íkáme

íkáme is a term used in linguistic thought experiments and discussions of constructed languages to denote a hypothetical verb form that encodes multiple layers of meaning within a single verbal unit. In this imagined construction, ikáme would combine the inclusive first-person plural with a stance on the source of the information—such as direct quotation, hearsay, or inference—into one morphosyntactic package. The term is a neologism created in part to evoke the Czech verb form říkáme (we say), while signaling a different functional role in a theoretical grammar. It is not attested in any natural language.

In proposed descriptions, ikáme would attach to a verb stem as an affix or clitic. The form would mark the speaker group (we, possibly including or excluding the listener) and indicate how the information was obtained, all within one morphologically bound element. Because it is hypothetical, the exact set of affixes, allomorphs, and their ordering varies by author or by constructed-language project. The concept serves primarily as an illustrative tool rather than a documented grammatical category.

Usage and status: ikáme is used mainly as an educational device to discuss how languages encode person, number, mood, and evidentiality. It appears in textbooks, typology discussions, and online forums as a way to compare different strategies for packing grammatical information into verb forms. There is no canonical grammar for ikáme, since it remains a hypothetical or fictional construct rather than a feature of a real language.

See also: morphosyntax, evidentiality, inclusive we, constructed language, verb affix.