Minhast

= Overview = Minhast, the national language of Minhai, is spoken by nearly 179 million people. Approximately 4 million speakers live in expatriate communities throughout the globe, with the largest concentrations residing in the U.S., Xayda, Mexico, the Middle East, Kallaxwān and Canada. Significant numbers also exist in Southeast Asia and Norhern Europe.

Minhast is divided into two major dialects. Upper Minhast, which is centered in the highlands of Kilmay Rī, Ešked (Ekšed), and Attum Attar; the northeastern coastal provinces of Iskamharat and Perim-Sin; and the Capital Region, consisting of Āš-min-Gal, Ankussūr, Huruk, Nammadiin, and Kered. Lower Minhast is spoken mainly in the southeastern coastal provinces of Neskud, Yaxparim, Senzil, and Rēgum. The two dialects differ chiefly in phonetics and the lexicon, with Lower Minhast containing some Spanish loanwords absorbed during the Colonial Occupation ("Ayawaškum min Karkarakt"). Otherwise, the two dialects are mutually intelligible. Nevertheless, it is Upper Minhast that is the standardized form of the language, used in government, commerce, and the media. A now extinct dialect, known as Šarmakandast, had an even larger number of Spanish loandwords, and certain changes to certain elements of its grammar, namely its numeric system, were significantly influenced by the colonialists during this time. Šarmakandast died out during the early 1970's, supplanted mostly by Upper Minhast speakers.

Minhast possesses a complex grammar, demonstrated in particular by the elaborate polysynthetic morphology of its verbal system. The Minhast verb inflects not only for tense and aspect, but can inflect to indicate mood, modality, causation, potentiality, intensity, and other functions. The verb also possesses a well-developed set of pronominal affixes used to cross-reference the core arguments of a clause. These affixes indicate both gender and number of the nouns they cross-reference, an essential function as Minhast nouns themselves do not have any markings to indicate these two classifications. Additionally, the verb can carry out three other operations, that of noun incorporation, antipassivation, and applicative formation, used by speakers for discourse purposes such as backgrounding previously established information and for promoting oblique noun phrases to core status. This polysynthetic characteristic can lead to very long verbs that can express an entire sentence. To demonstrate, the English phrase, "You did not even try to get them to reconsider the matter with this evidence" requires only three words in Minhast: "Keman yattah tašnišpipsaryentinasummatittaharu", meaning literally "To them the evidence, not try cause return look-at yet matter with it-you did." The verb "tašnišpipsaryentinasummatittaharu", when parsed to its individual morphemes, yields "ta-šn-šp-b-sar-yenti-nasum-mat-tittah-ar-u" (neg.-conative-causative-resumptive-look.at-yet-matter-instr.applicative-3rd.inanim.sg.patient/2nd.sg.agent-past-transitive).

Minhast is classified as an ergative language. There are two clause types, intransitive and transitive. Each clause type has a set of core argument types; for the transitive clause, there are two core arguments, the agent and patient. For the intransitive clause, there is only one core argument, the subject. In a nominative-accusative language, such as Latin, the agent and subject are grouped together and are inflected with one case (e.g. -us in mundus "world"), while the patient, aka object,is marked with a different case (e.g. -um in mundum). In an ergative language such as Minhast, it is the subject and patient that are grouped together, and both receive null marking. In contrast, the agent is marked with the ergative clitic -de (e.g. nassa-de "brother") or one of its allomorphs.

Word order is SOV. In single clause sentences, this word order is free, although the verb rarely deviates from its clause-final position. Deviation from the unmarked SOV word order is used for discourse purposes; an argument that is to be focused is fronted to the head of the clause. During clause-combining operations, the verb obligatorily remains in the final position, but the other arguments of the clause, core and oblique, still display free word order.

= Basic Grammar =

= Phonology =

Syllabic Structure and Phonemic Interactions
Minhast words are subject to complex morphophonemic changes resulting from interactions with other morphemes occuring in the word. The verb is particularly complex in the various sound changes that may occur as a result of noun incorporation as well as the aggluginative processes involved in conjugation or other inflectional processes. These phonemic changes can be broken down according to the following classifications:
 * 1) Assimilation
 * 2) Metathesis
 * 3) Syncope
 * 4) Epenthesis
 * 5) Voicing/Devoicing

These complex morphophonemic interactions operate according to the general phonological principals outlined below:
 * 1)                     No syllable can have a consonant cluster of more than two consonants. Syncope can be applied only if a biconsonantal cluster is formed, and the vowel is not a part of a heavy syllable (i.e. the vowel is long, or it occurs in a VCC sequence).
 * 2) No Minhast word can have an initial consonant cluster. After any initial consonant cluster results from one or more of the possible morphophonemic alternations described below, an epenthetic is automatically appended to the head of the word to form the permissible iCC- pattern.
 * 3)                      An epenthetic vowel is always inserted between two syllables if combining the syllables results in a triconsonantal cluster. The default epenthetic vowel is, but the other 3 vowels may also be used, depending on multiple factors (e.g. vowel harmony, an underlying quiescent initial vowel as part of the attached morpheme, etc.)
 * 4)                      Minhast has a strong tendency to form intermedial clusters, either or, providing that Rules #1-#3 are observed. If necessary, an epenthetic vowel may be added before or after the syllable to create these syllabic patterns, e.g.
 * 5)                       The tendency to form intermedial consonant clusters creates complex assimilation interactions that nevertheless are predictable and almost always regular. These interactions are illustrated in Table X below:


 * 1)                       Vowels are classified according to a "weak-strong" gradient, where the "strong" vowels are more resistant to syncope than neighboring "weak(er)" vowels. All long vowels are by definition "strong", so the weak-strong gradient really applies to short vowels.

Table X: Vowel Gradients In Order of Increasing Strength

 * 1)                         The shape of a -CVCVC- syllable may contract either to a -CCVC- or -CVCC- pattern, depending on the strength gradients of the vowels with respect to one another. The -CaCaC- syllable pattern is the only one that does not contract. Syllables consisting of the same vowels may appear in either -CCVC- or -CVCC- patterns; the pattern they resolve to is influenced by interactions from surrounding syllables. These contractions are summarized in Table X:
 * 1)                         The shape of a -CVCVC- syllable may contract either to a -CCVC- or -CVCC- pattern, depending on the strength gradients of the vowels with respect to one another. The -CaCaC- syllable pattern is the only one that does not contract. Syllables consisting of the same vowels may appear in either -CCVC- or -CVCC- patterns; the pattern they resolve to is influenced by interactions from surrounding syllables. These contractions are summarized in Table X:

Table X: CVCVC Vowel Gradient-Based Contractions

 * 1)                       A verb root or an incorporated noun tends to lose one or more vowels to form at least one biconsonant cluster. The vowel that is lost depends on its strength gradient in relation to the noun of the neighboring syllable.
 * 2)                       With the exception of pattern -CaCa-, when two adjoining syllables have vowels within the same gradient, vocalic syncope resolves to CVCC.
 * 3)                      The pattern (C)VVCC always resolves to (C)VCC
 * 4)                      Compared to nominal and verbal roots, inflectional morphemes (e.g. theme, aspect, tense, person, etc) are resistant to syncope because this may lead to the inflectional morpheme to be changed beyond recognition. For example, he informed (him) (lit. he caused him to know) does not resolve to, even though this would prevent the impermissible CCV pattern from occurring. Instead, an epenthetic vowel is added before the causative affix to prevent this impermissible consonant cluster from occurring.
 * 5)                     Although inflectional morphemes do not experience syncope, they still may experience phonological changes in the form of metathesis and devoicing.
 * 6)                      Vowel devoicing occurs in CVC, CVxC, CVsC, or CVC syllables, where C is any of the unvoiced consonants listed in Table X.
 * 7)                      Two consecutive syllables with the pattern CVCVC resolves to CVCV'C, due to the difficulty of pronouncing the h allophone in two consecutive closed syllables. The second syllable receives compensentory stress (primary or secondary) resulting from the loss of the h allophone. Additionally, the vowel in the previous syllable may be devoiced if its adjacent consonants are voiceless, as in Example A, where the verb root vowel which occurs the voiceless consonants and, devoices to . Note also the epenthetic vowel appearing before the verb root and the 1st person incl. pl. affix , e.g.:
 * 8) *                                                        "We were (being) annoying" (lit.: annoying-we.and.you-[past]-[ imperf.]-[intrans])
 * 9) *                                                        "I was avoiding..."
 * 10)                      Dissimilation occurs in CVC-patterns involving š-Vš, resolving to s-Vš. A prime example is the number "twenty", e.g. šan-šentāz san-šentāz saššentāz
 * 11)                      Dissimilation occurs in CVC-patterns involving mVm, resolving to nVm.

= Noun Morphology =

Numbers
Cardinal and ordinal numbers are one of the [two/XX] groups of true adjectives in the Minhast language. Minhast employs a vegisimal, i.e. base-20, counting system. Numeric expressions involve binding             the number and modified noun in a specific construct involving the  ligature:              Both cardinal and ordinal numbers can take possessive pronominal suffixes (see Part III "Syntax -              Possession" for discussion of possessive constructs), which then convey "X number of..." in the case of             cardinal numbers, and "the Xth one of/among..." for ordinals, e.g.:
 * 1) "Four of us went out there into the forest.
 * 2) "The fourth one among them went into the forest."

The numbers 1-10 even have intransitive verbal forms, meaning "There were X number of us/you/them."

The cardinal, ordinal, and verbal forms are summarized below:

Notice that for the numbers (21)and higher that the linker is inserted between the vegisimal number and the unit number. The numbers saššentāz (40) and(60) are etymologically derived from("two twenties") and("three twenties") respectively, due to regular sound changes from consonantal assimilation patterns.

Quantifiers and Interrogatives
Quantifiers and Interrogatives are the second group of adjectives in Minhast. Additionally, they               can stand on their own as independant nouns in their own right. The convey the sense of "some",               "each", "all" etc. Like numbers, these adjectives form syntactically bound constructs and               thus require the ligature               , using the same syntax as that used for both                numeric and possessive phrases:                           In addition, when used as independant nouns, quantifiers exhibit Ergative-Absolutive               inflection, whereas                is defective and               receives Absolutive and Oblique inflections only. The Distributive form of the verb is used to              indicate the distributive nature of an action or state across patients of the VP.

Table X contains a list of the most common quantifiers in use, plus              rek, "each":            {|border="1"
 * -class="header_row"
 * class="row_class"|
 * class="td_normal"|Erg.
 * class="td_normal"|Abs.
 * class="td_normal"|Oblique
 * class="row_class"|all
 * class="td_normal"|rende
 * class="td_normal"|ren
 * class="td_normal"|ren-
 * class="row_class"|most
 * class="td_normal"|de
 * class="td_normal"|d
 * class="td_normal"|d-
 * class="row_class"|many
 * class="td_normal"|sambe
 * class="td_normal"|sam
 * class="td_normal"|sam-
 * class="row_class"|some
 * class="td_normal"|azarde
 * class="td_normal"|azar
 * class="td_normal"|azar-
 * class="row_class"|few
 * class="td_normal"|rmde
 * class="td_normal"|rmua
 * class="td_normal"|rm-
 * class="row_class"|each
 * class="td_normal"|
 * class="td_normal"|rek
 * class="td_normal"|rek-
 * -class="divider" style="border-style: none; font-size: 1px;"
 * colspan="4"|
 * class="row_class"|who
 * class="td_normal"|any
 * class="td_normal"|
 * class="td_normal"|any
 * class="row_class"|which
 * class="td_normal"|dande
 * class="td_normal"|dan
 * class="td_normal"|dan-
 * }
 * class="td_normal"|
 * class="td_normal"|any
 * class="row_class"|which
 * class="td_normal"|dande
 * class="td_normal"|dan
 * class="td_normal"|dan-
 * }
 * }

Two quantifiers, bāk and ādan

= Verb Morphology =

Overview
The verb is the most complex part of Minhast grammar. Because the noun can only indicate case and deixis, the verb performs additional functions, such as specifying the definiteness, gender and number of the core arguments, whether the core arguments are collective or not, whether an action was carried out or experienced by individual members of the core arguments, etc. In addition, the verb can indicate the speaker's attitude towards the sentence, including evidentiality, assertion, etc.

The Minhast verb is organized into a template containing eight affix slots (called by traditional Minhast grammarians the šabāye). Verbal affixes, depending on their classification, fall within one of these slots. Multiple affixes may occupy a given slot, but all affixes follow a rigid order, and an affix that is assigned to one slot may not appear in another slot; to do so would result in an unintelligible verb. Many slots are themselves divided into smaller sections. Not all slots are filled at a given time - in fact, some affixes are mutually exclusive with others, whose combination would otherwise create nonsensical meanings. The šabāye are displayed in the table below, in the order of their respective positions within the verbal template:

Verb Structure
The Preverb contains two slots. The first slot is reserved for theme markers, which are used to indicate the quality or nature of the action or state; these may include such things as degree or intensity, potentiality, etc.

The second slot contains affixes used to denote the direction of an action in relation to the ergative argument in transitive sentences, or the absolutive argument in intransitive ones.

Mode Affixes
The Inverse Volitional affix is used to mark whether a verb is deliberate, or accidental. This affix interacts with the semantic characteristics of the verb root, expressing the accidental or involuntary occurance of an act in verbs which under normal circumstances indicate an action or state that is semantically deliberate. Thus, a verb like hitting carries as part of its semantic nature a deliberate act. The presence of the Inverse Volitional affix converts the deliberative nature of the act of hitting to that of an accidental or involuntary nature. Conversely, verb roots which are normally acts or states that semantically involuntary become deliberate when the Volitional affix is applied.

Prepronominal Affixes
The morphemes in this verb slot, named because they come immediately before the pronominal affixes, are also known as the "social affixes". These affixes indicate the the nature of an event or state within, between or across the core arguments of a clause. The first three affixes of this slot are mutually exclusive, but may occur in combination with one of the final two affixes. The Distributive and Partitive can combine to create certain idiomatic expressions, e.g. "I haphazardly spread it across the table".

Pronominal Affixes
The pronominal affixes present one of the greatest challenges to the students of the Minhast language due to their inherent complexity in structure and morphosyntax. These affixes serve important functions to the core arguments they coreference, such as indicating syntactic roles, gender, animacy, and number. These affixes, along with the role affixes, also serve to identify the verb as transitive or intransitive. For the transitive verb, the pronominal affixes present greater complexities than those of the intransitive verb - the transitive affixes, representing both the ergative and absolutive arguments of the clause, are portmenteau affixes; although some patterns can be discerned from this fusion of the segments representing the ergative and absolutive components, the transitive pronominal affixes are mostly irregular and have to be memorized individually. As expected, the affixes may change shape due to the sound changes created by adjacent morphemes. However, many of these sound changes deviate from the normal assimilation patterns described earlier in Chapter X "Phonology".

The pronominal affixes distinguish three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter. The neuters are further differentiated into animate and inanimate; the masculine and feminine genders are inherently animate and thus require no special marking. These affixes also indicate singular and plural numbers. Both the masculine and the feminine 3rd person plurals have merged into one common gender, while the gender for animate and inanimate neuter nouns are still distinguished.

Due to the complexity of the transitive pronominal affixes, their full forms are summarized in Table X below:

Portmenteau Pronominal Affixes for the Transitive Verb: Ergative by Absolutive
In comparison to the transitive pronominal affixes, the affixes for the intransitive verb are much simpler. There forms are listed below in Table X:

Absolutive Pronominal Affixes for the Intransitive Verb
= Dictionary = ...

= Example text = ...