Consonants

Vuwwuz has twenty-six consonant phonemes, spread somewhat unevenly over eight places of articulation and three phonation types (voiceless, modal voice, and creaky voice).

The set of oral stops is unusual in that its only voiced member is velar /g/. The other, voiceless stops are: bilabial /p/; alveolar /t/; and velar /k/.

There are four nasal stops: bilabial /m/ and alveolar /n/, with modal (normal) voice; and their counterparts /m̰ / and /n̰ /, which have creaky voice and are pronounced with 1.5–2 times the duration of their modal counterparts. /n/ assimilates in its place of articulation when followed by a postalveolar or retroflex, but not before velars, where it remains alveolar.

The set of fricatives includes: labiodental /f/ and /v/; alveolar /s/ and /z/; lateral alveolar /ɬ/ and /ɮ/; postalveolar /ʃ/ and /ʒ/; retroflex /ʂ/ and /ʐ/, pronounced with 1.5–2 times the duration of /ʒ/; velar /x/; and glottal /h/. /h/ is pronounced [h] (unvoiced) before consonants, but [ɦ] (voiced) between two vowels.

Liquids include: the alveolar tap /ɾ/; and the alveolar lateral approximant /l/, which for many speakers is pronounced as a palatal [ʎ] in word-final position. The combination /nl/ is sometimes pronounced as single sound, a nasal alveolar lateral approximant /l ̃/, with a duration about twice that of /l/. This merged pronunciation is in free variation with the sequential one, so should probably not be considered an additional phoneme.

There are three semivowels: labiovelar /w/ and its creaky-voiced counterpart /w̰/, both articulated with compressed lips; and palatal /j/.

The consonants of Vuwwuz are summarized in the table below.

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	p		t				k g
Nasal	m m̰		n n̰
Fricative		f v	s z	ʃ ʒ	ʂ ʐ		x	h
Lateral Fricative			ɬ ɮ
Approximant	w w̰					j	(w w̰)
Lateral Approximant			l l̰
Tap			ɾ

Vowels

Vuwwuz has five vowel phonemes, all lax: near-close near-front /ɪ/, near-close near-back rounded /ʊ/, open-mid front /ɛ/, open-mid back /ʌ/, and near-open central /ɐ/. Their qualities do not vary significantly, except for /ʊ/, which is centralized to near-close central [ʊ̵] when the previous syllable contains /ɐ/. The vowels are summarized in the table below.

	Front	Central	Back
High	ɪ		ʊ
Mid	ɛ		ʌ
Low		ɐ

/ɐ/ is pronounced as a central vowel, but for purposes of vowel harmony it is grouped with the back vowels.

There are no diphthongs. Where there are sequences of a glide /w j/ and a vowel, these are analyzable as CV or VC sequences.

Syllable Structure

Each syllable contains a vowel as its nucleus. Before the vowel there may be between zero and three consonants; and after the vowel there may be between zero and two consonants. Syllable structure may be symbolized as follows, with optional elements in parentheses:

(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)

Consonant Clusters

Clusters of two consonants are common, but there are restrictions on which consonants can occur together.

Stops: Clusters of two stops are not allowed. Stops can be followed by fricatives of the same voicing (i.e., both voiced, or both voiceless), except for /h/, with the exception of */kx/. They can be followed by any nasal, liquid, or glide, with the following exceptions: */pm pm̰ tn/.

Fricatives: Fricatives other than /h/ can be followed by any stop with the same voicing, with the exception of */fp/. Fricatives other than /ɬ ɮ h/ can be followed by a fricative of the same voicing, as long as they are not both coronal (i.e., alveolar, postalveolar, or retroflex), with the exception: */xh/. All fricatives can be followed by any nasal, liquid, or glide, with the exceptions */ɬɾ ɮɾ ʃl ʃɾ/.

Nasals /m n/ can be followed by any consonant, with the exception: */mf/. /m̰ n̰/ cannot be followed by any consonant.

Liquids /ɾ l/ can be followed by any consonant other than /h/, with the exceptions: */ɾɬ ɾɮ ɾl/.

Glides: /w/ can be followed by any fricative other than /h/, any nasal, or /l/. /j/ cannot be followed by any consonant.

These rules are summarized in the table below. The asterisk inidcates combinations that are not allowed.

	Stops /p t k g/	Fricatives /f v s z ɬ ɮ ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ x h/	Nasals /m m̰ n n̰/	Liquids /ɾ l/	Glides /w j/
Stops	*	stop + fricative (*/h/) (same vc.) */pf kx/	stop + nasal */pm pm̰ tn tn̰/	stop + liquid	stop + glide
Fricatives	fricative (*/h/) + same vc. stop */fp/	fricative (*/ɬ ɮ h/) + fricative (same vc., diff. place) */xh/	fricative + nasal	fricative + liquid */ɬɾ ɮɾ/	fricative + glide
Nasals (*/m̰ n̰/)	nasal + stop	nasal + fricative */mf/	nasal + nasal	nasal + liquid	nasal + glide
Liquids	liquid + stop	liquid + fricative (*/h/) */ɾɬ ɾɮ/	liquid + nasal	liquid + liquid */ɾl/	liquid + glide
Glides (*/j/)	*	glide + fricative (*/f v h/)	glide + nasal	glide + liquid (*/ɾ/)	*

Additionally, the following triple-consonant clusters occur: /mkɾ msw ntɾ nts ɾsk skj stɾ sts tst wɬl/.

In word-initial position, only the following consonant clusters can occur:

stop + liquid/glide
voiceless stop + fricative
/s ʃ/ + stop (same voicing)
/s ʃ/ + nasal
/f s ʃ ɬ/ + liquid/glide
/h/ + nasal/liquid/glide
/m/ + /ʃ x/
nasal + liquid/glide
/sts/ and /tst/

Final clusters occur only in inflected words, and are limited to: /mp nt nf ns nʃ nx ft sk ʃk xt wx lx/.

Vowel Harmony

Every word in Vuwwuz has either only front vowels /ɪ ɛ/, or only back vowels /ʊ ʌ ɐ/. Specifically, there are four ways in which vowel harmony manifests itself:

1. Every root has only vowels of one type.
2. Every affix that has a vowel, whether derivational or inflectional, has at least two variants, one with front vowels and one with back vowels, so that it may match the vowels of any stem it attaches to.
3. In the derivational process known as vowel inversion, all the vowels in a word are changed from front to back, or from back to front.
4. Borrowed words (with the exception of some proper nouns) are adjusted to be harmonic.

For purposes of (2-4) above, there are several correspondences between front and back vowels. For example, there is a correspondence between /ɛ/ and /ʌ/. A suffix employing this correspondence will appear with /ɛ/ in front-vowel words and /ʌ/ in back-vowel words; additionally, either of these vowels will be exchanged for the other when the vowels of a word are inverted in a derivational process, or harmonized in a loanword.

There are four such correspondence sets, shown in the table below. Since they overlap, which of the four a given suffix will use is not always predictable. I use a capital letter to represent each one when listing affixes. For example, the plural affix has the underlying form of -Ok, and can occur as -ek or -ok.

Abstract Representation	Back Vowel	Front Vowel
A	/ɐ/	/ɪ/
O	/ʌ/	/ɛ/
U	/ʊ/	/ɪ/
V	/ʌ/, /ɐ/	/ɛ/

The last set, V, is between not two, but three vowels: it is realized in front-vowel words as /ɛ/, and in back-vowel words as /ɐ/ if the preceding vowel is also /ɐ/, or as /ʌ/ if the preceding vowel is /ʌ/ or /ʊ/. This correspondence is employed only in a small number of affixes, which were historically O but have gained an additional degree of assimilation with their frequent usage. This set is not productive, and is not ordinarily used in vowel inversion or loanword adaptation.

However, the possibility of /ɪ/ corresponding to either /ɐ/ or /ʊ/ does present a problem for those two processes. More often, /ɪ/ is treated as an instance of A, and changed to /ɐ/ when necessary. But in many cases it does become /ʊ/. There is no clear pattern here.

Other Constraints

/ɾ/ may not occur twice in one syllable, or in adjacent syllables. When this occurs in an underlying form, it is resolved as described in §2.3.1.

Although a vowel may occur at the beginning of a word with no consonant before it, word-medial syllables must have a consonantal onset. That is, two vowels may not occur in a row. When they do occur this way in an underlying form, /h/ is inserted between them (see §2.3.2).

Dissimilation

Where /ɾ/ occurs twice in one syllable, or in two adjacent syllables, the second one becomes /l/. If this /l/ happens to be adjacent to /s/, it will usually be subject to sandhi.

Hiatus Resolution

When two vowels occur adjacently within a word, /h/ is inserted between them.

Sandhi

Usually, sequences of sl /sl/ become ll /ɬ/ and sequences of zl /zl/ become lh /ɮ/. However, these sequences have been retained in some more recent loanwords.

Sequences of jz /ʒz/ and zj /zʒ/ always become jj /ʐ/.

Front Reduplication

In this form of reduplication, the first consonant and first vowel (whatever order they appear in) of the word are copied and prefixed to the beginning of the word, as in kamo → kakamo.

Even if the word begins with a consonant cluster, only the first consonant is copied: gwa → gagwa

If the word begins in a vowel, that and the following consonant are copied: agu → agagu. Here too, if there is a consonant cluster, only the first consonant is copied: alpu → alalpu.

Stems that consist solely of a vowel, such as e or y, cannot be reduplicated. It should be noted that inflectional affixes cannot serve as part of the reduplication source (e.g., e-s good-3 ‘he is good’ cannot be reduplicated as eses, even though the s of the suffix would provide the consonant necessary for reduplication). Reduplication can be said to occur before inflectional affixes are added.

In some words, after the reduplication is made, the original first syllable loses its vowel, or that vowel and the following consonant metathesize (switch places): kasata → kaksata; kemty → kekmety. A newly resulting consonant cluster is subject to any phonotactic restrictions and repair processes that may apply: zalaro → *zazlaro → zalharo; jozo → *jojzo → jojjo.

End Reduplication

In this form of reduplication, part of the end of a word is copied and then suffixed to the word. In a word of one or two syllables, only the final syllable is copied: ze → zeze; shive → shiveve. There are some irregular two-syllable words where both syllables are copied: mosha → moshamosha.

In words of three or more syllables, the final two syllables are copied: majovo → majovojovo. Similarly to front reduplication, in many words the first reduplicated vowel is then deleted (with repair processes then acting where applicable): sarumawa → sarumawamwa; latoloso → *latolosolso → latolosollo.

Vowel Inversion

In this process, all the vowels in a word are changed, either from front to back, or from back to front. Corresponding front and back vowels can be seen in the chart in §2.2.3 (only the first three rows are relevant here—the correspondence V is not productive). For example, the word jity ‘do right away’ was derived by "inverting" the vowels of juta ‘delay.’

There is no one-to-one correspondence for the sound /ɪ/, and it is not fully predictable whether it will become /ɐ/ or /ʊ/ in any given derivation. More often, /ɪ/ will be changed to /ɐ/, but in many cases it does become /ʊ/.

Loanword Adaptation

Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs

Most roots in Vuwwuz can occur as a noun, adjective, or verb, without any change. In both form and meaning, none of these forms is more elementary than the other. For example:

ora n. ‘thief,’ a. ‘thieving’; v. ‘be a thief,’ ‘steal’
inhe n. ‘something narrow,’ a. ‘narrow’; v. ‘be narrow’
jele n. ‘runner’ a. ‘running’; v. ‘run’

The meanings of these different manifestations correspond in a regular way, even if the English translations disguise that. The Vuwwuz verb always means ’to be’ the noun or adjective, or to do what such a noun does. The adjective describes something that does the verb, or is the noun. The noun is something that is the adjective, or does the verb. Thus, ora as a verb ‘steal’ means to ‘be a thief’ or to ‘do what a thief does’ - namely, stealing. inhe as an adjective means ‘narrow,’ as a verb means ‘be narrow,’ and as a noun can refer to anything that is narrow. The chart below summarizes some ways of understanding the meaning correspondences. The lexical class on the left represents the conceptual starting point, and the columns to the right show how a manifestation of the root as one of the other classes can be understood.

	Noun	Adjective	Verb
Noun	*	which is _	to be a _
Adjective	thing/person that is _	*	to be _
Verb	thing/person that _s	which _s	*

Suffixation

There are a number of suffixes which can be added to a word to change the meaning.

Below is a complete chart of derivational suffixes. The asterisks indicate how productive they are, i.e., to what degree they are commonly used to construct new words; and also to what degree the meaning is predictable.

* Rarely used any longer to create new words. Where it ooccurs, the meaning of the derived word is not always obvious.
** Used to derive new words, though less casually then *** affixes. The meaning is generally predictable, with some exceptions.
*** Can be always used on the fly to create a new word with a completely predictable meaning.

All of these suffixes occur in a front- and a back-voweled form, and those with r may be subject to dissimilation as described in §2.3.1.

Compounding

Vowel Inversion

The phonological process of vowel inversion is described in §2.3.6. In this method of derivation, all the vowels in a word are changed from front to back, or back to front. This type of derivation is quite productive in Vuwwuz.

Very often, the new word an opposite meaning:

nunvaw ‘borrow’, ninviw ‘return’
ie ’knowledge’, io ‘ignorance’
kom ‘walk forward’, kem ‘walk backwards’

Sometimes the derived word indicates a counterpart or opposite side of something. Several postpositions have been formed this way:

wow ‘sword’, wew ‘sheath’
pessit ‘palm’, possat ‘back of hand’
vengy ‘in front of’, vonga ‘behind’

Most often, a word with front vowels will represent a concept that is viewed more positively, while the version with back vowels will represent a more negative concept:

pewnelez ‘caution’, pownoloz ‘recklessness’
tfitez ‘ease’, tfatoz ‘difficulty’

Sometimes, a front-vowel and a back-vowel word denote the same thing, but the former is used when it is viewed positively, and the latter when it is viewed negatively:

ziẽw ‘association’ (as between friends), zuõw ‘association’ (as between enemies)

Nonassertive Modality

Vuwwuz uses a single type of inflection to indicate both negation and questions. These two categories have in common the lack of a positive assertion - hence the name "nonassertive modality." This inflection takes the form of an infix, sometimes in combination with a prefix, and can occur on nouns, adjectives, verbs, and postpositions. It always appears on the specific word whose meaning is begin negated or questioned.

The infix occurs directly before the first vowel in the word. In most cases, the infix consists of a copy of the first vowel, followed by i /j/. If the word begins with a vowel, p- is also added before it.

novogohh ‘there’s snow’ → noiovogohh ‘there’s no snow’ or ‘is there snow?’
tahhna ‘boring’ → taiahhna ‘not boring’ or ‘boring?’
hnupap ‘it was an opinion’ → hnuiupap ‘it wasn’t an opinion’ or ‘was it an opinion?’
eshkipsif ‘I am happy’ → peieshkipsif ‘I am not happy’ or ‘am I happy?’

If the first vowel in the word is /ɪ/, or the second syllable begins with /j/, the infix used is -Oz-.

jineshehep ‘s/he was punished’ → jezineshehep ‘s/he wasn’t punished’ or ‘was s/he punished?’
weiyhh ‘tasty’ → weziyehh ‘not tasty’ or ‘tasty?’

The nonassertive form is always used for question words, such as mala ‘what?’, fuzia ‘how?’, mewy ‘how long?’, as long as they are in an interrogative context.

llewllewtable

rarushohoprar-sh-oho-ptake-3-Psv-3-Pst

gezig?g-ez-igwho₁-N-who₂

‘Who took the table?’

giggigwho

iunufiunut-fknow-1

llewllewtable

rarushtofrar-sh-t-Oftake-3-Pst-Cnj

‘Who took the table?’

Demonstratives

Demonstratives are used to locate items in relation to speech participants, or other referents. They do not constitute a distinct part of speech, but are merely nouns, adjectives, or verbs that behave like other members of their class. They all take the regular plural and nonassertive affixes when appropriate. When used as adjectives, the following noun(s) take the construct affix, and they can be combined with other adjectives in any order.

ka (noun/verb) and se (adjective) refer to something something near the speaker, addressee, or other referent. This is one of very few words in Vuwwuz where there are distinct forms for different parts of speech that cannot be interchanged.

kakathis/that

tenkifttenki-f-tpick-1-Pst

lomotlomo-tday-Pst

glihgli-hat-6

‘I picked this yesterday’ (ka because it is close to me)

kakka-kthis/that-P

tenkishttenki-sh-tpick-3-Pst

lomorlomo-rday-Pst

glihgli-hat-6

‘He picked those today’ (ka because they are close to him)

kuvrukuvrusmall

sesethis/that

finjelfinje-lshovel-Cns

weientryfen?we-ie-ntri-f-entake₁-N-take₂-1-F

‘Can you hand me that small shovel?’ (literally: ‘Will I take that small shovel?’) (ka because they are close to you)

sehhe refers to something at a distance from the speaker, addressee, or other referent. Both ka/se and sehhe can be translated as ‘this’ or ‘that’ (or ‘these’ or ‘those’ in the plural), depending on context.

lheievehe-leshlhe-ie-vehe=le-shreached-N-reached=ID-3

sehheshsehhe-shbe.this/that-3

‘That's the one I can't reach’ (ka because it is close to me)

seze and we can be used following ka/ka or sehhe. seze points out an additional item, while we is used to show contrast with the previous item.

we has an additional use, which is to point out single something out as very significant, usually because of something negative.

Numbers

Vuwwuz has a base-10 number system, capable of generating numbers up into the billions. Numbers up to 20, as well as other multiples of 10 up to and including 100, 1000, 1,000,000, and 1,000,000,000 are not predictable. Otherwise, multiples are formed by placing the smaller number after the larger one, and additions are formed by placing the smaller number before the larger one.

0	tstengy	10	rejjik**	20	pemkilek	100	majjak
1	epe	11	pemmik	21	epe-pemkilek	101	epe-majjak
2	kalok	12	kalpomuk	22	kalo-pemkilek	200	majja-kalok
3	ramlok	13	rampomuk	30	perimlek	799	pemswe-pemkrige-majja-gitek
4	razak	14	raspomuk	40	perilhyk	1000	reshmirjjyk
5	mahlak	15	mallpomuk	50	pemihlyk	2000	reshmirjjy-kalok
6	satak	16	sallpomuk	60	pemsityk	100,000	reshmirjjy-majjak
7	gitek	17	gillpemyk	70	pemgitek	1,000,000	reshmiklek
8	iorak	18	iorpomuk	80	pemieryk	1,001,000	reshmirjjy-reshmiklek
9	pemswek*	19	krahpomuk	90	pemkrigek	1,000,000,000	reshmimlek

*Ordinal: krago   **Ordinal: kalorjja

When a number is used with a noun, it takes the form of an adjective (rather than a determiner, for example, as in many other languages). It is placed before the noun, and the noun takes a Construct suffix, as it would with any other adjective. Numbers greater than one are grammatically plural, as are nouns they modify, and both take the plural suffix.

tstengyzero

vava-ltree-Cns

‘zero trees’

epeone

vava-ltree-Cns

‘One tree’

kalo-ktwo-P

vava-w-htree-Cns-P

‘two trees’

Like most roots throughout the language, number words can also be used as nouns or verbs.

tstengyzero

tantro-f-thave-1-Pst

‘I had zero (none)’

ramlo-kthree-P

mlehhe-sh-k-etcome-3-P-Pst

‘Three came’

miste-kremaining-P

vato-w-hhouse-Cns-P

gite-sh-kseven-3-P

‘The remaining houses are seven (= There are seven houses left)’

Ordinal numbers are identical to cardinal ones (aside from those for 9 and 10, as noted in the table above), and are distinguishable only by the fact that they are usually used in the singular. epe ‘one/first’ is always ambiguous.

epeone/first

kluwla-lduck-Cns

‘one duck / the first duck’

iora-keight-P

kluwla-w-hduck-Cns-P

‘eight ducks’

ioraeight

kluwla-lduck-Cns

‘the eighth duck’

Number

Nouns in Vuwwuz may be singular or plural, and this property is indicated by affixes both on the noun itself and on other words that agree with it: adjectives, postpositions, particles, and verbs. (Even if the noun itself is elided, the number will still be marked on these other words.) There is also a special form of the plural called the similative, which is marked only on the noun; other words agreeing with it use the normal plural form.

The singular form is the basic one, and is indicated on the noun by the lack of a plural affix. It is used when there is one entity, zero entities, or a fraction of an entity.

zamacarrot

‘carrot’

za-ia-macarrot₁-N-carrot₂

‘no carrot(s)’

lemmyhalf

zamacarrot

palla-sof-3

‘half a carrot’

The plural is used when there is more than one entity, whether a separate word is used to specify the amount or not. It is indicated on the noun by the suffix -k after a bare stem, or -h when preceded by the construct suffix -l/w. Agreement marking for number on other types of words will be dealt with in the appropriate sections.

zama-kcarrot-P

‘carrots’

rejji-kten-P

zama-w-hcarrot-Cns-P

‘ten carrots’

The similative plural denotes similar items in addition to the noun mentioned. This can often be translated "... and such/stuff/the like." It is formed by using end-reduplication (see §2.3.5), and then adding the plural suffix as above.

zama-ma-kcarrot-R-P

‘carrots and such; carrots and other vegetables’

Person

Person is a property of nouns, and although it is not marked directly on them, it is marked on the verbs, postpositions, and particles they are associated with.

In addition to first (I, we), second (you), and third person (he, she, it), Vuwwuz has an additional fourth and fifth persons. These play a similar role to the obviative and (and the rarer subobviative) found in some Native American languages. Once a third person is introduced, an additional noun phrase (that is not the speaker or hearer) will be understood as the fourth person, and additional ones may be treated as fifth person. This allows for several arguments to be referred to soleley through agreement markers for some time, without having to restate the noun phrase.

The choice of person is not always as it would be in English and other languages. Parts and attributes of things (or of people) are considered to be the same person as the thing itself. In the English sentence ‘My arm is broken,’ ‘arm’ is treated as third person; in Vuwwuz though, it is treated as first person, since it is part of the first person. The equivalent sentence in Vuwwuz could be translated literally as “My arm am broken":

tefte-fPos-1

pejypejyarm

kfahofkfaho-fbe.broken-1

‘My arm is broken’

Mood

Like verbs, nouns are generally in the indicative mood, which is unmarked, but they can also occur in the subjunctive mood. This is indicated by suffixing -nO to the noun. It is used when the speaker is referring to something hypothetical; something that does not yet exist, or may not exist, or whose identity is undetermined. Sometimes it is grammatically mandatory:

vammonovammo-nocity-Sub

teglishentegli-sh-enbuild-3-F

‘He's going to build a city’

Other times, the indicative or subjunctive can be used with contrasting meaning:

nielvitynielvitystain

suhhosahiosuhhosahioshirt

glisgli-sat-4

wifwi-flook.for-1

‘I'm looking for a stain on the shirt’
[a particular stain that I already know of]

nielvitynenielvity-nestain-Sub

suhhosahiosuhhosahioshirt

glisgli-sat-4

wifwi-flook.for-1

‘I'm looking for a stain on the shirt’
[I don't know if there is any stain]

ragakraga-kkid-P

llaiashohoshkotlla-ia-sh-oho-sh-k-othere-N-3-Psv-3-P-Pst

iomoriomo-rday-Prs

glih?gli-hat-6

‘Were some kids here today?’
[I have a particular group in mind]

raganokraga-no-kkid-Sub-P

llaiashohoshkotlla-ia-sh-oho-sh-k-othere-N-3-Psv-3-P-Pst

iomoriomo-rday-Prs

glih?gli-hat-6

‘Were any kids here today?’
[I don't have any particular ones in mind]

Tense

Construct State

Nouns modified by a preceding adjective take a construct suffix: -l for singular nouns, and plural nouns with front vowels; -w for plural nouns with back vowels.

kevrebig

hhevele-lcat-Cns

‘big cat’

kevrebig

vato-lhouse-Cns

‘big house’

kevre-kbig-P

hhevele-l-hcat-Cns-P

‘big cats’

kevre-kbig-P

vato-w-hhouse-Cns-P

‘big houses’

Agreement

Adjectives agree in number with the noun they modify. For the singular, the bare root is used, and for plural, the suffix -k is added.

honhagray

evne-lstone-Cns

‘gray stone’

honha-kgray-Pl

evne-l-hstone-Cns-Pl

‘gray stones’

When a noun occurs in the similative plural, the adjective still simply uses -k to agree with it. There is no agreement with the similative element. However, an adjective can take its own similative plural form to signify the meaning "and similar" referring to its own quality. It is possible for both an adjective and noun to occur in the similative plural form, each contributing its own meaning.

honha-kgray-P

evne-ne-l-hstone-R-Cns-P

‘gray stones and such’

honha-ha-kgray-R-Pl

evne-l-hstone-Cns-Pl

‘gray and similarly-colored stones’

honha-ha-kgray-R-Pl

evne-ne-l-hstone-R-Cns-P

‘gray and similarly-colored stones and such’

Adjectives do not show any agreement with nominal mood or tense.

Agreement

List of Postpositions

Grammatical

ho	indicates DO of most verbs ending in the suffix -fO
lly	1. indicates demoted DO in a causative construction; 2. as regards
te	indicates possession
jo	indicates possession
pa	indicates possession

Other

go	with, to (as in, dancing to music)
hiu	about, concerning, of
hnu	instead of, for, as
iopa	including
laga	among
leme	as much as, according to
llalo	to the disadvantage of, on
llile	for (for the benefit of)
melwe	against, contradicting
na	between
palla	of (amount, group)
sha	by means of, with, through
sho	because of
we	for (the purpose of...)

Comparison

gjy	1. just like, exactly like; 2. with
kanga	relative to, compared to, more than, beyond, for, considering
llawa	as, just like (in appearance, sound, mood)
papso	like (in value, worth, composition)
tseny	similar to, somewhat like

Time

hrele	after, upon
hrolo	before, preceding
ny	of (time of)
pa	by (indicates amount or amount of time something is done)

Location

gly	at		glily	on
kla	to, throughout		klagla	directly to		klashka	toward
naza	beyond
she	from, of, by (creator, author)		shegle	away from		sheshky	from the direction of
veme	close to, near
voja	1. to the other side of, across, through; 2. throughout, over
vomo	far from
zime	far below, far beneath
vy	1. in, inside, within; 2. among, of, out of (a group)		vily	on the inside surface of		vimzy	somewhere inside
fery	at the side (any) of, next to, by, outside		ferily	on the side (any) of, on the outside of		ferimze	outside, s.wh. to the side (any) of
tro	at all sides of, surrounding		trola	on all sides of, covering		tromzo	s.wh. surrounding
tu	at the bottom of		tula	on the bottom of		tumzu	below, beneath, under, underneath
sy	at the top of		sily	on the top of		simzy	above, over
vengy	in front of		vengily	on the front of		vengimzy	s.wh. to the front of
vonga	right behind		vongala	on the back of		vongamza	s.wh. behind

	simple		indeterminate	all
	Post	Noun	Post	Post	Noun
inside	vy	vinent	viẽv	vetry	vetrint
touching	gly	gliẽnt	gliẽl	gletry	gletrint
near	vev	vehiv	vevier	vevitry	vevitrint
far	rum	rum	ruwwum	vutrom	vutront

	on/next to			at a distance
	Post	Noun	Adj	Post	Noun	Adj
top	tsy	tsint	tseỹ	tsimaoz	tsimaont	tsimaoz
bottom	umuz	umunt	umuũz	zim	zimint	zim
front	vengy	vengint	vengeỹ	hhiliv	hhilvint	hhileĩv
back	vonga	vongant	vongoã	hhuluv	hhulvunt	hhuloũv
side	fery	ferint	fereĩr	loũn	loũnuv	loũn
between	noraw	norant	noraw	norwaz	norwant	norwaz
left	ietez	ietint	ieteĩz	iettiz	iettint	ietteĩz
right	ialtoz	ialtunt	ialtoũz	ialuttoz	ialuttunt	ialuttoũz
east	gannu	gannuv	gannoũ	flerimmy	flerimmint	flereĩm
west	eỹ	eĩv	eỹ	fnuwwash	fnuwwashunt	fnuwwaũsh
north	showwu	showwosuv	showwoũ	relezvy	relezviv	relezvy
south	ezgy	ezgiv	ezgeĩr	miur	miurv	mioũr
northeast				isesfer	isesferv	isesfeĩr
northwest				relezveỹ	relezveĩv	relezveỹ
southwest				eĩmiyr	eĩmiyrv	eĩmieĩr
southeast				miurgannu	miurgannuv	miurgannoũ

Linking Postpositions

Subject Agreement

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	p→fk		t→kk				k→kk g→kk
Nasal	m→mhh m̰		n→nk n̰
Fricative		f→fk v→fk	s→ks z→sk	sh→ksh j→shk	ss jj		hh→hhk	h→hhk
Lateral Fricative			ll→kll lh→llk
Approximant	w→wk w̰					j	(w w̰)
Lateral Approximant			l→kl
Tap			r→kr

Passive Voice

Circumstantial Voice

Subjunctive Mood

Imperative Mood

Tense

Object Affixes

Conjunctive Form

Suffix Combinations

		Indicative				Subjunctive
		Independent		Conjunctive		Independent		Conjunctive
		S	P	S	P	S	P	S	P
Present	1	f	h	fOf	fkOf	nf	nh	nfOf	nhhOf
	2	m	mp	mOf	mkOf	nOm	nOmp	nmOf	nOmkOf
	3	sh	shk	shOf	shkOf	nsh	nOshk	nshOf	nOshkOf
	4	s	sk	wOf	skOf	ns	nOsk	nwOf	nOskOf
	5	ll	llOk	llOf	llOkOf	nOll	nllOk	nllOf	nllOkOf
	6	h	h	hOf	hkOf	nh	nh	nhOf	nhhOf
Past	1	ft	ht	ftOf	htOf	nOft	nhhOt	nOftOf	nhhOtOf
	2	nt	mkOt	ntOf	mkOtOf	nOnt	nOmkOt	nOntOf	nOmkOtOf
	3	sht	shkOt	shtOf	shkOtOf	nOsht	nOshkOt	nOshtOf	nOshkOtOf
	4	st	skOt	stOf	skOtOf	nOst	nOskOt	nOstOf	nOskOtOf
	5	llOt	llOht	llOtOf	llOhtOf	nllOt	nllOkOt	nllOtOf	nllOhtOf
	6	ht	ht	htOf	htOf	nOht	nhhOt	nOhtOf	nhhOtOf
Future	1	fOn	fkOn	fnOf	hhnOf	nfOn	nhhOn	nfOnOf	nhhOnOf
	2	mOn	mkOn	mnOf	mkOnOf	nmOn	nOmkOn	nmOnOf	nOmkOnOf
	3	shOn	shkOn	shnOf	shkOnOf	nshOn	nOshkOn	nshOnOf	nOshkOnOf
	4	wOn	skOn	snOf	skOnOf	nwOn	nOskOn	nwOnOf	nOskOnOf
	5	llOn	llOkOn	llOnOf	llOknOf	nllOn	nllOkOn	nllOnoOf	nllOknOf
	6	hhOn	hkOn	hhnOf	hhnOf	nhhOn	nhhOn	nhhOnOf	nhhOnOf

Infinitives

Conjunction

Serialization

Active Voice

Passive Voice

Circumstantial Voice

Relative Clauses

Subjunctive Clauses

Conjunctive Clauses

List of Conjunctions

vy	1. and, but (where there is no contrast or minor contrast, but not where there is a contradiction) upasht nirmenesht vy owotstono veiengysht ‘He finished early but then had nothing to do’ 2. or (both clauses offered as options)
wa	or (one and only one clause can be true) miopsosh wa miepsesh? ‘Is he dead or alive?’
jjy	or (exclusive, weak). At least one of the clauses is probably true, but they may both be false. Used to present possibilities and suggestions.
tseny jjy	1. or maybe. Presents two speculations. A weaker version of jjy. 2. might as well. If [1st clause], it might as well be that [2nd clause]
tumna	1. and even, moreover, and what‘s more 2. but (in cases of major contrast); 3. but ... too much (usually used with mele (v.)).
iatla	however, but, though, rather, instead. Used to present a contradiction or a substitution, but not mere contrast; the more unexpected clause follows.
farala	when, while, as. Indicates that either both actions are ongoing or both are instantive, and happened at the same time.
hho	when, while, as. Indicates that the first part is ongoing, while the second is more instantive, and happened while the first was going on.
geve	where. Both clauses happened at the same place.
ielyn	before. The clause preceding the conjunction comes earlier.
ne	and then. The second event immediately follows the first.
ielyt	after. The clause following the conjunction comes earlier.
ne ielyt	right after
rush	near when/where. Indicates that both clauses occured close to each other in either time or space.
tseny	1. like (weaker than melre) 2. and in the end.
melre	1. like (stronger than tseny) 2. enough that, such that.
lhy	then, if/then. More accurately this just shows the order in which two events (real or hypothetical) occur - the first event comes before the conjunction, the second comes after.
sho	because. The reason comes after the conjunction.
elly	so, therefore. The reason comes before the conjunction.
we	in order [to, that...]. The reason comes before the conjunction, and it is implied there was a real purpose.
tumna tseny	until, so much that
wa tumna	or else, lest, in case
we iatla	in order [to, that...]. The result is something seemingly contradictory or surprising.
vy farala	but, though, while. Indicates minor contrast, where either both actions are ongoing or both are instantive, and happened at the same time.
vy hho	but, though, while. Indicates minor contrast, where the first part is ongoing, and the second is more instantive, and happened while the first was going on.

Yes-No Questions

Content Questions