CHAT: Laafaah (was CHAT: Which world? Which culture?)

> > My latest doodling, Laafaah, came from needing a language for
> > race of serpent men for an RPG, some cultural aspects of
> > which have been pre defined by H.P. Lovercraft and Thomas Smith.
>
>As a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, you've attracted my curiousity, possibly
>imprudent, given that mythos...:)
Well, I started on Laafaah [LA:p\A:h] only a month ago. Other than the HPL
stated presence of many sibilants and lack of stress in the language, a
suspicious and self-centred nature in the serpentmen – whom I named “Trayih”
[t`Ay1h] – and non-mammalian brain, mouth and throat structures, I've not
done that much on the language.

For consonants, I picked:
Initial: [?], [p], [p_}], [p\], [p\:], [p\_}], [s], [s:], [S], [S:], [s`],
[C], [s_}], [x], [h], [W], [j], [K], [L], [q], [t], [t_}], [ts], [c], [t`],
[J], [J:]
Medial: [?], [p], [p\], [p\:], [s], [s:], [S], [S:], [s`], [C], [x], [h],
[W], [j], [K], [L], [q], [t], [ts], [c], [t`], [J], [J:]
Terminal: [p], [ps], [ps:], [p\], [p\:], [s], [s:], [S], [S:], [x], [h],
[K], [L], [q], [t], [ts], [ts:], [t`], [J], [J:], [Js], [Js:]

I debate still over my exclusion of voiced consonants (because of the
structure of a reptilian throat) and dentals (because of reptilian
dentation) and plosives except [p] (because of reptilian lip structure).

For vowels, I picked back and central un-rounded: [A], [1], [M], [V], [A_t],
[1_t], [M_t]

Given this, all words are CVC or CVCVC. Roots are nouns, and are changed to
verbs by lengthening the first vowel, and to participles by lengthening both
vowels:
lafah [LAp\Ah] = word
laafah [LA:p\Ah] = I speak/am speaking
laafaah [LA:p\A:h] = speaking

I decided to make the language isolating/minimally-amalgamating. For
structure of simple sentences, I picked ergative OSV because of my perceived
scarcity of it in human languages.

Making the language self-centred, I elected to use: the unmodified root verb
form CVVC or CVVCVC for first person singular, dual and plural, and for
second person singular; modified verb form CVV_tC or  CVVCV_tC for second
person plural, and for third person sentient and non-sentient. Note: words
ending in [h] don’t added breath to the final vowel but change [h] to [Js].

Agent pronouns for CVVCVC are
1s = 'ah (not normally used unless trying to emphasize oneself)
1d = s'ix
1pi = s'iz
1px = s'uns
2s = 'ix
and patient pronouns for CVVCVC are
1s = t'ah
1d = 'ax
1pi = 'az
1px = 'ans
2s = t'ix
2p = 'iz
3 = 'uns
4 = 'uts

Agent pronouns for CVVCV_tC are
2p = 'iz
3 = 'uns
4 = 'uts
and patient pronouns for CVV_tCVC are
1s = 'ah
1d = 'ax
1pi = 'az
1px = 'ans
2s = t'ix
2p = t'iz
3 = t'uns
4 = t'uts


('ah) laafah = I speak
s'ix laafah = I & you (sl) speak
s'iz laafah = I & you (pl) speak
s'uns laafah = I & he speak, I & they speak
'ix laafah = You speak
'iz laafans = You (pl) speak
'uns laafans = He/they speak
'uts laafans = It/they speak

When aspecting verbs, the verb is changed to the participle, and may be
followed by:
pah/pans = negation
suh/suns = protractive
trih/trins = generic
llih/llins = retrospective
fuih/funs = prospective
sih/sins = simulfactive
nih/nins = inceptive
trah/trans = transcoursive
sah/sans = cessative
xuh/xuns = unintentional
nuh/nuns = completive

"Cases" for nouns are effected by these affixes:
s'- = agentive
-ss = genitive
f'- = relative (prepositional)
t'- = patient
ss'- vocative

Anything non-Trayih is generally considered a patient unless marked as agent
or unquestionably obvious from context.

E.g.
'uts putin triinaaz nuh
[?Mts pMt1J t`1:JA:S JMh]
(to)it baubble a (I) giving did
I gave a bauble to it.

'uts s'zapal ha puutinns
[?Mts s_}SApALLA pM:t1_tJs]
it animal the plays-with
The animal plays with it.

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