Trentish Morphology: Difference between revisions

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(morphtype, prefixation)
(suffixation, redup++,)
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===Morphological processes===
===Morphological processes===
*''Infixation,'' ''stem modification'' (such as [[ablaut]]), and ''suprasegmental modification'' do not play roles in Trentish morphology.
====Prefixation====
====Prefixation====
Trentish is predominantly prefixing.  Most derivation is formed by prefixes, and most verbal morphology is prefixed.
Trentish is predominantly prefixing.  Most derivation is formed by prefixes, and most verbal morphology is prefixed.
Line 36: Line 38:
|-
|-
| || "misplace"
| || "misplace"
|}
====Suffixation====
Some grammatical operations are carried out with suffixes.
{|
| §
|colspan=2| '''rlrswum yetshenlyu'''
|-
| || rlrswu-''m'' || yetshe-''ny-lu''
|-
| || dish-<small>PAT</small> || steal-1-2
|-
|
|colspan=2| (I know) "you are stealing a plate"
|}
|}


====Reduplication====
====Reduplication====
Reduplication produces resultative nouns from verbal roots.
Reduplication is used to produce resultative nouns from verbal roots.


*/mɑli/ "speak" &rarr; /mɑli-mɑli/ "speech, message"  
{|
*/pʼɑlɑŋ/ "hate" &rarr; /pʼɑlɑŋ-pʼɑlɑŋ/ "hatred, grudge" (i.e., [pʼɑlɑxpʼɑlɑŋ])
| § || '''malimali'''
|-
| || mali-mali
|-
| || <small>REDUP</small>-speak  
|-
| || "speech, message"  
|}


In reduplication, no more than the first two syllables are reduplicated:
In reduplication, no more than the first two syllables are reduplicated.  Also, some complex segments are subject to simplification: ejective stops become plain stops, and ''ƛ'' becomes ''l''.


*/ikʼɑtɬi/ "barter" &rarr; /ikʼɑ-ikʼɑtɬi/ "transaction"
{|
| § || '''igaikaƛi'''
|-
| || iga-ikaƛi
|-
| || <small>REDUP</small>-trade
|-
| || "transaction"
|}
 
{|
| § || '''lohƛoh'''
|-
| || loh-ƛoh
|-
| || <small>REDUP</small>-worry
|-
| || "concern"
|}





Revision as of 07:40, 21 June 2004

Morphological typology

Trentish is a highly polysynthetic language. The verb word itself can have up to eight components, some of which themselves may be comprise multiple morphemes:

§ imenggrrnoqukwauhglathanyxr
i-mel-grq-noqukwa-uhg-latha-ny-xr
FICT-CUMUL-DIS-president-MIDD-mess:up-1-3
"for the president to continue making himself worse (in a way I don't approve of)"

It is predominantly agglutinative, as morphemes can generally be easily isolated.

Morphological processes

  • Infixation, stem modification (such as ablaut), and suprasegmental modification do not play roles in Trentish morphology.

Prefixation

Trentish is predominantly prefixing. Most derivation is formed by prefixes, and most verbal morphology is prefixed.

§ noikaƛi
no-ikaƛi
OCCUPATION-trade
"trader"
§ ixliiƛan
ixli-guƛan
REVERSE-find
"misplace"

Suffixation

Some grammatical operations are carried out with suffixes.

§ rlrswum yetshenlyu
rlrswu-m yetshe-ny-lu
dish-PAT steal-1-2
(I know) "you are stealing a plate"

Reduplication

Reduplication is used to produce resultative nouns from verbal roots.

§ malimali
mali-mali
REDUP-speak
"speech, message"

In reduplication, no more than the first two syllables are reduplicated. Also, some complex segments are subject to simplification: ejective stops become plain stops, and ƛ becomes l.

§ igaikaƛi
iga-ikaƛi
REDUP-trade
"transaction"
§ lohƛoh
loh-ƛoh
REDUP-worry
"concern"


Voice

Trentish verbs are marked for voice.

There are five voices, active, unergative, unaccusative, passive, and middle. Their use depends on the presence of and importance given to the agent and patient.

agent patient voice marker
high low active / middle ∅ / /ʊk-/
high none unergative /tɬi-/
low high passive / middle ∅ / /ʊk-/
none high unaccusative /ʔuu-/

The middle voice is used if the agent and patient refer to the same entity (me and myself) or an entity and a part of itself (me and my nose).

The high agent or patient is marked with the topic marker /-pɑ/. The low agent or patient is marked with /-(ɔ)m/.

Aspect

There are at least six aspects, which are focuses on the status of the event.

aspect description marker
imperfective seen as in progress
perfective seen as completed /po-/
iterative seen as happening many times together /tʰø-/
cumulative iterative with cumulative effect /mel-/
reluctative seen as happening with reluctance /ɑk-/
effrenative? seen as happening without reluctance
(either in a good or bad way)
/pʰli-/

Mood

mood description marker
indicative seen as real
probable seen as expected or inevitable;
future
/tʷo-/
fictive seen as hypothetical;
subjunctive, infinitive, (negative)
/i-/

Number

Trentish nouns are unmarked for number. There is, however, optional number marking, along two axes:

paucal plural
separate /me-/ /ʔlu-me-/
aggregate /el-/ /ʔl-el-/

A singular can be emphasized with /s(ʌ)-/.

Aggregate and separate refer to whether the plural things are physically grouped together (aggregate), or not (separate).

Adjectives

There are two types of adjective in Trentish, scalar and binary. Scalar adjectives are always marked for degree (the simplest form is the positive /ʔo-/). Adjectives can be used nominally.