Ëkopion (/ǂǂʷǀː/, cq:T) is a North Chelydian language spoken by Arthrowheels on the planet Chelys.
| Ëkopion cq:T | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | |||
| Fusional-Analytic | |||
| Word origins | |||
| Alignment | |||
| Nominative-Accusative | |||
| Head direction | |||
| Head-initial | |||
| Tonal | |||
| No | |||
| Declensions | |||
| Yes | |||
| Conjugations | |||
| Yes | |||
| Genders | |||
| No | |||
| Nouns decline according to... | |||
| Case | Number | ||
| Definiteness | Gender | ||
| Verbs conjugate according to... | |||
| Voice | Mood | ||
| Person | Number | ||
| Tense | Aspect | ||
Phonology and Romanization[]
Ëkopion is a language that is entirely comprised of click consonants. It lacks vowels as such, however it has a distinction between "strong" and "relaxed" clicks, where a strong click can only occur once per word, similar to a stressed syllable in a stress-based language. In the romanization, strong clicks are indicated with a capital letter. Ëkopion also has geminated clicks, that is, clicks articulated only following a short pause. When a click is geminated, a <:> will appear in the romanization before said click.
| Bilabial | Dental | Lateral | Palatal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labialized | ||||
| Click | ʘ <p> | ǀ <t> | ǁ <l> | ǂ <c> | ǂʷ <q> |
Grammar[]
Ëkopion has a strict SVO word order and is predominantly head-initial.
Reduplication[]
Ëkopion makes abundant use of reduplication in its morphology. There are strict rules on how a given root reduplicates. Roots that are only one click long often make use of suppletion in instances where they should reduplicate grammatically.
Initial reduplication[]
Initial reduplication is applied to a verb to put it into a perfective aspect. When applied to a noun (whether a modifier or not) it indicates that a given noun is collective.
Final reduplication[]
Final reduplication can be applied to almost any participant of a phrase to indicate that it is a modifier to the preceeding word (except for adverbs, which are put at the beginning of a clause and applied to verbs).
Rules for applying reduplication[]
The "root" is strictly the part of the word that is either initial or final.
| Root shape | Sr | rS | S:r | r:S | r1r2 | r1:r2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial reduplication | srSr | r:rS | sS:r | rs:S | r1:r1r2 | r1:r1:r2 |
| Final reduplication | Sr:r | rSrs | S:sr | r:Ss | r1r2:r2 | r1:r2:r2 |
Syntax[]
Ëkopion has a fixed word order. A word's part of speech is largely determined by its position in the phrase.
The following sentence would be translated as "The unfriendly animal showed the old person [its] upper teeth".
| Verb modifier* | Secondary verb modifier* | Subject | Subject modifiers* | Verb/Auxiliary | Post-auxiliary verb† | Indirect object* | Indirect object modifiers* | Direct object | Direct object modifiers* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lpt | q:Lplpl | l:C | qLqpl | clPlp | cp:Cl:l | Cl:t | Tcpcp | ||
| animal | unfriendly | give (causative auxiliary) | see | person | old | teeth | upper |
- * means that the word in this position must undergo final reduplication.
- † means that the verb in this position takes the affix -pl (or -:pl if the final root click is stressed) to indicate its role relative to the auxiliary verb.
Pronouns and Determiners[]
| Pronoun type | Plain | Modifying |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | P | pT |
| 2nd person | T | tP |
| 3rd person proximate | Q:t | Q:qt |
| 3rd person obviate | Q:l | Q:ql |
| Impersonal | L | lT:t |
| Interrogative | qP | qPqp |
Auxiliary verbs[]
There are multiple auxiliary verbs in Ëkopion. Auxiliary verbs can overlap, and two or more auxiliary verbs can be used.
Tense and Aspect[]
| Auxiliary verb | Plain | Reduplicated |
|---|---|---|
| no auxiliary | present | past perfective |
| pL:t (to move forward) | future | future perfective |
| t:Ct (to move back) | iterative | past iterative |
| ct:T (to stay in) | habitual | past habitual |
Mood, Voice and Negation[]
| Auxiliary verb | Plain |
|---|---|
| l:C (to give) | Causatuive voice |
| L:tl (to take) | Passive voice |
| t:T (not to do) | Negation |
Script[]
The script used for Ëkopion has 5 main glyphs (one for each click), a glyph indicating gemination of the following click, and a diacritic to indicate stress. Due to the absence of vowels in the language, the script can be simultaneously classified as an abjad, an alphabet, an abugida and a syllabary. The script is written right-to-left, top to bottom.
Vocabulary[]
Ëkopion has a fairly limited amount of roots and uses modifiers to give any word a new shade of meaning. In following reiterations, the modifiers can be left out, and sometimes the interpretation becomes up to context if any ambiguity arises.
See Ëkopion/Vocabulary.
Transcription of foreign words[]
Transcribing any word from a pulmonic language (with consonants and vowels) into Ëkopion is a huge challenge, as the limited phonological inventory may leave many ambiguities. Whenever possible, Ëkopion calques a foreign word instead. If it's impossible to calque something, the following system is used:
| Type of sound | Examples | Click equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Pure labials | /m, b, p, f, ʋ/ | p |
| Coronal obstruents and nasals | /n, d, t, s, z, ʈ, θ, ts, tʃ, ʃ/ | t |
| Liquids and other laterals and rhotics | /l, r, ɬ, ʁ, ʎ/ | l |
| Dorsals and unrounded vowels | /j, k, g, x, a, e, i/ | c |
| Labialized dorsals and rounded vowels | /w, kʷ, o, u, y/ | q |
| Consonant clusters and final element of diphthongs | /st, mp, jk/ | : |
| Laryngeals and final sonorants | /h, ħ, ʔ, -ŋ, -r/ | [unwritten] |
Stress[]
If the language from which the word originates has one syllable that is more prominent than the others, Ëkopion transcribes that syllable with a stressed click.
Examples[]
| Name | Original language | Native IPA | Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
| Julius Caesar | Classical Latin | /ju.li.us kae.sar/ | Ql:t C:tl |
| Genghis Khan | Mongolian | /tʃʰiŋgisxaŋ/ | C:ctc |
| Elizabeth Windsor | British English | /əlɪzəbɛθ wɪndsɔ:/ | cLtp Q:tt |
| Austria | German | /'œstəʁaɪç/ | Q:tl:c |
| Brazil | Brazilian Portuguese | /bʁɐ'ziw/ | plTq |
| Lombardy | Italian | /lombar'dia/ | l:p:Tc |
| Novosibirsk | Russian | /nəvəsi'birsk/ | tptP:c |
Example text[]
| "The Prophecy" translated into Ëkopion | |
|---|---|
| Transliterated text | lCpl:l q:clTlt Q:t t:T lP:tpl ct:Tt lQ:qc
|
| Gloss | light-MOD darkness-MOD 3P.PROX NEG exist-AUX in-MOD beginning-MOD
|
| Translation | In the beginning there was no dark or light,
|