[under construction]
Miqo’si: The Language of the Miqo’te
Eorzean Institute of Anthropological Studies
Miqo’si is the spoken language of the Miqo’te race. The name comes from the language itself; ‘Miqo’ being a self-identifying proper noun and ‘si’ meaning language, therefore the language of the Miqo. Likewise, Miqo’te is made up of ‘Miqo’ and ‘te’ — meaning people, the Miqo people.
There is large dialectal variation found among speakers’ due to the separation of Sun and Moon Miqo’te and furthered by the seclusive tendencies of the Keepers of the Moon tribes. To describe all of these dialects would be an unending endeavour, but this journal will strive to lay out the typology of the dialects we make contact with, beginning with the elusive and secular Keeper of the Moon tribe Miqo'qhaxa of Old Gridania.
Table of Contents Section I. Phonology, phonotactics & orthography
Section II. Morphology
Section III. Syntax
Section IV. Word compendium & speech samples
((this is a constructed language created for character background. it is made with the intent to be robust enough to communicate simple to moderately complex phrases and the word compendium will be an on-going project. any miqo’te players are free to use this language but please be aware this specific language has been made for a specific character from an extremely isolated tribe, which would result in a distinct dialect due to language isolation.))
I. Phonology, phonotactics & orthography
I.I. Sound inventory
+ /w/ voiced labio-velar approximant, /ʈʂ, ɖʐ/ Voiced and unvoiced retroflex affricates, /t', k', q'/ unvoiced ejective plosives, /ǀ, !, ǁ/ dental, post-alveolar and alveolar lateral clicks
I.II. Phonotactics
Miqo’si has relatively straight-forward and minimalistic phonotactics. The language has 2 sets of allophones in free variation; [ɾ, ɹ] and [ħ, h]. Syllables have a maximal structure of CCVCC, though consonant clusters are highly limited. The minimal structure is V. Permissible onset consonant clusters only consist of /ts/, /ks/ and /kʂ/. Codas are similarly restricted, with the following clusters acceptable: /nθ/, /n|/ and /ɹl/. There are no approximants ([w, ɹ]) permitted in the coda position, however /ɾ/ still can; it is exclusively realized as [ɾ].
I.III Orthography & Miqo'si-Common transcription
The writing system of Miqo'si is an alphabetic syllabary, where a consonantal grapheme combines with a diacritic denoting the vowel, the presence of voicing, an ejective or syllable codas. The only punctuation found marks the end of a completed phrase with a long horizontal line. An example body of text is included in the compendium found in section IV.
II. Morphology
Miqo'si is an agglutinating language with no noun-verb agreement. Information is encoded independently on the noun via case and plurality, and on the verb via tense, mood, aspect, evidentiality and mirativity. Plurals are marked with a 3-tier system. Endocentric compounding features the head to the left.
II.I Case
As a highly agglutinative language, Miqo'si has a robust case marking system. The list below will detail the cases found marked in Miqo'si, including example sentences. The list below is presented in hierarchical order. Note that it is not unusual for the nominative and accusative case to be dropped in stances where word order is used to reinforce entity role.
1. nominative ɴᴏᴍ [-qa] used to mark the subject of transitive or intransitive verb. 2. accusative ᴀᴄᴄ [-o] used to mark the object of a transitive verb. 3. dative ᴅᴀᴛ [-ðex] used to mark the benefactor of an action. 4. locative ʟᴏᴄ [-vo] used to denote location. 5. ablative ᴀʙʟ [-maxe] marks movement away from the noun. 6. lative ʟᴀᴛ [-tyʈʂa] marks movement towards the noun. 7. genitive ɢᴇɴ [-ɛn] denotes a relationship between two nouns, both possession and material composition. 8. instrumental ɪɴsᴛ [-wʌkɛ] used to mark something with which an action is performed. 9. causal ᴄᴀᴜs [-xɛ] used to mark what has caused a particular action to occur. 10. comparative ᴄᴏᴍᴘ [-qin] marks the benchmark entity in a comparative statement. 11. abessive ᴀʙᴇ [-nahke] denotes absence, lacking.
II.II Plurality
Plurality in Miqo'si is realized as a 3-tier system consisting of the singular, the plural and the superplural. The plural and superplural differ in the amounts they encode, with plural typically covering between 2 and 10 and the superplural denoting amounts over 10. In cases of large quantity, the superplural can be reduplicated for emphasis. Their forms can are shown below.
1. singular sɢ [-qa] 2. plural ᴘʟ [-synʌ] used for quantities between 2 and approximately 20. 3. superplural sᴘʟ [-ʈʂana] used for quantities over roughly 20. 4. emphatic superplural reduplication [-ʈʂanʈʂana] used for especially large quantities; 100+.
II.III Tense
Tense is marked rather simply in past, present and future using prefixes.
1. past ᴘsᴛ [da-] 2. present ᴘʀᴇs [∅-] 3. future ғᴛ [xen-]
I.IV. Aspect
Aspect is used to encode information pertaining to a verbs context beyond just the tense, such as the length of its occurrence or how often it occurs.
1. habitual ʜᴀʙ [-viɾi] encodes an action that is repeated habitually or routinely. 2. continuous progressive ᴄᴏɴᴘ [-θeka] indicates an action that is both ongoing and evolving, so that it could reasonably end or be interrupted. 3. continuous stative ᴄᴏɴs [-θe] indicates an action that is ongoing but not evolving, such as knowing a language or identifying oneself. 4. prospective ᴘʀᴏs [viʈʂa-] is used to indicate an action that is anticipated. 5. momentane ᴍᴏ [va-] is used with an action that happened just once, usually abruptly. 6. ingressive ɪɴɢ [ʂʌ-] indicates an action that has just begun. 7. cessative ᴄᴇs [zɛ]-denotes an action has finished.
I.V. Mood
Grammatical mood is used to express a speakers feelings towards an action.
1. subjunctive sᴜʙ [-ti] is used in two different ways; to mark a suggestion or express a hypothetical that is contrary to reality. 2. conditional ᴄᴏɴ [ha-] is used to indicate conditionality, something that would be done. 3. imperative ɪᴍᴘ [-|i] is for something that is a direct command or request. 4. hypothetical ʜʏᴘ [ɖʐa-] is used to denote something that could have happened, but didn’t or might not. 5. interrogative ɪɴᴛ [-k’a] is used to mark a question.
I.VI. Evidentiality
Miqo’si has a 3 way distinction in how it encodes for evidentiality. 1. visual sensory ᴠɪs [-(e)nθ] is used when the evidence for a statement was visually confirmed, either by the speaker or by the person who originally gave the information. 2. inferential ɪɴғ [-ʂo] is used when the speaker has inferred information from any possible means; general knowledge, personal experience, etc. 3. reportative ʀᴇᴘᴛ [-xaʈʂi] is used for information that was received from another party, regardless of its validity.I.VII. Mirativity
There is a single marker for mirativity ᴍɪʀ [-wa] in Miqo’si that can express surprise or shock, doubt, irony or sarcasm depending on the context.
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III. Syntax
Due to Miqo’si having a robust and complex affixal system, when meaning is accurately and fully encoded on the lexical level word order can be quite free. However, in instances of nominative and accusative case dropping, an SOV word order is used to implicitly reinforce the role of nouns in a statement. This SOV word order is also generally preferred even when case marking is explicit. Subordinate clauses precede the main clausal verb.
Miqos’i is a null-subject language, meaning an explicit subject can be dropped from a phrase when it can be contextually inferred. This extends to impersonal constructions as there is no dummy pronouns.
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IV. Word compendium & speech samples
1sɢ [ksɛ]
2sɢ [xiɾ]
3sɢ* [ǀɛn] *living things
3sɢ* [q’o] *inanimate
ᴘʟ [-synʌ]
sᴘʟ [-ʈʂana]
ᴘsᴛ [da-]
ᴘʀᴇs [∅]
ғᴛ [xen-]
ɴᴏᴍ [-qa]
ᴀᴄᴄ [-o]
ᴅᴀᴛ [-ðex]
ʟᴏᴄ [-vo]
ᴀʙʟ [-maxe]
ʟᴀᴛ [-tyʈʂa]
ɢᴇɴ [-ɛn]
ɪɴsᴛ [-wʌkɛ]
ᴄᴀᴜs [-xɛ]
ᴄᴏᴍᴘ [-qin]
ᴀʙᴇ [-naħke]
ʜᴀʙ [-viɾi]
ᴄᴏɴᴘ [-θeka]
ᴄᴏɴs [-θe]
ᴘʀᴏs [viʈʂa-]
ᴍᴏ [va-]
ɪɴɢ [ʂʌ-]
ᴄᴇs [zɛ]-
sᴜʙ [-ti]
ᴄᴏɴ [ha-]
ɪᴍᴘ [-|i]
ʜʏᴘ [ɖʐa-]
ɪɴᴛ [-k’a]
ᴠɪs [-(e)nθ]
ɪɴғ [-ʂo]
ʀᴇᴘᴛ [-xaʈʂi]
ᴍɪʀ [-wa]be [xasɛ]
birth [ɖʐak’e]
care [|aleva]
climb [ʈʂoʈʂo]
come [zit’e]
contain [ħoʂaqy]
dance [zanfɛ]
die [ǃaħɛ]
drink [gote]
eat [giʈʂa]
enjoy [ħawa]
fight [yksɛ]
have [ksaxo]
hate [t’oga]
hold [tsoɾi]
hunt [nɛko]
go [q’aqa]
grow [xietʌ]
laugh [xiʈʂɛ]
learn [q’oxɛǀi]
like [kize]
listen [mifʌksa]
look [tsinqo]
love [mirɛ]
kill [qint’ɛ]
run [ǁaqa]
sit [ikotsa]
sing [xinǀqɛ]
sleep [mikso]
think [xoʂekse]
walk [ǃɛda]
want [ɾoʈʂɛ]abdomen []
adult [seħa]
and [wo]
angry [ɖʐaqi]
ankle []
arm []
armpit []
ass []
back []
balls []
bandage []
beauty [q’ɛʈʂa]
beginning [xaɖʐe]
belly []
big [vʌtɛq]
bitch [k’alʌ]
bite []
bladder []
blister []
blood []
body []
bone []
boob []
booger []
boy [ħansi]
brain []
breast []
bruise []
buttocks []
calf []
cheek []
chest []
child [mene]
chin []
claw []
companion [ksaʈʂaki]
cough []
cure []
cut []
cute [mimo]
dark [k’inɛ]
daughter [meneq’ansi]
day [azeqyda]
diaphragm []
dick []
disease []
doctor []
ear []
early [loksi]
elbow []
excited [θɛne]
eye []
eyebrow []
eyelash []
eyelid []
face []
fang []
fetus []
fever []
finger []
fingernail []
food [ħaʂa]
foot []
forehead []
freckle []
fur []
genitalia []
girl [q’ansi]
groin []
gum []
hair []
hand []
happy [qiɾi]
head []
headache []
heart []
heaven [ɛq’e]
heel []
hip []
how [k’ekɛ]
illness []
injury []
intestine []
iris []
jaw []
kidney []
knee []
labia []
language [si]
late [tsanǀ]
light [qyda]
leg []
lip []
pussy []
little [ksiqɛ]
liver []
love [miɾɛ]
lung []
man [ħanħa]
meal [ħaʂa]
medicine []
mole []
moon [fina]
mouth []
mucus []
muscle []
navel []
neck []
night [finak’inɛ]
nipple []
no [nax], [ǁɛ]
nose []
nostril []
organ []
pain []
palm []
pancreas []
pee []
pelvis []
penis []
person/humanoid [te]
poop []
pregnant []
pupil []
quiet []
rib []
sad [foǁaʈʂe]
scared [xaǀɛka]
scar []
scratch []
shin []
short [miʈʂi]
shoulder []
sick []
skin []
skull []
sneeze []
sperm []
spine []
stab []
stomach []
stomachache []
strength []
sun [aze]
tail []
tall [θesaɾ]
tears []
teeth []
testicles []
thigh []
throat []
thumb []
today [onaze]
toe []
tomorrow [t’okaze]
tongue []
uterus []
vagina []
vein []
venom [myme]
vomit []
waist []
what [k’i]
when [k’oma]
where [k’ɛvo]
which [k’ina]
who [k’aqa]
why [k’axɛ]
woman [q’anħa]
word [simi]
wrist []
yes [a], [ǀɛ]
yesterday [danaze]one [ana]
two [aʂ]
three [axak]
four [naso]
five [sɛv]
six [ʐɛn]
seven [tona]
eight [θakʂa]
nine [molo]
ten [ħyʈʂa]
twenty [aħyʈʂa]
thirty [axaħyʈʂa]
fourty [naħyʈʂa]
fifty [saħyʈʂa]
sixty [ʐɛħyʈʂa]
seventy [toħyʈʂa]
eighty [θaħyʈʂa]
ninety [moħyʈʂa]
hundred [k’osa]
Sample text, The Story of Creation
In the beginning, there was neither light nor darkness. Eventually, Althyk and Nymeia emerged. Althyk, seeking companionship, took Nymeia under His wing and cared for Her. Their love grew until it could no longer be contained, culminating in the birth of two daughters, Azema, the sun, and Menphina, the moon, and with their advent, day and night was conceived.
xaɖʐɛ-vo qyda-naxke wo k’inɛ-naxke da-xasɛ.
beginning.ʟᴏᴄ light.ᴀʙᴇ and dark.ᴀʙᴇ ᴘsᴛ.isalθyk wo nymea ɛq’a-maxe da-ʐit’e.
Althyk and Nymeia heaven.ᴀʙʟ ᴘsᴛ.comealθyk-qa ksaʈʂaki da-ɾoʈʂɛ-xɛ nymɛa-o da-ǀalɛva.
Althyk.ɴᴏᴍ companion ᴘsᴛ.want.ᴄᴀᴜs Nymeia.ᴀᴄᴄ ᴘsᴛ.careǀɛn-ɛn-mɛna da-xietʌ wo da-xietʌ xoho-da-hoʂaqy-xɛ
3sɢ.ɢᴇɴ.love ᴘsᴛ.grow and ᴘsᴛ.grow ɴᴇɢ.ᴘsᴛ.contain.ᴄᴀᴜsmeneq’ansi-synʌ aʂ azema-ɛn-aze wo mɛnfina-ɛn-fina da-ɖʐak’e.
daughter.ᴘʟ two Azeyma.ɢᴇɴ.sun and Menphina.ɢᴇɴ.moon ᴘsᴛ.bornazeqyda wo finak’inɛ da-ɖʐak’e.
day and night ᴘsᴛ.born.