Amal
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Introduction
Amal is meant to be a personal (or artistic) conlang and despite appearances and structure is not intended as an IAL. Amal is phonologically inspired by Semitic languages but incorporates aspects of numerous natural languages, including, but not limited to, Arabic, Basque, Egyptian, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Quechua, Spanish, and Turkish in an effort to be euphonious and easy to use/learn.
Amal is an agglutinative language. Its vocabulary consists of basic roots which can be extended into different parts of speech, their meaning changed or modified, with various suffixes. Most of the suffixes are optional, so that there is a choice of what sort of information to convey with a given word.
- shab - related to knowledge and awareness
- shabrá - v - to know; to be aware (of)
- shabedek - v - to teach; instruct (to cause to know)
- ashab - n - knowledge; awareness
- shabda - n - library; school
Phonology
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | p b | t d | k g | ʔ (q) | ||
| Nasals | m | n | ||||
| Fricatives | s | ʃ (sh) | ||||
| Approximants | l | j (y) | w | h | ||
| Trill | r |
Note: The glottal stop /ʔ/ q, is used as a "buffer" to keep vowels apart when adding suffixes.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i~ɪ | u~ʊ | |
| Mid | e~ɛ | o | |
| Open | a~ə |
Vowel length is productive and is marked by an acute accent. á é í ú
- ai - /a͡ɪ/ (this is the only diphthong in Amal)
- o - /o/ is extremely rare and is mostly used in proper names
Phonotactics
The only syllable pattern allowed is CVC (where V includes long vowels and diphthongs), however, the q /ʔ/ is dropped unless buffering between non-diphthongized vowels. This means that the de facto syllable structure is (C)V(C) .
Initial consonant clusters are prohibited, and the final consonant, if any, cannot be p, g, q, w, or y. Syllables cannot begin with wu.
Clusters do occur medially, but are most often separated by /ɛ/.
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).
Nouns
Forming nouns from roots follows a sort of vowel harmony. Roots that contain front vowels (e, i) will be prefixed with e, or suffixed with í, whereas roots that contain back vowels (a, u) will be prefixed with u (and more rarely a) or suffixed with á.
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| yem > eyem / yemí | gun > ugun / guná |
| riy > riyí | mal > umal / amal / malá |
Number
Amal nouns can be singular, dual, or plural.
- kup-á - dog
- kup-ik - (two) dogs
- kup-im - dogs
- kup-ik - (two) dogs
- na- - collection of things
- hetí (tree) >> nahet (forest)
- kupá (dog) >> nakupá (dog pack)
Mass nouns include liquids, powders, and substances, such as urá (water), ugum (sand), and hetí (wood). They do not normally require determiners or the plural. However, one may add these to indicate specific examples or different types:
- buqurá — this water (e.g. in the cup)
- hetim — woods (e.g. various kinds)
Gender
Amal does not have grammatical gender. However, where desired, masculine individuals may be distinguished by the suffix -ul, and feminine ones by -en.
- dashin - "sibling",
- dashul - "brother"
- dashen "sister"
Case
The basic form of each noun, and the one cited in dictionaries, is the nominative singular. All the other forms can be derived from it. Most nouns are formed from a basic root with of several nominalizer affixes, or a basic -a.
- The accusative case (-wa / -ú) marks the direct object of a verb. When marked as accusative, nouns will often drop the nominalizer affix.
- The genitive case (-ai / -ya) is used to show possession and is placed immediately after the first member of a genitive construction.
- The dative (bi-) for the beneficiary of an action, indirect object, or motion towards. Unlike other case endings, it has morphed to being a prefix and has only one form, used in all instances. The exception to this is the form used with pronouns, ib-.
- The locative case (-da) indicates the place or time at which something happens. Its meaning can be translated by the English prepositions 'to', 'at', 'on', 'in' etc.
- The ablative case (-sha) carries the meaning "from, off of" and shows separation away from an object. It is also used in comparisons and in this case translates as "than".
- The instrumental/comitative case (-ha / -ak) denotes accompaniment. It is translated as "with", "together with", "by", "with" or "through". An important use of the instrumental is as an adverbial, since Amal lacks a morphological adverb.
| man - amul | singular | dual | plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | amul man |
mulik the (two) men |
mulim the men |
| accusative | mulwa man |
mulikwa (two) men |
mulimwa men |
| genitive | mulya man's |
mulikai (two) men's |
mulimya men's |
| dative | bimul to [a/the] man |
bimulik to [the] (two) men |
bimulim to [the] men |
| locative | muleda in/at/by [the/a] man |
mulikeda in/at/by [the] (two) men |
mulimda in/at/by [the] men |
| ablative | mulesha from/off of [the/a] man |
muliksha from/off of [the] (two) men |
mulimsha from/off of [the] men |
| comitative | mulha with/by/through/using [the/a] man |
mulikha with/by/through/using [the] (two) men |
mulimak with/by/through/using [the] men |
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".
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | -an [ana] | -uk [nuk] |
| 2 | -ti / -e [ti] | -ut / -í [tum] |
| 3 | -u / -a / -il [il] | -um [hum] |
case
| nominative | accusative | genitive | dative | locative | ablative | comitative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1s | -an | eyan | nai | iban | anda | ansha | anak |
| 2s | -ti / -e | eti / eye | tai | ibti | tida | tisha | akti |
| 3s | -u / -a / -il | eya | lai | ilib * | uda | usha | ilak |
| 1p | -uk | eyuk | kai | ibuk | ukeda | uksha | ukha |
| 2p | -ut / -í | eyut | ai | ibut | uteda (udda) | utsha | utak |
| 3p | -um | eyum | mai | imbu * | umda | umsha | umak |
- imbu and ilib are results of metathesis, a common occurrence in Amal.
direct object incorporation
Direct object pronouns are incorporated to the verb inflection. So, instead of eya aryeshan (I saw her), aryeshana is grammatical. The DO pronouns are not used when the object is specified. So, instead of kawalu aryeshanu (I saw (it) the horse), kawalu aryeshan is grammatical.
| verb | tense / aspect / mood | subject | object |
|---|---|---|---|
| ary | -esh | -an | -a |
| see | simple past | 1sg | 3sg.FEM |
| I saw her. | |||
pronominal suffixes
These are suffixes that cannot stand alone but are attached to the end of a verb, used to identify subject and object.
| S/O | none | me | you | him/her/it | us | you (pl) | them |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | -an | - | -anti | -anu / -ana | -anuk * | -anut | -anum |
| you | -ti / -e | -eyan | - | -eya | -eyuk | -eyut * | -eyum |
| he/she/it | -u / -a / -il | -ilan | -ile / -uti | -ilu / -ila | -iluk | -ilut | -ilum |
| we | -uk | - | -ukti | -uku / -uka | - | -ukut | -ukum |
| you (pl) | -ut / -í | -utan | - | -uta | -utuk | - | -utum |
| they | -um | -uman | -umti | -umu | -umuk | -umut | - |
Determiners
Determiners in Amal precede the noun they modify. There are no articles.
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Prepositions
Amal lacks a morphological preposition. To express locative concepts in Amal one mostly make use of one of the following case suffixes:
- -da - locative (in, at, on)
- -sha - ablative (from, away from)
- kayan beteda nai
- /kajan betɛːda na͡ɪ/
- COP-1s house-LOC 1s.GEN
- I'm in my house. / I'm at home.
- mashum betesha mai
- /maʃum betɛːʃa ma͡ɪ/
- walk-3pl house-ABL 3pl.GEN
- They're going away from their home.
Amal uses nouns to express more complex spatial relationships (these words are adverbs in English) this means that for example the word tumda should be interpreted as something like the everwhere place or all places. And a phase like tumda aryanti (meaning I see you everywhere) is literally I see you in all places. Likewise aryanti uyushda nai (meaning I see you to my left) is literally I see you in my left area.
Adjectives
Amal does not have adjectives as a distinct part of speech. Instead, many intransitive verbs can be used as adjectives, in which case they follow the noun they modify.
- dishkata yasha
- /dɪʃkata jaʃa/
- coat be.wet-3s
- The coat is wet. [The wet coat.]
- pila kita
- /pila kita/
- elephant be.old-3s
- The elephant is old. [The old elephant.]
Numbers
Cardinal
| Amal | number | English | Amal | number | English | Amal | number | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nul | 0 | zero | sha | 6 | six | kishada | 500 | five hundred |
| wa | 1 | one | seb | 7 | seven | hesha | 103 | (one) thousand |
| ni | 2 | two | eta (sometimes pu) |
8 | eight | dahesh | 104 | ten thousand |
| ush | 3 | three | nen | 9 | nine | sadesh | 105 | (one) hundred thousand |
| ha | 4 | four | da | 10 | ten | uhun | 106 | (one) million |
| kish | 5 | five | sada | 100 | (one) hundred | ulun | 109 | (one) billion |
Forming Larger Numbers
- dawa - eleven / 11
- nida - twenty / 20
- sadaseb - one hundred seven / 107
- ushadanidasha - three hundred twenty six / 326
- shaheshnidaha - six thousand and twenty four / 6024
Other Number Forms
| Amal | number | English | ordinal | multiple | fractional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| wa | 1 | one | émwa first |
gáwa once |
- |
| dani | 12 | twelve | émdani twelfth |
gádani twelve times |
daniya a twelfth |
| kishdaha | 54 | fifty four | émkishdaha fifty fourth |
gákishdaha 54 times |
kishdahaya a fifty fourth |
| sadasha | 106 | one hundred (and) six | émsadasha 106th |
gásadasha 106 times |
sadashaya a 106th |
| sebhesh | 7000 | seven thousand | émsebhesh seven thousandth |
gásebhesh 7000 times |
sebheshai 1/7000 |
Questions
There are a number of interrogative words that are used to introduce questions:
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|
- mara yemuruk? - when eat-TENT-1pl - When might we eat?
- shum kaye buda? - why be-2s here - Why are you here?
Any statement can become a polar question by adding the interrogative suffix -em to the verb construction.
- yashemu? - be.wet-INT-3s - Is it wet?
- shabemumti? - know-INT-3pl-2s - Do they know you?
Verbal Morphology
The verbal inflection of Amal is quite simple. There are only two tenses, non-past, and past (past tense could also be analyzed as the perfective aspect), each marked for person and number. There is a remote tense, rarely used other than for historical narratives, or occasional emphasis. There are three aspects (inceptive, repetitive, and durative) and various moods that are also marked on the verb (usually between the verb root and the person).
tense
- The past tense morpheme, -esh always precedes the subject (or subject-object construction).
- aryemeshilan?
- /aɾʲemɛʃɪlan/
- see-INT-PST-3s-1s
- Did she see me?
- The remote tense -id is normally used within a past narrative to refer to events from an even earlier time. By extension, the remote may be used to emphasize that something is already done.
- geleshan íla mashide
- come-PST-1s but go-REM-2s
- I came, but you had already gone.
other verb modifiers
- The self (reflexive) suffix -eg should be used whenever the subject and object are the same.
- ne shabegum - NEG know-REFL-3pl - They don't know themselves.
Passive
- The usual way of negating a sentence is to negate the verb using the -la suffix. With the second and third person pronouns, the negative word ne is used.
- yemuranla - eat-TENT-1s-NEG - I might not eat.
- ne masha - no go-3s - She is not going.
Tentative
The Tentative mood (sometimes called suggestive, future, probable future, or presumptive) is used when an action is not quite definite.
