Shaniija

[Shemtov]

This is a language spoken on the Northwest coast and surrounding islands of a continent in my conworld. It is part of a larger language family, called Wanian, and is spoken in the Urheimat, though it has changed drastically from the typical Wanian features, under the influence of another, unrelated language called Arrungi.
Phonology:
/-p b t d ʈ ɖ t͡ʃ d͡ʒ k q / <p b t d th dh c j k q>
/m m: n n: ɳ ɲ ɲ: ŋ ŋ:/ <m mm n nn nh ñ ññ ng nng>
/ɸ s ʂ ʃ h/ <f s sh x h>
/ɾ l/ <r l>
/j w/ <y w>

/i i: ɛ o o: ə ə: a a:/ <i ii è o oo e ee a aa>
/ai oi/ <ai oi>

Phonotactics:
(C)V(C)
Only finals allowed are /p t k m n ɲ ŋ/
<th dh nh> cannot occur root-initially

Nouns:
Nouns have three cases: Absolutive, Ergative, and Dative
The absolutive is the citation form of the noun.
The ergative is formed by "Mutation" of the first consonant like this:
b>im
t>n
d>in
c>ñ
j>iñ
k>ng
q>ng
m>mm
n>nn
ñ>ññ
ng>nng
f>m
s>ñ
sh>n
x>ŋ
h>ŋ
r>n
l>ñ
y>ñ
w>ng


The dative case is formed by the mutated noun with suffix ñaa

Plurals are formed in 4 ways:
1. Reduplication Ca of the first syllable "Tonga" "Canoe" Tatonga "Canoes"
2. Full reduplication of the first syllable: wan "island" wanwan "Islands"
3. Prefix fa- Qiciñ "fish" Faqiciñ "Fish (plr)
4. Prefix qa- Toka "King" Qatoka "Kings"

Verbs take suffixes for tense and person (of the absolutive)
The Non-Past tense verb are unmarked
The past tense suffix is -Sha
The Irrealis suffix is -ni

The person suffixes are as follows:
1P -(a)ng
2P (a)ñ
3P: (a)t

Thus:
Yajijoshang
"I bowed down; I submitted"

Mmaica faqiciñ cikonginit
"The girl may split the fish in half"

A verb can be made perfective with the suffix qi, after the tense:
Ngawi kamijè matafakashaqit
"The noblewoman has killed the foreigner"

Some verbs are naturally intransitive:
Qawi matakashe
"The noblewoman is dying"

However, these can be transitivised with the infix -fa- before the ultima:
Ngawi kathimi matafakat
"The noblewoman killed the common woman"

This can also be used with verbs of motion:
Qawi jehontishe
"the Noblewoman is coming"
Ngawi dèsi jehonfatishe
"the Noblewoman is coming from the palace"

Shaniija has a rich honorific system.
Words reffering to non-nobles often are borrowed from the neighboring Arrungian languages.
An example is the words for "woman" and "wife". The "common" word for "woman" is the Arrungian loan word Kathimi, while the word for "wife" is the native "Qawi". However, when referring to a noblewoman "Qawi" is always used, while referring to a Nobleman's wife the word Dèsiqawi, literally meaning "Palace woman" is used.
Furthermore, the personal endings for verbs are different when referring to a noble:
1P -(a)m
2P (a)n
3P: -she

Thus:
Ngathimi qawi yajijoshashe
"The woman submitted to the noblewoman"

The passive voice is used often to make "gentle" speech ie. when talking to superiors. It can be formed in two ways depending on the class of verb: either the suffix qeñ before the tense marker or by the infix ye before the penault:
Ngawi kathimi yayejijoshat
"The noblewoman was submitted to by the common woman"

It can also be used with the Irrealis suffix to make a request:
Ngawi kathimi yayejijonit
"May the woman submit to the noblewoman?"

In common speech, if an anaphoric absolutive noun is plural, the first syllable of the verb is reduplicated:
Ngathimi cicikonginit
"The woman split them in half."

However, in court speech, this is replaced by Ca reduplication:
Ngawi cacikonginit
"The noblewoman split them in half"

The full reduplication is reserved for an honorific absolutive:
Fifirecin
"You all [HON] are singing"

as compared to:
Firecin
"You are singing"

or
Fafirecin
"You all [non-Honirific] are singing

There are three applicatives:
Instrumental Applicative: prefix fa-
Dative Applicative: Prefix ñaa-
Locative applicative: Suffix xi-
Benefactive applicative: Infix -shi- after penault.

The noun to which the applicative applies is the noun that comes first in the utterance:
Dèsi ngawi kathimi matafakaxit
"The noblewoman is killing the common woman in the palace"

Note that the locative is not used for verbs of motion; the locations are treated as objects; the applicative is only used to show where the action takes place.


Adverbs come directly before the verb, and have three distinct types:
Adverbs of Time:
Example:
Dakam "soon"
Ngawi dèsi dakam jehonfatishe
"The Noblewoman will come from the palace soon".

Adverbs of manner:
Tebo "well"
Mmaica faqiciñ tebo cikonginit
"The girl may split the fish in half in a good manner"

Adverbs of aspect:
Misho "To start"
Ngawi dèsi misho jehonfatishe
"The Noblewoman is starting to come from the palace"

Others include:
Com "To stop"
Qiko "To do over and over"
Jit: "To do once"

Personal pronouns, in addition to the possessives has three forms: Ergative, Absolutive and Dative:
Ergative:
1P singular: ngaik
1p plr exclusive: Moip
1P plr inclusive: Map
2P sing Ñèk
2P plr: Nik
3p sing: Tat
3P plr: Shait

Absolutive:
1p sing: Ngoong
1p plr exclusive: Moom
1P plr inclusive: Meem
2P sing: Ñeeng
2P plr: Niiñ
3p sing: Daan
3P plr: Shiin

Dative:
1P singular: ngaikiñ
1p plr exclusive: Moipiñ
1P plr inclusive: Mapiñ
2P sing Ñèkiñ
2P plr: Nikiñ
3p sing: Tatiñ
3P plr: Shaitiñ


There is also a court -style version of these pronouns:
Ergative
1P singular: Ngingaik
1p plr exclusive: Momoip
1P plr inclusive: Mamap
2P sing Ñañèk
2P plr: Nanik
3p sing: Tatat
3P plr: Shishait

Absolutive:
1p sing: Ngangoong
1p plr exclusive: Mamoom
1P plr inclusive: Memeem
2P sing: Ñeñeeng
2P plr: Naniiñ
3p sing: Dadaan
3P plr: Shashiin

Dative:
1P singular: Ngingaikañ
1p plr exclusive: Momoipañ
1P plr inclusive: Mamapañ
2P sing Ñañèkañ
2P plr: Nanikañ
3p sing: Tatatañ
3P plr: Shishaitañ

Thus:
Ngoong matakashe
"I am dying"

Tatat ñeeng matafakanit
"He may kill you"

Possession distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession.
Possessive pronouns:
Common style:
Inalienable:
1p sing: Ngo
1p plr exclusive: Mo
1P plr inclusive: Mao
2P sing: Ñao
2P plr: Nai
3p sing: Tao
3P plr: Shao

Alienable
1p sing: Ngike
1p plr exclusive: Mike
1P plr inclusive: Maike
2P sing: Ñake
2P plr: Nake
3p sing: Take
3P plr: Shike

Court style:
Inalienable:
1p sing: Ngoo
1p plr exclusive: Moo
1P plr inclusive: Mamao
2P sing: Ñañao
2P plr: Nanai
3p sing: Tatao
3P plr: Shshao

Alienable
1p sing: Ngiike
1p plr exclusive: Miike
1P plr inclusive: Mamaike
2P sing: Ñañake
2P plr: Nanake
3p sing: Tatake
3P plr: Sasike

Inalienable possessive pronouns are put before the possessed noun, while inalienable pronouns are put after:
Ngo wènii
"My hand"

Tonga ngike
"My canoe"

Inalienable possessions without pronouns are formed with the particle ko between the possessor and the possesee:
Toka ko wènii
"The king's hand

While alienable possessions are formed by POSSESOR POSSESEE followed by the 3P alienable pronoun with the right number:
Toka tonga tatake
"The king's canoe"


The existential verb Co is used like any other intransitive verb:
Kathimi co
"There is a woman"

Kathimi cosha
"There was a woman"

The negative is yo:
Kathima yo
"There is no woman"

These verbs can also be used as a copula/negative copula in court speech:

Tatat co dèsiqawi
"She is a nobleman's wife"

However in normal speech, the copula is dropped and both words are in the absolutive form:
Daan maica
"She is a girl"

The prefix Ngoi- is a complex prefix. It might be called a definite article, and in court speech, it is often used that way. However, in the common language it has the meaning of "another". Thus:
Ngawi kathimi matafakashat. Ngoikathimi maafajoshat
"The Noblewoman killed the common woman [but] she let another common woman live"
As can be seen, Ngoi- is often used to contrast the two nouns. Using the full noun instead of a demonstrative emphasises the contrast.

Ngoi- can also be used with a seperate noun then the one it's contrasting with, to show that the second noun is known to the listener, while the first one isn't or to put emphasis on noun the carries it:
Ngawi kamijè matafakashat. Ngoikathimi maafajoshat
"The noblewoman killed a foreigner [but] she let the common woman live."
or
"The noblewoman killed a foreigner [but it was] the common woman she let live.


Shaniija has a rich system of derivational morphology.
There are four nominalizers for verbs:
Suffix -dik: Common speech for the noun that does an intransitive verb or the patient of a transitive verb:
Matakadik
"The dead one"
Matafakadik
"The murdered one"

Suffix -toi Court version of -dik:
Matakatoi
"The dead one"
Matafakatoi
"The murdered one"

Suffix -rem: The agent of a transitive verb:
Matafakarem
"The killer"

Prefix: Moo-: The participle:
Moomatafaka
"The killing"

There are also many prefixes and suffixes to modify nouns. Some examples:
Prefix: Ba: diminutive prefix:
Batoka
Ba-toka
DIM-king
"Viceroy"

Prefix: Joi: Makes things bigger:
Joitoka
"god; a deity"

Joiqawi
"Queen; woman regent"

Joidèsiqawi
"King's wife"

Suffix: -xat: makes an abstract noun that pertains to the noun:
Tokaxat
"Kingdom; the crown"


Shanija has three demonstratives: a Proximal, a medial a Distal. They have have forms for singular and plural and, and for absolutive and ergative. They are used instead of 3P pronoun when the refferant is non-human.:
Absolutive::
Proximal singular: Fa
Proximal plural: Fafa
Medial singular: Sè
Medial Plural: Sasè
Distal singular: Mai
Distal plural: Mamai

Ergative
Proximal singular: Ma
Proximal plural: Mafa
Medial singular: ñè
Medial Plural: ñasè
Distal singular: Mmai
Distal plural: Mmamai

Tatat sè matafakanit
"He may kill that one here"

Polar questions are formed by Particle Jè at the end of a phrase:
Noka co tonga tatake jè
"Does the king have a canoe?"

Questions of suprise in common speech are formed by following the realis verb with the ireallis verb:
Ngawi kathimi matafakat matafakani?
"Did the Noblewoman indeed kill the common lady?!"

However in court speech, the particle Cojè is added to indicate surprise:
Ngawi kathimi yayejijoshat cojè
"The common woman actually submitted to the noblewoman?"


Rhetorical questions, are, on the other hand formed by following the realis verb with the ireallis verb:
Ngawi kathimi yayejijoshat yayejijoni
"Does not a common woman submit to a noblewoman?"

WH-questions are formed by replacing the noun with the proper question word:
Absolutive:
What: Yèk
Who: Yom
Who (honorific:) Yep
Which: Yèt
Which person: Yon
Where: Yisa
Why: Yak
How: Ying

The ergative is formed by replacing the initial <y> with <ñ>:
Nonga co yep tatake
Who's canoe is it?

Ngawi yisa dakam jehonfatishe
"Where is the noblewoman coming from?

Predicative adjectives are formed by inflecting the adjective like a verb:
Qiciñ meramèshat
"The fish was red"

Attributive adjectives are formed by putting -(e)p at the end of the adjective root and have it follow the noun:
Mmaica faqiciñ meramèp cikonginit
"The girl may split the red fish in half."


Numbers occur before the noun:
1. Shaci
2. Minaat
3: Kacira
4. Cijo
5. Ngam
6. Fita
7. Motok
8. Jowi
9. Nofi
10: Qawañ
11. Qawanhaci
12. Qawamminaat
13. Qawangkacira
14. Qawañcijo
15. Qawanngam
16 Qawamfita
17. Qawammotok
18. Qawañjowi
19. Qawannofi
20. Minaaqawañ
21. Minaaqawanhaci
30. Kaciraqawañ
40. Cijoqawañ
50 Ngangqawañ
70. Motoqawañ
etc.
'
Kacira mmaica faqiciñ meramèp cikonginit
"Three girls may split the red fish in half."

In court speech Noble humans may be denoted with the number with Ca reduplication:
Maminaat ngawi dèsi misho jehonfatishe
"Two Noblewoman are starting to come from the palace"

If the exact status of the person is unknown, the person numeral may be used as a pronoun:
Mmaminaat dèsi misho jehonfatishe
"Two are starting to come from the palace"



Verbal chains:
Verbal chains are formed by putting the first verb (the secondary verb) in its plain form (with transitivity marked), followed by the folly conjugated primary verb:
Ngawi kamijè cikongi matafakashat
"The Noblewoman killed the foreigner, splitting him in half.

Various linking particles can be placed between the two verbs such as Bañ "Afterwards"
Ngawi kamijè cikongi bañ matafakashat
"The noblewoman killed the foreigner, splitting him in half, afterwards.

Another is Ngèt "because"
Ngawi kamijè cikongi ngèt matafakashat
"The noblewoman split the foreigner in half because she killed him"

[Shemtov]

Conditional sentences are formed by putting the protasis and putting either the particle bañ or ngèt before the apodeisis; this depends on whether or not the protasis is the direct cause of the apodeisis or not, in which case ngèt is used.
Kamijè firecinit, ngèt ngawi matafakat
"If the foreigner would sing, the Noblewoman would kill him"

The irrealis is also used in court-speech for the non-index enclictic (a)ke, which means that one is not sure if it is the correct verb:
Ngawi kamijè cikonginitake
"The noblewoman split the foreigner in half, I think"
The same clitic can be used with nouns:
Ngawi kamijèke cikongishat
"It was the foreigner, I think, that the Noblewoman split in half.

More then one noun in the same role is formed in the following way:
If both nouns are ergative, they are chained together:
Noka ngawi dèsi jajehonfatishe
"The king and the noblewoman are coming from the palace.
If they're absolutive, the mèm is placed between them:
Toka mèm qawi jajehontishe
The king and Noblewoman are coming."

[Shemtov]

Conditional sentences are formed by putting the protasis in the irrealis and putting either the particle bañ or ngèt before the apodeisis; this depends on whether or not the protasis is the direct cause of the apodeisis or not, in which case ngèt is used.
Kamijè firecinit, ngèt ngawi matafakat
"If the foreigner would sing, the Noblewoman would kill him"

The above construction is only used if the protasis is possible to fuffil, or if the statement is a gnomic one, ie. it is the Implicative and predictive conditional. To form the counterfactual conditional, the protasis is in the perfective, and the apodeisis is in the irrealis:
Kamijè fireciqit, ngèt ngawi matafakanit
"If the foreigner would be singing, the Noblewoman would kill him."

However, in court speech the past tense is used instead of the perfective, as the past tense used to have a perfective meaning. To make the statement present tense the word Moot "now" is added:
Kamijè moot firecishat, ngèt ngawi matafakanit
"If the foreigner would be singing now, the Noblewoman would kill him."

[Shemtov]

Relative clauses, are, in Shaniija, subordinate clauses used when the tense or aspect of the verb are different from each other.
The Antecedent comes first, with the verb taking the reletavizing prefix wi-
Kamijè wifirecisha, matakat.
"The foreigner that was singing, is [now] dead"

[Shemtov]

By way of introduction, it must be understood that court speech is a con-condialect, created by Bèthoberak and a team of courtiers, to bring the language "in line" with the philosophy of Monhindikxatism (http://aveneca.com/cbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5910).
Thus some adverbs have become proclitics in court speech:
Tebo "well"; "bo-" "in a correct or righteous manner:
Maaro- "Not well"; ro- "In an incorrect or not righteous manner":
Kamijè moot rofirecishat, ngèt ngawi bomatafakanit
"If the foreigner would be evilly singing now, the Noblewoman would rightfully kill him."

Verbs of motion can be formed by prefixing the prefix lai- to the means of motion:
Dingam "Hand"
Laidingam "To crawl"

Miida "foot"
Laimiida "To walk"

Jimaadingam "Rickshaw"
Laijimaadingam "To go by Rickshaw"

Verbs can be intensified by reduplicated the ultima:
Laimiida "To walk"
Laimiidada "To run"

[Shemtov]

Adjectives are compared by by using the suffix noo instead of (e)p :
Ngike tonga meramènoo ñake tonga
"My canoe is redder then yours"

Superlatives are formed by the reduplication of the last syllable before (e)P
meramèmèp tonga
"Reddest canoe"

[Shemtov]

ntransitive verbs can also be transitivized by the enclitic wañ. This has the effect of making the action less direct more then the normal transitivizer.
For example:
Ngawi kamijè matafakashat
"The noblewoman killed the foreigner [herself]"
Ngawi kamijè cikongi matakashatwañ
"The Noblewoman caused the foreigner to die."

When a locative applicative is used to apply to a place that is not normally a place-noun, ie. to mean "In the vicinity of" the word qen must come before the noun. Similiarly, in Court speech, things that aren't often used as instruments take the proclitic sadhu before the instrument:
Qen bamba ngawi kathimi matafakaxit
""The noblewoman is killing the common woman by the tree"


Sadhu metha ngathimi facicikonginit
"The women is splitting it in half with a stone"

More on derivational morphology:
The verb suffix jo turns the verb into an abstract concept conectted with that verb. It is non-productive:
Matakajo: "Death"

The non-productive noun suffix shik has the meaning of "....and things like that" or "all" depending on the noun:
Belut "Fruit" Belutshik "Kinds of fruit"
Tonga "Canoe" Tongashik "Canoes and such"
Qawi "Noblewoman" Qawishik "All Noblewomen"

Demonstrative adverbs:
There are four classes of what I call "Demonstrative adverbs"; adverbs formed by putting a prefix before the apropiate absolutive singular demonstrative:
The first is the locative adverb: By putting the prefix xè before the demonstrative it means the action took place here there or yonder:
Qawi xèfa matakashe
"The noblewoman died here"

The Allative adverb: The prefix Qimaa with verbs of motion indicates where the motion is going towards:
Qawi qimaafa jehontishe
"The noblewoman is coming to here"

The ablative adverb, with the prefix re indicates the source of the verb of motion:
Qawi remai jehontishe
"The noblewoman is coming from yonder"

The fourth is the adverb of manner; meaning like in the way just spoken about. Its prefix is Mooli
Tatat sè moolisè matafakanit
"He may kill that one like that [that has been specified]"

Dative contructions are formed in two ways in the colloquial language: By having the ergative noun take the suffix ñaa or by using the dative applicative. Court speech uses the latter exclusivly; in fact, using the applicative in the colloquial is often seen as pretentious.

Ngawi nokañaa tonga bèthimoshe
"The Noblewoman gives the king a canoe"

Toka ngawi tonga ñaabèthimoshe
"The Noblewoman gives the king a canoe"

However, for an extra level of politeness in Court speech, the Benefactive applicative is used. This is never used this way in common speech:
Toka ngawi tonga bèthishimoshe
"The Noblewoman gives the king a canoe"

Proper names, in common speech, and when referring to common people are ergativized using the same method as regular words:
Madharom qawi yajijoshashe
"Fadharom submitted to the noblewoman"

However in court speech, when reffering to the members of the court, the prefix Riko- is added instead
Rikobèthoberak toka yajijoshashe
"Bèthoberak submitted to the king"

However, some names that didn't used to be court names use both methods:
Rikomadharom Bèthoberak yajijoshashe
"Fadharom submitted to Bèthoberak"

In some colloquial dialects, it is common to use possesive enclitics for inalienable possesions, instead of the possesive pronouns:
1P (a)ng
2P; (e)n
3P: (e)t

wèniing
"My hand"

However, because this was a feature of the "Mountain dialect" from which Bèthoberak constructed court speech, it is considered extra polite in court speech to double up these enclitics with regular ways of expresing inalienable possesion:
Toka ko wèniit
"The king's hand"
Lit. "The king's hand, his".
In court speech these enclitics are never used alone.

[Duns Scotus]

Shaniija looks very neat and has some relatively underrepresented features (in conlanging I mean) that are nice to see (like reduplication). Cool stuff!

[Shemtov]

Shaniija looks very neat and has some relatively underrepresented features (in conlanging I mean) that are nice to see (like reduplication). Cool stuff!

Thanks, I was doing a lot of reading on Austronesian languages, which were the main inspiration.
Anyway:
Reflexes and reciprocal are formed by the suffix Finha-
Examples
Qawi Finhamatakasha
"The noblewoman comitted suicide"

Domoothe "to meet"
Qawi kathimi finhadomoothesha
"The noblewoman and the commonwoman have met"