Aporese
Aporese is the official and most widely spoken language of the country of Apore. A member of the Möqqic branch of the Iropo-Antilonian language family, it is distantly related to Bearlandic, though after millennia of separation, there are only a limited number of cognates which generally look so different that most lexical resemblances are either chance or the result of borrowing. Just to give you an idea: Aporese såp "hole" is cognate to Bearlandic haus "house" (<PIA *sagʷs "cave"), lat "sun" is cognate to zoll "sun" (<PIA *zĺds) and pedi "do" is cognate to tú "do" (<PIA *póid-). However non-coincidental similarities exist as well, such as dzöysi ~ zʉs "sister" and lepi "go" ~ lop "walk".
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Lateral | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ň /ɲ/ | (ng /ŋ/) | |||
| Stop | p b | t d | k g | q | |||
| Affricate | c /ts/ dz | č /tʃ/ (dž /dʒ/) | |||||
| Fricative | f v | s z | tl /ɬ/ | š ž /ʃ ʒ/ | ǧ /ɣ/ | h | |
| Approximant | r | l | j |
In native words, /ŋ/ only occurs allophonically before other velar consonants. In loanwords it can also appear in other positions, making it marginally phonemic. Some speakers merge it with /n/.
The phonemic status of /dʒ/ is currently unclear.
Due to a historic sound change, /s/ becomes /ʃ/ before stops. This rule is still productive, as evidenced by recent loanwords. However, it is not always reflected in writing.
Vowels
Aporese has nine monophthongs:
| Front unrounded | Front rounded | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ü /y/ | u |
| Mid-high | e | ö /ø/ | o |
| Mid-low | å /ɔ/ | ||
| Low | ä /æ/ | a /ɑ/ |
Possible diphthongs include /ɑi æi ei ie øy yø ɑu ou oi uo/. For the most part, they are written the same as the vowels they are composed of, with the exception of /øy/, which is written as <öy> rather than <öü>.
Verbs
There are two main classes of verbs: one whose citation form (third person singular present indicative) ends in -ip, and one whose citation form ends in -i. Verbs are conjugated for two tenses (present and past), two finite moods (indicative and subjunctive), and have both present and past infinitives and participles. In addition, there exist a few periphrastic verb forms as well.
| Ip-conjugation: qöysip "vomit" | Present | Past | Subjunctive |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | qöys-pan | qöys-pin | qöys-pin-an |
| 2sg | qöys-pis | qöys-pis | qöys-pin-is |
| 3sg | qöys-ip | qöys-pit | qöys-pin |
| 1pl | qöys-piň | qöys-pitiň | qöys-pin-iň |
| 2pl | qöys-piš | qöys-pitiš | qöys-pin-iš |
| 3pl | qöys-par | qöys-pir | qöys-pin-ar |
| Infinitive | qöys-pad | qöys-pit | |
| Participle | qöys-pinu | qöys-pitu |
| I-conjugation: cadi "know" | Present | Past | Subjunctive |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | cad-an | cad-in | cad-in-an |
| 2sg | cad-is | cad-is | cad-in-is |
| 3sg | cad-i | cad-at | cad-in |
| 1pl | cad-iňi | cad-atiň | cad-in-iň |
| 2pl | cad-iši | cad-atiš | cad-in-iš |
| 3pl | cad-ar | cad-ir | cad-in-ar |
| Infinitive | cad-in | cad-it | |
| Participle | cad-nu | cad-itu |
| Irregular: je "be" | Present | Past | Subjunctive |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | jan | šin | šinan |
| 2sg | jis | šis | šinis |
| 3sg | je | šit | šin |
| 1pl | jiň | šiňi | šiniň |
| 2pl | jiš | šiši | šiniš |
| 3pl | jasar, je | šar | šinar |
| Infinitive | jes | šit | |
| Participle | janu | šitu |
In the third person plural, jasar is normally only used when no explicit subject is specified. If there is a subject, je is usually preferred.
- Jasar baikiš.
be.PRES.3PL young-PL.MASC
They are young. - Künčir je baikiš.
boy-PL be.PRES.3SG young-PL.MASC
The boys are young.
The future tense is made periphrastically with the verb jivi + infinitive.
- Jivan žitin makid.
FUT-1SG eat-PRES.INF chicken-GEN
I'm going to eat chicken.
Progressive tenses are made with je + present participle.
- Jäk jan aispinu Aporid aisuna.
1SG.NOM be.PRES.1SG speak-PRES.PRTC Apore-GEN language-ACC
I'm speaking Aporese.
Passives are also made with je + participle, though in this case the past participle is used in the past tense and optionally also in the present tense. Especially in more formal situations, the potentially ambiguous construction using a present participle is preferred.
- Šöys je žitinu žerme.
salmon be.PRES.3SG eat-PRES.PRTC bear-INSTR
The salmon is eaten by a bear.
Nouns
Nouns have two genders, two numbers and six cases. Their inflection is mostly agglutinative, with clearly separate number and case morphemes, though some cases have different endings in the singular than in the plural.
There are several ways to form the plural. As a general rule, masculine nouns have plurals in -š and feminine nouns have plurals in -r, though there are exceptions to this, such as the masculine noun künči "boy, son", whose plural is künčir. In addition, some nouns have a plural in -n, and ňet "human being" has a suppletive plural qöyke, which takes singular case endings.
| "bear" | "woman" | "language" | "human being" | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Nominative | žer | fräči | aisu | ňet |
| Genitive | žerid | fräčid | aisud | ňetid | |
| Dative | žeran | fräčin | aisun | ňetan | |
| Accusative | žerna | fräčina | aisuna | ňetna | |
| Locative | žeriž | fräčiž | aisuž | ňetiž | |
| Instrumental | žerme | fräčime | aisume | ňetme | |
| Plural | Nominative | žeriš | fräčir | aisun | qöyke |
| Genitive | žeršid | fräčirid | aisunid | qöykid | |
| Dative | žeršež | fräčirež | aisunež | qöykan | |
| Accusative | žeršas | fräčiras | aisunas | qöykena | |
| Locative | žeršiž | fräčiriž | aisuniž | qöykeniž | |
| Instrumental | žeršan | fräčiran | aisunan | qöykeme | |
Adjectives
Adjectives precede their heads. They do not agree in case, gender or number when used attributively, though they do agree in gender and number when used predicatively.
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | rousa | rousi |
| Plural | rousaš | rousar |
- rousa blaisi
red blood
red blood - Blaisi je rousi.
blood be.PRES.3SG red-FEM.SG
Blood is red.
Pronouns
| Person | 1st | 2nd | 3rd masculine | 3rd feminine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Nominative | jäk | žäk | sämi | ši |
| Genitive | mid | gid | sämid | šid | |
| Dative | minan | ginan | sämin | šinan | |
| Accusative | mäk | gäk | sämin | šina | |
| Locative | miquriž | giquriž | sämiž | šiquriž | |
| Instrumental | miqume | giqume | sämime | šiqume | |
| Plural | Nominative | bie | fie | sånu | |
| Genitive | bid | fid | sånud | ||
| Dative | binan | finan | sånun | ||
| Accusative | bos | fos | sånus | ||
| Locative | biquriž | fiquriž | sånuž | ||
| Instrumental | biqume | fiqume | sånume | ||
Interrogative pronouns do not have separate singular and plural forms. They are inflected as follows:
| "who" | "what" | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | bi | bas |
| Genitive | bad | |
| Dative | binan | banan |
| Accusative | bina | bana |
| Locative | baže | |
| Instrumental | bame | |
The demonstrative pronouns are šeda (proximal), jarda (distal) and da (unspecified). They are inflected as regular nouns with plurals ending in -n.
Numbers
- bå
- šuma
- cäži
- caštra
- fie
- jäči
- čaipa
- bup
- ňep
- töyň
The numbers 11-19 are formed by prefixing töy- to the units: töybå "11".
The word for "twenty" is plata, the other tens are formed by suffixing -ta: cäžita "thirty", caštrata "forty", etc. "Hundred" is surža.
Other numbers are expressed as tens - ja - units: caštrata ja šuma "42". In rapid speech, the conjunction ja may be left out, and the suffix -ta may be dropped from all other tens than plata: cäži čaipa "37", plata fie "25".
Syntax
Word order
The word order is relatively free, though it is usually SVO or sometimes SOV. Modifiers usually precede their heads, with the notable exception of possessive pronouns following them. Adverbs do not have a fixed position and may be placed anywhere.
- Žäk ňauma jis dzaknu žärina mid.
2SG.NOM again be.PRES.2SG drink-PRES.PRTC beer-ACC 1SG-GEN
You're drinking my beer again.
Conjunctions
Relative clauses
Relative clauses contain a participle and are placed before the noun they modify, just like most other modifiers.
- Jarže tlepnu at je papat mid.
there sleep-PRES.PRTC man be.PRES.3SG father 1SG-GEN
The man who's sleeping over there is my father.
Note that the head is only marked for case according to its function in the main clause. Its function in the relative clause is often not explicitly expressed and has to be inferred from the context. Compare the following two sentences, noting the different case marking on the word böraq:
- Jäǧpin jarda böraqiž.
be.born-PST.1SG that village-LOC
I was born in that village.
- Jivan lepin jäk jäǧpitu böraqan.
FUT-1SG go-PRES.INF 1SG.NOM be.born-PST.PRTC village-DAT
I'm going to the village where I was born.
Which participle to use depends on whether the event described in the relative clause happened before, during or after the event described in the main clause.
Accusative with infinitive
Indirect statements, i.e. sentences with a clause depending on a verb meaning something like for example "say", "think" or "know", are expressed using an accusative with infinitive construction. In this construction, the subject of the clause is put in the accusative case and followed by an infinitive verb.
- Tamat kičena žüötpit ǧietana.
say-PST.3SG king-ACC kill-PST.INF goat-ACC
He said the king had killed a goat.
As in relative clauses, tense marking in accusative with infinitive constructions is relative to the tense in the main clause.
Locative absolute
A locative absolute is a construction which indicates a time, a circumstance or a condition. It consists of a noun in the locative case followed by a participle.
- Miquriž aispinu žäk bal tleisinis.
1SG-LOC speak-PRES.PRTC 2SG.NOM PT be.silent-SUBJ-2SG
When I talk you are silent.