Ɯ

Ŭrbŭrŭx U
"the speech, U"
Pronunciation	[/ˈuɾ.bu.ɾux ˈɯ/]
Created by	Nicolás Straccia
Setting	Yrḳuti conworlding project
Language family	Ɯ languages Ŭrbŭrŭx U

The language known as Ɯ is a conlang being created and developed by Nicolás Straccia as part of the Yrḳuti conworlding project.

Background

[...]

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Grammar

PHONOLOGY

Vowels

Vowel inventory

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	i y u ɯ e ø o a
Near‑close
Close‑mid
Mid
Open‑mid
Near‑open
Open

Stem-controlled roundness harmony. Both /a/ and /o/, a back and a front vowel, are neutral. In compounds each element retains it own harmony; affixes will harmonize with the stem with which they are directly in contact.

Consonants

Consonant inventory

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p b			t d		(ɟ)	k g	ʔ
Nasal	m			n		(ɲ)	(ŋ)
Trill				r
Tap or flap				ɾ
Fricative		f v		s	ʃ		x	h
Africate					ʧ
Approximant	w					j
Lateral app.				l		(ʎ)

Phonotaxis

Sandhi

[...]

Sandhi over morpheme boundaries
-VC·CV-
-n·
-n·t- → -n·d-, lenition of /t/ → /d/
-n·t- → -n·n-, assimilation of /t/ → /n/
-n·k- → -n·g-, lenition of /k/ → /g/
-n·h- → -n·k-, fortition of /h/ → /k/
-n·j- → -n̆-, fusion (palatalization of /n/ → /ɲ/)
-n·b- → -m·b-, fusion (labialization of /n/ → /m/)
-n·b- → -m·m-, fusion (labialization of /n/ → /m/), assimilation of /b/ → /m/)
-n·l- → -n·n-, assimilation of /l/ → /n/
-n·r- → -n·n-, assimilation of /ɾ/ → /n/
-n·m- → -n·n-, assimilation of /m/ → /n/
-n·v- → -p-, fusion to /p/
-m·
-m·b- → -p-, fusion to /p/
-m·l- → -m·m-, assimilation of /l/ → /m/
-m·v- → -p-, fusion to /p/ (labialization of /v/ → /β/, plosivization of /β/ → /p/)
-l
-l·t- → -l·d-, lenition of /t/ → /d/
-l·k- → -l·g-, lenition of /k/ → /g/
-l·g- → -l·l-, assimilation of /g/ → /l/
-l·r- → -l·l-, assimilation of /ɾ/ → /l/
-l·m- → -l·l-, assimilation of /m/ → /l/
-l·b- → -p·p- [+____]
-l·j- → -l̆-, fusion (palatalization of /l/ → /ʎ/)
-l·v- → -l·l-, assimilation of /v/ → /l/
-r·
-r·g- → -rr-, assimilation of /g/ → /ɾ/, fusion of /ɾɾ/ to /r/
-r·h- → -rr-, assimilation of /h/ → /ɾ/, fusion of /ɾɾ/ to /r/
-r·x- → -rr-, assimilation of /x/ → /ɾ/, fusion of /ɾɾ/ to /r/
-r·l- → -rr-, assimilation of /l/ → /ɾ/, fusion of /ɾɾ/ to /r/
-r·t- → -s·s- [+____]
-s·
-s·l- → -s·s-, assimilation of /l/ → /s/
-s·g- → -s·k-, fortition of /g/ → /k/
-s̆·
-s̆·h- → -s̆→s̆-, assimilation of /h/ → /ʃ/
-s̆·l- → -s̆·s̆-, assimilation of /l/ → /ʃ/
-t·
-t·b- → -s·s- [+____]
-t·g- → -t·t-, assimilation of /g/ → /t/
-t·l- → -t·t-, assimilation of /l/ → /t/
-t·n- → -t·t-, assimilation of /n/ → /t/
-x·
-x·k- → -n·k- [+nasalization]
Being all instances of -n·k- already lenited by sandhi to -n·g-, all remaining instances of -n·k- after the sandhi has been applied must then spawn from modified instances of -x·k-, thus avoiding ambiguity.
-VC·CCV-
-n·
-n·rk- → -n·ng- → -ngg-, assimilation of /ɾ/ → /n/, fusion of /n/ and /k/ (velatization of /n/ → /ŋ/)
-n·lt- → -n·t-, elision of /l/
-n·ln- → -n·n-, elision of /l/
-n·ll- → -n·n-, assimilation of first /l/, elision of second /l/
-n·hm- → -m·m-, elision of /l/, assimilation of /n/
-n·hr- → -n·kr-, fortition of /h/ → /k/
-n·hš- → -n·š-, elision of /h/
-n·tm- → -d·d-, lenition of /t/ → /d/, elision of /n/, assimilation of /m/ → /d/
-n·tx- → -n·x-, elision of /t/
-x·
-x·hr- → -x·r-, elision of /h/
-CV·CV-
-ta·
-ta·h- → -ta·g- [+____]
-ta·r- → -ta·l- [+____]
-ta·š- → -ta·s- [+____]
-ta·x- → -ta·g- [+____]
-ta·t- → -ta·d-, lenition of /t/ → /d/
-ta·k- → -ta·g-, lenition of /k/ → /g/
-ta·bVC- → -ta·fCV- [+____]
-CV·CCV-
-ta·
-ta·hš- > -ta·š- [+____]
-ta·tx- > -ta·x- [+____] tVtC > tVC elision of t? haplology?
-m·v- → -p-, fusion to /p/ (labialization of /v/ → /β/, plosivization of /β/ → /p/)
-l
-l·t- → -l·d-, lenition of /t/ → /d/
-l·k- → -l·g-, lenition of /k/ → /g/
-l·g- → -l·l-, assimilation of /g/ → /l/
-l·r- → -l·l-, assimilation of /ɾ/ → /l/
-l·m- → -l·l-, assimilation of /m/ → /l/
-l·b- → -p·p- [+____]
-l·j- → -l̆-, fusion (palatalization of /l/ → /ʎ/)
-l·v- → -l·l-, assimilation of /v/ → /l/
-r·
-r·g- → -rr-, assimilation of /g/ → /ɾ/, fusion of /ɾɾ/ to /r/
-r·h- → -rr-, assimilation of /h/ → /ɾ/, fusion of /ɾɾ/ to /r/
-r·x- → -rr-, assimilation of /x/ → /ɾ/, fusion of /ɾɾ/ to /r/
-r·l- → -rr-, assimilation of /l/ → /ɾ/, fusion of /ɾɾ/ to /r/
-r·t- → -s·s- [+____]
-s·
-s·l- → -s·s-, assimilation of /l/ → /s/
-s·g- → -s·k-, fortition of /g/ → /k/
-s̆·
-s̆·h- → -s̆→s̆-, assimilation of /h/ → /ʃ/
-s̆·l- → -s̆·s̆-, assimilation of /l/ → /ʃ/
-t·
-t·b- → -s·s- [+____]
-t·g- → -t·t-, assimilation of /g/ → /t/
-t·l- → -t·t-, assimilation of /l/ → /t/
-t·n- → -t·t-, assimilation of /n/ → /t/
-x·
-x·k- → -n·k- [+nasalization]
Being all instances of -n·k- already lenited by sandhi to -n·g-, all remaining instances of -n·k- after the sandhi has been applied must then spawn from modified instances of -x·k-, thus avoiding ambiguity.
-VC·CCV-
-n·
-n·rk- → -n·ng- → -ngg-, assimilation of /ɾ/ → /n/, fusion of /n/ and /k/ (velatization of /n/ → /ŋ/)
-n·lt- → -n·t-, elision of /l/
-n·ln- → -n·n-, elision of /l/
-n·ll- → -n·n-, assimilation of first /l/, elision of second /l/
-n·hm- → -m·m-, elision of /l/, assimilation of /n/
-n·hr- → -n·kr-, fortition of /h/ → /k/
-n·hš- → -n·š-, elision of /h/
-n·tm- → -d·d-, lenition of /t/ → /d/, elision of /n/, assimilation of /m/ → /d/
-n·tx- → -n·x-, elision of /t/
-x·
-x·hr- → -x·r-, elision of /h/
-CV·CV-
-ta·
-ta·h- → -ta·g- [+____]
-ta·r- → -ta·l- [+____]
-ta·š- → -ta·s- [+____]
-ta·x- → -ta·g- [+____]
-ta·t- → -ta·d-, lenition of /t/ → /d/
-ta·k- → -ta·g-, lenition of /k/ → /g/
-ta·bVC- → -ta·fCV- [+____]
-CV·CCV-
-ta·
-ta·hš- > -ta·š- [+____]
-ta·tx- > -ta·x- [+____] tVtC > tVC elision of t? haplology?

Sandhi over word boundaries
-C_b- → -C_p-, fortition of /b/ → /p/ (devoicing of /b/)

Composite sandhi: obligatory contour and other phenomena.
A case of composite sandhi occurs when the application of an external sandhi rule results in either i) the resetting of or ii) the innovation on an internal sandhi rule.
Examples:
i) Resetting of an internal sandhi rule: external sandhi triggers obligatory contour, resetting internal sandhi.
bengilir > penkilir
1) Internal sandhi: rule -n·k- → -n·g-, lenition of /k/ → /g/ (voicing of /k/)
bV·en·kil·Vr → bēnkilir* → bēngilir
2) External sandhi: rule -C b- → -C p-, fortition of /b/ → /p/ (devoicing of /b/)
(-V bēngilir → -V bēngilir)
-C bēngilir → -C pēngilir* >> -C pēnkilir
ii) Innovation on an internal sandhi rule: external sandhi triggers obligatory contour, leniting a cluster formed through assimilation
bepɯlɯr > pevɯlɯr
1) Internal sandhi: rule -n·v- → -p-, fusion to /p/
bV·en·vɯl·Vr > bepɯlɯr
2) External sandhi: rule -C b- > -C p-, fortition of /b/  /p/ (devoicing of /b/)
(-V bepɯlɯr > bepɯlɯr)
-C bepɯlɯr > pevɯlɯr

Syllable structure

Both verbal and nominal roots, as well as affixes, have a (C)(C)V(C) syllable structure.

MORPHOLOGY

Nominal morphology

Nominal roots are marked for grammatical case, deixis (relative locativity and lativity), definiteness and number or quantity.

Grammatical gender and animacy

There are two grammatical genders: animate and inanimate. The animate gender has two subdivisions: masculine and feminine. These are all generally listed as masculine, feminine and neuter gender.

(See also ‘Animacy and volition’ below)

Grammatical number and quantifier affixes

There are two systems of grammatical number: i) for nouns, Collective 1, Dual, Singulative, Collective 2; ii) for pronouns, the numbers Singular, Dual, Plural and Indefinite.

(See also “__*number*__” below)

Grammatical number markers for nouns

The determiners account for definiteness as well as for number:

Number	Definiteness	Marker
col Collective	Indefinite	-Ø
	Definite	-Vr
dual Dual	Indefinite	-Vt
	Definite	-VmVm
sg Singulative	Indefinite	-Vm
	Definite	-Vx
col2 Collective 2*	Indefinite	-lVt
	Definite	-lVm

* The number “Collective 2” reffers to collectives or complete sets of a noun; e.g. ne; trees; nelet, a.forest

Declension particles and affixes

Grammatical case

	Animate				Inanimate
	Singular	Dual	Plural	4th	Singular	Dual	Plural	4th
Nominative nom	Ø
Ergative erg	an-	vVl-	sVm-	tVm-	ɯl-	xan-	rVm-	tVl-
Dative dat	bVl-		mVl-		bVl-		mVl-
Absolutive abs	tVn-	wVn-	VtVn-	sVn-	okVn-	xVn-	VkVn-	šVn-
Accusative acc	VnV-		lVt-		VnV-		lVt-
Instrumental inst	or-		Vm-		or-		Vm-
Partitive* part	bV-	tV-			kV-	tV-
Genitive** gen	-(o)nnu(r)

* The partitive case (part) conveys the telicity of the verb (to.x/to.x.obj vs. to.fully/thoroughly.x/x.obj).

** The genitive case (gen) is marked with a conflation of the deictic markers -ho- (FROM) and -nur (APUD) and is thus the same for all nouns.

Deictics

.

Deictic markers

A. ESSIVITY
	‹›	//		Case
I	-vul	-vɯl		in	inessive
	-kil	-kil		sup	superessive
	-tiš	-tiʃ		sub	subessive
	-lur	-lɯɾ		ant	antessive
	-vet	-vet		poste	postessive	This case is now rarely used for its original meaning "behind" and is often used to mean "with" or "in exchange for"
	-nur	-nɯɾ		apud	apudessive	apudessive, adessive
B. LATIVITY
	‹›	//		Case
II	-kur	-kɯɾ		il	ilative
	-lir	-liɾ		el	elative
	-vox	-vox		perl	perlative
	-tum	-tɯm		prol	prolative	prolative, prosecutive, oblative/pertingent (against)
III.a	-te	-te				up.to, until
	-sul	-te·vɯl	-sɯl
	-xil	-te·kil	-xil
	-tiš	-te·tiʃ	-(t)tiʃ
	-nur	-te·lɯɾ	-nɯɾ
	-det	-te·vet	-det
	-dur	-te·nɯɾ	-dɯɾ
III.b	-ho	-ho				from
	-ful	-ho·vɯl	-fɯl	inel	inelatve
	-kil	-ho·kil	-(h)kil			/k/→/g/ sandhi doesn’t apply, anulated by underlying /h/
	-diš	-ho·tiʃ	-diʃ
	-hlur	-ho·lɯɾ	-hlɯɾ
	-hret	-ho·vet	-hɾet
	-šur	-ho·nɯɾ	-ʃɯɾ

Nominal declension themes

C-theme	VC-stems
	CVC-stems
V-theme	CV-stems
	CCV-stems

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns can be dropped. They are marked as follows:

-1	0	1	2
grammatical.case	lam	deictic.marker	number.marker
	“person"

Proper names

Proper names are marked for grammatical case in the same way as animate singular common nouns. Regular sandhi over morpheme boundaries is not triggered (for instance, tanTavar instead of **tanDavar, see below).

In the Romanization, the capitalization of the proper name remains in place while prefixes and suffixes remain in minuscle, e.g.:

“Farŭl” {Ø-Farŭl} nom-Farŭl vs. “anFarŭl” {an-Farŭl} erg-Farŭl or

“Perit” {Ø-Perit} nom-Perit vs. “belPerit” {bVl-Perit} dat-Perit or

“Tavar” {Ø-Tavar} nom-Tavar vs. “tanTavar” {tVn-Tavar} abs-Tavar.

Other names, like given names, nicknames and pet names based on common nouns are marked with the proper name marker pnm –gV or –Vg.

The proper name vocative, derived from a reduplicated form of the pnm, fossilized in the forms -gagV and -agVg, occurs with epenthesis of the harmonically neutral vowel a. In this latter form, the first g is subject to sandhi, while the second isn’t. E.g. Tavar → Tavarraga!, Perit → Perittagi!, Farŭl → Farŭllagŭ!.

Verbal morphology

Verbal roots are marked for tense, aspect and subject (animacy, gender, number and person). Mood is marked through postpositions.

Tenses

Tenses are: present, non-present. The equivalent to the future and past tense are conveyed as follows:

Marking					Conveyed tense
-2	-1	0	1	2
perfect	-	√root	obviative	subject.non-present	past
Ø				subject.present	present
prospective				subject.non-present	future

Whence:

Marking
Primary aspect (-2)	Tense (2)
Perfect	present	stative	resulting from past action
	non-present	past
Prospective	present	prospective
	non-present	future
Neutral (Ø marking)	present	present
	non-present	oblique

Tense-person marking suffixes

The most animate agent of the clause (see "Animacy, control, volition") agrees with the verb declined with the proximate suffix, the lesser animate with the verb marked with the obviate. This can also be used to mark a change of referent (see "referent anaphora").

Proximate suffixes

Animacy	Gender	Number	Person	Tense
				Present	Non-present
Animate	Masculine	S	1	-hɯɾ	-hɾam
			2	-ɾam	-ɾamat
			3	-lit	-liteʃ
		D		-Vl	-Vlɯt
		P	1	-ʃɯt	-ʃtɯɾ
			2	-ɾok	-ɾkol
			3	-litit	-lteʃ
		4		-bɯl	-batɯɾ
	Feminine	S	1	-hɯm	-hmɯɾ
			2	-xal	-xlat
			3	-lan	-lnaɾ
		D		-Vt	-Vtem
		P	1	-tam	-tmaʃ
			2	-xɯl	-tɯleɾ
			3	-hoʃ	-hʃol
		4		-bok	-bilɯɾ
Inanimate	Neuter	S	1	-tex	-txet
			2	-kol	-klot
			3	-leɾ	-lɾeʃ > -lleʃ
		D		-VtVl	-VtVʃ
		P	1	-tot	-tɯɾ
			2	-hem	-hmel
			3	-kim	-kmiliɾ > -biliɾ
		4		-bim	-bamal

Obviate suffixes

The obviative particle obv -i-/-ĭ- is placed between the root and the proximal tense marker. It applies to the second and third person.

This in turn shows the form of the tense suffix that is otherwise opaqued by the sandhi:

prox mẹnnᴉt, obv mẹnᴉlᴉt

-lit 3s.masc.pres, -ilit 3s.masc.pres.obv.

Verbal aspect markers

.

Aspect		Marker
Perfect	perf	C₂a-/C₂o-
Prospective	pros	C₂ora-/oC₂osa-
Continuous	cont	C₂ona-
Progressive	prog	C₂ara-
Gnomic	gnom	aC₂C₂a-
Imperfective	imper	oC₂a-
Iterative	iter	toC₂a-

The primary and the secondary aspect markers have historically fused through metaphony and syncope, yielding the following standarized forms:

For animate subjects

Aspect		Marker
Perfect	perf.anim	C₂a-
Per. gnomic	perf.gnom.anim	C₂a·aC₂C₂a-	C₂aC₂C₂a-
Per. imperfective	perf.imperf.anim	C₂a·oC₂a-	C₂aC₂o-
Per. continuous	perf.cont.anim	C₂a·C₂ona-	C₂ano-
Per. progressive	perf.prog.anim	C₂a·C₂ara-	aC₂ara-
Per. iterative	perf.iter.anim	C₂a·toC₂a-	toC₂aC₂a-
Prospective	pros.anim	C₂ora-
Pro. gnomic	pros.gnom.anim	C₂ora·aC₂C₂a-	C₂oC₂C₂ara-
Pro. imperfective	pros.imperf.anim	C₂ora·oC₂a-	oC₂C₂a-
Pro. continuous	pros.cont.anim	C₂ora·C₂ona-	C₂oC₂a-
Pro. progressive	pros.prog.anim	C₂ora·C₂ara-	aC₂oC₂ara-
Pro. iterative	pros.iter.anim	C₂ora·toC₂a-	noC₂ora-

For inanimate subjects

Aspect		Marker
Perfect	perf.inan	C₂o-
Per. gnomic	perf.gnom.inan	C₂a·aC₂C₂a-	C₂waC₂C₂a-
Per. imperfective	perf.imperf.inan	C₂a·oC₂a-	oC₂C₂a-
Per. continuous	perf.cont.inan	C₂a·C₂ona-	C₂ona-
Per. progressive	perf.prog.inan	C₂a·C₂ara-	oC₂wara-
Per. iterative	perf.iter.inan	C₂o·toC₂a-	otoC₂C₂a-
Prospective	pros.inan	oC₂osa-
Pro. gnomic	pros.gnom.inan	oC₂osa·aC₂C₂a-	oC₂oC₂wara-
Pro. imperfective	pros.imperf.inan	oC₂osa·oC₂a-	C₂wasa-
Pro. continuous	pros.cont.inan	oC₂osa·C₂ona-	oC₂ona-
Pro. progressive	pros.prog.inan	oC₂osa·C₂ara-	oC₂wasa-
Pro. iterative	pros.iter.inan	oC₂osa·toC₂a-	toC₂osa-

Mood marking particles

All mood marking particles are postpositional to the verb they modify. Being there no copula for existencial predication, all mood markers modify verbal phrases directly (see below: negation).

Special cases

i) Counterfactual conditional

The if clause is counterfactual

ii) Deliberative mood

A construction similar to a deliberative mood (delib – sentences of the form “should I do X?”) can be marked by the conflation of the optative mood marker (opt) kŭ either 1) with the interrogative mood marker (int) če; or 2) with the imperative mood marker (imp) kŭ.

delib (int+opt):	čekkŭ (< če + kŭ)
delib (imp+opt):	nakkŭ (< na + kŭ)

iii) Desiderative mood (“wanting to X”)

Participles

The participial verbal forms are formed with the bare root of the verb, marked with the participial marker ppl aC₂(a)- (a modified form of the gnomic aspect marker gnom aC₂C₂a-) and an epenthetic suffix -i/-ĭ that takes over the slot of the person-tense marker. This works as an infinitive participle, and can furtherly be inflected for tense and aspect. The forms of the ppl fused with the verbal tense structural primary verbal aspects, and most used participles are:

Marking					Conveyed tense
-3		-2	0	2
1	ppl aC₂(a)-	perfect C₂a-/C₂o-	√root	subject.non-present	past
2		Ø		subject.present	present
3		prospective C₂ora-/oC₂osa-		subject.non-present	future

Marked with the forms:

Participle		ppl	Primary aspect marker	Person-tense marker	Participle prefix (-3)·(-2)-
1	Past participle	aC₂(a)-	C₂a-/C₂o-	subject.non-present	aC₂C₂(V)-
2	Present participle		Ø	subject.present	aC₂(V)-
3	Future participle		C₂ora-/oC₂osa-	subject.non-present	aC₂Vr(V)-

For example:

‹axxamaxi nēr›
/ˈax.xa.ma.xi	neːɾ/
{axxa-max-i	ne-er}
{aC₂C₂(V)-max-i	ne-Vr}
ppl-to.cut-ppl	trees-def.col
“the cut trees”

All other combinations of ppl+(aspect marker) are also allowed.

Referent anaphora

Anaphoric reference shift particle

The anaphoric marker states that the referent of the verb has changed. This is to avoid the ambiguity of sentences like the following:

“Tavar hit Perit. He cried”

Given a sequence of actions like the one above, performed by actuants (A or S) of the same level of semantically adscribed animaciy, it is necessary to mark wether the sequence of actions (hitting, then crying) belongs to the same referent, or if the referent of the first action is different than that of the latter. To mark that the actuant of the crying, S, is now Perit (formerly the non-actuant, O, of the hitting), and no longer Tavar (actuant, A, of the hitting), either the verb itself or the pronoun -most commonly the verb, given the pro-drop feature of the language- is suffixed with one of the following particles:

Particle
{-Vn, -an, -on} /C_	-Vn > [√a, o]
	-an > [√VroundedC]
	-on > [√VunroundedC]
{-Vt, -at, -ot} /C_	-Vt > [√a, o]
	-at > [√VroundedC]
	-ot > [√VunroundedC]
{-Vk, -ak, -ok} /C_	-Vk > [√a, o]
	-ak > [√VroundedC]
	-ok > [√VunroundedC]
{-Vs̆, -as̆, -os̆} /C_	-Vs̆ > [√a, o]
	-as̆ > [√VroundedC]
	-os̆ > [√VunroundedC]

This would render the aforementioned sentence ("Tavar hit Perit. He cried") into the unambiguously marked:

‹anTavar sakĕssiteš tenPerit. Lamma xabaxlitešen›
/an.ta.ˈvaɾ	sa.ˈkøs.si.teʃ	ten.pe.ˈɾit	|	ˈlam.ma	xa.ˈbax.li.te.ʃen/
{an-Tavar	sa-kĕs-siteš	ten-Perit	|	Ø-lam-ma	xa-bax-liteš-en}
{an-Tavar	C₂a-kĕs-liteš	tVn-Perit	|	Ø-lam-Ca	C₂a-bax-liteš-Ø-Vn}
erg.anim.sg-Tavar	perf-to.hit-3s.anim.masc.npres	abs.anim.sg-Perit	|	nom.anim.sg-lam-pron.sg	perf-to.cry-3s.anim.masc.npres.ind-shift
“Tavar hit Perit. He cried”

Tavar did the hitting, Perit the crying.

Use of the obviate

The obviative form of the tense-person marker, used to mark agreement of verbs with the less animate actor of a clause with different actors of the same semanticly adscribed degree of animacy, as it sepparates actors, can be used on its own to mark the shift in referent within a single clause, while the anaphoric reference shift particle can also be used over longer discourse segments.

Verbal compounding

Two verbal roots are combined to convey a new meaning (see Derivational morphology: Special compositional functions of verbs).

Derivational morphology

.

Derivational affixes

Marker					Meaning
‹›	//	gloss	Name	Slot
-(i)ti	i.ti	agen	agentive		Derives agent nouns from other common nouns or from verbs, denoting someone or something whose role or purpose it is to use the noun (instrumental construction) or to perform or partake in the verb's action.
-(s)im	sim	agen	agentive		The same as -(i)ti. Mostly used for derivation from verbs.
-(r)in	ɾin	agen	agentive		The same as -(i)ti. Mostly used for derivation from other common, but non-agent nouns.
-Can	[C]an	res	resultative		Derives nouns resulting of an action. (e.g. mar to.carve, marran carved.item, statue; mĕr to.write, mĕrran letter, written symbol)
y(V)-	j_	nlz	nominalizer		(See "Nominalization of a locative adverb")
=la-	la	hyl	hylic	1	Material commonly associated with the noun (e.g. -ne- trees, -ne=la- wood)
-aš	aʃ	tool	tools		Tool associated with the verb or noun which it modifies.

Compounding

Genitive compounds

Genitive compounds are usually binary structures of elements of the same or different parts of speech, though some tripartite compounds can arise. In binary structures, the first element is the determinatum (head element) of the compound. The following compositions are the most common:

i) A noun₁+noun₂ compound: will yield a compound noun that pertains both elements.

ii) A noun+verb compound: will yield a noun after the scheme: [noun]-used.for/used.to-[verb]

iii) A verb₁+verb₂ compound: will yield a compound verb that pertains both elements

iv) A verb+noun compound: will yield a verb after the scheme: [verb]>>[noun]

When a noun is the first element in a compound, it will be rendered in its construct state (CS) after the following scheme:

(1) [√-C] → +V(√) if [√C-] | +V(√)m if [√V-]

(2) [√-V] → +Ø if [√C-] | +m if [√V-]

(1) If the root of noun₁ ends with a consonant, the CS of that root will be either i) √+V(√) if the root of noun₂/verb begins with a consonant or ii) √+V(√)m if it begins with a vowel.

(2) If the root of noun₁ ends with a vowel, the CS of that root will be either i) √+Ø if the root of noun₂/verb begins with a consonant or ii) √+m if it begins with a vowel.

The roots of verbs have no CS and the morphemes are subject to regular sandhi phenomena.

Examples:

Composition i) noun₁+noun₂

Noun₁: ĕl /øl/ flesh; CS: √+V(√) → ĕlĕ- {ĕl=ĕ}

Noun₂: ne /ne/ trees {tree:COL}

‹ĕlĕne›

/ˈø.lø.ne/

{ĕl=ĕ-ne}

{flesh=CS-tree:COL}

“tree-flesh; wood”

Composition ii) noun+verb

Noun: kaš /kaʃ/ sticks {stick:COL}; CS: √+V(√) → kaša- {kaš=a}

Verb: kĕs /køs/ to hit

‹kašakĕs›

/ˈka.ʃa.køs/

{kaš=a-kĕs}

{stick:COL=CS-to.hit}

“hit-sticks; clubs, maces”

Composition iii) verb₁+verb₂

Verb₁: mĕn /ˈmøn/ to.fly

Verb₂: koteš /ko.ˈteʃ/ to.hand.over

‹mĕngoteš›

/ˈmøn.go.teʃ/

{mĕn-koteš}

{to.fly-to.hand.over}

"to fly” (transitive)

Composition iv) verb+noun

Verb: max /max/ to.cut

Noun: nela /ne.la/ {ne=la} trees-HYL, wood

‹maxnela›

/ˈmax.ne.la/

{max-(ne=la)}

{to.cut-wood}

“to cut wood; woodcutting”

Special compositional functions of verbs

There are some verbs that, being the determinans in a type iii composition (verb₂), act differently than in isolation or as the determinatum of such a composition.

- The verbs ‹kĕs› /køs/ to.hit and ‹huš› /ˈhɯʃ/ to.burn.

They may both act like intensifiers, either forming new lexemes or acting as intensive aspect marker. The verb kĕs to.hit is mostly used for motion verbs, the verb huš to.burn mostly for stative or abstract verbs.

Examples:

to.cleave

Verb₁: max /max/ to.cut

Verb₂: kĕs /køs/ to.hit

‹mankĕs›

/ˈman.køs/

{max-kĕs}

{to.cut-to.hit}

“to.cleave”

to.glare

Verb₁: ala /ˈa.la/ to.see

Verb₂: huš /ˈhɯʃ/ to.burn

‹alahuš›

/ˈa.la.hɯʃ/

{ala-huš}

{to.see-to.burn}

“to.glare”

Dative compounds

Dative compounds are binary structures, mainly nominal compounds that portray some form of possession (dativus possesivus). The elements can be nominal roots or nominalized verbal roots, adjectives and adverbs. The compositions follow the structure noun₁+noun₂, where the first element is the determinatum (head element) of the compound.

The elements of the dative compound are preceded by the pertinent dative case marker DAT depending on the gender and number of the determinatum. Furthermore, the determinatum is suffixed as follows:

(1) [√-C] → -i if [√C-] | -Ø if [√V-]

(2) [√-V] → -Ø if [√C-] | -t if [√V-]

(1) If the root of noun₁ ends with a consonant, then it will be suffixed either with –i/-ĭ if the root of noun₂ begins with a consonant or not suffixed if it begins with a vowel.

(2) If the root of noun₁ ends with a vowel, then it will be either not suffixed if the root of noun₂ begins with a consonant, or with -t if it begins with a vowel.

The determinatum suffix is glossed with DS (“determinatum suffix”). The morphemes are then subject to regular sandhi phenomena.

This kind of “triple” marking of the dererminatum (syntactically, through the position in the compound, and morphologically, through prefixation of DAT and suffixation as described above) allows that one of the two morphological ones can be dropped, most typically the DAT prefixation. As the compound attained through a dative of possession can be treated as a noun, this allows for the absolutive case marker ABS to be attached directly to the determinatum instead of to the DAT.

Examples:

-C·C-

Regular form

BALMARAX NELEMER

bVl-mar-Vx nelem-Vr Ø

DAT.SG.INAN-hills-SG.DET forests-COL.DET-IND

“to the hill, there are forests” > “the hill has forests”

The forests of the hill

Compound form

BALLARINELEM

bVl-mar-i-nelem-Ø

DAT.SG.INAN-hills-DS-forests-COL.DET-IND

“to the hill, there are forests” > “the hill has forests”

The forests of the hill

Regular form

BALMARAX NĒR

bVl-mar-Vx ne-Vr Ø

DAT.SG.INAN-hills-SG.DET trees-COL.DET-IND

“to the hill, there are trees” > “the hill has trees”

The trees of the hill

Compound form

BALLARINE

bVl-mar-i-ne-Ø

DAT.SG.INAN-hills-DS-trees-IND

“to the hill, there are trees” > “the hill has trees”

The trees of the hill

This kind of compounding is also used to form many words referring to places where something is made or found. This takes different general descriptive words for different kinds of places as determiners in the DEF.SING form. For buildings, it takes the word house, en. For open spaces, it takes the word field, bĕ.

For instance, ‘bakery’ would be bŭllŭkenex {bVl-vŭk-Ø-en-Vx}, literally “to breads, the house”. Furthermore, the word for arsenal or armory, both “weapon storage” and “weapon manufacture”, would be balgašenex {bVl-kaša(s̆)-Ø-en-Vx}, literally “to weapons, the house” (SEE NOUN-VERB COMPOUNDS).

Nominalization

NLZ ‹y(V)-› /j_/ {jV-}

Nominalization of a verb

A verb can be nominalized through the reduplication of the verbal root, which undergoes a mutation of its onset. Regular sandhi rules also apply to this forms. This yields a noun that is an instance of the action conveyed by the verb. This compositions take the following forms:

Replacement of the first consonant through /m/ in the iteration: [√-C], [√-V] → √C·{C>m}V-

-fricative

kĕs to.hit _________ kĕsmĕs strikes

max to.cut ________ maxmax cuts

-nasal

vun to.grow _______ vunnun (<vunmun) growth

mĕn to.fly ________ mĕnnĕn (<mĕnmĕn) flights

-liquid

mŭr to.(be).ill ______ mŭrmŭr illnesses

bul to.go __________ bullul (<bulmul) ways

-vowel

reta to.eat _______ retama (retam’a < retameta) meals

Lenition of stops: [√-C], [√-V] → √C·{C+lenition}V-

-nasal

-liquid

-vowel

vun to.grow _______ vunnun (<vunmun) growth

Epenthesis of /b/: VC roots → VC·{b}·VC

ĕl to.__ _________ ĕppĕl (<ĕlbĕl) ___

on to.__ _________ ommon (<onbon) ___

ŭr to.speak _______ ŭrbŭr speech

ala to.perceive ________ alabal(a)

Verbs that are already composite are normally nominalized with the prefixation of the nominalizer NLZ y(V)- to this same effect.

Nominalization of a locative adverb

A locative (essive) adverbs can be nominalized with use of the nominalizer prefix NLZ y(Y)-. In contrast to what happens with locative and lative adverbs on their own, nominalized locative adverbs can be modified by grammatical case and become the theme (T) or object (O) of a sentence

E.g.:

‹nekilixtir›	|	‹yenekilixtir›
/ˈne.ki.lix.tiɾ/	|	/je.ˈne.ki.lix.tiɾ/
{ne·kil·Vx·tVr}	|	{yV·ne·kil·Vx·tVr}
tree-SUP-DET.PL-SOME	|	NLZ-tree-SUP-DET.PL-SOME
"on top of some trees"	|	"the top of some trees"

From wich, for instance:

‹xomaxram yēkennekilixtir›
/xo.ˈma.xɾam ˈjeː.ken.ne.ki.ˌlix.tiɾ/
{ xo·max·ram ye·eken·ne·kil·ix·tir}
{C₂o max-hɾam	|yV·VkVn·ne·kil·Vx·tVr}
PER.ANIM-to.cut-NPR.ANIM.MASC.1S	|NLZ-ABS.INAN.PL-tree-SUP-DET.PL-SOME
"I (masc.) cut (past) the top of some trees"

Hypocoristics

Some hypocoristics have since been lexicalized (e.g. yĕmĕr writing, yĕmĕrĭš “little writing” > letter)

Diminutives

-iš/-ĭš

Augmentatives

-(h)kur/-(h)kŭr

SYNTAX

Morphosyntactic allignment

i) transitive verbs (A) – (V) – (O)

ii) intransitive verbs (S) – (V)

iii) ditransitive verbs (A) – (V) – (T) – (O)

(S) NOM

(A) ERG

(T) DAT

(O) i) ABS, iii) ACC

Word order

(S)-V-(O/A)-V-(T)-(O)

A/N

Lexicon

Citation forms:

· Nouns: nominative singular;

· Adjectives: nominative singular

· Verbs: first person singular present indicative active.

Samples

Words:

A verb: anaramĕnkram /a.na.ɾa.ˈmøn.kɾam/ aC₂ara-møn-hram per.prog.anim-to.fly-1s.mas.n.pres "I was flying"

A noun: alāšax /ˈa.laː.ʃax/ ala-aš-Vx to.perceive-tool-def.singulative "the pair of glasses"

Something idiomatic: alahuš /ˈa.la.hɯʃ/ ala-huš to.perceive-to.burn "to glare"