Mayato MK2

[k1234567890y]

Out of fiction Introduction
Mayato is an a priori language, the name "Mayato" is recycled from an old conlang of mine, thus "MK2".

The language is still under construction, many parts have not been finished yet

In-world Introduction
Mayato is the lingua franca of the earth of the 31th world, it is used as the language of virtually every area, the status of Mayato language in the 31th world is similar to English of the 7th world(our world) today.

Phonology

Below is the phonemic inventory of Mayato and the transcriptions(I have posted this in the phonology thread, however, there are some modifications):

/m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ/<m n ny ng ngw>
/(p) ɓ t ts tɬ ɗ tʃ dʒ k kʷ/<p b t ts tl d c j k qu>(<c> and <j> were originally /c/ and /ʄ/ respectively)
/f v s z ɬ ʃ x ɣ xʷ/<f v s z lh x h g hw>
/w r l ʎ j/<w r l ly y>

/p/ is the syllable-final allophoneme of /f/

/ŋʷ/ is merged with /m/ and /ʎ/ is merged with /j/ by some speakers.

/ɛ e i ɑ o u/<ae e i a o u>

syllable: (C)(C)V(C), the second consonant in the cluster can be /w r l ʎ j/, but only /r l/ after palatals and labialized velars, /l/ does not occur after /t/ and /ɗ/, /r/ does not not occur after /s/ and /z/.

root structure:

roots are mostly monosyllabic or contains no vowels at all, they can be in the following forms:

- C
- CC
- VC
- CV
- CVC
- CCV
- CCVC

Grammar

Syntax:

Word Order:

The word order of Mayato is like below:
- Basic Word Order: SOV(Subject-Object-Verb)
- Adpositions are postpositions
- Adjectives, Demonstratives, Numerals, Possessors, Relative clauses precede the nouns they modify; adverbs and adverbial phrases precede he verbs they modify

Relative Clause:

In Mayato, the most common way to form a relative clause is to put it before the antecedent, especially when the relative clause is short. Verbs in the present continuous/stative tense or the past tenses(whether imperfective or perfective) can be used attributively:

- lhak na sevesu van sin - lhak na se-v-es-u va-n s-in - sky LOC 3.PL.A-fly-PL-CONT bird-PL 3.PL.A-be.PL - there are birds flying on the sky.

As adjectives are effectively stative verbs in Mayato, attributive adjectives are actually relativized stative verbs:

- beku lhak - bek-u lhak - be.dark-CONT sky - dark sky

Morphology:

Verb:

Mayato has an elaborate verbal affix system, which can be pretty complex to some extent.

order: preverbs-agreements-incorporation-manners-negation-voice-root-pluractional-TAM-dative

agreements:

instransitive:

- 1sg: k-/ke-
- 2sg: v-/u-
- 3sg: 0-/e-
- 1pl: c-/ci-
- 2pl: y-/vi-/i-
- 3pl: s-/se-

transitive:

The agent and the patient of the transitive affixes have been fused together, forming an elaborate system:

- 1sg>2sg: ku-/qu-
- 2sg>1sg: ko-

- 1pl>2sg: cu-
- 2sg>1pl: ca-

- 1sg>2pl: qui-
- 2pl>1sg: ke-

- 1pl>2pl: cu-
- 2pl>1pl: co-

- 1sg>3sg: ke-/k-
- 3sg>1sg: ka-

- 2sg>3sg: u-/v-
- 3sg>2sg: o-

- 1pl>3sg: ci-/c-
- 3sg>1pl: ce-

- 2pl>3sg: i-/y-
- 3sg>2pl: e-

- 1sg>3pl: he-
- 3pl>1sg: ha-

- 2sg>3pl: su-
- 3pl>2sg: so-

- 1pl>3pl: xe-
- 3pl>1pl: xa-

- 2pl>3pl: si-
- 3pl>2pl: se-

- 3sg>3sg: 0-
- 3sg>3pl: ne-/n-
- 3pl>3sg: sa-/s-
- 3pl>3pl: san-

Indirect object agreements

Indirect object agreements are suffixes rather than prefixes:

- 1sg: -k/-ek
- 2sg: -vu/-u/-p
- 3sg: -0
- 1pl: -ci
- 2pl: -i
- 3pl: -se

manners

manners prefixes indicate how and/or where the verb is done:

- with hand: ma-/m-
- by foot: fa-/f-/p-
- with eyes: za-/z-
- with ears: ga-/g-
- with nose: ne-/ny-
- with mouth/through a hole: ho-/hw-
- with body: lha-/lh-

voices:

- passive/causative: da-
- reflexive: bi-
- reciprocal: me-
- applicative:
-- benefactive/ablative: sa-
-- locative: ta-
-- instrumental: na-

negation: mi-

pluractional: -s/-es

tense-aspect-mood(TAM):
- present: -0
- present continuous/stative: -u
- past imperfective: -o
- past perfective: -a
- imperative: -i
- conditional(only used in counterfactual statements): -ova
- potential(can/able): -ut
- desiderative(want): -ci

preverbs:

(work in progress)

Nouns:

Nouns don't have gender or case distinctions, however, nouns are inflected for numbers and possessives.

plural: -(e)n/(most nouns)/-ok(few nouns)

possessive prefix:

1sg: k-/ke-
2sg: v-/u-
3sg: n-/na-
1pl: c-/ci-
2pl: y-/vi-/i-
3pl: s-/se-
3.indef: a-/ar-

adpositions:

adpositions are inflectd for persons, below are adpositional prefixes:

1sg: k-/ke-
2sg: v-/u-
3sg: n-/na-
1pl: c-/ci-
2pl: y-/vi-/i-
3pl: s-/se-

Some Words

Pronouns:

Personal pronouns:
- 1.sg: ka
- 2.sg: va
- 3.sg: na
- 1.pl: ci
- 2.pl: vi
- 3.pl: ni

Demonstrative pronouns:
- this: ti
- that: ya

Interrogative pronouns:
- who: da
- what: dae

Numerals(especially for Janko, thanks him for caring for conlangs for a long time by collecting their numerals!):

- one: sip
- two: o
- three: osip
- four: sibama
- five: ma(also means "hand")
- six: masip
- seven: matok
- eight: omok
- nine: sibamok
- ten: mok
- twenty: hatlo
- hundred: mekto

postpositions:
- at/to: na
- from: em
- (topic marker): ya(not inflected for adpositional prefixes)

Some Examples

- lan ke-za-n - sun 1.SG>3.SG-eye-perceive - I see the sun

- mek - m-ek - give-1.SG.DAT - he/she give it to me

- mik - m-i-k - give-IMP-1.SG.DAT - give it to me!

- Mayato keyut - Mayato ke-y-ut - Mayato 1.SG>3.SG-speak-be.able - I speak Mayato

- kemingklecise - ke-mi-ngkle-ci-se - 1.SG>3.SG-NEG-talk-DES-3.PL.DAT - I don't want to speak to them

- kezmina - ke-z-mi-n-a - 1.SG>3.SG-eye-NEG-perceive-PFV - I don't want to see him

- kek - ke-k - 1.SG-go.SG - I go
- uk - u-k - 2.SG-go.SG - you go
- ek - e-k - 3.SG-go.SG - he/she/it goes
- ciken - ci-ken - 1.PL-go.PL - we go
- viken - vi-ken - 2.PL-go.PL - you(plural) go
- seken - se-ken - 3.PL-go.PL - they go

- keka - ke-k-a - 1.SG-go.SG-PFV - I went
- uka - u-k-a - 2.SG-go.SG-PFV - you went
- ka - k-a - go.SG-PFV - he/she/it went
- cikna - ci-kn-a - 1.PL-go.PL-PFV - we went
- vikna - vi-kn-a - 2.PL-go.PL-PFV - you(plural) went
- sekna - se-kn-a - 3.PL-go.PL-PFV - they went

- kektu - ke-kt-u - 1sg>3sg-send-2.SG.DAT - I send it to you
- uktek - u-kt-ek - 2sg>3sg-send-1.SG.DAT - you send it to me
- keket - ke-ket - 1sg>3sg-send - I send it to him/her
- ketek - ket-ek - send-1.SG.DAT - he/she send it to me

- kektavu - ke-kt-a-u - 1sg>3sg-send-PFV-2.SG.DAT - I sent it to you
- uktak - u-kt-a-k - 2sg>3sg-send-PFV-1.SG.DAT - you sent it to me
- kekta - ke-kt-a - 1sg>3sg-send-PFV - I sent it to him/her
- ketak - ket-a-k - send-PFV-1.SG.DAT - he/she sent it to me