Tari

Tari /tɛːɹiː/
Period	c. 0 YP
Spoken in	East Tuysafa
Total speakers	unknown
Writing system	unknown
Classification	T1 languages
Typology
Basic word order	AuxSOV
Morphology	fusional
Alignment	erg.-sec. (nouns) acc.-sec. (verbs)
Credits
Created by	Pole, the

Tari (our way of saying) is a language sketch created on Christmas Eve 2012 for the Akana Second Reconstruction Relay. It belongs to the T1 language family.

The people speaking Tari are known as õPianaomõ /ɔ̃piãnãumɔ̃ː/ (sg. Pianaomõ /piãnãumɔ̃ː/) or collectively as Taritiar /tɛːɹiːtiɛɹ/.

See also: the lexicon.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants	labial	dental	palatal	velar
nasal	m	n
stop	p	t	(tɕ)	k
fricative	ʋ	s	ɕ	h
fluid		ɹ	j

• [tɕ] is present in several dialects, though it is a minor feature; /ɕ/ pronounced as [tɕ] in those dialects is sometimes transcribed as ‹ć›.
• /ɕ ʋ ɹ j/ are romanized as ‹c v r y›.
• /ʋ h/ behave as obstruents morphophonologically.
• /n/ can be realized as [ɲ] near /i/ and [ŋ] near /ɯ/.
• /j/ can be realized as [ɥ] near /o/ and [ɰ] near /ɯ/.

Vowels

Monophthongs	front	back
high	i ẽ iː ẽː ‹i ĩ ii ĩĩ›	ɯ ɤ̃ ɯː ɤ̃ː ‹u ũ uu ũũ›
mid		o ɔ̃ oː ɔ̃ː ‹o õ oo õõ›
low	ɛ ã ɛː ãː ‹a ã aa ãã›

• Monophthongs adjacent to a nasal or fluid consonant are always long – they are romanized as short for the brevity sake, e.g. uyu /ɯːjɯː/.
• The same applies to word-final nasals, e.g. kipã /kipãː/.
• Vowels preceding a nasal are nasalized by default, what is not written, e.g. ranã /ɹãːnãː/.

Diphthongs	-i	-u	-o	-a
i-		iɯ iɤ̃ ‹iu iũ›	io iɔ̃ ‹io iõ›	iɛ iã ‹ia iã›
u-	ɯi ɤ̃i ‹ui ũi›		ɯo ɯɔ̃ ‹uo uõ›	ɯɛ ɯã ‹ua uã›
o-	oi ɔ̃i ‹oi õi›	oɯ ɔ̃ɯ ‹ou õu›		uɛ uã ‹oa oã›
a-	ɛi ãi ‹ai ãi›	ɛɯ ãɯ ‹au ãu›	ɛu ãu ‹ao ão›

In the Comistaa dialect the monophthongization occurs:

• iu iũ and ui ũi merge as [iː ẽː]
• io iõ and oi õi merge as [yː ø̃ː]
• uo uõ and ou õu merge as [uː õː]
• ia iã and ai ãi merge as [eː ɛ̃ː]
• ua uã and au ãu merge as [ɤː ʌ̃ː]
• oa oã and ao ão merge as [oː ɔ̃ː]
• also all short vowels in Comistaa are reduced and merged to [ə ə̃].

Phonotactics

The onset can be either zero, any consonant or one of the following consonant clusters:

Onsets	-p	-t	-k	-v	-s	-c	-h
p-		pt		pv	ps	pc	ph
t-				tv	ts	tc	th
k-	kp	kt		kv	ks	kc	kh
v-		vt	vk		vs	vc
s-	sp	st	sk	sv	ss		sh
c-	cp	ct		cv		cc
h-	hp	ht		hv	hs

The coda can be either zero, any consonant or one of the following consonant clusters:

Codas	-p	-t	-k	-s	-c
p-				ps
t-				ts
k-				ks
v-	vp	vt	vk		vc
s-	sp	st	sk	ss
c-	cp	ct	ck		cc
h-	hp	ht	hk

Morphophonology

There are three major processes.

Colouring

Some words have additional vowels that appear only when some affixes are attached. (The vowels are listed in the dictionary.)

• ranã (col. a-) with prefix tV- becomes taranã

Diphthongization

When two vowels meet at a morpheme boundary, they can together form a diphthong (or a long vowel if both vowels are the same). When at least one vowel is nasal, the resulting diphthong or long vowel is nasal as well.

• omoanã with prefix nã- becomes naomoanã (with [ã] + [ɔ̃] creatinɡ a nasal diphthong [ãu])

Elision

A phoneme (consonant or vowel) can be also deleted from the root when an affix is added.

• ranã with prefix uy- becomes uyanã
• ikpciit with prefix nã- becomes nãkpciit

Noun morphology

Number-person prefixes

There are no personal pronouns in Tari. However, nouns are inflected for the person and number – they can substitute suitable personal pronouns when needed.

1sg

• to-
  • before long vowels (diphthongization), e.g. inĩ → toinĩ
  • before short oral vowels (diphthongization), e.g. op → toop
  • before obstruents and clusters, e.g. kata → tokata

• t-
  • before short nasal vowels (the vowel is lengthened), e.g. ãtu → tããtu

• tV-
  • before sonorants (colouring), e.g. noc (col. ũ-) → tunoc

2sg

• yu-
  • before long vowels (diphthongization), e.g. inĩ → yuinĩ
  • before short oral vowels (elision), e.g. op → yup

• uu-
  • before short nasal vowels (elision), e.g. ãtu → uutu
  • before obstruents and clusters, e.g. kata → uukata

• uy-
  • before sonorants (elision), e.g. noc → uyoc

3sg

The 3sg forms are irregular and have to be checked in the dictionary.

1pl

• s-
  • before long vowels, e.g. inĩ → sinĩ
  • before short oral vowels, e.g. op → sop
  • before obstruents, e.g. kata → skata
    • initial c assimilates to s, e.g. ciãka → ssiãka
  • before sonorants (elision), e.g. noc → sooc

• is-
  • before short nasal vowels, e.g. ãtu → isãtu
  • before clusters, e.g. tsit → istsit

2pl

• ĩc-
  • before long vowel, e.g. inĩ → ĩcinĩ
  • before short oral vowels, e.g. op → ĩcop
  • before short nasal vowels (the vowel becomes long), e.g. ãtu → ĩcããtu

• ĩci-
  • before obstruents and clusters, e.g. kata → ĩcikata

• ĩcV-
  • before sonorants (colouring), e.g. noc (col. ũ-) → ĩcunoc

3pl

• nã-
  • before long vowel (diphthongization), e.g. inĩ → nainĩ
  • before short oral vowels (elision), e.g. op → nãp
  • before short nasal vowels (diphthongization)
    • the following consonant is changed to m (if labial) or n (otherwise), e.g. õpoo → naomo
    • if the consequent vowel is short, it is changed to long and takes the value of the root initial vowel, e.g. ũkok → naunũk

• V-
  • before obstruents and clusters
    • õ- before p and v, e.g. vsi → õvsi
    • ã- before t and s, e.g. ta → ãta
    • ĩ- before c, e.g. coo → ĩcoo
    • ũ- before k and h, e.g. kata → ũkata

• nãV-
  • before sonorants (colouring), e.g. noc (col. ũ-) → naunoc

Cases

There is a Kalaallisut-like three core case system in Tari:

• Absolutive – the basic case; expresses intransitive subject or transitive patient;
• Ergative – used for transitive agent;
• Instrumental – marks the secondary object or patient in antipassive constructions.

Nouns with intervocalic t ts as the last consonant (can be followed by any vowels) combine:

• with suffixes beginning with t- to -tt- -ss-, e.g. cpita → cpitti, nãtsu → nãssi;
• with suffixes beginning with s- to -ts- -ss-, e.g. cpita → cpitsuu, nãtsu → nãssuu.

	Abs.	Erg.	Ins.
Indefinite	-	-(i)c ¹	-suu
Definite	-ti	-tic	-siu

¹) The ergative suffix is -c after vowels, -ic after obstruents and clusters and -Vc after sonorants (the last vowel is echoed; it is nasal only after nasals).

Possession

The possession can be marked by a set of enclitics:

	Sg	Pl
1.	nĩ	tu
2.	cu
3.	õpu	nãu

Numerals

1.	nã	11.	nanãto
2.	nĩc	12.	nĩcanãto	20.	nĩcã
3.	sa	13.	sanãto	30.	sanã
4.	kip	14.	kipanãto	40.	kipã
5.	ra	15.	ranãto	50.	ranã
6.	tok	16.	tokhanãto	60.	tokhã
7.	mõuy	17.	mõuyuanãto	70.	mõuyã
8.	vi	18.	vianãto	80.	vanã
9.	uyu	19.	uyuanãto	90.	uyuanã
10.	anãto			100.	raunũ
				1000.	sããto

Verb morphology

Attributive forms

There is no distinct word class of adjectives. However, stative intransitive verbs can be often used to describe a noun, in which case they are uninflected and preposed:

• hvoc "be loud, be noisy" + ããtanã "bee" → hvoc ããtanã "a noisy bee"

The same can be done with verbs with a dynamic meaning, by appending a suffix: -cu after vowels and fricatives, -su after ‹s› and -ĩ elsewhere; verbs ending with a vowel or n have their last vowel (or diphthong element) changed to /ẽː/ ‹ĩĩ›:

• nuan "get married" + õpsomõ "people" → nuinĩ õpsomõ "married people"

Gerund form

The gerund form is created by adding the ending -ta (final /m n ɹ j/ are deleted), e.g.

• hvoc → hvocta "being loud, being noisy"
• nuan → nuãta "getting married"

Conjugated form

Conjugation is done by a set of auxiliary verbs. The auxiliary is placed at the beginning of the clause and the main verb at the end.

When a verb is conjugated, the ending -su is added. It forces elision of sonorants and nasals and assimilation of /ɕ/ ‹c›, e.g.:

• Pcu ããtanãti hvossu. "This bee is noisy."
• Hoyoc õpsomõti nuãsu. "These people will get married."

In many forms, the first singular and third plural persons are merged. However, the ambiguity can be resolved by adding a pluralizing particle nãc after the verb, e.g. hõõpit-nãc they did.

Past tense

Subject	Object
	-	1sg	1pl	2	3sg	3pl	refl
1sg	hõõpit	-	huspit	hucpit	homõt	hanõt	hucõõt
1pl	õõpit	inõt	-	ucpit	omõt	anõt	ukõõt
2sg	yiõpit	yinõt	yispit	-	yiomõt	yianõt	yicõõt
2pl	cõõpit	cinõt	cuspit	-	comõt	canõt	cukõõt
3sg	põõpit	piõpit	psõõpit	pcõõpit	pomõt	pãopit	pocõõt
3pl	hõõpit	hinõt	hospit	hocpit	homõt	hanõt	hokõõt
relative	võõpit	vinõt	vaspit	vacpit	vomõt	vanot	vacõõt

Present tense

Subject	Object
	-	1sg	1pl	2	3sg	3pl	refl
1sg	hucu	-	hussu	huccu	hõõcu	hããcu	hutcu
1pl	ucu	ĩĩcu	-	uccu	õõcu	ããcu	utcu
2sg	yicu	yĩcu	yissu	-	yiõcu	yiãcu	yitcu
2pl	cucu	cĩĩcu	cussu	-	cõõcu	cããcu	cutcu
3sg	pcu	pĩĩcu	psicu	pcicu	põõcu	pããcu	potcu
3pl	hocu	hĩĩcu	hossu	hoccu	hõõcu	hããcu	hotcu
relative	vacu	vĩĩcu	vassu	vaccu	võõcu	vããcu	vatcu

Future tense

Subject	Object
	-	1sg	1pl	2	3sg	3pl	refl
1sg	hoyoc	-	husooc	hucooc	homoc	hanoc	hukooc
1pl	oyoc	inoc	-	ucooc	omoc	anoc	ukooc
2sg	yioyoc	yinoc	yisooc	-	yiomoc	yianoc	yicooc
2pl	coyoc	cinoc	cusooc	-	comoc	canoc	cukooc
3sg	pooc	pinoc	psooc	pcooc	pomoc	panoc	pocooc
3pl	hoyoc	hinoc	hosooc	hocooc	homoc	hanoc	hokooc
relative	voyoc	vinoc	vasooc	vacooc	vomoc	vanoc	vakooc

Irrealis moods

Conditional mood

The same as past tense with -cii ending added.

Imperative mood

The same as present tense with -hi ending added.

Grammatical words

Several particles &c. are commonly used in Tari.

Conjunctions

tso

because

• Hucu tavaasu, tso yiõpit ãtomõ thupssu.

  I am surprised because you were too strong.

si

and

• Hucpit kõõpsu haraksuu, si yinõt cpũũsu.

  I hit you with a knife and you kicked me.

no

so that, in order to

• Hucpit kõõpsu haraksuu, no hõõpitcii pticssu.

  I hit you with a knife so that I would win.

hun

however

• Hucpit kõõpsu haraksuu, hun yiõpit pticssu.

  I hit you with a knife, but you won.

Question words

tin?

who?

• Tin pcicu yoãsu?

  Who is your brother?

it?

what?

• It pcu sinĩ õpaahisu?

  What is so spicy?

tĩĩcu?

where?

• Tĩĩcu yiõcu ousu?

  Where do you live?

tiunũt?

when?

• Tiunũt põõpit tarasu?

  When did it happen?

uc?

how?

• Uc yiõcu tsosu?

  How can you doubt it?

Prepositions

ca

out of, out from

• Yiõcuhi ca tsa pocosu.

  Spit it out of your mouth.

yi

on, at

• Hucu yi kick huõsu.

  I work in the house.

yoin

of, for

• Pĩĩcu karac yoin kara-nĩ pianãsu.

  The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Adverbial particles

ciniãt

right now

• Yĩcuhi ciniãt ãsĩĩcisu!

  Give it to me right now!

võuti

today

• Hoyoc võuti ũkissiu hutsu.

  Today I will cross the pond.

cũũkact

often

• Hããcu cũũkact ãtsaac tomõsu.

  I often eat fruits.

uyuiyi

rarely

• Hucu uyuiyi cosso tuusu.

  I rarely swim naked.

Other

ãti

not

• Homõt ãti ukho ranã õpukisu.

  I did not have sex with that woman.

nãc

they do (used to make 1sg and 3pl forms distinct)

• Hõõcu ãti tsiisu, hõõcu-nãc tsiisu.

  I can't see it, they can.

ukho

that, there (general demonstrative)

• Pcu ukho vacut õpiõsu.

  That path is ruined.

Sample text

Pããcu

pããcu

3sg»3pl

pvahutic

pvahu-tic

lion-def.erg

un

un

be.all

õvõuyuti

õ-võuyu-ti

pl-beast-def

cõusu,

coun-su

rule-fin

The lion rules all the beasts

tso

tso

because

pcu

pcu

3sg»∅

sinĩ

sinĩ

be.much

thupssu,

thups-su

be.strong-fin

nĩsiu

nĩ-siu

body-def.ins

vããtisu,

vããti-su

be.big-fin

tcaasiu

tcaa-siu

waist-def.ins

piosu,

pio-su

be.slim-fin

ãssakhusiu

ã-ssakhu-siu

pl-foot-def.ins

skosu.

sko-su

be.quick-fin

because he is very strong, large of body, slim of waist, quick of leg.