Pʰeśin

Pʰeśin is an island-highland (team B) language, spoken in the southern Peilaš.

Phonology

Consonants

	labial	dental	palatal	velar	glottal
plain stops	p	t	c	k	ʔ <'>
aspirated stops	pʰ	tʰ	cʰ	kʰ
ejectives		tʼ	cʼ	kʼ
nasals	m	n	ɲ <ń>	ŋ
creaky nasals	m̰ <ṁ>	n̰ <ṅ>
fricatives		s	ʃ <ś>		h
approximants	w	ɾ <r>	j
creaky approximants	w̰ <ẇ>		j̰ <ǰ>

• /ʔ/ is not spelled word initially.
• Realisation of /h/ is free variation between [h] and [ɦ].
• /w ɾ j/ are devoiced after aspirated consonants, which themselves lose aspiration in this position.

Vowels

/i o ɛ ɑ/ < i o e a >

Stress is after the last of either ejectives or creaky sonorants - the glottal stop may optionally also attract stress in this manner; if neither is present, stress is in front of the last consonant in multisyllable words.

• /ɑ о/ are realised as [æ ɵ] next to a palatal consonant or if the next syllable contains [i].
• /i o/ are realised as [e ɔ] if the following syllable contains one of [ɑ æ ɛ ɔ ɞ].
• /o/ is realised as [ɞ] next to a palatal consonant and if the next syllable contains [i].
• /ɛ/ is realised as [e] if the next syllable contains [i].

Phonotactics

Some baisc phontactic patterns are:

• All syllables contain an onset.
• Glottal consonants (/h ʔ/) and creaky sonorants appear only in syllable onset.
• Glottal consonants furthermore don't occur next to another consonant.
• Semivowels don't occur in codas.

Morphophonology

Should two homorganic consonants happen next to each other due to a morphological process, they are seperated by an epenthetic /a/.

Morphology

Abbreviations used in this section:

• V - vowel stems
• T - plosive stems
• C - (other) consonant stems

Nominals

Nominals include nouns, pronouns and adjectives. They have the category of animacy and case, exhibiting case concord and including seven cases:

• Absolutive
• Ergative
• Dative
• Genitive
• Oblique
• Illative
• Elative

The category of animacy exists only in ergative case and for the third person singular pronoun. It is based on semantics.

Case	C	V
Absolutive	-∅	-∅
Ergative (anim.)	-o	-'o
Ergative (inan.)	-in ¹	-hin
Dative	-ra
Genitive	-o	-ho
Oblique	-ar	-r
Illative	-rakʰ
Elative	-aran	-ran

¹ Stem-final t tʰ n palatalise to c cʰ ń

Adverbs are formed from adjectives using the suffix -ro (allomorph -o for adjectives ending in r).

If a noun is possessed by the agent, the possession is expressed by the suffix -ṁan on the possessed noun.

Personal pronouns

Pʰeśin is split-ergative, splitting for 1. and 2. person vs. everything else.

	Sg	Pl
1. Excl	ṅo	ẇan
1. Incl		paŋe
2.	ta	taŋe
3. Anim	cʼo	ṁon
3. Inan	ṁa

Case	1.SG	2.SG	3.SG.ANIM	3.SG.INAN	1.PL.EXCL	1.PL.INCL	2.PL	3.PL
Nom/Abs	ṅo	ta	cʼo	ṁa	ẇan	paŋe	taŋe	ṁon
Acc/Erg	ṅor	tor	tʼo	ṁin	ẇahor	pahor	tahor	ṁoro/ṁońin
Dative	ṅara	tara	tʼara	ṁara	ẇaŋra	paŋra	taŋra	ṁora
Genitive	ṅo	to	tʼo	ṁo	ẇaŋo	paŋo	taŋo	ṁoro
Oblique	ṅar	tar	tʼar	ṁar	ẇaŋar	paŋar	taŋar	ṁorar
Illative	ṅarakʰ	tarakʰ	tʼarakʰ	ṁarakʰ	ẇaŋrakʰ	paŋrakʰ	taŋrakʰ	ṁorakʰ
Elative	ṅaran	taran	tʼaran	ṁaran	ẇaŋaran	paŋaran	taŋaran	ṁoraran

Correlatives

	thing	person	time	place	manner, quality	quantity
proximal	hat	haco	ṅapʰ	pʰi	o	tʼan
distal	ṁi	ṁirjo	ran / taṅakʰ ¹	kʼi
indefinite	kʼam	ṁǰo	kʼante	kʼaŋe	kʼanar	kʼantʼan
interrogative	mi	mjo	ṁotʰ	makʰ	man	mimprar
universal	am	piṁǰo	ante	aśipʰ	amprar	am
alternative	or	ormjo		orcim	ornar
negative	miṁe	mjome	moṁe	maṁe	manme	mimprarme

¹ Ran indicates time before present moment, taṅakʰ - time after present moment.

Irregular correlative caseforms:

• Kʼam 'something' and am 'all, everything' use -ir and -iran for oblique and elative case respectively.
• In addition to that, miṁe 'nothing' and ṁi 'that (inan.)' lose their final vowels before receiving a case ending.
• Mjome 'nobody', ṁirjo 'that (anim.)' and piṁjo 'everybody' only lose their final vowels (and semivowels) before receiving a case ending.
• In addition to that, mjo 'who', ṁǰo 'somebody' and orṁǰo 'somebody else' use -aho for genitive case.
• Haco 'this (anim.)' uses har- for stem of cases other than absolutive
• Mi what is wholly irregular:

Case
Absolutive	mi
Ergative	meśin
Dative	mera
Genitive	mo
Oblique	mer
Illative	merakʰ
Elative	meran

Case usages

• Dative is used for recipient and beneficiaries.
• Genitive is used for possessors and follows its head noun. It also governs the postpositions ňonaron 'behind' and wiśeron 'in front of'.
• Elative and illative are never used on their own. Instead they only indicate the direction of movement and the spatial postposition they are governed by indicates the location to or from which the movement takes place.
• For stative usages, most spatial postpositions govern the oblique case. Non spatial postposition also govern the oblique case and it is used only with postpositions.

Verbs

Some verbs have two or three principal forms, or rather principal stems. In this section they are referred to as P1, P2 and P3. If a verb lacks P3, P2 is to be used instead in P3's morphological slots. The first two principal forms of some three principal form verbs coincide, but they are listed independently anyway for clarity's sake.

Finite verb forms

Finite verb forms have the categories of person, number, negation, tense, aspect, mood and evidentiality.

A good deal of finite verb forms are formed by circumfixes. Their prefixal parts have the following allomorphs:

• tʼa- has an allomorph of s- in front of single stops.
• ka- and ma- have allomorphs of k- and m- in front of single sonorants.
• kʼ(a)- and makʼ(a)- serve as intensifiers for imperative mood, replacing the usual ka- and ma-.

Present tense

C stems	SG	PL	SG.NEG	PL.NEG
1.INCL.PERF	tʼa-P3-re	tʼa-P2-e	tʼa-P3-rem	tʼa-P2-am
1.EXCL.PERF		tʼa-P2-pi		tʼa-P2-pim
2.PERF	tʼa-P2	tʼa-P2-pe	tʼa-P2-me	tʼa-P2-pam
3.PERF	P1	P1-pe	P1-me	P1-pam
IMP.PERF	ka-P2	ka-P2-pe	ma-P2-me	ma-P2-pam
1.INCL.IMPERF	tʼa-P3-rekʰe	tʼa-P2-kʼe	tʼa-P3-rekʰim	tʼa-P2-kʼaṁe
1.EXCL.IMPERF		tʼa-P2-kʼi		tʼa-P2-kʼiṁe
2.IMPERF	tʼa-P2-kʰe	tʼa-P2-kʼjo	tʼa-P2-kʰim	tʼa-P2-kʼjoṁe
3.IMPERF	P1-kʰe	P1-kʼjo	P1-kʰim	P1-kʼjoṁe
IMP.IMPERF	ka-P2-kʰe	ka-P2-kʼjo	ma-P2-kʰim	ma-P2-kʼjoṁe

T stems	SG	PL	SG.NEG	PL.NEG
1.INCL.PERF	tʼa-P3-re	tʼa-P2-e	tʼa-P3-rem	tʼa-P2-am
1.EXCL.PERF		tʼa-P2-wi		tʼa-P2-wim
2.PERF	tʼa-P2	tʼa-P2-we	tʼa-P2-em	tʼa-P2-wam
3.PERF	P1	P1-we	P1-em	P1-wam
IMP.PERF	ka-P2	ka-P2-we	ma-P2-em	ma-P2-wam
1.INCL.IMPERF	tʼa-P3-rewe	tʼa-P2-ẇe	tʼa-P3-rewim	tʼa-P2-ẇaṁe
1.EXCL.IMPERF		tʼa-P2-ẇi		tʼa-P2-ẇiṁe
2.IMPERF	tʼa-P2-we	tʼa-P2-ǰo	tʼa-P2-wim	tʼa-P2-ǰoṁe
3.IMPERF	P1-we	P1-ǰo	P1-wim	P1-ǰoṁe
IMP.IMPERF	ka-P2-we	ka-P2-ǰo	ma-P2-wim	ma-P2-ǰoṁe

V stems	SG	PL	SG.NEG	PL.NEG
1.INCL.PERF	tʼa-P3-r	tʼa-P2-we	tʼa-P3-rme	tʼa-P2-wam
1.EXCL.PERF		tʼa-P2-wi		tʼa-P2-wim
2.PERF	tʼa-P2	tʼa-P2-we	tʼa-P2-m	tʼa-P2-wam
3.PERF	P1	P1-we	P1-m	P1-wam
IMP.PERF	ka-P2	ka-P2-we	ma-P2-m	ma-P2-wam
1.INCL.IMPERF	tʼa-P3-rkʰe	tʼa-P2-kʼe	tʼa-P3-rkʰim	tʼa-P2-kʼaṁe
1.EXCL.IMPERF		tʼa-P2-kʼi		tʼa-P2-kʼiṁe
2.IMPERF	tʼa-P2-kʰ	tʼa-P2-kʼjo	tʼa-P2-kʰim	tʼa-P2-kʼjoṁe
3.IMPERF	P1-kʰ	P1-kʼjo	P1-kʰim	P1-kʼjoṁe
IMP.IMPERF	ka-P2-kʰ	ka-P2-kʼjo	ma-P2-kʰim	ma-P2-kʼjoṁe

Past tense

	SG	PL	SG.NEG	PL.NEG
1.INCL.PERF	tʼa-P2-tʼapʰ	tʼa-P2-tʼi	tʼa-P2-tʼapʰem	tʼa-P2-tʼime
1.EXCL.PERF		tʼa-P2-tʼetʰi		tʼa-P2-tʼetʰime
2.PERF	tʼa-P2-tʼa	tʼa-P2-tʼetʼa	tʼa-P2-tʼaṁe	tʼa-P2-tʼetʼam
3.PERF	P1-tʼe	P1-tʼa	P1-tʼeṁe	P1-tʼam
1.INCL.IMPERF	tʼa-P2-apʰ	tʼa-P2-i	tʼa-P2-apʰem	tʼa-P2-ime
1.EXCL.IMPERF		tʼa-P2-etʰi		tʼa-P2-etʰime
2.IMPERF	tʼa-P2-а	tʼa-P2-etʼa	tʼa-P2-aṁe	tʼa-P2-etʼam
3.IMPERF	P1-e	P1-a	P1-eṁe	P1-am

• Consonant stem verbs add -e- in front of the perfect aspect endings.
• Vowel stem verbs add -'- in front of the imperfect aspect endings.

The copula

The copula is rather irregular and doesn't have the category of aspect.

	SG	PL	SG.NEG	PL.NEG
1.INCL	tʼapʰ	kʼe	tʼapʰim	kʼim
1.EXCL		cʼi		cʼime
2	tʼa	cʼo	tʼahim	cʼome
3	he	kʼjo	hehim	kʼjome
IMP	katʼa	kacʼo	matʼahim	macʼome

The copula uses he as past stem and the imperfective past affixes to form its past tense.

Other morphology of finite verbs

Verbs are obligatorily marked for evidentiality. Evidentiality markers are stacked on top of TAM-person-number-negation (TAM-PNN) markers. In this table C, T, V marks the type of sound the suffix is added to, not the type of verb stem.

	C	T	V
Direct visual	-i	-i	-r
Direct (other senses)	-kʼa	-wa	-wa
Indirect, inferred	-ce	-ace	-s
Hearsay	-ke	-ake	-ke
Renarrative	-ki	-aki	-wi

Verbs can also optionally be marked for some sort of clausal relationship. These markers are stacked on top of TAM-PNN and evidentiality markers. Again, C and V mark if the suffix is added to a wordform ending in a consonant or a vowel.

	C	V
because ...	-ar	-'ar
when ...	-iwe	-we
before ...	-iẇan	ẇan
after ...	-iwa	-wa
in order to ...	-war
absolutive relativiser	-o	-'o
erg. & oblique relativiser	-a'o	-'a'o

Inifinite verb forms

There are three infinite verb forms, derived from the bare verb stem:

• P1-mence is the verbal noun / nominaliser.
• a-P2-cʼin (C) / a-P2-in (T) / a-P2-hin (V) is used to derive adverbs from verbs. It denotes that another action is done by doing the action of the verb, from which the form has been derived.
• a-P2-tʼan (C) / a-P2-ran (T/V)denotes that the agent is doing another action simultaneously while also performing this action.

Numerals

The numeral system is base 10.

1	pʰen
2	or
3	tʰar
4	pʰar
5	ar
6	arpʰen
7	aror
8	keror
9	kewan
10	ran
12	raṁor
100	aṁan

• Teens are formed by ran- + a number from 1 to 9 (except for 12, which has a seperate form).
• Tens are formed by a number from 2 to 9 + -ran / -an - the latter suffix is used when the numeral ends in r.
• Tens and units are joined by a suffix -ke onto the ten.

Modality

• Ability is expressed by the conjugated verb kʰre (P2 ṅe, P3 ṅo) 'to be able to', followed by a deverbal noun in -mence.
• Permission is expressed by the suffix -cʼo. Lack thereof is expressed by the suffix -cʼom.
• Necessity is expressed by the suffix -kʼa. Lack thereof is expressed by the suffix -kʼam.
• Obligation is expressed by the adverb ňirke, which follows the verb. Lack thereof is expressed by the suffix -kʼam. No distinction is made between lack of necessity and lack of obligation.

Syntax

Word order is SOVX with absolutive morphosyntax. Word order of noun phrases is:

1. Relative clause
2. Determiner
3. Numeral
4. Noun
5. Adjective
6. Genitive NP
7. Postposition

Relativisation of oblique arguments is done with retention strategy and the relativised argument directly before the relative verb. Evidentiality is optional on relativised verbs - if omitted, it's understood to be the same as the one of the main clause.

Lexicon

Pʰeśin Lexicon