Chuvash manual
    
    SYNTAX
    
Word Order and the Principles of Modification
    
    One of the major principles of Chuvash structure is that modifying elements precede the modified, the group thus formed then even modifying still another group, and so proceeding to the end of the clause or sentence. The essential order of the Chuvash sentence begins with the subject, or with a subject group (in which the subject is preceded by some words which it governs), concludes with the predicate or the predicate verb, or a group of words in which the predicate concludes and governs the preceding. All other elements of time, manner and circumstance are arrayed in between.
    

pirĕn pattăr pogranichniksem kunĕn-şĕrĕn tĕrlĕ tăshmansenchen granitsăsene syhlaşşĕ	Our reknowned border guards protect the border day and night from various enemies.
anlă Atăl hăjĕn tulăh shyvne tinĕse vaskasa hăvalat	The Volga hurriedly drives its abundant waters to the sea.
pirĕn hăvatlă Sovet şarĕ fashistla Germanija şĕnterse tăkrĕ	Our valiant Soviet army scored the victory over Fascist Germany.

    The subject does not need to be expressed with any special word:
    

temĕn chuhlĕ vak vyljăh pulnă	There was such a number of small cattle.
şapla păhnă chuh suhaltan jană tytnă	When he was watching thus (at such a watched time‘) he pulled (him) by the beard.
untan vara şavsene pallama kĕrshnĕ	Thereupon he then hired himself out for the purpose of knowing them.

    In folktales especially, but also in the literary language, one will find instances in which the verb does not occupy absolute-final position, this being usurped for the nonce by some other word.
    

tepĕr kun kalleh kajăka jană kĕrüne	Another day he sent his son-in-law to hunt game.
epĕ ilse kĕrĕp attene	I‘ll go bring father in
şavah jaman arămĕ	Then his wife did not let him loose.

    In most instances, however, the customary order is as follows:
    

pĕrre amăshĕ shyva kajma hushnă	Once his mother sent him to to fetch water.
arămĕ tepĕr kaş şyvarmasăr syhlasa vyrtnă	His wife the next evening lay and watched without sleeping.
ulăm şine purttăne hună	He placed his axe on the hay.

    Compound sentences are constructed exactly like simple clauses or sentences: any subordinate clause clarifying or modifying the main clause, or a combination of words modifying any part of the sentence, comes before that main clause.
    

epĕ unăn kandidaturine tăratsan, puhu havassăn unshăn sasălarĕ	When I proposed his candidacy, the entire assembly readily voted for him
konferentsija hupănnă hyşşăn delegatsem rajonsene salanchĕş	After adjourning the conference, the delegates departed to their own regions.

    Certain word groups between junctures cannot be separated in Chuvash: these include substantives with their postpositions, or nouns juxtaposed in nominal groups (izafet).
    
    Words in Chuvash may be joined by coordination or by subordination. In the former case, the words need not depend on each other, and all identical parts of the sentence which have equal weight or are of the same type maybe connected by such coordinates as: tata, ta, te, anchah, şapah, je‚ te, etc.
    

epir numaj şĕnĕ zavodsem, fabriksem tăvatpăr	We are building many new factories and plants.
hulara ta, jalta ta, inşetri şurşĕrte te sujlava hatĕrlenetpĕr	We are preparing for the elections in the town, in the country, and in the far north.
văl pitĕ tărăsat, anchah ilemlĕ şyrajmast-ha	He tries very hard, but still cannot write nicely.

    In joining words by subordination, there is agreement, government and juxtaposition. Agreement in Chuvash is limited to verbs agreeing with their subjects in person and number (epĕ vĕrenetĕp - I study, epir vĕrenetpĕr - we study), as agreement of nouns or pronouns with the noun modified is found only in a few isolated expressions (esĕ şĕlĕkne attenne tăhănăn - you put on papa‘s hat, lit. “the hat, the papa one“). Appositives agree with the word modified in case and number, e.g.,
    

pirĕn, komsomoletssen, naukăna şavărsa ilmelleh	We Komsomols must master science. (Science must be mastered by us Komsomols)
epir, şamrăksem, naukăna şavărsa ilmelleh	We, youth, must master science.

    Government is when the subordinating word requires the subordinated word to be in some definite oblique case. Almost any word (verbs, participles, converbs, postpositions, nominals) may act as a governing word.
    

Ivanăn keneki	John‘s book
kĕneke vulichchen	until reading a book
şile hirĕş	against the wind

    Juxtaposition is that type of subordinate liaison in which the word so subordinated is immediately next to the subordinating word, forming a nominal group with it, and preceded and followed by some type of juncture. Almost any type of word may be juxtaposed to any other.
    

	hĕrlĕ jalav			red banner
	vişĕ pilĕkşullăh		three five year plans
	pĕtĕm halăh			the entire nation
	tumalli ĕş			work to be done
	vulama tytăntăm			I began reading, I set about  reading
	ăshă şantalăk			warm weather
	văjlă şil			strong wind
	vişĕ brigada			three teams
	Muskav uramĕ			a Moscow street
	vulakan kĕneke			a book which is being read
	jurlakansen sassi		singers‘ voices

    Quite a large number of such nominal groups employ the izafet relation, in which the modified noun is in the possessive form, thus denoting its particular connection with the preceding.
    

	kolhoz ujĕ			a kolkhoz field
	sujlav komissi			electoral commission
	pereket kassi			savings bank
	kolhoz pravlenijĕ		kolkhoz management
	şutĕş Ministerstvi		Ministry of Education
	vărman huşalăhĕ			forestry (‘forest economy‘)

    We have previously noted nominal groups composed of nouns without any suffix.
    

	şul şurt			stone house
	kĕmĕl sehet			a silver watch
	chugun şul			railroad (‘iron road‘)

    The genitive case suffix distinguishes some phrases from each other.
    

	lasha puşĕ			a horsehead
	ku lashan puşĕ			the head of this horse, this horse‘s head
	student ĕşĕ			student work, work performed by students
	ku studentĕn ĕşĕ		this student‘s work, the work of this student

    
    Use of Cases
    
    We shall briefly recapitulate here the chief uses of the Chuvash cases. The Nominative (Absolute) functions both as subject and as predicate nominative, as well as being an attribute to a following noun by forming a nominal group.
    

	Ivanov vĕrenet		Ivanov studies
	Ivanov student		Ivanov is a student
	chugun şul			railroad (iron road)

    The Genitive is used to express possession, regardless of whether a verb is present or not.
    

	Ivanăn avtomat-ruchka pur		John has a fountain pen.
	ku kĕneke Ivanăn			This book is John‘s.
	epĕ Petĕrĕn kĕnekine iltĕm, sanănne mar I took Peter‘s book, not yours
	Ivan kĕneki parta şincheh		John‘s book is on the desk

    The Dative-Accusative denotes direction, the indirect object and the direct object as well.
    

	brigadira premi pachĕş			They awarded a prize to the teamleader
	Ivan vĕrenme Instituta kĕnĕ		John began to study at the Institute
	Ivan kĕnekene vulat 			John reads the book
	Ivan kĕneke vulat			John reads books

    The Locative denotes the place where an action occurs.
    

	sanra shanchak pur	You can be depended on (there is hope in you)
	epĕ kolhozra ĕşlerĕm	I worked on the kolkhoz.

    The Ablative is widely used in the function of a comparative degree, and also is a case denoting the place from which movement takes place.
    

	uchitel achasenchen sochineni puştarchĕ
	The teacher collected the compositions from the students.

	direktor Muskavran tavrănă
	The director returned from Moscow
	
	Kazah SSR-ĕ Ukrainăran pysăk 
	The Kazakh SSR is larger than Ukrainia.

    The instrumental case arises from the postposition –palan/-pelen, now surviving as the ending -pa/-pe, and denotes the means or method.
    

	epĕ muzykăpa intereslenetĕp		I am interested in music
	esĕ kaşpa kil				Come in the evening
	Setner pyrat vărmanpa			Setner goes by way of the woods
	epĕ părahutpa kiltĕm			I arrived on the steamer

    
    Types of Subordinate Clauses
    
    Before taking tip he structure of compound and complex sentences, we shall briefly survey the chief types of subordinate clauses, as given by Dmitriyev and Gorskii.
    
    

Attributive:

	epir hulana kajakan avtobus kilchĕ
	the bus in which we were going to town arrived 
	(the us to town taking bus came‘).


Subject:

	epĕ shahmat kruzhokpe kĕni jultashsene pitĕ hĕpĕrtetterchĕ
	My joining the chess club greatly heartened the members.


Object:

	achasem ekskursije kajnine epĕ pĕletĕp
	I know the children went on the outing
	(I know the children a having gone on an outing).


Predicate:

	pirĕn tĕp zadacha - nauka nikĕsĕsene şavărsa ilessi 
	Our basic task is to master the fundamentals of science.



Adverbs 

of time:

	hĕvel ansan, epir ĕşĕ pĕtertĕmĕr
	When the sun went down, we finished work.

	konferentsi hupănnă hyşşăn delegatsem rajonsene salanchĕş
	After closing the conference, the delegates set out for their region.


Purpose:

	mĕn vĕrennine şirĕpletme epir kalaşu tusa irttertĕmĕr
	In order to confirm what had taken place, we conducted a talk.

Reason:

	şĕr nürlĕren tyrăsem chasah shătrĕş
	Since the ground was moist, the grain quickly sprouted.

	văhăt numaja kajnă pirki, purte salanchĕş
	In view of the fact that it was late, everyone went his way.

Manner:

	kolhozniksem, agrotehnikăna vĕrene-vĕrene, tyrpul tuhăshne numaj üsterchĕş
	The kolkhoz workers, studying agrotechnics, increased the crop yield considerably.

Condition:

	stahanovla ĕşlesen, epir srokchen plana tultaratpăr
	If we work in a Stakhanovits 	manner, we shall fulfill the plan ahead of schedule.

Concessive:

	autobus avan pyrsan ta, epir pojezda ĕlkĕres şuk
	Even if the bus runs all right, we won‘t make it to the train.	

    
    
    
    Types of Complex Sentences
    
    The Chuvash grammarians attempt to explain sentences with subordinate clauses mostly in terms of Russian grammar and syntax, and distinguish four types, of which the first represents essentially a Russian borrowing, as:
    

	kam ekskursije kajas tet, văl yran kiltĕr
	Whoever wishes to go on the outing is to come tomorrow 
	(who, saying to go on the trip, let him come tomorrow‘).

    Subordinate clauses may also be marked by such concluding words as tese, tesen, pulsan, pulsan ta, and pulin te. With the first of these, tese, lit. ‘saying‘, the 3rd p. imperative or the nomen futuri is usually used.
    

	şumăr tumtire an jĕpettĕr tese, storozh hăj şine nakidka tăhănna
	So that the ram would not wet his garments, the watchman put on a cloak. 
	(Saying, ‘let the ram not wet the clothes,‘ the watchman. ..)

	haşat-zhurnasene văhătra vulas tese, epir chital‘năna jalanah şüretpĕr
	In order to keep up with newspapers and magazines, visit the reading room regularly 
	(lit. ‘saying, ‘to read on time newspapers, we visit the reading room")

    The word tesen (lit. "when one says‘) may also be used with the obligatory noun in -malla to indicate purpose.
    

	haşat-zhurnalesene văhătra vulasa tăras tesen, jalanah chital‘năna şüremelle
	In order to keep abreast of newspapers and magazines, one must visit the reading
	room regularly.

    Instead of şüremelle, one may also find şüre ‘one will go,‘ or şüres pulat ‘there will be a going.‘
    The word pulsan (lit. ‘when it becomes, when it comes to pass that‘) is also used to mean “if“ and indicate the conditions under which something may be performed, and the subjunctive pulin te ("let it be that, although it be") is used for “although, even though, in spite of the fact that“ ideas.
    

	kĕrtemestĕn pulsan, văl văjpa kĕret
	If you don‘t let him in, he‘ll come in by force 
	(lit. ‘when your not letting him in comes to pass, he will enter with force‘).

	şĕr tĕttĕm pulin te, jal kurănat-ha
	Although the night is ("be!") dark, the village is visible.

    Sentences of consequence or result, using words like “because, owing to, on account of,“ employ the Chuvash w6rds mĕnshĕn tensen (‘when one says for what‘ = because), şavănpa or şavănpa vara (since by this, by virtue of this‘).
    

	chul shyvra putat, mĕnshĕn tensen văl shyvran jyvăr 
	A stone sinks in water because it is heavier than water 
	(a stone sinks in water; if we say for what reason, it is heavy from water).

	pirĕn patra shartlama sivĕsem pulchĕş. şavănpa vara vyrănĕ-vyrănĕpe ulmuşşisem hărchĕş
	We had heavy frosts, for the appletrees were destroyed by frost in places.

    Some sentences are composed of clauses which may also be used independently, thus, note the first clauses of these sentences.
    

	kam ĕşlemest, văl şimest 
	Who doesn‘t work, doesn‘t eat.

	chul shyvra putat, mĕnshĕn tesen văl shyvran jyvăr	
	A stone sinks in water because it is heavier than water.

	zanjatisem pĕtne hyşşănah, achasem vyljama puşlarĕş
	As soon as classes let out, the children began to play.

    However, in the following sentence, the first words cannot be used independently.
    

	hĕvel tuhichcheneh, brigada ĕşe tytănchĕ	
	Before the sun got up, the team set out to work.

    In speech, there are junctural features sometimes setting off clauses, often corresponding to marks of punctuation.
    

	epĕ, pichche Instituta vĕrenme kĕnĕrenpe, ăna pĕrre te kurman-ha
	After my elder brother began to study at the Institute, I never saw him again.

But:

	pichche Instituta vĕrenme kĕnĕrenpe epĕ ăna pĕrre te kurman-ha

    does not contain punctuation.