Yanga Kayang Grammar

Yanga Kayang Language Navigation: Home, Phonology, Grammar, Vocabulary

Yanga Kayang is a language with some agglutinative features.

Nouns

Nouns belong to one of the five noun classes of Yanga Kayang, which are labeled with Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV and V).

Names

Names in Yanga Kayang follow a particular form. Each name has three elements:

• The first is a noun class marker that agrees with the second element.
• The second, the given name, is a noun, which differs by gender, but many nouns chosen for feminine names end in i, while masculine names tend to end in a or a consonant.
• The third, the last name, is a matronymic, the individual's mother's given name preceded by one of two prefixes: Ngi(')- (“daughter of ...”) for feminine names and Ha(')- (“son of ...”) for masculine names. Before a vowel, a glottal stop is inserted after the prefix.
  • When the mother is unknown (such as for orphans) or otherwise estranged, the first-person pronoun gi (“I”) is used in place of the mother's name, and so the general matronymics Hagi (“son of myself”) (for men) and Ngigi (“daughter of myself”) (for women) are used.

Noun class markers

In order to produce a correct name, including the noun class marker, the class of the given name must be known. The noun class markers are shown in the following table:

	Singular	Plural
Class I	ingga	inya
Class II	gingya
Class III	gyangga	zhanya
Class IV	ingga	inya
Class V

Non-Liberata aliens often only use the given name to refer to a Liberata, leaving out the noun class marker.

Given names

There are two types of given names:

1. Names that are simple nouns
2. Names that mean something like "one who does ..." or "one who is like ...".

For names in the second category, the suffixes as they apply to the different noun classes are given below:

• Class I: -kshi (after vowels); -gzhi (after ng or r); -ikshi (after other consonants).
• Class II: -ngga (after vowels); -angga (after consonants).
• Class III: -ra (after vowels, g, r, ngg, gy, and zh); -ara (after other consonants).
• Class IV: -gyi (after vowels, r and ny); -igyi (after other consonants).
• Class V: -ya (causes palatal mutation; see Phonotactics for more information).

Examples

Below are some defined nouns and names which are used as a given name:

• Class I: Akhaakshi (“one who runs”); Izhikshi (“one who sings”); Kalikshi (“one who floats”); Hinyakshi (“one who dances”); Gli'iishikshi (“one who is kind”); Gyanyikshi (“one who is beautiful”); Anga'i (woman's name); Likyi (woman's name); Nga'i (woman's name); Yagyi (woman's name).
• Class II: Akhaangga (“one who runs”); Girangga (“one who walks”); Qagingga (“one who stands”); Khigyangga (“one who counts”); Gyanyingga (“one who is handsome”); Igyarangga (“one who is strong”); Anga'ya (man's name); Haagyga (man's name); Nga'ya (man's name); Aganggra (man's name).
• Class III: Kanyiki (“type of flower”); Aliihi (“type of flower”); Gii'ik (“type of tree”); Rashihi (“type of tree”); Shihara (“s/he of the river”); Gyigaanggra (“s/he of the mountain”); Haagrara (“s/he of the field”); Izhinyara (“he of the sky”, masculine name); Nyakyira (“s/he of the valley”); Igyishiira (“she of the star”, feminine name).
• Class IV: Galingigyi (“one like gold”); Iranggagyi (“one like cobalt”); Kaagikagyi (“one like copper”); Ahigigyi (“one like titanium”); Hanygyaaligyi (“one like iron”); Kyaihigyi (“one like silver”); Ai'ingigyi (“one like platinum”); Shikyika (“gem”); Gyiiraki (“feather”, feminine name); Ka'aanga (“diamond”, masculine name).
• Class V: Liqiya (“one like a building block/brick”); Gyaagigya (“one like mortar/glue”, used for industrial purposes); Arginyaya (“one like paper/parchment”); Gangazha (“one like a wall”); Haaikanya (“one like a roof”); Irganggaaya (“one like a shield”); Kigra (“spade/shovel”); Gaiga (“light”, electric); Angaa'a (“bark”, masculine name); Ikki (“sheen”, feminine name).

Note that Class I names are reserved for women, and Class II names are reserved for men. The other classes can be used for either, save where specified. As the Liberata are in contact with other aliens, they also borrow names. In such cases, male names become Class II and female names become Class I.

Nicknames

Nicknames can be formed from any given name by taking the stressed syllable followed by the next syllable. If a long vowel is present in either syllable, that vowel is shortened. If a coda consonant is present, there are two options: (1) the coda consonant is left in place, or (2) the coda consonant is deleted. This strategy generally is not used with names that are disyllabic. Below are some examples of full given names followed by their nicknames:

• Aliihi > Lihi
• Hinyakshi > Nyakshi, Nyashi
• Izhinyara > Nyara
• Kyaihigyi > Higyi
• Ai'ingigyi > Ngigyi
• Girangga > Rangga, Raga
• Anga'i > Nga'i
• Nyakyira > Kyira
• Gli'iishikshi > Shikshi, Shishi
• Haagrara > Grara

Another nickname strategy is to take the first syllable of a name and double it. Long vowels are included in the reduplicant, but coda consonants are not. When two vowels come next to one another, they're separated by a glottal stop. This strategy is more informal, as many nicknames formed using this strategy will sound identical. Here are some examples:

• Aliihi > A'a
• Likyi > Lili
• Izhinyara > I'i
• Kyaihigyi > Kyaikyai
• Ai'ingigyi > Ai'ai
• Girangga > Gigi
• Khigyangga > Khikhi
• Nyakyira > Nyanya
• Gli'iishikshi > Gligli
• Haagrara > Haahaa