Amal: Difference between revisions

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: ''I need an answer.''
: ''I need an answer.''


* '''zaldimun ra'iya'''
* '''zadalimun ra'iya'''
: horse-PL-ACC see-PST-3sg
: horse-PL-ACC see-PST-3sg
: ''She saw horses.''
: ''She saw horses.''
Line 199: Line 199:
: ''He will go to the house.''
: ''He will go to the house.''


* '''eyemun zaldaye nobuk'''
* '''eyemun zadalye nobuk'''
: food-ACC horse-DAT give-1pl
: food-ACC horse-DAT give-1pl
: ''We are giving food to the horse.''
: ''We are giving food to the horse.''
Line 207: Line 207:
The instrumental is formed by adding [[Amal/lexicon#e|-ec]] the end of the noun.
The instrumental is formed by adding [[Amal/lexicon#e|-ec]] the end of the noun.


= Word Order =
* '''kelemec ketiyum'''
: pen-INS write-PST-3pl
: ''They wrote with a pen.''


Word order in '''Amal''' is generally ''subject-object-verb''.
* '''zadalec vayan'''
: horse-INS go-1sg
: ''I go by horse.''


* ''I want a book.'' - '''ketab-un'''  '''has-an''' - book-{{sc|OBL}} want-1{{sc|sg}}


* Adjectives and nouns in the genitive case go after the nouns which they modify, post-positions go after the nouns or clauses that they modify, and modals go after the verbs that they modify and subsequently take all agglutinative suffixes. However, adverbs go before their verbs.
= Nouns =
== morphology ==
=== case ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:500px; height:200px;"
|-
! case
! infix
! example
! English
|-
| Nominative
| ''-''
| '''bet'''
| house
|-
| Oblique
| ''-un''
| '''betun'''
| to the house; in the house
|-
| Genitive
| ''-in''
| '''betin'''
| the house's; of the house
|-
| Vocative
| ''-ya''
| '''betoya'''
| Oh house!
|-
| Instrumental
| ''-ec''
| '''betec'''
| using the house; with the house; via the house
|}
= Pronouns =
Pronouns in '''Amal''' are marked for number, person, and case. There are three persons. The stand-alone personal pronouns are not used widely as the person is evident from the personal verb ending. They are used for emphasis only in their simple form as the verb form itself already points to the person. This is similar to Spanish where a person will say '''''comprendo''''' - I understand instead of '''''Yo comprendo''''' - I understand.
{| align="center" class="gridtable"
|+ Pronoun Declension
! || NOM || ACC || DAT || GEN
|-
! ''1sg''
| '''an'''
| '''ahan'''
| '''eyan'''
| '''anai'''
|-
! ''2sg''
| '''at'''
| '''ahat'''
| '''eyat'''
| '''atai'''
|-
! ''3sg''
| '''a / al'''
| '''ahal'''
| '''eya(l)'''
| '''alai'''
|-
! ''1pl''
| '''uk'''
| '''ahuk'''
| '''eyuk'''
| '''ukai'''
|-
! ''2pl''
| '''ut'''
| '''ahut'''
| '''eyut'''
| '''utai'''
|-
! ''3pl''
| '''um'''
| '''ahum'''
| '''eyum'''
| '''umai'''
|}
* ''He does not know us.'' - '''ah-uk''' '''sab-a-la''' - {{sc|acc}}-1{{sc|pl}} know-3{{sc|sg}}-{{sc|neg}}
= Verbs =
== tense ==
Three tenses, two aspects, several moods...
* '''-''' | '''i''' | '''u'''
* '''r''' | '''sh'''
* ...
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:600px; height:200px;"
|-
! tense
! infix
! example
! English
|-
| Simple Present Tense
| ''-''
| '''ish-an'''
| I drink
|-
| Present Perfect Tense
| ''-ar''
| '''ish-ar-at'''
| you have drank
|-
| Simple Past Tense
| ''-iy''
| '''ish-iy-um'''
| they drank
|-
| Immediate Past Tense
| ''-il''
| '''ish-il-an'''
| I just drank
|-
| Past Perfect Tense
| ''-ir''
| '''ish-ir-an'''
| I had drunk
|-
| Simple Future Tense
| ''-uy''
| '''ish-uy-uk'''
| we will drink
|-
| Future Possible Tense
| ''-ush''
| '''ish-ush-a'''
| he may drink
|-
| Future Perfect Tense
| ''-ur''
| '''ish-ur-an'''
| I will have drunk
|}


[[Category:Conlangs]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]

Revision as of 14:31, 2 April 2015

See also:

Introduction

Amal is meant to be a personal conlang and despite appearances and structure is not intended as an IAL.

Vocabulary and grammatical features are inspired by or taken directly from:

Phonology

23 of the 26 Latin letters are used, leaving q, w and x unused. All letters are pronounced like their IPA equivalents with a few exceptions.

  • c - /ʃ/, /t͡ʃ/ or /t͡s/ without confusion
  • e - /e/ or /ɛ/ without confusion
  • e - /i/ or /ɪ/ without confusion
  • j - /ʒ/
  • ny - /ɲ/ (rare)
  • u - /w/ when followed by another vowel
  • y - /j/
  • ' - /ʔ/ the glottal stop separates non-diphthonged vowels.
  • ai - /a͡ɪ/ (this is the only diphthong in Amal)

Verbal Morphology

The verbal inflection of Amal is quite simple. There are only three tenses (present, past future), plus the conditional and the imperative, each marked by person and number. There are two aspects (perfective, continuous) and various moods that are also marked on the verb (usually between the verb root and the person).

conjugation

There is only one regular paradigm or conjugation. There are a few irregular verbs, covered later. The personal endings are uniform within each conjugation:

  • -an - 1sg - I
  • -at - 2sg - you
  • -a - 3sg - he / she
  • -uk - 1pl - we
  • -ut - 2pl - you
  • -um - 3pl - they

infinitive

Verbs are listed in the lexicon in the infinitive: tenek, amek, hamak.

The verb root, the basis of most of the tenses, is formed by removing the endings -ek or -mak.

present tense

The present is formed by adding the personal endings to the verb root.

  • banek - to build
banan - I build
banat - you build
bana - he / she builds
banuk - we build
banut - you build
banum - they build

past tense

The past is formed by adding the personal endings to the verb root and the infix -i(y)-.

  • savek - to know
saviyan - I knew
saviyat - you knew
saviya - he / she knew
saviyuk - we knew
saviyut - you knew
saviyum - they knew

future tense

The future is formed by adding the personal endings to the verb root and the infix -u(y)-.

  • kucek - to cook
kucuyan - I will cook
kucuyat - you will cook
kucuya - he / she will cook
kucuyuk - we will cook
kucuyut - you will cook
kucuyum - they will cook

aspect

perfective

continuous

moods

The various moods in Amal tend to be marked by an infix attached to the verb, but can also be expressed by auxiliary verbs.

irrealis

The irrealis mood is used to indicate that something is unreal, or in doubt, or merely possible or desired. It can suggest a future that is more-or-less probable. It can also convey a polite request. It can be used in various situations where many languages would use subjunctive or conditional moods, and it often corresponds to the English word "would":

  • icasuk
drink-IRR-1pl
If we drink

The a in the irrealis infix changes to i for past tense and u for future.

  • amisa
love-PST.IRR-3sg
If she loved
  • kucusumla
cook-FUT.IRR-3pl-NEG
If they will not cook
  • cadusan inti bunyusa
be.happy-IRR.FUT-1sg sun shine-IRR-3sg
I would be happy if the sun were shining.

imperative

The imperative is formed by adding -e to the verb root.

  • nobe!
give-IMP
Give!
  • yemeyuk!
eat-IMP-1pl
Let's eat!

interrogative

The imperative is formed by adding -em to the verb root.

  • inti bunyema?
sun shine-Q-3sg
Is the sun shining?

negative

The negative is formed by adding -la at the end of the verb construction.

  • savanla
know-1sg-NEG
I do not know.

Nominal morphology

Nouns in Amal have five cases (nominative, genitive, accusative, dative, instrumental), and two numbers (singular and plural). The two genders (masculine and feminine) can be shown but are usually not indicated.

gender

Gender is typically not indicated. If necessary, nouns may be suffixed with -uj (male) or -en (female):

  • zalduj / zalden
a stallion / a mare

case

Amal has separate endings for each of the four cases, they are invariable and are always final.

nominative

The basic form of each noun, and the one cited in the lexicon, is the nominative singular. All the other forms can be derived from it.

genitive

The genitive is formed by adding -in the end of the noun.

  • bet mujin
house man-GEN
The man's house.
  • ketabim mujimin
book-PL man-PL-GEN
The men's books.

accusative

The accusative is formed by adding -un the end of the noun.

  • ajbun necan
answer-ACC need-1sg
I need an answer.
  • zadalimun ra'iya
horse-PL-ACC see-PST-3sg
She saw horses.

dative

The dative is formed by adding -ye the end of the noun.

  • betoye va'uya
house-DAT go-fut-3sg
He will go to the house.
  • eyemun zadalye nobuk
food-ACC horse-DAT give-1pl
We are giving food to the horse.

instrumental

The instrumental is formed by adding -ec the end of the noun.

  • kelemec ketiyum
pen-INS write-PST-3pl
They wrote with a pen.
  • zadalec vayan
horse-INS go-1sg
I go by horse.
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