Ox-Yew

This is just a placeholder for putting together this grammar until I come up with a good name, so I can transfer it to an appropriately-named page. Anyone who suggests that I keep the name Nūlaŋguiʧ is not my friend; may they be bitten by moths, frowned at by kittens, and disapproved of by rabbits.

Introduction

A new a priori, possibly non-terrestrial language I'm creating.

Phonology

Vowels

Short: /i a u/

Diphthongs: /ia̯ iu̯ ai̯ au̯ ui̯ ua̯/

Long: /ī ā ū/

Long Diphthongs: /īa̯ īu̯ āi̯ āu̯ ūi̯ ūa̯/

Diphthongs are always falling, but if a non-long diphthong starting with /i/ or /u/ appears at the beginning of a word (i.e. with no onset), it is realized as a glide (/j/ or /w/, respectively).

Stress

Stress is moraic. Stress falls on longest, left-most syllable. Where morae are equal, long vowels have a higher priority than diphthongs, which have a higher priority than final consonants.

	Morae	Priority	Examples
V	1	8	bu, na, ki
VC	2	7	uk, it, an
VV	2	6	hau, niu
V̄	2	5	lī
VVC	3	4	kais
V̄C	3	3	āt
V̄V	3	2	gīu
V̄VC	4	1	xūap

Non-stressed syllables are reduced. (See Phonotactics).

Phonotactics

Syllable Structure

CLVC

• All syllables must have a nucleus, but onsets and codas are not required. Syllables in the same word must have either a coda or an onset dividing them (i.e. two syllable nuclei must be separated by at least one consonant.)
• Word onsets may consist of a single consonant, or a stop consonant followed by a liquid.
  • p, t, k, b, d, g, q, j, c, m, n, v, l, z, r, s, x, h
  • pr, tr, kr, br, dr, gr, pl, tl, kl, bl, dl, gl, pz, tz, kz, bz, dz, gz
• Word codas may consist only of a single consonant; voiced stops, ‹j›, and ‹h› are not permitted as codas.
  • p, t, k, q, c, m, n, v, l, z, r, s, x
• Intersyllabic consonant clusters may be:
  • C (any single consonant)
    • p, t, k, b, d, g, q, j, c, m, n, v, l, z, r, s, x, h
  • C[-cnt]C[+liq] (any stop + liquid)
    • pr, pl, pz, tr, tl, tz, kr, kl, kz, br, bl, bz, dr, dl, dz, gr, gl, gz
  • C[-cnt]ː (any geminate stop)
    • pp, tt, kk, bb, dd, gg
  • C[+nas]ː (any geminate nasal)
    • mm, nn, vv
  • C[+nas]C[-cnt-vox] (any nasal + unvoiced stop of the same place of articulation; also ‹ŋg›)
    • mp, nt, vk, vg
  • C[+nas]C[-cnt-vox]C[+liq] (any nasal + voiced or unvoiced stop of the same place of articulation + liquid)
    • mbr, mbl, ndr, ndl, vgr, vgl, vgz
  • nC[+liq] (‹n› + any affricate)
    • nq, nj, nc
  • C[+obs+cnt]C[-cnt-vox] (any fricative + any unvoiced stop)
    • sp, st, sk, xp, xt, xk, hp, ht, hk

Liquid Harmony

• (Still working this out...)

Vowel Reduction in Unstressed Syllables

• Unstressed vowels are reduced to a single mora:

ia iu ī īa īu

→ i

ai au ā āi āu

→ a

ui ua ū ūi ūa

→ u

• Vowels with secondary stress are reduced by one mora:

ia iu ī	→ i	ai au ā	→ a	ui ua ū	→ u
īa īu	→ ī	āi āu	→ ā	ūi ūa	→ ū

• • E.g. ā́dlāƛū̀ip → ādlaƛūp

Morphology

Alignments

Typology

The typology of Nūlaŋguiʧ is predominantly SOV or verb-final. Marked order is OSV. A morphological particle is inserted between the subject and the direct object which is ostensibly a case suffix combined with a case prefix; a different particle is used in marked order.

Morphosyntactic Alignment

Nūlaŋguiʧ alignment is tripartite, so nouns and pronouns are differentiated for subject, object, and agentive roles by use of case affixes and/or particles.

Headedness

Nūlaŋguiʧ is predominantly head-final, and this is reflected in many of its more granular alignments.

Noun Phrases

In noun phrases, nouns are always initial, followed by adpositions, demonstratives, numerals, adjectives or adjective phrases, genitive or genitive phrases, and relative clauses.

Adjective Phrases

In adjective phrases, (adverbial) measurements of degree (very, less, too, &c.) follow the adjective.

Verb Phrases

As mentioned in Typology, Nūlaŋguiʧ is a verb-final language, and as such, adverbs always immediately precede the verb. In the case of negation, negatives come between the verb and other adverbs. TAM particles, if present, always directly precede the verb after negatives.