Table of Contents


October 2015 Sketch

Phonology

Phonemes Labial Coronal Dorsal
Plosive[1] p b t d k g
pʷ bʷ tʷ dʷ kʷ gʷ
pˡ bˡ tˡ dˡ kˡ gˡ
Fricative f v s z ʃ ʒ ç~x ɣ
Affricate ts tʃ dʒ
Nasal m mʷ n nʷ ɲ ɲʷ ŋ ŋʷ
Approximant w ɥ l j ʎ ʁ
Graphemes Labial Coronal Dorsal
Plosive[1:1] p b t d k g
pw bw tw dw kw gw
pl bl tl dl kl gl
Fricative f v s z sc zsc h gh
Affricate ts tsc dzsc
Nasal m mw n nw gn gnw ng ngw
Approximant w ui l j ll r
Phonemes Front Center Back
High i ɪ y~ʉ u
Mid ɛ œ ʌ o
Low æ ä ɔ
Dipthongs e͡i œ͡y ʌ͡ɪ o͡i ä͡i ä͡o ʌ͡ɔ
Graphemes Front Center Back
High i ï y u
Mid e ö â o
Low ä a å
Dipthongs ei öü âi oi ai ao âo

Syllable Structure:

The Structure is: (F)(C|R)V(j|ʁ|l|w)(C)(t|s|ʃ)[2](t)[2:1].

TODO: Phoneme frequency.

Stress and Isochrony

TODO: This.

Basic Grammar and Syntax

The default word order is OSV, but parts often shift around in a non-configurational manner, with less important elements or older elements dropping toward the end of the sentence.

There are no noun classes, but animate females and endeared terms in the ergative are marked on the verb with the special prefix ‹ta-›, which is analysed as being in agreement with the non-existent female noun class.

Grammar Testing Bed

Sample Sentences

Dao gwöügnw.

dao {} gwöü -gnw

man[ABS] {} eat[3S.O] -ANTIP

The man eats.

Må egwöü daom.

må {} e- gwöü {} dao -m

bread[ABS] {} 3S.ERG- eat {} man -ERG

The man eats bread.

Må gwöüyn.

må {} gwöü -yn

bread[ABS] {} eat -PASS

The bread is eaten.

Sentences for Testing Conlang Syntax

Tla så ngâ.

tla {} så {} ngâ

sun[ABS] {} shine {} GNO

The sun shines. (*gnomic*)

TODO: The rest of these.


  1. ʷ becomes ᶣ before /i y ɪ œ/. ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. For these sets, they must not repeat the previous letter. ↩︎ ↩︎