Kawa
Kawa (/kawa/) is an artlang created by Tariselan. Kawa takes some minor inspiration from Māori, English, Spanish, French, and Mandarin. The language itself is created with the intent to be spoken between the creator and their partner. It was started around 12th of July 2022.
Phonology
Orthography
Kawa uses the Latin script with 2 additional letters: ⟨Ŋŋ⟩, ⟨Ƿƿ⟩
Letter | Aa | Bb | Dd | Ee | Ff | Gg | Hh | Ii | Jj | Kk | Mm | Nn | Ŋŋ | Oo | Pp | Ss | Tt | Uu | Vv | Ww | Ƿƿ | Zz | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | /a/ | /b/ | /tʷ/ | /e/ | /f/ | /g/ | /h/ | /i/ | /j/ | /k/ | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | /o/ | /p/ | /kʷ/ | /s/ | /t/ | /u/ | /v/ | /w/ | /ʍ/ | /sʷ/ |
Name | /am/ | /ba/ | /tʷa/ | /em/ | /fa/ | /ga/ | /ha/ | /im/ | /ja/ | /ka/ | /ma/ | /na/ | /ŋa/ | /om/ | /pa/ | /kʷa/ | /sa/ | /ta/ | /um/ | /va/ | /wa/ | /ʍa/ | /sʷa/ |
Consonants
Labial | Coronal | Guttural | |
---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ |
Stops | p b | t tʷ | k kʷ g |
Fricatives | f v | s sʷ | h |
Approximants | w | j | ʍ1 |
Notes:
- During allophonic realisation, /w/ is affected by /ʍ/, however, in the writing system, it is seen and analysed as the soft version of /h/
Vowels
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
Close | i | u |
Mid | e | o |
Open | a |
Phonotactics
Kawa follows a (C)2V(C) syllable structure.
Initial C
All consonants are allowed to be in initial position.
Initial C2
/kn/, /gn/, /st/, /stʷ/, /sk/, /skʷ/, /kʷʍ/, /tʷʍ/, /sʷʍ/, /Nw/, /Nʍ/1, /Nj/2, /mb/
- [+nasal] > [-voice] /_ʍ
- A speaker may realise /nj/ as /ɲ/ (nj > ɲ)
V
- /a/ is allowed after and befor all consonants
- /e/ is allowed after and befor all consonants
- /i/ isn't allowed before or after /j/
- /o/ is allowed after and befor all consonants
- /u/ isn't allowed before or after /w/
Final C
/m/, /ŋ/, /b/, /g/, /t/, /f/, /v/, /s/
Morphology
Nouns
Nouns are inflected for case.
Nominative/Accusative | Genitive | Dative | |
---|---|---|---|
-C | -o | -i | -a |
-V | -mo | -mi | -ma |
Pronouns
Pronouns are inflected for Case, Person, and derogatress.
Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Genitive | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st Person Plain | imo | imwa | iŋi | |
1st Person Derogatory | imwo | imƿo | ima | iŋwi |
2nd Person Plain | teo | ta | da | |
2nd Person Derogatory | dƿeo | gweo | dam | diwi |
3rd Person Plain | sov | sovia | sovio | |
3rd Person Derogatory | zof | zov | zia | zio |
Verbs
Verbs are marked for tense and mood with a particle.
Indicative | Imperative | Conditional | |
---|---|---|---|
Present | gaŋ | qaŋ | gagaŋ |
Past | goŋ | gogoŋ | |
Future | kam | kakam |
The Copula
The copula, ⟨qe⟩ /kʷ/ in Kawa functions both as the verb "to be" and the verb "to have". It is the only verb that conjugates differently, it conjugates as following:
Indicative | Imperative | Conditional | |
---|---|---|---|
Present | gaŋqe | qeqe | gaqegaŋ |
Past | goŋqe | goqegoŋ | |
Future | kamqe | kaqekam |