Prefix Reform: Difference between revisions

From The Toaq Wiki
(add 5th tone analysis; mention lynn’s “halfway” proposal)
(transpose the tables for easier cross-comparison)
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##It is unclear how exactly they affect vocalic length. Plus, those interactions are often quite subtle and easily missed – consider {{t|bộtao}} vs. {{t|bô'otao}}. This makes prefixes hard to teach and possibly discouraging to a new learner trying to produce them in speech.
##It is unclear how exactly they affect vocalic length. Plus, those interactions are often quite subtle and easily missed – consider {{t|bộtao}} vs. {{t|bô'otao}}. This makes prefixes hard to teach and possibly discouraging to a new learner trying to produce them in speech.
#The current spelling of prefixes is not computer-friendly. They are difficult (if not impossible) to type for many and some characters, like {{T|ı̣}} often do not display correctly in many fonts. This proposal would allow for easier input and guarantee compatibility with most good fonts.
#The current spelling of prefixes is not computer-friendly. They are difficult (if not impossible) to type for many and some characters, like {{T|ı̣}} often do not display correctly in many fonts. This proposal would allow for easier input and guarantee compatibility with most good fonts.
#*There's a gotcha where {{t|e-}} (any prefix) + {{t|ano}} (any vowel-initial stem) is not {{t|ẹano}} [ˈʔĕʔĕano] but {{t|ẹ'ano}} [ˈʔɛ̆ʔɛ̆ʔaːno]. This subtlety is not explained or taught to people, and it's likewise unintuitive. Worse yet, the glottal interposition (which turns /ɛ/ and /ɛː/ into [ɛ̆ʔɛ̆]) effectively splinters vowel length into three instead of two!
#*There's a gotcha where {{t|e-}} (any prefix) + {{t|ano}} (any vowel-initial stem) is not {{t|ẹano}} [ˈʔĕʔĕano] but {{t|ẹ'ano}} [ˈʔɛ̆ʔɛ̆ʔaːno]. The latter is actually {{t|ea-}} + {{t|no}}! – but this subtlety is not explained or taught to people, and it's likewise unintuitive. Worse yet, the glottal interposition (which turns /ɛ/ and /ɛː/ into [ɛ̆ʔɛ̆]) effectively splinters vowel length into three instead of two!


==Spelling changes==
==Spelling changes==
Instead of putting the tone mark on the first syllable, put it on the first syllable of the stem. In the case of a word with {{Done|1}}, use {{Tone|6}} as the diacritic.
Instead of putting the tone mark on the first syllable, put it on the first syllable of the stem. In the case of a word with {{Done|1}}, use {{Tone|6}} as the diacritic. Examples:
 
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Examples
!Official
!Official
|{{t|mụfoaq}}
|{{t|lạ́maı}}
|{{t|tọ̈ꝡa}} <small>{{red|''(invalid word)''}}</small>
|{{t|bộtao}}
|-
!Proposal
!Proposal
|-
|{{t|mụfoaq}}
|{{t|mufòaq}}
|{{t|mufòaq}}
|-
|{{t|lạ́maı}}
|{{t|lamáı}}
|{{t|lamáı}}
|-
|{{t|tọ̈ꝡa}} <small>{{red|''(invalid word)''}}</small>
|{{t|toꝡä}}
|{{t|toꝡä}}
|-
|{{t|bộtao}}
|{{t|botâo}}
|{{t|botâo}}
|}
|}
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{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!Official
!Official
|{{t|puchụmtao}} || [ˈpuː˥˨t͡ɕŭʔŭm˨˩tʰaw˩]
| rowspan=2 |
|{{t|jı̣achia}} || [ˈd͡ʑĭʔĭa˥˨t͡ɕia˨˩]
| rowspan=2 |
|{{t|lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı}} || [ˈlăʔă˨˦maj˦˥ ˈbɛ̆ʔɛ̆j˨˩rɔj˩]
| rowspan=2 |
| colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | N/A
| rowspan=2 |
| {{t|jụ̂aqjuaı}} || [ˈd͡ʑŭʔŭaŋ˧˥˨d͡ʑu˨˩aj˩]
|-
!Proposal
!Proposal
|-
|{{t|puchumtào}} || [pu˥t͡ɕum˥˦ˈtaːw˦˩]
|{{t|puchụmtao}} [ˈpuː˥˨t͡ɕŭʔŭm˨˩tʰaw˩]
|{{t|jıachìa}} || [d͡ʑia˥˦ˈt͡ɕiːa˦˩]
|{{t|puchumtào}} [pu˥t͡ɕum˥˦ˈtaːw˦˩]
|{{t|lamáı beıróı}} || [la˧ˈmaj˧˥ bɛj˧˨ˈrɔj˨˩]
|-
|{{t|toꝡä}} || [tʰo˧˨ˈjaʔa˨˩]
|{{t|jı̣achia}} [ˈd͡ʑĭʔĭa˥˨t͡ɕia˨˩]
|{{t|juaqjûaı}} || [d͡ʑuaŋ˧˦ˈd͡ʑuː˦˥˨aj˨˩]
|{{t|jıachìa}} [d͡ʑia˥˦ˈt͡ɕiːa˦˩]
|-
|{{t|lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı}} [ˈlăʔă˨˦maj˦˥ ˈbɛ̆ʔɛ̆j˨˩rɔj˩]
|{{t|lamáı beıróı}} [la˧ˈmaj˧˥ bɛj˧˨ˈrɔj˨˩]
|-
| style="background:#ccc" |N/A
|{{t|toꝡä}} [tʰo˧˨ˈjaʔa˨˩]
|-
|{{t|jụ̂aqjuaı}} [ˈd͡ʑŭʔŭaŋ˧˥˨d͡ʑu˨˩aj˩]
|{{t|juaqjûaı}} [d͡ʑuaŋ˧˦ˈd͡ʑuː˦˥˨aj˨˩]
|}
|}


Line 65: Line 62:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!Official
!Official
|{{t|puchụmtao}}
|{{t|jı̣achia}}
|{{t|lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı}}
| style="background:#ccc" |N/A
|{{t|jụ̂aqjuaı}}
|-
!“Halfway”<ref group=note>[[Lynn]]’s idea: https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/334810940392341514/1174698020579856434</ref>
!“Halfway”<ref group=note>[[Lynn]]’s idea: https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/334810940392341514/1174698020579856434</ref>
|{{t|puchụmtao}}
|{{t|jı̣achıa}}
|{{t|lạmáı bẹıróı}}
|{{t|tọꝡä}}
|{{t|jụaqjûaı}}
|-
!Main proposal
!Main proposal
|{{t|puchumtào}}
|{{t|jıachìa}}
|{{t|lamáı beıróı}}
|{{t|toꝡä}}
|{{t|juaqjûaı}}
|-
!This idea
!This idea
|-
|{{t|puchụmtao}}
|{{t|puchụmtao}}
|{{t|puchumtào}}
!{{t|pū chūm tao}}
!{{t|pū chūm tao}}
|-
|{{t|jı̣achia}}
|{{t|jı̣achıa}}
|{{t|jıachìa}}
!{{t|jīa chıa}}
!{{t|jīa chıa}}
|-
|{{t|lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı}}
|{{t|lạmáı bẹıróı}}
|{{t|lamáı beıróı}}
!{{t|lā máı bēı róı}}
!{{t|lā máı bēı róı}}
|-
| style="background:#ccc" |N/A
|{{t|tọꝡä}}
|{{t|toꝡä}}
!{{t|tō ꝡä}}
!{{t|tō ꝡä}}
|-
|{{t|jụ̂aqjuaı}}
|{{t|jụaqjûaı}}
|{{t|juaqjûaı}}
!{{t|jūaq jûaı}}
!{{t|jūaq jûaı}}
|}
|}

Revision as of 17:43, 16 November 2023

Prefix Reform is a proposal by uakci to change how prefixes interact with the stems of words.

Note: the two parts of the proposal, Spelling changes and Pronunciation changes, could be considered independently of each other.

Reasons

  1. Prefixes currently act weird.
    1. They are unable to interact with glottal tone. This proposal would allow prefixes to go on words with glottal tone.
    2. It is unclear how exactly they affect vocalic length. Plus, those interactions are often quite subtle and easily missed – consider bộtao vs. bô'otao. This makes prefixes hard to teach and possibly discouraging to a new learner trying to produce them in speech.
  2. The current spelling of prefixes is not computer-friendly. They are difficult (if not impossible) to type for many and some characters, like ı̣ often do not display correctly in many fonts. This proposal would allow for easier input and guarantee compatibility with most good fonts.
    • There's a gotcha where e- (any prefix) + ano (any vowel-initial stem) is not ẹano [ˈʔĕʔĕano] but ẹ'ano [ˈʔɛ̆ʔɛ̆ʔaːno]. The latter is actually ea- + no! – but this subtlety is not explained or taught to people, and it's likewise unintuitive. Worse yet, the glottal interposition (which turns /ɛ/ and /ɛː/ into [ɛ̆ʔɛ̆]) effectively splinters vowel length into three instead of two!

Spelling changes

Instead of putting the tone mark on the first syllable, put it on the first syllable of the stem. In the case of a word with falling tone, use mid-falling tone as the diacritic. Examples:

Official mụfoaq lạ́maı tọ̈ꝡa (invalid word) bộtao
Proposal mufòaq lamáı toꝡä botâo

Pronunciation changes

Stress the first syllable of the stem rather than the prefix, separating the stem from the prefixes. Stressed syllables should be louder and/or longer and/or more extreme in terms of the tone contour. Prefixes should be pronounced unstressed, with its tone “anticipating” the stem’s contour. For example, if the stem starts high, the prefixes should be high. If the stem starts lower, the prefixes should be there as well. Unstressed syllables should strive to be quiet, short(ened), and minimal in terms of tone contour or just pronounced as level tone.

Illustrative examples:

Official puchụmtao [ˈpuː˥˨t͡ɕŭʔŭm˨˩tʰaw˩] jı̣achıa [ˈd͡ʑĭʔĭa˥˨t͡ɕia˨˩] lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı [ˈlăʔă˨˦maj˦˥ ˈbɛ̆ʔɛ̆j˨˩rɔj˩] N/A jụ̂aqjuaı [ˈd͡ʑŭʔŭaŋ˧˥˨d͡ʑu˨˩aj˩]
Proposal puchumtào [pu˥t͡ɕum˥˦ˈtaːw˦˩] jıachìa [d͡ʑia˥˦ˈt͡ɕiːa˦˩] lamáı beıróı [la˧ˈmaj˧˥ bɛj˧˨ˈrɔj˨˩] toꝡä [tʰo˧˨ˈjaʔa˨˩] juaqjûaı [d͡ʑuaŋ˧˦ˈd͡ʑuː˦˥˨aj˨˩]

The value of this proposal, apart from more flexibility and less ambiguity, is that stems no longer alternate between stressed and unstressed depending on whether they have prefixes attached to them (think juıtaq vs. bụjuı). As another pleasant side effect, polyrakuic words in glottal tone are now possible (like äımu, which before was ambiguous with the mid-falling allotonal forms of ạımu and ạ́ımu).

Thinking clitically – a fifth tone

Let us think about clitics – little segments of words that attach to other words rather than forming full units. For instance, in English, the possessive marker ’s can attach to words like California’s reputation or entire phrases like my most beloved partner’s necklace or that one guy we saw in the street’s student card. But then there’s nothing stopping us from spelling it as a separate word: California ’s reputation, for instance.

Similarly in Toaq, but let’s for a moment assume that the clitical “prefix toneme” is spelled like flat tone (as a macron). Its pronunciation is outlined above, but we could summarize it as a mid-flat tone that also nullifies vowel length: jıa /dʑiːa˥˩/ but jīa /dʑia˧/. Putting this together into a new table:

Official puchụmtao jı̣achıa lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı N/A jụ̂aqjuaı
“Halfway”[note 1] puchụmtao jı̣achıa lạmáı bẹıróı tọꝡä jụaqjûaı
Main proposal puchumtào jıachìa lamáı beıróı toꝡä juaqjûaı
This idea pū chūm tao jīa chıa lā máı bēı róı tō ꝡä jūaq jûaı
  1. ↑ Lynn’s idea: https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/334810940392341514/1174698020579856434

With this in mind, we may look at the neat symmetry in which focus markers behave when alternated between their inherent rising tone and this new flat tone:

luı do jí súq kú tú maoja
‘I have given you all the apples.’
luı do jí súq kū tú maoja
‘I have given you all the apples.’

See also

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