Ilaksh: A Philosophical Design for a Hypothetical Language

	Home	4 Case Morphology	9 Syntax
	Introduction	5 Verb Morphology	10 Lexico-Semantics
	1 Phonology	6 More Verb Morphology	11 The Writing System
	2 Morpho-Phonology	7 Suffixes	12 The Number System
	3 Basic Morphology	8 Adjuncts	The Lexicon

Chapter 2: Morpho-Phonology

Morpho-phonology refers to how a language uses its phonemes (meaningful sounds) and phonological features (e.g., stress, tone, etc.) to generate patterns for word-formation and for morphological categories (e.g., singular versus plural, verb tense, etc.) to be applied to words.

Ilaksh morpho-phonology is primarily agglutinative and secondarily synthetic. That is, the manner in which morpho-semantic stems, inflections and derivations are formed, and how those elements combine meaningfully into words, is primarily via affixation and secondarily via phonetic modification of the word stem itself. Specifically, Ilaksh morpho-phonology utilizes both consonantal and vocalic mutation, shifts in syllabic stress and tone, and many different kinds of affixes, including prefixes, suffixes, infixes and interfixes.

2.1.1 The Structure of Ilaksh Words

As will be discussed later in Section 2.6, the part of speech in Ilaksh which corresponds to nouns and verbs in Western languages is called a formative. The morphological structure of the Ilaksh formative can be shown by the following formula:

((VL +) Ci + Vc (+ Cx + Vp) +) (Cm +) Cr + Vr + Ca (+ VxC ) (+ VF (+ Cb)) [+ tone] [+ stress]

The above terms, other than Vr and Ca refer to various consonantal and/or vocalic affixes. Cr and Vr correspond to the word-stem itself which is dicussed below in Section 2.2. All of the terms shown in gray are optional. However, as indicated by the pattern of parentheses in the formula, the presence of certain terms requires the presence of others.. A brief, preliminary explanation of these terms is given in the following chart.

As an example of part of the above structure in actual use, shown below is an analytical breakdown of the Ilaksh word uccuẹilšrokö’z (listen ). The stem of this word, cu + low tone meaning ‘sheep,’ has been completely transformed into a word containing no less than 16 morphemes (i.e., sixteen semantically distinct word-components). These morphemes and the mutation and affixation process by which they combine to create this word can be analyzed as follows:

APPROXIMATE TRANSLATION: ‘concerning a hypothetically puzzling desire for an end to everything having to do with ewe-wool clothing’

2.2.2 Disambiguation of Specific Affixes Within Words

Because many of the terms in the above morphological formula are optional, the reader might easily wonder how a speaker/reader of Ilaksh, when looking at or hearing an Ilaksh word, can possibly know which terms are actually shown in any given word, i.e., how to interpret from the given consonants and vowels in a particular word which of the optional morphological categories is being displayed or spoken. In fact, such interpretation is indeed possible and is unambiguous due to the specific allowable consonant or vowel combinations allowed for each term, i.e., the specific consonantal or vocalic values allowed for one term are distinct from those allowed for another term which might occupy the same sequential position in a specific word. Also, as previously stated in Section 2.1.1 above and as indicated by the pattern of parentheses in the ((VL +) Ci + Vc (+ Cx + Vp) +) (Cm +) Cr + Vr + Ca (+ VxC ) (+ VF (+ Cb)) [+ tone][+ stress] morphological formula, the presence of certain terms e.g., VL, requires the presence of other terms (Ci + Vc), in order to maintain a discernible sequence which can be unambiguously differentiated.

All words in Ilaksh which translate into English as nouns or verbs are based on a monosyllabic stem, which in turn derives from an semantically abstract root. This process is explained in the sections below.

2.2.1 The Root

The root in Ilaksh forms the semantic basis from which actual noun/verb stems are derived. The root consists of a combination of a consonantal form, Cr, plus one of five vowels Vr, plus one of six tones. The Cr consonantal form can consist of a single consonant or a consonant cluster. There are 120 possible Cr consonantal forms. Combined with the five Vr vowels and six tones, this renders 3600 possible roots. Example roots are tâ- or ksù-.

The root is the basic semantic unit in Ilaksh. For example, dá- is a root whose semantic referent is NAME/DESIGNATION. To generate functional word-stems (or simply stems) from the roots, the CR consonantal form can be mutated and the syllabic stress of the word containing the root can be shifted. Such consonant mutation and stress shifting is described below.

2.2.2 The Stem

There are three stems associated with each root. It is at the level of stem that Ilaksh roots become actual words with instantiated meaning. Each stem in turn manifests itself in three separate Patterns. Pattern is shown by mutation of the CR consonantal form (i.e., modifying the consonant or consonant cluster into another consonant or consonant cluster). The three stems are shown by the syllabic stress of the word containing the root, either ultimate (stress on the last syllable of the word), penultimate (stress on the second-to-last syllable), or antepenultimate (third-from-last syllable).

2.2.3 Pattern

The three patterns are labeled Pattern 1, Pattern 2, and Pattern 3. Pattern is used to divide a stem into a tripartite grouping consisting of a holistic stem and two complementary sub-stems. An example would be the holistic stem spouse, with its two complementary sub-stems husband and wife. This holistic versus complementary distinction is discussed at length below in Section 2.4. This distinction of holistic versus complementary patterns is one way in which Ilaksh systematizes at the morphological level what in other languages constitute lexical distinctions (i.e., differences in word-choice when translating). It is one of the many ways by which Ilaksh can function fully as a conceptually sophisticated and subtle language while having such a small number of semantic word roots.

As stated earlier, there are 120 distinct Cr consonantal forms. Each of these can mutate into two other forms, giving a total of three possible manifestations of each Cr form. These are labelled Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C. The three grades of all 120 Cr forms are shown in Table No. 3 below.

Table No. 3: Cr Mutation Patterns by Grade

We can now examine how each root instantiates meaning into the above array of stems. We will start with the three stems associated with Pattern 1; these are the holistic stems. This will be followed in a subsequent section by an analysis of the twelve stems associated with Patterns 2 and 3, the complementary stems.

2.4.1 Holistic Stems

The three stems for Pattern 1 are designated by Grade 1 mutation, plus penultimate, ultimate, and antepenultimate stress respectively, as previously stated in Sec. 2.2.2 above. Thus, the previously mentioned root -dá- generates the following stems:

1. dá- ‘name of something or someone; to name something or someone’
2. adá- ‘designation or reference; to assign a designation, to refer to something’
3. áda(la)*- ‘a (temporary or informal) reference, “nickname”; to give a (temporary or informal) reference or name to, to (temporarily) nickname’

* The -la- syllable shown here (and in subsequent examples below) is not part of the stem but merely indicates that this stem, when used as an actual word, would bear antepenultimate stress, thus requiring the addition of an additional syllable, acccomplished by adding any of numerous required suffixes which we will begin to explore in Chapter 3.

The semantic relationship between each stem and the underlying root is specific to each root. Nevertheless, certain patterns are common. Stem 1 usually refers to the most fundamental, basic, generalized, or common manifestation of the root concept, while Stem 2 is a more specific application or tangible manifestation thereof, or otherwise a subset of the meaning of Stem 1. Stem 3 may represent yet a further manifestation of the root, a further subset of Stem 1, or a tangential or related concept. For example, compare the relationship between the individual stems for the root dá above with that of the Form I root xá (‘VISION/SIGHT’) below.

1. xá-‘a sighting, an act of seeing something; to see something’
2. axá- ‘an eye; to be an eye/become an eye/use one’s eye, etc.’
3. áxa(la)- ‘an image in one’s mind; to visualize, to picture in one’s mind’

Note that each stem carries both a nominal (noun) and a verbal meaning. This will be important later when we discuss parts of speech and nominal/verbal morphology.

2.4.2 Complementary Stems

Any Ilaksh stem is capable of being further broken down into two complementary stems which represent mutually exclusive component parts of the main stem. Many Ilaksh stems which translate common English nouns and verbs are, in fact, such complementary derivatives, rather than being holistic word-stems.

By “complementary” is meant that the manifestation of a concept appears in any given context as either one sort of entity or another, but never both simultaneously; yet, neither manifestation can be considered to be a discrete contextual whole without the existence of the other. In Ilaksh, for example, words such as male, night, speech, sit, and happen are not considered basic concepts, but rather are parts of greater holistic concepts, existing in complementary relationship to another part, the two together making up the whole.

Thus, Ilaksh lexical structure recognizes that the word male has no meaning in and of itself without an implicit recognition of its complementary partner, female, the two words mutually deriving from a more basic, holistic concept, translatable into English as living being. Similarly, the word night(time) derives along with its complement day(time) from the underlying concept translatable as day (i.e., a 24-hour period), while the concept of speak(ing) divides into complementary concepts of talking (focusing on the physical production of oral sound) versus saying/telling (focusing on the communicative content of oral sound).

Actions, too, are not exempt from this principle of complementarity, an example being the relationship between sit and seat; one has no meaning without an implicit and joint partnership with the other, i.e., one cannot sit unless one sits upon something, and whatever one sits upon in turn functions as a seat. Another example involves the word happen or occur, which Ilaksh recognizes as having no real meaning without the attendant implication of consequence or result, the two being complementary components of a holistic concept roughly translatable as event or situation.

2.4.2.1 Using Patterns 2 and 3 to Derive Complementary Stems. The first complementary stem is derived from the holistic stem by mutation of the holistic stem consonant from Pattern 1 into Pattern 2, e.g., k → kt , while the second complementary stem is derived by mutation from Pattern 1 into Pattern 3, e.g., k → kk . Several examples of complementary stem derivation are given below:

2.4.2.2 Complementary Stems in Translation. As illustrated above, the structure of Ilaksh holistic vs. secondary complementary roots often neatly parallels English lexical distinctions, e.g., ‘speak/speech’ breaking down into the physical aspect of ‘talking’ versus the communicative aspect of ‘saying/telling’ or ‘person’ breaking down into ‘male’ and ‘female.’ However, it is often the case that this principle of complementarity creates a semantic situation which is counterintuitive to Western semantic notions.

For example, let us analyze the root kmè ‘NUCLEAR FAMILY MEMBER’. While most languages would consider the concept parent as fundamentally opposite from the concept child and assign separate word-roots to each, Ilaksh recognizes that one implies the other. No person can be a parent unless they've had a child, just as any child must have (or have had) parents. This, then, constitutes an archetypal complementary relationship, the whole two-sided nature of which is referred to by the holistic stem kmè. One way to interpret the meaning, then, of kmè is to say that the word means both ‘parent’ and ‘child,’ which of course strikes a Westerner as being problematical, perhaps even non-sensical. But in fact, the word does not mean either ‘parent’ or‘ child,’ but rather a person who is one of the members of a parent-child relationship, i.e., a member of a nuclear family. With such a root, Stem 2 and Stem 3 in turn subdivide Stem 1 into the further complementary derivatives of male and female. Such “bi-level” derivations of complementary concepts using Stem 2 and Stem 3 are common in Ilaksh root/stem derivation. Here then are the actual meanings of the stems for kmè.

Additional conceptual complementary pairs which would be contained within single Ilaksh lexical roots are illustrated by the following examples:

In addition to the mutation of the 120 Cr consonantal forms, each of the five vowels used to form roots can in turn mutate into 95 variations for a total of 96 mutations, termed Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, etc., all the way to Series 96. This mutation of the root vowel is used to show a morphological category called Case which will be analyzed in Chapter 4. These series of vowel mutations are shown in Tables 4(a) through (f) below.

Tables 4(a)-(f): Vocalic Mutation Series

Ilaksh has only two parts of speech: formatives and adjuncts. While there are words which function as nouns and verbs, such nouns and verbs derive morphologically from the same grammatical stem (its nominal or verbal function or meaning being dependent on the particular morpho-semantic context), hence the term formative. This process of noun/verb derivation from formatives is discussed in detail in Section 2.6.1 below. Note that there are no adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, particles or interjections in Ilaksh, at least not at any autonomous lexical level that can be termed a part of speech. The equivalents to, or substitutes for, these latter Western grammatical notions all exist within the formative-adjunct morphological paradigm.

Another dissimilarity with Western languages is that there are no irregular or defective forms; all formatives and adjuncts follow the same inflectional and derivational rules without exception and all formatives are theoretically capable of semantic denotation for every inflectional or derivational category, i.e., all inflectionally or derivationally possible words theoretically exist and have meaning (although, in actuality, some forms will, of course, be semantically anomalous, redundant, contrived, or distinguish shades of meaning that are contextually unnecessary).

2.6.1 Formatives

The stem formed as per the discussion in Section 2.3 above constitutes the grammatical part of speech termed the formative. All formatives, without exception, can function as both nouns or verbs, and the distinction as to whether a formative is to be interpreted as a noun or a verb can only be made by analyzing its derivational morphology and syntactical relationship to the rest of the sentence. Consequently, there are no stems/formatives that refer only to nouns or only to verbs as in Western languages. The formative ùklo- illustrated above in Section 2.4.2 means both ‘river’ and ‘to flow/run (as a river)’ with neither meaning being seen as more intrinsic or fundamental, nor one deriving from the other. Such hierarchies of nominal over verbal meaning (or vice-versa) arise only in translating Ilaksh to English or other Western languages, where such nominal versus verbal lexical constraints are inherent. Often, the interpretation or translation of an Ilaksh formative exclusively into a noun or verb form is arbitrary.

The reason why nouns and ve