Is Burunking: Difference between revisions

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===Verbs===
===Verbs===
Verbs fall into two categories: '''primary verbs''' are those which are not derived from other parts of speech, and are relatively few in number and '''secondary verbs''' are compounds of a primary verb with another part of speech.
Verbs are marked for aspect and variations in tense, mood and valency are indicated by means of particles that follow the verb. Person, gender and number are not marked on verbs.  


====Primary Verbs====
One of the defining features of Is Burunking is a relatively small class of '''true verbs''' (less than 50), which carry a range of rather generic senses. A large proportion of these verbs are associated with movement along a specific path, and beside the simple ''ibii'' "move, travel" there are verbs meaning "go (away from speaker), go (away from 3rd person), go up, go down, go in, go out, come (to speaker), come (to 3rd person)". Others are associated with basic human functions ("consume, expel, perceive"), actions ("do, collect, hit") or existence ("be, have"). These 'true' verbs may take a limited number of prefixes to extend their meaning, e.g. ''erakash'' "teach" < ''ekash'' "learn". To create a much wider variety of senses the true verbs, whether simple or prefixed, are compounded with other elements, primarily nouns, other verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
Primary verbs consist of a prefix and a root. In the base form of the verb, the prefix is ''e-, i-'' or ''y-'' and bears no particular meaning. The following are the main primary verbs:  
 
====The True Verbs====
True verbs consist of a prefix and a root. In the base form of the verb (i.e. when it stands alone), the prefix is ''e-, i-'' or ''y-'' and bears no particular meaning. The following are the main true verbs:  


{| width="90%;"
{| width="90%;"
Line 500: Line 502:
| ''egosh'' || heat, cook, boil || ''ilung'' || have, hold, contain, use, enjoy
| ''egosh'' || heat, cook, boil || ''ilung'' || have, hold, contain, use, enjoy
|-
|-
| ''ekash'' || learn || ''inua'' || (make) sound, speak
| ''ekash'' || learn || ''inua'' || speak(make) sound
|-
|-
| ''elaz'' || divide, split, undo || ''ipush'' || perceive, know, see
| ''elaz'' || divide, split, undo || ''ipush'' || perceive, know, see
Line 521: Line 523:
|}
|}


The base prefix is lost in composition, e.g. ''yipupush'' "touch, feel" < ''yipu + ipush''. It may be replaced by ''era-'' (''ra-'' in composition) to indicate a causative, e.g. ''eralu'' "cause to die, kill". An intensive or frequentative sense is obtained by reduplicating all or part of the root, e.g. ''yangang'' "devour", ''etotoz'' "rush towards".
The following prefixes may be used with the true verbs, replacing the ''e-, i-'' or ''y-'' of the base:
* ''era-'' (causative), e.g. ''erakash'' "teach" < ''ekash'' "learn", ''erayeki'' "build, erect" < ''eyeki'' "stand".
 
The root of a true verb may also be reduplicated to form a verb with intensive or frequentative meaning, e.g. ''ewaiwas'' "stomp, trample", ''inuanua'' "shout, roar", ''eralulu'' "destroy".
 
====Compound Verbs====
The range of meaning of each true verb is extended considerably by compounding with other forms, according to a few simple rules. In each case the other element precedes the main verb and the meaningless prefix of the base form is lost (''era-'' is also reduced to ''-ra'').  


====Secondary Verbs====
* '''Noun + Verb''' in which the noun denotes the object of the verb.
Secondary forms make up the vast majority of verb forms in Is Burunking. They may be composed of a primary verb preceded by a noun, adjective, adverb or another primary verb.
* '''Adjective + Verb''' to denote various senses of being or becoming the quality of the adjective.
* '''Verb + Verb''' in which the first verb modifies the sense of the second.
* '''Adverb + Verb''' in which the adverbs denotes the method, direcion or means of doing the action.  


====Conjugation====
====Conjugation====

Revision as of 09:32, 30 November 2017


Is Burunking (/is buɾˈuŋkiŋ/, literally 'Burungian language') is the language of Burung, an island in the north Atlantic Ocean.

Background

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Post-alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal      m      n      ŋ
Plosive p    b t    d k    g
Fricative ɸ      s      ʃ           ʐ ç      h     
Affricate t͡ʃ    d͡ʒ
Flap or tap      ɾ
Approximant      w      j
Lateral app.      l

Vowels

Front Back
Close i u
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Vowels are considered to be short in all environments but may occur consecutively as in eekez 'left' /ɛːkɛz/. Note that word-initial sequences of i + i and u + uu are written yi-, -wu.

Diphthongs

There are six diphthongs proper: ai /ai/, ei /ei/, oi /oi/, au /au/, eu /eu/ and ou /ou/, which may be considered sequences of vowels in measuring syllables. In addition, any vowel is permitted to occur following the 'glides' /w/ or /j/.

Phonotactics

Is Burunking has a relatively restrictive syllabic structure, with a maximal form CGVVC, in which C represents a consonant, G a glide and V a vowel or diphthong. Of these, only the central vowel is essential but there are restrictions on the other elements also:

C1 G V1 V2 C2
  • optional
  • only b, g, d, h, x, l, n, ng or m word-initially
  • any consonant word-medially
  • optional
  • only y or w/u
  • mandatory
  • any vowel
  • optional
  • only i, u or the preceding vowel repeated
  • optional
  • only s, sh, ng or z word-finally
  • only n or m before a consonant

The word-final consonants s, sh, ng and z are not permitted to occur before another consonant, so undergo changes in compounds or when consonant-initial endings are added:

  • Final -s is lost, the preceding vowel lengthens and a following voiced plosive is devoiced: is 'language, speech' + -do (pejorative) = yito 'curse', os 'cold' + -pung (abstract) = oopung 'coldness'.
  • Final -sh is replaced by -i-, forming a diphthong with the preceding vowel (ush > oi, ish > ei, ii), and a following voiced plosive is devoiced: banash 'fruit' + -to (diminutive) = banaito 'berry', ush 'empty' + gyong 'person' = oikyong 'vain person'.
  • Final -ng becomes -n- (or -m before p, b, f): gyong 'person' + -zoi (collective) = gyonzoi 'team, band', yong 'smooth' + -pung (abstract) = yompung 'smoothness'.
  • Final -z is lost entirely: az 'man' + -chi (adjectival) = achi 'masculine'.

Word-final vowels may also be altered or lost when they come into contact with initial vowels in compounds or endings. In words of three or more syllables, the vowel is always lost, e.g. arato 'food' + -oi (adjectival) = aratoi 'gluttonous', eshayo 'sea' + ugi 'bread' = eshayugi 'seaweed'. Words of two syllables usually lose their final vowel, e.g. binji 'mountain' + arate 'gap' = binjarate 'mountain pass', but when the second word is only one syllable the final vowel sometimes remains, forming a glide in the case of i or u e.g. bigi 'eye' + uz 'water' = bigyuz. In reduplication, the final vowel often remains in disyllables, e.g. aze-aze 'very dark'.

Stress

Primary stress is generally on the penultimate syllable of polysyllables, e.g. berósu 'nine', esháyo 'sea', ázeng 'fish'.

Orthography

Is Burunking was originally written in a syllabary called hookozoi, mainly carved into wood or, occasionally, stone.

When the language was initially discovered by Europeans the Greek alphabet was used in its transcription, but later studies preferred to use the Latin script, which is still used today.

Graph IPA
Consonants
b /b/
ch /t͡ʃ/
d /d/
f /ɸ/
g /g/
h /h/
j /d͡ʒ/
k /k/
l /l/
m /m/
n /n/
ng /ŋ/
p /p/
r /r/
s /s/
sh /ʃ/
t /t/
w /w/
x /ç/
y /j/
Vowels
a /a/
e /ɛ/
i /i/
o /ɔ/
u /u/
Diphthongs
ai /ai/
au /au/
ei /ei/
eu /eu/
oi /oi/
ou /ou/

In word or syllable initial position the sequences ii, uu are written yi, wu. The glide /j/ is always written y but /w/ is written u following a consonant and w syllable initially.

Grammar

Nouns

Gender

Nouns are classified as either animate (bixi) or inanimate (ee bixi) and animate nouns belong to one of three genders: masculine (achi), feminine (buyachi) or common (iriji). Inclusion within a class is based to a large extent on natural gender.

Animate
Bixi
Masculine
Achi
  • adult male humans
  • some male animals
  • male deities
  • fu 'fire', oi 'sun'
Feminine
Buyachi
  • adult female humans
  • some female animals
  • female deities
  • luz 'earth'
Common
Iriji
  • human children
  • most animals
  • edible plants
  • uz 'water', yozi 'rain'
Inanimate
Ee Bixi
  • unmoving objects
  • most materials
  • abstracts

These gender distinctions have a limited effect on the morphology of nouns themselves but affect the way other words behave.

Case

Relationships between nouns in a sentence are marked by particles following the noun.

Case Particle Uses
Topicaliser ba marks a subject or object as the focus of the utterance
Nominative az marks the subject of a verb (where it is not the topic)
Accusative ke marks the direct object of a verb
Genitive eng marks the possessor of an object, 'of'
Dative ni marks the indirect object of a verb, 'to'
Allative a marks movement towards, 'to'
Ablative chi marks movement away from, 'from, of, through'
Locative gang marks location 'in, on, at'
Instrumental ha marks use of, 'with, by'

Number

Nouns are generally not marked for number and context is usually sufficient to show whether heuji means 'horse' or 'horses'. Numerals or adjectives can be used to qualify the noun for number, e.g. bade oz 'one dog, a dog'.

There are two collective suffixes, which may sometimes translate the English plural: -zoi is used to refer to a group of things, usually within a single place, e.g. gyonzoi 'band, group, team of people', heujizoi 'a herd of horses'; -bua is more abstract, referring to all things within a class collectively and also to the state of being an object within that class, similar in some ways to the English suffix '-hood' in a word like 'priesthood', e.g. gyombua 'everybody, humanity, humankind, population', binjibua 'mountains'. Both of these suffixes are productive, though in some cases the noun with the suffix has taken on a specialised meaning as in azoi 'council, assembly' from az 'man'. Reduplication may also be used to express a large group of something, often with an intensive meaning, e.g. gyongyong 'crowd, mass of people', yaiyai 'storm' (from yai 'wind').

Adjectives

Adjectives precede the noun they modify and are not altered for gender, number or case.

Comparison is expressed by means of particles. The comparative uses the particle byang, somewhat equivalent to Eng. "than", with a noun (standard) of comparison and the positive adjective. Where English uses the pattern [Noun 1] is [Comparative] + than + [Noun 2] (e.g. Eric is bigger than Tom), Is Burunking uses the pattern [Noun 1] + [Noun 2] + byang + [Adjective] + da (e.g. Eric ba Tom byang enji da). There is no equivalent to the English attributive comparative adjective and phrases such as "Eric is the taller brother" would be translated best with the positive adjective, e.g. Eric ba enji angane da lit. "Eric is the tall sibling".

Superlatives are formed from the positive adjective with the suffix -na and precede the noun they modify, e.g. enjina az "biggest man", lashana ebaz "quietest river". The usual sentence structure follows the pattern [Topic] + ba (+ [Location] + gang) + [Superlative] + [Noun] + da, e.g. Eric ba (Burung gang) enjina az da "Eric is the tallest man (in Burung).

Pronouns

Personal

Singular Plural
1 inclusive ni bua
exclusive bu
2 yi fu
3 masculine ngane xinxing
feminine nepa
common xing


There are no inanimate forms, the demonstrative pronouns being used instead.

Possessives may be formed with the postposition go, e.g. ni go yata 'my father', xing go eshe 'its house'. The phrase go buru is used with the pronouns to create reflexive pronouns, e.g. yi go buru 'yourself',

Demonstrative

this waz
that (non-distal) uri
that (distal) az


The demonstratives may be used attributively following the noun, e.g. az waz 'this man', xagaz uri 'that apple', binji az 'that mountain'. With uki they form the equivalent adverbs of place: uki waz 'here', uki uri 'there', uki az 'there (distal)'.

Interrogative

Interrogative pronouns and adverbs are formed with the prefix n(o)- and a nominal element:

what nohez
who nogyong
where nuki
how nobide
why nonaze
when neuji

These interrogatives may take postpositions such as nogyong go 'whose'

Indefinite

Indefinite pronouns are formed using the same nominal elements as the interrogative pronouns, but with different affixes.

some-
(-do)
any-
(eno-)
every-
(-bua)
-thing hedo enohez hebua
-one, -body gyondo enogyong gyombua
-where ukido enuki ukibua
-how bidedo enobide bidebua
(reason) nazedo enonaze nazebua
-time eujido eneuji eujibua


The 'any-' forms are also used as the equivalent of English pronouns with '-ever', e.g. enobide 'however', enogyong 'whoever'. They are also employed in negative sentences to mean 'no-one', 'nowhere' etc.

Verbs

Verbs are marked for aspect and variations in tense, mood and valency are indicated by means of particles that follow the verb. Person, gender and number are not marked on verbs.

One of the defining features of Is Burunking is a relatively small class of true verbs (less than 50), which carry a range of rather generic senses. A large proportion of these verbs are associated with movement along a specific path, and beside the simple ibii "move, travel" there are verbs meaning "go (away from speaker), go (away from 3rd person), go up, go down, go in, go out, come (to speaker), come (to 3rd person)". Others are associated with basic human functions ("consume, expel, perceive"), actions ("do, collect, hit") or existence ("be, have"). These 'true' verbs may take a limited number of prefixes to extend their meaning, e.g. erakash "teach" < ekash "learn". To create a much wider variety of senses the true verbs, whether simple or prefixed, are compounded with other elements, primarily nouns, other verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

The True Verbs

True verbs consist of a prefix and a root. In the base form of the verb (i.e. when it stands alone), the prefix is e-, i- or y- and bears no particular meaning. The following are the main true verbs:

eba cut, chop, hew exaz enter, penetrate, go in
ebang give, transfer, exchange, connect exoz beget, produce, create
ebei assemble, collect, gather eyeki stand
ebeng put, place, establish iji show; appear
egaa get, obtain, win; understand ibii move (without reference to path), travel
egang ascend, go up, climb; improve iging make, do
egong stay, wait, continue, remain, rest ilu die, break, stop, cease
egos shoot, throw, cast iluaz spread, scatter, distribute, disperse
egosh heat, cook, boil ilung have, hold, contain, use, enjoy
ekash learn inua speak(make) sound
elaz divide, split, undo ipush perceive, know, see
ero hit, strike izung expel, defecate, throw out
esuang lie down yang consume, eat, take in
etoz come, move towards (speaker) yata happen, occur
ewang go, move away from (speaker) yehang be, exist, live
ewas step, pace, tread yosh pierce, stab, puncture
ewash descend yuki exit, leave, go out of
eresh squeeze, press yus move away, leave, go away
ewaging approach, reach, come near to; touch

The following prefixes may be used with the true verbs, replacing the e-, i- or y- of the base:

  • era- (causative), e.g. erakash "teach" < ekash "learn", erayeki "build, erect" < eyeki "stand".

The root of a true verb may also be reduplicated to form a verb with intensive or frequentative meaning, e.g. ewaiwas "stomp, trample", inuanua "shout, roar", eralulu "destroy".

Compound Verbs

The range of meaning of each true verb is extended considerably by compounding with other forms, according to a few simple rules. In each case the other element precedes the main verb and the meaningless prefix of the base form is lost (era- is also reduced to -ra).

  • Noun + Verb in which the noun denotes the object of the verb.
  • Adjective + Verb to denote various senses of being or becoming the quality of the adjective.
  • Verb + Verb in which the first verb modifies the sense of the second.
  • Adverb + Verb in which the adverbs denotes the method, direcion or means of doing the action.

Conjugation

Verbs are conjugated largely by means of particles that follow the main verb. Verbs may express the following:

  • Tense: present or non-present
  • Mood: indicative, hypothetical, imperative
  • Aspect: imperfective or perfective
  • Valency: transitive, intransitive or causative.

The verb stem, whether primary or secondary, is considered imperfective in sense. A perfective sense is indicated by adding the suffix -i to the stem, e.g. yang "eats, eating" > yangi "ate", inuapush "asks, asking" > inuapushi "asked".

There are two main sets of particles to indicate tense, mood and valency: da particles are used with intransitive verbs and zu particles with transitive and causative verbs. Each set has a different particle for present and past indicative, hypothetical and imperative. These are placed directly after the main verb, e.g. yang zu "is eating", erayekii fong "was building".

Function Intransitive Transitive
Present da zu
Past heng fong
Hypothetical li lu
Imperative bii byo

Other particles may precede the main particle, giving further shades of meaning. These are usually joined with a hyphen, e.g. ngane ka etoz au-da? "will he come?"

Particle Meaning Uses
ee negative negates any verb, e.g. nepa ka ilui ee-heng "she did not die"
au interrogative asks simple yes/no questions, e.g. yi ka ewang au-da? "are you going?"
te uncertainty expresses uncertainty about the action of the verb, e.g. ngane ka loging te-da "perhaps he is sleeping"
meng hearsay indicates that the speaker does not know in person, e.g. ngange ka loging meng-da "I heard he is sleeping"
ba "if" indicates the conditional, e.g. yi ewang ba-da "if you are going".

Postpositions

Derivation

Derivation is carried out using a number of suffixes and independent particles, and by compounding.

Suffix Use Example
Adjectives
-chi of, like, pertaining to buyachi 'feminine, female'
-fu full of, covered with, made of uzefu 'golden'
-king of, like, pertaining to Burunking 'of Burung'
-oi tending to, fond of aratoi 'gluttonous'
Nouns
-bua collective, abstract bidebua 'route'
-daz person or thing from eshayodaz 'foreigner' (lit. sea-dweller)
-do pejorative izido 'mocking laughter'
-ko instrument, person connected with onuuko 'goatherder'
-le agent erole 'killer'
-no diminutive (often pejorative) ano 'coward'
-pung abstracts states, conditions buchipung 'smallness'
-te continual or chronic states izite 'sickness'
-to diminutive hizito 'piglet'
-zoi collective, group eshezoi 'settlement'

Syntax

Vocabulary

Kinship Terms

Kinship terms are relatively straightforward in Is Burunking, showing fewer distinctions than in English. Within the family structure there are three degrees of proximity: the first is an individual's direct bloodline, both ancestors and direct descendants; the second includes closely related blood relatives (aunts, nephews etc.); and the third any more distantly related blood relatives or relatives by marriage. Within these three vertical groups, distinctions are then made by generation, and, in older generations only by gender.

1st Degree 2nd Degree 3rd Degree
Gen. +2 grandfather: aras
grandmother: asho
other older collateral relative:
asaba
Gen +1 father: yata
mother: ama
parent's brother: xoba
parent's sister: xeba
parent's sibling (iriji): hanauba
father-in-law, step-father: neba
mother-in-law, step-mother: aneepa
Gen. 0 EGO: NI husband: az, xengaz
wife: buya, xengaz
older sibling: angane
younger sibling: azeba
other same-generation relative:
angade
Gen. -1 child: omba nephew/niece: yoba
step-child, son/daughter-in-law: ezang
other younger collateral relative:
xuni
Gen. -2 grandchild: xemba

Older generations in the direct line (great-grandparents etc.) are called waraba regardless of sex or generation, a word roughly equivalent to "ancestor". The primary male ancestor of one's kinship group is known as the heuji and the female one as beuz. Direct descendants below "grandchild" are called xembato.