Miwonša

Miwonša is an a priori conlang created in 2011 by Plusquamperfekt (member of http://www.unilang.org and http://www.incatena.org ). The grammar is essentially based on earlier conlang projects (for example Kĵatonša) that have not been finished. One unique feature of Miwonša is that it can be also written with Tarul, a conscript created in 2011.

PHONOLOGY

Consonants

Consonants of Miwonša

	LAB	ALV	P-ALV	PAL	VEL	GLO
Plosive	p  p'	t  t'		tɕ  tɕ'	k  k'
Affricate		ts	tʃ  tʃ'
Nasal	m	n		ɲ
Fricative	f	s  z  (ɬ)	ʃ  ʒ	ɕ	(x)	h
Other	w  ʍ	l  r		j  ʎ

Comments:

(1): /tɕ/ and /tɕ'/ are often pronounced with very little friction (especially before open vowels) so that they almost sound like plosives.

(2):The presence of /ɬ/ is considered to be a feature of very educated and sophisticated speakers. In colloquial situations it's absolutely acceptable to replace /ɬ/ with /ɕ/.

(3): [x] is a possible allophone of /k/ in the syllable coda. 

(4): Some loanwords from natural languages contain the phonemes /b/, /d/, /g/ and /v/. However, in fast speech they are often merged with [p], [t], [k] and [f].

Vowels

Monophthongs

	front	central	back
closed	i  ĩ		u  ũ
mid	ɛ  ɛ̃		ɔ  ɔ̃
open		ä  ã

Comments:

(1) In stressed open syllables, /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ may be pronounced a bit more closed; [e] and [o]

(2) Since there is some dialectical variation, /a/ and /ã/ can be also pronounced as back vowels: [ɑ  ɑ̃]

Diphthongs

	front	central	back
closed	iʊ		uɪ
mid	ɛɪ		ɔɪ  ɔʊ
open		äɪ  äʊ

Comments:

(1) All Diphthongs are falling diphthongs.

(2) /äʊ/ can also be pronounced as [ɑʊ]

ORTHOGRAPHY

Latin Alphabet

Letter	Name	Standard Pronunciation	Before [i, ĩ, iʊ]
A  a	[ä:]	[ä:]
B  b	[bɛ]	[b~p]
C  c	[tɕɛ]~[cɛ]	[tɕ~c]	does not occur
Č  č	[tʃä]	[tʃ]
D  d	[dɛ]	[d~t]
E  e	[ɛ]	[ɛ]
F  f	[fä]	[f]
G  g	[gɛ]	[g~k]
H  h	[hä]	[h]	[ɕ]
I  i	[i]	[i]	does not occur
j	[jɛ]	[j]	does not occur
K  k	[kä]	[k]
L  l	[lä]	[l]	[ʎ] or [lʲ]
M  m	[mä]	[m]
N  n	[nä]	[n]	[ɲ] or [nʲ]
O  o	[ɔ]	[ɔ]
P  p	[pɛ]	[p]
R  r	[ra]	[r]
S  s	[sa]	[s]
Š  š	[ʃä]	[ʃ]
T  t	[tɛ]	[t]	[tɕ]
U  u	[u]	[u]
V  v	[vu]	[v]
W  w	[wä]	[w]
Y  y	[jä]	[j]	does not occur
Z  z	[zä]	[z]
Ž  ž	[ʒä]	[ʒ]

Digraphs

Digraph	Type	Standard pronunciation	Before [i, ĩ, iʊ]
an	nasal vowel	ã	does not occur
en	nasal vowel	ɛ̃	does not occur
in	nasal vowel	ĩ	does not occur
on	nasal vowel	ɔ̃	does not occur
un	nasal vowel	ũ	does not occur
ai	diphthong	äɪ	does not occur
au	diphthong	äʊ	does not occur
ei	diphthong	ɛɪ	does not occur
iw	diphthong	iʊ	does not occur
oi	diphthong	ɔɪ	does not occur
ou	diphthong	ɔʊ	does not occur
ui	diphthong	uɪ	does not occur
ch	ejective affricate	tɕ'	does not appear
čh	ejective affricate	tʃ'
kh	ejective plosive	k'
ph	ejective plosive	p'
th	ejective plosive	t'	tɕ'
hj	palatal consonant	ɕ	does not occur
lj	palatal consonant	ʎ	does not occur
nj	palatal consonant	ɲ	does not occur
hw	other consonant	ʍ
lh	other consonant	ɬ	does not occur
lw	consonant cluster	ɬw

NOUNS

The four declensions

In Miwonša, all native nouns either end in "-a", "-i", "-o" or "-n". They can be grouped into four declensions. There are four cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative) and two numbers (singular, plural). All declensions except the "n" declension have two subtypes.

The "a" declension

In the "a" declension, the last consonant is decisive for the choice of the correct suffix in the nominative, accusative and dative plural. If a stem of a noun ends in <c>, <j>, <y> or <w>, the plural suffixes are <e> and <eš>, All other stems require the suffixes and <iš>. A final <r> always becomes palatalized in the nominative, accusative and dative plural:

Example nouns of the "a" class (type 1): tahonta (human being), hanza (dog) → tahonti (humans), hanzi (dogs)

Example nouns of the "a" class (type 2): wanca (girl), siwa (water) → wance (girls), siwe (waters)

Example nouns of the "a" class (type 3): tara (day), lura (night) → taži (days), luži (nights)

The "o" declension

While the declension in the singular is equal for all nouns of the "o" declension, there are two sets of plural suffixes  for animated and inanimated nouns. Animated nouns ending in <j> or <y> take the suffixes <e>, <ek> and <eš> in the plural. Final <r>s of animated noun stems are palatalized:

Example nouns of the "o" class (an., type 1): wonco (child), škunlo (thief) → wonti (children), škunli (thieves)

Example nouns of the "o" class (an., type 2): anro (father) → anži (fathers)

Example nouns of the "o" class (inanimated): žanjo (eye) → žanja (eyes)

The "i" declension

All nouns of the "i" declension require the same suffixes in the singular and plural. The only irregularity is the "i"-alternation (see section about phonology):

Example nouns of the "i" class (no alternation): raiči (opinion) → raiča (opinions)

Example nouns of the "i" class (alternation): kaipi (mountain) → kaipja (mountains)

The "n" declension

With very few exceptions, native nouns of the "n"-class are very regular:

Declension

	"a"  type 1	"a" type 2	"o" animate	"o" inanimate	"i"   type 1	"i" type 2	"n"
TRANSLATION	language	mother	boy	year	family	heart	friend
NOM.SG	žwena	maca	kjunšo	šanlo	zwanši	kjani	tuškan
ACC.SG	žwenai	macai	kjunšoi	šanloi	zwanši	kjani	tuškani
GEN.SG	žwenak	macak	kjunšok	šanlok	zwanšik	kjanik	tuškanka
DAT.SG	žwenaš	macaš	kjunšoš	šanloš	zwanšiš	kjaniš	tuškanša
NOM.PL/ACC.PL	žweni	mace	kjunši	šanla	zwanša	kjanja	tuškanje
GEN.PL	žwenoi	macoi	kjunšik	šanlai	zwanšiki	kjaniki	tuškanki
DAT.PL	žweniš	maceš	kjunšiš	šanlaš	zwanšiši	kjaniši	tuškanši

The infix <-aš>

	"a"    type 1	"a"  type 2	"o" animate	"o" inanimate	"i"     type 1	"i"   type 2	"n"
TRANSLATION	this language	this mother	this boy	this year	this family	this heart	this friend
NOM.SG	žwenaša	macaša	kjunšašo	šanlašo	zwanšaši	kjanjaši	tuškašan
ACC.SG	žwenašai	macašai	kjunšašoi	šanlašoi	zwanšaši	kjanjaši	tuškašani
GEN.SG	žwenašak	macašak	kjunšašok	šanlašok	zwanšašik	kjanjašik	tuškašanka
DAT.SG	žwenašaš	macašaš	kjunšašoš	šanlašoš	zwanšašiš	kjanjašiš	tuškašanša
NOM.PL/ACC.PL	žwenaši	macaši	kjunšaši	šanlaša	zwanšaša	kjanjaša	tuškašanje
GEN.PL	žwenašoi	macašoi	kjunšašik	šanlašai	zwanšaški	kjanjaški	tuškašanki
DAT.PL	žwenašiš	macašiš	kjunšašiš	šanlašaš	zwanšašši	kjanjašši	tuškašanši

The infix <-aw>

	"a"      type 1	"a"   type 2	"o" animate	"o" inanimate	"i"      type 1	"i"    type 2	"n"
TRANSLATION	some/any language	some/any mother	some/any boy	some/any year	some/any family	some/any heart	some/any friend
NOM.SG	žwenawa	macawa	kjunšawo	šanlawo	zwanšawi	kjanjawi	tuškawan
ACC.SG	žwenawai	macawai	kjunšawoi	šanlawoi	zwanšawi	kjanjawi	tuškawani
GEN.SG	žwenawak	macawak	kjunšawok	šanlawok	zwanšawik	kjanjawik	tuškawanka
DAT.SG	žwenawaš	macawaš	kjunšawoš	šanlawoš	zwanšawiš	kjanjawiš	tuškawanša
NOM.PL/ACC.PL	žwenawi	macawi	kjunšawi	šanlawa	zwanšawa	kjanjawa	tuškawanje
GEN.PL	žwenawoi	macawoi	kjunšawik	šanlawai	zwanšawki	kjanjawki	tuškawanki
DAT.PL	žwenawiš	macawiš	kjunšawiš	šanlawaš	zwanšawši	kjanjawši	tuškawanši

VERBS

Overview: Verb morphology in Miwonša

Although the verb morphology is out and away the most complex part of Miwonšan grammar, it is not as complicated as one might assume at first glance. There are, however, some features which make it hard and easy at the same time: On the one hand Miwonšan verbs have an immense amount of of grammatical categories and affixes, which is the cause of extremly high morpheme/word ratios and very long words. On the other hand there is only one single and very regular conjugation, very little allomorphy and very strict rules concerning where to place which affix. This leads to the conclusion that it is much more reasonable and economical to obtain an idea of the structure of Miwonšan verbs by taking a look at the whole morphological scheme.

First of all it is important to know that there are three main verb types: 

(1) Standard Verbs (containing Modal Verbs); (2) Adjectival Verbs; (3) Copula Verbs

All three types can appear as finite and as infinite verb forms. There are several types of infinite verb forms:

(1) Infintives, (2) Adverbial Participles, (3) Adjectival Participles, (4) Gerunds, (5) Supines, (6) Gerundives

Furthermore, there are five voices (genus verbi), two aspects, at least five tenses, three grammatical moods and both subject and object agreement:

Verb morphology

	Categories
Genus Verbi	Active (1), Passive (2), Reflexive (3), Reciprocal (4), Impersonal (5)
Aspect	Imperfective (1), Perfective (2)
Tense	Present (1), Past (2), Future (3), Present Perfect (4), Past Perfect (3)
Mood	Indicative (1), Subjunctive (2), Imperative (3)
Agreement	Nominative (1), Accusative (2)

Of course, not all combinations of grammatical categories are possible. Nevertheless there is a fixed sequence of affixes which serves as a basis for a model with which it is possible to describe the verb morphology quite accurately:

Seven-Slot Model

Slot 7	Slot 6	Slot  5	Slot 4	Slot 3	Slot 2	Slot 1
(Stem)	Interfix	Tenses	STEM	Subject Agreement	Object Agreement; Voice	Mood,  Verb Type

The Seven-Slot Model

The following table contains an overview of all used morphemes and their position in the verb:

SLOT 7	SLOT 6	SLOT 5	SLOT 4	SLOT 3	SLOT 2	SLOT 1
STEM 2	-i- E	-ya-/-wa- PAST/IRR	STEM 1	-im- 1SG.NOM	-im- 1SG.ACC	-an IPFV.IND
				-iš- 2SG.NOM	-iš- 2SG.ACC	-at/-Ø PFV
Used abbreviations: E - epenthetic morpheme GER - gerund IMP - imperative IND - indicative INF - infinitive INTR - intransitive IPFV - imperfective IPRS - impersonal IRR - irrealis PAST - past tense PFV - perfective PTCP - participle REFL - reflexive RECP - reciprocal SBJV - subjunctive SUP - supine				-iw-/-it 3SG.NOM	-iw-/-it 3SG.ACC	-ai SBJV
				-am- 1PL.NOM	-am- 1PL.ACC	-u IMP
				-aš- 2PL.NOM	-aš- 2PL.ACC	-a INF
				-aw-/-at 3PL.NOM	-aw-/-at 3PL.ACC	-anš PTCP
				-Ø- 3.NOM	-Ø- INTR	-anti SUP
					-ar- PASS	-aza GER.NOM
					-ast- REFL	-azai GER.ACC
					-alw- RECP	-azak GER.GEN
					-asj- IPRS	-azaš GER.DAT

Slot 1: Aspect and Mood

In Miwonša, there are several types of infinite verb forms:

Infinitives:

(1) Yežiman lufiwa. - I want to sleep.

Gerunds (can be declined):

(2) Lufjanza nanhwo saipiran. - Sleeping often is healthy.

Supines

(3) Munsišanje čwonai čwonjan zužanti aš tonšuloš žwena Miwonšak. - The students read the book to learn more of the Miwonšan language.

Gerundives

(4) Munsišanje zužanti kwan aš tonšuloš žwena Miwonšak. - The students must know more about the Miwonšan language.

Participles

(5) Žai rumiwku hanzi lufjanši! - Do not wake up sleeping dogs!