Conlang Year: Week 27
I've crossed the halfway point on this thing, and only six weeks late! This week I am working on imperatives. As always, the prompts are here.
Day 183 - Consider options for imperative clauses
I like the way Hindustani adds suffixes to the verb's root to turn it into an imperative. It fits well with the way that Thekkish verbs are conjugated, so I think it's the strategy I'm going to adopt. I also think that the subject will be implied when using the imperative.
It makes sense to me to grammaticalize tas, the verb "to be," as part of the conjugation. Imperatives will follow the same structure as other verb tenses and have forms for first, second, and third person as well as animate and inanimate.
| Imperative | IPA |
|---|---|
| First-person | ɛɪx.ta |
| Second-person animate | tax.ta |
| Second-person inanimate | taʎ.ta |
| Third-person animate | ʒɛx.ta |
| Third-person inanimate | ʒɛʎ.ta |
Day 184 - Draft a plan for imperative clauses
Well, I think I did most of this on day 183. Imperative clauses are created by applying the imperative form to the verb. The subject can ordinarily be left out of an imperative clause.
Day 185 - Create imperative clauses
Here's a few examples:
| IPA | Meaning | Structure |
|---|---|---|
| tax.ta.xɛɪts ɛɪ.oŋ | Listen to me | 2.a.imp.LISTEN i.acc |
| tax.ta.ɾɛʃ θsɛn.ɾaŋ ɾɪm ʃʌɾ.ɾaɪm ŋaʎ.ɛt | Give that lizard to your sister | 2.a.imp.GIVE lizard.acc for sibling.dat you.gen |
| tax.ta.ut.pɛɪ θaɪ.ɢaŋ | Gather the fruits | 2.a.imp.GATHER fruits.acc |
| tax.ta.βaθ ʃxu.ɾaŋ pʎʌ | Watch the white dog | 2.a.imp.WATCH dog.acc white |
| tax.ta.mɛɪɸ.ʃθʌ sɛɪ βyð.ɾaŋ | Leap over the stream | 2.a.imp.JUMP above stream.acc |
| tax.ta.ɾɛʃ.mɛ | Look! | 2.a.imp.SEARCH |
These are all written using the second-person animate form, which is by far the most common, but commands can be given to oneself, inanimate objects, or third parties as well.
Day 186 - Write a section on imperatives
This has all gone into my documentation as I worked on it, so I'll count this as done.
Day 187 - Update verb inflection charts
I also did this as I worked on the imperatives.
Day 188 - Explore options for forming y/n questions
I think I like the idea of an auxiliary particle that occurs with a verb much like a negation to turn a phrase into a question.
Day 189 - Lay out a strategy for creating y/n questions
I'm going to need to create the question particle and also to decide whether it should precede or follow the negation particle when it's applied to verbs. I also like stealing the assumption that a negative yes/no question is something the speaker expects to be answered positively from English.
Well, this was another week that went by fairly quickly! I'm looking forward to making more progress in the coming weeks.