Waa: Difference between revisions

From FrathWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(176 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 6: Line 6:


|morph=analytic
|morph=analytic
|ms=neutral
|ms=ergative
|wo=SVO
|wo=VSO, OVS, SVO
|creator=[[User:Warakemau|Xing]]}}
|creator=[[User:Warakemau|Xing]]}}


'''Waa'''is a constructed language.
'''Waa''' is a constructed language. A large part of its vocabulary is derived from English, or a selection of other languages.


==Phonology==
==Phonology==
Line 21: Line 21:
   ! Alveolar
   ! Alveolar
   ! Palatal
   ! Palatal
   ! Velar
   ! Velar or glottal
   |-
   |-
   ! Voiceless stops
   ! Voiceless stops
   | p
   | p
   | t
   | t
   |
   |  
   | k
   | k
   |-
   |-
Line 34: Line 34:
   |
   |
   |  
   |  
  |-
  ! Voiceless fricatives
  |
  | s
  |
  | h
   |-
   |-
   ! Nasals
   ! Nasals
Line 41: Line 47:
   | ŋ
   | ŋ
   |-
   |-
   ! Taps/flaps/trills
   ! Trills
   |
   |
   | r~ɾ
   | r
   |
   |
   |
   |
Line 56: Line 62:


/j/ is written ''y'', and /ŋ/ ''g''. Otherwise, the phonemes follow their 'expected' spelling according to the IPA.
/j/ is written ''y'', and /ŋ/ ''g''. Otherwise, the phonemes follow their 'expected' spelling according to the IPA.


===Vowels===
===Vowels===
Line 74: Line 79:
   |-
   |-
   ! Open
   ! Open
 
   | colspan="2" | a~ɑ
   | a~ɑ
   |}
   |}
 
Waa has essentially a five-vowel system. On a phonological level, all vowels could be analysed as short monophthongs. In connected speech, however, adjacent vowels may be realized as diphthings on a phonetic level, and two identical vowels next to each other as a single, long vowel. Stress falls on the second-to-last mora, or second to last phonological vowel.
A word-final, unstressed '''u''' after a consonant may be devoiced or dropped after a consonant:
'''katu''' /ka.tu/ [kat] 'cat'
This especially happens when the '''u''' appears at the end of an utterance. It may also happen when the next word begins with certain consonants:
'''katu kou''' /ka.tu ko.u/ [kat kou]
The consonants may even assimilate in point of articulation: [kak:ou]


==Basic Phrases==
==Basic Phrases==
Line 105: Line 97:


'''katu witu''' - a/the white cat(s)
'''katu witu''' - a/the white cat(s)
cat white


'''huno maka''' - a/the large dog(s)
'''huno maka''' - a/the large dog(s)


dog large


==Pronouns==
==Pronouns==
Line 116: Line 111:
'''yu''' you (singular)
'''yu''' you (singular)


'''kia''' he, she, it  
'''te''' he, she, it
 
'''tenaa''' that one
 
'''tenei''' thisone


'''miera''' we
'''miera''' we
Line 122: Line 121:
'''yuera''' you (plural)
'''yuera''' you (plural)


'''kiaera''' or '''kiakia''' they
'''teera''' they


'''teeranaa''' those ones


A pronoun placed right after a noun can serve as a possessive pronoun:
'''teeranei''' these ones




'''katu mi''' - my cat


'''huno kia''' - her/his dog


'''ei tiaoka''' - somebody (lit. 'one person')


==Simple clauses==
'''ei mea''' - something (lit. 'one thing')


'''ei osa''' - some amount (lit. 'one part')


The basic word-order is SVO, or just SV in intransitive clauses:


==Simple clauses==


'''Katu sewa.''' The cat is sleeping


cat sleep
One basic - though not the only - word-order is S.V.O. - Subject - Verb - Object.




'''Mi kopa katu''' I'm buying the cat
'''Katu e sewa.''' - The cat is sleeping. The cat will sleep.


1 buy cat
cat NPST sleep


'''Katu ta sewa.''' - The cat was sleeping.


Adjectives can serve as predicates. There are optionally introduced by the copula '''nea'' 'to be':
cat PST sleep


'''Katu ta itu muso.''' - The cat ate the mouse.


'''Katu witu.''' Or: '''Katu nea witu''' - The cat is white.
cat PST eat mouse


cat white        cat be white


==Embedded clauses==


'''Nea''' can also introduce prepositional phrases as predicates:


Relative clauses are introduced by '''ae''':


'''Katu nea i tebo.''' - The cat is on the table


cat be LOC table
'''Katu ae mi kopa.''' - The cat that I bought.


cat that 1s buy


'''Nea''' is optional when it comes to nominal predicates:
'''Katu ae bita kia.''' - The cat that bit her.


'''Kia tiatisu.''' - He is a teacher.


3s person:teach
Complement clauses are introduced by '''ge''':


'''Kia nea tiatisu.''' - He is a teacher.


3s be person:teach
'''Mi ta siu ge kia kopa katu.''' - I saw that he bought the cat.


==Prepositions==
1s PST see that 3s buy cat


'''Mi wae ge kia kopa katu.''' - I want him to buy the cat.


There are two main prepositions in Waa: the dative/locative '''i''', and the ablative/instrumental '''a'''. They can have a variety of meanings, depending on the context.
1s want that 3s buy cat




===The dative/locative===
==Prepositions==




There are two basic, simple prepositions: '''a''' 'of', 'by', 'from', and '''i''' 'in', 'on', 'at', 'to'.




'''I''' can be used to indicate various form of (spatial) location, as well as goal, destination or recipient.
'''katu a kia''' - his cat


cat GEN 3s


'''katu i tebo''' - the cat on the table
'''Katu ta kee a huso.''' - The cat came from the house.


cat LOC table
cat PST come ABL hous


'''rumo i huso''' - the room(s) in the house
'''Kia ta padedu katu a hama.''' - He killed the cat with the hammer.


room LOC house
3s PST kill cat INSTR hammer


'''tebo i rumoitu''' - the table in the dining room
'''Katu ta kou i rumohaya.''' - The cat went to the kitchen.


table LOC room:eat
cat PST go DAT kitchen


'''Tebo nea i rumoitu.''' - The table is in the dining room.
'''Kia ta ruko i yu.''' - She looked at you.


table be LOC room:eat
3s PST look DAT 2s


'''Tuku meku i kapikulu.''' - Put the milk in the fridge.
'''Katu e nea i tebo.''' - The cat is on the table.


put milk DAT box:cool
cat NPST be LOC table


'''Kiwe buku i mi.''' - Give me the book.


give book DAT 1s


'''Kiaera kou i paiboa.''' - They went to the village


1:PL go DAT place:live


===The instrumental/ablative===
These can be combined with locational and other nouns to indicate more precise relations.








'''A''' can be used to indicate source, means, etc.


==Lexicon==


'''Kia kee a paiboa.''' - He came from the village.


3s come ABL place:live
===Colours===


'''Kia padedu katu a korokutu.''' - He killed the cat with a knife.


3 cause:dead cat INSTR tool:cut
'''kara''' - colour


'''raku''' - black


'''A''' can be used to mark the standard in a comparison:
'''witu''' - white


'''rei''' - grey


'''Huno nea maka a katu.''' - The dog is bigger than the cat.'
'''beu''' - blue


dog be big ABL cat
'''rinu''' - green


==Negations and questions==
'''redu''' - red


'''yero''' - yellow


A clause is negated by '''ku''':
'''runo''' - brown




'''Katu ku sewa.''' - The cat is not sleeping
'''beuraku''' - dark blue, black-blue


cat NEG sleep
'''beuwitu''' - light blue


===Numerals===


A yes/no-question may be formed by rising intonation. To respond to a question, you use '''ye''' for agreement, and '''kuye''' or just '''ku''' for disagreement.


'''ei''' - one


'''Katu sewa?''' - Is the cat sleeping?
'''oa''' - two


cat sleep
'''kore''' - three


'''Ye. Katu sewa.''' - Yes. The cat is sleeping.
'''apa''' - four


agree cat sleep
'''lima''' - five


'''Ku. Katu ku sewa.''' - No. The cat isn't sleeping.
'''sesu''' - six


NEG cat NEG sleep
'''sewe''' - seven


'''Kuye. Katu ku sewa.'''
'''eto''' - eight


NEG:agree cat NEG sleep
'''niu''' - nine


'''Katu ku sewa?''' - Isn't the cat sleeping?
'''tega''' - ten


cat NEG sleep
'''tegaei''' - eleven (ten one)


'''Ye. Katu ku sewa.''' - No. The cat isn't sleeping.
'''tegaoa''' - twelve (ten two)


agree cat NEG sleep
etc.


'''Ku. Katu sewa.''' - Yes. The cat is sleeping.


NEG cat sleep


'''Kuye. Katu sewa.''' - Yes. The cat is sleeping.
'''oa tega''' - twenty (two ten)


NEG.agree cat sleep
'''kore tega''' - thirty (three ten)


etc.




'''Ku''' can also be used with adjectives or nouns:


'''apa tegaei''' - forty-one (four ten one)


'''ku bono''' - no good, not good
'''apa tegaoa''' - forty-two (four ten two)


NEG good
etc.


'''ku katu''' - no cat(s)


NEG cat


'''ku mene''' - no one, nobody (lit. 'no person')
'''(ei) huna''' - (one) hundred


NEG person
'''(ei) tusa''' - (one) thousand


==Adjectives==
'''(ei) mirione''' - (one) million


'''(ei) birione''' (one) billion (short scale, like English)


Adjectives go after the words they modify:
'''(ei) tirione''' (one) trillion


'''Katu miti''' - a/the small cat


cat small


'''Huno maka''' - a/the large dog
Cardinal numerals are placed before the noun:


dog large
'''lima tiaoka''' - five people


'''sesu katu''' - six cats


Adjectives as predicates are optionally introduced by the copula ''nea'':


Ordinal numerals are placed after the noun:


'''Katu (nea) miti''' - The cat is small.


cat (be) small
'''katu kore''' - the third cat


'''tiaoka oa''' - the second person


Note that katu miti may be ambiguous, it can mean either 'the small cat' or 'the cat is small'. Without the copula, one must often rely on context to determine the intended meaning.


For 'first', You can use either the numeral '''ei''', or the special word '''mua''':


Another way to introduce adjective predicates is to us a demonstrative or a possessive pronoun:


'''kat ei''' - the first cat


'''Katu miti mi''' - my small cat vs. '''Katu mi miti''' - My cat is small.
'''kat mua''' - the first cat


cat small 1s


'''Katu miti naa''' - that small cat vs. '''Katu naa miti''' - That cat is small.
Fractionals are formed with '''osa''' 'part' + numeral:


cat small DEM.DIST


'''osakore''' - (a) third


There are a couple of ways to form comparisons. One can mark the standard to which something is compared with ''a'':
'''ei osakore''' - one third


'''oa osakore''' - two thirds


'''Katu nea miti a huno.''' - The cat is smaller than the dog. (Lit. 'The cat is small from the dog.')
'''ei osatega''' - one tenth


cat be small ABL dog
===Family===




Another way is to use two adjacent clauses:
'''hami''' - family


'''hamiaka''' - extended family, kin


'''Katu nea miti huno nea maka.''' - The cat is smaller than the dog. (Lit. 'The cat is small the dog is  big.')
'''aba''' - father, uncle


cat be small dog be large
'''ama''' - mother, aunt


'''bote''' - brother, male cousin


To express that something is ''as (adj.) as ...'':
'''siso''' - sister, female cousin
 
 
 
'''Katu nea maka huno.''' - The cat is as big as the dog.
 
cat be large dog
 
==Possession==
 
 
The possessor is placed after the possessum:
 
 
'''katu mi''' - my cat
 
cat 1s
 
'''huno ota''' - (the) father's dog
 
dog father
 
'''katu ota mi''' my father's cat
 
cat father 1s
 
 
===Predicative possession===
 
 
 
'''Katu naa nea katu mi.''' That cat is mine (Lit. 'That cat is my cat.')
 
cat that be cat 1s
 
'''Nea katu mi.''' I have a cat. ('There is a cat of mine')
 
be cat 1s
 
==Tense==
 
 
Tense is not obligatory. A simple clause might interpreted as past, present, or future, depending on the context.
 
 
'''Katu itu musu.''' - The cat ate the mouse, the cat is eating the mouse, the cat will eat the mouse etc.
 
cat eat mouse
 
'''Katu sewa.''' - The cat is sleeping, the cat has slept, etc.
 
cat sleep
 
 
Ways to indicate tense include explicit temporal adverbs:
 
 
'''Ina katu sewa.''' - Now the cat is sleeping.
 
now cat sleep
 
'''Katu sewa ina.''' - The cat is sleeping now.
 
cat sleep now
 
'''Deinei mi kopa katu.''' - Today I bought/will buy a cat.
 
day:this 1s buy cat
 
'''Deipasu mi kopa katu.''' - Yesterday I bought the cat.
 
day.past 1s buy cat
 


==See also==


'''Pasu''' may be used to indicate past tense:
'''Katu pasu sewa.''' - The cat slept. the cat was sleeping, the cat has slept. ('the cat is past sleeping'
cat past sleep
'''Mi pasu kopa katu.''' - I bought a cat.
1s past buy cat
The verb/particle '''redi''' ('already, to be finished doing', 'to have done') may serve to indicate something like the perfect tense/aspect:
'''Mi redi kopa katu.''' - I have (already) bought a cat.'
1s already buy cat
'''Katu redi sewa.''' - The cat hasn't (yet) slept.
cat already sleep
'''Katu kuo redi sewa.''' - The cat hasn't slept.
cat NEG already sleep
The adverb '''taa''' 'then' may be placed before the predicate, in order to render a past tense meaning:
'''Mi taa kopa katu.''' - I bought a cat.
1s PST buy cat
'''Mi ku taa kopa katu''' - I didn't buy the cat.
1s NEG PST buy cat
==Relative clauses==
Relative clauses are introduced with the particle '''ae''':
'''Mane ae kopa katu.''' - The man that bought the cat.
man REL buy cat
'''Katu ae kia kopa.''' - The cat that he bought.
cat REL 3s buy
If the relativized noun is introduced by a preposition - '''i''' or '''a''' - it must be represented by a pronoun in the relative clause:
'''Korokutu ae kia padedu katu a kia. - The knife that he killed the cat with.
tool:cut REL 3s cause:dead cat INSTR 3s
'''Mane ae mi kiwe katu i kia.''' - The man that I gave the cat to.
man REL 1s give cat DAT 3s
Prepositional stranding is not allowed:
'''*Mane ae mi kiwe katu i.'''
man REL 1s give cat DAT
==See also==


[[Waa-English dictionary]]
[[Waa-English dictionary]]

Latest revision as of 02:32, 9 May 2025





Leopardcivilflag.png
Waa
Pronounced: waː, wɑ:
Typology
Morphological type: analytic
Morphosyntactic alignment: ergative
Basic word order: VSO, OVS, SVO
Credits
Creator: Xing

Waa is a constructed language. A large part of its vocabulary is derived from English, or a selection of other languages.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar or glottal
Voiceless stops p t k
Voiced stops b d
Voiceless fricatives s h
Nasals m n ŋ
Trills r
Glides w j


/j/ is written y, and /ŋ/ g. Otherwise, the phonemes follow their 'expected' spelling according to the IPA.

Vowels

Front Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a~ɑ

Basic Phrases

There is no distinction between singular and plural, or between definite and indefinite forms, nor are there any other inflections of the noun.


katu - a cat, the cat, (some) cats, the cat,s etc.

huno - a dog, the dog, (some) dogs, the dogs, etc.


Adjectives and other modifying expressions follow the noun:


katu witu - a/the white cat(s)

cat white

huno maka - a/the large dog(s)

dog large

Pronouns

mi I

yu you (singular)

te he, she, it

tenaa that one

tenei thisone

miera we

yuera you (plural)

teera they

teeranaa those ones

teeranei these ones



ei tiaoka - somebody (lit. 'one person')

ei mea - something (lit. 'one thing')

ei osa - some amount (lit. 'one part')


Simple clauses

One basic - though not the only - word-order is S.V.O. - Subject - Verb - Object.


Katu e sewa. - The cat is sleeping. The cat will sleep.

cat NPST sleep

Katu ta sewa. - The cat was sleeping.

cat PST sleep

Katu ta itu muso. - The cat ate the mouse.

cat PST eat mouse


Embedded clauses

Relative clauses are introduced by ae:


Katu ae mi kopa. - The cat that I bought.

cat that 1s buy

Katu ae bita kia. - The cat that bit her.


Complement clauses are introduced by ge:


Mi ta siu ge kia kopa katu. - I saw that he bought the cat.

1s PST see that 3s buy cat

Mi wae ge kia kopa katu. - I want him to buy the cat.

1s want that 3s buy cat


Prepositions

There are two basic, simple prepositions: a 'of', 'by', 'from', and i 'in', 'on', 'at', 'to'.


katu a kia - his cat

cat GEN 3s

Katu ta kee a huso. - The cat came from the house.

cat PST come ABL hous

Kia ta padedu katu a hama. - He killed the cat with the hammer.

3s PST kill cat INSTR hammer

Katu ta kou i rumohaya. - The cat went to the kitchen.

cat PST go DAT kitchen

Kia ta ruko i yu. - She looked at you.

3s PST look DAT 2s

Katu e nea i tebo. - The cat is on the table.

cat NPST be LOC table



These can be combined with locational and other nouns to indicate more precise relations.



Lexicon

Colours

kara - colour

raku - black

witu - white

rei - grey

beu - blue

rinu - green

redu - red

yero - yellow

runo - brown


beuraku - dark blue, black-blue

beuwitu - light blue

Numerals

ei - one

oa - two

kore - three

apa - four

lima - five

sesu - six

sewe - seven

eto - eight

niu - nine

tega - ten

tegaei - eleven (ten one)

tegaoa - twelve (ten two)

etc.


oa tega - twenty (two ten)

kore tega - thirty (three ten)

etc.


apa tegaei - forty-one (four ten one)

apa tegaoa - forty-two (four ten two)

etc.


(ei) huna - (one) hundred

(ei) tusa - (one) thousand

(ei) mirione - (one) million

(ei) birione (one) billion (short scale, like English)

(ei) tirione (one) trillion


Cardinal numerals are placed before the noun:

lima tiaoka - five people

sesu katu - six cats


Ordinal numerals are placed after the noun:


katu kore - the third cat

tiaoka oa - the second person


For 'first', You can use either the numeral ei, or the special word mua:


kat ei - the first cat

kat mua - the first cat


Fractionals are formed with osa 'part' + numeral:


osakore - (a) third

ei osakore - one third

oa osakore - two thirds

ei osatega - one tenth

Family

hami - family

hamiaka - extended family, kin

aba - father, uncle

ama - mother, aunt

bote - brother, male cousin

siso - sister, female cousin

See also

Waa-English dictionary

Retrieved from "http://www.frathwiki.com/index.php?title=Waa&oldid=170349"