Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Poijpohloneny

From:Jeff Jones <jeffsjones@...>
Date:Friday, June 6, 2003, 10:38
On Wed, 4 Jun 2003 17:07:10 -0400, Jonathan Andrew Beagley
<jbeagley@...> wrote:

>Jeff Jones wrote: > >>On Tue, 3 Jun 2003 16:04:05 -0400, Jonathan Andrew Beagley >><jbeagley@...> wrote: >> >>>Jeff Jones wrote: >>>> >>>>la -- copula >>>> >>>Hm... I'm not quite sure what a copula is, but I think from what I've >>>read "to be" in English is the copula, but not in all circumstances, >>>such as in the sentence, "The book is on the table." >> >>Pretty much so, as I understand it. Maybe "The book is new" or "This is a >>new book" might be more central to the idea < looks over shoulder for >>experts ?>. >> >Hmm . . . I might have to make "la" the copula then (and also irregular, >just to add to the confusion), and then use the verb for "to exist" for >things such as, "The book is on the table."
:) I see that there's been a subsequent discussion of copulas.
>>>>ev -- question particle >>>>sva -- negation particle >>>>Vlin -- and >>>> >>>Yes, "vlin" is "and" but only when used as a co-ordinating conjunction. >> >>That sounds like a good idea. >> >I realized that English and French used the same word for connecting >conjunctions and for multiple items. Actually, I still haven't decided >how a carymohloneny would say something like, "I like dogs and pigs," >where they would have to use the word "and" in that context. I was >thinking that the carymonihloneny would not have a way to say that and >would instead say, "I like dogs pigs," or "I like dogs and I like pigs."
Or you could use different words: "I like dogs and1 I like pigs." (your "vlin") "I like dogs and2 pigs." (duplicate words omitted from 2nd clause) English has some other uses of "and" as well .... Hey, I noticed you have carymohloneny for the singular and carymonihloneny for the plural. "N" seems to be the plural suffix. What about the "i" after it?
>>>>Tayo -- rabbit >>>>thunovy -- dear >>>>ruvy -- brown >>>>redady -- slow >>>>Nu -- Nay >>>>Vali -- Alas >>>>lujetom -- know >>>> >>>It's "lujetam", which is "to know" in the simple future tense. >> >>Whoops! I forgot to account for the future (although some languages don't >>use a distinct form). The "o" for "a" was a typo -- maybe a carryover from >>my language 'Yemls where |o| and |a| are alternatives of the same vowel, >>depending on what follows. >> >I figured it was typo. Anyway, the infinitive of the verb is "lujeta." >So you must add an "m" to the end of the verb to turn it into the simple >future. The simple present form is the same as the infinitive. Also, the >simple past is formed by adding a "t" to the end of the infinitive. > >What do you mean by "|o| and |a| are alternatives of the same vowel"? Do >you mean that they can have the same pronounciation (depending on what >follows, of course)?
No, they are pronounced somewhat differently, as partly reflected in the forms |o| and |a|. Let's see if I can explain without being too wordy. 'Yemls is normally written in a syllabary (one symbol per mora) that happens to map to the 52 upper and lower case letters. Each of these is either V, CV, or C(V). Ignoring the consonants, there are 4 basic vowels. The specific phonetics for each vowel depends on whether it's short or long or part of a diphthong. In addition, one of these vowels has rounded or unrounded versions depending on the following vowel (even where the following vowel isn't pronounced). Now, for people who don't read the syllabary, I have an alternate orthography designed to suggest the actual pronunciation without having to always specify each segmental feature (X- SAMPA does the latter). In my alternate orthography, the vowel with the rounding variations is written |o| when rounded (phonetically [O]) and |a| when unrounded (phonetically [V] or [A]). Example: the symbol {B} becomes either |bo| or |ba|.
>>>>carymon -- person.plural >>>>topoko -- opposite of (anaphoric) >>>> >>>>The other 4 words, I'd have to guess which is which. I notice that the >>>>adjectives and in "y" here. >>>> >>>All the adjectives end in "y" (pronounced [ai]). >> >>OK, so "y" has 2 pronunciations: [j] before a vowel, else [ai], or is it >>always [ai]? >>Oh, and I forgot before: the language is "Hloneno" and your subject header >>was "Poijpohloneny" (which must be an adjective if I've understood). >>Is "hlone" a morpheme common to both? >> >Yes, "y" has 2 pronounciations. When before any vowel besides itself, >"y" is a consonant and sounds like [j] rather than the dipthong [ai]. >Close, the morpheme is "hlonen." "O" marks it as a noun and "Y" as an >adjective.

Reply

Jonathan Andrew Beagley <jbeagley@...>