How does Syntax Convey Formality in Arusian?

This post aims to investigate how word order in Arusian, which is considerably freer than English, affects formality and characterises colloquial and formal registers.

INTRANSITIVE VERBS

Arusian distinguishes transitivity and voice in verbs morphologically.

Intransitive verbs are characterised by the morphemes -a and -ei (depending on the voice). Later, we will see that they often function as nouns, and not as verbs. We will explain why this happens.

DO INTRANSITIVES VERBS BEHAVE LIKE NOUNS?

There is a theory that intransitive verbs behave and act syntactically like nouns. For example, when they modify the subject, they can join the genitive particle sa (or its enclitic version -s). Only nouns in Aru can receive this particle. Therefore, we theorize that intransitive verbs are, in reality, nouns.

SV ORDER

For intransitive verbs, there is no distinction of formality according to the order in which the verb and subject appear. It is common for the subject to come before the verb in these types of phrases.

. s,armuN ul .

Lu numreis I sleep

Here, NUMREI kind of describes the pronoun LU, which is why it receives the genitive particle.

VS ORDER

When we want to emphasize the action, we can put the verb before the pronoun or noun it refers to. This does not change the formality.

. sul ,armuN .

Numrei lus I sleep

TRANSITIVE VERBS

Here, the situation becomes too complex, because word order influences formality and register.

IS THERE A NEUTRAL WORD ORDER?

Is there a neutral word order in Aru that doesn't seem too formal or too informal? For transitive verbs (those ending in -r or -se), the most neutral order is OSV (the object precedes the subject and the verb)

OSV

This is the most neutral order in Aru and is used in many contexts, such as on television, in academic texts or articles, or even when speaking with unknown people. We can also find it in street advertisements or street signs.

. road ul as TuN .

Nut sa lu dauwr I eat food

NUT is the object of the verb and means "food". In Aru there is a greater preference for the topicalization of the object.

VOS

This is a rarer word order in Aru and is used when speaking to the king, to the queen, in traditional ceremonies, when speaking to your grandparents, in religious texts or speeches, etc. The verb also changes when moved to the beginning of the sentence and has a special form: we add the prefix er- and the suffix -a. The object comes after the verb. The subject receives the attributive/genitive particle.

. sul TuN auad ,r .

Erdauwa-nut lus I eat food (you would say this to the king, for example).

atenção

The VOS order only appears in declarative sentences. In questions, you must use the OSV order.

SVO

This is the most common order in informal situations when you talk to a friend, your child, a person very close to you. But beware! You should not use it in writing or when talking to someone hierarchically superior to you.

. TuN road ul .

Lu dauwr nut I eat food

QUESTIONS

We already know that questions cannot be asked using the VOS order because one of the interrogative particles (puwei, nepa and plei) must be close to the noun you are asking about. It is impossible for it to be in front of a verb. Therefore, the puwei-OSV or puwei-SVO orders are the only options in questions.

RECAP OF WHAT WE'VE LEARNED

Situation	SVO	OSV	VOS
Colloquial, intimate	YES	YES	NO
Talking to children	YES	YES	NO
Talking to the king, the queen, grandparents	NO	YES	YES
Formal cerimonies	NO	YES	YES
Religion	NO	YES	YES
Street signs	???	YES	NO
Texts and academic articles	NO	YES	YES
Humor	YES	YES	NO
Yes/no questions	YES	YES	NO
People you don't know	NO	YES	NO
Social media posts	YES	YES	YES(2)
Fiction and novels (prose)	???(1)	YES	NO
Fiction and novels (dialogue)	YES	YES	YES(3)

(1) It might be used in Children material (2) It depends on the context (tragic accidents, religion, official notes) (3) Depending on the character.