Van
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Van (havan [ʔavãn]) is a small language designed for rapid private use. It is very sparse in its phonology and inflections.
Phonetics and phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ||
| Stop | p | t | k | ||
| Fricative | ʋ | s | |||
| Trill | r | ||||
| Approximant | l | j | |||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closed | i | ||
| Mid | o | ||
| Open | a |
Vowels are nasalised before nasal consonants (/a/ → [ã], /i/ → [ɛ̃], /o/ → [ɔ̃]), backed and lowered before velar (/a/ → [ɑ̞], /o/ → [ɔ]), raised before j (/a/ → [æ], /o/ → [u]).
Phonotactics
Syllable
The typical syllable in Van is composed of a consonantal onset, a vocalic nucleus, and a consonantal coda. Occasionally, a syllable may be phonemically onset- or codaless; traditionally in Van terminology these are termed faulty. Syllables of this form are typically found as affixes. Phonetically, they have as their onset either a glottal stop [ʔ] or a copy of the preceding syllable's final consonant, e.g. vana [vãn.na] 'speak' (< van). Note: A coda is not required at the end of sentences.
Word
The word is composed out of syllables but has additional properties that set it apart. A word may only end with a nasal, sibilant or a rhotic consonant.
Morphophonology
There are a few monovocalic affixes in Van that violate the normal syllable structure. For the onsetless syllables, they can be said to copy the preceding syllables final consonant, or in the case of there being none, using a glottal stop.
Some examples:
- The verbal markers -a, -e always copy the nearest preceding consonant, e.g., /vana/ -> [vãnna] ‘speak’, /tore/ -> [dor.re] ‘to be excited’. Note: No ʔ is appended as the vowel is word final.
- The definite and possessum marker a- conjures up a glottal stop, e.g. /avan/ -> [ʔavãn] ‘the speech’.
Morphology
Verbal morphology
Verbs are simple. Any noun or root can be turned into a verb by adding -a for dynamic verbs or -e for stative verbs. While there is a morphological opposition between dynamic and stative verbs, there only other verbal inflection is the one for voice -s (active, mediopassive).
| dynamic | stative | |
| vana (speak) | kore (love) |
The distinction between dynamic and stative is most readily gleaned in the example opposition kore tan mir, pa-kon ‘I am in love with you, bacon’ (state) vs. kora tan mir, pa-kon ‘I am loving you, bacon’ (action).
Nominal morphology
Nouns are unmarked for number but are marked for definiteness and possession (syncretic: a-).
Syntax
Constituent order
The unmarked word order in Van is predominantly (87%) verb-subject-object or VSO.
Phrase order
Modifiers
Numerals and determiners precede their head nouns.
- [ʔɛ̃ŋa tʰaʋ ʔadɔk̚ tʰãn]
| hińa | tav | ha-tok | tan | |
| prox.det | five | poss-chicken | 1sg |
‘those five chicken (are) mine’
Genitive constructions
Possessors follow their possessum.
- [ʔaʋãn tʰãn]
| ha-van | mir |
| poss-language | 2sg |
‘your language’
Sample wordlist
- sa- ‘not’, prefix
- ta- ‘good’, prefix
- no- general intensifier, prefix
- vańa, -e, dummy verb, a pro-verb.
- jin ‘here’
- laja ‘sing’
- los ‘end’
- love ‘alive’
- jan ‘like’
- jas ‘sight’
- kon ‘build’
- kor ‘love’
- tir ‘see’
- tore ‘excite’
- van ‘speech’
- nar ‘death’