Taadži Language

Category:Languages
== The Taadži Language (Tade Taadži)==
Place → 	Labial 	Coronal 	Dorsal 	 	 	Laryngeal
Manner ↓ 	Bi­labial	Alveolar 	Palatal	Velar	Labialized Velar	Glottal
Nasal 	m 	n 	ɲ 	ŋ 	 	
Plosive 	p, b 	t, d 	 	k, g 	 	ʔ
Sibilant affricate	 	ts, dz~d̠ʒ	 	 	 	
Fricative 	 	s, z 	 	 	x, ɣ 	h
Approximant 	w~v 	l, ɫ 	j 	 	w~v 	
Rhotic 	 	ɾ̥, ɾ~r 	 	 	 	
IPA: Vowels
 	Front	Central	Back
Close 	i ĩ 	ɨ 	u ũ
Close-mid	e ẽ 	ɵ 	o õ
Open 	a ã 	ɐ 	
Consonants	Consonants 	Vowels 	Vowels
Phoneme 	Roman letter	Phoneme	Roman letter
ʔ 	' 	i 	i
b 	b 	ɨ 	ï
g 	g 	u 	u
h 	h 	e 	e
j 	j 	o 	o
k 	k 	a 	a
m 	m 	ɐ 	à
n 	n 	ɵ 	è
ŋ 	ng 	ĩ 	ĩ
p 	p 	ũ 	ũ
ɾ̥, r~ɾ 	r 	ẽ 	ẽ
s 	s 	õ 	õ
ts 	ts 	ã 	ã
dz~dʒ 	dž, dzh 	 	
w 	w 	 	
z 	z 	 	
ɫ 	ɫ, lx 	 	
x 	x 	 	
ɣ 	ğ, gx 	 	
V: 	VV 	 	
C: 	CC 	 	
ŋ: 	nng 	 	
dz:~dʒ: 	džž, dzzh 	 	
ɫ: 	ɫɫ, llx 	 	
ɣ: 	ğğ, gxx 	 	
Basic word order is SOV, with OVS subordinate clauses. Nominative-Accusative alignment, posessee is marked rather than possessor. Adjectives and descriptive clauses precede the noun they modify. Postpositions are used. Base 6 number system.
===Phonotactics===
(C){V,N,W}(C), with N = m, n and ng, and W = j, ɫ, and w.
Geminate consonants, long vowels, and nasal vowels are contrastive versus their basic counterparts.
* plosives can't be next to each other.
* ts/dž can't follow plosives or sibilants except t/d
* ng can't follow plosives, sibilants or rhotics
* rhotics can't follow labial(ized) or glottal plosives
===Stress===
* Stress defaults to the first non-affix syllable.
* If there are one or more long vowels in a non-final position, the stress falls on the first long vowel. (ex. )
* If there are geminate consonants, the non-ultimate syllable following the long consonant or incorporating it as its onset takes the stress, unless it is an affricate or fricative.
=== Nouns and Adjectives ===
There is only a very weak distinction between nouns and adjectives, which are treated the same grammatically. Adjectives are better thought of as modifying nouns. Tade Taadži is early in the process of transitioning from an analytic to an synthetic language, and thus features five fairly regular declension patterns.  Noun and Adjective cases are Nominative, Accusative, Possessed, Allative, Instrumental, and Vocative.  Adjectives agree with the case of the noun they modify. Note: Standalone case markers can still be used as a dummy pronoun or for emphasis.
* Nominative marks the actor for both transitive and intransitive verbs, and modifiers of verbs. It is unmarked in the singular form.
 Example: Ozà huumà. 
 [ozɐ huːmɐ] 
 reptomammal.PL.NOM sleep.STAT 
 “Animals sleep.”
* Accusative marks the patient of transitive verbs.
 Example: Naiddahe saangwus haap. 
 [naidːahe saːŋwus haːp] 
 Naiddahe.NOM prawn.ACC see.NEARPAST 
 “Naiddahe saw a prawn.”
* Possessed marks an object possessed by something (his book, the person's word), an origin (people from the islands), and apposition (my sister, a healer). Possessed nouns come before the noun they modify, and can be compound-forming, though the case marker may be dropped depending on sound similarity. The word order of noun adjuncts also follows this pattern (ex. "face mask" would be literally rendered "mask (of the) face").
 Example: Uzumii papã kamitsigwis kii. 
 [uzumiː papã kamit͡sigwis kiː]
 body-paint.POS moon.NOM crater.PL.ACC exist.STAT
 “The moon’s shadows are craters.”
* Allative marks motion toward (I went to the house), direction (I went north), and also marks indirect objects of most verbs (I gave the stone to her). The Allative comes after the Nominative and Accusative.
 Example: Aratmàpà jazdu idd aannagu. 
 [aɾatmɐpɐ jazdu idː aːnːagu] 
 Aratmàpà.NOM sea.ALL go.INFV want.PRES
 “Aratmàpà wants to go to the sea.”
* Instrumental acts as the agent of passive voice construction (I was hit by the stick), and to indicate location (I work in the field), time (I work today), participation in an action (she benefited from her mother's love), substance of composition (a wheel of cheese), source (a portion of food), and comitative statements (I went in the company of Steve). Instrumental nouns follow the noun they modify.
 Example: Laranwà kushïngïr swtsddur sïdurpï.
 [laɾanwɐ kushɨŋɨɾ̥ swt͡sːdːuɾ̥ sɨduɾpɨ]
 tree.PL.NOM east.PL.INST wind.INST curve.STAT
 “Trees from the east are bowed because of the wind.”
* Vocative identifies an addressee, and is the default case for referring to the gods. Some dialects may use the vocative only as a pejorative, while others are beginning to use the vocative as a topic marker.
 Example: Xummmaa, nga us tsap pavà pavapso? 
 [xumːaː ŋa us tsap pavɐ pavapso?]
 friend.VOC 2S.NOM ACC animate-question-marker therefore do.NEARPAST.that.ACC
 “Oh friend, why did you do that?”
Singular 	NOM 	ACC	POS	ALL	INST	VOC
Fem. -[t/d/ts/dž/s/z/'/w/h](V) 	 	 	 	 	 	
-du 	 	 	 	 	 	
-dà 	 	 	 	 	 	
Lean Fem. -[ï/i/e](r) 	 	 	 	 	 	
-u 	 	 	 	 	 	
Androgynous -[m/n/ng/ã/ĩ/ũ/ẽ/õ](jV)	 	 	 	 	 	
-mï 	 	 	 	 	 	
Lean Masc. -[u/o](r) 	 	 	 	 	 	
-u 	 	 	 	 	 	
Masc. -a(r) 	 	 	 	 	 	
-a 	 	 	 	 	 	
-àà 	 	 	 	 	 	
Plural 	NOM 	ACC	POS	ALL	INST	VOC
Fem. -[t/d/ts/dž/s/z/'/w/h](V) 	-zà 	 	 	 	 	
-zà 	 	 	 	 	 	
-zàà 	 	 	 	 	 	
Lean Fem. -[ï/i/e](r) 	 	 	 	 	 	
-(V) 	 	 	 	 	 	
Androgynous -[m/n/ng/ã/ĩ/ũ/ẽ/õ](jV)	-wà 	 	 	 	 	
-wï 	 	 	 	 	 	
-wàà 	 	 	 	 	 	
Lean Masc. -[u/o](r) 	 	 	 	 	 	
-wu 	 	 	 	 	 	
Masc. -a(r) 	-agà	 	 	 	 	
-agà 	 	 	 	 	 	
-agàà 	 	 	 	 	 	
=== Verbs ===
Verbs have four tenses: Remote Past, Past, Present, and Future. Tense is strictly absolute (centered on the “now”) unless directly quoting someone. 
* Remote Past tense is usually used to refer to events that occurred more than one day ago. It can also function as a discontinuous past tense, where the event has experienced a change. It may also be used for recent events that the speaker was present for but does not clearly remember.
* Past tense or Simple Past tense refers to events within the past day, or when the speaker wants to emphasize the clarity of their memory.
* Present tense can be used for statements that would refer to the continuous or perfective present, but not for habitual or attributive (see below).
* The same is true for the future tense.
Verb Stem	Remote Past	Past	Present	Future	Imperative
Verbs can be marked for person in the nominative and accusative case in most dialects of the language, with some additionally marking the instrumental case. This is not required, nor are pronouns required if sufficient context is established. In multi-verb constructions, the nominative marking is applied to the first verb, and the accusative and/or instrumental marking is applied to the final verb.
Verb Marking 	NOM 	ACC 	INST
1S 	t(o)- 	-t, -dà	
2S 	ng(a)-	-k(à) 	-kat, -gat
3S Fem. 	tï- 	 	
3S Lean Fem. 	pi- 	 	
3S Androgynous	ra- 	-r(à) 	
3S Lean Masc. 	ki- 	-k(u) 	
3S Masc. 	ta- 	-t, -dà	
Plural 	NOM 	ACC 	INST
1P 	a'u- 	 	
2P 	aka- 	-sà 	
3P Near 	aj(i)-	 	
-rà 	 	 	
3P Far 	ax(o)-	 	
Note: If a vowel is phonotactically required to attach a person marker to a verb, but none is given in the table, then an echo vowel is used. If the preceding syllable has a consonantal nucleus, it is either echoed or ï is used, depending on context.
* The infinitive is the noninflected form of the verb with its stem included, and can be used as the gnomic aspect, describing general truths rather than specific events. The infinitive is often used in multi-verb constructs, including some with grammatical functions (see below).
* Attributive verbs can be created by removing the verb stem. This is not represented in the writing system. (ex. The burning fire pit warms the child.)
* Perfective aspect is created by taking the infinitive verb and adding the verb kus (“to come”). This auxiliary verb takes most inflection, except for nominative person marking (see above). (Ex. We laid the clay in the sun to make bricks.)
* Passive verbs are formed in a similar manner, using the auxiliary verb su (“to take”). The subject of the verb is placed in the instrumental case, and the object remains in the accusative.
* Hypothetical mood is created in the same way, with the auxiliary verb kaanja (“to hear”). (Ex. “The bridge could have broken in today’s storm.”)
* Imperative mood is formed either through the verb tsã (“to require” or “must”), or through a grammaticized suffix form –Vdžã. 
Mood/Form/Voice/etc.	Conjugation/Inflected Auxiliary Verb	Meaning
Infinitive 	Verb - stem 	To X
Attributive 	Verb - stem 	the X-ing [Noun]
Perfective 	Infinitive + kus ("to come") 	X-ed; Finish X-ing
Passive 	Infinitive + su ("to take") 	[Subject] is/was/will be Xed
Hypothetical 	Infinitive + kaanja ("to hear") 	would/could have/might X
=== Pronouns ===
Third person pronouns are split into five grammatical genders, each matching a gender role within Taadži culture. (sot/pit/ran/kur/taat, from most to least feminine, translated to english as she/xe/they/e/he). When referring to children, outsiders, or unmarked Taadži adults, impersonal pronouns (it/that) are used. 
Singular 	NOM 	ACC 	POS 	ALL 	INST 	VOC
1S 	tuu 	taas 	rii 	lanu 	ladi 	laas
2S 	nga 	kàà 	kii 	kapu 	kadi 	kaas
3S Fem. 	sot 	sade 	dà 	sadu 	sadi 	saas
3S Lean Fem. 	pit 	pide 	pi 	pidu 	pidi 	paas
3S Androgynous	ran 	rane 	rà 	rabu 	radi 	raas
3S Lean Masc. 	kur 	kure 	ku 	kubu 	kudi 	kaas
3S Masc. 	taat 	taade 	tàà 	tabu 	taadi 	taas
Plural 	NOM 	ACC 	POS 	ALL 	INST 	VOC
1P 	aduu 	saduu 	iduu 	paduu 	raduu 	aatuu
2P 	agà 	sagà 	igà 	pagà 	ragà 	aagà
3P Near 	ajit 	sajit 	ijit 	pajit 	rajit 	aajit
3P Far 	agxat	sagxat	igxat	pagxat	ragxat	aagxat
Impersonal Pronouns	NOM	ACC	POS	ALL	INST	VOC
Near (this, it) 	jit	jur	ji 	jur	ji 	jàà
Far (that, it) 	xat	xur	xi 	xur	xi 	xaa
Plural pronouns do not reflect gender in the third person, instead splitting between "near" and "far" categories: A speaker will use the "near" pronoun for a group that is close to them on the gender spectrum, and the "far" pronoun for all others. Nearness counts as 2 steps towards masculine/feminine for female/male speakers, 1 step in either direction for all others.
There is a weak remnant of a grammatical gender system in the endings of nouns and adjectives, which is mostly used to determine the use of near/far person markers on verbs. Adjectives no longer agree with the gender of their noun, but Poetic or archaic speech may use personal pronouns in agreement with a noun's gender.
=== Interrogatives ===
There are two primary interrogatives in Tadži: tsap and hhak, which can receive conjugation, and may combine with modifiers where necessary to specify precise meaning. In their base form, they can be placed before a verb for yes/no questions.
* Hhak is used with questions where the answer will relates to one or more objects or concepts that take impersonal pronouns. This includes all polite speech and references to people unknown to the speaker. In this context, it covers the domains of how (Instrumental), how far (hhak łè), how long (hhak kavaxe for short periods or or hhak ijãã for longer ones), how much or which (hhak hmrï for small quantities and hhak ntà for large ones) , what or who (Nominative or Accusative), what kind (hhak rumà), when (hhak mavat), where (hhak he), and why (hhak pava). 
* Tsat is used with questions where the answer is assumed to relate to people known to the speaker, and covers the same meanings.
===Postpositions===
There are two main postpositions that cover many spatial and temporal relationships in Tadži: paarà and łè. These can be thought of as covering the domains of "association" or "dissociation".
* Paara covers concepts of motion toward, into, closeness, and to be among something. It is often paired with the Allative case.
* Łè has the contrasting meaning of motion away, out of, distance, and to be apart from something. Both paarà and łè can be used as intensifiers, which color the adjective or action they refer to.
Both words can be used in phrases that provide other spatial or temporal distinctions, such as pozbur ("back (anatomy)") to create postpositional phrases meaning "behind" (pozbur paarà) versus "far behind" (pozbur łè).
=== Grammatical Suffixes ===
Certain suffixes are generative and can form new words. These are not always required to bring a word into a new grammatical role or alter meaning, they do decrease ambiguity. Note that since the distinction between nouns, adjectives and adverbs is rather weak, these suffixes provide specific guidance as to the meaning. For example, if one begins with the verb jaado ("to shout"), one can produce jaadõ ("a shout"), jaador ("loud(ly)"), and jaadotja ("intense(ly)").
Role 	Suffix
N→ V 	-(u)x(ï)
Adj → V 	
V; Adj; POS → N	-ĩ/-ã/-(i/a)ngo
V → Adj 	
N → Adj 	
Adj → Adv 	
===Numbers===
Base 6 system (senary/seximal/heximal).
Pawo ("and") may be placed between heximal places, ex. mi pawo hã (Sen 14, Dec 10). If pawo is not used, ngii ("one of") must be used anywhere the numeral 1 would appear in roman numerals, ex. ngii mi hã (Sen 14, Dec 10). All numerals at a given base besides the final are placed in the Possessed case, and the base is in the nominative. The final base or numeral may display noun case agreement.
Decimal	Senary 	NOM 	ACC 	POS 	ALL 	INST 	VOC
0 	0 	sàà 	sas 	si 	sà 	sar 	sàà
1 	1 	ng 	ngãs 	ngi 	nge 	ngmr 	ngàà
2 	2 	po 	pus 	pi 	pu 	pur 	poo
3 	3 	tar 	tas 	ti 	tà 	tar 	tàà
4 	4 	hã 	hãs 	hãi 	hãe 	hãr 	hãwàà
5 	5 	kïr 	kus 	kï 	ku 	kïr 	kuu
6 	6 	mi 	mins 	mi 	mï 	mr 	màà
36 	100 	kït 	kï'us	kïdi	kïdu 	kïddur	kïdàà
216 	1,000 	kun 	kuns 	kumi	kumï 	kumr 	kumàà
1,296 	10,000 	nantà	nanus	nadi	nandu	naddur	nadàà
7,776 	100,000	pantà	panus	padi	padu 	padur 	padàà
46,656 	1x6^6 	mità 	mi'us	midi	midu 	midur 	midàà
== Basic Examples ==
Man 	Taadar
Woman 	Sodžo
Tree 	Larã
A man 	Ng taadar
The man 	Taadar
That man there 	Xat lxè taadar
That (said) man 	Xat
Sleep 	Huume
The man sleeps 	Taadar (ta)huumagu
The man slept 	Taadar (ta)huumapu/(ta)huumadžà
The man will sleep 	Taadar (ta)huumazi
The man sees the tree 	Taadar varas (ta)kavïgu
The man will see the tree 	Taadar varas (ta)kavizi
The man saw the tree 	Taadar laras (ta)kavïpu/(ta)kavïdžà
The man who saw the tree sleeps 	Laras (ta)kavïpu/(ta)kavïdža taadar (ta)huumagu
The man, who saw the tree, sleeps 	Laras (ta)kavïpu/(ta)kavïdža taadar (ta)huumagu
Does the man see the tree? 	Tsa'daat taadar laras (ta)kavïgu?
Where did the man see the tree? 	Hhak taadar laras (ta)kavïpu/(ta)kavïdža?
I know where the man saw the tree. 	Tuu larã kà taadai hi taadas (t)oggx.
The tree which the man saw. 	Laran taadar kave (ji)subabu/(ji)subadžà.
The man is at the tree. 	Taadar larmr (ta)hïbaga.
The man is tall. 	Taadar takku hobà.
I 	Tuu
You (sing.) 	Nga
He 	Taat
She 	Sot
It 	Jit/Xat
We (excl.) 	Aduu
We (incl.) 	Aduu
You (pl.) 	Agà
They (pl.) 	Ajit/Agxat
The place where the man saw the tree. 	Larã (ta)kavïpu/(ta)kavïdžà taadai he.
If I see the tree, I’ll sleep. 	(Tuu) varas ka pava, (tuu) (to)huumazi.
When I sleep, I see the man. 	(Tuu) huumr hïbà, (tuu) taadas (to)kave.
Had I seen/if I had seen the tree, I would have slept.	(Tuu) laras ka (to)kaanjapu(/(to)kaanjadžà, (tuu) huum (to)kaanjapu/(to)kaanjadžà.
You, sleep! 	Kaas, huumadžà!
I should sleep. (Benefit) 	Huume vadi mrjà kiizi.
You shouldn’t/won’t sleep. (Precept) 	Huume kadi xee kiizi.
I want to sleep. 	Tuu huum aanãgà
My tree is green. 	Varai tuu tsa'it/sor hobà/kii.