Difference between revisions of "Taiji language"
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==Theory== | ==Theory== | ||
The Taiji language is based on the eight trigrams of the ''ba gua''. Each of these is assigned a value for when it occurs as a syllable onset and when it occurs as a syllable nucleus. These trigrams can then be paired as the sixty-four hexagrams of the ''I Ching'', each representing a syllable. Since Taiji is intended to be primarily a written language, assigning phonetic values to each trigram by which to reference them trigrams and hexagrams is primarily a matter of convenience rather than absolute necessity. The values that each trigram is assigned are not arbitrary. Instead, each line of the trigram is interpretted as encoding some information about the consonant or vowel it represents. For the consonants, the first line is taken to indicate voicing and the last place. For the vowels, the first line indicates roundness, the second line indicates closeness and the third line indicates backness. | The Taiji language is based on the eight trigrams of the ''ba gua''. Each of these is assigned a value for when it occurs as a syllable onset and when it occurs as a syllable nucleus. These trigrams can then be paired as the sixty-four hexagrams of the ''I Ching'', each representing a syllable. Since Taiji is intended to be primarily a written language, assigning phonetic values to each trigram by which to reference them trigrams and hexagrams is primarily a matter of convenience rather than absolute necessity. The values that each trigram is assigned are not arbitrary. Instead, each line of the trigram is interpretted as encoding some information about the consonant or vowel it represents. For the consonants, the first line is taken to indicate voicing and the last place. For the vowels, the first line indicates roundness, the second line indicates closeness and the third line indicates backness. | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
| − | Though each of the eight trigrams available is assigned a value as a syllable onset and as a syllable nucleus, there are only seven consonants and eight vowels in its phonemic inventory. This is because the trigram ☷ indicates no consonant as an onset. | + | Though each of the eight trigrams available is assigned a value as a syllable onset and as a syllable nucleus, there are only seven consonants and eight vowels in its phonemic inventory. This is because the trigram ☷ indicates no consonant as an onset. The number of possible syllables is restricted to sixty-four, the number of hexagrams in the ''I Ching''. These are all either a consonant followed by a vowel or simple a vowel. |
===Consonants=== | ===Consonants=== | ||
| Line 79: | Line 80: | ||
====Definiteness==== | ====Definiteness==== | ||
| − | There is no truly separate lexical class of articles in Taiji, but the grammatical category of definitness is still relevent. All nouns are either indefinite or definite. The indefinite is simply left unmarked. Definiteness is meanwhile marked using the third person pronouns, which are placed before the noun phrases as | + | There is no truly separate lexical class of articles in Taiji, but the grammatical category of definitness is still relevent. All nouns are either indefinite or definite. The indefinite is simply left unmarked. Definiteness is meanwhile marked using the third person pronouns, which are placed before the noun phrases as definite articles. If the phrase is singular, the singular pronoun /ø/ is used, while for plural phrases the plural pronoun /hi/ is used. Names are an exception, and never take either pronoun as they are inherently definite. |
====Case==== | ====Case==== | ||
| − | There are six cases. The grammatical particles used to distinguish between them follow the | + | There are six cases. The grammatical particles used to distinguish between them follow the noun phrases they modify. |
| − | The most basic case is the absolutive case. No particle is used to mark it, and it is used as the citation form for all nouns. Its compliment is the ergative case, marked by the particle | + | The most basic case is the absolutive case, one of the three core cases. No particle is used to mark it, and it is used as the citation form for all nouns. Its compliment is the ergative case, the second core case, marked by the particle /a/. For intransitive verbs, either may be used to mark the clause's subject. The choice is conditioned by the semantics of the verb. For verbs which describe involuntary actions or states, the absolutive is used while the ergative is used for verbs whose subject has volition. For most verbs the choice is lexically conditioned, but for some either case may be appropriate depending on circumstances. |
| − | The third core case is the dative, marked by the particle | + | The third core case is the dative, marked by the particle /u/. It is primarily used to mark the recipient for verbs of giving and sending. It is also used with intransitive verbs to mark the perceiver of a sensation or emotion. One important construction that uses the dative like this is the indication of possession. The possessor takes the dative case in a sentence where the possessed item appears as the subject of the existential verb /pɯ/. The dative is also used outside of a clause's core arguments with verbs describing places or times. In these constructions it is interpretted as allative, indicating motion towards the marked noun. |
| − | There are two separate genitive cases, both used to mark possession. The two are distinguished by the alienability of the possession in question. In cases where the possession is somehow fundamental and not subject to trivial changes, the inalienable genitive particle | + | There are two separate genitive cases, both used to mark possession. The two are distinguished by the alienability of the possession in question. In cases where the possession is somehow fundamental and not subject to trivial changes, the inalienable genitive particle /to/ is used. This includes all descriptions of an object's composition, even it may be later changed. If a possession can be trivially lost,then the particle /tu/ is used instead. The difference between the two genitives can be used to create meaningful contrasts. Nouns with either genitive particle always precede the noun modified by the phrase. The alienable genitive is also used as an ablative with nouns of place and time, indicating motion away from. Similarly, it is used in comparisons to mark the object being compared to. |
| − | The final case is the instrumental, marked by the particle | + | The final case is the instrumental, marked by the particle /mo/. It has several uses. The characteristic one is marking the means of an act. When used with a noun of location, it instead assumes a locational meaning, and likewise a temporal one when used with nouns of time. It is also used with the passive voice to reintroduce the deleted subject argument, as well as with some inherently passive verbs. |
| − | For meanings not covered by these | + | For meanings not covered by these six cases, or for the resolution of ambiguity, any number of words (e.g. /taŋo/, "middle") related to the noun by the inalienable genitive can be used. The word itself takes either the dative, alienable genitive or instrumental case according to the same semantic rules that govern their use as obliques elsewhere. |
| + | ===Pronouns=== | ||
| + | The Taiji lexicon contains personal, demonstrative, indefinite, relative and interrogative pronouns. These pronouns grammatically function largely like nouns. They may appear in the same syntactic positions within a clause, and they take the same postpositional clitics for case. Unlike nouns, they can not the third person personal pronouns as definite articles. Only the personal pronouns make a distinction between singular and plural. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The personal pronouns are the most basic and commonly used pronouns. While they may occur in either the singular or plural number, unlike nouns plurality is indicated not by partial reduplication but by entirely different morphemes. For the first person there are two such plural morphemes. The difference between the two is clusivity. /ŋɯ/ is exclusive and does not include the addressee, while /pa/ is inclusive and does. | ||
| + | |||
| + | {|class="wikitable" | ||
| + | !colspan=2| | ||
| + | !Singular | ||
| + | !Plural | ||
| + | |-align="center" | ||
| + | !rowspan=2|1st | ||
| + | !style="font-size: 70%;"|Exclusive | ||
| + | |rowspan=2|/ma/ | ||
| + | |/ŋɯ/ | ||
| + | |-align="center" | ||
| + | !style="font-size: 70%;"|Inclusive | ||
| + | |/pa/ | ||
| + | |-align="center" | ||
| + | !colspan=2|2nd | ||
| + | |/tɯ/ | ||
| + | |/ni/ | ||
| + | |-align="center" | ||
| + | !colspan=2|3rd | ||
| + | |/ø/ | ||
| + | |/hi/ | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | |||
| + | Among demonstratives, there is a three place distance distinction between the proximate, medial and distal. The proximate is used for near the speaker, the medial for near addressee and the distal for away from both the speaker and addressee. There are three independent | ||
===Verbs=== | ===Verbs=== | ||
| − | Taiji verbs distinguish tense, aspect, mood and voice. These categories are | + | Taiji verbs distinguish tense, aspect, mood and voice. These categories are partly marked using auxiliary verbs, which themselves have meaning on their own. Some of these auxiliary verbs are irregular, using suppletion to distinguish these categories. There are also several purely grammatical particles which modify verbs. |
| + | |||
| + | ====Tense and Aspect==== | ||
| + | Taiji distinguishes two tenses, non-past and past. The non-past refers to events in the present and future while the past denotes previous events. These two tenses are complimented by two aspects, the imperfective and perfective. The imperfective refers to incomplete or habitual actions, while the precise meaning of the perfective depends on the verb. For dynamic verbs, it indicates tha the action is completed while for stative verbs it indicates a transitory state, as oppossed to a persistent, fundamental one. Since an action ongoing in the present can not be complete, the perfective forces a future interpretation of the non-past tense. | ||
| + | |||
| + | All tenses and aspects are marked using the auxiliary verb /nɯ/, "to do". /nɯ/ is irregular, and has a different form for each combination of tense and aspect. | ||
| + | |||
| + | {|class="wikitable" | ||
| + | ! | ||
| + | !Non-past | ||
| + | !Past | ||
| + | |-align="center" | ||
| + | !Imperfective | ||
| + | |/nɯ/ | ||
| + | |/ta/ | ||
| + | |-align="center" | ||
| + | !Perfective | ||
| + | |/po/ | ||
| + | |/ŋi/ | ||
| + | |} | ||
| − | + | Each form of the verb other than the present imperfective may be used as an auxiliary to indicate the same tense and aspect for the main verb of a clause. The present imperfective is unmarked. | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ====Mood==== | |
| + | ====Negation==== | ||
| + | Verbs are negated using the auxiliary verb /mu/, "there is not". On its own, /mu/ serves as a suppletive negative for the existential verb /pɯ/, entirely replacing the verb. | ||
| − | + | ===Syntax=== | |
| + | ==Orthography== | ||
| + | ==Sample== | ||
| + | ==External Links== | ||
Revision as of 15:50, 12 July 2010
| {{{name}}} | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | {{{pronunciation}}} |
| Spoken in | {{{spoken_in}}} |
| Total speakers | {{{speakers}}} |
| Language family | {{{family}}} |
| Writing system | {{{writing}}} |
| Official status | |
| Official in | None |
| Regulated by | None |
Contents
Theory
The Taiji language is based on the eight trigrams of the ba gua. Each of these is assigned a value for when it occurs as a syllable onset and when it occurs as a syllable nucleus. These trigrams can then be paired as the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching, each representing a syllable. Since Taiji is intended to be primarily a written language, assigning phonetic values to each trigram by which to reference them trigrams and hexagrams is primarily a matter of convenience rather than absolute necessity. The values that each trigram is assigned are not arbitrary. Instead, each line of the trigram is interpretted as encoding some information about the consonant or vowel it represents. For the consonants, the first line is taken to indicate voicing and the last place. For the vowels, the first line indicates roundness, the second line indicates closeness and the third line indicates backness.
Phonology
Though each of the eight trigrams available is assigned a value as a syllable onset and as a syllable nucleus, there are only seven consonants and eight vowels in its phonemic inventory. This is because the trigram ☷ indicates no consonant as an onset. The number of possible syllables is restricted to sixty-four, the number of hexagrams in the I Ching. These are all either a consonant followed by a vowel or simple a vowel.
Consonants
Taiji's sum total of seven consonants is very sparse compared to most natural languages. Also notable are its complete lack of sibilants, liquids and semivowels. All of these peculiarities are a necessary result of the restrictions imposed by the underlying theory of the language's design. Neither voicing or length is contrastive, consonants may only appear syllable initially and clusters of them do not occur.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |
| Stop | p | t | k | |
| Fricative | h |
There are few allophonic processes which operate on these consonants. Before the vowel /i/, the velars /k/ and /ŋ/ are fronted to /t͡ʃ/ and /ɲ/ respectively. Between vowels, the consonant /h/ becomes /ɦ/.
Vowels
Where Taiji's consonant inventory is lacking, its vowel inventory is slightly heavy at eight vowels. Not only is this a slightly high number, but three of the eight are either a front rounded vowel or a back unrounded vowel, both of which are uncommon in natural languages. Vowel clusters may occur.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i y | ɯ u |
| Mid | e ø | o |
| Open | a | |
Vowel clusters of identical vowels may occur phonemically. However, there is an allophonic rule which inserts an epethentic [ɦ] between such vowels. This process operates both within a word and across word boundries.
Grammar
Taiji is a highly analytical language, and is almost completely devoid of inflection. Grammatical information is instead conveyed through a robust set of grammatical particles. These particles constitute the core of the language's grammar. They are all monosyllabic, contrasting with content words, which must contain at least two syllables. There are only two such open classes, nouns and verbs.
Nouns
Nouns are modified by gramamtical particles indicating case and definiteness. They also distinguish the category of number, but this is marked using partial reduplication.
Number
There are two grammatical numbers in Taiji, the singular and the plural. For countable nouns, the singular is used for once instance of the noun and the plural for multiple. Uncountable mass nouns always use the singular form. The singular is unmarked. The plural is indicated by partial reduplication in which the first vowel of the noun is appended to its front.
Definiteness
There is no truly separate lexical class of articles in Taiji, but the grammatical category of definitness is still relevent. All nouns are either indefinite or definite. The indefinite is simply left unmarked. Definiteness is meanwhile marked using the third person pronouns, which are placed before the noun phrases as definite articles. If the phrase is singular, the singular pronoun /ø/ is used, while for plural phrases the plural pronoun /hi/ is used. Names are an exception, and never take either pronoun as they are inherently definite.
Case
There are six cases. The grammatical particles used to distinguish between them follow the noun phrases they modify.
The most basic case is the absolutive case, one of the three core cases. No particle is used to mark it, and it is used as the citation form for all nouns. Its compliment is the ergative case, the second core case, marked by the particle /a/. For intransitive verbs, either may be used to mark the clause's subject. The choice is conditioned by the semantics of the verb. For verbs which describe involuntary actions or states, the absolutive is used while the ergative is used for verbs whose subject has volition. For most verbs the choice is lexically conditioned, but for some either case may be appropriate depending on circumstances.
The third core case is the dative, marked by the particle /u/. It is primarily used to mark the recipient for verbs of giving and sending. It is also used with intransitive verbs to mark the perceiver of a sensation or emotion. One important construction that uses the dative like this is the indication of possession. The possessor takes the dative case in a sentence where the possessed item appears as the subject of the existential verb /pɯ/. The dative is also used outside of a clause's core arguments with verbs describing places or times. In these constructions it is interpretted as allative, indicating motion towards the marked noun.
There are two separate genitive cases, both used to mark possession. The two are distinguished by the alienability of the possession in question. In cases where the possession is somehow fundamental and not subject to trivial changes, the inalienable genitive particle /to/ is used. This includes all descriptions of an object's composition, even it may be later changed. If a possession can be trivially lost,then the particle /tu/ is used instead. The difference between the two genitives can be used to create meaningful contrasts. Nouns with either genitive particle always precede the noun modified by the phrase. The alienable genitive is also used as an ablative with nouns of place and time, indicating motion away from. Similarly, it is used in comparisons to mark the object being compared to.
The final case is the instrumental, marked by the particle /mo/. It has several uses. The characteristic one is marking the means of an act. When used with a noun of location, it instead assumes a locational meaning, and likewise a temporal one when used with nouns of time. It is also used with the passive voice to reintroduce the deleted subject argument, as well as with some inherently passive verbs.
For meanings not covered by these six cases, or for the resolution of ambiguity, any number of words (e.g. /taŋo/, "middle") related to the noun by the inalienable genitive can be used. The word itself takes either the dative, alienable genitive or instrumental case according to the same semantic rules that govern their use as obliques elsewhere.
Pronouns
The Taiji lexicon contains personal, demonstrative, indefinite, relative and interrogative pronouns. These pronouns grammatically function largely like nouns. They may appear in the same syntactic positions within a clause, and they take the same postpositional clitics for case. Unlike nouns, they can not the third person personal pronouns as definite articles. Only the personal pronouns make a distinction between singular and plural.
The personal pronouns are the most basic and commonly used pronouns. While they may occur in either the singular or plural number, unlike nouns plurality is indicated not by partial reduplication but by entirely different morphemes. For the first person there are two such plural morphemes. The difference between the two is clusivity. /ŋɯ/ is exclusive and does not include the addressee, while /pa/ is inclusive and does.
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Exclusive | /ma/ | /ŋɯ/ |
| Inclusive | /pa/ | ||
| 2nd | /tɯ/ | /ni/ | |
| 3rd | /ø/ | /hi/ | |
Among demonstratives, there is a three place distance distinction between the proximate, medial and distal. The proximate is used for near the speaker, the medial for near addressee and the distal for away from both the speaker and addressee. There are three independent
Verbs
Taiji verbs distinguish tense, aspect, mood and voice. These categories are partly marked using auxiliary verbs, which themselves have meaning on their own. Some of these auxiliary verbs are irregular, using suppletion to distinguish these categories. There are also several purely grammatical particles which modify verbs.
Tense and Aspect
Taiji distinguishes two tenses, non-past and past. The non-past refers to events in the present and future while the past denotes previous events. These two tenses are complimented by two aspects, the imperfective and perfective. The imperfective refers to incomplete or habitual actions, while the precise meaning of the perfective depends on the verb. For dynamic verbs, it indicates tha the action is completed while for stative verbs it indicates a transitory state, as oppossed to a persistent, fundamental one. Since an action ongoing in the present can not be complete, the perfective forces a future interpretation of the non-past tense.
All tenses and aspects are marked using the auxiliary verb /nɯ/, "to do". /nɯ/ is irregular, and has a different form for each combination of tense and aspect.
| Non-past | Past | |
|---|---|---|
| Imperfective | /nɯ/ | /ta/ |
| Perfective | /po/ | /ŋi/ |
Each form of the verb other than the present imperfective may be used as an auxiliary to indicate the same tense and aspect for the main verb of a clause. The present imperfective is unmarked.
Mood
Negation
Verbs are negated using the auxiliary verb /mu/, "there is not". On its own, /mu/ serves as a suppletive negative for the existential verb /pɯ/, entirely replacing the verb.
