User:Ashucky/Sketches

Sumerian conlang

Phonology

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	m [m]	n [n]			ĝ [ŋ]
Plosive	p [pʰ/p] b [p/b]	t [tʰ/t] d [t/d]			k [kʰ/k] g [k/g]
Fricative		s [s]	š [ʃ]		h [x]
Affricate		z [t͡s] (r̂ [t͡sʰ])
Approximant				(y/i [j] ?)	(w/u [w] ?)
Trill		r [r/ɾ]
Flap or tap		(r̂ ?)
Lateral app.		l [l]

	Front	Back
Close	i [i] (ī [i:] ?)	u [u] (ū [u:] ?)
Mid	e [e] (ē [e:]?)	(o [o] (ō [o:] ?) ?)
Open	a [a] (ā [a:] ?)

Grammar

Nouns

Characteristics

NOMINAL CHAIN:
1) [NOUN] + [ADJECTIVE + POSSESSIVE/DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN + PLURAL (e/i)n(e)] + [CASE]

2) [PRONOUN] + [CASE]

Plurals:

• -(e)n(e) for human and -(i)n(e) for non-human
• reduplication (stands for "all the X", mostly non-human) > full or partial

Cases

Substantives
Case	Suffixes		Notes
	Human	Non-h.
Genitive	-ak/-a/-k
Ergative	-e		subject of transitive verbs (agent)
Absolutive	-Ø		subject of intransitive verbs (argument); object of transitive verbs (patient)
Dative	-ra/-r	-/?	indirect object; complementary with locative (or directive?) for non-human
Directive	-/?	-e > -ye	motion arriving at, position next to; indirect obejct (non-human)
Locative	-/?	-a > -ya	motion into, position inside; rarely used for human
Locative 2	-/?	-ne
Terminative	-še		motion towards
Adverbiative	-eš		in the manner of < "how?"
Ablative	-ta		place/time from where (non-human); instrument; from the place of X (human)
Comitative	-da > -ga		with/and, in company
Equative	-gen		like/as

Declension

Case	king (h)	mother (h)	tree (n)	city (n)	kings (h)	mothers (h)	trees (n)	cities (n)
Genitive	lugala(k)	ama(k)	ĝeša(k)	eri(k)	lugalena(k)	amana(k)	ĝešina(k)	erina(k)
Ergative	lugale	amae	ĝeše	erie	lugalene	amane	ĝešine	erine
Absolutive	lugal	ama	ĝeš	eri	lugalen(e)	aman(e)	ĝešin(e)	erin(e)
Dative	lugalra/lugalar	amar(a)	ĝešra/ĝešar	erir(a)	lugalener(a)	amaner(a)	ĝešiner(a)	eriner(a)
Directive	lugalye	amaye	ĝešye	eriye	lugalen[e]ye	aman[e]ye	ĝešin[e]ye	erin[e]ye
Locative	lugalya	amaya	ĝešya	eriya	lugalen[e]ya	aman[e]ya	ĝešin[e]ya	erin[e]ya
Terminative	lugalše/lugalaš	amaše	ĝešše/ĝešaš	eriše	lugalen[e]še	aman[e]še	ĝešin[e]še	erin[e]še
Adverbiative	lugaleš	amaeš	ĝešeš	erieš	lugaleneš	amaneš	ĝešineš	erineš
Ablative	lugalta	amata	ĝešta	erita	lugalen[e]ta	aman[e]ta	ĝešin[e]ta	erin[e]ta
Comitative	lugalga	amaga	ĝešga	eriga	lugalen[e]ga	aman[e]ga	ĝešin[e]ga	erin[e]ga
Equative	lugalgen	amagen	ĝešgen	erigen	lugalen[e]gen	aman[e]gen	ĝešen[e]gen	erin[e]gen

Pronouns

Personal

Personal pronouns

	Singular	Plural
1st	ĝe	den
2nd	ze	zen
3rd	ane; ibe	anene; (ibine)

Possessive

Possessive pronouns

	Absolutive	Genitive	Locative	Ergative	Directive
1sg	-ĝu	-ĝa	-ĝya	-ĝu	-ĝye
2sg	-zu	-za	-zya	-zu	-zye
3sg	-ni; -bi	-na; -ba	-nya; -bya	-ne; -be	-nye; -bye
1pl	-me	-ma	-mya	-me	-mye
2pl	-zene	-zena	-zenya	-zene	-zenye
3pl	-(a)nne; -bine	-(a)nna; -bina	-(a)nnya; -binya	-(a)nne; -bine	-(a)nnye; -binye

Examples:

• lugalĝu - my king : lugalme - our king
• lugalzu - your king : lugalzene - your king
• lugalni - his/her king : lugalanne - their king
• lugalbi - its king : lugalbine - their king
• lugalĝune - my kings : lugalmene - our kings
• lugalzune - your kings : lugalzenene your kings (zenene > zenne?)
• lugalnine - his/her kings : lugalannene - their kings
• lugalbine - its kings : lugalbinene - their kings (binene > binne?)

Other

Interrogative:

• ana - what > anašam - why ~ anam - why
• aba - who
• agin - how ~ anagin - how
• mea - where > meše - whither, meta - whence
• (ud - when) ?

Indefinite:

• name any > luname - some(one), any(one), no (one), none, niĝname - something, anything, nothing, kiname - somewhere, nowhere, uname - sometime, never

Reflexive:

• ne(te) - self > neĝu - myself, nezu - yourself, nebi - itself, neteni - himself

Relative: -- ? --

• lu - the person (who)
• niĝ - the thing (which)
• ki - the place (where)
• aba - (the one) who
• ana - (that) which

Demonstrative:

• nen - this > -ne/ney
• -be/bey - that
• -ri - yonder
• ur/yur - that

Vocabulary

Vocabualry
Conlang	Sumerian	English
lugal	lugal	king
eri	iri/eri	city, town