Wistanian: Difference between revisions

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Wistanian follows a fairly rigid syntax and tight grammar for a number of historical reasons. Firstly, due to its pidginization with the Nati language, Taliv lost most of its irregularities and exceptions. Secondly, as the Katapu began to teach Wistanian, they had spread false information to "make more sense" of the language, which resulted in further simplification that was later adopted as standard. In Wistanian's infancy, it was almost engineered to be as efficient as possible. However, learners were still able to incorporate features from their native language into Wistanian, providing it with several of its current syntactical quirks (e.g., imperative word order was introduced by the Taliv learners).  
Wistanian follows a fairly rigid syntax and tight grammar for a number of historical reasons. Firstly, due to its pidginization with the Nati language, Taliv lost most of its irregularities and exceptions. Secondly, as the Katapu began to teach Wistanian, they had spread false information to "make more sense" of the language, which resulted in further simplification that was later adopted as standard. In Wistanian's infancy, it was almost engineered to be as efficient as possible. However, learners were still able to incorporate features from their native language into Wistanian, providing it with several of its current syntactical quirks (e.g., imperative word order was introduced by the Taliv learners).  
===Lexical Categories===
Wistanian has five traditional lexical categories (parts of speech): the noun ('''davagg'''), the verb ('''anai'''), the modifier ('''yigbizaun'''), the particle ('''mauvaldul'''), and the honorofics ('''jili''').
{| class="wikitable"
! style="text-align: center;" | Nouns
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | davagg
| Any word that takes on nominal morphology and can act as a subject or object the verb.
|-
! style="text-align: center;" | Verbs
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | anai
| Any word that takes on verbal morphology.
|-
! style="text-align: center;" | Modifiers
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | yigbizaun
| Any word that describes or specifies another word.
|-
! style="text-align: center;" | Particles
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | mauvaldul
| Any word that has a grammatical role and cannot take on any additional morphemes.
|-
! style="text-align: center;" | Honorifics
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | jili
| A polite title used with many proper nouns.
|}
Some scholars argue that there are more parts of speech. For example,'''wi''' and '''igza''' are arguably more semantically fit to be postpositions. However, they are treated like modifiers morphologically, and therefore labeled as such. Relativizers '''va''', '''na''', '''ggaun''', and '''ddal''' could possibly constitute their own part of speech since they do act slightly differently than most particles and carry both a semantic and grammatical meaning.
Nouns include colors, numbers, and possessive pronouns, therefore they are never treated as modifiers. In order to use them to modify a noun, one must use the relativizer particle '''va'''.
'''alalyi dari va din.'''
alali-i  dari '''va din'''.
run  -TEL boy  '''COP.REL three'''.
"The three boys ran (to something)."


===Word Order===
===Word Order===
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===Nouns===
===Nouns===


Wistanian nouns come in three classes: proper, improper, and pronouns. Proper nouns refer to names of people or places ("Wistania", "Alija"), while improper nouns refer to generic terms (e.g., "country", "man"), and pronouns refer to substitute words for other nouns and noun phrases. Proper nouns are never inflected, however, improper nouns can be inflected for number and position, be compounded, or undergo derivational morphology to become a verb or modifier. Pronouns can take on more inflections than improper nouns.
Wistanian nouns come in three classes: proper, improper, and pronouns. Proper nouns refer to names of people or places ("Wistania", "Alija"), while improper nouns refer to generic terms (e.g., "country", "man"), and pronouns refer to substitute words for other nouns and noun phrases. Proper nouns are never inflected, however, improper nouns can be inflected for the plural number, be compounded, or undergo derivational morphology to become a verb or modifier. Pronouns can take on more inflections than improper nouns.


====Number====
====Number====
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Wistanian has three grammatical numbers: singular, paucal, and plural. Proper nouns do not inflect for number at all, improper nouns only distinguish between paucal and plural, while pronouns only distinguish singular and plural. This unique distinction arose as a result of Middle Taliv, which had a singular/paucal/plural distinction, then merged the paucal and singular before it transitioned to New Taliv. The pronouns, however, maintained the singular/paucal/plural distinction, then later lost the paucal, resulting in a singular/plural distinction in pronouns.
Wistanian has three grammatical numbers: singular, paucal, and plural. Proper nouns do not inflect for number at all, improper nouns only distinguish between paucal and plural, while pronouns only distinguish singular and plural. This unique distinction arose as a result of Middle Taliv, which had a singular/paucal/plural distinction, then merged the paucal and singular before it transitioned to New Taliv. The pronouns, however, maintained the singular/paucal/plural distinction, then later lost the paucal, resulting in a singular/plural distinction in pronouns.


All [[w: Count_noun|count nouns]] can be declined into the plural number with the suffix '''''-(a)n'''''. For improper nouns, they are not conjugated as plural if a) there is only one or a few of a thing, or b) it is modified with a number.  
All [[w: Count_noun|count nouns]] can be declined into the plural number with the suffix '''-(a)n'''. For improper nouns, they are not conjugated as plural if a) there is only one or a few of a thing, or b) it is modified with a number phrase.  


====Pronouns====
====Pronouns====
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* '''Nominative''' (<code>NOM</code>) Used as the subject of the sentence.
* '''Nominative''' (<code>NOM</code>) Used as the subject of the sentence.
* '''Accusative''' (<code>ACC</code>) Used as the object of the sentence.
* '''Accusative''' (<code>ACC</code>) Used as the object of the sentence.
* '''Possessive''' (<code>POSS</code>) Used for possession, as an alternative to using the ablative.
* '''Possessive''' (<code>POSS</code>) Used for possession.
* '''Adpositional''' (<code>ADP</code>) Used for pronouns conjugated for location.
* '''Adpositional''' (<code>ADP</code>) Used for pronouns conjugated for location.


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===Modifiers===
===Modifiers===


Modifiers immediately follow their head, except for colors, numbers, and possessives. Morphologically, there is no difference between an adjective and an adverb, since they rely on word order. Modifier phrases can be expressed either at the beginning or end of a sentence or after the verb, if it modifies it. Locative nouns, which are syntactically treated as modifiers, usually prefer after the verb. Temporal phrases prefer the beginning of the sentence.  
Modifiers immediately follow their head. Morphologically, there is no difference between an adjective and an adverb, since they rely on word order. Modifier phrases can be expressed either at the beginning or end of a sentence or after the verb, if it modifies it. Temporal phrases prefer the beginning of the sentence.  


====Negation====
====Negation====


Nouns, verbs, and modifiers can be [[w: Affirmation_and_negation|negated]] using the prefix '''''bau(n)-'''''.
Nouns, verbs, and modifiers can be [[w: Affirmation_and_negation|negated]] using the prefix '''''bau(n)-'''''.
'''baudaiziya yau.'''
'''bau-'''daizi-iya yau.
'''NEG-'''sing -STA 1S.NOM.
"I do not sing."
'''haaggiya bauzaun aa audi va zi.'''
haaggi-iya '''bau-'''zaun  aa  audi        va  zi.
insult-STA '''NEG-'''person ACC grandfather COP 3Sa.POSS.
"No one insults their grandfather."
'''luj id na baubi.'''
luj  id  na  '''bau-'''bi.
boat PROX POSS '''NEG-'''good.
"This boat is not good."


===Particles===
===Particles===
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The conditional mood (<code>COND</code>) is used to form "if" clauses, such as "if she sings" and "if we go", etc. This is homonymous with the question particle, and they are often considered the same word. The verb head of the conditional particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood.
The conditional mood (<code>COND</code>) is used to form "if" clauses, such as "if she sings" and "if we go", etc. This is homonymous with the question particle, and they are often considered the same word. The verb head of the conditional particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood.


  '''''a murwij ya, junaij dimddal lu dau.'''''
  '''''a murwij ya, junaij lu ddal dim dau.'''''
  '''a'''    muru-i  -j  yau,    juna-i  -j  dim -ddal lu    dau.
  '''a'''    muru-i  -j  yau,    juna-i  -j  lu    ddal dim  dau.
  '''COND''' die -TEL-IRR 1S.NOM, bury-TEL-IRR hill-INE  2S.NOM 1S.ACC  
  '''COND''' die -TEL-IRR 1S.NOM, bury-TEL-IRR 2S.NOM LOC  hill 1S.ACC.
  "If I die, you will bury me on the hill."
  "If I die, you will bury me on the hill."


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  '''''yaj iliya yau aa maliya.'''''
  '''''yaj iliya yau aa maliya.'''''
  '''yaj''' ilu-iya  yau    aa  maliya.
  '''yaj''' ilu-iya  yau    aa  maliya.
  '''CAP''' see-STA 1S.NOM ACC mountain.
  '''CAP''' see-STA 1S.NOM ACC mountain.
  "I can see the mountains."
  "I can see the mountains."


The hypothetical mood (<code>HYP</code>) denotes an action that could occur but doesn't, such as "I could go" or even "I could have gone". The verb head of a hypothetical particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood.
The hypothetical mood (<code>HYP</code>) denotes an action that could occur but doesn't, such as "I could go" or even "I could have gone". The verb head of a hypothetical particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood.


  '''''zaggu umaadaij yi luj, a hiyaj yaad vaddal.'''''
  '''''zaggu umaadaij yi luj, a hiyaj yaadd vaddal.'''''
  '''zaggu''' umaada-i  '''-j'''  yi      luj,  a    hi  -iya-j  yaadd va    -ddal
  '''zaggu''' umaada-i  '''-j'''  yi      luj,  a    hi  -iya-j  yaadd ddal.
  '''HYP'''  sink  -TEL'''-IRR''' 1S.POSS boat,  COND exist-STA-IRR hole  3Si.ADP-INE
  '''HYP'''  sink  -TEL'''-IRR''' 1S.POSS boat,  COND exist-STA-IRR hole  LOC.
  "My boat could sink if there is a hole in it."  
  "My boat could sink if there is a hole in it."  


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  "Soon, the rain should fall because the clouds are gray."
  "Soon, the rain should fall because the clouds are gray."


The epistemic mood (<code>EPIS</code>) denotes an action or state that might have happened, however, the speaker is unsure due to lack of evidence. It can also be used as a weaker hypothetical marker. Verb heads of the epistemic particle must be in the irrealis mood. This mood marker also accompanies "I think" sentences which are typically constructed as "I think this. I may have a hammer with me."
The epistemic mood (<code>EPIS</code>) denotes an action or state that might have happened, however, the speaker is unsure due to lack of evidence. It can also be used as a weaker hypothetical marker. Verb heads of the epistemic particle must be in the irrealis mood. This mood marker also accompanies "I think" sentences which are typically constructed as "I think this. I may have a hammer."


  '''''garya yau vai. ibiz auwiniyaj yanuz guddi.'''''
  '''''garya yau vai. ibiz auwiniyaj yanuz guddi.'''''
  gari -a    yau    vai.    '''ibiz''' auwina -iya'''-j'''  ya    -nuz guddi.
  gari -a    yau    vai.    '''ibiz''' auwina -iya'''-j'''  guddi.
  think-ATEL 1S.NOM 3Si.ACC. '''EPIS''' possess-STA'''-IRR''' 1S.ADP-ADE hammer.
  think-ATEL 1S.NOM 3Si.ACC. '''EPIS''' possess-STA'''-IRR''' hammer.
  "I think I have a hammer with me."
  "I think I have a hammer."


====Relativizer Particles====
====Relativizer Particles====
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  "Do you want water or juice?"
  "Do you want water or juice?"


This alternative coordinating particle is also used to answer multiple choice question.
This alternative coordinating particle is also used to answer a multiple choice question.


  '''(ja yau) i diyan.'''
  '''(ja yau) i diyan.'''

Revision as of 05:35, 28 September 2018

Wistanian
Anigalilaun.png
[əˈniɡəˌlilɑn]
Spoken in: Wistania
Conworld: Vale
Total Speakers: ~ 50,000,000
Genealogical classification: Taliv
   - Taliv-Nati Pidgin
      - Wistanian
Basic word order: Verb-Subject-Object
Morphological Type: Analytical/Agglutinative
Morphosyntactic Alignment: Nominative-Accusative
Created by:
Paul A. Daly Began: January 2017
Published: January 2018

Wistanian (IPA: /wɪsˈteɪni.ən/), natively known as anigalilaun (IPA: /əˈniɡəˌlilɑn/), is the first constructed language (conlang) by world-builder, writer, and professional amateur Paul A. Daly, written in 2017 and 2018. The language was created for a novel series. The first novel is near completion, but will likely remain unpublished until the author finishes his education.

The language is spoken on the fictional planet Vale, on a large yet isolated island called Wistania. The language belongs to the Talivian sub-family, which evolved steadily throughout the Taliv's existence. After having been settled on by the Taliv for several hundred years, the island became the new home for the Bwolotil people, who had fled to the island to hide a large collection of magical and extremely dangerous ajmastones. The Bwolitil were originally apathetic toward the Taliv until they discovered that the Taliv held one such ajmastone as a central symbol of their culture. The Bwolotil, therefore, engaged in war with the Taliv to apprehend their ajmastone. Three separate people groups also inhabited the island during this war, one of which was the Nati people who allied with the Taliv to win the war. This alliance led to the formation of the Taliv-Nati pidgin, which was later named anigalilaun, meaning "the language of peace". During the events of the novel series (about 300 years after the end of the war) Wistanian is the majority language of the island. The language also has a number of influences from the Katapu (sister peoples to the Nati and known for their religious traditionalism), the Uzin (a people distantly related to the Bwolotil who settled the island shortly after the beginning of the war), and the Bwolotil.

Wistanian is typologically an analytic language with elements of agglutination. Its grammar is initially simple to grasp, lacking noun gender and case, and possessing few verbal conjugations, although most of its difficulty is syntactic and lexical. Despite having a rather regular morphology due to pidginization, there are several groups of words within the same lexical category which operate differently from each other. Wistanian is primarily written using the Talivian Alphabet, but some alternate scripts do exist, namely the Diwa Alphabet and Nati Abugida.

Introduction

The island of Wistania

Setting

Wistanian is spoken on the fictional island nation of Wistania. The language stems from a pidgin created between the Nati and Taliv languages during The Wistanian War. After the peace treaty was signed, the Katapu, who were allied with Nati and Taliv but inactive in the war, documented and refined the Nati-Taliv Pidgin for use in the newly established government. Wistanian features mostly Taliv grammar, Nati vocabulary, Katapu influences, many Bwolotil loan words, and scientific terms, mathematics, and the lunar calendar derived from the work of the Uzin. Wistanian's native name, anigalilaun, is a compound of ani (language) and galilaun (peace). It is translated literally as "Peace Language."

The five different people groups of Wistania remained isolated from each other for part of the post-war era. However, trade and intermarriage became more commonplace, requiring a competent lingua franca. This is followed by religious evangelism by the Katapu, engineering from the Uzin, and entertainment from the Nati, all of which Wistanian was the primary language for distribution and promotion. Eventually, the language became taught as a mandatory subject in school. After only a couple centuries, Wistanian advanced from a government-only auxiliary language into the national language of the island, natively and fluently spoken by most of its citizens.

As a result, Wistanian is mostly regular, with a moderately small phonological inventory and vast dialectal variation. It is the most spoken and embraced by the Taliv and Nati people groups, and the least spoken by the Bwolotil people group, who often protest the language's difficulty. The other five languages are still spoken, especially the Bwolotil language which still has a number of monolingual non-Wistanian speakers. Both the Uzin and Katapu have important texts written in their languages, while Taliv and Nati have shifted into archaism, although they are still taught in school.

Goals

Wistanian was created with three goals in mind:

  1. To be naturalistic, yet unique. It should have its own unique phonology, grammar, and lexicon, not identical to any natural language on earth, but still naturalistic and sensible.
  2. To represent the Wistanian culture. This language was designed for songs and speeches, bedtime stories and battle cries, gentle wisdom and fierce ambition, hope and struggle. This language is designed for the Wistanians: their personality, their history, and their heart.
  3. To be novel-friendly. Crazy letters and long words will confuse and alienate most readers, which is why Wistanian was designed to have short, easily readable words that readers can enjoy, one small sentence at a time.

Inspiration

Like most first conlangs, Wistanian started as an English relex (but without tense and articles). However, after nearly six mass revisions over two years, Wistanian has become its own unique language. It's influenced by several languages, especially Spanish and Tamil, but their influence is mostly found in the lexicon while contributing only minimally to the grammar.

Phonology

Inventory

Consonants

The Wistanian symbol of peace, modelled after the zoraddin flower.

The consonants are as follows (allophones are in [brackets]):

Labial Alveolar1 Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n [ŋ]2
Stop voiced b d ɡ
unvoiced p t k
Fricative v z ʒ [ɣ]3 ɦ
Liquid w ~ βʷ4 ɾ ~ r5 j
Lateral l
  1. Alveolars (except /ɾ ~ r/) are pronounced laminally.
  2. n > ŋ / _[velar]
  3. ɦ > ɣ / #_, [stress]_
  4. /w/ is spoken in emphasized or slow speech, while /βʷ/ is spoken in quick speech. Whenever immediately following a consonant, this is always pronounced as /w/. In the Western Dialect, it is always pronounced as /w/.
  5. /r/ is spoken in emphasized or slow speech, while /ɾ/ is spoken in quick speech. In some words, the trilled is preferred even in quick speech; for example, ggarauni (large) is almost always pronounced [kəˈrɑni].

Vowels

The vowels are as follows (allophones in [brackets]):

Front Central Back
High i [ɪ]1 ɯ [u]2
Mid e [ə]1
Low a ɑ [ɒ]2
Diphthong: ai̯
  • All vowels lengthen when stressed.
  • All vowels become breathy after /ɦ/.
  • /ɯ/ > [ʊ] / #_
  1. /i/ and /a/ shift to [ɪ] and [ə] whenever unstressed. The only exception is when /i/ follows /j/, /w/, or /l/ or is at the end of a word.
  2. /ɯ/ and /ɑ/ shift to [u] and [ɒ] after /w~βʷ/.

Phonotactics

Syllable Structure

Wistanian has a (C/Fj/Fw)V(N) syllable structure where C represents any consonant, F represents any fricative, V represents any vowel, and N represents any consonant that is not /j/, /w/, or /ɦ/.

Syllable onsets may be any consonant or any fricative followed by /j/ or /w/:

  • m, n, p, b, t, d, k, ɡ, v, vj, vw, z, zj, zw, ʒ, ʒj, ʒw, ɦ, ɦj, ɦw, w, r, j, l.

Syllable nuclei may be any vowel:

  • i, e, a, ɑ, ɯ, ai̯

Syllable coda may be any consonant that is not /j/, /w/, or /ɦ/.

  • m, n, p, t, k, b, d, ɡ, v, z, ʒ, ɾ, l

Stress

Stress usually falls on the first non-lax vowel (/ai̯/, /i/, /e/, /a/, /ɯ/, or /ɑ/). But there are many exceptions, especially where the vowels /i/ and /a/ come into place since you must know whether or not those sounds are the stressed /i/ or /a/ or the lax [ɪ] or [ə]. A prime example is between the words viman and viman, which are spelled identically. When stress is on the /i/ as in [ˈvimən], the word means “sugar”, but when stress is on the /a/ as in [vɪˈman], the word means “sky.” /ai̯/ and /e/ are always stressed. /ɯ/ is always stressed unless it's word-initial (in which case it will usually shift to [ʊ]). /ɑ/ is usually stressed unless non-lax /a/ or /i/ are present. Secondary stress is also lexical, but rare. Many particles and common monosyllabic words are not stressed unless the feature the /e/ or /ai̯/ vowels. (E.g.,va is normally [və], and zi is normally [zɪ]; but aa is normally [ˈe].)

Stress is realized through vowel lengthening and sometimes a higher intonation.

Prosody

In Wistanian culture, speaking loudly is considered rude. Therefore, Wistanian language is typically spoken softly and clearly. It is arguably a stress-timed language that realizes stressed syllables and stressed words by lengthening vowel duration.

Orthography

Romanization

Wistanian employs its own script, but it is romanized with a system that reflects the script and its spellings. The romanization rules are as follows:

  • /m/, /n/, /b/, /d/, /ɡ/, /v/, /z/, and /l/ are represented with the corresponding IPA symbol.
  • /p/, /t/, and /k/ are represented by ⟨bb⟩, ⟨dd⟩, and ⟨gg⟩, respectively.
  • /ʒ/, /ɦ/, /ɾ~r/, /w~βʷ/ and /j/ are represented by ⟨j⟩, ⟨h⟩, ⟨r⟩, ⟨w⟩, and ⟨y⟩, respectively.
  • /ɯ/ and [u] are represented by ⟨u⟩.
  • /a/ and [ə] are represented by ⟨a⟩.
  • /i/ and [ɪ] are represented by ⟨i⟩.
  • /ai̯/ is represented by ⟨ai⟩.
  • /e/ is represented by ⟨aa⟩.
  • /ɑ/ and [ɒ] is represetned by ⟨au⟩.
The Wistanian script.

Script

Wistanian has an alphabet which represents the different sounds in Wistanian. The alphabet was inspired by Latin, IPA, and Greek, but is often described as Armenian-looking. The font, based on Cambria, was created using Autodesk Sketchbook for the iPad and converted into a font using Calligraphr and TypeLight.

The script, often referred to as araman taliv auzanigza (lit. "dishes of the Taliv") began its evolution during the Diwa oppression when the Taliv people were secretly plotting escape by setting their dishes outside their homes in certain orders to convey messages. After their escape and resettlement on the Wistanian island, the dishes gave form to the written language.

Another interesting feature of the script is "compound glyphs." They are /k/, /t/, /p/, /e/, and /ɑ/, and they are made by doubling or combining two different glyphs together. This is why the romanization of Wistanian uses ⟨gg⟩ for /k/, ⟨au⟩ for /ɑ/, as well as the other digraphs.

Like the lexicon and grammar, Daly redesigned the Wistanian script multiple times - three, to be exact. The original script was an alphabet, but it did not capture the "spirit" of Wistanian, so it was scrapped for an abugida. The abugida, which was beautiful, was also difficult to learn and write, prompting yet another redesign. The original design is now considered as the old Diwa alphabet, while the abugida is an alternative script used by the Nati.

Syntax

needs expansion

Wistanian follows a fairly rigid syntax and tight grammar for a number of historical reasons. Firstly, due to its pidginization with the Nati language, Taliv lost most of its irregularities and exceptions. Secondly, as the Katapu began to teach Wistanian, they had spread false information to "make more sense" of the language, which resulted in further simplification that was later adopted as standard. In Wistanian's infancy, it was almost engineered to be as efficient as possible. However, learners were still able to incorporate features from their native language into Wistanian, providing it with several of its current syntactical quirks (e.g., imperative word order was introduced by the Taliv learners).

Lexical Categories

Wistanian has five traditional lexical categories (parts of speech): the noun (davagg), the verb (anai), the modifier (yigbizaun), the particle (mauvaldul), and the honorofics (jili).

Nouns davagg Any word that takes on nominal morphology and can act as a subject or object the verb.
Verbs anai Any word that takes on verbal morphology.
Modifiers yigbizaun Any word that describes or specifies another word.
Particles mauvaldul Any word that has a grammatical role and cannot take on any additional morphemes.
Honorifics jili A polite title used with many proper nouns.

Some scholars argue that there are more parts of speech. For example,wi and igza are arguably more semantically fit to be postpositions. However, they are treated like modifiers morphologically, and therefore labeled as such. Relativizers va, na, ggaun, and ddal could possibly constitute their own part of speech since they do act slightly differently than most particles and carry both a semantic and grammatical meaning.

Nouns include colors, numbers, and possessive pronouns, therefore they are never treated as modifiers. In order to use them to modify a noun, one must use the relativizer particle va.

alalyi dari va din.
alali-i   dari va din.
run  -TEL boy  COP.REL three.
"The three boys ran (to something)."

Word Order

Wistanian has predominant Verb-Subject-Object word order, modifiers that follow their head, post-positional suffixes, and particles that come before their head. Modifier phrases will usually come at the beginning or end of the sentence.

azavyi ravu miram wi daz ilam aa naulam ggarauni va din ggaun maumu va zi.
azavi-i   ravu miram wi  daz ilam  aa  naulam ggarauni va  din   ggaun maumu  va  zi.
carry-TEL fast store ADE man young ACC melon  large    COP three BEN   mother COP 3Sa.POSS.
"The young man quickly carried large melons that are three to the store for his mother."
*carried fast store to man young melons which.is three large for mother who.is his.

Questions

Questions will typically follow the same syntactic pattern as declarative sentences, except with rising intonation. All questions should end with the question particle a (Q). This is especially important in writing since the Talivian Alphabet does not have an equivalent to the question mark. However, some dialects and informal registers do not include it in speech. In speech, the question particle is typically stressed.

Polar

Typically, Yes/No questions will consist of a statement followed by zau/baun (Yes/No).

magin va raul, zau a?
magin va  raul, zau a?
table COP red,  yes Q?
"Is the table red?” (Lit. "The table is red, yes?")

Non-Polar

Non-polar or content questions are formed using a "dangling particle" and rising intonation, inviting the listener to respond by completing the thought.

lu va a?
lu     va  a?
2S.NOM COP Q?
“Who are you?” (Lit. "You are...?")
yigai auzi aa a?
yiga -i   auzi    aa  a?
speak-TEL 3Sa.NOM ACC Q.
"What did he say?" (Lit. "He said...?")
ddaij yaun auv a?
dda-i  -j   yaun   auv  a?
go -TEL-IRR 1P.NOM when Q?
"When will we go?" (Lit. "We will go when/during...?)
yi luj ddal a?
yi      luj  ddal a?
1S.POSS boat LOC  Q?
"Where is my boat?" (Lit. "My boat is located in...?)
magin va raul, diri a?
magin va  raul, diri a?
table COP red,  why Q?
“Why is the table red?” (Lit. "The table is red because...?")

Imperatives

In imperatives, word order changes to VOS. In polite requests, a speaker uses the irrealis mood conjugation on the main verb and includes a subject noun (usually an honorific). In rude demands, the speaker does not use the irrealis mood conjugation nor includes a subject noun.

vigaj aa garauda baul.
viga-a    -j   aa  garauda baul.
eat -ATEL -IRR ACC food    HON.
"Please, eat the food, sir."
viga aa garauda.
viga-a    -∅ aa  garauda 
eat -ATEL    ACC food 
"Eat the food (as a rude demand)."

Location

Wistanian does not have a consistent way to express the location of an object or action; it instead uses a variety of methods and means to declare where something is taking place, including relativizers, modifiers, verbs, and compound nouns.

The most basic of the locative strategies is the locative relativizer itself, ddal. By using this relativizer to connect two ideas, a Wistanian speaker is saying that A is located in/on B.

garauda ddal magin.
garauda ddal magin.
food    LOC  table.
"The food is on the table."
ujadi ggarauni ddal maliyan.
ujadi ggarauni ddal maliya  -n.
house large    LOC  mountain-PL.
"The large house is in the mountains."

To express nearness to an object (A is located near B), B is given the modifier wi (glosses as ADE for adessive), which follows its head. To express distance from an object (A is located far from B), B is given the modifier igza (glossed as DSTV for distantive), which also follows its head.

luj ddal garauvi wi.
luj  ddal garauvi wi.
boat LOC  water   ADE.
"The boat is near the water."
luj ddal garauvi igza.
luj  ddal garauvi igza.
boat LOC  water   DSTV.
"The boat is far away from the water."

To express that something is located above or below another object (A is located above/below B), B compounds with auzdda (head) to express above, and compounds with zanju (foot) to express below.

luj ddal garauvizanju.
luj ddal garauvi-zanju.
boat LOC water  -foot.
"The boat is underwater."
luj ddal garauvjauzdda.
luj  ddal garauvi-auzdda.
boat LOC  water  -head..
"The boat is above the water."

These compounds can also be combined with wi or igza to emphasize how close or how far A is below/above B.

luj ddal garauvizanju igza.
luj  ddal garauvi-zanju igza.
boat LOC  water  -foot  DSTV.
"The boat is far under the water" (implies that it's sunk to the bottom.)

Another method, which does not use the locative ddal, is the use of stative verbs, mainly vizaniya (come.STA meaning "to be within") and zwiliya (leave.STA, meaning "to be outside").

mala yaun gaun vizaniya aa ujadi.
mala -a    yaun   gaun vizana-iya aa  ujadi.
fight-ATEL 1P.NOM ACT  come  -STA ACC house.
"We fight inside the house." 
* "fight we who have come into the house"
yaun vizaniya aa ujadi.
yaun   vizana-iya aa  ujadi.
1P.NOM come -STA  ACC house.
"We are in the house."
* "We have come into the house."

Locative clauses do not modify verbs directly, but rather modify the subject. This includes sentences that use verbs like "go."

ddai yau ujadi wi.
dda-i   yau    ujadi wi.
go -TEL 1S.NOM house ADE.
"I go to the house."
* "go I house near."
nada lu luj igza.
nada-a lu luj igza.
walk-ATEL 2S.NOM boat DSTV.
"You walk away from the boat."
* "walk you boat away."

Morphology

Wistanian has a low morpheme-to-root ratio, most words being inflectionless and rather interacting with nearby words and word order to express grammatical (and sometimes lexical) distinctions.

Nouns

Wistanian nouns come in three classes: proper, improper, and pronouns. Proper nouns refer to names of people or places ("Wistania", "Alija"), while improper nouns refer to generic terms (e.g., "country", "man"), and pronouns refer to substitute words for other nouns and noun phrases. Proper nouns are never inflected, however, improper nouns can be inflected for the plural number, be compounded, or undergo derivational morphology to become a verb or modifier. Pronouns can take on more inflections than improper nouns.

Number

Wistanian has three grammatical numbers: singular, paucal, and plural. Proper nouns do not inflect for number at all, improper nouns only distinguish between paucal and plural, while pronouns only distinguish singular and plural. This unique distinction arose as a result of Middle Taliv, which had a singular/paucal/plural distinction, then merged the paucal and singular before it transitioned to New Taliv. The pronouns, however, maintained the singular/paucal/plural distinction, then later lost the paucal, resulting in a singular/plural distinction in pronouns.

All count nouns can be declined into the plural number with the suffix -(a)n. For improper nouns, they are not conjugated as plural if a) there is only one or a few of a thing, or b) it is modified with a number phrase.

Pronouns

Pronouns come in five persons: first, second, third animate, third inanimate, and third person spiritual. These four persons are split into four grammatical categories:

  • Nominative (NOM) Used as the subject of the sentence.
  • Accusative (ACC) Used as the object of the sentence.
  • Possessive (POSS) Used for possession.
  • Adpositional (ADP) Used for pronouns conjugated for location.
1st Person

First person singular (1S) pronouns are used to refer to the speaker. First person plural (1P) is used to refer to the speaker and an indeterminate number of others.

Nominative Accusative Possessive Adpositional
Singular yau dau yi ya
Plural yaun daun yin yan
2nd Person

2nd person singular (2S) pronouns are used to refer to the listener/reader. 2nd person plural (2P) is used to refer to two or more listeners/readers.

Nominative Accusative Possessive Adpositional
Singular lu liv luhi luha
Plural lun livan luhin luhan
3rd Person Animate

3rd person animate pronouns are used to refer to people and some animals, especially pets and birds. They come as both singular (3Sa) and plural (3Pa).

Nominative Accusative Possessive Adpositional
Singular auzi auzi zi auza
Plural auzin auzin zin auzan
3rd Person Inanimate

3rd person inanimate pronouns are used to refer to wild animals, objects, events, noun clauses, and even entire sentences. They come as both singular (3Si) and plural (3Pi).

Nominative Accusative Possessive Adpositional
Singular vi vai vi va
Plural vin vain vin van
3rd Person Spiritual

3rd person animate pronouns are used to refer to spirits, sacred objects and places, and the dead. They come as both singular (3Ss) and plural (3Ps).

Nominative Accusative Possessive Adpositional
Singular ja ja ji ja
Plural jan jan jin jan

Datives

coming soon

Genitives

coming soon

Verbs

Verbs only conjugate four lexical aspects. There is no tense, but it is rather expressed through context and other modifier phrases. Only the irrealis mood is conjugated to the verb, while other moods are expressed through modifiers and context. Verbs do not compound with any other part of speech.

Aspect

needs polishing

The Wistanian understanding of aspect is different than what one will find in most natural languages. Rather than conjugating for grammatical aspect, Wistanian conjugates for lexical aspect. In other words, the very definition of a verb may change based on its conjugation.

The four lexical aspects are: stative, durative, telic, and atelic.

  • Stative verbs (STA) describe a situation or action that is unchanging over a long period of time. Stative verbs do not describe temporary actions, but rather the result of a temporary action or a series of temporary actions that identify the subject.
  • Durative verbs (DUR) are dynamic and indicate that an action is in progress from one state to another.
  • Telic verbs (TEL) are dynamic and punctual, describing an action with an endpoint. More specifically, it refers to any action that has been completed as intended. In most situations, it strongly implies the past or future tense and the perfective grammatical aspect.
  • Atelic verbs (ATEL) are dynamic and punctual, describing an action that does not have an intended endpoint. Like the telic, this aspect strongly implies the past or future tense, but is often grammatically imperfective.
     ASPECT
     /    \
STATIVE DYNAMIC
        /     \
  DURATIVE    PUNCTUAL
              /      \
          TELIC      ATELIC

For example, the verb bima means to "fall" in the telic, "precipitate" in the atelic, "descend" in the durative, and "to be fallen (i.e., lying on the ground after a fall)" in the stative. bima still expresses the same basic meaning — "the subject goes downward" — but its implications change based on its conjugations. This is also true of the verb ja, which means "like" in the stative, "fall in love" in the durative, "achieve or accomplish" in the telic, and "want" in the atelic. Again, the basic meaning remains — "the subject has a desire" — but the differing conjugations further explain what kind of desire is being had: an unchanging desire (stative), a growing desire (durative), a satisfied desire (telic), or an unsatisfied desire (atelic).

These aspects also imply certain grammatical features. Indeed, these aspects originally did refer to grammatical aspects a thousand years within Wistanian's history. The stative was once the gnomic aspect, the durative was once the continuous aspect, and the telic and atelic were once the perfective and imperfective aspects, respectively. This shift was slow, however, but it picked up mightily during the pidginization with the Nati, since lexical aspect could allow them to communicate using fewer verb roots, so words such to "to put on" were replaced with the durative conjugation for the stative "to wear".

Mood

Verbs are conjugated for the irrealis mood, which is used in polite requests, questions, and in conjunction with epistemic or deontic particles. This is done with the suffix ⟨-j⟩. Indicative negative verbs are not conjugated as irrealis.

NOMINAL VERBAL
STATIVE DYNAMIC
DURATIVE PUNCTUAL
TELIC ATELIC
realis irrealis realis irrealis realis irrealis realis irrealis
viga vigiya vigiyaj viga vigaj vigai vigaij viga vigaj
zani zaniya zaniyaj zana zanaj zanyi zanyij zanya zanyaj
hadu hadiya hadiyaj hada hadaj hadwi hadwij hadwa hadwaj

Modifiers

Modifiers immediately follow their head. Morphologically, there is no difference between an adjective and an adverb, since they rely on word order. Modifier phrases can be expressed either at the beginning or end of a sentence or after the verb, if it modifies it. Temporal phrases prefer the beginning of the sentence.

Negation

Nouns, verbs, and modifiers can be negated using the prefix bau(n)-.

baudaiziya yau.
bau-daizi-iya yau.
NEG-sing -STA 1S.NOM.
"I do not sing."
haaggiya bauzaun aa audi va zi.
haaggi-iya bau-zaun   aa  audi        va  zi.
insult-STA NEG-person ACC grandfather COP 3Sa.POSS.
"No one insults their grandfather."
luj id na baubi.
luj  id   na   bau-bi.
boat PROX POSS NEG-good.
"This boat is not good."

Particles

Particles in Wistanian are words which have a grammatical meaning rather than a semantic meaning. They also do not inflect. Particles always come before their head.

Object Particles

All non-subject, non-locative nouns are considered as objects in Wistanian grammar and are therefore featured at the end of the sentence, and are required an object particle. Object order depends on the following hierarchy.

ACC > INST > BEN/CAU

The noun particles are:

Accusative ACC aa Marks the object of the sentence.
Instrumental INS il Marks the means by which an action is done.
Benefactive BEN ggaun Marks the reason for which something is done volitionally.
Causative CAU diri Marks the reason for which something is done involitionally.
ila yau aa ujadi il divu ggaun jyaman va yi.
ila  -a   yau    aa  ujadi il  divu ggaun jyam -an va  yi.
build-DUR 1S.NOM ACC house INS wood BEN   child-PL COP 1S.POSS.
"I am building a house with wood for my children."

Modal Particles

needs polishing

These particles are featured before the verb and indicate verbal modality.

Conditional COND a Denotes "if" the verb will occur.
Capable CAP yaj Denotes that the subject "can" do something.
Hypothetical HYP zaggu Denotes something that might happen, but does not.
Deontic DEO daaya Denotes something that ought to happen.
Epistemic EPIS ibiz Denotes something that might have happened.

The conditional mood (COND) is used to form "if" clauses, such as "if she sings" and "if we go", etc. This is homonymous with the question particle, and they are often considered the same word. The verb head of the conditional particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood.

a murwij ya, junaij lu ddal dim dau.
a    muru-i  -j   yau,    juna-i  -j   lu     ddal dim  dau.
COND die -TEL-IRR 1S.NOM, bury-TEL-IRR 2S.NOM LOC  hill 1S.ACC. 
"If I die, you will bury me on the hill."

The capable mood (CAP) is used to form "can" verbs, such as "she can sing" and "we can go". It is often used as not only an indicator of ability, but also permissiveness. To denote incapability, the speaker will attach the negation prefix to the verb.

yaj iliya yau aa maliya.
yaj ilu-iya  yau    aa  maliya.
CAP see-STA  1S.NOM ACC mountain.
"I can see the mountains."

The hypothetical mood (HYP) denotes an action that could occur but doesn't, such as "I could go" or even "I could have gone". The verb head of a hypothetical particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood.

zaggu umaadaij yi luj, a hiyaj yaadd vaddal.
zaggu umaada-i  -j   yi      luj,   a    hi   -iya-j   yaadd ddal.
HYP   sink  -TEL-IRR 1S.POSS boat,  COND exist-STA-IRR hole  LOC.
"My boat could sink if there is a hole in it." 

The deontic mood (DEO) denotes an action that should happen, whether by obligation or logical progression. It's like a stronger hypothetical particle. The verb head of a deontic particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood.

auv zij, daaya bimaj daridd. diri va luvi va au.
auv  zij,         daaya bima-a   -j   daridd. diri va  luvi      va  au.
TEMP near.future, DEO   fall-ATEL-IRR rain.   CAU  COP cloud(PL) COP gray.
"Soon, the rain should fall because the clouds are gray."

The epistemic mood (EPIS) denotes an action or state that might have happened, however, the speaker is unsure due to lack of evidence. It can also be used as a weaker hypothetical marker. Verb heads of the epistemic particle must be in the irrealis mood. This mood marker also accompanies "I think" sentences which are typically constructed as "I think this. I may have a hammer."

garya yau vai. ibiz auwiniyaj yanuz guddi.
gari -a    yau    vai.     ibiz auwina -iya-j   guddi.
think-ATEL 1S.NOM 3Si.ACC. EPIS possess-STA-IRR hammer.
"I think I have a hammer."

Relativizer Particles

There are four relativizer particles that are normally expressed initially in a relative clause and after the noun that relative clause modifies. These can also be used as copula.

Copulative COP va Indicated that the head is equal to something.
Possessive POSS na Indicates that the head possesses something.
Active ACT gaun Indicates that the head does something.
Locative LOC ddal Indicates where the head is located.

As relativizers, they can be translated as such: COP = which is, POSS = which has, ACT = which does, and LOC = which is located.

As copula, COP equates a subject noun with another noun, possessive pronoun, color, or number; POSS equates a subject noun with an adjective that's not a possessive pronoun, color, or number; ACT doubles as a gnomic aspect particle; and LOC indicates the location of the subject. Since these are particles, the word order for these particular types of sentences appears to change to SVO and the accusative particle is omitted (this does not apply to objects of a gnomic verb).

wizddaaniya va ggarimalun.
wizddaaniya va  ggarimalun.
Wistania    COP large.island
"Wistania is a large island."
"Wistania, which is a large island,..."
wizddaaniya na lazai.
wisddaaniya na   lazai.
Wistania    POSS great.
"Wistania is great." (Lit. "Wistania has great.")
"Wistania, which is great,..."
wizddaniya gaun liya.
wizddaniya gaun liya.
Wistania   ACT  fly.
"Wistania fares well" (Lit. "Wistania flies.")
"Wistania, which fares well,..."
wizddaniya ddal vimanbbaggu
wizddaniya ddal viman-bbaggu.
Wistania   LOC  sky  -SUBE.
"Wistania is under the sky."
"Wistania, which is located under the sky,..."

Technically, these are incomplete sentences, indicating only a noun and a relative clause without a compliment. However, they are considered perfectly viable sentences.

Coordinating Particles

Wistanian coordinating particles come in four types: normal coordination, weak coordination, contrastive coordination, and alternative coordination.

Normal coordination (CO) is similar to the English "and". However, each item in the list is proceeded by the word ya.

dajyi ya dari ya lari.
daji-i   ya dari ya lari.
hide-TEL CO boy  CO girl.
"The boy and the girl hid."

Weak coordination (WCO) refers to a co-actor in the sentence while keeping the focus on a specific item of the list, which is usually featured at the beginning of the list and without a particle. It is denoted with the word vil.

dajyi dari nuz lari.
daji-i   dari vil lari.
hide-TEL boy  WCO girl.
"The boy hid with the girl."

Contrastive coordination (CCO) is equivalent to the English "but" and is expressed through the particle bbal.

auvin vaun liyiya, bbal gaunun vaun bauliyiya.
auvi-n  vaun liya-iya, bbal gaunu-n vaun bau-liya-iya.
bird-PL GNO  fly-STA,  CCO  fish-PL GNO  NEG-fly -STA
"Birds fly, but fish do not fly."

Alternative coordination (ALTCO) denotes a choice or alternative among a group of items in a list, equivalent to the English "or", and denoted with the word i. Like the normal coordinating particle ya, this particle is featured before each item in a list.

ja lu aa i garauvi i diyan a.
ja  -a    lu     aa  i     garauvi i     diyan a.
want-ATEL 2S.NOM ACC ALTCO water   ALTCO juice Q.
"Do you want water or juice?"

This alternative coordinating particle is also used to answer a multiple choice question.

(ja yau) i diyan.
ja  -a    yau    i     diyan.
want-ATEL 1S.NOM ALTCO juice.
"I want the juice."

Honorifics

Wistanian has an honorific system with several unique features. Honorifics are used for almost everyone: familial relationships and close friendships, authorities and superiors, and people who are younger than you. They are often said after a proper noun and can take nominal morphology and replace 2nd person pronouns.

The formal honorifics that one uses depends on the age and respective rank of the second person:

Inferior Peer Superior
Adult iz - baada
Child yi / yin yi / yin auzi / auzin

Familial honorifics are used among close family members. These honorifics will change depending on culture and sometimes family. Children, in particular, have unique honorifics given by their parents, like a nickname. For example, a boy named Maudu could be given the honorific ravu (fast), and only his parents, aunts/uncles by blood, and grandparents can call him "Maudu Ravu". While his sister Zamara could be Zamara Viyaz (kind) to her parents.

The most common Familial Honorifics are included under Kinship Terms below.

Semantics

The Wistanian Lexicon currently stands at 400 words as of August 2018, with a goal of accomplishing 2,500 words by the end of the year. A link to the lexicon can be found at the bottom of this article, under "Other Resources"

A typical Wistanian family

Kinship

Wistanian kinship is a modified version of the Hawaiian system common in most Malayo-Polynesian languages. In this system, siblings and first cousins share terms with only a gender and age distinction. Mothers are usually given a term of endearment by their children (usually mu), but a child's aunts will also be called "mother" and the father and uncles will share terms as well. Most of Wistanian culture is ambilineal and matrifocal, so that children live and associate closest to their mother and her side of the family. For this reason, a child's mother's brother will often be just as much of a father figure as the child's biological father, who may or may not be involved in the family.

English Kinship Term Honorific
male older brother or cousin daran bai
male younger brother or cousin yida
female older sister or cousin madya
female younger sister or cousin yima
uncle/aunt by marriage imaun baada
mother/aunt by blood maumu iv
father/uncle by blood vauhi anda
grandmother aumi ivi
grandfather audi andi
husband yi daz -
wife yi laz
child, offspring, son/daughter jyam Variable
grandchild aujyam

The Bwolotil people are more nuclear, consisting of only a mother, father, and one or two children. They have their own kinship terms from their language. Some Katapu people share the typical family structure and kinship terms. However, most family structures are extended so that families live amongst the mother's extended family, and fathers are usually present in the home. Most of their kinship terms also come from the Katapu language, but some Wistanian terms are borrowed as well.

Colors

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Colors are particularly significant to the Wistanian culture. As much of their economy revolves around fruits, vegetables, and flowers, and their great responsibility to protect the colorful ajmastones, it is imperative to be able to accurately describe color on a near-daily basis. As a result, Wistanian has a massive vocabulary list dedicated to colors, including unique color terms for "red-orange" and "dark yellow" and three distinct terms for "red".

Colors in Wistanian are considered nouns, never as adjectives. Therefore, to express the color of an object, one would say, "S va C".

jiya yau jazari va raul.
ja  -iya yau    jazari va  raul.
like-STA 1S.NOM bean   COP red.
"I like red beans." (Lit. "I like beans that are red.")

Likewise, to say "These beans are red", the same structure would be used.

jazari id va raul.
jazari id   va  raul.
beans  PROX COP red.
"These beans are red."

Or alternatively, and more commonly, one could express the color as the subject and use the locative copula, creating a form that means, literally "C is on S":

raul ddal jazari id.
raul ddal jazari id.
red  LOC  beans  PROX.
"These beans are red." (Lit. "Red is on these beans")

As for the color terms themselves, Wistanian has nearly thirty-two color terms, although some people groups may use more or less than those.

iraa raul
nidda
hagg
uma
zuvil
jaaru
aurin
bayaari auwu
zuwi luz
aubra
laumiz
aunya jan
bazu
minan
gazida ddi
ayud zaz
iyad
ainau
ivau maura
aana liwa
auzna au
garaji
balan

Numbers

under construction

Example Texts

LogStoryUpdatedWistanian.PNG

 

auv lin zun, buda yau, ya injai yau aa vaggan ggarauni id. auv yum, bbirai ya aa vaggan, ya gguji min min ddal vabbaggu. ya yigai yau vai: addai vaggan idi aa jyam.

"One day, I was walking, and I found this big log. Then, I rolled the log over, and underneath was this tiny little stick. And I was like, “That log had a child!”
         — from "Seagulls (Stop It Now)" by Bad Lip Reading

auv lin zun, buda yau ayai injai yau aa vaggan ggarauni id.
auv    lin zun, buda-a    yau     ayai inja-i   yau    aa  vaggan ggarauni id
during one day, walk-ATEL 1S.NOM, also find-TEL 1S.NOM ACC log    big    PROX.
"One day, I was walking, and I found this big log."
auv yum, bbirai ya aa vaggan,
auv    yum,  bbira-i   yau    aa  vaggan,
during next, roll -TEL 1S.NOM ACC log, 
"Then, I rolled the log over,"
ya gguji min min ddal vabbaggu.
ya  gguji min   min   ddal va     -bbaggu
and stick small~small LOC  3Sa.ADP-SUBE.
"and underneath was this tiny little stick."
yigai yau vai:
yiga -i   yau    vai:
speak-TEL 1S.NOM 3Si.ACC: 
"And I was like"
addai vaggan idi aa jyam.
adda -i   vaggan idi aa  jyam.
birth-TEL log    MED ACC offspring.
"That log had a child!"

Other Resources

Wistanian Lexicon (Google Sheets)