Af Mexee

Revision as of 22:14, 3 January 2017 by Shariifka (talk | contribs) (→‎Adjectives)

Af Mexee is a Somali language/dialect.

Introduction

Phonology

Orthography

Consonants

Shibliyooyka

' b p t j ch x kh d th r s sh dh c g gh f q k l m n ny w h y

Vowels

Shaqlooyka

a e i o u

aa ee ii oo uu

Diphthongs

ay aw ey oy ow

aay aaw eey ooy oow

Consonants

Af Mexee consonant phonemes
Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
Nasal m n ny /ɲ/
Stop consonant voiceless (p) t /t̪/ k q ' /ʔ/
voiced b d /d̪/ dh /ɖ/ ɡ
Affricate voiceless ch /tʃ/
voiced j /dʒ/
Fricative voiceless f s sh /ʃ/ kh /x̠~χ/ x /ħ/ h
voiced p /β/ th /ð/ gh /ɣ/ (gh) /ɣ̠~ʁ/ c /ʕ/
Approximant l y /j/ w
Trill r /r~ɾ/

Vowels

Af Mexee has five vowel articulations that all contrast frontness/backness and vowel length. There is little change in vowel quality when the vowel is lengthened.

There are five diphthongs that also occur in front and back, long and short versions, except for /ɞi/, which does not occur in the back series.

Af Mexee monophthongs
Front series Back series Orthography
short long short long short long
Close front unrounded /
Near-close near-front unrounded
i ɪ ɪː i ii
Close-mid front unrounded /
Open-mid front unrounded
e ɛ ɛː e ee
Near-open front unrounded /
Open back unrounded
æ æː ɑ ɑː a aa
Open-mid central rounded /
Open-mid back rounded
ɞ ɞː ɔ ɔː o oo
Close central rounded /
Close back rounded
ʉ ʉː u u uu
Af Mexee diphthongs
First element is front First element is back Orthography
short long short long short long
æi æːi ɑɪ ɑːɪ ay aay
æʉ æːʉ ɑu ɑːu aw aaw
ei eːi ɛɪ ɛːɪ ey eey
ɞi ɞːi ɔɪ ɔːɪ oy ooy
ɞʉ ɞːʉ ɔu ɔːu ow oow

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

Syllable structure is (C)V(C).

The consonants that can be geminated at syllable boundaries are: m, n, l, and r.

The consonants ', b, x, kh, d, r, s, sh, c, g, f, q, l, n, and h occur syllable-finally in native words. The consonants p, ch, t, th, gh, k, m and ny cannot occur syllable-finally (although there are some exceptions for m). They undergo the following neutralizations:

pb

t, thd

k, ghg

ny, non-geminated mn (m before b)

J and dh may occur in coda in a loanwords, although they are usually replaced with sh and r respectively. For example, xaj "Hajj", ogsaydh "oxide". K and m may also occur in a few words of Arabic origin. In almost all cases, variants with the expected g and n exist. For example, xikmad "wisdom" (also xigmad), shukri "thanks" (also shugri), muslim "Muslim" (also muslin).

The consonants p, th, gh, and ch do not occur word-initially in native words. They come from intervocalic -b-, -d/t-, -g/k-, and -lt- respectively (the modern intervocalic b, d/t, and g/k come from geminated consonants). When word-initial in loanwords, p and gh are pronounced /p/ and /ɣ̠~ʁ/ instead of the regular /β/ and /ɣ/.

Vowels cannot occur in hiatus. Instead, epithetic consonants such as ', y, and w are inserted in between.

Morphophonology

Sandhi

At morpheme boundaries, the following changes occur:

t (2nd person/feminine endings, middle voice, modifiers:

  • dropped after -d, dh — Exception: -d assimilates to -t- of the middle voice to form -t- (instead of the expected -d-)
  • l + t → ch
  • t → th after underlying -a, aa, e, ee, o, oo

k (modifiers):

  • dropped after -x, kh, c, g, q
  • k → h after underlying -a, e, o

s (middle causative)

  • l + s → sh

Morphology

Pronouns

Nouns

Definite: -ka (masculine), -ta (feminine) -> subject to Sandhi rules

Plural: -ooyn (definite: -ooyka)

Adjectives

Adjectives are not declined for gender. However, they may optionally be conjugated for time (folloeing the stative conjugation):

min yar "a small house" vs. min yaraay "a house that was small"

Plural adjectives may be reduplicated.

minooyn yaryar "small houses" (also minooyn yar)

Verbs

Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Other resources