Vadi: Difference between revisions

4,971 bytes added ,  20 November 2022
m
 
(19 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 264: Line 264:
The role of mutations has been a topic of contentious ongoing debate between the Traditionalist and Šibbūru Schools, the former arguing that mutations are not a morphophonological phenomenon in Vadi, whilst the latter argues that not only did mutations exist in the language, but they played a prominent role in Vadi grammar.
The role of mutations has been a topic of contentious ongoing debate between the Traditionalist and Šibbūru Schools, the former arguing that mutations are not a morphophonological phenomenon in Vadi, whilst the latter argues that not only did mutations exist in the language, but they played a prominent role in Vadi grammar.


The source of contention centers on the use of two ''Širkattarnaft'' characters, ''yu'' and ''gu''.  Whenever they appear, they appear immediately next to the word they modify.  If spacing between these special characters and the word they modify is any guide, they can appear both before and after the word they modify.  Two other issues surrounding the use of the ''yu'' and ''gu'' characters must also be taken into consideration.  Firstly, the ''yu'' and ''gu'' characters initially appear in one litigant's correspondence, only to be later incorporated into the other litigant's texts.  The period in which the characters appear also plays an important role in the evolution of the litigants' use of the ''Širkattarnaft'' to indicate mutations.   
The source of contention centers on the use of two ''Širkattarnaft'' characters, ''yu'' and ''gu''.  Whenever they appear, they appear immediately next to the word they modify.  If spacing between these special characters and the word they modify is any guide, they can appear both before or after the word they modify.  Two other issues surrounding the use of the ''yu'' and ''gu'' characters must also be taken into consideration.  Firstly, the ''yu'' and ''gu'' characters initially appear in one litigant's correspondence, only to be later incorporated into the other litigant's texts.  The period in which the characters appear also plays an important role in the evolution of the litigants' use of the ''Širkattarnaft'' to indicate mutations.   


The litigants' correspondence can be divided into three stages: the Early Period (EP), the Middle Period (MP), and the Late Period (LP).  In the Early Period texts, the ''yu'' and ''gu'' characters first appear sporadically in Sorvin's correspondence, albeit with a considerable amount of irregularity.  Subsequent responses from Éro initially start with only the ''yu'' character, and sometimes the words where the character appears coincides with Sorvin's, but there are also many counterexamples.  As the texts progress towards the Middle Period, a considerable amount of convergence in the litigants' usage of these characters becomes evident.  By the Late Period, the use of the characters gradually fall out of use.  Dr. Iyyaħmi remarks:
The litigants' correspondence can be divided into three stages: the Early Period (EP), the Middle Period (MP), and the Late Period (LP).  In the Early Period texts, the ''yu'' and ''gu'' characters first appear sporadically in Sorvin's correspondence, albeit with a considerable amount of irregularity.  Subsequent responses from Éro initially start with only the ''yu'' character, and sometimes the words where the character appears coincides with Sorvin's, but there are also many counterexamples.  As the texts progress towards the Middle Period, a considerable amount of convergence in the litigants' usage of these characters becomes evident.  By the Late Period, the use of the characters gradually fall out of use.  Dr. Iyyaħmi observes:


<blockquote style="font-style:italic">
<blockquote style="font-style:italic">
The gradual evolution of the litigants' usage of the Širkattarnaft indicate the authors had a conscious meta knowledge  of the grammar of their language.  They were quite aware from the beginning when they began their correspondence that the Minhast script could not reflect the complex phonological changes that occurred when various parts of speech interacted with one another.  Think of Sorvin and Ero's ongoing correspondence as a dance: as new partners learning the steps of a new dance, they start out awkwardly, but with time and practice, their moves synchronize, and without further need to concentrate which steps to repeat and how to strategize the next move, they become a unified pair, their dance now becoming a fluid, effortlessly choreographed visual sensation.
The gradual evolution of the litigants' usage of the Širkattarnaft indicate the authors had a conscious meta knowledge  of the grammar of their language.  They were quite aware from the beginning when they began their correspondence that the Minhast script could not reflect the complex phonological changes that occurred when various parts of speech interacted with one another.  Think of Sorvin and Ero's ongoing correspondence as a dance: as new partners learning the steps of a new dance, they start out awkwardly, but with time and practice, their moves synchronize, and without further need to concentrate which steps to repeat and how to strategize the next move, they become a unified pair, their dance now becoming a fluid, effortlessly choreographed visual sensation.


Just like the dancers, Sorvin and Éro learn the Širkattarnaft and struggle to fit it with the phonology and morphophonotactics of their language during the Early Period.  As time passes into the Middle Period, the idiosyncratic patterns of each writer gradually merge into a standard, one mutually and implicitly agreed upon.  After all, the  adversaries have learned each other's style, becoming adept and fluent in the other's use of the Širkattarnaft. By the Late Period, the use of the "gu" and "yu" characters gradually diminish, the authors now confident that the other can anticipate when a mutation occurs, and what type.  "Gu" and "yu" become no longer necessary, as Sorvin and Éro have associated clitic, modifier, case, tense, and number with the appropriate mutation. In spite of their enmity, they had, perhaps unbeknownst to them, helped each other, teaching the other how to communicate in a script ill-fitted to their native language.  They cooperated with each other, creating a new system suitable for Vadi.</blockquote>
Just like the dancers, Sorvin and Éro learn the Širkattarnaft and struggle to fit it with the phonology and morphophonotactics of their language during the Early Period.  As time passes into the Middle Period, the idiosyncratic patterns of each writer gradually merge into a standard, one mutually and implicitly agreed upon.  After all, the  adversaries have learned each other's style, becoming adept and fluent in the other's use of the Širkattarnaft. By the Late Period, the use of the "gu" and "yu" characters gradually diminish, the authors now confident that the other can anticipate when a mutation occurs, and what type.  "Gu" and "yu" become no longer necessary, as Sorvin and Éro have associated clitic, modifier, case, tense, and number with the appropriate mutation. In spite of their enmity, they had, perhaps unbeknownst to them, helped each other, teaching the other how to communicate in a script ill-fitted to their native language.  They cooperated with each other, creating the system we use today for reconstructing the Vadi language.</blockquote>


The ''gu'' character, per the Mutationists' stance, indicates fortition, whilst ''yu'' signals lenition.  The types of lenition the Mutationists have identified are presented in the following table:
{| class="bluetable lightbluebg"
{| class="bluetable lightbluebg"
|+ '''Types of Mutations'''
|+ '''Types of Mutations'''
Line 283: Line 284:
| y -> d͡ʒ <br/> θ -> ð  
| y -> d͡ʒ <br/> θ -> ð  
| m, p, b -> b
| m, p, b -> b
|-
! Eye
| kulúri
| kulun
| --
|-
! Ear
| támika
| taka
| --
|-
! Nose
| --
| uvaz
| uváza
|-
! Heart
| --
| gilay
| gilaya
|-
! Hair
| varláka (Schumann)<br/>vajlák (Tashunka)
| varlat (Schumann)<br/>vajlat (Tashunka)
| --
|-
! Lips
| túnturi
| tuntu
| --
|-
! Tongue
| --
| nipáz
| nipáza
|-
! Finger
| patáka, patári
| pata
| --
|-
! Hand
| uzáka
| uzap
| --
|-
! Testicle
| vúlari/vúluka
| vula
| --
|-
! Penis
| niátari/niátak(a)
| niat
| niata
|}
Triggers for lenition and fortition include:
{| class="bluetable lightbluebg"
|+ '''Types of Mutations'''
|-
! Trigger
! Mutation Type
! Raw Transcription
! Final Realization
! Comments
|-
! Emphatic ''hen'' 
| Lenition
| yu hena [Éro]; hen yu [Sorvin] <!-- hian [Sorvin's original, EP] "yu-yaokan"]; actual pronunciation: hin -->
| heɲ
| During the Middle Period, Éro starts writing the ''yu'' character immediately before ''hena'' in his threat letters [EP] to Sorvin.  Sorvin in turn starts writing the ''yu'' character after ''hen'', not the word preceding it.  Eventually, Éro follows Sorvin's practice during the MP.
|-
|-
! Eye
! Eye
Line 386: Line 459:
The Šibbūru School believes these divergent forms belong to a distinct noun classes, whereas the Traditionalists believe Vadi had lost its gender or noun class system in its prehistory, and these differentiated forms are simply fossil remnants of that system.  The Traditionalist view is problematic, though, because at least in the case of body parts, certain nouns select ''kaidon'' while others select ''kaira''.  The exact meaning of these two particles is unclear; in some contexts they appear to mean "which", in others they appear to serve as a definite article, and yet in others their function is simply unknown.   
The Šibbūru School believes these divergent forms belong to a distinct noun classes, whereas the Traditionalists believe Vadi had lost its gender or noun class system in its prehistory, and these differentiated forms are simply fossil remnants of that system.  The Traditionalist view is problematic, though, because at least in the case of body parts, certain nouns select ''kaidon'' while others select ''kaira''.  The exact meaning of these two particles is unclear; in some contexts they appear to mean "which", in others they appear to serve as a definite article, and yet in others their function is simply unknown.   


The selection of ''kaidon'' versus ''kaira'' appears to be influenced by the interaction of two factors: the animacy of the noun and whether the marked form of the noun is the singulative or the plural.  ''Kaira'' appears with animate nouns where the singulative is the marked form, e.g. ''kulúri/kulun'' "eye", or when the noun is inanimate and the marked form is the plural, e.g. ''uvaz/uváza'' "nose".  ''Kaidon'' appears when the noun is inanimate and its marked number is singulative, or when the noun is animate and its marked number form is plural, e.g. ''gaily/gilaya''.  Note that ''niat'', although it takes both singulative and plural marking, it selects explicitly for ''kaidon''.  However, it is important to note that because of the small sample size, it is premature to conclude that the ''kaidon/kaira'' opposition definitively indicates a noun class distinction in this semantic category exists.
The selection of ''kaidon'' versus ''kaira'' appears to be influenced by the interaction of two factors: the animacy of the noun and whether the marked form of the noun is the singulative or the plural.  ''Kaira'' tends to appear more often with animate nouns where the singulative is the marked form, e.g. ''kulúri/kulun'' "eye", or when the noun is inanimate and the marked form is the plural, e.g. ''uvaz/uváza'' "nose".  ''Kaidon'' has a higher occurrence when the noun is inanimate and its marked number is singulative, or when the noun is animate and its marked number form is plural, e.g. ''gilay/gilaya''.  Note that ''niat'', although it takes both singulative and plural marking, it selects explicitly for ''kaidon''.  However, it is important to note that because of the small sample size, it is premature to conclude that the ''kaidon/kaira'' opposition definitively indicates a noun class distinction in this semantic category exists.


{| class="bluetable lightbluebg sortable"
{| class="bluetable lightbluebg sortable"
Line 428: Line 501:
|-
|-
! Hair
! Hair
| varláka (Schumann)<br/>vajlák (Tashunka)
| varláka (Schumann)<br/>vajlák (Iyyaħmi)
| varlat (Schumann)<br/>vajlat (Tashunka)
| varlat (Schumann)<br/>vajlat (Iyyaħmi)
| --
| --
| kaidon
| kaidon
Line 478: Line 551:


=====Other Nouns=====
=====Other Nouns=====
Evidence that Vadi has a more elaborate gender system can be observed by the effects of mutations triggered by nominal and verbal inflections, according to the Šibbūru School, based on the co-occurrence of the ''gu'' and ''yu'' characters.  Case suffixes may trigger lenition or fortition, depending on the target noun.  The ''kaidon/kaira'' opposition with body part nouns, is not seen in the majority of non-body part nouns; instead they appear tp be simple alternates for the other.  A few exceptions exist, though, principally with liquids, and abstract nouns, both of which tend to favour ''kaidon''; these nouns are for the most part mass or collective nouns and thus have neither a singulative or plural form.  Based on Dr. Iyyaħmi's analyses, ''kaidon'' triggers fortition, as the ''gu'' character appears either before or after the modifier in the Middle and early Late Period texts, especially in Sorvin's correspondence, before leveling off and disappearing from the middle of the Late Period texts onwards.
Evidence that Vadi has a more elaborate gender system can be observed by the effects of mutations triggered by nominal and verbal inflections, according to the Šibbūru School, based on the co-occurrence of the ''gu'' and ''yu'' characters.  Case suffixes may trigger lenition or fortition, depending on the target noun.  The ''kaidon/kaira'' opposition with body part nouns, is not seen in the majority of non-body part nouns; instead they appear to be simple alternates for the other.  A few exceptions exist, though, principally with liquids, and abstract nouns, both of which tend to favour ''kaidon''; these nouns are for the most part mass or collective nouns and thus have neither a singulative or plural form.  Based on Dr. Iyyaħmi's analyses, ''kaidon'' triggers fortition, as the ''gu'' character appears either before or after the modifier in the Middle and early Late Period texts, especially in Sorvin's correspondence, before leveling off and disappearing from the middle of the Late Period texts onwards.


Another smaller set of nouns where the ''kaidon/kaira'' opposition appears is primarily among nouns denoting farming implements: ''kaira'' is the form most often selected, regardless of whether the noun is singulative or non-singulative.  ''Kaira'' triggers lenition of its head noun per the Šibbūru School, based on the ''yu'' character often found before the head noun; this character appears more often in Éro's correspondence than Sorvin's, although the frequency differentials of ''yu'' level off by the close of the Middle Period texts and like all documents in the Late Period, the character disappears altogether.
Another smaller set of nouns where the ''kaidon/kaira'' opposition appears is primarily among nouns denoting farming implements: ''kaira'' is the form most often selected, regardless of whether the noun is singulative or non-singulative.  ''Kaira'' triggers lenition of its head noun per the Šibbūru School, based on the ''yu'' character often found before the head noun; this character appears more often in Éro's correspondence than Sorvin's, although the frequency differentials of ''yu'' level off by the close of the Middle Period texts and like all documents in the Late Period, the character disappears altogether.
Line 521: Line 594:
! Schumann
! Schumann
! Iyyaħmi  
! Iyyaħmi  
! Tashunka
|-
|-
! Normalized Transcription  
! Raw Transcription
| Julanáina gu <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">kilái</span> ha gu kil<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">éva</span> mana, ukan hen
| colspan="2" |Julanāina gu kilāi ha gu kilebfa mana, ukan hen
| colspan = "2" | Junyé:na <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">glay</span> hag<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">lev</span> man ukɑ̃ny
|-
|-
! Morphemes
! Analyses
| ji-úla-nai-na gu <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">kilái</span> ha gu kil-<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">éva</span> mana ukan hen
| {{Gloss
| colspan="2" | ji-ula-nai-na <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">kilái</span> ha=kil<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">-éva</span> man ukan-hen  
|phrase = Julanáina gu <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">kilái</span> ha gu kil<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">éva</span> mana, ukan hen  
|-
| IPA = /ha.'ta:ʔ/
! Gloss
| morphemes = ji-úla-nai-na gu <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">kilái</span> ha gu kil-<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">éva</span> mana ukan hen
| 1S.NOM-2S.ACC-FUT-GEN soon <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">heart</span> SGV still house-<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">LOC</span> go.wreak.havok EMPH
| gloss = 1S.NOM-2S.ACC-FUT-GEN soon <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">heart</span> SGV still house-<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">LOC</span> go.wreak.havok EMPH  
| colspan="2" | 1S.NOM-2S.ACC-FUT-GEN <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">heart</span> SGV=house-<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">LOC</span> still go wreak.havok-EMPH
| translation = I will enter your house and still ruin you!
|-
}}
! Translation
| {{Gloss
| I will soon enter your house and still ruin you!
|phrase = Junyé:na <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">glay</span> hagl<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">ev</span> man ukɑ̃ny
| colspan="2" | I will enter your house and still ruin you!
| IPA = /ha.'ta:ʔ/
| morphemes = ji-úla-nai-na gu <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">klái</span> ha gu kil-<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">éva</span> mana ukan hen
| gloss = 1S.NOM-2S.ACC-FUT-GEN soon <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">heart</span> SGV still house-<span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">LOC</span> go.wreak.havok EMPH
| translation = I will soon enter your house and still ruin you!
}}
|-
|-
|}
|}
Line 759: Line 834:
{| class="bluetable lightbluebg mw-collapsible"
{| class="bluetable lightbluebg mw-collapsible"
|-
|-
! Root  
! rowspan="2"|Root  
<!--
! colspan="2"|Interrogative <br/> Form
! Root <br/> Meaning
! rowspan="2"|Meaning
-->
! rowspan="2"|* Mutation Information
! Interrogative <br/> Form
|-
! Meaning
! Schumann
! Iyyaħmi
|-
|-
! pa-
! pa-
<!-- pavan -->
<!-- parin -->
<!-- | style="text-align:center"|person -->
<!-- | style="text-align:center"|thing -->
| style="text-align:center"|parín
| style="text-align:center"|parín
| style="text-align:center"|parín<br/>barín<br/>harin
| style="text-align:center"|who
| style="text-align:center"|who
| 1) basic <br/> 2)''gu''-fortition <br/> 3) ''yu''-lenition
|-
|-
|-
! ki-
! ki-
Line 800: Line 879:
|}
|}


Nouns formed from the same roots include ''pavan'' "person", ''kini'' "thing", ''ai'' "daytime", ''kon'' "place", and ''toji'' "source".
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Mutationist School
 
Nouns formed from the same roots include ''<u>pa</u>van'' "person", ''<u>ki</u>ni'' "thing", ''<u>ai</u>'' "daytime", ''<u>ko</u>n'' "place", and ''<u>to</u>ji'' "source".


Interrogatives appear at the end of the sentence and do not exhibit WH-movement.  When the emphatic ''hen'' co-occurs, it cliticizes to the interrogative and triggers palatalization its final consonant:
Interrogatives appear at the end of the sentence and do not exhibit WH-movement.  When the emphatic ''hen'' co-occurs, it cliticizes to the interrogative and triggers palatalization its final consonant:
Line 1,427: Line 1,508:


6) The ''Šibbūru'' School argue that ''gu'' triggers fortition and should not be analyzed as a word.  
6) The ''Šibbūru'' School argue that ''gu'' triggers fortition and should not be analyzed as a word.  
<!-- Secrets
1) Éro and Sorvin's use of the Širkattarnaft was partly used as edit marks to indicate spelling corrections
-- 1.a: Sorvin uses ''yu'' to signal that the previous word has a mistake in the middle.  The mistaken characters in the previous word are to be removed.  Hence, "beynaga yu" means to remove something from "beynaga", in this case the medial character <na>.  This results in "beyga".  Additionally, the "yu" character means to palatize the consonant immediately before that, in this case following the pattern /g/ -> /d͡ʒ/.  This resulting pronunciation becomes /bɛd͡ʒ/ (due to removal of the <na> character and palatalization of the /g/ -> /d͡ʒ/.
This process is called "yaokan" /'jaokan/ "to reach inside (the previous word) and remove extraneous characters leading to the misspelling.
-- 1.b.1 Éro uses ''yu'' to signal the word immediately following it requires that one (or possibly more characters) have to be changed in order for the word to make sense.  What the spelling is changed to depends on context.  For example, the word ''melvat'' (orifice) should have been written as "melvadh" (property).  Éro calls this use of ''yu'' as a shorthand for ''yoesa'' /jo'ɛza/ "to change something (in the following word)", in this case the misspelled character(s) to make sense in the context in which the word was written.
-- 1.b.2 Éro also uses the ''yu'' character as an abbreviation for "vanáy" /va'naɪ/ "it is correct" (rendered by Éro in the Širkattarnaft as <bi-b0-fā-na-y0>).  This was a passive-aggressive use by Éro to Sorvin because Sorvin would often misspell a word; Éro used the "vanay" symbol to signal that his writing of the word was correct and that Sorvin should in the future write it correctly.  The bilingual Dog Speaker prefectural employee, Mašpat, pointed out that the ''yu'' character couldn't be used as an abbreviation for "vanáy" because "vanáy" started with /v/, but Éro retorted that you still need the ''yu'' character to spell "vanáy".
The problem with this dual usage, of course, is one doesn't know if the ''yu'' signals a correction or to indicate that a misspelled word should be read with the correct meaning, derived from context.
-- 2.a Sorvin uses the ''gu'' character to signal that the character of the next word was accidentally written with an extra dash.  In dentals, a dash turns the consonant of the base character, from voiced to devoiced, stop to fricative, etc.  It is easy to mistakenly write an extra dash, so the ''gu'' character (from "gundžak", to ignore), means to ignore extra dash(es).
Eró does NOT follow this practice, continuing to use the ''yu'' character to signify that the next word should be read with the correct spelling.  Unfortunately, linguists conclude that the word experiences both fortition and lenition, adducing this by looking at the word class of a previous or following word.  The Traditionalists conclusion that ''yu'' and ''gu'' are particles are totally wrong, so the Mutationist school is at least on the right track that something is going on with a discrepancy between the spelling.  The problem is that corrections to spelling mistakes are signs that a mutation has taken place.
-->
    
    
<!-- Template area -->
<!-- Template area -->
5,464

edits