User:Chrysophylax/YaLU: Difference between revisions
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Nouns are relatively simple, being marked for possession and number. The only major difference between animate and inanimate nouns is that only animate nouns may be pluralised. Inanimate nouns need to use a periphrastic construction to express plurality. | Nouns are relatively simple, being marked for possession and number. The only major difference between animate and inanimate nouns is that only animate nouns may be pluralised. Inanimate nouns need to use a periphrastic construction to express plurality. | ||
=====Number===== | |||
Animate nouns are pluralised simply by affixing the correct prefix or circumfix, which in turn varies depending on whether the noun refers to a human or not, on whether the noun is respected by the speaker. | Animate nouns are pluralised simply by affixing the correct prefix or circumfix, which in turn varies depending on whether the noun refers to a human or not, on whether the noun is respected by the speaker. | ||
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||
|||''tak'' chief|| ''ḡààj'' elk | |||''tak'' chief|| ''ḡààj'' elk | ||
|- | |- | ||
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=====Possession===== | |||
All nouns change for possession. This is achieved by means of certain prefixes which indicate the person and their number. | All nouns change for possession. This is achieved by means of certain prefixes which indicate the person and their number. |
Revision as of 04:08, 7 July 2014
Background
Phonology
Consonants
Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plain | Ejective | Plain | Ejective | Palatalised | Plain | Ejective | |||
Stop | b [p] p [pʰ] | ḇ [p’] | d [t] t [tʰ] | ḏ [t’] | d́ [tʲ] t́ [tʲʰ] | g [k] k [kʰ] | ḡ [g’] | ||
Affricate | z [t͡s] | ẕ [t͡s’] | ź [t͡sʲ] | ||||||
Fricative | v [v] | s [s̠̻] | ś [s̠̻ʲ] | h [h] | |||||
Nasal | m [m] | n [n] | ń [nʲ] | ||||||
Approximants | l [l] | ĺ [lʲ] | y/j [j] | w [w] | |||||
Trills | r [r] |
Notes
- /j/ is written with <y> before u, a, o but <j> everywhere else.
- The consonants r, l, w can all stand in for a vowel in a syllable core.
- The consonants s and n, have the following retroflex allophones after r: [ʂ], [ɳ]; e.g. prsaḏi ['pʰrʂat’i]
- The plain plosive stops, that is b, d, g may become semi-voiced between vowels and after n, m and l.
Vowels
Five vowels: a, e, i, o, u with long doublets aa, ee, ii, oo, uu.
Tone
Syllables can take one of three tones: rising, falling, plain or mid, indicated respectively by the acute, the grave and no accent.
Plain | Rising | Falling |
---|---|---|
ḡaaj | ḡááj | ḡààj |
[k’āːj] | [k’ǎːj] | [k’âːj] |
"rock" | "who" | "elk" |
Phonotactics
Orthography
Grammar
Morphology
Pronouns
Pronouns come in primarily two shapes, independent and enclitic versions. The independent pronouns are used to emphasise and in certain syntactic constructions. The enclitic versions are used everywhere else. Furthermore, as this is a pro-drop language, they may be dropped from any given sentence if context allows it.
singular | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|
inclusive | exclusive | ||
first | har | haryań | hammeḏ |
second | yań | yaańńeḏ | |
third | jee, śi | jeemeḏ |
Notes
- Different pronouns are used for the third person depending on the referent's animacy. The word jee can only be used for animate referents and can be pluralised to jeemeḏ, whereas inanimate śi can solely appear with inanimates, e.g., úúlem śi … "the country, it…", and cannot be pluralised.
The proclitic versions are ha-, ńa-, je-, śi- in the singular and hee-, ńee-, mee- in the plural.
Nouns
Nouns are relatively simple, being marked for possession and number. The only major difference between animate and inanimate nouns is that only animate nouns may be pluralised. Inanimate nouns need to use a periphrastic construction to express plurality.
Number
Animate nouns are pluralised simply by affixing the correct prefix or circumfix, which in turn varies depending on whether the noun refers to a human or not, on whether the noun is respected by the speaker. For all parts where a V is written, replace this with the same vowel that is found in the word.
human | non-human | |
---|---|---|
neutral | -míít | -ta |
respective | Vz-_-t | Vr-_-ta |
disrespective | Vl-_-t | Vm-_-ta |
tak chief | ḡààj elk | |
human | non-human | |
---|---|---|
neutral | tagmíít rulers | ḡààt́a elks |
respective | assaht just rulers | àrkààt́a noble elks |
disrespective | allaht treacherous rulers | àmkààt́a wretched elks |
Possession
All nouns change for possession. This is achieved by means of certain prefixes which indicate the person and their number.
S | P | |
---|---|---|
1P | u- | hù- |
2P | a- | ẕè- |
3P | ya- | yú- |
The noun is then followed by its possessor, either a pronoun or a noun. Pronouns are always in the singular in the third person, even if the noun has a possessive plural marker.
- yadnald jee
- "He has a dog (lit. his-dog he)"
- yúdnald jee
- "They have a dog (lit. their-dog he)"
Syntax
In transitive sentences: verb-patient-agent. Also permits fronting of agent for emphasis, leading to agent-verb-patient. In intransitive sentences, verb-subject is the norm.