P’aa’chí

P’aa’chí, pronounced [pʼæ̰̌ːˈçi̋ʰ] and anglicized to Pashi /ˈpæʃi/, is a language spoken in Juya Gwaña and is part of the Deep Dimensional language family. It was previously thought to be a Trace Deeplect, but enough of the language's grammar was discovered that it was reclassified as a complete language. P’aa’chí is from the Hiu’o branch and has one sister language: Chewuko’u.

Phonology

Non-Click Consonants

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Epiglottal
Nasal	m (m)	n̪ (nh)	n (n)	ɲ (ny)	ŋ (ng)
Glottalized Nasal	mˀ (m')		nˀ (n')	ɲˀ (ny')	ŋˀ (ng')
Prenasalized Plosive		ⁿdz̪ (ndz)	ⁿd (nd)	ᶮɟ (nj)	ᵑɡ (ngg)	ᶰɢ (nq)
Voiceless Plosive	p (p)	ts̪ (tz)	t (t)	c (c)	k (k)	q (q)	ʡ (x)
Voiced Plosive	b (b)	dz̪ (dz)	d (d)	ɟ (j)	ɡ (g)
Ejective	pʼ (p')	ts̪ʼ (tz')	tʼ (t')	cʼ (c')	kʼ (k')	qʼ (q')
Implosive	ɓ (b')		ɗ (d')
Fricative		s̪ (sz)	s (s)	ç (ch)		χ (qh)	ħ (ḥ)
Approximant	β̞ (v)	ð̞ (dh)	ɹ (r)	j (y)	ɰ (gh)
Glottalized Approximant				jˀ (y')			ʕˀ (g')
Lateral		l̪ (lh)	l (l)	ʎ (ly)
Glottalized Lateral			lˀ (l')	ʎˀ (ly')

Click Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Lateral	Palatal
Nasal	Plain	ᵑʘ (mf)	ᵑǀ (nț)	ᵑǃ (nķ)	ᵑǁ (nļ)	ᵑǂ (nç)
	Glottalized	ᵑʘˀ (mf')	ᵑǀˀ (nț')	ᵑǃˀ (nķ')	ᵑǁˀ (nļ')	ᵑǂˀ (nç')
Voiceless	Affricate	ᵏʘχ (fq)	ᵏǀχ (țq)	ᵏǃχ (ķq)	ᵏǁχ (ļq)	ᵏǂχ (çq)
	Aspirated	ᵏʘʰ (fh)	ᵏǀʰ (țh)	ᵏǃʰ (ķh)	ᵏǁʰ (ļh)	ᵏǂʰ (çh)
	Tenuis	ᵏʘ (f)	ᵏǀ (ț)	ᵏǃ (ķ)	ᵏǁ (ļ)	ᵏǂ (ç)
	Glottalized Oral	ᵏʘˀ (f')	ᵏǀˀ (ț')	ᵏǃˀ (ķ')	ᵏǁˀ (ļ')	ᵏǂˀ (ç')
	Ejective	ʘkʼ (fk')	ǀkʼ (țk')	ǃkʼ (ķk')	ǁkʼ (ļk')	ǂkʼ (çk')
	Fricative Ejective	ᵏʘxʼ (fh')	ᵏǀxʼ (țh')	ᵏǃxʼ (ķh')	ᵏǁxʼ (ļh')	ᵏǂxʼ (çh')
Voiced		ᶢʘ (bf)	ᶢǀ (dț)	ᶢǃ (dķ)	ᶢǁ (dļ)	ᶢǂ (jç)

Vowels

		Oral				Nasal
		Front		Back		Non-Front
		Unround	Round	Unround	Round	Unround	Round
Modal	High	i (i)	y (iw)	ɯ (uw)	u (u)	ɨ̃ (į)	ũ (ų)
	Mid	e (e)	ø (ew)		o (o)	ɘ̃ (ę)	õ (ǫ)
	Low	æ (a)	ɶ (aw)		ɔ (ow)	ã (ą)	ɔ̃ (ǫw)
Creaky	High	ɪ̰ (i')			ʊ̰ (u')	ɨ̰̃ (į')	ṵ̃ (ų')
	Mid	ɛ̰ (e')			ɔ̰ (o')	ɘ̰̃ (ę')	õ̰ (ǫ')
	Low			ɑ̰ (a')		ã̰ (ą')	ɔ̰̃ (ǫw')
Breathy	High	ɪ̤ (ih)		ɘ̤ (uwh)	ʊ̤ (uh)
	Low	ɛ̤ (eh)	ɞ̤ (awh)	ɑ̤ (ah)	ɔ̤ (oh)

Tones

Vowels can have a high ⟨◌̄⟩ or low tone ⟨◌⟩. Stressed high-tone vowels ⟨◌́⟩ are extra-high and aspirated [◌̋ʰ], and stressed low-tone vowels ⟨◌̀⟩ are extra-low and postglottalized [◌̏ˀ].

• H[+long] > HL / _L
• L[+long] > LH / _H
• H[–long] > HL / _L[+stress]
• L[–long] > LH / _H[+stress]

This also happens across word boundaries.

Phonotactics

(C)V(R)

Grammar

Syntax

P’aa’chí follows a verb-topic-agent structure. The topic may be a patient or agent. It is semantically whatever the verb is said to happen to. The agent is what causes the verb to happen, however. Every main verb must have a topic. No argument is considered the subject because both the topic and agent can take on qualities of a subject, which makes labeling either as the true subject arbitrary.

Placing a converb after all the arguments indicates it happened after the main verb. Placing a converb before the main verb indicates it resulted in the main verb. Placing a converb after the main verb indicates it happened simultaneously. Placing a converb after the topic, but before the agent, indicates it is connected to the main action in some other way, which is usually interpretable through context. The relationship may be specified through a relative clause that it becomes the main verb of. The agent of the main verb is always the agent of the converb, but the converb may be followed by its own topic separate from that of the main verb. If the main verb has no agent, then the converb instead shares the topic with the main verb and cannot have an agent.

Should I add gender?

Verbs can be conjugated for person, obviation, and more?

Sentences

Kį̄ ndų̀ng’l’i ļhīi’ y’éhsa nț’ūhr.

[kɨ̃̂ ⁿdũ̏ˀŋˀlˀì ᵏǁʰḭ́ː jˀɛ̤̋ʰ.sæ̀ ᵑǀˀṳ́ɹ]

[[Kį̄]V [[ndų̀nggų]N -l’i]NP]VP [[[ļhīi’]N [[y’éhbē]N -sa]RelC]NP [[nț’ūhrį́]V -n]]ConVP

see hammer -TOP person friend -REL.COP smile -CONV

“The person, who is a friend, sees the hammer and then smiles.”

Vāal çk’owh dțúwig’ūwil’i kaa nqòm’chų̄ų ǫ’.

[β̞æ̂ːl ǂ͡kʼɔ̤̌ ᶢǀɯ̋͜i̋ʰʕˀɯ́͜ílˀì kæ̀ː ᶰɢȍˀmˀçṹː ɔ̰̃̀]

[[[Vāal]Adv [çk’owh]]V [[[[dțúwig’ūwi]N -l’i]NP [kaa]Adj]NP [[nqòm’]N -chų̄ų]RelC]NP]VP [ǫ’]NP

up give genital.PAUC -TOP butt fat -REL.COMM 1.SG

“I gift you the stinkin' genitals with the fat.”

To "to give up" in P’aa’chí means "to gift", which is used to indicate the gift giver is lowering themselves socially relative to the gift receiver out of respect. When used with personal pronouns, "to give up" is used when expressing formality.

Vocabulary

English	P’aa’chí		Notes
	Romanization	IPA
hammer	ndųng’	[ⁿdũ̀ŋˀ]
person	ļhīi’	[ᵏǁʰḭ́ː]
friend	y’ēh	[jˀɛ̤́]
smile	nț’ūhr	[ᵑǀˀṳ́ɹ]
language	ç’ē
to have	so’u’
black	ndzih
white	nçęl
red	k’ìwn’
to walk	ķhāwy’
to show	dțóę
to touch	ļ’āa’ng
to see	kį̄	[kɨ̃̂]
to go	buw
to bring	mfōōw
to smell	xũl
butt	kaa
genital	dțūwi
to give	çk’owh
fat	nqom’		noun
1.SG	ǫ’
up	vāal