Re: 2nd email - Introducing Bakoyu: Language highlights

> "Speech-pumpkin"?!! And I thought Itakian coming
> from a word meaning "big
> mouth" was bad enough! :))))
(soft chuckle)  Well, I wanted it to be a language one
could speak in a garden.  Pumpkins just seemed to fit.

> What are timed vowels? Vowels which are not
> pronounced when the speaker's too
> late? :)))
Right!!!!  :-))))   No, actually, they are a long
vowel spoken twice as long, kinda like two long vowels
put together.  This is somewhere along the line of the
Japanese  -------- (I don't know the exact name of
their type of vowel, just know it makes a difference
in pronunciation).  There are only three of them in
bakoyu, a, o, and u.


> >  Five declensions: spatial, temporal, causal,
> > attributive, manner. (This is one of the coolest
> parts
> > of my conlang)
>
> Please explain!
Oh dear.  Well, its a little hard to explain, but i
will give examples.  Maybe that will help.

Ok, before I go into specifics, you must keep in mind
that the overriding thing here is that I wanted to
express these five things (space, time, cause,
attribute, manner) in a prepositional phrase.  I.e.
always headed by a preposition first (even if it is a
dummy preposition that really doesn't mean much if
only to say "I'm a time phrase!"), then the head noun,
then whatever else your little heart desires.  :)

Spacial.  Means what it says, split into two
categories - separable and inseparable (suffixes -j,
and -c singular, both -z plural).  Thus I would say:
Kope piq broij sta - the cup is on the book (broi-j)
Baztheka pik krthekac sta - Your head is on your body
(krtheka-c).  At least, you would hope I said that.
It would be very bad if I were a queen and said
"Baztheka piq krthekaj (!!!!) sta."

Time.  (Suffixe = -r) This phrase indicate time.  The
fun thing is that you can use any spacial preposition
you like (and I have many) and you can put whatever
words in this phrase that you like.  Just a
preposition and a word and SURPISE! Time phrase.  So
this not only works for

I amur - in the morning (amu-r)

But also for regular words

Fuke broir nyatse gupla. - Throughout book-time
(broi-r) water drink-I.
Or Carls Iir, Kramwel zyaq - During (or - dummy prep.)
Charles I (ii-r), Cromwell live.

Cause.  Suffix = -l.  This phrase can be compared to
English "Because of (blank) . . . "  This phrase
almost exlusively uses the preposition "ez"
Ez howil, br stala - Because of snow (howi-l) cold
am-I.

Cause case is used in cause effect phrases.
Ez howil vma ge brq la cmei - Because of snow
(howi-causal case - l) and effecting in (ge) cold
(br-attributive case-q) I shiver. = I'm shivering
because the snow is making me cold!

Note, the conjuction (vma) is just a hinge for the two
phrases.

There is a distinction between instrumental and
accompaniment phrases.  Both use the same preposition
- s', su = with.  Accopaniment is in the spacial case
and instrumental is in the causal case.
Su zpatlititl la fiona - With a needle (zpatlitit-l) I
sew.
S'moj la fu - With you (mo-j) I walk

Attribute.  Suffix = -q
WARNING.  STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.  I THOUGHT OF THIS
CASE A LONG TIME AGO, AN WHEN I CAME BACK, I FORGOT
WHY I INVENTED IT!!!

So, it serves a a very long way to say an adjective.
But it colors the adjective a little more because it
seems to indicate category.

Ksiks tpe fionankuq na wei - Crosstitch, a type of
(tpe) sewing (fionanku-q) she likes.

Just use the phrase "(blank) of (blank)-dom" (-dom as
in kingdom) in English, and you have it!

Sophie arq tpe pudlq bye sta - Sophie a dog of
poodle-dom (tpe pudl-q) white is.

Manner.  Suffix = -t.  Indicates manner.  Always used
with the preposition s', su = with.

Su zyaq cazrt ma broi rthan - Blushingly (With blush
(zyaq cazr-t) you book read.

S'muchzlut no gra - Muddily (In the manner of mud
(muchzlu-t)) he writes.


> Nice inventory! :)) Friendly and hostile exclamatory
> mean "how nice!" and "how
> bad!"?
Well, sort of.  Friendly and hostile exclamatory
indicating not so much about the subject itself as
about what the speaker is feeling.

Uiben yusta!  Good happy-is!  (yu-sta)  I.e. I'm happy
about this being good.

Uiben stazu!  Good is-angry!  (sta-zu)  I.e. I'm very
angry that this is good.

> Interesting... So basically you have two sets of
> verbs: the regular ones using
> pronouns, and the few hand verbs using affixes
> instead, with the particularity
> that they conflate subject and indirect object into
> one affix... Where does the
> name "hand verb" come from?
A vague idea that Cherokee used or described their
verbs with similar words.  Verbs in this category are
give, put, hand over, thank, pick up, remove, wash,
put in, pull along, fetch, take, . . . .

Do all hand verbs need
> to be verbs that normally
> take an indirect object (like give or take), or are
> there other verbs in that
> list (which would thus take an indirect object as
> beneficiary for instance)?
Well, (embarressed chuckle) I didn't mean that they
should take only subject or subjec-indirect object
affixes.  When I figured out the system, I used the
verb give (do).  Not really thinking about what I was
doing, I went from intransitive (I give, you give) to
transitive (I thought) I give to you, I give to him .
. . .

Only when I tried another verb did I realize my
mistake.  Its all very well to say

ksido, sido (I give to (for) you, I give to (for) him)

but when I tried to say "I put food in the fire" it
turned into

Buthu sidlai - I put in the fire to (for) bread.  WHAT
HAPPENED TO MY OBJECT!!!!

Instead of inventing a whole other system of direct
object suffixes, I just spilled over the verbal
pronouns I already have.   Problem solved!

Buthu tsidlainu - I put food in the fire.

(tlai - to put in the fire.  tsi - intransitive first
person,  the t in tlai changes to d because it is in
the singular, nu - it, refering to the food (n=third
person, u = nueter)

TseTse


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