participieli

Participieli is a linguistic term used in typology and conlang literature to describe a class of participial constructions that foreground the involvement of participants in events. The term blends participial with a coined suffix -eli, introduced in mid-2010s discussions to label these non-finite forms.

Overview: In languages with participieli, a participial verb bears a marker that encodes a participant’s role—commonly agent or beneficiary—within the non-finite clause. The marker may be an affix on the participle, a postposed particle, or an accompanying noun phrase. Participieli often co-occur with other non-finite structures and can influence argument structure and agreement in the main clause.

Examples: In a hypothetical language, the form read-eli manuscript could convey “having read the manuscript,” with the agent foregrounded. A second pattern might mark the agent differently to signal emphasis on who performed the action.

History and reception: The concept was proposed in the 2010s and remains a niche label used mainly in typology and conlang grammars rather than in mainstream description.

See also: participle, participial clause, grammatical mood.