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| = Introduction = | | = Introduction = |
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| '''Amal''' is meant to be a personal (or [[wp:Artistic_language|artistic]]) conlang and despite appearances and structure is not intended as an [[Wikipedia:International_auxiliary_language|'''IAL''']]. '''Amal''' is phonologically inspired by [[wp:Semitic_languages|Semitic languages]] but incorporates aspects and lemma of numerous natural languages, in an effort to be euphonious and easy to use/learn.
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| '''Amal''' is an [[wp:agglutinative_language|agglutinative language]]. Its vocabulary consists of basic roots which can be extended into different parts of speech, their meaning changed or modified, with various [[wp:suffix|suffix]]es. Most of the suffixes are optional, so that there is a choice of what sort of information to convey with a given word.
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| = Phonology =
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| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 600px;"
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| |+ '''consonants'''
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| |-
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| <!-- Heading row -->
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| !
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| !Bilabial
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| !Alveolar
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| !Palatal
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| !Velar
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| !Labiovelar
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| !Glottal
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| |- align="center" <!-- Stops -->
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| ! Plosives
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| | {{IPA|p b}}
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| | {{IPA|t d}}
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| | {{IPA|k g}}
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| | {{IPA|ʔ}} ('''q''')
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| |- align="center"
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| ! Nasals
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| | {{IPA|m}}
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| | {{IPA|n}}
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| |- align="center"
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| ! Fricatives
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| | {{IPA|s}}
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| | {{IPA|ʃ}} ('''sh''')
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| | {{IPA|x}} ('''h''')
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| |- align="center"
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| ! Approximants
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| | {{IPA|l}}
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| | {{IPA|j}} ('''y''')
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| | {{IPA|w}}
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| | {{IPA|h}}
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| |-
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| ! Trill
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| | align="center"|{{IPA|r}}
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| |}
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| <small>Note: The glottal stop /ʔ/ '''q''', is used as a "buffer" to keep vowels apart when adding suffixes. /x/ and /h/ are actually allophonic.</small>
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| {| class="wikitable"
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| |+vowels
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| !
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| !Front
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| !Central
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| !Back
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| |- style="text-align:center;"
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| !Close
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| |i~ɪ || || u~ʊ
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| |- style="text-align:center;"
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| !Mid
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| |e~ɛ || || o
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| |- style="text-align:center;"
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| !Open
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| | || a~ə ||
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| |}
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| The vowels can be marked with an acute accent — '''á, é, í, ú''' — for two purposes: to mark stress if it does not follow the most common pattern, or to differentiate words that are otherwise spelled identically.
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| * '''ai''' - /a͡ɪ/ (this is the only diphthong in '''Amal''')
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| * '''o''' - /o/ is very rare
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| :
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| The four vowels /a e i u/ can be divided summarily into "front" and "back". This distinction is used in a type of vowel harmony when deriving new words and influences which affixes are used.
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| == Phonotactics ==
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| The only syllable pattern allowed is CVC (where V includes long vowels and diphthongs), however, the <b>q</b> /ʔ/ (vestigial) is dropped unless buffering between non-diphthongized vowels (intervocalic). This means that the <i>de facto</i> syllable structure is (C)V(C) .
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| Initial consonant clusters are prohibited, and the final consonant, if any, cannot be <b>p, g, q, w,</b> or <b>y</b>. Syllables cannot begin with <b>wu</b> or <b>wo</b>.
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| Clusters do occur medially, but are often separated by <b>/ɛ/</b>.
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| All syllables should be emphatically pronounced, with a slight stress on the first syllable of a word (but on the second, if the word begins with a vowel).
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| == Allophony ==
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| The velar stops become fricative between front vowels.
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| * '''begiya''' - /beɣiːja/ - <small>PROX-dress</small> - This dress.
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| * '''ikirim''' - /ixiːrim/ - <small>tooth-PL</small> - teeth
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| = Word Order =
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| Sentences generally take the form: ''(subject(s)) (object(s)) verb''. For example, the following sentence literally means ''the woman the book read'':
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| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 400px;"
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| |-
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| ! subject
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| ! object
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| ! verb
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| | '''shen-a''' || '''kam.at-ú''' || '''kan-esh-u'''
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| | woman.NOM || book-ACC || read-PST-3s.ANIM
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| | colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" | ''The woman read the book.''
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| |}
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| This word order is not obligatory. You can alter the word order to emphasize a particular element. The most stressed element in a sentence is the element which is nearest to the verb. If you want to stress the verb, you put it at the beginning of the sentence. If you want to stress that it is ''the woman'' who read the book, you change the word order. This can also be done to emphasize negation of the verb.
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| {{col-begin}}
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| {{col-break}}
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| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 400px;"
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| |-
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| ! object
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| ! subject
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| ! verb
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| |-
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| | '''kam.at-ú''' || '''shen-a''' || '''kan-esh-u'''
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| | book.ACC || woman.NOM || read-PST-3s.ANIM
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| | colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" | ''The <u>woman</u> read the book.''
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| |}
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| {{col-break}}
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| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 400px;"
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| |-
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| ! negation
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| ! verb
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| ! subject
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| ! object
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| |-
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| | '''ne''' || '''kan-esh-u''' || '''shen-a''' || '''kam.at-ú'''
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| | NEG || read-PST-3s.ANIM || woman.NOM || book.ACC
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| |-
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| | colspan="4" style="text-align: center;" | ''The woman <u>did not</u> read the book.''
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| |}
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| {{col-end}}
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| {{col-begin}}
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| {{col-break}}
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| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 400px;"
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| |-
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| ! subject
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| ! object
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| ! verb
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| | '''kup-a''' || '''ur-wa''' || '''ish-u'''
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| | dog.NOM || water.ACC || drink-3s.ANIM
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| | colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" | ''(The) dog (the) water is drinking.''
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| |}
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| {{col-break}}
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| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 400px;"
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| |-
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| ! subject
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| ! direct object
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| ! indirect object
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| ! verb
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| | '''edesh''' || '''gumb-ú''' || '''bi-kupa''' || '''shamk-esh-u '''
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| | boy || ball.ACC || DAT-dog || throw-PST-3s.ANIM
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| | colspan="4" style="text-align: center;" | ''The boy threw the ball to the dog.''
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| |}
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| : <small>NOTE: '''shamkek''' means ''to throw towards a precise point''</small>
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| {{col-end}}
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| = Nouns = | | = Nouns = |
