375
edits
(A page for my conlang, Mannish.) |
(Fleshed out the introduction and added some information about the syntax.) |
||
Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
===Real World Setting=== | ===Real World Setting=== | ||
Mannish is Germanic conlang created by ''Kóði Lý Alísuson Antóníusarson'', and has been killed off and resuscitated several times over the past year and a half, give or take a little. It's main purpose is to provide entertainment to its creator, as well as help its creator learn more about Linguistics as a whole along the way. Although, it goes without saying that it's mostly just created a lot of frustration. A lot. | Mannish is Germanic conlang created by ''Kóði Lý Alísuson Antóníusarson'' (also known as ''Cody Lee Ervin''), and has been killed off and resuscitated several times over the past year and a half, give or take a little. It's main purpose is to provide entertainment to its creator, as well as help its creator learn more about Linguistics as a whole along the way. Although, it goes without saying that it's mostly just created a lot of frustration. A lot. | ||
=== | ===Typological Description=== | ||
Mannish is a Germanic language | Mannish is a heavily inflected, conservative Germanic language with five cases: nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, and instrumental. Mannish nouns can have one of three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, or neuter, and decline for number and definiteness. Adjectives agree with their head nouns in all of the aforementioned categories, most notably retaining strong and weak declensions mirroring that of a definite-indefinite distinction. Verbs conjugate for 3 tenses (preterite, present, and future), 2 voices (active and passive), 3 moods (indicative, subjunctive, and imperative), person, number, and gender. Periphrastic constructions or adverbs are used for finer nuances. | ||
Pronouns are declined for gender, number, and person. Their usage is not obligatory, however, and as such Mannish is a pro-drop language; a feature that sets it apart from most of its Germanic relatives. | |||
===Notable Characteristics=== | ===Notable Characteristics=== | ||
*Simple future tense derived from the infinitive followed by a conjugated form of the verb "to be" (Mannish ''wesan''): ''Hó fiþím'' "I will find him", from ''Hó fiþ imi'', literally "I am to find him". | *Simple future tense derived from the infinitive followed by a conjugated form of the verb "to be" (Mannish ''wesan''): ''Hó fiþím'' "I will find him", from ''Hó fiþ imi'', literally "I am to find him". | ||
* Lack of universal initial syllable stress due to long vowels and diphthongs attracting stress, ''kwigdóur'', [kʋigˈdɔʉɻ] "kingdom", from PrG *kuningadōmaz | * Lack of universal initial syllable stress due to long vowels and diphthongs attracting stress, ''kwigdóur'', [kʋigˈdɔʉɻ] "kingdom", from PrG *kuningadōmaz | ||
* Complete lack of Germanic umlaut and (as long vowels are not different in quality and not counting diphthongs) a relatively low vowel inventory in comparison to other Germanic languages. | * Complete lack of Germanic umlaut and (as long vowels are not different in quality and not counting diphthongs) a relatively low vowel inventory in comparison to other Germanic languages. | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
Line 51: | Line 51: | ||
==Syntax== | ==Syntax== | ||
The default word order is SOV, with VSO used for questions. Due to the rich case system and conjugation, speakers can and do stray from this word order, and there is no trace of a V2 requirement. | |||
===Constituent order=== | ===Constituent order=== | ||
===Noun phrase=== | ===Noun phrase=== | ||
Adjectives can come before or after their head nouns, with A-N being the default order and N-A frequently being used to emphasize the adjective. | |||
* '''''Ruþaú''' vánar seó'' - "I see a red car"; vs ''Vánar '''ruþaú''' seó'' - "I see a car that's red", or "I see a ''red'' car". | |||
The former simply states that the speaker sees a car and that they decided to describe the color of said car, while the latter states that the speaker sees a red car and that the color has significance. This order is commonly used in the phrase "I see X, not Y". | |||
* ''Vánar ruþaú seó, ni blaú.'' - "I see a red car, not a blue one." | |||
===Verb phrase=== | ===Verb phrase=== | ||
===Sentence phrase=== | ===Sentence phrase=== |
edits