R. Nierse wrote:
>
> Has anyone ever heard of this conlang?
>
Never.
> If not, read on.
>
> A long time ago Boudewijn told the exams that students take in Leiden for
> Language Description. He told that it was allowed to use invented words or
> contructions, just as long you can show with them that you understand the
> theory.
> Last week I cleaned up my attic and found an exam I made on january 29
> 1990. I would like to share this with y'all, because some questions are
> about a conlang: Sakardido. I will give you the examples and the questions
> that go with it.
>
> My question to you: can you deduct/see what language(s) was the inspiration
> for Sakardido ?
>
Difficult (I'm no linguist), but I'm going to try and answer to the
questions (at least the ones concerning directly the language, not the
general ones). But be gentle, I'm no linguist at all.
> The exam:
> "Study the following sentences of the fictitious [is this a correct word?
> RN] language Sakardido carefully:
>
> 1a waz wuquc the boy walks
> 1b gogo yuquc the girl walks
> 1c it buquc the horse walks
>
> 2a wazba duwaquc the boys walk
> 2b gogobo duwaquc the girls walk
> 2c itbi ruwaquc the horses walk
>
> 3a dun waz wep'ec I see the boy
> 3b dun gogo yep'ec I see the girl
> 3c dun it bep'ec I see the horse
>
> 4a dun wazba deyap'ec I see the boys
> 4b dun gogobo deyap'ec I see the girls
> 4c dun itbi reyap'ec I see the horses
>
> 5a wazn gogo yep'ec the boy sees the girl
> 5b gogon waz wep'ec the girl sees the boy
> 5c gogon du yep'ec the girl sees me
>
> 6a du wanac I (male) swim
> 6b du yanac I (female) swim
>
> 7a te ba?anac we swim
> 7b te badunac we both swim
> 7c gogobon wazba dedup'ec the girls see the two boys
> 7d wazban te dedup'ec the boys see us both
>
> Question 1a
> Indicate wherre the morpheme boundaries are.
> (help: there are three verb roots: uqu, ep'e and ana. -c indicates time)
>
Here is the list of morphemes I found:
prefixes:
w-
y-
b-
d-
r-
infixes (after the first vowel):
-wa- (allomorphs -ya- and -?a-)
-du-
suffixes:
-n
-b+copy of the last vowel of the root
-c (but it's not my discovery :) )
roots (easy):
waz
gogo
du
te
uqu
ep'e
ana
> Q 2
> Study how in this language the actants are marked in the verb, and how
> number. In answering this, make use of the symbols S (Subject of
> intransitive verbs), A (agent of transitive verb) and O (patient of
> transitive verb).
>
Only S and O are marked in the verb, and the same way both. S and O
nouns are not marked. A noun is marked by -n.
> Q 2a
> Is this language (from a morphological point of view) nominative-accusative
> or ergative-absolutive? (and why?)
>
Ergative-absolutive without a doubt. S and O behaving the same and A
marked differently, it's an ergative system and a pretty straightforward
one.
> Q 2b
> Describe the class system of this language (pay attention to both singular
> and plural forms)
>
I would say that in singular, there is a distinction between human
masculine (w- on the verb), human feminine (y- on the verb) and animal
(b- on the verb). In plural, there seems to be simply a distinction
between human (d-) and non-human (r-) only. I don't know how to put the
b- used with "te" inside that system however. Maybe a problem of
agreement in person (but it seems to appear only in plural as "du": I
doesn't seem to trigger a special agreement with the verb).
> Q 2c
> What is the function of the case ending -n?
>
It's the ergative case of course. The absolutive is not marked.
> Q 3a
> How is number coded in the noun and how in the verb; also treat the formal
> aspect; try in both cases to give a explanation of the distribution of the
> allomorphs
>
Plural is coded with numbers simply with the suffix -b followed by a
copy of the last vowel of the root. In the verbs, there is a principal
distinction between singular and plural (with w-, y- and b- in one hand
and d-, r- and b- in another hand), but the plural is divided into dual
and plural by the use of an infix (-du- for dual, -wa- for plural) put
after the first vowel of the verb. The allomorphs -ya- and -?a- of -wa-
seem to be due to the preceeding vowel.
> Q 4
> Study the following sentences:
> 8a dun waz wuquluc I make the boy walk
> 8b wazban du yuquluc ?
> bc dun gogos wazba deyap'eluc I show the boys to the girls
>
> NB -s marks indirect object
>
> Q 4a
> Which grammatical category is indicated by the morpheme that is extra in
> comparison to wuquc in 1a?
>
This suffix -lu is a factitive.
> Q 4b
> Translate 8b
>
the boys make me (feminine) walk.
> Q 4c
> What are the consequences of adding -lu for the valency of respectively
> intransitive and transitive verbs? (make use of the case endings too in
> your explanation)
>
Adding of a unity in the valency. But everybody knows here how that
works :) .
> END of Sakardido
So, was my analysis correct? How it is for someone who read no more
than two books of linguistics in his life? :)
--
Christophe Grandsire
Philips Research Laboratories -- Building WB 145
Prof. Holstlaan 4
5656 AA Eindhoven
The Netherlands
Phone: +31-40-27-45006
E-mail: grandsir@natlab.research.philips.com