Grammar of Adzamian: view article

Old Adzamian. It originally described "Adzamasi," which is now one of its modern daughters. However, there may be places where the name "Adzamasi" is still erroneously used. Kilimbadi and Tabiqan were dialects of the original language, which will probably be repurposed as daughter languages, but haven't been renamed yet.))

Adzamian was spoken from around -100 to +700. It is a polysynthetic agglutinative language spoken by the Adzmasiin, a nomadic desert people turned massive empire, and spread across much of north Baredina. It features ejective consonants, vowel harmony, argument incorporation, and is a direct-inverse animacy-hierarchical language.

It has many extant daughter families.

[edit] [top]Phonetics & Phonology

consonant phonemes

	labial	dental	alveolar	~palatal	velar	uvular	glottal
nasal	m		n
stop			t	c	k	q
ejective			tt	cc	kk	qq	ʔ
voiced	b		d	j /ɟ/	g
fricative	v /f/	þ /θ/	s	z /ʃ/	x	r /χ/	h
liquid			l	y /j/	w

Fricatives /f θ s ʃ x χ/ voice [v ð z ʒ ɣ ʁ] between two voiced sounds.
/b/ becomes [p] word-finally.
/g/ and /ʔ/ are only present in Kilimbadi (/ʔ/ takes the place of /q'/).

monophthongs

	front	central	back
high	i	ü	u
mid	e	ö	o
low		a

Vowel harmony occurs in Adzamian. "Extreme" vowels (i, u, e and o) will centralize (to ü and ö) following vowels of the opposite extreme. Prefixes harmonize to their root, however. /ɐ ɑ:/ serve as boundary vowels and harmony does not spread across them. e.g. *vistic [fɪstɪc] 'falcon' → il-vistic-su [ɪlvɪstɪcsʏ] 'the falcons' ; *ooslet /o:slɛt/ [o:slœt] 'reptile' → il-ooslet-su [ʏlooslœtsu] 'the reptiles' ; *dotdaza /dʌtdɐʃɐ/ 'giraffe' → il-dotdaza-su [ʏldʌtdaʒasu] 'the giraffes.'

diphthongs
There are only four permitted diphthongs: /ei/, /ao/, /ae/, and /ea/. Otherwise, hiatus is not permitted, and is resolved by the first vowel assimilating to the second (/ia/ --> [aa]).

Phonotactics
Syllable structure is (C)V(:/C)(C). Complex onsets are not permitted, but complex codas are. Long vowels tend to be in open syllables, and never with a complex coda.

Stress is regular; it is initial, and repeats, but superheavy syllables (3 morae) are also footed:

[edit] [top]Pronouns

With all variations of gender, register, case, and person, there are over 70 pronouns in Adzamian. For a detailed article, check here.

[edit] [top]Syntax: Word order & little-v

Word order is very rigid and predictable in Adzamian, as it always follows from the most to least animate arguments, with the verb in the final position. Adzamian's animacy hierarchy is:

1st person
2nd person
3rd person
4th person
other referentials (proper names)
people
gods
animals
plants
ideas & fluids
tools
inanimates

Within each category, plural, agentive and definite nouns tend to have higher weight than singulars, patients and indefinites.

In order for a less-animate entity to have the active role, an inverse suffix is added to the verb. The basic suffix is -see or -sei.

Ato na leen-tak

1SGUnknown code 3SGUnknown code.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female MBUnknown code-hit

Ato na leen-tak-see

1SGUnknown code 3SGUnknown code.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female MBUnknown code-hit-RDRUnknown code

The suffix -kku indicates that a third entity is more active than the second.

Ato il-tanan il-bolo hi-ah-morsku-kku

1SGUnknown code the-child the-dog PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speaker-VSLVisual evidential (evidential)
'I see that...'-bite-RDRUnknown code

There is also a subordinate clause inverse marker, -saa, which is used when an agent in a subordinate clause acts upon an argument in the dominant clause.

Il-bibwil-sat hi-þeqüün saan il-mako-sat hi-morsku-saa

DEFDefinite
"the"

ANAnimate (gender/class)
alive, moving

SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speaker

DEFDefinite
"the"

ANAnimate (gender/class)
alive, moving

SGSingular (number)
one countable entity

PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speaker

SBRCSubordinate clause (syntax)
marks a subordinate clause

INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector

There is also a true passive, -deh, which can co-occur with a redirectional.

Ato leen-tak-deh

1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I

MBUnknown code

PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed

Ato na leen-tak-deh

1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I

3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee

FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female

MBUnknown code

PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed

Ato na leen-tak-see-deh

1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I

3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee

FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female

MBUnknown code

INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector

PASPast
action occurred before moment of speech

The reciprocative marker, with the meaning 'together, with each other,' is -ande.

Aþak hi-koba-ande

12First person inclusive (person)
speaker and addressee; you and me/us

PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speaker

RECPReciprocal (valency)
arguments act on each other

Object & instrument incorporation can occur. Incorporated arguments must be indefinite.

Ato il-bisqqa hi-zaal-sutöb

1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I

DEFDefinite
"the"

PROXProximal (proximity)
close to speaker

Ato un ya-debi-takk-see

1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I

3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee

MFUnknown code

INVInverse marker (valency)
AKA action redirector

Adjectives and adverbs follow their nouns and verbs (generally).

[edit] [top]Syntax: Subordinate and relative clauses

Subordinate clauses are marked with complementizers.

Relative clauses are adjectival/verbal, noun-first, retain pronoun head.

[edit] [top]Verbal Morphology

Adzamian verbs are complex. They are mandatorially inflected for proximity/location, and optionally for aspect, mood, little-v, obvtiative person, and can incorporated objects and manners.

Little v devices (inverse, passive voice, reciprocals, etc) and incorporation of objects and manners are dealt with above in the Syntax section.

Location is the primary deixis for Adzamian verbs, rather than tense. Modal and aspectual suffixes are common, and there are a few tense-like suffixes, but these are not obligatory.

There are five locations: proximal, medial-forwards, medial-backwards, distal-forwards, and distal-backwards. As with tense, which reflects time in comparison to the moment of the utterance, location reflects space with reference to the speaker's current position. The exact distance that these locations cover depends on context, but generally the medial distances must be within view, while distals are farther off.

There are also two directives: towards the speaker, and away from the speaker. These are used for actions that occur across at least two proximity levels.

Locative prefixes	positive		negative
Locative prefixes	fore	back	fore	back
proximal	hi-		do-
medial	ya-	leen-	yad-	lend-
distal	sol-	akoo-	sod-	akod-
toward	þü-		þüd-
away	tam-		tand-

Aspects
Aspects appear immediately after the proximity marker.

The simple/basic aspect is unmarked. It is used for most "progressive" sentences in English (e.g. "I am running" = "I run.")

There is a progressive/imperfect/immediate aspect, mez-, generally only used to indicate actions that are currently underway (in the present) or were incomplete (in the past), or actions seen in part or in progress.

The perfective is da-, for completed actions, or actions seen in their entirety.

Ato yamezvalse.
[ɐtʌ jɐmɛʃfɐlzɛ]
'I am running (right now) (up ahead).'

Ato yadavalse.
[ɐtʌ jɐdɐvɐlzɛ]
'I have run (up ahead).'

The aspects cannot stack.

Moods
Adzamian has nine moods, including the unmarked declarative. They appear after the proximity and aspect markers.

Imperative
- (k)e- or bare verb (without locative)
- Somewhat rude in most situations; never formal
Hortative-permissive
- va-
- polite requests
- suggestions
- to give permission
Desiderative
- (y)ii-
- desire or wish in a "non-speaker-centric" manner
- not "I wish, I want..."
- more like: "It would be nice if..."
Debitive-necessitative
- qe-
- should/ought
- must/need
Probabilitive
- lez-
- might
- it is likely that...
- X will probably...
Capacitative
- zu-
- can
- may
Conditional-interrogative
- bei-
- if...
- suppose...
- do/does...? (yes/no)

Some moods can stack.

Tense?
There is no true tense in Adzamic languages. However, there are methods of communicating time.

Adverbs.
- Temporal adverbs, such as today, tomorrow, soon, recently, forever can be used.
Location-time shorthand.
- 'Forward' = future, 'behind' = past.
- This can't be considered regular; time and place are often 'contradictory.'
Temporal affixes.
- soon: -xon
- later: -kwil
- already: -jee
- right now: -dae
- often: -to
Context.
- If a story begins with a time frame, it is safe to assume that that time frame is consistent throughout the story, until otherwise stated.

[edit] [top]Nominal morphology

Compared to its verbs, Adzamian's nouns are simple. They are inflected for definiteness, number/animacy, and optionally for location. Quantified nouns take classifiers.

Number	SG	PL
INAN	-yik	-ixi
TOOL	-yit	-iþ
FLUD	-wo	-oqo
PLNT	-at	-aþa
ANML	-sat	-su
SACR	-on	-vah
PRSN	Ø	-yet

Except where bolded, the initial letter of each suffix is optional, and only used to interrupt hiatus or illegal consonant clusters. Due to vowel harmony, many of these appear with different surface forms (e.g. -yük, -sü).

Definiteness	INDEF	DEF	PTV	CNS	NEG
Definiteness	Ø	il-	o-	þar-	qa-

It is important to remember that prefixes harmonise to their noun and not vice-versa; so, for example, o-ben /ʌ-bɛn/ 'some water' surfaces as öben [œbɛn], not obön.

Nouns do not have to be in construct state if they are possessed by a pronominal possessor.

Demonstratives
There are rather more demonstratives in Adzamasi than in English. They mirror the verb proximity paradigm, plus some more. As articles, they are assumed to be definite, and do not co-occur with other articles. They also have pronominal forms.

Proximity	Article	Pronoun
1.PROX	haa-	haat
2.PROX	hayi-	hayik
MF	ye-	yecca
MB	lan-	lan
DF	sol-	solut
DB	ak-	akta
FAM	haa-	haas
NFAM	kuun-	kuuma

1.PROX, 2.PROX are close to 1st and 2nd person, respectively. M/D+F/B = medial/distal forwards/behind (first person). FAM/NFAM = familiar/nonfamiliar (to first person).

Adpositions
Adpositions are suffices (therefore often subject to vowel harmony).

-yöt
- instrumental ; with tool, using
-yön
- comitative; with person, alongside, together
- carrying, being sat on
- between
-ab
- on, onto, into, at
- enrolled in, part of, material
- until a time
-catt
- in, inside, within
-ikle
- through (place), across (place)
- into a new state
- for/exchange
te
- in/at/on time
-ird
- while, during, through time, throughout time
-aloh
- from, originating
- about topic
- after time
-þe
- back to, return to
-aloo
- away from
- by (passive's agent)
-dakyi
- towards, to
- at, near
- before time
-lam
- around, near, surrounding, beside
-ilba
- along, down-along, up-along
- upwards
-ela
- benefactive, malefactive
- depending on
-son
- under, below, lower than
-tü
- above, over, higher than
-sin
- without, has none

[edit] [top]Modifiers

Adjectives appear as suffices to their nouns; adverbs have a more complex distribution depending on their function.

Adjectives
Comparative/more/-er : ma-
Superlative/most/-est: je-
Also: tes-

Classifiers
Quantifying adjectives (e.g. numerals, 'some, any, few') are modified by classifiers. There are many more classifier distinctions than there are animacy classes, and some mismatches between the two systems.

human: -ot, -et
- human (archaic): -:n
- children: -tamna
- strangers: -xeiz
- sentient nonhumans: -das
major gods: -qae
minor gods: -keimca
animals
- small domestic: -þe
- large domestic: -teh
- wild: -akko
measure
- time: -an
- distance: -sit
places
- outdoors or very large interior: -ext
- indoors: -o
- very specific: -cars
abstract
- words, phrases: -kaab
- mental images: -ke
- metaphysical, sensory: -liþ
inanimate
- round: -wet
- long and thin: -kars {some tools and plants as well}
- spiky: -ccexa
- complex: -we

Note: this list may not be complete

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Comments

[link] [quote] [move] [edit] [del] 23-Jun-17 21:28 [Deactivated User]

thenks dre

[link] [quote] [move] [edit] [del] 23-Jun-17 20:27 [Deactivated User]

Neat as fug