Wistanian Language
| Wistanian | |
|---|---|
 /əˈniŋɡəli/ | |
| Region: | Wistania |
| Speakers: | ~50 million |
| Language Family: |
• Taliv • Mountain Pidgin • Wistanian |
| Writing System: | Wistanian Alphabet Nati Abugida Bwolotil Alphabet |
| Created: | 2017-present by Page Allen |
| Part of a series on |
| Wistanian Language |
|---|
| Wistanian Language |
Wistanian, natively known as aningali, is a language spoken by around fifty million people on the island of Wistania. It arose as a creole between the Taliv and Nati peoples as they fought together in a war against the Bwolotil. That war concluded with a peace treaty that included the Bwolotil, Taliv, Nati, and Katapu peoples. Later, a final people group were included in the Treaty, the Uzin.
For several years after the Treaty, the linguistic landscape of the island remained mostly the same. In the beginning, the creole was used only in government and trade, then it expanded into education and religion, and finally to entertainment. After only four or five generations, almost all inhabitants of the island speak Wistanian as either their only language or a second language. The Taliv and Nati languages have for the most part fallen into archaism, while the Katapu and Uzin languages are rarely used. There are still many monolingual Bwolotil speakers, but most of the younger generations are growing up immersed in Wistanian.
Phonology
Wistanian has sixteen consonant phonemes and six vowel phonemes. They are:
| Labial | Lamino- Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Plosive | fortis | p | t | k | ||
| lenis | b | d | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | v | z | ʒ | ɦ | ||
| Liquid | w | r | j | |||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɯ | |
| Mid | e | ||
| Low | a | ɑ | |
| Diphthong: a͡i | |||
Some phonemes change in relation to other phonemes nearby. This is called allophony. Although many different varieties and accents of Wistanian have their own allophony, the most common forms of allophony are:
- Word-initial lenis plosives /b d ɡ/ are prenasalized to [mb, nd, ŋ¬ɡ] if the first syllable is stressed.
- /n/ and /m/ shift to velar [ŋ] before other velar phones.
- /v z ʒ/ shift to [f s ʃ] immediately before fortis plosives.
- /ɦ/ shifts to [ɣ] word-initially and in the beginning of a stressed syllable.
- /w/ is often in free variation between [w] and [βʷ].
- Word-medial /r/ is often in free variation between [r̻] and [ɾ̻].
- /ɯ ɑ/ round to [u ɒ] after /w/.
- Vowels become breathy after /ɦ/.
Stress
Wistanian has three layers of vocalic stress:
- primary stress, in which the vowel is tense and held longer
- secondary stress, in which the vowel is tense but not held as long
- tertiary stress, only applied to /i a ɯ/, in which the vowel is short and laxed to [ɪ ə ʊ].
Stress placement in a word is somewhat predictable as it lands on the first tense vowel of a word. However, /i/ and /a/ can be either tense or laxed in a somewhat unpredictable manner. For example, viman. When stress is on the /i/ as in [viːmən], the word means “sugar”, but when stress is on the /a/ as in [vɪmaːn], the word means “sky.” The vowel /ɯ/ is more predictable as it is (almost) always and only laxed word-initially in a polysyllabic word.
Syllables are structured as ({C1,FA})V(C2). This means that every syllable has a nucleus at its center, which must be a vowel phoneme or diphthong (notated as ⟨V⟩). The onset, which comes before the nucleus, is optional and can be any consonant phoneme (notated as ⟨C1⟩) or fricative-approximant cluster (notated as ⟨FA⟩). The coda, which comes after the nucleus, is also optional and can be any consonant phoneme except for /j/, /w/, and /ɦ/ (notated as ⟨C2⟩).
Most Wistanians speak softly and clearly, usually speeding up or slowing down depending on how excited they are. It is mostly inappropriate to shout in Wistanian culture.
Lexical Categories
Wistanian has six lexical categories - or ‘parts of speech.’ They are verbs, nominals, particles, honorifics, coordinators, and interjections.
Verbs
Verbs are almost always featured first in a simple sentence and describe the action or state of the subject nominal.
viga dari. viga-a dari eat-IPV boy “The boy is eating.”
Verbs conjugate for three aspects:
- perfective (
PV) denotes that an action is completed in the topic time- e.g., hadu → hadwai = “learned”
- imperfective (
IPV) denotes that an action is not completed in the topic time- e.g., hadu → hadwa = “(is) learning”
- stative (
STA) denotes a state as result of the action.- e.g., hadu → hadiyu = “knows”
The dictionary form of verbs are their deverbalized form in which they do not receive any marking. They refer to the action as a whole and are syntactically and morphologically nominals. e.g. hadu = “the act of learning.”
Statives have two lexical forms: the active stative and the passive stative. Actives refer to the result of having done the action, while passives refer to the result of having the action done to it. For example:
vigiya alin. vig‹iy›a alin eat‹STA› mouse “The mouse is full (because it ate something).”
vigiya aa alin. vig‹iy›a aa alin eat‹STA› ACC mouse “The mouse is eaten (because something ate it).”
Verbs have three stems: -a, -i, and -u. Their conjugation patterns are as follows:
| -a | -i | -u | |
|---|---|---|---|
:DVN
|
viga | zwili | hadu |
-IPV
|
viga | zwilya | hadwa |
-PV
|
vigai | zwilyai | hadwai |
‹STA›
|
vigiya | zwilayi | hadiyu |
Sometimes, an epenthetic 〈a〉 or 〈h〉 will be inserted between the verb root and the -IPV/-PV suffix to comply to Wistanian’s syllable structure.
Verbs can take on two prefixes: the negative bau(n)- (noting that the action does not happen) and completive u(l)- (noting that the action happens completely).
All verbs also have irrealis conjugations which are used for events that have not happened. These include actions/states in the future as well as conditionals, potentials, hypotheticals, and polite requests.
| -a | -i | -u | |
|---|---|---|---|
:DVN
|
viga | zwili | hadu |
-IPV.IRR
|
vigaj | zwilyaj | hadwaj |
-PV.IRR
|
vigaij | zwilyaij | hadwaij |
‹STA.IRR›
|
vigija | zwilaji | hadiju |
Nominals
Nominals, also known as nouns, are the agents and patients of the actions or states represented by the verb. These are usually people, places, things, and ideas.
When two nominals are beside each other, the second is an attributive nominal and modifies the first nominal rather than acting as an argument to the verb. Some examples:
lari maudbrush+hair“hairbrush” |
guhi gaijoint+forearm“elbow” |
hani aramplace+bowl“cupboard” |
man limhand+NAME“Lim’s hand” |
liya bifly:DVN+good.thing“good flying” |
jauni janflower+green“green flower.” |
A single head nominal can also have multiple attributives:
auvi garauni iraa din bird+large+red+three “Three large red birds”
Nominals can also be split into count nominals and mass nominals. Count nominals are those things that are countable in the Wistanian language, therefore being able to be modified by a number and take on the “plural” affix -(a)n, which denotes five or more objects. Mass nominals cannot be counted nor take on the plural affix.
For most nominals that end with a vowel, the plural affix is just 〈-n〉 (e.g., alvi → alvin). Some nominals, called h-nominals, also end with a vowel, but an /ɦ/ is inserted between the root and the plural affix (e.g., ilau → ilauhan).
Particles
Particles are grammatical words that modify verbs and nominals for their role in the sentence. The most important particles are the nominal particles (n. part.) that mark oblique nominals (i.e., any nominal that is not the subject of the verb.) Those particles are expressed before the nominal they modify.
| name | gloss | marker | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| accusative | ACC
|
aa | marks patients of transitive verbs, the destination of transitive motion verbs, and the recipient of giving verbs |
| instrumental | INS
|
il | marks instruments, modes of transportation, the manner by which sth is done, theme of giving and cognitive verbs, and other things… |
| benefactive | BEN
|
ggaun | marks the reason for a volitional verb (i.e., why something was done on purpose) |
| causative | CAU
|
diri | marks the cause of a non-volitional verb (i.e., what caused something to come about) |
| locative | LOC
|
ddal | marks the location of a verb (i.e., where the action took place) |
Verbal particles (v. part.) indicate various other moods and aspects to the verb.
| name | gloss | marker | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| typical | TYP
|
gaun | marks general truths, episodic tendencies, and habits. |
| potential | POT
|
zaggu yaj |
marks ability, likelihood, willingness, and permission. zaggu is considered “stronger” than yaj. |
| obligative | OBL
|
daaya | marks obligation, tradition, ideas, and reasonable certainty. |
| conditional | COND
|
a | mark possibility |
| affirmative | AFF
|
ha | marks emphasis, admission, positive answers to polar questions, and insistence. |
| planative | PLA
|
in | marks a lack of purpose or goal, randomness, and atelicity. |
| deliminative | DEL
|
maiyu | marks an activity being done over a longer period of time than normal. |
| frustrative | FRUST
|
wai | marks unsuccessful or unintentional actions. |
| repetitive | again
|
ig | marks actions that have already been done before or is done multiple times. |
Honorifics
Honorifics are polite pronouns and titles that are applied to people depending on their social status relative to the speaker’s (kind of like English’s “Mister” and “Miss”). Wistanian has honorifics for superiors and inferiors, adults and children, and there are even some family-specific honorifics. They can also vary among different people and almost act as a nickname in some cases.
| Inferior | Peer | Superior | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | iz | (variable) | baada |
| Child | bin | bin | nizin |
Coordinators
Coordinators are words that connect two nominals, verbs, or phrases. Nominals are typically connected by ya (and), vil (with, alongside) or i (or), and oblique nominals often remove coordinators and repeat the nominal particle instead. Verbal and phrasal coordinators are more complex, accounting for chronology and sensitive to switch-reference.
| same subject | different subject | |
|---|---|---|
| simultaneous | ya | yi |
| chronological | ayai | ayi |
| adversative | bbal | bbali |
| causative | jala | diri |
| resultative | java | javi |
Interjections
Interjections are words that can stand alone and usually express an exclamation or phatic expression (e.g., ‘hello’, ‘thank you’, etc.). These also include ideophones that represent sounds and some ideas.
Sentence Structure
The typical Wistanian sentence is verb-initial, followed by the (unmarked) nominative agent or experiencer, and then the (marked) oblique nominals. Any particles will come immediately in front of their head. For example:
auwinai yau aa did garauni ggaun aumi. auwina-ai yau aa did+garauni ggaun aumi buy-PV 1SG.NOM ACC lettuce+large BEN grandmother “I bought a large head of lettuce for (my) grandmother.”
Although the word order is usually rigid, it sometimes moves around, bringing more important nominals forward. Omitting the subject is normal under two conditions: the subject is already well-established, or the verb is passive (i.e., the topical nominal is the patient of the verb rather than the agent).
Nominal phrases and quotations are typically marked with a demonstrative.
jaha yau aa id, dazjyaij waz aa da il zanju. ja-a yau aa id dazji-aij waz aa da il zanju want-IPV 1SG.NOM ACC PRX give-PV.IRR 2SG.NOM ACC 1SG.OBL INS shoes “I want you to give me the shoes.” (lit.) “I want this: you give me the shoes.”
Commands are also verb-initial, but the accusative nominal is typically fronted ahead of the nominal. The verb is usually irrealis, especially when the command is polite.
zigwaij aa bba luhi, bin. zigu-aij aa bba+luhi bin pick.up-PV.IRR ACC trash+2SG.POSS HON “Pick up your trash, child.”
Content questions are wh- in situ; that is, the sentence is structured as normal, except that the missing information is replaced with the question pronoun. The question pronoun a takes primary stress, surfacing as [aː].
yigai auzi il a. yiga-ai auzi il a speak-PV 3SGa.NOM INS Q “What did he say?” (lit.) “He said what?”
Yes/No (polar) questions do not use the question pronoun a, but rather employ a combination of three elements: 1) both the affirmative and negative forms of a verb, 2) the irrealis applied to both verbs, and 3) the disjunction i.
i vigaij i bauvigaij lu. i viga-aij i bau-viga-aij lu or eat-PV.IRR or NEG-eat-PV.IRR 2SG.NOM “Did you eat?” (lit.) “Did you eat, or did you not eat?” (or) “You either ate or did not eat (which one?).
Example Text
daaya wiziya auv zil dihu, uba. hayi id aa diguhi inja ggaun yazau yubbada. auv daam madzi, gaun haudayi aa luj bin il gaunun garauni luyu. murwai aa zaun madzi ddal diguhi id diri vigai aa mizan, yazau yubbada. bbali guziya radahundi alaman aa zagari udal mauraz.
ayi javi yilwai ya mabulan bin ya yazau yubbada. zingai ban aa id inja yazau ddal id il baun, a ya ba ban ddal jwi li il idizau ya bauhumwa il viv. ggaun raav id, hayi aa jwi li ddal il ayai idau. a humwai ban, baunayiya yazau aa id bauhiya ban aa gaunu. ayai, zaggu lauviyu auzi ggaun zagari mauraz bin.
You must be cautious when crossing the Passage, see. This is the hunting waters of the Great Eel. For many years, it would mistake our boats for large, delicious fish. Many people died in these waters, eaten by the Great Eel. But the sea beast did not enjoy the taste of human blood.
So, our ancestors made a deal with the Great Eel. We decided that the Eel would no longer hunt there if we kept going on one course and not veer far off. That is why there is only one route from here to there. If we veer off, the Eel will not know that we aren’t fish, and it would be very disappointed with the taste of our blood.
Background
Wistanian was created by Page Allen for the Zaun Ajma series. It began development on August 10, 2017 (often considered Wistanian's birthday and celebrated every year). A full exhaustive grammar and lexicon is slowly but surely being put together. Current documentation can be found on r/conlang's The Pit.