Anbirese

Thumaca (ṭhumaca /ʈʰumaka/) is a minority Tigolic language, inspired by Hindi and Romani. It is notable for its relatively conservative verb system.

Phonology

Consonants

• c g ch ng /k g kʰ ŋ/
• ṭ ḍ ṭh ṇ /ʈ ɖ ʈʰ ɳ/
• t d th n /t d tʰ n/
• p b ph m /p b pʰ m/
• f fh s sh (ṣ) (ś) h /f fʰ s sʰ ʂ ɕ h/
• r l y /r l j/

Vowels

i ı u ė e a o /i ɨ u e ə a o/

Morphology

Mutations

Thumaca has no mutation; instead, formerly feminine nouns often begin in an aspirated consonant. (cf. Eevo)

Nouns

Nouns only have two states (absolute and construct) and two numbers (singular and plural). The usual affixes are:

• plural absolute: -(e)r
• singular construct: -(e)th
• plural construct: -(e)ph

e.g. cıther 'flower', cıthrer 'flowers'; chıfṇa 'woman', chıfṇar 'women'.

Verbs

Tumacan verbs have two tenses (nonpast and past) and two aspects (imperfective and perfective). The imperfective-perfective distinction is characterized by allomorphy inherited from Old Eevo. As in Slavic languages, the perfective form is often derived by adding a prefix, which causes the verb to take the conjunct form. Most Tumacan verbs thus have two principal parts: imperfective and perfective.

An example of the aspect allomorphy: bongi 'to tell (imperfective)', sipngi 'to tell (perfective)'.

The old subject/TAM suffixes have been lost and tense is marked by prefixes.