Knašta

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Knashta
Knašta (Latin) Кнашта (Cyrillic)
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|'knæʃta]]
Created by
Native speakersUnknown ()
Indo-Korinthic
  • Knashtic
    • Knashta
Language codes
ISO 639-3qtz


Background

The Knašta language (English: [kɪnæʃta]), is a language spoken by the Corstek people, who reside on the east coast of North America. The language is related to the Corstek language, and contact with the English and French speaking peoples of the east coast has given rise to a creole called Kombiez.

Knašta is an Indo-Korinthic language. Proto-Indo-Korinthic was spoken in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent before the arrival of Indo-European speaking peoples. For an unspecified reason, the Korinthic people migrated out of India and settled in Greece in 100 BCE. The source of the name 'Korinthic' comes from the Proto-Indo-Korinthic word korintʰíkasʷēgrotʰníosī ([korɪntʰikasʷɛːgrotʰniosɪː]), which means 'the people who went to Corinth (Greece)' (literally Corinth-went-people). The Korinthic people then eventually migrated to what is modern-day France, where Latin heavily influenced their speech.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Korinthic peoples split. What are now called the Knashtic people (who refer to themselves as Corsteks), moved north into what is now the Netherlands, where their language was influenced by the Germanic peoples that lived there. The Korstekic people (who also refer to themselves as Corsteks), moved east into what is now the Czech republic, where their language was influenced by the Slavic peoples that lived there.

During the 18th century many Knaštic Corsteks went to North America, and founded the Republic of Corstekistan.



Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p b t d k g
Fricative f v θ ð z s ʃ ʒ ç ʝ h
Approximant w ɹ j
Trill ʙ* r
Lateral app. l

* This trill consonant is only found in some dialects, and is represented by the letter ŗ. However, in most dialects, including the Flaxilþrand Dialect, it represents the sound [pr].

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Near-Close ɪ
Close-Mid e ø o
Mid e̞*
Open-mid ɛ ɛ̃ ʌ ɔ***
Near-open æ**
Open a ɑ ɑ̃

* This vowel sound only occurs according to the Tsí Rule, as well as at the end of some words that end in í.
** This vowel sound is an allophone of a.
*** This vowel sound is an allophone of o.

Phonotactics

Orthography

There are currently two accepted orthographies for Knašta: Latin and Cyrillic.

Latin

The Knašta Latins is semi-phonetic. Each letter only represents one sound, but some letters represent the same sound.

Table of The Knašta Alphabet
Letter IPA Sound Value Name
Aa a a
Ææ e éí
Āā e é makron
Bb b
Cc s sét
Čč čé
Dd d
Ďď dj ďa
Ðð ð
Ee ɛ e
Éé e é
Ęę ɚ ę
Ff f ef
Gg g
Ǵǵ ʝ ǵé
Hh h haš
Ii ɪ i
Íí i í
Jj j
DŽ ǰ ǰé
Kk k ka
Ll l el
Mm m em
Nn n en
Ňň ɲ ňa
Oo o o
Óó ɒ ó
Øø ay̯ ø
Pp p
Qq ç
Rr r ro
Řř ɹ řo
Ŗŗ pr, ʙ* ŗo
Ss s
Šš ʃ šé
Tt t
Ťť tj ťa
Þþ θ þorna
Uu ʌ u
Ůů u ů
Vv v
Ww w
Xx** ks xí [ksi]
Yy y
Ýý i ýgreka
Zz z zed
Žž ʒ žed
Dipthongs

All dipthongs except for [ɔɪ] are represented by one letter. The letter combination 'oj represents [ɔɪ]

The Grave Accent

The grave accent (`) is used to ensure that vowels are pronounced separately.
Example: aktůèlt (current) [aktu.ɛlt]

*Sound depends on the dialect. See Knašta/Prevalence of the Bilabial Trill for more info.
**X is always pronounced [ks], never [z].

Cyrillic

The Knašta Cyrillic alphabet is completely phonetic. It also features many Iotified letters. However, these letters do not palatalize the previous consonant like in Russian.


 
A list of Knašta Cyrillic letters in handwriting, with their Latin equivalents below. The letters are in the same order left to right as the list above.
Table of The Knašta Cyrillic Alphabet
Letter IPA Sound Value Name (In Knašta Latin) Non-Knaštic Romanization**
Аа a a a
Бб b b
Вв v v
Гг g g
Ґґ ʝ ǵé otatůrna gh
Дд d d
Ее e é ay
Ѐѐ je yay
Ёё jo jo yo
Жж ʒ žé zh
Зз z z
Ҙҙ ð ðé dh
Ѕѕ ç q
Ии ɪ i i
Йй j y
Її ji yi
Ѵѵ aɪ̯ yžatsí ai
Кк k ka k
Ѯѯ ks x
Лл l el l
Мм m em m
Нн n en n
Њњ ɲ en jérí ny
Оо o o o
Өө ɑ ó oh
ОЬоь œ œ oe
Ӫӫ yoh
Пп p p
Рр r ro r
РЬрь ɹ řo rh
Ғғ ʙ* ŗo pr
Сс s s
Ҫҫ θ þé th
Тт t t
Уу u ů uu
Ўў ʌ u u
Ұұ w w
АУау ay̯ ø au
Фф f ef f
Хх h haš h
Цц t͡s tsé ts
Чч t͡ʃ čé ch
Џџ d͡ʒ ǰé dzh
Шш ʃ ša sh
Ыы i jérí ii
Ӹӹ ji jii
Ээ ɛ e e
Ӭӭ je ye
Юю ju yuu
Яя ja ja ya
Ѣѣ ɛ̃ î ih
Ѧѧ ɑ̃ ê eh



*Sound depends on the dialect. See Knašta/Prevalence of the Bilabial Trill for more info.
**Normally, when romanizing Knašta Cyrillic, you would use Knašta Latin. However, If the target audience is not one that speaks Knašta, it is better to use the Non-Knaštic romanization.

Unlike in Russian, it is important to differentiate between е and ё. Ё can never be replaced with е.

Ť and Ď

The letters ť and ď have no counterparts in Knašta Cyrillic. Instead, they are represented by a combination of т for ť or д for ď and a iotified letter (for example the word pysťo (country) in Knašta Latin is пѵстё in Knašta Cyrillic).

Grammar

Morphology

Knašta is an agglutinative language. Word meanings can be changed by adding an array of different prefixes and suffixes, and word compounding between all classes of words (noun, verb, etc.) is allowed.

Nouns

Nouns in Knašta have no gender, and are all made plural by adding the suffix sin.

Nouns are inflected for three cases, nominative, genitive, and locative. The nominative form of the word is unchanged while the genitive form of the word contains the ins suffix, as seen in the below example. The locative case is formed by adding 'o' to the beginning of the word, except for the words travekatsjon (work, job), and mazak (house). The locative form of these two words is a sé travekatsjon and a sé mazak, respectively.


Inflection of Ňos (Person)
Nominative Genitive Locative
Singular ňos ňos-ins oňos
person person's at, to person
Plural ňossin ňossin-ins oňossin
people people's at, to people

Pronouns

There are three persons in Knašta.

1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular 1st plural 2nd singular 3rd singular
Nominative Joj Vošní Íl (he), Èl (she), Lot (it) Nærsk Vošnísin Lotsen
Genitive Jo-ins Vošní-ins Íl-ins, Èl-ins, Lot-ins Nærsk-ins Vošnísin-ins Lotsen-ins
Objective Jo Vošní Íl, Èl, Lot Nærsk Vošnísin Lotsen

Note that only the first person singular pronoun has an irregular objective and genitive form.

Verbs

Almost all Knašta verbs are regular. There are only five irregular verbs in the entire language: kanel (can), potečřé (might), avbendí (need), můsťen (must), and ǰinxa (be, exist).

Regular Knašta verbs are grouped into two classes based on how they are conjugated, -va and -nés verbs. Which group any particular verb is in must be memorized, as it cannot be determined from the verb itself alone. The majority of regular Knašta verbs are -nés verbs.

Type I and II Irregular Verbs

Type I irregular verbs have an irregular conjugated form. The only Type I irregular verb is ǰinxa (to be). Type II irregular verbs do not change their form when conjugated. Type II irregular verbs are often helping verbs. The list of Type II irregular verbs are: kanel, potečřé, avbendí, and můsťen.

-va verbs

-va verbs add the suffix va to the verb with both second person forms. See the example below.

Present Tense Conjugation of Het (To Stop)

1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular 1st plural 2nd plural 3rd plural
Joj het Vošní hetva Íl, Èl, Lot het Nærsk het Vošnísin hetva Lotsen het
-nés verbs

-nés verbs add the suffix nés to the verb with both second person forms. See the example below.

Present Tense Conjugation of Aďeska (To Help)

1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular 1st plural 2nd plural 3rd plural
Joj aďeska Vošní aďeskanés Íl, Èl, Lot aďeska Nærsk aďeska Vošnísin aďeskanés Lotsen aďeska
Verb Tense

Tense is changed through the addition of one or multiple prefixes and suffixes. See the table below.

Affix Meaning Example Example Translation
sen- past Joj sen-parlenska a íl. I talked to him.
són- perfect Joj són-parlenska a íl. I have talked to him.
til- future Joj til-parlenska a íl. I will talk to him.
-link present perfect Joj parlenska-link a íl. I am talking to him.

As stated above, these can be combined, as in the sentence Joj sen-parlenska-link a íl, which means I was talking to him.


Implied Agent Form

All Knašta verbs have what is known as an implied agent form. This form allows for the verb to be used without its corresponding pronoun.

Implied Agent Form For -Nés Verbs
1st Singular 2nd Singular Lot 1st Plural 2nd Plural 3rd Plural
-katsí  -nés Verb Infinitive -katsa -nétsa -kalí
Implied Agent Form For -Va Verbs
1st Singular 2nd Singular Lot 1st Plural 2nd Plural 3rd Plural
-katsí  -va Verb Infinitive -katsa -vatsa -kalí
Implied Agent Form For Type II Irregular Verbs
1st Singular 2nd Singular Lot 1st Plural 2nd Plural 3rd Plural
None  None Verb Infinitive None None None

Notice the use of lot instead of 3rd Singular. The implied agent form can only be used in the 3rd person singular if the agent (person or thing preforming the action) is lot (it).

Some regular verbs have irregular implied agent form stems, such as the verb ameska (to like).

Implied Agent Form of ameska
1st singular 2nd singular Lot 1st plural 2nd plural 3rd plural
ameskkatsí amesknés ameska ameskkatsa amesknétsa ameskkalí

When using the implied agent form, the pronoun is omitted. For example, one can say Gróþkatsí-link el sé magazatí instead of Joj gróþ-link el sé magazatí, both of which mean "I am going to the store." Notice that it is called implied agent, not implied subject. A sentence like the following can be constructed: Kónjésakatsí drast til-gaňakatsa (I know that we'll win).

When in a verb phrase and used as a helping verb, the Type II irregular verb is not considered to be in the implied agent form, rather, it is applied to the verb being helped. For example, Kanel fétsakatsí lot means "I can do it", not "It can I do."

Syntax