Re: minimalistic grammar

   Hi,
   You may wish to take a look at Hawai'ian. You can order some text books
from the Hilo campus of the University of Hawai'i. (I'm at home, so I don't
have the web links. I can post later if anyone likes.) There are also books
available on Amazon (but wouldn't you feel better supporting a college
language program?), and some web material.

   I've only started recently, but compared to everything I've studied
(including Latin, Modern Greek, and Japanese), it is amazingly minimalistic.

   The alphabet is 18 letters, including 10 vowels (the five in the Latin
alphabet, short and long) and a glottoal stop. So, the alphabet is:
a a e e i i o o u u p k m n l w '   (the diaresis should be a macron)
   Letters are fairly constant in pronunciation, except "w", which in some
dialects varies between /w/ and /v/, in others is always /v/. Also, in some
dialects, non-initial "k" is pronounced /t/, and "a" sometimes changes to
/e/ or /o/ in vowel glides. Words tend to use repeated syllables, and you
can get some interesting vowel strings.

   The grammar is very basic. I've only started recently (slowed down by
taking Claritin) but this is what I've gathered.

   The sentence order is VOS. A word's "type" is largely dependent on where
in the sentence is is placed, and also if it has a leader. Descriptors
follow the word they describe.

There are only a few classes of words. I cannot remember the Hawai'ian
terms, but I'm just going through it quickly.

Leaders: These are the indeffinate and deffinate article (nouns almost
always have an article, more below), and words such as "this", "that near
you", "that over there", "which", etc.

Proper names: These are proper nouns, specific names.

Concrete things: These usually are nouns. However, some nouns for which
there is an obvious action can also be a verb. For example, "noho" is chair
or sit.
   he noho = a chair
   kena noho hou = that (near you) new chair
     however
   noho au = I sit
   e noho 'oe i keia noho! = Sit in this [near me] chair!

Other stuff: The distinction between abstract nouns and the related verb is
blurred. Like roots in Esperanto, many such nouns are also the related verb.
   he 'olelo = a word/speach
   'olelo ka wahine = the woman speaks
Further, adjectives are also interchangeable as stative verbs. If the word
follows a noun, it's an adjective. If it's in the beginning of a sentence,
it's a stative verb.
   ka wahine maika'i = the good woman
   maika'i ka wahine = the woman is [being] good
   keia noho 'olu'olu = this comfortable chair
   'olu'olu keia noho = this chair is [in a state of] comfortable[ness]

Many descriptors also have many meanings:
   he noho 'olu'olu = a comfortable chair
   ke 'aina 'olu'olu = a cool land/place
   ka wahine 'olu'olu = a nice/plesant/attractive woman
   e 'olu'olu 'oe = "please" (you be nice, vocative/command)

While there seem to be a few distinct adverbs, many also seem to work this
like adjectives (simply dropped in after the verb).

I have not seen any verb conjugations. There are a few articles for
nominative, vocative, locative (two: general and specific), and indirect
object.

   Anyway, it's a very simple gramatical structure. You may find it
inspriational.

       Mike


| -----Original Message-----
| From: Andrew Strader
| Subject: minimalistic grammar
|
| Hi, I searched the archive for this topic, but with no luck.
| I wonder if anyone has experience with designing a language
| with a minimal grammar,that is, with the fewest number of rules,

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