Qa'oisi
| Qa'oisi | |
|---|---|
| Language family | Unknown |
| Era | today |
| Writing system | Unknown |
| Official status | |
| Spoken in | Qoatzait |
| Speaker | |
| Demonym | Unknown |
| Number of speakers | Unknown |
| Technical information | |
| Usage | Unknown |
| Language code | qao |
Qa'oisi (IPA: /qaʔoixi/, [k̠ɑ.ʔoɪ.ç̠ɪh]; English: Qoishi [kəˈwi.ʃi]) is reported to be a rare, not-well-documented language in the east of Ŋafrica, found around the jungle of Qoatzait. Not much is well documented on the language at this time, although its phonology is fairly well established due to its regularity, despite being somewhat unusual. It is not known to have any living relatives at this time.
Phonology
Qa'oisi is estimated to have a fairly small phonemic inventory, although its phonetic inventory is considerably larger.
Vowels
There are only 3 vowels in Qa'oisi: <Ii> /i/, <Aa> /a/, and <Oo> /o/. These vowels may appear next to each other or on their own, allowing for allophonic glides and diphthongs, although these are not considered unique and are in free variation with normal vowel hiatus. One analysis also preserves /ə/, which still appears phonetically between voiced stops, while becoming either an assimilating voiceless puff of frication or otherwise disappearing entirely in all other environments.
Consonants
By some counts, Qa'oisi may also have a very small inventory of consonants, with only 12 plosives, 2 fricatives, and 4 nasal stops. Glides are considered allophonic.
| Base Consonants | Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless Plosive | Pp /p/ | Tt /t/ | Kk /k/ | Qq /q/ | ' (q) /ʔ/ |
| Voiced Plosive | Bb /b/ | Dd /d/ | Gg /g/ | ||
| Fricated Plosive | Cc /tˢ/ | Jj /kˣ/ | |||
| Fricative | Zz /s/ | Ss /x/ | |||
| Nasal | Mm /m/ | Nn /n/ | Yy /ɲ/ | Rr /ŋ/ |
This analysis is fairly simple, and matches the romanization (with the addition of x to denote enunciation), although it is not perfect. Assuming a CVC structure, it assumes /ə/ is still a fully-fledged vowel that disappears in most environments, while all consonants other than fricatives or a glottal stop may appear in coda position. This system is called the "ghost e" analysis, and can make words phonemically run a bit longer than other analyses, since a vowel and in some cases an additional missing unknown consonant need to be appended to stopped codas. Alternatively, it assumes a CVCC structure, with /ʔ/ being not only possible in coda position, but also after any other consonant (except /q/); this analysis is considered unrealistic and not true to the history of its phonetic realizations. This system is called the "ghost x" analysis.
Another, alternative analysis is that all consonants (except either /q/ or /ʔ/) have a duplicate, no-audible-release (or "stopped coda") version, and that these are phonemically distinct. (I.e. /p/ is distinct from /p̚/ in coda positions). The "dual coda" analysis suggests twice as many phonemes, which, along with somewhat more nuanced places of articulation, a linguist popularized with the below table.
| Base Consonants | Bilabial | Dental | Palatal | Uvular | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless Plosive | /p/ /p̚/ | /t/ /t̚/ /tˢ/ | /c/ /c̚/ /cˣ/ | /q/ (/q̚/) | /ʔ/ |
| Voiced Plosive | /b/ /b̚/ | /d/ /d̚/ | /ɟ/ /ɟ̚/ | ||
| Fricative | /s/ (/s̚/) | /ç/ (/ç̚/) | |||
| Nasal | /m/ (/m̚/) | /n/ (/n̚/) | /ɲ/ (/ɲ̚/) | /ɴ/ (/ɴ̚/) |
The status of /q̚/ is disputed even among those who prefer the dual codas model, as it phonemically arises from /q/ much the same way other non-released stops are. However, it is not entirely clear if this is accurate, since it seems like it can be identical to /ʔ/, though there are some distinct impacts on following vowels rather than prior vowels, though in rare cases it may even surface as [ʡ]. Since it is in complementary distribution with /ʔ/, they are sometimes instead analyzed one and the same, while others prefer a distinct /q̚/. This problem also persists in the simplified phonemic inventory, since the sound could still be represented better phonotactically with /q/ but phonetically with /ʔ/. Additionally, some linguists prefer to stick /ʔ/ next to /q/ and refer to the entire column as "gutteral".
It should be noted that the dental consonants may be dental-alveolar, the velar/palatal consonants seem to be more accurately prevelar, and the uvular consonant may be either postvelar or uvular - it's difficult to tell for sure which. This is why symbols have varied between linguists for palatal/velar and velar/uvular consonants. Furthermore, /tˢ/ and /cˣ/ are analyzed as a very weakly fricated /t/ and /c/; this is generally considered distinct from [t͡s] and [c͡ç], although before a glottal stop it may become an ejective [t͡s’]/[c͡ç’]. /tˢ/ is still considered dental, though is more likely to be laminal or weakly palatalized than the other dental consonants; /cˣ/ is generally still postpalatal or prevelar.
Another thing of note is that, on account of the nature of applosives, the realization of non-released fricatives and nasals is that they are brief consonants, either glottalized or abruptly followed by an applosive. Thus, while s̚, ç̚, m̚, n̚, ɲ̚, and ɴ̚ may not truly exist, they are often written as useful shorthands; despite this, their true nature likely means /s̚/ is actually closer to [s̆t̚] or [ˢt̚], etc.
Phonotactics
As stated previously, the basic syllable structure is (C)V(C), although it may be (C)V(C)(ʔ) under the ghost x analysis. Under both simple phoneme analyses, any consonant may begin a syllable, or be absent entirely. Most consonants can also optionally end a syllable; however, whereas the ghost e analysis argues that /ʔ/, /tˢ/, /kˣ/, /s/, and /x/ cannot end a syllable, the ghost x analysis posits that all syllables may end a syllable, and all except /ʔ/, /tˢ/, and /kˣ/ may further be followed by /ʔ/. The dual coda analysis instead posits that all consonants may end syllable (except possible /ʔ/; see above paragraph), while only consonants with an audible release may begin one.
There is a phonemic distinction between two vowels separated by /ʔ/ and a plain vowel hiatus, the latter of which may optionally result in glides or diphthongs. However, /ʔ/ is almost only phonetically distinct intervocally, since utterance-initially, as well as after coda consonants, an epenthetic [ʔ] is inserted before a vowel. This may have once been a non-distinct realization as a boundary between morphemes, but later got engrained as a distinct phoneme only in certain environments. It may sometimes be dropped utterance-initially if there are two vowels beside one another, but this is optional.
Additionally, while the language is phonemically fairly simple, if difficult to precisely qualify, it is also phonetically a bit more complicated. There is a distinction between /V.CV/ and /VC.V/, since /ʔ/ is epenthetic before vowels in these environments, although there is not a distinction between /VC.V/ and /VC.ʔV/. This may also cause voiceless plosives to become ejective in nature, although not necessarily. Additionally, there is the distinction between non-released consonants, which may be analyzed as either a distinction between /V.Cə.V/ and /VC.V/, /VC.(ʔ)V/ vs. /VCʔ.(ʔ)V/, or two different phonemes in /VC.V/
In addition to this distinction, there is also further distinctions between them and /VC.CV/, where the coda may be the same, different, or the non-audible version of the following consonant. Consonants which are fundamentally the same are both pronounced clearly when plosives, and cause gemination in fricatives and nasals. In cases where they are the same, but the coda consonant is inaudible, then this is reversed; plosives are geminate, while fricatives and nasals are "broken" with a glottal stop (or potentially a nonreleased stop of the same place of articulation).
Things are further complicated when the two consonants are different. While most of the time they are predictable, there are some nuances that must be given attention. Released codas are always fully pronounced, and never "melt" into the following consonant, while nonreleased codas may optionally lose their glottal-like quality when following another consonant. For instance, using dual coda analysis, /atsa/ would be analyzed as [ʔat.sa], while /at̚sa/ would be either [ʔat̚.sa] or, more frequently, [ʔaʔt͡sa]. The difference is even notable in different places of articulation, where the /c/ in /acsa/ much more pronounced and distinguished than in /ac̚sa/, though it is still pronounced in both. Note that voicing of each component remains distinct. (Also note: these are all distinct from /a.tˢa/ [a.tˢa] and /at̚tˢa/ [at:ˢa])
Additionally, coda /q̚/ (/ʔ/) does something different. While the actual uvular aspect of the consonant is often lost, it causes uvularization or pharyngealization of the following consonant leading into the vowel, as well as brief lowering of the vowel in question. For example, /iaq̚si/ may be pronounced as anything from [jæʔ.sˤɪ̞] to [ʔɪɑ̆.ʡsɤɪ̆]. Additionally, any following voiced plosives may become implosive.
Lastly, utterance-finally, an [h] may be appended to vowels to keep them distinct from non-released consonants, which may become more like voiceless approximants or weak fricatives in a similar place of articulation to the vowel. Utterance-final q̚ may be [ʔh].
As such, the full range of phones may actually resemble something more along the lines of the table below, although there may be more room in between sounds that may surface from time to time.
| Base Consonants | Bilabial | Dental | Prevelar | (Pre)uvular | Laryngeal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless Plosive | p p̚ p: (p’) | t̪ t̪̚ t̪: (t̪’) tˢ t:ˢ | c̠ c̠̚ c̠: (c̠’) c̠ˣ c̠:ˣ | k̠ k̠̚ k̠: (k̠’) | (ʡ) ʔ |
| Voiced Plosive | b b̚ b: (ɓˤ~b̰) | d̪ d̪̚ d̪: (ɗˤ~d̰) | ɟ̠ ɟ̠̚ ɟ̠: (ʄˤ~ɟ̰) | ||
| Voiceless Affricate | (t͡:s) (t͡s’) t͡s: | (c̠͡:ç̠) (c̠͡ç̠’) c̠͡ç̠: | (ʔh) | ||
| Fricative | s̪ (s̪̚) s̪: | ç̠ (ç̠̚) ç̠: | (h~ɦ) | ||
| Nasal | m (m̚) m: | n̪ (n̪̚) n̪: | ɲ̠ (ɲ̠̚) ɲ̠: | ŋ̠ (ŋ̠̚) ŋ̠: | |
| Liquid | w | j | ă (ʕ̞~ʢ) | ||
Using dual coda analysis, there are an estimated 1,377 possible syllables, with 476 different possible intervocal consonants/clusters.
Romanization
| Letter | Aa | Bb | Cc | Dd | Gg | Ii | Jj | Kk | Mm | Nn | Oo | Pp | Rr | Ss | Tt | Yy | Zz | (X)x | ʻ' | - | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic IPA / Onset | /a/ | /b/ | /tˢ/ | /d/ | /g/ | /i/ | /kˣ/ | /k/ | /m/ | /n/ | /o/ | /p/ | /q/ | /ŋ/ | /x/ | /t/ | /ɲ/ | /s/ | - | /ʔ/ (phonemic) | /ʔ/ (phonotactic) |
| In Coda | ă~ʕ | b̚ | tˢ | d̚ | g̚ | ɪ̆~j | kˣ | k̚ | m̚ | n̚ | ŏ~w | p̚ | q̚ | ŋ̚ | x̚ | t̚ | ɲ̚ | s̚ | No ̚ | - | - |
| In Coda + x | - | b | - | d | g | - | - | k | m | n | - | p | q | ŋ | x | t | ɲ | s | - | - | - |
Grammar
Qa'oisi is a predominantly a topic-marking language, with no clear preference for word order, although VSO and VOS are considered to be more topic neutral, as moving nouns after the verb is considered a backgrounding of information. It appears to be weakly head-initial and weakly agglutinative, being a largely dependent-marking language, although it features a bit of double marking. It also features split ergativity.
Nouns
Case
Nouns come in one of six cases. There are three syntactic cases - nominative, ergative, and oblique, which also code for a level of directionality and intention, as well as orientation and location - and two locative cases.
- The nominative case is usually used when an action is in the present tense, perfective aspect, or for transitive verbs in which the subject is acting with intention. It is also used for certain locatives, as well as a possessive, instrumental, or causative. It can also be used as a positive comitative or privative, i.e. Thanks to XYZ
- The ergative case is usually used when an action is acting as a receiver, reflexive, or is in the past imperfective, as well as transitive verbs in which the subject is either the patient or acting unintentionally. It is also used for other locatives, or as a possessed case, partitive, benefactive, or vehicular (anti-instrumental). It can also be used as a negative comitative or privative, i.e. Despite XYZ.
- The oblique case, which can also function as an absolutive, is generally used for the argument that's neither nominative nor accusative (although sometimes both are used in a transitive sentence, especially if both are being strongly emphasized). It also functions as a dative, locative, vocative, and comitative, or neutral alongside XYZ.
- The terminative case is used to indicate "up to XYZ", "before XYZ", "between X and Y", and "including X and Y". It is primarily used for locatives and temporal phrases, but can be used derivationally to mean "almost". It is also generally used for the subessive, superessive, antessive and intrative, and sometimes as a lative.
- The postessive case is used to indicate going beyond something or behind something, such as "past/beyond/after XYZ" or "behind XYZ". It is also used as a distant subessive or superessive, postelative, approximative or apudessive, and sometimes as an ablative. Like the terminative case, it is mainly used for locatives and temporal phrases, but can be used derivationally to mean "very" or even "excessively".
Gender and Number
Nouns come in a basic singular-plural distinction. They also feature grammatical gender, in which case adjectives and case agreement match the gender of the noun in question. Prepositions also frequently match the gender of the noun, an instance of head marking, although verbs do not agree with grammatical gender.
The three forms of grammatical gender are generally considered to be wide, thin, and fluid, although in reality many words may fall into categories they wouldn't logically belong to. Wide gendered words tend to end in full consonants, thin gendered words tend to end in applosives, and fluid words tend to end in -i. The plural for wide words tend to end in -o, thin words in -a, and fluid words also in -i, as there originally was not a strong distinction between singular and plural fluid nouns, although exceptions do exist.
Verbs
Verbs come in many varieties of tense, aspect and mood. The default realis/stative verb may be in a present or past progressive or perfective, as well as a distant past. The past progressive can also be used as an experiential. The present perfective indicates that an action was just completed, or is about to be completed, and may be thought of as a recent-past or near-future. It also can be used as a momentative or instant action.
Verbs may also appear in the subjunctive, which appears in subordinate clauses (especially relative clauses), as well as when in auxiliary constructions, and can appear in all tenses except for the remote past. They also may be irrealis/conjunctive going into independent clauses to indicate a hypothetical, abilitative, desiderative, conditional "if" clause, or in some cases an implied "should", and can also appear in all tenses except for the remote past; on its own it can also be utilized as an imperative. The injunctive, then, is the subjunctive version of the conjunctive, going in dependent clauses.
There are also a large number of other constructions that further specify moods and aspects. For example, the word "be" (which is also "have") can be tacked onto the end of a present or past verb to indicate either a jussive-nonpast, emphatic deductive, or, for progressive verbs, gnomic, while in the far past it implies a super remote, untenable past. When irrealis, it implies an obligation that is not being carried out, acting as a jussive dubitative, or as an emphatic desiderative or obligative.
While the core verb is marked in the subjunctive or injunctive in these constructions, and both the auxiliary verb the core verb must match each other for tense, both may be coded for aspect separately. For example, the while the above paragraph provided information on "be" in the progressive, "be" in the perfective means something entirely different, functioning as a valency decreasing operation, quite similar to English, acting as either a passive (I was hit) or an antipassive (I hit [it]), depending on if the subject is nominative or ergative, being a logical extension that a one-off action was ordained by something else, implying low volition.
Another common auxiliary verb that creates a rich set of aspectual distinctions is "hold", which can, depending on its tense pairings, be used to indicate a habitual (progressive progressive), frequentative (progressive perfective), transitional [inchoative/cessative] (perfective progressive), or iterative (perfective perfective), along with turning a far past into a far past progressive, habitual, or gnomic.
Another common verb is "go", which has further has a lot of nuance. In the progressive, it acts as an attemptative (with no results) when paired with a past perfective verb, or as a quasi-future with a present perfective verb. It similarly acts as a broader a mindset to try to do something repeatedly or for a long time when paired with a progressive verb - functioning somewhat as an atelic verb (i.e. "search" or "look for" instead of "find"). Meanwhile, in the perfective, it is used as an assumptive, which in the irrealis mood indicates a dubitative. In the distant past, this instead indicates a previously held assumption about a past event.
Several adverbs may also be used, as well as number to indicate number of times something has been done (in the nominative; the ergative it implies for the nth time).
Then there are some suffixes that are adverbial in nature but tack onto the verb, including the dependent verb. These can include "surprisingly", "suddenly", "quickly", "slowly", "again" or "re", and "not". The irrealis modifier may also be thought of as a "maybe" or "could" adverb, but given its versatility in modifying moods and aspects, and its ability to be placed on auxiliaries, it is generally considered an inherent verb modality. There also exist coverbial functions, such as "while", "after", and "before", which can be combined with a causative paraphrastic phrase to mean "and", "thus", and "in order to".