Detail #85: Congruence blocking ... again!

In a language with some kind of noun classes and class congruence on verbs and adjectives, let the following circumstances block congruence on the verb:

• subject and object complements trigger omission of class (and number) marking on the verb. Basically, the congruence migrates to the complement - but if the complement cannot mark class, the congruence marker will be entirely lost.
• relative clauses where the relativized constituent is not the subject. However, complements still mark congruence.

As examples (with the prefixes te-, pa-, ku-, ri-, ne-), the following should illustrate a bit:

ne-solution is (a solution exists)

ku-man is ku-tall (the man is tall)

pa-boss pa-expressed his ri-opinion with te-clarity (the boss expressed his opinion with clarity)

ku-man REL ku-expressed ku-his ri-opinion is ku-educated (the man who expressed his opinion is educated)

ku-man is pa-boss (the man is a boss)

te-computer is from apple (the computer is ...)

ne-project REL pa-boss launched ne-it ne-will ne-reform pa-synergy

Forms with bold italic are main clause non-congruence verbs, due to complements. The two non-bold italic verbs are unexpected examples of non-congruence: existential is and is with non-congruent complement. ku-expressed is the normal form in subclauses, viz. when the relativized thing is also the subject of the subclause. Finally, the bold italic underlined verb lacks congruence due to the subject not being the relativized element.

Detail #14: Suppletive auxiliary-based agreement

This idea is kind of a snapshot-in-language-history kind of idea, as I find it very unlikely it would remain for long.

A constructed isolating language where certain auxiliaries suppletively are changed to other ones depending on the class of the noun. Noun class is otherwise only marked by pronouns. Other than that, the noun class system has been losing ground in the language. Certain semantic differences between the suppletive auxiliaries may be evolving, depending on the lines along which the noun classes are distinguished.

Some of the auxiliaries may have incomplete 'paradigms' of suppletive forms, and for the noun classes that lack some specific auxiliary, some manner of periphrasis is needed, or whatever the auxiliary marks is simply avoided.