Qanao language/Messy

File:Qanaozjinaet.1000x253.png

Qana'öžjinaet written in its native script

The Qanao language (Qanao: classical: qana'öžjinaet [qanaʔo.ʒ̞jɪnaət]) is an in-progress conlang.

Writing system

See Qanao abugida.

Phonology

Mora

The following syllable types are one-mora:

• V
• VC
• CV
• CVC

The following syllable types are two-mora:

• CE
• CEC
• CVV
• CVVC

The following syllable types are three-mora:

• CEV
• CEVC
• CVE
• CVEC

Consonants

p	t	ť	k	q	`
p	t	c	k	q	ʔ
b	d	ď	g
mb	nd	ɲɟ	ŋg
m	n	ň	ŋ	γ
m	n	ɲ	ŋ	ɴ
φ	c	č
pɸ	ʦ	ʧ
f	s	š			h
ɸʰ	sʰ	ʃʰ			h
v	z	ž
β̞	z̞	ʒ̞
w	r	ř	y
w	ɹ̥	ɹ̥ʲ	ʔj
	l	ľ
	l̥	ʎ̥

Vowels

i	í	ji	jí	e	u	ú	wu	wú
i	i:	ʲjɪ	ʲji:	ə	u	u:	ʷʊ	ʷu:
a	á	ja	já	ö	o	ó	wo	wó
a	a:	ʲja	ʲja:	o	ɔ	ɔ:	ʷɔ	ʷɔ:

• Final o is realised as [o].

Diphthongs

There are two types of diphthongs in Qanao: short and long. A long diphthong is denoted by a grave accent over either the first or second vowel, i.e. aì or ìö. A short diphthong has a moraic length of the first vowel; a long diphthong has a moraic length of the preceding vowel plus one.

Phonological processes

• Chain palatalisation: A palatalised consonant causes palatalisation of all consecutive preceding and successive consonants.
• Chain voicing: /ɸ/ and /s/ become voiced when preceded or followed by voiced consonants.
• Deaspiration: /ɸ/ and /s/ are not aspirated when followed by consonants.
• Metatheses:
  • Diphthong splitting: a VC mora preceded by a vowel and followed by a consonant becomes CV - i.e. ziùl + ku'a → ziluku'a.
• Cluster simplification:
  • Prenasals: (Note that the nasal component remains voiced)
    • /mb.mb/ becomes [m.mb]; /nd.nd/ becomes [n.nd]; etc.
    • /mb.nd/ becomes [mb.d]; /nd.mb/ becomes [nd.b]; etc.
  • Affricates:
    • /pɸ.pɸ/ becomes [p.pɸ]; /ts.ts/ becomes [t.ts]; etc.
    • /pɸ.ɸ/ becomes [p.pɸ]; /ts.s/ becomes [t.ts]; etc.
• Consonant gemination: /ʔ/ assimilates to the previous consonant: am + 'ura → ammura. However, take note of cluster simplification.

Accent

Qanao has pitch accent, which is derived from a simplification of a natural pitch system. Most simple words do not undergo simplification, since it is rare to have more than two pitch changes in a two or three-syllabled word.

There are four possible pitch and tone contours: high-level, high-falling, low-rising, and low-level. They will henceforth be referred to as high, falling, rising, and level tone respectively.

• A rising tone on the first mora is equivalent to a high tone for most transformations.
• A rising tone on the last mora is equivalent to a low tone for most transformations.
• A falling tone on the first mora is equivalent to a low tone for most transformations.
• A falling tone on the last mora is equivalent to a high tone for most transformations.

To begin with, tone is assigned to each mora as follows:

• If it begins with an unvoiced consonant, it has a high tone.
  • If it begins with an aspirated consonant, it has a falling tone.
  • If it ends with a voiced or glottal consonant, it has a falling tone.
• If it begins with a voiced consonant or a glottal stop, it a has low tone.
  • If it ends with an unvoiced, non-glottal consonant, it has a rising tone.
• If it does not begin with a consonant, it has an undetermined tone.
  • If it ends with an unvoiced consonant, it has a high tone.
  • If it ends with a voiced consonant or a glottal stop, it has a low tone.

Then, within each group:

• An undetermined tone becomes the tone of the following mora.
• An undetermined tone on the last mora:
  • Becomes a falling tone if there are no pitch falls in the group.
  • Becomes the tone of the preceding tone otherwise.
• Rising and falling tones are restricted to the first and last mora only.
  • A rising tone preceded by a high tone becomes a high tone.
  • A falling tone preceded by a low tone becomes a low tone.
  • A rising tone followed by a high tone becomes a low tone.
  • A falling tone followed by a low tone becomes a high tone.
  • A rising tone followed by a falling tone becomes a high tone.
  • A falling tone followed by a rising tone becomes a low tone.
  • A non-level tone preceded and followed by a high tone becomes a high tone.
  • A non-level tone preceded and followed by a low tone becomes a low tone.
  • A rising tone followed by a rising tone becomes a low tone.
  • A falling tone followed by a falling tone becomes a high tone.
• There must be at most one pitch fall within each polysyllabic group.
  • If the whole group has a high tone, the last mora becomes a falling tone.
  • If the whole group has a low tone, the first mora becomes a falling tone.
    • If the last mora has a rising tone, it becomes a low tone.
  • If there are more, the last pitch fall is preserved, and all others are levelled.
• There must be at most one pitch rise within each polysyllabic group.
  • If there are more, the second pitch rise is preserved, and all others are levelled.

Then, within each word:

• Non-core, word-medial monosyllabic groups in polysyllabic words have their tones deleted.
• The first two prefixed groups and all non-final suffixed groups are levelled:
  • If the first mora has a falling tone, all following morae have a low tone.
  • If the first mora has a rising tone, all following morae have a high tone.
  • If the last mora has a falling tone, all preceding morae have a high tone.
  • If the last mora has a rising tone, all preceding morae have a low tone.
  • Otherwise, the group is levelled to the tone of the first mora, with the last mora becoming a contour tone if it differs from the first mora.
• An undetermined tone becomes the tone of the following mora.
• An undetermined tone on the last mora becomes a falling tone.
• Rising and falling tones are restricted to the first and last mora only.
  • A group-initial non-level tone becomes a low tone.
  • Otherwise, the same transformation as group-medial non-level tones is applied.
• A non-level tone on the last mora is simplified:
  • A rising tone preceded by a low tone becomes a high tone.
  • A falling tone preceded by a high tone becomes a low tone.

Therefore:

Groups	'ádin			nor		ac	múfúrí						bi	čjil		múrcí				riam		muàril				hussa
Syllables	'á		din	nor		ac	mú		fú		rí		bi	čjil		múr		cí		riam		mu	à	ril		hus	sa
Initial	L	L	LH	H		H	H	-	H	-	H	-	L	H		H	H	H	-	H		H	-	H		HL	HL
Group-transf.	HL	L	LH	H		H	H	H	H	H	H	HL	L	H		H	H	H	HL	H		H	H	HL		H	HL
Word-transf.	HL	L	L	H		H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H		H	H	H	H	H		H	H	HL		H	L

Eastern sound shifts

• ji [ʲjɪ] → e [ʲe]
• jí [ʲji:] → é [ʲe:]
• e [ə] → j [ɪ] after front vowels, w [ʊ] after back vowels.
• u [u] → u [ɯ]
• ú [u] → ú [ɯ:]
• wu [ʷʊ] → ü [u]
• wú [ʷu:] → û [u:]
• ja [ʲja] → jä [ʲæ]
• já [ʲja:] → jä [ʲæ:]
• ó [ɔ:] → ó [o:]
• wó [ʷɔ:] ↔ wó [ʷɔ:]

• ai [ai] → ë [ɛ]
• aì [a.i] → êi [ɛ:i]
• ái [a:i] → aì [a.i]
• aí [ai:] → eí [ɛi:]
• ao [aɔ] → å [ʌ]
• aò [a.ɔ] → åò [ʌ.ɔ]
• áo [a:ɔ] → aò [a.ɔ]
• aó [aɔ:] → åô [ʌɔ:]
• au [au] → o [ɔ]
• aù [a.u] → ôu [ɔ:ɯ]
• áu [a:u] → åù [ʌ.ɯ]
• aú [au:] → åú [ʌɯ:]
• prevocalic i [i] → j [j] without compensatory lengthening of following vowel
• prevocalic ì [i.] → j [j] with compensatory lengthening of following vowel:
  • ìá [i.a:] → ıá [jɪa:]
  • ìí [i.i:] → ıí [jɪi:]
  • ìú [i.u:] → ıû [ɥɪɯ:]
  • ìó [i.ɔ:] → ıó [ɥʏo:]
• ou [ɔu] → ö [o]
• où [ɔ.u] → óu [o:ɯ]
• óu [ɔ:u] → öù [o.ɯ]
• oú [ɔu:] → öú [oɯ:]
• ua [ua] → wa [ʷa]
• uá [ua:] → wá [ʷa:]
• wua [ʷʊa] → üa [ua]
• wuá [ʷua:] → üá [ua:]
• ui [ui] → ï [y]
• uì [u.i] → î [y:]
• úi [u:i] → îi [y:i]
• uí [ui:] → wí [ʷi:]
• wui [ʷʊi] → wï [ʷy]
• wuì [ʷʊ.i] → wî [ʷy:]
• wúi [ʷu:i] → ûi [u:i]
• wuí [ʷui:] → üî [uy:]

• nasals and prenasals cause nasalisation of previous vowel (does not operate through interword boundaries)
• nasals cause nasalisation of following vowel
• b [mb] → b [b]; m [m] if preceded or followed by unvoiced stops, nasal consonants or nasalised vowels
• d [nd] → d [d]; n [n] if preceded or followed by unvoiced stops, nasal consonants or nasalised vowels
• ď [ɲɟ] → ď [ɟ]; ň [ɲ] if preceded or followed by unvoiced stops, nasal consonants or nasalised vowels
• g [ŋg] → g [g]; ŋ [ŋ] if preceded or followed by unvoiced stops, nasal consonants or nasalised vowels

• φv [pββ̞] → φv [bβ]
• fv [ββ̞] → fv [β]
• vf [β̞βʰ] → vf [βʰ]
• cz [tzz̞] → cz [dz]
• sz [zz̞] → sz [z]
• zs [z̞zʰ] → zs [zʰ]

• v [β̞] → v [w]
• z [z̞] → z [ɹ]
• ž [ʒ̞] → ž [ɹʲ]

• q [q] → q [k] before front vowels, w, and finally; ` [ʔ] before back vowels.
• γ [ɴ] → ` [ʔ]; n [n] after alveolar consonants, ň after palatal consonants, ŋ after velar consonants and q.

Grammar

Word formation

Most words and many auxilliaries are derived from biconsonantal roots. There is some amount of vowel gradation within roots, but it is fairly limited.

There are also a series of monoconsonantal roots which form prefixes that further modify the meaning of the word. Some are still productive, and a few require agreement with numerals.

Vowel gradation

Although changing vowel grades is generally not productive, it is possible to imagine that it once was, giving rise to such sets of words as zal (water), žjil (blood), zál (lake), zil (clear), zul (to liquify), zúl (to melt).

• a-grade (n1) general: qana' "Qana"; patuk "tree"; zal "water"
• ja-grade (n2) living things: qjana' "Qjana"
• á-grade (n3) permanent things: ázal "ocean"; ápatuk "forest"
• ji-grade (n4) transcendecent: žjinat "language"; yìöàn "universe"; kjim "world"
• i-grade (q) qualities: 'ìökiem "universal"
• u-grade (va) active actions: mumút "to cause to die"; muzil "to make clear, to declare"
• ú-grade (vp) passive actions: mút "to die"; fúzal "to rain"

Monoconsonantal roots

• '
  • ya- important person
  • 'á- large place
  • yi- divine
  • 'ó- super-honorific
• '-ö- all (vowel gradable)
• b
  • bó- humble
• c primary demonstrative
• d interrogative demonstrative
• f "to fall from the sky" (vowel gradable)
• φ plural (with numerals, indicates plurality of groups)
  • φ- "many; together" (vowel gradable)
  • φo- plural actor
  • -φ plural patient
  • -φan "several together"
  • -φur "several times at once" (vowel gradable)
• g
• h
• k
  • kó honorific
• l
• m
  • mu causative
  • mú passive-causative
• n "to exist" (triform conjugation verb)
• ŋ
• γ indefinite demonstrative
• p
• q distal demonstrative; "Qanao"
  • qó respective
• r verbaliser
• s
• t proximal demonstrative
• v medial demonstrative
• z

Conjugation

			n.	vb.	adj.
*	Consonantal root		z.l	múf:r	'ìök.m
0	Infix stem		za.l	múfú.r	'ìöki.m
1	Stem		zal-	múfúr-	'ìökim-
2	Sentence-medial		–	múfúr	'ìökim
3	Sentence-terminal		–
4	Infinitive	n.	–	múfúà.r-	'ìökià.m-
5	Approximative adjective	q.	ázai.l-	múfúi.r-	–
5-6	Approximative adverb		ázaùl	múfúòr
6	Adverb		–	múfór	'ìökium
7a	Compounding (with noun)		ázalö-	múfúrö-	'ìökimi-
7b	Compounding (with non-noun)				iokimö-

The medial form is the citation form for most words.

Particles

• pr. - predicate, any of:
  • p.t. - terminal predicate (not always - there are some auxilliaries that attach to these)
  • p.s. - stem predicate
• ⁿ - suffix attaches to base specified in superscript instead of in the base column.
• _a - vowel specified in subscript appears only to break illegal consonant clusters.

	Type	Base	1	2	3	4	5	6	7a	7b
Indicative	p.s.	vb-1	ø	–		0a	0i	*o	ö
		q-1					–	0u	i	o
Identitive	p.s.	n-1	ø	–		a.r	–	ur	rö
		vb-1	ad	–		u.d	–	od	dö
		q-1				i.d			di	dö
Nominative participle	p.s.	pr.	ir	ir	–	rai.r	ri.s	or	–
Nominative participant	p.s.	pr.	ar	ar	–	ra.r	rai.s	–	–
Absolutive participle	p.s.	pr.	in	in	–	na.r	ni.s	on	–
Absolutive participant	p.s.	pr.	an	an	–	na.r	nai.s	–	–
Present	p.t.	ps-1	a	aq	a	–	ai.r	uq	ari	–
Preterite	p.t.	ps-1	i	id	i	–	i.r	ud	idö	–
Assertive aorist	p.t.	ps-1	á	áp	á	–	á.r	úp	ápi	–
Future	p.t.	ps-1	ja	jav	ja	–	jai.r	jauv	javi	–
Irrealis	p.s.	ps-1	já	jáh	já	–	já.r	jáuh	jáhi	–
Counterfactual	p.s.	ps-1	í	íf	í	–	í.r	úf	ífö	–
Approximative	q.	n-5-1	ø	–			5-0a	0u	1i	ö
		vb-5-1						0o
		ps-1	is	–			as	us	si	sö
Perfective	p.s.	pr-1	ic	uc	–	cu.r	ci.r	uc	–
Negative	p.s.	pr-1	iz	uz	–	za.r	zi.r	zur	zö
Incorporative	p.s.	ps-1	av	ov	–	va.r	vi.r	vur	vö
Partitive	p.s.	ps-1	oc	oc	–	a.c	i.c	uc	cö
Possessive	p.s.	pr-1	núc	on	–	ná.c	ní.c	nóc	onö
Genitive	p.s.	pr-1	súm	os	–	sá.m	sí.m	sóm	osö
Subjunctive	p.s.	pr-1	aub	aub	–	u.b	–		bi	bö
Nominative	p.s.	pr-1	la	al	–			ol	–	ol
Passive	p.s.	pr-1	ľji	jil	–			wul	–	wul
Accusative	p.s.	pr-1	li	il	–			ul	–	ul
Oblique	p.s.	pr-1	ľja	jal	–			wol	–	wol
Ablative	p.s.	pr-1	kur	iak	–	ka.r	ki.r	kor	ki
Lative	p.s.	pr-1	mud	iam	–	ma.d	mi.d	mor	mi
Locative	p.s.	pr-1	núr	ian	–	na.r	ni.r	nor	ni
Iterative	p.s.	n-1	ot		–			ut	–
		pr-1	aq		–			uq	–

Infix particles

• e (pr+) - topical, vocative
• i (n+, vb+) - approximative (non-productive)
• o (vb+), u (q+) - adverbial (non-productive)

Usage

• The present particle, without other aspect markers, generally has the habitual aspect.
• The assertive aorist particle indicates an assertion that is presently true and (believed by the speaker to be) true forever.
• The incorporative particle:
  • Makes objects inalienably possessed by the complement: "A human has 2 arms"; "The bricks of a building" etc.; and
  • Indicates fundamental properties or habits: "He walks to school daily"; "All living things die eventually"; "Water is wet", "The sky is blue" etc.
• The partitive particle:
  • Makes objects classes of which the complement is a member of: "He is a student";
  • Indicates an indefinite quantity of the object: "(Any) three pages of (a) book"; "He has done (some) work"; "He ate a slice of bread" etc.
• The possessive particle makes objects alienably possessed by the complement: "He has a house"; "His ship" etc..
• The genitive particle indicates:
  • A generic relationship between the object and the complement: "Speech about truth", "His wife" etc.; and
  • Reported speech: "Good morning, said he"; "I thought it was there" etc.
• The subjunctive particle makes:
  • A temporal clause when attached to the future tense particle;
  • A conditional clause when attached to the irrealis particle or the counterfactual particle; and
  • A reason when attached to the past tense particle or the present tense particle or the stem of any verb, noun or adjective.

Verbal arguments

	Agent	Experiencer	Patient	Recipient
Static		B
Active
Intransitive	A
Transitive	A		C / D / E
Ditransitive	A		C	D / E
Passive
Intransitive		B / E
Transitive	A / F	B / E	B / C / D
Ditransitive	A / F	B / E	C	B / C / D

• A is the nominative case.
• B is the passive case.
• C is the accusative case.
• D is the oblique case.
• E is the lative case.
• F is the ablative case.

All but cases E and F can be replaced by the topical case. Although more than one noun can be marked with any case, all cases must be used consistently within one sentence, that is, if the passive case is used to indicate the experiencer in a passive-ditransitive sentence, it cannot also be used to mark the recepient; however, two or more nouns may be marked with the passive case to indicate two or more experiencers.

There is also a very limited form of agreement between cases and nouns - when possible, people take the oblique case instead of the accusative and lative cases; and the nominative case instead of the ablative case. Paradoxically, the lative and ablative cases are also used for people as a sign of profound respect.

The choice of which case to use can slightly alter the meaning of a sentence, for instance, compare:

• röqukjil múzil. "It was made clear to Roquk."
• röqukiam múzil. "It was made clear for Roquk."

In this case, the passive case has an oblique function, and the lative case has a benefactive function. Note, the benefactive function can be positive or negative:

• röqukiam qópjiniril múzili. "Roquk benefited from his rights being made clear."
• röqukiam qópjiniril núsi. "Roquk suffered from his rights being taken away."

Demonstratives

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Indet.	Interr.
Stem	c-	t-	v-	n-	γ-	d-
Personal prefix	ac-	at-	av-	an-	uγ-	id-
Polite personal prefix	bó-	kó-	qó-		–
Agent-marking affix	-su.-	-tu.-	–			-hu.-
Agent-marked verb	su.n-	tu.s-	—	—	—	hu.m-
Patient-marking affix	ic-	it-	(iv-) -lú.-	(in-) -lú.-	(uγ-) -lú.-	(id-) -hú.-
Patient-marked verb	—	—	(iv)lú.p-	(in)lú.p-	(uγ)lú.p-	hú.l-
Indeterminate prefix	caùγ-	taùγ-	vaùγ-	naùγ-	—
Demonstrative prefix	ca-	ta-	va-	na-	γa-	da-
Locative prefix	cu'-	to'-	vo'-	nu'-	γu'-	do'-
Personal pronoun	aca.n-	ata.n-	ama.n-	ana.n-	uγa.n-	ida.n-
Demonstrative pronoun	cu'a.n-	to'a.n-	vo'a.n-	nu'a.n-	γu'a.n-	do'a.n-
Locative pronoun	cu.'-	to.'-	vo.'-	nu.'-	γu.'-	do.'-
Locative verb	cu.n-	tu.n-	vu.n-	nu.n-	γu.n-	du.n-

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd person polite prefixes are derived from the humble, honorific, and respective prefixes respectively.

The agent-marked and patient-marked verbs are suppletive forms of the verb 'ur and 'úr respectively. It is from these that the agent-marking and patient-marking suffixes are derived. The locative verb is used instead of suffixing the locative particle to the locative pronoun.

The overt pronouns are used where it would be awkward to use affixes, or for emphasis. It is conjectured that the nominalising -an and verbalising -un suffixed to the pronouns are related to the irregular verb in, to exist, or perhaps the absolutive participant particle, -an.

Others say that the demonstrative n, nominalising suffix -an, verbalising -un, absolutive participant particle -an, locative particle -_ain are all derived from a single root, n.

Miscellaneous

I want to become the person I would have become had I been born in (location).

C: 'ádinnor acmúfúríb múricím muaril achusa.

E: 'áninain múfûríbar čel múricíjam mwaril husa.

• 'ádinnor "Adin" (n-loc-adv)
  • 'á "place" (n.pre)
  • din "peaceful" (q)
• acmúfúríbičjil "to become" (1.pre-vb-ind-cf-subj-7a-1-pass)
  • mú "to become" (vb.pre)
  • fúr "to live" (vb)
• múrcím "to become (passive)" (vb-perf-ind-cf-lat)
• muaril "to become (active)" (vb-inf-acc)
• achusa "to want" (1.pre-vb-ind-pres)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

C: ňja'imanvöpjinirul'ìökjimimuziael (ňjai'imanav pjiniril 'ìökim muziael)

E: ňä'imanvöpenirosöyökemimuzjajl (ňä'imanav peniros yökim muzjajl)

• ňja'i "person" (n-5-7a)
• manvö "living thing" (n-corp-7a)
• pjinirul "right" (n-acc-7b)
  • pji "always" (n.pre)
  • nir "permitted" (q)
• 'ìökjimi "universal" (q-7a)
  • 'ìö "all" (q.pre)
  • kjim "world" (n)
• muziael "declaration; clarification" (vb-4-voc)
  • mu "to cause to become" (vb.pre) +
  • zil "to be clear" (q)

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

C: 'ir ňja'imanoec qóqúormúqdastwol qópjinirtwol liuráq 'ìötiuráq múfúrá.

E: 'ir ňä'imanowc mav qúormúqnašťel peniřťel ljuraq yötjuraq múfûrá.

• 'ir "all" (q-2)
• ňja'imanoec "human being" (n-part-top)
• qóqúormúqdastwol "dignity" (resp-vb-deg-iter-pass-adv)
  • qúor "to raise" (vb-5-6)
  • múq "to be seen" (vb)
• qópjinirtwol "rights" (resp-n-iter-pass-adv)
• liráuq "free" (q-ind-aor-iter-adv)
• 'ìötiráuq "completely equal" (q-ind-aor-iter-adv)
  • tir "equal" (q)
• múfúrá "to be born" (vb-ind-aor)
  • mú "to become" (vb.pre)
  • fúr "to live" (vb)

C: rikö'umadtil löqjattil ammiqutcáq,

E: rikö'umantil löqättil mjam qutcáq

• rikö'umadtil "ability to think logically" (n-iter-acc)
  • rikö "logical" (q-7b)
  • 'umö "to think" (vb)
  • ad "ability" (n)
• löqjattil "conscience" (n-iter-acc)
  • lö "good" (n.pre)
  • qjat "heart" (n)
• ammiqutcár "to receive (from Designer)" (3.pre-ben-7b-vb-perf-ind-pres-2)