Hakurian

Geopoeia
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Hakurian is a language spoken in Hakurɯ(nl) on Ārdra.


phonology, phonotactics, and orthography

Most syllables are of the form CV, where C is any consonant or non-syllabic vowel and V is any vowel or diphthong. The only exception is that word-initial syllables can consist of just a vowel or diphthong (except the extra short vowel ɞ̆/ə̆ [ı]). The unwritten glottal stop occurs as a consonant in non-initial syllables, mostly as a result of compounding, as in Igaxıouxima (eastern large island), for example.

consonants

bilabial alveolar retroflex palatal velar glottal
nasal m [m] n [n]
voiceless stop p [p] t [t] c [q] k [k] ʔ
voiced stop b [b] d [d] ɟ [j] g [g]
voiceless fricative ɸ [f] s [s] ʂ [x] ç [qh] h [h]
voiced fricative z [z] ʐ [xh]
lateral flap ɺ [r]

non-syllabic vowels

There are two non-syllabic vowels, /i̯/ and /u̯/, written [y] and [w], respectively.

vowels and diphthongs

front central back
close i [i] ʉː [ɯ]* ɯ [u]
close-mid ɛi̯/eː [ei]* ɔu̯/oː [ou]*
open-mid ɛ [e] ɞ̆/ə̆ [ı]* ɔ [o]
open ɑ [a]

notes:

  • ə̆/ɞ̆ [ı] is always extra short.
  • ʉː [ɯ] is always long.
  • eː is an allophone of ɛi̯ [ei].
  • oː is an allophone of ɔu̯ [ou].

In addition to ɛi̯ and ɔu̯, there are two more diphthongs:

  • ɑo̯/ɑu̯ [ao];
  • ɑɛ̯/ɑi̯ [ae].

orthography

The Hakurian alphabet consists of 25 letters and two digraphs:

Aa Bb Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii ı Jj Kk Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq QHqh Rr Ss Tt Uu Ɯɯ Wv Xx XHxh Yy Zz

There is no capital of [ı] because that letter cannot occur at the beginning of words. In case of completely capitalized text, [ı] is capitalized as [I] and [i] as [İ] (with dot).

(more to be added)

syntax

Sentences consist of one or more clauses connected by connectives (usually followed by commas). The order of phrases within a clause is relatively free, except that there is a general preference to end with the verb phrase, to start with the topic phrase, and to have sentential adverbs close to the beginning of the phrase. Within phrases, the head word is always last.

list of common particles

function(s) remarks
ne topic Replaces agent, patient, or secondary patient marker, can be combined (in second position) with many other particles.
su agent
ro patient
secondary patient Indirect object in case of ditransitive verbs, active agent in case of passive verbs.
xi genitive Not just a possessive, but a rather general modifier marker.
ye conjunctive, "and" Comitative, but also conjunctive for verbs.
ga disjunctive, "or" (inclusive)
ni direct, "to"
kayı origin, "from"
te locative

connectives and sentence end particles

function(s) remarks
nıra if
nao request for explanation
kae question marker

(more to be added)

morphology

verbal morphology

function(s) remarks
present tense
-uqa simple past
-isae future
wu- not Also used for adjectives.
-ifih- (specific negation) The affix -ifih- negates the following suffix, most commonly those marked below with *.
-ider- continuing
-ar- passive
-us- causative *
-ey- possibility *
-etaw- uncertainty
-ohox- volative (desirability) *
-atar- subjunctive, "if"

Aside from "wu-" (which is a prefix) all of these are suffixes, and most of them can be combined.

derivational morphology

function(s) remarks
-moqhe abstract noun → adjective
-mojou abstract noun → adverb
-moxhur- abstract noun → verb
-tıke "-like" (adjective)
-(a)e→-ou adjective → adverb Adjectives end in -e or -ae; adverbs in -ou.

(more to be added)

other affixes

function(s) remarks
fi- not / non- negates nouns, adjectives, or adverbs

(more to be added)

examples

The following - rather exotic - example has an abstract noun ('election'; note that the category of 'abstract nouns' is broader than in many other languages) with nine affixes:

Here su here ro wusehıkiyoumoxhurarifihusifihohoxetawuqa.

Here su here ro wu-sehıkiyou-moxhur-ar-ifih-us-ifih-ohox-etaw-uqa.
he agent he patient not-election-verbalization-passive-not-causative-not-volative-uncertainty-past.
He possibly did not want to not cause him to not be elected.

(more to be added)