H'snme

=Setting and Description=

H'snme is a language where nouns and verbs are simply the same word type; they align the same, both can carry the same suffixes and information and both have the same priority.

=Phonology and Orthography=

Phonotactics
To define the phonotactics of H'snme one needs to divide the phonemes into classes. The following table demonstrates them:

There are certain constrictions to syllables:

In addition to syllable constrictions, there are a few other rules that are of note:
 * 1) There can't be more than four modifiers per letter.
 * 2) There can't be more than two fricatives or plosives next to each other.
 * 3) One phoneme can't repeat itself unless it is modified differently.

Sound Mutations
For the language to function properly, three mutation laws are in effect. They are, for purpose of analysis, classified as final, medial and initial.

Regressive Metaphony
Regressive Metaphony is a sound change in which central and back vowels inside the root get influenced by frontal [ɛ] and [ɨ] in suffixes. It is caused only by suffixing and is productive.

I will use a simple example root of "faty" (~sky). Using the simplest derivational suffix of "-c'e", we get the new word of "fātyc'e" (heavenly). Here, the vowel [a], under the effect of [ɛ], turned into [æ]. As you may have noticed, each letter when fronted receives a macron above it (since it is the only common diacritic within the limited set of Latin and Latin-Extended). There exists a limit to regressive metaphony: one frontal can influence only one back vowel, and it happens to the nearest.

The root "łaku" (~time) is a perfect example. The same suffix of "-c'e" makes the word "łak ū c'e" (timely), not "łākūc'e". This is due to the amount of vowels in the suffix. This process is called Umlaut in Germanic languages. It bears simmilarity to the inverse of a softer form of vowel harmony.

Bleeding Effect
Bleeding effect is a sound mutation involving modificators. The bleeding effect occurs when two fundamentally same consonants (nasalised, lateralised, palatalised, aspirated, labialised, voiced or velarised vs. plain), first modified and the second not, come together in the span of two syllables without any C-class phonemes in between.

The following example demonstrates:

Here, the root "tudñ" (~action) received the deminutive suffix of "-etsz", becoming "tūdñetsz" (~small action); the bleeding effect morphs the pronounciation without actually doing anything to the latin spelling.

Consonant Harmony
Consonant harmony is a sound change in which consonants from prefixes morph into different ones. This happens due to differences in points of articulation. While harmonising, the distinction is made between the main root consonant and the main prefix consonant. The consonant morphed, if there is no corresponding consonant of the same place of the same class (fricative vs. plosive), the class switches.

The following example demonstrates: "sfū" (~start) is the root; adding the corresponding negation prefix, "ŋł'ep-" makes the root "ŋł'etsfū" (~end). Note that [p] morphed into [t] while in "þwol" (~need) it becomes "ŋł'epþwol" (~needlesness).

The following table demonstrates the morph:

=Grammar=

Morphosyntactic Alignment
The morphosyntax of H'snme is different from that of most languages. The alignment isn't the classic Subject-Agent-Patient, but based on Priority.

Each major part of speech gets a priority tag, namely -TOP, -AVRG, and -LOW.

The priority system isn't just a fancy way of saying "tripartite", where the S, A, and P parts of speech invariantly get a class of cases, but actually a very fluid system partially based on emphasis, importance, focus and obviously priority.

Essentially, any part of speech can get any of the three priority tags based on how important it is related to the details and the bigger picture. Each simple sentence (a finished thought that has an action, an optional patient and optional modifiers) has priorities.

The priority laws (or rules, if laws sound too harsh) are often the only line dividing the priorities from anarchy. They are a set of boundaries priorities can't break unless it is specified so.

The rules are as listed:
 * In every sentence, there must be a -TOP priority, unless the sentence isn't very important, therefore the main priority turns to -AVRG.
 * An adjective cannot get tagged higher than the word it modifies, unless the attribute is more important than the word.
 * An -AVRG tag can exist almost exclusively if there already are -LOW and -TOP tags.
 * In any one simple sentence, there can be at most three tags, therefore no repetition of tags is allowed.

Morphology and Syntax
Grammar is divided into two basic categories: Morphology and Syntax.

Morphology
Morphology of H'snme is divided into two categories, the Formatives and Modifiers. Formatives are the noun-verb hybrid while modifiers represent something close to an adjective-adverb hybrid.

Formatives
The formatives are mostly what IE languages call nouns, verbs and numbers. In cross-language translations, they are marked with a tilde in the target language.

In more-less recent times (~1500) years, nouns and verbs lost their distinction but kept their corresponding features such as tense, case, mood, evidentiality and others. Being unique in that words can take on both cases and tenses, H'snme allows for some interesting combinations.

Cases
Cases are a strange feature in the language: they are often combined to make new meanings. The following table lists the cases and their meanings:

Number
Grammatical number in H'snme is fairly regular, with six different numbers. They are as listed:

*It's usually bigger than six instances.

Note that the base form is the dual (which historically was confused with the plurative).

Person
H'snme follows a less-than-generic pattern of person. Even though the first three persons are as in most languages (I, you, him), the fourth person is even more distant (someone). The following table explains this properly:

Tenses
In H'snme, tenses are divided into five tenses. They are: "Present", "Future", "Past", "Non-Future" and "Ancestral". Each is explained in the following text.

Present Tense
The present tense refers to an action happening now, at this moment. The action is done during speech, or shortly before or afterwards. The fully marked present is very detailed in the explanation of how, why, where etc. of the action.

Future Tense
The future tense refers to an action whose bulk is in the future. It might or might not be taking place in the present. It has unique relationships with aspects (along with all the tenses, for that matter) and the marked form provides detailed information on who will do it, when will it happen, what is the expected result etc.

Past Tense
The past tense refers to an action whose bulk was in the past. Some or all of it might or might not have carried over to the present. Fully marked, it shows the presumed relationships with various elements of speech. It should not be confused with the Non-Future tense or the Ancestral tense.

Non-Future Tense
The non-future tense is the general tense marking for any action that has not yet taken place. Fully marked, it shows how the action happened and similar details.

Ancestral Tense
The ancestral tense denotes a very distant past, simmilar to the phrase "time immemorial". The ancestral tense is very distinct from the past tense, but the aspects have simmilar effect on both.

Aspects
In H'snme, aspects describe the temporal how of the verb. Aspects are embedded in agreement suffixes and are not inherent. There are five different, contrasting aspects; they are "Perfective", "Progressive", "Telic", "Atelic" and "Inchoative".

Perfective Aspect
The perfective aspect refers to an action that is instantaneous and doesn't last. It contrasts with progressive and can be combined with telic/atelic aspects and the inchoative aspect.

Progressive Aspect
The progressive aspect refers to an action that lasts and is slightly continuous. It contrasts with the perfective aspect and can be combined with telic/atelic aspects and the inchoative aspect.

Telic Aspect
The telic aspect refers to an action whose goal is achieved. It contrasts with the atelic aspect and can be combined with perfective/progressive aspects and the inchoative aspect.

Atelic Aspect
The atelic aspect refers to an action whose goal was either not achieved or we don't have information about it. It contrasts with the telic aspect and can be combined with perfective/progressive aspects and the inchoative aspect.

Inchoative Aspect
The inchoative aspect, also known in H'snme as the neutral aspect, refers to an action that marks the beggining of a state or rarely, an action. It is known as "neutral" because of its noncontrastive nature and the ability to combine with both the perfective/progressive aspects and the telic/atelic aspects.

"Verb" Forms
The so-called "verb" forms are forms that classically apply to verbs and are replacements for true markers.

Infinitives
Infinitives are one of the two citational forms of every formative (the other being the root). They lack grammatical information and are devoid of all but the infinitive categories. There are three infinitives.

First Infinitive - Bare infinitive. In glosses, it is shortened to "". The first, or the "bare" infinitive, is one of the basic citational form of any formative. It carries only root information + first infinitive suffix. There are three suffixes, based on what type of sound the root ends. The following table explains: The first infinitive serves no practical purpose in formations except in citation and passive formation.

Second Infinitive - Infinitive of puropose. In glosses, it is shortened to "". The second, or the "purpose" infinitive is the closest thing in H'snme to a noun. In English, it would be very simmilar to "-ing", and it is closest to the Finnish third infinitive. There is only one suffix, "-ŋāe". It is very rare.

Third Infinitive - Inactive infinitive. In glosses, it is shortened to "". This infinitive form is the inactive form of any formative. It is innately distinct from the other two infinitives. The inactive form is used in forming various inactive forms. There are two suffixes, based on what type of sound the root ends. The following table explains: The third infinitive is used in forming various inactive forms and (rarely) in telic passives.

Syntax
=Dictionary= =Example text=

=Terminology= - Singular

- Dual

- Trial

- Quatrial

- Plural

- 1st. Person

- 2nd. Person

- 3rd. Person

- 4th. Person

- Present Tense

- Past Tense

- Future Tense

- Non-Future Tense

- Ancestral Tense

- 1st. Infinitive

- 2nd. Infinitive

- 3rd. Infinitive

- Perfective Aspect

- Progressive Aspect

- Telic Aspect

- Atelic Aspect

- Inchoative Aspect