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The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:30 pm
by roninbodhisattva
So this was done a while ago here, and I think it'd be cool to do it again. I've also started this challenge over at the CBB. The idea is to create a language using a minimal set of phonemes. They are:

/p t k s m n ɾ ʔ a i u/

Something workable is the goal...a speedlang sketch or the like. Go wild!

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:50 am
by CaesarVincens
I present Rukina pirun pasumir (speech of the people)

Phonemes:
p t̪ k s m n̪ ɾ a i u (I cut the glottal stop)

Nouns:

Code: Select all

         subj obj  obl  plur
people   -i   -im  -ir  -ri
animals  -i   -is  -ir  -ri
weapons  -u   -um  -ur  -ru
tools    -u   -us  -ur  -ru
other    -a   -as  -ar  -ra
Subject, and object are used as expected. Oblique is used as indirect object and object of prepositions.
Plural is invariant.
Endings are added directly to stem unless the stem ends in the same vowel.

Verbs:
Perfective: -ka
Imperfective: – t̪u

Adverbs are used for tense distinctions when desired.

Pronouns:

Code: Select all

1st  t̪am
2nd  min̪
3rd  kas
Word order is S(IO)OV.

t̪am-i pas-im t̪u-t̪u.
1st-subj man-obj see-impf
I see a man.

kapu-ri pirun̪ pasumi-r kisuma-ri in̪ pir-ru min̪asu-ka
enemy-plur of people-obl commander-plur with sword-plur attack-perf
The people's enemies attacked the commanders with swords.

Some vocabulary:

n̪i – be
musa – walk
t̪u – see
min̪asu – attack
t̪en̪u – defend
ruki – talk
pas – man
kapu – enemy
pir – sword
kisuma – commander
pasumi – army/people
umi – group/company
rukin̪a – speech
pirun̪ – of
in̪ – with
pu – near
ra – from

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:52 am
by Arzena
EDIT: Whoops, misread the challenge. Disregard post.

Oloeiata

/ t k ɸ ɬ n a e i o/

Syllable structure CV(ɸ, t, k, n)
Stable diphthongs and triphongs:
/ae ai ao ea ei eo ia ie io oa oe oi/ /aea aeo aia aie aio aoa aoe aoi oai oeo/

Allophony
/ɸ/ becomes [p] word initially, [h] medially, and [:] finally: fofaf [poha:] 'child'

/ɬ/ becomes [ʃ] next to /e i/: leoiofa [ʃewioha] 'gentle wave, language autonym'
'' '' [w] between two /o/: oloeiata [owoejata] 'nectar, language autonym'

A sequence of /VoV/ becomes [VwV]: tooi /to.o.i/ [towi] 'bird'

Likewise, /ViV/ becomes [VjV]: eiaoa [ejaoa] 'woman'

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:39 am
by Arzena
Now reading the rules:
So this was done a while ago here, and I think it'd be cool to do it again. I've also started this challenge over at the CBB. The idea is to create a language using a minimal set of phonemes. They are:

/p t k s m n ɾ ʔ a i u/

Something workable is the goal...a speedlang sketch or the like. Go wild!
Sutma'pmukik
The People Speaking

Phonological constraints
12V34 Where any consonants can appear in positions 1234, except for /r ?/ which cannot occur in 1 or 4 as part of a cluster.

Morphology
Sutm. is a triconsonantal language.

Basic root patterns:

Code: Select all

12a3 – aorist verb stem, some nouns [i]tma?[/i] ‘man’ T-M-? 'stand'
12u33u—place related to stem, [i]t?ukku[/i] ‘tent’ T-?-K 'live'
1u23—basic verb stem 1, 3rd person singular present
ksa1na23a—verb stem 2 reciprocal [i]ksakna?ma[/i] 'to dream' K-?-M 'sleep'
ksa1nu23—agent related to verb stem 2 [i]ksapnusm [/i]‘star’ P-S-M ‘move upward’
su-NOUN--collective 
NUMBER:
The verbal plural morpheme is the suffix -u, -ru after vowels. For nouns, the last vowel is repeated. Potential VV sequences are broken up as following: aa>ara, ii>iti, uu>umu

PRONOUNS

Code: Select all

nra ‘I’ apsa ‘we’
kus ‘you’ ksat ‘you pl.’
tuk ‘he’  tap ‘they’
 ri ‘she’
SAMPLE VERB PARADIGM:PRESENT

Code: Select all

pumk P-M-K 'speak'
singular        plural
1st pumkan,   pumkapu
2nd pumkuk,   pumkiru
3rd pumk       pumku

Tma?a ka t?ukkumu psi ku?mu
?im tap ka ksakna?mau ksapnusmu


man-PL TOPIC tent-PL in sleep.3rd-PL
while they TOPIC RECIP-sleep.3rd-PL star-PL

Men sleep in their tents
While they dream of stars.

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:36 am
by finlay
roninbodhisattva wrote:So this was done a while ago here, and I think it'd be cool to do it again. I've also started this challenge over at the CBB. The idea is to create a language using a minimal set of phonemes. They are:

/p t k s m n ɾ ʔ a i u/

Something workable is the goal...a speedlang sketch or the like. Go wild!
I reckon /p t k s n a ɨ/ is more minimal.... :P

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:31 am
by roninbodhisattva
Truuuueeeee....It's not like...11 phonemes isn't minimal, though?

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:11 pm
by personak
roninbodhisattva wrote:So this was done a while ago here, and I think it'd be cool to do it again. I've also started this challenge over at the CBB. The idea is to create a language using a minimal set of phonemes. They are:

/p t k s m n ɾ ʔ a i u/

Something workable is the goal...a speedlang sketch or the like. Go wild!
Phonology
Allowed onset: any consonant, [ʔ] comes from 0.
Allowed nucleus: any vowel, a nasal, or <er> /ɾ/
No codas.

The stress is irregular, written with accent.

Morphology is obtained by modifying the first vowel and stress.
Nominal Morphology
There are the ergative (ERG), absolutive (ABS), and oblique (OBL), as well as the animate and inanimate genders.

Code: Select all

    AN    INAN
ERG kasér kisér
ABS káser kíser
OBL kusér kúser
When the first vowel is stressed in the ergative, it is duplicated in the absolutive.

The pronouns are maḯ, áërser, and máën (AN) and títi (INAN).

Verbal Morphology
There is person in the verb:

Code: Select all

    "lead" "love"
1PS kémä  memtó
2PS káä   mató
3PS kíä   mitó
Syntax
Syntax is SVO, with modifiers in arbitrary positions:

Máï émta riníkumi.
/ˈmaʔi ˈʔm̩ta ɾiˈnikumi/
<ABS>1PS <1PS>speak <ABS>language-small
We speak a small language.

Some Vocab
Not in the mood for basic words, so:

Code: Select all

Europe	Urúpa	/ʔuˈɾupa/
Asia	Ásiä	/ˈʔasiʔa/
Africa	Áprka	/ˈʔapɾ̩ka/
America	Amŕka	/ʔaˈmɾ̩ka/

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:18 pm
by SilentMember
Cap'cap'si'pir'pirh (Head-Think-Blow)

/p t k s m n ɾ ʔ a i u/ [p t c s m n r h a i u]

Apostrophes represent omitted letters.

(C)(V)V(V)(s, r, m, n, h)(C)

Onset: p, t, c, s, m, n, r
Medial: p, t, c, s, m, n, r, h
Coda: p, t, c, s, h

Allophony/Constraints:
Between two vowels /p t k ʔ/ become <b d g h>.
Before /a i/, /u/ becomes <w>. Before /a u/, /i/ becomes <j>. Before /i u/, /a/ becomes <ɰ>.
Vowels can geminate with up to two length. Triple vowels in a row are not allowed. (ex. /iii/ not while /uii/ is.)
Consonants cannot geminate.

Case particles/Personal pronouns:
Ergative/Animate/1p - past
Ergative/Animate/2p - masc
Ergative/Animate/3p - camp
Ergative/Animate/4p (in general) - pac
Ergative/Inanimate/1-3p - tiac
Ergative/Inanimate/4p - pias
Ergative/Spiritual/3p - tinp
Ergative/Spiritual/4p - maic
Accusative/Animate - tump
Accusative/Inanimate - nust
Accusative/Spiritual/3p - tinp
Accusative/Spiritual./4p - maic
Absolutive/Animate/1p - tuam
Absolutive/Animate/2p - cuasi
Absolutive/Animate/3-4p - camp
Absolutive/Inanimate/1-2p - siamis
Absolutive/Inanimate/3-4p - pias
Absolutive/Spiritual/3p - tinp
Absolutive/Spiritual/4p - maic
Genitive/Animate - sin
Genitive/Inanimate - tum
Genitive/Spiritual - taasn

Particles/modifiers go after their head.
Plurality is expressed through adjectives.
Default word order is OVS, though it can be altered to suit one's aesthetic taste.

Verb particles:
Past-Present/Perfect/Indicative - map
Past-Present/Perfect/Subjunctive-Negative - sirp
Past-Present/Imperfect/Indicative - pars
Past-Present/Imperfect.Subjunctive-Negative - niac
Future/Perfect/Indicative - piaip
Future/Perfect/Subjunctive-Negative - naur
Future/Imperfect/Indicative - pish
Future/Imperfect/Subjunctive-Negative - cah

Other pronouns:

Code: Select all

          QUERY   THIS   SOME (FEW)      NO       EVERY (ALL)

ADJECTIVE pupis   siau   taun            nii      sianh

PERSON    pau     sinc   taunpas         niipas  sianhpas

THING     piat    sinc   taunmasc        niimasc  sianhmasc

PLACE     parus   sama   taunmasc        niimasc   sianhmasc

TIME      paam    sama                   niimai   sianimai
Number:
Base-7
SupBase-5
1 = 1
10 = 7 (7)
100 = 35 (7*5)
1,000 = 245 (7*5*7)
10,000 = 1225 (7*5*7*5)

Sample Words:
many - ciams
1 - unh
2 - curt
3 - parm
4 - cuart
5 - tinc
6 - iht
10 - tisc unh
11 - unh tisc unh
100 - sam unh
big, long, tall, heavy - cart
small, short, non-heavy - mita
thin, narrow - pirh
wide - tans
human, adult - pirom
child - marna
parent - rasc
animal - tamka
fruit - miaci
water - acuii
head - caput
torso - turs
eat, drink, suck - iaant
vomit, blow - pir'pirh
see, hear, smell, taste, feel - siana
think - cap'siana
hunt, kill - cahcuh
cut, hit, damage - mitacah'
swim, paddle - acuiicah'

Tamka cart tump siana pars past.
animal big ACU.ANI see PP.IMP.IND ERG.ANI.1P
I see (a) big animal(s).

Acuiicah' pars acuii camp.
swim PP.IMP.IND water ABS.ANI.34P
Water runs. (Lit. Water swims.)

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:09 am
by Qwynegold
Just a simple phonology. Damnit, I need that one random word generator to test things, but I can't find it anywhere. Anyone knows which one I'm talking about?

O = p, t, k, s
P = p, t, k, ʔ
N = m, n

Syllable structure: (C)(C)V(V)(C). Any single consonant is allowed in onset and coda. Onset is obligatory for non-initial syllables. Double consonants are not allowed in roots. Two of the same vowels next to eachother become a long vowel.
Allowed clusters within one syllable: mn, pn, tN, kN, ʔN, Ps, Pɾ

Allophonic rules:
{m, n} > ŋ / _k
0 > t / n_p
0 > p / {m_t, m_s, m_ɾ}
s > z / {_m, _n, _ɾ}
{ʔO, Oʔ} > Cʼ
(Don't know how realistic the following two rules are)
{ʔm, mʔ} > ɓ
{ʔn, nʔ, ʔɾ, ɾʔ} > ɗ
P[-voiced] > P[+voiced] / C[+voiced]_C[+voiced]
i > j / _V
u > w / _V
ai > eː
au > oː
V[+short] > V̥ / C[-voiced]_#

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:34 am
by Astraios
Qwynegold wrote:Damnit, I need that one random word generator to test things, but I can't find it anywhere. Anyone knows which one I'm talking about?
Awkwords?

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 6:14 am
by Qwynegold
Astraios wrote:
Qwynegold wrote:Damnit, I need that one random word generator to test things, but I can't find it anywhere. Anyone knows which one I'm talking about?
Awkwords?
Thanks!

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 7:00 am
by Qwynegold
I generated 100 words with Awkwords, then took out the ones that still broke the syllable rules, and wrote how then added their phonetic forms. Heh, this is somewhat reminiscient of Inuit.

Oh, and I added a couple of more allophonic rules:
  • A cluster of CCw or CCj is broken up so that there can't be no more than two consecutive consonants in one syllable, unless this is the first syllable of the word.
  • The same thing happens to CCCw and CCCj, except now three consonants in succession are tolerated.
  • When ʔ appears between two consonants, it's the following consonant that becomes glottalized.
  • If a consonant is followed by a glottalized consonant, the first consonant is elided if they both have the same POA.
  • The rules are recursive and glottalized consonants are counted as the same thing as their plain versions. So for example we have this happen: tainʔmai > teːnɓeː > teːntɓeː > teːndɓeː.
pniimit [pniː.mit]
upsaiɾ [u.pseːɾ]
kɾuɾui [kɾu.ɾwi]
itit [i.tit]
aakpɾun [aːk.pɾun]
ia [ja]
ʔɾapnaiʔɾia [ɗa.pneː.ɗja]
i
saimnuakiu [seːm.nwa.kju]
uipɾia [wip.ɾja]
kɾuumʔmuip [kɾuːm.ɓwip]
maitaama [meː.taː.ma]
iimnai [iː.mneː]
iu [ju]
aa [aː]
ʔɾiuʔai [ɗju.ʔeː]
kuastnuik [kwast.nwik]
as [as]
iati [ja.ti̥]
uat [wat]
ʔmiasuak [ɓja.swak]
ʔmaisɾiatna [ɓeːz.ɾja.tna]
kmaakim [kmaː.kim]
unksiuɾ [uŋk.sjuɾ]
inaa [i.naː]
mniaʔtɾa [mnjatʼ.ɾa]
iatnau [jat.noː]
uuʔ [uːʔ]
imaapiut [i.maː.pjut]
aikui [eː.kwi]
ius [jus]
iksait [i.kseːt]
iimama [iː.ma.ma]
ui [wi]
uum [uːm]
aɾin [aɾin]
tmiu [tmju]
uɾisʔsait [u.ɾi.sʼeːt]
ʔsii [sʼiː]
iipɾat [iː.pɾat]
iit [iːt]
niiʔsaaɾa [niː.sʼaː.ɾa]
aupuup [oː.puːp]
uutas [uː.tas]
aaɾ [aːɾ]
ikmuupsak [i.kmuː.psak]
iutkmuuʔ [jut.kmuːʔ]
ʔmua [ɓwa]
saʔiistsaa [sa.ʔiːs.tsaː]
pɾuitiuɾ [pɾwi.tjuɾ]
ʔaa [ʔaː]
ʔu [ʔu̥]
aɾuʔa [aɾuʔḁ]
tan [tan]
ausa [oː.sḁ]
pnisaatan [pni.saː.tan]
ksiɾuu [ksi.ɾuː]
tsaima [tseː.ma]
aasu [aː.su̥]
aakpɾuak [aːk.pɾwak]
tainʔmai [teːnd.ɓeː]
utsu [u.tsu̥]
ksisiip [ksi.siːp]
tmisit [tmi.sit]
ʔmiʔauʔnius [ɓi.ʔoː.ɗjus]
up [up]
uuɾ [uːɾ]
aasku [aːs.ku̥]
au [oː]
ai [eː]
ip [ip]
ʔmuatʔmi [ɓwat.ɓi]
pnukiut [pnu.kjut]
mnuupkui [mnuːp.kwi]
kmua [kmwa]
uina [wi.na]

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 9:30 am
by roninbodhisattva
Awkwords?
I love awkwords. It helps me solidify what I want in my phonotactics all the time. Anyway, I only have a short phonology too, but I plan on expanding this into an actual sketch later today.

Phonemes: /p t k s m n ɾ ʔ a i ɯ/ (duh)

I've changed /u/ into /ɯ/, but from now on I'm going to write it /u/ and I'll write /ɾ/ /r/. The syllable structure is CV(V) in non-word final syllables, and CV(V)(n, t, ɾ) in word final syllables. Vowel clusters may be two identical vowels, which become long and are written ā ī ū or /a/ + /i u/. Other combinations are not allowed. Glottal stop is only found word initially. It is unwritten

Medially, there are a limited number of consonant clusters. They are:

1) Long /p: t: k: s: m: n:/ written pp tt kk ss mm nn
2) Obstruent + continuant: /ts ks ns kr/
3) Prestopped nasal: /pm tn kn/. These are realized either as unreleased stop + nasal or glottal stop + nasal: [p˺m t˺n k˺ŋ] or [ʔm ʔn ʔŋ].

Some example words:

kīsir
mīkar
uka
kiru
ut
uturi

saksu
iksi
susaknin
un
inu
pirar
īsir
mikrat

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:03 am
by Radius Solis
Ah! I just noticed this. Okay, I have half an hour, lets see.


Segments:

/p t k s m n {r ʔ} a i u/


Phonotactics etc:

* All consonants may appear next to all vowels in either order. Vowel sequences to a maximum of 2, and consonant clusters to a maximum of 3, are permitted. Consonant clusters that break the sonority hierarchy, for instance a word-initial /nt/, will assign the peripheral segment to a syllable across a word boundary, when possible. When this is not possible, especially in utterance-initial or utterance-final position, the peripheral segment may become syllabic.

1. {r} or {R} is an underlying segment that becomes [ɾ] between vowels or in gemination, but is mainly represented by its leniting effect on preceding consonants: /p t k s ʔ/ become [ʋ ɾ ɰ ɾ ɦ] before {R}. In the environment V_C this segment has no surface representation.

2. {ʔ} is similarly an underlying segment that becomes [ʔ] between vowels or in gemination, but is mainly represented by (a) its fortifying effect on preceding consonants: /p t k/ become weakly ejective [pʼ tʼ kʼ], and (b) its low-register effect on preceding vowels: /a i u/ (whenever they would be [a i u]) are pronounced glottalized, or weakly creaky-voiced, or with low tone. [pʰ] is often substituted for [pʼ].

3. /i u/, whenever located in a C_V environment, become palatalization and labiovelarization respectively on the preceding consonant. When located #_V, they become the simple glides [j w].

4. In nasal-stop clusters, the nasal assimilates to the stop's point of articulation, and the stop gains voicing.

5. The above effects of {R} and {ʔ} also apply in liaison, i.e. across word boundaries.

6. Geminates of any segment may occur, but only as predictable outcomes of two like segments appearing in a row.

7. Except where specified above, /p t k s m n a/ are pronounced as-is, [p t k s m n a].


Root shape:

Roots are predominantly of the shape CVCVC, where both vowels are identical. Any of the C positions in this form may also be filled by any CC or by 0, and there may be extra syllables beyond the first two that need not match their vowel. But all native roots share the characteristic of having two identical vowels in their first two syllables, one of which must bear stress. Stress often moves between the two as a result of affixation, but it cannot move outside the first two syllables. We will call the two vowel positions V1 and V2, and the actual vowel that fills them for any given root will be called its tonic vowel.

Under affixation, when V1 bears stress V2 is usually elided, and vice versa. This gives the appearance of metathesis, as the root /samak/ becomes e.g. [usmak] with a prefix but e.g. [saŋgu] with a suffix - which looks like the vowel and the nasal switching places. However, both V1 and V2 are normally present when the root is in bare form, and if the medial consonant is actually a CC cluster this may block one or both elisions too.


Vowel harmony:

Many affixes are cited with only a V instead of a specified vowel. This V matches the tonic vowel of the root to which the affix is attached, simple as that. For example, the prefix kʔV- when attached to the root /piRis/ gives /kʔipRis/, phonetically [kʼiʋis].



I'm out of time to do more, but hopefully I can do so later.

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:26 pm
by Cedh
Radius, I like your sketch quite a lot. Couldn't that one be a sister language to Jamna Kopiai?

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 1:06 pm
by finlay
Work in progress - just about finished the phonology so i'll move onto example words and morphology next...

The provisional name for the conlang is Umpát, or [ɨ̃mˈbɑs].
phonemes: /p t k s m n r ʔ a i u/
orthography: <p t k s m n r c a i u>; acute accents are also used for stress.

Syllable structure:
minimum V, maximum CCCVC
Initial consonant clusters allowed:
pt, pk, ps, pn, pr, tp, tk, ts, tm, tr, kp, kt, ks, kr, ksn, sk, sm, sn, sr, skr, sc, mr, cr
General rule: /ʔ/ doesn't pattern as a plosive; any two-plosive cluster is allowed where the consonants are different; any plosive+s cluster is allowed; /pn/ and /tm/ are allowed but neither /km/ nor /kn/ is allowed; however /ksn/ is allowed. Any cluster with /r/ as the second consonant is allowed except where the first consonant is /n/. /skr/ is also allowed; this and /ksn/ are the only three-consonant clusters. /sk/, /sm/, /sn/ and /sʔ/ are also allowed.

Coda consonants: Any consonant can appear in the coda of a syllable. Nasal+plosive clusters must be homorganic (and /nk/ → [ŋk]). No more than two plosives can appear next to each other in a medial cluster; hence /apta/ is allowed but /akpta/ is not allowed even though the structure would otherwise allow it. /aspta/, /arpta/, etc are allowed, as are /akpra/, /akpna/, /apksna/, /apskra/. Because /ʔ/ doesn't pattern as a plosive, /aʔpta/ is also also allowed. Syllabification is applied so that onsets are favoured over codas but codas are favoured over onset clusters; hence /ap.ta/ rather than /a.pta/. Other examples from this paragraph include /as.pta/ and /ap.ksna/.

Long consonants: Any consonant can be made "long" in the middle of a word only, except for /r/. In the case where one ends up with /r.r/, the first becomes /ʔ/, so /ar.ra/ becomes /aʔ.ra/.

General allophony rules:
Coda devoicing applies to all consonants apart from /s/ and /ʔ/. The three plosives become fricatives [f, s, x~χ] (this means that the /t~s/ distinction is neutralised in the coda but will become important once I introduce morphology. Usually they are not spelt differently if the distinction will never occur in speech, which means anywhere not at the end of a morpheme they are spelt <s>.) rather than strictly "devoicing", however. The three sonorants /m n r/ become devoiced [m̥ n̥ ɾ̥], except it does not happen to /m n/ before a plosive (see nasal homorganicity below). Hence, /apta/ becomes [af.ta], and /arpta/ becomes [aɾ̥pta]. Devoicing does not happen with long consonants, despite being phonemically /at.ta/, /as.sa/, etc; these become phonetically [at:a], [as:a], etc.

/r/ becomes [l] in word-initial position, but stays as a tap [ɾ] or trill [r] elsewhere, including in clusters. However, it devoices in clusters as well as in codas. (The glottal stop in /ʔr/ is rather weak and for some speakers drops altogether, giving rise to the distinction [r̥] ~ [l] in initial position)

Nasal homorganicity: As I mentioned already, nasal+plosive clusters must be homorganic, and the distinction between /m/ and /n/ is neutralised to [ŋ] before /k/. Nasals do not devoice in the coda before a plosive; instead, the plosive becomes voiced (as long as it's not part of a cluster), so one gets [mb], [nd] and [ŋg].

The distinction between a word beginning with the glottal stop and a word beginning with no consonant is not observed by some speakers, who tend to place glottal stops in every word. On the flipside, there are some speakers who only pronounce the glottal stop in the medial position, leaving it out in initial or final position.

Medial voicing: Obstruents (/p t k s/) voice intervocalically to (as well as after nasal consonants).

Vowels:
Length:
The only vowel that may be "long" is /a/, although it is phonemicised as /aa/ rather than /a:/. /i/ and /u/ must be broken by glottal stops if they ever show up in a sequence of two, hence /ii/ → [iʔi] and /uu/ → [uʔu]. However, all six diphthongs /ia/, /ai/, /iu/, /ui/, /au/, /ua/ are allowed (making 7 phonemic diphthongs with /aa/). For the purposes of stress assignment (see below), these vowels are treated as one syllable. Sequences of more vowels must similarly be broken up with a glottal stop.

Nasalisation: All the vowels become nasalised before a nasal consonant – this applies to both ordinary vowels and the 7 diphthongs. However, /i/ and /u/ when nasalised become [ẽ] and [õ] rather than [ĩ] and [ũ]. This applies to the diphthongs as well, hence [ẽã], [ẽõ], etc.

Stress: Stress is phonemic, and marked in the orthography with an acute accent (on any word with at least two syllables; one syllable words have no phonemic stress distinction and hence carry no stress accent. Diphthongs carry the accent on both vowels, hence <áá>, <úí>, etc.). Stress causes a slight raise in pitch and volume on the vowel, along with various quality differences to be described below. The stressed vowels are nominally [ i ], [ɑ], ; that is, close to cardinal vowels 1, 5 and 8 (they will be transcribed that way, anyway), although none of the vowels is quite "cardinal" and the open vowel varies freely from front to back and is usually central – it is usually a true back vowel before /k/ and /ʔ/, but this rule isn't always adhered to.

Unstressed vowels are treated in one of two ways, called "weak" unstressed vowels and "strong" unstressed vowels. This is governed by where in the word they occur; weak unstressed vowels occur on the syllable right before the stressed vowel and causes the following changes:
/a/ → [ə]
/i/ → [ɨ]
/u/ → [ɨ]
The distinction between /i/ and /u/ is neutralised. The basic height distinction in weak unstressed vowels is between something mid to open and something close to mid – different speakers have different exact values, ranging from the normative [ɨ~ə] shown here to [ɨ~ɘ] or [ə~ɐ]. However, no speakers are known of that merge the three weak vowels. Some speakers are known who maintain a roundedness distinction on /i/ and /u/, but for most, these both become [ɨ] with either no rounding or weak rounding (halfway between rounded and unrounded). Weak unstressed vowels are usually markedly shorter in length than other vowels. Diphthongs can be weak, although dialects differ as to whether they allow /aa/ to be weak.

Strong unstressed vowels occur in any other unstressed syllable, and consist of the following changes:
/i/ → [ɪ]
/u/ → [ʊ]
/a/ has no change nominally but cannot be a back vowel in this position; it must be front or central. For northern speakers it is also raised somewhat, and for them it is usually transcribed [æ] or [ɛ]. Many (but not all) southern speakers do the opposite and lower the close vowels somewhat, giving something like [e] and [o] or [ë] and [ö].

Word-final unstressed vowels cause one other problem, because they're at the centre of one of the language community's major isoglosses, roughly between the northern and southern speakers. Essentially, northern speakers treat word final unstressed vowels as weak, and southern speakers treat them as strong.


Some examples generated by awkwords (although it's very difficult to get the algorithm right when my conditions are so exacting... and it's impossible to get it to assign stress once per word so i've had to add that in... Also i'm not giving them meanings yet... transcriptions are in the northern dialect...):
rúskrak [ˈluskɾ̥æx]
ksi [ksi]
sintás [sɨ̃nˈdɑs]
cat [ʔat]
am [ãm]
ksur [ksuɾ̥]
pa [pa]
riktúcmur [lɨxˈtuʔmʊɾ̥]
ti [ti]
cu [ʔu]
tin [tẽn]
ci [ʔi]
túpna [ˈtufnə]
ram [lãm]
surtú [sɨɾ̥ˈtu]
uk [uχ]
sku [sku]
sar [saɾ̥]
kut [kus]
nimpkimsámpa [nẽmpkɨ̃mˈsɑ̃mbə]
kak [kɑχ]
pu [pu]
aup [auf]
kir [kiɾ̥]
mis [mis]
is [is]
skíctu [ˈskiʔtɨ]
mac [mɑʔ]
trap [tɾ̥af]
pup [puf]
áksi [ˈɑχsɨ]
tuskpír [tɨskpiɾ̥]
tkúrpir [ˈtkuɾ̥pɪɾ̥]
ktúmpiki [ˈktumbɪgɨ]
ktumpíki [ktɨmˈbigɨ]
ktumpikí [ktʊmbɨˈgi]
ipkúm [ɨfˈkõm̥]
kia [kia]
raspí [ləsˈpi]
kína [ˈkẽnə]
pnucsáú [pnɨʔˈsɑu]
núu [nuʔɨ]
nuú [nɨʔu]
rítkim [ˈliskɪ̃m̥]
ritkím [lɨsˈkẽm̥]
rinkáúmptu [lɨŋˈgɑ̃õmptɨ]
símu [simɨ]
suká [sɨkɑ]
craintsí [ʔr̥əɨnˈtsi]
mámcur [mãmʔʊɾ̥]
tpampránki [tpəmˈpɾ̥ãŋgɨ]
tími [ˈtimɨ]
rintampú [lɪndəmˈbu]
úcni [ˈuʔnɨ]
canarúmpis [ʔãnəˈrumbɪs]
skúru [ˈskurɨ]
rárak [ˈlarax]
úpunu [ˈubõnɨ]
mintmíntmas [mɨ̃nˈtmẽntmas]
rúkkir [ˈluk:ɪɾ̥]
súásu [ˈsuɑzɨ]
ráátpa [ˈla:spə]
raatpá [lə:sˈpɑ], [la:sˈpɑ]

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:54 pm
by mouse
Four tones, high, medium, rising, and low, marked as î i iî and ì, or â a aâ and à respectively.
Three vowel lengths, short, normal, and long, marked as ï i and ii, or ä a and aa. Long vowels have only one tone, and if there are two vowels next to each other the tones do not mix. Short vowels have no tone.
Vowels become nasal when followed by a nasal
Words ending with a constonant plus a short vowel instead double the constonant and drop the vowel.
The use of those diacritic marks is just for my ease typing.
If a nasal is next to a stop it adapts to that position, if it is both followed and preceeded by a stop it prefers to take the following's. Final n's are dropped and nasalize the prior vowel. All adjacent constonants are vocalized.
Intervocalic stops are vocalised.
Stops followed by ii are palatized, and sii is pronounced shi.
n and s can be vocalic, and n can be lengthened.

Ok I'm kindof cheating here, aren't I?
The result is more like
p t k s sh n
pp tt kk ss ssh nn
ä a â à ââ aâ àà aa ï i î ì ìì îî iî ii n nn s
an ân àn âân aan aân ààn in în ìn ììn îîn iin iîn

The verb and the subject of the sentance are combined, which can be fulfilled by a dummy subject if the voice calls for it.
The suffix -t on the subject is a negative verb marker.
Reduplication marks plural.
Past tense is marked by the suffix -ni on the subject.
The subject is devoid of case marker.

kaskïs - child
pittâsïs - teacher
àïs - donkey
tâtiiïs - dummy pronoun
asn-(SUBJ) - to see
nsn-(SUBJ) - to give
kâssii - white
assàn - red
kiaitn-(SUBJ) - to be angry
taapâsïkn(SUBJ) - to be happy
-ipiai- - causative
-i - adjectivizes verbs
tiia - definate article
akââ - indefinate article
Kâân - negative article

tiia asnkask assàn aì, taapâsknipiaitâtii.
The child sees the red donkey, and this makes him happy.
tiia asnkask tiia kâssii aaâ pittâsì, asntâtiit tiia assàn aì.
The child gave the white donkey to the teacher, he didn't give the red one.
tiia asnkask akââ kâssii aaâ pittâsì, asntâtiiââ kâân assàn aì.
The child gave a white donkey to the teacher, he didn't give a red one.
asna taapâsïkni tiia kaskkaskì, kiaitnipiaia.
The donkey saw the happy children, and this makes him angry.

That's uglier than Turkish put through that glytch on the old computer games that would mix up text.
Welp, I failed. Fun anyways though!

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 9:41 pm
by äreo
consonants:
/p t k s m n ɾ ʔ/
-all consonants are palatalised before /i/ and labialised before /u/, save /ʔ/.
-/t k/ are only distinguished intervocalically, where they are voiced: kaa bird and taa hammer [ka:] vs. saki blood [sagi] and sati tie, belt [sadi].
-/s/ is voiced between vowels.
-the following clusters are allowed initially and intervocalically: /kt pt kr pr sp st sk spr skr/.
-words may end only in vowels.

vowels:
/a i u/
-vowels can be short or long, and there are also short and long diphthongs /ai au ui ua ia iu a:i a:u u:i u:a i:a i:u/ which are often realised as [ɛ o y ɔ e ɨ ɛ: o: y: ɔ: e: ɨ:].

eh. more later.

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:15 pm
by personak
Here's some example words (diaeresis = glottal stop, er = syllabic tap):

uku
su
kiërër
terër
ter
aperä
ermer
ninaër
piërü
paru
er
erü
ukiër

ertu
nurerra
terka
suru
ka
erna
a
nerï
pu
merüa

ura
per
uër
iäu
sukater
iti
miser
kaër
mer
erër
siärer
kupuü
nu
rerüu
erä
merkiër
raki
muërër
kauër
aër
ipa
tiër
utu
makertu
userna
apu
kerri
maï
kerra
au
ti
merïu

u
iru
manunu
namerser
ru
ker
suti
nerü
ima
i
erpi
erker
merä
erper

riïmer

rumer
pusu
rerker
kerër
uërü
serïru
niër

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:42 am
by Radius Solis
cedh audmanh wrote:Radius, I like your sketch quite a lot. Couldn't that one be a sister language to Jamna Kopiai?
It could, but 1. that would be a lot of work, I'd rather just come up with some new basic grammar bits here and now - and 2, there's only so many 8-consonant systems Roninbodhisattva could realistically have picked, so it's not a huge coincidence that Jamna has seven of them and a relic of the eighth. And nothing else about the phonology is really very similar. :)

(For anyone who want to know what we're talking about: Jamna Kopiai)

Re: The Minimal Phonology Challenge II

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:30 pm
by Radius Solis
I figured I'd give my sketch some more substance. However, the language has undergone two sound changes since my previous post:

1. [+nasal +syllabic] > @~

2. a > ɛ, ɔ / if next syllable has stressed i, u

Clarification on a previous point: the vowel harmony rule happens only in prefixed morphemes, never suffixed ones.


Representation

When giving underlying forms I will use /p t k s m n r ' a i u/ and usually retain the slashes. But in actual examples, I will spell out the R-lenited phones [ʋ ɾ ɰ ɦ] with v r g h, omit /r/ and /'/ when represented on the surface only by zero, and otherwise retain simple phonemic spelling. But in bold typeface.

Capital V will continue to indicate a harmonizing vowel. Capital A will also be used to indicate an agreement vowel (see below).

Thus, with the example word previously given as /kʔipRis/, we will represent the underlying form with /k'Vpris/ and the actual resulting word with k'ivis.


NOUNS

I. Gender

There are three "genders" which have no particular semantics, they are simply a matter of what the noun's tonic vowel is. For instance nouns with a tonic vowel of /i/ are in the I-gender. Adjectives, numbers, and verbs always agree with the gender of their head nouns or their subjects by suffixing a copy of this gender vowel.

II. Number etc.

plural: -uk
diminutive: -in

The plural suffix is strictly required whenever the noun refers to multiple things. The diminutive suffix is optional and possible only in the singular; it indicates smallness, cuteness, or intimate relationship to the speaker, and is heavily employed. Much less common is an augmentative -ua that is also possible only in the singular and indicates bigness, dumbness, or clumsiness; the final /a/ becomes A in the genitive.

III. Case

direct: --
genitive: -A
oblique: -ri

Case is essentially derivational, as it is not used for distinguishing the grammatical roles of subject and direct object (or other such roles), but only for genitives and obliques. Essentially, all nouns functioning as nouns are in the unmarked or direct case, while the genitive case derives adjectives (and non-head compound elements) from the base noun and the oblique case derives adverbs. Note that the genitive and oblique cases are not used in prepositional phrases, and do not necessarily occur in all noun uses that might be called genitive or oblique.

Full table of forms for /ni'ik/, "cat"

Direct-
Sg. ni'ik
Pl. ni'kuk
Dim. ni'kin
Aug. ni'kua

Genitive- (assuming an A-gender head)
Sg. ni'ka
Pl. ni'kuka
Dim. ni'kina
Aug. ni'kua

Oblique-
Sg. ni'gi
Pl. ni'kugi
Dim. ni'kini
Aug. ni'kuari


PRONOUNS

Personal pronouns:

1sg iu
1pl nura
2sg ma
2pl mava
3sg is
3pl ira

Genitive pronouns are formed regularly, but the -A suffix replaces final -a in the plural pronouns.

Oblique pronouns also use the same suffix nouns do, but in a more fusional manner:

1sg iuri
1pl nuri
2sg mari
2pl mavi
3sg iri
3pl iri

Gender: The tonic vowels and thus grammatical genders of first, second, and third person pronouns are U, A, and I respectively.


ADJECTIVES

When used attributively, adjectives inflect only to agree with the noun's gender. This works just like the genitive suffix, and indeed genitive nouns are morphologically identical to attributive adjectives. When used predicatively, adjectives do not inflect at all - they appear in their bare forms. However, genitive nouns remain in the genitive case in both attributive and predicative uses.


VERBS

The Basic Conjugation

The basic conjugation distinguishes only past and present tenses (specifically, preterite and present-progressive), singular and plural number, and an agreement vowel. The basis of the system works like this:

Present, Past
Sg. -An, -A
Pl. -A, -Ak

Exception: the second-person singular suffixes do not match the others, and instead match the second-person plural suffixes, in both tenses.

Following is a full table of the basic conjugation for the verb /misit/, "to see". Keep in mind that personal pronouns have their own genders, so all suffix vowels in the table are just regular gender agreement. (Third-person pronouns of course have the I-gender, but nominal subjects can be of any gender so we cannot just give /i/ for the third person.)

Present Singular
1 mistun
2 mista
3 mistAn

Present Plural
1 mistu
2 mista
3 mistA

Past Singular
1 mistu
2 mistak
3 mistA

Past Plural
1 mistuk
2 mistak
3 mistAk

There are additional conjugation patterns for more complex tenses (future, past-continuous, perfect, and immediate/punctual) and for the optative and hypothetical moods. These patterns are all related to the basic conjugation, but not always in transparent ways.


Other Verb Morphology

1. Passive verbs are derived from active ones by an infix, -n-, whose position is more dependent on prosody than on morpheme boundaries: when possible, it becomes a coda of the stressed syllable. For instance, in a bare root of CVCVC, V1 usually bears stress, so the passive form is CVnCVC. This infixation is blocked in some less-common root shapes; in such cases it may instead be prefixed. A few verb roots already have a medial consonant cluster starting with /n/ - most of these historical nasals have been analogized away in the active voice, but some remain, forming a small class of deponent verbs.

2. There exist also a substantial number of derivational prefixes that may be found at the beginnings of verbs.