Nik Taylor wrote:
>
> Okay, I think I've got the general structure down of my vocalic
> language.
>
> Consonants
> Stops
> b d g
> p t k
> Nasals
> m n ng
> mh nh ngh
> Fricatives
> v z gh
> f s x
> Glides
> w y" j ( y" = y-umlaut)
> wh y"h jh
> Liquids
> l r
> lh rh
>
> y-umlaut represents turned-h, that is, rounded palatal glide
>
Like in French 'lui'? And are the nasals, glides and liquids followed
by h unvoiced equivalents of the voiced ones ? I like that (even if I'm
unable to pronounce them, at least voluntarily). y" is already very
rare, I wonder if there is any natlang that has y"h. Anybody knows ?
> Vowels
> Orthography Phonetic
> i y u i y u
> e oe o e o" o
> h E
> d a a A
>
The front part is very crowded compared to the back part (that's not a
problem, I know that it happens often). But shouldn't there be a /O/ to
make a counterpart of /E/? Or does [O] already exist as an allophone of
/o/?
[snip]
>
> Grammar
>
> VERBS
>
> Aspect
> Punctual: ri-
> Progressive: --
> Perfective: rid-
> Habitual: jo-
> Prospective: rih-
>
> Tense
> Past: u-
> Present: -- (cannot take punctual)
> Future: jh- (can only take perfective or progressive)
> For a "simple" future, like "I will walk", the rpesent is used with
> prospective
>
So when is the future tense used?
[snip]
>
> Class IV
> Repetition: -pja
> First time: -moe
>
I like the 'first time' modal :) . Can you find a good 'grammatical'
name for it? :)
> Class V
> Begin: -ny
> Stop: -eala (-yme-eala -> -ymiala, -jh-eala -> -jeala)
> Resume: -rolh
>
Same question for 'resume'. I like it also.
[snip]
>
> NOUNS
>
> Gender
> Sentient being: d-
> Supernatural phenomena: nhe-
> Natural phenomena: mhoe-
> Social groups, phenomena: le-
> Edible Animals: ngime-
> Non-edible Animals: me-
> Edible Plants: ngitd-
> Other: td-
>
> Case
> Nominative: --
> Absolutive: a-
How do you use them? Is this an ergative, accusative or active
language? (or something even stranger :) )
> Dat/Alienable poss: hna-
> Inalienable poss: ifa-
> Instrumental: yny-
> Locative: ka-
>
> Number
> Singular: --
> Dual: -no (final -y becomes -u)
> Trial: -ly (final -y becomes -u)
> Plural: -nai (final -y becomes -u)
> It seems that there was once an -y- with these suffixes; incidentally,
> the words for "two", "three", and "many" are no, ly, and nai. My theory
> is that there was once a plural suffix -y to which these words were
> added, and the -y was then lost, but still shows up in the y+y
> transformation
>
--
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