North-East Antarctican: Difference between revisions

However, it differs from English in many other ways. Syntactically, it prefers SVO, but is less strict than English, often allowing words to be fronted as topics, or elided if they are obvious from context. This does not create ambiguities, since verbs have hierarchical person marking. The language also marks [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inalienable_possession alienable and inalienable possession]. Phonologically, the language uses secondary articulation to contrast a very large number of consonant phonemes, however the phonotactics are extremely restrictive, and most dialects have a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_vowel_system Vertical Vowel System] (the ones that do not still preserve an older system with vowel harmony).

==Phonology==

===Verbalisation===

There are also many irregular verbalisations e.g. /ˈkʷa̰jːa/ [ˈkʷœ̰jːæ̰] - "fire" becomes /kʷaˈja̤/ [kʷœˈjæ̤ː] - "to burn", and /maˈhɨ̤ɻːɨ/ [maˈhɤ̤ɻːɤ̤] - "goop / mush" becomes /mʲɨˈɾʲɨ̰/ [mʲiˈɾʲḭː] - "to mash up".

==Verb Morphology==

===Tense / Aspect / Mood===

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telicity Telicity] is very important in the TAM system. Except for future, negative and conditional forms, verbs are marked for telic vs. atelic aspect.

| Past Conditional || ŋa- -ta || ŋa- -ta || ŋah- -ta || ŋah- -ta

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

| Nonfuture Atelic Applicative || -ŋɨ || -ŋɨ || -ŋɨ || -ŋɨ

|}

The irrealis forms are used for events that the speaker considers hypothetical, or at least unlikely e.g. the telic nonfuture irrealis /bɨʔə-wɨdɨkʷaˈja̤-ʈa/ [bɨʔowudukʷœˈjɐ̤ːʈɑ] - "would have burnt up the dried wood".

The conditional optative is a conditional form that is used for things that are / were supposed to have been done (e.g. as a duty). For example /ŋa-wɨdɨkʷaˈja̤-tɨ/ [ŋawudukʷœˈjæ̤ːtɨ] - "if ... had burned the dried wood" (which ... was supposed to do).