Håmwo Väh, tongue of the people (Was: A scratchpad)

[Travis B.]

Adjective Stuff

Relative clauses, and thus adjectives, precede NP's. On that note, adjectives are essentially stative verbs, but can conjugate in a few ways that normal verbs cannot, specifically that they can conjugate for comparative and superlative degree, as in:

Comparative	-ja
Superlative	-rʷa

This marker immediately follows the adjective stem when used.

Note that adjectives cannot mark for aspect or tense, unlike normal verbs.

[Travis B.]

The only direct attributive use of case-marking is for marking inalienable possession and compounding with the genitive case (the qualifier precedes the qualified NP). Other than that, all "attributive NP's" are marked with stative verbs that are in relative clauses with the nouns qualified. For indicating locative relationships the following verb is normally used:

Sit, stand, lie

ɫʷə

Note that for this directional markers are very commonly used rather than locative case-marking alone.

[Travis B.]

I have reworked the phonemic inventory a bit, adding voiced stops and affricates and a distinction between alveolopalatal and palatal phonemes.

[Travis B.]

I have decided that roots can, instead of just having a single accented syllable, also have no accented syllable, i.e. they have no associated downstep.

[Vardelm]

I like it so far! The effect of palatal & labialized consonants on vowels is nifty, and since I'm a fan of directionals, I look forward to seeing what those markers look like. Also interested to see sentence examples down the road.

Question: do you have any idea who the speakers are yet?

[Travis B.]

Pronouns

There is the following set of pronouns; note that 3rd person pronouns mark both gender, unlike normal nouns, and deixis:

	Sg.	Pl.
1st (excl.)	tɕʰə́	dʷa
1st (incl.)	n/a	jə
2nd	qʰa	ɣʷɨn
3rd (A, prox.)	ɕáː	ɸá
3rd (A, dist.)	bʷəmʲ	wáːkʼ
3rd (B, prox.)	dzʷɨ	tʰə́ɲ
3rd (B, dist.)	xáːrʲ	ʎɨ
3rd (C, prox.)	βáːn	sə́rʷ
3rd (C, dist.)	zʷɨβ	pʰáː
3rd (D, prox.)	ɕadʷ	máːç
3rd (D, dist.)	láː	fʲa
3rd (E, prox.)	ɟá	ɡáːχ
3rd (E, dist.)	nɨɲ	bə

[Travis B.]

I like it so far! The effect of palatal & labialized consonants on vowels is nifty, and since I'm a fan of directionals, I look forward to seeing what those markers look like. Also interested to see sentence examples down the road.

Directionals are mentioned in the verb conjugation post earlier in the thread. For full effect they're combined with locative case endings.

Question: do you have any idea who the speakers are yet?

No, I haven't figured out who speaks this yet, even though I was tempted to add "away from the coast" and "towards the coast" directionals...

[Travis B.]

Here is my first example sentence:

[orʷꜜkʰɒwo ɣʷaːꜜtʰɨtʼana eʎɸaməβa ʁɯnæꜜjeβɒrʷuχ]
/ə́rʷkʰa=wə ɣʷáːtʰɨ=tʼa=na əʎɸa=mə=βa ʁɨná-jə-βa-rʷɨχ/
orc.D=GEN army.C=DEF.SG=ERG elf.A=DEF.PL=ALL march-PFV.PST-ERG.3.SG.D-DIR.IN
The orcish army bore down on the elves.

[bradrn]

Is this a future English by any chance?

[Travis B.]

For another example sentence:

[tɕʰeꜜ jaːꜜnʷɒχɯvʲæna laɨrkʼətʰxaːdæfʲæm]
/tɕʰə́ jáːnʷa-χɨ=vʲa=na la-ɨrkʼətʰ-xaːn-da-fʲam/
1.SG send-NOMINAL.E=INDEF.PL=ACC NOM.1.SG-scratch-ITER-ACC.3.PL.E-AROUND
I am writing posts.

[Travis B.]

Is this a future English by any chance?

If anything, this is inspired by Caucasian languages, not English.

[Travis B.]

Is this a future English by any chance?

If anything, this is inspired by Caucasian languages, not English.

But yes, the words "orc" and "elf" are loanwords.

[Travis B.]

[tɕʰeꜜ ɣɒdzʷɒꜜχɑ ɣɒdzʷæꜜɕinwo ɲixɤχuwo sʷoꜜχɤvʲæna laβuɣʷømʲiɟi]
/tɕʰə́ ɣadzʷá-χa ɣadzʷá-ɕɨn=wə ɲɨxə-χɨ=wə sʷə́χə=vʲa=na la-βɨɣʷə-mʲɨ-ɟɨ/
1.SG hill.B-up hill.B-down=GEN move-NOMINAL.E=GEN word.A=INDEF.PL=ACC NOM.1.SG-add-ACC.3.PL.A-DESIRABLE
I should add directionals for uphill and downhill.

[Travis B.]

[ɸaꜜ jæɣʷtʰə əβuɣʷosʷæje]
/ɸá jaɣʷ=tʰə ə-βɨɣʷə-sʷa-jə/
3.PL.A.PROX now=INESS ABS.3.PL.A-add-PASS-PFV.PST
These have now been added.

[Travis B.]

Time Adverbials

Time adverbials are normally expressed by using nouns in inessive (to indicate "at" a time), elative (to indicate "from" or "after" a time), or illative (to indicate "until" or "before" a time) case to qualify a VP. The following are some of such nouns:

Now (A)	jaɣʷ
Then (A)	χaːtʰ
Today (B)	ʁatʼa
Yesterday (B)	jəkʷʼə́m
Tomorrow (B)	arʲɨχ
Morning (D)	rʷə́tʼa
Noon (D)	cʰáːβa
Afternoon (D)	ɨtsʷʰa
Evening (D)	waχán
Night (B)	fʲəkʰɨ

The following nouns are normally (aside from fʲəkʰɨ which can be used by itself) qualified with adjectives in time adverbials:

Day (B)	ɣʷámɨ
Night (B)	fʲəkʰɨ
Week (C)	kʰəɫʷaɣ
Month (C)	tsʼɨχa
Year (C)	sɨβátsʰ

Typical adjectives used to qualify these nouns are:

Next	zʷáːlɨ
Previous	ɣəʎá
First	adəʁ
Last	ɨmʲæn
The one after the next	çawa
The one before the last	ajɨ́nʷ

These nouns can be used to qualify nouns by using them with a verb qualifying the noun with a relative clause:

Of a given time

bʲála

[Travis B.]

Relative Clauses

The standard kind of relative clause is one where S or A are relativized by a simple gap strategy. In this case, the relative clause is simply placed directly before the qualified NP, with the verb complex last in the relative clause. Note that for intransitive relative clauses, fluid-S-ness is still expressed by whether the verb in the relative clause agrees with the relativized noun using absolutive or ergative agreement.

However, what about relative clauses where other positions are relativized? In these cases the relative clause is placed directly before the qualified NP, but the relativized position is expressed with a relative pronoun, which consists of a proximal 3rd person demonstrative with an affix attached directly after it:

Relativizer

-ʎə

This gives the following:

	Sg.	Pl.
A	ɕáː-ʎə	ɸá-ʎə
B	dzʷɨ-ʎə	tʰə́ɲ-ʎə
C	βáːn-ʎə	sə́rʷ-ʎə
D	ɕadʷ-ʎə	máːç-ʎə
E	ɟá-ʎə	ɡáːχ-ʎə

[Vardelm]

Directionals are mentioned in the verb conjugation post earlier in the thread. For full effect they're combined with locative case endings.

Completely missed it. Wow.

No, I haven't figured out who speaks this yet, even though I was tempted to add "away from the coast" and "towards the coast" directionals...

Sounds cool and obviously places the speakers in an environment to some extent.

[tɕʰeꜜ ɣɒdzʷɒꜜχɑ ɣɒdzʷæꜜɕinwo ɲixɤχuwo sʷoꜜχɤvʲæna laβuɣʷømʲiɟi]
/tɕʰə́ ɣadzʷá-χa ɣadzʷá-ɕɨn=wə ɲɨxə-χɨ=wə sʷə́χə=vʲa=na la-βɨɣʷə-mʲɨ-ɟɨ/
1.SG hill.B-up hill.B-down=GEN move-NOMINAL.E=GEN word.A=INDEF.PL=ACC NOM.1.SG-add-ACC.3.PL.A-DESIRABLE
I should add directionals for uphill and downhill.

Liking the examples so far, and especially that they are meta-commentary on the language & this thread!

[Travis B.]

[tɕʰeꜜ okʷʼɒm əpʰaːxꜜsʷɒ sʷoꜜχɤvʲæna laβuɣʷømʲiɟi]
/tɕʰə́ ə-kʷʼam ə-pʰáːx-sʷa sʷə́χə=vʲa=na la-βɨɣʷə-mʲɨ-ɟɨ/
1.SG ABS-3.PL.A-be.some ABS-3.PL.A-ask-PASS word.A=INDEF.PL=ACC NOM.1.SG-add-ACC.3.PL.A-DESIRABLE
I should add some question words.

[Travis B.]

Question Words

There is a basic wh-question word (aside from the wh-question morpheme that is attached to verbs), which is as follows:

Wh-question

tsʰáː

To form basic interrogative pronouns, this is attached to the stem of the distal 3rd person demonstratives, giving the following:

	Sg.	Pl.
A	tsʰáː bʷəmʲ	tsʰáː wáːkʼ
B	tsʰáː xáːrʲ	tsʰáː ʎɨ
C	tsʰáː zʷɨβ	tsʰáː pʰáː
D	tsʰáː láː	tsʰáː fʲa
E	tsʰáː nɨɲ	tsʰáː bə

This is also attached to noun stems such as:

Person (A)	ɫʷə
Place (A)	nʷáː
Reason (A)	jəm
Method (A)	vʲaʁ
Amount (B)	tʼáː

Giving:

Who	tsʰáː ɫʷə
Where	tsʰáː nʷáː
Why	tsʰáː jəm
How (method)	tsʰáː vʲaʁ
How much/many	tsʰáː tʼáː

Note that adverbial uses of tsʰáː nʷáː involve the use of locative cases, adverbial uses of tsʰáː vʲaʁ involve the use of the instrumental case, and attributive use of tsʰáː tʼáː involve the use of the genitive case.

[Travis B.]

No, I haven't figured out who speaks this yet, even though I was tempted to add "away from the coast" and "towards the coast" directionals...

Sounds cool and obviously places the speakers in an environment to some extent.

I decided against those, because they would be synonymous with uphill and downhill.