topicalized ergative is a pronoun (independent, demonstrative, interrogative or relative). Proper nouns are never placed first in the sentence, except in a vocative sense. Any absolutive noun may be topicalized as well with the following changes: temporal marker + /t/ and verb + /da/. (Dunn has shown that the affixed particles on the temporal marker and the verb are falling out of use among the younger generation. It now is quite "formal" to use either in speech.) Verb phrase The basic verb phrase in Tsimshian is ordered: TEMPORAL MARKER, verb. However, many of the noun phrases in the sentence can be represented on both the verb and/or the temporal marker as pre-, in- or suffixes. There are five temporal markers which can combine to form various tenses or aspects. /nah/: (perfective) /nah dzap/ "already made" /dm/: (future/progressive) /dm dzap/ "will make", "is going to make", "is making" /ɫa/: (near to present) /ɫa dzap/ "just beginning to make" /wil/: (sequentially following) /wil dzap/ "and then made" /yagwa/: (present-only with action verbs) /yagwa dzap/ "be making right now," "is now making" Some combined temporal expressions: /ɫa-dm dzap/: "just about to start making" /nah ɫa-wil dzap/ "and then just finished making" /dm ɫa-wil dzap/ "and now just about to start making" Noun phrase The basic noun phrase is ordered as: NUMERICAL MARKER, adjective, noun, determinater, possessive. A numerical marker and a determiner cannot appear in the same phrase together. Numbers Similar to classifiers in other languages, there are seven different counting systems depending on what is being counted. Abstract entities, flat objects and animals, round objects and units of time, human beings, long objects, canoes and lastly, measurements, all must be counted differently. The numeral gets an /-a/ connective if it ends in a stop, affricate or fricative. /gu'pl uwalp/ "two houses" /t'apxaada guksɫüüsk/ "two shirts" /t'apxaaduul hana'nax/ "two women" /guladaada hana'nax/ "two women aboard (some conveyance)" /g̲abeeltk g̲axsoo/ "two canoes" Adjectives Like numerals, adjectives appear before the noun they modify. They take an /-m/ connective as well as match the noun in number (singular or plural). If both a numeral and an adjective appear together, the numeral always precedes the adjective. /siipgm haasa/ "a sick dog" /txalpxdool al'alg̲m smgyigyet/ "four angry chiefs" Determiners Determiners follow the noun they modify and the noun gets a connective /-a/ suffix. There are six determinative words: /gwa'a/ "here, close to speaker" /gwasga/ "over there, that way"