Conlang
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** Under early construction **


Kawepon / Kawembupon / Kawemalupon


Phonemic inventory[]

(with Latin orthography in parentheses)

===Consonants ===

Bilabial

Alveolar

Velar

Nasal

m

n

ŋ (h)

Plosive

p, mb (mb)

t, nd (nd)

k, ŋg (hg)

Approximate

w*

l

w*

*          w is a velar-bilabial

===Vowels ===

Front

Back

High

i

u

Mid-low

ɛ (e)

ɔ (o)

Low

ɑ (a)

===Syllable structure ===

(C)V(R)

C: a consonant
V: a vowel
R: a consonant other than a stop; i.e. one of /m n ŋ l w/

===Allophony ===

  • Nasals [m n ŋ] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following stop or nasal.
  • Semivowels [w] persistently become mid-low [ɔ̯] after a lax vowel.
  • Prenasalised stops [mnŋg] become non-prenasalised [b d g] after a stop.
  • Non-back vowels [i ɛ] become central [ɨ ɜ] after a semivowel.
  • Nasals [m n ŋ] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to the previous phone between a stop or nasal and a stop or nasal.
  • Semivowels [w ɔ̯] assimilate in laxity to a following vowel or approximant other than [l]. Before a lax vowel or semivowel, [w] become [ɔ̯].
  • Semivowels [w o̯ ɔ̯] assimilate in laxity to a following vowel or approximant other than [l]. Before a lax vowel or semivowel, [w] become [ɔ̯].
  • Unrounded non-bilabial consonants [n ŋg k ...] become rounded [nʷ ŋgʷ kʷ ...] before a rounded semivowel.
  • Unrounded non-bilabial consonants [n ŋg k ...] persistently become rounded [nʷ ŋgʷ kʷ ...] before a rounded consonant.
  • [ɔ̯] become [o̯] before a high vowel or semivowel.
  • Stops [mb p dʷ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following stop.
  • Stops [mŋk d ...] assimilate in voice to a preceding stop or nasal.
  • Front vowels [i ɛ] become central [ɨ ɜ] before a back semivowel.

I. The Verb.

Paradigmatic contrasts:


  1. ·      Finite-Infinite (and participle)
  2. ·      Positive-Negative
  3. ·      Past-Nonpast
  4. ·      Perfect-Imperfect
  5. ·      Realis-Irrealis (i.e., indicative-subjunctive/optative/imperative/interrogative)
  6. ·      Formal-Informal-Familiar

Gender, grammatical person and number are not taken into account in the morphological paradigm.

Paradigm of Verbs.[]

Infinitive: nde “travel”

Formal

Informal

Familiar

Positive

Non-Past

Real

ndemalu

ndembu

nda

Unreal

ndeumalu

ndeumbu

ndeu

Past

Real

ndemalika

ndembika

ndaika

Unreal

ndeumalika

ndeumbika

ndeuika

Negative

Non-Past

Real

ndehgwelu

ndehgwei

ndahge

Unreal

ndeuhgwelu

ndeuhgwei

ndeuhge

Past

Real

ndehgwelika

ndehgwika

ndahgika

Unreal

ndeuhgwelika

ndeuhgwika

ndeuhgika



Derivational forms

(formal, informal and familiar non-past, positive, realis forms)

Verbal:

Deontic Modalities:

·      “must” – it is necessary

we-                  wendemalu    wendembu    wenda

·      “should”, “ought” – it is advantageous, recommended or expected

mbi-                mbindemalu  mbindembu   mbinda

·      “may” – it is permissible

lu-                   lundemalu     lundembu      lunda

·      “want” – it is desirable (for the subject)

ka-                   kandemalu     kandembu     kanda

Epistemic Modalities:

·      “evidently” – it appears to be the case

pete-               petendemalu petendembu  petenda

·      “probably” – it is likely the case

kali-                 kalindemalu   kalindembu   kalinda

·      “possibly” – it may be the case

hgiki-              hgikindemalu            hgikindembu hgikinda

Coordinative Modalities:

·      simple coordinative

-ka                               demaluka                   dembuka                    ndaka

·      “because”

ndi- -ka                       ndindemaluka           ndindembuka            ndindaka

·      “while”, “during”

membe- -ka               membendemaluka    membendembuka    membendaka

·      “in order to”, “for”

tula- -ka                      tulandemaluka          tulandembuka           tulandaka

·      “for” (someone)

wehita- -ka                 wehitandemaluka     wehitandembuka      wehitandaka

Nominal:

·      person – one who does X

-ku                  ndemaluku    ndembuku     ndaku

·      object – the thing which X is done to

-wele               ndemaluwele ndembuwele ndawele

·      instrument – the thing used to do X

-pon                ndemalupon  ndembupon   ndapon

·      time – the time at which X took place

mbe- -ndo      mbendemalundo      mbendembundo       mbendando

·      place – the place where X is done

mbe- -mbu     mbendemalumbu     mbendembumbu      mbendambu

·      purpose – the reason X was done

mbe- -kekaku            mbendemalukekaku mbendembukekaku mbendakekaku

·      abstraction – the act of X

-hgeu              ndemaluhgeu            ndembuhgeu ndahgeu

Adjectival:

·      agency – the quality of something that does X

-keke               ndemalukeke, etc.

·      objectivity – the quality of something that X is done to

-tete                ndemalutete, etc.

Some Verbs:

a                      to love

he                    to get, acquire

hgo                  to leave

kawe               to speak

ka                    to help

ke                    to run

ki                     to make

ko                    to sleep

le                     to stand

lo                     to want, hope for, await

ma                   to arrive

me                   to swim

mbo                to hunt

na                    to come

nde                 to travel, go

ndo                 to walk

o                      to hate

pe                    to forget

pi                     to dream

te                     to think

wa                   to happen, occur

we                   to kneel



II. The Noun.[]

Compared to the verb, nouns are very much unmarked. However, they do take clitics which refer to determination and case. 

Paradigmatic Contrasts of Enclitics:[]

  1. ·      Proximal-mesioproximal-mesiodistal-distal
  1. ·      Nominative-Accusative-Dative-Genitive-Vocative

Paradigm of nominal enclitics []

Proximal

M.-Proximal

M.-Distal

Distal

Nom

mb(a)-

t(a)-

l(e)-

nd(e)-

Acc

lemb(a)-

let(a)-

lel(e)-

lend(e)-

Dat

kemb(a)-

ket(a)-

kel(e)-

kend(e)-

Gen

memb(e)-

end(e)-

Voc

w(a)-

Use of Gen and Dative.

Modifier (Gen/Dat) precedes modified (Nom/Acc/Voc):

ende.ndunda le.ndumemambe “that lagoon of the fish (i.e. which has fish)”

Dist-Gen.fish MDist-Nom.lagoon

membe.talmba mba.downihahgamika “the scripture of this village”

Prox-Gen.village Prox-Nom.scripture

Complex Noun Phrases[]

g/dREL – ko[]

G-REL – ne

D-REL – mbe

dREL and gREL are used to represent covert dative and genitive relatives. D-REL and G-REL are for overt dative and genitive relatives. The overt forms are used when further subordination happens within the relative clause.

kende.warunona ende.tem mba.ndunda

D.trail + G.man -> N.fish

D.trail G.man N.fish               -->       fish which are a. on trail, b. of man

ende.tem kende.warunona nda.ndunda

G.man + D.trail -> N.fish      

G.man D.trail N.fish               -->       fish which are a. of man, b. on trail

kende.warunona ko ende.tem nda.ndunda

D.trail -> [G.man -> N.fish]

D.trail dREL G.man N.fish     -->       fish of man which are on the trail

ende.tem ko kende.warunona nda.ndunda

G.man -> [D.trail -> N.fish]

G.man gREL D.trail N.fish      -->       fish on the trail which are of man

kende.warunona mba.tem ne nda.ndunda

G[D.trail -> N.man] -> N.fish

D.trail N.man G-REL N.fish    -->       fish which are of { the man who is on the trail }

ende.tem mba.warunona ne nda.ndunda

D[G.man -> N.trail] -> N.fish

G.man N.trail D-REL N.fish    -->       fish which are on { the trail that is of the man }

kende.warunona mba.tem ne kend.eliwae nda.ndunda

G[D.trail N.man] -> D.reed N.fish

D.trail N.man G-REL D.reed N.fish

[fish in the reed] which are of { the man on the trail }

kende.warunona mba.tem ne mb.eliwae mbe nda.ndunda

D{ G[D.trail -> N.man] N.reed} -> N.fish

D.trail N.man G-REL N.reed D-REL N.fish

fish which are { in the reed which is [of the man on the trail] }

Some Nouns:[]

akinom                       mountain, hill

enda                           animal (usually mammals)

eton                            barley

eliwae                         reed

gambam                     fishing pole

hahgan                       syllabic characters

hahgamika                 writing

eliwaehgan                reed scroll or book

downihahgamika      scripture

lokawe                        estuary (connected by creeks or rivers to land)

ndamba                      father

ndembun                   fish bones

ndolinoin                    creek (feeds a larger river)

ndunda                      fish

ndumemambe           lagoon (not fed by a river, except perhaps a few creeks in the

wet season)

tan                              member of another social group

talmba                        settlement

telwe                           bird

tem                             tribesman

tenak                          river that leads to a lake

tendipew                    river that leads only to the sea

warunona                  trail

wen                             ocean

wendewa                   fish-reservoir

wewa                          mother

Simple sentences

kendewendewa endetem ndendunda membu

D.fsh-rs G.man N.fish swim

This man’s fish (over there) swim (informal) in the fish-reservoir (over there)

===Pronouns. ===

Humble

1st

2nd

3rd

1st

2nd

3rd

Nom

no

ndu

ten

mawe

ndana

pen

Acc

nole

ndule

tele

mawele

ndale

pele

Dat

noke

nduke

tenge

maweke

ndange

penge

Gen

nombe

ndumbe

tembe

mawembe

ndambe

pembe

Voc

wandu

waten

wamawe

wandana

wapen

possessive

na

nda

ta

mawa

ndana

pa

Adjectives.[]

Adjectives precede nouns and do not take any declensional forms.

atipi                tall

aka                  white

akandi                        light                (opposite of dark)

eng                  big

hehe               heavy

iki                    small

katondi           green

mandu            short               (length)

manel             bad

ndelu              blue

nengu             short               (height)

ngengun         wide

tapenga          thin                 (outside dimension, as of a string)

tapika             narrow           (inside dimension, as of a ravine)

tenengin         long

tewak              black

tewangi          dark

wakata            good

wake               light                (opposite of heavy)

wanu              red or orange








No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104thinkte
105smell
106fear
107sleepko
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112huntmbo
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swimme
120fly
121walkndo
122comena
123lie
124sit
125standle
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152rivertenak, tendipew
153laketeowe
154seawen
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name
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