September 2015 Sketch
Phonology
| Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop/Flap | p pː | t tː d~ɾ dː r | k kː ɣ~g ɣː~gː | ||
| Affricate | ts tʃ t̠ɕ̠~c̟ç̟ | ||||
| Nasal | m mː | n nː | ŋ ŋː | ||
| Fricative | f fː | θ s sː ʃ ʃː ɕ̠~ç̟ ɕ̠ː~ç̟ː | h p | ||
| Approximant | w~ʋ | l lː | j i ɹ | ||
| Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop/Flap | p pp | t tt d dd rr | c cg g gg | ||
| Affricate | ts tj tsh | ||||
| Nasal | m mm | n nn | nh/hn nhn | ||
| Fricative | f ff | th s ss j sj sh sjh | h pp | ||
| Approximant | w | l ll | y i r | ||
- The exact pronunciation of geminate stops is variable: /Cː/, /ʔC(ː)/, and /C̚C/ are all acceptable.
- /ɹ/ is geminated to /r/.
- /p t f θ s ʃ/ are consistently voiced between vowels (V_V) to [b d v ð z ʒ].
- All consonants when adjacent assimilate in voicing following the first consonant of the cluster.
- /m n ŋ/ when the coda of an onsetless unstressed syllable often become [m̩ n̩ ŋ̍], with the elision of the vowel in that syllable.
- Final devoicing when at the end of a phrase, or when the following word begins with a voiceless consonant.
| Front | Center | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High~Mid | i iː | ɯ~u ɯː~uː | |
| Mid~Low | ɛ̝ ɛ̝ː | ɐ̞ ɐ̞ː | o̞ o̞ː |
| Front | Center | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High~Mid | i ii | u uu | |
| Mid~Low | e ee | a aa | o ou/oo |
- /t/ consistently becomes [t͡s] before [u].
- Long vowels become short before geminate consonants.
- /o̞/ often becomes /ə/ in non-final unstressed positions.
- /u/ is often devoiced between voiceless consonants, even across word boundaries.
Syllable Structure
Syllable structure is a basic (C)(y,w)V(T), where:
- C: any consonant except ‹y w› Geminate consonants may not appear word-initially.
- V: any vowel.
- T: any consonant except geminate consonants. The most common are nasals.
- Very rarely, as a result of lost wholly prenasalized consonants,
and may appear.
- Very rarely, as a result of lost wholly prenasalized consonants,
Stress and Isochrony
- Stress-timed. Stressed syllables are longer than unstressed syllables.
- Unstressed syllables are shorter than stressed syllables with short vowels, are shorter than syllables with long vowels; syllables with long vowels are always stressed.
- If the vowel length has been lost due to a following geminate consonant, the syllable remains stressed.
- Often, when there are no neighbouring long-voweled syllables to a short-voweled stressed syllable, the short vowel will be lengthened.
- Unstressed syllables are shorter than stressed syllables with short vowels, are shorter than syllables with long vowels; syllables with long vowels are always stressed.
- Unstressed syllables following a stressed syllable tend to have the same pitch.
- Stressed syllables bear the common prosodic changes:
- Pitch prominence, increased length, increased volume
Additional prosodic rules will be denoted later along with their relavent phenomena, but for the most part they're going to follow English for now, until I can come up with something better/different.
Basic Grammar and Syntax
The default word order is SOV; the language is usually head-final, with a large amount of suffixal case marking and derivation, generally in an aglutinative manner. In the case of possession and genetives, the head-final order is required, as the genetive case is a core case, and thus another core case cannot be added.
Verb classes
| Class | npst | pst | rel | ger |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -u | -To | -o | -so |
| 2 | -u | -Ta | -a | -so |
| 3 | -i | -tto | -i | -iso |
| 4 | -∅ | -Ta | -Ta | -aso |
Grammar Testing Bed
Lam ta nou nei ni cinun seët e oppaa coma se iyetto.
lam {} ta {} no -o {} nei {} ni {} cin -un {} se -et {} e {} oh -ha -a {} com -a {} se {} i- ye -tto
man {} 2S[NOM] {} know -REL {} girl[NOM] {} she[NOM] {} book -ACC {} 3S.M -LAT {} 1S[NOM] {} see -REL -ADVR {} give -REL {} he[NOM] {} VEN- go -PST
lam {} ta {} noː {} {} nɛ̝ː {} ni {} kinun {} {} sɛ̝ːt {} {} ɛ̝ {} opːaː {} {} {} coma {} {} sɛ̝ {} ijɛ̝tːo {} {}
The man I saw the girl you know give the book to came.The man You know the girl She the book to him I saw give He came
Ni soudso pei.
ni {} soud -so {} pe -e
sun[NOM] {} illuminate -GER {} be -NPST
ni {} soːdzo {} {} pɛ̝ː {}
The sun shines. (*gnomic*)
Ni soudu.
ni {} soud -u
sun[NOM] {} illuminate -NPST
ni {} soːɾu {}
The sun is shining.
Ni souddo.
ni {} soud -do
sun[NOM] {} illuminate -PST
ni {} sodːo {}
The sun shone.
Ni osoudu.
ni {} o- soud -u
sun[NOM] {} PERF.PROG- illuminate -NPST
ni {} osoːɾu {} {}
The sun has been shining.
Ni offushi soudu.
ni {} offu -shi {} soud -u
sun[NOM] {} new -GEN {} illuminate -NPST
ni {} ofːuʑ̠u {} {} soːɾu {}
The sun is shining again.
Ni moushi soudu.
ni {} mou -shi {} soud -u.
sun[NOM] {} morning -GEN {} illuminate -NPST
The sun will shine tomorrow.
Ni cyeu soudu.
ni {} cye -u {} soud -u
sun[NOM] {} bright -NPST {} illuminate -NPST
The sun shines brightly.
Cye ni soudu.
cye {} ni {} soud -u
bright[NOM] {} sun[NOM] {} illuminate -NPST
The bright sun shines.
Ni oporet mehnu iyei.
ni {} opor -et {} mehn -u {} i- ye -e
sun[NOM] {} horizon -LAT {} now -NPST {} VEN- go -NPST
The sun is rising now.
Anmi polla.
an -mi {} pol-la
person[NOM] -COLL {} shout -PST
All the people shouted.
Anmi tog polla.
an -mi {} tog {} pol -la
person[NOM] -COLL {} some[NOM] {} shout -PST
Some of the people shouted.
Anmi togme polla pitecga.
an -mi {} tog -me {} pol -la {} pi- tec -ca
person[NOM] -COLL {} some[NOM] -PL {} shout -PST {} two- TEMP -PST
Many of the people shouted twice.
Shwi anme polso motsocu pei.
shwi {} an -me {} pol- so {} motsoc -u {} pe -e
happy[NOM] {} person[NOM] -PL {} shout -GER {} often -NPST {} be -NPST
Happy people often shout.
Cathin ollo halla.
cath -in {} oll -o {} hal -la
cat[NOM] -DIM {} up -PST {} jump -PST
The kitten jumped up.
Cathin messollet halla.
cath -in {} mess -oll -et {} hal -la
cat[NOM] -DIM {} table -SUP -LAT {} jump -PST
The kitten jumped onto the table.
Haol micathin hinhna weiddo.
haol {} mi- cath -in {} hihn -nha {} weid -do
little[NOM] {} 1S- cat[NOM] -DIM {} away -PST {} walk -PST
My little kitten walked away.
Haataru.
haatar -u
rain -NPST
It's raining.
Gein jaarro.
gein {} jaar -ro
rain[NOM] {} come_down -PST
The rain came down.
Cathin geinac loudu.
cath -in {} gein -ac {} loud -u
cat[NOM] -DIM {} rain -SUB {} play -NPST
The kitten is playing in the rain.
Haatarra temmo.
haatar -ra {} tem -mo
rain -PST {} end -PST
The rain has stopped.
Cottecu haataru temu.
cot -tec -u {} haatar -u {} tem -u
short -TEMP -NPST {} rain -NPST {} end -NPST
Soon, the rain will stop.
E akattu cottecu haataru temu.
e {} akatt -u {} cot -tec -u {} haatar -u {} tem -u
1S[NOM] {} hope [NPST] {} short -TEMP -NPST {} rain -NPST {} end -NPST
I hope the rain stops soon.
Hattecga, yejeni aleime hoc saanna.
hat -tec -ca {} yejeni {} alei -me {} hoc {} saan -na
one -TEMP -PST {} wild[NOM] {} animal[NOM] -PL {} here {} live -PST
Once, wild animals lived here.
A hihnte!
a {} hihn -te
ADHORT {} away -IMP
Go away!
A no yete!
a {} no {} ye -te
ADHORT {} COHORT {} go -IMP
Let's go!
Ta a yetsoute.
ta {} a {} ye -tsou -te
2S {} ADHORT {} go -SBJV -IMP
You should go.
Yenin eun cweinu maacu.
ye -nin {} e -un {} cwein -u {} maac -u
go[NOM] -SUPINE {} 1S -ACC {} please -NPST {} make -NPST
I will be happy to go.
Cottecu se iyeihn
cot -tec -u {} se {} i- ye -e -hn
short -TEMP -NPST {} 3S.M[NOM] {} VEN- go -NPST -PFV
He will arrive soon.
Peinin seranna hinhna roonna.
peinin {} se- ranna {} hihn -nha {} roon -na
baby[NOM] {} 3S- ball[NOM] {} away -PST {} roll -PST
The baby's ball has rolled away.
Pi yotne hatessi maacu
pi {} yot -me {} hat -essi {} maac -u
two[NOM] {} boy[NOM] -PL {} one -ESS {} work -NPST
The two boys are working together.
Se paffan ruudafstiu cyeu maacu.
se {} paffan {} ruudafsti -u {} cye -u {} maac -u
3S.PROX[NOM] {} mist[NOM] {} probable -NPST {} clear -NPST {} become -NPST
This mist will probably clear away.
Harra ootjim lainihn gyannu.
harra {} ootji -m {} lain -ihn {} gyann -u
beautiful[NOM] {} flower[NOM] -PL {} everywhere -ADE {} grow -NPST
Lovely flowers are growing everywhere.
Me essoun laahnetsou.
me {} es -so -un {} laahne -tsou
1PL[NOM] {} eat -GER -ACC {} slow -SBJV
We should eat more slowly.
Ta masper iyeihn
ta {} mas -per {} i- ye -e -hn
2S[NOM] {} early -too {} VEN- go -NPST -PFV
You have come too soon.
Ta cyoysoun gyaantsou.
ta {} cyoy -so -un {} gyaan -tsou
2S[NOM] {} write -GER -ACC {} tidy -SBJV
You must write more neatly.
Gyaanun wethasun harra palas tshaadu.
gyaan -un {} wethas -un {} harra {} palas {} tshaad -u
directly -ACC {} opposite -ACC {} lovely {} palace {} stand -NPST
Directly opposite stands a wonderful palace.
Henni second
Henry's dog is lost.
My cat is black.