morphology
the morpheme inventory
Kawaba is built from just 130 single syllable morphemes, the smallest possible units of meaning. These morphemes are divided into two groups:
- 110 lexical roots – express the core meaning of words
- 20 grammatical markers – express relationships between words
lexical roots
Lexical roots are the building blocks that express the core meaning of Kawaba words. They are generated exhaustively from all possible CV(n) combinations, with no gaps and no homophones. More complex concepts are assigned to the longer syllables ending in /n/, while the shorter syllables are reserved for more basic concepts.
| group | shape | count |
|---|---|---|
| basic roots | CV | 55 |
| additional roots | CVn | 55 |
grammatical markers
Grammatical markers are the structure that expresses the relationships between words. They have a distinct (n)V(n) syllable structure that no lexical root can take. There are four series of grammatical markers, grouped by shape.
| group | shape | count |
|---|---|---|
| word class prefixes | V | 5 |
| clause class particles | Vn | 5 |
| prepositions | nV | 5 |
| conjunctions | nVn | 5 |
word structure
A lexical word in kawaba has the structure:- prefix – one of the five word class prefixes
- head – one root supplying the word's core meaning
- dependent – any number of roots narrowing the meaning of all previous roots
for example:
apunge
N-animal-above
bird, flying animal
compounding
The first root in a Kawaba word after the word class prefix is the head, which provides the core meaning of a word. Roots that follow the head are its dependents, which narrow the meaning of all the roots before them.
aka
N-kind.of
a kind of
akawa
N-kind.of-speak
language
akawaba
N-kind.of-speak-part
the language of parts
Because each dependent narrows everything before it, compounds are left-branching by default. There is only ever one possible bracketing, which keeps long compounds unambiguous.
a + ((ka + wa) + ba)
N + ((kind.of + speak) + part)
the language of parts
embedding
A compound can be embedded in another compound by placing a hyphen before it in the word, which is pronounced as secondary stress on the following syllable. The embedded compound acts as a dependent of the word as a whole, and similarly narrows the meaning of all the roots before it.
aganlako
N-group-person-small
team, band of people
agan-lako
N-group+person-small
class, group of children
lexicalisation
There is no single correct word to express a concept in Kawaba. Instead, the language allows speakers to create new words as needed to express the most relevant aspects of that concept to the conversation. A longer word is more precise, while a shorter one is more general and dependent on context, but both are correct.
apun
N-animal
animal
apunpan
N-animal-sleep
cat
apunpanmin
N-animal-sleep-house
house cat
Frequently used words may become lexicalised as the standard way of expressing a concept. A word naturally tends to settle into its most concise form over time, though its meaning should still be able to be understood from its roots. Lexicalisation is a natural and useful linguistic process, but it's important to remember that there are any number of correct ways to express a concept.