Hinzamazi gima (a failed attempt at "un-Borean" language)

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Vlürch
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Hinzamazi gima (a failed attempt at "un-Borean" language)

Post by Vlürch »

This was an attempt at making a language that doesn't feel "Borean", but of course that didn't really work out. I mean, it kinda did, but not really because it's still practically way too close to being SAE to even feel naturalistic in Africa... and not only that, I kinda got bored of it because I realised it's too close to SAE and so a lot of its grammar is really undeveloped. It was meant to have some really complex grammar to make it less "Borean" but because I suck at complexity... well, yeah, it kinda went in a really boring and predictable place and the grammar isn't that complex (even if by my standards it is more complex than most of my conlangs lol). Still, I figured I'd post it because otherwise it'll just become another one of those hundreds of abandoned conlangs that I've started working on that never went anywhree, and I do think it's "meh" and not "ugh" and maybe not an entirely pointless conlang. [>_<]

Oh, and at first it was meant to be set on some fictional island in Southeast Asia instead of some fictional island in Africa so it might have some traces of having the wrong "vibe" even though I switched to trying to give it a more African-esque vibe already early on, but... uhhhh...

~

CONCULTURE STUFF
The Hinzamazi language is spoken in the Kingdom of Hinzamazi, a constitutional monarchy located on an island somewhere off the east coast of Africa... no idea how far north or south or how far from the African continent it'd have to be to be anywhere close to realistic (maybe along the same latitude as Mombasa and the same longitude as Mogadishu?), but it's a pretty big island that obviously doesn't actually exist (maybe slightly larger than Socotra). The island is fairly dry, with desert and stuff, but also some forest and whatnot. Its speakers migrated there from somewhere in mainland Africa sometime in the ancient past, and either they or a later wave of migrants brought camels and stuff. It's an a priori conlang, so conically a language isolate.

Conically, there's disagreement as to what the etymology of the name "Hinzamazi" is; while the "nzamazi" part is the word for "chiefdom", the "hi" part could mean either "seven" or "red" and as such it could be either "chiefdom of the seven" or "red chiefdom".

Most of Hinzamazi society is structed around clans and tribes, with family being very important. Among nomads, adoptions with the purpose of arranging marriages between biological children and adopted children are very common. On the other hand, in cities people are more individualistic and the adoption-marriage thing never happens, and in the capital city outside the walled old city where the royalty live, life for many isn't that different from the developed world due to recent highly successful modernisation programs by the government. There's a very stark divide between government affairs regarding royalty and the rest of the population, with the line being more or less "leave the royals alone, cave in to the king's demands only when necessary, defend the people from their megalomania, but also pay lip service to them all day". Many people have a kind of love-hate relationship for the monarchy because it's seen as a relic that doesn't belong in the modern day, but at the same time it's remembered for its part in keeping the island from being de facto colonised even if it was de jure part of some European country for some time.

Slavery is still common among nomads and in the royal court; in the rest of its society, it has practically ceased to exist since the early 20th century with some exceptions like human trafficking by criminal organisations. Historically it was so widespread that a classification system for different categories of slaves existed, since ancient times long predating the foundation of the kingdom, but nowadays it has mostly fallen out of use and "ngazi" and "nguza" have come to be the default word for "slave" and "slavery" of any kind among the sedentary population with the sole exception of the walled city surrounding the royal court.

PHONOLOGY

/m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n ny ng>
/p b t d k g ʔ/ <p b t d k g ʻ>
/kʷ gʷ (ʔʷ)/ <kw gw ʻw>
/(pʼ) tʼ kʼ/ <ṗ ṭ ḳ>
/(kʷʼ)/ <ḳw>
/ɓ ɗ (ɠ)/ <ḅ ḍ ġ>
/ᵐb ⁿt ⁿd ᵑk/ <mb nt nd nk>
/ᵑkʷ ᵑgʷ/ <nkw ngw>
/ᵐɓ (ⁿtʼ ⁿɗ) ᵑkʼ (ᵑɠ)/ <mḅ nṭ nḍ nḳ nġ>
/ʔʲ~t͡ʃʼ~cʼ (q͡ʀ̥ʼ)/ <c q>
/(t͡s d͡z) t͡ʃ d͡ʒ/ <ts dz ch j>
/(t͡sʷ d͡zʷ t͡ʃʷ d͡ʒʷ)/ <tsw dzw chw jw>
/(ⁿt͡s) ⁿd͡z ⁿt͡ʃ ⁿd͡ʒ/ <nts nz nch nj>
/s z ʃ/ <s z sh>
/(sʷ ʃʷ)/ <sw shw>
/f j w h/ <f y w h>
/(hʷ)/ <hw>
/r l/ <r l>

/a e i o u/ <a e i o u>
/aː eː iː oː uː/ <ā ē ī ō ū>
/ãː ẽː ĩː õː ũː/ <ã ẽ ĩ õ ũ>

In the standard language, the sound written <c> is pronounced as a palatalised glottal stop [ʔʲ], but many dialects pronounce it as the palato-alveolar sibilant ejective affricate [t͡ʃʼ] while younger speakers tend to use a palatal ejective stop [cʼ].

/kʷʼ ɠ/ only occur in ideophones.

/ʔʷ pʼ ⁿtʼ ⁿɗ t͡s d͡z t͡ʃʷ d͡ʒʷ ⁿt͡s sʷ ʃʷ hʷ/ occur in significantly less terms than other consonants.

/q͡ʀ̥ʼ/ is extremely rare and only occurs in a few ideophones. Its exact pronunciation varies greatly, even in the speech of the same individual. The most common pronunciation is a plain uvular stop /q/ or uvular trill /ʀ/, with a uvular affricate /q͡χ/ being quite common as well. Realisation as a uvular ejective stop /qʼ/ or uvular ejective affricate /q͡χʼ/ is fairly common for emphasis. It is only ever a trilled affricate for emphasis in the speech of those who already pronounce it as an affricate by default, and even then it is rarely ejective. Younger speakers may be more likely to simply substitute it with /kʼ/ or /ʔ/. For speakers who pronounce intervocalic /g/ as a fricative [ɣ], it is even possible to merge it with /g/ in intervocalic position.

Usually considered paralinguistic, the following click consonants may occur in interjections and are sometimes written with distinct di- and trigraphs:
/ᵏǀ ᵏǃ ᵏǂ ᵏǁ/ <kt tk ck kl>
/ᵑǀ ᵑǃ ᵑǂ ᵑǁ/ <nkt ntk nck nkl>
/ᵏǀʷ ᵏǃʷ ᵏǁʷ/ <ktw tkw klw>
/ᵑǀʷ ᵑǃʷ ᵑǁʷ/ <nktw ntkw nklw>
However, not all speakers use them and they can be replaced with the following pulmonic consonants:
/t d t͡ʃ t͡s/ <t d ch ts>
/ⁿt ⁿd ⁿd͡ʒ ⁿd͡z/ <nt nd nj nz>
/kʷ gʷ t͡ʃʷ t͡sʷ/ <kw gw chw tsw>
/ᵑkʷ ᵑgʷ ⁿd͡ʒʷ ⁿd͡zʷ/ <nkw ngw njw nzw>
The most common of these to be pronounced are /ᵏǀ ᵏǃ/, while the nasalised clicks are very uncommon except in the speech of elderly people in rural areas. As some of the pulmonic consonants they can be replaced with also do not occur in regular parts of speech, this system may further be reduced to the following:
/t d t͡ʃ t͡s/ <t d ch ts>
/ⁿt ⁿd ⁿd͡ʒ ⁿd͡z/ <nt nd nj nz>
/kʷ gʷ t͡ʃʷ t͡sʷ/ <kw gw chw tsw>
/ᵑkʷ ᵑgʷ d͡ʒʷ d͡zʷ/ <nkw ngw jw dzw>

GRAMMAR

SYNTAX
The default word order is VSO, but it can also be SOV or SVO in certain grammatical constructions or poetry.

NOUN DECLENSION
Noun classes are only distinguished in the plural. Technically, they are not noun classes at all since in theory any noun can take any of the suffixes and they have no effect on verb conjugation or anything beyond themselves, and as such they could more appropriately be called semantic markers; most nouns do fit the pattern of just taking one suffix based on its characteristics, but there are exceptions such as "monyo" ("family") being pluralised just as commonly with the class suffix for humans and the one for abstract concepts, ie. "monyofa" and "monyonga" respectively in the nominative.

The demonstrative suffixes can be used together with the possessive suffixes to create copulative sentences, eg. "igisima" ("this is my house"), "igiʻima" ("such is my house").

The so-called "indefinite" suffix, which is unmarked, is strictly speaking not only an indefiniteness marker but can also be used to mark both familiarity and unfamiliarity depending on context, or even in place of any other demonstrative suffixes. However, its most important usage is to mark indefiniteness or to mark a referent as unseen or unknown in some way. Thus, it is rarely used when narrating events or in literature, where the distal suffix is more likely to be used.

Indefinite unpossessed nouns in the singular have their last vowel replaced by the vowels of case suffix in cases other than the nominative, eg. "igi" ("house", nominative) -> "ige" ("in a house"). For nouns whose last vowel is not /a/, this creates ambiguity between the nominative and another case as they are then marked identically, eg. "igi" ("house", accusative).

demonstrative suffixes
proximal: -s(V)-
medial: -t(V)-
distal: -r(V)-
such: -nj(V)-
indefinite: -Ø-

honorific: -mā-

possessive suffixes
1st person: -n-, -b- [INCL], -k- [EXCL]
2nd person: -y-, -d-
3rd person masculine proximate: -h-, -l-
3rd person masculine obviative: -ʻ-, -g-
3rd person feminine proximate: -ch-, -c-
3rd person feminine obviative: -sh-, -w-
reflexive: -ny-

case suffixes
nominative: -a, -(V)fa [HUM], -(V)za [ZO], -(V)nda [INAN], -(V)nga [AB]
accusative: -i, -(V)fi [HUM], -(V)zi [ZO], -(V)ndi [INAN], -(V)ngi [AB]
genitive: -u, -(V)fu [HUM], -(V)zu [ZO], -(V)ndu [INAN], -(V)ngu [AB]
locative: -e, -(V)fe [HUM], -(V)ze [ZO], -(V)nde [INAN], -(V)nge [AB]
dative: -aluyi, -(V)faluyi [HUM], -(V)zaluyi [ZO], -(V)ndaluyi [INAN], -(V)ngaluyi [AB]
ablative: -alugwi, -(V)falugwi [HUM], -(V)zalugwi [ZO], -(V)ndalugwi [INAN], -(V)ngalugwi [AB]
benefactive: -alambi, -(V)falambi [HUM], -(V)zalamabi [ZO], -(V)ndalamabi [INAN], -(V)ngalamabi [AB]
malefactive: -alanji, -(V)falanji [HUM], -(V)zalanji [ZO], -(V)ndalanji [INAN], -(V)ngalanji [AB]
causal: -ishu, -(V)fishu [HUM], -(V)zishu [ZO], -(V)ndishu [INAN], -(V)ngishu [AB]
ornative: -ikwata, -(V)fikwata [HUM], -(V)zikwata [ZO], -(V)ndikwata [INAN], -(V)ngikwata [AB]
instrumental: -ikwati, -(V)fikwati [HUM], -(V)zikwati [ZO], -(V)ndikwati [INAN], -(V)ngikwati [AB]
comitative: -ikwate, -(V)fikwate [HUM], -(V)zikwate [ZO], -(V)ndikwate [INAN], -(V)ngikwate [AB]
semblative: -ikachi, -(V)fikachi [HUM], -(V)zikachi [ZO], -(V)ndikachi [INAN], -(V)ngikachi [AB]
vocative: -ā, -(V)fā [HUM], -(V)zā [ZO], -(V)ndā [INAN], -(V)ngā [AB]

ADJECTIVE DECLENSION
Adjectives follow the nouns they modify.

comparative: -h-
superlative: -ng-

ends in a
nominative: -a
accusative: -i
genitive: -u
locative: -e
dative: -i
ablative: -i
benefactive: -i
malefactive: -i
causal: -u
ornative: -a
instrumental: -i
comitative: -e
semblative: -i
vocative: -ā

adverbial: -ati

Ones that end in another vowel have that vowel in the nominative. Ones that end in a consonant don't have a final vowel in the nominative. Otherwise, they're declined the same as ones that end in /a/.

VERB CONJUGATION
The declarative is used when the speaker is sure of something but did not personally experience or witness it. It is also used for gnomic aspect.

passive: -ub-

causative: -inz-

declarative: -a-
experiential: -ane-
visual: -abe-
auditory: -ake-
renarrative: -ata-
experiential renarrative: -atine-
visual renarrative: -atibe-
auditory renarrative: -atike-
inferential: -i-
deductive: -o-
dubitative: -u-
hypothetical: -iku-
potential: -ika-
speculative: -iru-
hortative: -ifu-
volitive: -afa-

desiderative: -shi-

1st person agent: -na-, -ba- [INCL], -ka- [EXCL]
2nd person agent: -ya-, -da-
3rd person masculine proximate agent: -ha-, -la-
3rd person masculine obviative agent: -ʻa-, -ga-
3rd person feminine proximate agent: -hi-, -li-
3rd person feminine obviative agent: -ʻi-, -gi-
3rd person zoic proximate agent: -sa-, -za-
3rd person zoic obviative agent: -ca-, -ja-

1st person patient: -no-, -bo- [INCL], -ko- [EXCL]
2nd person patient: -yo-, -do-
3rd person masculine proximate patient: -ho-, -lo-
3rd person masculine obviative patient: -ʻo-, -go-
3rd person feminine proximate patient: -he-, -le-
3rd person feminine obviative patient: -ʻe-, -ge-
3rd person zoic proximate patient: -so-, -zo-
3rd person zoic obviative agent: -co-, -jo-

1st person senior agent: -nāma-, -bāma- [INCL], -kāma- [EXCL]
2nd person senior agent: -yāma-, -dāma-
3rd person senior masculine proximate agent: -hāma-, -lāma-
3rd person senior masculine obviative agent: -ʻāma-, -gāma-
3rd person senior feminine proximate agent: -hāmi-, -lāmi-
3rd person senior feminine obviative agent: -ʻāmi-, -gāmi-

1st person senior patient: -nāmo-, -bāmo- [INCL], -kāmo- [EXCL]
2nd person senior patient: -yāmo-, -dāmo-
3rd person senior masculine proximate patient: -hāmo-, -lāmo-
3rd person senior masculine obviative patient: -ʻāmo-, -gāmo-
3rd person senior feminine proximate patient: -hāme-, -lāme-
3rd person senior feminine obviative patient: -ʻāme-, -gāme-

1st person benefactive: -nu-, -bu- [INCL], -ku- [EXCL]
2nd person benefactive: -yu-, -du-
3rd person masculine proximate benefactive: -hu-, -lu-
3rd person masculine obviative benefactive: -ʻu-, -gu-
3rd person feminine proximate benefactive: -hwi-, -wi-
3rd person feminine obviative benefactive: -ʻwi-, -gwi-
3rd person zoic proximate benefactive: -su-, -zu-
3rd person zoic obviative benefactive: -cu-, -ju-

progressive: -chi-
habitual: -shu-

positive ancestral past: -cutu
negative ancestral past: -cutana

positive distant past: -yetu
negative distant past: -yetana

positive recent past: -tu
negative recent past: -tana

positive hesternal: -situ
negative hesternal: -sitana

positive hodiernal past: -ratu
negative hodiernal past: -ratana

positive immediate past: -ntu
negative immediate past: -ntana

positive present: -Ø
negative present: -na

positive immediate future: -ngwa
negative immediate future: -ngwana

positive hodiernal future: -rawa
negative hodiernal future: -rawana

positive crastinal: -siwa
negative crastinal: -siwana

positive near future: -wa
negative near future: -wana

positive distant future: -yewa
negative distant future: -yewana

respectful: -fiya

IDEOPHONES
Ideophones are not inflected and can be used to modify nouns, adjectives or verbs, or on their own as exclamations.

VOCABULARY

PRONOUNS
Nominative
na — I
ani — you [singular]
ha — he [proximate]
hi — she [proximate]
ʻa — he [obviative]
ʻi — she [obviative]
sa — it [animal]
ca — it [inanimate]
ci — it [abstract]
mbi — we [inclusive]
ki — we [exclusive]
nya — you [plural]
hafa — they [masculine]
hifa — they [feminine]
iza — they [animal]
nda — they [inanimate]
iga — they [abstract]

Accusative
ni — me
ayi — you [singular]
hayi — him [proximate]
heyi — her [proximate]
ʻayi — he [obviative]
ʻeyi — she [obviative]
si — it [animal]
aci — it [inanimate]
ici — it [abstract]
bayi — us [inclusive]
kayi — us [exclusive]
nji — you [plural]
hafi — them [masculine]
hifi — them [feminine]
izi — them [animal]
ndi — them [inanimate]
igi — them [abstract]

Genitive
nu — my
anu — your [singular]
hayu — his [proximate]
heyu — her [proximate]
ʻayu — his [obviative]
ʻeyu — her [obviative]
su — its [animal]
acu — its [inanimate]
icu — its [abstract]
bayu — our [inclusive]
kayu — our [exclusive]
nyu — your [plural]
hafu — their [masculine]
hifu — their [feminine]
izu — their [animal]
ndu — their [inanimate]
igu — their [abstract]

NOUNS
aka — child
akaha — son
akasha — daughter
aka-nete — girl adopted into a family to be married to that family's son
aka-oki — boy adopted into a family to be married to that family's daughter
ba — father
bara — slavery [hereditary; fourth-generation or more within a family]
baru — slave [hereditary; fourth-generation or more within a family]
boha — paternal uncle
bosha — paternal aunt
coʻusi — ancient times; mythical times; good old days
cuʻu — food, meal
danka — friend; companion
dura — body
gima — tongue; language
gwaji — hunter
gwamba — hand
igi — house
imibara — slave trade
imibaru — slave [captured or bought from another family]
imingazi — slave [captured from freedom]
iminguza — slave raid
kacabi — dimples; smiling eyes
ḳonko — bone
laḳwi — camel
ma — mother
masa — knowledge; understanding
mbari — tradition; custom; practice
mbura — tribe
miyo — charm; allure
moha — maternal uncle
monyo — family
mosha — maternal aunt
nanuka-nete — beautiful woman
ndoko — cliff
nḳara — scorpion
nete — woman; wife
ngazi — slave [hereditary; first to third-generation within a family]
nguza — slavery [hereditary; first to third-generation within a family]
nzari — clan tradition; family tradition
nzamazi — chiefdom
nzura — clan; extended family
nzumaza — chief
oki — man; husband
sara — meat; flesh
sowa — sand
tama — word
tanka — knowledge; secret
tika — door
tubo — vegetable
ufuli — sauce
ugawi — wolf
wahiru — crossing [of a river or mountain pass, etc.]
wahirutika — bridge

ADJECTIVES
coʻu — ancient; mythical; ancestral
hi — red
imi — fresh; new; young
iwa — old [of inanimate objects]
kiraf — dried [of food]
kwaki — in a hurry
ḳasa — loud
ḳiza — steep; sharp
nanuka — beautiful

ADVERBS
ki — so; so much [to the extent/degree]

IDEOPHONES
ḳwaḳwa — making a sharp and/or sudden noise
ġuġu — being clumsy, annoying and/or difficult like a child
nyanya — being cute
qawiqawi — being broken, in pieces, etc. [can express partiality or unevenness]
wiyuwiyu — going in circles; moving aimlessly

VERBS
bibig — to feel tension; to find a situation tense or awkward [often with sexual connotations]
chir — to notice; to take note of
chut — to run
cuʻ — to eat
daḳw — to beat; to hit; to punch
duḳw — to beat; to hit; to drum
gwaj — to hunt
kab — to like
ḳar — to snap; to break
ḳich — to sting [of insects]
lan — to dye; to paint
mbar — to follow [a tradition, custom, etc.]
nanuk — to be beautiful
nar — to be afraid
ngaz — to enslave
ṗaḳ — to throw [a spear]; to shoot [a gun]
pik — to kiss
tam — to say
ṭar — to cut; to chop
ṭuriḳ — to cut off; to chop off
ṭuriḍur — to dismember
unuk — to play; to frolic
wahir — to cross; to pass
yar — to scream

CONJUNCTIONS
ika — when
awa — or [not necessarily limited to things mentioned]
awaza — or; either/or [strictly limited to things mentioned]
la — that [connecting a noun clause]
nga — and [not necessarily limited to things mentioned]
ngaza — and [strictly limited to things mentioned]

PREPOSITIONS
cā — [partitive and indefinite prefix]
me — on; on top of [used with locative]
nkibe — between [used with locative]
nubi — without [used with accusative]

SUFFIXES
-u — [forms nouns from verbs]

PARTICLES
ba — [topic marker; human]
ra — [topic marker; animal/inanimate]
ya — [topic marker; abstract]

NUMERALS
na — one
chi — two
yu — three
li — four
mi — five
ha — six
hi — seven
ru — eight
ri — nine
fu — ten
funa — eleven
fuchi — twelve
fuyu — thirteen
fuli — fourteen
fumi — fifteen
fuha — sixteen
fuhi — seventeen
furu — eighteen
furi — nineteen
chifu — twenty
chifuna — twenty one
bala — hundred
balana — hundred and one
chibala — two hundred
chibalana — two hundred and one
fubala — thousand
fubalana — thousand and one
chifubala — two thousand
chifubalana — two thousand and one

NUMERAL DECLENSION
Numerals agree with the noun they modify, or in the adverbial case with the agent of a verb.

cardinal nominative: -ka [HUM/ZO], -sa [INAN/AB]
cardinal accusative: -ki [HUM/ZO], -si [INAN/AB]
cardinal genitive: -ku [HUM/ZO], -su [INAN/AB]
cardinal locative: -ke [HUM/ZO], -se [INAN/AB]

ordinal nominative: -giya [HUM/ZO], -ziya [INAN/AB]
ordinal accusative: -giyi [HUM/ZO], -ziyi [INAN/AB]
ordinal genitive: -giyu [HUM/ZO], -ziyu [INAN/AB]
ordinal locative: -giye [HUM/ZO], -ziye [INAN/AB]

adverbial nominative: -guri [HUM/ZO], -zuri [INAN/AB]

SENTENCES

Pikakehaʻeratu okira netehi.
kiss-AUD-3p.SG.PROX.M.AGT-3p.SG.OBV.F.PAT-HODPST man-DIST-NOM wife-3p.SG.PROX.M.POSS-ACC
The man kissed his wife earlier today. [speaker heard the kiss]

Ḳarikuli akashadafa cā ḳonkonyi ika unukabelitu me wahirutikase iwe nkibe chise ndokosonde ḳize.
break-HYP-3p.PL.PROX.F.AGT daughter-2p.PL.POSS-PL.HUM.NOM PRTV bone-REFL.POSS-ACC when play-VIS-3p.PL.PROX.F.AGT-RECPST on bridge-PROX-LOC old-LOC between two-CARD.LOC cliff-PROX-LOC.INAN sharp-LOC
Your daughters could have broken bones when they played on this old bridge between these two sharp cliffs. [speaker saw the girls play]

Ġuġu cuʻiruhāmashufiya ʻayu bamāʻishu, cuʻifubarawa nubi ufuli sari kirafi nga tubondi.
clumsy.like.a.child eat-SPEC-3p.SG.PROX.SEN.M.AGT-HABIT-RESP his-OBV father-HON-3p.OBV.M.POSS-CAUS eat-HORT-1p.PL.INCL.AGT-HODFUT without sauce-ACC meat-ACC dried-ACC and vegetable-PL.INAN.ACC
Because his father might slurp or make a mess when he eats, we should eat dried meat and vegetables without any sauce.

Ḳichubosantu nḳararikwati gwaji ba qawiqawi ṭuriḍurubatu laḳwikachi wiyuwiyu chutabehachi.
sting-PASS-DEDUC-3p.SG.ZO.AGT-IMMPST scorpion-DIST-INST hunter TOP.HUM broken dismember-PASS-RECPST camel-SEMBL going.in.circles run-VIS-3p.SG.PROX.M.AGT-PROG
The hunter who must have just been stung by a scorpion is running around like a haphazardly dismembered camel.

Yaratikeyasitu ki ḳasa naratinelangwa akanafa.
scream-RENARR.AUD-2p.SG.AGT-HEST so loud fear-RENARR.EXP-3p.PL.PROX.AGT-IMMFUT child-1p.SG.POSS-PL.NOM.HUM
Yesterday, you screamed so loud that my children got scared. [speaker was told by one or more of their children who heard the scream]

~

I probably won't continue working on this conlang even though it's only in its early stages, but I have a couple of other conlangs I'm working on that are more interesting and easier to continue than this (since I know very little about the languages of Africa, and trying to make it as different from the languages I do know something about is evidently not really working), so... well. Maybe someone thinks this isn't completely worthless, or maybe it is, but ehhhh.
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Re: Hinzamazi gima (a failed attempt at "un-Borean" language)

Post by Creyeditor »

[xD] I like the nominal inflection. This part looks really complex and well worked out. It also looks very Madagascarian in appearing both SEA and African.

I have a question on the phonology though. Why are there no consonants that are both labialized and prenasalized. That looks like an obvious gap.
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Re: Hinzamazi gima (a failed attempt at "un-Borean" language)

Post by Vlürch »

Creyeditor wrote: 08 Jun 2021 20:16I like the nominal inflection. This part looks really complex and well worked out.
Thanks! A part of me wanted to include noun classes but I don't really know how they work even remotely realistically, so I ended up doing what I did as a kind of compromise. To be honest, before the attempt at "un-Boreanness", the whole conlang originally started from the idea of making a conlang with obligatory "relational" affixes, you know, ones indicating either possession or a distal/proximal distinction, but they ended up not being entirely obligatory and then the focus shifted on "un-Boreanness"... and noun classes feel at least somewhat "un-Borean", but like I said, I don't know how to incorporate them realistically haha.
Creyeditor wrote: 08 Jun 2021 20:16It also looks very Madagascarian in appearing both SEA and African.
Hmm, something I realised because of your comment to be "missing" is tones, not that it needs them but you mentioning Madagascar made me remember that Malagasy doesn't have tones, so I can see why even that might maybe contribute to that vibe...🤔
Creyeditor wrote: 08 Jun 2021 20:16I have a question on the phonology though. Why are there no consonants that are both labialized and prenasalized. That looks like an obvious gap.
There are, although only /ᵑkʷ ᵑgʷ/. Looks like I didn't actually include either in any words, though, only the voiced one in two conjugational suffixes... but the rationale behind the lack of even /tʷ dʷ/ and especially their prenasalised counterparts was that the phonology was already bloated enough and that they're crosslinguistically rarer than labialised velars.
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Re: Hinzamazi gima (a failed attempt at "un-Borean" language)

Post by Omzinesý »

Nice project. You can dig it up one day if you want. I'm not very familiar with what are Borean features you avoid but it has some interesting ideas anyway.

Of course, it lacks semantics of all the forms and allomorphy etc. But nice start.
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
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