Plitnakya
| Plitnakya | |
| Spoken in: | Scotland (Skotlanda) |
| Conworld: | League of Lost Languages |
| Total speakers: | ~2,000 |
| Genealogical classification: | Atlantic
|
| Basic word order: | VSO |
| Morphological type: | Polysynthetic |
| Morphosyntactic alignment: | Active-Stative, Hierarchical |
| Writing system: | |
| Created by: | |
| Taylor Selseth | 2010 C.E. |
Plitnakya [pʰliʦ̺nakja] is a highly endangered language isolate spoken by about 2,000 people in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It has a complex, polysythetic morphology that is very unusual for Europe and is likely a relic of the first people to populate Britain after the Pleistocene Glaciation.
Phonology
Plitnakya is unusual in that it contrasts between Laminal-Dental and Aplical-Alveolar points of articulation and has no rhotic. It has a root structure of (F)(C)(F|L)V(F|L)(C) where C is any consonant, F is a fricative, and L is a liquid or nasal.
IPA
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
| Stops, plain | p | t̻ | t̺ | ʧ | k |
| Stops, aspirated | pʰ | t̻ʰ | t̺ʰ | ʧʰ | kʰ |
| Fricatives | f | θ | s | ʃ | x |
| Nasals | m | n | |||
| Liquids | w | l | j |
Plain stops and fricatives are voiced when between two voiced phonemes. /l/ is velarized when it follows a back vowel and is [ɾ] between vowels. /t̻ʰ t̺ʰ/ are realized as [tθ ʦ] between vowels and before nasals.
| Front | Center | Back | |
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Low | aj | a aː | aw |
Orthography
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
| Stops, plain | b | dh | d | j | g |
| Stops, aspirated | p | th | t | c | k |
| Fricatives | f | z | s | sh | h |
| Nasals | m | n | |||
| Liquids | w | l | y |
| Front | Center | Back | |
| High | i ii | u uu | |
| Mid | e ee | o oo | |
| Low | ai | a aa | au |
Nouns
Nouns fall into an Animancy Hierarchy of 2nd Person < 1st Person < people and animate collectives < non-person animates < natural forces < other inanimates and collectives. There is no case marking. Noun morphological structure is:
1. Number
2. Definite Prefix
3. Noun Stem
4. Possessive affixes
Number
Nominal number is marked by a prefix on the noun. There are 3 numbers: Singular, Dual, and Plural. Mass nouns do not inflect for number but are instead required to be compounded with a measure word. Singular is unmarked
| C-Stem | V-Stem | |
| Dual | tha- | th- |
| Plural | he | sh- |
Possessive inflection
Who posseses a noun, if any, is marked as a suffix following the noun. Some nouns, mainly those that are usually inalienably possessed, must be marked as possessed, if only marked with the indefinite inflection.
| 1st Person Incl. | 1st Person Incl. | 2nd Person | 3rd person | 4th Person | Indefinite | |
| Singular | -na | -ga | -ca | -soa | -olu | |
| Plural | -aga | -aka | -acca | -asho | -klu |
Definiteness
Definiteness is be marked by the prefix -li- in animates and -zo- in inanimates. indefinite nouns used in a generic sense are incorporated into the verb. Possessed nouns are never marked as definite.
Verbs
Verbs are the most complex part of the language by far. As in many polysynthetic languages a single word can mean a whole English sentence. The morphological structure is thus:
Pronominal Prefixes
Direct-Inverse Prefix
Intransitive Subject Possessive Prefix
Direct Object Possessive Prefix
Comitative Prefix
Adverbals
Habitual-Continuative Prefix
Locative-Spatial Prefixes
Secondary Aspect
Evidential Prefixes
Incorporated Intransitive Subject
Voice
Verb Stem
Benifactive Suffix
Desirative Suffix
Instrumental Suffix
Necessitative Suffix
Incorporated Direct Object
Primary Aspect
Mood
Detransitive/Antipassive Suffix
Negation
Possession
Question Suffix
Comparative-Superlative Suffix
The verb stem can be made out of a single root or 2 or more compounded roots
