Rówok
| Rówok | |
|---|---|
| Rówok | |
| Pronunciation | [[Help:IPA|ro:wok]] |
| Created by | Ioscius |
| Date | 1200 |
| Setting | Vaguely undefined pre-industrial period, thought to be around 1200 CE. |
| Native speakers | ~10,000 () |
Proto-Ruk
| |
Early form | Ruk
|
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | Intertribal agreement |
- Nota bene, care lector, this is a work in progress
Rówok is an artlang created by Ioscius.
It is the only known daughter language of the as yet presumed language isolate Ruk.
Introduction
Setting
Spoken by a rather reclusive community that lived high in the preindustrial Ural range, Ruk was an extremely isolating language, with largely monosyllabic words and next to no inflection of any sort. Rówok on the other hand is morphologically complex. This is the result of the Ruk speakers, after centuries of living mostly on their own, having underwent a period of dispersion and travel through lands inhabited by Finnic and Slavic speakers. This resulted in both a cultural explosion and a rapid evolution of the language, as affected by analogy with speakers picking up the languages of the peoples they mingled with.
Armed with new knowledge and now speaking a radically altered language, the nation moved back up to the hills, and Rówok represents a stage of the language's evolution in about the 3rd generation of leveling after their return to the homeland. It is mostly stable, but there are some forms still competing for widespread acceptance (cf., e.g., copula, partitive).
Rówok speakers live in a mountainous, forest environment with snow-cover nearly year round, with just a tiny bit of summer of which to speak. They are intimately dependent and symbiotic with their dogs, and there are thus many, many semantic elements of or relating to canines and canine/human interaction, not to mention a huge amount of idioms containing references to dogs. Lastly they are extremely mathematically, if not technically, advanced and utterly areligious.
Design goals
The main motive behind creating Rówok was to explore patient and agent relationships, and to employ and self-indulgently tweak and torture a complex and fully productive middle voice system.
Other motivating (syntactical) considerations were:
- trying a set of uniform case endings (barring vowel harmony and allophony) instead of the typical IE several declension patterns, so that all the case endings are recognizable throughout all grammatical numbers
- a vague attempt at trying vowel harmony in a conlang
- blurring the lines between adjective/substantive/verb, so the same root can easily be used in any of those categories, and implicitly an extensive participial system
- having a strict and productive dual in all applicable grammatical categories
Inspiration
Rówok’s creator placed the speech community where he did, wanting to steal liberally from both Finnic and Slavic semantics and grammar without having to justify himself to anyone. You could say the natlangs that had the greatest impact on the author’s aesthetics and inspirations were Latin, Ancient Greek, Pan-Slavic, Finnic and Sami, just a tiny bit of Basque, and enormous inspiration from the author’s absolute favorite, simply darling language that he’s never learned: Guarani.
Phonology
Rówok's phonology is fairly conservative, a result primarily of the author's desire to be able to actually speak it.
All of the sounds are found in English, save for /r̝/.
Notable absences from the phonology are /f/ and /h/, especially given that /p/, /b/, /v/, and /g/ and /k/ all exist.
Orthography
Rówok is written using largely the Latin alphabet as extended for South Slavic, with the addition of <ŧ> for the voiceless interdental fricative /θ/, and <đ> is used for the voiced interdental fricative /ð/, instead of for /dʑ/ in South Slavic.
There is also <ř> to indicate the same sound as in its inspiration in Czech, namely /r̝/.
That gives us in Latin order:
a b č d đ e g i k l m n o p r ř s š t ŧ u v w y z ž
See the alphabet grouped by feature in the tables below.
Consonants
| labial | interdental | alveolar | postalveolar | velar | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | |
| stops | p /p/ | b /b/ | t /t/ | d /d/ | k /k/ | g /g/ | ||||
| nasals | m /m/ | n /n/ | ||||||||
| affricates | č /tʃ/ | |||||||||
| fricatives | v /v/ | ŧ /θ/ | đ /ð/ | s /s/ | z /z/ | š /ʃ/ | ž /ʒ/ | |||
| liquids | w /w/ | l /l/ | r /r/ | y /j/ | ||||||
| trills | ř /r̝/ | |||||||||
Vowels
| front | central | back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| close | i /i/ | í /iː/ | u /u/ | ú /uː/ | ||
| mid | e /e/ | é /eː/ | o /o/ | ó /oː/ | ||
| open | a /a/ | á /aː/ | ||||
Word structure
Roots in Rówok are overwhelmingly triglyphs, with /a/ being the only vowel that can occur either initially in a root, or medially. All roots have an underlying "theme vowel" for lack of a better term in the author's attempt at vowel harmony, either /a/ or /o/, which shift to /e/ and /u/ in perfect verbal stems and many nouns derived from verbal stems. Additionally words with /w/ in any position have some stems where /w/ is reduced to [u]. The rules are simple for the majority of stems, and are as follows:
- If /a/ appears in the root (by law only initially or medially), the theme vowel is automatically /a/. If the root is tri-consonantal and does not contain /w/, the theme vowel is also /a/. As a note, roots with medial /a/ are almost exclusively (specific) plants, and thus lack verbal roots, and thus have only two principal parts: nom/erg/voc, and oblique.
- If /w/ appears medially or finally in a root, the theme vowel is /o/.
Exceptions:
- There are some rare, quad-consonantal roots. These are always of the the form C*XCC, where C* can only be /b/, /p/, /d/, /t/, /g/, /k/, /z/ and /s/, and X can be /w/, /l/, or /r/; ones with /w/ have /o/ as the theme vowel, and those with /l/ or /r/ have /a/.
- Roots with initial /w/ are very old stems and anything goes as far as theme vowels; this is the only word type whose vowel structure isn’t deducible from the form of the root and just need to be learned.
Phonotactics
Vowel harmony
- For more info cf. aspect.
Nominals and verbals in Rówok show very simple vowel harmony with predictable ablaut. Simply said all nominals and verbals have exclusively one possible vowel (plus /i/, as explained below).
The principle rules for determining the vowel structure of a given root are as follows:
- If /a/ appears in the root (by law only initially or medially), the theme vowel is automatically /a/. If the root is tri- or quad-consonantal and does not contain /w/, the theme vowel is also /a/.
- If /w/ appears medially or finally in a root, the theme vowel is /o/.
As explained in the section on aspect, words that have primary vowel structure based on /a/ show ablaut phenomena to /e/, while words based on /o/ ablaut to /u/.
Examples
- Participles
- rokónok ("to speak", nominative, singular, passive, imperfect particple) => rukúnuk (nom, sing, pass, perfect participle)
- yáŧkay (nom, sing, middle, future participle) => yéŧkey (nom, sing, middle, future perfect participle)
Prosody
Prosody is not unlike something you'd hear in the South Slavic languages. It is not particularly singsongy, and a lot of consonant clusters perhaps give Rówok a a bit of a rough sound. Nonetheless, there is a lot of epenthesis, augment, and other interesting vocalic patterns that nonetheless give the language an aesthetic flow and lends itself to mellifluous constructions, even if they might not be a characteristic of common speech.
Stress
Every word has a primary stress accent, which tends toward the penult or antepenult, and the language is stabilizing to a system like the Latin one, just that the length of the syllable determining the penult or antepenult is based almost solely on position, as there are very few phonemic long vowels in Rówok, and the ones that do exist are either in adverbs or the nominal plural marker -ín-.
After the primary stress in tri- and more-syllabic words all successive vowels are reduced to schwa, but not in disyllabic words (cf. rówok /ro:wok/, but razánka /raza:nkə/).
Intonation
Morphophonology
Several morphological elements in Rówok trigger sandhi effects both to the left and right or either.
The main triggers are:
- Case endings
- Diminutives
- The marker for the middle voice
Roots and principal parts
| o-stems | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| root | meaning | verb | participial | vocative | ergative | oblique | adverb | |
| medial -w- | pwt | "clear(ing)" | powt- | pot | put | pówot | pwot- | putú |
| mwk | "dog" | mowk- | mok | muk | mówok | mwok- | mukú | |
| rwk | "tongue" | rowk- | rok | ruk | rówok | orwok- | rukú | |
| final -w | "tool" | godw- | gdo | gódu/godw- | gódow | gdow- | godú | |
| "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ||
| "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ||
| initial liquid | lsw | "rain" | lósw- | ólso | lósu/losw- | lósow | olswó | losú |
| "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ||
| medial liquid | "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | |
| "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ||
| initial -y | ybw | "(still) water" | yóbw- | íbow | íbu/ibw- | yóbow | ibwó- | ibú |
| "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ||
| medial -y- | "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | |
| "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ||
| reduplicated | wwk | "time" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' |
| wwl | "howl" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | |
| Xww | "xxxx" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | |
| a-stems | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| root | meaning | verb | participial | vocative | ergative | oblique | adverb | |
| initial a- | azl | "life" | azl- | zal | zála | azála | azala- | zalá |
| ayt | "run" | ayt- | yat | yáta | ayáta | ayata- | yatá | |
| akb | "count" | akb- | kab | kába | akába | akaba- | kabá | |
| triconsonant | bgs | "negotiate" | bags- | bags | bágsa | bágas | bagas- | bagsá |
| zpt | "close" | zapt- | zapt | zápta | zápat | zapat- | zaptá | |
| tnk | "fly" | tank- | tank | tánka | tának | tanak- | tanká | |
| initial liquid | rnb | "waterfall" | ranb- | ranb | árnaba | ránab | arnb- | ranbá |
| "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ||
| medial liquid | drb | "fall" | darb- | drb | dŕba | dárab | dráb- | darbá |
| bls | "snow" | bals- | bls | bĺsa | bálas | blás- | balsá | |
| final liquid | knr | "tree" | kanr- | kanra | knára | kanár | kanr- | kanrá |
| "" | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ||
| initial y- | ygn | "care/adore" | yagn- | igan | igána | yágan | igna- | yagná |
| ypr | "give" | yapr- | ipar | ipára | yápar | ipra- | yaprá | |
| medial -y- | dym | "shine" | daym- | dim | díma | dáyam | dyamá- | dimá |
| ryz | "seed" | rayz- | riz | ríza | ráyaz | ryazá- | rizá | |
| final -y | gry | "youth" | gary- | gari/y- | gári | gáraya | graya- | garyá |
| "lynx/stealthy" | nady- | nadi/y- | ándi | ándaya | andya- | nadyá | ||
| reduplicated | ddz | "mischief" | dadz- | dadz | dádza | dádaz | đaz- | dadzá |
| pps | "imitate" | paps- | paps | pápsa | pápas | pas- | papsá | |
Dictionary entries are listed with principal parts in the following order:
- lemma - definition; finite verbal stem-, participial stem (de facto the nom/erg singular imperfect active participle), vocative stem+, ergative form, oblique stem-, adverbial form
- +The similative and partitive cases are also based on the vocative stem, as well as adjectives.
As explained above in the phonology section, verbal stems tend to group in (C)VCC and participial stems in (C)V(C)C; ergative stems tend to be CVCVC, and oblique nominal stems CCVC if allowed by phonotactics. Unstressed epenthetics are inserted where needed, giving possible ^VCC(C/V) instead of expected CC(C/V), or CVCVC instead of expected CCVC.
Examples, starting with theme vowel [a]:
medial /a/:
- pan - moss; pan, pna-
Triconsonantal roots with no /w/ and those with medial /w/ are the easiest. Both are very regular in their pattern.
With medial liquid:
- srn - claw; sarn-, srn, srna, sáran, srán-, sarná
- drb - fall/to fall/fallen; darb-, drb, drba, dárab, dráb-, darbá
- bls - snow; bals-, bls, blsa, bálas, blás-, balsá
non-liquid medial:
- bgs - bags-, bags, bágsa, bágas, bagás-+, bagsá
- zpt - zapt-, zapt, zápta, zápat, zpát-+, zaptá
- +If the cluster is not allowed initially, like [bg], epenthetic /a/ is inserted. Further, /zp/ is definitely going to be realized as [zb]
- ddz - idle mischief/fiddling/to idle about; dadz-, dadz, dádza, dádaz, đaz-+, dadzá
- +if a reduplicated letter can fricativize/affricatize, it will in the oblique nominal stem
- pps - imitation/to fake/artificial; paps-, paps, pápsa, pápas, pas-+, papsá
- +if the reduplicated consonant cannot fricativize, it reduces so ppas=>pas (since /f/ is lacking in the inventory).
There are variations if the initial or medial consonant is /y/, where /y/=>/i/:
- dym - light/shine/bright; daym-, dim, díma, dáyam, dyamá-, dimá
- ryz - seed/to plant/incipient; rayz-, riz, ríza, ráyaz, ryazá-, rizá
- ygn - a cared for object/to rear/lovingly; yágn-, ígan, igána, yágan, igná-, yagná
Roots with initial /a/:
- azl - life; ázl-, zal, zála, azála, azalá-, zalá
- ayt - run; áyt-, yat, yáta, ayáta, ayatá-, yatá
- akb - count; ákb-, kab, kába, akába, akabá-, kabá
Now examples where /o/ is the theme vowel, starting with medial /w/:
- pwt - clearing/to clear/deobstructed; powt-, pot, put, pówot, pwót-, putú
- rwk - tongue/speak/of or relating to tongue or speech/language; rowk-, rok, ruk, rówok, orwók-, rukú+
- +as a semantic tidbit, Rukú is how you would say "in Rowok", as opposed to rwógdo (tongue.inst) "(doing something) with your tongue", and Ruk is the name of Rowok's protolanguage.
final /w/:
- gdw - tool/to fashion/skillful; gódw-, gdo, gódu/gódw-+, gódow, gdów-, godú
- +In roots with final /w/ the vocative is CóCu, while the similative and partitive are built off of CoCw
- lsw - running water/flow/fluent; lósw-, ólso, lósu/losw-, lósow, olswó-+, losú
- +A similar variation as above when a final /w/ root begins with /y/:
- ybw - still water; yóbw-, íbow, íbu, yóbow, ibwó-, ibú
Cw/r/lCC:
- p(w)zn - non potable water, to flow destructively, to pollute; powzn-, pozn, pwózno, powózon, pzón-, puznú
- brds - to lie, fib, in the middle to bullshit; bards-, bards, brádsa, barádas-, brdás-, bradsá
The occasional initial /w/, some a-stems, some o-stems, lots of /u/ even in imperfect stems and even in words that otherwise have /a/ as their theme vowel:
- wst - sky; wásta-, wast, ústa, awásata, áwsat-, ustá
- wkd - kill; úkdo-, úkod, úkud, wókod, úkod-, kudú
Finite verbal stem
The finite verbal stem is characterized by vowel clusters grouped on the right side of the root's vowel structure.
It is used, well, to form finite verbs.
Participial stem
The participial stem is the de facto ergative singular imperfect active form of the participle.
Vocative stem
The vocative stem is perhaps a misnomer, as it is used to form not only the vocative case, but also the partitive and similative cases, as well as to form many compounds.
Ergative form
The ergative form is characterized by a fully extended CVCVC or VCVC(V) structure.
It is used to form the ergative case.
Oblique stem
The oblique stem is usually monosyllabic, characterized by the grouping of consonant clusters to the left of the word's vowel structure. When phonotactics do not allow for an initial consonant cluster, vowels are added epenthetically either before the initiral vowel in the case of liquids and nasals, but between the first to consonants in the case of all other sounds.
The oblique stem is used for the following:
- as the stem of which all the oblique cases are formed, except the partitive and similative
Adverbial form
The adverbial form of a verb has a couple of meanings:
- as a simple adverb
- following an animate noun in the ergative or inanimate noun in the vocative it functions as an adjective
- following a noun in the instrumental it functions like a Latin ablative absolute
For more cf. copula.
Nouns
- See here for declension tables.
Nouns in Rówok are declined for the following:
- case
- number
The case system is powerful and in and of itself conveys a lot of meanings expressed by prepositional phrases in other languages, but nonetheless nouns can be followed by a number of postpositions, each governing a given case, or two cases in cases of split telicity.
For more cf. participles.
Nominal number
Nouns and participes are declined in three numbers:
- singular
- dual
- plural
The dual infix is -l-, -il-, or -li-.
The plural infix is -in-.
Ratio casuum
Cases in Rówok come from a phonetic reduction of marker words in Ruk's isolating grammar. Syntactic words were postpositively added after semantic words to help the sense. It would appear that the earliest such formations were the similative and the partitive words wum from the root wwm, "match, harmony, one", and sab, from the root asb, "branch". It is thought that this is the case because these are the only two cases still built on the old, vocative stem, which in Ruk was the unmarked form.
It is probable, based on evidence from some archaisms, that the vocative stem was used in the phase of evolution in between Ruk and Rówok to form other cases as well, but the other cases that are in the language today are built off the oblique stem.
The total number of cases is 9 or 11, depending on how you look at it, as two of the cases are semantic allophones of other ones (see instrumental/comitative and locatives. The cases are grouped/listed in order to show the stems from which they are built. They are the following:
- Vocative, a principal part
- Ergative, a principal part
- Similative, from wwm, "match, harmony, one"
- Partitive, from asb, "branch"
- Genitive, from ryz, "seed"
- Benefactive, from ypr, "gift"
- Telic, from nkw, "destination"
- Inessive, from bwy, "place"
- Superessive, from bwy, "place"
- Instrumental/comitative, from gdw, "tool"
- Caritive/acomitative, from gdw, "tool"
Vocative
The vocative case is one of the root's principle parts. The name vocative itself might be a misnomer, given that it can also serve as a nominative/absolutive for inanimate subjects of stative or low valency verbs.
It does not have an ending, but is realized as the minimum extension of the root's vowel structure.
It is used in the following way:
- as a pure vocative
- as a subject for inanimates intransitive, stative, or copular constructions
The vocative as a stem is also used in many nominal compounds, as well as for the base of the similative and partitive cases.
Ergative
The ergative case is one of the root's principle parts.
It does not have an ending (except for rare circumstances to mark gender); instead it is realized as the full extension of the root's vowel structure.
It is used in the following ways:
- as the subject of an active transitive or the animate subject of an intransitive verb
- as the animate subject of constructions construed as copular
- as the subject of a middle verb that in which the subject is not also the patient of the action (see agency)
Similative
The similative case has the ending -Xm, which comes from the root wwm, "match/unity".
Like the partitive it is constructed off of the vocative stem.
It is used in the following way:
- as a pure similative
Partitive
- For more info cf. telicity
The partitive case has the ending -sxb, which comes from the root asb, "branch".
Like the similative it is constructed off of the vocative stem.
It is used in the following ways:
- as a pure partitive
- as the object of a remotely telic transitive verb
There is another form of the partitive emerging, through analogy with the innovations in the inessive and superessive and instrumental and caritive cases, in which the partitive is built off the oblique stem, and features an allophonic variation of the genitive ending, namely -lXs or -Xls.
So in literary Rówok the partitive of mówok is múksub, but the development in question would see mwóklos.
- Cf. collquial Rówok.
Genitive
- For more info cf. telicity
The genetive case has the ending -rXz or -Xrz, which comes from the root ryz, "seed".
It is used in the following ways:
- as a pure genitive, i.e. a possessive
- as an indication of familial relationships instead of possessive pronouns
- as the object of a non-telic transitive verb
Benefactive
The benefactive case has the ending -prX or -pXr, which comes from the root wpr, "gift".
It is used in the following ways:
- as the indirect object of a transitive verb, much like a normal Indo-European dative
- as a pure benefactive, "on whose behalf" or even "in whose honor"
- as the object of approprinquative motion, in the sense of "toward" or "in the general direction of"
- as the "object" of some otherwise intransitive verb, e.g. dáyma, "it shines", so whatever the light shines on
Telic
The telic case has the ending -nkX or -nXk, which comes from the root nkw, "destination".
It is used in the following ways:
- as the direct object of an active transitive verb used in the sense of completed action
- as the subject of a middle transitive verb in which the subject or subjects are the patient of the action, even if they are also the agent(s)
- as the subject of a passive verb
- as a reached destination with verbs of motion, or the intended goal of a verb of motion
Locatives
The locative case has the ending -bi or -pi, which comes from the root bwy, "place".
It is used in the following way:
- as a pure locative
Like the instrumental, the locative features a semantic allophonic variant. Namely the voiced variant -bi is used for inessive or intrative meanings, while the unvoiced version -pi is used for superessive or adessive senses. The meanings, when needed, are complemented by certain postpositions.
Examples:
- root bls, "snow":
- 1) balážbi álđawan
- snow.INE play.3pl.imperf.mid
- they are playing in the snow
- 2) balášpi áytawan
- snow.SUPE run.3pl.imperf.act
- they are running on/along the snow
With other phonemes at the end, for instance:
- root mwk, "dog", => plural: mowokín
- 3) mwokímbi korowín
- dog.pl.INE worms
- there are worms in dogs (idiomatically, dogs have worms)
- 4) mwokínpi sarabín
- dog.pl.SUPE fleas
- there are fleas on dogs (idiomatically the dogs have fleas)
Instrumental/(a)comitative
The instrumental case has the ending -gdX or -gXd, which comes from the root gdw, "tool".
It is used in the following ways:
- as a pure instrumental and comitative
- as a pure caritive and acomitative
- as what would seem logical as the direct object of some middle verbs, such as play
- along with the adverb in the sense of a Latin ablative absolute
Like the locative, the instrumental features a semantic allophonic variant. Namely the voiced variant -gdx/gXd has the meanings listed above, largely translated by with in English, while the unvoiced version -ktX/-kXt is used as a caritive or acomitative.
Adjectives
Adjectives are not really a class in Rówok. The main ways of expressing adjectival thought are through:
- with the noun in the vocative or nominative case and the adverb in apposition, with the meaning "X-ful"
- the similative case, for the meaning "like X/X-ish"
- with participles
- with stative verbs
Examples:
- kanarín zalá, tree.voc.pl life.adv, "the woods are teeming with life/alive/lively"
- kanarín zálam, tree.voc.pl animal.sim.SG, "the woods are animal-like"
- kanarín, zál, ..., tree.voc.pl alive, "the woods, alive (as it were), ..."
- (zálŧa) kanarín (zálŧa), tree.voc.pl live.3sg.mid.imperf, "the forest is alive" (in a permanent sense, in context could be understood even as "is healthy")
Verbs
- See here for conjugation tables.
Verbs in Rówok can get quite large with all their various prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. They are conjugated to show number, person (including inclusivity in the dual and plural), agency or voice, mood, aspect (imperfective/perfective, as well as inchoative and frequentative), and optionally for tense.
Verbal number
Verbs are conjugated and participes are declined in three numbers:
- singular
- dual, marked by the suffix -l, or l- as a prefix in the 1st person inclusive
- plural, marked by the suffix (X)wXn, or n- as a prefix in the 1st person inclusive
Aspect
There are two primary aspects in Rówok, namely imperfective and perfective.
These aspects are shown by ablaut of the verb's (or participle's or even noun's) vowel structure as shown below.
From imperfective to perfective:
- a => e
- o => u
The sense of the primary aspects is complemented further mainly by derivational infixes and the like.
Voice
There are three possible voices in Rówok:
- active
- middle
- passive
Active voice
The active voice is used for the following:
- when the subject is the agent of a transitive action
Subjects of verbs in the active voice are in the ergative.
Middle voice
The middle voice is extremely widespread and productive. Its marker is -ŧ- with allophonic -đ- and accompanying morphophonological effects.
It is used for the following:
- for the subject of stative verbs
- when the subject is in a mutual relationship of non transitive action with someone (e.g. loving, talking on the phone, bonding)
- for some verbs (otherwise active in meaning) done for the subject's own benefit
- for inanimate subjects of several verbs that would otherwise be active (he/she runs = áyta; it (a stream, for instance) runs = áyŧa)
- for several idiomatic verbs where it is unclear who the actor is and who the acted upon; this includes verbs like follow (not leading, not being led), hunt (conceived as following the animal's movements as opposed to transitively killing it), play, etc.
- to completely alter the overlying semantic of some roots, such as see => understand
- when the subject or subjects of a transitive verb are also the patient, such as shaving, or looking oneself in the mirror
Subjects of verbs in the middle voice from examples 1-6 are in the ergative, while subjects in example 7 are in the telic.
Passive voice
The passive voice is used for the following:
- when the subject is the patient of a transitive action
Subjects of verbs in the passive voice are in the telic with agents in the instrumental.
Irrealis stem
The irrealis stem is formed through reduplication of the initial syllable (or /a/) of the root. Historically the reduplication feature evoled after the fusion of the intensifying particle ya, which then metathesized into /ay/, affecting the quality of the rightmost consonant of the reduplicated pair. Thus /t/ reduplicates into /ŧ / and so on as follows:
- arn- > ayarn-
- barn- > bavarn-
- parn- > payparn-
- darn- > dađarn-
- tarn- > taŧarn-
- garn- > gažarn-
- karn- > kačarn-
- zarn- > zažarn-
- sarn- > sašarn-
- larn- > laylarn-
- rarn- > rayrarn-
- marn- > maymarn-
- narn- > naynarn-
- yarn- > yayarn-
- warn- > wavarn-
The irrealis stem in conjunction with other verbal infixes and adverbs is used to form:
- the desiderative
- the precative
- the hortatory/iussive
- the optative
- the subjunctive in reported speech in contrary to fact conditionals
Desiderative
Precative
Hortatory/Iussive
The hortatory and iussive are formed using the irrealis stem and the inchoative infix.
- 1) loroyrówkŧspot
/lorɔɪroʊk:θspət/
lo-roy-rówk-ŧ-sp-o-t
INCL/DU.IRR-talk-MID.INCH.IMPF.1
let's talk, you and me
- 2) knarímbi oweš pyáyŧspawan
/knarim:bi oweʃ pjaɪθ:spəwən/
knar-in-bi oweš p-y-ayt-ŧ-sp-a-wan
:tree.pl.ine along 2-IRR-run-MID-INCH.IMPERF-PL
y'all should run along the forest
- 3) mówok razánka kačárpspa
/mo:wok razan:ka kaʧarp:spə/
mowok-Ø-Ø razan-Ø-ka ka-čárp-sp-Ø-a
dog-SG-ERG bear-SG-TEL IRR-fight-INCH-ACT-IMPF/3SG
let the dogs fight the bear, the dogs should fight the bear
Optative
The optative is formed using the irrealis stem and the inchoative and future infixes.
- 1) bálas meymérzbgeye
- snow.sg.erg irr.thaw.inch.3sg.act.perf
- the snow should thaw, let the snow thaw, if only the snow would thaw
Subjunctive
Participles
- See here for participial morphology.
Participles in Rówok are a bloody mess, as they exist for every number, voice, and aspect.
In that order:
- singular, dual, plural
- active, middle, passive
- imperfect, perfect, future, future perfect
- The imperfect is used in the sense of the English imperfect: doing (actively or statively) and being done.
- The perfect is used in the sense of the English periphrastic perfect participle: having done or having been done.
- The future is used with the sense of the Latin future active participle: about to do or be done (or in the South we might say fixin'/fittin' to (be) do(ne) ;))
- The future perfect has two functions:
Some of these forms are rare just due to situational circumstances (for instance how often would you need to talk about yetenkéyli or two things needing to have been run?), but theoretically all verbal roots can exist in all of these forms.
Morphology and morphophonology
Nominals
Case morphophonology
Case endings can affect the final consonant of a root, and the final consonant of a root can affect case endings, especially in the singular.
This happens in the following way:
- partitive: following /b/, /d/, /g/, or /z/ the ending -sXb => -zXb
- genitive: following /l/ the ending -rXz goes to -lXz
- benefactive: the ending -prX swallows final /b/ and /p/, and in the case of the former the ending turnss to -brX
- telic: the ending -nkX swallows final /k/ and /g/, and in the case of the latter the ending turns to -ngX
- inessive: without a vowel in between the ending -bi forces the final consonant to voice, if possible, and furthermore swallows final /b/ and /p/
- superessive: without a vowel in between the ending -pi forces the final consonant to devoice, if possible, and furthermore swallows final /b/ and /p/
- instrumental: without a vowel in between the ending -gdX forces the final consonant to voice, if possible, and furthermore swallows final /g/ and /k/
- caritive: without a vowel in between the ending -ktX forces the final consonant to devoice, if possible, and furthermore swallows final /g/ and /k/
This process is further complicated by the gradation effected by the diminutives.
Declension tables
| declensions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ending | mwk, "dog" | gdw, "gift" | bls, "snow" | azl, "life" | ||
| singular | vocative | ' | muk | gódu | bĺs | zála |
| ergative | ' | mówok | gódow | bálas | ázala | |
| similative | -Xm | múkum | gódum | bĺsam | zálam | |
| partitive | -sXb | múksub | gódusub | bĺsab | zálasab | |
| genitive | -rXz / -rz | mwókroz | gdóworz | blásraz | ázalarz | |
| benefactive | -prX / -pXr | mwókpro | gdówopor | bláspra | azálapar | |
| telic | -nkX / -nXk | mwónko | gdowónko | blásnak | azálanak | |
| inessive | -bi | mwógbi | gdówobi | blázbi | azálabi | |
| superessive | -pi | mwókpi | gdówopi | bláspi | azálapi | |
| instr./comit. | -gdX / -gXd | mwógdo | gdówogod | blázgad | azálagad | |
| caritive | -ktX / -kXt | mwókto | gdówokot | bláskat | azálakat | |
| dual | vocative | -li | múkli | góduli | bĺs | zálali |
| ergative | -li | mowókli | godówli | balásli | azálali | |
| similative | -li- + -m | múklim | gódulim | bĺslim | zálalim | |
| partitive | -li- + -sXb | múklisub | godúlisub | bĺsab | zalálisab | |
| genitive | -li- + -rz | mwóklirz | gdówolirz | bláslirz | azálalirz | |
| benefactive | -lí- + -pXr | mwoklípor | gdowolípor | blaslípar | azalalípor | |
| telic | -lí- + -nXk | mwoklínok | gdowolínok | blaslínak | azalalínok | |
| inessive | -lí- + -bi | mwoklíbi | gdowolíbi | blaslíbi | azalalíbi | |
| superessive | -lí- + -pi | mwoklípi | gdowolípi | blaslípi | azalalípi | |
| instr./comit. | -lí- + -gXd | mwoklígod | gdowolígod | blaslígad | azalalígad | |
| caritive | -lí- + -kXt | mwoklíkot | gdowolíkot | blaslíkat | azalalíkat | |
| plural | vocative | -ín | mukín | godúyn | blsín | zaláyn |
| ergative | -ín | mowokín | godowín | balasín | azaláyn | |
| similative | -ín- + -Xm | mukínum | godúynum | blsínam | zaláynam | |
| partitive | -ín- / -yn- + -sXb | mukínsub | gudúynsub | blsínsab | zaláynsab | |
| genitive | -ín / -yn- + -rXz | mwokínroz | gdowóynraz | blasínraz | azaláynraz | |
| benefactive | -ín- / -yn- + -prX | mwokínpro | gdowóynpro | blasínpra | azaláynpra | |
| telic | -ín- / -yn- + -(n)kX | mwokínko | gdowóynko | blasínka | azaláynka | |
| inessive | -ím- / -ym- + -bi | mwokímbi | gdowóymbi | blasímbi | azaláymbi | |
| superessive | -ín- / -yn- + -pi | mwokínpi | gdowóynpi | blasínpi | azaláynpi | |
| instr./comit. | -ím- / -ym- + -(g)dX | mwokímdo | gdowóymdo | blasímda | azaláymda | |
| caritive | -ín- / -yn- + -(k)tX | mwokínto | gdowóynto | blasínta | azaláynta | |
Verbals
Middle voice morphophonology
Conjugation tables
- A-stems:
| ayt, "to run" | drb, "to fall" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| imperf | perf | imperf | perf | ||
| active | 1 sg | áytat | éytet | dárbat | dérbet |
| 2 sg | áytap | éytep | dárbap | dérbep | |
| 3 sg | áyta | éyte | dárba | dérbe | |
| 1 du inc | láytat | léytet | ladárbat | ledérbet | |
| 1 du noninc | láytal | léytel | ladárbal | ledérbel | |
| 2 du | páytal | péytel | padárbal | pedérbel | |
| 3 du | áytal | éytel | dárbal | dérbel | |
| 1 pl inc | náytawat | néytewet | nadárbawat | nedérbewet | |
| 1 pl noninc | náytawan | néytewen | nadárbawan | nedérbewen | |
| 2 pl | páytawan | péytewen | padárbawan | pedérbewen | |
| 3 pl | áytawan | éytewen | dárbawan | dérbewen | |
| middle | 1 sg | áyŧat | éyŧet | dárbđat | dérbđet |
| 2 sg | áyŧap | éyŧep | dárbđap | dérbđep | |
| 3 sg | áyŧa | éyŧe | dárbđa | dérbđe | |
| 1 du inc | láyŧat | léyŧet | ladárbđat | ledérbđet | |
| 1 du noninc | láyŧal | léyŧel | ladárbđal | ledérbđel | |
| 2 du | páyŧal | péyŧel | padárbđal | pedérbđel | |
| 3 du | áyŧal | éyŧel | dárbđal | dérbđel | |
| 1 pl inc | náyŧawat | néyŧewet | nadárbđawen | nedérbđewet | |
| 1 pl noninc | náyŧawan | néyŧewen | nadárbđawen | nedérbđewen | |
| 2 pl | páyŧawan | péyŧewen | padárbđawen | pedérbđewen | |
| 3 pl | áyŧawan | éyŧewen | dárbđawen | dérbđewen | |
| passive | 1 sg | aytánkat | eyténket | darbánkat | derbénket |
| 2 sg | aytánkap | eyténkep | darbánkap | derbénke | |
| 3 sg | aytánka | eyténke | darbánka | derbénke | |
| 1 du inc | laytánkat | leyténket | ladarbánkat | lederbénket | |
| 1 du noninc | laytánkal | leyténkel | ladarbánkal | lederbénkel | |
| 2 du | paytánkal | peyténkel | padarbánkal | pederbénkel | |
| 3 du | aytánkal | eyténkel | darbánkal | derbénkel | |
| 1 pl inc | naytánkwat | neyténkwet | nadarbánkwat | nederbénkwet | |
| 1 pl noninc | naytánkwan | neyténkwen | nadarbánkwan | nederbénkwen | |
| 2 pl | paytánkwan | peyténkwen | padarbánkwan | ederbénkwen | |
| 3 pl | aytánkwan | eyténkwen | darbánkwan | derbénkwen | |
- O-stems:
| rwk, "to speak" | gdw, "to give" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| imperf | perf | imperf | perf | ||
| active | 1 sg | rówkot | rúwkut | gódwot | gúdwut |
| 2 sg | rówkop | rúwkup | gódwop | gúdwup | |
| 3 sg | rówko | rúwku | gódwo | gúdwu | |
| 1 du inc | lorówkot | lurúwkut | logódwot | lugúdwut | |
| 1 du noninc | lorówkol | lurúwkul | logódwol | lugúdwul | |
| 2 du | porówkol | purúwkul | pogódwol | pugúdwul | |
| 3 du | rówkol | rúwkul | gódwol | gúdwul | |
| 1 pl inc | norówkowot | nurúwkuwut | nogódwot | nugúdwut | |
| 1 pl noninc | norówkowon | nurúwkuwun | nogódwon | nugúdwun | |
| 2 pl | porówkowon | purúwkuwun | pogódwon | pogúdwun | |
| 3 pl | rówkowon | rúwkuwun | gódwon | gúdwun | |
| middle | 1 sg | rówkŧot | rúwkŧut | gođwot | guđwut |
| 2 sg | rówkŧop | rúwkŧup | gođwop | guđwup | |
| 3 sg | rówkŧo | rúwkŧu | gođwo | guđwu | |
| 1 du inc | lorówkŧot | lurúwkŧut | logođwot | luguđwut | |
| 1 du noninc | lorówkŧol | lurúwkŧul | logođwol | luguđwul | |
| 2 du | porówkŧol | purúwkŧul | pogođwol | puguđwul | |
| 3 du | rówkŧol | rúwkŧul | gođwol | guđwul | |
| 1 pl inc | norówkŧowot | norúwkŧuwut | nogođwot | nuguđwut | |
| 1 pl noninc | norówkŧowon | norúwkŧuwun | nogođwon | nuguđwun | |
| 2 pl | porówkŧowon | norúwkŧuwun | pogođwon | puguđwun | |
| 3 pl | rówkŧowon | rúwkŧuwun | gođwon | guđwun | |
| passive | 1 sg | rowkónkot | rukúnkut | godwónkot | gudwúnkut |
| 2 sg | rowkonkop | rukúnkup | godwónkop | gudwúnkup | |
| 3 sg | rowkónko | rukúnku | godwónko | gudwúnku | |
| 1 du inc | lorowkónkot | lurukúnkut | logodwónkot | lugudwúnkut | |
| 1 du noninc | lorowkónkol | lurukúnkul | logodwónkol | lugudwúnkul | |
| 2 du | porowkónkol | purukúnkul | pogodwónkol | pugudwúnkul | |
| 3 du | rowkónkol | rukúnkul | godwónkol | gudwúnkul | |
| 1 pl inc | norowkónkwot | nurukúnkwut | nogodwónkwot | nugudwúnkwut | |
| 1 pl noninc | norowkónkwon | nurukúnkwun | nogodwónkwon | nugudwúnkwun | |
| 2 pl | porowkónkwon | purukúnkwun | pogodwónkwon | pugudwúnkwun | |
| 3 pl | rowkónkwon | rukúnkwun | godwónkwon | gudwúnkwun | |
Participials
Here is an example of the possible participial forms a verb can have before various forms of pre- and infixation.
| ayt, "to run" | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| imperfective | perfective | future | future perfect | |||
| singular | act | yát | yét | yátkay | yétkey | |
| med | yáŧ | yéŧ | yáŧkay | yéŧkey | ||
| pass | yatának | yetének | yatánkay | yeténkey | ||
| dual | act | yátli | yétli | yatkáyli | yetkéyli | |
| med | yáŧli | yéŧli | yaŧkáyli | yeŧkéyli | ||
| pass | yatánkli | yeténkli | yatankáyli | yetenkéyli | ||
| plural | act | yatín | yetín | yatkayín | yetkeyín | |
| med | yaŧín | yeŧín | yaŧkayín | yeŧkeyín | ||
| pass | yatnakín | yetnekín | yatnakayín | yetnekeyín | ||
Derivational morphology
Rówok has quite a bit of derivational morphology.
Aspect and tense
Primary aspect (as covered in the section on verbal aspect) is shown through ablaut of the root's vowel structure in the following way:
From imperfective to perfective:
- a => e
- o => u
Further are 2 aspectual infixes and two tense infixes. In the following X represents a dummy vowel in infixes, determined by the vowel quality of the word.
- The aspectual infixes are inchoative -sp-/-zb- and frequentative -ts-/-dz-, depending on the voicing of the final consonant of the root.
- The tense infixes are past -rX- and future -kXy-/-gXy-.
All of these can theoretically all together be infixed onto a verb, or participle. Grouping the tense aspects gives a special meaning, depending on which comes
So an example with the imperfect active participle of the root ayt- (to run) "yát", meaning a running thing when used in apposition, or a runner when used alone:
- yát - a runner
- yátasp - a beginning runner (double entendre: could be a beginner to the sport, or someone taking off running: yataspín would be runners starting at their mark)
- yáts - a frequent runner (yát+ts=>yáts)
- yátra - a former runner
- yátkay - a future runner
now combining:
- yátsasp - a beginning frequent runner
- yatrákay - an ex future runner (someone who showed talent, perhaps, but never lived up to potential)
- yatkáyra - a future ex runner (someone who will take it up and quit)
most perverse:
- yatsasparákay - a person who began to run frequently and then stopped
- yatsaspakáyra - a person who will begin to frequently run but then stop
The case endings are added to the ends of these forms, just as the verb endings would be added to the end as well, cf:
- áytawan - they run, are running
- aytáspawan - they begin running
- áytsawan - they frequently run
- áytrawan - they were running in the past
- aytkáyawan - they will be running in the future
and of course the possible but ungodly:
- aytsasprakáyawan - they were beginning to be about to be running frequently but then didn't
Frequentative
Inchoative
Future
Past
Diminutives and augmentatives
Diminutives and augmentatives (one of which functions as the comparative as well) are formed through root mutation and suffixation, respectively. As with most all derivational morphology they can be applied to almost all lexical categories.
Diminutives
Diminutives are formed by changing the root’s rightmost possible consonant into its corresponding fricative or affricate according to the chart below. X indicates that the phoneme does not have a possible fricativized variant, e.g. p=>X, since /f/ is lacking in Rówok. In this event the next rightmost consonant is fricativized.
As roots themselves do not feature phonemic fricatives or affricates, the base letters/sounds in the chart below are missing some of the normal consonant inventory, including the entire row for trills and affricates, as the only trill in is found as a gradient of /r/ => /r̝/, and the only affricate as a gradient of /k/ => /tʃ/, as well as the entire column of interdentals.
Note also that /l/ grades to /r/, though this sensu stricto is not an (af)fricativizing process.
| labial | alveolar | postalveolar | velar | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | |
| stops | p => X | b => v | t => ŧ | d => đ | k => č | g => ž | ||
| nasals | m=> X | n=> X | ||||||
| fricatives | s => š | z => ž | ||||||
| liquids | w => v | l => r | r => ř | y => X | ||||
Shown a different way, as the mutations themselves, with the phonemes that can gradate to them:
| labial | interdental | alveolar | postalveolar | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | unvoiced | voiced | |
| affricates | č <= k | |||||||
| fricatives | v <= b, w | ŧ <= t | đ <= d | š <= s | ž <= z, g | |||
| liquids | r <= l | |||||||
| trills | ř <= r | |||||||
Additionally more than one consonant can be fricativized, for a sort of double diminutive effect, which indicates either extreme smallness or lends a cutesy feel. Cf. root bls-, bálas (snow) => bálaš (snowflake) => barašín+ (a cute, tiny snowflake), varašín (the finest snowflakes you ever saw; powder); or root mwk-, mówok (dog) => mówoč (small dog, or young adult dog) => móvoč (cute little puppy dog).
- +barašín might be avoided unless the context is perfectly clear, as it could cause confusion looking like the diminutive of brs-, "foot, kick".
- ++móvoč is also used as an insult, saying that they act like a coward, weakling, inexperienced whelp.
Diminutive nouns
The gradation of the final consonant (and even in instances where the diminutive gradation is expressed by a non-final consonant as explained above) also affects
This happens in the following ways, starting with cases:
- partitive: the ending -sXb => -šXv
- genitive: the ending -r(X)z goes to -r(X)ž (the ending -ř(X)ž never took hold on account of its difficulty in pronunciation; for a while the diminutive genitive ending was -řXz, but over time has settled to -r(X)ž
- benefactive: the ending -p(X)r(X) => -p(X)ř(X)
- telic: the ending -n(X)k(X) => -n(X)č
- inessive: the ending -bi => -vi
- superessive: the ending -pi as an exception to all other endings stays the same
- instrumental: the ending -g(X)d(X) => -ž(X)đ(X)
- caritive: the ending -k(X)t(X) => č(X)ŧ(X)
| diminutive declensions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ending | mwk, "dog" | gdw, "gift" | bls, "snow" | azl, "life" | ||
| singular | vocative | ' | muč | góđu | bĺš | zára |
| ergative | ' | mówoč | góđov | bálaš | ázara | |
| similative | -Xm | múčum | góđum | bĺšam | záram | |
| partitive | -šXv | múčšuv | gódušuv | bĺšav | zárašav | |
| genitive | -rXž / -rž | mwóčrož | gdóvorž | blášraž | ázararž | |
| benefactive | -přX / -pXř | mwóčpřo | gdóvopoř | blášpřa | azárapař | |
| telic | -nčX / -nXč | mwónčo | gdovónčo | blášnač | azáranač | |
| inessive | -vi | mwóžvi | gdóvovi | blážvi | azáravi | |
| superessive | -pi | mwóčpi | gdóvopi | blášpi | azárapi | |
| instr./comit. | -žđX / -žXđ | mwóžđo | gdóvožođ | blážgađ | azáražađ | |
| caritive | -čŧX / -čXŧ | mwóčŧo | gdóvočoŧ | bláščaŧ | azáračaŧ | |
| dual | vocative | -ri | múčri | góđuri | bĺš | zárari |
| ergative | -ri | mowóčri | godóvli | balášri | azárari | |
| similative | -ri- + -m | múčrim | góđurim | bĺšrim | zárarim | |
| partitive | -ri- + -šXv | múčrisub | gođúrišuv | bĺsab | zarárišav | |
| genitive | -ri- + -rž | mwóčrirž | gdóvolirž | blášrirž | azárarirž | |
| benefactive | -rí- + -pXř | mwočrípoř | gdovorípoř | blašrípoř | azararípoř | |
| telic | -rí- + -nXč | mwočrínoč | gdovorínoč | blašrínač | azararínač | |
| inessive | -rí- + -vi | mwočrívi | gdovorívi | blasríbi | azararívi | |
| superessive | -rí- + -pi | mwočrípi | gdovorípi | blasrípi | azararípi | |
| instr./comit. | -rí- + -žXđ | mwočrížođ | gdovorížođ | blasrígad | azararížađ | |
| caritive | -rí- + -čXŧ | mwočríčoŧ | gdovoríčoŧ | blasríkaŧ | azararíčaŧ | |
| plural | vocative | -ín | mučín | gođúyn | blšín | zaráyn |
| ergative | -ín | mowočín | godovín | balašín | azaráyn | |
| similative | -ín- + -Xm | mučínum | gođúynum | blšínam | zaráynam | |
| partitive | -ín- / -yn- + -šXv | mučínšuv | gođúynšuv | blšínšav | zaráynšav | |
| genitive | -ín / -yn- + -rXž | mwočínrož | gdovóynraž | blašínraž | azaráynraž | |
| benefactive | -ín- / -yn- + -přX | mwočínpřo | gdovóynpřo | blašínpra | azaráynpřa | |
| telic | -ín- / -yn- + -čX | mwočínčo | gdovóynčo | blašínča | azaráynča | |
| inessive | -ín- / -yn- + -vi | mwočímvi | gdovóynvi | blašínvi | azaráynvi | |
| superessive | -ín- / -yn- + -pi | mwočínpi | gdovóynpi | blašínpi | azaláynpi | |
| instr./comit. | -ím- / -ym- + -đX | mwočímđo | gdovóymđo | blašímđa | azaláymđa | |
| caritive | -ín- / -yn- + -ŧX | mwočínŧo | gdovóynŧo | blašínŧa | azaláynŧa | |
Diminutive verbs
Augmentatives
Augmentatives are formed through infixes between the root and the case or conjugation endings. In the following /X/ is a dummy vowel determined by the quality of the verb.
The most common are:
- -yXš- = great, grand, noble, relatively large (also functions as a comparative)
- -nXč- = the biggest, greatest
Examples:
- -yXš-
- root mwk, "dog" => mwókyoš, "a big dog"
- root ayt, "run" => ayátyaš, "a long run"
- -nXč-
- root mwk, "dog" => múknuč, "the greatest dog you ever had"
- root ayt, "run" => áytnač, "a marathon"
Augmented nouns
Augmented verbs
Syntax
Basics
Number
There are three numbers in Rówok:
- singular
- dual
- plural
Verbs are conjugated for all three numbers, as are participles, nouns, and adjectives declined.
Gender
Gender in Rówok is complicated; there are indeed two types of vowel structure in a word (either -a/-e or -o/-u, but there is no semantic association to either category, and adjectives do not change to agree with their head nouns in any way but number and case.
The protolanguage Ruk did not have gender, and what little bits of gender there are in Rówok are new inventions picked up from contact with IE speakers. Even then, the language's internal vowel structure doesn't allow for the inherited endings to show in both vowel types. So -o can be added to an o-vowel word do emphasize a things masculinity, and -a can be added to an a-vowel word to emphasize its femininity, but there is no way to explicitly show the feminine in an o-vowel word and no way to show the masculine in an a-vowel word.
Person
There are the standard three persons in all numbers, as well as an inclusive 1st person dual and plural. For more see pronouns.
Alignment
Verbs show a partial tripartite alignment, partial fluid-s alignment.
Namely as shown below in the section on agency, inanimate subjects show tripartite alignment, with subjects expressed in the vocative, ergative, and cases, and animate subjects expressed in the ergative and telic.
Agency and Animacy
There are thus 7 levels of agency in Rówok:
- active agent both animate and when inanimate agents cause an effect (i.e. movement, chemical change, destruction of an object, etc.) - subject in the ergative
- inactive agent animate - subject in the ergative
- middle agent animate - subject in the ergative
- middle agent inanimate - subject in the vocative
- middle patient/agent animate - subject in the telic
- middle patient animate - the only subject not shown obliquely with the logical subject in the benefactive with an agentless causative verb in the middle (slip, trip, etc.)
- passive patient both (in)animate - subject in the telic
If the subject of the middle verb is the agent but not (necessarily) the patient, it is marked ergatively/actively; if it is both the agent and patient it is marked in the telic. Also the subject of a passive verb is in the telic.
Examples:
The first of each set of the following 6 sentences shows the middle voice and how agency differs between the alignment of the verbal structure depending on the semantic of the verb. Then follow examples with the same grammatical subject and main verb provided in the active and passive for comparison.
- root krp, "to fight"
- 1) mowokín kárpŧawan
- dog.pl.erg fight.3.pl.MID
- the dogs are fighting (each other/amongst themselves)
- +The key being that the dogs are the agents of fighting in a mutual exercise, but not patients, due to the semantics of 'fight'.
- 2) mowokín razánka kárpawan
- dog.pl.erg bear.tel fight.3.pl.ACT
- the dogs are fighting a bear
- 3) mwokíngod razánka kárpanak
- dog.pl.inst bear.tel fight.3.sg.PAS
- the bear is being fought by the dogs
- root wkd, "to kill"
- 4) mwokínok wokóđowon
- dog.pl.tel kill.3.pl.MID
- The dogs are killing each other
- +Here the dogs are both agents and patients, doing the killing action, of which they are also patients*
- 5) mowokín saráynka wokódowon
- dog.pl.erg rabbit.tel fight.3.pl.ACT
- the dogs are killing a rabbit
- 6) mwokíngod saráynka wokódonok
- dog.pl.inst rabbit.tel fight.3.sg.PAS
- the rabbit is being killed by the dogs
Telicity
Rówok has a tripartite telicity system.
- Fully telic: for actions completed and followed through to the end; expressed with the telic case
- Non-telic: for uncompleted actions, for actions only done in part (shutting the door a little bit); expressed with the genitive case
- Remotely telic: for actions not even attempted or begun, or for actions given the bare minimum of effort, sometimes with a pejorative sense, i.e. when the speaker wouldn't deign or dare to do something; expressed with the partitive case
In the negative the telicity system is bipartitie, i.e. just non-telic and remotely telic. Furthermore, in colloquial Rówok some affirmative actions with negative senses (stopping as no longer doing, forgetting as no longer remembering, etc.) can show non-telic objects by analogy.
Constituent phrases
Word order in Rówok tends in normal circumstances toward SOV, but it's really whatevs. The language features strong fronting, which can result in any sort of structural typology.
Meanwhile its morphosyntactic alignment is fluid-S, with virtually all verbs able to show all types of agency valence in conjunction with nominal arguments in various cases.
Postpositions, clitics, and wh- words have the most rigid word order, while most other constituents have pretty free word order, not dissimilar to Latin. Convention has led to some other fixed word orders in some situations, the majority of which will be described below.
Copula
There is no copula in Rówok.
Instead the sense of the copula is expressed in one of the following ways:
- with nouns in apposition; animate subjects are in the ergative case and inanimate ones in the vocative
- a noun followed by an adverb to express the estar sense of the adjective
- a noun in conjunction with a middle voice stative verb to express the ser sense of the adjective
Examples:
- 1) kanarín zál
kanar.ín.Ø zál-Ø-Ø
tree-VOC-PL animal-VOC-SG
the forest is a living thing (literally "an animal")
- 2) kanarín zalá
kanar.ín.Ø zál-á
tree-VOC-PL animal-ADV
the forest is alive right now (in context understood as "lively, teeming with life, very active maybe with animals scurrying too and fro and lush forest growth")
- 3) (zálŧa) kanarín (zálŧa)
kanar.ín.Ø zál-ŧ-a
tree-VOC-PL live-MID-3SG.IMPERF
the forest is alive/lives (in a permanent sense, in context could be understood even as "is healthy")
Noun phrase
Postpositions
Nouns can be followed and case can be governed by any number of postpositions, which act as unstressed clitics in normal discourse, but the ultimate syllable in disyllabic and the penult in tri- and more-syllabic postpositons can be stressed for emphasis.
Examples:
- 1) kanarínpra tošu
- tree.ben.pl near
- near the forest
- 2) kanarínpra tošú
- tree.ben.pl right near
- right by the (edge of the) forest
- 3) kanarínraz pašu
- tree.gen.pl far
- far from the woods
- 4) kanarínraz pašú
- tree.gen.pl far
- nowhere remotely near the woods
List of postpositions
The chart below shows postpositions by alphabetical order of their English equivalents and by the case that they govern.
Note 1) that some postpositions with similar semantics differ only by ablaut, and 2) many positions govern more than one case, sometimes between a locative or the telic, and sometimes with other less expected matches, e.g. kawta, which means "according to/via" when governing the instrumental and "throughout when governing the inessive.
As a further note all postpositions beginning with a vowel insert an initial y- if the noun it follows ends in a vowel.
The partitive only has one postposition, and therefore is not included in the chart, namely siyan, which roughly means "instead of" or "in the absence of".
| postpositions | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| genitive | benefactive | telic | inessive | superessive | instrumental | |||||||||
| eng | rów | eng | rów | eng | rów | eng | rów | eng | rów | eng | rów | |||
| apud | kwutnu | adjacent to | across | čreze | along | above | according to | kewte | ||||||
| far from | pašu | depending on | irpven | apud | kwotno | amid | kaylna | after | alongside | oweš | ||||
| from | iltu | near | tošu | onto | among | keylne | against | astride | uveš | |||||
| of | valnu | next to | over | between | tarku | around | because of | |||||||
| off | velnu | opposite | through | through | before | regardless of | ||||||||
| out of | iza | prior to | until | throughout | kawta | behind | yalčni | thanks to | pwalžda | |||||
| outside of | pursuant to | up to | within | below | together, same side as | mukana | ||||||||
| past | subsequent to | over | via | kawta | ||||||||||
| since | thanks to | under | ||||||||||||
| up to | versus | upon | ||||||||||||
Verb phrase
Sentence phrase
Fronting
Negation
- For more info cf. telicity
Normal negation in Rówok takes the form of the second stage of Jespersen's Cycle in normal negation and in the third stage when used as a clitic as explained below.
The normal circumfixed negating words are ár(a) ... lunú. The choice of ár or ár(a) is euphonic, depending on whether the following word begins with a consonant or vowel.
- The word lunú is the adverb of the root lwn- or "drop". It is shortened to -lXn when attached as a clitic, whereupon it has the meaning "and not".
- Likewise Xr- can be prefixed on words to negate them, or render their opposite.
Nominals included as the objects of negated verbs are either in the partitive or genitive case, as explained below in negative telicity.
The word áma is used to strengthen negative constructions. It is placed right before a negated word or constituent phrase, and often used in repeated or qualified constructions, with the effect of "...and I mean no..."
Other complementary negatives instead of lunú:
Negative telicity
When negating clauses, Rówok shows a bipartite telicity system, in which:
- Non-telic: whatever noun was not affected by the action of the verb. This is expressed in the genitive case.
Remotely telic: for actions not even attempted or begun, or for actions given the bare minimum of effort, sometimes with a pejorative sense, i.e. when the speaker wouldn't deign or dare to do something; expressed with the partitive case
Negative fronting
Unemphatic statements follow Rówok's normal SOV syntax and circumfix the entire clause. Emphasized parts are usually fronted and then only the fronted unit is circumfixed.
- 1) ára mowokín razánraz kerpéwen lunú
ára mowok-Ø-ín razán-Ø-raz Ø-kerp-é-wen lunú
NEG dog-ERG-PL bear-SG-GEN 3-fight-PERF-PL NEG
the dogs did not fight the bear (unmarked)
- 2) ára mowokín lunú razánraz kerpéwen
ára mowok-Ø-ín lunú razán-Ø-raz Ø-kerp-é-wen
NEG dog-ERG-PL NEG bear-SG-GEN 3-fight-PERF-PL
it wasn't the dogs that fought the bear
- 3) ára razánraz lunú mowokín kerpéwen, sa nadáynka
ára razán-Ø-raz mowok-Ø-ín Ø-kerp-é-wen lunú, sa nadáy-Ø-nka
NEG bear-SG-GEN NEG dog-ERG-PL 3-fight-PERF-PL, but lynx-SG-TEL
it wasn't the bear that the dogs fought, but the lynx
- 4) ára kerpéwen lunú mowokín razánraz, sa razángad élđewen
ára Ø-kerp-é-wen lunú mowok-Ø-ín razán-Ø-raz, sa razán-Ø-gad Ø-éld-đ-e-wen
NEG 3-fight-PERF-PL NEG dog-ERG-PL bear-SG-GEN, but bear-SG-COM 3-play-MID-PERF-PL
the dogs didn't fight the bear, but played with it (the bear)
Wh- words
Rówok has several ways of forming questions, using both particles and enclitic suffixes.
- u(m/n), comes at the beginning of both direct questions and indirect questions. In direct questions it means something like "did/does the following hold true...?", and in indirect questions it means "if/whether". It shows euphony, being realized as /u/ before consonants, /um/ before vowels in words whose first subsequent consonant is voiced, and /un/ before vowels in words whose first subsequent consonant is unvoiced.
Dependent clauses
Reported speech
Conjunctions
Clitics
There are 4 enclitic conjunctions appearing at the end of the last fully inflected noun in a string. When the enclisis makes a new consonant cluster, the accented syllable sympathetically moves to the new penult (old ultimate), if not already there by nature (cf. sentence 4) below).
- -kX/gX, "and"
- -wX/vX, exclusive "or"
- -li, inclusive "or" (also used as an interrogative particle)
- -lXn, "and not"
Examples:
- 1) mowokín saráynka razánkaka wokódowon
- dog.erg.pl rabbit.tel bear.tel.and fight.3.pl.ACT
- the dogs are killing a rabbit and a bear
- 2) mowokín saráynka razánkawa wokódowon
- dog.erg.pl rabbit.tel bear.tel.or fight.3.pl.ACT
- the dogs are killing a rabbit, or they're killing a bear
- 3) mowokín saráynka razánkali wokódowon
- dog.erg.pl rabbit.tel bear.tel.or fight.3.pl.ACT
- the dogs are killing a rabbit or a bear (I can't tell which/I don't care which)
- 4) nyažínraž itvoynróžgo+ gařáya
- valley.gen.pl.dim running water.gen.pl.dim.and child.erg.dim
- a child of the valleys and running waters = sweet summer child, naive person
- +original accent would be itvóynrož
- 5)
- XXXXXXXXX
- XXXXXXXXX
- XXXXXXXXX
Particles
Colloquial Rówok
Example texts
- kalwálŧa, a general state of lethargy and idleness, expressed as a stative in the middle voice
Idioms
- bálsŧa belsénkpre, "it is snowing upon fallen snow" = to beat a dead horse; to preach to the choir
- nyažínraž itvoynróžgo gařáya, "a child of the valleys and running waters" = sweet summer child, naive person
- čižmik, utter nonsense, babbling, blithering, talking out your ass