Af Mexee

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Af Mexee is a Lowland East Cushitic language.

Introduction

Af Mexee dhehti (or Af Mexee for short) is a Somali conlang. Its name means "language of 'What (did you say)?'" (to distinguish it from dialects such as Af Maxaa and Af Maay). It is inspired by various Somali dialects, including Af Maay and Af Ashraaf.

Phonology

Orthography

Consonants

' 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

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.

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), where V is any vowel or diphthong.

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. The consonants p, ch, t, th, gh, k, m and ny cannot occur syllable-finally (although there are exceptions for t, k, and m). They undergo the following neutralizations:

pb

t, thd

k, ghg

nyyn

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". T, k, and m may also occur in a few words, mostly of Arabic origin. In almost all cases, variants with the expected d, g, or n exist. For example, xikmad "wisdom" (also xigmad), fitno "trial, temptation" (also fidno), 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, definite article/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 (note that -o and -e become a before th)

k (definite article/modifiers):

  • dropped after -', x, kh, c, g, q, h (for the "guttural" consonants ', x, kh, c, and h, a preceding a or e assimilates to the following vowel)
  • k → h after final -a, e, o (which then assimilate to the following vowel)

s (middle causative)

  • l + s → sh

Morphology

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Independent Clitic Possessive3 With locative particles
Stressed Unstressed Subject1 Object2 + ún + ká + kú + lá
1S
aní
an(i)
an
i
key
íin
iká
ikú
ilá
2S
athí
ad/athi
ad
ku
kaa
kúun
kuká
kukú
kulá
3SM
usú
us(u)
us
(su)
kiis
súun
suká
sukú
sulá
3SF
ishí
ish(i)
ish
(shi)
kishi
shíin
shiká
shikú
shilá
1P
unú
un(u)
an/un
nu
keen
núun
nuká
nukú
nulá
2P
isín
isin
ad/isin
sin
kiin
síin
sinká
sinkú
sinlá
3P
ishó
isho
ish/isho
(sho)
kisho
shóon
shoká
shokú
sholá
IMP4
la
lóon
laká
lakú
lalá

1 Clitic subject pronouns are optional and are often dropped unless needed for clarity or emphasis. For further emphasis, the independent forms may be used. In the plural, un, isin, and isho the clitic forms are formal (the regular forms are an, ad, and ish respectively).

2 Third person object pronouns are only used for humans and (anthropomorphized) animals.

3 Masculine forms are shown (the corresponding feminine forms begin in t-). Possessives may be used as modifiers, in which case they attach to the noun, or independently as possessive pronouns.

4 Used for impersonal passive.

Nouns

Plural is formed with -ooyn (definite: -ooyki) or -yaal (definite: -yaalki). The ending -yaal is used for nouns (mostly masculine) ending in -e or -i, e.g. tuke "crow" → tukeyaal. All other nouns take the ending -ooyn. For nouns ending in -o (which are generally feminine), the -o becomes a and an epithetic th is added before the ending. For example, maghaalo "city" + -ooynmaghaalathooyn "cities".

The definite article has different forms depending on gender.

  • Masculine: -ki
  • Feminine: -ti

Adjectives

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

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

Adjectives can be reduplicated or take stative endings to show plurality, or the singular forms may be used.

e.g. minooyn yaryar/yaraan "small houses" (also minooyn yar)

Verbs

Syntax

Constituent order

The most common (and underlying) word-order is SOV.

Noun phrase

  • Cardinal numbers come before the noun. If a cardinal number is present, the singular form of the noun is used.
nimooyn "men" BUT afar nin "four men" (afar nimooyn is also acceptable)
  • Adjectives and determiners other than cardinal numbers come after the noun.
  • The definite article and other suffixed determiners attach to the noun unless it is preceded by a cardinal number, in which case they attach to the number.
nimooyki "the men" BUT afarti nin "the four men"
  • Possessive phrases can be formed in two ways:
a) Genitive construction
minki Shariif = Shariif's house (lit. the house (of) Shariif)
b) Possessive determiner
Shariif minkiis = Shariif's house (lit. Shariif his house)

Verb phrase

(Subject Pronoun) + Object Pronoun + Locative Particle + Negation (+ Clitic Subject Pronoun) + Relational Particle + Verb

Clitic subject pronouns come after the negation particle if present. Otherwise, they go at the beginning (in which case either the clitic or non-clitic forms may be used).

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Other resources