Speedlanging weekend IV: Weekend of April 8th

[gestaltist]

I think I will work something out this coming weekend. Late to the party, but whatever.

[Inkcube-Revolver]

Inkcube, I absolutely feel for you! At least you got two nice sketches out of it :)

Do you have a phonological break down of the second language? I think it is awesome you were channeling Sumerian. That is actually one of the prime influences for this challenge and has interested me lately.

Also, i totally love Wintiver's sketch too!

I don't have one down yet, I'm going to at some point, though. I like the feel of the language, and I also want to work with morphology again.

Edit: Sumerian is awesome. It always has me wonder what its language family members may have looked like, if there were any at some point. A truly exciting development, however, would be if we somehow found tablets that recorded a Sumerian sisterlang! Gives me the willies just thinking about it.

[Nachtuil]

I look forward to your languages gestaltist and shimobaatar! :)

[DesEsseintes]

For third persons:

• C1: Carriers: -ek- -ăk- -ak- -uk-
• C2: Sentients: -eh- -ăh- -ah- -uh-
• C3: Animates: -enw- -ănw- -anw- -unw-
• C4: Marginally Animate: -ehw- -ăhw- -ahw- -uhw-
• C5: Topographic: -erg- -ărg- -arg- -urg-
• C6: Objects: -eʔ- -ăʔ- -aʔ- -uʔ-
• C7: Substances: -ewk- -ăwk- -awk- -uwk-

Benefactive: eC
Pliable: ăC
Resistant: aC
Malefactive: uC

Plural infix: -iw-

Inverse marking prefix: ŕ-/ră-

I love your sketch wintiver! The inventory is really nice and the table above is delicious. I hope you develop this further.

[zyma]

Jăŋmirycex

Phonology:

• No more than 25 phonemes.
• No more than 2 fricatives.
• No more than 2 affricates.
• At least 2 central vowels.

/p b t d t͡ʃ~c d͡ʒ~ɟ k g ʔ/ <p b t d c j k g x>
/θ s/ <ð s>
/m n ŋ/ <m n ŋ>
/ɽ/ <r>

/i e æ/ <i e a>
/ɨ ə ɐ/ <y ĕ ă>
/u o ɒ/ <u o å>

Basic syllable structure is (S)C(R)V(N), where S = /θ s/, R = /ɽ/, and N = /p b t d t͡ʃ~c d͡ʒ~ɟ k g ʔ m n ŋ/. Permissible onset clusters are /θp θt θt͡ʃ~θc θk sp st st͡ʃ~sc sk pɽ bɽ tɽ dɽ t͡ʃɽ~cɽ d͡ʒɽ~ɟɽ kɽ gɽ θpɽ θtɽ θt͡ʃɽ~θcɽ θkɽ spɽ stɽ st͡ʃɽ~scɽ skɽ/. Stress is usually penultimate. Intervocalically, /p t t͡ʃ~c k θ s/ become [b d d͡ʒ~ɟ g ðː zː], /b d d͡ʒ~ɟ g/ become [β ð ʒ~ʝ ɣ], and /m n ŋ/ become [mː nː ŋː]. Word-finally, /p t t͡ʃ~c k/ become [p̚ t̚ t͡ʃ̚~c̚ k̚], /b d d͡ʒ~ɟ g/ become [p t t͡ʃ~c k], and /m n ŋ/ become [ʊ̯̃ ɪ̯̃ ɯ̯̃]. /ɽ/ devoices when adjacent to voiceless consonants. I may add rules regarding epenthetic vowels and coda consonants coming into contact with onset clusters later.

Morphosyntax:

• Number is not marked directly on nouns.
• Some sort of split-ergativity.
• "Fantasy".

The language is head-initial and exhibits split-ergativity. It is ergative-absolutive in terms of case marking and word order, but nominative-accusative in terms of verbal agreement marking. Word order is SVO, or, more accurately, EVA (ergative-verb-absolutive). Oblique arguments tend to precede the verb, and are marked with the ergative case.

The language also has a system of noun classes that reflect the culture of the speakers:

-(A)p = I (humans)
-(E)ŋ = II (gods and spirits)
-(I)j = III (animals)
-(I)g = IV (plants)
-(A)m = V (inanimate objects)
-(E)t = VI (liquids)

These noun class suffixes are suffixed to numerals when they modify nouns. The vowel in the suffixes is left out if the number ends in a vowel already, but if the number ends in a consonant, the suffix's vowel must agree with the vowel of the number's final syllable in backness. Noun class suffixes are also suffixed to adjectives.

The language is quaternary, or base-4. Here are its numerals:

brek - 0
dån - 1
ðky - 2
nut - 3
ră - 10 (4)
rădån - 11 (5)
răðky - 12 (6)
rănut - 13 (7)
ðkyră - 20 (8)
ðkyrădån - 21 (9)
ðkyrăðky - 22 (10)
ðkyrănut - 23 (11)
nutră - 30 (12)

The ergative case is formed with the suffix -(E)b. The rules regarding the vowel of this suffix are the same as they are for the noun class suffixes above.

Pronouns are as follows:

crå 1s / mi 1p
ðe 2s / sku 2s
pă 3I / ŋĕ 3II / jy 3III / gy 3IV / mă 3V / tĕ 3VI

Third person pronouns are unmarked for number.

Pronouns also act as possessive prefixes on nouns and subject/ergative agreement prefixes on verbs.

There are two tenses, past and nonpast. The past tense is marked using the suffix -(I)d. Once again, the rules regarding this suffix's vowel are the same as above.

Grob răjăp păŋĕxyd skun rădånuj.
gro-(E)b răj-(A)p pă-ŋĕx-(I)d skun ră-dån-(I)j
person-ERG tall-I 3I-see-PST bird four-one-III
The tall people saw five birds.

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Another language I had fun making that I'll most likely continue to work on in the future. This took about two hours, I'd say. I'm rather tired, so it could probably be better, but I'm satisfied with what I've got here. Looking forward to the fifth one of these eventually.

Now that I've finished this and I'm starting to look at what other people've made, I'm pleasantly surprised to see I'm not the only one fond of <ă>.

[Nachtuil]

What a delight to see what you've come up with :) I am a fan of the noun classes.

[zyma]

What a delight to see what you've come up with :) I am a fan of the noun classes.

Wow, thank you! That's very kind!

[gestaltist]

I look forward to your languages gestaltist and shimobaatar! :)

I'm afraid I won't be publishing mine. I made a sketch but I find it so aesthetically displeasing that it is never going to see the light of day.

[DesEsseintes]

I look forward to your languages gestaltist and shimobaatar! :)

I'm afraid I won't be publishing mine. I made a sketch but I find it so aesthetically displeasing that it is never going to see the light of day.

Seriously though: show the monster!

[Man in Space]

My gig took up more of my time this weekend than I thought. This is basically all I got done from it (had it saved in another tab):

/a aː ə əː ɨ ɨː/ <a a· ə ə· ɨ ɨ·>

/p b d k q ʔ/ <p b d k q ʔ>
/tʃ dʒ/ <c j>
/h/ <h>
/ɾ ~ s ~ t/ <r>
/w j/ <w y>

(C)V(p/b/d/k/q/ʔ/r/w/y)

ALLOPHONY:

a ə ɨ → ɒ ɵ ʉ / {K,q,P}_r
a ə ɨ → ɐ ɜ ɪ̈ / _r
a ə ɨ → ɐ ɜ ɪ̈ / r_
a ə ɨ → œ ø y / P_T
a ə ɨ → œ ø y / T_P
a ə ɨ → ɒ ɔ o / {K,q}_P
a ə ɨ → ɔ o u / P_
a ə ɨ → ɛ e i / T_
a ə ɨ → ɐ ɜ ɪ̈ / Q_
a ə ɨ → ʌ ɤ ɯ / {K,q}_
V → Ṽ / _H
b d dʒ → m n ɲ / _Ṽ
p r tʃ k q → ⁿb ⁿd ⁿdʒ ⁿg ⁿɢ / _Ṽ
r → s / _T
r → t / _S
r → t / _#

dʒɨwtʃəʔ → dʒywⁿdʒeʔ
daʔɨr → nɛʔɪ̈t
bɨrtʃə → pʉstʃe
rəhkɨːr → ⁿdɜhkɪ̈·t
kɨparər → kopɒrɜr
pəːbəhkək → poːmohkʌk