Editing Bats language (section)

==Morphosyntax==
Batsbi is an [[SOV language]] with [[Ergative–absolutive alignment|ergative-absolutive]] alignment which makes extensive use of bound [[morphological derivation]] and [[inflection]]. It has both [[grammatical gender]] (i.e. noun classes) and several [[grammatical case]]s.

=== Pronouns ===

==== Personal pronouns - first and second persons ====
Batsbi [[pronoun]]s encode three persons, two numbers, and clusivity for first person plural ("you and us" ''vs''. "us but not you"). [[Demonstrative]]s work as third person pronouns.

It is noteworthy that for singular first person ('I') and second person ('you') almost always differ systematically by a single consonant, first person having /s/ and second person /ħ/, whereas the plural forms regularly have /txo/ for first person exclusive, and /ʃu/ for second person. Case endings are regular for all pronouns, shown below.<ref name=":0" /> 
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |Singular
! colspan="3" |Plural
|-
!First
!Second
!First 
Exclusive
!First 
Inclusive
!Second
|-
!'''Nominative'''
|სო
so
|ჰჾო
ħo
|ვე/ვაი
ve/vai
|თხო
txo
|შუ
šu
|-
!'''Ergative'''
|ას
as
|აჰჾ
aħ
|ვე
ve
|ათხ
atx
|ეშ
eš
|-
!'''Genitive'''
|სე<sup>ნ</sup>
sẽ
|ჰჾე<sup>ნ</sup>
ħẽ
|ვაი<sup>ნ</sup>
vaĩ
|თხე<sup>ნ</sup>
txõ
|შე<sup>ნ</sup>
šũ
|-
!'''Dative'''
|სონ
son
|ჰჾონ
ħon
|ვაინ
vain
|თხონ
txon
|შუნ
šun
|-
!'''Allative'''
|სოგუ
sogu
|ჰჾოგუ
ħogu
|ვაიგუ
vaigu
|თხოგუ
txogu
|შუგუ
šugu
|-
!'''Adverbial'''
|სოღ
soǧ
|ჰჾოღ
ħoǧ
|ვაიღ
vaiǧ
|თხოღ
txoǧ
|შუღ
šuǧ
|-
!'''English'''
|''I''
|''You (Thou)''
|''Us but not you''
|''You and us''
|''You (Ye)''
|}

==== Third person pronouns/Demonstratives ====
In Batsbi, the distal demonstrative ('that yonder') also serves as a [[Grammatical person|third person]] pronoun ('s/he', 'it', 'they'). As such, the language does not encode gender in its pronouns. However, gender may still be indexed on verbs and adjectives.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!'''Nominative'''
|ო
o
|ობი
obi
|-
!'''Ergative'''
|ოჴუს
oqus
|ოჴარ
oqar
|-
!'''Genitive'''
|ოჴუი<sup>ნ</sup>
oquĩ
|ოჴრი<sup>ნ</sup>
oqrĩ
|-
!'''Dative'''
|ოჴუინ
oquin
|ოჴარნ
oqarn
|-
!'''Instrumental'''
|ოჴუვ
oquv
|
|-
!'''English'''
|''s/he''
|''they''
|}

==== Adnominal demonstratives ====
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
!Proximal
!Medial
!Distal
|-
!'''Absolutive'''
|ე
e
|ის
is
|ო
o
|-
!'''Oblique'''
|ეჴ
eq
|იცხ
icx
|ოჴ
oq
|-
!'''English'''
|''this''
|''that''
|''that yonder''
|}
Adnominal demonstratives code no gender in Batsbi.
{{interlinear
| number = 1a
| glossing3 = yes|ე ფსტუიჩოვ|e pstʼuinčov|DEM.proximal woman-ERG|"This woman"
}}{{interlinear
| number = 1b
| glossing3 = yes|ე სტაკოვ|e stʼakʼov|DEM.proximal man-ERG|"This man
}}

{{interlinear
| number = 1c
| glossing3 = yes|ო სტაკოვ|o stʼakʼov|DEM.distal man-ERG|"That man over there"
}}

==== Interrogative pronouns ====
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
!who?
!what?
!when?
!how much?
!where?
!which one?
|-
!'''Absolutive'''
|მე<sup>ნ</sup>
mẽ
|ვუხ
vux
| rowspan="2" |მაცა<sup>ნ</sup>
macã
| rowspan="2" |მელʻ
meɬ
| rowspan="2" |მიჩ, მიჩა
mič, miča
|მენუხ
menux
|-
!'''Ergative'''
|ჰჾა<sup>ნ</sup>
ħã
|სტევ
st'ev
|მენხუიჩოვ
menxuičov
|}

===Noun classes===
As in other Nakh languages, Batsbi has several [[noun class]]es (grammatical genders) that are indexed through class [[prefix]]es on some vowel-initial verbs, adjectives, numerals, and a few other words.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Alice |title=Batsbi Sketch Grammar |date= }}</ref> That is, nouns themselves show no morphologically marks for gender. Gender indexing is highly complex in the language, with subject gender agreement on [[intransitive verb]]s (absolutive), but object agreement on transitive verbs. The table below shows gender agreement on verbs for three of the noun classes:
{| class="wikitable"
|+<ref name="HG1994" />
! rowspan="2" |Noun class
!Subject
!Verb group
!Translation
|-
! colspan="3" |'''Intransitive (subject agreement)'''
|-
|'''M'''
|ვაშუ
vašu
|'''ვ'''ახე<sup>ნ</sup>
'''v-'''axẽ
|''Brother'' M-''left''
|-
|'''F'''
|ჲაშუ
jašu
|'''ჲ'''ახე<sup>ნ</sup>
'''j-'''axẽ
|''Sister'' F-''left''
|-
|'''D'''
|ბადერ 
bader
|'''დ'''ახე<sup>ნ</sup>
'''d'''-axẽ
|''The child D-left''
|-
|'''Bd'''
|ფჰჾუ
pħu
|'''ბ'''ახე<sup>ნ</sup>
'''b'''-axẽ
|''The dog'' Bd''-left'' 
|-
|
! colspan="3" |'''Transitive (object agreement)'''
|-
|'''M'''
|ნანას
nanas
|ვაშუ '''ვ'''იკე<sup>ნ</sup>
vašu '''v'''-ik'ẽ
|''Mother'' M-''took brother'' 
(lit. "Mother brother took")
|-
|'''F'''
|დადას
dadas
|ჲაშუ '''ჲ'''იკე<sup>ნ</sup>
jašu '''j'''-ik'ẽ
|''Father'' F-''took sister''
(lit. "Father sister took")
|-
|'''D'''
|ნანას
nanas
|ბადერ '''დ'''იკე<sup>ნ</sup>
bader '''d'''-ik'ẽ
|''Mother'' D-''took the child''
|-
|'''Bd'''
|დადას
dadas
|ფჰჾუ '''ბ'''იკე<sup>ნ</sup>
pħu '''b-'''ik'ẽ
|''Father'' Bd''-took the dog''
|}

==== Number of classes ====
Holisky and Gagua (1994) analyse Batsbi as having five noun classes,<ref name="HG1994" /> whereas Alice Harris posits that Batsbi has eight genders in total, based on the behaviour of words that fail to conform to the patterns of the five major classes.<ref name=":0" /> The breakdown below follows Harris:

{| class="wikitable"
! Label !! Singular !! Plural !! Description !! Nouns
!Adjective
"big"
!Verb
"to be"
!English
|-
| M      || '''v-''' || '''b-'''
| male humans
| {{plainlist|
* მარ {{Transliteration|bbl|mar}} 
* ჺუვ {{Transliteration|bbl|ʕuv}}
* ვოჰჾ {{Transliteration|bbl|voħ}} 
}}
|'''ვ'''აჴჴო<sup>ნ</sup>
'''v-'''aqqõ
|'''ვ'''ა
'''v'''-a 
|"the husband is big"<br>
"the shepherd is big"<br>
"the son is big"
|-
| F      || '''j-''' || '''d-'''
| female humans
| {{plainlist|
* ნან {{Transliteration|bbl|nan}} 
* ფსტუ {{Transliteration|bbl|pstʼu}} 
* ჲოჰჾ {{Transliteration|bbl|joħ}} 
}}
|'''ჲ'''აჴჴო<sup>ნ</sup>
'''j-'''aqqõ
|'''ჲ'''ა
'''j'''-a 
|"the mother is big"<br>
"the wife is big"<br>
"the daughter is big"
|-
| D      || colspan="2" | '''d-''' 
| various, default class 
for unknown gender<ref name=":0" />
| {{plainlist|
* ბადერ {{Transliteration|bbl|bader}} 
* კუიტი {{Transliteration|bbl|kʼuit'i}} 
* დოკ {{Transliteration|bbl|dokʼ}} 
* დითხ {{Transliteration|bbl|ditx}} 
}}
|'''დ'''აჴჴო<sup>ნ</sup>
'''d-'''aqqõ
|'''დ'''ა
'''d'''-a 
|"the child is big"<br>
"the cat is big"<br>
"the heart is big"<br>
"the meat is big"
|-
| Bd     || '''b-''' || '''d-'''
| animals
| {{plainlist|
* ფჰჾუ {{Transliteration|bbl|pħu}}
* ჩა {{Transliteration|bbl|ča}}
}}
|'''ბ'''აჴჴო<sup>ნ</sup>
'''b-'''aqqõ
|'''ბ'''ა
'''b'''-a
|"the dog is big"<br>
"the bread is big"<br>
"the bear is big"
|-
| J      || colspan="2" | '''j-''' 
| various
| {{plainlist|* ცარკ {{Transliteration|bbl|carkʼ}} 
* მაიჴი {{Transliteration|bbl|maiqi}} 
* ყარ  {{Transliteration|bbl|q'ar}}
}}
|'''ჲ'''აჴჴო<sup>ნ</sup>
'''j'''-aqqõ<br>
'''ჲ'''-ავი<sup>ნ</sup>
'''j'''-avĩ
|'''ჲ'''ა
'''j'''-a 
|"the tooth is big"<br>
"the milk is light"<br>
"the rain is light"
|-
| *Bd  || '''b-''' || '''d-'''
| body parts (15 nouns)
| {{plainlist|
* ბაქ {{Transliteration|bbl|bak}} 
* ბჺარკ {{Transliteration|bbl|bʕarkʼ}} 
* ჭყემპუ {{Transliteration|bbl|čʼqʼempʷʼ}} 
}}
|'''ბ'''აჴჴო<sup>ნ</sup>
'''b'''-aqqõ
|'''ბ'''ა
'''b'''-a
|"the fist is big"<br>
"the eye is big"<br>
"the throat is big"
|-
| *D/J   || '''d-''' || '''j-'''
| body parts (4 nouns)
| {{plainlist|
* ბატრ {{Transliteration|bbl|batʼr}} 
* ლარკ {{Transliteration|bbl|larkʼ}} 
* ტოტ {{Transliteration|bbl|tʼotʼ}} 
* ჭამაღ {{Transliteration|bbl|čʼamaǧ}} 
}}
|'''დ'''აჴჴო<sup>ნ</sup>
'''d-'''aqqõ
|'''დ'''ა
'''d'''-a 
|"the lip is big"<br>
"the ear is big"<br>
"the hand is big"<br>
"the cheek is big"
|-
| *B/B   || colspan="2" | '''b-''' 
| only 3 nouns
| {{plainlist|
* ბორაგ {{Transliteration|bbl|borag}} 
* ჩექამ {{Transliteration|bbl|čekam}} 
* ქაქამ {{Transliteration|bbl|kakam}} 
}}
|'''ბ'''აჴჴო<sup>ნ</sup>
'''b'''-aqqõ
|'''ბ'''ა
'''b'''-a
|"the knit slipper is big"<br>
"the boot is big"<br>
"the autumn wool is big"
|}

==== Exceptions and Nouns without inherent gender ====
According to Holisky and Gagua (1994), the class with the largest number of nouns is the D-class (e.g. '''''d'''a'' "it is"), followed by the J-class (e.g. '''''j'''a'' "it is"). Class D markers are also used when the noun class is unknown (as in open interrogatives, see 1a) and in clauses with mixed genders (1d).

{{interlinear
| number = 2a
| glossing3 = yes|ვუხ და|vux d-a|what {{gcl|Cl.D|D-class}}-be|"What is it?"
}}

{{interlinear
| number = 2b
| glossing3 = yes|ღოჭ ჲა|ǧočʼ j-a|stick {{gcl|Cl.J|J-class}}-be|"It is a stick"
}}

{{interlinear
| number = 2c
| glossing3 = yes|ნექ და|nek d-a|knife {{gcl|Cl.D|D-class}}-be|"It is a knife"
}}

{{interlinear
| number = 2d
| glossing3 = yes|ღოჭე ნექე და|ǧočʼe neke d-a|stick-and knife-and {{gcl|Cl.D|D-class}}-be|"It is both a stick and knife"
}}

Additionally, some nouns referring to humans have no inherent gender, so that class agreement is contextual. These includes the words for "teacher" (უჩიტელ ''učitʼel''), "friend" (ნაყბისტ ''naq'bist'''), "enemy" (მასთხოვ ''mastxov''), "neighbor" (მეზობელ ''mezobel'') and others.<ref name="HG1994" />

{{interlinear
| number = 3a
| glossing3 = yes|უჩიტელ '''ვ'''ა|učitʼel '''v'''-a|teacher {{gcl|Cl.M|M-class}}-is|"He is a teacher"
}}

{{interlinear
| number = 3b
| glossing3 = yes|უჩიტელ '''ჲ'''ა|učitʼel '''j'''-a|teacher {{gcl|Cl.F|F-class}}-is|"She is a teacher"
}}

Gender is lexicalized in a few words such as '''''v'''ašu'' ('''ვ'''აშუ "brother") vs. '''''j'''ašu'' ('''ჲ'''აშუ "sister"),in that -''ašu'' could be translated as "sibling".

==== Gender agreement in adjectives ====
Only eight vowel-initial adjectives agree in gender with the noun they modify:<ref name="HG1994" />
{| class="wikitable"
|+Adjective agreement (singular)
! rowspan="2" |Gender
(sg/pl)
!'''-aqqõ'''
!-ut'q'ĩ
!-avĩ
!-acĩ
!-uq'ĩ
!-asẽ
!-acũ
!-axxẽ
|-
| -აჴჴო<sup>ნ</sup>
| -უტყი<sup>ნ</sup>
| -ავი<sup>ნ</sup>
| -აცი<sup>ნ</sup>
| -უყი<sup>ნ</sup>
| -ასე<sup>ნ</sup>
| -აცუ<sup>ნ</sup>
| -ახხე<sup>ნ</sup>
|-
|M (v-/b-)
|'''v'''-aqqõ
|'''v'''-ut'q'ĩ
|'''v'''-avĩ
|'''v'''-acĩ
|'''v-'''uq'ĩ
|'''v'''-asẽ
|'''v'''-acũ
|'''v'''-axxẽ
|-
|F  (j-/d-)
|'''j'''-aqqõ
|'''j'''-ut'q'ĩ
|'''j'''-avĩ
|'''j'''-acĩ
|'''j-'''uq'ĩ
|'''j'''-asẽ
|'''j'''-acũ
|'''j'''-axxẽ
|-
|D (d-)
|'''d'''-aqqõ
|'''d'''-ut'q'ĩ
|'''d-'''avĩ
|'''d'''-acĩ
|'''d'''-uq'ĩ
|'''d'''-asẽ
|'''d'''-acũ
|'''d'''-axxẽ
|-
|J (j-)
|'''j'''-aqqõ
|'''j'''-ut'q'ĩ
|'''j-'''avĩ
|'''j'''-acĩ
|'''j'''-uq'ĩ
|'''j'''-asẽ
|'''j'''-acũ
|'''j'''-axxẽ
|-
|Bd (b-/d-)
|'''b-'''aqqõ
|'''b'''-ut'q'ĩ
|'''b-'''avĩ
|'''b-'''acĩ
|'''b'''-uq'ĩ
|'''b'''-asẽ
|'''b'''-acũ
|'''b'''-axxẽ
|-
|'''English'''
|''"big"''
|''"small"''
|''"light"''
|''"heavy"''
|''"thick"''
|''"empty"''
|''"short"''
|''"long"''
|}

===Grammatical number and case===
Batsbi nouns are [[Inflection|inflected]] for two [[Grammatical number|numbers]], singular and plural, and nine cases. Number inflection occurs via [[suffix]]ation and/or root changes, and is chiefly unpredictable. Harris (ms) identifies nine suffixes for plural marking in the nominative case; note that vowel changes (i.e. [[Indo-European ablaut|ablaut]]) may also affect the root of the plural form. 
{| class="wikitable"
|+Nominative
!Suffix
!Nom-Singular
!Nom-Plural
!English
|-
| -i
|საგ
sag
|საგ'''ი'''
sag-'''i'''
|''deer''
|-
| -iš
|ნიყ
niq'
|ნიყ'''იშ'''
niq'-'''iš'''
|''road(s)''
|-
| -bi
|ხე<sup>ნ</sup>
xẽ
|ხენ'''ბი'''
xen-'''bi'''
|''tree(s)''
|-
| -mi
|დოკ
dok'
|დ'''ა'''კ'''მი'''
d'''a'''k'-'''mi'''
|''heart(s)''
|-
| -arč
|ფჰჾუ
pḥu
|ფჰჾ'''არჩ'''
pḥ-'''arč'''
|''dog(s)''
|-
| -erč
|ტჺირ
tʼʕir
|ტჺირ'''ერჩ'''
tʼʕir-'''erč'''
|''star(s)''
|-
| -ar
|კეჭ
kʼeč̣
|კ'''ა'''ჭ'''არ'''
kʼ'''a'''č̣-'''ar'''
|''bundle(s)''
|-
| -er
|ჲოპყ
jopʼqʼ
|'''ა'''პყ'''ერ'''
'''a'''pʼqʼ'''-er'''
|''ash(es)''
|}

Batsbi makes use of nine [[noun case]]s total. In the majority of nouns, the [[Ergative case|ergative]] and [[Instrumental case|instrumental]] cases have a common form.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
! colspan="2" | ნეკ
{{Transliteration|bbl|nekʼ}}<br />{{gloss|knife}}
! colspan="2" | ცოკალ
t͜sʰokʼal<br />{{gloss|fox}}
! colspan="2" |დოკ
''dok'''

'heart'
|-
!
! Singular !! Plural
! Singular !! Plural
!Singular
!Plural
|-
! [[Nominative case|Nominative]] 
| nekʼ || nekʼi || t͜sʰokʼal || t͜sʰokʼli
|dok'
|dak'bi
|-
! [[Genitive case|Genitive]]
| nekʼẽ || nekʼã || t͜sʰokʼlẽ || t͜sʰokʼlã
|dak'ĩ
|dak'bĩ
|-
! [[Dative case|Dative]] 
| nekʼen || nekʼin || t͜sʰokʼlen || t͜sʰokʼlin
|dak'an
|dak'bin
|-
! [[Ergative case|Ergative]]/[[Instrumental case|Instrumental]]
| nekʼev || nekʼiv || t͜sʰokʼlev || t͜sʰokʼliv
|dak'av
|dak'bav
|-
! Contacting
| nek'ex || nekʼax || t͜sʰokʼlex || t͜sʰokʼlax
|dak'ox
|dak'bax
|-
! [[Allative case|Allative]] 
| nekʼegʷ || nekʼigʷ || t͜sʰokʼlegʷ || t͜sʰokʼligʷ
|dak'ogʷ
|dak'bigʷ
|-
! [[Adverbial case|Adverbial]] 
| nekʼeɣ || nekʼiɣ || t͜sʰokʼleɣ || t͜sʰokʼliɣ
|dak'oɣ
|dak'biɣ
|-
! [[Comitative case|Comitative]]
| nekʼt͜sʰĩ, 
nekʼet͜sʰĩ
| nekʼicĩ || t͜sʰokʼlet͜sʰĩ || t͜sʰokʼlit͜sʰĩ
| colspan="2" |
|}

===Verbs===
Verbs in Batsbi encode not only tense, and aspect, but also gender, person, mood, and other categories. Person suffixes also encode whether the subject of the verb is ergative or absolutive. Person suffixes for are shown in the table below. Note that Batsbi verbs also agree with the object through a prefix denoting a noun class, not shown in the table that follows. 
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
!
!Singular
!Plural
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''First'''
|'''Ergative'''
''to cut''
|თეტო'''ს'''
tet'o-'''s'''
|თეტო'''თხ'''
tet'o-'''tx'''
|-
|'''Absolutive'''
''to take''
| -იკე'''სუ'''
-ikʼe-'''sʷ'''
| -იკესთ'''ხუ'''
-ikʼe-'''txʷ'''
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''Second'''
|'''Ergative'''
''to cut''
|თეტო'''ჰჾ'''
tet'o-'''ħ'''
|თეტუ'''იშ'''
tet'w-'''iš'''
|-
|'''Absolutive'''
''to take''
| -ისკე'''ჰჾუ'''
-ikʼe-'''ħʷ'''
| -ისკე'''შუ'''
-ikʼe-'''šʷ'''
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''Third'''
|'''Ergative'''
''to cut''
| colspan="2" |თეცტ<sup>უ</sup>
tet'ʷ
|-
|'''Absolutive'''
''to take''
|
|
|}
Batsbi has explicit inflections for [[Agent (grammar)|agentivity]] of a verb; it makes a distinction between:
: {{Transliteration|bbl|{{IPA|as woʒe}}}} (I fell down through no fault of my own)
: {{Transliteration|bbl|{{IPA|so woʒe}}}} (I fell down and it was my own fault)

=== Postpositions ===
In Batsbi, a number of spatial and time relations are expressed via [[Adposition|postpositions]]. In many cases, the nouns that precede the postposition occur in the [[dative case]], although there are exceptions. 
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Postposition
!Example
!English
|-
|მაქ
mak
| rowspan="2" |ტივენ '''მაქ''' ბა
t'iv-en '''mak''' ba
| rowspan="2" |''They'' (M) ''are on the bridge''
(lit. ''bridge on they.are'')
|-
|'''on'''
|-
|კიკელ
kʼikʼel
| rowspan="2" |ტივენ '''კიკელ''' ვაიხნას
tʼiv-en '''kʼikʼel''' vaixnas
| rowspan="2" |''I'' (M) ''walked under the bridge''
(lit. ''bridge under I walked'')
|-
|'''under'''
|-
|ფეხ
pex
| rowspan="2" |ნანენ '''ფეხ'''
nan-en '''pex'''
| rowspan="2" |''Next to mother''
(lit. ''mother next to'')
|-
|'''next to'''
|-
|ჰჾათხ(ე)
ħatx(e)
| rowspan="2" |წენინ '''ჰჾათხე'''
c'en-in '''ħatxe'''
| rowspan="2" |''In front of the house''
(lit. house in front of)
|-
|'''in front of'''
|}
Note that some of the directions or states which in English and Indo-European languages are expressed via prepositions, are in Batsbi expressed via [[Locative case|locative]] cases.