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 | ||