Copula

The copula forms

Fou Tong copula retains most of the flection of Proto-Germanic thanks to the suppletive forms. It is also the only verb in Fou Tong that with an acquired SVO order (for 3 out of 4 forms). The forms are:

xing [ɕiŋ] - Present Nominal
er [ɐɻ] - Present Pronominal
wa [u̯ɑ] - Past
bi [pi] - Future

Present Nominal: xing

This is the basic form that still follows the SVO word order. It is used as copula whenever the subject is not a pronoun.

An chang hong an seng dūi xing.
a CL."string" dog a CL."seed" animal COP
A dog is an animal.

Pīnxíu an yōu mǎi xing.
Brunhilda a CL."woman" girl COP
Brunhilda is a girl.

Tui rán à xing.
train station at COP
The thain is at the station.

Present Pronominal: er

As copula

The copula er is used whenever the subject is a pronoun. It is the placed right after the subject-pronoun, which takes the Direct Case - see more at Pronouns (upcoming).

Ye er an lü man.
1S.DR COP.PNML a CL."people" human
I am a human.

Zu er an lü chǔ.
2S.DR COP.PNML a CL."people" artist
You are an artist.

Se er an an yōu mǎi.
3SF.DR COP.PNML a CL."woman" girl
She is a girl.

As existential markers

When the subject is the Impersonal Pronoun e, the copula indicates existence:

E er fō xiong seng hong.
it COP.PNML four hundred CL."seed" dog.
There are four hundred dog breeds.

Note: although the pronoun e is being written, due to Erhua the construction e er is indistinguishable in pronunciation from just er: both [ɐɻ].

As possession marker

If the copula er follows a noun or a pronoun in Oblique Case, it indicates an inalienable possession - see more at Possession (upcoming).

Wen er que mǐng yǔ.
1P.OB COP.PNML two CL."mouth" baby
We have two babies.

Káo er an yōu suǐ.
boy COP.PNML a CL."woman" sister
The boy has a sister.

Xīpéi er an yōu suǐ.
Siegfrid COP.PNML a CL."woman" sister
Siegfrid has a sister.

Heng er an yōu suǐ.
3SM.OB COP.PNML a CL."woman" sister
He has a sister.

Huang er qǐng mǐng?
who.OB COP.PNML child CL."mouth"
Who has children?

Same construction with certain adjectives may indicates feeling and emotions:

Mi er káo.
1S.OB COP.PNML cold
I feel cold/I freeze.

Past and Future Copulas: wa and bi

As copulas
Past and future copulas always follow the subject.

Ówai wa an sen pāi.
Odoacer COP.PST a CL."title" prince.
Odoacer was a prince.

Káo bi an man yī.
Boy COP.FUT a CL."human" male.
The boy will become a man.

Jiu wa hè.
2P.OB COP.PST hot
You (all) felt hot.

As existential markers
Same rules as for er apply:

E wa an ǎn yīng long.
it COP.PST a CL."season" winter long
There has been a long winter.

E bi an miāo dūi nü.
it COP.FUT a CL."instance" day new.
There will be a new day.

As tense markers

The copulas bi and wa are used as Past resp. Future Tense makers. They follow the subject, while the actual verb comes at the end.

Ye wa zi seng qiu le.
1S.DR COP.PST DEM CL."seed" game play
I played this (kind of) game.

Zi hù kun bi chǒu.
DEM CL."house"family COP.FUT prosper
This family will prosper.

As possession markers

With pronouns

Same as with er , the copulas wa and bi placed under pronouns in Oblique Case indicate inalienable possession and feelings:

Er bi an mǐng qǐng.
3SF.OB COP.FUT a CL."mouth" child.OB
She will have a child

Mi wa/bi gú.
1S.OB COP.PST good.
I felt good.

With nouns

With nouns for humans

If subject is a human or perceived as human, then a pronoun in Oblique Case, agreeing in Gender and Number is, added between the subject and the copula.

An man yī heng wa an hūi dūi gú.
a CL."human" male COP.PST a CL."while" day good.
He had a good day.

Ǎmó er bi xiāo.
Almuth 3SF.OB be.FUT lucky
Almuth will have luck.

Note: although er for "is" and er for "her" coincide in transliteration, the logograms for them differ.

With hon-human nouns

If the possessor is non-human, its classifier/measure word is inserted between it and the copula - see more at Classifiers (upcoming):

Zi sí lai sí er wǎn káo.
DEM CL."slice" lake CL."slice" COP.PNML water.OB cold
This lake has cold water/The water in this lake is cold

Reduplication

The primary of copular reduplication is intensification:

Zi man yōu min yōu niào xing xing.
DEM CL."human" male my CL."male" nephew COP.REDUP
This man is indeed my nephew.

Mi er er an yōu niào.
1S.OB COP.PNML.REDUP a CL."male" nephew.
I do have a nephew.

Xíugāi wa wa an cao bo bú.
Hildegard COP.PST.REDUP a CL."stalk" book buy.
Hildegard did buy a book.

E bi bi an pǎ cōng.
it COP.FUT.REDUP a CL."flat" storm
There's really going to be a storm.