User:Bukkia/sandboxIII
Qihep (in Qihep: Qixēp [ˌkʷiˈxeːp]) is a constructed fantasy language. It is an isolating language and uses a logographic script.
Phonology
Consonants
| Consonants | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Dental | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Labialized velar |
Labialized velar | ||||||||||||
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | k | g | kʷ | (ʔ)1 | ||||||||||||
| Nasal | m | (ɱ)2 | n | ɲ | (ŋ)3 | |||||||||||||||
| Vibrant | r | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fricative | f | v | s | ʃ | x | h | ||||||||||||||
| Affricate | ʦ | ʧ | ʤ | |||||||||||||||||
| Approximants | j | w | ||||||||||||||||||
| Lateral approximants |
l | |||||||||||||||||||
Note:
- [ʔ]1is not recognised as an independent phoneme but it is inserted between two vowels, or between two identical consonants.
- [ɱ]2 and [ŋ]3 are considered allophones of the normal nasal phonemes in front of [f]/[v] and [k]/[g]/[kʷ] respectively.
Vowels
| Vowels | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Near- front |
Central | Near- back |
Back | ||||||||||
| Close | i(ː) | u(ː) | ||||||||||||
| Close mid | e(ː) | o(ː) | ||||||||||||
| Mid | ə(ː) | |||||||||||||
| Open | a(ː) | |||||||||||||
Every vowel can be distinctively short and long.
No dipthongs are allowed. If two vowels are adiacent in a compound word, a glottal stop ([ʔ]) emerges to keep them separated.
Transcription
Qihep uses a logographic script, but it can be transcribed using the Latin script:
| Letter | a | ā | b | c | d | e | ē | f | g | ǵ | h | i | ī | j | k | l | m | n | ń | o | ō | p | q | r | s | ś | t | ts | u | ū | v | w | x | y | ȳ | |
| IPA | [a] | [aː] | [b] | [ʧ] | [d] | [e] | [eː] | [f] | [g] | [ʤ] | [h] | [i] | [iː] | [j] | [k] | [l] | [m] | [n] | [ɲ] | [o] | [oː] | [p] | [kʷ] | [r] | [s] | [ʃ] | [t] | [ʦ] | [u] | [uː] | [v] | [w] | [x] | [ə] | [əː] |
Transcription in Latin adopts the Qihep use of underline, when a word is written with logograms, which are used for their sound and not for their meaning. Underline is usually meant for foreign names or proper names.
- I am going to go to Rome: ul Rōma fut bim fa vol
Morphology
Tipologically speaking, Qihep is an isolating language, that means its words never change nor add any additional ending to show number, gender, tense, aspect, etc.
Example:
We followed those men: Ul la nār vran ta śak fa
Analysing the sentence: * Ul: means I * la: it's a grammatical particle which shows the idea of plural * nār: means that * vran: means man * ta: it's a grammatical particle, conveying the idea of past * śak: means follow * fa: it's a grammatical particle, conveying the idea of action complete
Grammar roles and complements are conveyed by the position in the sentence, by grammatical particles and by postpositions. Grammatical particles are not strictly needed and can be left out of the sentence if the meaning is clear from the context. For example, in the previous sentence, the particle ta can be easily omitted if it's clear that we are talking about the past.
Even if there is no strict morphology, Qihep words can be compounded to form new words and a complex derivational morphology does exist. For example:
- xep, mouth + svūk, sound → xepsvūk, voice
- troj, to build + -kȳt, noun for the result of the action → trojkȳt, building
Nouns
Nouns do not change for number or for gender.
Nouns denoting humans or animals can be linked to a definite gender by prefixing the terms tan, male or res, female:
- vran, human, person → tanvran, man, resvran, woman.
By reduplicating the nouns we can express the meaning of a collective noun:
- vran, human, person → vranvran, people, population
The particle la can be postponed after the nouns to express plurality, but it conveys also the idea of "many".
- vran(vran) la, many people
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Pronouns show a limited gender distinction and mandatorily use the grammar particle la for plural if they refer to plural forms.
| Person | English | Form | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | I | ul | |
| 2nd | you | ma | |
| 3rd | he | tȳn | for humans or animals, male or without defining gender |
| 3rd | she | rȳs | for humans or animals, strictly for female |
| 3rd | it | qem | for objects or small animals |
| 3rd | it | do | indicates something undefined, object or idea, which it has already been talked about, aforementioned |
When referring to more people or objects, particle la is mandatorily postponed after the pronouns:
- ul, I → ul la, we
Pronouns do not change for case, as they do in English, but they express their role by using the position in the sentence:
- ul tȳn nat piǵ kra, I can't see him
- tȳn ul nat piǵ kra, He can't see me
Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns and adjectives do not exist as independent forms. To express their meaning the normal personal pronouns followed by the genitive particle are used:
- ul, I + dī, of = ul dī, my, mine
Example:
- Ul dī suk pūcin, My hair is black
Interrogative pronouns
There are two basic interrogative adjectives and pronouns
| Form | English | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| wē | who, which | for humans and animals |
| wū | what, which, where | for objects and small animals, it can also express location with locative verbs |
- Ma wē ta piǵ fa lo, Who did you see?
- Tȳn la wū skyt sty lo, What are they doing?
- Rȳs wū stā sty lo, Where is she?
Other interrogative pronouns are formed by adding specific nouns:
| wū + meś, place | = wūmeś | where, in which place |
| wū + tsēd, time | = wūtsēd | when, in which period |
| wū + dān, moment | = wūdān | when, in which moment |
| wū + cin, way | = wūcin | how, in which way |
| wū + prīc, reason | = wūprīc | why, for which reason |
| wū + tsel, purpose | = wūtsel | why, for which purpose |
Demonstrative pronouns
There are three demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
| Form | English | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| tyk | this | for something or somebody near both the listener and the speaker |
| qē | that | for something or somebody near the listener but far from the speaker |
| nār | that | for something or somebody far from both the listener and the speaker |
Numbers
| Number | Form |
|---|---|
| 1 | mē |
| 2 | xup |
| 3 | ci |
| 4 | vo |
| 5 | qo |
| 6 | bum |
| 7 | śo |
| 8 | rō |
| 9 | va |
| 10 | ty |
| 100 | sto |
| 1000 | qur |
| 1000000 | mil |
| 1000000000 | milar |
To build the higher numbers place the units before the tens, the hundreds, the thousands, etc:
| Number | Form |
|---|---|
| 20 | mēty |
| 30 | xupty |
| 40 | city |
| 200 | mēsto |
| 300 | xupsto |
| 2000 | mēqur |
| 30000 | xuptyqur |
| etc. |
Compound numbers are built by placing the lesser number after the higher one:
| Number | Form |
|---|---|
| 11 | ty mē |
| 15 | ty qo |
| 23 | xupty ci |
| 145 | sto voty qo |
| 2156 | xupqur sto qoty bum |
| 1 259 978 | mil xupsto qoty vaqur qosto śoty rō |
| etc. |
Verbs
Verbs do not change according to time, aspect, mode, number, gender, etc. They are usually associated with grammar particles which convey the negation, the time, the aspect, the modality or the evidentiality of the action. No one of this particle are strictly mandatory if the context is clear enough to express these meanings.
The particles are strictly placed in this order:
| Negation | - | Time | - | Verb form | - | Aspect | - | Mode | - | Evidentiality |
Example:
- It seems they aren't looking for him right now: tȳn la tȳn nat mo qum sty vol nah
Negative particles
- nat: assertive negation, it negate an assertion, a question, a normal sentence
- Ul ma piǵ kra, I can see you → Ul la nat piǵ kra, I cannot see you
- pē: prohibitive negation, it negate an order, expressing a prohibition
- Ma tȳn ma snā dī do kāǵ si fa, Tell him what you know → Ma tȳn ma snā dī do pē kāǵ fa, Don't tell me what you know
Time particles
- ta: past, it locates the action in the past
- rā: remote past, it locates the action in the remote past, historical past or a past that we feel remote and far
- mo: present, it locates the action in the present, it is usually omitted, and when expressed it conveys the meaning of precise present "right now"
- fut: future, it locates the action in the future
- fu ta: future in the past, it locates the action in the (hypotetic) future of a past action (still in the past)
- ta fu: anterior future, it locates the action in the past of a future action (still in the future)
Time particles are often left out, expecially in direct speech, since the time of the action is usually inferred by the context. They are used at the beginning of the speech to temporally localize the action or when omission may cause ambiguity.
Aspectual particles
- fa: perfective, it marks a completed action, with no regard for its effects or results
- ǵa: perfect, it marks a completed action which results are still affecting the moment we are talking about, (= English perfect tenses)
- sty: continous, it marks an uncompleted ongoing action in the moment we are talking about (= English continuous tenses)
- rē: repetitive, it marks an action which is repeated many times (= doing again, keep on doing again)
- sōl: habitual, it marks an action which is routinely or habitually performed (usually, used to)
- pyr: prospective, it marks an action which is about to start in the moment we are talking about (= to be about to)
- maj: experiencial, it marks the fact we have have or never have had experience of the action in the moment we are talking about (ever, never)
Modal particles
- vol: volitive, it conveys intention or will, going to, want
- des: octative, it conveys wish, want, wish, desire
- kra: abilitial, it conveys a momentaneus ability, can
- pos: potentive, it conveys ability, capability, can, know how
- ro: potential, it conveys possibility, may, might
- vā: causative, it marks that the action is caused by someone on someone/thing else, let, make, get, have
- kōm: incohative, it marks a beginning action, to begin, to start
- fōr: hypothetical, it marks the uncertainty of the action or that the action is/was/will be hypothetical, maybe, if
- si: imperative, to give orders (usually not used with the negative prohibitive particle).
Modal particles can be used in the same sentences together, since they conveys meanings which can be expressed in the same sentences. If there are two or more modal particles, they follow the order of the list above.
Evidential particles
- nah: reported action, the speaker does not personally see the action, the action is reported by someone else
- box: doubtful action, the speaker does not personally see the action, the action is reported by someone else, but the speaker expresses his/her doubt about its truthfulness
- kap: deduced action, the speaker does not personally see the action, but he/she deduces the action by seeing traces or evidences
Derivative morphology
As usual for an isolating language, words in Qihep can often be used as nouns, adjectives or verbs.
Example:
- Tȳn rȳs ta smāx fa, he kissed her
- Rȳs tȳn dī smāx nat vyūmbēl maj, she has never forgot his kiss
In the first sentence smāx, as in English, plays the role of verb, while in the second sentence it is a noun.
Some suffixes can be added to the words to indicate a more precise meaning:
Verb → Noun
- -kȳt: it forms a noun indicating the concrete result of the action (almost corresponding to English -tion)
- -tan: it forms a noun indicating the ongoing process of the action (almost corresponding to English -ing)
- -mor: it forms a noun for the person who performs the action (corresponding to English -er)
Verb → Adjective
- -sy: it forms an adjective with a perfective passive meaning (almost corresponding to English -ed). Because of its passive meaning, it cannot be added to intransitive verbs.
- ul la dī mīlsy tanvran, my beloved man
Noun/Adjective → Verb
- -skyt (to make): it forms a verb indicating that the object is made according to the meaning of the adjective or of the noun (almost corresponding to English -fy, to make)
- mē, one + -skyt → mēskyt, to unite
- -bly (to become): it forms a verb indicating that the subject is becoming according to the meaning of the adjective or of the noun (almost corresponding to English to become, to get)
Syntax
Typologically speaking, Qihep is a strictly SOV language. That means that in the sentences the word order is unvariably Subject-Object-Verb.
- Subject - Object - Verb: Tȳn ma śak sty, He is following you
Word order is usually strictly respected, since words cannot show morphologically their role in the sentence (almost like in English).
Indirect object are usually placed before the direct object.
- Ul tȳn woroh nat kreś maj, I have never given him the key
Subject - Indirect Object - Direct Object - Place - Manner - Temporal adverbs or construction - Negation - Time particle - Verb system
- GN - AN - NP - RN (head-final)
Texts
Babel text
1. tsal dīn dī vranvran mē xēp rā xēp ī tȳn la mēm dum nuts sōl
2. tsēd o le xīs ud qin sty tȳn la Śinār lān stā dī sbēnlān qum fa ī nārmeś rā sōlǵīv fa kōm
3. ī tȳn la drug tȳn la rā kāǵ fa "ma la qin si ul la trojsās skyt fa si ī ul la qem la pīr ō qōc fa si" tȳn la sās ā skām fa dī trojsās i kāx ā skām fa dī trojkāx rā nūts fa
4. ī tȳn la rā kāǵ fa "ma la qin si ul la byl i qem dī fīp kōpdīn fut dūqin fa dī fītrojkȳt tsel vor le ul la dī ńīm snāsy bly fa ī ul la ā nat fut rasjēq fa
5. ī Pō rā dōlqin fa vran dī denden troj sty dī byl i fītrojkȳt piǵvor fa
6. ī tȳn rā kāǵ fa "ma la piǵ fa si tȳn la mē vranvran ī mē xēp xēp sty tyn la do skyt ǵa kōm ī ńakmē tȳn la fut fajan fa kra tȳn la do skyt fa ud dī do ā le tȳn la skyt fa ā"
7. "ma la tyk prīc par qin si ul la dōlqin fa si ī ul la tȳn la dī xēp obmiś fa si tsel vor le tȳn la drug tȳn la dī xepsvūk nat fut enēm fa pos"
8. ī Pō tȳn la ńik lān to rā rasjēq fa ī tȳn la byl dī trojtan jan fa
9. tyk byl ā Bābel rā ńīmkreś fa prīc par le Pō tsal dīn dī xēp tykmeś ud rasjēq fa
