IKw

Xup, a language of Xupux

M.M.N.H.

A descriptive grammar

2024
Dedicated to gan Minhó; you were a good one

Class: artlang
Version: 0.5
Date: 21 October, 2024

©opyright 4 October, 2024 mareck

| Contents

0 Introduction 3 2.3 Applicatives . . . . . . . . . . . 11

0.1 Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.4 Tense & reality . . . . . . . . . . 11
0.2 External history . . . . . . . . . 3 2.5 Evidentiality & mood . . . . . . 12
2.6 Phasal polarity . . . . . . . . . . 13
1 Phonology 5
1.1 Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3 Nouns 15
1.2 Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.1 Vowel taxophony . . . . 6 Appendices 16
1.3 Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 Phonotactics . . . . . . . . . . . 6 A Verbs 17
1.5 Lenition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
B Nouns 18
2 Verbs 9
2.1 Transitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 C Lexical highlights 19
2.2 Agreement & orientation . . . . 9 C.1 Posture verbs . . . . . . . . . . 19

2
0 | Introduction

In this book I shall explore and describe the Xup language of the Xup people.

0.1 | Conventions

In this book, I shall use blue text for Xup words, whether they be in orthographic transcription or
non-bracketed phonemic transcription (common).
Forward slashes with blue text (/example/) are used for phonemic transcription, square brackets
([example]) are used for phonetic transcription, and blue-text angle brackets (⟨example⟩) are used
for orthographic transcription.
Underlined text (which may sometimes be enclosed by ‘single quotes’) is used for translations,
sans-serif text is used for important terms, italicized text is used for normal emphasis, and SMALL
CAPS is used for glossed terms. “Scare quotes” are used for non-standard, ironic, or otherwise deviant
usages of terms; and ‹chevrons› are used for certain notations.
Glosses are structured as follows:

(0.1) transcription
native script
morphemic transcription (object language)
morphemic transcription (metalanguage)
‘translation’

Ungrammatical, infelicitous, or otherwise “bad” glosses are preceded by an asterisk ‹*›.

When used as examples to demonstrate a particular grammatical feature, the morphemic metalan-
guage transcription will usually only contain the relevant information.

0.2 | External history

The Xup language is a speedlang (a conlang created within a time restraint) created by me, mareck
(M.M.N.H.). It was created within the timeframe of Saturday, October 4ᵗʰ, 2024, to Monday, October
21ˢᵗ, 2024. The challenge was proposed by me.
The following creative restraints have been made:

• have ‹λ›

– bonus: have ‹ƛ›

• have a phonological domain edge effect

• have word order

3
Chapter 0. Introduction 4

• have phasal polarity

• have >4 xor <2 tense/aspect morphemes

– bonus: have >4 xor <2 mood/evidentiality morphemes

With the following tasks:

• do a lexicon showcase

• translate and gloss five (5) acceptably-sourced sentences

• document and showcase the language

• submit

• bonus: do something spooky

• bonus: say ‘hi’ to Miacomet!

• bonus: submit a sentence to the 5MOYD Sentence Submission Form

The letter ‹ƛ› is used for the coronal lateral plosive /ƛ/, and ‹λ› for the parasitic lateral morpheme
/λ/ (Ch. 1 and § 2.4). The domain edge effect is the deletion of lexical high tones at the right edge
of a phrase (§ 1.3). Word order is determined by focus (§ 2.2). Phasal polarity is explained in § 2.6.
There is one tense/aspect morpheme (§ 2.4), and there are six evidentiality/mood morphemes (§ 2.5).
This document in and of itself documents and showcases the language, satisfying the relevant
task; acceptably-sourced example sentences are found throughout, and the lexicon showcase is found
in App. C.
During this speedlang, I kind of got distracted by my other current conlang, Khiw, which is chug-
ging along nicely. In fact, this whole speedlang was a bit of an excuse to play around with potential
Khiw things (specifically, getting comfortable with phasal polarity stuff). Also, getting in 5MOYD
translations in situ rather than making up rather boring example sentences.
Regardless, I’m afraid this document is rather sparse due to my aforementioned issues. I have a lot
of incoherent notes in a .txt file. It was fun playing around with a looser phonology (I am usually
very picky about clusters). I don’t imagine I’ll revisit this conlang, but anything could happen.
1 | Phonology

In this chapter, I explore the sounds and related phenomena of Xup. This includes abstract (phone-
mic1 ) and concrete (phonetic) forms, as well as suprasegmental units. Orthography is detailed in
the next chapter. I shall use (a modified) off IPA for phonemic transcription, and can IPA2 for phonetic
transcription.

1.1 | Consonants

There are seventeen consonant phonemes in Xup:

labial coronal dorsal

lateral central sibilant velar glottal
plosive p [] ƛ [ͨ] t [] c [ͨ] k [] ʔ []
voiceless continuant f [] ł [] ꞧ [] s [] x [] h []
voiced continuant v [] l [] r [] z [] ɣ []

• /p/ is bilabial; /f v/ are labiodental

• /ƛ ł l/ are laminodental; /t ꞧ r c s z/ are apicoälveolar

• /k x ɣ/ are velar; /ʔ h/ are glottal

Consonants experience no significant taxophony.

1.2 | Vowels

There are three phonemic vowels and two diphthongs in Xup:

[͖] /u/ []

/i/ []
/au/ []

/ai/ []

/a/ [] /ai au/ [ ]

Monophthings experience little significant taxophony.

1
Wherein a phoneme is a strictly contrastive unit that is abstracted to succinctly represent various but related phonetic
surface forms.
2
See Natural Phonetics on canipa.net.

5
Chapter 1. Phonology 6

1.2.1 Vowel taxophony

Diphthongs coalesce.

• /ai au/ surface as [ ] before a coda consonant.

• else, /ai au/ surface as [ ]

• an epenthetic voiceless vowel [͖] is inserted between plosive-plosive clusters.

1.3 | Tone

There is one phonemic tone in Xup, the high tone, as well as an unmarked zero tone. The high
tone /◌́/ (ʜ) surfaces as high [], while the unmarked zero /◌/ (∅) tone surfaces as mid []. The
tone-bearing unit is the syllable.
A lexical high tone cannot occur at the right edge of a phrase: it is deleted. Independent verb
phrases take a high tone at the left edge.

1.4 | Phonotactics

Phonotactics describe the ways phonemes are organized in relation to each other, and how they are
structured within domains. The profile of the phonological word is as follows3 :

[ [ ] ]
# T? C?1 VV? C?2 C?3 σ ∗ C?4 #
ω σ

• # a word boundary; [ ] a domain

• ω a phonological word; σ a syllable

• ◌? zero or one; ◌∗ zero or more

• T tone (§ 1.3)

• C1−4 consonants; V a vowel; VV a diphthong

Singleton coda consonants may be any consonant. Consonant clusters are as follows:
3
I shall use a modified (i.e., in conjunction with regex-like conventions) version of Recursive Baerian Phonotactics Notation
(RBPN), a non-standard but infinitely more useful notation; see Blumire & Baer (2017).
Chapter 1. Phonology 7

→ p ƛ t c k ʔ → v l r z ɣ
p pƛ pt pc pk pʔ v l r z ɣ
ƛ ƛp ƛt ƛc ƛk ƛʔ l v r z ɣ
t tp tƛ tc tk tʔ r v l z ɣ
c cp cƛ ct ck cʔ z v l r ɣ
k kp kƛ kt kc kʔ ɣ v l r z
ʔ ʔp ʔƛ ʔt ʔc ʔk
f fƛ ft fc fk fʔ
ł łp łt łc łk łʔ
ꞧ ꞧp ꞧƛ ꞧc ꞧk ꞧʔ
s sp sƛ st sk sʔ
x xp xƛ xt xc xʔ
h hp hƛ ht hc hk

Voiced clusters can only occur word-medially; voiceless clusters may occur both word-medially
and -finally. Triple clusters are of the shape plosive/continuant-plosive-plosive, composed of legal
continuant-plosive and/or plosive-plosive sequences.
Cluster resolutions:

→ p ƛ t c k ʔ f ł ꞧ s x h v l r z ɣ
p p f pƛ pt pc pk pʔ v łp ɍp sp xp
ƛ ƛ ƛp ł ƛt ƛc ƛk ƛʔ fƛ l ꞧƛ sƛ xƛ
t t tp tƛ ꞧ tc tk tʔ ft łt r st xt
c c cp cƛ ct s ck cʔ fc łc ꞧc z xc
k k kp kƛ kt kc x kʔ fk łk ꞧk sk x
ʔ ʔ ʔp ʔƛ ʔt ʔc ʔk h fʔ łʔ ꞧʔ sʔ xʔ
f p f fƛ ft fc fk fʔ v łp ɍp sp xp
ł ƛ łp ł łt łc łk łʔ fƛ l ꞧƛ sƛ xƛ
ꞧ t ꞧp ꞧƛ ꞧ ꞧc ꞧk ꞧʔ ft łt r st xt
s c sp sƛ st s sk sʔ fc łc ꞧc z xc
x k xp xƛ xt xc x xʔ fk łk ꞧk sk x
h ʔ hp hƛ ht hc hk h fʔ łʔ ꞧʔ sʔ xʔ
v p fƛ ft fc fk fʔ f fƛ ft fc fk fʔ v
l łp ƛ łt łc łk łʔ łp ł łt łc łk łʔ l
r ꞧp ꞧƛ t ꞧc ꞧk ꞧʔ ꞧp ꞧƛ ꞧ ꞧc ꞧk ꞧʔ r
z sp sƛ st c sk sʔ sp sƛ st s sk sʔ z
ɣ xp xƛ xt xc k xʔ xp xƛ xt xc x xʔ ɣ
Chapter 1. Phonology 8

1.5 | Lenition

Lenition is a process that occurs. It’s seen mainly in the inverse suffix (§ 2.2).

↓ p ƛ t c k ʔ
L f ł ꞧ s x h
↓ v l r z ɣ ∅

It is also seen in compounds, where the final consonant of the first root undergoes lenition.

(1.1) xup ‘person’ + ƛáixc ‘father’ ꞊ xufƛaixc ‘dog-man’

Note how this is not simply a result of cluster resolution, as /p-ƛ/ would return /pƛ/; also note
that the second root loses its tone.
2 | Verbs

Verbs are content words that describe eventualities. They inflect for many things.

ʜ (particle) (PhP) (agreement2+1 ) verb (agreement0 )

(orientation)

(tense) (applicative) (evidentiality)

(reality) (mood)

The independent verb complex obligatorily takes a high tone ◌́ (ʜ) at the left edge, which attaches
to the first syllable at the left edge (and is obliterated if there is already a high tone). This shall be
glossed as PRE (predicate), when/if it is relevant/I remember to.

2.1 | Transitivity

All verbs are by default intransitive and unaccusative, and may be made unergative or transitive via
agreement slots and/or applicatives.

2.2 | Agreement & orientation

Agreement occurs in three places on the verb: immediately before the verb, either an agreement₁
(person/number) or a fused agreement₂+agreement₁ (number + person/number) prefix occurs; imme-
diately after the verb, an agreement₀ (person/number) suffix occurs, which is exclusive with orienta-
tion.

agreement₁ agreement₀
1SG 1PL 2SG 2PL 3SG 3PL SG PL
agreement₂

∅ ɣ(a)- x(u)- p(u)- uv(u)- ∅ t(i)- 1 -x, -k -xp, -ap

SG ɣas- xus- pus- uf- ∅ ur(u)- 2 -f, -p -p, up
PL ɣat- xit- pit- ut- it(u)- ir(i)- 3 ∅ -s, -c

Unaccusative intransitive verbs take only agreement₀, and unergative intransitive verbs take only
agreement₁.
Transitive verbs take fused agreement2+1 and an orientation suffix.

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Chapter 2. Verbs 10

Orientation describes the ranking of arguments by animacy.

DIR ∅
INV -zí, -ᴸí
LCL -ʔ, -u

Within a clause, constituents are ordered by focus, with more-focal constituents coming first, and
less-focal constituents (e.g., topics) coming last. Orientation describes how the arguments are ranked,
as ordered by focus, by animacy. The animacy hierarchy is as follows:

2 > 1 > 3 > 3′

← hi ← → lo →

With the direct (DIR), the focus (‹[+F]›) is less animate than the non-focus (‹[−F]›); with the in-
verse (INV), the focus is more animate than the non-focus.
Pronouns that are [−F] may be dropped.

(2.1) ƛáixc ɣásípku (kai) (2.2) ƛáixc kái ɣásípku

ƛáixc ɣás- íp -ku kái ƛáixc kái ɣás- íp -ku
dog SG›1SG- see.DIR -EGO 1SG dog 1SG SG›1SG- see.DIR -EGO
‘I[−F] saw the dog[+F] ’ ‘I saw[−F] the dog[+F] ’
‘the dog[+F] saw me[−F] ’ ‘the dog[+F] saw[−F] me’
(2.3) kái ɣásífíku ƛaixc (2.4) kái ƛáixc ɣásífíku
kái ɣás- íp -í -ku ƛáixc kái ƛáixc ɣás- íp -í -ku
1SG SG‹1SG- see -INV -EGO dog 1SG dog SG‹1SG- see -INV -EGO
‘I[+F] saw the dog[−F] ’ ‘I[+F] saw[−F] the dog’
‘the dog[−F] saw me[+F] ’ ‘the dog saw[−F] me[+F] ’

The local (LCL) orientation is used with speech act participant (SAP) on speech act participant
agreement, and with reflexives. With agreement2+1 with a SAP in agreement₁ position, the local
is used to indicate that agreement₂ tracks the other SAP (i.e., with 1 or 2 in agreement₁, 2 or 1 in
agreement₂, respectively).

(2.5) tíc ɣásípʔku kai (2.6) kái púsípʔí tic

tíc ɣás- íp -ʔ -ku kái kái pús- íp -ʔ -hí tíc
2SG SG›1SG- see -LCL -EGO 1SG 1SG SG›1SG- see -LCL -EXP 2SG
‘I saw you’ ‘you saw me’

With a lone agreement₁, the local is used to form reflexives.

(2.7) ɣípʔku kai (2.8) típʔkái cícaʔ

ɣ- íp -ʔ -ku kai t- íp -ʔ -xái cícáʔ
1SG- see -LCL -EGO 1SG 3PL- see -LCL -REP 3PL
‘I saw myself’ ‘they saw themselves’
Chapter 2. Verbs 11

2.3 | Applicatives

Applicatives. Not much to say, they just need to be here.

CAU -xic
BEN -sau
COM -xiʔ
LOC -tí
LAT -sús
ABL -các

2.4 | Tense & reality

Tense situates eventualities in time, and reality situates eventualities in worlds.

tense DIS -λ, -ƛ

reality IRR -(a)ri
NEG -ulu, -úlú, -ł

The discontinuous /-λ/ is a parasitic lateral morpheme, which scans the verb root right to left,
lateralizing coronal consonants (/t c, ꞧ s, r z/ → /ƛ, ł, l/). Laterals block this scanning, and if there is
no such consonant (or if it is blocked), it surfaces as a suffix /-ƛ/.
The discontinuous tense (and, the only tense marker) is used for past eventualities that (or whose
result states) no longer hold true. It cannot take mood.

(2.9) ƛuɣíh súʔáfkái @laina

ƛuɣíh súʔáv -xái @laina
window open -REP Lena
‘Lena opened the window...’ (the window is still open)

(2.10) ƛuɣíh łúʔáfkái @laina, kasixiʔkái łíłí cíkt (5MOYD #873)

ƛuɣíh súʔáv -λ -xái @laina kasi -xiʔ -xái łíłí cíkt
window open -DIS -REP Lena close -COM -REP quick 3SG
‘Lena opened the window, but closed it immediately.’ (the window is no longer open)

The irrealis reality is used for modal things, futures and the like. It cannot take evidentiality.

(2.11) tíłúpt itciƛúri cíkt (5MOYD #2059)

tí- łúpt it- siƛú -ri cíkt
2SG- tongue PL›3SG- remove -IRR 3SG
‘he will cut out your tongues’
Chapter 2. Verbs 12

The negated reality is used for nonexistent eventualities (negation).

(2.12) cakuruʔaru ɣasípúlúku kai (5MOYD #1326)

cakuruʔaru ɣas- íp -úlú -ku kái
jakuruaru lizard SG›1SG- see -NEG -EGO 1SG
‘I did not see a jakuruaru lizard’

2.5 | Evidentiality & mood

Evidentiality and mood.

evidentiality mood
EGO -ku IMP -tai
EXP -hí INT -ƛul
FAC -káu
REP -xái

The egophoric evidentiality (EGO) is used when the speaker is highly-involved in the event, while
the experiential (EXP) is used for any direct sensory evidence (regardless of and usually denoting a
lesser degree of involvement). Compare:

(2.13) lú ika ɣákítúlúhí kai (5MOYD #1243)

lú ika ɣá- kít -úlú -hí kái
NEG already 1SG- study -NEG -EXP 1SG
‘I didn’t really study yet’ (it wasn’t my fault)

(2.14) lú ika ɣákítúlúku kai (5MOYD #1243)

lú ika ɣá- kít -úlú -ku kái
NEG already 1SG- study -NEG -EGO 1SG
‘I didn’t really study yet’ (intentionally)

The factual (FAC) is used for general knowledge and things the speaker is reasonably certain of.

(2.15) kítúskáu xup

kitú -s -káu xup
eat -3PL -FAC person
‘people eat’ (in general)

(2.16) lú cili ɣatpúrácáckáu kułáu píƛ kułupíƛ savait (5MOYD #2000)

lu cili ɣat- fúrá -các -káu kułau píƛ kułupiƛ savait
NEG still PL›1SG- hang -ABL -FAC 2000 smoyd
‘i plan on stop smoyds after 2000’
Chapter 2. Verbs 13

The reported (REP) is used for reported information, hearsay, and so on.

(2.17) úrusáiríxái @tupai cífúf pafckái taiki (5MOYD #2068)

uru- sáiɍ -í -xái @tupai cí- fúf pav -c -xái taikí
SG‹3PL- dry -INV -REP Dupe 3- parent be flat -3PL -REP clothes
‘Dupe’s mother sun-dried the clothes’

The imperative mood (IMP) is used for commands and such. It varies depending on person.

(2.18) ɣákitúritai (2.19) xúkitúritai

ɣa- kitú -ri -tai xu- kitú -ri -tai
1SG- eat -IRR -IMP 1PL- eat -IRR -IMP
‘I shall eat!’ ‘let’s eat!’

(2.20) púkitúritai (2.21) úvukitúritai

pu- kitú -ri -tai uvu- kitú -ri -tai
2SG- eat -IRR -IMP 2PL- eat -IRR -IMP
‘(youSG ) eat!’ ‘(youPL ) eat!’

(2.22) kítúritai (2.23) tíkitúritai

kitú -ri -tai ti- kitú -ri -tai
eat -IRR -IMP 3PL- eat -IRR -IMP
‘may theySG eat!’ ‘may theyPL eat!’

The interrogative mood (INT) is used for questions.

(2.24) fi aƛáf púsƛípítcúsƛul (5MOYD #1983)

fi aƛáf pus- ƛípít -sús -ƛul
three day SG›2SG- stand -LAT -INT
‘will you stay for three days?’

Mood interacts with irrealis vs. unmarked in some way.

2.6 | Phasal polarity

Phasal polarity markers.

still cili
already ika

Phasal polarity stuff.

Chapter 2. Verbs 14

(2.25) cíli caicaituluhi (5MOYD #1655)

cili caicait -ulu -hí
still snow -NEG -EXP
‘there is still not snow’

(2.26) kákcku íka xitkípáizíku tútac (5MOYD #1215)

kákcku íka xit- xípáiz -í -ku tútac
1PL already PL‹1PL- take -INV -EGO seed
‘we already took the seeds’

The marker ika already may also be used to mean now.

(2.27) kítúskáu xup, íka xukitúritai (5MOYD #1181)

kitú -s -káu xup ika xu- kitú - ri- tai
eat -3PL -FAC person already 1PL- eat -IRR- IMP
‘people must eat, so let’s eat now’

They are negated with the particle lu to form not yet and no longer:

(2.28) lú ika ɣakítʔí kai (2.29) lú cili paicáxái @vihti

(5MOYD #1243) (5MOYD #1454)
lú ika ɣa- kít -hí kái lú cili paicá -xái @vihti
NEG already 1SG- study -EXP 1SG NEG still be stupid -REP Windi
‘I didn’t really study yet’ ‘Windi is no longer stupid’
3 | Nouns

Nouns are content words that describe entities. They take little in the way of morphology besides a
prefix when possessed. There are pronouns, which may be dropped.

possessive pronouns
SG PL SG PL
1 ki ka- 1 kái kákcku
2 tí- tu- 2 tíc tuzái
3 cí- 3 cíkt cícáʔ

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| Appendices

In which Apps. A and B are lexicons of verbs and nouns, and App. C is a lexicon showcase.
Compounds, derivations, idioms, etc., are considered distinct lemmas. Definitions are separated
by a double dagger ‹‡›.
Lemma entries are structured as follows:

root (CATEGORIES) : definition(s)

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A | Verbs

kitú : be eaten xípáiz : be held

íp : be seen ƛípít : be standing, stand

siƛú : be removed súvít : be sitting, sit

súʔáv : be open casái : be lying down, lie down

kasi : be closed fúrá : be hanging, hang

kít : be read ‡ be studied, learned xává : be leaning, lean

paicá : be stupid ‡ be angry pav : be flat

łíłí : be fast, quick, speedy sáiꞧ : be dry

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B | Nouns

xup : person tútac : seed

ƛáixc : dog xufƛaixc : dog-man

ƛuɣíh : window ‡ portal ‡ glass fúf : parent

łúpt : tongue taikí : clothing

caicait : snow aƛáf : sun; day

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C | Lexical highlights

This lexical highlights section serves to explore and describe certain words and word groups.

C.1 | Posture verbs

Posture verbs are verbs that denote position and shape. There are five: ƛípít stand, súvít sit, casái
lie, fúrá hang, and xává lean.
The verb ƛípít stand is used to refer to things taller than they are wide; súvít sit for things about
as tall as they are wide; and casái lie for things wider than they are tall—standard posture verb stuff.
Those are pretty straightforward.
The verb fúrá hang is used for things suspended from or in something (bats, posters, curtains, and
the like; but also fish, things ensconced in glass, etc.); and xává lean is used for things dependent on at
least two supports. I don’t know whether things wedged in a material are fúrá or xává. Probably the
latter, but an argument could be made for the former. I want to say that doors xává in their frames,
and windows, too.
Like any other verb these can causativize meaning ‘cause to be in X position’. Reddit posts are
apparently fúrá’d.
You can imagine some nice diagrams demonstrating these various positions here.

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