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Reasian Grammar

Reasian is the first of possibly a whole load of conlang projects by the one-and-only Sirk. Please note that almost everything in this document is liable to change at any time, because it is very much a work in progress.

Phonology

Introduction

This section details the sounds of the language.

Phonology

Vowels

Here are the eight vowels present in the main Reasian dialect (by the way, I haven't actually made any other dialects as of yet – but you know what I mean, right?).

Vowels (transliteration):

Vowels (X-SAMPA):

Consonants

Here are the main Reasian dialect's consonants.

Consonants (transliteration):

Consonants (X-SAMPA):

Phonological constraints

Reasian syllables are always CV(V)(C) in structure (consonant + vowel + optional vowel + optional consonant). Syllables can be formed from any combination of consonants, with the exceptions that neither the glottal stop (-) nor j can be used to end a syllable: for example, 'so-' and 'tej' are illegal. Additionally, the plosives (p, t, ţ, and k) cannot be used to end morphemes (they can end syllables). The following vowel combinations may appear within a syllable:

ëi, eu, ië, ue, ëa, ea, ia, ua, ai, au

Note: a '-' at the beginning of a word is not transliterated; for example, the word urut should be pronounced '-urut'.

Alterations

Pronunciation of Reasian is largely phonetic, with the following major exceptions:

An r at the end of a syllable sounds like the 'll' in Welsh 'llid' (alveolar lateral fricative, X-SAMPA /K/).
A z following a t sounds like the 'th' in 'bath' (dental fricative, X-SAMPA /T/).
The combination zţ sounds like the 'ch' in cheese (post alveolar affricate, X-SAMPA /t_S/).
A ţ preceding a consonant sounds like '-'.

Also, note that as none of the consonants have a voicing contrast, voiced versions of any of the normally unvoiced consonants are acceptable allophonic variations. Generally speaking, consonants are more likely to be voiced at the start of words, and before nasals. The allophonic voicing contrast in speech can be used in sound symbolism – a predominance of voiced consonants can indicate softness and diminution, whereas a predominance of unvoiced consonants can suggest harshness or even anger.

Syllable length

Reasian syllables are pronounced with different lengths depending on the number and type of sounds that make them up. CV syllables are by far the most common, and have the shortest length. Both CVV and CVC syllables are pronounced with about double the length. CVVC syllables are very rare, and are pronounced even longer still.

Accentuation

Another important thing to note about pronunciation is the accent system. Reasian words are accented on the third to last syllable (except when there is only two syllables, when the first is accented, or when there is only one syllable; when there is no stress). They are accented not by length or by volume (stress), but by pitch; an accented syllable is slightly higher in pitch to its neighbours.

The structure of Reasian

Introduction

Reasian is an agglutinating language, with a large number of cases and additional features such as modifying particles.

Morphology

Reasian is an agglutinating language – meaning the words are constructed of one or more morphemes (smaller 'units' of meaning). Here is an example of a Reasian word:

Nëmëshösërënköxkinja

which breaks down into:

Në + më + shö + sërën + köx + kin + ja
(agentive) + animal + swim + red + big + large + not-very
(the) fairly large goldfish.

This practise occurs with both nouns and verbs, for example:

Makaxtepukezameckyr
Makaxte + pu + keza + mec + kyr
spread + location + earth + proportion + all
(to) scatter all over the earth.

Note that modifiers always follow the word they modify.

A separate, more detailed section on morphology is present later on in this document.

Case and word order

Another point to be aware of is Reasian's case system. Essentially, a word's case is its function within a sentence, and is marked with a prefix on the word. The presence of these prefixes means that the main elements of sentences can theoretically appear in any order (although there are some general word order rules that are usually obeyed).

A separate, more detailed section on case is present later on in this document.

Vowel harmony

Reasian's vowel harmony system means that front vowels and back vowels cannot exist together in the same word – basically, i, ë, and ö can't be in the same word as u, e, or o. If this situation arises through compounding, e.g. cëm+xytu (famous person), then the vowels are changed to the same frontness by reading from left to right. In this example, it is the in xytu that changes, making cëmxyti, rather than have the first one change to form cemxytu (incorrect). Note that the vowels a and y are not involved in this process.

i interchanges with u
ë interchanges with e
ö interchanges with o

Here are some more examples:

më + shö + nae + pel (animal + swim + number + four, "four fish")
becomes:
mëshönaëpël

lesuzu + pi (pitch + small, "high pitch")
becomes:
lesuzupu

Parts of speech

Introduction

In this section, the four Reasian parts of speech – verbs/nouns, case prefixes, modifiers, and particles, will be introduced sequentially.

Verbs and nouns

In Reasian, there is not much of a distinction between nouns and verbs. It is helpful to begin by thinking of this entire category as 'fundamentally' being verbs. When these verbs are used as nouns, they refer to an 'instance' of the action that the verb signifies. A good example of this is the verb 'lape', meaning 'eat' – when used as a noun, this means 'meal'. Reversing this logic, we can analyse nouns as verbs, with the meaning 'to be (noun)'. An example of this is the word 'kuan', which means 'leg'. What does 'to be a leg' mean? Well, as legs support your body, the verbalised form of 'kuan' means 'support'. This process of reverse forming nouns often leaves us with multiple verbs with the same meaning, some with attached physical meanings, some without – for example, 'rin' also means support. However, there is usually a slight semantic difference between the two – in this case, 'kuan' generally refers to physical support, whereas 'rin' may be more emotional.

A few additional notes:

Nouns do not inflect for number or person, and verbs for tense.

Reasian does not require* a word akin to 'and' to separate multiple verbs and nouns. The words are simply listed side by side; for example, "Cëţai kala lese lëli", literally 'Healthy happy I you', means 'You and I are healthy and happy'.

* There is in fact a word for 'and' ('af'), but it is used for emphasis, or to imply an unfinished sequence.

Cases

The cases of Reasian are marked on nouns by the addition of a prefix. Prefixes often come in two forms – a front and a back form – depending on whether the word contains front or back vowels. In the rare case that the word only contains a, the front form is generally used.

Grammatical cases

Reasian has four fundamental cases, for dealing with objects directly involved in the action.

The Causative: Prefix: të/te. Causer of action.
The Absolutive: Prefix: lë/le. Experiencer of action.
The Nominative: Prefix: na. Performer of action (note – generally animate).
The Dative: Prefix: fi/fu. An object used in the action (note – generally inanimate).

This table sums up each cases role in the sentence:

These cases can be used in a large number of different combinations, to give verbs subtly different meanings.

Here is each case combination possible with each verb valency:

Valency 1 verbs

These are verbs which can take only one noun argument, such as English 'I jumped'.

In the case of these verbs, theoretically any of the four cases could be used to represent the noun. However, in practise the causative and dative aren't really used, as they sound rather distant from the action.

Subject Nominative: This makes the subject sound responsible for the action.
Subject Absolutive: This makes the subject sound less responsible for the action.

Valency 2a verbs

These are verbs which can take both a subject and object, such as English 'I threw a ball'.

These verbs are much more complicated. The general rules are that the subject is less involved in the action, whereas the object is less responsible. Here is a table showing this:

In practise, only one of these two rules need to be held, as it is possible to work out whether the other noun is the subject or the object by elimination. Here are a few cases in point:

Subject Nominative, Object Absolutive: Here, the first rule is broken. However, we know the noun in the nominative is the subject, because the noun in the absolutive must be the object.

Subject Causative, Object Nominative: Here, the second rule is broken. However, we know the noun in the nominative is the object, because the noun in the causative must be the subject.

This of course only works when one of the nouns is in the causative or absolutive, or there is too much ambiguity:

Subject Nominative, Object Dative: Here, it would be impossible for the listener to work out whether one of the nouns was the subject or object.

Valency 2b verbs

These are verbs which can take both a subject and object; however, the subject and object are closely entwined, e.g. 'I have an arm'.

With these verbs, you have a much easier time, because both the subject and object need to be directly involved, leaving only one possibility:

Subject Nominative, Object Absolutive: This is the only combination possible.

Valency 3 verbs

These are verbs that can take a subject and object, as well as an additional indirect object, such as English 'I gave a present to you'.

These verbs look like they could be a nightmare to use, but in reality they are quite simple. Basically, the direct object has to go in the dative, leaving you only three more cases to play with. The following combinations are possible:

Subject Causative, Object Dative, Indirect Object Absolutive: This probably wouldn't be used in the above example, as it sounds rather impersonal.

Subject Nominative, Object Dative, Indirect Object Absolutive: This on the other hand would be perfect for the above example.

Subject Causative, Object Dative, Indirect Object Nominative: The implication that the recipient was responsible for the action may imply the present was long overdue!

In addition:

The causative case can be used to express the reason for the action, for any verb valency, e.g. "Because of you, she left". The subject must be in a different case.

The dative case can be used to show an instrument used in the action, e.g. "I ate with a fork". It can also show the means or method, e.g. "I went by car", or the 'focus' of an action, e.g. "I looked at the picture". Neither the subject or object can be in the dative as well.

Semantic cases

The semantic cases, which are used to express additional objects associated with the action, are much better behaved than their grammatical cousins.

Intentive
Prefix: ny
The purpose of the action, e.g. "I went out for food".

Locative
Prefix: pi/pu
The place the action takes place in, e.g. "I ate in a cafe". When used on its own with verbs of movement it means 'through'; it is also used with prepositional verbs that indicate 'in', 'on'.

Inchoative
Prefix: ka
An object associated with the start of the event, e.g. "I began reading at the top of the page". When used on its own with verbs of movement it means 'from'; it is also used with prepositional verbs that indicate 'into', 'onto' etc. *

Terminative
Prefix: y
An object associated with the end of the event, e.g. "I went towards the sea". When used on its own with verbs of movement it means 'towards'; it is also used with prepositional verbs that indicate, 'out of', 'off of'. *

* Confused by these examples? See the section on prepositional verbs later on for more information.

Modifiers

Modifiers are small morphemes used to vary the 'intensity' of something, similar to words in English like very, hardly etc. They follow the word they modify.

Basic modifiers

This is the basic set of modifiers:

Pas – Not at all/none
Pi – Not very
Ta – Medium/normal amount
Kin – A lot
Shia – Maximum amount possible

Examples:

Serenkun lëmila.
Seren+kun lë+mila.
Red+a-lot absolutive+exist.
It is very red.

Kilöpas lese.
Kilö+pas le+se.
Go+none absolutive+I.
I'm not going (anywhere).

Extended modifiers

The extended modifier set is formed by adding suffixes to the modifiers above. These are:

Ja – decreases the strength of a modifier.
Example: Jinkinja lëcëm.
Jin+kin+ja lë+cëm.
Young+a-lot+not-very absolutive+person.
The person is fairly young.

Möl – augments the strength of a modifier.
Example: Koroppon lesema, jofkunmol.
Kolor+pon le+se+ma, jof+kun+mol.
Irrational+sad absolutive+I+rel.clause, bored+a-lot+very
I'm sorry, I'm extremely bored. ('Sorry' in the apologetic sense is being 'sadly irrational')

Ky – makes the modifier superlative.
Example: Lëli solkunky sha.
Lë+li sol+kun+ky sha.
Absolutive+you lovely+a-lot+superlative belief.
You are the loveliest. / I love you the most.

Sa – makes the modifier comparative.
Example: Lësikar jaunkunsa.
Lë+sikar jaun+kun+sa.
Absolutive+build beautiful+a-lot+comparative.
The building is more beautiful.

Particles

Particles are small words that do not participate in the ordinary structuring of sentences; instead bringing subtle changes to the meanings nouns, verbs and clauses/sentences.

Noun modifying particles

This collection of particles add additional information to nouns, be this grammatical or semantic. They appear after the noun they modify.

Nen – indicates a person you respect.
Zal – indicates a friend.
Pe – indicates a family member.
Le – indicates a possibility in a chain A or B or C etc.
Fa – indicates the final possibility in a chain A or B or C etc.

Note – many/most particles which can modify nouns can modify verbs as well.

Verb modifying particles

This collection of particles alters the semantic function of verbs. They appear after the verb they modify, in any order. Here is a small selection of them:

Los – indicates the beginning of an action.
Nan – indicates the end of an action.
Xel – indicates the ability of the subject to perform the verb.
Shen – indicates a command.
Si – makes the verb sound indefinite or hypothetical.
Fika – indicates that the state indicated by the verb is liable to change.
Föţa – indicates that the state indicated by the verb is unlikely to change.
Xë – indicates a change has occurred as a result of the action.
Lol – indicates that no change has occurred as a result of the action.

Clause modifying particles

These particles affect the function of the entire clause. They themselves fall into two categories – those particles that appear at the beginning of a clause, and those that appear at the end. Again, these lists are just small selections of the particles that exist.

Appear at beginning

Ek – indicates the clause contrasts with the previous one.
Ela – indicates the clause links with the previous one.
Jer – indicates a consequence of the previous clause.
Lë – indicates an affirmative (yes) response.
Kau – indicates a negative (no) response.

Appear at end

Pa – indicates a question.
Sha – indicates a belief of the speaker.
Shy – indicates a desire of the speaker.
Tas – indicates the speaker is doubtful.
Ţek – indicates a command.

Many particles can additionally take modifiers. A good example of this is lë, normally meaning 'yes' – lëpi indicates partial agreement, whereas lëshia indicates complete agreement.

Syntax

Introduction

This section outlines the rules of sentence construction.

Compulsory elements

The focus of a Reasian sentence is the verb. It is the only compulsory item is a sentence. When a verb is used in this way, the resulting sentence can be translated as "X is happening" – for example, using the verb 'kala' (happy), the sentence "kalakin" is translated as "there is much happiness". There is a small collection of verbs that take no grammatical noun arguments (known as 'valency 0' verbs'), a category which includes most weather effects, such as 'fe-ec' (rain), and 'kokex' (thunder).

As verbs are the only compulsory sentence elements, passive constructions and the like can be formed easily, simply by omitting the relevant information.

Word order

Although Reasian word order is theoretically free, the following elements generally appear in this order:

Verb – absolutive – nominative – dative – causative

with other nouns appearing afterwards in any order (although the inchoative usually precedes the terminative). A word's importance in the sentence can be promoted by moving it further towards the start of the sentence. The only other sentence elements, the particles, always have a fixed position in the sentence, which was covered in the section on particles above.

Morphology

Introduction

This section details how Reasian compound words are constructed.

Word building

A Reasian compound can be thought of as a small sentence clause in its own right. Indeed, it is possible to convert any clause into a compound by following the steps below. I will be using the clause "Ashe fixim nacëm", which means "A person studies the mind".

1. Promote the sentence component to be the 'core' of the compound to the beginning of the sentence (in this case, the word is 'nacëm').

   Ashe fixim nacëm --> Nacëm ashe fixim

2. If the component is a noun with either the agentive or absolutive prefix, the prefix is removed (in the case of valency 2b verbs, the prefix of the other main noun is also commonly removed).

   Nacëm ashe fixim --> Cëm ashe fixim

3. 3. Finally, combine all the remaining elements into one word, and apply vowel harmony.

   Cëm ashe fixim --> Cëm-ashëfixim

The final compound, 'cëm-ashëfixim', means 'psychiatrist', and can be used as a normal noun in any sentence.

As you can see, compounds obey similar structural rules to full sentences. However, it is advisory not to make them too long, with too many additional objects, or to use particles within them. To express more complex thought with regard to a compound, it is better to use relative clauses (see the next section).

Advanced language

Introduction

This section will introduce some more complex uses of the Reasian grammar.

Relative clauses

A relative clause is a sentence fragment used to qualify some part of another sentence. It usually appears straight after the word it qualifies, although there is room for artistic licence in this regard. The word or morpheme to be qualified has the clause introducing modifier ma attached to the end of it, and the new clause is separated by commas on both sides. The word being qualified is often sent to the end of the original sentence to avoid breaking up the main clause. Additionally, if the word being described is part of the relative clause itself, it is not included in the relative clause. However, the unqualified case prefix remains, and is moved at the start of the clause.

Here is an example:

Shi pishanxanca nacorenma, na cere pushanxanjom.
Shi pi+shan+xan+ca na+coren+ma, na cere pu+shan+xan+jom.
Inside locative+sun+extent+now nominative+Coren+rel.clause, nominative outside locative+sun+extent+previous.
Coren, who went out yesterday, is staying in today.

Shanxam, meaning 'the extent of the sun', is the Reasian word for day.

Relative clauses are also used for direct speech, with ma coming after the verb pëza (speak):

Pëzama nacëm, "Lese ţi nënpas…"
Pëza+ma na+cëm, "Le+se ţi nën+pas…"
Speak+rel.clause nominative+person, "Absolutive+I do feel-up-to+none…"
The person said, "I don't feel up to it…"

Topic-comment sentences

The modifier 'ma' can also be used in these types of sentences, in which a topic is introduced, and then a general comment is made about it in the form of another sentence. The topic does not have a case prefix.

Sema, na kilö yfex.
I+rel.clause, nominative go locative+home
As for me, I'm going home.

As with relative clauses, if the topic of the clause is the same as the word being described, it is omitted – leaving an unqualified case prefix which is placed at the start of the clause.

Here is an example of a more complex topic-comment sentence, with multiple comments. Both of the comments are made about the same topic.

Cëmma, na fex pucere, ek lësikalfë pyjekunsa sha.
Cëm+ma, na fex pu+cere, ek lë+sikal+fë pyje+kun+sa sha.
Person+rel.clause, nominative inhabit locative+country, however absolutive+building+many good+large+comparative belief.
The person, who lived in the country, nevertheless preferred the city.

Sikalfë, meaning 'Many buildings', simply means city in this case.

Questions

Questions in Reasian require no special change to the fundamental construction of a question. There are two ways to form questions, depending on what type of question you want to ask:

Yes/No questions

To form questions that expect a simple yes/no answer, form the sentence as usual, and add the particle 'pa' to the end of the sentence.

Here's an example:

Kilö nacëm ylai pa?
Kilö na+cëm y+lai pa?
Go nominative+person terminative+here question?
Are they coming (here)?

This can be answered by 'lë' (yes), or 'kau' (no).

Example:

• Kilö nacëm ylai pa?
  Kilö na+cëm y+lai pa?
  Go nominative+person terminative+here question?
  Are they coming (here)?

• Kau kilöpas.
  Kau kilo+pas.
  No go+none.
  No, they aren't.

There is no subject in the second sentence – as the sentence is a reply, the subject must be the same, so does not need to be restated.

Interrogative questions

These are questions used to find out more information about something. The interrogative modifier 'mëi' is put in the position of the missing information. Optionally, 'pa' can also be added to the end of the sentence.

Example:

Kilö nacëmnaëmëi ylai?
Kilö na+cëm+naë+mëi y+lai?
Go nominative+person+number+interrogative terminative+here?
How many people are coming here?

To reply to this, you can simply state the missing piece of information, or a sentence containing it.

Example:

• Kilö nacëmnaëmëi ylai?
  Kilö na+cëm+naë+mëi y+lai?
  Go nominative+person+number+interrogative terminative+here?
  How many people are coming here?

• Kilö nacëmmynë. / Myne.
  Kilö na+cëm+mynë. / Myne.
  Go nominative+person+four. / Four.
  Four people are coming. / Four.

Prepositional verbs

Prepositional verbs are verbs which describe a position in relation to another object. They are almost always used in conjunction with either the locative, inchoative, or terminative cases. Their meanings change when used in conjunction with different cases.

Example, using the prepositional verb ţy, meaning 'on':

Pilajash, which simply means 'thing for sitting on', is the Reasian word for chair. Note the morpheme la, the agent morpheme. La refers to an object that performs a certain function.

Prepositional verbs can also be used in conjunction with others, most commonly verbs of motion. For the following examples, I will be using the active verb kilö, meaning 'go'.

At first, the translations may seem a little odd – the presence of the new verb seems to switch the meanings of the inchoative and terminative cases. In the examples without this verb, the case prefixes are referring to the state of being in the room; however, in the examples with the additional verb, they refer to the movement. For example, "Shi nase ka-öx" can be alternatively translated as "I started being in the room", whereas "Kilö shi nase ka-öx" can be translated as "I started going in the room". Armed with this knowledge, the logic behind the apparently nonsensical translations becomes apparent.

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