Yonala is a language spoken by people in a tropical rainforest. They sustain themselves primarily by foraging and occasionally hunting.
The language isn't spoken outside of a few villages.
Let's move on to the phonology.
Consonants:
/m n ɲ/
/p t t͡s~t͡ʃ c k/
/s x/
/l ʎ j w~ʋ/
Vowels:
/a aː i iː o oː/
Yonala has a (C)V(V) syllable structure and weight sensitive stress. Stress can fall on either the penultimate or final syllable of a word, depending on which is heavier. If they are both light, then the penult takes the stress.
A light syllable contains a short vowel, and a heavy syllable contains a long vowel.
The word is verb initial. Normally, it's VSO, although VOS is used if the speaker wants to emphasize the object, or as a form of topicalization.
I don't have much in the way of vocabulary or grammar, so I shall post updates as I further develop it.
The Yonala Language
- Creyeditor
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Re: The Yonala Language
Is this post on morphology or syntax? VSO word order is nice, but polypersonal agreement suffixes are also cool.LinguoFranco wrote: ↑29 Apr 2021 17:50 The word is verb initial. Normally, it's VSO, although VOS is used if the speaker wants to emphasize the object, or as a form of topicalization.
Creyeditor
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Ook & Omlűt & Nautli languages & Sperenjas
Papuan languages, Morphophonology, Lexical Semantics
- LinguoFranco
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Re: The Yonala Language
For now, just syntax, but I intend to flesh out the morphology in a later post.Creyeditor wrote: ↑29 Apr 2021 20:13Is this post on morphology or syntax? VSO word order is nice, but polypersonal agreement suffixes are also cool.LinguoFranco wrote: ↑29 Apr 2021 17:50 The word is verb initial. Normally, it's VSO, although VOS is used if the speaker wants to emphasize the object, or as a form of topicalization.
I do intend for it to have polypersonal agreement. Since it's VSO, I presume it'll be largely head-marking.