Sangi

=Phonology=

Introduction
The most basic of all words in Sangi are derived from Modern (British) English words, mostly of germanic origin, through a series of phonological changes.

There are also a large number of consonant and vowel mutations which occur at morpheme boundaries and within the words themselves.

Phonological Changes
The changes which a sound is subject to are dependent (usually) on its position in the word and the surrounding sounds.

Initial Consonant Changes
'w' also becomes 'Ø' before o.

Medial Consonant Changes
'w' also becomes 'Ø' before o.
 * See the table of Other Consonant Changes

Final Consonant Changes
¹ The forms of this new vowel complex can be found in th table for Vowel Changes.

Consonant Cluster Changes

 * These also occur in the spoken and written language at the beginning of words when the final sound of the previous word was a vowel, e.g. “an e ssil – and yet still”. It is a kind a sandhi.

Other Consonant Changes
¹ This applies only to plosives, sibilants and nasals in there basic form.

² The j affects the fricative consonants in the following way: f > p; v > b; th > t; dh > d; ch > c; gh > g; l > jj; r > s.

³ The l is retained before the vowel i in medial position after a consonant and is j before i initially (possible palatalisation).

Vowel Changes

 * syllabic m, n, l, and r.

Morpho-Phonology
As said above, there are a large number of consonant and vowel mutations which occur at morpheme boundaries and within the words themselves. There are, in total, four consonant mutations and four vowel mutations.

Consonant Mutations
The four different consonant mutations are I-affection, A-affection, plural mutation and stem gradation. I-affection and A-affection do not affect the meaning of the word and are simply phonological processes which affect the last consonant[s] of the word. Plural mutation and stem gradation, on the other hand, help in changing the meaning of the word.

I-Affection
I-affection occurs when the last consonant of the stem is immediately followed by the vowels i and e (long, short and diphthong forms) and also the consonant j.

A-Affection
Like I-affection, A-affection occurs when the last consonant of the stem is immediately followed by a vowel, in this case a.

Plural Mutation
This mutation occurs when forming the plural of the four noun stems (see below).

Stem Gradation
Stem gradation is a weakening of the final consonant of the stem to form different noun and verb stems which are used to built up the meaning of the noun or verb as well as to derive words from different classes of words.

pp > p > b > v > f > w > h > hi > he

tt > t > d > j > i > e

cc > c > g > j > i > e

m > mb > mm > mp > mi > me

n > nd > nn > ns > nt > ni > ne

nh > ŋ > ng > nc > nct > ŋi > ŋe

l > ld > ll > ls > lt > li > le

r > rd > rr > rs > rt > ri > re

s > t > d > j > i > e

sp > sw > sl > śi > śe

st > ss > ś > si > se

sc > ś > si > se

h > p > b > w > hi > he

Ø > c > g > j > i > e (if the Ø was originally a c)

Ø > t > d > j > i > e (if the Ø was originally a c)

It should be noted that s, tt, cc and Ø all eventually weaken to the same pattern, causing a certain amount of ambiguity if the gradation is carried through enough times. Also, grades of the pattern Ci and Ce can never be the general stem but i and e can be strengthened.

Vowel Mutations
There are two sets of vowel mutation, both with two further subsets. One set is pure mutation which causes a semantic change is the word. The other is affection, which is caused by pure vowel mutation.

Pure Mutation
Pure mutation has two subsets; A-mutation and I-mutation. I-mutation involves the raising of the final vowel of the stem, while a-mutation involves the lowering of the final vowel.

¹ long a becomes œ in a-mutation, but is written as a two umlauted “a”s.

² long i becomes jai in i-mutation and long u becomes wá, but are both written as a two umlauted letters.

In the orthography the base vowel is written as it is with a diacritic to mark that it is mutated. I-mutation is shown by the use of the umlaut and the letter y for the sound ü. A-mutation is shown by the use of the circumflex. If the word changes semantic class, e.g. a verb becomes a noun, then the vowel with the diacritic is written with the vowel that marks its pronunciation, e.g. ü > au. This is not the, however, when a plural noun is used as a stative verb, the vowel marked with the diacritic is kept to mark the plurality and a special tense infix is added.

Vowel Affection
Affection comes in two subsets; I-affection and A-affection. Under I-affection the vowel is raised and under A-affection the vowel is lowered, just like in pure vowel mutation and they are represented in the orthography in the same way. The difference is that vowel affection has no semantic effect on the word and occurs under different circumstances. I-affection occurs when the last vowel of the stem was raised to either an i, an y or an e. A-affection occurs when the last vowel was lowered to either an o or an a. This means that vowel affection can only occur in disyllabic or polysyllabic words and only on the penultimate syllable of the stem. i and u, though, are not affected by vowel i-affection and a is not affected by a-affection. Affection also occurs when a derivational suffix is added. This changed the root vowel, but it is marked by pronunciation and not by diacritics as with affection caused by pure mutation.

=Morphology=

Verbs
Verbs are possibly the most important class of words in Sangi. Because their conjugation includes different endings for the subject, object and secondary objects, it is possible to drop all pronouns used in a sentence and it will be understood. This means that the verb is the only part of the sentence necessary for the sentence to be complete.

Verb Structure
The verb is built around a structure which contains thirteen “slots”. Into each of these slots can be placed only a certain kind of affix and only a certain number of a type of affix can be used in their given slot.

An overview of the slots would be this:

Slot 1: Negative marker

Slot 2: Modality

Slot 3: Negative marker II

Slot 4: Modality II

Slot 5: Stem

Slot 6: Conditional suffix for Modality II

slot 7: Aspect

Slot 8: Voice

Slot 9: Voice II

Slot 10: Mood

Slot 11: Conjugation suffix

Slot 12: Object-Tense marker

Slot 13: Object II

Each of these slots and there suffixes will be dealt with in detail, slot by slot and examples of verb conjugations will be given at the end to clear things up.

Slot 1 – Negative Marker
There are two negative markers in slot 1; a', m'. These govern the nouns associated with the modality markers in slot 2.

a' – This form is used before all consonants other than w.

m' – This form is used before w.

Apart from their usage, there is no difference between the two prefixes

Slot 2 – Modality
This slot's prefixes are used to represent the mode of the verb in relation to the subject of Slot 8 holding verbs.

There are six prefixes which can be placed in this slot but only one can be used in the verb complex. To build up their true meanings they must be followed by the dynamic conjugation suffixes and then an optional -j which differs the meaning of each prefix. This -j would cause the final r of the 3rd person singular dynamic suffix -ar to become ś.

h' – This is used to show that there is no modality involved.

t' – This means “can” and when followed by -j it means “could”.

ś' – This means “shall” and “should” when followed by -j.

m' – This means “must” and “might” preceding -j.

w' – This means “want to” and when followed by -j it means “may”.

l' – This means “like to” and “would like to” when followed by -j.

Slot 3 – Negative Marker II
In this slot the prefixes used are the same as the first slot but they instead govern the noun associated with the modality II marker. A' is used before all consonants other than w, n' is used before all vowels and m' is used before w.

Slot 4 – Modality II
These have a similar form to the Modality markers of slot 2 but they govern the noun associated with the main verb.

ti' – This means “can”.

śi' – This means “shall”.

mi' – This means “must”.

wi' – This means “want to”.

li' – This means “like to”.

Slot 5 – Stem
The stem has the possibility of undergoing stem gradation and vowel mutation in order to show the different tenses and aspects.

I-mutation - This shows the future tense.

A-mutation – This shows the past tense.

Stem gradation – The weak stem (formed by one step in the weak direction) shows that the action is progressive.

Slot 6 – Conditional Suffix for Modality II
This is invariable -je and changes the meaning of the slot 4 prefixes in the same way as the -j in the slot 2 prefixes. It can cause I-mutation if followed by and i, a or u.

Slot 7 – Aspect
This slot is the only one which accommodates multiple affixes with each suffix adding further meaning to the verb. There are twenty-two suffixes which can accommodate this slot but the usual number used in any single verb complex never exceeds around five, although more extreme complexes are used as examples of the flexibility of this slot.

-sta – This suffix translates roughly as “going to” or “about to”. It shows that the subject intends/intended to perform the action in the immediate future.

-sa – This suffix means “begin (to)”.

-ta – This means “continue (to)”.

-da – This means “for a while”.

-ja – This means “finish”.

-cca – This also means “finish” but carries the implication of “quit” as it is more long term or even permanent.

-ca – This is the third “finish” suffix but carries the implication that you have only stopped for a while and will perform the action again or continue to perform the previous action which is incomplete.

-ga – This means “resume” or continue a previously incomplete action.

-ra – Translates as “on and on” and shows that the action was continued for a long period of time which may be undetermined.

-rda – Shares a similar meaning with -ra but translates as “again an again” showing that the action was not continuous but made up of small segments.

-na – Shows that the performance was intentional.

-ma – Shows that the performance was unintentional or accidental.

-nsa – Shows that the action was performed only once.

-nta – shows that the action was performed many times.

-lt – This means “try to”.

-ia – This means “for a time” and relates to time period longer than that associated with the suffix -da.

-i – This translates as “simply”, “just” or “only” and shows that it was the only only action performed by the speaker.

-ea – This means “again”.

-lla – This means “always” or “forever” and shows that the action is continued uninterrupted for unimaginable amounts of time or even indefinitely, e.g. pillár – he will exist forever.

Three additional suffixes, attached before the others of this slot define the intensity of the action;

-d – This shows that the verb is intensive, performed with force, speed, etc.

-s – This suffix lowers the intensity of an intensive action but it cannot be used with a “moderate” verb.

-t – This suffix marks the lowest of intensities and shows that there was very little force or effort behind the verb.

Slot 8 – Voice
These voice markers of this slot relate to a second actor who has enforced there will upon the actor of the verb or can relate to the actor of the verb itself. The distinction is shown by the use of the modality markers of slot 2, which represent the second actor. When no second actor is mentioned, the verb takes on a somewhat passive or stative meaning, even though dynamic suffixes may be used.

-cs – This suffix marks the causative voice. This shows that the actor caused something or someone to perform the verb.

-nj – This marks the permissive voice. This shows that the actor was allowed to perform the verb in the sense that it was given permission.

-ps – This marks the secondary causative voice. It shows that the main actor was made to perform the verb or that they were caused to become something, this does share a similar meaning with the first causative voice but it implies more force was involved when used with dynamic verbs.

-pi – This suffix is the only one in this slot which cannot represent an actor in slot 2. It means “become” and shows that the subject's state of being or characteristics changed. It is also the only one of the four suffixes to take the stative conjugation suffixes only.

Slot 9 – Voice II
The suffixes of slot 9 show the main, “true” voice of the verb.

-Ø – The lack of a suffix in this slot shows that it is in the indicative voice. This shows that the verb was performed by a subject who, although not necessarily, performed the action on or to some other object or thing.

-ć – This suffix represents the reflexive voice. This means that the actor performed the verb on itself.

-g – This suffix represents the reciprocal voice. This suffix means that the two actors of the verb performed it on each other. This means that it cannot be used with singular conjugation suffixes.

Unlike Modern English, Sangi does not have a passive voice, therefore all sentences in the passive voice in English must be translated into the indicative voice. There is a pseudo-passive voice but this can take no passive agent, so they would be translated as constructions like “SUBJECT be VERBed”. This phenomenon will be discussed in the section about slot 11 suffixes.

Slot 10 – Mood
The slot 10 suffixes show that the verb has not been performed by the time of speech but that it may be afterwards or what would happen if it was to be performed.

-s – This suffix is translated as “if” and is the first part of “if-then” statements.

-n – This suffix is translated as “then” and is the second part of “if-then” statements.

-m – This suffix marks hypothetical situations.

-tu – This is the imperative suffix. It shows that the speaker is ordering the actor the perform the action. Unlike in English, the imperative can be directed at all persons.

-si – This is the optative suffix and it indicates hope that the action will take place on the part of the speaker. It is, though, usually found in interrogative sentences and is translates as “might ...?” or “please...”.

Slot 11 – Conjugation
This slot contains the largest number of available suffixes but, unlike slot 7, only one suffix can occupy this space. The suffixes of this slot are used to separate stative and dynamic verbs as well as perfect and imperfect aspects. The verb conjugates for four persons; 1st, 2nd, 3rd and a 4th person known as the indefinite, representing an unspecified subject. It also allows for the pseudo-passive suffix mentioned in the section on slot 9. These suffixes can be divided into four groups; dynamic imperfect, dynamic perfect, stative imperfect and stative perfect.

NOTES:


 * The -[i]- occurs between final consonants and the suffix but cannot cause I-affection or I-mutation.


 * In the Dynamic conjugation, the first suffix is attached to consonantal stems, while the second is attached to vocalic stems.


 * The o/a/i after the indefinite suffixes represent the gender of the subject -o being male, -a being female and -i being the general gender

Although the infinitive suffixes are of slot 11, they must always come at the end of the verb complex, e.g. spijetaren – to speak to someone, where the -tar suffix means to someone and the -n suffix is at the end.
 * The [ę] after the suffixes is used if the next sound does not begin with a vowel.

The Pseudo-Passive Suffix
As was discussed in Slot 9, the pseudo-passive is a replacement of the passive voice in English, although it does not take a passive agent. The subject of the passive verb is shown through the use of the object suffixes of slot 12. This suffix also takes the Weak II stem of consonantal stems.

Slot 12 – Object Suffixes
The object suffixes represent the objects of a verb in the accusative case. They also allow for the representation of tense. The suffixes will be shown in this order; present tense – past tense – future tense;

-m, -mwa, -mi – 1st person

-s, -sa, -ś – 2nd person

-c, -ć, -þ – 3rd person/indefinite

Slot 13 – Secondary Objects
Like slot 2 prefixes, the suffixes of slot 13 must be followed by the dynamic conjugation suffixes to make full sense. They differ from those of slot 13 in that they represent cases that are not the accusative.

-t – The dative case.

-cs – The causal case.

-j – The Vocative case. This is actually the accusative case of highly respected things.

-l – the instrumental case.

-v – The comitative case.

-ct – The sociative case.

-d – The anti-instrumental case.

-s – The anti-comitative case.

-lc – The anti-sociative case.

-g – The search terminative case.

-w – The benefactive case.

Fourteen Slots?
The locative and movement suffixes can be suffixed directly onto the stem, this raises the debate of whether this should be considered an extra slot or a subsection of the stem slot. This debate is as yet unresolved but it does not affect any part of this model.