Suwaash

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Suwaazh is a conlang inspired by similarities between Sino-Tibetan (especially Rgyalrongic) and Navajo. It is an isolate within a large language family which includes monosyllabic tonal languages and Athabaskan-style polysynthetic languages. Suwaazh is the lingua franca of modern Sngeaf.

Todo

  • myąą 'cat; meow'

Vocabulary

Suwaazh is about as purist as German or Finnish, but it has some loans from Anbirese.

Phonology

The following describes Amisheg (Standard Sowaazh) phonology.

Consonants

Amisheg has a large consonant inventory of 33 consonants:

Consonant phonemes in Amisheg
Labial Dental Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m /m/ n /n̪/ ny /ɲ/
Stop tenuis b /p/ d /t̪/ g /k/ ɂ /ʔ/
aspirated p /pʰ/ t /t̪ʰ/ k /kʰ/
ejective t' /t̪ʼ/ k' /kʼ/
Affricate tenuis j /t̪s̪/ jh /tʂ/ jy /tɕ/
aspirated c /t̪s̪ʰ/ ch /tʂʰ/ cy /tɕʰ/
ejective c' /t̪s̪ʼ/ ch' /tʂʼ/ cy' /tɕʼ/
Fricative fortis s /s̪/ sh /ʂ/ sy /ɕ/ kh /x/ h /h/
lenis z /z̪/ zh /ʐ/ zy /ʑ/ gh /ɣ/
Approximant w /w/ l /l/ y /j/

/mj pj pʰj lj/ are allowed before vowels.

Vowels

Amisheg has only 4 vowel qualities, although there is phonemic vowel length and nasality.

Amisheg oral vowels
Front Back
short long short long
Close i, į ii, įį u, ų uu, ųų
Open e, ę ee, ęę a, ą aa, ąą

The vowels i ii į įį are centralized after retroflex consonants; u uu ų ųų are fronted after palatal consonants.

Morphophonology

Initial alternations

2-way alternating roots:

  • b p m -> by py my
  • d t t' n l -> jy cy cy' ny ly
  • g k k' kh gh -> jh ch ch' sh zh (at least in some roots?)
  • j c c' s z -> jy cy cy' sy zy

Some 3-way alternating roots

  • j c c' s z ~ jh ch ch' sh zh ~ jy cy cy' sy zy

Unexpectedly unalternating roots

  • Unalternating jh series roots
  • Unalternating g series roots
  • unalternating zy roots

Dialects

Different nonstandard dialects shift the sibilant system in different ways:

  • merging sh zh jh ch ch' with s z j c c' (cf. Polish mazurzenie)
  • merging sh zh jh ch ch' with sy zy jy cy cy' (cf. Polish jabłonkowanie)
  • merging sy zy jy cy cy' with s z j c c' (cf. Polish kaszubienie)
  • shifting sh zh jh ch ch' into velars /x ɣ kx kxʰ kxʼ/ or uvulars /χ ʁ qχ qχʰ qχʼ/

Grammar

Suwaazh grammar is inspired by similarities between Sino-Tibetan and Navajo grammar. Like both Rgyalrongic and Navajo, Suwaazh is head-final and head-marking, but it is not nearly as polysynthetic as Navajo.

Nouns

Possessive affixes

Plurals

Postpositions

Postpositions inflect like nouns in that they take personal affixes.

  • dative -ash: węęhash 'for the world/Earth'; nash 'for me'

Verbs

The verb is the only obligatory component of a Suwaazh clause. Adjectives are also verbs.

The root

A Suwaazh verb root consists of an obligatory initial, a vowel which may ablaut, and an optional final.

Possible initials are:

  • all single consonants
  • my by py

Final consonants are restricted to b d z~s zh~sh zy~sy g ɂ h l n; the -n final may not follow a nasal vowel.

Personal affixes

Tense marking

Verbal nouns

Voice

Derivational morphology

Syntax