Conlangs/Dahur: Difference between revisions

From Panglossa Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 492: Line 492:
* The '''accusative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-a'''.  
* The '''accusative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-a'''.  
* The '''dative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-si'''.
* The '''dative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-si'''.
* The '''genitive''' case is indicated by the enging '''-ak''' for animate intelligent beings, '''-ish''' for animals, '''-is''' for concrete objects and '''-ón''' for abstract things.
* The '''genitive''' case is indicated by the enging '''-ak''' for animate intelligent beings, '''-iʃ''' for animals, '''-is''' for concrete objects and '''-ɔn''' for abstract things.
* The '''locative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-us'''. With animate nouns, the locative can mean "on", or "with", as in "carrying with".  
* The '''locative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-us'''. With animate nouns, the locative can mean "on", or "with", as in "carrying with".  
* The '''instrumental''' case is indicated by the enging '''-êm''' for animate intelligent beings, '''-ôm''' for animals, '''-um''' for things.
* The '''instrumental''' case is indicated by the enging '''-em''' for animate intelligent beings, '''-om''' for animals, '''-um''' for things.
* The '''ergative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-ötr'''.  
* The '''ergative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-øtr'''.  
* The '''ablative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-éyv'''.  
* The '''ablative''' case is indicated by the enging '''-ɛjv'''.  


When an ending starting with a vowel is applied, a final '''-i''' becomes '''-y-''', and a final '''-u''' becomes '''-w-'''; otherwise, an '''-h-''' is added. Ex.:  
When an ending starting with a vowel is applied, a final '''-i''' becomes '''-j-''', and a final '''-u''' becomes '''-w-'''; otherwise, an '''-h-''' is added. Ex.:  


* '''dula''' "babysitter", '''dulahên''' "babysitters"
* '''dula''' "babysitter", '''dulahen''' "babysitters"
* '''agdari''' "prisoner", '''agdaryên''' "prisoners"
* '''agdari''' "prisoner", '''agdarjen''' "prisoners"
* '''kanarni''' "eyes", '''kanarnya''' "eyes (accus.)", '''kanarnyus''' "in the eyes", '''kanarnyéyv''' "from the eyes"
* '''kanarni''' "eyes", '''kanarnja''' "eyes (accus.)", '''kanarnjus''' "in the eyes", '''kanarnjɛjv''' "from the eyes"
* '''pakpaki''' "louse", '''pakpakya''' "louse (accus.)", '''pakpakyish''' "of a louse", '''pakpakyôm''' "by a louse"
* '''pakpaki''' "louse", '''pakpakja''' "louse (accus.)", '''pakpakjiʃ''' "of a louse", '''pakpakjom''' "by a louse"




Line 520: Line 520:
!Nominative
!Nominative
|'''grats'''
|'''grats'''
|'''gratsên'''
|'''gratsen'''
|-
|-
!Accusative
!Accusative
|'''gratsa'''
|'''gratsa'''
|'''gratsêna'''
|'''gratsena'''
|-
|-
!Dative
!Dative
|'''gratssi'''
|'''gratssi'''
|'''gratsênsi'''
|'''gratsensi'''
|-
|-
!Genitive
!Genitive
|'''gratsak'''
|'''gratsak'''
|'''gratsênak'''
|'''gratsenak'''
|-
|-
!Locative
!Locative
|'''gratsus'''
|'''gratsus'''
|'''gratsênus'''
|'''gratsenus'''
|-
|-
!Instrumental
!Instrumental
|'''gratsêm'''
|'''gratsem'''
|'''gratsênêm'''
|'''gratsenem'''
|-
|-
!Ergative
!Ergative
|'''gratsötr'''
|'''gratsøtr'''
|'''gratsênötr'''
|'''gratsenøtr'''
|-
|-
!Ablative
!Ablative
|'''gratséyv'''
|'''gratsɛjv'''
|'''gratsênéyv'''
|'''gratsenɛjv'''
|}
|}


Line 554: Line 554:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
|colspan="3"|Class 2: '''késhêv''' "hammer"  
|colspan="3"|Class 2: '''kɛshev''' "hammer"  
|-
|-
!
!
Line 561: Line 561:
|-
|-
!Nominative
!Nominative
|'''késhêv'''
|'''kɛshev'''
|'''késhêvlin'''
|'''kɛshevlin'''
|-
|-
!Accusative
!Accusative
|'''késhêva'''
|'''kɛsheva'''
|'''késhêvlina'''
|'''kɛshevlina'''
|-
|-
!Dative
!Dative
|'''késhêvsi'''
|'''kɛshevsi'''
|'''késhêvlinsi'''
|'''kɛshevlinsi'''
|-
|-
!Genitive
!Genitive
|'''késhêvis'''
|'''kɛshevis'''
|'''késhêvlinis'''
|'''kɛshevlinis'''
|-
|-
!Locative
!Locative
|'''késhêvus'''
|'''kɛshevus'''
|'''késhêvlinus'''
|'''kɛshevlinus'''
|-
|-
!Instrumental
!Instrumental
|'''késhêvum'''
|'''kɛshevum'''
|'''késhêvlinum'''
|'''kɛshevlinum'''
|-
|-
!Ergative
!Ergative
|'''késhêvötr'''
|'''kɛshevøtr'''
|'''késhêvlinötr'''
|'''kɛshevlinøtr'''
|-
|-
!Ablative
!Ablative
|'''késhêvéyv'''
|'''kɛshevɛjv'''
|'''késhêvlinéyv'''
|'''kɛshevlinɛjv'''
|}
|}


== Verbs ==
== Verbs ==

Revision as of 14:53, 21 June 2026

Phonology

Vowels

Dahur vowels are usually short. Double vowels (ex.: aa, ee &c.) may happen, but they are considered as simple vowel sequences.

The diagram below shows the 10 vowels of Dahur.

In practice, the vowel /a/ may actually vary between /a/, /ä/ and /ɑ/.

There are speakers that tend to merge /ø/ and /œ/, especially in more informal contexts.


Consonants

Dahur consonants are as follows:

Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal /m/ /n/
Plosive /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/
Sibilant fricative /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/
Non-sibilant fricative /f/ /v/ /h/
Approximant /j/
Tap/Flap/Trill /ɾ/ /r/
Lateral Approx. /l/

The rhotic consonant ("r") is in free variation and may be realised either as a tap, a flap or a trill. The trill pronunciation (/r/) is more common at the beginning of a syllable, and even more so at the beginning of a word. The tap/flap pronunciation (/ɾ/) is more common in consonant clusters, especially after a plosive.

In Dahur phonology, the combinations /tɾ/ and /kʃ/ count as single, independent consonants.


Phonotactics

A syllable in Dahur must contain one vowel, which may be preceded and/or followed by any number of consonants. In practice, consonant clusters don't usually go beyond four consonants. For that account, /kʃ/ and /tɾ/ are always considered as single consonants.

All consonant sequences are possible. However, in practice, some consonant combinations (ex. -hm-, -tɾkʃ- &c.) are rare.

Examples of valid syllables:

a tɛ en wi koj gjɔ pɾujn kʃtɾa fʃtlœmbz

Stress

In the literary dialect, considered official, words are stressed on the next-to-last syllable. However, if the last syllable contains the consonant /tɾ/, it will be stressed.

Ex.:

kanar

/ˈka.nar/

ostrøndɛl

/os.ˈtɾøn.dɛl/

tefʃiv

/ˈtef.ʃiv/

dasutɾ

/daˈsutɾ/

maʃkintɾod

/maʃ.kinˈtɾod/

Morphology

Dahur is a highly flexional language, with a strong presence of irregular forms.

Nouns inflect for number, which is basically singular and plural, but there are also occurrences of dual (for things normally occurring in pairs) and singulative (for individual items of things usually found collectively).

Nouns also inflect for case, usually: nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, locative, instrumental, ergative and ablative. Instances of partitive and vocative are also found. The case called ergative is used basically for the agent of the passive voice.

Adjectives show no agreement to nouns, and inflect for degree (comparatives of superiority, equality, inferiority; relative and absolute superlative).


Nouns

Class

Dahurian nouns are divided in five classes, which can be compared to Latin or Greek declensions, as they consist in different inflection patterns, but may also be seen as a form of gender, as class is usually (but not always necessarily) related to the meaning of a noun.


Class 1 Living beings
Class 2 General objects
Class 3 Natural elements; insects
Class 4 Parts of human body; clothing
Class 5 Abstract nouns; traditional imaginary beings


There are no morphological indications related to noun classes in the nominative singular. The differences appear along the inflection of nouns.


Number

Nouns in Dahur have a singular and a plural. The plural ending varies according to noun class and to case. There is also a dual number, which is valid only for nouns normally occurring in pairs. Mass or collective nouns have a singulative inflection.


So, for example:


Class Singular Plural Dual Singulative
class 1 grats

"boy"

gratsen

"boys"

- -
class 2 kɛshev

"hammer"

kɛshevlin

"hammers"

kɛshevas

"pair of hammers" (traditionally used by blacksmiths)

-
class 3 halajn

"water"

halejnn

"waters" (i.e. in a flood)

halajns

"The Two Waters" (the river Okanuma and the lake Kassanjas)

halajny

"a drop of water"

class 4 kanar

"eye"

kanarni

"many eyes" (mostly figuratively)

kanaris

"(two/both) eyes"

-
class 4 kʃalim

"hair"

kʃalimni

"(types of) hair"

- kʃalimy

"a (single) hair"

class 5 astrønɛl

"idea"

astrønɛljan

"ideas"

astrønɛls

"a couple ideas"

-


The plural in classes 1, 2 and 5 is usually regular, obtained with the respective suffixes (-en, -lin, -jan).

Ex.:

Class Singular Plural
class 1 fatlaj

"girlfriend"

fatlajen
dukʃatr

"boss"

dukʃatren
egastɛv

"farmer"

egastɛven
class 2 takoj

"pin"

takojlin
upsan

"paper"

upsanlin
dasutr

"document, file"

dasutrlin
class 5 pɛktegal

"angel"

pɛktegaljan
ostrøndɛl

"interruption"

ostrøndɛljan
piktaraʃ

"problem"

piktaraʃjan


In classes 3 and 4, besides the suffixes (-n, -ni), most nouns suffer some sort of mutation, usually affecting only one vowel but non uncommonly consisting of more significative changes.


Ex.:

Class Singular Plural
class 3 pakpaki

"louse"

pakpɛkin
pahalis

"leaf"

pahalejn
tʃeptal

"cloud"

tshaptlin
class 4 kraws

"ear"

krojsni
ɛmblew

"hat"

ɛmbalni
krikter

"helmet"

kruktni

Inflection

Noun declension in Dahur is quite regular, in terms of case and the less usual numbers, viz. the dual and the singulative.


  • The nominative case is the basic form of nouns.
  • The accusative case is indicated by the enging -a.
  • The dative case is indicated by the enging -si.
  • The genitive case is indicated by the enging -ak for animate intelligent beings, -iʃ for animals, -is for concrete objects and -ɔn for abstract things.
  • The locative case is indicated by the enging -us. With animate nouns, the locative can mean "on", or "with", as in "carrying with".
  • The instrumental case is indicated by the enging -em for animate intelligent beings, -om for animals, -um for things.
  • The ergative case is indicated by the enging -øtr.
  • The ablative case is indicated by the enging -ɛjv.

When an ending starting with a vowel is applied, a final -i becomes -j-, and a final -u becomes -w-; otherwise, an -h- is added. Ex.:

  • dula "babysitter", dulahen "babysitters"
  • agdari "prisoner", agdarjen "prisoners"
  • kanarni "eyes", kanarnja "eyes (accus.)", kanarnjus "in the eyes", kanarnjɛjv "from the eyes"
  • pakpaki "louse", pakpakja "louse (accus.)", pakpakjiʃ "of a louse", pakpakjom "by a louse"


Case endings are added to the plural ending.

In the following tables, you have some examples of nouns of the various classes, fully inflected for number and case.

Class 1: grats "boy"
Singular Plural
Nominative grats gratsen
Accusative gratsa gratsena
Dative gratssi gratsensi
Genitive gratsak gratsenak
Locative gratsus gratsenus
Instrumental gratsem gratsenem
Ergative gratsøtr gratsenøtr
Ablative gratsɛjv gratsenɛjv


Class 2: kɛshev "hammer"
Singular Plural
Nominative kɛshev kɛshevlin
Accusative kɛsheva kɛshevlina
Dative kɛshevsi kɛshevlinsi
Genitive kɛshevis kɛshevlinis
Locative kɛshevus kɛshevlinus
Instrumental kɛshevum kɛshevlinum
Ergative kɛshevøtr kɛshevlinøtr
Ablative kɛshevɛjv kɛshevlinɛjv

Verbs

The personal endings for all verb forms are as follows:

  • 1s: -us
  • 2s: -im
  • 3s: -êy
  • 1p: -tron
  • 2p: -trib
  • 3p: -tréw

Aorist

The aorist tense corresponds to the bare stem, to which the personal endings are added. It indicates the verbal action as a complete event. In a main clause, it usually refers to the past, and is so translated. Ex.:

kashmal "take"

  • 1s: kashmalus "I took"
  • 2s: kashmalim "you took"
  • 3s: kashmalêy "he/she took"
  • 1p: kashmaltron "we took"
  • 2p: kashmaltrib "you took"
  • 3p: kashmaltréw "they took"
Retrieved from ‘https://oderalon.net:443/wiki/index.php?title=Conlangs/Dahur&oldid=4792’