/r/conlangs Chat Network Relay Game - Discord Conlangers Relay the Sixth

#10Proto-Mepteic by Salp
Proto-MepteicEnglish

Amaretca kue puattu kehag nustie ipemie.
As nedacewida hime cabme.
Wiataunjitteŋka sayude nuster midaceidu.
Sapeuneswi saiwe pane nustia!
Saseŋaheidi ipederaik pi daceidi hues ande!

Your people sing prayers to the salty fruits.
But often you instead swim to that place.
It is known that I hide the fruits while you swim.
You must each find your fruit!
You must run with the salt and swim to me!

Lexicon

  • a pn.
    • I, me, 1S
    • ERG era, DAT ande, GEN e, ABL as, COM aik
  • as conj.
    • but, however
  • amares, amareṭ- v.t.
    • 1. (ambtr.) to sing, to chant;
    • 2. (tr.) to honor, to commemorate;
    • 3. (intr.) to celebrate
  • cap, cep- n.n.
    • location, spot
    • SG ERG cepta, DAT cabme; PL ABS cab, ERG cebru, DAT cepie
  • dacek, daceḳ- v.t.
    • 1. (intr.) to swim;
    • 2. (tr.) to swim along
  • hu pn.
    • there, yonder, that place, that direction
    • ERG huta, DAT hunde, GEN hue, ABL hus, COM huik
  • ipedera, ipeder- n.n.
    • (sg.t.) salt
    • ERG ipederge, DAT ipedende
  • ipia, ipe- n.n.
    • 1. sea, ocean;
    • 2. (sg.t.) salt
    • SG ERG ipege, DAT ipende; PL ABS iper, ERG ipedu, DAT ipie
  • saseŋahek, saseŋaheḳ- v.t.
    • 1. (intr.) to run, to dash, to sprint;
    • 2. (intr.) to skim
  • sate det.
    • 1. this, that, these, those;
    • 2. one's own
    • SG A hite, N saiwe, U hime; PL H sade, A hituedne, N sayude, U higidne
  • kehaŋ, kehaŋg- n.u.
    • 1. gratitude, thanks;
    • 2. prayer
    • SG ERG kehagra, DAT kehagŋe; PL ABS kehag, ERG kehagru, DAT kehanjie
  • kua pn.
    • you, 2S
    • ERG kuaŋ, DAT kuande, GEN kue, ABL kues, COM kuik
  • nustia, nuste- n.n.
    • 1. fruit, berry, nut;
    • 2. edible seed
    • SG ERG nustege, DAT nustende; PL ABS nuster, ERG nustedu, DAT nustie
  • pi conj.
    • and, also, as well
  • puar, puat- n.u.
    • 1. (pl.t.) group, company, associates;
    • 2. (pl.t.) people, nation
    • ERG puattu, DAT puatie
  • wiatau, wiataw- v.a.
    • 1. (tr.) to hide, to cover up
    • 2. (intr.) to hide oneself

Grammar

General typology:

  • Head-initial
  • VSO word order
  • Agglutinating, somewhat fusional

Phonology

  • Dissimilation of e /ə/
    • ea > ia
    • e > a in monosyllables (does not affect clitics)
    • e > a in initial syllables when following syllable contains e, ei, or eu
  • Affrication
    • ts /t.s/ collapses into a geminate tc /tt͡s/

Nominals:

  • 2 numbers: singular and plural
    • Many singulare tantum and plurale tantum nouns
    • Both forms given in lexicon because the formation is incredibly fucky
  • 4 genders grouped into 2 categories
    • Animate: human (h), animate (a)
    • Inanimate: natural (n), unnatural (u)
  • 6 cases: absolutive (dictionary form), ergative, dative, genitive, ablative, comitative
    • First three given in lexicon in because the same reason
    • Genitive
      SG-e (replaces stem auslaut vowel if applicable)
      PLH-ane
      A, N, U-e (replaces -u of PL.ERG form)
    • Ablative
      SGH, A-es (replaces stem auslaut vowel if applicable)
      N, U-ites (replaces stem auslaut vowel if applicable)
      PLH, N, U-ji
      A-ji (replaces -u of PL.ERG form)
    • Comitative
      SG-ik (added onto SG.ABS form, not root)
      PL-ik (added onto PL.ABS form, not root)
  • Possession:
    • Alienable: possessor.GEN comes after possessed as a separate word
    • Inalienable: possessor.GEN cliticized before possessed phrase (still written separately)
  • Adjectives:
    • Come after nouns
    • Receive case marking as well
    • Adjectivalizer -me

Verbs:

  • Nearly all are grammatically ambitransitive
    • Some make distinctions in meaning depending on transitivity used
  • Classes: thematic, athematic marked by whether there's a theme consonant or not
    • marked with a dot diacritic, e.g. desaṗ-
    • undergo irregular phonological changes depending on environment
    • infixes go before them: desaṗ- + ‹ne› > desanep
    • suffixes marked with a ° cause them to be deleted: desaṗ- + -°ida > desaida
  • Full formation: converb + evidentiality prefix + verb stem + verb suffix
    • Stem: root + aspect infix + evidentiality infix + theme consonant
    • Suffix: transitivity, object, subject, reflexive, tense, imperative (all fusional so fuck you)
  • Converb:
    • mi- unrelated actions ongoing over the course of another action (takes past tense)
  • Evidentiality:
    • ne- information contrary to what is expected
    • ‹ji› obvious, well-known information; somewhat scornful-sounding
  • Aspect:
    • ‹ne› perfective (reduces to ‹n› before other infixes)
  • Suffixes:
    • Present:
      SUBJ:Ø1S2S3S1P2P3P
      OBJ:1S-°iŋ -eŋku -eŋ -ŋer -empa-eŋa
      2S -°eu -uŋka -u -ur -upa -ua
      3S.A-°ie -eŋka -eku -e -er -epa -ia
      3S.I -°i -seŋka-sku -ser -spa -sa
      P.A-°ida -daŋka-rku -da -dar -rpa -a
      P.I -°it -tteŋka-kku -tte -tter -ppa -tta
      REFL -eŋes -°kues -°jes -°res -°pas -°as
    • Past:
      SUBJ:Ø1S2S3S1P2P3P
      OBJ:1S-°iŋu -eŋkiu-eŋu -eŋru -empau-eŋau
      2S -°eb-uŋ -ub -uru -upau-uau
      3S.A-°ieu -iŋ -ikiu -ib -iru -ipau -iau
      3S.I -°iu -seŋ -skiu -su -ssu -spau -sau
      P.A-°idu -daŋ -rkiu -du -daru -rpau -au
      P.I -°ittu-ttuŋ -kkiu -ttu -tturu -ppau-ttau
      REFL -eŋeju-°kueju-°ju -°rju -°paju -°aju
    • Imperative:
      SUBJ:Ø2S2P
      OBJ:1S-enya -eŋwi
      2S -°ya -uwi
      3S.A-iwi
      3S.I -°s -swi
      P.A-°idi -ja -rwi
      P.I -ca -twi
      REFL -°juya-°pajuwi