I've been working on something that might or might not be called Kobashti (project named Jun04). The syntax is mostly developed although not well documented. It needs a conculture, before I can add good examples. The phonology and morphology are far enough along to ask for comments; I'm concerned about naturalism.
http://qiihoskeh.conlang.org/cl/chain/Jun04/IfIntro.htm
Kobashti?
Kobashti?
"The sable is empty, and his Norse is gone!" -- kathrynhr
Re: Kobashti?
Now I have some specific questions. First:
The 4 oblique cases -te, -va, -mi, and -se are derived from verbs. They also appear with some non-personal pronoun roots prefixed (all CV). In these, there's an /h/ of unknown origin between the pronoun and the verb. /h/ assimilates to some following consonants producing geminates but shows up as vowel length before others. For example, so-h-te is sotte but so-h-va is souva. What I don't know is how to analyze these for purposes of entering them in the lexicon. Should I break these down as prefixes (so-) and verb roots (-tte, -hva?) or should I list each of maybe 32 combinations?
I suspect I'll have to clarify when my brain is working better.
The 4 oblique cases -te, -va, -mi, and -se are derived from verbs. They also appear with some non-personal pronoun roots prefixed (all CV). In these, there's an /h/ of unknown origin between the pronoun and the verb. /h/ assimilates to some following consonants producing geminates but shows up as vowel length before others. For example, so-h-te is sotte but so-h-va is souva. What I don't know is how to analyze these for purposes of entering them in the lexicon. Should I break these down as prefixes (so-) and verb roots (-tte, -hva?) or should I list each of maybe 32 combinations?
I suspect I'll have to clarify when my brain is working better.
"The sable is empty, and his Norse is gone!" -- kathrynhr
Re: Kobashti?
I would do both. In my lexicon, I list basically all types of morphemes (inflectional, derivational, roots, etc.) but then I also list whole words as separate entries even if they're composed of several morphemes. The only exception being made for inflected forms. I normally don't list every inflected form, listing instead a bare stem.
I hope I'm understanding the question correctly.
I hope I'm understanding the question correctly.
Re: Kobashti?
That does answer my main question. There is also the question about how to list the parts. For souva, e.g., are the parts so- and hva? or soh- and va? or what?
"The sable is empty, and his Norse is gone!" -- kathrynhr
Re: Kobashti?
Well since you described it as an unknown -h- between the pronoun and verb, it seems best to list it as a separate morpheme (at least that is how I understood your description). You could call it "unanalyzable" or something to that effect. However, since it looks like it's an obligatory part of the verbal conjugation, you could mention that as part of its description. (Unanalyzable, obligatory verbal infix)
Re: Kobashti?
The /h/ seems to appear only in these particular locational verbs. My issue with listing it is that it never actually appears as an -h-; it always assimilates.
Anyways, I've been working on the lexicon, especially scalar verbs (a subset of static verbs used instead of adjectives). They each have the form of either a root plus classifier or just the root. Most of them come in pairs. The classifier serves to disambiguate, although it's not always needed (so far). I don't know how natural this is. Here's most of what I have so far:
The mid-dot indicates that the following -u- is deleted before a vowel-initial suffix.
Anyways, I've been working on the lexicon, especially scalar verbs (a subset of static verbs used instead of adjectives). They each have the form of either a root plus classifier or just the root. Most of them come in pairs. The classifier serves to disambiguate, although it's not always needed (so far). I don't know how natural this is. Here's most of what I have so far:
Code: Select all
chakhr·u hot borr·u cold
sif·u fast mokh·u slow
gan loose jis·u tight
khosi? rough nishi? smooth
kato? hard hufi? soft
fini high pitch khunu? low pitch
shim·u white mar? black
??? red
shude? yellow, brown
vido? green
??? blue
tarafe high dumafe low
sarfe wet bakufe dry
shudefe ancient vidofe recent
taraga tall shibaga short vertical
dumaga deep hesaga shallow
rofaga long distance kudaga short horizontal
gomaga? thick sahaga? thin
hanga straight puiga bent
farga heavy tiuga light
shudega old vidoga young
kichuga sharp (edge) sotega dull (edge)
shimuga shiny marga? dull (visual)
finiga harmonically rich khunuga harmonically poor
dumur·u steep hesur·u level
khisar·u dangerous meir·u safe
shimur·u bright marr·u? dim
bakar·u loud toir·u quiet
khambe angry
keribe happy
juhube sad
noube afraid
bakabe excited toibe calm
bencho hungry
rokucho thirsty
"The sable is empty, and his Norse is gone!" -- kathrynhr
Re: Kobashti?
You should list morphemes by their underlying forms (in this case -h-) rather than surface forms. You (or anyone with a working understanding of your language's phonotactics) should be able to derive the surface form yourself (themselves) from the underlying forms by applying whatever rules make these changes.qiihoskeh wrote:The /h/ seems to appear only in these particular locational verbs. My issue with listing it is that it never actually appears as an -h-; it always assimilates.