Nattiki (was: Re : New Conlanger)

Mathias wrote:

> << bob = currently doing (prefix) >>
>
> Funny : "bob" was the aspectual mark of the class-conlang someone on the list
> (can't remember who) told us recently.
Yes, the language is Nattiki, which my students (in an honours Intro to
Linguistics class) are currently inventing (under my guidance).  The
prefix "bob-" is indeed indeed used to mark the present progressive:

        chee     "run"
        bobchee  "is running"

Incidentally, we made up some subject and object agreement morphemes
today.  Some examples:

        ichee    "I run"
        nachee   "you run"
        chee     "s/he runs"
        fochee   "we run"
        zichee   "you (pl) run"
        techee   "they run"

        chee dezeetem    "the child runs"
        techee dezeetem  "the children run"

        chaloo          "love"

        ichaloo'oni     "I love you"
        ichalooeo       "I love him/her"
        ichaloodo       "I love you (pl)"
        ichaloozet      "I love them"

        didmatem        "dog (nominative)"

        didmalatem      "my dog"
        didmaonitem     "your dog"
        didmaeotem      "his/her dog"
        didmaeptem      "our dog"
        didmadotem      "your (pl) dog"
        didmazettem     "their dog"

Just for the hell of it, some example sentences to show you how
the language is progressing:

        bobnesabu putaakatem
        Prog-sing hamster-Nom
        "The hamster is singing"

        teoshooan    ooguop   meeliiop
        3p-Pst-drink sour-Acc milk-Acc
        "They drank the sour milk"

        olhuk   tushop    keetem
        Pst-cut bread-Acc boy-Nom
        "The boy cut the bread"

        iboblhag        dutchuulaop
        1s-Prog-talk-to boyfriend-1s-Acc
        "I am talking to my boyfriend"

        boblhagla       dutchuulatem
        Prog-talk-to-1s boyfriend-1s-Nom
        "My boyfriend is talking to me"

        shulhomapo guuop    ka pacheeop  dabetop    dezeetem
        Fut-give   book-Acc to obese-Acc doctor-Acc child-Nom
        "The child will give the book to the obese doctors"

        iolhomapozet   ka didmaop
        1s-Pst-give-3p to dog-Acc
        "I gave them to the dog"

        tebaafa kan  dee och    dezeezettem  dabettem
        3p-know that is  genius child-3p-Nom doctor-Nom
        "The doctors know that their child is a genius"

        ibobgenaa  ka biifaop   wadjaop
        1s-Prog-go to large-Acc house-Acc
        "I am going to the large house"

        teolhaalho    po   kuuhuop       shimwoop
        3p-Pst-return from beautiful-Acc country-Acc
        "They returned from a beautiful country"

        foshukabe  guuop    bap shiiop   daataop
        1p-Fut-put book-Acc in  blue-Acc box-Acc
        "We will put the books in the blue box"

        oembalu chonaop didmaop keetem
        Pst-hug old-Acc dog-Acc boy-Nom
        "The boy hugged the old dog"

        baakatem oembalu chonaop didmaop?
        who-Nom  Pst-hug old-Acc dog-Acc
        "Who hugged the old dog?"

        kej  teshujeeta       kuumajalaatem?
        when 3p-Fut-eat-lunch elephant-Nom
        "When will the elephants eat lunch?"

        ogiishuula   keetem  baakatem oembalu didmaop
        Pst-visit-1s boy-Nom who-Nom  Pst-hug dog-Acc
        "The boy who hugged the dog visited me"

Note that the vocabulary was made up entirely by the students,
while the grammatical features of the language were either
devised by me, or (in most cases) randomly determined by
spinning a wheel.  E.g., we decided on the inventory of sounds
for the language by spinning the wheel to determine what sets
of stops, fricatives, vowels, affricates, etc., would be
included.

You'll notice from the above examples that Nattiki has
the following characteristics:

-- Basic word order is VOS
-- Nouns are marked for case (Nominative vs. Accusative)
-- Adjectives precede the noun, and are also marked for case
-- There are no pronouns, only agreement affixes on the verb
-- Subject agreement is marked by prefixes
-- Tense is marked by prefixes
-- Object agreement and possession are marked by suffixes
-- There is no singular/plural marking on nouns
-- There are no articles ("a", "the")
-- Wh-words move to the front of the sentence in questions
-- Relative clauses have a wh-question-like structure
        (a la French or English)

That's enough for now.  I'll report more later.

Matt.