A short project

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Omzinesý
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A short project

Post by Omzinesý »

This is a version of my lang in the latest speedlanging challenge. It combines many of the ideas that appear in my langs, so it is no ways original.

Phonology
p t t͡ʃ k <p t ch k>
b d d͡ʒ g <b d dj g>
β ɹ ʒ ɣ <v r j q>
s <s>
z <z>
m n <m n>
l <l>


Vowels
i u
e o
a

Stress lies on the penultimate syllable.

Phonotactics
(C)V(l/n)

"C" can also be a harmonic cluster
pt, pt͡ʃ, pk, tp, tk, kp, kt, kt͡ʃ.
bd, bd͡ʒ, bg, db, dg, gb, gd, gd͡ʒ
mn nm

Syntax

Most sentences are topic-prominent. That is, the consist of a topic NP and a clause. The topic NP is not part of the clause, and thus has no case marking or such.

The clause is strictly SVO. If the subject is the same as the topic, the surface clause is, of course, VO, and if the object and the topic are the same, the surface clause is SV. I think this is the easiest syntax possible, to encode topics and semantic roles.

Tago, pevisa sozidji.
youth, eat sausage
'The young person is eating a sausage.'

Sozidji, tago pevisa.
sausage, youth eat
'The sausage is being eaten be a young person. '

Sesel, tago pevisa sozidji.
armchair, youth eat sausage
'In the armchair, a youth is eating a sausage.'
Last edited by Omzinesý on 21 Nov 2020 15:01, edited 4 times in total.
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Omzinesý
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Re: A short project

Post by Omzinesý »

Verbs
Imperfective verbs are not inflected.

Perfectivity is coded by prefixes, like in many East-European languages. All perfective prefixes have three forms that are formed with ablaut: Past Perfective, Future Perfective, and Imperfective (not used if the root is imperfective per se.)

Causative (make eat)
Past Perf tel-
Future Perf tul-
Imperf tal-

Inchoative (start eating)
Past Perf ne-
Future Perf nu-
Imperf na-

Cessative (stop eating)
Past Perf mol-
Future Perf mil-
Imperf mal-

Resultative (eat so that you are full)
Past Perf si-
Future Perf so-
Imperf sa-

Completive (eat all the food)
Past Perf on-
Future Perf en-
Imperf an-

Directional prefixes
'in'
Past Perf pen-
Future Perf pun-
Imperf pan-

'on'
Past Perf ere-
Future Perf uru-
Imperf ara-

'near'
Past Perf sil-
Future Perf sol-
Imperf sal-
Edit: Actually, there must be source prefixes corresponding to the goal prefixes.
Last edited by Omzinesý on 16 Nov 2020 22:13, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A short project

Post by Omzinesý »

Word-initial mutation

In the consonant inventory first-row consonant is replaced by a second-row consonant, second-row vowel by third-row consonant, and fourth-row consonant by a fifth-row consonant. Third and fifth row consonants cannot appear word-initially. Other consonants are not affected.

p => b, t => d, t͡ʃ => dʒ, k => g
pt => bd, pt͡ʃ => bd͡ʒ , pk => bg, tp => db, tk => dg, kp => gb, kt => gd, kt͡ʃ => gd͡ʒ
b => β, d => ɹ, dʒ => ʒ ɣ
bg => w, gb => w
s => z

/β ɹ ʒ ɣ z/ or clusters /bd, bd͡ʒ, db, dg, gd, gd͡ʒ/ don't usually appear word-initially.
/m n l mn nm/ don't mutate.

The mutation is used
1. In a genitive attribute following its head (The mutation is a phrase-level entity (a very fusional clitic), so it only appears in the beginning of the first word of the genitive phrase.)
2. In a relative clause following its head (The head is its topic, so the first word having the mutation is either the subject or the verb). They are called clausal nominalizations.
3. In some objects following the verb. Those objects are either generic or unimportant in the discourse. That is a kind of incorporation (which appears in all my langs ATM.)
4. After some prepositions.
5. After some verb prefixes.
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Re: A short project

Post by Omzinesý »

I started translating Ossicone's cat story again.


Losa seqe.
be.there cat
'There was a cat.'

Ktisin le nechin.
ktisi-n le nechi-n
smallness-be and whiteness-be
'She was small and white.'

Kul neozal, sobitan.
kul ne-ozal sobita-n
after INC-be.awake hunger.be
'When she woke up she was very hungry!'

So she went looking for some food.
She looked behind the tree and found an acorn.
But cats don't eat acorns!
She looked under the rock and found a bug.
But cats don't eat bugs!
She looked in the house and saw something very interesting on the table.
It was a fish! And she loved to eat fish!
So she jumped on to the table and grabbed the fish.
Uh oh! A person saw her take the fish.
The little cat jump out the window and hid in the field.
She happily ate the fish.
But now she was very sleepy.
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Omzinesý
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Re: A short project

Post by Omzinesý »

Omzinesý wrote: 16 Nov 2020 16:15
Syntax

Most sentences are topic-prominent. That is, the consist of a topic NP and a clause. The topic NP is not part of the clause, and thus has no case marking or such.

The clause is strictly SVO. If the subject is the same as the topic, the surface clause is, of course, VO, and if the object and the topic are the same, the surface clause is SV. I think this is the easiest syntax possible, to encode topics and semantic roles.

Tago, pevisa sozidji.
youth, eat sausage
'The young person is eating a sausage.'

Sozidji, tago pevisa.
sausage, youth eat
'The sausage is being eaten be a young person. '

Sesel, tago pevisa sozidji.
armchair, youth eat sausage
'In the armchair, a youth is eating a sausage.'
Argument focuses (in Lambrecht's terms) or contrastive focuses appear in Topic position marked with marker ga, which also appears as Reflexive Possessive Pronoun.

Ga dago, pevisa sozidji.
youth, eat sausage
'It is the young person that is eating a sausage.'
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eldin raigmore
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Re: A short project

Post by eldin raigmore »

Omzinesý wrote: 25 Nov 2020 13:32 Syntax

Most sentences are topic-prominent. That is, the consist of a topic NP and a clause. The topic NP is not part of the clause, and thus has no case marking or such.

The clause is strictly SVO. If the subject is the same as the topic, the surface clause is, of course, VO, and if the object and the topic are the same, the surface clause is SV. I think this is the easiest syntax possible, to encode topics and semantic roles.
Aren’t most topic-prominent languages with the Topic+Comment structure, verb-final in their clause?
For instance SOV or OSV? So lots of T,SV sentences?
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Re: A short project

Post by Omzinesý »

eldin raigmore wrote: 25 Nov 2020 20:00
Omzinesý wrote: 25 Nov 2020 13:32 Syntax

Most sentences are topic-prominent. That is, the consist of a topic NP and a clause. The topic NP is not part of the clause, and thus has no case marking or such.

The clause is strictly SVO. If the subject is the same as the topic, the surface clause is, of course, VO, and if the object and the topic are the same, the surface clause is SV. I think this is the easiest syntax possible, to encode topics and semantic roles.
Aren’t most topic-prominent languages with the Topic+Comment structure, verb-final in their clause?
For instance SOV or OSV? So lots of T,SV sentences?
I think Li and Thompson said all topic-prominent in their small data were verb-final. I don't think it however need to be.

If there is no case marking, I think it's hard to make difference between S and O if both precede the verb, especially while most clauses don't have all surface arguments.
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Re: A short project

Post by Omzinesý »

Personal pronouns

Sg1 keya
Pl1 excl. keyageya
Sg2 mon
Pl2 monmon
Sg1 incl. keyamon

Still thinking how third person pronouns work.

"sul" means 'person'. Its plural is reduplicated "sulzul".
They are used as impersonal subjects 'you' & 'they'.


Personal pronouns appear as possessors like all nouns.

seqa geya 'my cat'

However:
Keya noro gazeqa.
'I love my cat.'
instead of "Keya noro seqa geya."
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Re: A short project

Post by Omzinesý »

"ga" appears as possessive pronoun and a focus marker.
It also appears as a reflexive pronoun. Then it follows its antecedent. Such a reflexive "case" does not appear in natlangs (?) but I like the idea. As a suffix, it also moves the stress rightwards.

Seqaga noro.
seqa-ga noro
cat-REFL love
'The cat loves itself.'


No reflexivity cannot be marked in Topic NP because it is not part of the clause and reflexivity is marking of the semantic roles.

Maybe "ga" could precede (or follow?) the verb as a kind of voice marker. "Ga" has Topic as its antecedent.

There could be another possessive/reflexive marker that has the subject as its antecedent.

Seqa noroqa.
seqa noro-ga
cat love-REFL
'The cat loves itself.'[
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