Ayhan (The Language Formerly Known As: Saalangal)

Oh yes, it has a new name - Ayhan.  I know, i've messed around with
this a LOT, but that's because I don't have something to evolve it
from, so I constantly change my mind. Hopefully I'll stick with the
following. At least it gives me something else to post about :)


Anyway, I've come up with a verbal system _I_ like:

For Ayhan, the verb is marked to indicate that its subject is:

Animate or inanimate
Natural or manmade:

The four classes have active forms and passive forms. *Generally*
speaking, animate nouns are also usually classed as natural, and
inanimate nouns are usually classed as manmade (there are of course,
exceptions to this, but I haven't figured them out just yet).

I'm writing this up at 3 AM PST so bear with me :)


- Animate verbs – Generally indicates that the subject is something
that can complete an action without help from something else. It is
used for people, animals, plants, and natural occurrences, but not
machines.

·	Active: sa-
·	Passive: ge-

- Inanimate – Generally indicates that the subject is something that
does not complete an action on its own. However, machines are usually
classed as inanimate. These are usually objects, stones, wood, the
meat of animals, etc.

·	Active: di-
·	Passive: gan-

- Natural – generally are things one finds in nature. The subject is
in its natural state. So, a piece of wood found on the ground as a
broken branch is natural, but made into a tool, it becomes unnatural.
Metal found as ore is natural, but once it has been mined it becomes
unnatural.

·	Active: -sat
·	Passive: -kid

- Unnatural – generally indicates the subject is something that is
created, influenced or made by man. It also includes things influenced
by spirits or animals (while not really unnatural, it indicates the
influence of something and is caused by some being). This class can
have a very temporal context. The world _now_ is considered natural,
but in a telling of a story of creation it becomes unnatural.

The distinction when to use this one is relatively fine, as the
Saalangal believe that most things that occur happen due to some
spirit, and this class tends to be used a LOT more by the Saalangal.
Although, there are Saalangal who do use this class only when they are
sure something was influenced by an animal, person, or other entity.

These would include tools, worked items (such as metals that have been
smelted, for instance), something an animal has moved, or something
done by some sort of spirit or god..

·	Active: -na-
·	Passive: -si-

These infixes are used in this manner :
·	
They are placed after the first syllable if the syllable is CV, or
CCV: masad > manasad
·	
If the first syllable is a vowel, diphthong, they follow it: inco – inanco

If the first syllable is CVC, then they go between the vowel and the
final consonant in the first syllable: simpo - sisimpo

Verbs also have tenses and imperative and conditional moods:

Tense and mood is formed by suffixes, which attaches at the very end
(after you've placed the correct affixes indicating animacy,
inanimacy, natural or unnaturalness).

·	Infinitive:  –ey*
·	Past: –an
·	Present: –il:
·	Future: –ay
·	Conditional: –iri
·	Imperative: –apat

* The infinitive is unique in that since it itself has no subject, the
infinitive ending attaches to the plain root.
**The imperative only takes class markers for active.


The subject always follows the verb.


Now, a few examples:

- The river rises: sasólisatân trikan  /sa'solisat?an tri'kan/
- He was hit by me:  gakapéysatân halam ca at  /gaka'pejsat?an ha'lam tSa at/
- The tree will fall: sasriháwsatây sama  /sasri'hausat?aj 'sama/
- The tree will fall: sasrinaháwây sama*  /sasrina'hau?aj 'sama/

* While this one doesn't explicitly say it, using the unnatural affix
(-na-) suggests that the tree fell due to the influence of humans, or
perhaps some spirit or animal.


I think of the most difficult things is differentiating between
marking the verb as having a "natural" or "unnatural" subject,
especially since the addition of gods and spirits in Saalangal belief
muddles up when to use this class. I can imagine this becoming a
sticky point for someone trying to learn the language (in terms of it
as an actual "natural" language). For atheists though, I suppose it
becomes a lot clearer < /humor >


I _really_ hope I remain happy with this system!



--
You can turn away from me
but there's nothing that'll keep me here you know
And you'll never be the city guy
Any more than I'll be hosting The Scooby Show

Scooby Show - Belle and Sebastian

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