Round Robin Conlang

The round robin conlang is a collaborative conlanging game in progress, begun and overseen by Pete Bleackley (here). To quote the rules:

Each person in turn [...] creates one new rule and one new root, plus some examples to show the consequences, and passes it on to the next person on the list. When it gets back to me, we start another loop, and keep going for as long as we feel necessary.

The grammar presented here is from the end of round 4.

The game is currently paused until January 18th 2010, to allow new participants to enter. If you wish to do so, add your name to the turn order below. If you no longer wish to take part, add your name to the list of past participants, and remove it from the turn order.

Game organisation

The current turn order is

• Pete Bleackley
• Matthew Turnbull
• Daniel Demski
• John Vertical
• Alex Fink
• Patrick Dunn
• Vincent Pistelli
• Mechthild Czapp
• Alex Bicksler

and back to Pete Bleackley to complete the round.

Grammar

Morphology

• Roots are CVC and verbal in meaning
• Verbal 1st person is indicated by derivational suffix [-af] which triggers spirant lenition.

Ex. bivaf - I ask, tiɣaf - I speak, tsʼuð˜af - I die.

• Verbal 2nd person is marked by the suffix -es, which changes the stem analogue to the 1st person.

Frex: ha bives: you asked, vijes: you create (if I understood rule 1 correctly)

• Verbal 3rd person is indicated by the suffix [-ú], which also triggers spirant lenition

Ex. ha vivú - it grew, ha vivivu ívib i.ɔ - the plants each grew very quickly

• Dual verbal number is indicated by the particle [i.ɔ] at the end of the clause.
• Plural verbal number is indicated by reduplicating the VC of the verbal root, copying any lenition. When [iɔ] cooccurs with this it has distributive rather than dual force.

Eg. kʼéχéχaf - we (all) come (together), kʼéχéχaf iɔ - we (all) come one at a time.

• The General Future tense indicates that an event has not yet occurred. It is formed by the preverbal particle [bó]. This tense is used whether or not the action is intended to occur in the futur, or was supposed to happen in the past and did not. In the case that the action is supposed to be in the futur, the particle recieves primary phrasal stress and may be reduplicated.

Ex. bó suɣ̃af suŋŋ - the field has not been ploughed by me, perhaps I will later. bó bó suɣ̃af suŋŋ - I will plough the field.

• Simple past is marked by the particle "ha" before the verb.

Ex. ha bivaf iɔ - We two asked.

• There is a different past tense for events which happened before the conscious lifetime of the speaker or in myths. This tense uses the particle "χu". It can also be used instead of "ha" to indicate that the speaker is unsure about the truth of the statement.

"χu bives" You asked (either before my lifetime or only maybe)

• The passive voice is formed by prefixing é to the stem and gemminating the first consonant:

Ha ébbivú: He was asked.

• A prefix [í-] derives agents (also, it seems, some experiencers/undergoers from intransitiv roots). Note this being mark'd for high tone - default tone is not indicated. This also does not trigger spirantization.

Eg. [ítig] "speaker", [ítsʼun] "mortal", [íkʼeb] "man"

• Patient nouns are formed by infixing a homoorganic nasal before the last consonant
  • bimb - question
  • boimb - attempt
  • kant - arrow
  • tiŋg - word
  • vent - sight
  • viñj - artefact
• A tool or body part can be derived from an agent noun by infixing a homoorganic nasal before the first consonant, and moving the high pitch onto the second syllable.
• Names of birds can be formed by suffixing -at to a word
• The intensive of the verbal root is formed by suffixing -aq, which triggers gemination of the previous consonant.

Eg. [bib] "to ask" [bibbaq] "to interrogate"; [tig] "to speak" [tiggaq] "to give a speech."

• The imparativ mode is express'd by changing the person suffix' initial vowel to <e> and geminating the root-final consonant (if not geminated yet).
  • kattes - Shoot! (singular)
  • katattes - Shoot! (plural)
  • katattef - Let us shoot! (plural)
  • tiggaχes - Give a speech! (sing.) (Not *tiggaqqes nor *tigggaχes)
  • tigiggaχes - Give speeches! (plur.)
• A participle is formed from the verb by spirant lenition and appending a vowel, [-e] if the stem vowel is front and [-o] if it's not. Participles do not distinguish active from passive.
  • k'eb "be male", k'eve "male (adj.)"
  • tap "break", tafo "broken" or "which has broken s.t."
• Nominal paucal number is derived from count nouns by the suffix [-ól], for mass nouns this derivational process signifies a sufficiency of the noun.
  • bimból - a few questions
  • kantól - a few arrows
  • ventól - some sights
  • boimból - a few attempts
  • íbetsʼól - sufficient sand
• Reduplication of adjectives creates abstract nominatives. A reduplicated tone loses its tone on the second syllable.
  • hóv – to be good
  • hóvhov – goodness
• Possessive pronouns are treated as participles formed from the pronominal root.
  • gɔs - "I"
  • gɔso - "my"
  • sɛt - "you"
  • sɛse -- "your"
  • bimb gɔso "my question"
• Non-pronominal possessors are cast using a third person pronoun tocarry the possessive marking, which cliticises to the possessing noun.
  • intán lɛqatɔso - "a goose's leg"
  • ínukól ísuŋóltsoio - "two ploughmen's wives" (lit. "women")
• A prefix [du-] marks instrumental case. An initial vowel* will be replaced, but its tone will remain.
  • dukant - with an arrow
  • duntáp - with an axe
  • dumvíj - with a tool
  • dúbetsʼ - with sand

*We only have examples with [i] so far, so it's possible this only happens before sufficiently close vowels.

• A prefix [tsʼɛ-] marks locative case. Underlying [ɛ.i] contracts to [e] (other initial vowels may do other things). Again, high tone remains.
  • tsʼɛqump - in a hole
  • tsʼentán - on the leg
  • tsʼésasaq - in water
• The prefix gi indicates the comitative case. A vowel at the beginning of the word will be replaced but its tone retained:

giNqúpat

with the woodpecker

Syntax

• I thought I'd gently dip our toes in some larger structure, with conjunctions that go between phrases, for instance "vigi" meaning "because", that is that the first clause is implied, caused or

motivated by the second:

• • "tiggaχes vigi ha bivaf" -- You give a speech because I asked.
  • "ha boivaf iɔ vigi kʼeves" -- We two tried because you're a man.
  • "tsʼununnaχes iɔ vigi ha kʼéχéχes" -- You each die a terrible death because you all came.
• Word order is VSO but pronouns, if present, go before the verb. When the subject, pronouns match the number of the verb, and are correspondingly distributive or collective.
• tsai ha vet íbetsʼaqól iɔ - The two saw enough powder (flour).
• tsov gɔs vetet iɔ - Each sees me.
• Modifiers of the noun follow the noun they modify.
  • kant tafo - broken arrow
• Negation of finite verb phrases is sometimes accomplished with tsele coming after the verb. However, many verbs have irregular negations, accomplished with (often unrelated) participles placed in apposition with the subject. Note, it is often the words which do not have clear opposites which have irregular negation. A clear opposite is one which would be synonymous with negation- for example, "he does not ask" is not synonymous with "he answers", so it gains an irregular negation; but "he does not die" is synonymous with "he lives", so both are acceptable things to say. The irregular opposite participles are not used as full, independent verbs.

Examples:

• • bivu tontevigi sɛt tajo - He asks although you are not asking.
  • kʼéχú tsele - He does not come; synonymous with neŋ
• One way of forming yes/no questions is by adding the word ɔ́lɛv (there) to a sentence. This is considered formal, which means it is the form of yes/no questions used by respected individuals, as well as the form more politely used when quoting someone directly. ɔ́lɛv can go wherever the speaker desires in the sentence.
• Adverbs of time occur after the verb, but before the subject.
  • bó tsʼuð˜ú saulam - S/he will die soon
  • viddzes saulam kantól - Make some arrows soon! (Note fortition: geminate j> ddz)

Vocab

offset entries are derivations from the root above them

Roots

bib

ask

bibbaq

to interrogate

bimb

question

tajo

not asking (irregular)

boib

try

boimb

an attempt

betsʼ

be_a_grain (like sand)

betsʼaq

be_a_powder (like flour)

íbetsʼ

sand

hóv

to be good

hóvhov

goodness

kat

shoot

kant

arrow

kantat

swift

íkat

archer

iŋkát

bow

kim

be female

kimat

hen

k'eb

be male

k'ebat

cock

kʼéq

come

lɛb

to do what (to) (e.g. lɛves "what are you doing?")

lɛmb

what

ílɛb

who

indε'b

what (of tools specifically)

lɛq

guard

ílɛq

sentry

inlɛ́q

shield

lɛNq

fort

lɛqat

goose

neŋ

to stay behind or away; not come

nuk

be female

qats'

- to finish something

qants'

- a finished task

qup

bore, dig

íqup

digger

iNqúp

drill

iNqúpat

woodpecker

qump

hole

qʼog

to wade

qʼogat

heron

sas

wet, moisten

ísas

moisture, liquid

ísasaq

water

ísasaqat

waterfowl

suŋ

to plough

ísuŋ

ploughman

insúŋ

plough

suŋŋ

ploughed land

suŋŋat

thrush

tán

walk

ítán

nomad

intán

leg

tánn

footpath

tap

break

ítap

breaker

intáp

axe

tig

speak

tiggaq

to give a speech

tiŋg

word

tsʼun

die

tsʼunnaq

to die a terrible, torturous death

vet

see

vetat

hawk

vent

sight

ívet

seer

imvét

eye

imvétat

peacock

vib

grow

vibbaq

grow very fast

ívib

plant

vij

create

viñj

artefact

ívij

creator

imvíj

tool

Pronouns

ɔt

3rd person singular animate

tsoi

3rd person dual

tsov

3rd person distributive plural

gɔs

1st person

sɛt

2nd person singular informal

Adverbs

ɔ́lɛv

there; somewhere; that way; thus. Can form yes/no questions.

saulam

soon

Particles

ha

simple past

iɔ

two, dual; distributive

tsele

negation of verbs without irregular negation

Conjunctions

vigi

because

tontevigi

although

vani

if

tontevani

lest