Swuntsim

Swuntsim/Lexicon

Swuntsim Swadesh list

Swuntsim
təSfətsiv
Pronunciation	[/təˈsfətsiv/]
Created by	IlL
Setting	Verse:Tricin
Language family	Tsimulh Swuntsim

Swuntsim (SWUN-tsim; natively təSfətsiv /təˈsfətsiv/) is a modern Tsimulh language, inspired by Lushootseed and Welsh. It is the traditional vernacular language of the Swuntsim diaspora in Talma and Fyxoom, descending from Sacred Swuntsim.

Some typological characteristics:

• It is an agglutinative SVO language with a complex verb system.
• It is pro-drop.
• Head-directionality is mixed.
• It has a simple grammatical gender system of animate-inanimate, but retains vestiges of the much more complex Proto-Tsimulh noun class system.
• It has no grammatical case.

Todo

• -cütsi (8, various; pl) = 'hard, firm'
  • Scütsi (4, collectives and augmentatives) = personal name, meaning 'patient, enduring'
• tjway (7, places, slots, assignments) = 'name' (a name is an assignment)
• Yəy, yo fətjway? = Hello, what's your name?
• Cətjway... = My name is...
• Tidhabo! = See you!
• ξəp (7) = world
• ti-bayəξoe-σ = progressive
• Initial ʔ conflated with null initial (because Talman langs don't make the distinction)
• assimilation of cw, gw to c, g in syllables before c, g e.g. Ücwəgüsvaσ > Ücəgüsvaσ
• iʔist = a name?

Some clusters such as t+s are broken up to təs.

Prefix sandhi rules

Swuntsim gib

Tiʔə dhiʔə atsiσtovif o tiʔiσ tühacw zichvidh tjəσ. Go tüasσaσe o tüdhi sfavats. Dhiσəf tüʔüchw. Tüσaσe. Go tσüfiʔfiʔ. Go dhiσ tədhəfüchs ogwəʔ. Go tüσaσe ogwəʔ.

Go avsvədhvədhaʔ ogwəʔ. Avsvədhvədhaʔ ogwəʔ. Go tiʔe iσütσ vədhaʔs ogwəʔ go əscupcup. Əscupcup. Fi gwədjəsədhəs gwədhəfüʔibəsjəs. Go dhay tiʔə tjotjosəs.

Tüasσaσe tiʔə yoyoavs ʔo tüdhiʔ cif sfavats o tiʔə pədhhədhəv. Go ətəse. Go oe tiʔiσ tσüsce ə tiʔə dhiʔə suaf, tiʔə diʔə tσfayʔ. tuʔa go əsjavoicw ogwəʔ ə tiʔiσ voəsuadhf i tə viatsəs süfifis ogwəʔ.

Go oeəf ti sətjites fəʔo cwi sətəses. Go σüʔətσaf ogwəʔ. Σüvəvocwaf ogwəʔ fəʔo tiʔə dhiʔə tjit σcütsidh ə tiʔə dhiʔə səʔeütsidh ə Fcov. A cwədhiʔ təsəsσaσes əgwə. Tuʔa go, go ətσtfaf ogwəʔ tiʔə stavs ogwəʔ o tiʔə dhadhatü.

Tuʔa go tsüttəvəf ʔə təsiʔəʔ dhiʔə sσadhəy tiʔə vədhaʔəs əscupcup. Ütsüütsəf. "Dhəfuüs sif tiʔə dhvədhaʔ. Go chu tsədhiσ cwi səschwacw. Go fiʔ gwəsəshayfs gwəchəσəσəs chətj tiʔə vədhaʔs. Chuəf ogwəʔ üʔətσ. Ucwitsf ogwəʔ tə stavs ogwəʔ savgwasəs ogwəʔ.

Tuʔa go hüyütsütəf tiʔə dhiʔə tsədhiσ vədhaʔs ogwəʔ əscupcup. Cwədhadhəf tiʔə dhətjüʔ sitsəvs i tiʔə scaʔsjədhs. Tuʔa go tüzace. Dhiσ dhay sühüs ti süzaces. Go zəceəf fəʔo tiʔə tactavats, ti stactavats stütoəf. Go titjiv ftactütsidh. Titjivəf. Go əschətσədh tiʔə sitsəvs. Go σoe ftactütsidh go zace ftact. Zəce ftact go σtje fəʔo tiʔə ʔəsgwigwoc. Go tichidh tiʔə sitsəvs üσəcw. Go atsəts o tiʔiσ. Go σache. Go cov.

ceəf tiʔə yoyoavs. Tüsasʔavgwas. Go fiʔoüsvitəvəf go gwətjtəvaf. Cwədhtəvaf ftjadh cwi süchwəs, ftjadh cwi süchwəs. Ücwətəvaf gücwitəs. Go gwətəvaʔ. Go gwəpəcw o ti stuəf. Tuʔa go atsəts. Fiʔəf gwəsoʔuüs ogwəʔ. Chuəf ogwəʔ ügwətjəv. Go chwi gwədhəchcwəfs ogwəʔ o tiʔiσ dhəfüfs.

Grammar shouldn't be ripoff of Bantu, Salish or Welsh

Numbers

Talman Swuntsim has a set of base 10 numerals inherited from Sacred Swuntsim. Unlike in Sacred Swuntsim, however, base 12 is usually used.

Numbers inflect for animacy, but only the first word in the whole numeral inflects: Number words beginning with sjü '1' inflect that word. Number words beginning with a number word other than 1 use ts- for animates. For example:

• tsfisj 'two people'
• a bo sdüch əσü '13 women' (Note singular form əσü is used for 'woman', not the plural tsəσü.)
• fisj bo fisdüch biway '26 names'

The numbers: 0 ξoi 1 a (an.), sjü (inan; default) 2 fisj 3 iyəv 4 uzoc 5 tu 6 tjayəzj 7 butjo 8 gwivə 9 aay 10 cwidh 11 səyeu 12 sdüch 13 sjüv bo sdüch 14 fisj bo sdüch 24 fisdüch 36 iyəvdüch 144. cme < cmen

Diachronical sketch

• m n > v dh
• sm sn > zv zd
• b d > b d
• g > gh > compensatory lengthening

Getting the aesthetic

• gʷ > w when not word initial.
• sb sd > zv zd
• xʷ > f
• ʔC > C: (geminate)
• /ʔb ʔd/ > /b d/
• Usacsj əsocwəv əzəpətj ef tüdjo = the living fish swims in water
• əmam = mother; əpap = father
• tüdjo = water
• tjvic = house
• üvC > uuC
• yʔ, wʔ > y, w

Orthography

Talman Swuntsim is usually written in the Windermere script. Words from Sacred Swuntsim are written in the original Swuntsim orthography.

Phonology

Consonants

Like many Tsimulh languages, Swuntsim has no liquids in native words. However, liquids can occur in loaned vocabulary.

Swuntsim consonants

		Labial	Dental		Palatal	Velar		Laryngeal	Glottal
			central	lateral		plain	lab'zed
Nasal		m m	(n n)			(ŋ ŋ)
Stop	tenuis	p p	t t			c k	cw kʷ		' ʔ
	voiced	b b	d d			g g	gw gʷ
Fricative	voiceless	f f	s s	σ ɬ	sj ʃ	ch χ	chw χʷ		h h
	voiced	v v	dh ð z z		zj ʒ
Affricate	tenuis		ts ts	ξ tɬ	tj tʃ
	voiced				dj dʒ
Approximant			(r r)		y j		w w	(l ɴ̆)

gw, chw become g, ch before rounded vowels /y u o/.

r, l, m, n, ŋ are mainly used in loanwords. m is found in a limited number of native words.

Geminates are allowed and are rendered by doubling (for digraphs, doubling the first consonant).

Some speakers in Skella may use intrusive L [ɴ̆~ʁ] as in non-nasal Skellan accents to prevent hiatuses.

Vowels

i ü u e ə o a /i ü u e ə o a/

Stress

Stress is not fixed, but will always fall on one of the two last syllables.

Morphology

Modern Swuntsim has lost the Proto-Tsimulh noun class system, which was still active in Sacred Swuntsim. Pronouns and verbs only agree in animacy and number.

Nouns

The genitive is marked with -s, but -əs after coronal fricatives: stsaσ 'a forest or similar collection' > stsaσəs 'of a forest'. It's a clitic, not a suffix.

-s- is often inserted between nouns in compounds.

Nouns with unmarked plurals and marked singulars are common. The singulative is marked with gü- in this case.

Original noun class prefixes:

1. 'ə-, pl. cə-/c-
2. bu-, pl. də-/d-
3. p-, pl. əpi-/əp-
4. s-, pl. dus-
5. s-, pl. pσə-/pσ-
6. va-/və-, pl. əwə-/u-
7. k-/tj-, pl. abi-/əb-
8. sju-, pl. N-
9. σi-/σ-, pl. wi-
10. ti-/t-, no plural
11. ti-, no plural
12. pda-/pdə- (common for abstract nouns), no plural

Expected noun class affixes:

1. 'ə-/0-, pl. tsə- = humans, spirits
2. bü-, pl. də-/0- = animals and other things that move on their own
3. p-, pl. əpi-/əp- = plants and mushrooms; things that grow
4. s-, pl. düs- = collections or large things
   • 0-, pl. dü-
5. s-, pl. pσə-/pσ- = roughly round, compact objects
6. va-/v-/0-, pl. ü- = long objects; tools, instruments, devices
7. tj-/k-, pl. bi-/əp- = places, locations, slots
8. sj(ü)-, pl. 0- or dh- = various... including fluids (powder, water, liquids, fire, light, waves, wind, ...)
9. σi-, pl. gwi- = time periods; events; things that are temporary (e.g. ice)
10. t-, ti- = abstractions, manner, way, infinitives, verbal nouns (Class 10+11)
11. pda- = -ness, -hood (Class 12)

Pronouns

• co = I
• fo = you (sg)
• ot = we
• tsü = you (pl)

Possessive pronouns

• 1sg cwə-
• 2sg fo-
• 1pl gwə-
• 2pl tsü-

Determiners

TODO: Separate forms for mass nouns

• every, all: tsəcwach 'everyone, every (for animates)'; wəcwach 'all things (for inanimates)'; cwach 'everything; all (mass nouns)'
• many: tsəzab 'many people'; wəzab 'many things'; zab 'much (mass nouns)'
• few: tsəduu 'few people'; wəduu 'few things'; duu 'few (mass nouns)'
• other: əchasj 'another person'; tsəchasj 'other people'; chasj 'other things'

Adjectives

Like in English, there is a class of adjectives, which denote relatively permanent states. Adjectives agree with the noun in animacy. and come after the noun.

Swuntsim has a class of adjectives (different from verbs):

• Predicative: pəwayts o cütsi 'the tree is firm'
• Attributive:
  • tjvits sj-cütsi 'firm house'
  • ʔəsəye ʔə-cütsi 'firm spirit'

Verbs

The infinitive affix is t- for verb stems beginning with a vowel and ti- for verb stems beginning with a consonant.

Concord

The animate subject affix is ə- in the singular and tsə- in the plural. Verbs with inanimate subjects do not have any subject affix.

Personal affixes:

• 1sg cwə-
• 2sg fo-
• 1pl gwə-
• 2pl tsü-

Tense

Swuntsim has four tenses: present, past, perfect, and future. The auxiliary -tje is used for the future.

• cwə-ts-dhaʔo 'I meet'
• chə-cwə-dhaʔo 'I do not meet'
• cwə-v-dhaʔo 'I met'
• cwə-ya-dhaʔo 'I did not meet'
• cwə-da-dhaʔo 'I have met'
• cwə-day-dhaʔo 'I have not met'
• hodhaʔo 'you (sg) meet'

etc.

• cwətje tidhaʔo = I will meet

Mood

The imperative mood is formed as follows:

• dhaʔo! = meet! (sg)
• tsfdhaʔo! = meet! (pl)

Voice

Voices:

• active
• mediopassive: tσə-
• applicative: gwiσ-
• causative: ʔu-

Some verbs are deponent (mediopassive for no reason)

Emphatic

One way to emphasize a verb is to place the emphatic clitic =tf after it.

Derivational morphology

• -əσ = adverbializer
• reduplication = verbalizer

Constructions

Modern Swuntsim is SVO and pro-drop:

Chə'əcwev təSfətsivəσ.

/χəˈʔəkʷev təsfəˈtsivəɬ/

chə-ʔə-cwev təSfətsiv-əσ

1SG-PRES-say Swuntsim-ADV

He does not speak Swuntsim.

• The copula is o.
• The relativizer is i
• the complementizer is ti.

Adpositions consist of approximately equal number of prepositions and postpositions.

The constituent order is genitive-noun, noun-adjective, and noun-relative clause.

GenN:

cwə'əmams tjway

cwə-ʔəmam-s tj-way

1SG-mother-GEN SG-name

'my mother's name'

NAdj:

zde sjgwətje

s-de sj-gwətje

SG-flower SG.INAN-red

'red flower'

NRel:

ətotj i agwiσcwəv'oəch docadh

/ˈʔətotʃ i ʔagʷiɬkʷəvˈʔoəχ ˈdokað/

ə-totj i a-gwiσ-cwə-v-ʔoəch docadh

SG-man REL 3SG.CL1-APPL-1SG-PAST-appoint yesterday

'the man I went out with yesterday'

Adpositions include:

• ef = in

"Have" construction

Swuntsim has no verb for "have"; instead the word djec 'with' is used.

co djec o tjvits

1SG with COP SG-house

"I have a house"

Vocabulary

Much of the vocabulary is native and inherited from Sacred Swuntsim - but there are a lot of reborrowings from Sacred Swuntsim. There are also loanwords from Anbirese, Windermere, and other Talman languages.