Waanian is a major language of the Island of Waan, an island off the east-northeast coast of Fuhe, about the size of IRL Ireland. About a dozen native languages of the Waanic Family are spoken there, in addition to two Kanic languages (North Waanese Kanic and South Waanese Kanic), but the Waanian-speaking tribe is the one that is most known to the Fuhe- it is spoken on the west of the island, and is spoken by around 45% of the population.
Phonology:
/p ɓ t ɗ c ʄ k q/ <p b t d c j k q>
/m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n nh ng>
/s ʐ ʃ x~X ʁ/ <s r sh h g>
/l/ <l>
/w j/ <w y>
/i u ə ɛ ɔ a/ <i u ë e o a>
/i: u: ə: e: o: ɑ:/ <ii uu ëë ei ou aa>
Phonotactics: (C)V(C)
Permitted finals:
/p t c k q m n ɲ ŋ s x l w j/
Morphonemic processes:
/q/ cannot occur before /i i:/. In this position, it becomes /k/. In the same position, /k x ʁ ŋ/ may shift to /c ʃ j ɲ/, depending on the lexeme.
Nouns:
Nouns have no marked case or gender. The occur in three numbers: Singular, Dual and Plural. Dual is formed by adding the prefix lu- to the noun.
The plural is formed in four ways:
1. First syllable reduplication: Mali "girl" Mamali "girls"
2. First consonant reduplication with <ë> as the vowel: Ngeiwanh "boat" Ngëngeiwanh"boats"
3. Same as 2, but the first vowel, which is "long" is shortened: Touka "Chief" Tëtoka "Chiefs"
4. Full redulplication: Bas "Language" Basbas "languages"
Waanian
Re: Waanian
Before I continue to present Waanian grammar, I must note that the language has an Austronesian-based alignment.
Nouns also have natural gender: Human and Non-Human.
Nouns take Definate (Target) and Oblique (non-target) proclitics.
The Human Definate proclitic is invariably Nhëë.
The Non-Human Definate proclitic depends on deixis:
Proximate: Ra
Distal and Visible: Jet
Distal and non-visible: Luunh
The Oblique proclitics are Weiq (Human) and Gi (non-human)
Nouns also have natural gender: Human and Non-Human.
Nouns take Definate (Target) and Oblique (non-target) proclitics.
The Human Definate proclitic is invariably Nhëë.
The Non-Human Definate proclitic depends on deixis:
Proximate: Ra
Distal and Visible: Jet
Distal and non-visible: Luunh
The Oblique proclitics are Weiq (Human) and Gi (non-human)
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
-JRR Tolkien
Re: Waanian
Verbs:
The base form of the verb is the active voice:
Mërout "love"
Houdis "kill"
Luwaap "construct; make; create"
To turn this into the patient voice, one adds the infix <inh> after the first consonant. Note that this may change the first consonant in some stems where they are velar:
Minhërout "Love.PV"
Shinhoudis "kill.PV"
Linhuwaap "make.PV"
So basic sentences, with gloss:
Mërout nhëë touka weiq mamali
Mërout nhëë touka weiq ma-mali
love.AV FOC chief NFOC plr-girl
"The chief loves [some] girls"
Houdis nhëë touka weiq mamali
Houdis nhëë touka weiq ma-mali
kill.AV FOC chief NFOC plr-girl
"The chief kills girls"
Luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls make boats"
Shinhoudis weiq touka nhëë mamali
Shinhoudis weiq touka nhëë ma-mali
PV\kill NFOC cheif FOC PLR-girl
"A cheif killed the girls"
Linhuwaap jet ngëngeiwanh weiq mamali
Linhuwaap jet ngë-ngeiwanh weiq ma-mali
PV\make FOC.DIST.VIS PLR-boat NFOC PLR-girl
"The boats over there were made by girls"
Linhuwaap ra ngëngeiwanh weiq mamali
Linhuwaap ra ngë-ngeiwanh weiq ma-mali
PV\make FOC.PROX PLR-boat NFOC PLR-girl
"These here boats were made by girls"
The base form of the verb is the active voice:
Mërout "love"
Houdis "kill"
Luwaap "construct; make; create"
To turn this into the patient voice, one adds the infix <inh> after the first consonant. Note that this may change the first consonant in some stems where they are velar:
Minhërout "Love.PV"
Shinhoudis "kill.PV"
Linhuwaap "make.PV"
So basic sentences, with gloss:
Mërout nhëë touka weiq mamali
Mërout nhëë touka weiq ma-mali
love.AV FOC chief NFOC plr-girl
"The chief loves [some] girls"
Houdis nhëë touka weiq mamali
Houdis nhëë touka weiq ma-mali
kill.AV FOC chief NFOC plr-girl
"The chief kills girls"
Luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls make boats"
Shinhoudis weiq touka nhëë mamali
Shinhoudis weiq touka nhëë ma-mali
PV\kill NFOC cheif FOC PLR-girl
"A cheif killed the girls"
Linhuwaap jet ngëngeiwanh weiq mamali
Linhuwaap jet ngë-ngeiwanh weiq ma-mali
PV\make FOC.DIST.VIS PLR-boat NFOC PLR-girl
"The boats over there were made by girls"
Linhuwaap ra ngëngeiwanh weiq mamali
Linhuwaap ra ngë-ngeiwanh weiq ma-mali
PV\make FOC.PROX PLR-boat NFOC PLR-girl
"These here boats were made by girls"
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
-JRR Tolkien
Re: Waanian
Waanian also has Benafactive-Dative, Instrumental, and Locative voices. They are formed based on the patient voice. The Benafactive-Dative takes the suffix -(w)on, the instrumental the circumfix ge(y)--(w)on, and the locative the suffix -(y)il. If an utterance has more then two arguements, and it is not in the active voice, the subject is fronted before the verb.
Weiq mamali linhuwaapon jet ngëngeiwanh nhëë touka
Weiq ma-mali linhuwaap-on gi ngë-ngeiwanh nhëë touka
OBL.HUM PLR-girl PV\make-BENV OBL PLR-boat DEF.HUM chief
"The girls make the boats for the chief"
Weiq touka geshinhoudison weiq mali luunh tetewan
Weiq touka ge-shinhoudis-on weiq mali luunh te-tewan
OBL.HUM chief INSTV-PV\kill-INSTV OBL.HUM DEF.DIST PLR-stone
"A chief killed a girl using those stones yonder"
Weiq mamali linhuwaapon jet ngëngeiwanh nhëë touka
Weiq ma-mali linhuwaap-on gi ngë-ngeiwanh nhëë touka
OBL.HUM PLR-girl PV\make-BENV OBL PLR-boat DEF.HUM chief
"The girls make the boats for the chief"
Weiq touka geshinhoudison weiq mali luunh tetewan
Weiq touka ge-shinhoudis-on weiq mali luunh te-tewan
OBL.HUM chief INSTV-PV\kill-INSTV OBL.HUM DEF.DIST PLR-stone
"A chief killed a girl using those stones yonder"
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
-JRR Tolkien
Re: Waanian
Waanian does not have tense, but has aspectual preverbs.
Perfect: Lo
Terminative: Iing
Continuous: Maas
Habitual: Wuunhë
Delimitive: Pat
The perfective and termanitive differ in that the latter means the change of state is closer to the temporal locus and/or that while the effects have ended, it does not effect the temporal locus.
Lo linhuwaap ra ngëngeiwanh weiq mamali
"These here boats had been made by girls"
Iing linhuwaap ra ngëngeiwanh weiq mamali
"These here boats have just been made by girls"
Perfect: Lo
Terminative: Iing
Continuous: Maas
Habitual: Wuunhë
Delimitive: Pat
The perfective and termanitive differ in that the latter means the change of state is closer to the temporal locus and/or that while the effects have ended, it does not effect the temporal locus.
Lo linhuwaap ra ngëngeiwanh weiq mamali
"These here boats had been made by girls"
Iing linhuwaap ra ngëngeiwanh weiq mamali
"These here boats have just been made by girls"
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
-JRR Tolkien
Re: Waanian
Pronouns:
Non-Focus:
1P sing: Kee
1P plr non-incl. Keraa
1P plr incl. Kedu
2P sing: Loo
2P plr: Lolo
3P sing: Ngii
3P plr: Nging
Focus:
1P sing: Cee
1P plr non-incl. Ceraa
1P plr incl. Cedu
2P sing: Nhël
2P plr: Nhëloo
3P sing: Nhii
3P plr: Nhing
Possesive alienable:
1P sing: Ket
1P plr non-incl. Kerat
1P plr incl. Kedut
2P sing: Lot
2P plr: Lolot
3P sing: Ngit
3P plr: Ngin
Possesive inalienable:
1P sing: Key
1P plr non-incl. Keray
1P plr incl. Kedi
2P sing: Loy
2P plr: Loloy
3P sing: Ngiyi
3P plr: Ngiying
Non-Focus:
1P sing: Kee
1P plr non-incl. Keraa
1P plr incl. Kedu
2P sing: Loo
2P plr: Lolo
3P sing: Ngii
3P plr: Nging
Focus:
1P sing: Cee
1P plr non-incl. Ceraa
1P plr incl. Cedu
2P sing: Nhël
2P plr: Nhëloo
3P sing: Nhii
3P plr: Nhing
Possesive alienable:
1P sing: Ket
1P plr non-incl. Kerat
1P plr incl. Kedut
2P sing: Lot
2P plr: Lolot
3P sing: Ngit
3P plr: Ngin
Possesive inalienable:
1P sing: Key
1P plr non-incl. Keray
1P plr incl. Kedi
2P sing: Loy
2P plr: Loloy
3P sing: Ngiyi
3P plr: Ngiying
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
-JRR Tolkien
Re: Waanian
Numbers come in two forms: Human and Non-Human, though they only differ for 1-9.
Human:
1. Keel
2. Biil
3. Sani
4. Jokil
5. Peel
6. Pokeel
7. Pobeey
8. Silarebil
9. Silarekil
Non-Human:
1. Key
2. Buu
3. Sang
4. Joko
5. Poo
6. Pokee
7. Poboow
8. Silarëbu
9. Silarëke
Over Nine:
10. Silam
11. Ketoosilam
12. Butoosilam
13. Santoosilam
14. Jokotoosilam
15. Potoosilam
16. Poketoosilam
17. Pobotoosilam
18. Silarëbutosilam
19. Silarëketosilam
20. Sisilam
21. Sisilamkey
22. Sisilambuu
etc.
30. Sangësilam
40. Jokosilam
etc.
100. Toto
After a non-human number, a classifier occurs:
Big animal: Yuta
Small animal: Daaw
Non-edible plant: Kola
Edible plant: Shaa
Food: Ngaato
Tools: Biingu
Movable natural objects: Shik
Unmovable objects: Huut
Intangibles: Titi
Human:
1. Keel
2. Biil
3. Sani
4. Jokil
5. Peel
6. Pokeel
7. Pobeey
8. Silarebil
9. Silarekil
Non-Human:
1. Key
2. Buu
3. Sang
4. Joko
5. Poo
6. Pokee
7. Poboow
8. Silarëbu
9. Silarëke
Over Nine:
10. Silam
11. Ketoosilam
12. Butoosilam
13. Santoosilam
14. Jokotoosilam
15. Potoosilam
16. Poketoosilam
17. Pobotoosilam
18. Silarëbutosilam
19. Silarëketosilam
20. Sisilam
21. Sisilamkey
22. Sisilambuu
etc.
30. Sangësilam
40. Jokosilam
etc.
100. Toto
After a non-human number, a classifier occurs:
Big animal: Yuta
Small animal: Daaw
Non-edible plant: Kola
Edible plant: Shaa
Food: Ngaato
Tools: Biingu
Movable natural objects: Shik
Unmovable objects: Huut
Intangibles: Titi
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
-JRR Tolkien
Re: Waanian
Mood is marked by using the aspect markers as auxillaries. For the unmarked imperfective aspect, the dummy marker Gomo.
The deontic mood is used for things like "should" or "must". It is also used for the protasis of implicative conditional sentences. It has two allomorphs, -yei for when the aux ends in a vowel, and -ii when it ends in a consonant.
Maasii luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Maas-ii luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
CONT-DEON make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls should continue to make boats"
Loyei luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Lo-yei luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
PERF-DEON make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls should have been making boats"
The Potential mood shows that while the speaker is unsure if the action happened or is happaning. In some contexts it has a dubatative meaning. It is also used for the protasis of counterfactual conditionals. It is -u after consonants and -ng after vowels:
Maasu luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Maas-u luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
CONT-POTENT make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls might continue to make boats"
Long luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Lo-ng luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
PERF-POTENT make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls might have made boats"
The deontic mood is used for things like "should" or "must". It is also used for the protasis of implicative conditional sentences. It has two allomorphs, -yei for when the aux ends in a vowel, and -ii when it ends in a consonant.
Maasii luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Maas-ii luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
CONT-DEON make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls should continue to make boats"
Loyei luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Lo-yei luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
PERF-DEON make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls should have been making boats"
The Potential mood shows that while the speaker is unsure if the action happened or is happaning. In some contexts it has a dubatative meaning. It is also used for the protasis of counterfactual conditionals. It is -u after consonants and -ng after vowels:
Maasu luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Maas-u luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
CONT-POTENT make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls might continue to make boats"
Long luwaap nhëë mamali gi ngëngeiwanh
Lo-ng luwaap nhëë ma-mali gi ngë-ngeiwanh
PERF-POTENT make.AV FOC PLR-girl NFOC PLR-boat
"The girls might have made boats"
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
-JRR Tolkien