An IAL

[Travis B.]

Inspired by some other users here, I have decided to create an IAL of my own for the hell of it. For starters, here is what I picture the phonology as being:

Consonants

	Labial	Coronal	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	m	n
Plosive	p	t		k
Fricative		s
Approximants	w	ɾ ⟨r⟩	j ⟨y⟩

Note that coronals are optionally palatalized before /i j/.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

Syllables have the structure (C)({w j})V({n w j}). Note that coda /j w/ are only allowed after /a/. Also note that onset consonants are required outside of initial syllables; note that where they are omitted glottal stops can be optionally inserted. Furthermore /wj/ and /jw/ are not allowed in a syllable onset and sequences of identical consonants along with /nm/ are not allowed. Also note that /n/ before another consonant is pronounced to be homorganic with it.

Morphology

The only morphology outside of pronouns and possessive markers is reduplication, which is carried out by duplicating the first syllable of a word, signifying optional plurality for nouns (but never with numbers) and iterativity for verbs. Many of the things indicated in many languages by morphology are indicated by syntax. Note that pronouns and possessive markers do mark person and number in and of themselves.

Syntax

The basic word order is SVO and head-initial and the alignment is nominative-accusative. Syntax is heavily based on serial verb constructions and relative clauses, which take the place of adpositions. Likewise, stative verbs take the place of adjectives. Take, for instance;

Mi yiti suru pora run yara kora.
1S go throw ball be.round ALL goal.
"I threw the round ball in the goal."

Verb Complexes

There are two tenses, past and non-past, and two basic aspects, perfective and imperfective (note that there are also iterative verbs, which are inherently imperfective, but this is treated as derivation). Note that non-past perfective verbs imply gnomic meaning or future tense. By default verbs are non-past imperfective; the other tense/aspect combinations are expressed with the following auxiliary verbs before the main verb:

past perfective	ya
past imperfective	say
non-past perfective	naw

There is a distinction between active and passive voice, where passive voice is marked by using a main verb with passive meaning, such as risa "receive", which may be either followed by another verb, or followed by the agent followed by another verb. In essence, passive voice is a special kind of SVC. Take, for instance:

Ti ya risa tipan.
2S PST.PFV receive eat
"You were eaten."

Ti ya risa karu tipan.
2S PST.PFV receive grue eat
"You were eaten by a grue."

There are two moods, indicative and imperative; imperative mood is marked by moving the verb to initial position, and if the agent is 2nd sg., omitting the agent. Take, for instance:

Tipan myora pika.
eat carrot be.big
"Eat the big carrot."

Tipan tya myomyora pika.
eat 2P carrot.P be.big
"You guys, eat the big carrots."

Verb negation is marked with a negative auxiliary, ay. Take, for instance:

Tya ay tipan myomyora kin.
2P NEG eat carrot.P be.little
"You guys didn't eat the little carrots."

Ay tipan myora kin.
NEG eat carrot be.little
"Don't eat the little carrot."

Ay tya tipan myomyora kin.
NEG 2P eat carrot.P be.little
"You guys, don't eat the little carrots."

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are mandatory, as there is no verb agreement, and we can't assume that everyone will tolerate deducing them from context like the Japanese do.

These are the personal pronouns:

	Sg.	Pl.
1st	mi	mya
2nd	ti	tya
3rd	si	sya

Demonstratives

Demonstratives may be either proximal or distal, and may be either pronominal, attributive, or adverbial. These are the pronominal demonstratives:

	Sg.	Pl.
Prox.	ki	kya
Dist.	ri	rya

These are the attributive demonstratives:

Prox.	kay
Dist.	ray

Attributive demonstratives are placed after the noun phrases they qualify.

These are the adverbial demonstratives:

Prox.	kama
Dist.	rama

Like all adverbs, adverbial demonstratives are placed after the verbs they qualify.

Interrogatives

There are no word order changes involved in interrogative sentences; interrogatives are located where their non-interrogative antecedents would be located in a given sentence.

There are the following interrogative pronouns:

	Sg.	Pl.
Anim.	ni	nya
Inan.	pi	pya

There are the following attributive interrogatives:

Anim.	nay
Inan.	pay

There are the following adverbial interrogatives:

Place	wara
Time	wan
Reason	way

Possession

These are the possessive stative verbs:

	Sg.	Pl.
1st	ma	mani
2nd	ta	tani
3rd	sa	sani
Prox.	ka	kani
Dist.	ra	rani
Anim. int.	na	nani
Inan. int.	pa	pani
Other	ku	ku

Note that ku takes an NP as an argument, unlike the other possessive stative verbs. Take, for instance:

Si yi myora ma.
3S EQU carrot POSS.1S
"It is my carrot."

Si yi myora ku taynasora
3S EQU carrot POSS dinosaur.
"It is the dinosaur's carrot."

Note that these verbs can be used to express predicative possession as main verbs in addition to being used attributively. Take, for instance:

Myora ma.
carrot POSS.1S
"The carrot is mine."

Myora ku taynasora
carrot POSS dinosaur.
"The carrot is the dinosaur's."

Nouns

Nouns which are not qualified by numbers may optionally mark singular versus plural number. They are otherwise not marked.

The primary manners in which nouns are qualified aside from reduplication are with possession and with relative clauses. Even things such as diminutives and augmentatives are expressed via relative clauses, e.g. with kin "be little" or pika "be big".

Note that simply stringing multiple noun phrases together acts like and in English; to express what is expressed with compounding in Germanic languages one uses possession instead.

Nominal negation is expressed with kayna, which is syntactically a verb (it can be used as a main verb to indicate that its subject does not exist), placed after the noun in question in a relative clause.

[Travis B.]

Numbers

Numbers zero through nine are:

zero	nura
one	an
two	tway
three	tari
four	kwata
five	kinka
six	saysa
seven	sepan
eight	wata
nine	nopen

Numbers ten, one hundred, one thousand, one million, one billion, and one trillion are:

ten	tekin
one hundred	kinta
one thousand	mirya
one million	miryon
one billion	piryon
one trillion	tariryon

Note that these are not used by themselves, but are always multiplied by numbers one through nine.

Numbers are constructed through multiplying larger numbers by smaller numbers and juxtaposing them them from lowest multiplied number to larger ones, starting from standalone numbers one through nine. Take for instance:

wun tekin two mirya two
one ten two thousand two
"2021"

sepan tekin saysa kinta sepan mirya two tekin tari
seven ten six hundred seven thousand two ten three
"32767"

Numbers follow nouns and may precede or follow their possessors. Note that nouns qualified by numbers are never marked as plural.

[Travis B.]

Topic

Even though topicality can be expressed by passive voice, a topic distinct from the subject can also be expressed by placing the topic before the subject, and then placing si in its original location later in the sentence. Take, for instance:

Lina kani ya pan si.
stick dog PST.PFV catch 3S
"It was the stick that the dog caught."

[Qwynegold]

Inspired by some other users here, I have decided to create an IAL of my own for the hell of it.

There is a distinction between active and passive voice, where passive voice is marked by using a main verb with passive meaning, such as risa "receive", which may be either followed by another verb, or followed by the agent followed by another verb.

That's such a good idea...

wya

How do you pronounce this?

nani

Nice!

We have made a lot similar decisions, even about things that I haven't posted about yet. And you've really sped through! I started my IAL project a few years ago, and have only just begun to seriously develop the grammar. And the phonotactics are still in Limbo.

It's a nice idea you had to make the pronouns and demonstratives and stuff completely analogous. So they'll be easier to memorize.

[Qwynegold]

sipan tikin saysa kinta sipan mirya twa tikin tari
seven ten six hundred seven thousand two ten three
"32767"

I find this really confusing tbh. I mean, I understand your description, but if I had to produce large numbers I would be like "how did you do this again?" every time. And it would take a bit of time to parse numbers I encounted

[Qwynegold]

Even though topicality can be expressed by passive voice, a topic distinct from the subject can also be expressed by placing the topic before the subject, and then placing si in its original location later in the sentence.

This is a really nice idea. The Japanese would be using it all the time, while westerners I assume would barely use it at all. But what is topic supposed to be used for in this language?

[quinterbeck]

I really like it so far. What's the permitted range of allophony?

Syllables have the structure C({w j})V({n w j}). Note that /j/ is not permitted in a coda after /i/ and /w/ is not permitted in a coda after /u/.

I'm surprised you allow /wy yw/. Technically the rules also allow /ww yy/ as onsets.

Note that for possession by pronominal possessors, na/nani and pa/pani are preferred over sa/sani, which are used primary for possession by another noun phrase, to aid in disambiguation.

You're using interrogative pronouns for non-interrogative functions - is that right?

What do the adverbial demonstratives do?

[Travis B.]

wya

How do you pronounce this?

I decided to make that rya instead.

[Travis B.]

I really like it so far. What's the permitted range of allophony?

As this is an IAL, there is a good amount of leeway pronunciation-wise. For starters /t/ before /i j/ may be affricated/palatalized to [ts tʃ tɕ], /s/ before /i j/ may be palatalized to [ʃ ɕ], and /n/ before /i j/ may be palatalized to [ɲ]. Furthermore, /p t k s/ in non-initial syllables may be voiced, while /p t k/ in initial syllables may be aspirated. Additionally, /ɾ/ may be realized as [r ɹ ɻ ʁ ʀ l ɫ ɺ] and /w/ may be realized as [v ʋ].

About vowels, the main leeway is that /a/ can be any low vowel, /i u/ may be lowered as far as [e o], and /u/ can be centralized as [ʉ] or realized as compressed rather than rounded.

Syllables have the structure C({w j})V({n w j}). Note that /j/ is not permitted in a coda after /i/ and /w/ is not permitted in a coda after /u/.

I'm surprised you allow /wy yw/. Technically the rules also allow /ww yy/ as onsets.

I have now forbidden those, and changed wya to rya.

Note that for possession by pronominal possessors, na/nani and pa/pani are preferred over sa/sani, which are used primary for possession by another noun phrase, to aid in disambiguation.

You're using interrogative pronouns for non-interrogative functions - is that right?

I miswrote that - I meant that demonstrative possessors are frequently used as pronominal possessors, to distinguish with possession by a following object.

What do the adverbial demonstratives do?

Like English here, there; I forgot to mention they're typically locative.

[Travis B.]

sipan tikin saysa kinta sipan mirya twa tikin tari
seven ten six hundred seven thousand two ten three
"32767"

I find this really confusing tbh. I mean, I understand your description, but if I had to produce large numbers I would be like "how did you do this again?" every time. And it would take a bit of time to parse numbers I encounted

This parses to:

sipan + (tikin × saysa) + (kinta × sipan) + (mirya × (twa + (tikin × tari)))
seven + (ten × six) + (hundred × seven) + (thousand × (two + (ten × three)))
"32767"

[Travis B.]

Even though topicality can be expressed by passive voice, a topic distinct from the subject can also be expressed by placing the topic before the subject, and then placing si in its original location later in the sentence.

This is a really nice idea. The Japanese would be using it all the time, while westerners I assume would barely use it at all. But what is topic supposed to be used for in this language?

For much of the same purposes one uses passives when the actor is still indicated. Note that marking topics are broader in this regard that passives except that they cannot reduce valency.

[Travis B.]

Relative Clauses

Relative clauses follow the nouns they qualify. So far you have only seen relative clauses involving stative verbs, which have no special marking as there typically is no need to disambiguate them from SVC's. However, other relative clauses may need disambiguation from SVC's, so they are optionally preceded by wa. Take, for instance:

Mi raka powi parun wa yin kuryu.
1S milk cow be.brown REL in barn
"I milked the brown cow in the barn."

[Travis B.]

Locative Verbs

There are a number of commonly used locative verbs:

locative ("at")	yin
inessive ("in")	nisa
adessive ("on")	supa
allative ("to")	yara
ablative ("from", "off of")	para
elative ("out of")	era
illative ("into")	inu

These can be used in relative clauses, in SVC's, and as main verbs.

These are commonly combined with relational nouns, as follows:

Relational Nouns

Relational nouns are possessed by whatever they express a relationship with. These are a number of common used relational nouns:

top ("head")	kopa
bottom ("buttocks")	kintara
front ("front")	paru
back ("back")	ruka
middle, center ("stomach")	tumi
through	saru
around ("round")	run
over ("hair")	kara
under ("foot")	pota

[Travis B.]

Other common verbs used in SVC's are:

dative/benefactive ("give to")	kewa
instrumental ("use")	usu

Also, a placeholder main verb nema ("take") is commonly used to mark a direct object in an SVC, as in:

Mi ya nema payna kewa kani.
1S PST.PFV take bone give.to dog
"I gave the dog a bone."

[Qwynegold]

There are a number of commonly used locative verbs:

locative ("at")	yin
inessive ("in")	nisa
adessive ("on")	supa
allative ("to")	yara
ablative ("from", "off of")	para
elative ("out of")	yira
illative ("into")	yintu

It's intriguing that these are verbs. Could one also translate them as be at, be in, be on, go to, come from, exit and enter?

[Travis B.]

There are a number of commonly used locative verbs:

locative ("at")	yin
inessive ("in")	nisa
adessive ("on")	supa
allative ("to")	yara
ablative ("from", "off of")	para
elative ("out of")	yira
illative ("into")	yintu

It's intriguing that these are verbs. Could one also translate them as be at, be in, be on, go to, come from, exit and enter?

Exactly! These can be used as main verbs like most other verbs.

[Travis B.]

As I marked above, I changed possessive markers so they are now verbs and can be used predicatively. Note that "X's Y" is expressed with "Y ku X" or "Y wa ku X". I also made wa optional for non-intransitive, non-stative relative clauses, to be used largely when needed for disambiguation.

[Travis B.]

Complement Clauses

Complement clauses are introduced by su preceding them, and if content follows them, ended with wi. They may be used like nouns, and preferentially are placed at the ends of their containing clause.

Modality

Modality is expressed with auxiliary verbs such as the following, which are followed by the verbs they qualify:

ability	kun
desirability	suri
desire	wira
permission	maki
obligation	muta
necessity	nuti
likelihood	may

Negation of both the modality, by placing ay before the modal verb, and the verb with the given modality, by placing ay after it and before the main verb, are permitted and used to express different shades in meaning.

Examples of these include:

Kani wira pani lina.
dog want catch stick
"The dog wants to catch the stick."

Kani suri tipan eta sa.
dog should eat food POSS.3S.
"The dog should eat its food."

Kani ay suri tipan rita.
dog not should eat rock.
"The dog should not eat the rock."

Kani suri ay tipan rita.
dog should not eat rock.
"The dog should not eat the rock."

[Kuchigakatai]

This conlang is so unlike your usual brand of conlangs I'm pretty amused.

[Travis B.]

This conlang is so unlike your usual brand of conlangs I'm pretty amused.

I can so sense the sarcasm (Was that meant as sarcasm?)

(Seriously, I love SVC's, relative clauses, and stative verbs, making just about everything a verb or noun, having two tenses and two core aspects, making heavy use of relational nouns, and so on. Well, this is quite different from Laqar, which has cases and tons of inflection and a well-defined adjective part of speech rather than vaguely adjective-like stative verbs, but it is very similar to some of my other conlangs. Of course, its phonology is quite different from those of my other conlangs aside from that some of them also have restricted coda inventories. Also, many of my other languages have evidentiality, have lexicalized inherent default aspects for verbs, and either are direct-inverse and/or do funny things with alignment, volitionality, and what not.)