Haššûl: Difference between revisions

A grammar sketch of the Haššûl, common language of the Yar-Beššel and The Riverlands.

The language known as the Haššûl [ħɐ.'ʃ:u:l] is the common language of The Yar-Beššel (name given to the Kingdom of Yar-Beššel proper and its neighboring vassal counties), as well as of the nearby region known as The Riverlands (organized in a --comparatively-- looser adjunction of fiefdoms and acting as a federation, with a politically and economically friendly relationship with the Kingdom). There are many different languages being spoken in The Riverlands, some more related to each other than others, but all riverlanders speak the Haššûl as well. On the contrary, being it the principal language of the Kingdom, most of its inhabitants are native speakers of the Haššûl while they know little, if anything, of the indigenous languages of the neighboring Riverlands. For outsiders, there is a certain impression of linguistic and cultural homogeneity in the region, since the Haššûl is the language they would expect everyone to be able to speak anywhere near the Yar-Beššel and The Riverlands, and to which they would refer to as the "local tongue".  

Front Mid Back

High i î u û

e ê

Low o ô

a â

h [ħ] š [ʃ] l [l] b [b] r [r] y [j] n [n] x [X] m [m] p [p] k [k] z [z] w [w]

%h > k/C_V [C=n,k] en-happ- > enkapp- | e=k-happ= > ekkapp- S>P/n_ ?

h > y/y_V ey-happ- > eyyapp-

k > x/n_ mann-kên- > manxên-

lttu > ldu

====Number marking====

Indeterminate Determinate

i) Number marking by prefix

Singular Ø- ak-

Paucal bar- šte-

Plural l(e)- har-

ii) Number marking by suffix

Singular -eš -eš=ûr etymologicaly related to "one", êš.

Paucal -n -n=ûr

Plural -n=zûr

iii) Number marking by infix:  

mainly collective nouns and plurale tantum

Singular -VyV- V1CCV2 -> V1CV1yV1CV2 Singulative form of a collective noun or plurale tantum; an individualisation or instance thereof.

Paucal -az- -(t)is(i)-

Plural -VhtV-

iv) Number marking by combination of the above

Singular -VrV-...-em Ø-...-s=ûr

Paucal -VkkV-...-ar ar-...-m=ûr

Plural u'-...-kûr

v) Number marking by reduplication

Singular Ø itV1(t)-

Paucal C1a- C1... -> C1aC1...

Plural VCVC-

{haptu-kkû-}

to.cook-bread[INC]-

'to.bread-cook' => to bake

E.g. "wânkaptukkûš", I bake  {wâ[N]-Ø-hanaptu-kkû-Ø-Ø-Ø-Ø-š-Ø}

Pronouns form two groups: "free" pronouns, which can be marked for case, and genitive pronouns, which are a supletive paradigm, etymologically related to the root *wēr, " to belong".

There are three forms for each pronoun: a long form, a short form and an enclitic form (prefixed). The long form is used when in standalone situations, were the pronoun is the sole representation of the argument in question. The short and enclitic forms look largely alike in isolation, but the enclitic forms are subject to sandhi phenomena the short forms are not, and the short forms elicitate circumstantial mutations the enclitic forms do not trigger. The phonemes enclosed in square brackets in the tables below show which kind of underlying influence the prefixes carry on their boundaries.

Paucal forms are reportedly derived from the plural forms, which in turn seem to be related to the singular forms. The exclusive prefix is t=, etymologically related to the root *tə, "without".

Whenever a genitive pronoun in its long form is used in a clause, case marking is dropped from the arguments and the roles are marked by their syntactic relation with the pronoun (e.g. possessed-gen-possessor; see Possession below).

- Free pronouns:

- Reflexive pronouns:

Reflexive pronouns are formed by prefixal and infixal reduplication of the long form of the free pronouns and have only a long form. The prefixal element V- applies to CV1C- forms, which become V1CV1C-. The infixal element -CC- applies to both CVC- and VCV- forms, which geminate the first and second consonant, respectively, of the free form of the pronoun. This lengthening of the consonant compensatorily shortens any subsequent long vowels and drives the elision of  final vowels. Regular phonological processes also apply.

1.INCL ummal unummil unummeš

2 ozzur unussil onoššul

3 muppal anammil anammal

SINGULAR PAUCAL/PLURAL

Long Short Encl. Long Short Encl.

1.INCL ekker ek- e=k- akler ak- a=k-

1.EXCL t=akler > talêr tâl- ta=l-

2 ener en- e=n- aššer aš(š)- a=š-

3 eyer ey- e=y- nammer nâm- na=m-

- Negative pronouns:

Slot -2: Pronominal marking on the verb

Verbal roots are prefixed with the enclitical form of the personal pronouns (see Pronouns above).

Not marking with a pronominal form lets the agent unspecified, which conveys a grammatical aspect of the gnomic and habitual types. E.g. if the actor is mentioned (be it through the use of a proper name or the use of a long pronominal form), then a verb without pronominal marking would convey the meaning of a certain gnomicity/habituality of that doing by said overtly stated actor.

Same referent -Ø-

Another (mentioned) -i-

Compositional genitive -šnV- V=reduplication of the root vowel as short vowel regardless of original length; the verb receives a noun in genitive compound; akin to a construct state marking, but in the verb.

Anterior tense -xtu-

Past tense/perfectve aspect -kše-

Relative present tense/gnomic aspect -Ø-

Present-future/imperfective aspect -ra=

Posterior tense -šar-

Slot 3: Object number marking

Slot 4: Aspect

-ô-

-ta-

-û-

-î-

-ne-

Tense/aspect -Ø- Unmarked aspect in Slot 4 points towards the tense/aspect marking in Slot 1

Slot 5: Mood

-l=tu-Ø > -ltu ; -l=tu-i > -ltwi ; -l=tu-u > -ltû ; -l=tu-k > -ltuk

Potential/Optative -x-

Volitive -hh(V)- +(V) before a consonant in the following slot; it repeats the preceding vowel, always short regardless of its original length.

Active -Ø

Anticausative -i

Middle -u

Applicative -k ; also marking of unergative past participles as nominal modifiers with active meaning

Unergative -t

Haššûl spatial deictics correlate in proximity with first exclusive (proximal), second (medial), and third person (distal) pronouns. The short form of the genitive pronouns is affixed wih the following locative markers (LOC) depending on relative positions: -le 'speaker', -nê 'addressee' and -la 'both'. This gives us the following combinations:

Singular:

LOC 'speaker' -le têk-le- > têkle- > telê- en-le- > elne- > êlle- ey-le > eyye > êye-

'addressee' -nê têk-nê- > têknê- > tekne- en-nê- > ennê- > êne- ey-nê > enyê > enye-

'both' -la têk-la- > têkla- > telâ- en-la- > elna- > êlla- ey-la > eyya > êya-

Paucal/Plural:

LOC 'speaker' -le tâl-le- > tâlle- > tale- aš(š)-le- > ašle- > ašše- nâm-le- > nâlme- > nâlle-

'addressee' -nê tâl-nê- > tânlê- > tanne- aš(š)-nê- > ašne- > ašnê- nâm-nê- > nâmne- > nâmme-

'both' -la tâl-la- > tâlla- > tala- aš(š)-la- > ašla- > ašša- nâm-la- > nâlma- > nâlla-

Verbal forms of the demonstrative pronouns can be derived with the verbalizer =š- for intransitive verbs, with the meaning to.be/stay/remain/be.present-LOC, e.g. {ašša=š-} 'aššaš' "they just stay there"

Posession can be marked with the enclitic form of either a genitive or a negative pronoun, indicating respectively posession or non-posession by the marked-for person.

Genitive possessive

The possession of a noun is marked with the enclitic form of the genitive pronouns, bearing the same person and number (1S.GEN = 1S.POS, "my", etc).

Whenever a genitive pronoun in its long form is used in a clause (e.g. when the posessor is explicitly mentioned), posession marking is dropped from the arguments and the roles are marked by their syntactic relation with the pronoun (e.g. possessed-gen-possessor). For instance, in the sentence "Manxên eyer Rûl" ("a man's she-dog"), the posessor is mentioned (Rûl, a.man), and therefore the long version of the third person singular genitive pronoun (eyer) is used; the form **eyManxên eyer Rûl would be incorrect.

Negative possessive

The enclitic form of the negative pronouns is used in the same way as that of the genitive pronouns, likewise bearing the same person and number (1S.NEG = 1S.NEG.POS, "not.my", etc, to indicate a non-belonging relationship. E.g. "rexlanneš", {re=x-lann-eš} 1S.NEG.POS-house-SG 'not.my.house'.

Every lexical root, be it nominal or verbal, can be turned into an adjective with the adjectivizer suffix ADJZ -(t)ilir.

In the case of nominal roots, it takes on the role of a semblative case, with the general predicate form "x is [noun]-like".  

In the case of verbal roots, it can be defined as a deverbal form, taking over adjectival functions, by which definition it could be called an adverb, with the general predicate form "(x-is) in the manner of [verb]-ing". In the context of a restrictive relative clause, it takes on the role of a deverbal form about which can be predicated of as a noun, by which definition it can be called a participle, with the general predicate form "x, which is like [verb]-ing" (in English both forms woul be represented by the infinitive, and are thus rendered as such in the translation).

happ- < *haff-, fire ; =Ca- vlz1

happ=a- > happa- to.burn (tr.)

In transitive verbs derived from a noun. For example, the verbal affix -ttu- marks that an action which is performed through the modified noun transforms the object in some way. E.g.

happ- < *haff-, fire ; =š- vlz3

happ=š- > happš- to.burn (int.)

===Derivation from verbs===

Verb to noun

===Word order===

QUESTION [topic]=Q [encl.pron]=[NO.OBJECT]-to.ask{tr}

e=n-happ=a-ra=z-Ø-Ø-ô-r-Ø

e=n- -happ=a- -ra=z- -Ø- -Ø- -ô- -r- -Ø

e=n- S>P/n_ (ej. h>k) -Ø- -happ=a- <šnV>1 -ra=z- =z/_V[-high] -n- -- -ô- -r- -i

Tense: [anterior] vs. [past/perfective] vs. [relative present tense] vs. [present-future/imperfective] vs. [posterior]

Object number (transitive verbs)

Nouns (n): animate (an), inanimate (in), derivated from verbs (dev).

Verbs (v): transitive (tr), intransitive (int), incorporated (inc)

Particles (p): verbal (ver), nominal (nom), suprasegmental (sup)

Numerals (nu)

<> // Nr.

hanapp- n an ii fire -na- (infix); stative (nominal form)

happ=š- v int to.burn.(down) happ- < *haff-, fire ; =š- VLZ3

happ=a- v tr to.burn happ- < *haff-, fire ; =Ca- VLZ1

haptu- v tr "to.transform.using.fire": to.cook (a meal, clay, etc), to.evaporate (water, etc), some (al-)chemical reactions happ- < *haff-, fire ; =ttu- VLZ2

happ-ttu- to.transform.using.fire

hanaptu- n dev (a) cooking

hašnapturûl- n an ii a cook "a man of cooking", ha<šnV>ptu-rûl-

hašnaptukkûrûl- n an ii a baker

akkwaku- n in ii a meal reduplication of "bread", akku-akku-

akku-, -kkû- n in ii bread

haptukkû- v inc to.bread-cook, to.bake.bread

manne n an ii animal similar to a dog

rûl n an ii man

kên n an ii female (of an animal)