Falamu

Falamu (native: [fɑlɑ́ˑmʊ]) is a Portuguese creole language with a high degree of Somali influence.

Falamu
Boka Falamu
Pronunciation	[bɔ́ˑkɑ fɑlɑ́ˑmʊ]
Created by	Shariifka
Language family	Portuguese Creole Falamu

Introduction

Etymology

From Portuguese falamos "we speak".

Phonology

Orthography

Note: In this article, the regular phonetic script is used with accents added for clarity. These accents are normally omitted in writing.

Consonants

Consonants

Letter	IPA	Remarks
'	ʔ	Not used word-initially since words written with an initial vowel always have a preceding glottal stop.
b	b	May be pronounced /β/ between vowels.
d	d ~ ð	/ð/ between vowels or after /h/.
dh	ɖ	Somewhat implosive.
f	f
g	ɡ	May be pronounced /ɣ/ between vowels.
h	h
j	dʒ ~ tʃ	Free variation
k	k
l	l
m	m
n	n ~ ŋ	/ŋ/ syllable finally, /n/ otherwise.
nh	ɲ ~ j̃	Free variation
r	r
s	s
t	t
w	w
x	ʃ
y	j

The consonants m, n, l, g, r, d, b can be geminated between vowels, which is indicated by doubling them.

The consonants dh and nh are always geminated when between vowels.

The voiceless stops t, k are always aspirated.

Vowels

Monophthong vowels

Letter	IPA		Remarks
	"Front"	"Back"
a	æ	ɑ
e	e	ɛ
i	i	ɪ
o	ɞ	ɔ
u	ʉ	ʊ

Diphthong vowels

Letter	IPA		Remarks
	"Front"	"Back"
ay	æi	ɑɪ
aw	æʉ	ɑʊ
ey	ei	ɛɪ
oy	ɞi	—	No "back" variant.
ow	ɞʉ	ɔʊ

Accented vowels are often partially lengthened in the following situations:

• Monophthong vowels in open syllables;
• Monophthong vowels in word-final syllables;
• Word-final diphthong vowels.

There are also true long vowels indicated by doubling the vowel letter of a monophthong (e.g. aa) or the nucleus of a diphthong (e.g. aay). If a word contains a true long vowel, an other accented short vowel in the same word is not lengthened.

A word cannot begin in a vowel. Instead, a word written with an initial vowel is pronounced with a preceding glottal stop.

Each vowel has a "front" and "back" variety. This is the basis of vowel harmony.

In this article, a circumflex accent is used for accented "front" vowels, while an acute accent is used for accented "back" vowels. Accented vowels of indeterminate frontness/backness are represented with a grave accent.

Prosody

Accent

• Pitch accent

Phonotactics

• Syllable structure: CV(C) - where V is a vowel or diphthong
• No consonant clusters except at syllable boundaries.

Phonological history

Phonological correspondences between Portuguese and Falamu

Portuguese		Falamu
Grapheme	Environment
ch	all	j
j	initial
g	initial before e/i
di	unstressed before vowels
ti
x	all as /ʃ/	x
j	non-initial
g	non-initial before e/i
gu	word-initial; between vowels	w
v	initial before non-rounded vowel
	non-initial; initial before rounded vowel	b
p	all
b
s	all	s
ss
z
ç
sç
c	before e/i
sc
lh	all	dh
-ão	from earlier -an or -ano	-an
	from earlier -on	-on

Morphology

Pronouns

Pronouns

Person, Number	Independent		Clitic	Possessive		Remarks
	Strong	Weak		Strong	Weak
1S	amî	mî	mi	kimî	mi
2S	abô	bô	bu	kibô	bu
3SM	êl	êl	li	kisû	su
3SF	él	él	li	kisú	su
1PI	anô	nô	nu	kinô	nu
1PE	anôs	nôs	nus	kinôs	nus
2P	abôs	bôs	bus	kibôs	bus
3P	êlis	êlis	lis	kisûs	sus
Reflexive/reciprocal	possessive + més		mes	—	—	When used independently, takes a possessive - e.g. mi més "myself"
Impersonal	—	—	si	—	—	Used to form pseudopassive.

Nouns

Plural

The plural of nouns is regularly formed by adding -s (after a vowel or diphthong) or -is (after a consonant). Word-final -n becomes -nh- when -is is added.

Examples:

• ódhu "eye" -> ódhus "eyes"
• dêd "finger, toe" -> dêdis "fingers, toes"
• mán "hand, arm" -> mánhis "hands, arms"

Some nouns have irregular plurals.

Examples:

• beni'aâdan "human" -> aadâmi "humanity"
  • This is a collective noun, meaning it takes singular agreement. Colloquially, it may instead take plural agreement.
• bisó "person" -> jênti "people"
  • Collective (as aadâmi).
• mûslin "Muslim" -> muslimîn "Muslims"

Nouns are generally used in the singular when used with numerals.

Verbs

Verb stems

Verb stems

Form	Formation	Examples	Remarks
Infinitive	Base stem with final accent	falá "(to) speak"
Present	Base stem with penultimate accent	fála "speak(s)"	The accent is final in monosyllabic verbs.
Past	Infinitive + -ba	falába "spoke"	Some irregular verbs instead drop their final vowel and add -èra.

Irregular verbs:

Irregular verbs

Infinitive	Present stem	Past stem	Meaning	Remarks
sê	é ~ sê	éra	"to be"	When é is used as the present in main clauses, it falls before the complement and no clitic subject pronouns or focus particles are used. E.g. él é midhêr. ≈ midhêr éki li sê. ≈ kôs li sê midhêr. "she is a woman." When é is used adjectivally, it behaves as any other verb. E.g. midhêr awtór é "a woman who is an author
tê	tên	tênha	"to have"
wî	wîn	wînha	"to come"
bô	bôn	bônha	"to put"

Additionally, there are a class of verbs that form their past in -èra. These mostly correspond to adjectives in other languages.

Verb tenses

Tenses

Form	Formation	Examples	Remarks
Present 1	Present stem	é li fála "(s)he speaks"; fála! "speak!"; bisó fála "a person who speaks"	Used for present simple affirmative (which may have a habitual or stative meaning depending on the verb), adjectival present simple affirmative, and imperative affirmative.
Present 2	Infinitive	é mi falá "I'll speak"; ki mi falá "that I speak"; ná mi falá "I do not speak"; ná falá! "do not speak!"	Used for present prospective, present subordinate (but not adjectival), present negative and imperative negative.
Present progressive	tá + infinitive	é bu tá falá "you (sg.) are speaking"
Past simple	Past stem	é nus falába "we (excl.) spoke"
Past progressive	tá + past	é nu tá falába "we (incl.) were speaking"
Past remote	já + past	é li já falába "he spoke (a while ago)"
Jussive	ád + Infinitive	mi ád falá "I should speak/let me speak", li ád falá "let him/her speak", li ád ná falá "let him/her not speak"

Voice

Pseudopassive is formed with the impersonal subject pronoun si.

Derived verbs

• Middle: add -se to stem - e.g. labá "to wash" -> labasé "to wash oneself, to wash for oneself"
• Causative 1: add -fa to stem - e.g. durmî "to sleep" -> durmifâ "to put to sleep"
  • Usually used with intransitive verbs.
  • This can be combined with the middle to form -fase - e.g. kosê "to cook (intr.)" -> kosefâ "to cook (tr.)" -> kosefasê "to cook for oneself"
• Causitive 2: add -da to stem - e.g. komê "to eat" -> komedâ "to give to eat"
  • Usually used with transitive verbs, and often when someone is being "caused" to do something.
  • This can be combined with the middle to form -dase.
• Inchoative/Durative: add -eyà to the stem (minus any final vowel).
  • This is mostly used with verbs that form their past in -èra (other than sê, which instead becomes fiká) - e.g. altú "to be tall/long" (past: altéra) -> alteyá "to become tall/long". It may also be added directly to nouns - e.g. râyba "anger" -> raybeyâ "to become angry".
  • Other verbal suffixes can be added on top of it,in which case the final -a is dropped - e.g. alteyá "to become tall/long" -> alteyfá "to make tall/long". Note that adding the middle suffix on its own does not change the meaning - e.g. alteyá "to become tall/long" -> alteysé "to become tall/long"

Particles

Verbal focus particles

• é: used to form main clauses.
  • Used when there is no independent object or emphasized subject.
  • Comes before subject pronoun - e.g. é mi kôme. "I eat."
  • "Independent object" refers to a direct or indirect object that is not a clitic pronoun, while "emphasized subject" refers to a subject that has extra emphasis placed upon it in such a way that English would use a copular phrase.
  • é can contract with the subject pronoun, in which case it takes the frontness/backness of the verb - e.g. êmi kôme. "I eat."
  • é is not used in negative sentences - e.g. ná mi komê.' "I do not eat.".
  • Note that any explicit subject (i.e. any subject other than a clitic pronoun) is placed before the focus particle - e.g. amî é mi komêba. "[As for] me, I ate."; Úmar é li komêba. "Omar ate."
• éki: used to form main clauses.
  • Used when the independent object or emphasized subject is placed before the verb.
  • Comes after the relevant object/subject. Note that when used with a subject, it places the verb into its subordinate form - e.g. komîda éki mi kôme. "I eat food./Food [is what] I eat."; Úmar éki komîda komê. "[It is] Omar [who] eats food."
  • éki can contract with a following subject pronoun (if applicable), in which case the -ki- is dropped and e- takes the frontness/backness of the verb - e.g. komîda émi kôme. "I eat food."
    Note that this is identical to the contraction of é.
  • éki is usually not used in negative sentences - e.g. komîda ná mi komê. "I do not eat food.".
    However, it may be used for extra emphasis - e.g. Úmar éki komîda ná komê. "[It is] Omar [who] does not eat food."
• kôs: used to form main clauses.
  • Used when the independent object is placed after the verb.
  • Comes before subject pronoun - e.g. Úmar kôs li kôme komîda. "Omar eats food."
  • kôs is usually not used in negative sentences - e.g. Úmar ná li komê komîda. "Omar does not eat food."
    However, it may be used for extra emphasis - e.g. Úmar kôs li ná komê komîda. "[That which] Omar does not eat [is] food."
• kôski: used to form main clauses.
  • Used when the emphasized subject is placed after the verb.
  • Comes before verb and any clitic object pronouns - e.g. komîda kôski kôme Úmar. "[The one who] eats food [is] Omar."
  • kôski is usually not used in negative sentences - e.g. komîda ná li komê Úmar. "Omar does not eat food."
    However, it may be used for extra emphasis - e.g. komîda kôski ná kôme Úmar. "[The one who] does not eat food [is] Omar."

Interrogative pronouns

• kôs: what
• úndi, lugá ké: where
• mo ké: how
• kén: who
• kán, wês kê: when

When used in a sentence, interrogative pronouns are followed by the focus particle éki.

Examples:

• Kôs éki bu tá komê? "What are you eating?"
• Kén éki li bêba? "Who did (s)he see?"
• Kán éki lis bî? "When are they coming?"
• Ûndi éki lis nu bêba? "Where did they see us?"

Interrogative clitic

• kè: "which/what"
  • Comes after word being modified

Negation particles

• ná: negation.
  • Comes before the clitic subject pronoun of the negated verb (if any), except when used with focus particles, in which case it comes after the clitic subject pronoun (if any). In both cases, it comes before any clitic object pronouns.
  • In summary:
    • No focus particle: ná + (clitic subject) + (clitic object) + verb
    • Focus particle: (clitic subject) + ná + (clitic object) + verb

Prepositions

Prepositions may be used before the modified noun phrases or, more commonly, attached to clitic pronouns after the noun phrase.

• na: "in"
• ku: "with"
• da: "from"
• ba: "to, for"
• módi: "like"

Conjunctions

• i: "and" (within a clause)
• mas: "and" (connects clauses)
• o: "or"
• nón: "or" (in questions)
• kán: "while, when"
• barén: "but"

Syntax

Constituent order

Can be almost any order with the help of focus particles.

Noun phrase

Modifiers follow the noun they modify except for cardinal numbers, which precede the noun.

Sample Texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)

Regular: Aadami su tod kos li nase kan li se hor i nibrad na orra i deretis. Kos si daba rason i damir, mas e ba biso otu biso kuli li axi modi irman.

Phonetic: Aadâmi su tôd kôs li náse kán li sê hór i nibrád na órra i derêtis. Kôs si dába rasón i damír, mas é ba bisó ôtu bisó kûli li âxi módi irmán.

Portuguese-based: Aadâmi su tôd côs li násce cã li sê hór i nibrád na órra i derêtis. Côs si dába razõ i damír, mas é pa pissó ôtu pissó cûli li âji módi irmã.

IPA: /æːðǽmi sʉ tɞ́d kɞ́s lɪ nɑ́sɛ kɑ́ŋ li sé hɔ́r i nɪbrɑ́d nɑ ʔɔ́rːɑ i derétis || kɞ́s si dɑ́bɑ rɑsɔ́ŋ ɪ dɑmɪ́r | mɑs ʔɛ́ bɑ bɪsɔ́ ɞ́tʉ bɪsɔ́ kʉ́li li ʔǽʃi mɔ́dɪ ʔɪrmɑ́ŋ/

Gloss: humanity 3S.POSS all FOC 3S.SUBJ be_born while 3S.SUBJ be free and level in dignity and rights. FOC IMPRS give-PST reason and conscience, and is that person other person with 3S.SUBJ act like brother.

Translation: Humanity is born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are given reason and conscience, and a person must behave towards another person like a brother.