Lántun: Difference between revisions
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It is also opportune to clarify, that the morphology of Lántun is '''templatic'''. The template or slot is a functional position in an affixal string of morphemes; each position can be occupied by a definable set of morphemes. This term is the most useful referring to verbal morhology. The function of a given template is determined by how proto-morphemes have come to be re-analysed and ordered in the language, thus semantically related morhemes tend to occupy the same positions, and the morphemes sharing a given position define the function of that position. However, it would be quite facile to argue that reconstruction on such a large scale can be accurately made, using the method of internal reconstruction of some kind of Proto-Lánunic can be misleading, as later Lánunic dialects show a great variability of forms and positions indicating gradual and complex morphophonological shifts. | |||
===Nouns=== | ===Nouns=== | ||
The nominal morphology of Lántun is relatively simple, when compared to the verbal morphology of this language. Lántun exhibits predicate/argument flexibility, which means that all content words are able to occur as the head of the sentence. Words with noun-like meanings are equivalent to nouns, and words with more verb-like meanings are equivalent to verbs, usually regardless of their function. For example, the verb ''el·a'' can mean “to go”, “the process of going” and “one that goes” depending on the context and thus be interpreted as a noun in some instances and a verb in other. Likewise, noun-like words can indicate tense or mood, which is more typical for (yet not entirely exclusive to) verbs, for example: ''kil·tǎi·na'' “this was our (excl.) house”. The category unique to nouns is [[w:Grammatical number|number]]. Although Lántun verbs can potentially receive number markers as well, in those cases the markers typically have a [[w:Distributive case|distributive]] or [[w:Realis mood#Other|intensive]] meaning, while number is instead indicated with person markers. Number in nouns is indicated by augmenting the root, for instance the stem ''-tǎi-'' is A3<sub>f</sub>-type and its plural form is ''-itǎi-'', which is A1<sub>i</sub>-type, while its dual form is ''-tajô-'' — A2<sub>f</sub>-type. The types, to which these augmented forms belong, are usually predictable (A2<sub>f</sub> or A3<sub>f</sub> for dual, and A1<sub>i</sub> or A2<sub>i</sub> for plural), the same is true for the verbal stems and their augmentation. However, many stems do not change, and their number is instead indicated with a suffix, mostly in a case, when a word is a concrete noun (e.g. an item, or a person) — ''ill·a'' “(this is) a draconid (sing.)”, ''ill·à'' “(these are) two draconids (dual)”, ''ill·au'' “draconids (plur.)”, all three stems belong to the A1<sub>f</sub> type. | |||
===Verbs=== | ===Verbs=== | ||
The Lántun verb is characterised by a system of complex [[w:Pronoun|pronominal]] conjugation, in which paradigmatic stem alternations are found. Some personal endings consist of [[w:Portmanteau|portmanteaux]] morphemes expressing notions, such as [[w:Grammatical tense|tense]], [[w:Agent (grammar)|agent]], [[w:Patient (grammar)|patient]] and [[w:Clusivity|clusivity]]. Depending on the number of verbal stems and their position in the verbal paradigm, every Lántun verb belongs to one of two main [[w:Grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] types. Compound verbs are found in Lántun, in fact, most verb stems are not derived from single roots. These compound verbs consist of a verb stem and an auxiliary that adds semantic notions to the main verb. | The Lántun verb is characterised by a system of complex [[w:Pronoun|pronominal]] conjugation, in which paradigmatic stem alternations are found. Some personal endings consist of [[w:Portmanteau|portmanteaux]] morphemes expressing notions, such as [[w:Grammatical tense|tense]], [[w:Agent (grammar)|agent]], [[w:Patient (grammar)|patient]] and [[w:Clusivity|clusivity]]. Depending on the number of verbal stems and their position in the verbal paradigm, every Lántun verb belongs to one of two main [[w:Grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] types. Compound verbs are found in Lántun, in fact, most verb stems are not derived from single roots. These compound verbs consist of a verb stem and an auxiliary that adds semantic notions to the main verb. | ||