Wistanian: Difference between revisions
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Wistanian follows a fairly rigid syntax and tight grammar for a number of historical reasons. Firstly, due to its pidginization with the Nati language, Taliv lost most of its irregularities and exceptions. Secondly, as the Katapu began to teach Wistanian, they had spread false information to "make more sense" of the language, which resulted in further simplification that was later adopted as standard. In Wistanian's infancy, it was almost engineered to be as efficient as possible. However, learners were still able to incorporate features from their native language into Wistanian, providing it with several of its current syntactical quirks (e.g., imperative word order was introduced by the Taliv learners). | Wistanian follows a fairly rigid syntax and tight grammar for a number of historical reasons. Firstly, due to its pidginization with the Nati language, Taliv lost most of its irregularities and exceptions. Secondly, as the Katapu began to teach Wistanian, they had spread false information to "make more sense" of the language, which resulted in further simplification that was later adopted as standard. In Wistanian's infancy, it was almost engineered to be as efficient as possible. However, learners were still able to incorporate features from their native language into Wistanian, providing it with several of its current syntactical quirks (e.g., imperative word order was introduced by the Taliv learners). | ||
===Lexical Categories=== | |||
Wistanian has five traditional lexical categories (parts of speech): the noun ('''davagg'''), the verb ('''anai'''), the modifier ('''yigbizaun'''), the particle ('''mauvaldul'''), and the honorofics ('''jili'''). | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
! style="text-align: center;" | Nouns | |||
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | davagg | |||
| Any word that takes on nominal morphology and can act as a subject or object the verb. | |||
|- | |||
! style="text-align: center;" | Verbs | |||
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | anai | |||
| Any word that takes on verbal morphology. | |||
|- | |||
! style="text-align: center;" | Modifiers | |||
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | yigbizaun | |||
| Any word that describes or specifies another word. | |||
|- | |||
! style="text-align: center;" | Particles | |||
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | mauvaldul | |||
| Any word that has a grammatical role and cannot take on any additional morphemes. | |||
|- | |||
! style="text-align: center;" | Honorifics | |||
| style="text-align: center; font-style:italic;" | jili | |||
| A polite title used with many proper nouns. | |||
|} | |||
Some scholars argue that there are more parts of speech. For example,'''wi''' and '''igza''' are arguably more semantically fit to be postpositions. However, they are treated like modifiers morphologically, and therefore labeled as such. Relativizers '''va''', '''na''', '''ggaun''', and '''ddal''' could possibly constitute their own part of speech since they do act slightly differently than most particles and carry both a semantic and grammatical meaning. | |||
Nouns include colors, numbers, and possessive pronouns, therefore they are never treated as modifiers. In order to use them to modify a noun, one must use the relativizer particle '''va'''. | |||
'''alalyi dari va din.''' | |||
alali-i dari '''va din'''. | |||
run -TEL boy '''COP.REL three'''. | |||
"The three boys ran (to something)." | |||
===Word Order=== | ===Word Order=== | ||
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===Nouns=== | ===Nouns=== | ||
Wistanian nouns come in three classes: proper, improper, and pronouns. Proper nouns refer to names of people or places ("Wistania", "Alija"), while improper nouns refer to generic terms (e.g., "country", "man"), and pronouns refer to substitute words for other nouns and noun phrases. Proper nouns are never inflected, however, improper nouns can be inflected for number | Wistanian nouns come in three classes: proper, improper, and pronouns. Proper nouns refer to names of people or places ("Wistania", "Alija"), while improper nouns refer to generic terms (e.g., "country", "man"), and pronouns refer to substitute words for other nouns and noun phrases. Proper nouns are never inflected, however, improper nouns can be inflected for the plural number, be compounded, or undergo derivational morphology to become a verb or modifier. Pronouns can take on more inflections than improper nouns. | ||
====Number==== | ====Number==== | ||
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Wistanian has three grammatical numbers: singular, paucal, and plural. Proper nouns do not inflect for number at all, improper nouns only distinguish between paucal and plural, while pronouns only distinguish singular and plural. This unique distinction arose as a result of Middle Taliv, which had a singular/paucal/plural distinction, then merged the paucal and singular before it transitioned to New Taliv. The pronouns, however, maintained the singular/paucal/plural distinction, then later lost the paucal, resulting in a singular/plural distinction in pronouns. | Wistanian has three grammatical numbers: singular, paucal, and plural. Proper nouns do not inflect for number at all, improper nouns only distinguish between paucal and plural, while pronouns only distinguish singular and plural. This unique distinction arose as a result of Middle Taliv, which had a singular/paucal/plural distinction, then merged the paucal and singular before it transitioned to New Taliv. The pronouns, however, maintained the singular/paucal/plural distinction, then later lost the paucal, resulting in a singular/plural distinction in pronouns. | ||
All [[w: Count_noun|count nouns]] can be declined into the plural number with the suffix | All [[w: Count_noun|count nouns]] can be declined into the plural number with the suffix '''-(a)n'''. For improper nouns, they are not conjugated as plural if a) there is only one or a few of a thing, or b) it is modified with a number phrase. | ||
====Pronouns==== | ====Pronouns==== | ||
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* '''Nominative''' (<code>NOM</code>) Used as the subject of the sentence. | * '''Nominative''' (<code>NOM</code>) Used as the subject of the sentence. | ||
* '''Accusative''' (<code>ACC</code>) Used as the object of the sentence. | * '''Accusative''' (<code>ACC</code>) Used as the object of the sentence. | ||
* '''Possessive''' (<code>POSS</code>) Used for possession | * '''Possessive''' (<code>POSS</code>) Used for possession. | ||
* '''Adpositional''' (<code>ADP</code>) Used for pronouns conjugated for location. | * '''Adpositional''' (<code>ADP</code>) Used for pronouns conjugated for location. | ||
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===Modifiers=== | ===Modifiers=== | ||
Modifiers immediately follow their head | Modifiers immediately follow their head. Morphologically, there is no difference between an adjective and an adverb, since they rely on word order. Modifier phrases can be expressed either at the beginning or end of a sentence or after the verb, if it modifies it. Temporal phrases prefer the beginning of the sentence. | ||
====Negation==== | ====Negation==== | ||
Nouns, verbs, and modifiers can be [[w: Affirmation_and_negation|negated]] using the prefix '''''bau(n)-'''''. | Nouns, verbs, and modifiers can be [[w: Affirmation_and_negation|negated]] using the prefix '''''bau(n)-'''''. | ||
'''baudaiziya yau.''' | |||
'''bau-'''daizi-iya yau. | |||
'''NEG-'''sing -STA 1S.NOM. | |||
"I do not sing." | |||
'''haaggiya bauzaun aa audi va zi.''' | |||
haaggi-iya '''bau-'''zaun aa audi va zi. | |||
insult-STA '''NEG-'''person ACC grandfather COP 3Sa.POSS. | |||
"No one insults their grandfather." | |||
'''luj id na baubi.''' | |||
luj id na '''bau-'''bi. | |||
boat PROX POSS '''NEG-'''good. | |||
"This boat is not good." | |||
===Particles=== | ===Particles=== | ||
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The conditional mood (<code>COND</code>) is used to form "if" clauses, such as "if she sings" and "if we go", etc. This is homonymous with the question particle, and they are often considered the same word. The verb head of the conditional particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood. | The conditional mood (<code>COND</code>) is used to form "if" clauses, such as "if she sings" and "if we go", etc. This is homonymous with the question particle, and they are often considered the same word. The verb head of the conditional particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood. | ||
'''''a murwij ya, junaij | '''''a murwij ya, junaij lu ddal dim dau.''''' | ||
'''a''' muru-i -j yau, juna-i -j | '''a''' muru-i -j yau, juna-i -j lu ddal dim dau. | ||
'''COND''' die -TEL-IRR 1S.NOM, bury-TEL-IRR | '''COND''' die -TEL-IRR 1S.NOM, bury-TEL-IRR 2S.NOM LOC hill 1S.ACC. | ||
"If I die, you will bury me on the hill." | "If I die, you will bury me on the hill." | ||
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'''''yaj iliya yau aa maliya.''''' | '''''yaj iliya yau aa maliya.''''' | ||
'''yaj''' ilu-iya yau aa maliya. | '''yaj''' ilu-iya yau aa maliya. | ||
'''CAP''' see-STA 1S.NOM ACC mountain. | '''CAP''' see-STA 1S.NOM ACC mountain. | ||
"I can see the mountains." | "I can see the mountains." | ||
The hypothetical mood (<code>HYP</code>) denotes an action that could occur but doesn't, such as "I could go" or even "I could have gone". The verb head of a hypothetical particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood. | The hypothetical mood (<code>HYP</code>) denotes an action that could occur but doesn't, such as "I could go" or even "I could have gone". The verb head of a hypothetical particle is always conjugated for the irrealis mood. | ||
'''''zaggu umaadaij yi luj, a hiyaj | '''''zaggu umaadaij yi luj, a hiyaj yaadd vaddal.''''' | ||
'''zaggu''' umaada-i '''-j''' yi luj, a hi -iya-j yaadd | '''zaggu''' umaada-i '''-j''' yi luj, a hi -iya-j yaadd ddal. | ||
'''HYP''' sink -TEL'''-IRR''' 1S.POSS boat, COND exist-STA-IRR hole | '''HYP''' sink -TEL'''-IRR''' 1S.POSS boat, COND exist-STA-IRR hole LOC. | ||
"My boat could sink if there is a hole in it." | "My boat could sink if there is a hole in it." | ||
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"Soon, the rain should fall because the clouds are gray." | "Soon, the rain should fall because the clouds are gray." | ||
The epistemic mood (<code>EPIS</code>) denotes an action or state that might have happened, however, the speaker is unsure due to lack of evidence. It can also be used as a weaker hypothetical marker. Verb heads of the epistemic particle must be in the irrealis mood. This mood marker also accompanies "I think" sentences which are typically constructed as "I think this. I may have a hammer | The epistemic mood (<code>EPIS</code>) denotes an action or state that might have happened, however, the speaker is unsure due to lack of evidence. It can also be used as a weaker hypothetical marker. Verb heads of the epistemic particle must be in the irrealis mood. This mood marker also accompanies "I think" sentences which are typically constructed as "I think this. I may have a hammer." | ||
'''''garya yau vai. ibiz auwiniyaj yanuz guddi.''''' | '''''garya yau vai. ibiz auwiniyaj yanuz guddi.''''' | ||
gari -a yau vai. '''ibiz''' auwina -iya'''-j''' | gari -a yau vai. '''ibiz''' auwina -iya'''-j''' guddi. | ||
think-ATEL 1S.NOM 3Si.ACC. '''EPIS''' possess-STA'''-IRR''' | think-ATEL 1S.NOM 3Si.ACC. '''EPIS''' possess-STA'''-IRR''' hammer. | ||
"I think I have a hammer | "I think I have a hammer." | ||
====Relativizer Particles==== | ====Relativizer Particles==== | ||
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"Do you want water or juice?" | "Do you want water or juice?" | ||
This alternative coordinating particle is also used to answer multiple choice question. | This alternative coordinating particle is also used to answer a multiple choice question. | ||
'''(ja yau) i diyan.''' | '''(ja yau) i diyan.''' | ||