KWMs
KWMs /ʷǂ͡ʘs/, or in English /kwʊms/, is a language spoke in the islands of Juya Gwaña. It was inspired by the Hush language and comes from the Deep Dimensional linguistic anomaly, alongside Zaekuu.
Phonology
Inventory
KWMs only has consonants, all of which use nasal voiceless velaric airstream[1], meaning someone can speak the language for any amount of time without needing a break to breathe. Most phonemes have weak articulation, except for percussives because they are already comparatively quiet. Velaric airstream and weak articulation are not transcribed since they do not provide any phonemic contrast and can be assumed to apply to the language rather than the individual sounds. Any phonemes that are able to be coarticulated can do so to produce new phonemes. When this happens, the romanization reflects this by capitalizing all the graphemes of the coarticulated sound.
| Phonemes | Labial | Bidental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat | Prerounded[2] | |||||||
| Trill | ʙ̥ ⟨wb⟩ | r̥ ⟨r⟩ | ɽr̥ ⟨wr⟩ | |||||
| Fricative | Egressive | ʷf[3][4] ⟨f⟩ | s[5] ⟨s⟩ | |||||
| Ingressive | ↓ʷf[3][4] ⟨v⟩ | |||||||
| Click | Noisy | Median | ʘ ⟨m⟩ | ʷʘ ⟨wm⟩ | ʇ[6][7] ⟨x⟩ | |||
| Lateral | ʖ[6][8] ⟨j⟩ | |||||||
| Abrupt | ↓p[9] ⟨b⟩ | ǃ¡ ⟨l⟩ | ǂ ⟨k⟩ | |||||
| Percussive | ʬ[10] ⟨p⟩ | ʭ ⟨t⟩ | ||||||
Coarticulations
Coarticulations are not always simultaneous, but do occur with the same "breath" (or whatever the velaric equivalent to breath is), which adjacent phonemes do not do. Below are all the allowed coarticulations. There are 39 double-articulation phonemesː
/r̥͡ʙ̥, ɽr̥͡ʙ̥, ʷf͡ʙ̥, s͡ʙ̥, ʭ͡ʙ̥ ʷr̥͡f, r̥͡s, r̥͡ʭ ʷɽr̥͡f, ɽr̥͡ʭ ʷs͡f s͡ʭ, ʬ͡ʭ ʷʇ͡f, ʷʖ͡f, ʷ!͡f¡, ʷǂ͡f, ʇ͡ʘ, ʖ͡ʘ, !͡ʘ¡, ǂ͡ʘ, ʷʇ͡ʘ, ʷʖ͡ʘ, ʷ!͡ʘ¡, ʷǂ͡ʘ, ʇ͡p, ʖ͡p, !͡p¡, ǂ͡p, ʖ͡ʇ, !͡ʇ¡, ǂ͡ʇ, ʇ͡ʭ ʖ͡!¡, ǂ͡ʖ, ʖ͡ʭ ǂ͡ǃ¡, !͡ʭ¡, ǂ͡ʭ/
Exact Pronunciations
These are detailed instructions on how to pronounce each single-articulation phoneme because KWMs has a very atypical phonology.
| Non-Ingressive | Ingressive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Pronunciation | IPA | Pronunciation |
| [ᵑ̥ʙ͉̊] | Egressive voiceless nasal velaric bilabial trill | [↓ʷᵑ̥f͉] | Ingressive voiceless nasal velaric pre-rounded labiodental fricative |
| Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Closed, loosened lips become trilled due to advancement of the tongue (still pressed against velum). Vocal folds not vibrating. | Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Lips rounded. As the lips unround, bottom lip makes contact with top teeth and air is pushed inward as a fricative due to retraction of the tongue (still pressed against velum). Vocal folds not vibrating. | ||
| [ᵑ̥r͉̊] | Egressive voiceless nasal velaric alveolar trill | [ᵑ̥ʘ͉] | Voiceless nasal bilabial noisy click |
| Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Tongue tip pressed against alveolar ridge, but loosened, becomes trilled due to advancement of the back of the tongue (still pressed against velum). Vocal folds not vibrating. | Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Closed lips tightly suctioned to each other get released due to the lowering of the jaw. Vocal folds not vibrating. | ||
| [ᵑ̥ɽr͉̊] | Egressive voiceless nasal velaric retroflex trill | [ʷᵑ̥ʘ͉] | Voiceless nasal pre-rounded bilabial noisy click |
| Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Tongue underside pressed against hard palate, but loosened, becomes trilled and pushed forward due to advancement of the back of the tongue (still pressed against velum). Vocal folds not vibrating. | Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Lips closed and rounded. As the lips unround, lips tightly suctioned to each other get released due to the lowering of the jaw. Vocal folds not vibrating. | ||
| [ʷᵑ̥f͉] | Egressive voiceless nasal velaric pre-rounded labiodental fricative | [ᵑ̥ʖ͉,ᵑ̥‖͉] | Voiceless nasal lateral noisy click |
| Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Lips rounded. As the lips unround, bottom lip makes contact with top teeth and air is pushed outward as a fricative due to advancement of the tongue (still pressed against velum). Vocal folds not vibrating. | Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Tongue sides suctioned to inner cheeks gets released due to the lowering of the tongue side(s). Vocal folds not vibrating. | ||
| [ᵑ̥s͉] | Egressive voiceless nasal velaric alveolar fricative | [↓ᵑ̥p͉] | Voiceless nasal bilabial abrupt click |
| Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Tongue tip reaches alveolar ridge and air is pushed outward as a fricative due to advancement of the tongue (still pressed against velum). Vocal folds not vibrating. | Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Closed lips mildly suctioned to each other get released due to the lowering of the jaw. Vocal folds not vibrating. | ||
| [ᵑ̥ʬ] | Voiceless nasal velaric bilabial percussive | [ᵑ̥ʇ͉,ᵑ̥ǀ͉] | Voiceless nasal median noisy click |
| Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Bottom lip strikes top lip forcefully to create a sound. Vocal folds not vibrating. | Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Tongue tip suctioned to roof of mouth gets released due to the lowering of the tongue tip. Vocal folds not vibrating. | ||
| [ᵑ̥ʭ] | Voiceless nasal velaric bidental percussive | [ᵑ̥!͉¡] | Voiceless nasal alveolar abrupt click with subalveolar percussive release |
| Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Bottom teeth strike top teeth forcefully to create a sound. Vocal folds not vibrating. | Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Tongue tip mildly suctioned to alveolar ridge gets released due to the lowering of the tongue tip. The tongue underside incidentally strikes floor of the mouth. Vocal folds not vibrating. | ||
| [ᵑ̥ǂ͉] | Voiceless nasal palatal abrupt click | ||
| Back of tongue pressed against velum. Open velum to allow air to pass through the nose. Tongue body suctioned to hard palate gets released due to the lowering of the tongue. Vocal folds not vibrating. | |||
- ↑ Nasal velaric airstream is an articulation where the dorsum is pressed against the velum throughout the articulation. In such articulations, the air required to produce a sound is limited to what is in front of the dorsum. The nasalization allows for constant breath in and out the nose throughout speech.
- ↑ Prerounded consonants begin labial protrusion before the consonant is made. During its articulation, the lips begin to return to their normal position, but they are protruded for long enough to make the interior of the lips the place of articulation instead of the edges.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 /ʷf/ and /↓ʷf/ are primarily distinguishable because egressive velarics tend to have a high tongue position and ingressive velarics tend to have a low tongue position, so /ʷf/ and /↓ʷf/ can be described as [ʷf𐞢 ↓ʷfᵓ] .
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 /ʷf/ and /↓ʷf/ may be pronounced as buccalized [ʷↀ͡f] and [↓ʷↀ͡f].
- ↑ /s/ can only appear word-finally.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 ⟨ʇ⟩ and ⟨ʖ⟩ are alternative ways of writing the dental ⟨ǀ⟩ and lateral ⟨ǁ⟩ clicks used to avoid confusion with the minor ⟨|⟩ and major ⟨‖⟩ prosodic breaks, or in this language, to distinguish a single lateral click from two dental clicks in a row.
- ↑ /ʇ/ is in free variation between a dental, alveolar, and retroflex click.
- ↑ /ʖ/ may be pronounced as any place of articulation between alveolar and palatal in order to make pronunciation easier and allow for coarticulations.
- ↑ While an unusual notation, ⟨↓p⟩ is used here to represent the abrupt bilabial click due to there being few alternatives.
- ↑ Due to this language's /ʬ/ being articulated so close to the source of airstream (the velar closure), it may have an egressive or ingressive plosive release upon the parting of the lips, notated ⟨ʬᵖ⟩. No reference is made to the airstream direction due to them being nearly impossible to retroactively distinguish.
Morphosyntax
Noun Class
The base form of a noun is marked for noun class, but this is removed for all grammatical roles except experiencer and theme. Verbs and adverbs agree with experiencers in noun class, but adjectives don't. Verbs and adverbs undergo mutation as a result of agreement with an experiencer's noun class. If an action done by the agent also affects the agent, the agent is marked with a grammatical noun class that it does not conjugate for as the experiencer, such as in the sentence ls mt WRTjr, meaning simply "He hates her", the agent "he" is written with the classless 3rd person pronoun mt, whereas in ls vJX WRTjr, meaning "He hates her so much it consumes him", "he" is written with the agentive class 5 pronoun vJX. This is also used to form reflexive sentences.
| Noun Gender | (Ad)verb Agreement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | Agent | Initial Consonant | Inflected Form | ||
| Class I | -l | -rr | r, x, l, k | wr | |
| wr, m, j, b, t | x | ||||
| wb, f, v, wm, p | b | ||||
| Class II | -rr | -l | r, wr, l, t | k | |
| m, x, j, k | XT | ||||
| wb, f, v, wm, b, p | m | ||||
| Class III | -XTSWB | -jp | wr, x, l, k | r | |
| m, wm, j t | x | ||||
| wb, r, f, v, b, p | XWM | ||||
| Class IV | -s | -XTSWB | r, wr, l, k | j | |
| m, x, j, t | f | ||||
| wb, f, v, wm, b, p | XV | ||||
| Class V | -jp | -s | r, wr, l, k | WRT | |
| m, x, j, t | KJ | ||||
| wb, f, v, wm, b, p | RWB | ||||
Standard Word Order
Standard KWMs word order is Experiencer-Agent-V for transitive sentences, and Agent-V or V-Experiencer for intransitive sentences. Adverbs and adjectives typically follow the word they modify. All non-gender grammatical markings for a noun or verb are marked on its modifier. If a word has more than one modifier, the grammatical markings are placed on the final modifier. Adjectival adverbs follow adjectives with grammatical markings. Adverbs and adjectives are frequently used to specify information not expressable by grammar.
Focus
The focus is marked by being the first noun or verb in the sentence and having its adjective or adverb phrase precede it instead of follow it. In some cases, the distinction between a sentence with a focus and a sentence without one is determined by the adjective or adverb phrase's placement. This phrase, while used frequently, is not mandatory. This can lead to ambiguity as to whether a sentence has a focus or not. However, it is more common to not modify the first noun/verb a focusless sentence.
| Transitive | Intransitive with Agent | Intransitive with Experiencer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent focus | (AdP-)Agent-Experiencer(-AdP)-V(-AdP) | (AdP-)Agent-V(-AdP) | |
| Non-agent focus | (AdP-)Experiencer-Agent(-AdP)-V(-AdP) | (AdP-)V-Experiencer(-AdP) | |
| No focus | Experiencer(AdP)-Agent(-AdP)-V(-AdP) | Agent(-AdP)-V(-AdP) | V(-AdP)-Experiencer(-AdP) |
Theme
When a theme, i.e. a patient that is not directly affected by the verb, is present in a sentence, the word order is different. There is no focus vs. non-focus distinction in these sentences. All adjective/adverb phrases follow what they modify, and the sentence structure is Theme-(Experiencer-)(Agent-)Verb. The theme is marked for noun class. Verbs do not agree with a theme's noun class but adjectives and adverbs that modify it do. While semantically, direct objects of a ditransitive verb are themes, KWMs marks those differently.
Timekeeping
Translations
ls mt WRTjr.
| [Experiencer Noun Phrase] | [Agent Noun Phrase] | [Verb Phrase] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | | | ||
| [Experiencer] | [Agent] | [Verb] | ||
| | | | | | | ||
| ls | mt | WRTjr | ||
| /!¡s | ʘʭ | ɽr̥͡ʭʖr̥/ | ||
| 3.SG.G5 | 3.SG.G0 | G5.hate | ||
| “He hates her.” | ||||
ls vJX WRTjr.
| [Experiencer Noun Phrase] | [Agent Noun Phrase] | [Verb Phrase] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | | | ||
| [Experiencer] | [Agent] | [Verb] | ||
| | | | | | | ||
| ls | vJX | WRTjr | ||
| /!¡s | ↓ʷfʖ͡ʇ | ɽr̥͡ʭʖr̥/ | ||
| 3.SG.G5 | 3.SG.G5.AGEN | G5.hate | ||
| “He hates her (in a way that consumes hime Noun Phrase] | ||||
kJWMrr mv pb rLM mwml kk x wrwmrp jwbx.
| [Theme Noun Phrase] | [Experiencer Noun Phrase] | [Verb Phrase] | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| / | \ | / | \ | / | \ | |||||||||||||||
| [Theme] | [Adjective Phrase] | [Experiencer] | [Adjective Phrase] | [Verb] | [Adverb Phrase] | |||||||||||||||
| / | | | \ | | | | | ||||||||||||||||
| [Adjective] | [Adverb] | [Adverb] | [Adjective] | [Adverb] | ||||||||||||||||
| / | \ | | | | | | | / | \ | / | \ | | | | | ||||||||||
| kJWM | -rr | mv | pb | rLM | mwm | -l | kk | x | wrwmrp | jwbx | ||||||||||
| /ǂʷʖ͡ʘ | -r̥r̥ | ʘ↓ʷf | ʬ↓p | r̥!͡ʘ¡ | ʘʷʘ | -!¡ | ǂǂ | ʇ | ɽr̥ʷʘr̥ʬ | ʖʙ̥ʇ/ | ||||||||||
| banana | -G2 | G2.sweet | too | if | dog | -G1 | 1.SG | ADJ | G1.dislike | see | ||||||||||
| “(I see that) my dog dislikes banana if it is too sweet.” | ||||||||||||||||||||
kJWMrr mv pb kfxs rLM mwml kk x wrwmrp jwbx.
| [Theme Noun Phrase] | [Experiencer Noun Phrase] | [Verb Phrase] | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| / | \ | / | \ | / | \ | |||||||||||||||||
| [Theme] | [Adjective Phrase] | [Experiencer] | [Adjective Phrase] | [Verb] | [Adverb Phrase] | |||||||||||||||||
| / | / | \ | \ | | | | | |||||||||||||||||
| [Adjective] | [Adverb] | [Adverb] | [Adverb] | [Adjective] | [Adverb] | |||||||||||||||||
| / | \ | | | | | | | | | / | \ | / | \ | | | | | |||||||||||
| kJWM | -rr | mv | pb | kfxs | rLM | mwm | -l | kk | x | wrwmrp | jwbx | |||||||||||
| /ǂʷʖ͡ʘ | -r̥r̥ | ʘ↓ʷf | ʬ↓p | ǂʷfʇs | r̥!͡ʘ¡ | ʘʷʘ | -!¡ | ǂǂ | ʇ | ɽr̥ʷʘr̥ʬ | ʖʙ̥ʇ/ | |||||||||||
| banana | -G2 | G2.sweet | too | smell | if | dog | -G1 | 1.SG | ADJ | G1.dislike | see | |||||||||||
| “(I see that) my dog dislikes banana if (he smells that) it is too sweet.” | ||||||||||||||||||||||
*JXJXl bwmkrr kkx, xwr, XWMxs wms mkjp KXmRWBl kkjp KJts ps t t t t t t t t t!
This sentence is ungrammatical in KWMs (and English).
| [Verb Phrase] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| / | | | \ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [Coordinating Clause] | [Verb] | [Adverb Phrase] | [Adverb Phrase] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| / | \ | / | \ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [Theme Noun Phrase] | [Conjunction] | [Dependent Clause] | [Particle] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| / | | | \ | / | | | \ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [Theme Verb] | [Theme] | [Adjective Phrase] | [Theme Noun Phrase] | [Experiencer Noun Phrase] | [Verb Phrase] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | | / | \ | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [Adjective] | [Adverb] | [Theme] | [Adjective] | [Experiencer] | [Verb] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | | / | \ | / | \ | | | | | | | / | \ | / | \ | / | \ | | | | | |||||||||||||||
| JXJXl | bwmk | -rr | kk | x, | xwr, | XWMxs | wms | mk | -jp | KXm- | RWBl | kk | -jp | KJts | ps | |||||||||||||||
| /ʖ͡ʇʖ͡ʇ!¡ | ↓pʷʘǂ | -r̥r̥ | ǂǂ | ʇ | ʇɽr̥ | ʷʇ͡ʘʇs | ʷʘs | ʘǂ | ʖʬ | ǂ͡ʇʘ | r̥͡ʙ̥!¡ | ǂǂ | ʖʬ | ǂ͡ʖʭs | ʬs/ | |||||||||||||||
| explode | mango | -G3 | 1.SG | ADJ | wait | G3.act | after | person | -G5 | PL- | G5.not | 1.SG | -G5 | G5.know | ADV | |||||||||||||||
| “My mango is to blow up, and then act like I don't know nobody hahrhahrhahrhahrhahrhahrhahr!” | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vocabulary
| KWMs | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Word | Translation | Note |
| krs | season | |
| krxXTSWB | season cycle (year) | |
| jWMLs | moon phase | |
| jWMLfl | lunar month | time between new moon and next new moon |
| pjks | half moonday | time between moonset and moonrise or vice versa |
| pjps | moonday | time between moonrise and next moonsire |
| xmjp | half day | time between sunset and sunrise or vice versa |
| xmbrr | day cycle | time between sunrise and next sunrise |
| mkjp | person | |
| wmwrjp | desire | object of desire |
| wmvrr | desire | feeling of desire |
| wbfjp | Bufijip gender | gender associated with masculinity (includes masculine people of any sex) |
| jJTs | Jitjis gender | gender associated with the female sex (includes female[1] individuals who are not Bufijips or Ropises) |
| wrwms | Ropis gender | gender associated with non-masculinity (includes feminine or androgynous males, intersex people, or non-reproducing[1] females) |
| bbtXTSWB | Babatixtibsu | an adult with an unclear or unknown gender |
| a mysterious person isolated from general society | ||
| a tourist that one has not directly interacted with in a friendly way | ||
| occasionally, this may be used for assigning a gender to Jiraks, but it's becoming more common to just call them Jiraks[2] | ||
| jwrl | pre-adult (Jirak) | pre-adults are not assigned a gender, but "pre-adult" has in a sense become a gender[2] for those under 20 in KWMs society |
| bmXTSWB | baby | used for before a child is able to walk consistently without help |
| XMXMrr | child | used for after a child is able to walk consistently without help until they noticeably begin puberty |
| FWBjp | adolescent | used for after a child noticeably begins puberty until they are 20 years old |
| xwbs | male | |
| kvbrr | female | |
| mml | intersex | |
| wmv | be sweet | |
| kJWMrr | banana | |
| mwml | dog | |
| kkjp | 1.SG | |
| XWMrp | to dislike | |
| pb | be too much | |
| ms | to be/to have | copula for predicative adjectives |
| rLM | if | conditional adjective |
| x | ADJ | adjective marking particle, can only be placed on nouns |
| jwbx | to see | |
| kfxs | to smell | |
| rk | 3.SG.G1 | |
| JMx | 3.SG.G2 | |
| tp | 3.SG.G3 | |
| vJX | 3.SG.G4 | |
| ls | 3.SG.G5 | |
| mt | 3.SG.G0 | |
| KJr | hate | |
| ps | ADV | adverb marking particle, can be placed on any content word |
| wms | after | |
| xwr | wait | also used as a conjunction like "and" or "wait, there's more" |
| JXJXl | explode | |
| bwmkrr | mango | |
| JWMxs | act as if | |
| wbl | not | adjective |
| KXm- | PL- | |
| xts | know of | |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 More specifically, Jitjis is related to female-related fertility, so an infertile, asexual, or celibate female will usually become a Ropis or Bufip, but it is not required. Also, a non-female can be a Jitjis if they take on specific roles associated with female fertility. Those roles are not exclusive to The Natural Obligation, but preforming them during it is a major part of being a Jitjis.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 In older times, pre-adults were genderless, but could be included in the "genderless" category named Babatixtibsu when mentioned in academia alongside Bufip, Jitjis, and Rakmis. More recently, whether Jirak is a gender or not has been in question. Jirak is now seen as a semi-category with certain youth-related social characteristics instead of a lack of social characteristics. This is likely due to digital technology creating a greater divide between younger and older generations.