Ditab: Difference between revisions

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'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (''Dîthâabh'' /ɖiː˧˩θ{{ret}}aːaβ˥˩/) is a language of [[Verse:Méich Bhaonnáiqh]] (Bech Baddochaqh?) inspired by Iau, Proto-Lakes Plain, Formor's avian conlang C’ą̂ą́r and Semitic languages (particularly chanted Tiberian Hebrew). It's the ceremonial language of a group of uplifted birds of the space colony Bădháchôth.
'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (''Dîthâabh'' /diː˧˩θ{{ret}}aːaw˥˩/) is a language of Tricin's Mintonia inspired by Iau, Proto-Lakes Plain, Dinka, Thai, Formor's avian conlang C’ą̂ą́r and Semitic languages (particularly chanted Tiberian Hebrew).  


== Background ==
Assumptions about the birds' vocal tracts:
* Their tongues are pointed but can still be widened to make stops
* They can produce tongue height
==Todo==
A reading tradition of Ditab with a Modern Hebrew accent: no tones or vowel or consonant length (so there will be a lot of ambiguity; Ditab isn't actually spoken that way)
* odhubh cabhechoth (fill in tones and vowel lengths) -> oduv kveyot


==Phonology==
==Phonology==
{{PAGENAME}} has  
{{PAGENAME}} has  
* 5 consonants:
* 4 consonants:
** voiced rostral (beak) fricative: b{{lowered}} (written ''b'')
** voiced labial stop: b
** voiced subapical retroflex stop: ɖ (written ''d'')
** voiced postdental stop: d
** voiceless subapical retroflex stop: ʈ (written ''t'')
** voiceless alveolar stop: t
** voiceless lamino-palatal stop: c (written ''c'')
** voiceless velar stop: k
** voiceless choanal stop: {{qeth}} (written ''q'')
* 21 vowels: ''i ị e ẹ a ọ o ụ u'' /i ɪ e ɛ ä ɔ o ʊ u/ + nasalized counterparts + ''ă'' (shva na3, by default /ä/); /ɔ o ʊ u/ are really their unrounded counterparts
* 15 vowels: ''i ị e ẹ a'' /ï ɪ̈ ë ɛ̈ ä/ + ''in ịn en...'' nasalized counterparts + ''ix ịx ex...'' creaky counterparts
* 6 pitch accent patterns (level, rising, falling, falling-rising, rising-falling, one like Swedish tone 2) (they should be loosely modeled after tropes) (long and overlong tones should be different; some tones have two nuclei like ''pashtayim'' and ''qadma v'azla'')
** archiphoneme ''ă'' (shva na3, by default /ä/)
There is a three way length distinction as well, in both consonants and vowels.
*diphthongs ''ia ua'' /i:a u:a/
* 6 pitch accent patterns (level, rising, falling, falling-rising, rising-falling, one like Swedish tone 2)
* There is a three way length distinction as well, in both consonants and vowels.
** Short, long and overlong vowels are written ''ă a aa''
** Short, long and overlong consonants are written ''bh b bb''


All five stops have continuant allophones (roughly [β{{lowered}} {{zh}} θ̠ j {{ayin}}]) after vowels, unless they're geminated.
All four stops have continuant allophones (roughly [w ð{{lowered}}̠ˠ θ̠ h]) after vowels, unless they're geminated. [ð{{lowered}}̠ˠ] is Danish soft d.


=== Word structure ===
=== Word structure ===
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Most words are underlyingly either open syllable -V: (e.g. o), or "closed syllable" with nucleus -V: and allowed "codas" -C, -V, -VC, -CC, -(unstressed syllable) (e.g. och, o.o, o.och, o.chebh, o.c)
Most words are underlyingly either open syllable -V: (e.g. o), or "closed syllable" with nucleus -V: and allowed "codas" -C, -V, -VC, -CC, -(unstressed syllable) (e.g. och, o.o, o.och, o.chebh, o.c)


Extrametrical elements occur too: â.c-ca [â:.c:-:] (like -k in TibH vattėbh-k 'and she wept')
Extrametrical elements occur too: ô.k-ko [ô:.k:-:] (like -k in TibH ותבך vattėbh-k 'and she wept')


===Orthography===
===Orthography===
 
{{PAGENAME}} has an ASCII friendly orthography in addition to the 'default' one, where some vowels are written with consonant letters.
{{PAGENAME}} has an ASCII friendly orthography in addition to the 'default' one, where some vowels are written with consonant letters. It also has a Hebrew orthography with cantillation marks for tones and weird matres lectionis (like nun, mem, samekh, ayin etc.)


==Morphology==
==Morphology==
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Verbs inflect by aspect but not tense. Curiously, the imperfective and perfective forms are interchanged when the verb follows the interrogative particle ''củ-'', the negative particle ''bách-'' or the conjunctive particle ''ădhùbh-'', or other preverbs/conjunctions, reminiscent of Old Irish verb allomorphy.
Verbs inflect by aspect but not tense. Curiously, the imperfective and perfective forms are interchanged when the verb follows the interrogative particle ''củ-'', the negative particle ''bách-'' or the conjunctive particle ''ădhùbh-'', or other preverbs/conjunctions, reminiscent of Old Irish verb allomorphy.


Ditab has Slavic-style verbs of motion: walk, run, fly, soar, fly by flapping wings, travel by a vehicle, swim, ... each with a unidirectional and a multidirectional counterpart.
{{PAGENAME}} is borderline polysynthetic in that some verbs have to incorporate their objects. {{PAGENAME}} also uses bipersonal inflections.
 
{{PAGENAME}} is borderline polysynthetic in that some verbs have to incorporate their objects. {{PAGENAME}} also uses bipersonal inflections (like both Old Irish and Biblical Hebrew, but bipersonal forms are always used when the object is definite)


==Syntax==
==Syntax==

Latest revision as of 03:41, 21 March 2024

Ditab (Dîthâabh /diː˧˩θ̠aːaw˥˩/) is a language of Tricin's Mintonia inspired by Iau, Proto-Lakes Plain, Dinka, Thai, Formor's avian conlang C’ą̂ą́r and Semitic languages (particularly chanted Tiberian Hebrew).


Phonology

Ditab has

  • 4 consonants:
    • voiced labial stop: b
    • voiced postdental stop: d
    • voiceless alveolar stop: t
    • voiceless velar stop: k
  • 21 vowels: i ị e ẹ a ọ o ụ u /i ɪ e ɛ ä ɔ o ʊ u/ + nasalized counterparts + ă (shva na3, by default /ä/); /ɔ o ʊ u/ are really their unrounded counterparts
  • 6 pitch accent patterns (level, rising, falling, falling-rising, rising-falling, one like Swedish tone 2) (they should be loosely modeled after tropes) (long and overlong tones should be different; some tones have two nuclei like pashtayim and qadma v'azla)

There is a three way length distinction as well, in both consonants and vowels.

All four stops have continuant allophones (roughly [w ð̞̠ˠ θ̠ h]) after vowels, unless they're geminated. [ð̞̠ˠ] is Danish soft d.

Word structure

Final stress like Tiberian Hebrew

Most words are underlyingly either open syllable -V: (e.g. o), or "closed syllable" with nucleus -V: and allowed "codas" -C, -V, -VC, -CC, -(unstressed syllable) (e.g. och, o.o, o.och, o.chebh, o.c)

Extrametrical elements occur too: ô.k-ko [ô:.k:-kò:] (like -k in TibH ותבך vattėbh-k 'and she wept')

Orthography

Ditab has an ASCII friendly orthography in addition to the 'default' one, where some vowels are written with consonant letters.

Morphology

Ditab morphology is entirely suffixing except for adjectives. Adjectives are a small closed class and work by infixing and/or changing the vowels in the noun according to a predictable umlaut pattern.

There is no grammatical gender, and two declension classes:

  • Class one nouns mark the construct state with the suffix -bẽ́.
  • Class two nouns mark the absolute state with -bẽ́.

Verbs inflect by aspect but not tense. Curiously, the imperfective and perfective forms are interchanged when the verb follows the interrogative particle củ-, the negative particle bách- or the conjunctive particle ădhùbh-, or other preverbs/conjunctions, reminiscent of Old Irish verb allomorphy.

Ditab is borderline polysynthetic in that some verbs have to incorporate their objects. Ditab also uses bipersonal inflections.

Syntax

Ditab is strictly OVS. Cleft constructions are common.