Re: Tama-i update

Alright, here's the interlinear for the Tama-i version of "The Woman's
Son". (In the process of writing this up, I realized that I had several
blatant incorrectly spelled words. :-( That's the problem with attempting
to derive Tama-i words from Ebisedian on the fly... so if you see
something that doesn't match my previous post, this version is more
correct. :-)

LEGEND:
        1p      first person pronoun
        dp      distant pronoun
        ip      intimate pronoun
        ADV     adverb/adverbial
        ADJ     adjectival
        CONJ    conjunction
        CVY     conveyant
        EIMP    emphatic imperative
        FEM     feminine
        IMP     imperative
        LOC     locative
        NUL     nullar
        ORG     originative
        PL      plural
        PRE     preposition
        PTCPL   participle
        QB      Begin quotation
        QE      End quotation
        RCP     receptive
        SUBJ    subjective case
        V       verb


hilra      bista'    bi'lni.
around-ADV woman-ADJ boy-LOC

hicr3      zi'li    h3mr3'nei.
within-PRE room-LOC child-PL-CVY/SUBJ

k3'K3  -zd0i        zi'l0    h3ki'g3.
cause-V-dp-ORG/SUBJ room-ORG laughter-PL-CVY

kue       ll3's    zilu     bistei'
then-CONJ go-PTCPL room-RCP woman-CVY/SUBJ

k3'ma  -t, gi'jli    gi'?
shout-V-QB chaos-LOC what-LOC

le's   l3'ru       hisi'tm.
go-IMP outside-RCP now-LOC-QE

bista'    bi'ln0i      tau'mat,
woman-ADJ boy-ORG-SUBJ answer-V-QE

his0'    mi'mr3n3      hilr3'    -sli.
past-ORG child-NUL-CVY around-PRE-1p-LOC

m3ka     hisi'   h3mr3'n3     hilr3.
but-CONJ now-LOC child-PL-CVY around-PRE

m3ci'   ke'g3  -sl0i        hilr3    h3'jm0.
so-CONJ laugh-V-1p-ORG-SUBJ with-PRE ip-PL-ORG

k3k3'k      gu       h3jmei'        li's l3'ru      -tm?
cause-PTCPL what-RCP ip-PL-CVY-SUBJ go-V outside-RCP-QE

kue      -z t0i'         k3'mat,
and-CONJ dp-FEM-ORG-SUBJ shout-V-QB

h3zda     gi'jl0i        k3'k    gi -slu    f3k3'       z3  v33'.
dp-PL-ADJ chaos-ORG-SUBJ cause-V FPN-1p-RCP anguish-CVY and headache-CVY

hale's.   hale's    m.
go-V-EIMP go-V-EIMP QE


Now, for a bit of etymology for those words which aren't very obvious:
(original Ebisedian form on far right)

1) These prepositions have lost their Ebisedian stress, causing the middle
   vowel to elide and produce consonant clusters:

  hilra <-- ilir(o) + a <-- ili'ro
  hicr3 <-- icuro <-- icu'ro

2) The following features the [?]->[h] sound change, elision of unstressed
   _3_ [@\], and diphthong formation with the subjective -i:

  h3mr3'nei <-- 3m3r33'n3 + i <-- 3mir33'n3

3) Next, we have a verb inflected for person and case via fusion with a
   cliticized pronoun:

  k3'k3zd0i <-- k3'k(3) + (z)d0i'
        k3'k(3) <-- kww'k3 (ka'k3)
        (z)d0i' <-- zid0' + i <-- jhid0'

   An explanation is in order here. First, the Ebisedian _kww'k3_ became
   _k3'k3_ by sound change. Then the final _3_ is elided; however, it is
   still "latent"; it re-surfaces when fused with a clitic like _(z)d0i'_.
   So the isolated verb is _k3'k_, but when inflected for person, it
   becomes _k3'k3_.

   Second, all Tama-i pronouns have become cliticized: the initial
   syllable from the Ebisedian form has elided, and became "latent".
   Stress was lost, and only resurfaces when sentential euphony dictates.
   So _jhidi'_, which was _zidi'_ in Early Tama-i, has become just _di'_
   when at the beginning of the sentence, or after a word with a final
   consonant.  But when the previous word has a final vowel (which may be
   latent, as here), the latent initial consonant resurfaces. Hence,

        k3'k + d0i' ---> k3'k3zd0i

   When the original Ebisedian had a *stressed* initial syllable, the
   entire syllable resurfaces, as with the masculine pronoun _(si')di_
   (Ebisedian _chi'di_):

        k3'k + d0i' ---> k3'k3sit0i

   Notice that the distinction between the masculine and epicene pronoun
   is only visible when the latent consonant surfaces. They are both _di'_
   (or _d0i'_ in the originative subjective, as shown here) when
   "dormant".  Also, in the masculine case, the _d_ becomes a _t_ as
   another indirect result of the devoiced latent _s_.

4) Understanding this cliticization is essential to understand another
   oddity of Tama-i that shows up in this passage: the quotation clitics.
   The Ebisedian _ti_ has lost its vowel; so it attaches to the word
   preceding it:

        k3'mat <--- k3'ma + t <--- kww'ma + t3

   Similarly, its companion _timi_ has lost its vowels as well, and
   becomes _tm_ [tm=]. Except that _tm_ is cliticized into _m_ [m=] with a
   latent _t_.  That's why you have:

        l3'rutm <--- l3'ru + (t)m <--- loo'ru + t3m3

   But when the _t_ is suppressed by a preceding final consonant:
        hale's m <--- ale's + (t)m <--- ale's + t3m3

   The latent _t_ may also appear when preceded by a latent vowel, eg:
        f3't(3) + (t)m ---> f3't3t m

(How's that for a "tamer" Ebisedian? :-P :-P :-P)


Also, it is worth noting that the original Ebisedian 1st person pronouns
have been superceded by new forms derived from the Ebisedian _sili_. The
gender prefix has become optional. When the gender prefix is absent (eg.
when the pronoun fuses with a verb), the _s_ becomes latent. E.g.:
        gisli'  ("I", fem)
        hesli'  ("I", masc)
        li'     ("I", epicene)
        l0i'    ("I", org. epi)
        t3'ma + l0i' ---> t3'masl0i     ("I speak")

(I'll leave reflexives out of this discussion for now, as they are also
derived from _sili_, and can be very confusing for people unfamiliar with
Tama-i.)


T

--
My program has no bugs! Only undocumented features...