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===Word structure=== | ===Word structure=== | ||
[[#Roots and principal parts|Roots]] in Rówok are | [[#Roots and principal parts|Roots]] in Rówok are predominantly triliteral and quadriliteral, with /a/ being the only vowel that can occur either initially in a root, or medially. | ||
All roots have an underlying "theme vowel" for lack of a better term in the author's attempt at [[#Vowel harmony|vowel harmony]], either /a/ or /o/, which shift to /e/ and /u/ in perfect verbal stems and many nouns derived from verbal stems. | |||
Words with /w/ in any position have some stems where /w/ is reduced to [u]. Roots with /y/ in any position also have some stems that are realized as [i]. *Roots with initial /w/ are anything goes as far as theme vowels; this is the only word type whose vowel structure isn’t deducible from the form of the root and just need to be learned. | |||
The rules are simple for the majority of other stems, and are as follows: | |||
* | ====Triliteral roots==== | ||
#If /a/ appears in the root (by law only initially or medially), the theme vowel is automatically /a/. | |||
#If the root is tri-consonantal and does not contain /w/, the theme vowel is also /a/. | |||
##As a note, roots with medial /a/ are almost exclusively (specific) plants, and thus lack verbal roots, and thus have only two principal parts: nom/erg/voc, and oblique. | |||
#If /w/ appears medially or finally in a root, the theme vowel is /o/. | |||
====Quadriliteral roots==== | |||
Quadriliteral roots are always consonantal take 4 forms. In the examples below the parentheses indicate that the group remains a cluster in extended stems: | |||
#(C*X)CC, where C* can only be /b/, /p/, /d/, /t/, /g/, /k/, /z/ and /s/, and X can be /r/, /l/, or /w/ | |||
#C(XC)C, where X can be /r/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /y/, or /w/ | |||
#C(CX)C, where X can be /r/, /l/, /y/, or /w/ | |||
#CC(XC*), where C* can only be /b/, /p/, /d/, /t/, /g/, /k/, /z/ and /s/, and X can be /r/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /y/, or /w/ | |||
:1) | |||
:2) | |||
:3) '''ndry-''', "fox, to be clever/outfox", '''nadry-, nádray, andráya, nadráya, andry-, nadryá''' | |||
:4) | |||
====Phonotactics==== | ====Phonotactics==== |
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