Phonology:
/p pʰ p' t tʰ t' k kʰ k' q qʰ q' ʔ/ <b p p' d t t' g k k' gh q q' 7>
/ɸ~f s ɬ x xʷ χ χʷ/ <f s lh x xw h hw>
/m n ŋ/ <m n ng>
/ʋ r ɹ~j l ɰ ʀ/ <v r j l y rh>
/ɨ ə ä/ <i e a>
/V˥ V˩ V˥˩/ <a à â> The actual qualities are something like 4, 1 and 52
Syllable structure: C(c)V, where c is more sonorous than C, grouping the sound as above.
Stress hasn't been decided, though I am leaning mostly toward unbound weight-sensitive primary stress and EDIT: iterative, weight-insensitive, iambic secondary stress.
Allophony hasn't really been worked out much yet, except for dorsal fricatives assimilating in POA with a precceding dorsal plosive.
It is going to be rather heavily head-marking, head-first, suffixing, agglutinative and synthetic.
Word order in pragmatically neutral clauses is VSO but relatively flexible. Right now newly introduced persons and things that will be relevant later are placed before the verb.
Morphosyntactic alignment is active? (I think it's called that) - secundative.
Basic structure of verbs is as follows:
stem
incorporated noun
incorporated locatives and directionals
ass. derivative morphology
valency-changing operations
negative
mood
aspect
tense
persons
attitude-suffixes
con-/disjunction markers
Of these, only stem, mood, aspect and tense are obligatory.
Personal suffixes of verbs
Code: Select all
1.incl. 1.excl. 2. 3.anim.prox. 3.inan.prox. 3.anim.obv. 3.inan.obv.
Agt.sing. - se mî fnê ya xwà qa
Agt.plu. mrhe jè 7vî p'a - ghyì -
Pat.sing. - la rhî t'i xri 7lhe ngrà
Pat.plu. qnga 7ê plhê k'a - gnà -
Intransitive verbs take agentive or patientive suffixes depending on weather the subject is considered to be acting at it's own volition or not. Verbs can take multiple suffixes of the same kind if they are in apposition to each other. Verbs of sensual experiences and knowledge take objects in secundative case.
Examples (xàti: eat, sje: see, look at, watch, 7xè: fish, -fi: inan.obv, -lì: secundative, -hè: anim.obv):
Xàti-se-fnê-ngrà 7xè-fi - I and him/her eat/ate fish.
Sje-p'a 7xè-lì-hè They see/saw a fish.
TAM-stuff
Still very much in the works. For aspect I'm debating whether to have a relatively smaller system of something like perfective, progressive, continous, habitual, and leave things like inchoatives and resumptatives in "assorted derivational morphology", or whether to make a relatively bigger system.
Tense is going to behave more like english temporal adverbs; optional, and with a rather large paradigm.
I have mostly decided on the paradigm for moods:
Core moods:
Indicative
Interrogative (for polar questions)
Optative/imperative
Subjunctive (hypotheticals, usually with one of the connective moods)
Connective moods, used in subclauses:
Conditional (if)
Consequential (because)
Concessive (despite, even though)
Temporal (Always inflect for tense, tense is relative to the event in the main clause. "While he ate, [main clause]" would use present, "After he ate, [main clause]" would use past, etc.)
Relative (Used for relative clauses and sentential arguments. I think I'll make sentential arguments inflect for case and prox/obv somewhat differently than nouns.)
Nominal morphology
Basic form: stem - derivational morphology - posessor - case - number.proximity
Posessors use the verbal suffixes. Agentive suffixes for inalienable posession and patientive for alienable posession. Examples: xwlàbi (tongue) - xwlàbijè (our (excl.) tongue); 7xè (fish) - 7xèk'a (their fish)
Case (not fully decided):
Direct (for core arguments): -Ø
Secundative-genitive: -lì
Instrumental: -sà
Beneficative: -ga
Absessive: -qvâ
Comparative (for objects of equtive comparison (he eats like an animal), and, in combination with yet undertermined verbal suffixes, non-equal comparisons (it is bigger than an elephant)): [undecided]
Number and proximity:
Proximal: -Ø
Animate proximate plural: -da
Inanimate obviative: -fi
Animate obviative singular: -hè
Animate obviative plural: -dà
I have a system of locatives in the works that I will post soon(-ish (probably)).