Suwáá/Unknown

Vy górov en socovíto

Suwáá/Unknown
socovíc/socovija lesán
Created by	IlL
Native speakers	393,000 (2013)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic North Semitic Suwáá/Unknown

Background

Suwáá/Unknown (Suwáá/Unknown: socovíc /ˈsotsoviːts/ or socovija lesán /ˈsotsovija ˈlesaːn/), sometimes called Sotsovian in English, is a Semitic language in the Balkan Sprachbund, spoken in the nation of Mostsev (Moscév). A North Semitic language, it diverges in many ways from Central Semitic tongues such as Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew - it preserves archaic features that have not survived in Central Semitic languages, as well as some innovations in its grammar. The name of the language, socovíc, seems to have stemmed from *√s-t-w, a root meaning 'north' in Suwáá/Unknown (cf. Hebrew סְתָו săṯâw 'winter'). Like its Semitic relatives, Suwáá/Unknown is a fusional language with an accusative alignment.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m /m/		n /n/
Plosive	voiceless	p /p/		t /t/			k /k/	q /q/	(/ʔ/)
	voiced	b /b/		d /d/			g /g/
Fricative	voiceless	f /f/	þ /θ/	s /s/	š /ʂ/		ḫ /x/		h /h/
	voiced	v /v/		z /z/	ž /ʐ/
Affricate				c /ts/	č /ʈʂ/
Trill				r /r/
Approximant				l /l/		j /j/

Allophony

If a word begins with a vowel, a glottal stop is added before it.

Vowels

Oral

	Front				Back
	unrounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i /i/	í /iː/			u /u/	ú /uː/
Mid	e /e̞/	é /e̞ː/	y /ø/	ý /øː/	o /ɤ/	ó /o̞ː/
Open	ě /æ̝/	ě /æ̝ː/			a /ɑ/	á /ɑː/

Nasal

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close
Mid		ę /ɛ̃ː/				ǫ /ɔ̃ː/
Open

Diphthongs?

ai äi ei oi ui yi ęi ǫi

Stress

Stress always falls on the first syllable of a word.

Diachronics

STRESS

Initially Arabic-like, then stress shifts leftward (before "Proto-/Old Suwáá/Unknown" stage), resulting in the loss of the final nasal elements in dual and plural endings

• base cases: *kabī́ra; *kátaba; *nawlū́da (when > *náwlūda?)
• generalize the rule "start from the left to determine syllable weight":
  • only the first 2 syllables may be stressed
  • [H L; [L H; [H H; [L L

Vowels

PSem to PNSem

• Word-final -i dropped; this triggers the generalization of diptotes and the fronting of the overall consonant inventory.
• *āN *īN *ūN > overlong *â *î *û if N is not part of a root

PNSem to PSuwáá/Unknown

Proto-North Semitic	Proto-Suwáá/Unknown
i	ь
u	ъ
a > ə	o
ī	i
ū	y
ay	ě
aw	u
ā	a
an	ǫ
in	ę, ь
un	ǫ, ъ

Havlík's law: strong *ъ > *o, strong *ь > *e, weak jers vanish without doing anything

Cja > Cě

Consonants

PSem	*b	*d	*g	*p	*t	*k	*ṭ	*ḳ	*ð	*z	*þ	*š	*ś	*s	*þ̣	*ṣ	*ṣ́	*ɣ	*ʕ	*ʔ	*x	*ħ	*h	*m	*n	*l	*r	*w	*y
Suwáá/Unknown	b	d	ž	p	c	č	t	k	v	z	f	s	š	s	f	š	þ	g	aq, -a	ː, v, j	ch	ah	h	m	n	l	r	v	j

Declension

Proto-North Semitic

Diptotic declension. The parenthesized nasal elements in the dual and plural were unstable due to the shift to word-initial stress that had occurred in PNSem.

Case	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	yawmu	yawmā(m)	yawmū
Accusative/Genitive	yawma	yawmay(m)	yawmī

Nouns

Suwáá/Unknown nouns decline in definiteness, three numbers (singular, dual and plural), and four cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, oblique). Unusually for a modern Semitic language, case plays a very important and productive role. There is no counterpart to the construct state or possessed forms of other Semitic languages (the Suwáá/Unknown case suffixes are from the original construct state forms); however, the possessor always follows the noun. This state of affairs presumably came about due to re-analysis of the elements of the original genitive construction, which were strictly 'construct-locked', as "free" declined forms to which clitics could be added.

The accusative is identical to the genitive for animate nouns, and identical to the nominative for inanimate nouns.

Suwáá/Unknown nouns are notable for generalizing the diptotic (two-case) system, with nominative singular -Ø < *-ъ < PNSem *-u and genitive/accusative singular -o < PNSem *-a. It is uncertain whether diptotes or triptotes dominated the original Proto-Semitic paradigm. Feminine singular nominative *-atu was changed to *-ā > -a, presumably under Indo-European influence. The oblique case is older than the definite affixes and wasformed by suffixing inflected forms of the preposition *bi 'with/by, in': běcbi < *běcъbьjъ < *baytu-bihu "house, in it".

The definiteness suffixes arose from cliticized demonstratives: e.g. vodov 'the child' (nom.) < *voldъ-vy < PNSem *waldu ðū; porosili 'the horses' (acc./gen.) < *porosi-ъli < PNSem *parašī ʔulī.

Nouns fall into one of several declension paradigms. Diachronically, the declension paradigm a noun belongs to is a function of the declension class it was analyzed as, as well as the noun's gender.

The possessor follows the possessor: mestajov jumovo 'the drink of the day', except when the possessor is a pronoun: li hadif bĕcov 'my new house'.

Masculine nouns of type júm

Masculine noun: vod 'child, boy'
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	vod	vodov	voda	vodava	vody	vodyly
Genitive	vodo	vodovo	vodě	voděvě	vodi	vodili
Oblique	vodbi	vodvobi	voděma	voděvěma	vodím	vodilím

Masculine noun: júm 'day'
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	júm	júmov	júma	júmava	júmy	júmyly
Genitive	júmo	júmovo	júmě	júměvě	júmi	júmili
Oblique	júmbi	júmvobi	júměma	júměvěma	júmím	júmilím

Masculine *-ь-stems

Masculine noun: fob 'antelope'
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	fob	fobjev	fobja	fobjava	fobje	fobjely
Genitive	fobje	fobjevo	fobjě	fobjěvě	fobji	fobjili
Oblique	fobbi	fobvobi	fobjěma	fobjěvěma	fobjím	fobjilím

q-stems

*-q > a, *-aq, *-yq > á, *-eq, ěq > ě, *-uq > ó, *-iq > é

Masculine noun: vrá 'arm'
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	vrá	vraqov	vraqa	vraqava	vraqy	vraqyly
Genitive	vraqo	vraqovo	vraqě	vraqěvě	vraqi	vraqili
Oblique	vraqbi	vraqvobi	vraqěma	vraqěvěma	vraqím	vraqilím

*ħ-stems

Similar alternations to q-stems.

Masculine noun: ráh 'wind'
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ráh	ryhov	ryha	ryhava	ryhy	ryhyly
Genitive	ryho	ryhovo	ryhě	ryhěvě	ryhi	ryhili
Oblique	ryhbi	ryhovobi	ryhěma	ryhěvěma	ryhím	ryhilím

Masculine -ot- nouns

Loanwords: Greek loans in -ma, several suffixes such as -ista, Slavic loanwords.

Masculine noun: problema 'problem'
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	problema	problemav	problemota	probleměta	problemy	problemyly
Genitive	problemoto	problemotovo	problemocě	probleměcě	problemi	problemili
Oblique	problemóbi	problemotvobi	problemóbima	probleměbima	problemím	problemilím

Feminine nouns of type molča

sira 'performance, ritual'
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	sira	sirěc	sirota	sirěta	sirác	siralác
Genitive	siroto	sirěto	sirocě	sirěcě	siraci	siralaci
Oblique	siróbě	sirěbě	siróbima	sirěbima	sirábín	siralábín

Feminine nouns of type lesán

This class includes many feminine body part nouns. Examples: qӗn 'eye'; ovon, ovn- 'ear'; beton, betn- 'stomach'; koron, korn- 'horn'; óm 'mother'; lӗl 'night'; oroþ, orþ- 'earth'.

lesán 'tongue, language'
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	lesán	lesáněc	lesána	lesáněta	lesánác	lesánalác
Genitive	lesáno	lesáněto	lesáně	lesáněcě	lesánaci	lesánalaci
Oblique	lesánbě	lesáněbě	lesáněma	lesáněbima	lesánábín	lesánalábín

Feminine abstract -íc nouns

Feminine noun: omyníc 'truth'
Case	Singular	Dual	Plural
direct	omyníc	omynita	omynijác
gen./acc.	omynito	omynicě	omynijaci
dative	omynítla	omynítluma	omynijátlěn
oblique	omynítbě	omynítbima	omynijátbín

Irregular nouns

Nouns with "irregular" declension or broken plurals became nigh-extinct by the time of Proto-Socovíc; however, some still remain.

• ęs (pl. nom. indef. onasy) 'person'
• sem (pl. nom. indef. osamy) 'name'

Possessed nouns

Possessed nouns, or nouns that take possessive suffixes, are a closed class; this group covers only the nuclear family nouns ob 'father' (pl. obáje), óm 'mother' (pl. ómác), och (pl. ochovy) 'brother', ochoc, ochc-/ocht- 'sister' (pl. ochovác), ben, bn- (pl. bnáje) 'son', bęc, bęc-/bęt- 'daughter' (pl. bnác). Only the singular has possessed forms: ochi 'my brother', but li ochava 'my two brothers'. Note that the plurals are all irregular in order to disambiguate the plural case-marked forms from the singular possessed forms.

All nouns in this class follow the same declension w.r.t. possession. The oblique can be formed by adding -bi to the end of the accusative/genitive possessed forms.

'My sister' and 'my daughter' are ochci and bęci in the nominative; all other posssessed forms take stems in ocht- and bęt-.

Possessed forms of ob 'father'
Nominative
Case	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	obi	obyna	obyny
2.m	obyko	obykma	obykmy
2.f	obyk		obykno
3.m	oby	obyma	obymy
3.f	obá		obyno
Accusative/Genitive
Case	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	obaj	obana	obany
2.m	obako	obakma	obakmy
2.f	obak		obakno
3.m	obav	obama	obamy
3.f	obá		obano

Adjectives

Adjectives merge the genitive and oblique cases into the genitive case.

Adjectives precede nouns in the nominative and accusative cases: rób běc 'a big house', taba spara 'a good story', but follow the nouns in the genitive and oblique: docěc běcovo róbovo 'the door of the big house', and prepositional objects: en běcovo róbovo 'in the big house'. Adjectives do not agree in definiteness when they precede the noun, but do agree when they follow the noun.

Adjectives ending in a consonant

Adjective declension: tab 'good' (masculine)
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
Nominative	tab	tabov	taba	tabava	taby	tabyly
Genitive	tabo	tabovo	tabě	taběvě	tabi	tabili

Adjective declension: tab 'good' (feminine)
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
Nominative	taba	taběc	tabota	taběta	tabác	tabalác
Genitive	taboto	taběto	tabocě	taběcě	tabaci	tabalaci

Nisba adjectives

Adjective declension: bošorí 'bodily, physical' (masculine)
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
Nominative	bošorí	bošorív	bošorija	bošoríva	bošorije	bošoríly
Genitive	bošorije	bošorívo	bošorijě	bošorívě	bošorí	bošoríli

Adjective declension: bošorí 'bodily, physical' (feminine)
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
Nominative	bošorija	bošoríc	bošorijota	bošoríta	bošorijác	bošorílác
Genitive	bošorijoto	bošoríto	bošorijocě	bošorícě	bošorijaci	bošorílaci

Pronouns

Genitive and short accusative pronouns can be used as verbal clitics denoting a pronominal object; the clitic precedes the verb unless the verb is in the imperative. The genitive/dative clitic comes before the accusative clitic. A pronominal object may be "doubled" by a clitic for emphasis like in Balkan or Romance languages.

Personal pronouns
Case	First person
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	nák	nahna	nahny
Genitive	li	lona	lony
Accusative	níc, ni	nác, na	nýc, ny
Oblique	bi	bna	bny

Personal pronouns, cont.
Case	Second person					Third person
	Singular		Dual	Plural		Singular		Dual	Plural
	masculine	feminine		masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine		masculine	feminine
Nominative	ǫto	ǫt	ǫtma	ǫtmy	ǫtna	hy	hi	homa	homy	hen
Genitive	loko	lok	lókma	lókmy	lókna	lú	lá	luma	lumy	lěn
Accusative	kác, ka	kíc, ki, k	kmác, kma	kmýc, kmy	knác, kna	hóc, ho	hác, ha	homác, homa	homýc, hom	henác, hen
Oblique	beko	bek	bekma	bekmy	bekna	bí	bě	bíma	bímy	bín

Interrogative pronouns
Case	'who'	'what'
Nominative	mǫ	ma
Genitive	mǫlu	malu
Accusative	mǫc	ma
Oblique	mǫbi	mabi

Demonstrative pronoun
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
Nominative	vy	věc	va	věta	ely	elác
Genitive	vu	věto	vě	věcě	eli	elaci
Dative	vylu	větla	věluma	větluma	elilúm	elátlěn
Oblique	vybi	větbě	věbima	větbima	elibím	elátbín

Relative pronoun ovy < *han-ðū

Relative pronoun
	Singular		Dual		Plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
Nominative	ovy	ověc	ova	ověta	óly	ólác
Genitive	ovu	ověto	ově	ověcě	óli	ólaci
Dative	ovylu	ovětla	ověluma	ovětluma	ólilúm	ólátlěn
Oblique	ovybi	ovětbě	ověbima	ovětbima	ólibím	ólátbín

Numerals

Cardinal numerals

Different cardinal numerals are declined differently, and have various effects on the modified noun depending on the final digits of the numeral:

• Cardinal numerals one and two, and those ending in "1" or "2", are declined as adjectives. The modified noun is singular (and agrees in case) for numbers ending in ahod, and the noun is dual for numbers ending in fla.
• All other numerals are declined as nouns and require the noun they modify to be in the genitive plural.
  • Words šolaf (3) through cés (9) or in qošor (10-19) are declined like feminine singular nouns in adnominal position (Hén šolafa ęsáje 'There are three people') and like masculine singular nouns in nominal position (Hén šolaf 'There are three').
  • Words qošory (20), šolafy (30), ..., césy (90) are declined as masculine plural nouns.
  • Units such as nul (0, m), meja (100, f), olop (1000, m), milijon, milijarda, etc. are declined as ordinary nouns, taking the appropriate number and case.

Examples:

• qošory júmi '20 days', qošory sonáci '20 years'
• qošory v ahod júm '21 days', qošory v ahda sona '21 years'
• qošory vo fla júma '22 days', qošory vo flota sonota '22 years'
• qošory v šolafa júmi '23 days', qošory v šolafa sonaci '23 years'
• milijona dolari '2 million dollars'
• mejota milijoni dolari '200 million dollars'

One may also encounter calques from Arabic:

• Olop lělaci v lěl 'One thousand and one nights' (Arabic ˀalf^u layla^tin wa-layla^tun).

Since Suwáá/Unknown has singular and dual forms, modifying numerals one and two are not needed; thus Hén li voda v bęc 'I have two sons and a daughter' is just as correct as (in fact preferred to) Hén fla voda v ahda bęc.

The ordinal numerals okdom 'first' and okrob 'second' are suppletive; okdom is the elative of the root k-d-m (kodam) 'front, before', (cf. the etymology of first), and okrob is the elative of k-r-b (koreb) 'near' (cf. next).

Suwáá/Unknown numerals
	n	nth	1/n
0	nul	nulí	-
1	ahod (m), ahda (f)	okdom	-
2	fla (m), flota (f)	okrob	žǫb
3	šolaf, šolafa	šolyf	mošólef
4	roba, roboqa	robá	moróbě
5	chǫs, chǫsa	chonys	mochónes
6	séf, séfa	sodyf	mosódef
7	sóp, sópa	sobá	mosóbě
8	fomán, fomána	fomyn	mofómen
9	cés, césa	cosá	mocósě
10	qošor, qošora	qosyr	moqósyr
11	ahod v qošor	-	-
20	qošory	-	-
21	qošory v ahod	-	-
30	šolafy	-	-
40	roboqy	-	-
50	chǫsy	-	-
60	séfy	-	-
70	sópy	-	-
80	fomány	-	-
90	césy	-	-
100	meja	mejocí	-
200	mejota	mejotají	-
300	šolafa mejác	šolafamejocí	-
1000	olop	olpí	-
2000	olpa	olpají	-
3000	šolafa olpy	šolafaolpí	-

Verbs

See also: Verbal subparadigms.

Overview of the verb forms

Present

The present tense is derived from the construction *bi- + verbal noun + possessive suffix (agreeing with the subject) which shifted in meaning into something like 'is at one's X-ing'. The possessive suffix component developed into the personal affixes for the present tense. This grammaticalization is reminiscent of the Biblical Hebrew construction for time clauses: bă- + infinitive construct + personal suffix, e.g. bă-ḇôˀô lit. 'at his coming in', i.e. 'when he comes in'.

Aorist

The aorist indicates an action that was completed in the past. It was inherited from the Proto-Semitic preterite.

Lu nohób vohób.

I gave him gold.

Subjunctive

The subjunctive form is similar to the aorist form, but has a short vowel in the stem (like the imperative) instead of a long vowel.

The non-2nd person imperatives may be formed with the hortative particle c (< ci 'come') plus the subjunctive.

C jóci memlóč loko.

Thy kingdom come.

The subjunctive (like the imperative) is negated with the negative particle la, instead of bo.

La li tošnej!

Don't get mad at me!

La ho tačol!

Don't eat it!

Imperative

The imperative is formed by removing the personal prefix from the subjunctive. Often the subjunctive is used with imperative meaning instead. Any clitic pronouns must follow the imperative, not precede it like with other verb forms.

G-stems: joktól

joktól 'kill'
Infinitive/Verbal noun
kotlec
Present participle
katel
Stative passive participle
kotyl
Past participle
kotol
Imperative
	Singular	Dual	Plural
2.m	ktol!	ktola!	ktoly!
2.f	ktoli!		ktolno!
Present
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	bektli	bektolna	bektolny
2.m	bektlok	bektolkma	bektolkmy
2.f	bektloč		bektolkno
3.m	bektlu	bektolma	bektolmy
3.f	bektla		bektolno
Subjunctive
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	noktol	noktla	noktly
2.m	toktol	toktla	toktly
2.f	toktli		toktolno
3.m	joktol	joktla	joktly
3.f	joktli		joktolno
Imperfect
Add fo- to present tense forms.
Aorist
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	noktól	noktóla	noktóly
2.m	toktól	toktóla	toktóly
2.f	toktóli		toktólno
3.m	joktól	joktóla	joktóly
3.f	joktóli		joktólno
Future I
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	de noktol	de noktla	de noktly
2.m	de toktol	de toktla	de toktly
2.f	de toktli		de toktolno
3.m	de joktol	de joktla	de joktly
3.f	de joktli		de joktolno
Future II
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.m	nočyn kotol	nočyna kotla	nočyny kotly
1.f	nočyn kotla	nočyna kotlota	nočyny kotlác
2.m	točyn kotol	točyna kotla	točyny kotly
2.f	točyni kotla	točyna kotlota	točynno kotlác
3.m	jočyn kotol	jočyna kotla	jočyny kotly
3.f	jočyni kotla	jočyna kotlota	jočynno kotlác
Perfect
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.m	nák kotol	nána kotla	nány kotly
1.f	nák kotla	nána kotlota	nány kotlác
2.m	ǫto kotol	ǫtma kotla	ǫtmy kotly
2.f	ǫc kotla	ǫtma kotlota	ǫtno kotlác
3.m	(hy) kotol	(homa) kotla	(homy) kotly
3.f	(hi) kotla	(homa) kotlota	(hen) kotlác
Pluperfect
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.m	čǫk kotol	čanna kotla	čanny kotly
1.f	čǫk kotla	čanna kotlota	čanny kotlác
2.m	čǫt kotol	čǫtma kotla	čǫtmy kotly
2.f	čǫc kotla	čǫtma kotlota	čǫtno kotlác
3.m	čan kotol	čana kotla	čany kotly
3.f	čana kotla	čanota kotlota	čanno kotlác

D-stems: jokótél

Examples: jobóréč 'greet, celebrate', joþójém 'bring up in conversation, build upon a concept' (< þima 'topic, theme')

jopóléž 'split (something)'
Infinitive/Verbal noun
pólžíc
Participle
mopólež
Imperative
	Singular	Dual	Plural
2.m	pólež!	pólža!	pólžy!
2.f	pólži!		póležno!
Subjunctive
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	nopólež	nopólža	nopólžy
2.m	topólež	topólža	topólžy
2.f	topólži		topóležno
3.m	jopólež	jopólža	jopólžy
3.f	jopólži		jopóležno
Aorist
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	paložok	paložna	paložny
2.m	paložot	paložtma	paložtmy
2.f	paložoc		paložtno
3.m	palož	paloža	paložy
3.f	paloža	paložota	paložno

čan 'be, exist'

The verb čan has no present tense indicative forms; the formal "present tense" forms are used for the future and subjunctive. It also has no imperfective-perfective distinction in the past or future. In the present indicative, pronouns are used as the copula, and the word jef is used to indicate existence.

čanec, čon, jočyn, čan, čun 'be'
Infinitive/Verbal noun
čanec
Participle
čun
Imperative
	Singular	Dual	Plural
2.m	čon!	čona!	čony!
2.f	čoni!		čonno!
Present
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	(nák)	(nána)	(nány)
2.m	(ǫto)	(ǫtma)	(ǫtmy)
2.f	(ǫc)		(ǫtno)
3.m	(ho)	(homa)	(homy)
3.f	(hi)		(hen)
Past
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	čǫk	čanna	čanny
2.m	čǫt	čǫtma	čǫtmy
2.f	čǫc		čǫtno
3.m	čan	čana	čany
3.f	čana	čanota	čanno
Future
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	de nočyn	de nočyna	de nočyny
2.m	de točyn	de točyna	de točyny
2.f	de točyni		de točynno
3.m	de jočyn	de jočyna	de jočyny
3.f	de jočyni		de jočynno
Subjunctive
	Singular	Dual	Plural
1	nočyn	nočyna	nočyny
2.m	točyn	točyna	točyny
2.f	točyni		točynno
3.m	jočyn	jočyna	jočyny
3.f	jočyni		jočynno

Interrogatives

Interrogatives
Suwáá/Unknown	Gloss	Etymology
ma	what	*mā
mǫ	who	*man
mur	when	*mā + Ancient Greek hōra 'time'
vilma	why	vil 'for' + ma 'what'

Prepositions

Prepositions
Suwáá/Unknown	Gloss	Etymology
en	in, towards, into (+gen)	*ʔin(a)
me	from (+gen); with (+obl)	*min; Greek me
qę	between, among (+obl)	*ʕimm-
qolě	on (+gen)	*ʕalay
vil	for (+acc)

Conjunctions

Conjunctions
Suwáá/Unknown	Gloss	Etymology
v(o)	and	*wa-
éla	or	*ʔim lā
u	xor	*ʔaw
vén	so, thus	*wa-hinna
ča	as
no	subjunctive	*ʔan(na), *-anna
jěj	if	*yahwī
lu	if (contrary-to-fact)	*law
po	then, so	*pa-

Particles

Particles
Suwáá/Unknown	Gloss	Etymology
o	polar question	*ha-
bo	not (indicative)	*bal
la	not (irrealis)	*lā

Usage

Nominal sentences

As in most Semitic and certain Slavic languages, present indicative does not require a copula:

Eláh ibošorí. (also: Eláh hy ibošorí. Obviously, a Muslim might say Alláh (hy) ibošorí.)

God is incorporeal.

Existentials

In positive clauses, hén is used as the word for "there is"; in interrogative and negative clauses jef is used.

Existential words are used in predicative possession.

Relative clauses

As is the case in most European languages, but unlike in other Semitic languages, relative pronouns agree with the gender and number of the head, but are case-marked for their syntactic position within the relative clause.

The choice of the relative pronoun depends on the definiteness/specificity of the noun. Specific referents use vy as the relative pronoun, whereas indefinite or hypothetical nouns use mǫ (animate)/ma (inanimate).

Derivational morphology

Patterns

• meCCoC place noun
  • mevbáh 'altar' < *ð-b-ħ 'sacrifice' (altar, altarj- is more common though)

Affixes

• aft(o)- 'self-, auto-'
  • aftokotlec 'suicide'
  • aftorahom 'self-pity' < rahom, rahm- 'compassion, mercy'
• -cija '-tion'
  • funkcija '(mathematical) function'
• i- 'un-', 'non-' (negative prefix for nouns and adjectives)
  • ibercí 'nonmetallic'
• -í adjective (nisba) suffix
  • májí 'aquatic, aqueous' < máj 'water'
  • qomí 'national' < qom 'people, nation'
• -íc abstract noun suffix from nouns and adjectives
  • nopsíc 'identity' < nopos, nops- 'self'
  • omyníc 'truth' < omyn 'true'
  • onasíc 'humanity (human species)' < onasy 'people (pl.)' (compare ęsíc 'humanity (being human)' < ęs 'person (sg.)'; cf. German Menschheit vs. Menschlichkeit)
  • polaríc 'polarity' < polarí 'polar'
• -izom, -izm- '-ism'
  • šiqizom 'Shiˁism'
• -loja '-logy'

Phrasebook

• Solám! 'Hello!'
• Tab mahár! 'Good morning!'
• Tab júm! 'Good day!'
• Taba mesa! 'Good evening!'
• Taba lěl! 'Good night!'
• Ma lók/lóč smov? 'What is your (m.sg/f.sg) name?'
• Li smov [name]. 'My name is [name].'
• Staqpu/Staqpovi/Staqpova/Staqpovy/Staqpuna li! (to one man/one woman/two people/m.pl./f.pl) 'Excuse me!'
• Oj vil ma! 'No worries!'

Texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

Čóly onasyly jǫvolydy horary v savije en qosorvobi v tahikilím.

all-PL.M.NOM human.PL.DEF.NOM 3.PRES-beget/PASS-PL.M free-PL.M.NOM and equal-PL.M.NOM in worth-SG.DEF.INS and right-PL.DEF.INS

All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Mosyčaly mosbárbi v tostočínbi, homy mopokady no joptaqly okrobokroblu en hnumoto ochovíto.

PART-empower/PASS-PL.M.NOM reason-SG.INS and conscience-SG.INS 3.PL.M.NOM PART-obligate/PASS-PL.M.NOM SUBJ 3-behave/PRES-PL.M each_other-SG.M.DAT in spirit-SG.GEN brotherhood-SG.GEN

Empowered with reason and conscience, they ought to behave toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

(audio)

Pater noster

Obyny, ovy ǫto en somájlibím!
C joktódas smov lók.
C jóci memlóčov lók.
C jǫpoqyly roþív lók, ěma en somájlibím ěvi v en orþěbě.
Chlebov lony jumí hab lony ojúm.
V staqpu lony chotálác menny, ěvi v nahny nostaqpovy chotálác nož lony.
V la ny sabé en tonésíny, éla žal ny leč rogovo.
Amen.

Schleicher's fable

Sověc v porosyly

Sova větla bo fojočon qobáj jorí porosi; ahod fojožórer čobid merčab, ahod fojoshab rób homol, v ahod fojoshab odomo išǫ. Sověc jamári porosili: «Lébov li bemoraru, rájoto odom mosožér porosi.» Porosyly jamáry: «Stosmeqi, sova, lébov lony bemoraru, rájili vy: odom, baqlov, beqši noposlu qobájvobi sověto ham molbes. Vén sovětla bo jef qobáj.» Someqa vy, sověc jobráhi en mesvójovo.

(audio)

The Sheep and the Horses

A sheep that had no wool saw horses; one was pulling a heavy wagon, one was carrying a big load, and one was carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, having seen a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us, having seen this: a man, the master, makes out of the wool of the sheep a warm garment for himself. So the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.