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Re: yet another new lang sketch (sorry)

From:Daniel Andreasson <noldo@...>
Date:Sunday, October 31, 1999, 12:36
Jennifer Barefoot wrote:

> Phonology
Nice and simple. Looks like a sister language to Asiteya. =20
> pitch-accent: acute accent on a vowel means high pitch stress, grave =
accent=20
> means low pitch stress >=20 > tentative rules for spplication of accent: final vowels of >/=3D 3 =
syllable=20
> word have low accent > second syllable of >3 syllable word has high accent > final syllable of <3 syllable word has high accent >=20 > Any suggestions on this? I think pitch-accent is really nifty but I =
don't=20
> have any experience with it.
Well, being a native speaker of a language that has pitch-accent=20 (i.e. Swedish), I must say it sure is nifty. But your system is a bit hard to follow. Could you provide us with examples? Let's see if I understand it correctly: Final vowels of >/=3D3 syllable words have low accent. Second vowel have high accent. ___/\______ \ kunilasapa'a=20 Shouldn't it rather be with a high pitch at the end?: ___/\______/ kunilasapa'a=20 Or do you mean: _______ ___/ \ kunilasapa'a=20 What about words with exactly three syllables, like 'amasi'? Which rule apply to them? the '>3-rule' or the '<3-rule'? Or neither? Is it: ____ \ amasi or _ __/ \ amasi Third rule, 'amat' should be: __/ amat right? In Swedish the pitch pattern looks like this: Acute: Grave: _ / \_ /\_/\ tomten tom-ten 'the site' 'santa claus' Acute is a dromedary and grave is a camel. Compounds always have a grave accent.=20 ___/\_________/\_ kamel-drivar-byxor 'camel driver pants' Regarding the Native American touch. Not knowing anything about them, aren't they tone languages rather than pitch accent languages? Verbs:
> aspect infixes - fall after the initial consonant of the verb >=20 > telic -ix-
What's 'telic'? Nouns: I like that you have gender, and the 'softening' of the final consonant in the plural is cool.
> One of the few sentences in this language thus far: > ani al puyan musinaan ni'i al tisuuyaa > I.rel the woman-acc see.durative-past at the doorway-loc > I used to see the woman in the doorway.
What about the syntax?=20 The basic word order seems to be SOV, but does that change to show the tense, like Asiteya does? Could you clarify the case system? Is it a mixed=20 ergative/accusative system? How come you use the=20 relative case in your example sentence instead of the nominative? Does it have something to do with the verb 'to see', with the 'subject' being an experiencer, or what?
> Suggestions? Comments? It's meant to feel sort of Native American,at =
least=20
> at first glance, so what else can I do it to this end? Does anyone =
actually=20
> read these all the way through?
Yes, of course. I can only speak for myself, but I'm pretty sure=20 most people read these through.=20 (Well, perhaps not Mathias' stuff, but... kidding! :)
> Jennifer Barefoot
Daniel Andreasson