Gïsal

Gïsal (IPA: /kɨ.'sɑl/) is a language initially conceived and created by KedaseDerragar in Fall 2010 for a college course in constructing languages. Not all information about the language is yet on this page; it will be added as soon as possible.

Setting
Gïsal is not currently associated with any specific setting or purpose; it was originally created for the purpose of learning how to construct a language.

Vowels
Gïsal has nine vowels; of these, six (i, e, à, a, o, and u) are considered strong and three (ï, ü, and ö) are considered weak. Weak vowels almost never appear in a word-final position (generally only in certain verb forms). This distinction also plays a part in determining word stress.

Phonotactics
There are six acceptable vowel diphthongs that can occupy the space of one vowel: /eu/, /æi/, /æu/, /ɑi/, /ɑu/, and /oi/.

Stress
Stress in Gïsal is based on the concept of heavy and light syllables. Word-final syllables are always light, as are syllables containing a weak vowel. All other syllables are heavy. Stress always falls on the rightmost heavy syllable; if there is no heavy syllable in the word, stress falls on the ultimate syllable.

Orthography
Gïsal has a native abugida script, written from right to left and from top to bottom. Symbols for consonants consist of flowing lines and curves similar to Arabic script, and vowels are indicated by distinct diacritic marks.

Gïsal can be Romanized in two distinct ways. One (the Direct Romanization) preserves the one-to-one ratio of symbols to sounds of the native Gesali script using diacritic marks, while the other (Simple Romanization) uses geminated letters to represent some sounds. Simple Romanization also portrays the four affricates with two characters each, rather than the one used in Direct Romanization. Unless otherwise noted, this page will use Direct Romanization.

Syntax
Gïsal uses a basic VSO word order. Adjectives, adverbs, and genitive nouns precede the words they modify, and postpositional phrases precede the words or phrases they modify.


 * Naydo fŕi laĺe.
 * fly-3SG.PST.PRF.IND red bird
 * The red bird flies.


 * Syüwer be hilko rad gu wiju‘a lalep.
 * morning in drink-3SG.PRS.IMP.IND she ASC-orange juice
 * She drinks orange juice in the morning.


 * Seńud kàń zimetöl gwe bela.
 * read-3SG.FUT.PRF.IND man king-PL about book
 * The man will read a book about kings.

Case
Gïsal has a very basic system of three cases. The first case (arbitrarily called nominative) is unmarked and nearly always used regardless of a noun's relation to the overall phrase, clause, or sentence. The other two cases can both be considered subdivisions of a larger genitive case, roughly approximate to the English construction 's. The possessive case (prefix we-) is used when the target noun is actually possessed by or is intrinsically part of the modified noun.


 * wekàń klel
 * the man's houses (the houses owned by the man)


 * wewońe gàmet
 * the dog's tail


 * weproi pari
 * sky blue

The associative case (prefix wi-) is used to indicate origin, social relationships, and any other genitive functions not covered by the possessive case.


 * wi‘àmerïga keńel
 * American people


 * wido rifel
 * the woman's children


 * wiproiyir dalta
 * a bolt of lightning

If both the modified and target nouns represent persons, the associative case is nearly always used. While the possessive case could be used in a positive manner for emphasis in the correct context (i.e. between lovers with the connotation of being intrinsically part of each other), the potential negative connotations (slavery and other extreme forms of control) must also be kept in mind. The distinctions between these two cases are often vague, but when in doubt, one should use the associative case (wi-).

Verb Conjugation
Gesali verbs have a complex fusional morphology. There are three different classes of verbs (corresponding to the endings -od, -ed, and -ad), each possessing different conjugations for every combination of tense, person, number, mood, and aspect. The system is very regular and predictable. Only one verb, rad ("do") conjugates irregularly. The dictionary form of all verbs corresponds to the third-person singular conjugation. Here is one example:

nayod "fly"

perfect indicative:

imperfect indicative:

perfect subjunctive:

imperfect subjunctive:

miscellaneous:

Dictionary
Gïsal/Dictionary