Classical Wisconsin

Classical Wisconsin
Type	Polysynthetic
Alignment	SOV
Head direction	Head final
Tonal	No
Declensions	Yes
Conjugations	Yes
Genders	2
Nouns decline according to...
Case	Number
Definiteness	Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect
Meta-information
Progress	0%
Statistics Nouns 0% Verbs 0% Adjectives 0% Syntax 0% Words of 1500
Creator	IHCOYC

Classical Wisconsin (natively: Mascodudûstiquamovem MASCAVA("solid")+DUDUS("milk")+TIQUAM("head")+MOVEM("speech")3sg, of obscure meaning was the classical speech of the Wisconsin Empire, which at its greatest extent in the first century CE extended through most of the northern shores of the Great Lakes through Quebec and into New England.

Classification and Dialects

Classical Wisconsin is an Algonquian trade language. The bulk of the lexicon is Ojibwe, but the language draws on Cree, Natick, and other Algonquian languages of the northeastern Americas.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
					plain	labial
Plosive	voiced	b	d		ɡ	gʷ
	voiceless	p	t	ʦ	k	kʷ
Fricative	voiced		z
	voiceless	f	s				h
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Rhotic			r ɾ
Approximant			l	j		w

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	[iː ɪ]		[ʊ uː]
Mid	[eː ɛ]	ə	[ɔ oː]
Open		[a aː]

There are two diphthongs, /ai/, written ae, and /aʊ/. written au.

Historical phonology

The phonology of Classical Wisconsin is fairly simple and sonorous. It generally continues to map well into the source Algonquian languages. But there have been a number of significant changes.

Consonants

A chain shift has altered the realization of a number of fricative sounds inherited by the language. Originally, voiced sounds were distinguished from voiceless sounds by strong aspiration and pre-aspiration in addition to voicing. Some of the voiceless aspirated sounds become consonant clusters in Classical Wisconsin.

1. ʃ > s
2. ʰs > st*
3. ʧ > ts*
4. ʒ > r
5. ʤ > tr*
6. ʔ > h or 0

*The outcome of these changes can be altered by rules that require distance between consonant clusters.

Other sound changes include:

1. Between vowels, b > f
2. Word-final -n > -m; -in > -em; -on > -um

Classical Wisconsin often preserves proto-Central Algonquian *l where Ojibwe has n. Classical Wisconsin also frequently shows voiceless stops where Ojibwe has voiced stops.

Vowels

The inherited vowels from Proto-Algonquian were short a e i o and long ā ē ī ō. This set is expanded to a full set of both short and long a e i o u in Classical Wisconsin. First, ō > u. Then, all vowels became subject to shortening or lengthening by virtue of the language's one-two prosodic rules, in which vowels in stressed syllables were potentially lengthened and vowels in unstressed syllables were nearly always reduced.

Live phonological processes

Consonant clusters

The following combinations are the permitted consonant clusters in Classical Wisconsin. When the cluster appears different in writing, this is noted in parentheses:

• bl, br, cl, cn, cr, cs (x), ct, cv (qu), dr, dv, fv, gl, gn, gr, gs, gv (gu), lc, ld, lf, lm, ls, lt, lv. mb, mp, mv, nc, nd, ns, nt, nv, pl, pr, ps, pt, pv, rb, rc, rd, rg, rm, rn, rp, rs, rt, rv, sb, sc, scl, scr, scv (squ) sl, sm, sn, sp, st, str, sv, tc, tl, tr, ts.

Clusters that are otherwise not allowed are simplified; the non-plosive element is often dropped, or the entire cluster is devoiced. Generally, only one consonant cluster can appear in a syllable; a syllable is not permitted to both start and end with an otherwise permitted cluster. Groups with the semivowel v are an exception to this rule.

Word finals

Consonants appearing word finally are routinely devoiced unless protected by a nasal. The following consonants and clusters can appear word-finally:

• c, f, h, l, m, p, r, s, t, nd, ns, nt, st. Only invariant words may end in -n,

The groups -im and -om change to -em and -um. -Om may appear in the group -vom.

Prosodic features

The stressed syllables of Classical Wisconsin are quite regular and follow metrical principles. Generally speaking, stressed and unstressed syllables alternate, giving each word either an iambic (common) or trochaic (rare) rhythm. For example, the native name of the language follows this pattern:

 x  / ||  x /  ||  x  /  || x /   

Masco || dudûs || tiquam || ovem

mas.ko:  dʊ.dus   tɪ.kʷam   ɔ.wɛm

Vowel length is impacted by these prosodic patterns. Vowels that find themselves in a stressed position are subjected to lengthening, especially if that is also an open syllable. Long vowels in a weak position are invariably shortened.

When in a weakened position:

1. originally short a is unchanged
2. originally short e becomes i
3. originally short i is unchanged
4. originally short o becomes u
5. originally short u is unchanged.

The diphthong ae becomes e when shortened by weak position. The diphthong au typically becomes o in any combining position.

Combining rules and internal sandhi

Vowel on vowel

1. a + a > â if strong, a if weak.
2. a + e, i > ae /aɪ/ if strong, e if weak
3. a + o, u > au /aʊ/ if strong, o if weak
4. au often > o in combinations regardless of syllable strength
5. e + a, o, u > ia, io, iu.
6. e + e, i > ê if strong, e if weak
7. i + a, o, u > ia, io, iu.
8. i + e, i > î if strong, i if weak
9. o + a, e, i > va, ve, vi
10. o + o, u > ô if strong, u if weak
11. u + a, e, i > va, ve, vi
12. o + o, u > û if strong, u if weak

Vowel and consonant

1. Vb + V > VfV
2. c, t + i > ci, ti - both /ʦɪ/
3. coV, cuV > quV unless the V is u.
4. co, cu + u > cû if strong, cu if weak

Consonant on consonant

1. c, g + s, z > x
2. m, n + f > mb
3. m, n + c, d, g, t > nC
4. m, when word final, may become n when suffixes are added

Nasal dissimulation

The groups **-VNVN-, where V is one identical vowel and N is one identical nasal n, m or ng, are not allowed. If strings like this arise out of the morphology the nasals are dissimulated. If the group is word final, the closing nasal must be m. In other cases, if the first nasal is from a root the second will be changed to m or n, whichever is absent from the root syllable. The syllable never changes to ng.

Writing System

Letter	Sound	Letter	Sound
A a	[a] ~ [ə]	Â â	[a:]
B b	[b]	C c	[k] ~ [ʦ]
D d	[d]	E e	[ɛ]
Ê ê	[e:]	F f	[f]
G g	[g]	H h	[ɦ]
I i	[ɪ] ~ [ɨ]; [j]	Î î	[i:]
L l	[l]	M m	[m]
N n	[n], [ŋ]	O o	[ɔ] ~ [ʌ]
Ô ô	[o:]	P p	[p]
R r	[r] ~ [ɾ]	S s	[s]
T t	[t] ~ [ʦ]	U u	[u]
Û û	[u:]	V v	[w]
X x	[ks]	Z z	[z]

Grammar

Basic grammatical categories

Classical Wisconsin words inflect in a number of grammatical categories. Both nouns and verbs inflect for gender, number, and person.

Gender

Classical Wisconsin has two genders: animate and inanimate. Genders are semantic and largely natural rather than grammatical.

• People, animals, large trees, rivers, astronomical features like the sun and moon, vehicles, and just about anything that moves on its own initiative or power are animate.
• All other words are inanimate.

Some nouns may switch genders or be ambiguous as to gender. Often, there is a change in meaning. For example, mitiqua can be either animate or inanimate. The animate version means "tree" and has the plural mitiquac; the inanimate version means "wood, timber, lumber" and has the plural mitiqual.

Number

All Classical Wisconsin nouns are obligately marked for singular or plural.

Person

Taeocitsitavam
HORSE(tae).WARRIOR(ocitsita).3obv
"Sir Not Appearing In This Film."

Person is a more expansive category in Classical Wisconsin than it is in Indo-European languages.

The first person plural contains exclusive and inclusive forms. The inclusive forms typically combine first and second person forms.

The third person, both singular and plural, contains two forms, an "proximate" form for the narrator or point of view character, and an "obviate" form for other third person characters, or unspecified persons. The proximate and obviate forms are obligatory, and answer the same purpose as do nominative and accusative forms in other language; they are used to specify who acts and who is acted on.

Hierarchy of persons

Transitive verbs may take arguments that specify two persons. When they do, there is a hierarchy that indicates a presumptive order as to who does what to whom; this is the hierarchy of persons. The hierarchy goes:

2 > 1 > 3.prox > 3.obv

This hierarchy takes the place of nominative and accusative marking. In the absence of specific marking, if the arguments of a verb "hit" specify "you" and "me", the hierarchy makes the unmarked form mean "you hit me". To specify "I hit you", a suffix (usuall -ar) is added to indicate that the order presumed by the hierarchy is not being followed.

Deictics

			Animate			Inanimate
			Singular	Plural	Obviative	Singular	Plural
Demonstrative	Nearest . . . Farthest	Here	vau /waʊ/	ancau /ən.kaʊ/	alau /ə.laʊ/	ahau /ə.haʊ/	alau /ə.laʊ/
		Over here	vaveti /wə.we.ʦɪ/	ancautic /ən.kaʊ.ʦik/	ovetem /ɔ.we.tɛm/	oveti /ɔ.we.ti/	ovetem /ɔ.we.tɛm/
		There	au /aʊ/	engio /ɛŋ.jo/	enio /ɛn.jo/	eio /ɛ.jo/	enio /ɛn.jo/
		Over there/Yonder	aveti /ə.we.ʦɪ/	inquetic /ɪn.kʷe.ʦɪk/	invietem /ɪn.wi.jɛ.tɛm/	iveti /ɪn.we.ʦɪ/	invietem /ɪn.wi.jɛ.tɛm/
Dubitative SOMEBODY, SOMETHING, SOME KIND OF			avequem /ə.we.kʷɛm/	avequenac /ə.we.kʷɛn.ak/	avequalam /ə.we.kʷɛ.lam/	vetocoquem /wɛ.to.kɔ.kʷɛm/	vetocoquelam /wɛ.to.kɔ.kʷe.lam/
Interrogative WHO, WHAT			avenel /ə.we.nɛl/	avenelac /ə.we.nɛl.ak/	avenelam /ə.we.nɛ.lam/	aveconem /ə.we.kɔ.nɛm/	aveconelam /ə.we.kɔ.nɛ.lam/

Nouns

All nouns in Classical Wisconsin are marked as being singular or plural. Plural nouns are identified by gender as well as number; the plural suffix for animate nouns is -c (-ac after consonants) and the plural suffix for inanimate nouns is -l (-al after consonants).

Possessives

The inflexions for possessive nouns resemble those for verbs.

Animate: vos "father"

	Number
	Singular		Plural
	Written	Gloss	Written	Gloss
First person singular	nivos nɪ.ˈwos	my father	nivosac nɪ.ˈwos.ək	my fathers
Second person singular	civos ʦɪ.ˈwos	your father	civosac ʦɪ.ˈwos.ək	your fathers
Third person proximate	ovos ɔ.ˈwos	his/her father	ovosac ɔ.ˈwos.ək	his/her fathers
Third person obviate	vosem wɔs.ˈɛm	his/her, somebody's father	vosenac wɔs.ˈɛn.ək	his/her, somebody's fathers
First person plural, exclusive	nivosalau nɪ.ˈwos.ə.laʊ	our father	nivosalauc nɪ.ˈwos.ə.laʊk	our fathers
First person plural, inclusive	civosalau ʦɪ.ˈwos.ə.laʊ	our father	civosalauc ʦɪ.ˈwos.ə.laʊk	our fathers
Second person plural	civosio ʦɪ.ˈwos.ɪ.jo	your father	civosioc ʦɪ.ˈwos.ɪ.jok	your fathers
Third person plural	ovosio ɔ.ˈwos.ɪ.jo	their father	ovosioc ɔ.ˈwos.ɪ.jok	their fathers

Inanimate: maxem "shoe"

	Number
	Singular		Plural
	Written	Gloss	Written	Gloss
First person singular	nimaxem ni.ˈmak.səm	my shoe	nimaxemal ni.ˈmak.səm.al	my shoes
Second person singular	cimaxem ʦi.ˈmak.səm	your shoes	cimaxemal ʦi.ˈmak.səm.al	your shoes
Third person proximate	omaxem ɔ.ˈmak.səm	his/her shoe	omaxemal ɔ.ˈmak.səm.al	his/her shoes
Third person obviate	maxemem mək.ˈsɛm.əm	his/her, somebody's shoe	maxememal mək.ˈsɛm.əm.al	his/her, somebody's shoes
First person plural, exclusive	nimaxemalo nɪ.ˈmak.sə.ma.lɔ	our shoe	nimaxemalol nɪ.ˈmak.sə.ma.lɔl	our shoes
First person plural, inclusive	cimaxemalo ʦɪ.ˈmak.sə.ma.lɔ	our shoe	cimaxemalol ʦɪ.ˈmak.sə.ma.lɔl	our shoes
Second person plural	cimaxemio ʦɪ.ˈmak.sə.mi.jɔ	your shoes	cimaxemial ʦɪ.ˈmak.sə.mi.jəl	your shoes
Third person plural	omaxemio ɔ.ˈmak.sə.mi.jɔ	their shoe	omaxemial ɔ.ˈmak.sə.mi.jəl	their shoes

There are several things to note about these paradigms that are generally true throughout the inflectional system of Classical Wisconsin. The main inflections consist of reduced pronouns prefixed to the nouns, and suffixes that complete the specification of person and of number, both of the possessor and the underlying noun.

The personal prefixes do not occur in every form; in subordinated forms they are entirely absent, for example. When they occur, they take the forms:

1. 1p. ni-, nir- before vowels;
2. 2p. ci-, cir- before vowels; note also that this prefix is used for the inclusive first person;
3. 3p. o-, or- before unstressed vowels, v- before initially stressed vowels.

The obviate third person form does not take a pronominal prefix, but takes a suffix marking the noun as obviate. The obviate form serves both for singular and plural third persons.

Because the other possessed forms take prefixes but the obviate does not, casting the noun into the obviate form alters the rhythm (CW givôn, "heartbeat") of the word, and changes the stressed syllables. This is a regular phonological process. The differences between a one syllable root (vos) and a two syllable root (maxem) change the realization of some of the string of suffixes; here, they regularly change -lau- to lo-. All of these processes will reappear throughout the inflections of Classical Wisconsin.

Nouns possessing other nouns appear in apposition: nivos taeanac Ip.FATHER.sg 3p.obv.HORSE.pl "my father's horses."

Locative

The locative suffix is -ni, after consonants -eni

• nipi "water" > nipini "by, on, in the water"
• ciric "sky" > ciriceni "by, on, in the sky"; civosalau ciriceni /ʦɪ.'wo.sə.laʊ ʦɪ.'ri.kɛ.ni/ "Our Father in heaven"

Dative

The dative suffix is -tae, -dae or -itae if none of those will produce a valid combination. Only animate nouns take this construction.

• ileni "man" > ilenitae "to, for, on behalf of the man"
• binestem "bird" > binestendae "to, for, on behalf of the bird"
• namens "fish" > namensitae "to, for, on behalf of the fish"

Diminutive

Other Classical Wisconsin noun inflections are less complicated. There are diminutives formed by the suffix -ns (-ens after a consonant:

• maqua "bear" > maquans "little bear"
• cinefic "snake" > cineficens "little snake"
• ileni "man" > ilenins "little man"

Pejorative

The pejorative suffix is -is:

• cetic "knee" > ceticis "good-for-nothing knee"; niceticisac "my good for nothing knees".
• ileni > ilenis "good for nothing men"

Verbs

The basic structure of a Classical Wisconson verb contains the following parts:

1. PERSONAL PREFIX. Not present in all tenses or constructions. Usually 0 in the third person.
2. TENSE MARKER. 0 in the present tense.
3. MODAL PREFIXES. Optional. May be more than one.
4. ROOT. May be compound, in which case it may incorporate an object.
5. Certain MODAL SUFFIXES go here.
6. ARGUMENT. Specifies the person acting, and the person acted upon.

Verbs fall into four conjugations, defined not by the phonetic shape of the root, but by the arguments they can take:

1. Intransitive verbs with animate subjects (VIA)
2. Intransitive verbs with inanimate subjects (VII)
3. Transitive verbs with animate objects (VTA)
4. Transitive verbs with inanimate objects (VTI)

The lemma, or citation form, of a Classical Wisconsin verb is the third person proximate singular present. This form typically has no personal prefix and the simplest arguments. Generally speaking the animate verbs have more complex forms than the inanimate verbs, and the transitive verbs have more complex forms than the intransitive ones.

In addition to these four conjugations, verbs exhibit four moods:

1. An indicative mood, that appears in main clauses;
2. A subordinate mood, appearing in subordinate clauses;
3. A negative mood, for negation; and
4. An imperative mood, for commands.

First conjugation: animate intransitive verbs

These verbs can serve as an introduction to the entire system. Like possessed nouns, first and second persons are noted by a pronominal prefix. The number and obviate status of the subject are shown by a personal ending.

nifa, "he/she sleeps"

	nifa, "he/she sleeps"
	Written IPA	Gloss
1p.sing	ninifa nɪ.ˈni.fa	"I sleep"
2p.sing	cinifa ʦɪ.ˈni.fa	"you sleep"
3p.sing.prox	nifa nɪ.ˈfa	"he/she sleeps"
3p.sing.obv	nifavant nɪ.ˈfa.want	"he/she sleeps, somebody sleeps"
1p.plural.exclusive	ninifames nɪ.ˈni.fa.mes	"we (excl) sleep"
1p.plural.inclusive	cinifames ʦɪ.ˈni.fa.mes	"we (incl) sleep"
2p.plural	cinifam ʦɪ.ˈni.fam	"you sleep"
3p.plural	nifavac nɪ.ˈfa.wak	"they sleep"

Second conjugation: intransitive inanimate verbs

These exist only in the third person. This conjugation contains many words relating to colors, weather (gimivant "it.OBV is raining"), time (cirefavant "it.OBV is morning") and similar words. Most of them do not apply to main actors or narrative focus, so the obviate form tends to be frequently encountered.

orausco, "it is yellow"

	orausco, "it is yellow"
	Written IPA	Gloss
3p.sing.prox	orausco ɔ.'raʊ.sko	"it is yellow"
3p.sing.obv	orauscovant ɔ.'raʊ.skɔ.want	"it/something is yellow"
3p.plural	orauscovac ɔ.'raʊ.skɔ.wak	"they are yellow"

Third conjugation: inanimate transitive verbs

These are similar to the animate intransitive verbs, and mark the subject by the personal prefixes and endings. They take additional arguments that specify whether the inanimate direct object is obviate or proximate. Third person forms also take a prefix in these verbs, which is o-, or v- if the stem begins with a vowel. The obviate ending is -o and the proximate ending is -am. Since subjects as well as objects can be both proximate or obviate, the third person forms only have the forms for the opposite mode.

onodamo, "he/she brings it" (root: nodam)

	nodam, "he/she brings it"
	Written IPA	Gloss
1p.sing	ninodamo ninodanam	"I bring it (obv/prox)"
2p.sing	cinodamo cinodanam	"you bring it"
3p.sing.prox	onodamo	"he/she brings it/something" (obv)
3p.sing.obv	onodamantam	"he/she/somebody brings it (prox)"
1p.plural.exclusive	ninodameso ninodamesam	"we (excl) bring it"
1p.plural.inclusive	cinodameso ciodamesam	"we (incl) bring it"
2p.plural	cinodameno cinodamenam	"you bring it"
3p.plural	onodamavaco onodamavacam	"they bring it"

Lexicon

No.	English
1	I	nîn
2	you (singular)	cîl
3	he	vîn
4	we	ninavint (excl), cinavint (incl)
5	you (plural)	cinava
6	they	vinava
7	this	au
8	that	iv
9	here	omâ
10	there	imâ
11	who	avên
12	what	viconan
13	where	enti
14	when	afil
15	how	anil
16	not	cavil
17	all	acila
18	many	libova
19	some	alinte
20	few	bangi
21	other	palem
22	one	beric
23	two	nîr
24	three	nista
25	four	niu
26	five	nalem
27	big	citri-
28	long	quinori
29	wide	citripacem
30	thick	cipaca
31	heavy	cosiquem
32	small	acasta
33	short	daqueri
34	narrow	acastapacem
35	thin	ôsci
36	woman	isquae
37	man (adult male)	ileni
38	man (human being)	avên
39	child	mimens
40	wife	viva
41	husband	nilafem
42	mother	mamâ
43	father	wos
44	animal	afestem
45	fish	namens
46	bird	binestem
47	dog	alimos
48	louse	iqua
49	snake	cinefic
50	worm	môsta
51	tree	mitiqua
52	forest	mitiquacem
53	stick	siaqua
54	fruit	mânivem
55	seed	minicam
56	leaf	anîfis
57	root	odrific
58	bark	vanagec
59	flower	vâfiquam
60	grass	mascosiva
61	rope	biminaquam
62	skin	tracae
63	meat	viast
64	blood	misqui
65	bone	cam
66	fat	bimide
67	egg	vaval
68	horn	escam
69	tail	rava
70	feather	miquam
71	hair	vîniris
72	head	tiquam
73	ear	tavac
74	eye	sciteric
75	nose	iar
76	mouth	tûn
77	tooth	vifit
78	tongue	dilanu
79	fingernail	scanera
80	foot	rit
81	leg	vicat
82	knee	cetic
83	hand	narca
84	wing	vilinquam
85	belly	mistat
86	guts	nacir
87	neck	quecam
88	back	piquam
89	breast	dudûsta
90	heart	tae
91	liver	quom
92	drink	vistini
93	eat	mistini
94	bite	taquam
95	suck	viquam
96	spit	siqui
97	vomit	racoqui
98	blow	putar
99	breathe	pacitâno
100	laugh	bâpi
101	see	vafi
102	hear	nundam
103	know	cenem
104	think	monendam
105	smell	birimam
106	fear	cosi
107	sleep	nifâ
108	live	pimausi
109	die	lifo
110	kill	nisi
111	fight	micâro
112	hunt	civose
113	hit	pacite
114	cut	ciscire
115	split	dâsqui
116	stab	parifau
117	scratch	sausti
118	dig	vanice
119	swim	cafâsimo
120	fly	pafâmite
121	walk	pimose
122	come	oribâ
123	lie	pemisem
124	sit	api
125	stand	nipavi
126	turn	quepi
127	fall	pangisem
128	give	mîr
129	hold	tacum
130	squeeze	mâgofir
131	rub	siquena
132	wash	ciristum
133	wipe	cirem
134	pull	vîcofir
135	push	candem
136	throw	apagir
137	tie	tacobir
138	sew	casquigaso
139	count	acem
140	say	icito
141	sing	lagamo
142	play	odamino
143	float	agomo
144	flow	pimitigueia
145	freeze	masquadem
146	swell	pacisi
147	sun	quiris
148	moon	tifiquiris
149	star	alanco
150	water	nipi
151	rain	gimivem
152	river	sipi
153	lake	sacaegam
154	sea	citrisacaegam
155	salt	rivit
156	stone	asin
157	sand	lecau
158	dust	pinqui
159	earth	aci
160	cloud	âlacot
161	fog	avam
162	sky	ciric
163	wind	nûtem
164	snow	côn
165	ice	miquam
166	smoke	paqueni
167	fire	iscote
168	ash	pinqui
169	burn	racite
170	road	macana
171	mountain	piquata
172	red	misco
173	green	orausco
174	yellow	osau
175	white	vapisco
176	black	macate
177	night	tific
178	day	ciric
179	year	cicônovem
180	warm	âbau
181	cold	cistinâ
182	full	muscile
183	new	vosci-
184	old	cete-
185	good	milo-
186	bad	matri-
187	rotten	bigiscani-
188	dirty	vinâd
189	straight	quaeac
190	round	vavaea
191	sharp	cina
192	dull	ariva
193	smooth	roscosi
194	wet	nipivam
195	dry	pasto
196	correct	quaeac
197	near	peso
198	far	vâsa
199	right	citrinic
200	left	namatric
201	at	-ind
202	in	-ind, pinde
203	with	vitri-
204	and	ce
205	if	cispem
206	because	otri-
207	name	vir