Oasitê (Now has a conscript) (and a recording!)

[anacharis]

Oasitê Muya ʻa Muya Yuese, The Language the People Speak



/ɤ.aˈti.tɨ ˈmɯ.ja ʔa ˈmɯ.ja jɯˈe.te/
[ɤ.a.ˈsi.tɨ ˈmu.ja ʔa ˈmu.ja jɯˈe.se]



phonemic inventory and latin orthography

/i ɨ ɯ e ɤ a/ <i ê u e o a>
/p t ʔ/ <p t ʻ>
/m n ŋ/ m n ng
/w j/ w y


/ɯ/ and /ɤ/ are labially compressed rather than unrounded; I didn't bother marking them because 1.) I've yet to see a way of doing so that isn't hideous, and 2.) rounding isn't contrastive at all, and at any rate, they have properly rounded allophones /u/ and /o/ in certain environments.

/p t ʔ/ have fricativized allophones [ɸ s h] in some environments. These are written <f s h>.


vowel chart:

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_______________________
\i         ɨ         ɯ|
.\__________\_________|
  \          \      ɤ |
   \-e-------\--------|
    \_________\_______|
     \     a   \      |
      \_________\_____|

phonotactics and prosody
Fairly simple. Phonemically, the language only permits monomoraic (C)V syllables; stress falls on the syllable containing the penultimate mora. In the vast majority of cases, this is the penultimate syllable, but there are certain circumstances (see below) where the surface realization can produce bimoraic CVC or CVV syllables; in the event that one of these syllables falls word finally, stress falls

Allophony
(if you don't want to bother with this, just skip down to the syllable charts below.

Spoiler:

Contrastive features (for reference)

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consonants
________  ____________________
|obs|son|| + | - | - | labial |
|tru|or ||---|---|---|--------|
|ent|ant|| - | - | + |gutteral|
|---|---||===|===|===|========
| + | - || p | t | ʔ |
|---|---||---|---|---|
| + | + || m | n | ŋ |
|---|---||---|---|---|
| - | + || w | j |   |
|---|---||---|---|---|

vowels
________  _________________
|   |   || + | - | - |front|
|   |   ||---|---|---|---- |
|hi |low|| - | - | + |back |
|---|---||===|===|===|=====|
| + | - || i | ɨ | ɯ |
|---|---||---|---|---|
| - | - || e |   | ɤ |
|---|---||---|---|---|
| - | + ||   | a |   |
|---|---||---|---|---|

(Fwiw I was taught it's bad form to have both [+obstruent] and [-sonorant] in an analysis. I don't know how widespread that is, but I do have a reason for divvying things up like that- 's got to do with a side project related to this lang.)

allophonic rules
[-sonorant +labial] → [+continuant] | __ [ +close]
(/p/ → [ɸ] | __ /i/, __ /ɨ/ __ /ɯ/)

[-sonorant, -labial, -guttural] → [+continuant]| __ [+front, -open]
(/t/ → | __ /i/, __ /e/)

[-sonorant, +guttural] → [+continuant] | __ [+back]
(/ ʔ/ → [h] | __ /ɯ/, __ /ɤ/)

[+back] → [+ rounded] | [+labial] __
(/ɯ/, /ɤ/ → [o], | /p/ __ , /m/ __ , /w/ __ )

[-stress] → [-voice] | [-sonorant] __ [-sonorant]
(unstressed vowels are voiceless between any two stop phonemes)

[+vowel, +high] → [-syllabic]| [+vowel, +low, +stress] __
(/i/ /ɨ/ /ɯ/ → [i̯] [ɨ̯] [ɯ̯] | [ˈa] ___ )

[+vowel,+high, +front -stress] → Ø | /t/ __
(/ti/ → when unstressed)

Allowed Syllables
IPA

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Ø   |  i  ɨ  ɯ  e  ɤ  a
/p/ | ɸi ɸɨ ɸu pe po pa
/t/ | si*tɨ tɯ se tɤ ta
/ʔ/ | ʔi ʔɨ hɯ ʔe hɤ ʔa
/m/ | mi mɨ mu me mo ma
/n/ | ni nɨ nɯ ne nɤ na
/ŋ/ | ŋi ŋɨ ŋɯ ŋe ŋɤ ŋa
/w/ | wi wɨ wu we wo wa
/j/ | ji jɨ jɯ je jɤ ja
* as mentioned above, /ti/, ordinarily realized as /si/, becomes [s] in unstressed positions.

Latin Orthography

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Ø   | i   ê   u   e   o   a
/p/ | fi  fê  fu  pe  po  pa
/t/ | si  tê  tu  se  to  ta
/ʻ/ | ʻi  ʻê  hu  ʻe  ho  ʻa
/m/ | mi  mê  mu  me  mo  ma
/n/ | ni  nê  nu  ne  no  na
/ng/| ngi ngê ngu nge ngo nga
/w/ | wi  wê  wu  we  wo  wa
/y/ | yi  yê  yu  ye  yo  ya

Example

Oasitê Ituya yuai to itayu fi yuai to neama, ʻê êmi tayinoa yuese mêpe yuai oa wêyoto yuese. Yuai nê mawaeya fi wêyoto asiwe.Yuai Hutaa ʻe fuse moanu waya

/ɤ.aˈti.tɨ iˈtɯ.ja jɯ.ˈa.i tɤ iˈta.jɯ pi jɯ.ˈa.i tɤ neˈa.ma ʔɨ ˈɨ.mi ta.jiˈnɤ.a jɯˈe.te ˈmɨ.pe jɯ.ˈa.i ˈɤ.a wɨˈjɤ.tɤ jɯˈe.te jɯ.ˈa.i nɨ ma.waˈe.ja pi wɨˈjɤ.tɤ aˈti.we jɯ.ˈa.i ʔɯˈta.a ʔe ˈpɯ.te mɤˈa.nɯ ˈwa.ja/
[ɤ.aˈsi.tɨ iˈtɯ.ja jɯ.ˈai̯ tɤ iˈta.jɯ ɸi jɯ.ˈai̯ tɤ neˈa.ma ʔɨ ˈɨ.mi ta.jiˈnɤ.a jɯˈe.se ˈmɨ.pe jɯ.ˈai̯ ˈɤ.a wɨˈjɤ.tɤ jɯˈe.se jɯ.ˈai̯ nɨ ma.waˈe.ja ɸi wɨˈjɤ.tɤ aˈsi.we jɯ.ˈai̯ hɯ̥ˈta.a ʔe ˈɸu.se mɤˈa.nɯ ˈwa.ja]

(that's article 1 of the UDHR. I'm saving posting the gloss for when I've got more of the grammar written out- it's mostly in my head at the moment.)

[Maximillian]

/ j/ w y

I think you've skipped /w/ there.

I like the feel of your language. It reminds me of something aboriginal and exotic. =]

[anacharis]

/ j/ w y

I think you've skipped /w/ there

d'oh. fixed now. I literally have no idea how that happened- there's a w there in the doc I directly copied that section from. weird.

[anacharis]

Basic syntax and morphology.

Basic typology:
Word order is SOV, and the language is fairly isolating. Lexical roots don't inflect at all, and aren't confined to an inherent part of speech- the root sisima (blue) can mean 'to be blue', 'a blue thing', 'blue', or 'bluely'.
Nouns and Noun Phrases
Noun phrases consist of an uninflected lexical root, optionally preceded by one or more adjectives and followed by a quantifier and/or one or more dependent clauses (which will be covered in another post.)
Adjectives precede the noun, and may be joined to it with one of several subordinative particles, including to, which indicates the adjective root is functioning as the inherent/inaleinable possessor of the modified noun.
Quantifiers are an open class, and include specific numbers, the generic plural marker fiye, and numerous others.
Pronouns are differentiated by person and number, but not case; their semantic role is determined syntactically, rather than morphologically. Pronouns function like any other lexical root in most ways- they can take adjectives, and can be made to show possession or other associations in much the same way as regular nouns. Pronouns can be optionally dropped, since the verbal agreement markers (see below) make them clear in context.

pronoun table:

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           _________________
.         | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
.________ |=====|=====|=====|
|singular|| a   | tuye| yoê |
|--------||-----|-----|-----|
| plural || tae |woita|yuai |
|________||_____|_____|_____|

Noun phrases in action:

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sisima tapoʻe
blue   dog
'a blue dog'

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sisima tapoʻe niwa
blue   dog    two
'two blue dogs'

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sisima a  to       tapoʻe niwa
blue   1s POS.INAL dog    two
'my two blue dogs'.

Verbs and Verb Phrases
The verb phrase consists of an uninflected lexical root, preceded by one or more agreement markers and followed by any adverbs and one of many 'modality markers' (which actually serve to indicate various combinations of aspect, mood, and voice). Tense is not marked grammatically.
Agreement Markers

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          __________________________________
         |    |  a |  g |  e | n  | t  |    |
         |====|====|====|====|====|====|====|
         |null| 1s | 1p | 2s | 2p | 3s | 3p |
._______ |====|====|====|====|====|====|====|
|p||null||  o | ya | poe| te | se | ni | nê |
| ||----||----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
|a|| 1s || ou |[2] | ho |tao |seo | ne | no | 
| ||----||----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
|t|| 1p || pa | fi |[2] | fu | pe | ma | fê |
| ||----||----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
|i|| 2s || ahu| ai |fua |[2] | tu |nuo |  ê |
| ||----||----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
|e|| 2p || na | ni | nu | tu |[2] |nai | nêi|
| ||----||----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
|n|| 3s || ʻa |ʻai | hu | ho |taê | ta | si |  
| ||----||----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
|t|| 3p || oa | ʻi |hua | yu | tê | mu | ʻê |
|_||____||____|____|____|____|____|____|____| 
[1] see 'the null person' immediately below.
[2] see 'reflexive and reciprocal constructions'

The Null Person markers serve several purposes:
The null-agent, null-patient marker o is used to mark avalent verbs, as in the sentence o wiʻiwe- 'it rains'.
Null-patient markers with a specified agent are used with most intransitive verbs. Applied to a transitive verb, they can serve to topicalize the agent (if the patient is present), or generalize the target of the action (if the patient is dropped). Compare:

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A  ya      patu 0
1s 1s>NULL run  PFV
'I run'

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Yoê ʻa      setêho 0
3s  3s>NULL hunt   PRFV
'He/she hunts.'

and

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Yoê muumai fiye ʻa      setêho 0
3s  pig    pl   3s>NULL hunt   PRFV
'SHE hunts pigs'

with

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Yoê muumai fiye mu    setêho 0
3s  pig    pl   3s>3p hunt   PRFV
'he/she hunts pigs'

Null-agent markers serve to indicate the patient is the sole argument of the verb; if the patient isn't the sole argument of the verb, they can indicate the passive voice (if the agent is dropped), or topicalize the patient (if the agent is present). compare the following:

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yoê  ʻa      wiʻiwe 0
3s   NULL>3s rain   PFV
'he/she was rained on.'

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Yoê ʻa      nêngu 0
3s  NULL>3s love  PFV
'he/she is loved'

and

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Tuya yoê ʻa      nêngu 0 
3s   2s   NULL>3s love  PFV
'he/she is loved by you.'/ 'you love HIM.'

with

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Tuya yoê ho    nêngu 0 
3s   2s  2s>3s love  PFV
'You love him/her'

Reflexive and reciprocal constructions with fuse
The particle fuse can be added after an agreement marker to indicate reflexive or reciprocal constructions. In reciprocal constructions, the particle used agrees with the agent and takes a null patient; in reflexive ones, the third person plural patient is used.
Table of fuse constructions

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             ___________________________________________________________
            |    1s   |    1p   |    2s   |    2p   |    3s   |    3p   |
.__________ |=========|=========|=========|=========|=========|=========|
|reflexive || ya fuse | poe fuse| te fuse | se fuse | ni fuse | nê fuse |
|----------||---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
|reciprocal|| ʻi fuse |hua fuse | yu fuse | tê fuse | mu fuse | ʻê fuse |
|__________||_________|_________|_________|_________|_________|_________|

examples

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(Yuai) nê      fuse  onesi
(3p)   3p>NULL RFLX  wash
'(They) wash themselves'

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(Yuai) ʻê    fuse onesi
(3p)   3p>3p rflx wash
they wash each other 

modality markers
(these, like quantifiers, are an open class, with speakers creating more to cover specific nuances in meaning. The ones in the table below are merely a sample.)

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.______________________________________ 
| perfective |imperfective|   gnomic   | _____________________
|    PFV     |    IPFV    |     GNO    || gloss |    name     | approximate meaning
|============|============|============||=======|=============| ====================
|     Ø      |     ue     |   yuese    || (none)| indicative  | (x is the case)
|------------|------------|------------||-------|-------------|
|   ahuyu    |    huye    |    huta    ||  DES  |desiderative | (I want x; I want to do x)
|------------|------------|------------||-------|-------------|
|    atu     |    ase     |   asiwe    ||  NEC  |necessitative| (x must be; you must do x)
|------------|------------|------------||-------|-------------|
|    wêtu    |    wêse    |   wêse     ||  DUB  | dubitative  | (I guess x is the case)
|------------|------------|------------||-------|-------------|
|    waya    |   (waye)   |  (wayese)  ||  POT  |  potential  | (x is possible or feasible; I can do x)
|------------|------------|------------||-------|-------------|
|    pa      |    pae     |    pase    ||  IMP  | imperative  | (Do x!) 
|------------|------------|------------||-------|-------------|
|   maoyu    |   maoye    |   maoyuse  ||  INT  |interrogative| (is x the case?)
|____________|____________|____________||_______|_____________|
(forms in parentheses are dialectal or rarely used)

I don't feel like coming up with specific examples for these, so lets just move on to the next section:

A gloss of Article 1 of the UDHR


Oasitê Ituya yuai to itayu, yuai to neama, ʻê êmi tayinoa yuese mêpe yuai oa wêyoto yuese. Yuai nê mawaeya fi wêyoto asiwe.Yuai Hutaa ʻe fuse moanu waya
'All humans have the same freedom and their dignity, and they are moral agents[1]. They can reason and think morally[1]. They must treat each other as brothers.'

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Oasitê Ituya yuai to        itayu fi  yuai to       neama, ʻê     êmi  tayinoa yuese 
human  all   3p   POS.INAL  free  and 3p   POS.INAL pride   3p>3p have same    GNO   

mêpe  yuai oa       wêyoto      yuese
CNJ   3p   NULL>3p  [1]         GNO

Yuai nê       mawaeya fi  wêyoto asiwe.
3p   3p>NULL  plan    and [1]    POT

Yuai Huta    ʻe    fuse  moanu waya
3p   Brother 3p>3p recip treat NEC. 

[1] wêyoto refers to moral reasoning or agency in general, and so it appears as the translation of both 'rights' and 'conscience'. In the first instance, when it appears in the passive, it means roughly 'to have rights', or 'to be subject to moral consideration and respect'. In the second, it means 'to reason morally'-to have a conscience, basically.


Next time: dependent clauses, additional arguments for verbs, and negation.

[Solarius]

Looks groovy.

[Ear of the Sphinx]

The orthography seems little economical.

[thaen]

Null-patient markers with a specified agent are used with most intransitive verbs. Applied to a transitive verb, they can serve to topicalize the agent (if the patient is present), or generalize the target of the action (if the patient is dropped).

So is it like English's "she is hunting?!?"; that is, it emphasizes?

[Visinoid]

Allowed Syllables
IPA

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Ø   |  i  ɨ  ɯ  e  ɤ  a
/p/ | ɸi ɸɨ ɸu pe po pa
/t/ | si*tɨ tɯ se tɤ ta
/ʔ/ | ʔi ʔɨ hɯ ʔe hɤ ʔa
/m/ | mi mɨ mu me mo ma
/n/ | ni nɨ nɯ ne nɤ na
/ŋ/ | ŋi ŋɨ ŋɯ ŋe ŋɤ ŋa
/w/ | wi wɨ wu we wo wa
/j/ | ji jɨ jɯ je jɤ ja
* as mentioned above, /ti/, ordinarily realized as /si/, becomes [s] in unstressed positions.

Japanese does the same thing for its syllables; you could develop a nice syllabary written system from it. :)

[anacharis]

@solarius: Thanks, mate!

@Milyamd: I tried streamlining it a bit and making it more phonemic, using <v> for <ɨ>, <g> for <ŋ>, not using separate letters for the fricative allophones, and ditching the ʻokina for <h> to represent [ʔ~h]. It ended up feeling counterintuitive and looking ugly as hell, so I went with the system I used here.

@thaen: more or less. On it's own, I'm imagining that construction being used mostly as an evidentiality marker expressing surprise or skepticism ('(S)he is hunting? Really?'), and to answer certain questions- ('which one of them is hunting?' (S)he is). It also plays a role in relative clauses and disambiguating the referents of later pronouns.

@Visinoid: already working on it.

[anacharis]

I've got a conscript now:


(blue outline indicates syllables with a fricative onset)

And article 1 of the UDHR:

[eldin raigmore]

I've got a conscript now:
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/3600/oasitechart.png
(blue outline indicates syllables with a fricative onset)
And article 1 of the UDHR:
http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/1719/oasiteudhr2.png

Could you post yourself pronouncing that to YouTube or something?

[anacharis]

@Eldin: Here you go-

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/51994907/oasite.wav

[Cseúhro]

Your con-script seems kinda random. Is there a scheme behind how the syllables are constructed?

And your conlang sounds interesting but really drunk. :o

[anacharis]

Your con-script seems kinda random. Is there a scheme behind how the syllables are constructed?

Random how? There's no featural aspects, if that's what you're asking. The syllabary is supposed to be derived from an older, logographic system.


The etymologies of some of the characters are more transparent than others: (wo), for example, is derived from a pictogram of a gong; (mo) represents an archery target, and (u), perhaps rather boringly, represents a circle. On the other hand, (ne) comes from a compound glyph depicting a man and a folded cloth, meaning 'to travel', and (yu) is derived, ultimately, from a pictogram depicting a tuft of grass.


I figure the specific font here is a semi-formal script adapted for printing, which explains all the serifs and embellishments like the parentheses around . I was trying to keep the level of visual complexity on par with natscripts that have similar numbers of graphemes, like Glagolitic and the Cypriot syllabary; if you take away all of the decorations, none of the basic letter forms require more than four strokes- and the semi-cursive, handwritten form (which I haven't scanned yet) cuts that down to two.

[eldin raigmore]

@Eldin: Here you go- http://dl.dropbox.com/u/51994907/oasite.wav

Thanks, so much! And I am so impressed, as well as grateful!

Is there an "alphabet song" in Oasitê? Can you record yourself singing it?