Jaguar 6 –  A Constructed Language

Jaguar 6 Morphology

Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Text>, [IPA], -Tags-, and "Glosses".

Overview

A word is either a 1-syllable function word, a content word of 2 or more syllables, or a pronoun (1 or more syllables). Some function words are structured while others are particles. A content word is either a verb or a noun, depending on the derivational suffix, if one appears, and the root, otherwise.

Person Distinctions

The morphology distinguishes 1st person singular, 2nd person singular, inclusive person dual, 3rd person, which is used for all animate plurals as well as for 3rd person singular, and unspecified, which is used for inanimates as well as for omitted arguments. The first 3 of these are termed local. There are 3 evidentials: witnessed (direct), deduced (epistemic necessity, indirect), and neither, which is used for all other statements and questions, including those with local participants. Since an expressed evidential implies the conjunct person (1st person in statements and 2nd person in questions), the marked local person L must be the disjunct person (the opposite).

Argument Structure

An argument structure consists of an ordering of 3 semantic roles: agent (A), patient (P), and location (L). The same system is used for both verbs an nouns, although nouns lack agents and use P for the possessum and L for the possessor. There are 2 person marking affixes: a subject prefix and an object suffix. The 1st letter of a role marking tag specifies the subject's role and the 2nd letter specifies the object's role. If the jaguar is a participant (core role), the 3rd letter specifies the jaguar's role; otherwise (oblique role), the 3rd letter may be used for a 3rd person argument. The argument structure may be marked by either the JRole prefix (core), the SRole prefix, or be determined by the word class.

Except for the actional class, verbs can use any argument structure.

If the jaguar is the possessum, the role is marked LAPJ and the subject prefix is used for the possessor. If the jaguar is the possessor, the role is marked PALJ and the subject prefix is used for the possessum. If the jaguar isn't a core argument of the noun, the role is implicitly PLA (the subject is the possessum and the object is the possessor).

ixadovíx. (1) Perceptive class defaults to APL.
ix-a-d-oví-x
1-Null-Prs-see-2
"I see you."

uxadâbik. (2) Noun defaults to PL-.
ux-a-d-âbi-k
2-Null-Prs-father-1
"You're my father."

uxanami. (3)
ux-a~-d-ami
2-LAPJ-Prs-mother
"You mother is the jaguar."

duráx iyeríse. (4)
d-urá-x iy-e~-q-íse
Prs-dog-2 Wit.3-PLAJ-Pst-eat
"The jaguar ate your dog."

durá gaj æxemovís. (5)
d-urá gaj æx-e~-b-oví-s
Prs-dog Loc Incl-PLAJ-Fut-see-3
"The jaguar will see us with the dog."

çesǽbo. (6) Actional: agent only, implied by imperative.
ç-e-s-ǽbo
Neg-Infl-Imp-run
"Don't run!"

eríse durá dóx dåxe gaj ǿfuyaqumas. (7)
e~-q-íse d-urá d-óx d-åxe gaj ǿf-uy-a-q-uma-s
PLAJ-Pst-eat Prs-dog Prs-Medi Prs-woman Loc LPA-EN.3-Null-Pst-have-3
"The dog the jaguar had eaten must have belonged to that woman."

Content Word Formats

Legend
Tense past, present, future, or Imp
Deter Determiner (see Other Formats)
Root Root
Class Derivational
JRole argument structure or jaguar's role
SRole argument structure
Sub% Subject Person
Obj% Object Person
Quant quantity, scalar degree, or App
Polar negative polarity

Composite Format
  Prefixes Stem
V   SRole Sub% Quant JRole Root   Class
C Polar Tense Class Obj%
  Prefixes Stem Suffix

Verb Formats

The class suffix, if present must denote a verb class; otherwise, the root must denote a verb.

Finite Format
  Prefixes Stem
V   SRole Sub% Quant JRole Root   Class
C Polar Tense Class Obj%
  Prefixes Stem Suffix

Attributive Format
  Prefixes Stem
V   SRole Quant JRole Root   Class
C Polar Tense Class Obj%
  Prefixes Stem Suffix

Imperative Format
  Prefixes Stem
V   Quant JRole Root   Class
C Polar Imp Class Obj%
  Prefixes Stem Suffix

Noun Formats

The class suffix, if present must denote a noun class; otherwise, the root must denote a noun.

Copular Format
  Prefixes Stem
V   Sub% JRole Root   Class
C Polar Tense Class Obj%
  Prefixes Stem Suffix

Appositive Format
  Prefixes Stem
V   App JRole Root   Class
C Polar Tense Class Obj%
  Prefixes Stem Suffix

Nominal Format
  Prefixes Stem
V   Quant JRole Root   Class
C Polar Tense Class Obj%
  Prefixes Stem Suffix

Content Word Affixes

Polarity Prefixes

Polarity Prefixes
Prefix Tag Name
  Positive
ç- Neg- Negative

Tense Prefixes

The subject of an imperative is implicitly 2nd person and must always be the agent. The table shows both oral and nasal values.

Tense Prefixes
Prefix Tag Name
q- r- Pst- Past
d- n- Prs- Present
b- m- Fut- Future
s- z- Imp- Imperative

Jaguar and Subject Role Prefixes

The subject role prefix appears only when the jaguar role prefix is oblique. The ~ indicates that the vowel and following consonant are nasal.

Jaguar & Subject Role Prefixes
Subject Jaguar Name Type
Prefix Tag Prefix Tag
of- APL- o- APLJ- Agent Patient Location Core
áf- PAL- å- PALJ- Patient Agent Location
ev- PLA- e~- PLAJ- Patient Location Agent
ǿf- LPA- ǿ- LPAJ- Location Patient Agent
av- LAP- a~- LAPJ- Location Agent Patient
úf- ALP- ú- ALPJ- Agent Location Patient
- - e- Infl- Influence Oblique
- - ǽ- Poss- Possessive
- - (a)- Null- Null

Subject Person Prefixes

The subject person prefixes also specify evidentiality.

Subject Person Prefixes
Witnessed Deduced Neither Person
Prefix Tag Prefix Tag Prefix Tag
éx- Wit.L- óx- EN.L- ix- 1- 1st person (singular)
ux- 2- 2nd person (singular)
- - - - æx- Incl- Inclusive person (dual)
iy- Wit.3- uy- EN.3- ay- 3- 3rd person
(a)x- U- Unspecified

Object Person Suffixes

The table shows both oral and nasal values.

Object Person Suffixes
Suffix Tag Name
-g -ŋ -1 1st person (singular)
-x -y -2 2nd person (singular)
-b -m -Incl Inclusive person (dual)
-s -z -3 3rd person
-q -r -Rfx Reflexive
  -h -U Unspecified

Quantity Prefixes

The quantity prefixes have various usages. The appositive noun indicator appears in the quantity position.

Quantity Prefixes
Suffix Tag Name
  Singular
íg- SQ- Small Quantity
øg- NQ- Normal Quantity
âg- LQ- Large Quantity
oŋ- App- Appositive

Verb Classes

Verbs are divided into classes according to possible argument structures and action types. The action types are P process, S state-event, and N nominal.

Word Classes
# Act Name Default Example Notes
0 N Noun PL- dog
1 S Relational PLA in
2 S Descriptive PAL hot
3 S Experiential APL angry
4 S Ditransitive APL give inanimate patient = theme
5 S Transitive APL break
6 P Perceptive APL see
7 P Actional A-- run inanimate patient = route

Other Formats

3rd Person Pronouns

The root is limited. The anaphoric determiner is null.

3rd Person Pronoun Format
  Prefixes Stem
V   Quant JNul Deter Root  
C Polar Tense  
  Prefixes Stem Suffix

Local Pronouns

The value of Pron is <e>.

Local Pronoun Format
  Prefixes Stem
V   Quant Pron
C Polar Obj%
  Prefixes Stem

Determiners

Determiner Format
  Stem
V   Deter
C Tense
  Prefixes Stem

Other Morphemes

Determiner Roots

Determiner Roots
Root Tag Name
    Anaphoric
- Ind Specific Indefinite
- NS Non-specific
íg Prox Proximal Demonstrative
óx Medi Medial Demonstrative
âq Dist Distal Demonstrative
âf Q Content Question
- Rel Relative Clause

Derivational Morphology

Action and Participant Nouns

An action noun represents the action rather than one of the participants. Action and participant nouns are derived from verb root using derivationals.

Superlatives and Ordinal Numbers

Superlatives are state verbs derived from scalar verbs, using the suffix -Sup. Ordinal numbers are state verbs, each derived from the corresponding cardinal number (which are quantity word verbs) using the suffix -Ord.

Verb-to-verb Derivationals

The habitual derivational -Hab derives process verbs. The semelfactive derivational -Sem derives event verbs from process verbs.

Gender

The gender derivationals are - (-Ani, animate) and - (-Ina, inanimate).

page started: 2017.Nov.24 Fri
current date: 2017.Dec.02 Sat
 content and form originated by qiihoskeh

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