language. The only variation that a verb can undergo is that monosyllabic verbs, when it has a perfective aspect, this is expressed in its tone. When the verb is compound, or when the event is expressed with a circumstantial lative, it is introduced through the perfective particle húr.
Present φāir perfect φáir
Present âurǎn perfect húr âurǎn
Present àr án perfect húr àr án
Present (-) Perfect (´)
Present (^) Perfect (-)
Present (ˇ) Perfect (-)
Present (`) Perfect (´)
Present (´) Perfect (-)
Nouns
The plural is expressed by redubling the noun
hén (“dog”), hén-hén (“dogs”)
When the noun is complemented by a AS, the only one that is reduplicated is the nucleus.
hén-hén tjǎr (“big dogs”)
There is no such thing as the verb “to go”. This is expressed directly with lative complements, with the subject ending -an (ûn-an àr án, “I'm going there”).
There are no copulatives. The subject and predicatives are marked with the copulative particle φāu. There are also no possessive verbs, so possessive relationships are expressed by putting the complementing NS before the phrase marked by the particle.
φāu hén φāu tjǎr (“the dog is big”); φāu hén ē án (“the dog is there”)
ūn-φāu hén (“the man have a dog”)
Syntax
The order of the sentence is
V-DC-S-OP-SP-IC
The order of the noun syntagme is [[IC]-N [DC]]. The genitives are formed by putting the complementing NS before the NP, writing a hyphen between them. (děr'ù-hén, “the river’s dog”)
The relative is distinguished because the antecedent directly precedes the verb (because in the order of the independent sentence, the verb precedes the subject, the direct, indirect and circumstantial objects).
tèr hén (“the dog eats”)>hén <tèr> (“the dog that eats”)