User:Meuser2/Sandbox/4

General information


If you are wondering, the many similarities to Maori, Japanese and English are intentional. They are a consequence of the sourcing of material from these languages.

Phonology
Where the same symbol appears in two boxes, it represents a pair of allophones.

Phonotactics
All syllables are (C)V(V). Consonants can be either palatal or non-palatal. Palatal consonants cannot be followed by e, and an i automatically palatalises the preceeding consonant, thus making e and i allophones almost universally. Stress falls on the final syllable of a word.

Nouns
Nouns inflect for possessor/deictic and case. This is done using particles. Case particles follow the noun. These include the nominative /ga/, the accusuative /o/, the alienable genitive /no/, the inalieanable genitive /o:/, the commitative /to/, the dative /ni/, the ablative /kara/, the instrumental /de/, and possibly some others. Preceeding the noun are various possessor and deictic particles. These include /mai/ my/ours (exclusive), /io:/ your, /hi/ his/her/its/their, /manio:/ ours (inclusive), /kono/ this, /hono/ that, and /aono/ that yonder.

Verbs
Verbs have an equally rich array of inflection. They inflect for tense, aspect, subject person and object person. The system works as follows: there is a tense/aspect particle, then a subject pronoun, then an aspect particle, then the verb, then another aspect particle, then an object pronoun. The pronouns are as follows: The tense-aspect particle is as follows:

Present-kei te

Future-ka

Past-i

Past perfect-kau

The other pair of aspect particles is absent except for in the continuous, when the pair e-ana is used. All roots have a passive form, which is inserted as verb root to create the passive. The only change is that the object becomes the subject and the subject the instrumental.

Adjectives/Adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs do not inflect. They preceed their noun.

Syntax
Sentence order is VSO. Negative sentences are formed by suffixing -(e)n to the verb, and questions by adding a sentence-final particle ka.