User:Chrysophylax/Sketches/caer: Difference between revisions
Chrysophylax (talk | contribs) m (→Syntax) |
Chrysophylax (talk | contribs) |
||
Line 48: | Line 48: | ||
==Morphology== | ==Morphology== | ||
===Verbal morphology=== | ===Verbal morphology=== | ||
====Aspect==== | |||
There are three aspects: imperfective ({{sc|ipfv}}), perfective ({{sc|pfv}}), extemporaneous ({{sc|ext}}). | |||
<!-- The antipassive --> | <!-- The antipassive --> | ||
===Nominal morphology=== | ===Nominal morphology=== | ||
====Possession==== | ====Possession==== |
Revision as of 04:17, 10 January 2015
Caer (caer [qæɪ̯ʐ] or caeryn [ˈqæjɪˌʐjəǀ] is the ceremonial sacred language of the Vá people. Its use is nowadays primarily restricted to the rituals of lyaa ('libation') and yayaq (‘divination’) although historically it saw much more use. It is remarkable for being typologically dissimilar to Vánic language with differing morphosyntactic agreement and word order.
Phonology
Caer has an interesting phonological system, completely lacking rounded and back vowels; dental, bilabial and velar plosives; or any of the common nasals.
Consonants
The incredibly sparse consonantal system includes a few uvular consonants, one alveolar sibilant, a voiced retroflex and two clicks.
c~q nn h r s t y l v n
q ɴ χ ʐ sˡ θ j ʟ ʘ ǀ
Vowels
There are three phonemic vowels in Caer: a /æ/, e /ɪ/, y /ə/.
Front | Central | |
---|---|---|
Near-close | e /ɪ/ | |
Mid | y /ə/ | |
Open | a /æ/ |
Pitch
Each word in Caer can optionally take one of two pitch contours: falling (t₁) or rising (t₂). The falling contour (t₁) ends with creaky voice. Although lexically and grammatically important, it is not indicated in the orthography.
A common minimal pair given in literature is: yayaq [ˈjæˌə̯æ̰q˥˩] ‘divination’ and yayaq [ˈjæˌə̯æq˩˥] ‘calamity’.
Phonotactics
Orthography
Digraph ⟨x⟩ for /χsˡ/, ⟨y⟩ does double duty, etc.
Morphology
Verbal morphology
Aspect
There are three aspects: imperfective (ipfv), perfective (pfv), extemporaneous (ext).
Nominal morphology
Possession
Caer extraordinarily includes a third-person suffix -yn (dvposs) which is marked on the possessum. The affix bears connotations of transitivity when the inflected word is combined with a head noun or phrase. It is only utilised when referring to deities and their possessions.
Determiners
Personal pronouns
Derivational morphology
Syntax
Constituent order
Caer is OVS.
Possessive constructions
Inalienable possession
Divine possession
lyaa-yn libation-dvposs
- Their/His/Her libation.
valcaxa caer-yn Maker secret-dvposs
- The Maker's given secret.