Northeastern Bay Language

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To Be Continued...
Caleone is still working on this article. The contents are incomplete and likely to undergo changes.
Northeastern Bay Language, Čethax Thaxarevemni
[t͡ɕe.tʰɑx tʰɑ.xɑ.ɻe.vem.ni]
Period c. -1200 YP
Spoken in Northwestern Tuysáfa,
Northeastern Bay, Heneššéme Basin
Total speakers unknown
Writing system unknown
Classification T1 languages
  Northeastern Bay
Typology
Basic word order Topic-Prominent
Morphology Largely Fusional with some Synthetic Elements
Alignment NOM-ACC
Credits
Created by Caleone

The Northeastern Bay Language was a language spoken about -1200 YP in the northwestern reaches of the continent of Tuysáfa, the speakers of which called themselves Thaxarevemni [tʰɑ.xɑ.ɻe.vem.ni], which is thought to have come from the milk drinkers, hearkening back to their semi-nomadic roots and separated themselves from their neighbors who spoke other languages within the T1 language family or the completely unrelated Northeastern languages. It is a T1 language and an ancestor to Black River Aséta & Asséta meaning that it is also related to West Yalan, East Yalan, Omari, Teyetáti, Hkətl’ohnim, and Tumetıęk.

Language Name

It's thought that the native name for the language was Čethax Thaxarevemni [t͡ɕe.tʰɑx tʰɑ.xɑ.ɻe.vem.ni]ˌ or "language of the milk drinkers". Alternatively some speakers used Asčethax to name their language and reflexes of that name survive along the coast. Curiously they also used Thaxarevemni for the Omari leading scholars to postulate a closer relationship between the two than between other branches of the same family, though the evidence has so far been inconclusive.

Phonology

Vowels

The Thaxarevemni vowel inventory consists of the following seven distinct sounds all of which can appear long as well as short.

front back
high i y u
mid e ø o
low ɑ
  • The vowels are written as follows: i ü e ö o a
  • Long vowels are written with macrons except /y ø/ which are written as ȗ ȏ

Consonants

Thaxarevemni has a fairly average sized consonant inventory compared to it's neighbors and relatives.

labial dental alveolar postalveolar palatal retroflex velar glottal
nasal m n ɲ ŋ
plosive p pʰ b t tʰ d k kʰ ɡ
fricative f v θ ð s z ɕ ʑ ʐ x ɣ h
affricate ts tsʰ dz tɕ tɕʰ dʑ
liquid l ɻ (ɫ)
glide w j
  • /ɲ ŋ/ are written ñ ng
  • /pʰ tʰ tsʰ tɕʰ kʰ/ are written ph th ch čh kh
  • /θ ð ɕ ʑ ʐ ɣ/ are written ṭ ḍ š ž ẓ gh
  • /ts dz tɕ dʑ/ are written c ď č j
  • /ɻ j/ are written r y
  • /ɫ/ is an allophone of /l/ at the end of a syllable and intervocallically.

Stress

Unless otherwise noted stress occurs on either the penultimate syllable (for words longer than two syllables) or on the first syllable (for words with one or two syllables) of the word. And though some words may have their final syllable stressed instead stress will never fall on the first syllable for words longer than three syllables.

Phonotactics

This section describes the phonotactics of Thaxarevemni.

Syllable Structure

Analysing the language gives a maximal syllable structure of (C)(C)V(C) with syllables tending towards CV structure. That is up to two consonants may make up the onset with one making up the coda. A vowel is required for all syllables.

Clusters

  • sC clusters must be preceded by a vowel. In loans an epenthetic /ɑ-/ is inserted.
  • Any combination of stop and fricative is permitted, likewise any combination of nasal and fricative is also permitted but stops may only follow nasals (e.g. /oxko/, /oŋɡo/, /okxo/ are permitted, but /oɡŋo/ is not.
  • Likewise a liquid consonant may appear before or after any oral stop or fricative, but may only precede a nasal stop.
  • A glide may only appear on its own, or following another consonant.

Morphophonological Processes

Nominal Morphology

Nominals fall into three categories that are morphologically distinct: pronouns, true nouns, and descriptive nouns.

True Nouns

True nouns are divided into three categories: animate, inanimate, and collective. Outside of collective nouns true nouns decline for plurality and all nouns decline for case and definiteness.

Animacy & Plurality

Thaxarevemni marks nouns with a fusional prefix that denotes both animacy and plurality

singular plural
Inanimate Ø- n(e)-
Animate o-/w- n(u)-

Case and Definiteness

Thaxarevemni nouns decline for both case and definiteness using a fusional suffix which attaches to the stem. In cases where the stem ends in a vowel the stem vowel deletes, except for long vowels. Likewise, an epenthetic -a- is inserted when the final sound is a consonant except for the consonants /ɻ l m n ɲ ŋ/ which cause voicing on the initial consonant of the suffix.

Indefinite Definite
Nominative -fe -ti
Accusative -fes -tis
Dative -fang -teng
Genitive -fax -tex
Instrumental -u -šu

Below are example declension paradigms for the nouns Apsemü, "human, Aprō, "door", Četha, "language", & wic, "mist".

apsemü, "human" Indefinite Definite
Nominative apsemve apsemni
Accusative apsemves apsemnis
Dative apsemvang apsemneng
Genitive apsemvax apsemnex
Instrumental apsemu apsemžu


aprō, "door" Indefinite Definite
Nominative aprōfe aprōti
Accusative aprōfes aprōtis
Dative aprōfang aprōteng
Genitive aprōfax aprōtex
Instrumental aprōu aprōšu


Četha, "language" Indefinite Definite
Nominative čethfe čēthi
Accusative čethfes čēthis
Dative čethfang čētheng
Genitive čethfax čēthex
Instrumental češu čečhu


wic, "mist" Indefinite Definite
Nominative wicafe wicati
Accusative wicafes wicatis
Dative wicafang wicateng
Genitive wicafax wicatex
Instrumental wišu wicašu

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

1st person
Singular Plural
Nominative tondati hendati
Accusative tondatis hendatis
Dative tondateng hendateng
Genitive tondatex hendatex
Instrumental tonu henu
2nd Person
Singular Plural
Nominative lendati jendati
Accusative lendatis jendatis
Dative lendateng jendateng
Genitive lendatex jendatex
Instrumental lenu jenu
3rd Person
Singular Plural
Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite
Nominative ondati onufe nundati nunufe
Accusative ondatis onufes nundatis nunufes
Dative ondateng onufang nundateng nunufang
Genitive ondatex onufax nundatex nunufax
Instrumental onu onū nunu nunū

Demonstratives

  singular     plural  
Proximal Familiar tüti šiti
Unfamiliar tütu šitu
Medial takho hakho
Distal tüfe šife

Interrogatives

šetin = what person (who (animate))

šeṭu = what thing (who (inanimate))

šetnayang = at what time (when)

šisēa = for what reason, by what method (why/how)

= at what place (where)

Verbal Morphology

Person & Aspect

habitual imperfective perfective
1 ne+ nī- niču-
2 re+ ẓi- ẓiču-
3a mo+ mi- moču-
3i ē+ ē- eču-


Modality & Tense

present past future
indicative -möte -möc -makaṭat
imperative -ete -ec -ekaṭat
subjunctive -thwite -thwic -thwekaṭat
optative -lute -luc -lokaṭat
negative -rēte -rēc -ẓakaṭat

Adjectives

Adjectives in Thaxarevemni are a class of words in the language that modify the preceding lexeme in a clause. These words behave like verbs in the sense that they take verbal prefixes for aspect and person but have their own set of conjugational suffixes for comparative and superlative forms as well as a relativizer prefix when modifying nouns. In a sense adjectives are used as both adjectives and adverbs and could more properly be called descriptives. Adjectives is used here for ease of use.

Person & Aspect

Adjectives when modifying verbs must take a person/aspect prefix, these are the same as used on the verbs themselves and are as follows:

habitual imperfective perfective
1 ne+ nī- niču-
2 re+ ẓi- ẓiču-
3a mo+ mi- moču-
3i ē+ ē- eču-

Relativization

When modifying nouns adjectives take the prefix fo- instead of the person/aspect prefix.

Comparatives & Superlatives

Comparatives and superlatives take a suffix to modify the adjective which are as follows:

comparative superlative
-nim -ak


Syntax

Basic word order in Thaxarevemni is SOV with modifiers coming after their antecedents. The language is also pro-drop, that is pronouns are only used when introducing a subject or for emphasis.

Noun Phrases

Noun phrases consist of a noun-head, which is inflected for case and definiteness, followed by its modifier, generally an adjective but also post-positions:

wūdi
w-ūno-ti
ANI.SNG-cow.NOM.DEF
fürad
fo-ürad
REL-be_black
the black cow
nefosti
ne-fosta-ti
INAM.PLU-boat.NOM.DEF
fohang
fo-hang
REL.be_small
the small boats

Numerals

1. no 11. aneta ši no
2. nec 12. aneta ši nec 20. nedna
3. ha 13. aneta ši ha 30. hena
4. kap 14. aneta ši kap 40. kabna
5. re 15. aneta ši re 50. rena
6. takh 16. aneta ši takh 60. takhna
7. mul 17. aneta ši mul 70. murna
8. fe 18. aneta ši fe 80. fena
9. ola 19. aneta ši ola 90. orna
10. aneta 100. anetena
1000. noma

Compound numbers higher than 100 can be formed by linking the numbers with ši "and", as follows:

110 anetena ši aneta
270 nednetena ši murna
1275 noma ši nednetena ši murna ši re

Basic Clauses

Intransitive Verbs: this construction consists of an intransitive or adjectival verb and a single noun.

ngaxtafe
Ø-ngaxta-fe
INAM.SIN.storm.NOM.INDF
ečušicamöte
eču-šic-möte
3.INAM.PFV.move_upwards.PRE.IND
A storm moves upwards (away).
nafmordi
nu-afmolu-ti
ANI.PLU.animal.NOM.DEF
methörmöte
mo+ethöle-möte
3.ANI.HAB.tell_a_story.PRE.IND
The animals were telling stories.

Transitive Verbs take an additional argument, and take agreement with the modified argument in regards to person. The second argument takes the accusative case.

wakafe
o-ak-fe
ANI.SIN.fire.NOM.INDF
ečüṭimöc
eču-üṭima-möc
3.INAM.PFV.to_destroy.PST.IND
keṭakatis
Ø-keṭak-tis
INAM.SIN.house.ACC.DEF
A fire destroyed the house.

Ditransitive Verbs are similar to transitive verbs, receiving another argument in the form of an indirect object or instrument, inflected in the dative case.The indirect object takes its place after the subject/topic of a clause.

tondati
tonda-ti
1.NOM.SIN
oyaxfang
o-yaxö-fang
ANI.SIN.pig.DAT.INDF
ẓičužinžimakaṭat
ẓiču-žinži-makaṭat
2.PFV.to_give.FUT.IND
lendatis
lenda-tis
2.ACC.SIN
I will give you a pig.

Relative Clauses

Comparatives & Superlatives

Comparatives and Superlatives are formed by modifying adjectives with either of two suffixes as listed earlier. The structure of the phrase is similar to a transitive verb phrase, with the comparative taking the place of the normal verb. Superlatives, in contrast are most similar to intransitive clauses.

dēthi
Ø-adeo-ti
SIN.INAM.paint.NOM.DEF
fuhakhranim
fo-hakhra-nim
REL.be_weak.COMP
tondatex
tonda-tex
1.SIN.GEN
This paint is weaker than mine.
herjegmoti
Ø-herjegmo-ti
SIN.INAM.country.NOM.DEF
fothopasak
fo-thopas-ak
REL.be_strong.SUPR
This country is the strongest.

Interrogatives

Questions take the question particle, ha which is placed after the verb.

Yes-No Questions

Yes-No questions are asked based on the expected answer with a rise in intonation on the final lexeme. Verbs take the negative mood if the expected answer is negative and in the indicative for positive answers as seen below:

lendati
lenda-ti
2.SIN.NOM
ẓičutōxamöte
ẓiču-tōxa-möte
2.PFV.to_take.PRE.IND
ha
ha
INT
othaxtis
o-thaxta-tis
ANI.SIN.milk.ACC.DEF
Did you take the milk?

To answer a yes-no question you would either reply in the positive or negative, matching or contradicting the question as shown:

tondati
tonda-ti
1.SIN.NOM
ničutōxamöte
niču-tōxa-möte
1.PFV.to_take.PRE.IND
othaxtis
o-thaxta-tis
ANI.SIN.milk.ACC.DEF
I took the milk.

or:

tondati
tonda-ti
1.SIN.NOM
ničutōxarete
niču-tōxa-rete
1.PFV.to_take.PRE.NEG
othaxtis
o-thaxta-tis
ANI.SIN.milk.ACC.DEF
I did not take the milk.

You can also answer with the verb, dropping its arguments, in either indicative or negative.

Content Questions

Sample Text

The Young Lion

Ophaxti Fofčo

Ophaxti motengmöc wafmordis ba ši orefemnex nenirdis fokap, tho ondatex jetis fophasak ši fothopasak, athreti fokak, nastakhutis mohȗmöc moškak.

Da! Ophaxti fofčo movemöc! Apthis asta moanamöc ši nafmorvang fak moakpharmöc ondatex thopsateng. Ši maptiṭtamöte. Wafmordi ethormotis moendatimöte ophaxteng, ši nundatis matengmöte.

Gloss

Ophaxti
o-phaxa-ti
SIN.ANI.lion.NOM.DEF
Fofčo
fo-afčo
REL.be_young
The Young Lion
Ophaxti
o-phaxa-ti
SIN.ANI.lion.NOM.DEF
motengmöc
mo-ateng-möc
3.ANI.HAB.to_rule.PST.IND
wafmordis
o-afmolu-tis
SIN.ANI.beast.ACC.DEF
ba
ba
be_all
The lion was the ruler of all beasts
ši
ši
and
orefemnex
o-refeme-tex
SIN.ANI.ruler.GEN.DEF
nenirdis
n-nil-tis
PLU.INAM.country.ACC.DEF
fokap,
fo-kap
REL.be_four
and lord of the four countries,
tho
tho
because
ondatex
onda-tex
3.SIN.GEN
jetis
Ø-je-tis
SIN.INAM.chest.ACC.DEF
fophasak
fo-phas-ak
REL.be_thick.SUPR
ši
ši
and
fothopasak,
fo-thopas-ak
REL.be_strong.SUPR
athreti
Ø-athre-ti
SIN.INAM.waist
fokak,
fo-ka-ak
REL.be_thin.SUPR
nastakhutis
n-astakhu-tis
PLU.INAM.leg.ACC.DEF
ehȗmöc
e-ṭün-möc
3.INAM.HAB.to_run.PST.IND
eškak.
e-aška-ak
3.INAM.HAB.be_quick.SUPR
because his chest was thick, waist was thin, and (his) legs ran fast.

Lexicon

A basic lexicon of Thaxarevemni.