| Proto-Vdangku | |
|---|---|
|
Pronunciation |
['ftaŋkʰu] |
|
Spoken In |
|
|
Total Speakers |
11000 |
|
Language Family |
Vdangku |
Proto-Vdangku is the language spoken by the Růmzqūse, who live in the relatively flat landscape of the southern part of the eastern continent. It is a highly inflected language.
Phonology
Consonants
plosive /pʰ p tʰ t kʰ k qʰ q/
implosive /ɓ ɗ ɠ ʛ/ <bb dd kk qq>
nasal /m n ŋ ɴ/ <m n ng ong>
fricative /β z ɣ ʁ/ <v z xh r>
approximant /l/ <l>
Vowels
/i u o ə ɛ ʌ a/
Vowels can be doubled or tripled in length. Doubling is denoted by a bar above the vowel, while tripling requires a change in intonation (353) that is denoted by a circumflex. Morphological Processes [fric] > [unvoiced] / _[unaspirated plosive, implosive] Ci > Cj / _
Phonotactics
(F)(C)(V)V(V)(C)
- å
- iå
- iåi
- ddiåi
- diåim
- zdiåim [stjəim]
Semantics
Proto-Vdangku is a highly inflected language. Nouns are inflected for a variety of cases, while verbs are inflected for a variety of perspectives, tenses, aspects, and moods.
Pronouns
| sing. | plu. | |
| 1 | taxh | tuxhe |
| N | iuvzgå | iuvzgik |
As a result of the sparsely populated space, the Růmzqūse tend not to form large groups. Speech is often used for relaying information about things that are not present in the immediate vicinity, and the personal pronoun inventory has developed to meet this need. Pronouns are differentiated by person, either 1st person, or non-1st person (denoted by N), and by quantity, singular or plural.
Nouns
Nouns are declined for a variety of cases, most of which are locative in nature.
Cases include: Absolutive (base), ergative, dative, genitive, comitative (together with)/also used as a copula, sublative (on the surface), subessive (under), superessive (over), mesessive (beside), evitative (to be avoided, related to superessive), attactive (to be attracted to, related to subessive).
Nouns can be pluralized by fronting the final syllable vowel, then reduplicating the first onset fricative of the root, if available. imxhe forager.ABS --> imxhixh forager.ABS.pl
The language is head-final. Adjectives come before the nouns that they modify, and agree in case and plurality.
The following is a declension table for most nouns.
imxhe - forager
| sing | plu | |
| absolutive (citation) | imxhe | imxhixh |
| ergative, zi- | zimxhe | zimxhixh |
| dative, u- | uimxhe | uimxhixh |
| genitive, -ūze | imxhūze | imxhūzixh |
| comitative/copula, -iůl[fin.V] | imxhiůle | imxhiůlixh |
| sublative, -ta | imxhta | imxhtexh |
| subessive, ol- | olimxhe | olimxhixh |
| superessive, al- | alimxhe | alimxhixh |
| mesessive, vd(a)-* | vdimxhe | vdimxhixh |
| evitative, iāl- | iālimxhe | iālimxhixh |
| attractive, iōl- | iōlimxhe | iōlimxhixh |
- takes <vd-> before vowels except <a>, <vda-> before consonants and <a>.
Verbs
Verb Inflections
Verbs are inflected for:
-person: who is performing the action?
-tense: past, near past, present
-aspect: imperfect, perfect
-mood: indicative, imperative, desire (desiderative), potential (can you…/will you…), permissive/prohibitive, necessitative
Although the indicative mood can only express past actions, future constructions can be created by inflecting the verb using the various other moods.
Conjugations
Verb roots always end in aspirated consonants or consonant clusters. Modifications are made as follows:
růmzq- “to run”
Indicative, Present, Imperfect
| sing | plu | |
| 1 | růmzqå | růmzqåm |
| N | růmzqā | růmzqān |
This is the default base of the root. Endings are added as shown.
Completion is denoted by unaspirating the final plosive. This gives: růmzqå, růmzqā, růmzqåm, růmzqān.
Near Past is created by infixing -ia- before the plosive. This gives: růmziaqå, růmziaqā, růmziaqåm, růmziaqān.
Past has its own set of endings. This gives: růmzqi, růmzqiu, růmzqin, růmzqiun.
Imperative Mood
The imperative has its own set of endings. All commands are considered perfective actions, so the final plosive is unaspirated. růmzqhiůb, růmzqhiůl, růmzqhiēng, růmzqhiēm
Desiderative Mood
The desiderative mood is created by infixing -eng[implosivized final plosive] + indicative endings. This gives:
- .DES.imp.pres růmzqengqqå, růmzqengqqā, růmzqengqqåm, růmzqengqqān,
- .DES.Perf.pres růmzqhengqqå, růmzqhengqqā, růmzqhenqqåm, růmzqhenqqān,
- .Des.imp.Npast růmziaqengqqå, růmziaqengqqā, růmziaqengqqåm, růmziaqengqqān.
The past desiderative is formed differently. Using the appropriate form of the present imperfect desiderative, all vowels not in the root are converted to . This gives:
- .DES.past.imp růmzqingqqi, růmzqingqqī, růmzqingqqim, růmzqingqqīn
- with shortened forms: růmzqing, růmzqīng, růmzqīm, růmzqīn.
Potential Mood
Plosive implosivzed, present endings. For singular, -ong is added; for plural, present ending vowel is duplicated, then –ong is added. All verbs in potential mood are imperfect. For past tense, <ong> --> <ng>.
- .POT.imp.pres růmzqqåong, růmzqqāong, růmzqqåmåong, růmzqqānāong
- .POT.imp.Npast růmiazqqåong, růmziaqqāong, růmziaqqåmåong, růmziaqqānāong
- .POT.imp.past růmzqqing, růmzqqīng, růmzqqīng, růmzqqîng
Permissive Mood
<-evk-> is suffixed after the root, indicative endings are added. Other transformations follow as normal.
Necessitative Mood
<-ieong-> is suffixed after the root, indicative endings are added. Other transformation follow as normal.
Syntax
The basic sentence structure is SOV, although this is not fixed because of case markings. Heads are final, and topics can be fronted for emphasis.
Sample Texts
The grass fields are endless. But there is nothing, nothing more here for us.
vdiamrūziv zbbuongtiz arkå. xhpin, rgiutu xhpin argůd utuxhixh pei
neg.ending.GEN.pl grassfield.ABS.pl exist.imp. void.ABS, anymore void.ABS exist.cont.perf 1p.DAT this.place
They will welcome you as a prince among princes, and they will worship you as a god among gods.
iuvzgiz exhbbevgiānāong ziuvzgå aliggin uaxhīxh, neůlvggevgiānāong alneůik uaxhīxh
Np.ABS enter.PERM.POT.Np Ns.ERG prince.SUP other.DAT.pl, worship.PERM.POT king.SUP other.DAT.pl
Dialects
Dialect groups can be divided into the Northern (Olneůik) and Southern flatland groups.
Olneůik Dialect
is the standard...
Southern Dialect
Grammar remains mostly the same. [ɛ] is mostly lenited or deleted, especially before palatals and velars.
- Standard:vdiamrūziv zbbuongtiz arkå. xhpin, rgiutu xhpin argůd utuxhixh pei
- [ˌftʲam.ˈʁuː.ziβ ˈsɓuɴ.tʰiz ˈa.ʁkʰə. ɣpʰin, ˈχkʲu.tʰu ɣpʰin a.ˈχkʌd u.tʰu.ˈɣiɣ pʰɛi]
- Southern:vdāmrūziv zbbūngtiz arkå. xhpin, rgūtu xhpin arged utuxhixh pai
- [ˌftaːm.ˈʁuː.ziβ ˈsɓuːŋ.tʰiz ˈa.ʁkʰə. ɣpʰin, ˈχkuː.tʰu ɣpʰin a.ˈχkɛd u.tʰu.ˈɣiɣ pʰai]