Linguifex

Ŧœlsin: Difference between revisions

← Older edit
VisualWikitext
Uvie (talk | contribs)
306 edits
Uvie (talk | contribs)
306 edits
No edit summary
 
(35 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 128: Line 128:
|colspan="2"|  
|colspan="2"|  
|colspan="2"|  
|colspan="2"|  
|colspan="2"| l
|colspan="2"| l (ɫ)
|colspan="2"|
|colspan="2"|
|colspan="2"|  
|colspan="2"|  
Line 147: Line 147:
|colspan="2"|  
|colspan="2"|  
|}
|}
The phoneme /ɫ/ no longer exists in modern Ŧœlsin but some speakers actually keep remains of it in their speech, for instance in some parts of verb conjugation.


===Vowels===
===Vowels===
Line 178: Line 180:


===Orthography===
===Orthography===
====Alphabet====
====Romanization====
The Latin alphabet for Ŧœlsin is a one-to-one translitteration of the original script. It has both uppercase and lowercase letters, shown in pairs below ; when there are several pairs on a same line, it is because they are considered to be different versions of the "same" letter.
The Latin alphabet for Ŧœlsin is a one-to-one translitteration of the original script. It has both uppercase and lowercase letters, shown in pairs below ; when there are several pairs on a same line, it is because they are considered to be different versions of the "same" letter.
<poem>
<poem>
Line 226: Line 228:
<poem>
<poem>
A tilde-like diacritic is used over vowels to indicate they must be lengthened : ã, ẽ, ễ, ě̃, ĩ, õ, œ̃, ũ, w̃, ɯ̃, ɯ̂̃, ɯ̌̃.
A tilde-like diacritic is used over vowels to indicate they must be lengthened : ã, ẽ, ễ, ě̃, ĩ, õ, œ̃, ũ, w̃, ɯ̃, ɯ̂̃, ɯ̌̃.
The ͪ diacritic, on most letters (except for the composed grapheme <rͪl>, usually makes them mute.
The ͪ diacritic, on most letters (except for the graphemes <rͪl>, <xͪ> and <gͪ>) usually makes them mute.
The grapheme <Y y> is ambiguous as there is no way to determine if it corresponds to /jo/ or /oj/.  
The grapheme <Y y> is ambiguous as there is no way to determine if it corresponds to /jo/ or /oj/.  
The grapheme <O o> also corresponds to two different phonemes, but it is usually pronounced /ɔ/ if there is a consonant coda, and if not, then it is usually /o/.
The grapheme <O o> also corresponds to two different phonemes, but it is usually pronounced /ɔ/ if there is a consonant coda, and if not, then it is usually /o/.
Line 233: Line 235:
Among diacritics is a breve-like that, over vowels, indicate that they must be stressed. It is rarely used, only on some words that differ by this stressing. But the spelling « ĭĩ », a stressed « i » followed by a lengthened « i », represents the sequence of phonemes /ij/. Likewise, « w̆w̃» and « ŭũ », less common, are /uw/ and /yɥ/, respectively.
Among diacritics is a breve-like that, over vowels, indicate that they must be stressed. It is rarely used, only on some words that differ by this stressing. But the spelling « ĭĩ », a stressed « i » followed by a lengthened « i », represents the sequence of phonemes /ij/. Likewise, « w̆w̃» and « ŭũ », less common, are /uw/ and /yɥ/, respectively.
</poem>
</poem>
====Other rules====
====Other rules====
<poem>
<poem>
Line 278: Line 281:
|colspan="2"| ɸ <Ƥ ƥ> β <Ƀ ƀ>
|colspan="2"| ɸ <Ƥ ƥ> β <Ƀ ƀ>
|colspan="2"| f <F f> v <V v>
|colspan="2"| f <F f> v <V v>
|colspan="2"| θ <S s> ð <Ƶ ƶ>
|colspan="2"| θ <nowiki><S s></nowiki> ð <Ƶ ƶ>
|colspan="2"| s <C c> z <Z z>
|colspan="2"| s <C c> z <Z z>
|colspan="2"| ʃ <Q q> alt. <Ɋ ɋ> ʒ <Ƶ̆ ƶ̆>
|colspan="2"| ʃ <Q q> alt. <Ɋ ɋ> ʒ <Ƶ̆ ƶ̆>
Line 368: Line 371:
|colspan="2"| ɑ̃ <Ɯ ɯ>
|colspan="2"| ɑ̃ <Ɯ ɯ>
|}
|}
===Prosody===
===Prosody===
====Stress====
====Stress====
Line 376: Line 380:
Ŧœlsin's syllable structure is complex and allows a wide range of possible consonant clusters.
Ŧœlsin's syllable structure is complex and allows a wide range of possible consonant clusters.


===Morphophonology===
==Morphology==
==Morphology==
Ŧœlsin has five main parts of speech : nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and particles.
Ŧœlsin has five main parts of speech : nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and particles.
Line 388: Line 391:
Feminine, masculine and neuter are mostly marked in nouns and adjectives, while the dichotomy temporary/everlasting is shown by synonyms in verbs, which themselves conjugate differently depending on the subject being animate or inanimate.
Feminine, masculine and neuter are mostly marked in nouns and adjectives, while the dichotomy temporary/everlasting is shown by synonyms in verbs, which themselves conjugate differently depending on the subject being animate or inanimate.


Most commonly, feminine is indicated by a final -a, masculine with a -e or a -o, and neuter either with the absence of any marking when in the singular, or with a -i if in the plural.
Most commonly, feminine is indicated by a final -a, masculine with an -e or an -o, and neuter either with the absence of any marking when in the singular, or with an -i if in the plural.


====Number====
====Number====
Line 400: Line 403:
!  !! Definite !! Indefinite
!  !! Definite !! Indefinite
|-
|-
| Singular Masculine|| êl (''ê'' before a consonant) || one (''on'' before a vowel)
| Singular Masculine|| êl /ɛl/ (''ê'' /ɛ/ before a consonant) || one /one/ (''on'' /on/ before a vowel)
|-
| Singular Feminine|| la /la/ (''la''' /l/ before a vowel)|| ona /ona/ (''ona''' /ɔn/ before a vowel)
|-
| Plural Masculine || lecͪ /le/ || onec /ones/ (''onc''), dalecͪ<sup>1</sup> /dale/
|-
| Plural Feminine || lecͪ /le/ || onac /onas/, dalecͪ<sup>1</sup> /dale/
|}
<sup>1</sup>Dalecͪ is a contraction of dal (partitive article) and the plural definite article lecͪ. It serves with nouns of different genders.
 
====Pronouns====
 
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Personal subject pronouns
|-
! Grammatical description !! English translation !! Pronoun
|-
| 1SG || I || æ̊ /ja/
|-
| 2SG || you || tw /tu/
|-
| 3SG.masc || he || æ /aj/
|-
| 3SG.fem || she || mæ /maj/
|-
| 1PL || we || cæ̊n /sjan/
|-
|-
| Singular Feminine|| la (''la''' [l] before a vowel)|| ona (''ona''' [ɔn] before a vowel)
| 2PL || you || vw /vu/
|-
|-
| Plural Masculine || lecͪ || onec (''onc''), dalecͪ<sup>1</sup>
| 3PL.masc || they || cæ /saj/
|-
|-
| Plural Feminine || lecͪ || onac, dalecͪ<sup>1</sup>
| 3PL.fem || they || mæhc /maj/
|-
| 2POLITE || you || ææ̊ /aj:a/
|}
|}
<sup>1</sup>Dalecͪ is a contraction of dal (partitive article) and the plural definite article lecͪ. It serves whith nouns of different genders.
 
===Adjectives===
===Adjectives===
Adjectives agree in number and gender with the nouns they qualify. The plural adjective marker is a final -c. It is pronounced /s/ when after a vowel, but is kept mute if after a consonant.
Adjectives agree in number and gender with the nouns they qualify. The plural adjective marker is a final -c. It is pronounced /s/ when after a vowel, but is kept mute if after a consonant.
Line 418: Line 448:
The comparative of equality (as ... as ...) uses an anlytical construction :
The comparative of equality (as ... as ...) uses an anlytical construction :
*talnt + ADJ + az ke
*talnt + ADJ + az ke
Superlatives (''the most ... ; the least ...'')are indicated with prefixes :
Superlatives (''the most ... ; the least ...'') are indicated with prefixes :
*Superlative of superiority : (êl, la) li+ADJ
*Superlative of superiority : (êl, la) li+ADJ
*Superlative of inferiority : (êl, la) mi+ADJ
*Superlative of inferiority : (êl, la) mi+ADJ
===Verbs===
===Verbs===
Verbs inflect in tense, mood, and person. There are four moods : two realis moods, the indicative and the so-called absolute (corresponds mostly to a gnomic aspect), and two irrealis moods, the conditional and the imperative. There are seven « persons » : first singular, second singular, third singular, first plural, second plural, third plural, and the polite person.
Verbs inflect in tense, mood, person and animatedness. There are four moods : two realis moods, the indicative and the so-called absolute (corresponds mostly to a gnomic aspect), and two irrealis moods, the conditional and the imperative. There are seven « persons » : first singular, second singular, third singular, first plural, second plural, third plural, and the polite person.


But it is very common that only the third person be used, and the subject pronoun be placed after the thus conjugated verb.
But it is very common that only the third person be used, and the subject pronoun be placed after the thus conjugated verb.


Verbs endings usually are either -ƃ or -æ̊r. There are two kinds of conjugation, one for animate beings and one for inanimate things. To conjugate a verb, the infinitive ending drops and is replaced by the conjugated ending.
Verbs endings usually are either -ƃ or -æ̊r. There are two kinds of conjugation, one for animate beings and one for inanimate things. To conjugate a verb, the infinitive ending drops and is replaced by the conjugated ending.
The inanimate conjugation mostly consists of a lengthening of the desinence vowel.


====Indicative====
====Indicative====
Tenses which correspond, roughly, to Perfect Past, Future Perfect, and Pluperfect are, similarly to the Past Imperative, built with a suffixed tense morpheme.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 634: Line 668:


====Conditional====
====Conditional====
Conditional is built with the modal auxiliary « ƿ̈ », /wij/. The structure of a conditional sentence is :
*Subject + Verb (infinitive) + ƿ̈
Past conditional is built upon the very same structure, only the past of the modal auxiliary is used :
*Subject + Verb (infinitive) + ƿ̈ld /wi:ld/ (sometimes /wiɫd/)
The conditional and the subjunctive have the same form for both animate and inanimate subjects.
====Subjunctive====
====Subjunctive====
There is no actual subjunctive in Ŧœlsin. But a specific sentence structure is used :
*(Main clause +) Subject + Particle ke? or dake? + Verb (infinitive)
Past subjunctive also uses the same structure, only the past infinitive is used. Information about what constitutes a past infinitive seems to be missing.
The conditional and the subjunctive have the same form for both animate and inanimate subjects. However, with the subjunctive, it is more common to use « dake? » for animated subjects and « ke? » for inanimate subjects.
====Participles====
The participles are built by adding an ending to the verb stem.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Participles
|-
!  !! Animate !! Inanimate
|-
| Present || -ƿ /wi/ (-ƿ̈ /wij/)<sup>1</sup> || -ƿ̃ /wi:/ (-ƿ̈ /wij/)<sup>1</sup>
|-
| Past || -Cild /ild/ ; -Vld /ld/<sup>2</sup> || -Cĩld /i:ld/ ; -Ṽld /:ld/<sup>2</sup>
|}
<sup>1</sup>If the verb stems already ends in -ƿ, then the underlying -ƿƿ coalesces into -ƿ̈.
<sup>2</sup>Where C stands for a verb stem ending in a consonant, and V for a verb stem ending in a vowel.


===Adverbs===
===Adverbs===
===Particles===
===Particles===
Particles are function words that include prepositions, postpositions, conjunction words, etc.
*One notable particle is the so-called subject particle, which is used in some constructions, for instance the "subjunctive". It can take two different forms, usually depending on whether the subject is an animate, temporary being/thing (particle "dake?") or an inanimate, everlasting thing (particle "ke?"). They are always written with question marks (no space between the particle and the question mark, contrarily to the use of question mark in interrogative sentences) but that does not influence the intonation.
*The genitive particle « dœ » is suffixed to the possessor noun/pronoun. In general the scheme is « POSSESSOR-dœ POSSESSED » but this order can be inversed (« possessed possessor-dœ »).
===Derivational morphology===
===Derivational morphology===


Line 644: Line 712:
==Syntax==
==Syntax==
===Constituent order===
===Constituent order===
The traditional word order in declarative sentences is SVO, though VSO or VOS compete with it, provided that the verb is in the third person. Thus, « I am a man » can indifferently be said :
*« Æ̊ cƿa one macko » (1SG.SUBJ + verb "to be" 1SG.PRES + article + "man")
*« Cƿat æ̊ one macko » (verb "to be" 3SG.PRES + 1SG.SUBJ + article + "man")
*« Cƿat one macko æ̊ » (verb "to be" 3SG.PRES + article + 1SG.SUBJ  + "man")
===Noun phrase===
===Noun phrase===
*Attributive adjectives :
Most usually, the noun-adjective order is NOUN + ADJECTIVE, but the noun-numeral order is NUMERAL + NOUN.
*Genitive :
The most usual genitive construction is with the genitive particle « dœ » suffixed to the possessor noun/pronoun. In general the scheme is « POSSESSOR-dœ POSSESSED » but this order can be inversed (« possessed possessor-dœ »). Genitive can also be constructed with the word « dal », like in English it can be said « the [possessed] of [possessor] » : « êl, la [possessed] dal [possessor] ».
===Verb phrase===
===Verb phrase===
===Sentence phrase===
*Adverbs :
The verb-adverb order is VERB + ADVERB.
 
*Negation :
Negation is constructed with the negative word « ne », placed before both the subject and the verb :
 
ne + Subject + Conjugated Verb (+ complement)
 
"Ne æ̊ cƿa one măcko" : I am not a man.
 
*Questions :
Interrogation is constructed with an interrogative particle, « deme », placed in the beginning of the sentence :
 
deme + Subject + Conjugated Verb (+ complement) + ? (or deme + Verb, 3rd person + Subject + ?)
 
"Deme æ̊ cƿa one măcko ?" or "Deme cƿat æ̊ one măcko ?" : Am I a man ?
 
If there is an interrogative word (ex. : « don », where, here), it is inserted between the deme particle and the subject/verb.
 
"Deme don æ̊ cƿa ?" : Where am I ?
 
===Dependent clauses===
===Dependent clauses===
<!-- etc. etc. -->
<!-- etc. etc. -->
Dependent clauses are introduced by the particles ke? or dake?, depending on the subject of the dependent clause being rather animate/temporary or inanimate/everlasting. When there is to be a subjunctive, the said subject precedes the particle (see Subjunctive).
==Informal Ŧœlsin==
Some features of the everyday, casual Ŧœlsin speaking include :
Contractions of the verb "to be" (when using the 3rd person construction)
I am – Cƿat æ̊ => Cw͠atqa ['swatʃa]
You are, sg. – Cƿat tw => Cw͠attw ['swat:u]
He is – Cƿat æ => Cw͠atæ [swataj], Cw͠adæ [swadaj]
She is – Cƿat mæ => Cw͠amæ [swamaj]
We are – Cƿna cæ̊n => Cw͠inan [swinan], Cw͠iæ̊n [swijan], Cwæ̊n [sujan]
You are, pl. – Cƿna vw => Civw [sivu], Cƿnw [swinu]
They are, m. – Cƿna cæ => Cinæ [sinaj], cƿinæ [swinaj]
They are, f. – Cƿna mæcͪ => Cimæcͪ [simaj], Cƿimæcͪ [swimaj]
You are, polite – Cƿe* ææ̊ => Cw͠eæ̊ [sweja], Cw͠eiæ̊ ['swej:a]


==Example texts==
<!-- An example of a translated or unique text written in your language. Again, it is recommended that you make sure that the phonology, constraints, phonotactics and grammar are more or less finished before writing. -->
==Other resources==
==Other resources==
<!-- Example: Word order, qualifiers, determinatives, branching, etc. -->
<!-- Example: Word order, qualifiers, determinatives, branching, etc. -->
Line 661: Line 773:
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]
[[Category:Tolsian]]
Retrieved from "https://linguifex.com/wiki/Ŧœlsin"