/m b p n d t ŋ g k v s ʃ j l r/

/a e i o u/, and schwa.

15 / 6 = 2.5

While /p t k/ are phonologically distinct from /b d g/, the fricatives /v s ʃ/ are not contrasted with the phonemes /f z ʒ/ (however, /s/ has /z/ as an intervocalic allophone when part of the pluralizing suffix '-sa'.)

Originally, the language had the same lateral fricative that was in Welsh, usually written in Missa as [lj]. This in the modern form of the language is simply pronounced /j/, leaving /l/ as the only lateral and /l r/ as the liquids.

The language can take constant clusters such as /kpt/ (as in 'tykpte', "well"); and /lts/ (as in 'alca', "trees").

Given that 'S' means stressed and 's' is unstressed, the pattern is:

S_s, if 1 - 3 syllables;

S_s_S_s, if 4 syllables;

S_s_s_S_s, if 5 syllables;

S_s_s_S_s_s, if 6 syllables;

In general, the language tries to keep stress 'even', in blocks of stressed and unstressed syllables (for example, in a word with six syllables, there are two blocks: both have three-syllables, in a stressed-unstressed-unstressed pattern). In cases where blocks must be 'uneven', the first block has more unstressed syllables (as in the case of the word with 5 syllables; there, there are two blocks: Stressed-unstressed-unstressed plus Stressed-unstressed-unstressed.)

I put the value under 'trochaic' simply because the stress is almost always on the first syllable of a so-called stress block in Missa.

"Core case" morphology is largely isolating while "non-core case" morphology is largely concatenative.

Almost every suffix codes for a different formative, both in nouns and in verbs.

Ppronominal subjects have their markings on verbs, but no other agreement with subject/object occurs on verbs and neither subjects nor objects take explicit markings to show their syntactic role.

Possessive noun-phrases are dependent-marking, but there are two equal constructions to show this and the choice is at the discretion of the speaker.

Meh. This works better than the other choices.

I didn't really know what to choose for this, as Missa only has case markings for non-core cases save for pronominal subjects (core "cases" can be seen as a combination of -0 and position in a sentence, I suppose).

Present tense markers are considered -0- + (person ending) + (number ending), and not considered to have endings that encode present tense, person and number.

Gender is only distinguished in people; and only obligatorily in the 3rd person singular pronoun (which is commonly replaceable by the epicene anyway).

The gender of the third person pronoun - the only word in the language with obligatory gender - is sex-based. No other words are gendered, but some may be given gender suffixes.

Nouns have no obligatory gender, nor do the majority of pronouns.

This suffix, written -sa or -za, can assimilate or cause assimilation in a final consonant, which is shown in the orthography.

Whenever Missa deems it obligatory, all nouns may and must take the plural suffix -sa/-za.

'Ses' (proximal) vs. 'Des' (distal).

Gender is found obligatorily in the 3rd person (along with an epicene, 'de'). Neither the first nor second person has obligatory gender, but like all normal nouns, they may (rarely) take suffixes which indicate gender.

Not only are they generic noun based, but indefinite pronouns are the same as generic nouns and are distinguished by context and occasionally by word order.

There are no true intensifiers in Missa. Instead, both the noun and its corresponding pronoun are stated with a verb. For example, "Rolmil d'asketak", or, "The king himself definitely saw it", in which -ak, the 3rd person masculine ending, is not normally obligatory with a standard noun.

While cases can assimilate or cause assimilation in final consonants of the nouns to which they attach, the literal suffixes themselves do not change based on an intrinsic definition or classification of any noun (including pronouns).

While the comitative uses the suffix '-saj', the instrumental uses the suffix '-nú' (which is the same as the ablative case.)

The ordinal suffix for all numbers is -tu: mej-tu 'first', skensillo-tu 'sixty-fourth'.

Note only the first and second person singular have pronominal possessive affixes (-én and -és, respectively). All other pronouns can use the 'POSSESSOR-le POSSESSED' construction or the 'POSSESSED POSSESSOR-vo' construction.

The -le class and the -vo class are two forms of possessive construction which are entirely equal and have formal definitions that are not for possession.

Ke(l)-le gyp Dog-LE book "The dog's book", literally, 'dog-ing book'

is equivalent to

Gyp ket-vo Book dog-GEN

"The dog's book", literally, 'book of dog'

For pronouns, the first and second person singular use suffixes; the third person non-epicene singular highly tends toward the genitive construction; and the others (plurals, epicene singular pronoun 'de') tend highly towards the participial suffix construction.

There are two different suffixes, both used in common speech, to make an adjective a noun (e.g. "The green one"):

1. The suffix -eń. This suffix is relatively new and is literally taken from the word 'thing'. In English, 'malkeń' would translate more to 'the green thing' than 'the green one', but it can be used for either due to the alternate meaning of the suffix below.

2. The suffix -on. This suffix is very productive, and is the standard maker of nouns from other roots. In Enlgish, 'malk-on' would translate to either 'the green one' (between several options) or 'the color green'.

SV is prevalent in normal nouns, in non-emphatic constructions:

gyp tal-se

book read-PAS

"The book is read."

However, with pronouns, a suffix is added and the independent pronoun is dropped, leading to a very prevalent VS order:

as-se-j-o

see-PAS-0-2nd.sing.

"You're seen."

In almost all emphatic constructions, however, 'de' (the epicene pronoun) replaces the general noun, which finds itself behind the verb, usually with a demonstrative suffix.

de tal-se gyp-tes

it read-PAS book-THAT

"The BOOK is read." (Literally, "It is read, that book."

This is distinguished from "That book is read" (A normal statement) because normal statements would keep the noun + demonstrative suffix before the verb:

gyp-tes tal-se book-THAT read-PAS

"That book is read."

Examples:

Ket lak-é

O V---S

"I hear the dog."

Ket Sindi lak

O S V

"Cindy hears the dog."

While the language is overwhelmingly dependent-marking, the location of the dependent relative to the possessed is free between two alternatives: before the verb, with a suffix -le (which literally creates adjectives and participles); or after the verb, with a suffix -vo (which is the genitive suffix).

I say this because the order of adjective and noun, depending on the suffix, is free.

The normal paradigm for M-T pronominal languages is usually

M (bilabials - almost always nasal) N (dental, alveolar, or palatal; usually nasal) T (apical obstruent)

In Missa, the paradigm is:

vé (v > m) o (from an original *ós; s > t) ak~aš (ak >> ak comes from *a:xt, with t > n).

(aš >> š ~ palatal obstruent)

The word for 'tea' is endemic to Missa: at.

As with the 'weak' class of nouns, 'at' becomes 'ad-' with a suffix

tyk- ke- le at

good-very-LE tea

"Very good tea"

ad -nú (andú) tyk- ke- j- an

tea-ABL good-very-0-COP

"Therefore the tea is very good"

Note that the suffix '-an', which acts like a copula, progressive marker, etc., is highly looked down upon by the older class of speakers but is gaining high levels of popularity among the younger generation. Its status as a key part of Missa grammar is uncertain as of yet.

Latin alphabet in current use. The following letters are used:

a á b c d e é ĕ g i í j k l m n ń o ó p r s š t u ú v y (z)

Note t hat all vowels with acute accents, save 'é', are read like their non accented counterparts.

• [c] represents /ʦ/, as well as its allophone /ʧ/ before front vowels.
• [ń] represents /ŋ/.
• [š] represents /ʃ/.
• The cluster [tš] is traditionally used for /ʧ/ before back vowels and schwa in loans (e.g. 'pikatšu'); however, it is losing ground to various other proposals involving [c], such as [ch], and [ci], [ce] followed by an accent (thus: pikatšu ~ pikachu ~ pikaceú ~ pikaciú).

There have been several thoughts about a special alphabet made for Missa but no one idea has gained momentum.

It's not an auxlang, and it's more serious than 'art' (I didn't make it to test any features or anything). It would be nice if someone learned it, though.