User:Hangfromthefloor/Kapùnha/Grammar
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This article deals with the phonology of the Kapùnha language. This article is under construction for langmaker.com.
[edit] Phonology/Orthography
There are 85 characters in the alphabet of Kapùnha, but it has only a quite simple sound inventory: There are 6 vowels, as well as 12 unvaried consonants, and their 12 varied, or voiced counterparts, most of which are included in the English phonetic system. On the other hand, it can be difficult for some non-native speakers of Kapùnha to accurately pronounce the sounds of the language.
Every character in the Kapùnha alphabet represents a single syllable, and all but one of which is open-ended, meaning it ends with a vowel. Besides this standalone exception, Kapùnha syllables are composed of either a vowel alone, for example, a, or a consonant plus a vowel, such as ta. Because Kapùnha has such a restricted sound structure, only 85 unvaried and unaspirated syllables are possible. Encouragingly, the phonetic organization of the Kapùnha alphabet can be broken down simply, into character formation and sound category, which are related to each other.
The syllabic glyphs are arranged in groups: The six vowels are broken into the three front vowels, i, e, and ə, and the three back vowels, a, o and u. The characters of each consonant are easily formed: The first vowel linked to the consonant, i or a, has a simple, "model" form, such as �, for ti and � for ta. The character for the second vowel, e or o, is made by adding a loop, bump, or general extra stroke to the "model" symbol, for example, � for te and � for to. The last symbol of the consonant group, ə or u, is formed by an additional stroke, as in � for tə and � for tu. Each letter is formed this way, besides the consonant syllable, n, and its varied form, m, represented by the character �.
A consonant can be varied in two ways: voicing or hardening, such as ta→da or ka→ga; and aspirating or ejecting, such as ta→tha (not pronounced as in think, refer to Tricky Pronunciation below) or ka→kha. A consonant can also be voiced and aspirated, resulting in the change from ta→dha. The only consonant group that cannot be aspirated is the w|hw group, as well as the non-consonant group (i, e, ə; a, o, u), which cannot be voiced as well.
[edit] Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g | ||||
| Nasal | m | ɱ | n | ŋ | |||
| Fricative | ɸ | f | s z | ʃ ʒ | h | ||
| Affricate | ʦ ʣ | ʧ ʤ | |||||
| Approximant | l | ʎ | ɰ | ʍ | |||
| Flap | ɾ (ɺ) |
[edit] Consonantal Orthography
| Roman | t | d | k | g | s | c | š | č | z | j | ž | ǰ | n | m | nl | ml | tl | dl | l | r | p | b | f | h | w | hw |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | t | d | k | ɡ | s | ʦ | ʃ | ʧ | z | ʣ | ʒ | ʤ | n | m | nl | ml | tl | dl | l | ɾ, ɺ | p | b | ɸ | h | w | ʍ |
[edit] Vowels
| Front | Back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roman | i | e | ə | a | o | u |
| IPA | i ɪ | ɛ e | ə ɘ | a ɑ | o ɔ | ɯ u |
The consonants n, m, nl, and ml, including the standalone syllable n (and m), can be nasalized by placing an inverted breve ( ̑) above the symbol, such as s̑. When /n/ is nasalized, it becomes /ŋ/, and likewise, /m/ becomes /ɱ/. Nasalization and aspiration cannot simultaneously occur.
[edit] Tricky Pronunciation
- Relative English Pronunciation of Alveolar Fricatives and Affricates in Kapùnha
-
s is like sink z is like zoo c is like cats j is like fads š is like ash ž is like measure č is like check ǰ is like joy
- f (ɸ or f) – when f appears with a, o, or u, you don't bite your lip, as in English; imagine as if you are blowing out a candle, somewhere between the sounds [h] and [f]. Kapùnha f is similar to Japanese typhoon.
- r (ɺ or ɾ) – when you pronounce r, lightly tap or flap the tip of your tongue against the palatal area just behind the back of the upper front teeth. Kapùnha r is similar to British English butter.
- hw (ʍ) – don't round your lips when saying hw, relax your mouth and keep it half-open. Kapùnha hw is similar to Southern English while.
- syllabic n (ŋ) – your tongue touches nowhere in your mouth, rather the sound is produced from the top of your throat. Also, it is pronounced separately from the following syllable. (Obviously, it never appears at the beginning of a word.) Pay attention to keep this as a standalone syllable, or it could result in miscommunication. Syllabic n in Kapùnha is similar to English hang.
- ɱ (ɱ) – close your lips, and produce a nasal sound from the back of the mouth. Kapùnha ɱ is similar to English symphony.
- aspiration (ʰ) — immediately after you pronounce the consonant, slightly move your tongue back and release air from the glottal region.
[edit] Stress
The location of stress in Kapùnha words can vary. Here are the main guidelines:
- If a word has two or less than two syllables:
- If one syllable has a tone mark or is aspirated, that syllable is stressed.
- If both syllables have a tone mark or are aspirated, the second syllable is stressed.
- If no syllables have a tone mark or are aspirated, the first syllable is stressed.
- If a word has three syllables:
- If the first syllable has a tone mark or is aspirated, the first syllable is stressed.
- If the second syllable has a tone mark or is aspirated, the first syllable is stressed, and the last syllable has secondary stress.
- If the last syllable has a tone mark and is not aspirated, the second syllable is stressed.
- If the last syllable has a tone mark and is aspirated, the last syllable is stressed.
- If no syllables have a tone mark or are aspirated, and the second syllable is not voiced, the second syllable is stressed.
- If no syllables have a tone mark or are aspirated, and the second syllable is voiced, the third syllable is stressed.
- If a word has four syllables:
- If no syllables have a tone mark or are aspirated, and the second syllable is n, the first syllable has secondary stress and the third syllable is stressed.
- Syllables with a falling tone mark have less stress precedence than syllables with a rising tone mark.
| One syllable | Two syllables | Three syllables | Four syllables | Five syllables | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roman | IPA | Roman | IPA | Roman | IPA | Roman | IPA | Roman | IPA |
| a | /a/ | ata | /'ata/ | ataka | /a'taka/ | atakasa | /,ata'kasa/ | atakasaša | /,ataka'saʃa/ |
| atá | /a'tá/ | atakà | /a'takà/ | atàkasa | /a'tàka,sa/ | atàkasaša | /a,tàka'saʃa/ | ||
| atha | /a'tʰa/ | ataká | /ata'ká/ | atàkàsa | /a'tàkà,sa/ | atakàsaša | /,ata'kasaʃa/ | ||
| ada | /'ada/ | atakhà | /ata'kʰa/ | atàkása | /a,tà'kása/ | atankasa | /a'taŋka,sa/ | ||
| anta | /'aŋ,ta/ | atakan | /,ata'kaŋ/ | antakan | /'aŋta,kaŋ/ | ||||
| atan | /,a'taŋ/ | antaka | /,aŋ'taka/ | atankan | /a'taŋ,kaŋ/ | ||||
| atai | /,a'tai/ | atanka | /a'taŋ,ka/ | antanka | /,aŋ'taŋka/ | ||||
| aita | /a.'ita/ | antan | /'aŋ,taŋ/ | aitakasa | /,a.ita'kasa/ | ||||
| an'i | /,aŋ.'i/ | antai | /,aŋ'tai/ | aitanka | /,a.i'taŋka/ | ||||
| aitan | /,ai'taŋ/ | antakai | /'aŋta,kai/ | ||||||
| antaika | /,aŋ'taika/ | ||||||||
| ataikan | /a'tai,kaŋ/ | ||||||||
[edit] Syntax
In most cases, including interrogative sentences, Kapùnha is a SOV language. Each part of the sentence is followed by a particle, denoting its part of speech or part of sentence. Although the subject is usually found initially, the other parts of the sentence can be flexibly reordered and rearranged, except for the verb, which is always found at the end of the sentence. For example, take the following sentence, which includes a subject, a verb, a direct object, (a prepositional phrase, and) an indirect object.
| X | gave | Y | to | Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | V | DO | PP | IO |
| X-a | Y-hwo | Z-nl | owiri |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | DO | IO (PP) | V |
Since each part of a sentence is followed by a particle, the first sentence above is translated into Kapùnha.
If we replace X (the subject) with Bob, Y (the direct object) with an apple, and Z (the indirect object) with to Joe, we can place these in any order before the verb, resulting in the following six combinations, all meaning the same thing, Bob gave an apple to Joe, all of which are acceptable in Kapùnha.
| Roman | Translation |
|---|---|
| X-a Y-hwo Z-nl owiri. | Bob an apple to Joe gave. |
| X-a Z-nl Y-hwo owiri. | Bob to Joe an apple gave. |
| Y-hwo X-a Z-nl owiri. | An apple Bob to Joe gave. |
| Y-hwo Z-nl X-a owiri. | An apple to Joe Bob gave. |
| Z-nl X-a Y-hwo owiri. | To Joe Bob an apple gave. |
| Z-nl Y-hwo X-a owiri. | To Joe an apple Bob gave. |
[edit] Pronouns
[edit] Subject Pronouns
| Kapùnha | English | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||||||||||
| m | f | n | m | f | n | m | f | n | m | f | n | ||
| 1p | ghe | ghu | I | we | |||||||||
| 2p | pe | pu | you | you | |||||||||
| 3p | če | že | ǰe | ču | žu | ǰu | he | she | it | they | they | they | |
[edit] Object Pronouns
| Kapùnha | English | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||||||||||
| m | f | n | m | f | n | m | f | n | m | f | n | ||
| 1p | ro | ru | me | us | |||||||||
| 2p | co | cu | you | you | |||||||||
| 3p | čo | žo | ǰo | ču | žu | ǰu | him | her | it | them | them | them | |
[edit] Possessive Pronouns
| Kapùnha | English | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||||||||||
| m | f | n | m | f | n | m | f | n | m | f | n | ||
| 1p | gheu | ghou | my, mine | our(s) | |||||||||
| 2p | peu | pou | your(s) | your(s) | |||||||||
| 3p | ča | ža | ǰa | čou | žou | ǰou | his | her(s) | its | their(s) | their(s) | their(s) | |
[edit] Verbal Morphology
There are nine types of verbs in Kapùnha: -aè, -oè, and seven irregular stems, mostly conjugated the same only because their roots are single syllables. The infinitive ending of every verb end in Δè, where Δ is a vowel syllable.
