Ihlleng

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Illaeing [ˈilːɛiŋ] is another language spoken in my far-future Antarctic conworld. It is spoken on an island in the Ross Sea, and is distantly related to Kämpya (spoken on the west side of the Trans-Antarctic mountains), and shares a number of similarities. Due to the spread of the Laikyâr religion to the island, the language has been further influenced by Kämpya.

In terms of syntax, both distinguish between alienable and inalienable possession, and both are topic prominent, secundative, and syntactically ergative (though in some aspects Illaeing is more like a fluid-S language), with some conflation between the ergative and the genitive case. Both mark restrictiveness on adjectives and relative clauses, but whereas Kämpya uses word order and tone, Illaeing uses prefixes. The morphology is considerably more complex than Kämpya, especially on verbs, which mark polypersonal agreement as well as inflecting for tense. In contrast, the phonology is simpler than Kämpya.


Phonology

Vowels

There are 7 phonemic vowel qualities /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ (the last two cannot occur word finally). There is also a contrastive pharyngealised low vowel /a̰/. There are 12 diphthongs: /ei/, /ɛi/, /ai/, /a̰i/, /ɔi/, /oi/, /eu/, /ɛu/, /au/, /a̰u/ /ɔu/ and /ou/.


Consonants

The following sounds are heard in Illaeing :

Labial Alveolar Lateral Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ŋ*
Stop p b t d k g
Fricative f s x
Approximant w l j ʁ

/ŋ/ cannot occur at the beginning of words.


Phonotactics

Only syllables of the form (C) (C) V (C) are permitted.

Initial Consonant Clusters

Only a few initial consonant clusters are permitted. These are: /pl/, /pj/, /pw/, /mj/, /mw/, /tl/, /tj/, /tw/, /sj/, /sw/, /nj/, /nw/, /lj/, /lw/, /kl/, /kj/ and /kw/.


Coda Consonants

At the end of words, any nasal or obstruent can appear in a coda, as well as /ʁ/. However, elsewhere, the only possible coda consonant is a nasal, that must be homorganic with the following consonant e.g. the first person masculine singular present involitional is marked by the circumfix /om/ ... /no/. But when this is added to the verb stem /ˈlɛːipjɛiŋ/ - to sleep, the result is /onˈlɛːipjɛinno/ - I (masculine) sleep (involuntarily), with the /m/ and the /ŋ/ assimilating to /n/.


Suprasegmentals

One syllable in each word is stressed. Each stressed syllable either has a long vowel or diphthong (e.g. /ˈhlɛːipjɛiŋ/ - to sleep), or geminates the consonant or consonant cluster after it (e.g. /ˈilːɛiŋ/ - Illaeing).


Morphology

Nouns

Plurals

Pluralisation is done by reduplicating the stressed syllable of the noun. The reduplication is placed after the noun root e.g.

/baˈnaː/ - banana -> /baˈnaːna/ - bananas

/ˈwindːo/ - wind -> /ˈwindːowin/ - winds


If the stressed syllable is open, but not the last syllable of the word, then the first consonant of the next syllable is reduplicated with it e.g.

/ˈfeutːa̰/ - fruit -> /ˈfeutːa̰feut/ - fruits

/ˈmatːle/ - mother -> /ˈmatːlemat/ - mothers


If the reduplication would cause an illegal consonant cluster, the second member of the cluster is deleted e.g.

/ˈswɛbːit/ - rabbit -> /ˈswɛbːitwɛb/ - rabbits (not */ˈswɛbːitswɛb/)

/ˈmɛdːik/ - spell (magic) -> /ˈmɛdːikɛd/ - spells (not */ˈmɛdːikmɛd/)


If the reduplication would form a cluster such as /bl/ (which is illegal, however the voiceless equivalent /pl/ is allowed), then the cluster is devoiced.

/ˈkloːub/ - world -> /ˈkloːuploub/ - worlds (not */ˈkloːubloub/)

/ˈswekːɛud/ - record -> /ˈswekːɛutwek/ - records (not */ˈswekːɛudwek/)


If the reduplication would create a word that ends in /j/ or /w/, then a diphthong is formed instead e.g.

/ˈnawːa/ - rope -> /ˈnawːanau/ - ropes

/ˈbajːa/ - bay -> /ˈbajːabai/ - bays


If the reduplication would create a word that ends in /l/, then the final /l/ is deleted e.g.

/osiˈbolːi/ - hand towel -> /osiˈbolːibo/ (not */osiˈbolːibol/)


If the noun root ends with a nasal, then it assimilates to the place of articulation of any following consonant in the reduplication e.g.

/aˈlaːm/ - booby trap -> /aˈlaːnlam/ - booby traps (not */aˈlaːmlam/)

/ˈbɔtːan/ - button -> /ˈbɔtːambɔt/ - buttons


If the noun root ends with a diphthong (/ai/, /au/, /ei/, /ou/, /eu/ or /ou/), and the stressed syllable is an initial syllable without an onset consonant, then the second part of the diphthong becomes a semivowel e.g.

/ˈekːau/ - echo -> /ˈekːawek/ - echoes (/u/ changes to /w/)


If the stressed syllable is an initial syllable without an onset consonant, then there is a possibility of the reduplication forming diphthongs e.g.

/ˈunːja/ - fingernail -> /ˈunːjaun/ - fingernails

/ˈumːo/ - fume -> /ˈumːoum/ - fumes

/ˈimːa/ - moment -> /ˈimːaim/ - moments

/ˈimːo/ - sweet potato -> /ˈimːoim/ - sweet potatoes

/ˈumːe/ - plum -> /ˈumːeum/ - plums


If a diphthong cannot be formed, then some kind of contraction occurs. If the two vowels are identical, then they contract to one vowel e.g.

/ˈasːa/ - morning -> /ˈasːas/ - mornings


If the two vowels are /a/ plus either /e/ or /o/ (in any order), then they contract to give /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ respectively e.g.

/ˈembːa/ - ember -> /ˈembːɛm/ - embers (not */ˈembːaem/)


If the two vowels are /ɛ/ plus either /a/ or /e/, then they contract to /ɛ/ e.g.

/ˈɛŋkːa/ - anchor -> /ˈɛŋkːɛŋ/ - anchors


Likewise, if the two vowels are /ɔ/ plus either /a/ or /o/, then they contract to /ɔ/ e.g.

/ˈɔnːa/ - achievement -> /ˈɔnːɔn/ - achievements


If one of the above assimilation rules doesn't apply, then the first vowel of the two vowel sequence becomes a semivowel e.g.

/ˈasːi/ - leg -> /ˈasːjas/ - legs

/ˈiŋkːu/ - ink -> /ˈiŋkːwiŋ/ - inks

/ˈɛːnto/ - ant -> /ˈɛːntwɛn/ - ants


However, if the above rule would put two semivowels together, the first vocalises to become a vowel e.g.

/ˈonːlwe/ - man -> /ˈonːlujon/ - men

/ˈenlːjo/ - a gift that is refused because of politeness -> /ˈenlːiwen/ - gifts that are refused because of politeness (not */ˈenlːjwen/)


However, there are many irregular plurals e.g.

/ˈdɔkːa̰/ - doctor -> /ˈdɔkːa̰nɔk/ - doctors (not */ˈdɔkːa̰dɔk/)

/ˈxɛunːɛi/ - bone -> /ˈonːexɛun/ - bones (not */ˈxɛunːɛixɛun/)

/ˈtɛitːo/ - test -> /ˈtetːɛusɛus/ - tests

/ˈjɛːuka̰/ - mark / grade / score -> /ˈjoːkajɛuk/ - marks / grades / scores

/ˈmalːa̰/ - thug -> /ˈmalːama/ - thugs

/ˈantːjɛu/ - wilderness -> /ˈantːjɛwa̰n/ - wildernesses