User:Ponzai/Sast

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Revision as of 10:24, 7 March 2015 by Ponzai (talk | contribs) (started on table of consonant clusters)
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A language created for personal practice and potential inclusion in the Conglomera project.

Background

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants
Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t̪ d̪ t d k g ʔ
Fricative f v θ ð s ç1 ʝ ɧ2 h
Lateral fri. ɬ
Flap or tap ɾ

1. Is in some dialects replaced with the voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant /ʃ/
2. Is in some dialects replaced with the normal velar fricative /x/.

Vowels

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i ɤ
Open-mid ɔ
Near-open
Open a

The proto-language contains no diphthongs, though several derived languages do.

Phonotactics

Syllabic Structure

C=Consonant
V=Vowel
F=Fricative
P=Plosive
There are three types of syllables in Sast: precursory, subsequent and amalgam. Generally speaking, precursory and subsequent syllables come in pairs, whereas amalgam syllables come on their own. Note how the amalgam syllable is very similar to a precursory-subsequent syllable pair.

  • Precursory: (F)CV
  • Subsequent: -V((F)P)
  • Amalgam: (F)CV((F)P)

Consonant clusters

Certain consonant clusters never occur, due to their difficulty in pronounciation. Others are rare, but still do occur.

Consonant clusters
Consonants p b tt dd t d k g - f v tz th s ss z sj h l w r


Orthography

Orthography
IPA Romanized
p P p
b B b
Tt tt
Dd dd
t T t
d D d
k K k
g G g
ʔ - (Hyphen)
f F f
v V v
θ Tz tz
ð Th th
s S s
ç Ss ss
ʝ Z z
ɧ Sj sj
h H h
ɬ L l
W w
ɾ R r
i I i
ɤ U u
ɔ O o
E e
a A a


Parts of speech

Nouns

Gender

Sast nouns belong to one of four genders:

  • Inanimate - Objects that seem to contain no form of life, like stone.
  • Feminine - Animate objects that seem feminine in nature, such as women, or doors.
  • Masculine - Animate objects that seem masculine in nature, such as men, or lighthouses.
  • Spiritual - Both objects that seem to be supernatural in nature and abstract nouns belong to this gender. Examples being love, fire, or deities.

Nouns inflect differently based on gender, and verbs inflect for the gender of the subject.

Case

Sast nouns are written differently in two cases.

  • Nominative
  • Accusative

Subjects are written in nominative form, whereas both accusative and dative objects are written in accusative form. The case of a noun affects its suffix in most cases.
Generally, the accusative contains fricatives, while the nominative does not. This is however not always the case.

Number

Noun suffixes
Gender↓ Case
Nominative Accusative
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Inanimate - -ad -at -a -ab -ap
Feminine -u -udd -usjk -usst -ussd -ilk
Masculine -usk -usg -isk -isg
Spiritual -e -eg -ef -efg

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns
Case Gender 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Subject Inanimate N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Tte Di Ddi
Feminine Ssa Zki Sku Za-a Du-i Di-i Vzo-i Tzssi Tatt
Masculine
Spiritual
Object Inanimate
Feminine
Masculine
Spiritual

Interogative and relative pronouns

Indefinite pronouns

Verbs

Adjectives

Adverbs Particles Derivational morphology


Syntax

Sast is an SOV language, meaning the subject is followed by the object, and last comes the verb.

  • Example: I am following him -> I him following

Adverbials are always added after the word that they are modifying.

  • Example: I am following him with courage -> I him following with courage.

Sentential arguments are formed using a relative suffix on the verb of the primary clause.

  • Example: I thought-that

Relative clauses are formed using a relative suffix on the subject of the clause.

  • Example: I am following him with courage in my heart -> I him following with courage-which is in my heart.

Subordinate clauses

Adverbials
Sentential arguments
Relative clauses