MANEAN GRAMMAR
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1. MANEAN GRAMMAR
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2. Sound Changes
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This article has been marked as out of date. There's a possibility that some information is incorrect.
This article has been marked as out of date. There's a possibility that some information is incorrect.
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Manean The
Manean language is spoken in and around the country of 
Manea on the planet Sahar. It is one of the Awato-Manean languages along with 
Awatese. The Awato-Manean languages are one branch of the many languages decente from the 
Mañi. In turn, Mañi is part of the larger Ngerupic language family, whose proto-language is known as 
Wa Ñi. This article will focus on the standard variety, Standard Komanyo Manean.Manean is characterized with a strange phonology for a Ngerupic language with no tone and uncommon voiced continuants romanized ⟨v⟩, ⟨d⟩, and ⟨g⟩.
Manean has 22 contrastive phonemes with a some allophonic variation as descried bellow. Stress is on the initial syllable of the root.
| Labial | Alveolar | Post-Alveolar | (Post-)Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | (ɲ)1 | ŋ |
| Plosive2 | p | t | k | |
| Fricative | ɸ | s | ʃ | h |
| Approximant | ʋ | ð̞ | j | ʁ̞3 |
| Lateral Approx. | l | (ʎ)1 | ||
| Rhotic | ɾ4 |
1 Alveolar /n/ and /l/ are palatal [ɲ] and [ʎ] before /i/, /e/, /æ/, and /j/. Other alveolar consonants in the same environments (/t/, /s/, /ð̞/) may have slight secondary palatalization ([tʲ], [sʲ], [ð̞ʲ]) or, though very rarely, be true palatals ([tɕ], [ɕ], [j]).
2 Plosives /p/, /t/, and /k/ are voiced [b], [d], and [g] between voiced segments.
3 The approximant /ʁ̞/ is uvular [ʁ̞] (the same) in Komanyo Manean, but is more often retroflex [ɻ] in other speakers. In Northern (Hlao) Manean, it is frequently glottal [ɦ].
4 The rhotic /ɾ/ has a wide variety of realitations, most commonly a tap or flap [ɾ̠~ɽ~ɾ], and sometimes a trill [r̠~rɽ~r]. It may be either post-alveolar or retroflex. In certain dialects it may be alveolar.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | æ | ɑ |
The vowels /i/ and /u/ become /j/ and /ʋ/, respectively, next to another, different vowel. Two similar vowels will contract in hiatus. These changes are reflected in the orthography.
Manean has a native orthography, but for the purposes of this article, a romanization system will be used.
| Letter | IPA | English Approximation |
|---|---|---|
| a | /æ/ | cat |
| ą | /ɑ/ | father |
| d | /ð̞/ | like either (as opposed to ether) |
| e | /e/ | net |
| f | /ɸ/ | family (but with both lips) |
| h | /h/ | house |
| i | /i/ | me |
| k | /k/ | skip |
| l | /l/ | lemon |
| m | /m/ | make |
| n | /n/ | name |
| ng | /ŋ/ | sing |
| o | /o/ | own or hot |
| p | /p/ | spin |
| r | /r/ | per(r)o (Spanish) |
| ř | /ʁ̞/ | rendezvous (French) or red |
| s | /s/ | sun |
| t | /t/ | stop |
| u | /u/ | food |
| v | /ʋ/ | vacuum or water |
| x | /ʃ/ | she |
| y | /j/ | yes |
| Letso-Terminian Script | Historical Manean Script | Romanization | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
Manean nouns do not inflect for number. Number may be shown through context, verb pluractionality, and/or quantitaive adjectives.
Ngeni-reř nařni.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-build house
'I'm building a house.'
Ngeni-reř~reř nařni.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-build~PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur* house
'I'm building houses.'
*To learn more about number marking in Manean, please see the section on pluractionality.
Manean nouns may be classified into three genders: animate (human), animate (non-human), and inanimate. These genders derive from the noun class system of Mañi. Nouns of certain noun class came together into three large categories which became the three genders as they are today. So much shifting between the classes has occurred that there is no good way to determine what class any given noun will be in just by looking at it; today the separation is mostly determined by semantics. Listed below are some common example of the three genders:
| Animate (Human) | Animate (Non-Human) | Inanimate |
|---|---|---|
| man 'mother' | xako 'dog' | nařni 'house' |
| ngoro 'person' | mořavni 'cat' | ava 'water' |
| na 'child' | kurasko 'coconut' | deni 'arm/hand' |
In fact, any given noun may be treated as a different gender based on context or the speaker. Multiple examples can be seen within this table. For example, many elderly speakers, especially in rural areas consider children to be non-human. 'Mother' most often refers to human mother, but could also refer to the mother of an animal; in this case the word would most likely treated as non-human. Also, a coconut may be consider either as animate or inanimate.
Manean nouns may be possessed either alienably or inalienably depending on the meaning of the context. Generally speaking, objects that are inherently part of their possessor, such as body parts, relatives (and other relations), parts of a whole, things that originate from the possessor (e.g. voice), and characteristics (e.g. name, age) take inalienable possession markers. In other situations, nouns take alienable possession markers. These markers agree with their possessor and are summarized below:
| Alienable | Inlienable | |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Form | nařni 'house' | tviko 'ear' |
| 1S | nařningą | tvikoda |
| 12 | nařnima | tvikova |
| 13 | nařningmą | tvikoąv |
| 2 | nařniri | tvikovr |
| 2F | nařney | tvikoyr |
| 3I | nařnina | tvikon |
| 3A | nařniha | tvikoy |
| 3H | nařnitmą | tvikohą |
More alienable possession examples.
More inalienable possession examples.
These affixes are not used in other cases in which there is no physically ownership or possession of the possessee. These constructions are summarized in the following section.
More details on how these are used can be found in the previous section. In Manean association is shown in three different ways:
1. In instances in which one nouns consists of the other, the affix ya- is used. This is suffixed to the first noun of which the second consists.
neng-ya nilo
metal-ASSCAssociative case (case)
relating to, associated with horse
'horse of metal/metal horse/car'
2. In instances in which one nouns has characteristic of the other, the affix na- is used. Parallels in English include '-ous' and '-like'. This is prefixed to the second noun of which the first has characteristics. Both the first and second strategies are common ways of deriving nouns into adjectives.
ąmoř na-ąmoř
chaos ASSCAssociative case (case)
relating to, associated with-chaos
'chaotic chaos'
3. In all other instances, compounding and juxtaposition are used.
Ta-ngo-many-o
place-man-manean-DEFDefinite
"the"
'place of the people who speak Manean/Manea'
Definiteness of a noun can be shown by adding the suffix -o.
Neni-kmąm ąnąni.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat egg
'You're eating an egg.'
Neni-kmąm ąnąny-o.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat egg-DEFDefinite
"the"
'You're eating the egg.'
Neni-kmąm kurasko.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat coconut
'You're eating a coconut.'
Neni-kmąm kuraskv-o.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat coconut-DEFDefinite
"the"
'You're eating the coconut.'
Possessed nouns may also be marked as definite in the same manner.
Neni-kmąm ąnąni-ngą.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat egg-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.POSSGPossessed (case)
marks being owned.ALAlienable (possession)
thing that can be gained or lost
'You're eating one of my eggs./'You're eating an egg that is mine.'
Neni-kmąm ąnąni-ngą-o.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat egg-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.POSSGPossessed (case)
marks being owned.ALAlienable (possession)
thing that can be gained or lost-DEFDefinite
"the"
'You're eating my egg./'You're eating the egg that is mine.'
Welcome to Manea, were everything is a verb. Your adjectives can be verbs; your nouns can be verbs, your entire phrase can be a verb, and you can be a verb too!
| Imperative/Jussive and Interrogative | Evidentiality | Conditional | Polypersonal Agreement | Valency | Stem | … |
|---|
| … | Stem | Reduplication | Tense | Negation | Direction/Manner |
|---|
To form a imperative or jussive, one simply adds the affix ko-. Similarly, to form a interrogative, add ki-.
Ri-kvi.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-walk
You are walking.
Ko-ri-kvi.
IMPImperative (mood)
command-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-walk
Walk!
Ko-ma-kvi.
JUSJussive (mood)
command or exhort-12First person inclusive (person)
speaker and addressee; you and me/us-walk
Let's walk!
Ki-ri-kvi.
INTERRInterrogative mood (mood)
asks questions-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-walk
Are you walking?
Manean preserves the four Mañic evidentials, the witnessed evidential (-ą-), the hearsay evidential (-ną-), the inferential evidential (-ne-), and the assumptive evidential (-no-).
Ri-kvi.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-walk
You walk. (gnomic; only with interrogative or imperative)
Ą-ri-kvi.
WITWitness (evidential)
speaker witnessed action-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-walk
(I saw that) you are walking.
Ną-ri-kvi.
HSYHearsay evidential (evidential)
'I have heard that...'-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-walk
(I heard that) you are walking.
Ne-ri-kvi.
INFRInferential (mood/evidential)
reports or infers without confirming-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-walk
You must be walking, (but I don't really know for sure).
No-ri-kvi.
ASSAssumptive (mood/evid)
assumed truth-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-walk
Assumedly, you are walking.
The conditional mood is indicated by the affix -ngas-. It can be used together with all four tenses.
Ngas-nge-kvi.
CONDConditional (mood)
would-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-walk.
'I would walk."
Ngas-nge-kvi-ye.
CONDConditional (mood)
would-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-walk-PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech.
'I would have walked."
Ngas-nge-kvi-ta.
CONDConditional (mood)
would-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-walk-REMRemote past (tense)
'a long time ago'.
'I would have walked (a while ago)."
Ngas-nge-kvi-ru.
CONDConditional (mood)
would-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-walk-FUTFuture (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech.
'I will walk."1
1Note: English does not distinguish between the simple and conditional future. This statement implies that the walking will occur if a certain condition (stated, implied, or undisclosed) is met.
Note that the conditional doubles a a subjunctive.
Manean uses both the passive (-fe(x)1-) and the causative (-mą-) valency changing operations.
Ngeni-kmąm.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat
'I eat it.'
Ni-fe-kmąm.
3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed-eat
'It is eaten.'
Ni-fe-kmąm na-ngą.
3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed-eat with-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
'It is eaten by me.'
Ngeni-mą-kmąm na-ri.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-CAUSCausative (valency/mood)
cause an action to occur, force another argument to act-eat with-2Second person (person)
addressee (you)
'I make you eat it.'
Ni-mą-fe-kmąm na-ngą.
3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-CAUSCausative (valency/mood)
cause an action to occur, force another argument to act-PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed-eat with-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
'I make it be eaten.'
1the ⟨x⟩ is omitted before a consonant
Manean verbs agree with both the subject and the direct object as shown below. For a group of varying animacy the highest animacy among the group is used. (a man and his dog would demand human agreement):
| Ø | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I.OBJObject (argument) | 12First person inclusive (person) speaker and addressee; you and me/us.OBJObject (argument) | 13First-and-third person (person) speaker and third person.OBJObject (argument) | 2Second person (person) addressee (you).OBJObject (argument) | 2FSecond person formal (person) addressee, formal register (you).OBJObject (argument) | 3IThird person inanimate (person) it, not he/she/they.OBJObject (argument) | 3AThird person animate (person) he/she/they, not it.OBJObject (argument) | 3HThird person human (person) humans (or possibly sentients).OBJObject (argument) | REFLReflexive (valency) argument acts on itself | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I |
nge- | nge- | ngema- | ngenu- | ngeri- | ngeyi- | ngeni- | ngehe- | ngetu- | tvange- |
| 12First person inclusive (person) speaker and addressee; you and me/us |
ma- | man- | ma- | manu- | mari- | mayi- | mąni- | mahe- | matu- | tvama- |
| 13First-and-third person (person) speaker and third person |
ngo- | ngon- | ngoma- | ngo- | ngori- | ngoyi- | ngoni- | ngohe- | ngotu- | tvango- |
| 2Second person (person) addressee (you) |
ri- | nen- | nema- | nenu- | riri- | ri- | neni- | rihe- | ritu- | tvari- |
| 2FSecond person formal (person) addressee, formal register (you) |
i- | en- | ema- | enu- | iri- | i- | eni- | ihe- | itu- | tvay- |
| 3IThird person inanimate (person) it, not he/she/they |
ni- | nen- | nema- | nenu- | neri- | neyi- | neni- | nehe- | netu- | tvane- |
| 3AThird person animate (person) he/she/they, not it |
e- | en- | ema- | enu- | eri- | eyi- | eni- | ehe- | etu- | tvahe- |
| 3HThird person human (person) humans (or possibly sentients) |
tu- | ton- | toma- | tonu- | tori- | toyi- | toni- | tohe- | totu- | tvato- |
View examples here.
The stem is the portion of the verb that conveys the semantic meaning of the verb. In Manean, this role can be filled by words of a number of different parts of speech. In other words, basically anything can be zero-derived into a verb.
Most simply, there are verbs which act as verbs in the truest sense. They can be of any transitivity.
ngoh
sleep
'to sleep'
raf
wash
'to wash'
rah
give
'to give'
Nouns and adjectives may be used as verbs with a related meaning or as stative verbs.
ya
rain
'to rain'
kurasko
coconut
'to be a coconut'
kurasko-ngą-o
coconut-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.POSSGPossessed (case)
marks being owned-DEFDefinite
"the"
'to be my coconut'
ngmani
dull
'to be dull'
ngmani
dull
'to become dull'
Other parts of speech may be used in a similar way, but are less common.
ąni
today
'to be (happening) today'
ną
in
'to be in/to put in'
Whole phrases may become verbs.
ną-na-xongny-o
in-3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-river-DEFDefinite
"the"
'to be in the river'
ąnani-tmą-rv-o
cassava-3HThird person human (person)
humans (or possibly sentients).POSSGPossessed (case)
marks being owned-woman-DEFDefinite
"the"
'to be the woman's cassava'
rv-o-de-netu-raf-ąnani-tmą-ną-na-xongny-o
woman-DEFDefinite
"the"-RELRelative-3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they>3HThird person human (person)
humans (or possibly sentients)-wash-cassava-3HThird person human (person)
humans (or possibly sentients).POSSGPossessed (case)
marks being owned-in-3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-river-DEFDefinite
"the"
'to be the woman who washes her cassava in the river'
The affix -dek- may be added before the main stem to express the optative mood, that is a wish or desire.
Nge-seri.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-run
'I run.'
Nge-dek-seri.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-OPTOptative (mood)
'wish, hope'-run
'I want to run.'
In addition, the entire verb stem (minus the optative) may be reduplicated to show plurality of the ergative argument (the subject of an intransitive verb or the patient of a transitive verb). Otherwise plurality is inferred through context.
Ri-kmąm.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-eat
'You are eating.'
Ri-kmąm~kmąm.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-eat~PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur
'You guys are eating.'
Neni-kmąm.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat
'You are eating it.'
Neni-kmąm~kmąm.
2Second person (person)
addressee (you)>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat~PLUPluractionality
multiple instances occur
'You (guys) are eating them.'
In Manean, there are four tenses: present (-Ø-), near past (-ye-), remote past (-ta(h)-)1, and future (-ru-).
Nge-kmąm.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-eat
'I eat./I am eating.'
Nge-kmąm-ye.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-eat-PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
'I ate./I was eating.'
Nge-kmąm-ta.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-eat-REMRemote past (tense)
'a long time ago'
'I ate/I was eating (a while ago).'
Nge-kmąm-ru.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-eat-FUTFuture (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech
'I will eat/I am going to eat.'
1-ra- becomes -rah- before a vowel
Manean verbs may be affix with a number of affixes that convey additional meanings such as the direction and/or manner in which the action takes place. Listed below are a few common ones:
-(h)ąneng 'outwards'
-ną 'inwards'
-na 'through'
-denaxo 'in the direction of the wind'
-mengnaxo 'on the direction of the wind'
-denava 'to sea'
-mengnava 'towards the shore'
-denanekmą 'northwards'
-denantir 'eastwards'
-denangkmą 'southwards'
-denasa 'westwards'
-nąves 'HABHabitual (aspect)
done often or out of habit' (mostly emphatic)
es ‘to go’
There is no copula in Manean. There are some stative verbs and the locative copula ena. Copular constructions in the present have no verb and therefore have one argument followed by the next.
Example.
Past
Future
| SGSingular (number) one countable entity | PLPlural (number) more than one/few | |
|---|---|---|
| 1IFirst person inanimate (person) | n | ma |
| 1EFirst person exclusive (person) I/we but not you |
ngvo | |
| 2Second person (person) addressee (you) |
ri | |
| 2FSecond person formal (person) addressee, formal register (you) |
i | |
| 3IThird person inanimate (person) it, not he/she/they |
ni | |
| 3AThird person animate (person) he/she/they, not it |
e | |
| 3HThird person human (person) humans (or possibly sentients) |
tu | |
Personal pronouns are rarely used. They are dropped in most cases except for emphasis and when there is no agreement that would be used instead.
| Proximal ('this one') | Distal ('that one') | |
|---|---|---|
| 3IThird person inanimate (person) it, not he/she/they |
eni | lini |
| 3AThird person animate (person) he/she/they, not it |
e | li |
| 3HThird person human (person) humans (or possibly sentients) |
Manean is generally a head initial language.
Manean's word order is VSO, where V is the verb, S is the subject, and O is the object. Manean is also a split-ergative language, with first or second person arguments' clauses following a nominative-accusative alignment and third person only clauses following an ergative-absolutive alignment. The subject is always the nominative or ergative argument while the object is the accusative or absolutive argument.
Ngeni-kmąm (n)1 kuraskv-o.
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I>3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they-eat (1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I) coconut-DEFDefinite
"the"
'I eat the coconut.'
Netu-kmąm kuraskv-o rv-o.
3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they>3HThird person human (person)
humans (or possibly sentients)-eat coconut-DEFDefinite
"the" woman-DEFDefinite
"the"
'The woman eats the coconut.'
1 The pronoun is usually dropped.
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