Zuteräce, a language of colours

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calylac
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Posts: 10
Joined: 10 Sep 2017 15:21
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Zuteräce, a language of colours

Post by calylac »

I've already posted different versions of the inventory of this language in one or two places, but now I'm finally including it in context! I'd love any feedback, comments or criticism, so please fire away with your thoughts, positive or negative!

Introduction

Zuteräce (['ɕʊt̪ɛɾac͡çɛ], anglicised as Zutan, is a language spoken by the indigenous folk of the mid-eastern lowlands of the continent of Orahim. As the tribes are fairly widespread, there are as many dialects of the tongue as there are colours in a rainbow—appropriate, since the Zutans worship a vibrant deity/deities (depending on which group you ask) of colour and magic that they call Caeloc ("the colour of souls) or Zutaloc (something like "colour made words"). SUbsequently, colour is a vital part of the way they see, interpret and interact with the world, and also plays a major role in the functioning of their language.

Phonology

Consonants

m n~n̪~ɲ~ŋ <m n>
p b t~t̪ d~d̪ c͡ç ɟ͡ʝ k g <p b t d q~c g c g>
s~z ɕ~ʑ <s z>
f v θ ð ç~ʝ h <f v t d j h>
l <l>
j w ɾ <y~i w~o r>

Allophony
<t d> are /t d/ are most positions but [t̪ d̪] intervocally and after [n̪]. and [θ ð] word-finally
<c g> are /k g/ in most positions but paletalised to [c͡ç ɟ͡ʝ] before /i y j/ (realised as [tɕ dʑ] in some dialects]
<s z j> are /s ɕ ç/ in most positions but become voiced [z ʑ ɟ] intervocally when followed by a front vowel
<n> is usually /n/ but [n̪] before /t̪ d̪/, [ɲ] when followed by /c͡ç/ and [ŋ] when followed by /k g h/. In the latter case, the /h/ is usually realised as aspiration of the [ŋ], so [ŋʰ]. Word-finally, this aspiration may be lost.
Following the rules about /n̪/ and /t̪ d̪/, <nt nd> are always realised dentally: [n̪t̪ n̪d̪]

All consonants except for /θ ð h j w ɾ/ can be geminated by doubling. When <tt> or <dd> is written intervocally, these are geminated [tt dd] rather than becoming [θ ð]. Word-finally, these are traditionally realised as [θt̪ ðd̪] but in most dialects are pronounced [t̪t̪ d̪d̪]

Vowels
i y <i ï>
ɪ ʏ ʊ <i ï u>
e ɵ o <e u o>
ə
ɛ œ <e ë>
a ɑ ɒ <ä a o>

Allophony
Words beginning with vowels start with [ʔ]
<i ï u o> are /i y ʊ o/ in open syllables but [ɪ ʏ ɵ ɒ] in closed syllables (followed by two consonants or by a word-final consonant)
<e> is usually /ɛ/ but [e] in the diphthong <ei> [ej] and before open vowels /a ɑ ɒ/ <eä ea eo> [eja ejɑ ejo~ejɒ]
/i/ becomes [j] before /ʊ ɵ e o ɛ a ɑ ɒ/
/o/ becomes /w/ after /ɛ a ɑ/
Any unstressed vowel will be realised as [ə] if it is the first instance of two consecutive open syllables containing the same vowel when this repetition occurs for inflectional reasons, e.g. undaca ['ʊn̪d̪əkɑ] — [3ps] took/received, from infinitive unda ['ʊn̪d̪ɑ] - inflectional repetition, unstressed, so [ə]
Vowels are not (usually) distinguished for length.

Phonotactics
(C)(C)(R)V(N)
(R) = /ɾ l w j/
(N) = /m n ŋ θ t̪ k s ɕ l w ɾ/

The colour paradigm

The language's 8 base vowels can be arranged in a sort of wheel as follows:
Spoiler:
Image
Each of these 8 vowels (along with their associated allophones) is associated with one of eight ranges of colours, as below:
Spoiler:
Image
<ï> /y/ = red, mïsca
<ë> /œ/ = yellow, hëna
<e> /ɛ/ = green, helua
<ä> /a/ = light blue, vlära
<a> /ɑ/ = dark blue, yetala
<o> /o/ = purple, awora
<u> /ʊ/ = pink/red-purple, äsguta

This arrangement of vowels is a vital part of how words inflect and morph. Furthermore, the colours and their associate vowels are split into two categories, as per the line in the second image above. Above the line are the rufescent colours/vowels, and below are the azure colours/vowels — i.e. colours with more red than blue and those with more blue than red, respectively. This plays a role in the categorisation of nouns and verbs, which we shall see below.
Last edited by calylac on 20 Sep 2017 21:03, edited 1 time in total.
1: :gbr: 2: :fra: 3: :nld: 4: :ita:
Learning: :swe: :ell: :rou: Get by in: :esp: :deu:
Zuteräq/Zutan
calylac
rupestrian
rupestrian
Posts: 10
Joined: 10 Sep 2017 15:21
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: Zuteräq, a language of colours

Post by calylac »

Nouns

I'll be updating this post with more noun info as it comes, for now here's a summary of how Zutan nouns work and a bit about noun classes and number.

As a fluid-s active-stative language, Zutan inflects its nouns quite significantly. There are four base cases: agentive, patientive, and locative. The locative forms a stem that can have prefixes attached to form a further set of sub-cases. Numbers are primarily categorised in the collective and singulative, i.e. the "dictionary" form of a noun is the mass concept, the general "existence", the "multiple" of the thing, and that is then inflected for singular instances, individuals, pieces, grains etc. of that thing.

Each noun has two functionally significant vowels to it. One is called the cae (soul), or simply the main vowel, and is the vowel which is stressed in the noun's base form (agentive) - so the cae of cae, pronounced ['kɑɛ], is <a> /ɑ/. The cae of a noun determines its colour, as per the vowel/colour wheel in the post above. Väna, ['vanɑ] (cloud, collective), is an l-blue noun, as its cae is ä. In certain morphological processes, the cae can be changed by:
  • raising: moving clockwise around the vowel/colour cycle, e.g. ä > e
    lowering: moving anticlockwise, e.g. ä > a
    distancing: moving across to the directly opposite vowel, e.g. ä > ï
The other significant vowel is the final vowel, which in conjunction with any consonant following it is called the lämel (tail). This determine's the noun's class. Nouns ending in -a(C), -o and -a are Class I, also called a-class because all these endings regularise to <a> /ɑ/ in inflection. Hence we can analyse väna as a l-blue Class I noun in its agentive collective (base) form.

Noun classes
Spoiler:
Nouns are divided into five classes:
  • Class I/a-class: large natural animates. Includes animals and plants at least half the size of humans, and all large-scale moving/flowing natural subatances/phenomena (water, clouds, the wind, loud noises, celestial bodies, time etc.) These nouns end in -a(C), -o or -a.
    Class II/u-class: natural inanimates. Includes rocks, minerals, plants with no significant uses or dangers, small insects and fish, bodies of still water etc. These nouns end in -o(C), -u(C) or -u.
    Class III/i-class: small natural inanimates. Includes animals and plants less than half the size of humans and smaller moving/flowing natural phenomena (small streams, gentle breezes, quiet noises etc.)
    Class IV/e-class: humans and artifice. Includes humans and anything physical that was made or created by them, cities, countries, artificial materials, body parts, the soul.
    Class V/ä-class: abstractions. Includes emotions, intangible phenomena, thought, actions, etc.
Nouns in their base form (collective agentive) can end in the following consonants: <m n t c s z l>
Nominal number
Spoiler:
The most basic form of a noun is its collective. This can have different meanings depending on whether it is interpreted definitely or indefinitely:

niji - birds [in general] (def) / a flock of birds (indef)
mäira - water [as a substance] (def) /a (large) body of water (indef)
länu - sand [as a substance] (def) /a sandy area (indef)

These are inflected to make them singulative. The singulative ending changes depending on the noun class:

niji - birds / nijir - a bird
mäira - water / mäilar - a small amount/a drink of water
länu - sand / länus - a grain of sand

Singulative forms can be made plurative to refer definitely to specific, multiple individuals. This is done by raising the noun's cae. Hence:

nijir - a bird / nïjir - [the] birds
mäilar - a drink of water / meilar - drinks of water
länus - a grain of sand / lenus - grains of sand

The same cae-lowering can be applied to the collective form in the indefinite to form the paucal:

niji - birds / nïji - some birds, a few birds
mäira - water / meira - some water
länu - sand / lenu - some sand

Therefore nouns have four number forms: Collective (COL), singulative (SGV), plurative (PTV) and paucal (PCL), which along with definiteness allow for a total of six referential numerative meanings:

Indefinite:
COL: niji - a flock of birds
SGV: nijir - a bird
PCL: nïji - some birds

Definite:
COL: niji - birds [in general]
SGV: nijir - the bird
PTV: nïjir - the birds

It is not necessary to mark nouns for definiteness, but when necessary it can be done to make the distinctions set out above (particularly the different interpretations of the collective. This is done by attaching the noun's cae as a prefix to an indefinite noun:

niji: birds [in general], definite
iniji a flock of birds, indefinite

Following the final rule set out in the allophony section above, in many nouns including niji, this indefinite prefix will be realised as [ə]
1: :gbr: 2: :fra: 3: :nld: 4: :ita:
Learning: :swe: :ell: :rou: Get by in: :esp: :deu:
Zuteräq/Zutan
calylac
rupestrian
rupestrian
Posts: 10
Joined: 10 Sep 2017 15:21
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: Zuteräq, a language of colours

Post by calylac »

Transitivity

The subject of an intransitive verb can take either the agentive or patientive case. Some verbs are specifically stative; stative verbs take patientive subjects:
  • nem ehaliommä (1pl.pat sleep-1pl.past) we slept [sleep is an uncontrollable state that you can't actively choose to enter - essentially "us slept" or "sleeping happened to us"]
Some actions are interpreted as active, and take agentive subjects:
  • ine eväsummä (1pl.agn sing-1pl.past) we sang [unlikely to occur without volition or purpose]
Other verbs can be either active or stative. In these cases, the subject is agentive or patientive depending on volition or lack thereof, respectively. "Volition" here also covers emotional attachment1, commitment, choice vs. duty and other categories. Essentially, if the subject is choosing to perform the action purposefully (be that with physical, mental or emotional purpose), they are agentive; otherwise, they are patientive, as the noun is then more of an experience than an action:
  • is häiem (1sg.agn scream-1sg.past) I screamed [deliberately because I was angry and wanted to let it out]
    häiem dïs (1sg.pat scream-1sg.past) I screamed [and wasn't in control, something shocked/scared me, screaming happened to me]
It should be noted that very few verbs are interpreted as exclusively active: a verb like "run" could be stative if the subject is being forced to run from something; even a verb like "want" could be treated as stative if the subject was guiltily desiring something they shouldn't.

In an active transitive sentence (SOV), the subject takes the agentive and the subject the patientive. In stative transitive sentences/transitive actions without volition on the subject's part (VSO), the subject takes the patientive and the object takes the genitive. The subject always precedes the object, though the verb moves ahead of the subject if there is lack of volition.
  • limien mealotti carmece (woman-sgv.agn dog-sgv.pat ignore-3ps.past) the woman ignored the dog [and meant to, she didn't like him]
    carmece limieddi mearalie (ignore-3ps.past woman-sgv.pat dog-sgv.gen) the woman ignored the dog [by accident, she didn't know he was there, etc. - essentially "the woman experienced ignoring of the dog"]
1A speaker can also distinguish between active and stative subject to indicate their own emotional involvement, interest, etc. in the events they are recounting:
  • eblis taziviti (die-3ps.past fish-dim.sgv.pat) my litle fish died [death happened to him, poor him (and me)]
    tazivir eblis (fish-dim.sgv.agn die-3ps.past) my little fish died [he just went and died, did it on purpose, I resent him for it]
The latter could also be interpreted as "the fish committed suicide" but let's hope that's not the case.
1: :gbr: 2: :fra: 3: :nld: 4: :ita:
Learning: :swe: :ell: :rou: Get by in: :esp: :deu:
Zuteräq/Zutan
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