Kopoıves

Kopoıves [kɔˈpɤɨʋɛs]
Period	-400 ÷ 0 YP
Spoken in	Western Tuysáfa
Total speakers	c. 500.000
Writing system	unknown
Classification	Leic
Typology
Basic word order	VSO or SVO
Morphology	mainly analytic, agglutinative
Alignment	ergative (nouns), accusative (verbs)
Credits
Created by	Pole, the

Kopoıves (thinkers' language) is one of the descendants of Proto-Leic.

See also: the lexicon, the Conlang Relay 22 torch.

Phonology

Consonants

	labial	alveolar	palatal	velar	glottal
nasal	/m/	/n/	[ɲ]	/ŋ/
stop	/b/	/d/		/ɡ/
	/p/	/t/		/k/
affricate			[dʑ]
		/ts/	[tɕ]
fricative	/ɸ/	/s/	[ɕ]		/h/
sonoric	/ʋ/	/ɾ/	/j/

• /ɸ ʋ ɾ/ are written ‹f v r›.
• Sequences of /nj ŋj/, /dj ɡj/, /tj tsj kj/ and /sj hj/ are in most (not all) registers merged to [ɲ], [dʑ], [tɕ] and [ɕ], respectively.

Vowels

	front	back ur.	back r.
high	/i/	/ɨ/	/u/
mid	/ei/	/ɤɨ/	/ou/
	/ɛ/		/ɔ/
low	/ai/	/ɑɨ/	/ɒu/
		/ɑ/

• /ai ɛ ei i/ are written ‹ai e ei i›.
• /ɑɨ ɑ ɤɨ ɨ/ are written ‹aı a oı ı›.
• /ɒu ɔ ou u/ are written ‹au o ou u›.
• In several varieties /ɤɨ/ is realized as [ɯ̯ɤ] or [ɯ̯ʌ].

The syllable structure is C(X)V(C), where X is a medial consonant, i.e. one of /m n ŋ ʋ ɾ j/.

• In all registers, /ʋ j/ are devoiced after voiceless onsets. /pj/ is pronounced [pɕ].
• Syllable-final /j/ is realized as [ç~ʝ] after front vowels and [x~ɣ] after back vowels.
  • Some varieties even delete the off-glide preceding final /j/, so /fɒuj/ /teij/ become [fɒɣ] [teʝ].
• /ʋ ɾ j/ in onsets are replaced with /b d ɡ/ before a medial consonant.
• /m n ŋ/ in onsets are realized as [mb nd ŋɡ] (word-initially [əmb ənd əŋɡ]) and written ‹mb nd ng› before a medial consonant, e.g. /nɾai/ [əndɾai] ndrai.
  • Exceptionally, /nj ŋj/ remain unchanged.

The syllable with a diphthong is stressed, if present. Otherwise, the word stress falls on the final syllable.

Dialectology

There are two main traits distinguishing Kopoıves dialects.

Tsroı-tsraa isogloss

In some dialects there is an additional vowel /ɑː/ «aa» corresponding to some instances of /ɤɨ/ in other dialects, found for example in words like tsraa [t͡sɾɑː] sun (standard tsroı). In those dialects, the two vowels contrast (cf. goım nose, not found as **gaam).

/ɑː/ often merges with /ɑ/ in fast speech. Also, /ɑː/ merges with /ɑɨ/ before word-final glides, e.g. tsaav bald and tsaıv mouse often both become [t͡sɑʋ].

Nasai-ndsai isogloss

Some dialects permit /s/ as a medial consonant and perform a syncope of pre-tonic vowels preceding /s/, e.g. nasai leg → ndsai [əndˈs̬ai], kosei sheep → ksei [ksei].

This also applies to morphological prefixes, e.g. sag smile → bsag [bs̬ɑɡ] you are smiling (cf. standard vusag).

Cases where this would result in a consonant cluster /t-s/ (contrasted with the single affricate /ts/) might be marked with a facultative assibilation and lengthening to [t͡ss] «tss», e.g. tssaij it rises [tsaʝ ~ t͡ssaʝ] (standard tesaij) versus tsaij 100 [t͡saʝ].

Morphology

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Several pronouns have separate honorific variants. There is also a distinction of animacy in the third person.

	1 sg	1 pl		2			3 sg			3 co	3 pl
			familiar	honorific	familiar animate	honorific animate	inanimate
Absolutive	dai	grai	gvu	gŋo	boı	gaı	te	go	noı
Ergative	ngrai	jukrai	jukvu	jukŋo	jupoı	jukaı	ŋude	juko	gnoı
Genitive	prai	krai	kvu	kŋo	pa	ka	te	ko	ra
Locative	brai	pıkrai	pıkvu	pıkŋo	pıpoı	pıkaı	bıde	pıko	pnoı
Allative	tsrai	dakrai	dakvu	dakŋo	dapoı	dakaı	dade	dako	dnoı
Vocative	—	—	rekvu	rekŋo	repoı	rekaı	—	reko	—
Prefix	di-, d-	gri-	vu-, b-	ŋo-, ng-	ba-, p-	gı-, k-	te-, t-	go-, g-	na-, nd-

(The ergative forms are rarely used, as they are superseded by the subject prefixes.)

Interrogative pronouns

	sg		co	pl
	animate	inanimate
Absolutive	kupoı	gude	kuko	knoı
Ergative	ŋugupoı	jukude	ŋuguko	ŋugnoı
Genitive	kuba	gude	kugo	kra
Locative	bıgupoı	pıkude	bıguko	bıgnoı
Allative	dagupoı	dakude	daguko	dagnoı

Other interrogative words include:

• gau which
• jein where
• toı when
• ko how

Indefinite pronouns

	sg		co	pl
	animate	inanimate
Absolutive	boıs	teip	goud	noıs
Ergative	jupoıs	ŋudeip	jukoud	gnoıs
Genitive	poıt	teit	kout	roıt
Locative	pıpoıs	bıdeip	pıkoud	pnoıs
Allative	dapoıs	dadeip	dakoud	dnoıs

Other indefinite words include:

• gaus some
• jeinis somewhere
• toıs somewhen
• koup somehow

Distal and demonstrative pronouns

	sg		co	pl
	animate	inanimate
Absolutive	tapoı	djau	tako	tnoı
Ergative	ŋudapoı	jutjau	ŋudako	ŋudnoı
Genitive	taba	djo	tago	tra
Locative	bıdapoı	pıtjau	bıdako	bıdnoı
Allative	dadapoı	datjau	dadako	dadnoı

Other demonstrative words include:

• gi this — gi-doı that — doı other
• bai here — koun there — tjein somewhere else
• faij now — dadoı then, once
• tako in that way

Universal and negative pronouns

	universal		negative
	animate	inanimate	animate	inanimate
Absolutive	deko	dnoı	vıko	bnoı
Ergative	ngreko	ŋudnoı	gvıko	jubnoı
Genitive	deko	dra	vıgo	bra
Locative	breko	bıdnoı	pvıko	pıbnoı
Allative	tsreko	tsadnoı	dvıko	dabnoı

Other universal and negative words include:

• de all, every — maı no
• deim everywhere — maırem nowhere
• ki always — maıg never
• tseiv in every way — maırev in no way

Nouns

Class

There are two main noun classes: animate and inanimate nouns. They determine the type of genitive prefixes and pronouns they take. It is generally based on the meaning — there are however some exceptions.

There are also two subgroups:

• animate human nouns — animate nouns that are never declined in plural (collective is used instead);
• pluralia tantum nouns — nouns that are plural by default; they take singular prefixes in Erg., Loc., Dat. and plural prefix in Gen.; they are referenced by plural pronouns.

Declension

There are four paradigms of noun stems:

• type I
  • nouns beginning with a voiceless obstruent (one of p t ts k f s h) or a voiceless cluster
• type II
  • nouns beginning with a voiced obstruent (one of b d g) or a voiced cluster
• type III
  • nouns beginning with a single sonorant (one of m n ŋ v r j)

Nouns are declined using prefixes.

Paradigm I

	sg	co	pl
Absolutive	—	go-	na- ¹
Ergative	ŋu- ¹	juko-	gna- ¹
Genitive	pa- fa ka- ha te- i	ko-	ra-
Locative	bı- ¹	pıko-	pna- ¹
Dative	da- ¹	dako-	dna- ¹

• ¹) p t k f ts h are lenited to b d g v r j (b d g b d g in clusters)

Paradigm II

	sg	co	pl
Absolutive	—	go-	ra-
Ergative	ju-	juko-	gra-
Genitive	pa- fa ka- ha te- i	ko-	ra-
Locative	pı-	pıko-	pra-
Dative	da-	dako-	dra-

• single b d g are fortited to p t k in singular and plural forms after a prefix

Paradigm III

	sg	co	pl
Absolutive	—	g-	d-
Ergative	g-	juk-	jud-
Genitive	p- fa k- ha t- i	k- (gak-)	d- (gad-)
Locative	p-	pık-	pıd-
Dative	da-	dak-	dad-

• gak- gad- are used instead of k- d- when disambiguation is needed

Verbs

Verbs in Kopoıves are relatively little inflected.

Transitivity

Verbs can be divided into two classes according to their morphosyntactical behaviour.

Intransitive verbs have their main argument in absolutive. The verb agrees with the subject. Another argument can be added in genitive:

• (Dai) dihotsai.

  (1sg) 1sg-enter

  I enter.

• (Dai) dihotsai tepego.

  (1sg) 1sg-enter gen.i-house

  I enter the house.

Transitive verbs have their patientive argument in absolutive and their agentive argument in ergative. The patientive argument cannot be omitted. The verb agrees with the agent:

• (Ngrai) dvait bego.

  (1sg.erg) 1sg-own house

  I own the house.

• (Ngrai) dvait te.

  (1sg.erg) 1sg-own 3in

  I own it.

Quite often a lexically transitive verb will by default have an intransitive meaning (e.g. dnai swim, gaig urinate, pouk run). In those cases, te it is often used as a dummy patient pronoun:

• Didnai beit.

  1sg-swim sea

  I'm swimming in the sea.

• Didnai te.

  1sg-swim 3in

  I'm swimming.

A transitive verb can be put into a mediopassive form, which behaves as intransitive:

• Dibjau te.

  1sg-stop 3in

  I'm stopping (something)

• Dibjaum.

  1sg-stop-mpass

  I'm stopping, I'm coming to a halt

Person

Verbs exhibit accusative alignment. They are inflected for the person of the subject or the agent.

The person prefixes are:

1st singular	di-	d-
1st plural	gri-
2nd familiar	vu-	b-
2nd honorific	ŋa-	ŋ- ~ ng-
3rd sg a familiar	ba-	p-
3rd sg a honorific	gı-	k-
3rd sg inanimate	te-	t-
3rd collective	go-	g-
3rd plural	na-	n- ~ nd-

Notes:

• Prefixes without vowels are used before m n ŋ v r j.
  • ŋ-, n- are used before j;
  • ng-, nd- are used elsewhere.

Voice

Mediopassive

The mediopassive is created by adding:

• -m after a vowel;
• -om after a velar/glottal consonant;
• -im after other consonants.

Last consonants p t k m n ŋ are changed to b d g v r j before the ending is added.

The mediopassive causes the verb to become intransitive, with the subject interpreted as patient or agent-patient:

• Ditoın gvu.

  I see you.

• Ditoırim.

  I am seen. ~ I see myself.

Causative

The causative is created periphratically, by inflecting the causative operator vaıp along with the subjunctive form of the main verb:

• Didaiŋ. → Bvaıp didaiŋ.

  I live. → You make me live.

• Tesaim. → Dvaıp tesoım.

  It occurs. → I make it occur.

Tense and mood

Tense isn't explicitly marked on verbs. It can, however, be expressed by one of several analytic particles:

• paıt — past tense;
• gŋou — future tense;
• gnaıv — potential modality;
• naısij — necessitative modality;
• vı — imperative mood.

Subjunctive mode

Many verbs have separate subjunctive forms, formed in an irregular manner, commonly through shortening the root with reduction of a diphthong to a monophthong (e.g. gŋoıg swim → gŋa) or through ablaut (e.g. ngvein eat → ngvoın). These forms are listed in the dictionary.

For other verbs, the form doesn't change in subjunctive positions and use the same form as for indicative (e.g. jaiŋ exist).

There are several uses of the subjunctive form, mainly attributive and subordinate constructions.

Attributive usage

The verb in the subjunctive mode can be used as an attributive form — either preposed as a bare stem, or postposed and taking personal inflection:

• pigo ndvei

  be.green.subj fruit

  a green fruit

• ndvei tepigo

  fruit 3in-be.green.subj

  a green fruit

However, the postposed construction is less clear whenever a verb without a separate subjunctive form is used:

• hrai ndvei

  be.red fruit

  a red fruit

• ndvei tehrai

  fruit 3in-be.red

  a red fruit ~ the fruit is red

Preposed attributives of transitive verbs keep their agentive meaning:

• kneg daım

  kill.subj animal

  a killing animal, a predator

However, when postposed, they either gain patientive meaning (along with appropriate personal inflection for the agent), or they require a patient in absolutive:

• daım dikneg

  animal 1sg-kill.subj

  an animal killed by me

• daım bakneg

  animal 3an-kill.subj

  a killed animal, an animal killed (by someone/something else)

• daım bakneg te

  animal 3an-kill.subj 3in

  an animal killing (something)

Sentences with many attributive forms (especially for verbs with no subjunctive variants) can become ambiguous. To ensure clarity, subject attributives tend to be preposed and object attributives tend to be postposed:

• Tsjı jupekau bahımou kıgoıj bakrog.

  be.tall.subj erg-man 3an-hit dog 3an-be.angry.subj

  The tall man hits the angry dog.

• Krog kıgoıj badesaiv papekau batsjı.

  be.angry.subj dog 3an-bite an.gen-man 3an-be.tall.subj

  The angry dog bites the tall man.

Subordinate usage

The subjunctive forms are used along with the ma that, which particle to form subordinate clauses:

• Grihreik datjau.

  1pl-go all-that

  We are going to there.

• Paıt griraıg grai koun.

  past 1pl-fight 1pl.abs there

  We fought there.

• Grihreik datjau ma paıt griroıg grai koun.

  1pl-go all-that rel past 1pl-fight.subj 1pl.abs there

  We are going to where we fought.

Other usages

For verbs which have a subjunctive form distinct from indicative, the former can be used to create a generic hortative:

• Grikmoın. Let's be happy. (a suggestion)

  compare Vı grikmaun. Let's be happy. (an order)

• Vudesi. You should speak. (an encouragement)

  compare Naısij vudesaig. You have to speak. (a necessity)

• Baknoı. May they_sg succeed. (a wish)

  compare Gnaıv baknau. They_sg might succeed. (a possibility)

Numerals

Cardinal numerals

0.	bmoı	10.	kaip
1.	moıs	11.	kibmoı			100.	tsaij
2.	gei	12.	kip-jei	20.	ge-gaip	200.	he-tsaij
3.	pe	13.	kipe-be	30.	pe-gaip	300.	pe-tsaij
4.	doıs	14.	kibe-toı	40.	do-gaip	400.	da-tsaij
5.	toım	15.	kibe-doım	50.	tmo-gaip	500.	tma-tsaij
6.	douj	16.	kibe-touj	60.	dje-gaip	600.	dohe-tsaij
7.	doıb	17.	kibe-toıb	70.	dabe-gaip	700.	dabe-tsaij
8.	getoı	18.	kip-jetoı	80.	geto-gaip	800.	geta-tsaij
9.	gedoım	19.	kip-jedoım	90.	gedmo-gaip	900.	gedma-tsaij

Ordinal numerals

0.	—	10.	kairip
1.	voınis	11.	kip-voınis			100.	tsaijir
2.	gein	12.	kip-jein	20.	ge-gairip	200.	he-tsaijir
3.	peir	13.	kipe-beir	30.	pe-gairip	300.	pe-tsaijir
4.	toınis	14.	kibe-doınis	40.	do-gairip	400.	da-tsaijir
5.	toırim	15.	kibe-doırim	50.	tmo-gairip	500.	tma-tsaijir
6.	toınij	16.	kibe-doınij	60.	dje-gairip	600.	dohe-tsaijir
7.	doıber	17.	kibe-doıber	70.	dabe-gairip	700.	dabe-tsaijir
8.	gritoı	18.	kipe-gritoı	80.	geto-gairip	800.	geta-tsaijir
9.	gedoırim	19.	kip-jedoırim	90.	gedmo-gairip	900.	gedma-tsaijir

Fractions

• ni a half
• dibe a third
• ndrai a quarter
• tidoım a fifth
• titouj a sixth
• titoıb a seventh
• tjetoı an eighth
• tjedoım a ninth
• digaip a tenth