Teyetáti

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To Be Continued...
Rorschach is still working on this article. The contents are incomplete and likely to undergo changes.

Teyetáti is a language spoken in the Yètùpono'mòn mountains region of southeastern Tuysáfa. It is a T1 language and so is related to such languages as Cednìtıt, Hkətl’ohnim, Tumetıęk, Omari, East Yalan and West Yalan; more specifically, it is a member of the Southeastern branch of the T1 languages and is closely related to Tkeḏ.

Teyetáti
[ ˈtejetáti ]
Period c. 0 YP
Spoken in Yètùpono'mòn mountains (SE Tuysáfa)
Total speakers unknown, thought to be less than 10,000
Writing system unknown
Classification T1 languages
  Southeastern T1
    Teyetáti
Typology
Basic word order VOS
Morphology agglutinating/polysynthetic with some fusion
Alignment NOM-ACC
Credits
Created by Linguifex, with help from Cedh and Caleone

Phonology

Phoneme inventory

Consonants

Where two consonants appear near a bullet, the consonant to the right is lateral in articulation.

labial alveolar postalveolar palatal velar pharyngeal glottal
plosive plain p t k ʔ
pharyngealized
nasal plain m n
pharyngealized
fricative plain f s · ɬ ʃ x ħ
pharyngealized sˤ · ɬˤ
liquid plain ɹ · l
pharyngealized ɹˤ · lˤ
semivowel j w
  • /p t tˤ tʃ k ʔ/ are written ❬p t ṭ č k ’❭.
  • /m n nˤ/ are written ❬m n ṇ❭.
  • /f s sˤ ɬ ɬˤ ʃ x ħ/ are written ❬f s ṣ z ẓ š h ḥ❭.
  • /ɹ ɹˤ l lˤ j w / are written ❬r ṛ l ḷ y w❭.

Vowels

The Teyetáti vowel inventory is as follows. Vowels can be one of three tones: High, mid, or low.

front central back
-rnd +rnd -rnd +rnd
close i y ɯ u
mid e ø ɤ o
open aɪ a aʊ
  • /á é ǿ í ý ɤ́ ó ɯ́ ú/ are written as ❬á é ô í û ê ó î ú❭.
  • /a e ø i y ɤ o ɯ u/ are written as ❬a e ö i ü ë o ï u❭.
  • /à è ø̀ ì ỳ ɤ̀ ò ɯ̀ ù/ are written as ❬à è ǒ ì ǔ ě ò ǐ ù❭.

Phonotactics

  • Nasals may never appear as the first element in a cluster.
  • /w/ does not appear before front rounded vowels.
  • // and /j/ tend not to appear around /ʔ/.

(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)

Legal onsets:

  • Null
  • Any single consonant
  • /tp tc/
  • plosive + heterorganic nasal
  • central fricative + nasal
  • /ft/
  • /s/ + plosive or resonant
  • /s/ + plosive + resonant
  • /ʃ/ + /p t/
  • C (+ plosive) + /r l/ or /s ɬ/
  • The above (except where the first element would be a nasal) + /r l/ or /s ɬ/

Legal codas:

  • Null
  • Any single consonant
  • Plosive + /s/
  • Fricative + plosive

Allophony

  • Near pharyngeal(ized) consonants, the close and mid vowels are realized as semi-close and open-mid, respectively.
  • In women's speech, /f/ tends to drop out entirely when next to an obstruent; males either preserve /f/ in these positions or pronounce it as /h/.
  • Due to the behavior of the glottal stop, resonants may sometimes become syllabic. When this occurs, the following transformations take place:
n a
y i
m r ṛ l ḷ w u

Morphophonology

In addition to the above-listed changes, some other changes can occur across morpheme boundaries.

  • Progression (abbreviated prog) is a feature serving to lower a preceding vowel one tone, unless it is already low, and also to lower a vowel following a consonant or consonant cluster to the low tone. When present it will spread to the nearest vowel. prog is always applied if a root-initial obstruent precedes a low-tone vowel.
  • Fronting (abbreviated fr, symbolized ←) is a process by which a following back vowel becomes a corresponding front vowel. It is blocked by an intervening consonant. Fronting always occurs to a following back vowel when following /c/ that alternates with /j/.
  • Upstep (abbreviated up, symbolized ↑) is a process by which a following vowel is upstepped to the next-higher tone (or stays high if it already is). Upstep is blocked by an intervening resonant.
  • Downstep (abbreviated dw, symbolized ↓) is a process by which a vowel is downstepped one tone unless already low.
  • Retraction (abbreviated ret, symbolized →) is a process by which a labial consonant becomes velar. This is usually the result of underlying /p f/ coming into contact with a dorsal obstruent.
  • Pharyngealization (abbreviated phar, symbolized ·) is a process by which either an alveolar consonant becomes pharyngealized or hiatus is prevented by a voiceless pharyngeal fricative. No other environments are affected.
  • Lenition (symbolized +) changes a consonant in the following manners: If a stop to which prog does not apply, that stop is changed to its corresponding fricative, and a following high-tone vowel is downstepped to the mid-tone; if an intervocalic stop to which prog does apply, the corresponding nasal (though in the case of /ʔ/ this typically results in deletion, although the vowel itself will be affected by normal prog processes); and if an intervocalic fricative, the corresponding approximant. /r rˤ/ in alternation with /s sˤ/ reverts to [r rˤ]. /k x/ are often immune to this.
  • Rounding (symbolized º) is a process wherein a corner is turned on a path. It is also a process wherein an unrounded vowel becomes round.
  • Unrounding (symbolized ª) is the opposite process to rounding.

In addition, there are several other changes that bear mentioning.

  • In affixes, the presence of a resonant lowers a following vowel to low tone.
  • In affixes, /r rˤ/ becomes [s sˤ] when the next vowel carries high tone. This also holds when in clusters.
  • There are two underspecified vowels, H and V. The surfacing of these vowels depends on the surrounding phonetic environment. Typically, if the following vowel is back, /H V/ occur as [i e]; if front, [u o]; if word-final, [e a].
  • In affixes, vowel-vowel sequences tend to go as the following. E is a front unrounded vowel; B is a back rounded vowel.
E₁E₂ E₁ +
B₁B₂ B₁ +
Two vowels of mixed rounding Place of the first, roundedness of the second

Grammar

Nouns

Person/number/animacy/possession prefixes

Person, number, and animacy are marked in Teyetáti by prefixes. These prefixes also optionally mark the person of the possessor (1st, 2nd, or 3rd), but not the number thereof.

_C _V
Non-poss 1.POSS 2.POSS 3.POSS Non-poss 1.POSS 2.POSS 3.POSS
Singular 1st to- nìto- cto- pùto- to- nìto- cto- pùto-
2nd il-¹/ïl-² nìl- cl-/yil- pùl- il-¹/ïl-² nìl- cl- pùl-
3rd anim. Ø- nì- c-¹/ji-² pù- ǒ-³/w-⁴ nǒ-³/nìw-⁴ jǒ-³/cw-⁴ pǐ-⁵/pǔ-⁶/pù-
3rd inan. Ø-/S↑⁸ nì-/nìS↑⁸ c-/yi-/ciS↑⁸ pù-/pùS↑⁸ ↑⁷ nìn↑⁷ yin↑⁷ pùn↑⁷
Plural 1st (i)s- nìs- yis- pùs- (i)s- nìs- yis- pùs-
2nd c-/ye- nìc- yic- pùc- c-¹/y-² nìc-¹/nìy-² yic-¹/yiy-² pùc-¹/pùy-²
3rd anim. nù+ nìnù+ cnù+ pùnù+ n↑⁷ nìn↑⁷ cn↑⁷ pùn↑⁷
3rd inan. nà+ nìnà+ cnà+ pùnà+
Collective 3rd anim. mò+ nìmò+ cmò+ pùmò+ m- nìm- cm- pùm-
3rd inan. i- nì- yi- pǔ- ↓⁹ niy- y↓⁹ pǔy-

1. Occurs before back vowels.

2. Occurs before front vowels.

3. Replaces initial /a e/.

4. Before initial /i ɯ ɤ/.

5. Before /a e/.

6. Replaces initial /i/.

7. Tone changes on the first vowel if the noun is vowel-initial.

8. If the onset of the noun is a single plosive.

9. Replaces initial vowels according to the following schema:

_E[- rnd], _/a/ _E[+ rnd] _B[- rnd] _B[+ rnd]
ì ìyu ǔyi ǔ

Case suffixes

Teyetáti nouns can be one of three cases: Nominative, accusative, or oblique. Case suffixes are also partly fused with the definite article and with demonstratives. Certain final consonants of noun stems trigger a tonal downstep of an immediately preceding stem vowel: For the definite, final /f/; for the proximal, final /k/ or /ʔ/; and for the distal, final /f/ or /x/. In the case of these latter two, the consonants assimilate pursuant to the appropriate conditions of ret.

C_ V_
Nominative Accusative Oblique Nominative Accusative Oblique
Indefinite -an¹/-àn² +u³ -n ↓º
Definite -ti¹/-tì² -tin¹/-tìn² -tù -ti -tin -tù
Proximal -’ó¹,⁴/-’ò²,⁴ -’ón¹,⁴/-’òn²,⁴ -’ò⁴ -’ó -’ón -’ò
Distal -fe¹/-fè² -fen¹/-fèn² -fǒ -fe -fen -fǒ

1. After obstruents.

2. After resonants.

3. If following a sequence of low-tone vowel plus plosive, this ending upsteps the tone of the preceding vowel, mutates the plosive to a homorganic nasal, and itself lowers one tone to /ù/.

4. The /ʔ/ surfaces as [k] when following a fricative or /p/, and as zero following another plosive. Following a resonant, the glottal stop metathesizes to precede the resonant.

Defective nouns

Certain nouns in Teyetáti are defective; their declension is somewhat different. In addition, the accusative of a defective noun is often employed as a subject in past-tense verbs, as opposed to the nominative.

Nominative nonpast Nominative past Accusative Oblique
Indefinite -l -n º
Definite -si -ztì -sin -sü
Proximal ·o ·o ·on ·ò
Distal -ön

Pronouns

Pronouns are not often overtly marked in Teyetáti, but do show up for emphasis, obliquity, or possession (in constructs involving possessed inanimate accusatives or instrumentals), and decline as regular nouns do (first-person as definite, second-person as indefinite, and third-person as distal). Second-person forms make a distinction between familiar and deferential forms.

The use of the collective is not paired with any special verb form; it is used with the plural, but often is used for emphasis, making statements, or making generalizations. In addition, the first-person collective may be used much the same as the royal we.

1P 2Pf 2Pd 3Pi 3Pa
Singular ömèti ilnòzte elpmò mrùṣofe ömèfe
Plural nǒmèti yènòzte yèpmò nàrùṣofe nǒmèfe
Collective mǒmèti mìlnòzte mèlpmò mòrùṣofe mǒmèfe

Verbs

Verbs in Teyetáti are highly agglutinative and can be envisioned as having a large number of slots in which to place morphemes. These morphemes on occasion can interact with each other.

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 ±0 +1 +2 +3
evidential modal negation subject/
tense
object circumstantial preverb instrumental STEM adverbial voice,
valence
deverbal

Evidentials

Evidentials may be found in slot -8.

Modals

Modals occur in slot -7. They are as follows:

Ø-
indicative
čö-
conative
iš-
incohative
še-
interrogative
tmà-
dubitative
tH̀-
jussive
eprì-
optative

Negative

The negative morpheme, if present, is -tì-.

Subject/Tense

The Teyetáti vowel inventory is as follows. Vowels can be one of three tones: High, mid, or low.

Nonpast Past
PL PL
1P -nì- -še- -sú- ~ -rù- -u-
2P -rH1- yì- -yà- -cü-
3Pi -en↑¹/-e↑²/-e-³ -nà- -s(L)- ·o-
3Pa -mù- -nà- -p(o)- ·o-

1. Before a vowel.

2. Before a single stop or /j/.

3. Else.

Prefixes beginning with vowels notably do not interact with an immediately-preceding vowel.

Object

SG PL
1P -n←¹/-nì-²/↓!³ -s-¹/-se-²
2P -n↑¹/-z(H)-² -š←(i)-
3P -º-/-um(ù)-  !/-n(à)-
reflexive -y-⁴/-č(a)- -’(a)-

Circumstantials

-a+
habitual
-tsu-
perfective
-i(š)-
imperfective (this š only appears before nasals and plosives other than the glottal stop)

Preverbs

-mò-
ablative (often takes incorporated locative in the instrumental, or else a following prepositional phrase)
-(V2)sa-
allative (often takes incorporated locative in the instrumental, or else a following prepositional phrase)
-sV3·/
-rV1·
up, to a position above (the r-form occurs after a prog-instigating segment, the s-form otherwise)
-’(H)+
down
-st(V)-
into (a movable container)
-tán←/-ta-
into (a bounded area) (-ta- before a consonant)
-(o)zti+
out of (a movable container)
-’ì!/
-im(ì)-
out of (a bounded area)
-rù-
onto
-eyè-
to a position above
-yè(n)-
over, across
-še-
beyond
-ut↑-/
-utH3-
ignorant of, ignoring
-ì-/-im(ù)-
around, along a curved path (-ì- before a consonant, -im- otherwise)
-l(è)-
apart, into pieces; to the detriment of
-wèt!/
-wètò-
aimlessly, back and forth
-i’r-
there, at that location

Instrumentals

SG PL
1P -n←¹/-nì-²/↓!³ -s-¹/-se-²
2P -n↑¹/-z(H)-² -š←(i)-
3P -º-/-um(ù)-  !/-n(à)-
reflexive -y-⁴/-č(a)- -’(a)-

1. Before a vowel.

2. Before a consonant.

3. Before certain consonants.

4. Before a front vowel.

Adverbials

Consonants in parentheses only appear if word-final.

 !pù-/
-pu-
imperative
-tfí-
irrealis
-nìm-/
-nì!
diminutive
-V’-
intensive
-ljV1-
approximative
-tjV1-
durative, progressive
-mòü-
pausative
 !tlu(š←)
incohative
-ṭlo!
cessative
 !m-/
-àm-
together, in tandem
-’az(t)-
again
-te-
today
-àt-
now
-ut(s)-
always


Valence

 !čìn-/
!čì!
transitivizer
↓/-a-
detransitivizer
-’á-
causative intransitive
-(H)·
causative transitive
-un-/
-ù!
transitive mediopassive
-sún-/
-sù!
intransitive mediopassive
-tám-/
-tà!
ditransitive inverse

Deverbal

-ta
Action noun
-èčǔ/

↓čǔ
Stative participle

Adjectives

Adjectives follow the nouns they modify and take a prefix fa-. They are usually based off of stative verbs and take the appropriate prefixes.

Attributives

Attributives look like adjectives, but behave in the following way. The stem of the attributive is fa<>ölò-, which takes as an infix the thing attributed (e.g., fàzmàìolò "horned", from azmà "horn"; fasca’üolò "-legged, -footed"). Optionally a number is suffixed, and when so done is treated as a verb, as in fàzmàìolòa "two-horned" or fasca’üolò’e "four-legged". Adjectives further modifying the thing attributed are treated as relatives (see below).

Grammar

Possessed Object Incorporation

Objects, when possessed by an animate possessor, are often incorporated into the object slot of a verb. The possessor is then overtly present in the object position in the sentence.

Interrogatives

Interrogatives involving questions of a non-indicative mood are handled by the verb and using the stative participle of a nominalized verb for the question.

Šeeyí čötìḥomǒlmùzwò’zonačǔ tètǔ?
še-e-yí čö-tì-ḥo-m-ǒ-l-mù-zwò’zonačǔ Ø-tètǔ
interrog-3s.subj.pst-be.true con-neg-3s.an.subj.pst-3s.inan.obj-controlled-3ps.inan.inst-destroy.stat.part 3s.inan-axe-def.obl
Did he try not to tear it apart with the axe?

Relative clauses

Relative clauses appear following the noun they modify. The relative affix is -H2-, which is slotted into the appropriate verbal prefix slot, or treated as a noun as appropriate.

Lexicon

See here.