Karu language

A forum for all topics related to constructed languages
Post Reply
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

The idea is to make Karu synthetic but not polysynthetic. Analytic with some nearly phonetic processes.

Phonology is inspired by Quenya. (I have never made a Tolkien lang before.) But morphosyntactic categories are more interesting.
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

p t c k
b d ɟ g
f s ɕ (h)
(p̪͡f t͡s t͡ɕ)
m n ɲ
l r
j w

(y) i u
e o~ɔ
ɛ
ä

- Voiced stops only appear after nasals or liquids.
- /y/ appears in some dialects and is merged with /i/ in the others.
- Penultimate phonetic stress
- Maximal syllable CCVC
-- Only allowed codas: {n, l, r, (h)}
-- Only allowed onset clusters: {p, t, c, k, b, d, ɟ, g , f, s, ɕ} + {l, r}
- no real geminates, but voiceless stops can be preaspirated intervocally. hp ht hc hk
- no length distinction of vowels either
- diphthongs: any other vowel + /i/. ai ei oi ui (I'm not sure if it should be considered a coda /j/.)

minimal pairs:
/wisa/ 'inn'
/ujsa/ 'wife'

Stress

Stress lies on the penultimate syllable except, when the last syllable has no onset and the penultimate syllable has no coda, the stress lies on the antepenultimate syllable. The lest and penultimate vowels still belong to different syllables. They usually have a semivowel as a hiatus filler.

karua
['ka.ru.(w)a]
'field'
Last edited by Omzinesý on 10 Oct 2021 22:08, edited 2 times in total.
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Consonant gradation

The consonants between the penultimate (stressed) syllable and the last syllable are lengthened if the last syllable is heavy, i.e., has a coda or a diphthong.

basic -> heavy
- p, t, c, k -> hp, ht, hc, hk (The stops first lengthened, then preaspirated and then were reanalysed as /h/ + stop clusters.
- nb, nd, nɟ, ng -> np, nt, nc, nk (The stop first lengthened. Then, the non-lengthened stop was voiced. Then the long stop lost the length distinction and somwhat shortened.)
- rb, rd, rɟ, rg -> rp, rt, rc, rk
- lb, ld, lɟ, lg -> lp, lt, lc, lk
l -> l.l (Probably the resonants are just lengthened.)
r -> rr
m -> nm
n -> nn
ñ -> nñ

I'm still considering what happens to sibilants an /f/.
Semivowels don't probably undergo the gradation.

I think the gadation will be a nearly phonetic process, like in Finnish, but there are some instances where it appears without the triggering coda or does not appear despite the coda.
Edit: It could also appear in some irregular compounds and incorporations where the first word is reduced.

tasa 'hand'
roua 'take'

tar-roua 'take with a hand'
Last edited by Omzinesý on 28 Sep 2021 11:13, edited 1 time in total.
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Orthography

p t c k <p t ť c/k*>
b d ɟ g <b d ď g>
f s ɕ (h) <f s ś (h)>
m n ɲ <m n ń>
l r <l r>
j w <i u>

*Karu could be a 'fantasy lang' with <c> but using <k> before front vowels is just practical.

(y) i u <y i u>
e o~ɔ <é o>
ɛ <e>
ä <a>
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

History of the palatals

The palatals first derived from dentals after a diphthong ending in /i/ or coda /j/.


t, d, s, n, => c, ɟ, ɕ, ɲ / Vi_
Liquids have a big longer string of changes
r => rʲ => ʑ => ɕ / Vi_
l => lʲ => ʎ => j / Vi_



*toinu > toiɲu 'horse'

It is somewhat sporadic if the /i/ element was preserved. If the syllables was frequently stressed, the /i/ element was most likely preserved. f the syllables was frequently unstressed, the /i/ element was most likely not preserved. Because suffixes move the stress, there were alternation, most of which is leveled in Modern Karu.

*aiso 'family'
*aiso-la 'famoly member'

aiśo 'family'
aśola 'family member'


Word-initial palatals are usually diminutives.

toka 'girl'
ťoka 'little girl'

léra 'to sleep'
iéra 'to have a nap'

In that contexts /k/ can also be changed:

kapu 'dog'
ťapu 'puppy'
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Verb


The template
0[stem], 1[progressive infix], 2[voice], 3[mood, agreement], 4[volitionality, resultative, negation]


1[progressive infix]

The progressive marker is infix -n-. It appears before the last consonant of the stem. If the syllable is not open, Progressive is just not marked.

Lérrai. 'I sleep.'
ntrai. 'I am sleeping.'


2[voice]
The voices are: Active, Inverse, Antipassive, Reflexive, Autobenefactive, Active Perfect, and Passive (perfect).

Active is the unmarked voice.
If the verb's argument structure demands an object and no explicit object NP is used, an anaphoric object is inferred.
sohťe-i 'I see him/her/it/them.'

Inverse marker is -li (-lé before /i/).
It is used if the object is a non-third person. It converts the subject agreement to code object.
soťe-llé-i 'He/she/it/they see me.'

Antipassive marker is -so.
It deletes the anaphoric object that is inferred in Active. If an explicit object NP is used, Antipassive is not used.
soťe-tso-i 'I see (something).'

Reflexive marker is -ru.
It expresses that the subject and the object are the same.
soťe-rru-i 'I see myself.'

Autobenefactive marker is -re.
It expresses that one makes something for their own sake.
pośé-rre-i 'I sing for myself.'

Active perfect marker is -nun.
It expresses that something happened before that main flow of events.
soťe-nun-i 'I have seen it before.'

Passive perfect marker is -ron.
It expresses that something happened before that main flow of events.
soťe-ron-i 'I was seen.'

Edit: Now I'm interested in the discontinuous past tense. Probably there is a distinction between perfects and discontinuous pasts.
Although the main tense of the passive is perfect/retrospectative, it can be combined with the progressive infix, as in English, to form Passive Progressive.
so<n>ďe-ron-i 'I am being seen.'


3[mood, agreement]
There are three moods: Realis, Irrealis, and Imperative.

Irrealis is also used in the meaning of futute tense. It can thus be translated 'will' or 'would'.

Code: Select all

    	Realis	Irrealis	Imperative 
Sg1	-i   	-ra     	-
Sg2	-l    	-mba     	-h
Sg3  	-Ø    	-n      	- 
Pl1  	-ťu 	-ťa    		-ťo 
Pl2	-ldu	-lda    	-ldo 
Pl3	-si 	-se    		-
4[volitionality, resultative, negation]
The morphological status of the third slot is a bit questionable. It is not a particle or a clitic because there cannot be two of them. You cannot mark both Resultative and Volitional. But it is not a suffix because it does not move the stress rightward.

-Ø - unmarked
ne - Volitional
śai - Nonvolitional
sė - Resultative
fu - Irresultative
la - Volitional negative ('reject')
mė - Nonvolitional negative ('cannot')


[To be continued]
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Semantics of TAM

Aspect

There is one real aspect marker Progressive infix <n>. It expresses events that are going on at the time of the main stream of events.
Progressive being marked, the unmarked form expresses habitual/iterative or stative events and events with clear ending points, telic events.

There are also optional markers or Results and Failure. Usually using them also implies that the event ended because success and results rarely appear before the end point of the event.
It is however possible to combine Progressive infix and Resultative/Failure markers. Then it rather refers to success instead of results.


Tense

There are no plain tense markers. Realis mood is, however, nearly exclusively used for present and past events. Irrealis mood either codes nonfactual events (those that can become true) or counterfactual events (those that did not become true). Future is nearly always seen nonrealis in Karu. So, in practice, there is a Future-Nonfuture distinction.

Because future is coded with Irrealis mood and present telic events kind of cannot exist, telic events coded Realis mood are past.

There are also two relative past tenses (anterior, retrospectative): Perfect and Discontinuous Past. They have both active and passive forms and are related to participles (I'm not sure if they end up being periphrastic or synthetics). They code that events happened before the main flow of events.
Perfect codes that what happened before is relevant for the main flow of events, while Discontinuous Past codes that it is not. Perfect can often be translated 'bacause' and Discontinuous Past 'though'.


Mood

The most coded TAM category in Karu is mood. There are three morphological moods: Realis, Irrealis, and Imperative.

Realis and Imperative are quite clear.

Irrealis mood either codes nonfactual events (those that can become true) or counterfactual events (those that did not become true).

'If it rains (tomorrow), I will stay home.' and 'If it reaned (today), I would stay home.' are both expressed similarly. (Adverbs can of course differentiate them, if needed.).

Combining Irrealis with Volitionality affixes (either positive or negative) can be translated 'want', 'would like', 'wish' or 'hope', i.e., you want some that is not actual currently.
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Incorporation

Incorporation is where I usually fail conlangs because I start implementing it in a relatively ready syntax. If structures coding argument structure are complex, incorporation just makes the syntax kitchen-sinky. But Karu syntax is in its infancy, so it is possible to have extensive incorporation.

Osia kindly linked Mithun's article about incorporation: http://mithun.faculty.linguistics.ucsb. ... ration.PDF

Karu has all the four types:
I Lexical noun incorporation

Mass nouns and other generic nouns are often incorporated with the verb. Many of them have a reduced root for it.

renu 'tea-like drink'
tlika 'to drink'
=> rentlika 'to drink renu'

II The manipulation of case

tasa 'hand'
nerga 'to wash'

tannergaru
tas-nerga-ru
hand-wash-REFL
'S/he washed her/his hands.'

III The manipulation of discourse structure
IV Classificatory noun incorporation

soťe 'to see'
woia 'body'

You cannot say you see a person, because persons are psychological entities. You have to see a person's body.

Wosohťei. 'I see him/her.'


Some nouns have special reduced forms for being the first/modifying root in compounding or incorporation.


[To be continued]
Last edited by Omzinesý on 10 Oct 2021 21:41, edited 5 times in total.
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Case inflection

Nouns and adjectives have the same case endings. Here, all the example words are adjectives. ėni 'good' (what one subjectively considers good, not 'good at'), mela 'sad', selan 'beautiful'
Case endings can be grouped in three based on their morphology: stem cases, i-cases, r-cases. -i is a historical ablative 'from' and "re" has historically meant 'there'. The case markers following them are -Ø, -n, and -r.

Stem cases

Nominative is the basic stem.
ėni, mela, selan

Genitive-Dative has marker -n for vowel-final words and -an for consonant-final ones.
ėnnin, mellan, selannan

I-stems

I-stems have marker -i. Historically, /ai/ -> /e/ and /ɛi/ -> /e/, but the change does not appear in personal names or resent loans. Oblique (or Ergative, I'm not sure about its syntax) is the same as i-stem word.
ėnnii ['ennei], melė, selani

Partitive Plural is part of the case paradigm though its syntax is the same as that of Nominative. Its marker is -n.
ėnniin, mellėn, selannin

Ablative marker is -r.
ėnniir, mellėr, selannir

R-stems

The ending of r-stems is -re or -ro depending on vowel harmony. If the preceding vowel is front, the ending is -re. If the preceding vowel is back, the marker is -ro. If the preceding vowel is central /ä/, the vowel following it is checked. If there are no front or back vowels, -re is used. /d/ is added before the ending in consonant-final stems. Terminative marker is the bare r-stem.
ėnire, melare, selandre

Approximative marker is -sa.
ėniresa, melaresa, selandresa

Perlative marker is -r
ėnirrer, melarrer, selantrer

Locative marker is -n. But vowel-final stems also have a so called short locative E and n are dropped.
ėnirren ~ ėnnir, melarren ~ mellar, selantren

Code: Select all

Nom ėni mela selan
GenDat ėnnin mellan selannan 
Obl ėnnii mellė selani 
PartPl ėnniin mellėn selannin 
Abl ėnniir mellėr selannir 
Term ėnire melare selantre 
Appr ėniresa melaresa selandresa
Perl ėnirrer melarrer selantrer
Loc ėnirren ~ ėnnir melarren ~ mellar selantren 

Last edited by Omzinesý on 05 Oct 2021 23:04, edited 2 times in total.
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Copula clauses

Copula clauses are simple. No verb is needed in Realis.

Nouns appear in Nominative as predicates.
[subject-NOM] [predicate-NOM]

(1) Toka aśola.
'The girl is a family member.'

Adjectives appear in Locative as predicates if they express a permanent state.
[subject-NOM][predicate-LOC]

(2) Toka me(l)lar(en).
'The girl is sad (generally).'

Adjectives appear in Approximative if they express a temporary state.
[subject-NOM][predicate-APPR]

(3) Toka melaresa.
'The girl is sad (at the moment).'
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Generated words

Code: Select all

lolol
nétin
tiuan
mama
finne
fyra
fuian
tilil
pymu
polgan
tondil
feisa
puri
sonme
keri
pala
meso
fufol
ueiol
pynel
meui
milďa
muiri
ruua
moie
myual
panba
punśu
rilra
iéka
fonďal
ruui
uinso
lalgo
nilul
sakin
lunsel
faire
fenrul
saiba
rotu
naibe
nannun
tyra
féuon
reso
sunil
faua
momu
uénio
taru
roual
molďe
fatu
iaiďan
sunan
faron
mifun
fipun
pepal
néne
paku
lorol
syri
tata
mésa
nulu
telfen
manfal
nenu
neiul
letu
féla
reri
sifi
soko
nalfe
kiku
iaiel
uyta
uino
rume
lalďal
rékon
iuuin
lénma
myla
peial
lukol
ryku
felna
neia
malfan
uéfa
suse
titul
tital
lysi
pari
nasa
reri
fylen
uane
mati
pamo
foti
sapa
félmu
uyndan
séia
iote
iuse
kylďa
uana
fulfal
nile
mopa
peigal
iopi
uako
tinol
puma
iylda
lofi
muiman
salfe
iésu
uangan
mate
iyfon
fiui
ualon
féma
meto
uamu
mako
pelfan
iélbon
pake
fafe
roian
tylśo
péla
lurol
nala
iano
lymal
nylon
pisen
nani
kykal
iotun
pelmo
sildi
panbun
suluil
sanni
raui
nauil
koril
syto
fasu
pélśe
tékol
pémul
neina
iyto
lufo
iuia
taigil
farun
fonśu
paua
tenri
tyian
iétal
faime
iélsu
lyndun
fyfal
potil
ryllal
tasi
lénne
lysun
iéru
iénsin
mapa
raino
loien
mansi
réiďa
fangi
samul
palnal
témo
uéru
muua
punfun
nupen
kuma
meuan
kéfu
rypan
fema
liru
pépu
fynge
mynda
teno
kyiul
muie
failo
soti
nokel
ralro
tunun
pépa
téke
tulro
fafe
minion
komu
keko
uaua
fital
taian
selme
lala
panul
natil
iuso
pénśe
péral
réfol
punsu
foial
uansal
seisel
iéiśu
rikun
faifon
lopa
sukun
tulso
linlul
nemul
kynśen
tyla
pulla
fyman
tulsal
kuti
téisa
nofun
para
iauil
uiua
memu
tyllo
mauo
iukel
ialui
uyibu
sinbe
rulme
lamun
pelo
péinin
lanmon
pilben
kanlon
tamen
falbu
kama
lesan
kéiu
uelu
sola
lylo
kylo
tata
kepul
lanol
ieilu
lyte
iome
tongol
uinu
fine
ioiuil
rakul
iaku
mynmi
nysel
sate
kilme
uéla
fonan
pelran
réta
mynsan
pilbi
lyini
fange
fyien
sangi
lyro
kypen
ioro
myfol
liro
iéiro
tonin
rafo
rénnu
mansa
fyida
nouol
soran
tafa
pura
iyko
métal
fanil
liui
kosa
ioiu
iekul
iaiu
safi
léuon
pepel
maku
tungil
ripa
nano
lola
uénďo
nélre
malo
nylul
funi
taibun
léiue
syma
musal
seibin
iami
néiďel
matan
iénbu
iuua
méie
panlan
talon
suiu
setal
fase
nalul
naiful
tyna
nato
kosol
kéra
myna
soni
folgo
mulral
nika
iaiśo
tasi
nukul
fynmen
mise
péio
kypi
fuiso
tona
lomi
fello
filu
uenśe
lera
feso
uafa
kyra
iynra
kysa
mopen
ranu
laiśo
lolďa
senel
uélon
mafu
pire
mikin
uika
raisa
kumin
nipi
myne
uanri
saua
falmi
mimo
syual
fika
iyilo
koki
fenban
laigu
menbo
rinfa
ritin
soui
pilen
nanro
limil
iefi
noiui
myidi
pumon
meman
pulfil
sénmu
fépi
falfi
uolni
siro
rekil
syke
sosa
toni
uoku
ualse
fyko
ratu
mefe
sérul
rétal
nonra
meimu
sese
myiu
séisi
satal
timi
faua
uéko
nora
tilśon
tuki
tyirel
taua
tepi
rufa
ialdu
pimo
rafun
iyian
tomo

My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Infinitives could be just case endings added to the verb stem.

jokare 'to sing' Terminative
jokaresa 'to kind of sing' Approximative
johkér 'not to sing, to stop singing' Ablative


Participles

Perfect participle
Discontinuous-past participle
Simultaneous participle
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
User avatar
Omzinesý
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4079
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 08:17
Location: nowhere [naʊhɪɚ]

Re: Karu language

Post by Omzinesý »

Omzinesý wrote: 04 Oct 2021 16:40 Semantics of TAM
[...]

There are also two relative past tenses (anterior, retrospectative): Perfect and Discontinuous Past. They have both active and passive forms and are related to participles (I'm not sure if they end up being periphrastic or synthetics). They code that events happened before the main flow of events.
Perfect codes that what happened before is relevant for the main flow of events, while Discontinuous Past codes that it is not. Perfect can often be translated 'bacause' and Discontinuous Past 'though'.
I think Karu does not need distinct perfect and discontinuous past tenses. There are the resultative and irresultative suffixes/clitics. If the relevance of the interior event must be specified, it can be done with those suffixes/clitics.

I'm also getting bored with Karu and would like to combine it with this phonology instead.
Omzinesý wrote: 11 Sep 2021 18:18 A new derivation from Kahichali phoneme inventory.

p t k
s ʃ ç x (ʍ)
m n
l r j (w)

- I'm not sure if the labiovelars should be included.

y i u
ɛ ɑ
Vowels can be nasalized and have some tones.

Syllable structure:
(C)(C)V

The allowed consonant clusters are:
plosive + fricative/liquid
{p t k} + {s ʃ ç x (ʍ) l r}
Phonetically, there are thus affricates and velar/palatal 'aspiration'.
My meta-thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5760
Post Reply