Miyu
Introduction
Miyu is an attempt to have a minimalist artlang in the spirit of Toki Pona that affords speakers more nuance, even with a reduced number of morphemes. Strict word order and and word compounding allow Miyu to be expansive and specific when necessary. Strict use of syntactic and lexical particles help to reduce sematic ambiguities.
Some key features:
- Subject-Verb-Object word order
- Highly analytical grammar
- Invariable lexemes
- Only 14 (base) sounds, 9 consonants, and 5 vowels
- Simple phonotactics, or syllable structure (C)V(N)
- Only ~1000 core morphemes
- Easy-to-follow word compounding
- Source languages are widely spoken/used
Phonology
Miyu has nine consonants (/p, t, k, s, m, n, l, j, w/) and five vowels (/a, e, i, o, u/). Stress is word final.
consonants
| Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | |
| Plosive | p | t | k |
| Fricative | s | ||
| Approximant | w | l | j (y) |
- The plosives /p t k/ are pronounced [b d ɡ] when in an unstressed syllable.
- [s] is in free variation with [z] and [ʃ].
- [l] and [ɾ] are in free variation.
vowels
Vowels in stressed syllables tend to be tense, and likewise unstressed ones tend to be more lax. Thus, for example, /i/ is realized as [i] or [ɪ] in stressed and unstressed syllables, respectively. Likewise, /e/ is realized as [e] or [ɛ], and so on.
| Vowels | Front | Back |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i~ɪ | u~ʊ |
| Mid | e~ɛ | o~ɔ |
| Open | a~ə | |
diphthongs
There are two diphthongs [ai̯] ai, and [au̯] au. These typically occur word-finally.
syllable structure
All syllables are of the form (C)V(N), that is, optional consonant + vowel + optional final nasal, or V, CV, VN, CVN.
syllables
| -a | -ai | -au | -an | -e | -en | -i | -in | -o | -on | -u | -un | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ∅- | a | ai | au | an | e | en | i | in | o | on | u | un |
| p- | pa | pai | pau | pan | pe | pen | pi | pin | po | pon | pu | pun |
| t- | ta | tai | tau | tan | te | ten | ti | tin | to | ton | tu | tun |
| k- | ka | kai | kau | kan | ke | ken | ki | kin | ko | kon | ku | kun |
| m- | ma | mai | mau | man | me | men | mi | min | mo | mon | mu | mun |
| n- | na | nai | nau | nan | ne | nen | ni | nin | no | non | nu | nun |
| s- | sa | sai | sau | san | se | sen | si | sin | so | son | su | sun |
| l- | la | lai | lau | lan | le | len | li | lin | lo | lon | lu | lun |
| w- | wa | wai | – | wan | we | wen | wi | win | – | – | – | – |
| y- | ya | – | yau | yan | ye | yen | – | – | yo | yon | yu | yun |
phonotactics
A few syllables sequences are disallowed; /ji, wu, wo/. Also, a syllable-final nasal may not occur before /m/ or /n/ in the same root.
Lexical Categories
Syntax
Classical Arabic is primarily VSO, but MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) tends to be SVO, favoring full agreement over partial. Chinese is classified as an SVO language. Transitive verbs precede their objects in typical simple clauses, while the subject precedes the verb. Spanish unmarked word order for affirmative declarative sentences is SVO; however, as in other Romance languages, in practice, word order is mostly variable. English word order is almost exclusively SVO. Hindi is primarily an SOV language.
Based on the above information about the main source languages for Miyu, it is primarily an SVO (subject-verb-object) language. Modifiers generally follow what they modify, as do prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses.
Number
| Miyu | number | English | Miyu | number | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sunya | 0 | zero | na | 7 | seven |
| wa | 1 | one | pa | 8 | eight |
| li | 2 | two | nun | 9 | nine |
| san | 3 | three | ye | 10 | ten |
| si | 4 | four | aku / -ku | 100 | (one) hundred |
| pen | 5 | five | mila | 1000 | (one) thousand |
| we | 6 | six |
