Gambese

General Information
Gambese is a Marquesic (branch of polynesian) language deriving from Proto-Hawaiian. It is spoken mainly on the Gambier islands along with Marquesan and French (the latter has a large influence on its lexicon with most loans taken from French). Gambese is heavily relient on a set word order and specific syntax.

(*) French is pseudo-fusional polysynthetic in that it is written as fusional and is percieved by its speakers as fusional, but in reality, acts polysynthetic.

Language name goes from left to right: English, French, Gambese

Sound Changes at the bottom

Phonemes

 * Consonants

There are 10 consonant phonemes which can form minimal pairs. More on consonant phonology is explained in the Allophony section.
 * Vowels

Syllables

 * Phonotactics

Gambese has rigid phonotactical restraints which define it and languages like it.
 * Consonant clusters are not permitted
 * A syllable may only ever be CV, V, or VV
 * /ʃ/ may only be before /i/
 * Stress

Syllable stress tends to fall on the first syllable of a noun, pronoun, or adjective.

Possessive Phrases
This is the most complex part of Gambese before articles. The structure of a possessive phrase is constructed like English with the preposition of in that there is the possessed noun first then the possessee is linked through the preposition. There is an honorifixs-esque system with the preposition which indicates the relationship between the possessee and the possessor depending on the one used. a is the first and most common and indicates in general the the possessor is of lower importance or social standing, is indefinite and general, is commonplace, subordinate, &c. o is the second and indicates in general the possessor is, inversed to a, of higher importance or social standing, is definite and special, is unique, higher in the hierarchy, &c. In reference to people in specific relationships, o is used to show respect for the possessor. a    'ama   o      a     ma'wa (DEF) child of.HON (DEF) parent/elder "The child of the parent" or "The parent's child" As can be seen, the head of the possessive phrase is the possessor and is placed at the beginning and the possessor is placed after the preposition. The choice of preposition here is o because it is showing the relationship between mother and child, where the child respects the mother.

Lexicon
As there is no centralized and reasonably convenient dictionary for Proto-Polynesian†

The link to the lexicon page is here.

(†) look to bottom of article

Sentences

 * GSFA 1
 * /GSFA 2/

Translations

 * Lord's Prayer

-chart-


 * Tower of Babel

-chart-

Sound Changes
Note: some words will be reconstructed from modern Hawaiian, Marquesan, Samoan, and Māori with an emphasis on the former two.

Proto-Polynesian > Gambese l > ɾ                       *laŋi > raŋi sky ʔ > Ø                       *ʔao > ao cloud ŋ > j                       *taŋata > tajata human being t > ʔ                       *tajata > ʔajaʔa w > v                       *wahine > vahine woman (*wahine is from Eastern Polynesian) h > Ø ! _i > ʃ              *kanahe > kanae  mullet fish *vahine > vaʃine f > h                       *nifo > niho tooth s > h / #_                  *sala > hara wrong u(ʔ)V > wV                  *uʔa > wa neck i(ʔ)V > jV                  *ia > ja he/she/it Vi > Vj ! Vji               *wai > vaj water *mataŋi > maʔaji > maʔa.i wind Vu > Vw                     *tao > ʔaw spear u > ʉ̞                       *manu > manʉ̞ bird Long Vowels aj > e:                     *vaj > ve: aw > o:                     *ʔaw > ʔo: ew > eo:                    *leʔo > reo > rew > reo: language, voice VV > V̄                      *taʔane > ʔaane > ʔa:ne man

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Ideas: (†) To clarify, there very well could be a pretty good dictionary, or a paper copy, or whatever. Also, that a resource be inconvenient is not an adequate excuse. But. I'm doing this for fun, not to write a dissertation. http://www2.hawaii.edu/~bender/ppn.pdf
 * evidentiality
 * number agreement
 * French-ish grammar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_languages , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Polynesian_language

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Proto-Polynesian_nouns

http://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=0&phrase=&proverb=0&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=tangata

http://wehewehe.org/

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Hawaiian_Swadesh_list , https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Austronesian_Swadesh_lists

La grammaire des langues des Îles Marquises

Grammar of Hawaiian (add 19 to the table of contents)