Qasnimista grammar

Qasnimista (qaśnimiśta iskan [ʕɑɕniˈmiɕtɑ ˌiskɑn], also raimuiśta iskan [rɑimuˈiɕtɑ ˌiskɑn]) is an a priori language created by Milya0 in November 2010 for Unilang Conlang Competition.

History
Phonology
Consonant gradation
Grammar
Syntax

History

Qasnimista and some other languages of south Mautera (conworld where Modern Qasnimista is spoken) comes from reconstructed Proto-Southwest-Mauteran language.

Etymology of chosen forms of ag- (to be).

MQ źi (being) < OQ dji < PSWM *ăg-i
MQ zu (going to be) < OQ dsu < PSWM *ăg-su
MQ aqa (that who be) < OQ æghæ < PSWM *ăg-hă
MQ gara (I am) < OQ gæra < PSWM *ăg-ăla
MQ zura (I'll be) < OQ dsura, contracted gæra dsu < *ăg-ăla ăg-su
MQ aza (I was) < OQ ædsæ < PSWM *ăg-să
MQ zuza (I were) < OQ dsudsæ, contracted ædsæ dsu < PSWM *ăg-să-(ăla) ăg-su
MQ qera (I'd be) < OQ ghera < PSWM *ăg-hĕ-ăla
MQ zera (let's be) < OQ dsera < PSWM *ăg-sĕ-ăla

Probably the same root ăg evolved into gig in another Mauteran language, Siboli.

Phonology

consonants	labial	alveolar	emphatic	palatal	velar	pharyngeal
nasal	m	n	nh [nˤ]	ń [ɲ]
plosive	p b	t d	th [tˤ] dh [dˤ]		k g
affricate		c [ts] z [dz]		ć [tɕ] ź [dʑ]
fricative		s [s~z]	sh [sˤ~zˤ]	ś [ɕ~ʑ]		h [ħ~ʕ]
other	w	r		j		q [ʕ]

Voiceless fricatives are voiced after voiced plosives, e.g. bs [bz], bś [bʑ], bh [bʕ].

vowels	front	back
close	i	u
open	e [æ~ɛ]	a [ɑ~ɐ]

Word stress often falls on the last (closed, e.g. uśmír, araśmín) or penultimate syllable (open or closed, e.g. mínćik, śerténe). It's sometimes marked with acute accent.

Phonotactics: (s/t)(C)V(C)(C)(h/s/ś/t)
C - any consonant
V - any vowel

Consonant gradation

Some endings require consonant shift. There are five types of this sandhi: nasalization, alveolarization, palatalization, assibilation and pharyngealization.

plain (C)	nas. (N)	alv. (T)	pal. (J)	ass. (S)	phar. (H)
m	m	mt	mś	ms	mh
p	m	pt	pś	ps	ph
b	m	pt	bś	bs	bh
w	m	wt	wś	ws	q
n	n	nt	ń	ns	nh
t	n	st	ć	c	th
d	n	st	ź	z	dh
c	n	st	ć	c	th
z	n	st	ź	z	dh
s	n	st	ś	s	sh
r	n	rt	ś	s	q
nh	nh	nt	ń	n	nh
th	nh	st	ć	c	th
dh	nh	st	ź	z	dh
sh	nh	st	ś	s	sh
ń	ń	ńt	ń	ń	ńh
ć	ń	ćt	ć	ć	ćh
ź	ń	ćt	ź	ź	źh
ś	ń	śt	ś	ś	śh
j	ń	jt	j	j	q
k	n	kt	ć	c	h
g	n	kt	ź	z	q
h	nh	ht	ś	s	h
q	nh	qt	j	j	q

Grammar

Pronouns

Singular refers to single designate; plural is referring to many (two, three or more) and paucal to few (especially fractions) or none of something.

Person	Singular	Plural	Paucal
1.	u I	re we	re(ja) we
2.	ka thou	nika you	ska you
3.	ja he/it i she	ide they	deja they
4.	ta that	itte those	teja those
5.	eq one	the many	eja anybody

Pronoun	Demonstrative	Interrogative	Indefinite	Negative
of person	ja, i, ide, deja	erma	ema	inna
of thing	ja, ta	erta	mata	inta
of place	jahe, jathe	erthe	mathe	iqe

Declension

Nouns are inflected by four cases: Nominative, Genitive, Dative and Locative. There is also archaic Vocative and syncretic Accusative - equal to Genitive (singular, rarely plural and paucal), Nominative (plural, singular for some inanimate nouns) or Dative (paucal).

Ja śertene. - it apple.nom - This is an apple.
Hartua śertense. - eat.1sg apple.gen - I eat an apple.
Jeqqe pat śerteneja. - there none apple.pa.nom - There is no apple.
Ide śertenen. - they apple.pl.nom - There are apples.

There are three paradigms of declension. Nouns can also take definite declension: mínćik, púca, uśnúmi, mećúra are changing to minćíka, pucára, uśnumíra, mećurára.

Adjectives are declined like nouns. They are applying case and number of noun.

Case	I	E.g.	II	E.g.	III	E.g.	D	E.g.
Singular
N.	-	minćik head	-a -u	puca stomach	-e -i	uśnumi good	-(r)a	uśnumira the good one
G.	~S	minćic	~Sa	puca	~Se	uśnumse	-(a)s	uśnumis
D.	~Su	minćicu	~Su	pucu	~Su	uśnumsu	-(a)u	uśnumiu
L.	~He	minćihe	~He	puthe	~He	uśnumhe	-(a)e	uśnumie
Plural
N.	~Na	minćina	-an	pucan	-en	uśnumen	-(r)an	uśnumiran
G.	~N	minćin	-u	pucu	-i	uśnumi	-(r)u	uśnumiru
D.	-ak	minćikak	-uk	pucuk	-ik	uśnumik	-(r)uk	uśnumiruk
L.	~H	minćih	~H	puth	~H	uśnumh	-(a)h	uśnumih
Paucal
N.	-a	minćika	-awa	pucawa	-eja	uśnumeja	-(h)a	uśnumiha
G.	~T	minćikt	~Ta	pusta	~Te	uśnumte	-(a)t	uśnumit
D.	~Tu	minćiktu	~Tu	pustu	~Tu	uśnumtu	-(a)tu	uśnumitu
L.	-e	minćike	-awe	pucawe	-eje	uśnumeje	-(h)e	uśnumihe

There exist also some irregular paradigms. Most of them are liquid consonant rule and ai-declension.

Case	Regular	Liquid rule		Ai rule
Singular
N.	mećura sister	kudra hand	narwa arm	gai being
G.	mećusa	kudarsa	narusa	gase
D.	mećusu	kudarsu	narusu	gasu
L.	mećuqe	kudarhe	naruhe	gahe
Plural
N.	mećuran	kudran	narwan	gajen
G.	mećuru	kudru	narwu	gaji
D.	mećuruk	kudruk	narwuk	gajik
L.	mećuq	kudarh	naruh	gah
Paucal
N.	mećurawa	kudra(wa)	nar(wa)wa	ga(je)ja
G.	mećurta	kudarta	naruta	gate
D.	mećurtu	kudartu	narutu	gatu
L.	mećurawe	kudrawe	nar(wa)we	ga(je)je

Verbs

Verbs are inflecting by person, number, tense, aspect and mood. They also have gerundium, declining as noun. There are four types of conjugation.

1. Stem ending with consonant, e.g. marud- - to see.

Person	Singular	Plural	Paucal
Gerund	maruźi	Supine	maruzu
Active	marudhe	Passive	marudat
Present
1.	maruda	maruder	marudera
2.	marudek	maruden	marudeka
3.	marude
4.	marudet
5.	marudeh
Present Continuous
1.	gara marudhe	gar marudhe	gara marudhe
2.	gak marudhe	gan marudhe	akka marudhe
3.	ga marudhe
4.	at marudhe
5.	ah marudhe
Future
1.	gara maruzu	gar maruzu	gara maruzu
2.	gak maruzu	gan maruzu	akka maruzu
3.	ga maruzu
4.	at maruzu
5.	ah maruzu
Past
1.	marusta	marustar	marustara
2.	marustak	marustan	marustaka
3.	marust
4.	marustat
5.	marustah
Past Continuous
1.	aza marudhe	azar marudhe	azara marudhe
2.	azak marudhe	azan marudhe	aska marudhe
3.	aza marudhe
4.	ast marudhe
5.	ash marudhe
Subjunctive
1.	aza maruzu	azar maruzu	azara maruzu
2.	azak maruzu	azan maruzu	aska maruzu
3.	aza maruzu
4.	ast maruzu
5.	ash maruzu
Conditional
1.	marudhera	marudher	marudhera
2.	marudhek	marudhen	marudheka
3.	marudhere
4.	marudhet
5.	marudh
Imperative
1.	maruzera	maruzer	maruzera
2.	maruz	maruzen	maruzeka
3.	maruz
4.	maruzet
5.	maruzeh

2. Stem ending with back vowel, e.g. hartu- - to eat.

Person	Singular	Plural	Paucal
Gerund	hartui	Supine	hartu
Active	hartha	Passive	hartuat
Present
1.	hartua	hartur	hartura
2.	hartuk	hartun	hartuka
3.	hartu
4.	hartut
5.	hartuh
Present Continuous
1.	gara hartha	gar hartha	gara hartha
2.	gak hartha	gan hartha	akka hartha
3.	ga hartha
4.	at hartha
5.	ah hartha
Future
1.	gara hartu	gar hartu	gara hartu
2.	gak hartu	gan hartu	akka hartu
3.	ga hartu
4.	at hartu
5.	ah hartu
Past
1.	harsta	harstar	harstara
2.	harstak	harstan	harstaka
3.	harst
4.	harstat
5.	harstah
Past Continuous
1.	aza hartha	azar hartha	azara hartha
2.	azak hartha	azan hartha	aska hartha
3.	aza hartha
4.	ast hartha
5.	ash hartha
Subjunctive
1.	aza hartu	azar hartu	azara hartu
2.	azak hartu	azan hartu	aska hartu
3.	aza hartu
4.	ast hartu
5.	ash hartu
Conditional
1.	harthera	harther	harthera
2.	harthek	harthen	hartheka
3.	harthere
4.	harthet
5.	harth
Imperative
1.	harcera	harcer	harcera
2.	harc	harcen	harceka
3.	harc
4.	harcet
5.	harceh

3. Stem ending with front vowel, e.g. jadi- - to care.

Person	Singular	Plural	Paucal
Gerund	jadi	Supine	jadisu
Active	jadhe	Passive	jadiat
Present
1.	jadia	jadir	jadira
2.	jadik	jadin	jadika
3.	jadi
4.	jadit
5.	jadih
Present Continuous
1.	gara jadhe	gar jadhe	gara jadhe
2.	gak jadhe	gan jadhe	akka jadhe
3.	ga jadhe
4.	at jadhe
5.	ah jadhe
Future
1.	gara jadisu	gar jadisu	gara jadisu
2.	gak jadisu	gan jadisu	akka jadisu
3.	ga jadisu
4.	at jadisu
5.	ah jadisu
Past
1.	jasta	jastar	jastara
2.	jastak	jastan	jastaka
3.	jast
4.	jastat
5.	jastah
Past Continuous
1.	aza jadhe	azar jadhe	azara jadhe
2.	azak jadhe	azan jadhe	aska jadhe
3.	aza jadhe
4.	ast jadhe
5.	ash jadhe
Subjunctive
1.	aza jadisu	azar jadisu	azara jadisu
2.	azak jadisu	azan jadisu	aska jadisu
3.	aza jadisu
4.	ast jadisu
5.	ash jadisu
Conditional
1.	jadhera	jadher	jadhera
2.	jadhek	jadhen	jadheka
3.	jadhere
4.	jadhet
5.	jadh
Imperative
1.	jazera	jazer	jazera
2.	jaz	jazen	jazeka
3.	jaz
4.	jazet
5.	jazeh

4. Irregular verb, eg. ag- - to be.

Person	Singular	Plural	Paucal
Gerund	źi	Supine	zu
Active	aqa	Passive	-
Present
1.	gara	gar	gara
2.	gak	gan	akka
3.	ga
4.	at
5.	ah
Present Continuous
1.	gara aqa	gar aqa	gara aqa
2.	gak aqa	gan aqa	akka aqa
3.	ga aqa
4.	at aqa
5.	ah aqa
Future
1.	zura	zur	zura
2.	zuk	zun	zuka
3.	zuga/zure
4.	zut
5.	zuh
Past
1.	aza	azar	azara
2.	azak	azan	aska
3.	aza
4.	ast
5.	ash
Past Continuous
1.	aza aqa	azar aqa	azara aqa
2.	azak aqa	azan aqa	aska aqa
3.	aza aqa
4.	ast aqa
5.	ash aqa
Subjunctive
1.	zuza	zuzar	zuzara
2.	zuzak	zuzan	zuska
3.	zuza
4.	zust
5.	zush
Conditional
1.	qera	qer	qera
2.	qek	qen	qeka
3.	qere
4.	qet
5.	qe
Imperative
1.	zera	zer	zera
2.	ze	zen	zeka
3.	ze
4.	zet
5.	zeh

Syntax

Qasnimista is mainly VSO. Adjectives and adverbs are usually placed before nouns and verbs.

Uśmir heśah uśnumen ruźitan qaśnimiśca iskans. - well speak.3pl good.pl.nom student.pl.nom Qasnimista.sg.gen language.sg.gen - Good students can speak well Qasnimista. Verbs are negated with suffixes: -in (after consonants) or -en (after vowels) and word stress movement:
hartúa (I eat) - hartuáen (I don't eat)
hártuk (you eat) - hartúkin (you don't eat)

Questions are formed with the particle ra. Negated questions are made by irna and erna:
hartúa ra? (Do I eat?) - hartuá erna? (Don't I eat?)
hártuk ra? (Do you eat?) - hartúk irna? (Don't you eat?)

CC-BY-SA by Miłosz Mazurkiewicz, 2010

plain (C)	nas. (N)	alv. (T)	pal. (J)	ass. (S)	phar. (H)
m	m	mt	mś	ms	mh
p	m	pt	pś	ps	ph
b	m	pt	bś	bs	bh
w	m	wt	wś	ws	q
n	n	nt	ń	ns	nh
t	n	st	ć	c	th
d	n	st	ź	z	dh
c	n	st	ć	c	th
z	n	st	ź	z	dh
s	n	st	ś	s	sh
r	n	rt	ś	s	q
nh	nh	nt	ń	n	nh
th	nh	st	ć	c	th
dh	nh	st	ź	z	dh
sh	nh	st	ś	s	sh
ń	ń	ńt	ń	ń	ńh
ć	ń	ćt	ć	ć	ćh
ź	ń	ćt	ź	ź	źh
ś	ń	śt	ś	ś	śh
j	ń	jt	j	j	q
k	n	kt	ć	c	h
g	n	kt	ź	z	q
h	nh	ht	ś	s	h
q	nh	qt	j	j	q

plain (C)	nas. (N)	alv. (T)	pal. (J)	ass. (S)	phar. (H)
m	m	mt	mś	ms	mh
p	m	pt	pś	ps	ph
b	m	pt	bś	bs	bh
w	m	wt	wś	ws	q
n	n	nt	ń	ns	nh
t	n	st	ć	c	th
d	n	st	ź	z	dh
c	n	st	ć	c	th
z	n	st	ź	z	dh
s	n	st	ś	s	sh
r	n	rt	ś	s	q
nh	nh	nt	ń	n	nh
th	nh	st	ć	c	th
dh	nh	st	ź	z	dh
sh	nh	st	ś	s	sh
ń	ń	ńt	ń	ń	ńh
ć	ń	ćt	ć	ć	ćh
ź	ń	ćt	ź	ź	źh
ś	ń	śt	ś	ś	śh
j	ń	jt	j	j	q
k	n	kt	ć	c	h
g	n	kt	ź	z	q
h	nh	ht	ś	s	h
q	nh	qt	j	j	q

plain (C)	nas. (N)	alv. (T)	pal. (J)	ass. (S)	phar. (H)
m	m	mt	mś	ms	mh
p	m	pt	pś	ps	ph
b	m	pt	bś	bs	bh
w	m	wt	wś	ws	q
n	n	nt	ń	ns	nh
t	n	st	ć	c	th
d	n	st	ź	z	dh
c	n	st	ć	c	th
z	n	st	ź	z	dh
s	n	st	ś	s	sh
r	n	rt	ś	s	q
nh	nh	nt	ń	n	nh
th	nh	st	ć	c	th
dh	nh	st	ź	z	dh
sh	nh	st	ś	s	sh
ń	ń	ńt	ń	ń	ńh
ć	ń	ćt	ć	ć	ćh
ź	ń	ćt	ź	ź	źh
ś	ń	śt	ś	ś	śh
j	ń	jt	j	j	q
k	n	kt	ć	c	h
g	n	kt	ź	z	q
h	nh	ht	ś	s	h
q	nh	qt	j	j	q