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
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 | thaa- | th- |
| Plural | he- | sh- |
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
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
Question Suffix
Indirect Object Pronominal Suffix
The verb stem can be made out of a single root or 2 or more compounded roots.
Pronominal Inflection
The person and number Subject and Direct Object are marked on the verb in the Direct-Inverse format, each person form has a set spot, starting with 2nd Person and going in order down the animacy hierarchy If the subject has a lower animacy than the direct object the inverse morpheme -yaa- must be used.
Yaanishpuz. "You know me."
yaa-ni-shpuz
2SG-1SG-know
Yaaniyaashpuz. "I know you."
yaa-ni-yaa-shpuz
2SG-1SG-INVERSE-know
The inflections are thus:
| 1st Person In. | 1st Person Ex. | 2nd Person | 3rd person | 4th Person | Indefinite | |
| Singular | ni- | yaa- | go- | sai- | lu- | |
| Plural | nin- | zan- | yan- | gon- | sen- | lun- |
when there are two "3rd Persons" in the sentence the less topical one is marked as 4th person.
Gosaiglaufe. "she has helped him."
go-sai-glaufe
3SG-4SG-feed
The Impersonal is used for processes that are perceived as agentless, as well as for general statements. The Impersonal when used without any other marking also functions as an infinitive. Infinitive stative verbs are used as adjectives.
Luzguu "It snows"
lu-zguu
IMPERS-snow
Indirect objects are marked on the verb as suffixes.
Zangotheyaa "We gave it to you"
zan-go-the-yaa
1PL.EXCL-3SG-give-2SG
