Knašta

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Knashta
Knašta
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|'knæʃta]]
Created by
Native speakersUnknown ()
Indo-Korinthic
  • Knashtic
    • Knashta
Language codes
ISO 639-3qtz


Background

The Knašta language (English: [kɪnæʃta]), is a language spoken by the Corstek people, who reside on the east coast of North America. The language is related to the Corstek language, and contact with the English and French speaking peoples of the east coast has given rise to a creole called Kombiez.

Knašta is an Indo-Korinthic language. Proto-Indo-Korinthic was spoken in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent before the arrival of Indo-European speaking peoples. For an unspecified reason, the Korinthic people migrated out of India and settled in Greece in 100 BCE. The source of the name 'Korinthic' comes from the Proto-Indo-Korinthic word korintʰíkasʷegrotʰníosī ([korɪntʰikasʷɛgrotʰniosɪː]), which means 'the people who went to Corinth (Greece)' (literally Corinth-went-people). The Korinthic people then eventually migrated to what is modern-day France, where Latin heavily influenced their speech.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Korinthic peoples split. What are now called the Knashtic people (who refer to themselves as Corsteks), moved north into what is now the Netherlands, where their language was influenced by the Germanic peoples that lived there. The Korstekic people (who also refer to themselves as Corsteks), moved east into what is now the Czech republic, where their language was influenced by the Slavic peoples that lived there.

During the 18th century many Knaštic Corsteks went to North America, and founded the Republic of Corstekistan.


Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Epiglottal Glottal
Nasal
Plosive
Fricative
Affricate
Approximant
Trill
Flap or tap
Lateral fric.
Lateral app.
Lateral flap

Vowels

Front Near-front Central Near-back Back
Close
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open

Phonotactics

Orthography

Grammar

Morphology

Knašta is an agglutinative language. Word meanings can be changed by adding an array of different prefixes and suffixes, and word compounding between all classes of words (noun, verb, etc.) is allowed.

Nouns

Nouns in Knašta have no gender, and are all made plural by adding the suffix sin.

Nouns are inflected for two cases, nominative and genitive. The nominative form of the word is unchanged while the genitive form of the word contains the ins suffix, as seen in the below example.

ňos - person

Nominative Genitive Plural
ňos ňos-ins ňossin
person person's people

Pronouns

There are three persons in Knašta.

1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular 1st plural 2nd singular 3rd singular
Nominative Joj Vošní Íl (he), Èl (she), Lot (it) Nærsk Vošnísin Lotsen
Genitive Jo-ins Vošní-ins Íl-ins, Èl-ins, Lot-ins Nærsk-ins Vošnísin-ins Lotsen-ins
Objective Jo Vošní Íl, Èl, Lot Nærsk Vošnísin Lotsen

Note that only the first person singular pronoun has an irregular objective and genitive form.

Verbs

Almost all Knašta verbs are regular. There are only four irregular verbs in the entire language: kanel (can), potečřé (might), avbendí (need), můsťen (must), and ǰinxa (be, exist).

Regular Knašta verbs are grouped into two classes based on how they are conjugated, -va and -nés verbs. Which group any particular verb is in must be memorized, as it cannot be determined from the verb itself alone. The majority of regular Knašta verbs are -nés verbs.

-va verbs

-va verbs add the suffix va to the verb with both second person forms. See the example below.

Present Tense Conjugation of Het (To Stop)

1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular 1st plural 2nd singular 3rd singular
Joj het Vošní hetva Íl, Èl, Lot het Nærsk het Vošnísin hetva Lotsen het
-nés verbs

-nés verbs add the suffix nés to the verb with both second person forms. See the example below.

Present Tense Conjugation of Aďeska (To Help)

1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular 1st plural 2nd singular 3rd singular
Joj aďeska Vošní aďeskanés Íl, Èl, Lot aďeska Nærsk aďeska Vošnísin aďeskanés Lotsen aďeska
Verb Tense

Tense is changed through the addition of one or multiple prefixes and suffixes. See the table below.

Affix Meaning Example Example Translation
sen- past Joj sen-parlenska a íl. I talked to him.
són- perfect Joj son-parlenska a íl. I have talked to him.
til- future Joj til-parlenska a íl. I will talk to him.
-link present perfect Joj parlenska-link a íl. I am talking to him.

As stated above, these can be combined, as in the sentence Joj sen-parlenska-link a íl, which means I was talking to him.

Syntax