Unilang: some tentative words
From: | Oskar Gudlaugsson <hr_oskar@...> |
Date: | Wednesday, April 25, 2001, 2:52 |
I don't recall ever starting a lang with anything other than the numerals
and the pronouns...
The first form is the emphatic/full form, the second a clitic/reduced form.
The clitic form is what appears in grammatical marking of various kinds
(see the grammar thread).
Pronouns:
1p /'iamai/ /me/
2p /'iatau/ /to/
3p /'iakain/ /ken/
I stumbled on a thought for a minor morphophonetic relationship: /au/ -
/o/, /ai/ - /e/, where the simple vowel would be the general equivalent in
clitic forms. I envisage /oi/ - /i/ and /eu/ - /u/ for the other two
diphthongs. Just tentative, of course; actually, this feature is quite
likely not to go through, in this present form.
Numerals 1-10:
1 /'ites/ /i/
2 /'toime/ /toi/
3 /'trisme/ /tris/
4 /'porata/ /por/
5 /'pimata/ /pim/
6 /'hiSpera/ /hiS/
7 /'Seuftera/ /Seuf/
8 /'hastoka/ /has/
9 /'nimena/ /nim/
10 /'dimena/ /dim/
Thus,
11 /dim 'ites/ /dim i/
12 /dim 'toime/ /dim toi/
20 /toi 'dimena/ /toi dim/
21 /toi dim 'ites/ /toi dim i/
99 /nim dim 'nimena/ /nim dim nim/
(Well, 99 is kind of silly in any language... ;)
I notice that I have some preference for the fortis plosives over the lenis
ones; don't know why. Indeed, I do not intend for phonemic distribution to
be even; /h f S/ shall be kept fairly scarce, as will /eu oi/, and /l r/
contrasts in commonly occurring items will be avoided as much as possible.
You probably notice that I tend to favor naturalistic systems over
schematic ones, even in this careful auxlang design. Perhaps an auxlang-
geared artlang is the ultimate solution, after all! :) :)
Óskar