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Western Mountains Qåuls is a language spoken along the ridges of the Western Mountains. It is primarily bordered on the north by Inland Qåuls (or, more commonly, Qóll), on the west by Seashore Wargish and on the south by Swamp Wargish.
He could take no more.
 
It was Tanabata, and the warmest of summer breezes were maneuvering his unkempt yet spiked hair. Forcing hiself to breathe was taking too much a toll on him. Blood was already pooling underneath, leaking profusely from myriad open wounds. Glancing down, he saw what he instantly reckognised as  muscle tissue, covering everything below his neck.
Western Mountains Qåuls is a language with a very low morpheme-to-word ratio, as there are never more than two morphemes per word. The morphemes are very specialized and fusional, and there are some consonant mutations and ablauts, together grouped under stem alternations.
His brain had been blocking pain out for some time, for what he was unmeasurably grateful. Realisation hit him like a hammer - he had been skinned alive.
 
Screaming almost on instinct, try as he might, his voice couldn't break the cacophony of tens of thousands on stalls around the village. Coughing out a considerable amount of blood, he collapsed. His back against a wall of some nondescript building, he pushed himself into a comfortable position, or, into a position as comfortable in which a half-gutted teen could be. His black pants weren't even truly black any more - the invasive, sticky life fluid absorbed into the linen, dyeing the fabric a deep burgundy.
Western Mountains Qåuls is a language under heavy influence from Swamp Wargish, while in its earlier history more so under Woods Wargish whose speakers had migrated to the Northern Ridge.<br/>WMQ is a language sprinkled with wargish morphology and littered with wargish loanwords, as a good portion of its lexicon is loaned from any one of a wide roster of neighbouring wargish tongues.
Curse the skies, his life was venomously bad, more bitter than a rotten peach, more sour than raw lemons. He had been kind of content with it, though, no matter its dislike of him. He skimmed over his life - no parents, nobody to take care of him, less than a hand's worth of people who cared about him.
 
It was a pretty low insult from the heavens, even to an orphan.
==Phonology==
His breathing was pretty raspy, and down his chin flowed a very thin thread of blood. He attempted to lift his hand to his mouth, to wipe the blood away, but no matter how he tried, he could barely even lift his arms above his stomach.
 
In waves, his nerves began function once more. Slowly, bit by bit, he was dying of pain which only kept worsening.
/pʰ ʰp t tʰ ʰt k kʰ ʰk q qʰ ʰq/ < p' 'p t t' 't k k' 'k q q' 'q><br/>
He glanced up.  
/s sʰ ʂ ʂʰ/ < s s' š š' ><br/>
The skies were magnificent. Stars were falling from the heavens, one by one, dimming away, as the North Polestar grew in brightness in each passing second.
/ɬ ɬʰ/ < ł ł' ><br/>
Even though it was a cloudless night, no moonlight was present. Soon, the winds died away as well. The night was simply breathtaking, and, even through his sore and clogged-up throat, he even managed a "wow".
/t͡s t͡sʰ ʰt͡s t͡ɬ t͡ɬʰ ʰt͡ɬ/ < c c' 'c č č' 'č ><br/>
Feeling his strength fading away, he closed his eyes for a moment. And some more. And soon, the moment stretched out over several moments, and then seconds, a whole minute.
/m mʱ n nʱ/ < m mh n nh ><br/>
"One last wish you have to grant me," he mouthed to the heavens above. "Just one more... I want you-" - he coughed out a considerable amount of blood - "-... I want you..."
/ʋ r l j ɰ/ < v r l j w ><br/><br/>
He sighed, not knowing what his final wish would be.
/a e ø ɨ ʉ ɒ u (ɵ ɜ)/ < a e ø i y å u (o ë) ><br/>
"I want you to surprise me!" he managed to utter, and was faced with an impossibly painful attempt at coughing out his lungs.
/a̤ e̤ ɒ̤ ṳ/ < ah eh åh uh ><br/>
He tried opening his eyes but was too weak to even part his eyelids. With another sigh (or was it a shallow exhale), he finally let it be as he understood - this were the last moments of the amazing and unpredictable Naruto Uzumaki.
/ɒ͡a e͡ɨ ɒ͡ɨ/ < åa ei åi ><br/>
What a poetic last line, he thought - his conciousness was slipping by now. He was sleepy, and his head felt far too heavy for what it was worth.
 
He slowly faded into a drunken sleep...
The two bracketed vowels, /(ɵ ɜ)/ <(o ë)>, are found only in loans from various Wargish tongues. Wargish loans fit poorly into almost any Qåuls dialect, but western Qåuls is being continously adapted to incorporate Wargish features and phonology (fricative aspiration and ablaut, for an example, as they don't exist in any eastern Qåuls dialect)
They called it death.
 
With a serene smile covering his face, he collapsed, falling over. It would be not until daybreak until he was found...
===Stem Alternations and "Bleeding"===
 
In WMQ, there are some regular alternation sets.<br/>The most important is aspiration reversal and bleeding. When aspiration reversal happens, post-aspirated obstruent become pre-aspirated and vice versa. Bleeding happens if the obstruents follow another obstruent that's not post-aspirated and they switch from post-aspiration to pre-aspiration. In such cases, the first consonant acquires post-aspiration and the second one loses its newly acquired pre-aspiration.
 
The ablaut of /a → e → ɨ → ɒ → a/ can cause a lenition of consonants in that syllable. Lenition happens this way: post-aspirates lose aspiration, unaspirates gain pre-aspiration, modal nasals become breathy. Breathy nasals trigger breathiness in vowels as an assimilation.
 
When followed by a nasal, breathy vowels can diphthongize during nasal syncope.<br/>Syncope happens when a syllable is both followed and preceeded by vowels and is unstressed.<br/>Syncopated nasals reflect themselves as length on the previous vowel which then undergoes diphthongization in the following manner: /ṳ → ɒ͡a; e̤ → e͡ɨ; ɒ̤ → ɒ͡a; a̤ → ɒ͡ɨ/. Vowels left behind in syllables after syncope, if not diphthongised or diphthonɡs already, become semivowels in the following manner: /{a ɒ ɜ} → ɰ; {e ø ɨ ɵ} → j; {u ʉ} → ʋ/.<br/>Breathy vowels that are not phonemic can occur phonetically nonetheless.
 
The ablaut of /ɒ → ø → e → ɒ/ causes fortification of consonants in that syllable invariably. Fortification happens this way: all obstruents become post-aspirates, breathy nasals become modal.
 
Geminate lenition is a different process. Geminates can lenite in two ways: /C: → ʰC/ and /C: → Cs/. These two lenitions are seperate and occur only morphologically without any other preconditions.
 
Coronal nasals can fortify under the right circumstances. The fortification is always: /n → t; nʱ → st/. /nʱ/ always passes on its breathiness to the vowel.
 
Fortification of /ɒ̤S/ and /a̤S/ where S = {s sʰ ʂ ʂʰ} results in /eks/.<br/>Fortification of /e̤ → jɨ/ also causes deletion of the previous consonant.
 
The three levels of aspiration, pre-, post- and an-aspiration, are co-dependent and they invariably mix. Besides the phonemic variations, there also exist phonetic extensions. When two pre-aspirated consonants cluster together, such that they may be represented abstractly as /ʰCʰC/, pre-aspiration of the second consonant becomes post-aspiration of the first consonant, and the second consonant becomes technically "bare", such that the formula may thusly be represented abstractly: /ʰC-ʰC → ʰCʰ-C/. The reverse doesn't work, so that two consecutive post-aspirates are only post-aspirates.
 
===Phonotactics===
 
WMQ has a very specific syllable structure: it can either have onsets or codas, but not both. The maximum consonant cluster in WMQ is "CCC", that is, three consecutive consonants. Consonants must agree in suprasegmentality (presence of either aspiration or breathiness). As pre-aspiration blends with post-aspiration, pre-aspirates cannot occur cluster-finally but can occur on their own and non-finally.
 
There can be only two consecutive vowels.
 
Stress is penultimate. Secondary stress occurs every second syllable going backwards.
 
==Morpholosyntax==
 
Western Mountains Qåuls is a fusional language. Its morphosyntactic alignment is transitive, with ergativity in pronouns. Verbs are always initial, and heads are free. Word order is generally free.
 
===Noun===
 
Nouns in WMQ are most commonly bisyllabic, although both longer and shorter nouns exist. Nouns can take either one suffix or one prefix, but not both. The prefix encodes topicality conflated with focus, while the suffix encodes case, number, class and animacy conflated into one slot.
 
Nouns in WMQ can be either topics or comments. Topics are the head nouns of phrases, and comments function as nominal adjectives or genitives. Topics are the only noun type that can be arguments to the verb, while comments function as modifiers to the noun. They are glossed (TOP) and (COM) respectively.
 
Focus in WMQ is most often used in comment phrases to indicate the head of the comment phrase, while it can also be used in noun compounds to indicate the head of the compound. They are glossed (+F) and (-F) respectively.
 
This is the inventory of prefixes:
 
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!rowspan=2 colspan=2|
!colspan=2|Topicality
|-
!Topic
!Comment*
|-
!rowspan=2|<br/>Focus Presence
!Present*
|čså-
|šiip'-
|-
!Absent
|en-
|q'unh-
|}
 
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Focus presence triggers the first ablaut in the first syllable, and the second in the second if possible. Comments fortify /nʱ/ in the first syllable.
 
There are three numbers in WMQ, that is, the singular, the dual and the plural. The singular is used when there is one instance, the dual for two, and plural for more than two instances. The dual is also a collective. The three are glossed (SG) (DU) and (PL) respectively.
 
There are six cases in WMQ, that is, the transitive, intransitive, postpositional, genitive, dative and malefactive. The five are glossed (TRN) (ITR) (PPS) (GEN) and (DAT) respectively.
 
:- The transitive and intransitive cases show whether the marked noun is a transitive or intransitive argument of the verb. The intransitive also serves as a commitative in transitive sentences, as does the transitive in intransitive sentences. The intransitive also marks the beneficiary recepient in transitive sentences.
 
:- The postpositional case marks the noun as postposition-taking. There's a wide set of postpositions, and they all act as clitics.
 
:- The genitive case primarily marks composition, habitatory and lative origin, possessorship, consequence of an action and a state of being alienably possessed. It can become an argument of the transitive verb by way of material of production (example: logs with which the house is made - the logs build the house) or produce of an action (example: trunks cut for processing - the man produces tree trunks [by cutting down trees] ). It also marks the beneficiary recepient in intransitive sentences and donor in both transitive and intransitive sentences.
 
:- The dative case primarily marks the theme of sentences.
 
:- The malefactive case marks the maleficiary of sentences. It also has a rare usage of a vialis.
 
There are two noun classes in WMQ, them being mundane and divine. The mundane represents things easily understandable and commonplace, those which are not part of the world of the supernatural, while the divie represents mysterious and supernatural things. They are glossed (MUN) and (DIV) respectively.
 
There are two animacies in WMQ, them being the animate and inanimate. Animacy is inherent and lexical, but suffixes have to agree with it nonetheless. The animate/inanimate split is conditioned by the ability to perform complex actions. They are glossed (ANI) and (INA) respectively.
 
This is the inventory of suffixes in WMQ:
 
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!colspan=2 rowspan=2|
!colspan=2|Transitive&nbsp;(TRN)
!colspan=2|Intransitive&nbsp;(ITR)
!colspan=2|Postpositional&nbsp;(PPS)
!colspan=2|Genitive&nbsp;(GEN)
!colspan=2|Dative&nbsp;(DAT)
!colspan=2|Malefactive&nbsp;(MAL)
|-
!(ANI)
!(INA)
!(ANI)
!(INA)
!(ANI)
!(INA)
!(ANI)
!(INA)
!(ANI)
!(INA)
!(ANI)
!(INA)
|-
!rowspan=2|Singular (SG)
!(MUN)
| -Ø
| -i<sup>[1]</sup>
| -sšo
| -mhi<sup>[1]</sup>
| -'qp'u<sup>[2]</sup>
| -s'i<sup>[1]</sup>
| -un
| -łi<sup>[1]</sup>
| -jsø
| -jsø
| -jne
| -i
|-
!(DIV)
| -vore
| -vore
| -vurå
| -vårå
| -we
| -we
| -'qs'y<sup>[2]</sup>
| -nuqu
| -če<sup>[2]</sup>
| -nå<sup>[2]</sup>
| -we<sup>[2]</sup>
| -we
|-
!rowspan=2|Dual (DU)
!(MUN)
| -e
| -'kø
| -tø
| -'tø
| -tø<sup>[1]</sup>
| -ał'js<sup>[2]</sup>
| -tå
| -emen
| -aspp
| -øjl
| -ykkø
| -økk
|-
!(DIV)
| -a
| -'kå
| -tå
| -'tå
| -tå<sup>[1]</sup>
| -uł'js<sup>[2]</sup>
| -tå
| -mnåa
| -åp
| -nku
| -rsu
| -nkå
|-
!rowspan=2|Plural (PL)
!rowspan=2|Universal
|rowspan=2|-wåi<sup>[3]</sup>
|rowspan=2|-p'u
|rowspan=2|-ce
|rowspan=2|-ce<sup>[3]</sup>
|rowspan=2|-ssa
|rowspan=2|-ømhp'
|rowspan=2|-ssa
|rowspan=2|-øš
|rowspan=2|-ssa
|rowspan=2|-øš<sup>[3]</sup>
|rowspan=2|-nkse
|rowspan=2|-ip'ps'<sup>[3]</sup>
|}
 
<sup>[1]</sup> These trigger the second ablaut in the first syllable and breathy vowel fortification whenever possible.<br/>
<sup>[2]</sup> These trigger the first ablaut in the first syllable and the second gemination lenition whenever possible.<br/>
<sup>[3]</sup> These trigger the second ablaut in the first syllable, the first ablaut in the second syllable and first gemination lenition whenever possible.
 
===Pronoun===
 
Pronouns in WMQ are actually nouns, and they decline as nouns. Their original meaning is lost in WMQ.
 
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!rowspan=2|
!rowspan=2|<br/>First Person
!colspan=2|Second Person
!colspan=2|Third Person
!rowspan=2|<br/>Fourth Person
|-
!Proximate
!Distal
!Proximate
!Obivate
|-
!(SG) Stem
|nhå
|as'
|nøš
|jvi
|vsu
|nëë
|-
!(DU) Stem
|mhå
|aš'
|møš
|svi
|ssu
|noka
|-
!(PL) Stem
|nså
|as'
|nøs
|jsi
|vsu
|nëën
|}
 
They take the suffixes for their respective number.<br/>The first and second person are universally animate, while the third and fourth persons are of a variable animacy. Class is chosen by the speaker. It is common to hubrotify oneself by agreeing the first person pronoun with the divine class, and it is common to humble oneself by agreeing the second person pronoun with the divine whilst the first person pronoun is mundane.<br/>If both are divine, it is a sign of respect, but not of humility, and is used by high-ranking officials when communicating with one another.
 
===Verb===
 
There are two classes of verb in WMQ - the function and content verb.<br/>Their main difference is their wideness of meaning and their use in the language, not their conjugations.
 
====Function Verb====
 
Function verbs are the "clutter" category, as they encompass copulas, verbal conjuctions et cetera of other languages. The four main function verbs in WMQ are:
 
:- nyhsø (to be)
:- nyhnsa (to wear, be in the state of)
:- såhøw (to co-exist [functional "and", "nand" when negative])
:- ëmat' (to be exclusive with [functional "or", "xor" when negative])
 
They conjugate as content verbs, but their uses are slightly different.
 
====Content Verb====
 
Content verbs are the actual meat of WMQ's class of verbs. They describe actual actions, as opposed to function verbs which describe relation types. An example content verb is "šusku" (to eat meat of non-friendly creatures).
 
====Conjugation====
 
Verbs in WMQ conjugate in two ways - by way of suffix and by way of clitic.
 
Suffixes replace the last vowel of the verb if it ends bare. The replacements are prone to ablaut.
 
The most important distinction in verbs is the attribute of transitivity, followed by tense. Transitivity and tense are conflated into one suffix, and all forms cause the second ablaut in both syllables and breathy vowel fortification.
 
The suffix containing transitivity and tense conflated can be replaced with the one conflating evidentiality and aspect. All forms cause the first ablaut in both syllables.


----
----


With a gasp for air, he woke up.
The dimension of transitivity has two values - transitive and intransitive, glossed (TRN) and (ITR) respectively. The transitive denotes that there are two and more arguments for the verb, each marked with its appropriate case, and intransitive denotes that there is only one argument for the verb. If the verbs are impersonal, the fourth person pronoun is used.
Nothing. All around him.
 
Not just black, it was nothingness, almost condensed and dense enough to be sliced apart with kunai. Glancing down, he was garbed in the black clothes he wore before death, only devoid of blood and scarring.
The field of tense has three values marked - present, non-present and ancestral, glossed (PRS) (NPS) and (ACS) respectively. The present denotes actions happening in the close temporal proximity of now, the non-present the opposite, and the ancestral actions happening in the distant past.
He was amazed.
 
Running his fingers over his cheeks, he felt nothing unusual - no whiskers! And on his stomach, no scars, no bruises, nothing, not even his seal. Further down, he noted his fingernails were neatly shortened, which made him blush in shame. He was declawed now, and by supernatural force, not his own.
The field of evidentiality has three values marked - visual, reported and kinetic, glossed (VIS) (REP) and (KIN) respectively. The visual denotes visual evidence on behalf of the speaker for the action's happening, the reported evidence of a more-than-firsthanded origin, the kinetic evidence based on actual physical contact.
Supernatural.
 
It hit him, he had died.
The field of aspect has four values marked - gnomic, cessative, defective and punctual, glossed (GNM) (CST) (DFC) and (PNC). The gnomic denotes general truths and observations, the cessative actions and their ends, the defective actions incomplete, the punctual actions without a measurable duration.
Died. Death. Unusual word, a bit sourly tastin, and more than a little bleak and gloomy.
 
Where was he, now that he died? Where was the big, purple, clawed and still-fanged fellow who certainly lurked history books and was rumoured to await you after death?
----
Naruto sat down. Feeling the ground with his hands, he felt it impossibly solid, yet jelly-like in texture. Raising an eyebrow, he wiggled his hands around, waving them without purpose. Somehow, the air itself felt evil and solid.
 
He sniffed it. As if on cue, his gut twisted and turned, and inside his head he heard an maculate scream.
Vowels in brackets are inserted when the last vowel of the verb had held three initial consonants in its syllable.
And he waited. And waited.
The first class suffix inventory is:
 
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!
!Ancestral (ACS)
!Present (PRS)
!Non-Present (NPS)
|-
!Transitive (TRN)
| -(a)mhs'a
| -(a)niwe
|rowspan=2| <br/>-ëwe
|-
!Intransitive (INT)
| -(å)nhes'a
| -(å)nëwe
|}
 
The second class suffix inventory is:
 
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!
!Gnomic (GNM)
!Cessative (CST)
!Defective (DFC)
!Punctual (PNC)
|-
!Visual (VIS)
| -u'pe
| -eł'i
|rowspan=3|<br/> -(o)'qa
| -(a)nøeč
|-
!Reported (REP)
| -us'a
| -ep'a
| -uttuh
|-
!Kinetic (KIN)
| -us'å
| -eł'å
| -ånøč
|}
 
----
 
Clitics in WMQ align to different categories. The three marked are mood, telicity and bias.
 
==Translation==
 
===The Bee and the Wolfmother===
 
A Bee of Nåamhq'ačnuqu, the Wall of Stone, the queen of the hive, ventured forth into the Swamps of Creation; to face the Wolfmother, she brought an offering of honey. The Wolfmother, enjoying the sacrifice of honey, promised to make so whatever the Bee ask. The Bee thus replied, "Give me, I pray you, Mother Below, a sting, that if any warg or man shall approach to take my honey, I may steal his soul." The Wolfmother was of fury, for hers was greater the love for warg and man than for bee, but her words were spun of truth and of silver worth. Thus the Wolfmother replied, "Your wish is grant, yet thou shall rejoice naught; for when thou stingst man or warg, thy sting shall remain behind, and it is so that thou must die and return to the Swamps of Night."


...
'''Tšåånë šiip'nhahamhq'ač, q'unhlemje jvi nyhsëwe š'ehi s'ehssuun, åanysep'a ewo šiip'ååp 'qåvsuł'js nse; t'ucnhe-anhas'erjawe k'i nëë sšëtå enqe'sč'ø pussåëwe-ëë'p. Anhas'erja, mhøvimhs'a jvi enqe'sč'ø, usu'ččuuttuh-ëë'p tšåånëjne šiip'q'aa vsuun.''' (bee(honey.is.being.made)-TRN.MUN.ANI.SG COM.+F-white-wall-rock, COM.-F-RTV.TRN 3SG.TRN.MUN.ANI.SG be-TRN.NPS hive-TRN.MUN.INA.SG queen-GEN.MUN.ANI.SG enter-REP.CES DIR.FOR COM.+F-create swamp-PPS.DIV.INA.DU ITR meet-mother-wolf-PPS.DIV.ANI.SG INS.BEN 4TH-SG.INT honey-GEN.MUN.DU(INAN) TOP-tribute make-NPS=ENG. mother-wolf, enjoy-TRN.ACS 3PX-TRN honey-GEN.MUN.DU(INAN), say-REP.PUN=ENG bee-MAL.MUN.ANI.SG COM.+F-all== Bee of White Rock Wall, she which is hive queen of, entered forwards into the Swamps of Creation; to assist meeting the Wolfmother a honey tribute was that which was made. The Wolfmother, she had enjoyed of honey, emphatically said (promised) to the bee's misfortune all her (the bee's) wishes.)


Some time had passed since his arrival, when he heard something he could only describe as an audible sneer. Turning around, before him sat an immensely tall, black-skinned *something*, dressed in a plain white robe.
==Dictionary==
Not only that, he was sitting in a chair as immense as he, behind a desk just as immense.
Towers of paperwork stacked on the desk were quickly being emptied - h-... it clawed across the paper, and an incredibly bright blue light shone out.
It lifted its head up at the boy.
To get a sense of scale, Naruto compared him and his height to ten Kyuubi, but even that was little.
His head was amazingly endowed with four eyes and a long, demonic tongue which came out of his gaping, incredibly sharp-toothed mouth.
He had four arms, two on the desk and two behind, which the blond just noticed.
Hooked on his two "outer" arms, were two incredibly pretty and pale women - one Naruto reckognised as Amateratsu herself!
He was practically drooling at the scene.
"Name, age and that shit," its incredible and horrible and booming voice demanded.
Naruto's mouth was left ajar.


-->
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!WMQ
!English
!Properties
|-
|nå
|white (n.)
!(INA, MUN; n.)
|-
|s'ejru
|(dire)wolf
!(ANI, DIV; n.)
|-
|anha
|mother, older sister
!(ANI, MUN; n.)
|-
|'pp'øt
|father, uncle, older brother
!(ANI, MUN; n.)

Latest revision as of 01:59, 20 September 2012

Western Mountains Qåuls is a language spoken along the ridges of the Western Mountains. It is primarily bordered on the north by Inland Qåuls (or, more commonly, Qóll), on the west by Seashore Wargish and on the south by Swamp Wargish.

Western Mountains Qåuls is a language with a very low morpheme-to-word ratio, as there are never more than two morphemes per word. The morphemes are very specialized and fusional, and there are some consonant mutations and ablauts, together grouped under stem alternations.

Western Mountains Qåuls is a language under heavy influence from Swamp Wargish, while in its earlier history more so under Woods Wargish whose speakers had migrated to the Northern Ridge.
WMQ is a language sprinkled with wargish morphology and littered with wargish loanwords, as a good portion of its lexicon is loaned from any one of a wide roster of neighbouring wargish tongues.

Phonology

/pʰ ʰp t tʰ ʰt k kʰ ʰk q qʰ ʰq/ < p' 'p t t' 't k k' 'k q q' 'q>
/s sʰ ʂ ʂʰ/ < s s' š š' >
/ɬ ɬʰ/ < ł ł' >
/t͡s t͡sʰ ʰt͡s t͡ɬ t͡ɬʰ ʰt͡ɬ/ < c c' 'c č č' 'č >
/m mʱ n nʱ/ < m mh n nh >
/ʋ r l j ɰ/ < v r l j w >

/a e ø ɨ ʉ ɒ u (ɵ ɜ)/ < a e ø i y å u (o ë) >
/a̤ e̤ ɒ̤ ṳ/ < ah eh åh uh >
/ɒ͡a e͡ɨ ɒ͡ɨ/ < åa ei åi >

The two bracketed vowels, /(ɵ ɜ)/ <(o ë)>, are found only in loans from various Wargish tongues. Wargish loans fit poorly into almost any Qåuls dialect, but western Qåuls is being continously adapted to incorporate Wargish features and phonology (fricative aspiration and ablaut, for an example, as they don't exist in any eastern Qåuls dialect)

Stem Alternations and "Bleeding"

In WMQ, there are some regular alternation sets.
The most important is aspiration reversal and bleeding. When aspiration reversal happens, post-aspirated obstruent become pre-aspirated and vice versa. Bleeding happens if the obstruents follow another obstruent that's not post-aspirated and they switch from post-aspiration to pre-aspiration. In such cases, the first consonant acquires post-aspiration and the second one loses its newly acquired pre-aspiration.

The ablaut of /a → e → ɨ → ɒ → a/ can cause a lenition of consonants in that syllable. Lenition happens this way: post-aspirates lose aspiration, unaspirates gain pre-aspiration, modal nasals become breathy. Breathy nasals trigger breathiness in vowels as an assimilation.

When followed by a nasal, breathy vowels can diphthongize during nasal syncope.
Syncope happens when a syllable is both followed and preceeded by vowels and is unstressed.
Syncopated nasals reflect themselves as length on the previous vowel which then undergoes diphthongization in the following manner: /ṳ → ɒ͡a; e̤ → e͡ɨ; ɒ̤ → ɒ͡a; a̤ → ɒ͡ɨ/. Vowels left behind in syllables after syncope, if not diphthongised or diphthonɡs already, become semivowels in the following manner: /{a ɒ ɜ} → ɰ; {e ø ɨ ɵ} → j; {u ʉ} → ʋ/.
Breathy vowels that are not phonemic can occur phonetically nonetheless.

The ablaut of /ɒ → ø → e → ɒ/ causes fortification of consonants in that syllable invariably. Fortification happens this way: all obstruents become post-aspirates, breathy nasals become modal.

Geminate lenition is a different process. Geminates can lenite in two ways: /C: → ʰC/ and /C: → Cs/. These two lenitions are seperate and occur only morphologically without any other preconditions.

Coronal nasals can fortify under the right circumstances. The fortification is always: /n → t; nʱ → st/. /nʱ/ always passes on its breathiness to the vowel.

Fortification of /ɒ̤S/ and /a̤S/ where S = {s sʰ ʂ ʂʰ} results in /eks/.
Fortification of /e̤ → jɨ/ also causes deletion of the previous consonant.

The three levels of aspiration, pre-, post- and an-aspiration, are co-dependent and they invariably mix. Besides the phonemic variations, there also exist phonetic extensions. When two pre-aspirated consonants cluster together, such that they may be represented abstractly as /ʰCʰC/, pre-aspiration of the second consonant becomes post-aspiration of the first consonant, and the second consonant becomes technically "bare", such that the formula may thusly be represented abstractly: /ʰC-ʰC → ʰCʰ-C/. The reverse doesn't work, so that two consecutive post-aspirates are only post-aspirates.

Phonotactics

WMQ has a very specific syllable structure: it can either have onsets or codas, but not both. The maximum consonant cluster in WMQ is "CCC", that is, three consecutive consonants. Consonants must agree in suprasegmentality (presence of either aspiration or breathiness). As pre-aspiration blends with post-aspiration, pre-aspirates cannot occur cluster-finally but can occur on their own and non-finally.

There can be only two consecutive vowels.

Stress is penultimate. Secondary stress occurs every second syllable going backwards.

Morpholosyntax

Western Mountains Qåuls is a fusional language. Its morphosyntactic alignment is transitive, with ergativity in pronouns. Verbs are always initial, and heads are free. Word order is generally free.

Noun

Nouns in WMQ are most commonly bisyllabic, although both longer and shorter nouns exist. Nouns can take either one suffix or one prefix, but not both. The prefix encodes topicality conflated with focus, while the suffix encodes case, number, class and animacy conflated into one slot.

Nouns in WMQ can be either topics or comments. Topics are the head nouns of phrases, and comments function as nominal adjectives or genitives. Topics are the only noun type that can be arguments to the verb, while comments function as modifiers to the noun. They are glossed (TOP) and (COM) respectively.

Focus in WMQ is most often used in comment phrases to indicate the head of the comment phrase, while it can also be used in noun compounds to indicate the head of the compound. They are glossed (+F) and (-F) respectively.

This is the inventory of prefixes:

Topicality
Topic Comment*

Focus Presence
Present* čså- šiip'-
Absent en- q'unh-

*Focus presence triggers the first ablaut in the first syllable, and the second in the second if possible. Comments fortify /nʱ/ in the first syllable.

There are three numbers in WMQ, that is, the singular, the dual and the plural. The singular is used when there is one instance, the dual for two, and plural for more than two instances. The dual is also a collective. The three are glossed (SG) (DU) and (PL) respectively.

There are six cases in WMQ, that is, the transitive, intransitive, postpositional, genitive, dative and malefactive. The five are glossed (TRN) (ITR) (PPS) (GEN) and (DAT) respectively.

- The transitive and intransitive cases show whether the marked noun is a transitive or intransitive argument of the verb. The intransitive also serves as a commitative in transitive sentences, as does the transitive in intransitive sentences. The intransitive also marks the beneficiary recepient in transitive sentences.
- The postpositional case marks the noun as postposition-taking. There's a wide set of postpositions, and they all act as clitics.
- The genitive case primarily marks composition, habitatory and lative origin, possessorship, consequence of an action and a state of being alienably possessed. It can become an argument of the transitive verb by way of material of production (example: logs with which the house is made - the logs build the house) or produce of an action (example: trunks cut for processing - the man produces tree trunks [by cutting down trees] ). It also marks the beneficiary recepient in intransitive sentences and donor in both transitive and intransitive sentences.
- The dative case primarily marks the theme of sentences.
- The malefactive case marks the maleficiary of sentences. It also has a rare usage of a vialis.

There are two noun classes in WMQ, them being mundane and divine. The mundane represents things easily understandable and commonplace, those which are not part of the world of the supernatural, while the divie represents mysterious and supernatural things. They are glossed (MUN) and (DIV) respectively.

There are two animacies in WMQ, them being the animate and inanimate. Animacy is inherent and lexical, but suffixes have to agree with it nonetheless. The animate/inanimate split is conditioned by the ability to perform complex actions. They are glossed (ANI) and (INA) respectively.

This is the inventory of suffixes in WMQ:

Transitive (TRN) Intransitive (ITR) Postpositional (PPS) Genitive (GEN) Dative (DAT) Malefactive (MAL)
(ANI) (INA) (ANI) (INA) (ANI) (INA) (ANI) (INA) (ANI) (INA) (ANI) (INA)
Singular (SG) (MUN) -i[1] -sšo -mhi[1] -'qp'u[2] -s'i[1] -un -łi[1] -jsø -jsø -jne -i
(DIV) -vore -vore -vurå -vårå -we -we -'qs'y[2] -nuqu -če[2] -nå[2] -we[2] -we
Dual (DU) (MUN) -e -'kø -tø -'tø -tø[1] -ał'js[2] -tå -emen -aspp -øjl -ykkø -økk
(DIV) -a -'kå -tå -'tå -tå[1] -uł'js[2] -tå -mnåa -åp -nku -rsu -nkå
Plural (PL) Universal -wåi[3] -p'u -ce -ce[3] -ssa -ømhp' -ssa -øš -ssa -øš[3] -nkse -ip'ps'[3]

[1] These trigger the second ablaut in the first syllable and breathy vowel fortification whenever possible.
[2] These trigger the first ablaut in the first syllable and the second gemination lenition whenever possible.
[3] These trigger the second ablaut in the first syllable, the first ablaut in the second syllable and first gemination lenition whenever possible.

Pronoun

Pronouns in WMQ are actually nouns, and they decline as nouns. Their original meaning is lost in WMQ.


First Person
Second Person Third Person
Fourth Person
Proximate Distal Proximate Obivate
(SG) Stem nhå as' nøš jvi vsu nëë
(DU) Stem mhå aš' møš svi ssu noka
(PL) Stem nså as' nøs jsi vsu nëën

They take the suffixes for their respective number.
The first and second person are universally animate, while the third and fourth persons are of a variable animacy. Class is chosen by the speaker. It is common to hubrotify oneself by agreeing the first person pronoun with the divine class, and it is common to humble oneself by agreeing the second person pronoun with the divine whilst the first person pronoun is mundane.
If both are divine, it is a sign of respect, but not of humility, and is used by high-ranking officials when communicating with one another.

Verb

There are two classes of verb in WMQ - the function and content verb.
Their main difference is their wideness of meaning and their use in the language, not their conjugations.

Function Verb

Function verbs are the "clutter" category, as they encompass copulas, verbal conjuctions et cetera of other languages. The four main function verbs in WMQ are:

- nyhsø (to be)
- nyhnsa (to wear, be in the state of)
- såhøw (to co-exist [functional "and", "nand" when negative])
- ëmat' (to be exclusive with [functional "or", "xor" when negative])

They conjugate as content verbs, but their uses are slightly different.

Content Verb

Content verbs are the actual meat of WMQ's class of verbs. They describe actual actions, as opposed to function verbs which describe relation types. An example content verb is "šusku" (to eat meat of non-friendly creatures).

Conjugation

Verbs in WMQ conjugate in two ways - by way of suffix and by way of clitic.

Suffixes replace the last vowel of the verb if it ends bare. The replacements are prone to ablaut.

The most important distinction in verbs is the attribute of transitivity, followed by tense. Transitivity and tense are conflated into one suffix, and all forms cause the second ablaut in both syllables and breathy vowel fortification.

The suffix containing transitivity and tense conflated can be replaced with the one conflating evidentiality and aspect. All forms cause the first ablaut in both syllables.


The dimension of transitivity has two values - transitive and intransitive, glossed (TRN) and (ITR) respectively. The transitive denotes that there are two and more arguments for the verb, each marked with its appropriate case, and intransitive denotes that there is only one argument for the verb. If the verbs are impersonal, the fourth person pronoun is used.

The field of tense has three values marked - present, non-present and ancestral, glossed (PRS) (NPS) and (ACS) respectively. The present denotes actions happening in the close temporal proximity of now, the non-present the opposite, and the ancestral actions happening in the distant past.

The field of evidentiality has three values marked - visual, reported and kinetic, glossed (VIS) (REP) and (KIN) respectively. The visual denotes visual evidence on behalf of the speaker for the action's happening, the reported evidence of a more-than-firsthanded origin, the kinetic evidence based on actual physical contact.

The field of aspect has four values marked - gnomic, cessative, defective and punctual, glossed (GNM) (CST) (DFC) and (PNC). The gnomic denotes general truths and observations, the cessative actions and their ends, the defective actions incomplete, the punctual actions without a measurable duration.


Vowels in brackets are inserted when the last vowel of the verb had held three initial consonants in its syllable. The first class suffix inventory is:

Ancestral (ACS) Present (PRS) Non-Present (NPS)
Transitive (TRN) -(a)mhs'a -(a)niwe
-ëwe
Intransitive (INT) -(å)nhes'a -(å)nëwe

The second class suffix inventory is:

Gnomic (GNM) Cessative (CST) Defective (DFC) Punctual (PNC)
Visual (VIS) -u'pe -eł'i
-(o)'qa
-(a)nøeč
Reported (REP) -us'a -ep'a -uttuh
Kinetic (KIN) -us'å -eł'å -ånøč

Clitics in WMQ align to different categories. The three marked are mood, telicity and bias.

Translation

The Bee and the Wolfmother

A Bee of Nåamhq'ačnuqu, the Wall of Stone, the queen of the hive, ventured forth into the Swamps of Creation; to face the Wolfmother, she brought an offering of honey. The Wolfmother, enjoying the sacrifice of honey, promised to make so whatever the Bee ask. The Bee thus replied, "Give me, I pray you, Mother Below, a sting, that if any warg or man shall approach to take my honey, I may steal his soul." The Wolfmother was of fury, for hers was greater the love for warg and man than for bee, but her words were spun of truth and of silver worth. Thus the Wolfmother replied, "Your wish is grant, yet thou shall rejoice naught; for when thou stingst man or warg, thy sting shall remain behind, and it is so that thou must die and return to the Swamps of Night."

Tšåånë šiip'nhahamhq'ač, q'unhlemje jvi nyhsëwe š'ehi s'ehssuun, åanysep'a ewo šiip'ååp 'qåvsuł'js nse; t'ucnhe-anhas'erjawe k'i nëë sšëtå enqe'sč'ø pussåëwe-ëë'p. Anhas'erja, mhøvimhs'a jvi enqe'sč'ø, usu'ččuuttuh-ëë'p tšåånëjne šiip'q'aa vsuun. (bee(honey.is.being.made)-TRN.MUN.ANI.SG COM.+F-white-wall-rock, COM.-F-RTV.TRN 3SG.TRN.MUN.ANI.SG be-TRN.NPS hive-TRN.MUN.INA.SG queen-GEN.MUN.ANI.SG enter-REP.CES DIR.FOR COM.+F-create swamp-PPS.DIV.INA.DU ITR meet-mother-wolf-PPS.DIV.ANI.SG INS.BEN 4TH-SG.INT honey-GEN.MUN.DU(INAN) TOP-tribute make-NPS=ENG. mother-wolf, enjoy-TRN.ACS 3PX-TRN honey-GEN.MUN.DU(INAN), say-REP.PUN=ENG bee-MAL.MUN.ANI.SG COM.+F-all== Bee of White Rock Wall, she which is hive queen of, entered forwards into the Swamps of Creation; to assist meeting the Wolfmother a honey tribute was that which was made. The Wolfmother, she had enjoyed of honey, emphatically said (promised) to the bee's misfortune all her (the bee's) wishes.)

Dictionary

WMQ English Properties
white (n.) (INA, MUN; n.)
s'ejru (dire)wolf (ANI, DIV; n.)
anha mother, older sister (ANI, MUN; n.)
'pp'øt father, uncle, older brother (ANI, MUN; n.)