Riagi

The concept behind Rjargi is to make a somewhat naturalistic language that places a heavy emphasis on the reasons behind actions and the relations between it's arguments. While at the same time establishing different way of communicating in a formal manner that centers on indirect, indefinite and generic ways of talking.

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	/m/	/n/	/ŋ/	-
Stop	/p/	/t/	/k/	/ʔ/
Fricative	/f/ - /ʃ/		-	-
Approximant	/ʋ/ - /ð/		/ɰ/	/h/
Flap	-	/ɾ/	-	-

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	/i/	/u/
Close-mid	/e/	/o/
Open	/a/	/ɒ/

Phonotactics

Basic Syllable structure is (C)V(V)

Syntax

Word Order

The general word order in Rjali depends on the definiteness of the nouns in the sentence, nouns precede the verb if they are definite and they follow the verb if they are indefinite. The subject goes before the object whenever possible.

Morphology

Verbs

In Rjali, verbs are inflected for Tense, Mood and Polarity. Aspect and more more complex moods can be achieved by inflecting the agent for tense and an extra mood. When a noun is inflected for tense, this determines the frame of reference of the sentence while the tense in the verb indicates the Aspect.

Tense and Aspect

Below there is a table with the tense combinations to create the different aspects

	Agent
Verb		None	Past	Present	Future
	None	Gnomic	Past Habitual	Present Habitual	Future Habitual
	Past	Past Perfective	Past Retrospective	Present Retrospective	Future Retrospective
	Present	Present Perfective	Past Progressive	Present Progressive	Future Progressive
	Future	Future Perfective	Past Prospective	Present Prospective	Future Prospective

Verb Moods

Verb inflected moods indicate evidentiality and internal factors such as willingness and desire.

Internal

• A - The action is completely accidental, out of the causer's control. "I slipped and made him fall".
• B - The action is not accidental but it's consequences were not intended. "I pushed him but didn't thought he would fall".
• C - The action is not accidental, it's consequences intended but not desired. "I pushed him so he would fall, but I regret it" or "it was on the heat of the moment".
• D - Both the action and it's consequences are intended and purposeful. "I pushed him because I wanted to".
• E - The action and it's consequences are either planned or hoped for. "I went there to push him".

Evidentiality

• I - Indicates evidence against the verb.
• II - Indicates lack of evidence.
• III - Indicates indirect evidence or hearsay.
• IV - Indicates witnessing or direct evidence in past tense.

Polarity

• Positive - It is the default polarity and it is unmarked.
• Negative - It negates the verb.

Conjugation

Verbs and nouns are conjugated by adding a prefix which encodes tense, mood and polarity.

The prefix is structure is the following:

V_1.C.(j).V₂-Root.

Where:

• V₁ Marks the Tense.
  • a- indicates Past tense.
  • e- indicates Present tense.
  • i- indicates Future tense.
  • an omitted vowel marks no tense.
• C Marks the Internal or External mood.
  • -p- indicates the A mood.
  • -b- indicates the B mood.
  • -t- indicates the C mood.
  • -g- indicates the D mood.
  • -k- indicates the E mood.
  • -r- or -s- indicate no mood.
• -j- if present, indicates negative polarity.
• V₂ Marks Evidentiality or Probability.
  • -e- indicates the I mood.
  • -a- indicates the II mood.
  • -ɒ- indicates the III mood.
  • -o- indicates the IV mood.
  • -u- indicates no mood.

Nouns

Nouns in Rjiali have the feature that they don't only inflect for cases, they can also inflect for tense and mood.

Noun Moods

Noun inflected moods indicate Probability and external factors such as permission and obligation.

External

• A - The action is permitted or allowed. "You may go".
• B - The action is requested or suggested. "You should go".
• C - The action is expected or imposed. "You are supposed to go".
• D - The action is compulsory or required. "You must go".
• E - The action is obligatory or needed. "You really must go".

Probability

• I - The action is certain not to happen.
• II - The action is possible.
• III - The action is likely.
• IV - The action is almost certain.

Polarity

• Positive - It is the default polarity and it is unmarked.
• Negative - It inverts the external mood.

Conjugation

Noun conjugation functions the same as verb's.

Noun Cases

There are three levels of cases for nouns in Rjali. The Argument Cases which determine which role does the noun perform in the sentence, the Thematic Cases which dictate the thematic relations between the nouns and the verb and the Proximity Cases which mark less salient objects to avoid ambiguity in formal talk.

Argument Cases

• The Nominative (nom) case marks the Agent. When Agents are marked with thematic cases these are understood to be reflexive, i.e. the agent acts on itself.
• The Absolutive (abs) case marks the Direct Object. When the direct object takes thematic cases it is to show the relation with the agent and the verb.
• The Dative (dat) case marks the Indirect Object(s). When indirect objects take thematic cases it is to show secondary relations with the agent and the verb.

Thematic Cases

• The Patientive (pat) case marks the Patient, Theme and/or Experiencer.
• The Instrumental (ins) case marks the Instrument or Sociate.
• The Locative (loc) case marks the Location, Time and means of transportation.
• The Benefactive (ben) case marks the Beneficiary or Recipient.
• The Origative (ori) case marks Origin or Source and Cause.
• The Metative (met) case marks Goal or Direction and Purpose.

Proximity Cases

• The Obviative (obv) case indicates a noun that is less salient than others in a given context.
• The Further Obviative (fobv) case indicates an even less salient noun than obviative.

Noun numbers

• Singular - Indicates a single object.
• Singulative - Indicates a single object of a mass noun. One grain of rice
• Plural - Indicates multiple objects.

Declension

Noun declension is marked on a suffix.

The suffix structure is the following:

Root-C.(j,Vw).V.rC

Where:

• C marks the Thematic case
  • -d- marks the Patientive case.
  • -ʃ- marks the Instrumental case.
  • -m- marks the Locative case-
  • -k- Marks the Benefactive case
  • -x- Marks the Origative case
  • -ʒ- marks the Metative case.
• Proximity:
  • -j- marks the Obviative.
  • -w- with a previous duplicated vowel to accompany it marks the Further Obviative.
  • The lack of a semivowel marks the Proximate.
• V marks the Number.
  • -a- indicates the Singular.
  • -ɒ- indicates the Singulative.
  • -i- or -e- when preceeded by /j/ indicates the Plural.
• rC marks the Argument case.
  • the nominative is unmarked.
  • -rg marks the Absolutive case.
  • -rd marks the Dative case.

Pronouns

First Person		Dual Person		Second Person		Third Person
Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fourth Person				Fifth Person
Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
-		-		-		-
Zero Person
Singular				Plural
-				-

• The First person plural is exclusive
• The Dual person singular indicates both the Speaker and the Addressee
• The Dual person Plural is an inclusive version of the first person plural
• The Fourth person is an indefinite category that encompasses First and Dual persons. "These ones think so" (referring to themselves)
• The Fifth person is similar to the fourth but covers Second and Third persons.
• The Zero person is a completely generic category. "One could say so"