Mila: Difference between revisions

|region = Kukca planet.

|date = 2016

|script       = Mila, Romanisation

The lula who first inhabited the planet were taught raised by scientists in isolation, a necessity as they had been genetically moderated to cope with the planets climate (which is much hotter than the home planet) and air (which is richer in oxygen than the home planet). The scientists, being from an international background, spoke the planet's lingua franca, which is itself a constructed language, based on many of the home planet's language families. The original Mila (meaning simply 'language') was therefore completely regular. In the 150 years since colonisation the original population of 56 has risen to a few thousand (they breed quickly) and the language is now the everyday mother-tongue of the speakers, a situation which has never occurred on the home planet, such that Mila on the home planet has changed little in years. As a mother-tongue, though, the language has undergone a number of changes and irregularities have crept in, most notably in the phonology, shortenings of pronouns and semantic shifts.

/r/ This is a voiced alveolar trill [r]. In initial pre-stressed position and intervocalically it usually has at least two taps in all other positions it is more commonly a voiced flap [ɾ]. In the environment of an adjacent /h/ it will be slightly devoiced, though not fully so. Examples: '''ʌʌʌ''' /ʹrira/ [ʹrirɐ] ''noise''; '''oʌ́ω''' /ʹparna/ [ʹpaɾnɐ] ''bad''.2; '''υιʌ''' /ʹluhra/ [ʹɫuhɾɐ ~ ɫuhɾ̥ɐ] ''father''; '''υιʌ́''' /luʹhar/ [ɫuʹhaɾ] ''father''.3.

This trilled sound is notoriously difficult for many lula to produce and often becomes other sounds, which would usually be classed as speech defects. One very common ‘speech defect’ is to produce this sound as a ‘whistled s’, i.e. an apical retracted [s] which sounds a little like a kettle boiling. Another common pronunciation is to produce the trill as an apical voiced fricative [z̺]. The flapped [ɾ] allophone does not undergo these changes.

Stress is usually placed on the first syllable of the root of a word. Exceptions include where a grammatical /a/ is inserted. This will always take the stress. It usually occurs in the first syllable of the root anyway, but in agreement with the third person it will occur on the second syllable of the root. Suffixes generally do not affect stress placement, though the lative suffix ''':v''' /-ij ~ -ja/ used inflectionally will always be stressed, and the negative suffix :ɔ /-uk ~ -ka ~ -ga/ may be stressed if the negative itself is stressed.

If coda /l/ or /r/ occur after /u/ or /i/ respectively then the /l/ and /r/ will be elided. We thus have the example of the word ''language'' '''ɷʌυ''' which has the root MRL. Without elision the syllabification gives /ʹmir.la/, but the /r/ follows /a/ and is in coda position, so the pronunciation is [ʹmi.lɐ]. Similarly the word for ''four'' is '''oυɾ''' which will syllabify prior to elision as /ʹpul.da/ but with elision it surfaces as [ʹpu.dɐ].

There are a number of words with irregular pronunciations which are not indicated in the orthography and a learner must just learn them. The word '''onυ''' can mean both ''book'' and ''ghost''. For the meaning ''book'' it is pronounced regularly as [ʹpiɟ.lɐ]. For the meaning of ''ghost'' it is pronounced irregularly as [ʹpuɟ.lɐ]. It is because of such words that /i/ and /u/ are generally accepted as separate phonemes, however the amount of such irregularities are very limited.

:::1 ‘she is a neighbour’

:::2 ‘you are happy’

:::3 ‘I don’t understand’ (with the meaning that it is beyond my understanding).

We shall consider the word for ''happy'' '''oιn''' [ʹpuhca].  

! '''oιn''' [ʹpuhca]

| '''oίn''' [ʹpahca]

| '''óιn:ɾ''' [ʹaphicta]

| '''oιń:ɾ''' [puʹhacta]

Note that the /a/ is inserted prior to syllabic considerations thus the 1st person has /a/ inserted before the first consonant. This will give the structure aC.CVC as outlined above. For the 2nd person we get CaC.Ca and finally for the 3rd person we get CV.CaC. The plural is indicated with a suffixed ''':ɾ''' [-it ~ -ta ~ -da].

As this is the only imperative part of speech in a sentence, translating ''you are happy'' can be expressed simply as '''oίn''' [ʹpahca] for the singular and '''oίn:ɾ''' [ʹpahcit] for the plural.

The three sentences above are thus 1 '''υɾʌ́''' [liʹdar], 2 '''oίn''' [ʹpahca], 3 '''ύon:ɔ''' [ʹalbicka] (in the final sentence there is a suffixed negative particle ''':ɔ''' [-uk ~ -ka ~ -ga]).

:::If the subject is given with a number, so in the sentence '''.ɤ.-υυʌ:n-oιń''' [nubma ʹluric puʹhac] ''the three men are happy'', '''oιń''' [puʹhac] ''happy'' will not take the plural as ''three'' already shows this.

:::If the subject is one of the formulaic expressions such as '''υυυ:ω-ιɾυ:n''' [lulin ʹhidlic] ''some of the people'', '''υυυ:ω-cɾυ:n''' [lulin ʹsidlic] ''most of the people'', '''υυυ:ω-oωɾ:n''' [lulin ʹpindic] ''many of the people'', '''υυυ:ω-ɔιc:n''' [lulin ʹkuhsic] ''all of the people'' where this is expressed as ''people’s some'', ''people’s most'', ''people’s many'' and ''people’s all'' respectively.

:::As above when saying '''oωɾ:ɔ:ω-υυυ:n''' [pindugna ʹlulic] ''some people'', '''cɾυ:ω-υυυ:n''' [sidlin ʹlulic] ''most people'', '''ɔιc:ω-υυυ:n''' [kuhsin ʹlulic] ''all people'' etc.

:::With collective nouns which have the prefix '''ɾ:''' [it- ~ id-], so '''υυo:ω-ɾ:nυυ:n-nιί''' [lubin itʹculic cuʹhah] ''my eyes are blue'' would take the singular form of ''blue'' and for '''ɾ:vυɾ:n-vvv́''' [idʹjudic jiʹjaj] ''dogs are animals'' the form of ''animals'' is in the singular.

In addition to this there are a few cases where the singular would be used in English but the plural is used in Mila. These are mainly collective forms in English such as ‘furniture’ where the Mila word '''ɾɔω''' [ʹtugna] refers to an item of furniture so if we are referring to more than one item it will take the plural. Another example is ‘information’ where the Mila word '''ɾoo:ω-ʌnɷ''' [tupin ʹriɟma] refers to a single piece of information and so when talking about information about something where there are multiple pieces of information then the plural will be used.

:::[ʹluric juʹlat iʹɟiɟla]

:::[ʹluric juʹlata iʹɟiɟla]

There is a further colloquial way of expressing the plural of the predicate, which is also more common in the outlying villages than in the main town . If we are referring to humans then a plural may be formed by making the word adjectival and adding '''υυυ''' [ʹɫuɫa] (meaning person) as a plural form, so ''men'' would be '''υυʌ:ω-υυυ''' [ʹɫurin ɫuɫa], the plural for animate objects would be '''vvv''' [ʹjija] (meaning animal) so ''dogs'' would be '''vυɾ:ω-vvv''' [ʹjudin jija], with all other plurals depending on if they are near (where they add '''ɾɾɾ''' [ʹtita]), within sight (where they add '''nnn''' [ʹcica]) or absent (where they add '''ooo''' [ʹpupa]) so ''houses'' could be '''υɔυ:ω-ɾɾɾ''' [ʹɫugɫin tita], '''υɔυ:ω-nnn''' [ʹɫugɫin cica] or '''υɔυ:ω-ooo''' [ʹɫugɫin pupa] depending if the speaker is very close to the houses, it’s within sight or it’s absent. The stress in these constructions will fall on the adjectival object and not this pluralised noun, which will only receive a secondary stress.

:::[ʹɫuric ʹjudin jiʹjajda iʹɟiɟla/

:::[ʹɫugɫin ʹacic iʹɟiɟɫa]

It was mentioned that if numbers are used with the noun then the noun will not take a plural form, so '''.ɜ.-υυʌ:n-oιń''' [ɫicta ʹɫuric puʹhac] means ''the two men are happy''. If however we wish to say ''two of the men are happy'' there are special suffixes which are placed onto the nouns before other suffixes, such as the subject suffix or the predicate marker, are applied. Once again these do not take a plural marker on the predicate. This sentence becomes '''υυʌ:ω:ɜ:n-oιń''' [ʹɫurinica puʹhac]. An example in the predicate position would be '''ύυʌ:ω:ɜ-ʌ:nυυ''' [ʹaɫinic iʹɟuɫa] meaning ''I see two of the men''. If we wish to say, then, ''we see two of the men'' this is '''ύυʌ:ω:ɜ:ɾ-ʌ:nυυ''' [ʹaɫinicta iʹɟuɫa]. These special suffixes are ''':ω:ɛ''' [-inu ~ -ninu] for ''one of'', ''':ω:ɜ''' [-inic ~ -nic] for ''two of'', ''':ω:ɤ''' [-inub ~ -nub] for ''three of'', ''':ω:m''' [-inbu ~ nubu] for ''four of'' and ''':ω:ɞ''' [-inɫi ~ -nuɫi] for ''five of''. Beyond this the form would be ''six men'' and not ''six of the men'' etc.

:::'''ύɔυ-ʌ:nnυ''' ['aɫgu i'ɟiɟɫa]

:::'''ćcɔ:ɾ-ʌ:υιɾ''' ['asukta i'ɫuhta]

:::'''ccɾ́-ω:υʌɔ''' [si'zat in'ɫiga]

:::'''υυo:v-vʌɾ́-ω:υʌɔ''' [ɫu'bij ji'rat in'ɫiga]

:::'''υυo:v-ɔυɷ́-vʌɾ:ω-ω:υʌɔ''' [ɫu'bij ku'ɫam jidin in'ɫiga].

:::[ʹkuhtic ba iʹɟicsa]

The subject of a sentence is indicated with the suffix ''':n''' [-ic ~ -ca ~ -ɟa]. The subject in Mila usually indicates the actor of a sentence, although when an intransitive verb is used which modifies another verb the subject of the sentence may appear in the predicate position. As such the language may be analysed as showing syntactic ergativity.

:::[ʹlit.c'''ic''' da iʹmin.ra]

:::[ʹpiɟ.lic '''i'''ʹgu.ma ɟa]

The supraessive prefix '''ɔ:''' is used to indicate position above the noun it modifies. As with the locative it does not affect stress placement. So '''ɔ:ιnc''' [ukʹhicsa] '<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">spre</span>-cloud' means simply ''above the clouds''. It usually refers to position without physical contact, though occasionally it may have a similar meaning to ''on top of'' or ''at the top of''. An example of this is '''ʌ:'''ɔυn [iʹguɟa] which, by using the locative here, means ''at/on the mountain''. By using the supraessive, though, we have '''ɔ:'''ɔυn [uʹkuɟa] which would mean ''at the top of the mountain''. Another example would be '''ʌ:'''ɔυɷ [iʹguma] which can mean ''on the table'' but could equally indicate ''at'' or ''by the table'' using the locative, but '''ɔ:'''ɔυɷ [uʹkuma] takes away the ambiguity and can only mean ''on (top of) the table''.

It can also be used for figurative purposes, so a king could be spoken about as being ‘on top of the people’ '''ɔ:υυυ''' [ugʹlula]. Some of these words have taken on derivational meanings, so the example just given '''ɔ:υυυ''' also means ''haughty'' and as such has become confused with the identical verbal prefix ɔ: (see below) which is used for iteration, such that the homonym '''ɔ:υυυ''' can also mean ''crowded''.

The subessive prefix '''o:''' is used to indicate position below or under the noun it modifies. As with all other affixes of place it does not affect the stress of the stem. '''o:ɔυɷ''' [upʹkuma] thus means ''under the table''. As with '''ɔ:''' it could have a more figurative meaning by meaning below in rank.

The postessive prefix '''ω:''' is used to indicate position behind the noun it modifies. Again it does not affect stress placement. '''ω:ɔυɷ''' [inʹguma] therefore means ''behind the table''. When describing directions it can imply ''further away than, but in the same general direction''. Saying '''ω:υɾo''' [inʹlitpa] would mean ''beyond the village''.

The antessive prefix '''ι:''' is used with the opposite meaning of the postessive. It therefore has the general meaning of in front of the noun it modifies, so '''ι:ɔυɷ''' [uhʹkuma] means ''in front of the table'' and with directions '''ι:υɾo''' [uhʹlitpa] has the meaning of ''before reaching the village''.

The intrative suffix ''':cc''' indicates position amongst, between or within the noun it modifies. It is quite often substituted with just the locative, so basic '''ʌ:vvɔ''' [iʹjijga] means ''at'' or ''in the forest''. To specify more clearly the position amongst the trees we can say '''vvɔ:cc''' [ʹjijgisa]. There is no particularly great difference between the two meanings but sometimes the intrative will be used where the noun already has a prefix. So whereas '''ʌ:ɾ:ɔυn''' [iritʹkuɟa] is perfectly legitimate to mean ''in the mountains'', '''ɾ:ɔυn:cc''' [itʹkuɟisa] would much more likely be used.