Amjati

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Sankon
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Re: Amjati

Post by Sankon »

Ossicone wrote:
Sankon wrote: I'm confused by this sentence. Are you saying that the simple and imperative have merged? Or is it just a brainfart?

Everything else makes sense. I would want a little more detail, sure, but that will come in time.
I meant indicative. :oops:
Thanks.

Yeah. This is a very rough version. More details will come eventually.
So what does the imperative do? Any special, interesting uses other than the normal commands?
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Ossicone
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Re: Amjati

Post by Ossicone »

Just commands. Nothing special yet.

But you can only really use commands with people of a lower caste. Or women.
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Re: Amjati

Post by Ossicone »

Minor update: Added reflexives. :D
Because they require the reflexive pronoun to be used explicitly, these cannot use the attached form of the pronoun.

Code: Select all

I hit myself.
Evreka ezek.
e-vreka  ezek
PST-hit  1sg.RLX

You hit yourself.
Vreken ekek.
vreka-en  ekek
hit-PST   2sg.t.RLX

He hit her.
Vreka ipri apja.
vreka    ipri       apʲa
hit.PST  3sg.m.ERG  3sg.f.ABS

OR

Evreka apja.
e-vreka      apʲa
3m-hit.PST  3sg.f.ABS

He killed himself.
Inek epek.
inek     epek
hit.PST  3sg.m.RLX
How could I forget?

Code: Select all

Why are you hitting yourself?
Ernaz vrakjat akek?
ernaz  vraka-at  akek
why    hit-PRS   2sg.f.RLX
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Ossicone
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Re: Amjati

Post by Ossicone »

Adjusted the reflexive pronouns because apparently I like /k/ in coda too much.
Also added a reflexive case. Does this exist?

Code: Select all

He might have hit himself.
Vrekaz epel.
vrekaz    epel
hit.PSTP  3sg.m.RLX

She was hitting herself.
Vreka apel.
vreka    apel
hit.PST  3sg.f.RLX

The dumb girl was hitting herself.
Vreka epi nuriel.
vreka    epi       nuri-el
hit.PST  dumb.ERG  girl-DEF.f.RLX

A dumb girl was hitting herself.
Vreka al epi nuri.
vreka    al         epi       nuri
hit.PST  IDF.f.RLX  dumb.ERG  girl
Fun fact: Nuri actually means 'sister' but is used as a general term for a girl from the ages 12-25.
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Re: Amjati

Post by plathhs »

Ossicone wrote:Fun fact: Nuri actually means 'sister' but is used as a general term for a girl from the ages 12-25.
Nice! That's like the word for older sister/young woman in Japanese: お姉さん
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Re: Amjati

Post by roninbodhisattva »

Are reflexives only used for action directed against the subject, or can they also be used for action directed against, say, something possessed by the subject? In other words, would you use reflexive for something like "I cut my hand"?
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Re: Amjati

Post by Ossicone »

Eser ezel.
1.PST-cut 1sg.RLX
e-ser ezel
'I cut myself.'

Eser ezel djaz.
1.PST-cut 1sg.RLX hand-DEF.f.ABS
'I cut my hand (on purpose.)'

Eser zuri djaz.
1.PST-cut 1sg.ERG hand-DEF.f.ABS
'I cut my hand (by accident.)'

When used reflexively it implies intention. If regular erg-abs it's accidental.
That makes sense right?
plathhs wrote: Nice! That's like the word for older sister/young woman in Japanese: お姉さん
Cool. I didn't know that!
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Re: Amjati

Post by roninbodhisattva »

Ossicone wrote:When used reflexively it implies intention. If regular erg-abs it's accidental.
That makes sense right?
Yeah, I really like that distinction.
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Re: Amjati

Post by Chandith »

Ossicone wrote:
plathhs wrote: Nice! That's like the word for older sister/young woman in Japanese: お姉さん
Cool. I didn't know that!
Its the same for the terms for brother/young man (お兄さん), aunt/older woman(小母さん), uncle/older man(小父さん), grandmother/old woman (お婆さん) and grandfather/old man(お爺さん). Although the older man/woman and old man/woman is pretty much the same in English as well.
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Re: Amjati

Post by Ossicone »

roninbodhisattva wrote:
Ossicone wrote:When used reflexively it implies intention. If regular erg-abs it's accidental.
That makes sense right?
Yeah, I really like that distinction.
Cool. :D

Chandith wrote: Its the same for the terms for brother/young man (お兄さん), aunt/older woman(小母さん), uncle/older man(小父さん), grandmother/old woman (お婆さん) and grandfather/old man(お爺さん). Although the older man/woman and old man/woman is pretty much the same in English as well.
Except, I'm being quite rude if I call an old person grandma/grandpa/granny/gramps. (Hey grandpa, get the fuck out of the way!) But also interesting. I think you get the same kind of thing in Hindi, my only evidence being some cheesy movies, with young ladies being 'sister' and older ladies being 'auntie.'

As for Amjati, 'nuri' is actually one of the nicer ways to call a girl. The reverse for calling a young man a brother doesn't work though. What a woman would call a man would depend on her caste relative to his, if he's a relative or her husband.
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Re: Amjati

Post by Solarius »

This is as cool as can be!
(See, I said i would comment.. :mrgreen: )
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Re: Amjati

Post by Ossicone »

I've done some work collecting all my Amjati notes together and doing some minor revisions. (Examples are on my 'to do' list.) As such the current state of Amjati is:

Phonology
Vowels
Amjati has a typical 5 vowel system.

Image

There are a series of vowel movements related to case and tense marking.
It is an asymmetrical system best described by this table:

Image

The only vowel that cannot be adjacent to other vowels is /o/. It will 'eat' nearby vowels.

Ex: Zok
zo-ak → zoak → zok


All other neighboring vowels will be separated by hiatus.
/ ai ea ei eu ia ie iu ua ue ui /

Image

Consonants
The most notable feature of Amjati consonants is a distinctive palatalization. All stops have a palatalized version. However with the alveolar stop they have become affricates.

Image


*/j/ is included under the trill because it considered to be the palatal realization of /r/.

Consonant clusters beginning with fricatives must agree in palatalization.
For example: /zl/ and/ʑʎ/ are acceptable but /zʎ/* /ʑl/* /sl/* and /ɕʎ/* are invalid.

Syllables
(C)(C)V(C)(C)

Word Initial:
/ pr br dv kl kr sk zr zl vr /
/ *r /

Word Final:
/ sk st zm /
/ *ʎ /

Processes
Length Palatalization:
CVV → CʲV

O Deletion:
oV / Vo → o

Pronouns
All pronouns mark for number. Gender is distinguished in the second and third person with familiarity only being relevant in the second person. In addition, pronouns are inflected for five different cases – Absolutive, Ergative, Dative, Genitive and Reflexive.

Image

There is also a set of attached pronouns which can appear on the verb. These always indicate the subject of a verb. Attached pronouns are less specific in that they do not indicate number Using both the attached form and the free form to indicate the subject is ungrammatical as is using neither.

Image

First person and third person attached pronouns have both a prefix and suffix form. The prefix form for the first person are used when the verb is in the simple present, past and future tenses. The suffix form is used when the verb is the potential present, past and future tenses. The third person prefix is used with the simple present and past. In all other cases the suffix form is used.

The second person male formal is the only time an attached pronoun does not exist. The free pronoun must always be used in this case.

Nouns
Cases
Amjati nouns can take one of four cases with the fifth reflexive case being reserved only for pronouns.

Absolutive
This case marks the subject of a intransitive or the object of transitive sentence.

Ergative
This case marks the subject of a transitive sentence.

Reflexive
This case is used when the subject is both the agent and patient of an action. When used with an object it can also be used to distinguish intention. RLX-ABS is intentional. ERG-ABS is accidental/unintentional. This case is only marked on pronouns.

Dative

Genitive
This case is used to mark the possessor of an object. The possessor always comes after the possessed. In addition the possessed object is always marked with the definite article.

Definiteness
All nouns are marked as definite or indefinite. The indefinite article comes before the noun is modifies. The definite article is attached as a suffix to the noun. Articles must agree in gender with the noun and mark for case.

Image

Number
All unmarked nouns are singular. For masculine nouns the plural is indicated with the suffix -i and for feminine nouns it is marked with the suffix -el. Plural suffixes come before the definite suffix.

Image

Verbs
Amjati verbs have three moods – simple, potential and imperative. The simple is an imperative sentence and the potential is used for both subjunctive and conditional meanings. In addition there are also three tenses – present, past and future. Verbs conjugate for tense, mood, person and number, but not for familiarity.

The potential is an irrealis mood that can translate roughly into a subjunctive or conditional.

Image

There are two nonfinite forms. The first is formed by suffixing '-al' and is used as the infinite after the main verb. The second is formed by using 'al' as a particle before the verb.

Full Verb Conjugation - Skolal - To Ask
Spoiler:
Image
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Re: Amjati

Post by Solarius »

Looks cool!
That is one monstrous verb. [O.O] [:D]
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Re: Amjati

Post by Solarius »

Anything new going on with this?
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Re: Amjati

Post by Ossicone »

I'm working on some new documentation. But no major changes or additions.
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