Suyra - a triconsonental language

[Omzinesý]

Hi, Suyra [zyj'ra] is my newest project. The goal is to make a triconsonental language without semitic character. It's, of course, controversal what is the semitic caracter.
At the moment, I have no conworld behind the language, but I suppose I'll find up one.



Part 1 - Phonology

pʰ <p>, t͡s <z>, tʰ <t>, t͡ʃʰ <c>, kʰ <k>
p-β <b>, t-ð <d>, t͡ʃ-ʒ <j>, k-ɣ <g>
z <s>, (s) <sz>, ʃ <sc>
m <m>, n <n>, ŋ <ŋ̈>
(m̥ʰ <mh~mp>), (n̥ʰ <nh ~nt>), (ŋ̥ʰ <ŋh~ŋk>)
l <l>, r <r>
(ɬʰ <lh~lt>), (r̥ʰ <rh~rt>)
j <y>, w <w>

The sounds (in brackets) are consonant clusters with respect to triconsonental roots, but could be analysed phonemes in other analysis.
An example of problems in the analyses:
/m/+/pʰ/ -> [m̥ʰ]
/n/+/pʰ/ -> [mpʰ]
In the morphology, they, however, work as separate radicals.

Vowels:
ʊ <u>, ɪ <i>
ɜ <e>, ɔ <o>
a <a>

However
/ɪ/+/j/ -> [i:] <iy>
/ʊ/+/w/ -> [u:] <uw>


Allophonic rules:

1. Sonorant + aspirated stop with the same POA -> aspirated nasal
/m/+/pʰ/ -> [m̥ʰ]
/n/+/tʰ/ -> [nʰ]
/ŋ/+/k/ -> [ŋʰ]
/l/+/tʰ/ -> [ɬʰ]
/r/+/tʰ/ -> [rʰ]
This rule can be written - with mh, nh, ŋh, lh, and rh - or not written - with mp, nt, ŋk, lt, and rt.

2. /n/ assimilates to the POA of a following stop
/n/+/pʰ/ -> [mpʰ]
/n/+/t͡ʃʰ/ -> [nt͡ʃʰ]
/n/+/kʰ/ -> [ŋkʰ]
This rule is not written.

3. Aspiration is lost word-finally.
This rule is not written.

4. The series: p-β <b>, t-ð <d>, t͡ʃ-ʒ <j>, k-ɣ <g> realizes as:
a) voiceless stops word-initially and word-finally
b) voiced stops after nasals
c) voiceless fricatives after aspirated stops
d) as voiced fricatives elsewhere
This rule is not written.

5. /z/+ an affricate realizes as a sibilant
/z/+/t͡ʃʰ/ -> [ʃ]
/z/+/t͡s/ ->
This rule is not written.

6. /z/ loses its voice in voiceless environment (near a stop)
This rule is not written.

7. /z/ loses its voice word-finally
This rule is not written.

8. /ʊ/ and /ɪ/ are lowered after /w/ and /j/.
/w/+/ʊ/ -> [wɔ], /j/+/ʊ/ -> [jɔ]
/w/+/ɪ/ -> [wɛ], /j/+/ɪ/ -> [jɛ]
/ɪ/ is also lowered to [ɛw]
These rules are written.

9. /u/ is fronted before /j/.
/u/+/j/ -> [yj]
Not written.

The numbers before the rules are just for simplicity. They are not meant to be used in that order.


Syllabic Structure

Only syllables of V, VC, CV, and CVC are allowed.


Stress

The stres falls on the last syllable of a phrase, similarly to that of French.

[Omzinesý]

Part 2 - Morphology


Words are formed of roots, which are formed of three or two consonants, and patterns, which are formed of vowels between the consonants. Hereafter, I will call the two or three consonants radicals.

There are three kinds of roots: 1) biradical, 2) triradical, and 3) double roots (roots where some radicals are merged and behave like biradical roots with some patterns and triradical roots in other patterns). There are different kinds of double roots, though.

There are only two open classes of words: nouns and verbs.


Verbs:

Verbs is the easier word class to form. the only verb pattern is:

((a)C)CVC.

(Where C stands for a consonant and V stands for a vowel.)
a) Biradical roots always have the pattern CVC.
b) Biradical roots have the pattern aCCVC.
c) double roots have the pattern CVC if the two first radicals are merged
and the pattern aCCVC if some other radicals are merged.

The first /a/ of the root is lost if the preceding word ends in a vowel. So the werb pattern could be analysed to be CCVC, where the C1 is absent in the biradical roots, and the /a/ emerges when it's needed for the pronunciation.

Examples:
a) a biradical root: K-T, ket 'builds'
b) a triradical root:S-M-G, asmeg 'writes'
c) a weak root: S-C-M, scim [ʃɪm] 'loves', but sicom [zɪt͡ʃʰom] 'lover'


Aspects

The only moving part of the verb pattern is the one vowel. Changing it is used to form aspect. What I call aspect in Sira is a derivational devise, and the meaning of a verb in one aspect cannot be derived from a verb with another aspect of the same root.

The aspects are (the possible vowels of the derivation is brackets):
- The durative (I, E, or A)
- The stative (A or O)
- The cessative (U)

Some examples of aspects:
ker 'sit down'
kar 'sit'
kur 'stand up from sitting position'

mhir 'be born/give a birth'
mhar 'live'
mhur 'die/kill'

But there are groups of verbs that are not as transparent.
asmeg 'to read'
asmog 'be sophisticated or literal'
Cessative missing.

scim 'love'
scam 'be pregnant (an euphemism)'


Nouns:

The nominal patterns are much more diverce.
Biradical patterns:
VCVC
VCCV
VCVCV
CVCV

Triradical patterns:
CVCVC
VCVCVC
CVCVCV
VCVCVCV

CVCCV
VCVCCV

VCCVC
VCCVCV

Some of the nominal patterns have transparent meanings derived from the verbs of the same root, some do not.


The partitive or indefinite plural prefix

There is no number marking in Sira nouns. Indefinite plurals of countable nouns are however made uncountable by a partitive prefix. The same prefix is used for uncountable nouns. It can quite easily be translated 'some' in English. The Prefix is -n (with nouns beginning with a vowel or an aspirated stop) and ni- (with nouns beginning with another consonant).

kos 'a/the man/the men', ŋhos (also written <nkos>) 'some men'
pon 'water', mhon~mpon 'some water'

The partitive is not used with numbers. It is especially frequent with the negation particle.

I máy ro nkoca/ŋhoca. 'I have no friends.' (lit. Mine [is] not any-friend.)

[Omzinesý]

I know the nouns are discribed very poorly, but all the participles an such aren't ready yet. So I hurry to the syntax.


Part 3 - Syntax

The cucleus of a clause concists of the subject NP and a VP. Sira is a language where the subject nearly exclusively is the topic, so tha clausal construction can also be analysed as the topic domain and the focus domain. Both of them have their own stress on the last syllable. The stress of the subject is marked with the acute accent to distinguish it from the VP. The stress is not a nomitaive case marker.

Word order plays the main role in Sira syntax. Sira could be discribed as an analytic language what come to inflection (excluding the partitive prefix), but there are many derivational processes.

The basic word order is [subject][[object] verb][adjuncts].

The order inside an NP is [[dependet(s)] head]
Complex dependents can, however, be positioned after the phrase. This is, the dependents of the subject after the subject NP and the dependents of the object after the VP. That-clauses are also positioned after the VP. Sira uses both prepositions and postpositions.


Ambitransitive verbs

All verbs are ambitransitive in Sira. Hence, they can appear with an object or without an object.
Without an object, some verbs are unergative (have an actor as the subject) and some verbs are unaccusative (have the undergoer (the objectlike) as the subject.


Subject drop

Sira is a subject-drop language, so the subject can realize as zero, when it's the same as in the preceding clause. It can be the first, second, or third person. A transitive clause with a zero-subject is differentiated from an intransitive clause with an undergoer subject with stressing. The subject NP always has its own stress.

Kijór nipa mhur. [kʰɪ'ʒor nɪpa'm̥ʰʊr] 'The hunter killed a/the cat.'
Nipa mhur. [nɪpa'm̥ʰʊr] 'He killed a/the cat.'
Nípa mhur. [nɪ'pa 'm̥ʰʊr] 'The cat died.'


Copular clauses

Sira uses zero-copula (zero-subject cannot be used with the zero subject).

Being
A copular clauses concists of a subject NP and a predicate NP.
Máy nipa. 'I am a cat.'
Gém kijor. 'You are a hunter.'
Nipá kijor. 'The can is a hunter.'

Being in a relation with something, i.e. having something
That clause concist of a subject PP and a predicate NP. i is the genitive preposition.
I máy nipa. 'I have a cat.' (lit. 'Mine [is] a cat.')
I may nipá sucma. 'My can is beautiful.' (lit. 'My cat [is] a beauty.')
I máy ke sucma nipa. 'I have a beautiful cat.' (lit. Mine [is] a cat that [is] a beauty')

The have-clauses can also be used of location. English There is X in Y is expressed Y [has] X (in it).
I macíy nipá (oram). 'There is a cat in the tree. (There is a cat under the tree.)' (lit. The tree [has] a cat (under it).'
No other PP but i 'of' can be used as the subject of a copular clause.


Atypical information structures

The clauses above have been quite simple subject-predicate clauses. That is, because all of them have been typical topic-comment clausesl, which Lambrecht calls predicate focus. I.e. the predicate VP is the new information said ABOUT the referent of the subject, which is already known from the speech contect or the context of the speakers.

There is also a focus construction Lambrecht calls the argument focus. I.e. the situation (expressed by the predicate) is already known and it's an argument (normally the subject) that is added as a new information about the situation.
In Sira, these argument focus clauses realize as copular clauses, a participle as their predicate. Participles are formed by different patterns. There are two participles in Sira. the actor participle CiCoC/CiCon (durative), CaCoC/CaCon (stative), CuCoC/CuCon (cessative) and the undergoer participle eCCaC/eCCa (durative), aCCaC/aCCa (stative), oCCaC/oCCa (cessative). Participles are nouns in Sira, not adjectives.

I may escám gem. 'It's you who I love.' (lit. 'My loved_one [is] you.')
I nipa umhár kijor. 'It was the hunter who killed the cat.' (lit. The killer of the cat [was] the hunter.'

[Keenir]

Hi, this is my newest project. The goal is to make a triconsonental language without semitic character. It's, or course, controversal what is the semitic caracter.

triconsonantal.


first two parts look interesting. subscribing.

[Omzinesý]

Part 4 - complex words - compounding and incorporation

As said earlier, stress falls on every phrase in a clause, not an every word. Similarly phonetic changes work within phrases. So, although the object and the verb form phonetically a single unit, the object has not been incorporated in the verb, in the earlier sections. Incorporation (N+V compounding), however, is possible in Suyra. Other forms of incorporation (N+N and V+V) also appear.

This is not, however, done in terms of words but roots, that are compounded and positioned in a pattern of four, five, or six radicals. The dependent part of the compound consists of first radicals and the head part of the last radicals.


Compound verbs

Verbs, as above, have the easiest patterns. There is only one pattern V+V

The pattern of 4-radical verbs: CVCCVC
The pattern of 5-radical verbs: (a)CCVCCVC
The pattern of 6-radical verbs: (a)CCVCCVCVC

The following patterns are used for aspects in V+V compounds:
4-radical and 5-radical :
Durative: (aC)CeCCiC
Stative: (aC)CeCCaC
Cessative: (aC)CoCCuC

6-radical
Durative: (a)CCeCCeCiC
Stative: (a)CCeCCeCaC
Cessative: (a)CCoCCoCuC

The concept of V+V compound isn't too clear, because the dependent part isn't a predicate anymore but a part of another verb and so loses the great part of its verbiness. So V+V compounds could as easily be thought as compounds of a verbal nominal and a verb. The parts also lose their aspect. Compounds verbs are often quite idiosyncratic.

mhormhur 'to live and die' i.e. 'to have a meaningless life'
M-P-R, mhir 'be born', mhar 'to live', mhur 'to die'

scemril 'to make love'
S-C-M 'love', R-L, ral 'touch', rol 'be in contact', rul 'separate, lose touch'


N+V compounding i.e. incorporation

N+V compounds are verbs, which means they have the same skeletons, as above.
The pattern of 4-radical verbs: CVCCVC
The pattern of 5-radical verbs: (a)CCVCCVC
The pattern of 6-radical verbs: (a)CCVCCVCVC

The meanings of N+V compounds are less idiosyncratic than those of V+V compounds. Theoretically, you can join any noun with any verb (or even a root that is not used as a verb on its own), but in practice you have to have so knowledge of the context to recognize which of the many nominal patterns of the root is hiding in the incorporation. The first vowel of the incorporated noun is the only thing preserved of its earlier pattern. It appears as the first vowel of the complex verb.

The following patterns are used for aspects in N+V compounds:
4-radical and 5-radical :
Durative: (aC)CVCCiC
Stative: (aC)CVCCaC
Cessative: (aC)CVCCuC

6-radical
Durative: (a)CCVCCiCiC
Stative: (a)CCVCCaCaC
Cessative: (a)CCVCCuCuC

The V standing for the first vowel of the incorporated verb.


Compound nouns
N+N compounding

Compound nouns are nouns and they are not fitted in the verbal skeletons. There are more patterns for compound nouns than compound verbs. Compound nouns always end in a vowel, while (compound) verbs always end in a consonant. The patterns of compound nouns are partially formed contrasting the semantics of the new complex noun. They can have participle patterns and masdar patterns, locational patterns etc.

Because I am not sure of the nominal derivation of simple roots, I'll not fix the complex one either, yet.

The semantics of the N+N compounds can be compared to that of English compounds. Sunglasses are glasses used because sun and female author is an author that is a woman.

[Omzinesý]

It's very possible that I still have to think about the patterns of the compound words and how to distinguish them from the corresponding words separately.

[Omzinesý]

Part 5 - Partitive & Genitive

I decided to change the partitive and genitive a bit.

They both are marked be prefix /n-/. Many words thus have identical partitive and genitive cases.
In both the /n/ is assimilated to the POA of the following consonant. In genitive, however, the rule 1 of the first message also happens.

1. Sonorant + aspirated stop with the same POA -> aspirated nasal
/m/+/pʰ/ -> [m̥ʰ]
/n/+/tʰ/ -> [nʰ]
/ŋ/+/k/ -> [ŋʰ]

ŋhoca [ŋʰot͡ʃʰa] - GEN ' friend's '
nkoca [ŋkʰot͡ʃʰa] -PART 'some friends'

An epenthetic /a/ is added before the prefix if pronunciation demands it, i.e. when there are two consonants in the beginning of the word, in the phonetic realization.


There is no number marking in Sira nouns. Indefinite plurals of countable nouns are however made uncountable by a partitive prefix. The same prefix is used for uncountable nouns. It can quite easily be translated 'some' in English. It is especially frequent with the negation particle.

Anmáy ro nkoca. 'I have no friends.' (lit. Mine [is] not any-friend.)
a-n-may ro n-koca
ø-GEN-SG1 NEG PART-friend
[a'maj roŋkʰo't͡ʃʰa]