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LotM - Feb 15: Achiyitqan
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Congratulations to our very first double LotM winner severy and their language Achiyitiqan! In true severy style, this baby is full of inflection and noun classes.
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 9 Mar 2018, 11:17.

[comments] [history] Menu 1. Achiyitqan 2. Phonology 3. Morphology 4. A Note on LotM
[top]Achiyitqan

Many congratulations severy and Achiyitqan! Achiyitqan was built to resemble Native American languages, principally Inuktitut and Blackfoot - and it definitely looks the part it was intended.

[top]Phonology

Achiyitqan's phonology is inviting, in that it doesn't include ejectives. Not that ejectives are bad, but they make me cringe. The usual crew of stops are included, /p t k b d g/ as well as a representative from the uvular area, /q/. Achiyitqan does not have many fricatives, just /s ʃ h/. More notably, there is no rhotic, instead just /l/. Definitely fun!

The vowels are much more diverse in number - three heights are distinguished phonemically (phonetically, there are four), which the typical inventory of /a e i o u/. However, each of these comes in one of three varieties: the 'basic' sound, being /a e i o u/; long versions of these, /a: e: i: o: u:/, and finally each with a high tone, /á é í ó ú/. Fifteen phonemic vowels is a lot - but such a configuration doesn't leave them out of the realm of possibility for the average English speaker.

[top]Morphology

Achiyitqan is polysynthetic, and for those of you who do not know what that means, it is the ability to stuff a crap-ton of information into words. One word can express what English needs a phrase to do.

The nouns of Achiyitqan can have a lot of other morphemes packed into them, including:

  • articles
  • prepositions
  • adjectives
  • case
  • number
  • determiner


This means that "about the deep-sea molluscs" can be just that: kadacoleisslápbippaw (example totally stolen from here).

Verbal morphology is wickedly interesting and still being processed in my cranium... so here, read about it and educate yourself. I am unsure how to sum it up succinctly without losing anything important.

[top]A Note on LotM

Got suggestions for how the next LotM should be written? See something in Achiyitqan that wasn't covered and you wish it had been? Hate my guts and want to tell me? Feel free to shoot me (argylegasm) a PM with your thoughts, suggestions, and hate mail. Also feel free to drop by the LotM clan if you have other feedback, want to join in the voting process, or nominate a language!
Comments
[link] [quote] [move] [edit] [del] 20-Jun-17 06:58 [Deactivated User]
I call it "Atchiquian" it totally isn't like  Aquihian (old)
[link] [quote] [move] [edit] [del] 02-Feb-15 12:53 [Deactivated User]
So I have a confession to make. I always see stuff about  Achiyitqan around, but can never remember how to spell it, so I mentally just call it "Itchy".
Edit history
on 09/03/18 11:17-4[Deactivated User]changed irrhythmic→severy
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