Yacavestu
Yacavestub is a head-final ("Altaic") agglutinative language spoken in Eastern Talma and Northern Etalocin, and is the official language of Quelocin (!werotunu in Yacavestub, from the !Zoom name tkwe). It's inspired aesthetically by drug names (cf. Clofabosin), Zulu, Estonian and Lushootseed. It also has clicks, from !Zoom. It is an isolate, though some believe it is related to Idavic.
Yal eŋcuvil g!ifam herazu vestamad. = Methavir nalaminyl mekerylide ester axoram.
Todo
- redup at the beginning of verbs?
- -mad (e.g. ololirmad)
- -vab
- -mob
- -əl
- -am
- -xab
- -mob
- -ub
- -ode
- rotunu = 'world'
- elir = 'one'
- pelog (after pegol)
Phonology
Consonants
m n ŋ p t k b d g f s h v z l ɬ r j ⟨m n ŋ p t c b d g f s h v z l hl r y⟩
clicks: @ g@ ! g! | g| || g||
(/ks/ is written ⟨x⟩.)
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i, y /i/ | u /u/ | |
| Mid | e /e/ | o /o/ | |
| Open | a /a/ |
Morphology
Nouns
Case suffixes
- -ub: (definite)
- -uvab: definite accusative suffix
- -am: genitive
- -zode:
- -une:
- -vil
Definiteness and possession
Nouns take a suffix for definiteness. Possessive suffixes are added directly to the noun for inalienable possession, and to the classifier for alienable possession.
| vestu - 'language' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number→ State↓ |
Singular | Plural |
| Indefinite | vestu | vestəl |
| Definite | vestub | vestələb |
| 1sg possessor | vestel | vestəlel |
| 2sg possessor | vestud | vestəlud |
| 3sg possessor | vestun | vestəlun |
| 1pl possessor | vestelax | vestəlelax |
| 2pl possessor | vestudax | vestəludax |
| 3pl possessor | vestunax | vestəlunax |
Verbs
Present tense: -mad