Derivational Morphology
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This public article was written by [Deactivated User] on 9 Dec 2015, 01:30.
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Most of Proto-Taso-Venotien's (PTV, because I'm too lazy to type this out repeatedly) morphology is based off of supersegmental features on its vowels: namely, its three tones (high, neutral, and low) and three vowel lengths (short, mid, and long). While the Venotien languages lost these features (generally by expanding their vowel inventories), the Taso languages maintained them.
Taso dictionaries generally organize words according to a "dictionary form" with all of their derivations listed after the main entry. These dictionary forms are, largely, not forms that are actually part of the language's lexicon. Instead, they seem to have been adopted for the sake of giving words of the same part of speech a uniform appearance. When reconstructed, these dictionary forms are generally all neutral tone, mid vowels. Even without these dictionary forms, root words in PTV and Taso alike tend to be of consistent form.
- Verbs are three syllables, each syllable of the CV form
- Nouns, except proper nouns, are two syllables, each syllable of the CV form
- Adjectives are also three syllables, with the first syllable being just a vowel
Other parts of speech, such as pronouns, numbers, and adpositions do not follow a specific pattern.
Tone as applied to nouns marks different categories of nouns.
concrete/tangible nouns (high tone on the first syllable)
nouns of this category are usually physical objects or readily demonstrated concepts (such as physical processes); this is generally considered the most basic form of noun
abstract/intangible nouns (high tone on the last syllable)
nouns of this category are generally abstract qualities or concepts; while some nouns have this as their basic form, more often this is a concept related to the concrete form
technological/instrumental nouns (low tone on the first syllable)
nouns of this category tend to refer to technology, knowledge, or customs related to the tangible or intangible form of a noun
"high order" nouns (high tone on both syllables)
nouns of this category refer to political entities, organizations, supernatural beings, or philosophical concepts - these tend to be highly abstract concepts or things considered beyond mortal power or understanding
Vowel length as applied to nouns represents some continuum of meaning, forming a series of related nouns.
Base form (short vowel on both syllables)
The closest to the root or basic meaning of the noun, usually refers to complete objects or base concepts (e.g. /vázī/ "person", /zō̞nú/ "sister", /kó̞jū/ "cloth, fabric")
element/diminutive (short vowel on first syllable, mid vowel on second syllable)
refers to the smallest component or most junior of a series of noun (e.g. /vázī:/ "infant, baby", /zō̞nú:/ "granddaughter, descendant", /kó̞jū:/ "fibers")
component/subordinate (mid vowel on first syllable, short vowel on second syllable)
refers to a step down from the base object, the component parts of an object, or the second most junior of a series of nouns (e.g. /vá:zī/ "child, youth", /zō̞:nú/ "daughter", /kó̞:jū/ "thread, yarn")
compound/senior (short vowel on first syllable, long vowel on second syllable)
can refer to a collection of the base object (e.g. crow vs. a murder of crows), something made of the base noun, or a more senior of a series of nouns (e.g. /vázī::/ "adult", /zō̞nú::/ "mother", /kó̞jū::/ "garment, article of clothing")
collective/superior (long vowel on first syllable, short vowel on second syllable)
refers to the most senior, or most general of a series of nouns; while a "compound" noun generally forms a group with an immediate relationship, a "collective" noun is used for more arbitrary or abstract groupings or to indicate that something is a generalization (e.g. crow vs. a murder of crows vs. crows in general) (e.g. /vá::zī/ "elder", /zō̞::nú/ "grandmother, ancestor", /kó̞::jū/ "clothes, clothing (in general)")
Converting nouns to other parts of speech:
Nouns are generally converted to other parts of speech in their base form. They are formed into adjectives by affixing the same vowel as that in the first syllable to the beginning of the word (e.g. zo:nu: -> o:zo:nu:). Verbs are formed with suffixes derived from certain basic verbs, such as:
-na: general verbalizer (from /lā:mō̞:nā:/ "to do, to be")
-hi: verbs to do with movement (from /kū:lā:xī:/)
Verbs use vowel length to determine the category of verb.
demonstrative verbs (mid vowel, short vowel, mid vowel)
Verbs of this type are generally voluntary actions (although there are some exceptions) and are considered the basic form of most verbs
productive verbs (mid vowel, short vowel, short vowel)
Verbs of this type are generally actions related to production of goods, use of technology, etc.
existential verbs (mid vowel, mid vowel, short vowel)
Verbs of this type generally reflect states of being rather than actions, although they are occasionally more abstract but related meanings to the demonstrative form of a verb
"higher-order" verbs (mid vowel, long vowel, short vowel)
Verbs of this type relate to actions taken by political entities, organizations, or supernatural beings; actions that cannot be attributed to a single person
Tone is used to express the "directionality" of a verb.
extroverted verbs (high tone on the last syllable)
Verbs of this sort are outwardly focused, they generally represent actions that move away from the speaker or actor or outward expressions of internal processes (e.g. to think (in.) vs. to explain (ex.), to feel (in.) vs. to express (ex.))
introverted action (low tone on the last syllable)
Verbs of this sort are inwardly focused, they generally represent mental and emotional processes, observations, and sensory input or actions towards the speaker or subject (e.g. to give (ex.) vs. to receive (in.), to go (ex.) vs. to come (in.))
reciprocal action (neutral tone on last syllable)
Often combines the extroverted and introverted actions of a given verb; indicates a "back and forth" exchange (if the subject is compound) or action (if the subject is singular) note: a 'compound' subject always uses the conjunction "with", indicating that both subjects completed the action together; use of 'and' indicates that both subjects completed the action individually and so would carry the same meaning as a singular subject
Converting verbs to other parts of speech:
Not unlike nouns, verbs are converted to adjectives by affixing the same vowel as that found in the first syllable to the beginning of the word. They are also converted to nouns by adding a suffix derived from a related noun. However, when converting a verb to a noun, it is generally not derived from the base form of the verb but from a more specific form.
Nominal affixes:
-va: nouns referring to people
-gi: nouns referring to locations
-bu: nouns referring to objects
Adjectives in PTV indicate a continuum of a given trait. Where on it something falls depends on the vowel length of the first two syllables of the root. One end of the continuum has a short vowel on the first syllable, the opposite a long vowel; a mid vowel indicates that the things being described falls between the two, or has aspects of both sides of the continuum (depending on the adjective and the context). For either end of the spectrum, the longer the vowel of the second syllable the greater degree to which the quality applies. While some adjectives have distinct meanings for each variation (such as those describing color or sound), for most adjectives the longer the second vowel, the stronger the attribute; for neutral/mixed adjectives, a second mid vowel indicates being "neither one nor the other", a short vowel skews it towards the spectrum with a shot vowel on the first syllable, a long vowel towards the other end of the spectrum.
There are a few different forms of adjectives based on tone, indicating different but related qualities, but this is far less complicated than nouns or verbs:
ability or skill at something (high tone on the second syllable)
refers to observable qualities or attributes (high tone on the first syllable)
refers to abstract, or inferred qualities or attributes (low tone on the first syllable)
Numerical affixes:
While numbers may perform a similar function to adjectives, they do not act like adjectives in terms of morphology and are better considered their own class of words. In their counting forms, all numbers end in a short, neutral tone vowel. So, it is always the final syllable that is altered when deriving words from numbers and they do not follow the pattern of any other type of word.
Ordinal numbers: long vowel, mid tone
Fractions: short vowel, low tone
x number of times: mid vowel, high tone ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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