Classical Kasshian

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Classical Kasshian (Watakasshi) was the language of the Kasshi from the Anarchic Era to the early Second Empire.

Contents

Phonology and Orthography

Consonants

Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveopalatal Palatal Velar
Stops P, B T, D K, G
Nasals M N (Ng')
Affricates Ts, Dz (Ch), (J)
Fricatives F, V S, Z Sh, Zh (Ç)
Liquids L, R
Glides W Y

Italics represent allophones, while parentheses indicate marginal phonemes.

Allophones

  • T and D are [ts] and [dz] in some dialects before /i/ or /j/ (/j/ is absorbed into [ts] and [dz])
  • S and Z are [S] and [Z] before /i/ or /j/
  • L is /r/ after dental consonants

Vowels

There are only three vowel phonemes - /i a u/, which may be long or short. Long vowels are indicated in romanization by either doubling or the use of a macron (e.g., both ii and ī are used). Macron cannot be used if the two vowels belong to different morphemes, e.g., the plural suffix -i added to a noun ending in -i will be written -ii and never -ī. /i/ and /u/ are both pronounced [e] and [o] (and romanized that way) in closed syllables. There are two diphthongs, /aj/ and /aw/

Syllables

Legal onsets in Kasshian are 0, consonant, and consonant followed by a glide or liquid. Legal codas are fricative, N (assimilates in place), L, or gemination of the following consonant. Geminate consonants may not be followed by /l/ or glides. Where inflectional morphology would otherwise create a geminate followed by l, y, or w, no gemination occurs.

The marginal phonemes ch, j, ç, must be followed by vowels while ng must be preceded by a vowel and cannot be geminated. In addition, ch, j and ç can only be geminated if an /i/ follows. W and Y must be followed by vowels, and may not be geminated.

Ç is an odd phoneme in Kasshian. Historically, it was derived from /kj/ and /ki/ (although later sound-changes have created new /kj/ and /ki/). In the modern language, /çi/, when unstressed, preceded by a vowel, and either word-final or followed by a voiceless consonant, becomes /ç/, which is pronounced as a single mora, treated as a coda. When word-initial and followed by a voiceless consonant, it also often simply /ç/. Thus, çitauçi may be pronounced /çtawç/

Stress

Stress is regularly on the penultimate mora. Long vowels count as two morae, and, as mentioned above, word-final ç counts as a single mora.

Grammar

Nouns

Gender

Kasshian uses a gender system in its nouns. Gender is indicated by a prefix, which varies depending on the noun root, and indicates number. In the following table, * indicates gemination, parentheses indicate forms used in irregular nouns. The third collumn indicates inflections in more complex cases. Nouns that have the first in the singular use the first in the plural, those that use the second listed, use the second plural one, and those that use the third listed use the third plural prefix. E.g., a noun beginning in Kw- in the singular is Çif- in the plural, Ç- becomes Çify-, and Kl- becomes Çifl-. There are a number of irrgular plurals in addition to the regular ones listed here.

Singular Plural
Consonant Vowel Consonant Vowel
Gender I Chi- (Che-) Ch- Ch-, Tr- Che*- Tr- Chily-, Chell-
Gender II Na- N- Ny-, Nr- Na*- Nr- Naly-, Nall-
Gender III Su- (So-) Sw- Sw-, Sh-, Sr- So*- Sr- Sulw-, Suly-, Soll-
Gender IV Çi- (Çe-) Ç- Kw-, Ç-, Kl- Çef- Çif- Çif-, Çify-, Çifl-
Gender V La- L- Lw-, Ly-, Lal- Laf- Laf-, Lafy-, Lafl-
Gender VI Wa- W- 0-, Way-, Wal- Waf- Waf-, Wafy-, Wafl-
Gender VII Pi- (Pe-) Py- P-, Py-, Pl- Pef- Pif- Pif-, Pify-, Pifl-

Gender VI singular is sometimes 0- before o or u. Also, the /f/ in the gender IV-VII plurals becomes /v/ before roots beginning with /v/ or /z/

Meanings of Genders

  • Gender I - Female human or supernatural being
  • Gender II - Male human or supernatural being
  • Gender III - Epicene human or supernatural being (including hermaphroditic beings)
  • Gender IV - Animals associated with people (domesticated animals, common pests, some animals with symbolic or religious significance)
  • Gender V - Other animal
  • Gender VI - Other animate (includes social institutions)
  • Gender VII - Inanimate

The distinction between genders VI and VII is somewhat arbitrary, as is the distinction between IV/V and V/VI.

Number

Plural is marked in both the gender prefix and in a suffix to the root. The basic suffix is -i, but there are several complications

  • -tu, -du, -nu, -pu, -bu, -mu, -fu, and -vu usually become -pi, -bi, -mi, -pi, -bi, -mi, -fi, and -vi
  • Words ending in ai or au don't change for plural.

See below for further complications

Initial Variations

Some nouns have a variation in the start of the root between singular and plural. They generally fall into two groups (note: hyphen is used to separate gender-prefixes her for clarity)

  • A-droppers - these nouns have a root-initial consonant-consonant cluster in the singular, and consonant-a-consonant in the plural. E.g., la-nklai "animal" - laf-naklai "animals". I and u in the singular prefixes become e and o with these, e.g., çe-nklai
  • A-droppers with consonant change - as above, except that the first consonant is a fricative in the singular and a stop in the plural. For example, wa-fchani "life", waf-pachanii "lives". These generally alternate the following pairs f/p, v/b, s/t, z/d, (long vowel)/k, (long vowel)/g. v/p, f/b, s/d, z/t also occur (e.g., na-zbi, "boy", nat-tabii "boys"

There are many other irregular variations

Cases

Case suffixes follow the plural suffix, if any. Note, /i/ and /u/ become [e] and [o] in closed syllables

  • Absolutive - No suffix
    • Absolutive is used for the subject of an intransitive verb or the object of a transitive verb
  • Ergative -(a)l
    • Ergative is used for the subject of a transitive verb
  • Genetive -(a)f
  • Dative -(a)z
  • Instrumental -li/-*i
    • Used to indicate the instrument used to perform an action, also used in causative constructions to indicate the person made to do something (e.g., "The woman made her servant clean the house")
  • Benefactive -na
    • Used to indicate the person for whom an action is performed
  • Commitative -n(an)
    • Indicates that an action is done together with a noun
  • Locative -(a)v
    • Indicates the location of an action, generally indicates on the surface of
  • Ablative -ta (-da)
    • Indicates motion away from an object, generally from the surface of
  • Allative -s(a) (-za)
    • Motion towards, generally on to the surface of
  • Perlative -ni
    • Motion over the surface of
  • Inessive -ka (-ga)
    • Indicates inside of
  • Elative -du (-tu)
    • Out of
  • Illative -ba (-pa)
    • Into
  • Perillative -bav (-pav)
    • Through
  • Circumlocative -ji (-chi)
    • In the vicinity of
  • Circumablative -gu (-ku)
    • From the vicinity of
  • Circumallative -ma
    • To the vicinity of
  • Circumperlative -man
    • motion near

Stem-Changes

In addition to the plural change listed above

  • Stop/Fricative alterations - some nouns end in a fricative in the singular, and replace the fricative with a stop (s/t, z/d, f/p, v/b) in the plural and before the genetive and dative suffixes, e.g., p-yalef "path", pif-yalipi "paths", p-yalipaf "of a path"
  • Gemination - some consonant-final nouns geminate the final consonant before the plural suffix, e.g., wa-mushan "dawn", waf-mushanni "dawns"
  • Hidden Consonants - Nouns that end in a vowel in the singular, and add a geminated fricative in the plural, and a non-geminated fricative before the dative and genetive suffixes, e.g., traana "friend", traanasaf "of a friend", chellaanasshi "friends"
  • A/i - Some nouns that end in -a drop the a before the plural, e.g., lanidana "a food animal", lafnidani
  • Nouns ending in long vowels fall into one of four classes
    • Class I - long vowel changed to short vowel + k before plural suffix and genetive/dative suffixes. Thus, -ā -> -aç (plural), -akaf (singular genetive)
    • Class II, III, and IV shorten the vowel before the plural suffix, undergo different changes before genetive and dative suffixes
      • Class II: ā, ī, ū -> ag, ig, ug
      • Class III: ā, ī, ū -> a, i, u
      • Class IV: ā, ī, ū -> aa, ya, wa

A number of irregular alterations also exist

Verbs

Verbs can take several prefixes and suffixes, in the following pattern

  • Voice-Tense-Conditional-Verb-Auxilary-Personal-Aspect

Voice

There are five voices in Kasshian

  • Anti-Passive S-/Su-/Sw-/So-
    • Anti-passive is used to promote an ergative noun to absolutive. The absolutive is either dropped or changed to instrumental, and any instrumental noun becomes perlative
  • Reflexive K-/Ku-/Kw-/Ko-
  • Dative-Object P-/Pa-
    • Dative-object is used to promote a dative noun to absolutive. Absolutive and instrumental make the same changes as in anti-passive
  • Reciprocative Klan-

Active is marked with no prefix

Tense

  • Past F(a)-
  • Future Nai-/Ny-

Conditional

  • If Vi-
  • Contrafactual Gwa-
    • Indicates an "if" statement that is contrary to fact
  • Then Os-/Us-

Personal Suffixes

Singular Dual Paucal Plural
1st -u -*of, -lof, -uf -tai -ni
2nd -fen -f(i)ni -f(i)na
3rd rational -tas -chi -tan
3rd non-rational -l, -*a, -la -li, -*i, -i -n(a)

Verbs agree with the noun in the absolutive. "Rational" means referring to a human or spirit, thus generally genders I, II, or III, while non-Rational refers to any other noun, including all body-parts, some of which normally take the gender of their possessor.

Certain stem-changes occur when personal suffixes are added.

  • Stop-final verbs - these verbs end in -ku, -tu, -pu, -gu, -du, or -bu in the 1st person singular. In the 1st dual, 3rd non-rational singular and 3rd non-rational dual, the stop is kept, and the l form is used in the suffixes. t and d are also retained before endings beginning with t and ch In all other persons, t, p, d and b are changed to s, f, z, v, while k and g are dropped, with the preceding vowel lengthened.
  • -chi becomes -shi after an s, -zhi after a z. When added to a verb ending in -t, the consonant and suffix merge to become -cchi, while when added to a verb ending in -d, they merge to -jji.
  • The t-initial suffixes change to /d/ after a verb ending in d
  • The f-initial suffixes change to /v/ after a verb ending in v
  • Vowels in parentheses are lost after verbs ending in vowels
  • Asterisk indicates gemination. The presence or absence of gemination in a particular verb must be learned
  • After stems ending in vowels, the l-initial suffixes (except -la) drop the l.

Aspect

  • Prospective -ma/-n
    • Indicates that an action is about to begin or was about to begin, generally with the implication that the action is due to intentional preparation
  • Inceptive -tu
    • Indicates the start of an action
  • Non-Punctual -ç(i)
    • Non-punctual indicates that an action takes place over a period of time, rather than in an instant
  • Punctual (no suffix)
    • Punctual indicates that an action takes place in an instant, or in a brief period of time viewed as an instant. Combined with the present tense, it indicates that an action has just happened
  • Habitual -v(a)
    • Habitual indicates that an action is done frequently and with some regularity, but not necessarily at the reference moment
  • Cessative -l(a) (-ra after s)
    • The inverse of inceptive, indicates the completion of an action
  • Perfective -nu
    • Indicates that an action has been completed, and that the result of the action is still in effect

Notes:

  • The personal suffixes -fen and -tan merge with the aspect suffix -la to become -fenna and -tanna
  • The personal suffix -tas merges with -çi to become -tasshi
  • The second form of the suffixes is used after vowels (u and i become o and e).
  • When combining third person non-sentient singular and plural with the prospective, non-punctual, habitual, or cessative, it is the aspect suffix that loses its vowel (e.g., -lav, not -lva)

Clitic Pronouns

Clitic pronouns may be added to nouns and verbs. They are placed immediately after the inflected verb, but without affecting stress. For nouns, they are placed immediately after the noun itself to indicate inalienable possession (affecting stress), and after the inflected noun for alienable possession (not affecting stress). For verbs, the following order is used 1st person – 2nd person – Genders 1-3 abs/erg – Genders 1-3 acc – Gender 4-5 erg – Genders 4-5 abs – Gender 6 erg – Gender 6 abs – Gender 7 erg – Gender 7 abs

  First Person Second Person
singular dual paucal plural singular dual plural
Nominative ku sa na chi el dri ina
Accusative qui sai nai chī ili drī inai
Genetive qua sau nau chiwa iwa driwa ima
  Gender I Gender II Gender III
singular dual plural singular dual plural singular dual plural
Absolutive chi chel chen na nal nan su sol son
Accusative chī chili chini nai nali nani swi suli suni
Ergative chika chekka chenga naka nakka nanga suka sokka songa
Genetive chiwa chima nau nama sau suma
  Gender IV Gender V Gender VI Gender VII
singular dual plural singular dual plural singular dual plural singular dual plural
Absolutive çi çel çen la lal lan wa wal wan pi pel pen
Ergative çika çekka çenga laka lakka langa waka wakka wanga pika pekka penga
Genetive çiwa çima lwa lama wau wama piwa pima

Free Pronouns

Free pronouns take standard case suffixes. They vary by gender (first form is feminine, second is masculine, third is epicine). Third person pronouns take standard gender prefixes

  • 1st person singular: Trī/Nrī
  • 1st person dual: Chellespi/Nallespi/Sollespi
  • 1st person paucal: Chellesshi/Nallesshi/Sollesshi
  • 1st person plural: Chempi/Nampi/Sompi
  • 2nd person singular: Chā/Nā
  • 2nd person dual: Chevvaibi/Navvaibi/Sovvaibi
  • 2nd person plural: Chempā/Nampā/Sompā
  • 3rd person singular: Eshna
  • 3rd person plural: Eshni
  • 3rd person reflexive singular: Jītal
  • 3rd person reflexive plural: Jītali

Adjectives

Adjectives are inflected like nouns. They are placed after the noun and agree in number, gender, and case. In predicate position, they take the prefix sa-, and become verbs meaning "to be X", e.g., chika "old", sachika "to be old"

Comparison

Comparison is indicated with an infix, that varies depending on the adjective

  • For adjective beginning with CVC-, -tu- is added immediately after the first vowel (chika - old, chituka' - older)
  • For adjectives beginning with CVV- (Long vowels count as VV), -p- is added after the first vowel (zhīku - beautiful, zhipiku - more beautiful)
  • For adjectives beginning with Cl-, -atu- after the first consonant (mlichi - thick, matulichi - thicker)
  • For adjectives beginning with CC-, -tu- after the first consonant (nvau - clean, ntuvau - cleaner)

The object of comparison takes the ellative case

Superlative

Superlative is also indicated with an infix, varying accordign to the adjective

  • For adjectives beginning with CV-, -la- is added after the vowel (chika - old, chilaka - oldest)
  • For adjectives beginning with CC- or Cl-, -la- is added after the consonant, -la- becomes -ra- after t, d, n, s or z (mlichi - thick, mlalichi - thickest)

Syntax

Basic word order is VSO, with modifiers consistently following their head.

Verb Types

There are 9 main categories of verbs, determined by the cases their arguments take

  • Standard Verbs
    • Intransitive
    • Transitive
    • Ditransitive
  • Experiential Verbs (emotions, senses)
    • Experiencer-Subject
      • Experiencer is in the ergative, source of experience is in the absolutive
    • Experiencer-Object
      • Experiencer is in the dative, source of experience is in the absolutive
    • Experiencer-Equal
      • Experiencer is in the inessive, source of experience is in the absolutive
    • Some verbs can call into differing experiential categories, with different connotations; experiencer-subject tends to connote a degree of control, while experiencer-object tends to indicate lack of control. Experiencer-equal tends to connote a state
  • Verbs of Mental Action
    • Mental Action I
      • Person performing the action is in the ergative, recpient of action is in the absolutive (e.g., dakas "to ignore", person doing the ignoring is ergative, person being ignored is absolutive)
    • Mental Action II
      • Agent in teh dative, patient in the absolutive
    • Like Experiential verbs, but less common, some verbs of mental action may switch categories. Mental Action II tends to imply that the agent is affected by his or her action
  • Others
    • Dative-Object
      • Agent is absolutive, affected noun is in the dative.

Vocabulary

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