Wquetch

Wquetch is a conlang made for the world Atheltar. It is one of the many branches of Farrayni, spoken prominently around the Great Bay area and to the south. It is mutually intelligable with Lakespeech from years of sustained trade, though has notable phonological differences.

Classification and Dialects
Wquetch is a polysynthetic language of the Farrayni branch, isolated from the other linguistic families of Atheltar for much of history. This document describes the most common form spoken by the Quani and Swsquen tribes around 327 AY. Without written records, the precise history is lost, though its closest visible relatives are Ukonose to the south and Wequane to the west.

Vowels
Wquetch vowels are distinguished by both length and tone. The tones are high ( ́) and low ( ̀).

This list comprises all phonemic elements necessary for a transcription, and thus does not include the entire vowel range of the language in practice. Such changes are listed subsequent to the table. 1/u/ is present for use in broad IPA transcription to reduce the realization of w in its syllabic form [w̩], and [w̆] in diphthongs.

The diphthtongs available in Wquetch are: ei, ea, ai, iu, ua, ue. When a diphthong is lengthened, only the second vowel of the diphthong is extended.

Back round vowels are fronted before any nonfront vowel (e. g. /u/ -> /y/ before /a/). This can carry across multiple vowels if surrounded by front vowels.

A more accurate view of the phonemic vowel distribution in Wquetch is shown in the following:

Syllable Structure
Syllables are always of the form (Cl)V(C) where l is a liquid and C is any consonant or affricate.

Tone Sandhi
In nongrammatical scenarios without lexical ambiguity, any SŚS > SSS and ŚSŚ > ŚŚŚ where S is a syllable. After sibilants, ŚS > ŚŚ.

Romanization
Wquetch itself has no written language, barring some realizations into written Theinar by Hunters. These are so far rather unstandardized, as the need for such transcriptions is low and so no unifying methods have been sought. However, a standard english transcription for it is provided below: Geminate consonants and vowels are both marked with a doubling up of the letter. Low-tone is not marked, and high-tone is given the acute accent. When a letter is both high-tone and long, the tone mark goes on the first vowel of the sequence. The same goes for diphthongs. Since there are no contour tones, they need not be differentiated.

Noun Classes
Wquetch nouns decline according to 5 classes in an animacy hierarchy:

Pronomal forms:

Declensions
Alignment is split into two forms: Active/Stative in the present and future tenses, and Ergative/Absolutive in the past tense. The cases of Wquetch, listed by class, are as follows: The definite article is given as -r for C1-2 and -n for C3-5, preceding other markings.

Examples:

Ryatasúquawman. rya-ta-súqua-w-man go.out[INT.EV]-1SG-cause.C5-ABS-ABE I left for no reason.

Yosérrifantchótonswtéfwrrnwránya. yo-sérri-fan-tchóto-n-sw-té-fwrr-n-wran-ya REP.EV-cut.out-3SG-heart.C3-DEF-ABS-GEN-bird.C3-DEF-chest.C5-ABL He cut the bird's heart from its chest.

Raatahwétao. raa-ta-hwét-a-o go[INT.EV]-1SG-home.C5-STAT-ILL I'm going home.

Náshrquraafantsooyaffáo. násh-r-qu-raa-fan-tsoo-ya-ffá-o man.ACT.C2-DEF-VIS.EV-go-3SG-here.C5-ABL-there.C5-ILL The man goes from here to there.

Verbs
Verbs do not conjugate according to tense; rather, tense is conveyed through temporal particles and the alignment system. Pronouns are often dropped in the subject, as they are marked on the verb.

Agreement
Plural number is marked by high tone on the agreeing particle. Reduplication of the particle makes it reflexive.

Using the C1 agreement with a subject in the second or third person acts as an honorific. Similarly, appending the C3 agreement to a person agreement can be used as a way to express contempt towards an action, as if one considers it demeaning or foolish.

Aspect
Aspect is primarly conveyed through adverbs and modality particles, and has no distinct conjugation. It is contextual, rather than marked.

For example, present continuous actions can be specified with the adverb rwen ("now"). Habitual actions can be specified with the compound verb phrase "tchós-C-V" ("make-C-V") where C is the class marker and V is the verb understood to be in the equivalent of the habitual. Perfective actions can be understood with a similar compound construction involving ton ("finish").

Evidentials
If a high tone is applied, the evidential becomes mirative (MIR). The Internal Knowledge evidential is considered a high form of evidence about one's personal state and actions, but when applied to other situations, its value is gagued by your experience with something. Thus, if a master carpenter uses it to discuss carpentry, it will be treated with a high value of evidence, but if someone is speaking about someone else's internal state it will be regarded with a low value of evidence. Quraafanffáo. Qu-raa-fan-ffá-o VIS.EV-go-3SG-there.C5-ILL (I saw) He's going over there.

Séraafanffáo. Sé-raa-fan-ffá-o SEN.EV.MIR-go-3SG-there.C5-ILL (Some other sense indicates that apparently) He's going over there.

Cháráropuansẃtsootu. Chárá-ro-puan-sẃ-tsoo-tu. raptor.C2-REP.EV.F-live-C3.PL-here.C5-LOC (It is said that) rapors live here.

Yótuaquésfanpuénnáshrfw. yó-tuaqués-fan-puénnásh-r-fw REP.EV.MIR-swindle-3SG-lake.dweller.C2-DEF-ABS (I heard that apparently) He swindled the man from the lake.

Atstuaquésfanpuénnáshrfw. ats-tuaqués-fan-puénnásh-r-fw REP.EV.MIR-swindle-3SG-lake.dweller.C2-DEF-ABS (I suspect that) He swindled the man from the lake.

Cháráyatusẃsepuan. Chárá-mw-yatu-sẃ-sepuan raptor-GKN.EV-hunt-C3.PL-camp.C5 (Everyone knows that) Raptors hunt camps.

Mẃraafanffáo. Mẃ-raa-fan-ffá-o GKN.EV-go-3SG-there.C5-ILL It is apparently obvious that he's going there.

Tetsẃwshopuefánris. Tetsẃwsho-pue-fán-ris everyone-know[ASS.EV]-3PL-this.C5 (I assume) Everyone knows this. Evidentials are only used to convey the speaker's relationship to the knowledge. In order to communicate "he saw..." or "did you deduce...," full independent phrases are used.

Irrealis
The presumptive has a similar role to "might," and the modal particle used for it is also usable as the the adverb "maybe." It can similarly be used for situations where "could" might be used in English: Mwchéeketchtchetfwaamtchós. Mw-chéek-etch-tchet-fw-aamtchós GKN.EV-cut-2SG-2SG.PRON-ABS-PRM You could've cut yourself! The optitave is quite similar to "should," expressing general hopes, commands, or wishes. A construction utilizing the optitive is found in a formal greeting: Tchósripényatutchetoyam. Tchós-ri-pén-yatu-tchet-o-yam make-C5-good-hunt-you-ILL-OPT It(divine) should make a good hunt for you. (Let the spirits grant you a good hunt.) Conditionals roughly equate to a reversed "(if y) then x" construction, where x is marked as roughly equivalent to "would," and a following phrase can be added to supply the "if" condition. Yatutingé tuéntipuequra. yatu-ti-ngé          tuén-ti-puequ-r-a hunt[INT.EV]-1SG-COND have-1SG-knowledge.C5-DEF-STAT I would hunt if I knew how to. The Imperative is used to express commands, both to the addressee, addressor, or a third party. When used in a more complete construction, it plays a similar role to must. Kaetchyó! / Kayó! Ka-etch-yó / Ka-yó run-2SG-IMP / run-IMP You must run! / Run!

Interrogative Forms
Interrogative sentences are all formed with the word nyang, with a rough equivalence to "when." To make a simple yes/no question, nyang is added to the front of a statement. Nyangtchétriaquóssetch? / Nyangquóssetchyoos Nyang-tchét-ria-quóss-etch? / Nyang-quóss-etch-yoos INT-2SG.PRON-ERG-eat-2SG / INT-eat-2SG-already Have you eaten? / Did you eat yet? To make a content question, one replaces the subject or object with a form of nyang, or uses a form of nyang adverbially. Quóssetchnyangnwr? Quóss-etch-nyang-nwr? eat-2SG-TEMP.INT-that When will you eat that?

Íretchnyara? Ír-etch-nyara? COP-2SG-NOM.INT What are you? The forms of nyang are as follows:

Nyara súqua can also be shortened down to simply nyarsúk in most casual situations. While TEMP.INT, MET.INT, and CAUS.INT are treated as adverbs and come directly after the verb root, the rest are treated as nouns and replace unknown subjects or objects. Nyangyáanetch QuetwrfayotuaquésfosYanwn? Nyang-yáan-étch Quetwr-fa-yo-tuaqués-fos-Yanwn-fw? INT-see-2PL    Quetwr-ERG-REP.EV-swindle-3SG-Yanwn-ABS Did you guys see Quetwr swindle Yanwn (I heard)?

Fiwsetchquóssnyara? Fiws-etch-quóss-nyara? want-2SG-eat-what What do you want to eat?

Nonoméso Twwmsoíretchnyatue. Nonomé-so     Twwmso-ír-etch-nyatu-e? be.curious-1SG Twwmso-COP-1SG-LOC.INT-STAT I wonder where Twwmso is.

Nyangnonoméetch tshonsheryanyayaw? Nyang-nonomé-etch tsho-n-she-rya-nyaya-w? INT-be.curious-2SG vulture-DEF-ERG-go.to-ABL.INT-ABS Don't you wonder where the vultures went?

Tchósfannyasúnwr? Tchós-fan-nyasú-nwr? do-3SG-MET.INT-MED How did he do that?

Tchósfannyarsúknwr? Tchós-fan-nyarsúk-nwr? do-3SG-CAUS.INT-MED Why did he do that?

Verb Structure and Special Forms
Verbs are structured as [ Evidential-Verb-Agreement-Negation    Modal Particle].

Gerund and Supine
The gerund is formed by giving the verb a C5 definite marking. Supine-like forms are constructed similarly, with a definite form used in conjunction with the purposive or similar prepositions. For example: Raasóshwryáannyatuqun. Raa-só-shwr-yáan-n-yatuqu-n go-1PL-for.purpose-see-DEF-hunt.N-DEF We went to watch the hunt.

Emphasis, Comparatives, and Superlatives
Emphasis through high tone can be used to express a similar quality to "very."

Syntax
Basic sentence structure is SOV. Adjectives and prepositional phrases come before the nouns they describe, while genitives and other case-derived phrases postcede the noun they describe. Indirect objects come before direct objects. The above are more concisely displayed in the following diagrams:

Verb Phrases are structured [[Subject] Evidential-Verb-Agreement-Negation [Adverb] [Indirect Object] [Direct Object] [Adverb] Modality Particle]

Noun Phrases are structured Neg] [Adjective] [Prepositional Phrase] [Determiner] Noun-Definiteness [Possessor, Location, Direction, and Absence

Derivational Morphology
Diminutive: -ama Verb -> Noun product of verb: -qu