TBPO's Scratchpad that prevents the CBB from drowning in his conlangs

[TBPO]

Arkasian

Arkasian is a language which I'm making for a long time, scrapping it a few times and making again. The fundaments of current iteration are:

• short-long vowel distinction,
• front rounded vowels,
• declination based on vowel length, historical nasalization and common VC collapse,
• 5 cases (ergative, absolutive, genitive, dative, instrumental) and partially derivational animacy,
• nouns inflected for case, number and animacy,
• verbs inflected for case, person, animacy and evidentiality,
• Culture of tough wolf-riders with spears.

Arkasian Phonology

/p b t d k g/ p b t d k g
/ɸ v s h/ f v s h
/m n ŋ/ m n ņ
/l r j ɥ w/ l r y wy w

/i iː y u uː/ i ī ü u ū
/e eː øː o oː/ e ē ö o ō
/ɛ ai̯ (aːə̯ eːə̯)/ ä ay āä ēä
/a aː/ a ā

Aa Āā Ää Bb Dd Ee Ēē Ff Gg Hh Ii Īī Kk Ll Mm Nn Ņņ Oo Ōō Öö Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Ūū Üü Vv Ww Yy
(letter <z> is used for /s/ in /bs ds gs/)

[aːə̯ eːə̯] are phonemically treated as /aːs eːs/.
/n ŋ/ are [ɲ] <ņ> before /i iː j y ɥ/.

Stress is ultimate if the last syllable is long; else, it's penultimate.

CXVC
X=/j ɥ w ɸ v s h/
/Cj Cw Cɥ pp tt kk ss mm nn ŋŋ pɸ ps ph tɸ ts th kɸ ks kh pr tr kr mp nt ŋk bm dn gŋ bv dv gv bs ds gs mh nh ŋh lɸ lv lh/

Spoiler:

N=/m n ŋ/
Important changes from Proto-Taric:
iN > ĩ > y
iːN > ĩː > eː
uN > ũ > y
uːN > ũː > oː
eN > ẽ > i
eːN > ẽː > øː
oN > õ > a
oːN > õː > øː
aN > ã > ɛ
aːN > ãː > ai̯
is, es > i
us, os > y
as > ɛ
iːs > iːjɛ
TODO: add more changes

Edit: I changed the stress rules to: If ultimate syllable is long and penultimate is short, then ultimate is stressed. Else, penultimate syllabke is stressed. I did this because ultimate stress was to often.

Edit: Explained what is Arkasian.

Edit: Removed pharyngeal fricative. I did this because it never appears in Arkasian and I find it hard to pronounce.

Edit: Added /v/ because it feels right.

[TBPO]

Noun Inflection

Arkasian is fusional. Nouns inflect for number, case and animacy.
Numbers: singular, plural
Cases: ergative, absolutive, genitive, dative, instrumental
Animacy: inanimate, animate

Inanimate nouns

Code: Select all

INA SG PL
ERG -e -ē
ABS -/ -āä
GEN -o -ó
DAT -u -ū
INS -i -ī

Animate nouns

Code: Select all

ANI SG   PL
ERG -i   -ö
ABS -(ä) -ēä
GEN -a   -ö
DAT -ü   -ó
INS -ü   -ē

Edit: Some nouns have -ä in ANI.ABS.SG. Animacy is half-derivational.

[TBPO]

Verb Inflection

Arkasian verbs inflect for case, number, animacy (only in 3.ERG) and evidentiality. The former three provide information about a participant.
Case: ergative, absolutive
Person: 1, 2, 3
Animacy: animate, inanimate
Evidentiality: visual, non-visual, inferential, speculative, reportative

Ergative:

Code: Select all

ERG   1     2    3ANI 3INA
VIS   -ö    -ay  -ā   -āl
NVIS  -ö    -ē   -ī   -īl
INFR  -ārar -ayr -ār  -āral
SPEC  -nēse -nök -nēä -nēse
REPRT -ahēä -aņö -ahē -ahē

Absolutive:

Code: Select all

ABS   1    2    3
VIS   -ä   -ä   -a
NVIS  -i   -ü   -i
INFR  -ä   -är  -ar
SPEC  -ņi  -ņik -ņi
REPRT -asi -asi -ay

[TBPO]

Parts of Speech

Arkasian PoS:

• Nouns
  -Free - can exist without genitive modifier.
  -Bound - can't exist without genitive modifier.
• Verbs (in progress)
  -Intransitive - They take only absolutive.
  -Transitive - They take, among others, ergative and absolutive.
  -Existential - They take only absolutive and instrumental.
• Adjectives
  -Attributives - They don't inflect; thy can modify nouns, verbs, adjectives or participles. They're always roots.
  -Adnouns - They inflect for animacy and noun agreement. They can modify only nouns. They're never roots.
• Participles - They inflect for case, number and evidentiality. They always come from verbs. They can modify only nouns.
• Pronouns
• Prepositions
• Particles - They don't inflect. Particle always modifies a clause and it can be placed anywhere in it. They carry only grammatical information.
• Conjunctions
• Interjections

Edit: Added particles.

[TBPO]

Arkasian Pronouns

Personal Pronouns
They infect for case, person, number and animacy. Possesive pronouns are genitive personal pronouns.
Case: ergative, absolutive, genitive, dative, instrumental
Person: 1, 2, 3
Number: singular, plural
Animacy: inanimate, animate (only 3rd person)

Code: Select all

ANI 1SG 1PL 2SG 2PL 3SG 3PL
ERG si  sö  ņi  ņö  li  lö
ABS hes sēä ki  ņēä hel lēä
GEN sa  sö  ņa  ņö  la  lö
DAT sü  só  ņü  ņó  lü  ló
INS sü  sē  ņü  ņē  lü  lē

Code: Select all

INA 3SG 3PL
ERG ta  fö
ABS te  hēä
GEN ha  fö
DAT fü  fó
INS fü  hē

Demonstrative pronouns
They inflect for case and deixis.
Case: ergative, absolutive, genitive, dative, instrumental
Deixis: proximal, medial, distal

Code: Select all

    PROX   MED    DIST
ERG kra    tsa    da
ABS kre    tse    de
GEN kraw   tsaw   daw
DAT krī    tsī    dī
INS kröyit tsöyit döyit

Interrogative pronouns

Code: Select all

ERG ABS GEN DAT INS   LOC TMP  HOW ATTR NUM
ka  ke  kaw kī  köyit köl käma ku  kār  sóksār

TODO More demonstrative pronouns
TODO Indefinite pronouns

[TBPO]

Adjectives

A word is an adjective, if:
-It modifies other word,
-It doesn't describe possesion,
-It doesn't describe an action,
-It isn't a pronoun.
Arkasian has two kind of adjectives: attributives and adnouns.
Attributives don't inflect. They can never be result of derivation. They can modify nouns, verbs, adjectives and participles. Numerals belong to this category.
On the other hand, adnouns are always a result of derivation from noun, verb, adjective or participle. They're heavily inflected and they can modify only nouns.

Adnoun Inflection

Adnouns inflect for inner animacy and noun agreement: case, number and head animacy. Inner animacy is animacy of word from which the adnoun is derivated; head animacy is animacy of modified noun.

Inner animacy: inner inanimate (IINA), inner animate (IANI)
Head animacy: head inanimate (HINA), head animate (HANI)
Case: ergative, absolutive, genitive, dative, instrumental
Number: singular, plural

INNER INANIMATE
Head inanimate

Code: Select all

HINA SG PL
ERG  -ö -ēw
ABS  -u -āsu
GEN  -ū -ów
DAT  -ū -ūf
INS  -ü -īw

Head animate

Code: Select all

HANI SG   PL
ERG  -iw  -öw
ABS  -u   -aysu
GEN  -aw  -öw
DAT  -üyw -ū
INS  -üyw -ö

INNER ANIMATE
Head inanimate

Code: Select all

HINA SG PL
ERG  -ī -ēy
ABS  -i -āsi
GEN  -ö -óy
DAT  -ü -ūy
INS  -ī -īw

Head animate

Code: Select all

HANI SG   PL
ERG  -ī   -öy
ABS  -i   -īsi
GEN  -ay  -öy
DAT  -üyw -ö
INS  -üyw -ī

Edit: Specified from what PoS adnoun can be formed.

[Omzinesý]

Are all adjectives derived from nouns and thus have an inner gender?

[TBPO]

Are all adjectives derived from nouns and thus have an inner gender?

Attributives can't be derivated at all and there's no gender system in Arkasian (animacy isn't gender because it's partially derivational), so I think that you meant: "Are all adnouns derivated from nouns and thus have an inner animacy?"

After thinking a while, I decided that adnouns can be derivated from nouns, verbs, adjectives (attributives, adnouns) and participles. Adnoun derivated from a animacyless PoS will behave as adnoun derivated from noun derivated from the word. So inner animacy of such adnoun is inanimate, because nouns describing actions and abstract concepts are inanimate.

[TBPO]

Participle Inflection

In Arkasian, every verb can be turned onto a participle without complications and vice versa. Participles inflect for case, number, animacy (only ABS.PL) and evidentiality.

Case: ergative, absolutive, dative, instrumental
Number: singular, plural
Animacy (only ABS.PL): inanimate, animate
Evidentiality: visual, non-visual, inferential, speculative, reportative

Singular

Code: Select all

SG    ERG    ABS    DAT    INS
VIS   -ābi   -ab    -abü   -abi
NVIS  -ībi   -ib    -ibü   -ibi
INFR  -āpri  -arab  -aprü  -apri
SPEC  -nēpsi -neseb -nepsü -nepsi
REPRT -ahēbi -ayb   -ahebü -ahebi

Plural

Code: Select all

PL    ERG    ABS.INA ABS.ANI DAT    INS
VIS   -ābö   -abāä   -abēä   -abó   -abī
NVIS  -ībö   -ibāä   -ibēä   -ibó   -ibī
INFR  -āprö  -aprāä  -aprēä  -apró  -aprī
SPEC  -nēpsö -nepsāä -nepsēä -nepsó -nepsī
REPRT -ahēbö -aybāä  -aybēä  -aybó  -aybī

[Dormouse559]

Are all adjectives derived from nouns and thus have an inner gender?

Attributives can't be derivated at all and there's no gender system in Arkasian (animacy isn't gender because it's partially derivational), so I think that you meant: "Are all adnouns derivated from nouns and thus have an inner animacy?"

I get the sense that you are describing a gender system. The defining feature of gender is agreement, and, if I'm reading correctly, you said that adnouns agree with the head noun based on animacy.

[TBPO]

Are all adjectives derived from nouns and thus have an inner gender?

Attributives can't be derivated at all and there's no gender system in Arkasian (animacy isn't gender because it's partially derivational), so I think that you meant: "Are all adnouns derivated from nouns and thus have an inner animacy?"

I get the sense that you are describing a gender system. The defining feature of gender is agreement, and, if I'm reading correctly, you said that adnouns agree with the head noun based on animacy.

Indeed... I was wrong...

[Omzinesý]

So, what does the adnoun mean?

[TBPO]

So, what does the adnoun mean?

It's a type of adjective which:
-is always derivated,
-is heavily inflected,
-can only modify nouns.

Other type of adjective is attributive, which:
-is never derivated,
-isn't inflected,
-can modify nouns, verbs, adjectives and participles.

[TBPO]

Hello! For clarity - I still didn't scrap Arkasian. I haven't been active for a while. Now I divide my time between expanding Arkasian's lexicon and writing Minecraft fanfic. Back to topic - Arkasian has now 181 words! 90 of them are not pronouns nor numerals, and 67 of them are roots. The latest word is akkī "to swim".

I also must work on syntax, because it isn't well-developed now.

[TBPO]

Arkasian Derivation

Derivation is very important in Arkasian. It's more complicated than in some languages, including English.

Basic Derivation

-ar NEG
-aņ to INA noun
-ad to ANI noun
-er AUG = augmentative (attributives only but sometimes lexicalized in other PoS)
-[gemination/lengthening] to verb
-el to gerund

Derivation to adnoun is placing -y- before the last consonant/CC of the word.

Verb-to-noun Derivation

Derivation from verb to noun is more complicated:
noun = verb + casefix + derivational suffix

Possible casefixes:

Code: Select all

   ERG ABS   DAT INS
SG -i- -(a)- -ü- -i-
PL -ö- -ēs-  -ó- -ī-

If genitive is needed, then it's replaced with dative. When prepositions are needed, they're added as prefixes.

Possible derivational suffixes:

Code: Select all

    ERG   OBL
INA -ö(ņ) -a(ņ)
ANI -ād   -ad

Noun derivated from verbs are stranger that normal nouns. They normally inflect except casefix pluralizes instead of noun ending.

kwī to speak, say
kwēl speech, speech act

kwiyād speaker (one who speaks/says/tells)
kwad thing which is said
kwüyad listener, audience (of speech act)
kwiyaņ language
kwiyad speaker (of language)

kwöyād speakers (ones who speak/say/tell)
kwēsad things which are said
kwóyad listeners, audience (of speech act)
kwīyaņ languages
kwīyad speakers (of language)

Edit: Added verb-to-gerund derivation.

Edit: Completely changed derivation to adnoun.

[TBPO]

Arkasian Syntax

Word order

Word order in Arkasian is strict SVO. Because Arkasian is ergative-absolutive language, the notion of "subject" and "object may be unclean, so below is a detailed explanation of word order:

• Subject - An argument that is most important in interpreting the clause. It's obligatory except the verb has no arguments. This includes also word that modify that argument.
• Verb - A predicate of a clause. A verb or participle.
• Object - All words that are neither subject nor verb, including other arguments and verb modifiers.

Clause types

• Standard - standard non-dependent clauses.
• Imperative - standard except they lack subjects. Their verbs are infinitives.
• Relative - they modify a noun, which is a subject of such clause. It has a participle instead of verb.
• Argument - they are an argument of another clause. They are always clause-final and preceded by conjunction e.
• Adjunct - they are embedded clauses that modify an entire predicate-argument structure. They can be clause-initial or clause-final, and the choice of conjunction depends on it. Conjunction is always between superordinate and subordinate clause.
• Predicative - [todo]

[TBPO]

I just finished 100-word Swadesh List! Arkasian has now:
-257 words in total,
-166 words not including pronouns and numerals,
-120 roots.

[TBPO]

Arkasian Incorporation

"Incorporation" is rare and very restricted, but it exists. Incorporated word is attached as a prefix. There are three types of incorporation:

• Spatial - a direction noun or motion attributive is incorporated into a verb. In means the same as verb ta noun or verb attributive. It's used only with most common verbs. It slowly becomes lexicalized.
• Quantity - a numeric attributive or indefinite pronoun is incorporated into a noun or verb. It's always derivational.
• Nominal - a noun is incorporated into a verb, which turns into a gerund. Example: es- "sun" + dākfī "to go down" = etsākfä "sunset".

Off-topic: after finishing this post I'll get into 207-word Swadesh List.

Edit: I just started but I will continue tommorow. I'll maybe get into phonetoc mergers.

[TBPO]

Arkasian: The First Sketch of Proto-Lang and Sound Changes

My first sketch of proto-lang and sound changes to Arkasian. Proto-lang will be either Proto-Taric or Proto-Taray. Sister language will be Mahhalar.

*p b t d k g
*v s h1 h2
*m n ng
*l ł r j w

*i ī u ū
*e ē ä o ó
*a ā

0. *ł changes to /l/
1. *h1 and *h2 merged to palatal fricative after /i j/ and to [h] elsewhere.
2. *s changes to [z] word-finally. And palatal fricative chamges to /S/
3. *ä changes to «e» in #h_C# condition and to «a» elsewhere.
4. VN » nasalized V (Old Arkasian here)
5. «f» and «wy» emerge in mysterious way.
6. Vz merges word-finally.
7. Nasalized vowels shift and unnasalize.
8. Lots of other VC merge.
9. Vowel hiatus gets more complex.
10. /S/ » /s/

As I said, it's only a first sketch. Comments and constructive criticism are encouraged.

[TBPO]

Maáhhalár

Maáhhalar is the sister language of Arkasian.

Maáhhalar SC

Proto-Taric:
/p b t d k g/ *p b t d k g
/v s x h/ *v s h1 h2
/m n ŋ/ *m n ng
/l ɫ r/ *l ł r
/j w/ *j w

/i iː u uː/ *i ī u ū
/e eː ə o oː/ *e ē ä o ō
/a aː/ *a ā

Sound changes from Proto-Taric:
1. x, h → ç / _[i iː j] or [i iː]_#
2. v → j / _[i iː j] or [i iː]_#
3. v, w → w / _[o u] or [o u]_#
4. v, w → v
5. x, h, ɫ → h, ħ, ɬ
6. ç, tj, kj, sj, hj, ħj → ʃ, t͡ɕ, t͡ʃ, ɕ, ʃ, h
7. V, Vː > V́, V̀
8. V̀ → V̀V́ / _ħ
9. V̀, V́ → V̄ / word with single pitch
10. ə → ə̄
11. e, o → ɛ, ɔ

Maáhhalár Phonology

/p b t d k g/ p b t d k g
/t͡s t͡ʃ t͡ɕ/ c č ć
/s ʃ ɕ ħ h/ s š ś hh h
/m n ɲ ŋ/ m n ňy ň
/ɬ l ɾ/ ł l r
/v~w j/ v~w y

/i u/ i u
/ɛ ə ɔ/ e ą o
/a/ a

There are two pitches/tones: low (unmarked) a /à/ and high (marked) á /á/. In words with single pitch every syllable is pronounced with mid tone. /ə/ has no pitch - it's always pronounced with mid tone.

Phonotactics and stress aren't decided yet.