Standard Baphian Grammar
Written by Charli Noelle
Contents
1. Phonology
2. Grammar
2.1. Cases and plurality
2.1.1. Vocative
2.2. Nouns and adjectives
2.2.1. Animacy
2.3. Pronouns
2.4. Verbs
2.5. Tense
2.6. Aspects
2.6.1 Conditional
2.8. Voice
2.8.1. Passive
2.8.2. Reflexive
3. Syntax
1. Phonology
[ ] denotes the romanization, otherwise the IPA is the romanization
| Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ [ng] |
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g |
| Sibilant | s z | ɕ [sh] ʑ [zh] tɕ [c] dʑ [j] | |
| Fricative | f v | h | |
| Approximant | w | l [l, r]* | j [y] |
* [l] or [r] can be used interchangibly in the romanization
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Middle | ɛ̝ [e] | o̞ [o] |
| Open | ä [a] |
Baphian has phonemic consonant and vowel length, this is shown in both the romanization and in Baphian writing by doubling the letter that is being lengthened.
Baphian has 2 tones, high and low tone, this is also known as pitch accent. Baphian pitch accent is allophonic with stress as well, with stress being more specifically allophonic with the high pitch. In the IPA, the high pitch ([´]) follows the vowel, and with the romanization having several different ways to show pitch. The most common way is overlining the syllable that is pitched up, and that's what I'll use throughout this document, but underlining, and bolding also work where overlining isn't an option, with low pitch being left alone.
2. Grammar
Baphian grammar is agglutanitive, meaning that pieces of grammar get attached (or glued) to the end of a word, without much variation. What variation there is still holds information, specifically animacy, which I'll talk about later. Baphian grammar all things considered is very regular. Much of what this means is that the original word doesn't change at all despite new meaning being attached by the bits of grammar being attached to it. This means that you won't have to remember a lot of different forms of words, just the bit of grammar and where it goes on to the original word, most of the time just being the end of the word.
2.1. Cases and plurality
Baphian has 7 cases, nominative, accusative, dative, genetive, ablative, locative, and the vocative. All of these opporate how you'd expect them to if you know how they work, except for the vocative, which I'll explain again, later. I'll explain what these cases mean for those who don't know, and to be more explicit for what it means for Baphian for those who do.
The nominative is the subject of the sentence. The subject is the word doing the verb of the sentence generally. I'm using that language very delibratly, because in Baphian, the subject, and the object for that matter, isn't going to necessarily be a noun. Put a pin in that.
2.1.1. Vocative
2.2. Nouns and adjectives
You remember that pin from later? About how the subject or object of a sentence in Baphian isn't going to necessarily be a noun? I'll explain that now. In Baphian, nouns and adjectives are treated one in the same. How do we differantiate the two? Well, usually by context and the modifying usage of the vocative that I explained earlier. To put it in another way, in Baphian, red isn't necessarily just the adjective describing something as the colour red, it's also the noun 'red one/thing'. And this brings me to a very interesting quirk of Baphian that I personally love a whole lot.
In Baphian, you can turn *any* noun into an adjective, simply by slapping the vocative to the end and putting it in front of whatever you're trying to get it to modify. For example, in Baphian there isn't a word for hairy necessarily, you can make one just by adding the vocative to the word for hair. And for adjectives to nouns, you simply do nothing! They already act as nouns whether something modifies it or not. I hope you get what I'm trying to say with this. Basically, anything can be used to describe anything. And I truly do mean that, including verbs. While verbs can't just be turned into adjectives without being turned into nouns first, which I'll explain how to later, you can use any word to describe any other word.
In Baphian, the 'hairy red (thing)' and the 'red hair' are made simply by switching the head noun around.