Alternatives to existing sentence structure: Yazem, Ka'e and Maase

Alternatives to existing sentence structure

Yazem

Order 1 consonants		Order 2 consonants		Vowels
P p	/p/	B b	/b/
K k	/k/	G g	/g/	A a	/a/
D d	/d/	T t	/t/	Æ æ	/ɛ̃/
R r	/r/	H h	/ʟ̝/	Y y	/i/
Ť ť	/θ/	Ɖ đ	/ð/	I i	/I/
Š š	/ʃ/	Ž ž	/Ʒ/	O o	/o/
Z z	/z/	S s	/s/	U u	/u/
N n	/n/	M m	/m/	E e	/ə/
L l	/l/	Ĺ ĺ	/ɮ/	Ö ö	/œ/

Sentence formation

In Yazem, rather than following agent-patient structures, sentences follow another structure – the first part of the sentence being the state of the objects before the event, and the second part being their state afterwards, almost always negating the verb.

This may seem cumbersome to those not familiar with Yazem grammar, but since many nouns combine the relevant objects, and there are also adjectives and absentive forms, not to mention a few instances where verbs (although treated as adjectives or particles) must appear.

Absentive form

Each noun has an absentive (ABS) form – this is used to show the negative, or the absence of a particular noun. This may be used for:

The bear eats the fruit = bear fruit-ABS = Ťebæ ku

The bear doesn’t eat the fruit = bear-ABS fruit-ABS = Ťepæ ku

The absentive form is made by switching the Order 1 consonant in a noun’s final syllable with its equivalent Order 2 consonant, or vice-versa.

The bear is the fruit = bear fruit = Ťebæ gu

The bear sees the fruit = bear eye fruit (Note that “eye” is an adjective) = Ťebæ ĺa gu

The bear takes the fruit = bear fruit bear (The initial noun is repeated to show possession) = Ťebæ gu ťebæ

The fruit eats the bear = fruit bear-ABS = Gu ťepæ

 

Indirect object and prepositions/postpositions

Indirect objects are a complex matter in Yazem – they are shown in a number of ways:

-    Through adjectives, which come after the noun in all circumstances (particularly for locatives)

-   Considered the result of an action (particularly in what English considers “intransitive verbs”) and included alongside the other nouns

-    In the case of two prepositions – “for” and “around” – the particles come after the noun, the particles being “ay” and “nay”, to show this

 

Ka’e

B b

/b/

TŤ tť

/tθ/

Ž ž

/Ʒ/

J j

/ɟ/

ŽƉ žđ

/Ʒð/

FŤ fť

/fθ/

Ḿ ḿ

/mw/

L l

/l/

P p

/p/

K k

/k/

X x

/x/

Tc tc

/tc/

H h

/ɧ/

VƉ vđ

/vð/

Ƀ ƀ

/bw/

Ł ł

/tɬ/

G g

/g/

G g

/g/

X̌ x̌

/ɣ/

Dj dj

/dɟ/

Dl dl

/dl/

M m

/m/

Ᵽ ᵽ

/pw/

DŁ dł

/dɮ/

D d

/d/

S s

/s/

Tx tx

/tx/

Tš tš

/tʃ/

Tl tl

/tl/

Ñ ñ

/ŋ/

Ḟ ḟ

/fw/

Km

/*/

T t

/t/

Z z

/z/

Dx̌ dx̌

/dɣ/

Dž dž

/dƷ/

Šr šr

/ʃr/

N̈ n̈

/hn/*

Ṽ ṽ

/vw/

Gm

/*/

Ť ť

/θ/

F f

/f/

Ǩ ǩ

/tk/*

Šk šk

/ʃk/

Šl šl

/ʃl/

Ṁ ṁ

/hm/*

A a

/a/

O o

/o/

Ɖ đ

/ð/

V v

/v/

Ǧ ǧ

/dg/*

Žg žg

/Ʒg/

J̌ ǰ

/jh/

Ň ň

/hŋ/*

E e

/e/

U u

/u/

DƉ dđ

/dð/

Š š

/ʃ/

C c

/c/

ŠŤ šť

/ʃθ/

N n

/n/

W w

/hw/

I i

/i/

Æ æ

/æ/

*”Km” and “gm” are pronounced like “k” and “g”, but with the mouth sealed shut.

/hn/ and /hm/ are pronounced as /n/ and /m/, while blowing air out heavily through the nostrils.

Visual morphosyntax

In Ka’e, the idea of the language is to represent events visually. For example:

The bird flew past me.

Bird-person-person-long-bird person-bird

Ḟa x̌u x̌u txa ḟa x̌u ḟa

Here, we can see that the bird is initially in front of the person (bird-person), then on line with the person (person-long-bird), and then the bird is after the person (person-bird), showing it has passed him.

However, even to this sentence, there are two possible additions that appear in both formal and everyday speech:

-          When one world comes directly after another, they are doubled. “Ḟa x̌u x̌u ḟa” becomes “Ḟa x̌ul ḟa”.

-          Often, to visually represent the scenario further, often irrelevant objects, known as “features”, are included in the midst of the sentence. This is how large amounts of information can be communicated in single sentences.

 

Locations are shown visually as well:

I am in the house	He was an intelligent man	What is your name?
House-person-house	Nonperson*-person-body-thoughts-many-body-person-nonperson	Nonperson-person-body-name-unknown-body-person-nonperson
Dłu x̌u dłu	X̌i x̌u ǩa šli n̈a a	X̌i x̌u ǩa ṽa ǰu a

*Refers to a person other than the one important to the sentence

The particle “a” reflects the other half of the sentence, for convenience.

The particle “te” is used in a similar sense to the Yazem absentive form, to denote negatives.

Maase

A a	/a/	F f	/f/	N n	/n/	V v	/v/
B b	/b/	G g	/g/	O o	/o/	X x	/x/
B̌ b̌	/ʙ/	H h	/θ/	P p	/p/	X̌ x̌	/ɣ/
D d	/d/	I i	/i/	R r	/r/	Z z	/z/
Đ đ	/ð/	K k	/k/	S s	/s/	Ky ky	/c/
Ē ē	/ɜ/	L l	/l/	T t	/t/	Gy gy	/ɟ/
E e	/ei/ or /e/	M m	/m/	U u	/ʊ/	Y y	/j/

An apostrophe comes after consonants to indicate they are aspirated. Alternative forms of the vowels – Á á, Ḗ ḗ, É é, Í í, Ó ó, Ú ú – exist to show the syllables are pronounced while breathing in, not out.

Word classes

There are three main types of word:

OSV words – Words where the morphemes are added to the object, based on which verb is used and what the subject is. 

External nouns – Normal nouns which are declined based on traditional cases.

Adwords – Equivalent to adverbs and adjectives, adding information to the sentence. These carry large chunks (“themes”) about the sentence, and indicate information about tenses.

Declension of OSV words

B̌eso = food	1st person sub.	2nd person sub.	3rd person sub.	Plural sub.
To move	B̌esa	B̌esih	B̌esah	B̌esuh
To change, to make	B̌esē	B̌esiđ	B̌esađ	B̌esuđ
To go to	B̌esme	B̌esir	B̌esar	B̌esur
To go from	B̌esma	B̌esi	B̌esai	B̌esui
To hold, to lift*	B̌esēk	B̌esip	B̌esap	B̌esup
To push	B̌ese	B̌esig	B̌esag	B̌esug
To be	B̌eso	B̌esoi	B̌eson	B̌esoh
To eat**	B̌esam	B̌esik	B̌esax	B̌esux
To like, to enjoy	B̌esat	B̌esif	B̌esax̌	B̌esux̌
To dislike, to hate	B̌esu	B̌esip	B̌esam	B̌esum
To know	B̌esek	B̌esim	B̌esat	B̌esut

Note that depending on the noun, there are a number of additional verbs.

*This is equvialent to “to have”.

*This conveys the most common action done to a certain noun, which depends on the nature of the noun. For example, for the noun “road”, it would be “to cross”.

Declension of external nouns

B̌eha = food	Singular	Plural		Subessive	B̌ehi	B̌ehiu	Under the food
Dative	B̌eha	B̌eho	To the food	Superessive	B̌ehis	B̌ehik	On/over the food
Ablative	B̌ehu	B̌ehui	From/of the food	Prosecutive	B̌ehus	B̌ehuk	Across the food
Instrumental	B̌ehas	B̌ehak	Using the food	Prepositional*	B̌ehó	B̌ehú	See *
Illative	B̌ehos	B̌ehok	In/into the food	Abessive	B̌ehós	B̌ehók	Without the food
Adessive	B̌ehē	B̌ehe	Near the food	Sociative	B̌ehús	B̌ehúk	Together with the food

*Prepositional shows something is “around” or “about” a noun.

Adwords

Gyol = kind, friendly	Entirely	Partially
Present/Future	Gyol	Gyolo
Past	Gyoli	Gyolu
Irrealis/Untrue	Gyole	Gyolē
Future	Gyola	Gyolau