Hwnic: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Hwnic (view source)

Revision as of 10:00, 17 February 2025

5,903 bytes added ,  17 February
no edit summary
(→‎Example text: babel text)
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
 
(38 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
''Todo: Type IPA symbols for the pronunciation in the infobox and the phonology on a library computer and email it over. Also, check and compare the written parts for inconsistencies.''
{{Construction}}
{{Infobox language
{{Infobox language
| name=Hwnic
| name=Hwnic
Line 12: Line 9:
}}
}}


'''Hwnic''' is an ''a priori'' semi-naturalistic agglutinative language. It attempts to broadly delineate what natural languages might look like in the future, influenced by sources as diverse as Internet slang, mathematical notations, and programming languages.
''This article uses U+2011 non-breaking hyphen <code>‑</code>.''
 
== Overview ==


Hwnic is a pitch-accent language. The continuants may be syllabic. Syllable structure is (C)(C)V(C)(C), with most word roots taking the form of C(C)V. Connected speech is subject to a set of more complex rules involving use of non-modal phonation.
'''Hwnic''' is an ''a priori'' semi-naturalistic agglutinative language. It attempts to broadly delineate what a future natural language might look like. ''Hwnic'' is an exonym and is pronounced like WHUH-nyk.


Hwnic is written with the Latin alphabet. For most consonants, there is a one-to-one correspondence of sound to spelling. For vowels, however, spelling rules are more varied. Some particles also have unexpected pronunciations. Therefore Hwnic orthography is not entirely phonetic. The first letter of the first word in a sentence is capitalized, but native Hwnic names of people and places are not capitalized. Unfamiliar loanwords and technical jargon are in title case. Acronyms and proper nouns retain their capitalization as in the source language. Hwnic can be written with no punctuations other than spaces, where particles and capitalization are employed to denote quotation, change of topic, intonation, and so on; however, an English-like pattern of punctuation is also possible.
Hwnic is a pitch-accent language. Connected speech is subject to a set of more complex rules involving use of non-modal phonation.


The grammar of Hwnic is mostly simple and straightforward. Word order is SOV, but sentences may show up as OV due to pro-drop. Nouns are not declined, but may take affixes that denote number, negation, state, or property. Verbs are conjugated to person, number, and sometimes mood; an auxiliary verb can show tense, aspect, and animacy/volition.
Hwnic is written in the Latin alphabet. It can be written with no punctuations other than spaces, where particles and capitalization are employed to denote quotation, change of topic, intonation, and so on; however, an English-like pattern of punctuation is also possible.


The lexicon of Hwnic is based on concrete concepts. Simple concepts like body parts are covered in a single word, while complex concepts like types of animals may have a two-name system. The lexicon is currently incomplete.
The grammar of Hwnic is quite complex. Nouns are not declined, but may take affixes that denote number, negation, state, or property. Verbs are conjugated to person, number, and sometimes mood; an auxiliary verb can show tense, aspect, and animacy/volition.


== Phonology ==
== Phonology ==
Line 31: Line 26:
! &nbsp; !! Labial !! Coronal !! Dorsal !! Gutteral
! &nbsp; !! Labial !! Coronal !! Dorsal !! Gutteral
|-
|-
| Nasal || m || n || ɲ ||
| Nasal || m || n || (ɲ) ||
|-
|-
| Plosive || p b || t d || k g || q
| Plosive || p b || t d || k g || q
|-
|-
| Fricative || f v || s z || c || x ɣ
| Fricative || f v || s z || ç, x ɣ ||  
|-
|-
| Affricate || &nbsp; || t͡s || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
| Affricate || &nbsp; || t͡s || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
Line 60: Line 55:
* Vowels often lack front-back contrast, and vowels tend to assimilate to consonants and not the other way around.
* Vowels often lack front-back contrast, and vowels tend to assimilate to consonants and not the other way around.


The phonetics of Hwnic is not as clean as the tables of phonemes might suggest. /c/ has 4 allophones and /g/ has 3. Vowel combinations can have unexpected pronunciations. Word-initial /o/ sometimes comes from syllabic /l/, and this /l/ is restored when placed after a vowel sound as well as giving the vowel a rising tone, and so on.
The orthography is based on the IPA. However, a key point is usually vowels assimilate to consonants and not the other way around: ''pe te ke qe'' would be [pɛ tɛ kə qɤ]. The most common value for ‹i› is [ɯ] which is often realized as [ɨ̞], whereas the less common value [i] appears in some particles and palatalizes the preceding consonant. The values for y and u are the same in native words, although y can be [ai] in loanwords. Syllabic l has a schwa-onglide to distinguish it from /o/.


=== Stress and prosody ===
=== Stress and prosody ===
Most words have initial stress. A syllable containing a syllabic /l/, most commonly ''bl'', ''ml'', and ''dl'', is stressed. For words that start with a syllabic /m/, /n/, or /r/, the stress may be on the second syllable. Particles have low pitch, and as such a few pairs of words are distinguished by pitch alone. Compound words retain the stress of their constituents, although consecutive stress causes pitch sandhi and the second stress takes on a low or falling pitch. Additionally, ‹j› after a vowel indicates a falling pitch, which may be contrastive with neutral/low pitch. In the future, Hwnic might become a tonal language.
Hwnic is stress-timed. Stressed syllables are longer, unstressed a may become voiceless, but other vowels aren't usually reduced.


=== Phonotactics ===
=== Phonotactics ===
Syllable structure is (C)(C)V(C)(C), with most word roots taking the form of C(C)V.


== Morphology ==
== Morphology ==
Line 70: Line 71:
=== Nouns ===
=== Nouns ===


Nouns are not declined based on grammatical roles. Nouns may be split into two categories, namely those singular by default, often solitary, unique, or abstract, and those plural by default, often gregarious or measured by amount (such as uncountable nouns in English). When the usage indicates a different number than the default or when specification is desired, a ''suffix of number'' may be attached to the noun to express a wide range of meanings, such as -''il'' "linear arrangement of", -''ij'' "grouping of", -''is'' "member of", -''ik'' "small amount of".
Nouns are not declined based on grammatical roles. Nouns may be split into two categories, namely those singular by default, often solitary, unique, or abstract, and those plural by default, often gregarious or measured by amount (including uncountable nouns in English). When the usage indicates a different number than the default or when specification is desired, a ''suffix of number'' may be attached to the noun to express a wide range of meanings.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Suffix of number || -il || -ix || -ij || -is || -ik || -ies
|-
| Meaning 1 || linear arrangement of || spatial arrangement of || unordered grouping of || member of || diminutive || augmentative
|-
| Meaning 2 || linear continuity of || structure made of || irregular continuity of || unit of || small amount of || large amount of
|}


A noun may be preceded by a particle that may express determinate/indeterminate, figurative/literal, and general/specific. Although the particle corresponds to the determiner in English, in Hwnic it is frequently seen as part of the noun, where certain combinations may have idiomatic meanings in certain contexts, such as ''ci ceqn'' "a specific pattern of excessive buying for the purpose of obtaining collectibles".
A noun may be preceded by a particle that may express determinate/indeterminate, figurative/literal, and general/specific. Although the particle corresponds to the determiner in English, in Hwnic it is frequently seen as part of the noun, where certain combinations may have idiomatic meanings in certain contexts, such as ''ci ceqn'' "a specific pattern of excessive buying for the purpose of obtaining collectibles".


=== Verbs ===
=== Verbs ===
Verbs are conjugated to person, number, and sometimes mood. A suffix for person-number is glossed as 1Sg, 1Pl, 2Sg, 2Pl, 3Sg, 3Pl, 3N, or "3I". With a non-person subject, the singular and plural forms are the same. "3I" is only used in agreement when the subject is "nothing", "one" (as in an if-clause), or another hypothetical concept, and has no corresponding pronoun.
An auxiliary verb added after the main verb can show tense, aspect, and volition, glossed as PST.PFV, VOL.PRES.IPFV, or similar. For volition, there is a distinction among voluntary actions, involuntary actions which the agent is conscious of but cannot control, involuntary actions which the agent is not conscious of, and events involving no willful agents.


=== Adjectives and determiners ===
=== Adjectives and determiners ===
Adjectives are categorized as ''inherent'', ''attributive'', and ''stative''. An ''inherent adjective'', often ending in ‑''u'' or ‑''r'', describes inherent properties of an object that cannot be separated from it. Such an adjective may be used by itself, where it can be a noun of degree like English ‑ness, or it fuses with a noun and serve to narrow down a category, creating a noun-adjective compound with a definitive meaning, like ''oqulqomu'' "the blue apple". In this case the definite determiner is omitted. An ''attributive adjective'', often ending in ‑''ui'' and palatalizes the preceding consonant, describes an attribute of an object that is considered relatively stable but can be altered. Such an adjective usually fuses with a noun, like ''edrpatlui'' "busy person, person who is always busy". A ''stative adjective'', often ending in ‑''u'', describes a state that is usually temporary and can be changed. Such an adjective may or may not fuse with a noun, like ''edrpatlu'' "busy person, person who is busy in the context of that sentence".


=== Adverbs ===
=== Adverbs ===
There isn't an adverb suffix, unlike in English. An adverb applied to a verb usually takes the form of "particle + noun", sometimes fused into one word like ''nrit'' "here". An adverb applied to an adjective may take the form of a modification on that adjective, like -''[R]ui'' "well" and -''[R]ur'' "badly", where [R] is the final consonant of that word reduplicated, although this is limited to a few words. The common way of having a word act like an adverb is with a determiner that describes the branching structure of the phrase.


=== Numerals ===
=== Numerals ===
Line 95: Line 112:
| Number of digits || 2  ||  3  ||  4  ||  5  ||  6  ||  7  ||  8  ||  9
| Number of digits || 2  ||  3  ||  4  ||  5  ||  6  ||  7  ||  8  ||  9
|-
|-
| Prefix ||         xoq || xem ||  rea  || ran || osugo || itugo || cuugo || denugo
| Prefix || xoq || xem ||  rea  || ran || osugo || itugo || cuugo || denugo
|}
|}


Line 106: Line 123:
6.02×10^23, oskuvuugoxoqubim
6.02×10^23, oskuvuugoxoqubim


1/2 leci OR xalecipu; 3/4 binlecipces; where ''leci'' means "part" and the word means "three out of four parts", and thus both are cardinals.
Fractions have the numerator before the denominator, like 3/7 binlecit, "three out of four parts", and thus both are cardinals. Some fractions have common names: 1/2 leci; 1/4 lagi; 1/12 loi.


Hwnic has a unusual way to express grouping with ''to'' "multiplied by": ''xoqavu'' means 12 in no particular arrangement, ''bintoces'' means 3×4 arrangement, ''vutoos'' means 2×6 arrangement. The smaller number goes first. However, to say 1×12 or 12 objects filed in one row, it would not be *''xatoxoqavu'', but rather with a collective suffix. A row of 12 apples (''oqul'') would be ''xoqavu oqulil''.
Hwnic has a unusual way to express grouping with ''to'' "multiplied by": ''xoqavu'' means 12 in no particular arrangement, ''bintoces'' means 3×4 arrangement, ''vutoos'' means 2×6 arrangement. The smaller number goes first. However, to say 1×12 or 12 objects filed in one row, it would not be *''xatoxoqavu'', but rather with a collective suffix. A row of 12 apples (''oqul'') would be ''xoqavu oqulil''.


== Syntax ==
== Syntax ==
=== Constituent order ===
Word order is SOV, although sentences frequently appear as OV due to pro-drop, or SV due to an indefinite noun phrase and the verb coming together to form a compound. Some words trigger a reordering of the sentence into VSO, like negation of multiple elements, unusual topic or focus, some temporal relationships ("before"), and reduplicated forms of verbs ("undo", "redo").
Ordering of delimiting(?) words is usually NAG, and follow a rule of familiarity. For example, in "expensive family dinner", typically "family dinner" is more common and would be put together as dinner-family-expensive, but if this particular family often have expensive dinners, then dinner-expensive-family is also possible.


=== Constituent order ===
These rules may lead to ambiguities. The ultimate disambiguation technique is to include a morpheme in the determiner that comes before a noun phrase to describe its branching structure. This morpheme may be omitted in further mentions of the same noun phrase.


=== Noun phrase ===
=== Noun phrase ===
Noun phrases are generally right-branching.
The demonstrative system is currently incomplete. This is one of the most important parts of Hwnic and I have been studying other systems to decide what it will look like here.


=== Verb phrase ===
=== Verb phrase ===
Transitive and intransitive verbs work mostly like in English. But each adjective can have a linking verb and a complementary verb, formed with attaching -''tni'' "to become" and -''sdi'' "to remain" to an adjective, respectively. Transitive verbs can be used without an object, where the object of that verb is seen as (null), with a number of possible interpretations. Intransitive verbs usually cannot be used with an object (unless the word is used in a different sense with a transitive meaning).


=== Dependent clause ===
=== Dependent clause ===


== Lexicon ==
== Lexicon ==
The lexicon is built around nouns. Generally, a nominal concept is expressed with a single word. Many scientific words are borrowings or calques from English, but also combined into one word and reordered, as in ''Axtosugul'' "covert aggression".
The lexicon is built around nouns. Generally, a nominal concept is expressed with a single word. Many scientific words are borrowings or calques from English, but also combined into one word and reordered, as in ''Axtosugul'' "covert aggression".


Line 128: Line 152:
On the other hand, the lexicon lacks specific words (other than calqued scientific names) for many plants and animals. In Hwnic, "daffodil", "chrysanthemum", and "osmanthus" are all ''isalbunr'' "conspicuous flower". Some recognizable species may have unique names, such as ''isalibordal'' "rose; poet's flower". This is because flowers have become rare as a result of ecological events, and any allegorical or cultural meanings have been taken up by other terms.
On the other hand, the lexicon lacks specific words (other than calqued scientific names) for many plants and animals. In Hwnic, "daffodil", "chrysanthemum", and "osmanthus" are all ''isalbunr'' "conspicuous flower". Some recognizable species may have unique names, such as ''isalibordal'' "rose; poet's flower". This is because flowers have become rare as a result of ecological events, and any allegorical or cultural meanings have been taken up by other terms.


== Example text ==
=== Idioms ===
Hwnic idioms are often long compound words that describe a specific mood or situation; ''el''- can form a multi-morpheme word by joining together items in a list. Often, this word consists of four morphemes, like four-character compounds in Chinese and Japanese. The terms about time are borrowed from English, as Hwnic time is expressed in a different way, but Hwnic is open to incorporating foreign words into its vocabulary and mixing foreign and native words. An example would be ''[[Contionary:elaurminitseknd|elaurminitseknd]]''.
 
== Example texts ==
=== Babel text ===
''Qs niciq b odqoasu velo isloxait bizitsnsui arlek''
 
and LOCV-context GEN world-whole ACC-and language-single speak-nominalizer-common be.3Pl.PST.GNO
 
''Qs toi rt todosrilovarn qoro u Miufshinar qozorn ust nct onspern''
 
and happen-3N TEM from_west-move.3Pl they ACC plain-Shinar find.3Pl then this-LOC settle.3Pl
 
''Qs e ptopo bizirn xopinc yza nozn u qiq myzon ust uoro saqezon xasrfn''


=== Babel text (notes coming soon) ===
and DAT each_other say.3Pl quote go EXCLM ACC brick make.HORT then they-ACC bake.HORT thoroughly


1. LOC2 temporal_context GEN world whole ACC-and language single speak-nominalizer common be.3Pl PST.GNO
''Qs u qiq e gida u Bitumen e cesble fozorn''


2. happen-3N that TEM from_west-move.3Pl they ACC plain-Shinar find.3Pl then LOC there settle.3Pl
and ACC brick DAT stone ACC tar DAT mortar use.3Pl


3. DAT each_other say.3Pl quote go EXCLM ACC brick make-HORT then they-ACC bake-HORT thoroughly&emsp;DECL ACC brick DAT stone and ACC tar DAT mortar use.3Pl
''Qs bizirn xopinc yza nozn velocti odn blboc eoro varozon ni parcembo jesctiboqro''


4. say.3Pl go EXCLM ACC-and-to_be a city a tower 1Pl-DAT build-HORT this-GEN top-to_be LOC heaven reach.3N FUT.STATE
and say.3Pl quote go EXCLM ACC-and-to_be city tower we-DAT build.HORT LOCV arriving-heaven top-to_be-this-GEN


5. the_Lord come_down.3N REL sight tower this the children-of-man build-3Pl PST-PFV
''Qs labasyizon stso xersyireis lnu nr meruicdignodqoasu''


6. the_Lord say-3N quote look-HORT the people one be_property-3Pl and they-GEN language singular be-3N and this-ACC do-3Pl PRES-INCHO&emsp;TEM now nothing restrained-not be_property-3I this imagined_thing-instance they-GEN
and be_famous.HORT lest be_scattered.3Pl.SUBJ FUT.STATE LOC spreading-surface-earth-whole


7. go EXCLM go_down-HORT then ACC language they-GEN confound-HORT REL purpose ACC speech each_other understand-3Pl-not.
''Qs Fnri rumxud ti mxazitblboc cit ci qmocqoxn varorn lsvo''


8. hence the_Lord ABL thence LOC spreading-surface-earth they-ACC scatter-3N PST-PFV then city-not build-PARTI stop-3Pl
and the_Lord come_down.3N REL sight-tower this the children-of-man build.3Pl PST.PFV


9. hence the name 3N-GEN Babel be_eqivalent.3N because_of confounding ABL the_Lord ACC language-earth-all&emsp;ABL thence scatter.3N the_Lord 3Pl-ACC LOC spreading-surface-earth-whole
''Fnri bizid xopinc mxazon ci qoxnxuigu irn boqro isloxuir in ust uctsmy lectn''


=== Text 14 and glossing ===
the_Lord say.3N quote look.HORT the people-united be_property.3Pl they-GEN language-singular be_property.3N and this-ACC-do.3Pl PRES.INCHO


:''Rpadpa eqo seiqomiis nr eudnox nr cnosulil ln&emsp;Qs u kiniup rambor ust velo qanan qamif fisnur lui&emsp;Andacikat rt u Telvisn mxar ust u mncibok bimir''
''Cit rt zand pndirka lqn cit srdri boqro''


now TEM nothing restrained-NEG be_property.3I this imagined_thing-instance they-GEN


:[My] grandfather has a farm in the countryside near a river. He grows vegetables and keeps geese and ducks. In [his] spare time, he watches the television and chats with [his] neighbors.
''Yza zinbn yzmxuzon ust u isloboqro ubocnezon ti pimuk u bizit ptopo rotarnq''


''Rpadpa eqo seiqomiis nr eudnox nr cnosulil ln''
go EXCLM go_down.HORT then ACC language-they-GEN confound.HORT REL purpose ACC speech each_other understand.3Pl.NEG
grandfather DAT-PRON.3SG farm.SING LOC countryside LOC vicinity-river be.3N


''Qs u kiniup rambor ust velo qanan qamif fisnur lui''
''Zal Fnri t cirgn nr meruicdignodqo uoro blted lsvo cist varocodnka ectnrn''
[-] ACC category-vegetables grow.3SG and ACC-and geese duck herd.3SG PRES.CONT


''Andacikat rt u Telvisn mxar ust u mncibok bimir''
hence the_Lord ABL there LOC spreading-surface-earth they-ACC scatter.3N PST.PFV then construction-city.NEG stop.3Pl
time-leisure TEM ACC television watch.3SG and ACC neighbors chat_with.3SG


=== Notes ===
''Zal alorboq Babel klr bimuk ubocnx b Fnri u isloodqoasu''


hence name it-GEN Babel be_eqivalent.3N because_of confounding ABL the_Lord ACC language-earth-all
''Cirgn b blted Fnri uoro nr meruicdignodqoasu''
There ABL scatter.3N the_Lord they-ACC LOC spreading-surface-earth-whole
=== Notes for Babel text ===
* ''rumxud'' is ''ru·mxu·d'', "come-down.3N" ...
* ''Fnri'' is from ''fntu'' + ''-ri'', meaning "before the beginning"; ''nokr'' "chief, lord" is the name of a megacorporation and has negative connotations, and the native word ''cirom'' "gods" indicates polytheism.
* LOC, ACC, DAT all refer to particles.
* LOC, ACC, DAT all refer to particles.
* Hwnic is head-final. The broadest category comes first and the most specific comes last. This order applies to qualifier sequences, compound words, and more.
* Hwnic is head-initial. The broadest category comes first and the most specific comes last. This order applies to qualifier sequences, compound words, and more.
* Nouns are not declined, but a particle may fuse with certain pronouns and other particles.
* Nouns are not declined, but a particle may fuse with certain pronouns and other particles.
* Most nouns are by default plural, and the suffix -''is'' makes a noun singular.
* Most nouns are by default plural, and the suffix -''is'' makes a noun singular.
Line 175: Line 219:
** Justification for this design choice (and others below) will be presented later.
** Justification for this design choice (and others below) will be presented later.
* ''Qs'' is a particle that only indicates the start of a sentence where the subject pronoun is dropped.
* ''Qs'' is a particle that only indicates the start of a sentence where the subject pronoun is dropped.
* The two exclamation particles, ''nozn'' and ''zinbn'', come from two speech registers.
* LOCV or "virtual locative" is a concept I made up for the preposition ''ni'', meaning "in a specified context/situation/state".
* Negation constructs display an unusual form of negative concord. For example, "The house is not here" requires a negative marker on "is" and a suffix meaning "in this context does not exist" on "the house", whereas "I'm not going to build the house" requires a negative marker on "build" and a suffix meaning "will not exist in the future" on "the house".
* The "and ACC-and": the former is a conjunction that forms the parallel structure; the latter marks a list of items, in the form of "and X Y Z ..." until the next verb or particle.
* The "and ACC-and": the former is a conjunction that forms the parallel structure; the latter marks a list of items, in the form of "and X Y Z ..." until the next verb or particle.
** The latter "and", ''elo'', is further fused with the accusative particle ''u'', and here it means the accusative particle applies to each item in the list.
** The latter "and", ''elo'', is further fused with the accusative particle ''u'', and here it means the accusative particle applies to each item in the list.
* The tense-aspect auxiliary verb is flexible: it can govern a full sentence, as shown here, or apply only to the one verb before it.
* The tense-aspect auxiliary verb is flexible: it can govern a full sentence, as shown here, or apply only to the one verb before it.
* A single concept corresponds to a single word, which is common in agglutinative languages. In this example, "chat with" corresponds to ''bimi'' and "spare time" corresponds to ''andacikat'', both single words.
* A single concept often corresponds to a single word, which is common in agglutinative languages.
 
=== Digression ===
I've been writing original texts in Hwnic, in order to keep note of events in my life or thoughts that frequently arise, based directly on how the memory or thought is structured.
# [[Hwnic/For Ri of the Lab]]
# [[Hwnic/For the Future]]
# [[Hwnic/For the End of Introspection]]
SN2rname
130

edits

Retrieved from "https://linguifex.com/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/408841...445582"

Navigation menu