Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

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Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by Shemtov »

This is a parallel project to Classical Ħanese/Proto-Kanic, as this language is a neice to said language.

Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ /t͡ɕʰi:˥ pɛ˩˧ kɑ̃˩˧/ are the languages of the Qíʳ Bȁˀ city states which pepper the valleys of the Kiruhatsu Mountains. This thread will focus on the dialect of the powerful city state of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ.

This first post will focus on the phonology, phonotactics and romanization of the language, as they are complicated. The romanization in particular, is meant to represent the orthography of the native writing system, and to show how other dialects may realize certain phonological properties which are suprasegmental in the Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ dialect.

Phonological inventory:
/p pʰ t tʰ t͡s t͡sʰ ʈ͡ʂ ʈ͡ʂʰ t͡ɕ t͡ɕʰ c͡ç c͡çʰ k kʰ/ <b p d t z c zh ch j q gy ky g k>
/m n ɳ ɲ ŋ/ <m n nh ny ng>
/ʰm ʰn ʰɳ ʰɲ ʰŋ/ <hm hn hnh hny hng>
/s ʂ ɬ ɕ ç x/ <s sh lh x hy h>
/l ɻ w j/ <l r w ï>

/i y u/ <i ü u>
/e ø o/ <e ö o>
/ɛ ɑ/ <ä a>
/ai oi øi/ <ai oi öi>
/au eu øu iu yu/ <au eu öu iu üu>

All vowels may be nasalized, shown by a <ⁿ> following the nucleus. All monophthongs may be long shown by <ʳ> after the vowel, or by being a contour tone.

Tones:
˥ ˩ ˧˥ ˩˧ ˥˧ ˧˩ ˧˩˦ <V́ V̀ V́ˀ V̀ˀ V́ʰ V̀ʰ ˀV̀ˀ>
The low falling tone maybe shown after unaspirated stops as <ˀV>, to represent represent the orthography of the native writing system.

Phonotactics: (C)(j/w)V
Last edited by Shemtov on 02 Dec 2021 20:01, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by BarnacleHeretic »

I love this romanization. It's kind of everything you're "not supposed to do", at least according to the opinions I've mostly seen and heard (I generally hear the opinion that romanizations should exist to give a clear and easy sense to your readers on how to pronounce the language). However, I've always had a soft spot for more aesthetically evocative romanizations with the quirks and eccentricities of real world romanizations, and basing it off the language's own orthography is a great way of achieving that.
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Re: Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by Shemtov »

And I had to strike a balance between transcription and romanization. There are 10 graphemes that signal the presence of a ˀ ending. What I decided to do is show the phonology of Proto-Central Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ. So Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ in Proto Central would have been pronounced /t͡ɕʰiɚ˥ pɛʔ˩ kaˀɴ˩/, and the only contour tone was /˧˩/, developing from a pre-Proto Central tone split, and was pretty rare. There are some Central dialects, that instead of have a register-falling-rising tone split have a modal-breathy-creaky voice split, and some treat the old nasal final in actually complicated ways instead of just nasalizing the vowel.
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Re: Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by Shemtov »

The basics of the Noun phrase:
Nouns take postclitics to mark case. Note that these are true clitics, as we will see, numbers can come between the noun and the clitic. The accusative has two forms, based on whether the noun is animate or inanimate.

Nominative: ∅
Accusative (anim): A̋ˀ
Accusative (inanim): Àˀ
Dative: Là
Locative: Máu
Ablative: Mà
Lative: Lhá


Numbers 1-10:
1. Ìˀ
2. Nyé
3. Sȁˀⁿ
4. Síʳ
5. Hyúʰ
6. Lìˀ
7. Xéˀ
8. Bȁʰ
9. Jȍu
10. ːXí

So two nouns with numerals and accusative case:
Wìʳ sȁˀⁿ ɑ̋ˀ
"Three women (acc.)"

Pïùˀ sȁˀⁿ ɑ̀ˀ
"Three syllable-blocks (acc.)"
Last edited by Shemtov on 10 Dec 2021 00:20, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by Shemtov »

Deictics:
Proximal singular: Nyó
Proximal plural: Nyó-póⁿ
Distal singular: Zhíˀⁿ
Distal plural: Zhíˀⁿ-póⁿ

Pronouns:
1P sing: Nyò
1P plr:Nyò-póⁿ
2P sing: Nhùʳ
2p plr: Nhùʳ-póⁿ
3P anim. sing: Chwàʰ
3p anim plr: Chwàʰ-póⁿ
3P inanim sing: Qȁʰ
3P inamnim plr: Qȁʰ-póⁿ
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Re: Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by Shemtov »

Prefatory note: Given that they are refered to as such in the native writing system, and that they are reflexes of final from the proto-lang, I will refer to the raised letters at the end of syllables as "Finals". The permitted finals are <ʳ ⁿ ˀ ʰ ˀⁿ>.

Verbs:
Verbs have three forms: The imperfect (also called the "base"), the perfect, and the subjunctive. The latter two are formed from the imperfect by either what looks like suppletion, but follows generally regular rules, or by reduplacation.

The perfect is formed from the base by the following rules:
If the tone is high in the base, it is lowered in the initial.

If the initial is an aspirated stop or nasal, it deaspirates, unless it has a medial <ï w>, and in some cases, <ch q ky mnh mny> stay aspirated.

If it ends in a null final or a ʰ final, the final becomes ˀ. If the final is ⁿ, it becomes ˀⁿ. If the final is ʳ, the final is dropped, and the following changes take place: a>eu ai>eu o>öu u>üu i>iu oi> öu.

If the final is ˀ, but has the vowels a ai au o u they change to ä e eu ö ü.

If none of these are possible, the verb is reduplicated without a final.


The subjunctive is formed by:

Null finals, or all non-ʰ finals become ʰ, except for the ʳ-final, which stays.

If it already ends in an ʰ-final, but has the vowels a ai au o u they change to ä e eu ö ü.

If these cannot be applied, the rhyme is reduplicated.


Sample conjugations:

Kywíⁿ "To eat":
Imperfect: Kywíⁿ
Perfect: Kywìˀⁿ
Subjunctive: Kywiʰ


Púˀ "To drink"
Imperfect: Púˀ
Perfect: Bȕˀ
Subjunctive: Púʰ


Dàiˀ "To walk"
Imperfect: Dàiˀ
Perfect: Deˀ
Subjunctive: Dàiʰ


Bȍˀ "To come"
Imperfect: Bȍˀ
Perfect: Bȍˀ-bȍ
Subjunctive: Bȍʰ

Lhéʰ "To go"
Imperfect: Lhéʰ
Perfect: Lhèˀ
Subjunctive: Lhéʰ-éʰ
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Re: Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by Shemtov »

The copula and existential verbs are unique in that they code for Evidential Modality, through suppletion.
Copula:
Gnomic: Bȁʳ
Witness: Bȕⁿ
Deductive: Bȍˀ
Assumptive: Bïȍˀ
Reported: Bȍʰ


Existential:
Gnomic: Hyȁʳ
Witness: Hyȕⁿ
Deductive: Hyȍˀ
Assumptive: Lhȍˀ
Reported: Shȍʰ


These can be used as auxillaries with a Plain or Perfect verb to change Tense/aspect, otherwise plain is interpretated as Present and Perfect as Past:
Plain+Copula=Present Habitual
Perfect+Copula=Present Perfect
Plain+ Existential=Present continuous
Perfect+ Existential= Past perfect continuous

Thus:
Wìʳ Kywíⁿ Bïȍˀ
"The woman Assumed to eat habitually"

Wìʳ Kywìˀⁿ Bȍʰ
"It was told to me that the woman has eaten"

Wìʳ Kywíⁿ Hyȍˀ
"It seems to woman is eating"

Wìʳ Kywíˀⁿ Hyȕⁿ
"I saw the woman had been eating"
Last edited by Shemtov on 10 Feb 2022 18:16, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by Shemtov »

I'm going to explain the writing system, but first a word on its evolution and socio-linguistic context:
There are five "Dialectical Complexes" of Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ: Northwest, North, Central, South-Central, and South. What I am presenting is a prestige dialect of the Central "Complex", which has a genetic link with South-Central, but is marked by heavy North influences given a period of mass migration of proto-North speakers to the Central area.
If you go further back, to Common Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ, it was split from Ħa̠nese c.2700 years ago, by invading Para-Göhöläki speakers from the North and Para-Fuhean speakers from the south and Early Common Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ used a similar and related logography to Classical Ħa̠nese, but about 200 years after the split, they began to simplify it into a Syllabary (Middle Common Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ) and in about 300 years to an Abugida (Late Common Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ), contemporary Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ being only a "Language" in the sense that "Chinese" is IRL, insofar that speakers of one "Dialect" may have no idea what a speaker of another one is saying, but given that the Abugida represents Late Common Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ with some grammatical changes, will get the general gist of a written text in another "Dialect", though those Morphosyntactic changes marked in regional Written Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ are likely to cause some non-understanding of the text. As an example of the grammatical differences, in South-Central proper, grammatical volition is a very important feature, but the North influence on Central erased much of its importance in Central, but it still shows up occasional. Note that South, as opposed to South-Central, ran further with volition to the point that most South Dialects are split-S.

I have based the writing system on Tibetan, with Late Common Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ being the equivalent of Written Tibetan. A good example of how the writing system is conservative is through the number 1-9 written out. I will list them in my transcription, IPA, and an-IPA based transcription of how they are written, based on Late Common Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ phonology:
1. Ìˀ /i˩˧/ <∅it>
2. Nyé /ɲe ˥/ <ntje>
3. Sȁˀⁿ /sã˩˧/ <zant>
4. Síʳ /si:˥/ <siɻ>
5. Hyúʰ /çu˥˧/ <xlux>
6. Lìˀ /li˩˧/ <lik>
7. Xéˀ /ɕe˧˥/ <sjet>
8. Bȁʰ /pɛ˧˩/ <bas>
9. Jȍu /t͡ɕøu˩/ <gjol>

So the basic phonology of Late Common Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ was:
/p pʰ b bʱ ɓ t tʰ d dʱ ɗ t͡s t͡sʰ dz dzʱ k kʰ g gʱ ɠ/
/m ʰm n ʰn ŋ ʰŋ/
/s z x ɣ/
/w l ɹ ɻ j/

Phonotactics were (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C).
The only initial clusters allowed were any non-approximant followed by an approximant, or a nasal followed by a homorganic stop, (with an optional approximant).
The only finals allowed were /m n ŋ p t k s x l ɹ ɻ mp nt ŋk/

The implosives fused with the plain voiced stops, and left a low falling tone.
Then the following changes occurred, using B as a sign for any voiced stop and Z as one for voiced fricatives, and P and S as the unvoiced equivalents:
BV>PV˩
Bʱ>PʰV˩
ZV>SV˩
NPV>NV˥
ot>øt
at>ɛt
ut>yt
os>øs
as>ɛs
us>ys
oɹ>øɹ
aɹ>ɛɹ
uɹ>yɹ
ol>øl
at>ɛl
ut>yl
ɹ>ɻ
VP>Vʔ
VS>Vh
VNP>Ṽʔ
sl>ɬ
t͡sj>t͡ɕ
t͡sʰj>t͡ɕʰ
tj>t͡ɕ
tʰj>t͡ɕʰ
kj>t͡ɕ
sj>ɕ
xj>ɕ
nj>ɲ
ŋj>ɲ
ClV>CjV
Pɻ>ʈ͡ʂ
Pʰɻ>ʈ͡ʂʰ
Sɻ>ʂ
nɻ>ɳ
t͡sj>t͡ɕ
t͡sʰj>t͡ɕʰ
kj>cç
kʰj>cçʰ
xj>ç
Vʔ˧˩>V˧˩˧
Vʔ>Rising tone
Vh> Falling tone
VN>Ṽ
Vɻ>V:
Vl>Vu
ɛu>eu

Thus, the syllable /t͡ɕo˧˥/ can be written in the following ways:
<t͡sjop t͡sjok tjop tjok kjop kjok t͡slop t͡slok>

And ʈ͡ʂi˧˩ as so:
/bɹis bɹix bɻis bɻix ɓɹi ɓɻi dɹis dɹix dɻis dɻix ɗɹi ɗɻi d͜zɹɹis d͜zɹix d͜zɻis d͜zɻix gɹis gɹix gɻis gɻix ɠɹi ɠɻi>
Last edited by Shemtov on 10 Jan 2022 23:48, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by Shemtov »

To negate the verb, the negative verb is used as an auxillary. It codes for Evidential Modality, through different finals.:
Gnomic: Lȍʳ
Witness: Lȍⁿ
Deductive: Lȍˀ
Assumptive: Lȍˀ
Reported: Lȍʰ

The copula and existential also have special negative forms:
Negative Copula:
Gnomic: Bïȁʳ
Witness: Bïȕⁿ
Deductive: Bïȍˀ-Lȍˀ
Assumptive: Bïȍˀ-Lò
Reported: Bïȍʰ

Negative Existential:
Gnomic: Lhȍʳ
Witness: Lhȍⁿ
Deductive: Lhȍˀ-Lȍˀ
Assumptive: Lhȍˀ-Lò
Reported: Lhȍʰ

I'm sorry if this seems just like a list of morphemes; So far I have been presenting the "bones" of the language, but the "muscles" of the project, the syntax of a sentence, will be my next posts.
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Re: Qíʳ Bȁˀ Gàˀⁿ ( Dialect of Hmïőˀ Hmïőʰ Shéⁿ Kúʰ)

Post by Shemtov »

A small semantic note: Many verbs of motion come in pairs, one being intransitive and the other being transitive, having the meaning "had an unknown effect on the patient". An example is Zhȕⁿ "To fall (intrans)" and Hnwáˀ "To fall on (trans)".

The language has split ergativity, which is triggered when the A is inanimate and the verb is in the perfect stem. The A is marked with the ergative particle sóʳ.

Compare:
Màʰ kéu àˀ hnwáˀ
boulder walking.stick ACC fall.on
"The boulder falls on the walking stick [with an unknown consequence]"

Màʰ sóʳ kéu hnwa̋ˀ hyȁʳ
boulder ERG walking.stick fall.on EXISTEN.GNOM
"The boulder fell on the walking stick [with an unknown consequence]"

However, if the P is anim, it forms a tripartite system, with the P in the ACC case.

Màʰ sóʳ wìʳ a̋ˀ hnwa̋ˀ hyȁʳ
boulder ERG woman ACC fall.on EXISTEN.GNOM
"The boulder fell on the woman [with an unknown consequence]"
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
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