Rekə Laqar

Phonology

Consonants

Note: /pʼ/ and /tʼ/ are only found in loans of unaspirated voiceless consonants from other languages. In general, unaspirated voiceless consonants from other languages are loaned as ejectives.

Vowels

Oral

Nasal

Orthography

The following romanization is used:

Consonants

Vowels

In pairs marked ⟨x/y⟩, ⟨x⟩ is stressed and ⟨y⟩ is unstressed. ⟨ə⟩ is always unstressed. Stress is not marked in monosyllables.

Oral

Nasal

Root Types

In addition to a bare stem which exists only in isolation, a root has three stem series, the prevocalic series, the pre-strong consonant, and the pre-weak consonant (where "weak" refers to Proto-Laqar *w *h *ʁ *χ *ɣʷ *xʷ) stems corresponding to whether the following affix complex started with a vowel, a non-weak, or a weak consonant in Proto-Laqar, ignoring glottal stops.

For each of these, the A stem is the stem where the stress falls on the first syllable of the root, the B stem is the stem where the stress falls on the second syllable of the root, and the C stem is the stem where the stress falls after the root; monosyllabic stems do not have B stems.

Prevocalic C stems may have two forms, a short C stem and a long C stem, which differ only in whether they preserve an unstressed vowel in final position. When not otherwise specified "C stem" refers to the short C stem. Also note that for weak or nasal consonant-final stems, the "long" C stem is often shorter than the "short" C stem.

Roots can be divided into monosyllabic and disyllabic roots, corresponding to whether they were monosyllabic or disyllabic in Proto-Laqar.

One manner in which roots are classified is by the weight of each syllable of their original Proto-Laqar bare stem forms; each syllable may be light, heavy, or superheavy. Disyllabic stems always lack an A stem if their second syllable is heavier than their first syllable. Note that prevocalic stems may have the weight of their final syllable reduced from heavy to light or from superheavy to heavy if the orignal Proto-Laqar bare stem form ended in a consonant. This is significant because a disyllabic root may have heavier second syllables of preconsonantal stems than their first syllables, and thus lack A stems for preconsonantal stems, but at the same time have equal weight syllables of prevocalic stems, and thus have A stems for prevocalic stems.

Another manner in which roots are classified is by syncretism of stem series. If all three series are identical, aside from the bare stem and the long C stem, it is termed a class 1 root. If the prevocalic and pre-weak consonant series are identical and the the pre-strong consonant series is different, aside from the bare stem and the long C stem, it is termed a class 2 root. If the preconsonantal series are identical and the prevocalic series is different, aside from the bare stem, it is termed a class 3 root. If all three series are different, it is termed a class 4 root.

A way in which disyllabic roots are classified in addition to the two manners above is by whether there exists an A stem in all the series, none of the series, or only the prevocalic series. The first is termed a subclass A root, the second is termed a subclass B root, and the third is termed a subclass C root.

Note that following front vowels geminate preceding non-clustered/non-geminate consonants in prevocalic stems where the bare stem ends in a non-nasal vowel unless the prevocalic stem ends in a nasal. Likewise following Proto-Laqar *j geminates the final consonant in the pre-strong consonant stem unless the pre-weak consonant stem ends in a nasal, where then that is used instead. Note that in this position Proto-Laqar *g *kʰ *kʼ > ǰ č č' and *ɬ *tɬʰ *tɬʼ > š č č' rather than s c c', which is reflected in Rekə Laqar forms.

Affix Complexes

Affix complexes are a complete agglomeration of affixes which follow a stem. They have the following attributes:

• Stressed form
• Which stem series the affix complex conditions
• If the affix complex conditions prevocalic stems, whether the short or long C stems are used
• Original syllable count
• If the original syllable count is less than three, unstressed form and threshold syllable weight

If the C stem is used the stressed form will always be used.

If the original syllable count is equal to or greater than three, the C stem is used

For monosyllabic roots, if the original syllable count is less than three, if the first syllable weight is greater than or equal to the threshold syllable weight, the A stem is used, else the C stem is used.

For disyllabic roots, if the original syllable count is one, if the first syllable weight is greather than or equal to the threshold syllable weight, the A stem is used unless it is not available, where then the B stem is used; if not, and the second syllable weight is greater than or equal to the threshold syllable weight, the B stem is used; else the C stem is used. If the original syllable count is two, if the second syllable weight is greater than or equal to the threshold syllable weight, the B stem is used; else the C stem is used.

Alignment

The default pattern is that both the agent and the patient of transitive verbs are unmarked if the agent is higher on the person/animacy/definiteness/topicality hierarchy than the patient. For volitional transitive verbs where the agent is lower on the person/animacy/definiteness/topicality hierarchy than the patient, the agent is put into agentive case. For avolitional transitive verbs where the agent is lower on the person/animacy/definiteness/topicality hierarchy than the patient, the patient is put into patientive case. For volitional intransitive verbs, animate subjects are unmarked and inanimate subjects are put in agentive case. For avolitional intransitive verbs, inanimate subjects are unmarked and animate subjects are put in patientive case. This is a fluid-S arrangement, where the same verb can be volitional and avolitional when intransitive depending on how they are used.

Morphology and Syntax

Word Order

The basic word order is topic-comment. Attributive adjectives, attributive postpositional phrases, relative clauses, compounding nouns, and possessors precede nouns, and determiners and numbers follow nouns. Arguments precede postpositions.

Evidential Particles

The following evidential particles are derived from the given Old Laqar verbs forms:

Evidential particles are placed last in a main clause, after any aspect/tense/modal particles.

Aspect/Tense/Modal Particles

The following aspect/tense/modal particles are derived from the given Old Laqar auxiliary verbs:

They are negated or qualified by placing the negative particle šu or other adverbs before it, after the verb.

These particles can be combined; e.g. nê, marking future tense, can be combined with aspect-marking particles like lê, ju, si, and yê.

lê can be used with both perfective and imperfective verbs. ju, si, and yê are used with imperfective verbs.

Interrogative Particle

Yes/no questions are ended in the interrogative particle nə, after the main verb and any modal particles.

Relative Clauses

The relativizer clitic -zə has been lost. Relative clauses where the relativized argument is an unmarked agent or patient of the verb in the relative clause are formed by simply placing the relative clause before the relativized argument. Relative clauses where the relativized argument is a marked agent, patient, indirect object, or locative argument in the relative clause are formed by placing the relative clause before the relativized argument and then placing a proximal demonstrative in the relative clause in the appropriate case/with the appropriate compound postposition.

Nominalized Clauses

The complement nominalizer clitic -pə has been lost for complement clauses.

Noun Incorporation

Nouns (particularly patients, instruments, or locatives) can be incorporated into the verb, where the noun is placed directly before the verb, after any adverbs, and the noun does not agree with the incorporated argument (if it is a patient). Note that clauses containing incorporated patients cannot be passive.

Subordination

The subordinating conjunctions have been reduced significantly, so as to have their old etymologies be obscured.

Possession

Possessed nouns agree with their possessor in person and number. Alienable possessors are put in genitive case, and inalienable possessors are unmarked.

Words with CVCæ, CVːCæ, CVCɒ, CVːCɒ Old Laqar stems for which their base forms and their 3sm-possessed forms would be identical borrow the 3pm-possessed form to express 3sm-possession, to replace possessed/non-possessed ambiguity with number ambiguity. Note that CVNæ, CVːNæ, CVQæ, CVːQæ, CVNɒ, CVːNɒ, CVQɒ, and CVːQɒ stems are not affected by this. Also, plural 3sm-possessed forms borrow from plural 3pm-possessed forms in cases where plural forms would otherwise be identical to plural 3sm-possessed forms. Likewise, definite 3pm-possessed forms borrow from definite 3sm-possessed forms when they would otherwise be identical to unpossessed definite forms.

Case

The genitive and dative case have merged, taking the form of the previous genitive case. The form of the allative case has simplified, such that it now takes the form of the old dative case.

Compound Postpositions

The following are used with any of locative, allative, or ablative cases:

The following are examples of relational noun-case combinations that are more fixed, with it not being possible to arbitrarily use other cases:

Rekə Laqar Vocabulary

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