Seggeynni
Seggeynni is another conlang spoken in my far-future Antarctican conworld. It developed from language contact, when Kämpya speakers settled in lands where Thangha' was spoken (as well as other languages such as Habyela and North-East Antarctican, which although unrelated to Thangha', form part of a Sprachbund). Kämpya speakers were more technologically advanced than Thangha' speakers, and Kämpya was definitely the prestige language, forming the superstrate. Most of Seggeynni's vocabulary and grammar come from Kämpya. On the other hand, Kämpya speakers intermarried extensively with the Thangha' speaking community, and Thangha' has exhibited a very heavy substrate effect.
The language documented here is spoken approximately a century after the initial migration. The vast majority of speakers are mixed-race descendents of Kämpya and Thangha' speakers. In addition to Seggeynni, almost all have a passive command of both Thangha' (still a common trade language in the region) and Kämpya (a liturgical language).
Like Thangha', there are many consonants which contrast secondary articulations, which affect the quality of adjacent vowels. Additionally, Seggeynni is characterised by an underlying simple syllable structure at the phonemic level, however many speakers "drop" vowels, so that consonant clusters are heard in the spoekn language. For example, phonemically the name of the language is /ˈséʕkə̀jə̀nə̀jə̀/, but, except when speaking extremely carefully, most speakers pronounce it as [ˈséɠə̀iɲːì].
Phonology
Vowels
The vowel system is quite similar to Thangha'. In stressed syllables, there are 6 vowel phonemes /iː/, /uː/, /e/, /o/ and /aː/ and /a/. Short /a/ has the allophone [ə] when it occurs adjacent to a semivowel (either before or after it).
As in Thangha', the length of the vowel is more important than the quality in contrasting /iː/ and /uː/ vs. /e/ and /o/. Secondary articulation on surrounding consonants "pulls" the vowels around a fair bit.
In unstressed syllables, the language has a Vertical Vowel System, only contrasting /a/ and /ə/ (however other vowels such as [i], [e], [o] and [u] are heard as allophones of /ə/, depending on the secondary articulation of surrounding consonants).
Consonants
The consonant inventory is very similar to Thangha'. Kämpya's aspirated consonants became velarised in Seggeynni.
| Labial | Pal. Labial | Dental / Alveolar | Lab. Dental | Alveolo-Palatal | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Lab. Palatal | Lab. Velar | Lab. Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | mʲ ~ mj | n | nʷ ~ nw | ɲ ~ nj | (ŋ) | (ɲʷ) | (ŋʷ) | |||||
| Voiced Stop / Affricate | b | bʲ ~ bj | d | dʷ ~ dw | dʑ | (ɖ) | ɟ ~ gj | g | (ɟʷ ~ gɥ) | gʷ ~ gw ~ gb | |||
| Voiceless Stop / Affricate | p | pʲ ~ pj | t | tʷ ~ tw | tɕ | ʈ | c ~ kj | k | q | (cʷ ~ kɥ) | kʷ ~ kw ~ kp | qʷ ~ kf ~ qp | ʔ |
| "Aspirated" Stop / Affricate | pˤ ~ pʰ | tˤ ~ θˤ ~ θ ~ tsˤ~ sˤ ~ tʰ ~ tsʰ ~ ts | cç ~ kɕ ~ ks | ||||||||||
| Voiced Fricative | z | zʷ ~ zw | ʑ | ||||||||||
| Voiceless Fricative | f | fʲ ~ fj | s | sʷ ~ sw | ɕ | ʂ | ç ~ ɬ | x ~ χ ~ ħ ~ h | (çʷ ~ ɸʲ) | xʷ ~ χʷ ~ ʍ ~ ɸ | |||
| Aspirated Fricative | sˤ ~ sʰ | ||||||||||||
| Flap / Trill | ⱱ ~ ʀʷ | ⱱʲ | ɾʲ | ɽ | (ʀ) | ||||||||
| Lateral | ʎ | ɫ | (ʎʷ) | ɫʷ ~ ɫw | |||||||||
| Semivowel | j | ɥ | w |
- When the velar nasal /ŋ/ occurs word initially, it has merged into /ɲ/ in most dialects. The only exception is dialects that are influenced by North-East Antarctican.
- Except for /ɥ/, labialised palatal consonants such as /cʷ/ are rare. They only occur in loanwords from Habyela. Before front vowels, most speakers merge them with labialised velar consonants, and before back vowels, most speakers merge them with plain palatal consonants.
- Retroflex /ɖ/ is only found in loanwords. Many speakers merge it into /d/.
- /ʀ/ is only found in loanwords. Many speakers merge it into /ɽ/.
- Labialised labial consonants /mʷ/, /bʷ/, /pʷ/ (and sometimes /fʷ/~/ɸ/) occur as separate phonemes in a few dialects. But most dialects have merged these with the plain labials.
- Some dialects merge /xʷ/ into /f/ (or /ɸ/ in one dialect that treats this as a distinct phoneme to /f/).
Phonotactics
Underylingly, the only syllables permitted are CV and CCV. The latter is rare, and only a few consonant clusters are permitted, namely /pf/, /tf/, /sf/ and /pç/~/ps/~/pɬ/. Notably, almost all Seggeynni speakers consider these to be single consonants.
Stress
The situation here is identical to Kämpya. One syllable in each word bears stress. Vowel phonation is phonemic on stressed syllables but not elsewhere. The phonations are tense /a̰/, breathy /a̤/ or /ä/, and glottalised /aʔ/. Glottalised vowels are pronounced with gemination (and glottalisation where possible) of the following consonant (or with a glottal stop [ʔ] in the case of word final syllables). For example, the first syllable of "Seggeynni" has stress with glottalised phonation, meaning that the subsequent /k/ is pronounced as an implosive /ɠː/.
Long vowels with glottalised phonation diphthongise into centering diphthongs. For example, /ˈdʑíːʔpə̀/ - "deep" (descriptive) is pronounced [ˈdʑíəɓə̀].
Short vowels with tense phonation are pronounced with an epiglottal approximant [ʢ] after them e.g. /ɲḛ̂/ - "snare" is pronounced [ɲḭ̂ʢ].
The pronunciation of short vowels with breathy phonation varies depending on a variety of factors. At the end of words, they are normally pronounced with a final /ɦ/, or occasionally [z] or [ɹ]. If the vowel precedes an obstruent (stop, affricate or fricative), then a voiceless fricative is inserted, that is homorganic with the obstruent e.g. /sə́ˈçà̤tà/ - "sister" is most often pronounced [síˈçæ̤̀stà]. However this is in free variation with preaspiration, so the word for sister can also be pronounced as [síˈçæ̤̀ʰtà]. If the vowel precedes a sonorant, then it is pronounced geminated and with breathy voice e.g. /dè̤nə̀/ - "to dance" is usually pronounced [dè̤n̤ːə̀].
Tone Patterns
These are also identical to Kämpya. A description of the tone patterns can be found here.
Assimilations / Epenthesis
There are many phonetic processes that result in the deletion of schwa, often leading to consonant clusters. They apply to unstressed syllables, with two major exceptions. The first of these is word-initial syllables. The second of these is the syllable immediately after a stressed syllable.
Nasal Consonants
A schwa has a strong tendency to be lost if it occurs immediately after a nasal consonant, and immediately before a stop or affricate. In this case, the nasal changes it's place or articulation to be homorganic with the stop / affricate e.g. /çə́wáŋə́ˈpô̰/ - "udder" is usually heard as [ḉʉwɔ́mˈpɔ̰̂ʢ] (here and below, the parts of the word that undergo assimilation have been marked in bold).
If a schwa occurs between two nasal consonants, it is elided, along with the preceding consonant. In its place, the following nasal is geminated e.g. /jámə́ˈɲì̤ːjà/ - "forgetfulness" - [jɛ́ˈɲː'ì̤ːjà]
If a schwa occurs word finally and is preceded by a nasal, then the whole syllable is often deleted, with nasalisation of the preceding vowel e.g. /zə́ˈwòʔtɕə̀nə̀/ - "rotten" is usually prononuced [zúˈwʉ̀tːɕìⁿ].
The sequence /məjə/ is usually pronounced [mːʲi]. Unlike most other assimilation processes, this can occur in the syllable immediately following the stressed one e.g. /ʔáˈɫʷṳ̀ːmə̀=jə̀/ - "everyone's" (alienable) is usually pronounced [ʔɒ́ɫʷṳ̀ːmːʲì].
A similar process transforms the sequence /nəjə/ to [ɲːi], as in the name of the language, Seggeynni [ˈséɠːə̀iɲːì], underlyingly /ˈséʕkə̀jə̀nə̀jə̀/.
Debuccalisation of Stops
If a word final schwa is preceded by a stop, then it is very common to delete the schwa and debuccalise the stop to a glottal stop e.g. /ˈqóʔɲàtə̀/ - "Hkonat" (the name of a city), is usually pronounced as [ˈqɔ́ɲ̰ːɛ̀ʔ].
If schwa occurs after a stop, and before an obstruent of identical voicing (sequences of tenuis stop + schwa + aspirated consonant are also permissible), then both schwa and the preceding stop are deleted, and the following consonant becomes geminated e.g. /ˈqòʔɲátə́=ká/ - "from Hkonat" is normally pronounced [ˈqɔ̀ɲ̰ːɛ́kːá].
If a schwa is preceded by a stop, and followed by a sonorant, then both the schwa and the preceding stop are deleted, and the sonorant is glottalised and geminated e.g. /kʷə́ˈjḛ̀pá=pə́má/ - "from the cave" [kʷʉ́ˈjḛ̀ʢpám̰ːá].
Semivowels
An extremely common phonetic process involves /j/, /w/ or /ɥ/ flanked on both sides by /a/ or /ə/. The second vowel is deleted, and the semivowel assimilates with the preceding vowel to form a diphthong. /ajə/ and /aja/ become [ai], /awə/ and /awa/ become [au], /aɥə/ and /aɥa/ become [aʉ]. Likewise /əjə/ and /əja/ become [əi], /əwə/ and /əwa/ become [əu], /əɥə/ and /əɥa/ become [əʉ]. An example of this is in the name of the language, /ˈséʕkə̀jə̀nə̀jə̀/, which is pronounced as [ˈséɠːə̀iɲːì].
This differs from the previous processes in two ways. Firstly because it can delete not only schwa, but also /a/. Secondly because it can delete stressed vowels (although not the vowel immediately after the stressed syllable). For example /ʔáɫáˈwə̰̀nə̀/ [ʔɑ́ˈɫɑ̀ṵnə̀] - "alone" (restrictive). If a stressed vowel is deleted in this way, the resulting diphthong bears stress (as in the previous example).
Conflicting Processes
If a word could be transformed in more than one way, then the rules work from left to right across the word. So/ ˈqòʔɲátə́=pə́má/ - "from Hkonat" is pronounced [ˈqɔ̀ɲ̰ːɛ́pːə́má] (which involves the deletion of the schwa in the third syllable of the word), not *[ˈqɔ̀ɲ̰ːɛ́tə́m̰ːá] (which would involve the deletion of the schwa in the fourth syllable of the word).
Comparison with Kämpya
At the phonological level, the two languages are completely different, however at the phonetic level, many words are similar. Below is a table comparing words in the two languages, as well as words in the older version of Kämpya that the two languages diverged from.
| Gloss | Seggeynni Phonemic | Seggeynni Phonetic | Kämpya | Old Kämpya |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seggeynni | /ˈséʕkə̀jə̀nə̀jə̀/ | [ˈséɠːə̀iɲːì] | [ˈséʔkìnì] | */ˈsɛ́ʔkìnì/ |
| forest | /ˈfò̤ɥə̀tə̀/ | [ˈfòy̤stə̀]] | [ˈpʰò̤wèt] | */ˈfɔ̤̀wèt/ |
| sister | /sə́ˈçà̤tà/ | [síˈçæ̤̀stà] | /ˈsʰì̤tà/ | */ˈsʰì̤tà/ |
| snare | /ɲḛ̂/ | [ɲḛ̂ʢ] | [n̥ḛ̂ː] | */n̥ḛ̂/ |
| udder | /çə̀wàŋə̀ˈpô̰/ | [çʉ́wɔ́mˈpɔ̰̂ʢ] | [çámˈpâṵ] | */hjɔ́ŋpɔ̰̂/ |
| forgetfulness | /jámə́ˈɲì̤ːjà/ | [jɛ́ˈɲːì̤ːjà] | [ámˈnèi̤jà] | */ɛ́mˈnèi̤jà/ |
| rotten (restrictive) | /zə́ˈwòʔtɕə̀nə̀/ | [zúˈwʉ̀ʔtɕìⁿ] | [ˈzwóʔtèⁿ] | */ˈzwɔ́ʔtèn/ |
| everyone | /ʔáˈɫʷṳ̀ːmə̀/ | [ʔɒ́ɫʷṳ̀ːm] | [áˈlòṳⁿ] | */áˈlòṳm/ |
| Hkonat (the name of a city) | /ˈqóʔɲàtə̀/ | [ˈqɔ́ɲ̰ːɛ̀ʔ] | [ˈkʰóʔnàt] | */ˈkʰɔ́ʔnɛ̀t/ |
| at Hkonat | /ˈqòʔɲátə́=ká/ | [ˈqɔ̀ɲ̰ːɛ́kːá] | [ˈkʰòʔnátká] | /ˈkʰɔ̀ʔnɛ́t=ká/ |
| cave | /kʷə́ˈçḛ̂pà/ | [kʷʉ́ˈçḭ̂ʢpà] | [ˈkʰwḛ̂ːpà] | */ˈkʰwḛ̂pà/ |
| from the cave | /kʷə́ˈçḛ̀pá=pə́má/ | [kʷʉ́ˈçḭ̀ʢpám̰ːá] | [ˈkʰwḛ̀ːpám̥á] | */ˈkʰʷḛ̀pá=m̥á/ |
Telicity
Due to contact with Thangha', Seggeynni has developed a grammatical telicity contrast. Atelic verbs are unmarked, and in Tone Class 1. Telic verbs are in Tone Class 2, are usually take the suffix /ɕə́ŋə́/ (usually pronounced [ɕíⁿ]). This is a grammaticalised form of the verb /ˈɕéʔŋə̀/ - "to become".
For example:
/ˈjḛ̂ɲə̀mə̀jə̀ ˈqòʔɲátə́=pə́má dʑə́ˈpˤâ̰ɽə̀ ˈwà̰ːnə́ mǎ̤ːnə̀/
[ˈjêʢɲìmːʲì ˈqɔ̀ɲ̰ːɛ́pːə́má ˈdʑɘ́ˈpˤɑ̰̂ːɽʌ̀ ˈwà̰ːnə́ mǎ̤ːnə̀]
enemy Hkónat=from depart.ATEL one month.ADV
The enemy departed from Hkonat for a month (and then they came back)
vs.
/ˈjḛ̂ɲə̀mə̀jə̀ ˈqòʔɲátə́=pə́má dʑə́ˈpˤâ̰ːɽə̀-ɕə́ŋə́ ˈwà̰ːnə́ mǎ̤ːnə̀/
[ˈjêʢɲìmːʲì ˈqɔ̀ɲ̰ːɛ́pːə́má ˈdʑɘ́ˈpˤɑ̰̀ːɽɘ́ɕíⁿ ˈwà̰ːnə́ mǎ̤ːnə̀]
enemy Hkónat=from depart.TEL one month.ADV
The enemy departed from Hkónat in a month (as in it took them that long to get ready).
Semantic Shifts
Many verbs have completely different meanings when their aspect changes from atelic to telic. For example:
/ˈjḛ̂ɲə̀mə̀jə̀ xə́ˈʎíːʔpə̀/
[ˈjêʢɲìmːʲì xíˈʎíəɓːə̀]
enemy sleep.ATEL
The enemy is asleep.
vs.
/ˈjḛ̂ɲə̀mə̀jə̀ xə́ˈʎìːʔpə́-ɕə́ŋə́/
[ˈjêʢɲìmːʲì xíˈʎìəɓːíɕíⁿ]
enemy sleep-TEL
The enemy is dead.
This (and many other similar semantic shifts) are clearly attributable to influence from Thangha', which inflects the verb root /səʔˈʎiːpə/ into atelic /səʔˈʎiːpə/ to mean "sleep", and telic /mʲaɲəʔ-səʔˈʎiːpə/ to mean "die". In Kämpya (which does not mark telicity), the verb /hléiʔp/ (cognate with /xə́ˈʎíːʔpə̀/) is only used to mean "sleep". There is a separate verb root /dôṵ/ to mean "die". However in Seggeynni, the cognate to this word /dʷḭ̂ː/ means to die insane.