Typological Inspiration Game

[dɮ the phoneme]

When I get stuck in a conlanging rut, I tend to look to typology for inspiration. There are certain combinations of features that might be interesting in combination with one another, but don't tend to co-occur in natlangs because they are concentrated in different families or in non-overlapping language areas. Trying to imagine how these features would interact within a single language is always good conlang inspiration. In light of this, I had the idea to gamify the above inspiration source.

Here's how the game works: each commenter suggests at least two (although optionally, more) language families or language areas. The next commenter produces a brief sketch (which could be as simple as a phoneme inventory, but ideally would include some grammar tidbits and example sentences) which combines the features/"vibes" of the given language groups. Then they suggest their own pairing, and the cycle repeats.

There is an element of interpretation in this game. Ideally, one interprets the prompt in whatever way produces the most interesting result.

To give an initial prompt: PNW/Indic. I will probably try my hand at this one if nobody else comes along and does it first.

[Man in Space]

Is it bad form to post a placeholder while you're working on one?

[dɮ the phoneme]

Is it bad form to post a placeholder while you're working on one?

I'll allow it. Also multiple people doing sketches for the same prompt seems fine to me.

[Man in Space]

Is it bad form to post a placeholder while you're working on one?

I'll allow it. Also multiple people doing sketches for the same prompt seems fine to me.

OK.

Expect rolling updates…

/m mˀ n nˀ ɳ ɲ ŋ/ m ṁ n ṅ ṇ ñ ng
/p pʰ p’ b ɓ t tʰ t’ d ɗ ʈ ʈʰ ʈ’ ɖ c~kʲ cʰ~kʲʰ c’~kʲ’ ɟ~gʲ k kʰ k’ g kʷ kʷʰ kʷ’ gʷ q q’ qʷ qʷ’ ʔ/ p ph p̓ b ḃ t th t̓ d ḋ ṭ ṭh ṭ̓ ḍ kʸ kʸh k̓ʸ gʸ k kh k̓ g kº kºh k̓º gº q q̓ qº q̓º ʔ
/ts tsʰ ts’ dz ʈʂ ʈʂʰ tʂ’ ɖʐ/ c ch c̓ z c̣ c̣h c̣̓ ẓ
/s ʂ x xʷ χ χʷ h~ɦ/ s ṣ x xº x̌ x̌º ḥ
/tɬ tɬʰ tɬ’ dɮ~dl/ ƛ ƛh ƛ̓ λ
/ɬ/ ł
/v~β~ʋ ð ɻ j~z ʕ/ v đ ṛ y r
/l/ l

---

I'm so used to TeXShop, I keep Command-`'ing to switch between windows in the program when I just hit "Preview" here…anyway, to put my money where my mouth is: Slight revision to the consonants, now with vowels.

/m mˀ n nˀ ɳ ɲ ŋ/ m ṁ n ṅ ṇ ñ ng
/p pʰ p’ b ɓ t tʰ t’ d ɗ ʈ ʈʰ ʈ’ ɖ c~kʲ cʰ~kʲʰ c’~kʲ’ ɟ~gʲ k kʰ k’ g kʷ kʷʰ kʷ’ gʷ q q’ qʷ qʷ’ ʔ/ p ph p̓ b ḃ t th t̓ d ḋ ṭ ṭh ṭ̓ ḍ kʸ kʸh k̓ʸ gʸ k kh k̓ g kº kºh k̓º gº q q̓ qº q̓º ʔ
/ts tsʰ ts’ dz ʈʂ ʈʂʰ tʂ’ ɖʐ/ c ch c̓ z c̣ c̣h c̣̓ ẓ
/s ʂ χ χʷ h~ɦ/ s ṣ ḫ ḫº ḥ
/tɬ tɬʰ tɬ’ dɮ~dl/ ƛ ƛh ƛ̓ λ
/ɬ/ ł
/v~β~ʋ ð ɻ j~z ʕ/ v đ ṛ y r
/l/ l

/a aː æ æ̃ e ə əː ɔ ɔ̃ i iː ĩ u uː ũ/ a a· ae ą e ə ə· o ǫ i i· į u u· ų

---

Sanskrit was notorious for its compounds. PNW languages are notorious for noun incorporation. Thus, this language ought to have noun incorporation. Introducing things and then backgrounding them would make it very interesting from a poetic-meter kind of view. I wonder if they use incorporation/non-incorporation as a sort of kenning.

But to get there…we need to have somewhere to start from.

Split-ergative seems to be the way to go (echoes of the esteemed David J. Peterson's web page were in my head as I pondered the challenge), at least by intuition.

Let's see.

Changes in common with other New Indo-Aryan languages

• Reduction of geminates to single consonants with lengthening of previous vowel (sometimes with spontaneous nasalization) (#NIA-1/2) ^[24]
• Loss of final vowels (#NIA-3)
• Lengthening of vowel in -VNC- sequences (#NIA-4)
• Loss of unaccented vowels in non-final positions common (#NIA-5)
• Vowels in direct succession coalesce into long vowels or form diphthongs (#NIA-6)
  • Coalescence of vowels of like quality (#NIA-6a)
  • With unlike vowels, the vowel is generally dominant (#NIA-6b)
  • aï and aü eventually become ε and ɔ (#NIA-6b-3)
• Retroflextion of lateral approximent: -l- > -ḷ- (#SD-1c)
• Exception to #NIA-1 when a long vowel follows the geminate and the word is longer than two syllables (#SD-2)

• Regarding *VCː > VːC / ṼC—it'd be interesting to consider this, especially because the inventory of long and nasalized vowels is reduced from the plain versions. What did I say they were again?
  
  /a aː æ æ̃ e ə əː ɔ ɔ̃ i iː ĩ u uː ũ/ a a· ae ą e ə ə· o ǫ i i· į u u· ų
  
  Right. (Using // loosely here.)
  • So obviously, /a ə i u/ in these positions simply lengthen, but that leaves us with /æ e ɔ/. We can map /e/ > /iː/, /æ/ > /əː/, and /ɔ/ > either /aː/ or /uː/ (in my mind there may basically have been a *æː *eː > *eː *iː and then to balance out the vowel system, *eː *iː > əː iː. (Perhaps /əː/ might have some weird allophones or something to kind of hint at this?)
  • With nasal vowels it's almost like the opposite is the problem: /æ ɔ i u/ pretty obviously /æ̃ ɔ̃ ĩ ũ/. But what about the rest (I'm ignoring long vowels for the time being)? /a e ə/? If /e/ > /æ̃/…which would make sense, if /a/ > /ɔ̃/…which makes sense because it's keeping frontness as a dimension, in a sense (/a/ being nonfront but /e/ being front > /ɔ̃/ being nonfront and /æ̃/ being front).
  Sets up kind of the following patterns:
  
  

  O-grade		L-grade		N-grade
  a		a·		ǫ
  a·		~		*
  ae		ə·		ą
  e		i·		ą
  o		u·		ǫ
  ə		ə·		į
  ə·		~		*
  i		i·		į
  i·		~		*
  u		u·		ų
  u·		~		*

• Above, I'm using ~ and * as stand-ins for two processes of reduplication (CV > CV~CV or something like that), diphthongization, vowel surprisery, stuff like that. ~ is more likely to involve reduplication; * may trigger it sometimes but it seems to me there should be more of the insertion of a nasal consonant in some process (which would require it to be an onset…maybe some infixed vowel determined by context?). I don't know. It's past 3:00 AM here and I need to go to bed.

So, I guess here we remain for the time being.

[Skookum]

Phonology sketch

Phoneme Inventory

Stops /p p̓ t t̓ c c̓ ƛ ƛ̓ c̣ c̣̓ ƛ̣ ƛ̣̓ č č̓ k k̓ q q̓ ʔ/
Fricatives /s ł ṣ ł̣ š x χ h/
Sonorants /v v̓ r r̓ l l̓ ṛ ṛ̓ ḷ ḷ̓ y y̓/
Nasals /m m̓ n n̓ ṇ ṇ̓ ñ ñ̓ ŋ ŋ̓/

Plain /i ĩ u ũ ɛ ɛ̃/
Retracted /ɪ ɪ̃ ʊ ʊ̃ a ã/
Neutral /ə ə̃/

Allophony

Retracted vowels are phonemic, but also predictable before/after retracting consonants (retroflexes and uvulars). Only retracted vowels may occur in a retracting environment.

• /pic̣/ [b̥ɪʈʂʰ]
  /xuq̓/ [xʷʊqʷ’]

Nasal vowels are phonemic, but also result from the combination of nasal+homorganic fricative. A glottalized nasal ejects its glottalization into a nasalised vowel + glottal stop.

• /sinł/ [sĩɬ]
  /ƛ̣̓ɛŋ̓χ/ [ʈꞎ’ãʔχ]

Sibilants assimilate in place to a following coronal obstruent.

• /sł̣əp̓/ [ʂꞎəp’]
  /kvanasc̣a/ [ɡ̊ʋanaʂʈʂa]

Grassman’s law: only one glottalized obstruent allowed per word, always the rightmost. This is most obvious in reduplication.

• /ƛ̓i-ƛ̓əḷ/ [d̥ɮ̊itɬ’əɭ]
  /q̓əm-q̓ɛm̓/ [ɢ̥əmq̓ɛm’]

Phonation: plain stops are unaspirated/semi-voiced word-initially and between voiced segments. They are aspirated in codas.

• /cɪṛ̓/ [d̥z̥ɪɻ’]
  /višaqt/ [ʋiʃaqʰtʰ]

Pretty barebones but I like the aethestic, gonna keep developing it.

[Darren]

Okay this looks kinda fun. Commence the Kwhŋwendec' language (/kʷʰ.ŋʷen.dets’/).

Here's some heinous phonology:

Labial

Dental

Dent. lat.

Alveolar

Post-alv.

Retroflex

Ret. lat.

Palatal

Vel. rnd.

Uvular

Uvul. rnd.

Glottal

Unv. stop

/t/ t

/ʈ/ ṭ

/tɕ/ ć

/kʷ/ kʷ

Asp. stop

/tʰ/ th

/ʈʰ/ ṭh

/tɕʰ/ ćh

/kʷʰ/ kwh

/qʰ/ q

/qʷʰ/ qw

Ejective

/t’/ t’

/tɬ’/ ƛ’

/ts’/ c’

/tʃ’/ č’

/ʈʂ’/ ċ’

/ʈꞎ’/ ƛ̣’

/tɕ’/ ć’

/kʷ’/ kw’

/qχ’/ q’

/qχʷ’/ qw’

/ʔ/ ɂ

Vcd. stop

/b/ b

/d/ d

/dɮ/ λ

/dz/ ʒ

/ɖ/ ḍ

/ɖ𝼅/ λ̣

/dʑ/ ʒ́

/gʷ/ gw

Breathy stop

/dʱ/ dh

/dzʱ/ ʒh

/ɖʱ/ ḍh

/dʑʱ/ ʒ́h

/gʷʱ/ gwh

Unv. fricative

/ɸ/ f

/θ/ 3

/ɬ/ ł

/s/ s

/ʃ/ š

/ʂ/ ṡ

/ɕ/ ś

/xʷ/ xw

/χ/ χ

/χʷ/ χw

/h/ h

Vcd. fricative

/ð/ đ

/z/ z

/ʒ/ ž

/ʑ/ ź

/ɣʷ/ γw

Nasal

/m/ m

/n/ n

/ɳ/ ṇ

/ɲ/ ñ

/ŋʷ/ ŋw

Glot. nasal

/mˀ/ m’

/nˀ/ n’

/ɳˀ/ ṇ’

/ɲˀ/ ñ’

/ŋʷˀ/ ŋw’

Liquid

/w/ uu

/l/ l

/ɾ/ r

/ɻ/ ṛ

/ɭ/ ḷ

/j/ ii

Glot. liquid

/wˀ/ uu’

/lˀ/ l’

/ɾˀ/ r’

/ɻˀ/ ṛ’

/ɭˀ/ ḷ’

/jˀ/ ii’

Vowels are /e ə o æ ã/ e ə o a ą with a length contrast ē ə̄ ō ā ą̄ on all of them. Syllable structure allows

• V – e.g. /ãː/ ą̄
• CV – e.g. /ɖʱo/ ḍho
• VC – /əɸ/ əf
• CVC – /məxʷ/ məxw
• FCV – /ɕŋʷˀe/ śŋw'e
• FCVC – /χmˀæm/ χm'am
• PF – /t’ɕ/ t'ś, /gʷð/ gwđ; this produces allophonic [p tɬ ts ʈꞎ] p ƛ c ƛ̣ through voicing assimilation
• Fː – /ɕː/ śś (only voiceless fricatives)
• P – /kʷʰ/ kwh (only aspirated stops)
• CR – /tɕ’ŋʷ/ ć'ŋw (only plain resonants)
• Rː – /ɭː/ ḷḷ (only plain resonants)

Multi-obstruent sequences must agree in phonation, e.g. /ðɖ𝼅ãm/ đλ̣ąm, /sqʷʰætsætʰsː/ sqʷacatss, /ʒgʷʱel/ žgʷʰel.

Verbs and nouns generally share roots and are derived through ablaut:

Plain verb root	O-grade telic root	Zero-grade nominal root
/eː, əː, oː/ ḍhēʒ 'wander'	/oː/ ḍhōʒ 'travel'	/e, ə, o/ ḍheʒoq 'journey'
/æː/ χāč' 'think'	/ãː/ χą̄č' 'pursue, chase'	/æ/ χač'oq 'hunting'
/e, ə, o, æ/ ləb 'fart'	/o/ lob 'fart intentionally'	/ə/ ləb 'a fart'
(C) /e, ə, o, æ, ã/ + F or R χwmąγw 'provide'	(C) /o/ + F or R χwmoγw 'cook'	(P) F(ː) or R(ː) χχwpxw 'cow'
P + /ə/ gwhəgwhə 'boil' (intr.)	P + /o/ gwhogwhə 'boil' (tr.)	P kwhkwhoq 'tea'

I'm not quite 100% sure how things will work with forms like χχwpxw, they may end up being χwəbγw etc. instead. Plain verbal roots may not contain /ã ãː/ for various reasons (I say so).

Kwhŋwendec' clauses headed by plain roots are ergative-absolutive but telic roots are the other one.

---

Since no-one's suggested a new pairing yet, I propose Austroasiatic plus Great Plains.

[Travis B.]

Phonology sketch

Phoneme Inventory

Stops /p p̓ t t̓ c c̓ ƛ ƛ̓ c̣ c̣̓ ƛ̣ ƛ̣̓ č č̓ k k̓ q q̓ ʔ/
Fricatives /s ł ṣ ł̣ š x χ h/
Sonorants /v v̓ r r̓ l l̓ ṛ ṛ̓ ḷ ḷ̓ y y̓/
Nasals /m m̓ n n̓ ṇ ṇ̓ ñ ñ̓ ŋ ŋ̓/

Plain /i ĩ u ũ ɛ ɛ̃/
Retracted /ɪ ɪ̃ ʊ ʊ̃ a ã/
Neutral /ə ə̃/

Allophony

Retracted vowels are phonemic, but also predictable before/after retracting consonants (retroflexes and uvulars). Only retracted vowels may occur in a retracting environment.

• /pic̣/ [b̥ɪʈʂʰ]
  /xuq̓/ [xʷʊqʷ’]

Nasal vowels are phonemic, but also result from the combination of nasal+homorganic fricative. A glottalized nasal ejects its glottalization into a nasalised vowel + glottal stop.

• /sinł/ [sĩɬ]
  /ƛ̣̓ɛŋ̓χ/ [ʈꞎ’ãʔχ]

Sibilants assimilate in place to a following coronal obstruent.

• /sł̣əp̓/ [ʂꞎəp’]
  /kvanasc̣a/ [ɡ̊ʋanaʂʈʂa]

Grassman’s law: only one glottalized obstruent allowed per word, always the rightmost. This is most obvious in reduplication.

• /ƛ̓i-ƛ̓əḷ/ [d̥ɮ̊itɬ’əɭ]
  /q̓əm-q̓ɛm̓/ [ɢ̥əmq̓ɛm’]

Phonation: plain stops are unaspirated/semi-voiced word-initially and between voiced segments. They are aspirated in codas.

• /cɪṛ̓/ [d̥z̥ɪɻ’]
  /višaqt/ [ʋiʃaqʰtʰ]

Pretty barebones but I like the aethestic, gonna keep developing it.

I see you adopted the Americanist aesthetic for your phonemic transcription ─ and to be honest, your nick always reminded me of PNW-derived names somehow, which makes it fitting.

[foxcatdog]

The real question is who can come up with the least cringeworthy language which is esentially standard average european + latin/ancient greek + a guttural fricative combination.

[foxcatdog]

also for the contribution in case people focus to much on my idea
*m *n *ɲ
*b *g
*p *t *ts *k
*ph *th *tsh *kh
*p’ *t’ *ts’ *ʔ
*s *ʃ *h
*r *l *ð
*w *j

*i *u
*e *ə *o
*ɛ *ɔ
*a

*ĩ *ũ
*ə̃
*ã

CCVC syllable structure except in reduced syllables which are CV

Stress is on the initially syllable with even numbered syllables most often being reduced syllables where only *ə or *ə̃ occurs. Both of these vowels do not occur in non reduced syllables. Nasalisation of both vowels and consonants spreads through words right to left only being blocked by certain consonant clusters as well as singleton ejectives.

Example words
*mwãʔ “grain”
*takə “young man”
*jɔk “star”

[Skookum]

I see you adopted the Americanist aesthetic for your phonemic transcription ─ and to be honest, your nick always reminded me of PNW-derived names somehow, which makes it fitting.

I've lived my whole life in Salish speaking territories and I'm fascinated by those languages and I currently work in language revitalization. So I always take some inspiration from them when I'm thinking about languages/conlangs. If it isn't obvious, the underdot marks retroflex consonants. I might use the ogonek for nasal vowels to give it a more Athabaskan flavour, plus this is how Alsea, the only PNW language that I know of with nasal vowels, does it.

Skookum is from the old Chinook Jargon trade language, borrowed into the local English dialect meaning something like "good, cool", any kind of positive connotation really.

Okay this looks kinda fun. Commence the Kwhŋwendec' language (/kʷʰ.ŋʷen.dets’/).

Here's some heinous phonology:

I really like this phonology and transcription. Somehow PNW + Indic = Caucasian...

[Nortaneous]

Since no-one's suggested a new pairing yet, I propose Austroasiatic plus Great Plains.

Phonology

/t č k kʷ ʔ/
/s š h/
/w r/

/a e i~u/
/a: e: i:~u:/

/a a̤/

[t č k kʷ ʔ] <t c k kw '>
[s š h] <s š h>
[m n mm nn w r] <m n m n w r>
[a e ə o i u] <a e ë o i u>
[a: e: ə: o: i: u:] <aa ee ëë oo ii uu>

/á a a̤ à̤/ <á a â à>

Initial clusters are forbidden.

/w r/ are [m n] phrase-initially, when geminated, and preceding a homorganic consonant, and [w ɾ] otherwise.
The sequence /awa/ is realized [o:].
The high vowels are [u u:] when following /t s kʷ w/ or preceding /kʷ w/, otherwise [i i:]. Similar allophony applies to schwa, which becomes [o].
Schwa merges with i after the palatalized consonants /č š/.
Final clusters are {w r}C{s}.
Long vowels are disallowed in nonfinal closed syllables.
If morphology creates the sequence |ai|, it is resolved to either [e] or [aa], unpredictably but consistently for each source of |i|.
If morphology creates the sequence |ei|, it may be resolved to [o], depending on the source of the |i|.
If morphology creates the sequence |ew|, it is resolved to [o].
The sequence |tr| becomes -nn-.

High tones are conditioned by loss of a preceding consonant; non-nasal geminates are forbidden. This high tone spreads rightward throughout the word.
High tones are also conditioned by the loss of intervocalic glottal stop between two like vowels. This high tone does not spread rightward.

Verbs

Verb roots are CVC, C.CVC, C.C-CVC, or CV-CVC. The conjugation for tense and aspect of a verb of each type is given below.

Code: Select all

                         ših 'to grow'
             | Perfective | Imperfective | Progressive
Aorist       | ših        | hëših        | hëšuh 
Aor. Quot.   | 'ëših      | 'ëhših       | 'ëhšuh
Future       | keših      | kheših       | këhešuh
Fut. Quot.   | neših      | nehših       | nehšuh
Distributive | šihših     | ------------ | hëšihšuh
Dist. Quot.  | šííhših    | ------------ | hëšííhšuh
Indicative   | tëših      | tëhših       | tëhšuh
Optative     | mošheh     | mohéšíh      | mohéšúh
Imperative   | šehii  

              nëcaa 'to avenge, recompense'
             | Perfective | Imperfective | Progressive
Aorist       | nëcaa      | nocaa        | nocam
Aor. Quot.   | në'caa     | nóócaa       | nóócam
Future       | kërëcaa    | kërocaa      | kërocam
Fut. Quot.   | në́cáá      | nócáá        | nócám
Distributive | naacaa     | ------------ | naacam
Dist. Quot.  | në'aacaa   | ------------ | në'aacam
Indicative   | tërëcaa    | tërocaa      | tërocam
Optative     | mëracaa    | mëraacaa     | mëraacam
Imperative   | nëcawuu

                       'ëškwaš 'to feed'
Aorist       | 'ëškwaš    | ------------ | 'ëškwaaš 
Aor. Quot.   | 'ë́ë́škwaš   | ------------ | 'ë́ë́škwaaš
Future       | kë́ë́škwaš   | ------------ | kë́ë́škwaaš
Fut. Quot.   | në́ë́škwaš   | ------------ | në́ë́škwaaš
Distributive | 'aškwaš    | ------------ | 'aškwaaš
Dist. Quot.  | 'ááškwaš   | ------------ | 'ááškwaaš
Indicative   | të́ë́škwaš   | ------------ | të́ë́škwaaš
Optative     | mëškwaaš   | ------------ | mëškwaaš
Imperative   | në́ë́škwašii

                       kurèt 'to bear'
             | Perfective | Imperfective | Progressive
Aorist       | kurèt      | kunèt        | kunòt
Aor. Quot.   | ko'irèt    | ko'inèt      | ko'inòt
Future       | këkurèt    | kë́kúnêt      | kékúnôt
Fut. Quot.   | nëkurèt    | nëkurèt      | nëkunòt
Distributive | kwènèt     | ------------ | kwènòt     
Dist. Quot.  | ko'ènet    | ------------ | ko'ènòt
Indicative   | tëkurèt    | tëkunèt      | tëkunòt
Optative     | mëkwerèt   | mëkwanèt     | mëkwane
Imperative   | kurètuu

The verb is preceded by an unstressed subject marker which marks person and singular vs. non-singular (plural/collective), e.g. 3SG 'i and 3PL ku. Nouns mark benefactive/recipient (with the prefix nahr-) and location (with the prefix 'iša), but not core cases. Word order is SOV.

Kurcàà ma'iirer miic hëšuh nahërkéé' 'iši'aškwaaš.
'Išakéé' máán miic hëtù' kurcàà kušincaa.
Nëšahuu. Nëšahuu. Nëšahuu. Nëšahuu. Nëšahuu. Nëšahuu. Nëšahuu.

next: Semitic / North Bougainville

[Darren]

next: Semitic / North Bougainville

Good lord

	Bilabial	Coronal	Retroflex	Velar	Uvu./phar.
Stop		/t/	/ɖ/	/k/	/q/
Start	/β/	/ð/		/x ɣ/	/ħ/

Proto-Bougamitic had *p p' t t' k k' b d g → /x ħ t ɖ k q β ð ɣ/ h ḥ t ḍ k q b d g. Vowels are

/ə a/ e a
/iː uː eː oː aː/ ī ū ē ō ā

/t tˤ/ are [s sˤ] before /i(ː)
/β ð ɣ/ are [m n ŋ] following a pause, [β ð ɣ] word-initially and [β̞ l ɰ] post-vocalically
/iː uː/ are lowered to /eː oː/ adjacent to /q/
/a aː/ front to [e] /eː/ adjacent to /ɖ ħ/
Syllable structure is (C)V.

Of course, Bougamitic's gotta have triliteral roots, but in a greatly reduced form to your classical Semitic. Almost all roots are of the form CVCVCV, although CVCV and CVCVCVCV forms are also common (any other forms are rare). These produce at most seven stems; one nominal stem, verbal stems marking voice (active/middle-reflexive/passive) and telicity (telic/atelic). Nominal stems may appear bare or with various prefixes such as da- agentive, qā- patientive, tetā- location, bā- action etc. Transitive and intransitive stems are distinguished by different person/number/tense/aspect markers, while middle-reflexive forms take ōda- and passive forms ḍē-. The majority of these variations have been lexicalised, although the passive forms are still fairly productive. The table below shows the six main conjugations, with examples where possible (very few stems appear in all six forms so some cells are left blank).

Code: Select all

           ++============++=============++=====================================================================================++
           ||            ||             ||                                  Verbal stems                                       ||
           ||            ||   Nominal   |+---------------------------------------++--------------------------------------------+|
           ||  R O O T   ||             ||                 TELIC                 ||                   ATELIC                   ||
           ||            ||    stem     |+-----------+-------------+-------------++-----------+---------------+----------------+|
           ||            ||             ||  ACTIVE   |   MIDDLE    |   PASSIVE   ||  ACTIVE   |    MIDDLE     |    PASSIVE     ||
++=========++============++=============++===========+=============+=============++===========+===============+================+|
||         ||            || -CVCaːCV    || CaːCVCVː  | ōdaCaːCVCa  | ḍēCaːCVCa   || CuCVCV    | ōdaCeCV:Ce    | ḍēCeCVCa       ||
|| Type    || kekōta-    || qākekāta    || kākōtā    |             | ēḥeḍēkākōta || kukōta!   | tōdakekōte    | tēḍekekōta     ||
|| 1a      || ‘read’     || ‘book’      || ‘read!’   |             | ‘it will be || ‘think!’  | ‘it means’    | ‘it’s thought’ ||
||         ||            ||             ||           |             | read’       ||           |               |                ||
||         |+------------++-------------++-----------+-------------+-------------++-----------+---------------+----------------+|
||         ||            || -CVCiːCV    || CaːCVCVː  | ōdaCaːCVCe  | ḍēCaːCVCe   || CaCVCī    | ōdaCeCVːCe    | ḍēCeCVCe       ||
|| Type    || tadītā-    || datadīta    || ūhātādetā | gōdatādete  |             ||           | ōtādeta       | āeḍētedate     ||
|| 1b      || ‘fish’     || ‘fisherman’ || ‘I fish’  | ‘you’re ma- |             ||           | ‘it’s         | ‘it’s been     ||
||         ||            ||             ||           | sturbating’ |             ||           | dangling’     | fished’        ||
||         |+------------++-------------++-----------+-------------+-------------++-----------+---------------+----------------+|
||         ||            || -CVCuːCV    || CaːCVCVː  | ōdaCaːCVCe  | ḍēCaːCVCe   || CaCVCū    | ōdaCeCVːCe    | ḍēCeCVCe       ||
|| Type    || kēqēḍa-    || tetākeqōḍa  || gekāqeḍē  | ḍōdakāqeḍe  | āeḍēkāqeḍe  || gekaqeḍū  |               | gēḥeḍēkeqeḍe   ||
|| 1c      || ‘sow’      || ‘field’     || ‘you sow’ | ‘they have  | ‘it’s been  || ‘you drop |               | ‘you will be   ||
||         ||            ||             ||           | fled’       | planted’    || (it)’     |               | planted’       ||
|+---------++------------++-------------++-----------+-------------+-------------++-----------+---------------+----------------+|
||         ||            || -CVCeːCVː   || CaCaːCV   | ōdaCaCaːCV  | ḍēCaCaːCV   || CVCāeCV   | ōdaCVCāeCV    | ḍēCeCeːCa      ||
|| Type    || bōdekā-    || qābedēka    || badāka!   |             | āeḍēbadāka  ||           | gaqōdabōdāeka | tōḍēbedēka     ||
|| 2a      || ‘build’    || ‘building’  || ‘build!’  |             | ‘it’s been  ||           | ‘you’ve       | ‘they’re being ||
||         ||            ||             ||           |             | built’      ||           | gotten fat’   | fattened’      ||
||         |+------------++-------------++-----------+-------------+-------------++-----------+---------------+----------------+|
||         ||            || -CVCoːCVː   || CaCaːCV   | ōdaCaCaːCV  | ḍēCaCaːCV   || CVCāeCV   | ōdaCVCāeCV    | ḍēCeCoːCa      ||
|| Type    || tahekī-    || bātahōkī    || tahāke!   |             | ōḍētahāke   || tahāeke   |               |                ||
|| 2b      || ‘speak’    || ‘speech,    || ‘speak!’  |             | ‘it is      || ‘cry!’    |               |                ||
||         ||            || language’   ||           |             | said’       ||           |               |                ||
|+---------++------------++-------------++-----------+-------------+-------------++-----------+---------------+----------------+|
||         ||            || -CaCVCa     || CaCVCaː   | ōdaCVCaCaː  | ḍēCVCaCaː   || CeCVCV    | ōdaCaCVCe     | ḍēCaCVCe       ||
|| Type    || qaḍebē-    || qaqaḍeba    ||           | ōdaqaḍabā!  | ḍēqaḍabā!   || āqeḍebe   | ḍōdaqaḍebe    | ōḍēqaḍebe      ||
|| 3       || ‘die’      || ‘the dead’  ||           | ‘kill       | ‘sacrifice  || ‘he dies’ | ‘they’ve hurt | ‘he is killed’ ||
||         ||            ||             ||           | yourself!’  | yourself!   ||           | themselves’   |                ||
++=========++============++=============++===========+=============+=============++===========+===============+================++

PNTA markers are shown below:

Code: Select all

       ++===========================================================++===========================================================++
       ||                    T R A N S I T I V E                    ||                  I N T R A N S I T I V E                  ||
       |+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------++-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+|
       ||      PRESENT      |       PAST        |      FUTURE       ||      PRESENT      |       PAST        |      FUTURE       ||
       |+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+|
       || present | perfect | imperf. | pluper. | future  | anter.  || present | perfect | imperf. | pluper. | future  | anter.  ||
++=====++=========+=========+=========+=========+=========+=========++=========+=========+=========+=========+=========+=========+|
|| 1sg || āhū-    | ḥī-     | ḍadī-   | ḍēdi-   | ūḍaebē- | qēḥe-   || ūhā-    | hege-   | ḍēḥī-   | haḥē-   | kēbe-   | hēḥe-   ||
|+-----++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+|
|| 2sg || ōbe-    | ḥē-     | bīde-   | ḥēdi-   | ōbeḥe-  | bīḥe-   || ge-     | gaqā-   | gēde-   | gaqē-   | gēḥe-   | gēḥe-   ||
|+-----++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+|
|| 3sg || tā-     | ḍē-     | tāke-   | ḍēki-   | tēḥe-   | ḍēḥe-   || ō-      | āe-     | abāe-   | abē-    | ēḥe-    | aēḥe-   ||
|+-----++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+|
|| 1pl || kehe-   | keḥe-   | kehō-   | qīe-    | kīḥe-   | kēḥe-   || kōka-   | kōqa-   | kokā-   | kaqē-   | kōqaḥe- | koqaḥe- ||
|+-----++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+|
|| 2pl || eḍō-    | eḍō-    | ḍēī-    | ḍēe-    | ḍūḥe-   | ḍōḥe-   || ūga-    | ōqa-    | gēī-    | gaqē-   | gēḥe-   | ōqaḥe-  ||
|+-----++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------++---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+|
|| 3pl || tō-     | ḍē-     | tōkū-   | ḍēe-    | tūḥe-   | ḍēḥe-   || tō-     | ḍō-     | tōkū-   | abē-    | tēḥe-   | ḍōḥe-   ||
++=====++=========+=========+=========+=========+=========+=========++=========+=========+=========+=========+=========+=========++

Ḥītahāke, "Ōbetahāke ūba bātahōkī?"
[ˈħiːtaˌxaːkə ˈoːβ̞eˌtaxaːkə ˈuːβ̞a ˈβaːtaˌxoːkiː]
"I said, 'do ya speaka my language?'"

Wow that was painful I remember why I hate fusional languages


Next: Sepik-Ramu plus Kartvelian

[ophois]

I don't know enough about Sepik-Ramu grammar so have a phonology and some barebones stuff.

/m n/
/pʰ tʰ tsʰ tʃʰ kʰ qʰ/
/pʼ tʼ tsʼ tʃʼ kʼ qʼ/
/ⁿb ⁿd ⁿdz ⁿdʒ ⁿɡ/
/s ʃ x h/
/v z ʒ ɣ/
/l j/
/r/

/a ə ɨ/ + length for all

Nominative, accusative, dative, genitive cases + a set of locative particles.

Subjects of transitive verbs are dative when inanimate and the verb is in the past tense.

Verbs decline for the person (1, 2, 3) and number (singular, dual, paucal, plural) of the object plus a future/present/past x perfective/imperfective matrix.

If this counts as an entry then Celtic/Mesoamerican. If not then just ignore.