Tiuspuan lana

Tiuspuan lana is an experiment in seeing how comprehensive a language can be with the most minimal of inventories, phonetically, lexically, morphemically, syntactically. Though it has been inspired by microlanguages, it is not a one, as it aims to be no less ambiguous as a natural language, and perhaps more so

 Summary 

Phonemes: 7 consonants, 2 glides, 3 vowels

Roots: Their most commonly used realizations are CV and/or CVCV - 28 CV + 784 CVCV = 812. These are to be the core roots, the scaffolding on which most all else is built. Only frequency and the need for economy of expression would recommend adding to those roots

Self-regulating segments: Each feature of the language relates to others in a web of interconnections

Stress: It is important to know where a root's stress is. Putting a word space before it is the simplest way to write its location, whether it is part of a compound or not (lexically, then, there can be no confusion)

Compounds: Their components are separate words if they are not united by these infixes: /-n-/, /-l-/ or /-s-/ alone or prefixed with /-i-/, /-u-/, or /-a-/

Syntactically: A word ends when there is no compounding infix after it.

Part-of-speech invariance: This allows (most) words to be used in any pos, part of speech. No matter what a compound may seem like, given its infixing, it, too, can be used in any pos

Separators: These suffixes demarcate different contexts for the re-interpretation of words that would mean something else when used in other places. They extend the parts-of-speech slots.

Phrasal: The suffix /-k/ is the separator used within a phrase and even between phrases. They function much like a comma, colon, semicolon or even period/full stop

Sentential: The suffix /-t/ is the separator used for greater units within a sentence. They are for information that is missing from the main body of the sentence that is thought to be relevant to it. It, too, can be written as a comma in English

Pragmatical: The suffix /-p/ separates what rightfully belongs outside of a sentence - or even larger unit - from it

Classification and Dialects
How to characterize Tiuspuan lana? Is it synthetic in that their compound parts can only be joined by a very limited number of affixes that allow for sentence-like compounds? It is analytic, though, on the syntactic level. And above

Tiuspuan lana is an experimental language where all of its features interlock, creating a system that can break down if any one is not used properly. But it benefits by requiring the minimal amount of morphemes providing a maximum of intuitive understanding. Its method of compounding is a key to making semantic distinctions without, hopefully, syntactic gymnastics or an extensive inventory of affixes

Compounds are to be explored to see how many semantic distinctions can be made that relate to the grammatical levels. The goal is to do it with as few extra morphemes as possible. As an example: Person-l-hire vs Hire-n-person = Employer vs Employee. (Rule of Thumb: No finer distinctions should be used than is needed unless the situation at hand calls for it. Brevity vs Pedantry, etc)

Once those sentence-into-compound semantic distinctions are made, then other means should be found to make any further grammatical distinctions (again, as economically as possible). At this point Tiuspuan lana could branch off into different lects, each exploring a different way of expressing those distinctions. Changes to anything is possible if it can be justified that progress towards the goal cannot be made without it

Once Proto-Tiuspuan lana is established, it is possible its daughter(s) might become more like a natural language, becoming less or synthetic. They may even have their own conculture(s).

Consonants
This inventory was inspired by the Brx (Brief Script) of © Ray Brown. The original Tiuspuan lana is able to use it to code (not transliterate) one letter = one character in a syllabary of 26 syllables, with each individual letter/phoneme capitalized. This will change if needed; it is just the starting point that challenges creativity

From no sonorance to more: k, t , p , s , n, m, l = 7 consonants

Glides, Vowels, Tones, Punctuation
These 3 can allophonetically be the same: u = wu, i = ji, a = *ha (* = any laryngeal). /wi/, /wa/, /ja/, /ju/ are the only true glide-vowels combinations recognized phonemically

a, u, i are the only vowels and are expressed variously phonetically. (/a/ = central is the recommendation; how low is determined by how well the hearer understands what the phone represents)

Vowel clusters only occur roots meet vowel affixes. For the sake of brevity, the last vowel of the root can be reduced, with /u/→[w], /i/→[j], /a/→any laryngeal that is easiest to pronounce. The stress of the root would then be transferred onto the vowel affix. Therefore, /Tiuspuan lana/ is, phonetically, [Tjusˈpwan laˌna]

Note that Tiuspuan lana may be tonal, but that system will evolve from whichever one can best manage ambiguities

The language, though, already can dispelled a lot of ambiguity through its extensive punctuation system

Phonotactics
Roots have the stress on the initial syllable. They are used to mark the beginning of a following word or the more important member of a compound

Vowels are lengthened and consonants are geminated when the coda of one word meets the same initial phone in the onset of the next word

Only the /-n-/ infix can be changed to match to poa of the following consonant: /-n-/ > [-ŋ-] before /k/ and [-m-] before /p/; it is [mm] before an /m/. Phonetically, /-l-/ can change its poa according to the consonant that it follows.

Every other phoneme is to remain stable

Writing System
Though Tiuspuan lana is usually written alphabetically, in its origins it is meant to be able to be transcribed by the Brx syllabary.

Brx: My one-to-one letter-to-syllable code is only a little different from that of Ray Brown. (I switch q and g)

[¹ = ti], k = ka, g = ku; c = ti, t = ta, d = tu; f = pi, p = pa, b = pu; x = si, s = sa, z = su; q = ni, n = na, h = nu; v = mi, m = ma, w = mu; i = (j)i, l = la, r = lu; [² = (j)i], j = ji, y = ju; [³ = (j)i], a = *ha, u = (w)u; e = wi, o = wa, [¹ = (w)u. [#] = there is no /ki/ or /li/, while [ji] = /i/. and [wu] = /u/.

To drop use a letter alphabetically, a capital letter must be used: K, T, P, S, N, M, L, I, A, U.

All other capital letters would not represent a phoneme but a special use

Tiuspuan lana will also avoid capitals when using Qwerty. It has been capitalized here because that is a convention of English


 * Created August 2011. Last revision: Copyright © Ray Brown

Grammar
 Stress and Compounded Words 

Stress is shown by word space. It helps to prevent the merging to the CVs of different words. But it also plays an important role in distinguishing different kinds of compounds. A capital letter could also be used when the writing system has the equivalent, if preferred. Note, no actual consonant clusters are created. Phonetically, the terminal consonants are the codas of the preceding  open syllable

The Endocentric, Exocentric, Copulative and Appositional (and “Predicative”) Compounds are distinguished by the different placements or number of the stress(es)

If another part of a compound is considered important, then another stress can be added, this one on the infix itself

* = [A2], where the verb becomes a gerund, and [A3], where it becomes a participle, as well as [A6], where the verb is characterized, are out of the normal syntactic order for Tiuspuan lana. But, note, that while that reduces the grammatical importance of the second term, it otherwise raises the relative importance of the second term

Predicative: [A1, B1] has the NP and VP essential for a clause/sentence, and are treated as detached instances: Subjective: N-l(M) V; and Objective: V-n(M) N. tumal maka; kukun tamu

While the Predictive, above, is not a kind of compound found in other lists, those below are:

Endocentric: [A3, B3 vs A4, B4] are where the modifiers of the VP or NP receives the attention: tumaul maka; kukuun tamu; vs tuma almaka; kuku antamu

Exocentric: [A3, B3, B4, B5] where there are modifiers but no head; the compound cannot be understood on its own even when one of its components may seem like a head. The modifier infix, then, receives the extra attention: tuma ul maka; kuku un tamu; nisa an lana; situ us wija

Appositional: [A5. B2, B3] has two components considered as (almost) synonymous inside the compound. Since the Predicative has made claim to the stress on the last root, the Appositional has its on the first: lunu indamu; tuma smaka; kuku intamu; nisa anlana (Note that it should be possible for any poa to be considered more or less synonymous)

Copulative: [A5, B2, B5] are meant to be understood as the sum of the compound’s parts and, so given equal weight by having the stress placed on both of them: tumasmaka; kukuintamu; nisaanlana

(Note: The above system will be pruned if it is shown to be excessive. A lone /-n-/ could, then, possibly be used for any member of a NP and /-l-/ of a VP)

Words
Each compound can synthetically unite what would otherwise be a phrase, clause or sentence into a single word. The compound can then, as as its own word, be used within a sentence as a noun, verb, modifier, or other. They, in and of themselves, only make overt some of the different semantic relationships these NPs and/or VPs (etc) have with each other, clarifying what otherwise could be ambiguous in certain levels of analysis. Other features are to be added to the (preferable) compounding system, and/or through other means, to make important semantic-and-syntactic interrelations overt. With minimalism always in mind

Grammar in Tiuspuan lana begins with the lexical. A word doesn't need an /-n-/ or /-l-/ to be a word (though an noncontent, "empty", word-to-affix can be added just so they can have those infixes). However, the internal grammar of compounds, as has been shown, is determined as much as possible by the external

Words that do not have the codas /-n-/, /-l-/ or /-s-/ before them are counted as separate words.

Phrases
After the word and relating the compounds to the grammar of Tiuspuan lana are the noun phrases and verb phrases

>> NP = Det² Mod(-k, a) Mod N-as-Mod Det¹ Det² N (*i/u) ; VP = Det² Mod(-k) Mod Aux Det¹ Det² Verb (i/u) <<

Without a /-k/ is one of the separator suffixes, along with /-t/ and /-p/. Without /-k/, a modifier modifies another modifier. With a /-k/ suffix, the modifier modifies only the head of a phrase. It is also used in a list of Ns or NPs, as a comma or semicolon can outside of Tiuspuan lana. And like a comma, /-k/ can often even substitute for the coordinating conjunction, “and”.

/-k/ can even come between phrases when the wish is to separate one into a more meaningful unit (usually with a higher voice register)

/-k/ can be used to mark both the beginning and end of a voice register change that marks nonrestrictive modifiers

/wi/ can be used to both mark a noun as a separated ownership modifier and a verb as a past auxiliary. Without a verb, it is verb meaning of separated ownership “have”. After the predicate (as a serial verb made a preposition) it has the meaning “from”. Unqualified, its separation cares the idea of being away but kept in mind (Separated ownership: origin, author, experienced, etc)

/wa/ can be used to both mark a noun as an alienable modifier and a verb as a future auxiliary. Without a verb, it is verb meaning of alienable “have”. After the predicate (as a serial verb made a preposition) it has the meaning “to”. Unqualified, its alienableness cares the idea of an aim or goal, meaning it has not (yet) been reached

/ja/ can be used to both mark a noun as an inalienable modifier and a verb as a present auxiliary. But it can also be used with a verb as a present auxiliary. Without the verb, it is a verb meaning “located at/on/in”. After the predicate (as a serial verb made a preposition) it has the meaning “at/on/in”

/ju/ has the basic meaning of a slot holder. Isolated, it means “fill in the blank” and this allows it to be the pro-verb (like “do”) in the right position in the sentence, Otherwise, /ju/ is the “that” of relative clauses. When it is inside an interrogative, it can be any question word (“what”, “which”, etc). /ju/ is an important part of the correlative system

/a/ acts like a “hyphen”, joining the two words in close association. For example, is it sufficient to call a barber pole red and white? It is, after all, red-/a/-white (Using “and” can often lead to parsing issues: The red and white cars with their red and white flags)

Det¹ are individual Determiners when used outside of a set. They become members of a set when used with Det². A change of position of a Det can change the meaning of a phrase

The aspects of Iteration, Frequency and “not” (as well as certain uses of “all” and “some”) are thought of as being equivalent to their NP uses in Tiuspuan lana (Note, on the sentence level, they are also found in the background and foreground details that the /-t/ suffix demarcates)

(If it can be found to be more economical, Det² and (certain) Auxiliary verbs may later be placed on the other side of its governing head)

It is possible that a word(s) may be dedicated to allowing another word or phrase from move to another part of a sentence without it losing the meaning it gains from its pos, part-of-speech

No real declension or conjugation: There are few affixes that belong to an obligatory list of "affixes" (declension or conjugation; full words or partial). Not that they cannot be optionally added, preferably, though, as another (full) word

Sentences
This leads to the sentence. Tiuspuan lana is SVO. In finer detail, it looks like this:

meta or deictic/-p/ added detail/-t/ S: > V > (a) DO (> u/i) > Mod V-as_case > ID (*u/i) Mod V-as_case > N (*u/i)/-t/ added detail/-p/ meta or deictic

⟨ : ⟩ = length+different_tone Is placed on the last syllable before the (main) predicate. This allows there to be more than just word order to indicate the relative positions of pos, part of speech

/a/ used outside of a NP unites the NPs before and after the VP, defining that relationship as the one the verb prototypically represents. For example: The cars raced around the track vs The cars raced /a/ around the track: Only in the second are they in competition

Those predicate arguments outside of primary Subject-Verb-Direct Object take serial verbs that act as adpositions. These allow the NP they govern to have more freedom of position within a sentence than other NPs

An Indirect Object is one of these NP arguments

The modifiers add further detail to the more basic meanings of their serial verb/preposition. Some of that detail, though, better belongs in the NP that’s being governed

/u/ is for modifying complements. /i/ is for nominal complements. * = /u/ and /i/, an attributive noun, can sometimes substitute for the relative marker, /ju/. For example: He /u/ praised the man - and that made him happy vs He praised the man /u/ happy - and that made the man happy

Without a verb, /i/ is a nominal copula and /u/ js a modifier copula

Word order determines if a word NP belongs before or after a VP: SVO

The /-t/ and /-p/ Suffixes
Besides the /-k/ suffix there two other consonant suffixes and they, too, mark off boundaries

The /-t/ suffix is for sentence modifiers, either at the beginning (for background information) or at the end (for foreground information), and sometimes even in the middle where it is marked off by both beginning and ending with a /-t/…/-t/. For example: Though sporadically, time and again, and often, and to a large degree, he lifted claimed responsibility for what happened. Here, fewer comma/-t/s would be needed

This is where the manner, place, time, repetitions, frequency, degree and cause can usually be found, and words placed before it must be interpreted with these categories in mind (which can, of course, take an affix to make that explicit). In English, they are usually marked off from the rest of the sentence by commas

The /-p/ suffix is for the pragmatical, matters outside of the sentence proper. Here is found words that must be interpreted as deictic, or meta. For example: ''That! There it is vs There it is, again''

This includes using the “you” pronoun vocatively, the “I/me” pronoun expressively (where the speaker himself is the “you”) and a pronoun special to Tiuspuan lana that announces that the speaker is not speaking for himself, the words belonging (originally) to somebody else. This is called the performative.

The /-p/ commentary does not have to be used with each and every sentence. Once established, it can remain the context for all that follow until it is changed with the next /-p/ interpretation prompt

Between them, what words they re-interpret and their relative positions in an utterance should usually allow them to be distinguishable from each other

Note: if it is important to not let a separator consonant from merging with its like onset, and made +gemination, then they can follow the following mutation: k > t > p > k: munik kari > munit kari; munit turi > munup turi: manip pari > manik pari

Punctuation
Remember, Tiuspuan lana is an experimental language and does not have to be overly concerned with it using features like punctuation unconventionally. A wide audience is not really expected

The reason punctuation is important is that it is reduces ambiguity without having to be (overly) wordy. It is economical

Since this is the heading where other punctuations are discussed, this is where that of tone is being placed. They are: rising ⟨ ‘ ⟩, level ⟨ - ⟩, falling ⟨ , ⟩. They are placed after its syllable: May’ may-, may,be

When prosodically made stronger than the surrounding tones, they are doubled: ⟨ ‘’ ⟩, ⟨ = ⟩, ⟨ ,, ⟩

⟨ + ⟩ is for showing that the tone begins/ends higher than the normal tone, ⟨ ~ ⟩ for when it begins/ends lower (eg, ⟨ +’ / ‘+⟩, ⟨ ~- / -~ ⟩). They can be used to indicate intonations but probably should be used sparingly

Focus is overtly marked for having the greatest pitch, since it very important to clarifying ambiguity within a sentence. This is marked by an exclamation mark ⟨ ! ⟩ before the initial consonant: !she said she likes me vs she !said she likes me vs she said !she likes me vs she said she !likes me vs she said she likes !me. Note that each of these sentences carry a different interpretation. Stylistically, using more than one in a sentence can be too many

Change in voice registry is also made overt and for the same reason as why Focus is. The period, comma, and other punctuation marks that are familiar to us today were added to save on the cost of ink in the printing press days. What they replaced had more of the look of what we would think of as “brackets”. These are what Tiuspuan lana uses. The one-tap, shiftless square brackets, ⟨ [ ⟩,⟨ ] ⟩, is used for the most common registry, the modal voice that is each person’s standard. The familiar parentheses, ⟨ ( ⟩ ,⟨ ) ⟩  , is used as it is used in English; it lowers the voice out of mid-range modal and makes its content more incidental. That leaves the curly brackets, ⟨ { ⟩ ,⟨ } ⟩for use when more attention is placed on one particular part of what is being said.

⟨ ^ ⟩ is the first of three paragraphs that list lesser useful punctuations. They are only important if the writer wishes them to be and probably should not be used excessively. The ⟨ ^ ⟩is the upstep and is used with and within the brackets (above) to mark less jumps in voice registry. The downstep may not be of much use and it is inconvenient that it would look like a lower case letter ⟨ v ⟩

⟨ _  ⟩ indicates something is being spoken louder than the speaker normally does. But it can indicate a gradient from sub-vocal, whisper and all the way to shout by the addition of numbers: _0, _1, _2, _3, …

The slashes, if so desired, can be used similarly to how they are used in analyzing poetry. ⟨ | ⟩can break a thought expressed in words into units that the other methods (like punctuation or consonant affixes) cannot. ⟨ /  ⟩ can speed up the tempo, and ⟨ \ ⟩ can slow the tempo down. The more, the faster or slower the speaker is talking, the more repetitions of those marks

Of technical note, the punctuations can be made superscript or subscript to indicate details that may seem awkward if fullscript is used

Which Qwerty keyboard punctuations have not been repurposed? ⟨ * ⟩, ⟨ ? ⟩, ⟨ # ⟩, ⟨ % ⟩, ⟨ & ⟩