Yay or Nay? [2011–2018]

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Frislander
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Frislander »

Absolutely, we don't see reduplication in conlangs nearly as often as we should seeing how common it is in natlangs.
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Thrice Xandvii
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Thrice Xandvii »

Frislander wrote: 17 Dec 2017 00:05 Absolutely, we don't see reduplication in conlangs nearly as often as we should seeing how common it is in natlangs.
...I have to agree. (Also, a few of mine use partial or full REDUP.)
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Tuyono »

Frislander wrote: 17 Dec 2017 00:05 Absolutely, we don't see reduplication in conlangs nearly as often as we should seeing how common it is in natlangs.
Thanks [:)] I'll definitely use it for something, I just wasn't sure whether it would sense for aspect marking.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Frislander »

Tuyono wrote: 18 Dec 2017 20:07
Frislander wrote: 17 Dec 2017 00:05 Absolutely, we don't see reduplication in conlangs nearly as often as we should seeing how common it is in natlangs.
Thanks [:)] I'll definitely use it for something, I just wasn't sure whether it would sense for aspect marking.
Absolutely it's fine for aspect marking! (see the attached chapter to the map. Also good for this is the Conlangery episode on it, which is full of examples and comes with natlang examples).
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by gestaltist »

Tuyono wrote: 16 Dec 2017 23:44 Should I use partial reduplication of verb stems to form the habitual aspect?
some examples of what it would look like:
ʃal → ʃaˈʃal
i͡at→ atˈi͡at
luɟ → luˈluɟ
teˈmish → teteˈmish
aːɲu → aːɲaɲu
Reduplication is often used with verbal roots to either mark intensity, duration, or repeatability of action, so this is perfectly realistic, as others have said. One thing you might want to keep in mind: languages that productively use partial reduplication practically always also use full reduplication. So you might want to find some other place in the grammar for full reduplication.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by markski »

Should I form verbs of motion (specifically, moving other objects) in my language derive from incorporated object + relational noun + dative?

example: at first I wanted to make a verb meaning "pull", and I thought "why not make some compound w/ the word for "arm" and "inwards", i.e. "move inward w/ one's arm", so I made the compound

pə́ssaj pā́fət
pə́ssaj-pā́f-ət
arm.GEN-center-DAT
"inward by the arm"

I figured that adding an auxiliary like "xuk" (go, move) or "ŋóv" (push) would make an already four-syllable word too long, so I wondered if I can just use this as a verb itself, eg.

sēŋir ək ku i pə́ssaj pāfət
sēŋi-r=∅-ə́k ku=i=pə́ssaj-pā́f-ət
hair-PAT=3sg-LOC 1s.AGT=3s.PAT=arm.GEN-center-DAT
"I pull(ed) his hair"

then I wondered if it would be possible to drop the "pə́ssaj" (by the arm) altogether and incorporate the object into the verb instead for sake of conciseness

xik ku sēŋir pā́fət
xi-k ku=sēŋi-r=pā́f-ət
DEM-LOC 1sg.AGT=hair-PAT=center-DAT
"I pull(ed) his hair"

So I scrapped the pə́ssaj- compound strategy since it seemed unnecessary and then started trying other verbs of motion

ku mef tīxə́t naŋít
ku=mef=tīx-ə́t naŋi-ə́t
1sg.AGT=water=top-DAT drink-DAT
"I bring/brought up water to drink"

Of course, I could just do the first (non-incorporated) structure but with the object in normal object position, i.e.

mef ku tīxə́t naŋít
mef ku=tīx-ə́t naŋ-ə́t
water 1sg.AGT=top-DAT drink-DAT
"I bring/brought up water to drink"

But I feel like incorporating it makes it more obvious that the relational noun is being verbalized here (since in isolation "tīxə́t" means "upwards", not "move upwards")

What do y'all think? Should I stick with this, or just make unique verbs of movement?
Last edited by markski on 22 Dec 2017 02:28, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Frislander »

markski wrote: 21 Dec 2017 00:29example: at first I wanted to make a verb meaning "pull", and I thought "why not make some compound w/ the word for "arm" and "inwards", i.e. "move inward w/ one's arm", so I made the compound

pə́ssaj pā́fət
pə́ssaj-pā́f-ət
arm.GEN-center-DAT
"inward by the arm"

I figured that adding an auxiliary like "xuk" (go, move) or "ŋóv" (push) would make an already four-syllable word too long, so I wondered if I can just use this as a verb itself, eg.

sēŋir ək ku i pə́ssaj pāfət
sēŋi-r=∅-ə́k ku=i=pə́ssaj-pā́f-ət
hair-PAT=3sg-LOC 1s.AGT=3s.PAT=arm.GEN-center-DAT
"I pull(ed) his hair"
The closest thing I know of to this in natlangs is what happens in many Papuan and a few Australian languages with restricted verbal lexicons, where they incorporate the object and have a generic verb (sometimes as vague as "hold"), maybe plus a cislocative affix denoting inward motion, so (using a new language) you'd have something like:

hane-kal-ton
arm-hold-CIS
"pull (with the arm)"

And this is a systematic pattern throughout the language, with most verbs being formed this way.
then I wondered if it would be possible to drop the "pə́ssaj" (by the arm) altogether and incorporate the object into the verb instead for sake of conciseness

xik ku sēŋir pā́fət
xi-k ku=sēŋi-r=pā́f-ət
DEM-LOC 1sg.AGT=hair-PAT=center-DAT
"I pull(ed) his hair"
You can incorporate more than one noun, e.g.

some-hane-kal-ton
hair-arm-hold-CIS
"pull hair"

One other point to note is that incorporated nouns pretty much always drop their case marking (the same applies to the above example).
So I scrapped the pə́ssaj- compound strategy since it seemed unnecessary and then started trying other verbs of motion

ku mef tīxə́t naŋít
ku=mef=tīx-ə́t naŋi-ə́t
1sg.AGT=water=drink=top-DAT drink-DAT
"I bring/brought up water to drink"
I think your glossing is slightly confusing here, why are there two "drinks" in the gloss and an extra clitic marker =.
Of course, I could just do the first (non-incorporated) structure but with the object in normal object position, i.e.

mef ku tīxə́t naŋít
mef ku=tīx-ə́t naŋ-ə́t
water 1sg.AGT=drink=top-DAT drink-DAT
"I bring/brought up water to drink"
Same issue here.
But I feel like incorporating it makes it more obvious that the relational noun is being verbalized here (since in isolation "tīxə́t" means "upwards", not "move upwards")
Well maybe you could treat it like a verb and inflect it like a verb, i.e. drop the case marking.
What do y'all think? Should I stick with this, or just make unique verbs of movement?
I say incorporate, we don't see enough conlangs with restricted verbal lexica.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Lao Kou »

Frislander wrote: 17 Dec 2017 00:05Absolutely, we don't see reduplication in conlangs nearly as often as we should seeing how common it is in natlangs.
Frislander wrote: 21 Dec 2017 13:52 I say incorporate, we don't see enough conlangs with restricted verbal lexica.
For my money, what we don't see enough of is just *stuff*. (Step away from WALS ever so briefly.) Linguistic legerdemains are lovely and all, but if your heptonal Iroquoian incorporating agglutinative lang with a double back leniting reduplicating twist written in an abugida doesn't tell me where the acorns are buried (acornacorn burybury [akoɾnøɠaʁnbʊɾiβɓɪ̈ʁjɛ̃]), then who cares? I understand it's fun to play with the Legos, but sheesh (and few play with pragmatics, 'cause how many langs ever get that far?).
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Frislander »

Lao Kou wrote: 21 Dec 2017 15:42 I understand it's fun to play with the Legos, but sheesh
Putting aide the fact that I can't actually work out what you're trying to say with most of your response, can I just point out that for me and the rest of the UK "Lego" is a mass noun, and that therefore "the Legos" sounds weird af to me? Just random trivia for you.
Last edited by Frislander on 21 Dec 2017 17:47, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Thrice Xandvii »

Lego is singular, it means one individual Lego brick. Hence, Legos.

Also, I think Lao's point is that even if something seems a little weird, just do it and see what happens. That way, there are many more fun developed conlangs for us to read about!
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Frislander »

Thrice Xandvii wrote: 21 Dec 2017 17:12 Lego is singular, it means one individual Lego brick. Hence, Legos.
Well in the UK Lego refers to the company/product as a whole, not to the individual bricks. It's just one of those minor differences between Englishes on either side of the pond that really sticks out when it comes up.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by markski »

Frislander wrote: 21 Dec 2017 13:52
markski wrote: 21 Dec 2017 00:29
So I scrapped the pə́ssaj- compound strategy since it seemed unnecessary and then started trying other verbs of motion

ku mef tīxə́t naŋít
ku=mef=tīx-ə́t naŋi-ə́t
1sg.AGT=water=drink=top-DAT drink-DAT
"I bring/brought up water to drink"
I think your glossing is slightly confusing here, why are there two "drinks" in the gloss and an extra clitic marker =.
Of course, I could just do the first (non-incorporated) structure but with the object in normal object position, i.e.

mef ku tīxə́t naŋít
mef ku=tīx-ə́t naŋ-ə́t
water 1sg.AGT=drink=top-DAT drink-DAT
"I bring/brought up water to drink"
Same issue here.
My bad. I had changed the words in the sentence around at one point but didn't properly fix the gloss. Fixed now.
But I feel like incorporating it makes it more obvious that the relational noun is being verbalized here (since in isolation "tīxə́t" means "upwards", not "move upwards")
Well maybe you could treat it like a verb and inflect it like a verb, i.e. drop the case marking.
The main reason I kept the case marking was because without it it doesn't have an adverbial/motion sense. Just tīx means "head, top", whereas "tīxə́t" means "upwards" and is thus more transparently related to the meaning of the verb "lift". So I guess in reality it's more deriving a verb from an adverb, rather than from a noun.

But at the same time, I see what you're trying to explain. If I just make pə́ssa- (the unmarked form) a verb-forming prefix that can attach to relational nouns likewise unmarked for case, this could be the strategy for forming verbs of translation. To be honest though, I kinda like both these strategies (the prefixing and the dative), do you think it would be possible for a language to have both, perhaps with certain dialectical/semantic/pragmatic difference associated?
What do y'all think? Should I stick with this, or just make unique verbs of movement?
I say incorporate, we don't see enough conlangs with restricted verbal lexica.
So are you saying that if I go this route I would be choosing to make what you call a "restricted-verb language"? Do you have any resources or advice about what such lexicons are like in general?
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by esoanem »

Frislander wrote: 21 Dec 2017 17:54
Thrice Xandvii wrote: 21 Dec 2017 17:12 Lego is singular, it means one individual Lego brick. Hence, Legos.
Well in the UK Lego refers to the company/product as a whole, not to the individual bricks. It's just one of those minor differences between Englishes on either side of the pond that really sticks out when it comes up.
I believe the same is too in Danish as well (not that that's especially relevant to US usage)
My pronouns are they/them/their

:gbr: native | :esp: advanced | :deu: intermediate | :fra: intermediate | :rus: basic | :ell: lapsed | :navi: lapsed | :con: making a bunch
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Thrice Xandvii »

Frislander wrote: 21 Dec 2017 17:54
Thrice Xandvii wrote: 21 Dec 2017 17:12 Lego is singular, it means one individual Lego brick. Hence, Legos.
Well in the UK Lego refers to the company/product as a whole, not to the individual bricks. It's just one of those minor differences between Englishes on either side of the pond that really sticks out when it comes up.
So to be clear, if a kid was assembling something on the kitchen table and got mad and swept all the bricks onto the floor in a huff, his mother might say, "Pick up your Lego!"? That just sounds so weird to me.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by DesEsseintes »

Thrice Xandvii wrote: 22 Dec 2017 06:37
Frislander wrote: 21 Dec 2017 17:54
Thrice Xandvii wrote: 21 Dec 2017 17:12 Lego is singular, it means one individual Lego brick. Hence, Legos.
Well in the UK Lego refers to the company/product as a whole, not to the individual bricks. It's just one of those minor differences between Englishes on either side of the pond that really sticks out when it comes up.
So to be clear, if a kid was assembling something on the kitchen table and got mad and swept all the bricks onto the floor in a huff, his mother might say, "Pick up your Lego!"? That just sounds so weird to me.
Sounds perfectly legit to me.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by shimobaatar »

Case in point. Dialects are different.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Lao Kou »

DesEsseintes wrote: 22 Dec 2017 09:02
Thrice Xandvii wrote: 22 Dec 2017 06:37
Frislander wrote: 21 Dec 2017 17:54
Thrice Xandvii wrote: 21 Dec 2017 17:12 Lego is singular, it means one individual Lego brick. Hence, Legos.
Well in the UK Lego refers to the company/product as a whole, not to the individual bricks. It's just one of those minor differences between Englishes on either side of the pond that really sticks out when it comes up.
So to be clear, if a kid was assembling something on the kitchen table and got mad and swept all the bricks onto the floor in a huff, his mother might say, "Pick up your Lego!"? That just sounds so weird to me.
Sounds perfectly legit to me.
As it does to me. Whether it's countable or uncountable seems to depend on context. "Pick up your Lego!" sounds fine, and saying "a Lego" as in "She threw a Lego at her brother." sounds a little weird to me. On the other hand, "Ow! Son of a bitch, I just stepped on a Lego!" is also okay. (a piece of Lego? a Lego piece? -- mebbe) Lego is not really part of my world, so it just doesn't come up much.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Frislander »

markski wrote: 22 Dec 2017 03:11
Frislander wrote: 21 Dec 2017 13:52
markski wrote: 21 Dec 2017 00:29But I feel like incorporating it makes it more obvious that the relational noun is being verbalized here (since in isolation "tīxə́t" means "upwards", not "move upwards")
Well maybe you could treat it like a verb and inflect it like a verb, i.e. drop the case marking.
The main reason I kept the case marking was because without it it doesn't have an adverbial/motion sense. Just tīx means "head, top", whereas "tīxə́t" means "upwards" and is thus more transparently related to the meaning of the verb "lift". So I guess in reality it's more deriving a verb from an adverb, rather than from a noun.

But at the same time, I see what you're trying to explain. If I just make pə́ssa- (the unmarked form) a verb-forming prefix that can attach to relational nouns likewise unmarked for case, this could be the strategy for forming verbs of translation. To be honest though, I kinda like both these strategies (the prefixing and the dative), do you think it would be possible for a language to have both, perhaps with certain dialectical/semantic/pragmatic difference associated?
Well you kind of answered your own question there; yes you could. I'd reckon that the dative construction would be more formal because it's more verbose. Also what'd be neat would be to have similar strategies with other body parts/generic nouns.
What do y'all think? Should I stick with this, or just make unique verbs of movement?
I say incorporate, we don't see enough conlangs with restricted verbal lexica.
So are you saying that if I go this route I would be choosing to make what you call a "restricted-verb language"? Do you have any resources or advice about what such lexicons are like in general?
Well if you're using it for a verb class as basic as motion verbs then I would say so yes, and I'd probably expect it to be extended to other verbs as well, including newly innovated verbs, as well as things like verbs of perception and so on.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by Davush »

Word-initial clusters are quite rare in Qutrussan, but so are vowel-initial words. In fact, no roots are vowel initial and this only occurs due to certain inflections. However, if a word ends in a consonant and the next word begins with a cluster, there is an epenthetic vowel. I'm thinking of making this epenthetic (always unstressed) vowel appear in the written language, so in effect there would be vowel-initial words, but no cluster-initial words.

Stias > Istias
Htuppu > Uhtuppu
Qsúmu > Uqsúmu
Prá > Aprá

etc.

I'm not sure which I prefer...Although I would be quite sad to see word initial qs cs ps go. Perhaps I could go Spanish and only have sC clusters have an epenthetic vowel? sC clusters are rarer than others, having been simplified very early in the proto-language and regained by other means.
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Re: Yay or Nay?

Post by felipesnark »

Davush wrote: 23 Dec 2017 10:36 Word-initial clusters are quite rare in Qutrussan, but so are vowel-initial words. In fact, no roots are vowel initial and this only occurs due to certain inflections. However, if a word ends in a consonant and the next word begins with a cluster, there is an epenthetic vowel. I'm thinking of making this epenthetic (always unstressed) vowel appear in the written language, so in effect there would be vowel-initial words, but no cluster-initial words.

Stias > Istias
Htuppu > Uhtuppu
Qsúmu > Uqsúmu
Prá > Aprá

etc.

I'm not sure which I prefer...Although I would be quite sad to see word initial qs cs ps go. Perhaps I could go Spanish and only have sC clusters have an epenthetic vowel? sC clusters are rarer than others, having been simplified very early in the proto-language and regained by other means.
I like the idea of only disallowing certain initial cluster, a la Spanish. You could decide to disallow a different type of initial cluster though, besides sC if you want. This reminds me of a similar issue I'm pondering for my conlang.

I'm thinking of making a change to certain Shonkasika neuter nouns, inspired by Slavic languages. There is an overlap in consonant stems and î-stems ( /ɪ/) in that they inflect the same for all forms, except the indefinite nominative singular, which is -î for î-stems and -∅ for consonant stems unless they end in a disallowed consonant cluster. In that case, I append an epenthetic -î, thus making them for all intents and purposes î-stems.

*dobr > dobrî roof, ceiling

Instead, I am thinking of placing the -î before the final consonants, acting a fill vowel as what happens in certain cases and numbers in some Slavic languages:

*dobr > dobîr
In forms with endings, like the accusative, the î would switch places:
acc. dobrîk

Yay or nay?
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