Behru cesik

Béhru cesik shúune viine yoone hok.

Setting

Behru cesik (a combination of Behru, an ethnonym, and cesik, meaning "way of speaking"), is the official language of the 7 billion denizens of the Behru empire, which expands across the Behru and Maidn river valleys (exluding the maritime regions ravaged by the sea of endless storms) and the fertile plains atop the plateau of the Jisok outcropping. The language represented in this article is that of the empire 4000 years after its founding, when Behru Cesik was first widely standardized.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal
Nasal	m hm	n hn			ñ hñ	ng hng
Plosive	p b	t d			c j	k g
Fricative	f v	s z			sh zh	x gh
Affricate
Approximant	w hw				hy		h
Trill
Flap or tap
Lateral fric.
Lateral app.			l lh	r hr
Lateral flap

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	i				u
Near-close	e	î		ü
Close-mid
Mid			ë		o
Open-mid
Near-open
Open	a

Phonotactics

All Behru free morphemes of native origin consist of a 2 syllable root with a maximum structure stop-fricative-approximant-vowel/syllabic l or r-consonant-vowel. Bound morphemes are permitted to have a reduced structure, so long as they start witha consonant should they be allowed to occur word initially. All syllables must start with a consonant. Alll free roots except particles and nouns in the agent case singular have a suffix of some sort indicating their grammatical role in the sentence.

Vowels

All roots that can exist unbound, along with several bound roots, hold a tone. This tone may be either a high ´tone like in lé, or a low tone le (low tone is unmarked). A high tone is only found in noun, verb, and particle roots, it is never found on the suffixes with the exception of several toneshift sandhi rules. In addition, a vowel may be of one of 3 "strengths". A weak vowel is reduced and centralized, and may carry have a high tone. A medium vowel is clearly pronounced but clipped in length. A strong vowel is held out in length. Some roots contain the sequence CV l/r C(V). The combination of a vowel and and l and r usually fuse in an unusual way.

Vowel strength

Weak	ë	ë	i	ü	l	r
Strong	a	o	e	u	ol, el*	ar, er*
Prolonged	aa	oo	ii	uu	ul, il*	or, ir*

• roots containing l or r may strengthen according to two different series.

Sandhi

Sandhi in behru can be divided into two categories, tone sandhi and consonant sandhi. Vowel sandhi only occurs word internally, as all morphemes that can occur at the front of a word start with consonants.

Consonant sandhi

Rule 1: first consonant agrees with second consonant in voice if both are stops or fricatives

k,x,c,sh,t,s,p,f	when followed by g,gh,j,zh,d,z,b,v	become g,gh,j,zh,d,z,b,v

n assimilates in the point of articulation of the following consonants

n	when followed by k,g,x,gh ng	becomes ng
n	when followed by c,j,sh,zh,ñ	becomes ñ
n	when followed by p,b,f,v,m	becomes m

Rule 3: palatalization of dental consonants

t,d,s,z	when followed by y	combine with y to become c,j,sh,zh

Rule 4: y and w dissimilate before matching vowels

y	when followed by i	becomes zh
w	when followed by u	becomes v

Rule 5: combining palatal and dental sounds

s,sh,t	when followed by sh	combines with sh to become c
z,zh,d	when followed by zh	combines with zh to become j

Rule 6: h weakens unvoiced stops

k,c,t,p	when followed by h (only if h is in isolation)	combine with h to become x,sh,s,f

rule 7: h aspirates liquid and nasal consonants

y,r,l,w,ng,ñ,n,m	when followed by h	become hy,hr,hl,hw,hng,hñ,hn,hm

Rule 8: aspirated liquids and nasals devoice preceding stops and fricatives

g,gh,j,zh,d,z,b,v	when followed by h (only if h is in isolation)	become p,x,c,sh,t,s,p,f, and the h disappears

Rule 9: w and y become v and zh when not followed by vowels, and vice versa

w and y	when followed by another consonant and preceded by a consonant	become u and i

Rule 10: Progressive devoicing

k, p, t, c, s, sh, f, x	When in contact with any liquid nasal	Devoice said liquid or nasal, eg; k+n = khn, m+t=hmt

• note: The effects of rule 10 are never written, as they can always be determined, samt will always be pronounced as |sahmt|, no rules can reverse this.

Rule 11: regressive devoicing

g, b, d	When followed by an aspirant liquid or nasal directly, or if followed seperated from the aspirant by a short vowel	become k, p, t, eg; g+hy=ky, bu+hm+ puhm, but daa+ hn doesn't equal taahn, because of the long vowel

Rule 12: intervocalic voicing

k, t, p, even if preceded by a nasal or fricative	Voice between two vowels. If a second consonant lies before, this consonant is also voiced. However, if a consonant lies after, this rule does not aplly	aka becomes aga, efto becomes evdo, ampi becomes ambi, but akya deos not become agya

Notes: the only rules which can change the voicing of c and j are rules 2 and 7.

Only the rules 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8 occur across word boundaries. Final consonants affected by rules 6 and 7 across word boundaries double. The h doesn't dissapear of rule 8 occurs across word boundaries.

Vowel Sandhi

Rule 1: vowels have consonants inserted after or become consonants themselves when followed by other vowels

o,u	when followed by e,i,a,o	become ow,w
o,u	when followed by u,ü	become ov,v
e,i	when followed by a,o,u,ü,e	become ey,y
e,i	when followed by i	become ezh,zh
a	when followed by any vowel	dissapears
aa	when followed by any vowel	becomes aah

Tone Sandhi

If a vowel with a tone is weakened múk to mügii	The tone is shifted to the following syllable mügíi
If a vowel with a tone is converted into a consonant like hí+e hye	The tone is shifted to the following syllable hyé

Orthography

Behru romanized orthography matches the symbols given in the phonology section. Sandhi is indicated always in both written systems. The Behru native writing system is an alphabet, with symbols for vowels, consonants, vowel strength and tone arranged into syllabic blocks, written up to down, left to right. Pictures of these will be uploaded later.

Basic Grammar

	Gender	Cases	Numbers	Tenses	Persons	Moods	Voices	Aspects
Verb	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Nouns	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Adjectives	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Numbers	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Participles	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Adverb	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pronouns	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Adpositions	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Article	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Particle	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Behru in the modern day is highly fusional, although the language of old, in the days of empire, was far more agglutinative. This older stage of the language is popular in literature, but this article primarily focuses on the Hedri colloquial. All root morphemes of the language can be split into 4 groups. All free morphemes are part of onne of 3 parts of speech, verb, noun, or particle. Adjectives and adverbs do not exist as a part of speech, they can exist as either prefixes or derived from verbs. The language is most commonly uses a subject object verb word order, but there are no strict rules on word order in most sentences. The language is exclusively head final, with all modifiers placed before the head. The verb always comes a finally when it is the head of a clause, and is the only portion of the sentence that may not be omitted under any circumstances.

Morphemes

	Free	Bound
Semantemes	Verbs, Nouns	adjectival prefixes, adverbial prefixes, derivational sufixes
Grammemes	Grammatical particles	grammatical sufixes, positional sufixes, grammatical infixes

Noun Morphology

Principle parts of a Behru noun.

Simple consonant variation nouns

A behru noun has 3 principle parts, the default, weak, and plural forms. The plural form is used in the plural (obviously), and the weak form is used in the patient, genitive, possesive, comparative, and compound cases.

Principle Behru nouns ending in a voiceless stop

	Default	Weak	Plural
Type 1	múk, let, ksac, lóp	mügáa, lidaa, ksëcaa, lëbáa	múuge, liide, ksaaje, lóobe
Type 2	lart, kélc, náp, cwenk	lrdii, klcíi, nëbíi, cwin'gii	lorje, kíljie, náabye, cwiin'gye
Type 3	xámp, zholt, ghúc, juk	xëmbúu, zhlduu, ghücúu, jüguu	xáambwe, zhuldwe, ghúujwe, juugwe

Simple variation vowel nouns

Default	Weak	Plural
lube, nago, mwaco, xéde, sráje	lübii, nëgoo, mwëcoo, xidíi, srëjíi	luubeye, naagowe, mwaacowe, xíideye, sráajeye

Complex variation nouns

Palatal nouns

	Default	Weak	Plural
Voiced stop base Type 1	perji, ñélji, yúgi, tóbi	prjiaa, ñljiáa, yügyáa, tëbyáa	piirjrye, ñíljlye, yúugïngye, tóobüvye
2	náji, húji, tségi, tólbi	nëjjíi, hüjjíi, tsïgzhíi, tlbzhíi	náajrye, húujlye, tsíigïngye, túlbüvye
3	hloji, xworji, ryagi, vyúbi	hlëjiuu, xwrjiuu, ryëgyuu, vyübyúu	hloojrye, xwurdlye, ryaagïngye, vyúubüvye
Voiceless base type 1	gzhéci, dloci, numgi, sólbi	ghiciáa, dlëcaa, nümkyaa, slpyáa	ghzíicrhye, dlootlhye, nuumkïhngye, súupüfye
2	móbi	mëpshíi	móopüfye
3	pláci	plëcáa	pláatlhye

Labial nouns

	Default	Weak	PLural
Voiced 1	ráju	rëjwáa	ráajrwe
2	hwogu	hwëgwii	hwoogüngwe
3	sandu	sëndvuu	saandlwe
Voicless 1	zlecu	zlicwaa	zliicrhwe
2	hméldu	hmltwíi	hmíltlwe
3	shúbu	shüpfúu	shúupüfwe

Historically ejective nouns

Default	Weak	Plural
frábe, lyóndi, shriju, tógo	frëbíi, lyëndíi, shrijuu, tëgóo	fráabüveye, lyóondlye, shriijrwe, tóogëngowe

Intervocal stop nouns

Default	Weak	Plural
tádo, kluge ñárce, sábo	tëdóo, klügii ñërcíi, sëbóo	táadowe, kluugeye ñórjeye, sáabowe

Fricative nouns

	Default	Weak	Plural
Simple voiceless	dvasa, tómfa, rwéshu, zumxe	dvësaa, tëmfáa, rwïsháa, zümxaa	dvaatse, tóompfe, rwíiccwe, zuumkkeye
Complex voiceless	clúso, kólfe, bváfi, hyaxe	clüsóo, klfíi, bvëfii, hyëxii	clúutlhowe, kúlpüfeye, bváa
Voiced	tevo, ñúzo, lazhe	tivoo, ñüzóo, lëzhii	tiivüvowe, ñúuzlowe, laazhreye

Liquid and nasal nouns (4 parts)

Default consonant	Default Vowel	Weak	Plural
shúun, ryaam, pshiing	shúnz, ryamv, pshen'g	shüné, ryëmé, pshingé	shúunde, ryaambe, pshiin'ge
jáal, kóor	jáls, kórsh	jëlé, këré	jáahle, kóohre

Basic endings

Endings using the first principle part

	Singular		Paucal
	Stop Consonant/schwa	Vowel	Stop Consonant/schwa	Vowel
Agent	-	-	ii, uu	zh, v
Causative	ëye	ye	iizhe, uuve	zhazh, vazh
Ablative	ehn	kihn	iiñi, uum	ñzh, ma
Comitative	ent	kint	iiñzhu, uumzhu	ñzhu, mt
Benefactive	empi	kimpi	iiñibi, uumpi	ñip, map
Vialis	or	vr	iiren, uuren	zhrn, vrn
Instrumental	l	l	iyan, uwan	zhën, vën
Adessive	mazh	mazh	iimi, uumi	zhmi, vmi
Locative	hi	hi	iishi, uushi	zhi, vi
Dative	ci	ci	iic, uuc	shc, fc
Patientive	*see 2	yan, wan	*see 2	zhan, van
Posessive	*see 2	ino, uno	*see 2	zhño, vno
Comparative	*see 2	ihno, uhno	*see 2	shno, fno
Genitive/ Combining stem	*see 2	in, un	*see 2	zhñi, vnë

These endings can be added to the 1st prinicple part of the noun using sandhi. One thing must be noted for consonant nouns, nouns ending in a simple voiceless stop will often have a semivowel inserted between the consonant and the ending. Which semivowel is inserted requires knowledge of the second principle part, nouns ending in an ii, like mügíi, will have a y inserted, nouns ending in an uu will hae a w inserted. Nouns ending in aa have nothing inserted. Therefore, the noun múk, mügíi, múugye, will have a y inserted in the ablative (múkyehn), as that ending starts with the vowel e, and múk's second principle part ends in ii.

Endings using the second principle part

Patientive	ha
Possessive	ng
Comparative	ho
Genitive/combining stem	-

Endings using the third principle part

	Consonant	Vowel
Agent	e	e
Causative	ëye	zhe
Ablative	aman	aman
Comitative	amant	amant
Benefactive	amampi	amampi
Vialis	ren	ren
Instrumental	l	hl
Addessive	mazh	mazh
Locative	ëzh	zh
Dative	ëc	c
Patientive	VhVVm*	VhVVm*
Posessive	mo	mo
Comparative	ëhmo	hmo
Genitive/Combing stem	ëm	m

• V means vowel of the second syllable, which is reduplicated. Schwa endings do not reveal the final consonant in vowel ending nouns.

Consonant declension

Voiceless consonant ending

K-nouns group 1 animate, múk, múge, mûgíi (dog-like animal)

	Single	Paucal	Plural
Agent	múk	múgii	Template:Hpc
Causative	múgëye	múgiizhe	Template:Hpc
Ablative	Template:HpcTemplate:Hpc	múgiiTemplate:Hpc	Template:HpcTemplate:Hpc
Comitative	Template:HpcTemplate:Hpc	múgiiTemplate:Hpc	Template:HpcTemplate:Hpc
Benefactive	Template:HpcTemplate:Hpc	múgiiTemplate:Hpc	Template:HpcTemplate:Hpc
Vialis	Template:Hpc	múgiiren	Template:Hpc
Instrumental	múkl	múgiyan	Template:Hpc
Adessive	múkmazh	múgiimi	Template:Hpc
Locative	múxi	múgiishi	Template:Hpc
Dative	múkci	múgiic	Template:Hpc
Patient	Template:Hpc	múgiyan	Template:Hpc
Posessive	Template:Hpc	múgino	Template:Hpc
Comparative	Template:Hpc	múkihno	Template:Hpc
Genitive/Combining form	Template:Hpc	múgin	Template:Hpc

1: stems marked in Bold require knowledge of the invisible vowel, always marked in the second principle part

2: stems marked in Template:Hpc are formed off of the second principle part

3: stems marked in Template:Hpc are formed off of the third principle part

4: endings marked in Template:Hpc use the ablative stem, and are similar across all nouns. Forming the ablative stem require knolwedge of both the first and second principle parts.

Endings added to the combining stem

These endings are added to the combining stem, and must themselves be declined before the noun is used. These nouns may only be declined in the dative, locative, vialis, and ablative. They are effectively "prepositional nouns". They decline irregularily.

The Location in time suffixes are effectively only used for events and verbal nouns, . For example "cénzupor": means "the event of me seeing him". Add the time locative jep to the combining stem, and you get "céninzuprejep", meaning "at the time I was speaking to him". Adding "nu" before "jep" means before, adding "pya" means after, "céninzuprenujep": before I spoke to him, "céninzuprepyajep": after I spoke to him.

The dative means "until", "céninzupresañci me zénihnloo" means "he didn't go until I saw him."

The vialis means "during", or "the whole time", "shúñci ceñocayolshaajut cíirváa" means "During he entire time I was speaking to the man, he watched me". "Shüñáajut pécukihn zénlíil behrudokci." means "It takes the whole day to get from here to the Behru capitol."

The ablative means "since", "nushüñáamihn me cíininwaan" means "I haven't seen him since yesterday."

The other suffixes are used in effectively the same way as their simple counterparts, eg:

mélohi: at the car mélokihn: from the car. méloci: to the car

milóone: in the car milóonehn: from in the car. milóoneci: to the inside of the car.

milóore: outside of the car milóorehn: from outside of the car, etc.

Combining stem endings

	Locative	Locative verbal	Dative	Vialis	Ablative
Location in time	(nu)(pya)jep	-	sañci	jut	mihn
Within	ne	ñu	neci	nut	nehn
Outside	re	ryu	reci	rut	rehn
Left of	yozh	yoyu	yocci	yoyut	yoyehn
Right of	myak	myaklu	myakci	myakut	myakehn

Showing that a noun is posessed.

If a noun is owned by another noun (marked in the posessive case), an infix is inserted before the second syllable/final consonant that agrees with the possessor. The genitive case is only used when one noun owns another noun, or with relations (my mother, your father). If one noun is part of the other noun, then a compound word using the combining stem is used instead. Inanimate objects always use the combining stem, never the posessive.

Posessive agreement infixes (and use with múk)

	Singular	Paucal	Plural
1st person	në, múnëk	bi, múbik	më, múmëk
2nd person	xë, múxëk	xi, múxik	gë, múgëk
3rd person	lü, múlük	zi, múzik	lnë, múlnëk
4th person	pl, múplk

The possessed nouns may be further declined, múbik (our dog), múbigii (our dogs), múbigiiñipi (for our dogs).

note: the consonants n,m,ng,ñ,r,l,f,v,sh,and zh are considered part of the previous syllable when followed by another consonant, for example, xworji divides into xwor-ji, xamp divides to xam-p, thus you'd get xworziji and xamzip, not xwozirji and xazimp.

Verb Morphology Behru verbs are conjugated by factors, person, number, transitivity, tense aspect, and mood. Many Behru sentences consist of only a verb, as both the subject and object may be dropped if they can be determined by context.

Verb Morphology

The four basic stems

Each verb has four stems whose forms are unpredictable from eachother, which are are the basic, causative, weak, and special stems. All other verb stems can be predicted from these four.

The four stems of the root cet, meaning to speak, are: cet, crwiit, cidaa, and cocash(y).

The basic stem and independent conjugation.

The basic stem has the Independant personal agreement endings added to it, for example, the basic stem of cet, is well, cet, and the conjugated forms are: cedúu: I speak, cedabi: we(ex.) speak, cedaji: we(inc.) speak, cedaak: you (singular) speak, cedaak: you(paucal) speak, cedage: you(plural) speak, etc. However, these endings are not added onto the stem directly, some sound changes must be done first, according to the rules listed below.

Ivc Rule 1

The fully conjugated form of the verb must have two syllables after the verb stem.

(verb-stem final vowels are considered to be after the verb stem, not a part of it)

Clause 1

If not, lengthen the first vowel after the verb stem If you want to say "I speak" (in an independant clause, of course, as we are studying the Independant forms of a verb), you take the basic stem of the verb to speak(cet, and add the 1st person subject ending (intransitive of course), ú, making cedú (not cetú, remember sandhi rule 12, it caused that t to change to a d.). However, that is not actually the correct form, due to Ivc(independant verb conjugation) rule 1: all ivc forms must have at least 3 syllables. Ivc rule one says "lengthen the second syllable", thus, lengthen the second syllable. So, lengthen the second syllable of "cedú" to "cedúu". If you want to say "you(singular) flee", you add "k" to the basic stem of to flee, "shúnda", forming "shúndak", and then apply rule 1, forming "shúndaak". Remember, the final "a" in "shúnda" is considered to be after the verb stem, not a part of it, which is why it is lengthened by rule 1.

However, ivc rule 1 isn't that simple. You might assume that in order to say we(ex.) speak, you would add cet and bi to make cedbi, and then apply rule 1 on the second syllable to make it cedbii(3 syllables). However the true form of we (ex.) speak is "cedabi", not "cedbii". You will learn why in ivc rule one clause 2

Clause 2

Do not lengthen the second syllable if it follows a consonant cluster created by the end of the verb stem and the beginnning of a personal ending. Instead, insert an epenthetic vowel appropriate to the verb stem between the stem and ending. That was allot to take in, wasn't it? It will seem simpler with examples. For examples, the form "cedbi" would have ivc 1 clause 2 applied to it because a: it is only 2 syllables long (ced+bi), and, the cluster "db was created by the t(changed to a d) at the end of the verb stem "cet" + the b at the beginning of the personal ending "bi". Thus, you'd add the epenthetic vowel appropriate to "cet" (a), between stem and ending, producing "cedabi" (cet+a+bi).

However, if you want to say "I float", clause two does not apply. When you take the basic stem of to float, "kómt"(takes the epenthetic vowel a), and add "ú", you make "kómtú"(Why didn't the t change to a d like in "cedú"? Read sandhi rule 12.). You might think to apply clause two because of the consonant, making "kómadú", but that is not correct. The consonant cluster was not created by contact with the end of the verb stem and beginning of the personal ending, it was already there in the stem, thus clause one would apply, forming "kómtúu". However, clause two does apply in the form "kómdbi" (we speak), because the cluster "mdb" was created by the b in the ending "bi", meaning we(ex.), thus, "kómdbi" would become "kómtabi", not "kómdbii".

You can usually tell the epenthetic vowel by the final vowel of the weak stem form, for example, the weak stem of "cet" is "cidaa", so the epenthetic vowel is "a". However, this does not always work, for example, "we swim" would be "vábebi", even though the weak stem of váp is "vábii", suggesting that "we swim" would instead be "vábibi". These irregularities just have to be learned by rote. However, we are still not done with ivc rule 1.

Clause 3

If, after the application of Clause 2, the verb ending is still not 2 syllables long, lengthen the epenthetic vowel inserted by Clause 2. This rule would apply in cases like when you want to say "you(singular) speak". You add the ending "k" to "cet", forming "cetk". you then apply clause two to "cetk", forming "cetak". However, there is still only one syllable after the stem even after the applucation of clause two. Clause three says to lengthen the epenthetic vowel inserted by clause two, thus "cetak" becomes "cedaak". "kómtk" (you float) becomes "kómtak" beomces "kómtaak", "vápk" (you swim)becomes "vápek", becomes "vábiik", etc. (the e in vabek lengthens to "ii", not "ee", this alway happens, as there is no "ee" sound in Behru).

Ivc rule 2

Disyllabic endings become monosyllabic after verb stems ending in a vowel. This rule is in much the same vein as ivc rule 1, it keeps the verb ending at two syllables, as the final vowel in the verb stem takes up a syllable, forcing the ending to give up a syllable in its place. For example, "they go", is "zíihnloon" (zíin+hloon), however, "they flee", is "shúndahlon", "hloon" giving up a vowel to become "hlon" to accomodate the final a in "shúnda".

"you heal me" is "hnaalnimu"("hnaal"+"nimu"), however, "you hit me", is "cábammyu", "nimu" being reduced to "mmyu" to accomodate the final a in "cába".

"you heal us", is "hnaaldasa"("hnaal+dasa), "you hit us", is "cábatsa", etc. The shortened verb endings are listed to the left of long endings in the polypersonal agreement endings chart.

Ivc rule 3

Ivc rule 3 applies only to verb stems ending in liquids (n,m,ng,r, and l)., and overrides any other ivc rules of a lower number that could be applied.

Verbs stems ending in said consonants have their core vowel shortened before personal endings starting with a vowel. In addition, an epenthetic consonant appropriate to the verb stem is inserted.

For example, if you want to say "I go", you add the stem for "to go", "zíin", and add "ú" for the ending. However, "ú" starts with a vowel, so Ivc special rule 1 would apply. The appropriate consonant to insert for verbs ending in an "n" is "z", thus zíinú has its vowel shortened to "zénú", then the epenthetic consonant inserted, producing "zénzú.

For verbs ending in an "ng", add "g", "míing-ú"(I shrink) becomes "ménggúu"

For verbs ending in an "m", add "v", "xáam-ú"(I slip) becomes "xámvúu"

For verbs ending in an "l", add "z", "yuul-ú"(I walk) becomes "yulzúu"

For verbs edning in an "r", add "zh", "cíir-óxa"(he watches thou) becomes "cérzhóxa"

Ivc rule 4

Verb stems that would be affected by ivc rule 3 are unnafected by clauses 2 and 3 of ivc rule 1

Clause 1

The first vowel of the verb ending is lengthened if the ending is not 2 syllables long If the verb stem ends in n, m, ng, l, or r. Thus, "yuul-bi" (we walk), which has a one syllable ending, is changed to "yuulbii", "cíin-tó" (I see thee) is changed to "cíintóo".

Clause 2

If the verb stem ends in n, m, ng, l, or r, the endings -k and -k are changed to -kaa and -kii.

The ending "k" is actually two endings, one meaning "thou" and the other meaning "you few". In ordinary verbs, these endings are both the same, but in these verbs, the ending splits, if you want to say "thou walk", you say "yuulkaa", if you want to say "you walk", you say "yuulkii"

Tense and aspect

Formation of past and future tenses

To form the past tense of a verb like cet or mózhda	add li before the final syllable of the stem or the very final consonant. cet to celit mózhda to mózhnida
To form the future tense of a verb like mála or hmwant	add ni before the final syllable of the stem or the very final consonant. mála to mánila hmwant to hmwannit

Formation of the progressive

To form the progressive tense of a verb starting or containing a consonant cluster ending in a consonant, fricative, y, hy, w, or hw like cet, féde, tádo, yul	Insert an infix after the first consonant consisting of the weakened first vowel and a voiced fricative of the same point of articulation as said consonant cizhet, fivéde, tëzádo, yüzhul (notice, verbs starting in c, j, sh, zh, and ñ can use z or zh depending on whether they sonorize with an l [use z] or and r [uze zh]
To form the progressive of a verb starting in a nasal like ñen, muk, hnédo, ngyoba	do the same as above, but add a nasal consonant before the consonant infix (ñ is treated like n, ng uses n'g ñinzen, mümvuk, hninzédo, ngyën'goba
To form the progressive of a verb starting in or having a consonant cluster ending in r or l like rop, zhlún	reduplicate lV or rV, and weaken first syllable rërop, zhlülún

The passive and causative stems

The passive is formed by palatilizing the last consonant in the first consonant cluster (adding a y). The causative is formed by labialization of that same consonant(adding a w). The first vowel is lengthened in both forms. Some initial consonants/ consonant clusters must be sonorized before being palatalized or labialized. The causative stem is included in the principle parts to show whether or not this happens. You must check this in the dictionary entry on the verb's stems. For example, the causative stem of cet is crwiit. To change it to passive, replace the w with y, crwiit to cryiit. Sandhi changes cryiit to crshiit. The causative stem of lup is lvuup. The v was a w, changed to a v by sandhi. So replace the w(changed into a v), with y, lvuup to lyuup

Special compound stem

There exists a closed class of clitic verbs in Behru which are suffixed to the stem of a free standing verb. The basic stem is not used, instead the special compound stem is used. The form of the special compound stem is unpredictable and thus is a principle part. (note: the basic stem is used in ordinary compound verbs, not the special compound stem.) The special compound stem is also used to add nominal endings to.

cet becomes cocash/ cocay

mála becomes hmáalash/ hmáalay

zén becomes zhóni/ zhónis

zot becomes zootwash/ zootway

xworji becomes xworojii/ xworojii(s)

Common clitic verbs

-es/et: possible, eg: cocayesú: I can speak

ghóon: to start, eg: cocazhghóohnlo: he is about to begin speaking

shosu: to cease, eg: zéyëdacosuji: we will stop moving momentarily

Tense and aspect in compound verbs.

The very last verb in a compound always recieves the tense/aspect infixes, in the same manner as a normal verb.

thus, cocayet: can speak, as in cocayedbi: we can speak, vs cocayenit: was able to speak, as in cocayenidbi: we were able to speak.

Polypersonal agreement

The Behru verb agrees with its preformer, or subject, in person and number. A transitive verb also agrees with its object in person, subject, and number. Verb endings are added to the stem in the same manner noun endings are.

Intransitive verb participant agreement

	Singular	Paucal	Plural
1st person	ú	bu	ji
2nd person	k(aa)	k(ii)	ke
3rd person	hlo	zu	hloon-hlon
4th person	líl-l

Nominal form

	Singular	Paucal	Plural
1st person	émi	ébi	éji
2nd person	éjri	énang	éjre
3rd person	olasha	ángude	oliishan
4th person	éhwe

Descriptive form

Singular	Paucal	Plural
ñu	mav	ñoon

Transitive verb subject-object agreement

Object> subject	1 single	1 paucal	1 plural	2 single	2 paucal	2 plural	3 animate single	3 animate paucal	3 animate plural	3 inanimate single	3 inanimate paucal	3 inanimate plural	4th p
1p one	-	-	-	tó	ru	tr	wan	uzhbu-zhbu	unen-nwen	i	idu-ju	idán-ján	iga-gya
1p few	-	-	-	có	cóv	de	zhá	linu-lnu	zháan-zhán	bi	bidu-bbu	bidán-bbán	igav-gyav
1p many	-	-	-	twé	rwe	twr	wen	uzhbwe-zhbwe	nwiin-nwin	jie	jiedu-jju	jiedán-jján	ige-gye
2p one	nim	dasa-tsa	iwa-zhwa	-	-	-	lit	kendu-ktu	afnan-hnwan	xi	xidu-txyu	xidán-txyán	kóoga-kóok
2p few	nimu-mmyu	dasu-tsu	ivu-zhvu	-	-	-	lic	kshindu-ctu	ifnan-hñyan	xizh	xizhdu-cxyu	xizhdán-cxyán	kóogav-kóop
2p many	nime-mmye	dase-tse	iwe-zhwe	-	-	-	liisht-lisht	kshiindu-cant	efnan-hñyan	xe	xedu-txu	xedán-txán	kóoge-kóok
3 single	vá	fingu-hnngyu	vaam-vam	óxa-xa	óxi-xi	óxe-xe	rayáa	kabu-ppu	uzhgan-gyun	ri	ridu-ju	ridán-ján	yavba-vbya
3 paucal	za	zidu-ju	zoon-zon	óhan-han	óhnu-hnu	óhne-hne	iben-byen	bimu-mmu	izhen-zhen	zi	zidu-dzu	zidán-dzán	sinav-hñav
3 plural	vé	fengu-hnngu	viim-vem	óca-ca	óci-ci	óce-ce	rézh	kebu-ppyu	exhgan-gwen	ehli-hle	ehlit-hlit	eltánn-tlán	yavbe-vbye
4th person	gañi-ngzhi	gamu-ngmu	gañe-ngye	ózhdo-zhdo	ózhdov-zhdov	ózhdwe-zhdwe	ótso-tso	ódzu-dzu	ótson-tson	óci-ci	ócit-cit	óctan-can	-

Participial endings

	1 single	1 paucal	1 plural	2 single	2 paucal	2 plural	3 animate single	3 animate paucal	3 animate plural	3 inanimate single	3 inanimate paucal	3 inanimate plural	4
1st single	-	-	-	amo	amark	amar	upor	uzhbuk	upran	ér	iráp	iránt	usuk
1 paucal	-	-	-	yazok	dáafk	yezok	ushk	ulnuk	ushken	ber	birap	birant	ufuk
1 plural	-	-	-	émo	émerk	émar	wepor	wezhbuk	wepran	jiér	jieráp	jieránt	uusuk
2 single	oxon	odók	onók	-	-	-	úcohya	ahmaase	fok	ujri	ujrip	ujrint	ákashk
2 paucal	ixan	idák	inák	-	-	-	úcac	ahmaac	fac	ináng	inangáp	inangánt	ikashk
2 plural	oxiin	odíik	oníik	-	-	-	úcíihye	ahmiise	fiik	wiijri	wejrip	wjerint	ákaashk
3 single	osar	lert	ason	uvlak	uvlagu	uvlaage	osep	aksap	osek	ulasha	ulashap	ulashant	azehl
3 paucal	azhar	efek	azhek	usunk	usungvu	usuungwe	wanar	nik	waner	inguut	inguudep	inguudent	idun
3 plural	esar	ledi	asen	uvlek	uvlegu	uvliige	esep	aksep	esek	ulesha	uleshap	uleshant	azehna
4	yagún	yagbin	yagmán	yagák	yagin	yagáak	yaksha	yakshun	yakshe	yahwe	yahwep	yahwent

Descriptive endings

Other preformer	Number	1st person singular	1 paucal	1 plural	2 singular	2 paucal	2 plural	3 animate singular	3a paucal	3a plural	3 inanimate singular	3in paucal	3in plural	4
Described subject	Singular	sóop	udbi	sóomt	sóok	sóogu	sóoge	mav	olvu	mév	tek	tekyup	tekyunt	fazh
	Paucal	ngep	dibi	ngemt	ngek	ngegu	ngege	div	divu	jév	méni	méñup	méñunt	ngezh
	Plural	síip	wedbi	síimt	síik	síigu	síige	siv	welvu	shév	unán	unúp	unúnt	síizh
Described object	Singular	bak	bik	omsá	igazh	igizh	igaazh	wor	ihru	wer	pásh	pábi	páñci	dwoo
	Paucal	ngak	ngik	dimsá	digazh	digizh	digaazh	mir	mihru	mer	básh	bábi	báñci	bwoo
	PLural	báak	bíik	umsá	ugazh	ugizh	ugaazh	nir	nihru	ner	myásh	myábi	myáñci	mwoo

Deriving verbs to nouns

Nominalizing suffixes

ka (irregularily declined)	gerund, cètka would mean speaking. Often used to form abstract nouns, málaka means "movement"
zo	inanimate object associated with the verb (often imparts an irregular meaning which must be learned independantly) cèdzo would mean "words, speech
hen	means -er in english, also used to indicate the inhabitant of a location, cèsen would mean speaker, kìdilihen would mean an idili person.
hik	means "a way of doing something, method". cesik would mean "language"(way of speaking)
ya	indicates an instance or cycle, can be used for both nouns and verbs. Typically paired with a number prefix, ñecèca would mean "third speech"
co	indicates an event, such as in macco "the event of peace"
láng	means the same thing as -ness in english, added to the descriptive stem of a verb, as in xuweláng "livelyness, health"

Talking about an entire sentence as a noun

The so called "participial endings" turn an entire clause into a noun. They may be added to the basic, weak and special stems, imparting different meanings in each case. The special stem plus the participial ending describes the entire action as an event, gyáhenibwora (gyáhenibu: to injure past tense, plus -ora, the participial ending meaning the action was done by a singular third person to first person), means "the event of injuring me". This noun could then be declined into the causative to form a complex sentence, for example "gyáhenibworaye zhánilzúu", "because he hit me I died". Using the basic stem adds a sense of uncertainity, "gyániboraye zhánilzúu" would mean "if he'd injured me I might have died. Use the weak stem describes the preformer of the action rather than the event itself, "gyënibáahora" means "the one who injured me".

Noun incorporation

A Behru verb may incorporate a noun, decreasing its transitivity by one. The noun is prefixed to the verb in its Weak form, and usually acts as the object of the verb.

hyép(transitive): to eat> bëlóohyép(intransitive): to eat bólo.

Some verbs must always incorporate nouns, some of these are attached to the strong stem of the noun, like -tsu.

(x)tsu: to make x> bólotsu(intransitive): to make bólo.

As intransitive verbs cannot lose any more transitivity, a noun incorporated into them instead expresses an instrumental relationship between the noun and verb, for example

zíin(intransitive): to go, jëlóozíin: to go by aircraft, milóozíin: to go by vehicle

kót: to fly, jëlóokót: to fly by aircraft.

Noun incorporation is preffered to using a transitive verb in sentences involving inanimate objects, particularily if the objects are indefinite, giving a subtle difference in meaning.

for example, "bëlóohyénibyúu" means "I ate bolo", however, "bëlóoha hyénipshii" would mean "I ate the bolo."

The copulas

The copulas are suffixes attached to the predicate noun in an equative sentence. It conjugates irregularily. The -lu copula is the stative copula, you use it to say "the dog is red". The ru copula is the change copula, you'd use it to say "the dog has gotten redder", or "the dog is red but it wasn't the last time I saw it.". The byu copula is used to indicate resemblance but not equality, "that dog is like its owner."

Conjugation of the copulas

	Lu		Ru		Byu
	Present	Past	Present	Past	Present	Past
1st person singular	foba	dam	-	-	byoba	byam
1 paucal	fobu	dabu	-	-	byobu	byabu
1 plural	níin	díin	-	-	biníin	bzhíin
2nd person singular	foxa	dang	-	-	byoxa	byang
2 paucal	foxu	dangu	-	-	byoxu	byangu
2 plural	foxe	dange	-	-	byoxe	byange
3rd person singuar animate	lon	da	ron	ja	son	bya
3a paucal	loju	daju	roju	jayu	soju	byaju
3a plural	kíin	díin	ríin	jíin	bíin	bzhíin
3rd person singular inanimate	lu	du	ru	ju	su	byu
3ina paucal	luv	duv	ruv	juv	suv	byuv
3ina plural	lun	dun	run	jun	sun	byun
4th person	sil	dil	ril	jil	bil	biil

The comparative copula

The comparative copula states one thing is more x than another. The copula comes after the adjective it is using for comparison. Its "subject" is what is described, and the "object" is the basis of comparison, in the comparative case. The top of the columns indicate what is being described, the beginning of the rows, what they are being compared to.

Comparative copula

	1 singular	1 paucal	1 plural	2 singular	2 paucal	2 plural	3 animate singular	3 animate paucal	3 animate plural	3 inanimate singular	3 inanimate paucal	3 inanimate plural	4
1 singular	-	-	-	tsok	tsogu	tsoge	tsuu	tsovu	tswe	tsop	tsfup	tsont	tsl
1 paucal	-	-	-	tsobuk	tsobugu	tsobuge	tsobuu	tsobuvu	tsobwe	tsobup	tsobyup	tsobunt	tsobl
1 plural	-	-	-	tsíink	tsíingu	tsíinge	tsíinuu	tsíimvu	tsíine	tsíimp	tsíiñup	tsíinunt	tsíinl
2 singular	tsoxam	tsoxabu	tsoxama	-	-	-	tsoxuu	tsoxavu	tsoxwe	tsoxap	tsoxyup	tsoxant	tsoxl
2 paucal	tsoxum	tsoxubu	tsoxuma	-	-	-	tsoxuu	tsoxuvu	tsoxwe	tsoxup	tsoxuup	tsoxunt	tsoxl
2 plural	tsoxem	tsoxebu	tsoxema	-	-	-	tsoxyuu	tsoxevu	tsoxii	tsoxep	tsoxyup	tsoxent	tsoxl
3 singular	tsum	tsubu	tsuma	tsuk	tsugu	tsuge	tsuyáa	tsabu	tsagan	tsap	cup	tsant	tsal
3 paucal	tsuum	tsuubu	tsuuma	tsuuk	tsuugu	tsuuge	tsuur	tsuuhru	tser	tsuup	tsuuyup	tsuunt	tsuul
3 plural	tsíim	tsíibu	tsíima	tsíik	tsíigu	tsíige	tsíir	tsíihru	ciir	tsíip	tsiyúp	tsíint	tsíil
4	díim	díibu	díima	díik	díigu	díige	díisa	díizu	díisan	díip	diyúp	díint	-

Behru syntax

Basic case (bsc)

The basic case is used for

-the agent of a transitive verb

múk shüneha kyocaryá: the dog pushes the man

dog-s-bsc man-s-pac push-3psa.3pans.p~idp

-the participant in an intransitive verb

múk cetloo: the dog speaks

dog-s-bsc speak-3ps.it

-before the topic particle zú

múuge zú nebalíl: as for dogs, they run

dog-pl-bsc TOPIC run-4p~idp

The topic

The topic of the sentence is a noun marked with the postposition zú. It is used in the gnomic tense, to set that noun apart from other nouns in a dsecription. The topic need not be the subject of the sentence, it can be in any case. Verbs marked with a 4th person agreement agree with the last stated topic in a discourse

Causative case (cac)

The causative case is used for the cause of a verb in the causative.

cinidémiye múk nwiinibahlo: because I spoke, the dog ran

Some verbs can use the basic or causative cases, this causes a subtle change in meaning

shúun kwootri: the man throws it (causes it to fly), vs.

shúuñe kwoootlo: because of the man, it flies (the man did something else leading it to fly.

Ablative case (abc)

used for the origin of a motion

shúun zú béhrusokihn zéninlíil: as for the man, he came from the Behru homeland.

Comitative case (cmc)

Is used for the companion in an action.

shúun múkyant ninzebahlon: the man was running with the dog.

And to make adverbs out of nouns

másajákint cenitlo: she spoke strongly (with strength).

Vialis case (vac)

Used to indicate means of travel

shúun sedoñci béhrusokimpi zénihnlo: the man went to Sedone through the behru homeland

jálokimpi wunëdici kodú: I fly to my home by aircraft.

Instrumental case (isc)

Used to indicate tools used to complete an action.

molumikl hmoonlíil: it shines with heat.

Adessive case (adc)

used to indicate something an action was done without.

wálübakint cidolashamash sedoñci zénihnlo: she went to sedone without talking to her mother.

mother~3ps.po

Locative case (lcc)

Used to indicate the location of an action

doonde vudihi nebahloon: the children run in the house.

child-pl-bsc house-s-lcc run-3ppl.it

Dative case (dtc)

used to indicate the indirect object of a verb, the exact meaning varies.

The target of a verb of motion: shúuñci múk nenibahlo: the dog ran to the man.

man-sg-dtc dog-s-bsc run~past-3ps.it~idp

The target of a bitransitive verb: shúun vulüdici kwoonitri: the man threw it at his house.

man-sg-bsc house~3ps.po-s-dtc throw~past-3ps.a~3pins.p~idp

Patient case (ptc)

used to indicate the direct object of an intransitive verb.

shúun tëlübyáaha túnijrehlo: the man took off his overshirt.

man-s-bsc overshirt~3ps.po-s-ptc remove~past-3ps.a~3pins.p~idp

Posessive case (poc)

used to indicate that one noun owns another.

shüneng tóbi: the man's overshirt

Comparative case (coc)

Used to indicate the basis of comparison

táamtsuu ledëneho: I am taller Than that child (compared to that child)

be.tall-compare-1ps.a~3pans.p that-child-s-coc

For describing relationships.

yóondemo huboloju: They are friends to those men. (In his "in" group)

man-pl-coc accquainted-be-3ppa.it

yóondemo rúnaloju: The are outsiders to those men

man-pl-coc outside-be-3ppa.it

For describing location

ficúuho vénzi yulññehyoju: The women are three miles away from the city

city-s-coc woman-pa-bsc mile-3-s-be.at-3ppa.it

Numbers

Behru has a base 12 numbering system. Simple numbers are simply suffixed after the nouns they count. The result is then declined like a noun.

1 mu	12 gu	144 sran	1728 ghwe	20736 sha	248832 gusha	429981616 sisha	8916100448256 sifosha	12^16 siñesha
2 fo	24 fu	288 fowan	3456 fowe	41472 fosha	497664 fusha	859963232 fosisha	etc	etc
3 ñe	36 ñu	432 ñeyan	5184 ñewe	62208 ñesha	746496 ñusha	etc
4 ber	48 bru	576 beran	6912 berwe	etc	etc
5 dat	60 datu	etc	etc
6 hmye	72 hmyu
7 vel	84 vlu
8 fer	96 fru
9 niñe	108 niñu
10 suk	120 suku
11 ruse	121 rusu

Compound numbers.

To make complex numbers, like 25, or 156, one strings together the simple numbers in a sequence of addition from the biggest to the smallest number.

25: fumu fu(24) and mu(1)

156: srangu sran(144( and gu(12)

157: srangumu

305: fowanggudat

when a number is affixed to a noun, it is declined like a noun. Typically, the penultimate vowel takes a ` accent and is subject to vowel strengthening or weakening. For example, 25 beds would be mùkfùmu, but if declined in the owner case, it would be mùkfümungò, and in the direction case, it would be mùkfùmuhi. 10 beds would be mùksùk. towards the (12^12)*11 people would be shúnrusesifòshashi

Ordinal numbers

Behru ordinal numbers are formed simply by prefixing a number to a noun. They are usually prefixed to a noun like -tsék(place) or -ya (time, as in a cycle)

Fractional numbers

Fractions in Behru are formed by the suffix -t for numbers which end in a vowel and -ta for ones ending in a consonant. The fractions for half, third, fourth, and twelfth are formed irregularily. They are -kir, nisa, besa, and gusa. they are used the same way normal numbers are, mùkrusèt would be 1 eleventh of a bed. If one wishes to count the fractions, those numbers are suffixed past the fraction. mùksransùktaruse would mean "eleven 154ths of a bed"

Usage of numbers, and approximate quantities

A specific number is always declined in the "few" number, as the few number is considered to encompass all small or specific quantities. A general number, like -not, which means some, is considered a mass noun, and all mass nouns use the "many" case.

General quantity suffixes -hok: every,all -mok: none -hot: some -huk: most -muk: few

Number modifying suffixes: -sát: around, aprroximately -kere: only, just

Honorifics

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