Archive:Asakan language

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Asakan
Monyo Asakasiafat
Pronunciation	/asakasjasat/
Ethnicity	Monyo
Language family	South Qeerlic Asxato-Monic Asakan
Early forms:	Asakic Old Asakan Asakan
Writing system	Coiron Script
Official status
Official language in	Yakormonyo
CWS code	ASKA

Asakan, also known as Monyo, is spoken as a native language throughout central and southern Yakormonyo. It is an analytical language, and its morphology is slightly synthetic.

Classification

Asakan is an Asakic language within the Monic language family, and is related to other Monyo languages such as Asxatan and Anakfan.

Asakan, along with its sister language, Itimian, differs from other Monic languages with its treatment of the rostral stop *m. In most other languages, this sound softened to a velar approximant, and in some cases, assimilated with neighbouring vowels. Asakan does the opposite; *m is further strengthened, causing the following:

1. If preceding a vowel, said vowel reduces to a schwa;
2. If preceding a consonant, an intermediary schwa to break the cluster;
3. If at the end of the word, an epenthetic schwa; and
4. If preceding a schwa at the end of the word (due to #1 and #3), an epenthetic nasal *n.

For example, Proto-Monyo *kāham (mountain) is Asakan kaman, Vontáatan ká and Kagassian kahau. WIP

Phonology

Consonants

	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	n ⟨n⟩		ɣ̃r ⟨nr⟩
Stop	t ⟨t⟩, tʷ ⟨p⟩		k ⟨k ku⟩
Affricate	ts ⟨ts tf⟩	tʃ ⟨tx⟩	xɾ ⟨r⟩
Fricative	s ⟨s⟩, θ ⟨f⟩	ʃ ⟨x⟩	x ⟨h hu⟩
Liquid		j ⟨i⟩	w ⟨u⟩

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ⟨i⟩		ɯ ⟨u⟩
Mid	e ⟨e⟩		ʌ~ɘ ⟨o⟩
Open	a ⟨a⟩, aː ⟨á⟩

• There are five diphthongs: /aɪ/ ⟨ai⟩, /eɪ/ ⟨ei⟩, /ɘɪ/ ⟨oi⟩, /ɜʊ/ ⟨au⟩ and /aʊ/ ⟨ó⟩.

Grammar

Nouns

Monyo nouns are inflected solely for plurality. Several irregular forms exist, especially due to loaned words, consonant shifts and neologisms.

Regular Plurals

Class 1: -a Plurals
Ending	Plural	Example
-i	-a	soki (candle) > soka
-ai		karai (cloud) > kara
-oi		kotoi (winter) > kota
-io	-ia	kaio (spirit) > kaia
-u	-ua	saru (forest) > sarua
-tu	-pa	tatu (friend) > tapa
-k	-ka	huok (dog) > huoka
-h	-ha	otxah (stream) > otxaha
Class 2: -i Plurals
Ending	Plural	Example
-Ø	-i	tufian (bird) > tufiani
-a		okata (town) > okati
-o		kako (man) > kaki
-á	-ai	sahá (animal) > sahai
-ó	-oi	hoxó (lizard) > hoxoi
-au	-aui	tau (flower) > taui

Irregular Plurals

Class 3: Irregular -na Plurals
Singular	Plural	Expected plural
pakin (foot)	pakina	pakini
uan (eye)	uana	uani
uon (potato)	uona	uoni
kan (hand)	kana	kani
kaun (guard)	kauna	kauni
Class 4: Irregular -sa Plurals
Singular	Plural	Expected plural
Ekis (Firstday)	Ekisa	Ekisi
Rukas (Seconday)	Rukasa	Rukasi
Tetsakas (Thirday)	Tetsakasa	Tetsakasi
Raxos (Forthday)	Raxosa	Raxosi
ahas (snake)	asa	ahasi
kos, kohis (sibling)	kosa	kosi, kohisi
hanas (autumn)	hanasa	hanasi
Class 5: Irregular -ei Plurals
Singular	Plural	Expected plural
eti (worm)	etei	eta
naio (land)	naiei	naia
osi (sky)	osei	osa
Class 6: Irregular -ri Plurals
Singular	Plural	Expected plural
fiar (millet)	firi	fiari
siá (grass)	siri	siai
sokoiar (invitation)	sokori	sokoiari
kiar (sun)	kuiri	kiari
Class 7: Irregular -ta Plurals
Singular	Plural	Expected plural
oin (floor)	ointa	oini
otos (rain)	otosta	otosi
sokoh (second)	sokota	sokoha
kain (chicken)	kainta	kaini
kas (mouth)	kasta	kasti
Class 8: Irregular -pi Plurals
nuait (omen)	nuaipi	nuaiti
uait (constellation)	uaipi	uaiti
xosat (wing)	xosapi	xosati
Class 9: Other Irregulars
en (river)	enhi	eni
iho (flock)	ihofai	ihi
nana (woman)	nanosi	nani
kara (head)	karafi	kari
kin (valley)	kintxi	kini
koi (egg)	koxa	ka
kon (moon)	konani	koni

Cases

Since nouns are not inflected according to case, they are instead preceded by case-marking particles. These particles have definite and indefinite forms, marked by the affix -(s)i. For the nominative case, which doesn't use a case marker, si (singular) or i (plural) is standalone.

Case Markers
	Indefinite	Definite Singular	Definite Plural
Nominative	Ø	si	i
Accusative/Lative	ua	uasi	uai
Genitive	ta	tasi	tai
Dative	ran	ransi	rani
Comitative	o	osi	oi
Locative	io	iosi	ia
Ablative	a	asi	ai
	na	nasi	nai
Abessive	no	nosi	noi

ta/tasi are usually contracted to 't/'tsi after other markers.

Markers combined with ta
	Indefinite	Definite Singular	Definite Plural
Nominative	ta	si't	i't
Accusative/Lative	ua't	uasi't	uai't
Genitive	ta't	tasi't	tai't
Dative	ran ta	ransi't	rani't
Comitative	o't	osi't	oi't
Locative	io't	iosi't	ia't
Ablative	a't	asi't	ai't
	na't	nasi't	nai't
Abessive	no't	nosi't	noi't

a vs na

In Asakan there are two distinct ablative markers, a/asi/ai and na/nasi/nai, which have different functions.

• a/asi is used before the agent in a passive construction.
  • Si kuarion anein oiaka a ripau. The letter was written by a friend.

• a/asi is used before the subject to denote possession of the object.
  • Asi firinos axi toki antxah. The farmer has a wide field.

• a/asi is used in the construction of prepositional phrases denoting action.
  • I tufiani axi huar asi rait saru. The birds fly over the forest.

• a/asi is used in the comparative and superlative form of adjectives, denoting the receiver of the comparison.
  • K'axi sana rikoi asi'ka kosa. I am shorter than my siblings.

• na/nasi is used to indicate an action "away from" or "out of".
  • Si txuio axir ataxi nasi Otofu. The train will arrive from Otofu.

io vs ua

As io/iosi and ua/uasi both perform locative functions, some of their roles may overlap.

• io/iosi is used to indicate where an action is taking place.
  • Si kihua axi rata iosi paxin. The children are playing in the meadow.

• io/iosi is used to indicate the time a certain action takes place.
  • K'axir uas iosi asxá. I will sleep in the morning.

• ua/uasi is used to indicate an action "towards".
  • Xiki kanko axir hoxan uasi Ithifara. This ship will be sailing to Ithifara.

• ua/uasi is used to indicate where an action is taking place if io/iosi is already used to indicate time.
  • K'ano honi ua nokista io Tetsakas. I want to eat in a restaurant on Thirday.

Pronouns

Like nouns, pronouns have their respective singular and plural forms, and use markers to indicate case. Pronouns have their own possessive form however, which is derived from the comitative marker.

Absolutive Case
	First Person	Second Person	Third Person	Interrogative
Singular	ka	tá	ki	si
Plural	kata	taiki	hosi	i
Possessive Case
	First Person	Second Person	Third Person	Interrogative
Singular	uka/soka	utá/sotá	uki/soka	só
Plural	ukata/sokata	utaiki/sotaiki	uhosi/sohosi	soi

Like the genitive marker, possessive pronouns generally contract the before other markers.

• Si'ka tasuk asi hotutxi iosi moxan. My headdress is being washed in the lake.
• Kat'axiri sisoksu io'tá txama. We will rest in your house.