'Ináwah
'Ináwah
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|ʔi.ˈná.wah]]
Created byiancgil
  • 'Ináwah
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Phonology

Consonants

BilabialDentalAlveolarPost AlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Plosive p bt dk gʔ
Nasalmn
Fricatives zʃɣh
Lateral Fricativeɬ
Approximantj
Lateral Approximantl
Affricatetɬ dɮ

Vowels

>>>
FrontBackDiphthongs
Closeiuuj
Close-Mideej
Openaaj

Tones

'Ináwah technically only has two tones (high and neutral), but adjacent, identical vowels with contrasting tones may produce rising or falling tones with long vowel length in lax speech. A high tone is the marked tone and is denoted in romanization by an acute acent above the vowel and by a bar in native orthography.

Phonotactics

Allowed Syllables

  • CV(h,j)
  • ʔ(syllabic nasal)

Phonological Rules

  • nasal > ʔ + syllabic / $_$
  • j > i / V_$
  • g > ɣ / V$_

Stress

  • High tones always get primary stress.
  • If there is a word with all identical tones, the ultimate syllable receives primary stress.
  • In the event that there are varying tones, the last high tone receives the primary stress.

Orthography

Romanization

Most sounds are represented with the IPA equivalent except for a few mentioned here.

IPARomanization
ʔ'
ɬlh
tl
dl
jy

Other Orthographies

  • Tlatá Logography
  • Súdu Syllabary

Morphology

Verbs

Structure of the Verb

(negation) + (nominal prefix) + [stem] + (tense) + (mood)

Pronominal Prefixes

First Person

NumberPrefix'Ináwah ExampleEnglish
Singularpe-pemuI walk.
Dual Inclusivepeyé-peyémuWe both walk.
Dual Exclusive'ipeyé-'ipeyémuWe both walk, but not you.
Plural Inclusiveté-muWe all walk.
Plural Exclusive'ité-'itémuWe all walk, but not you.

Second Person

NumberPrefix'Ináwah ExampleEnglish
Singular wa-wamuYou walk.
Dual wayé-wayémuYou both walk.
Plural 'iwa-'iwamuYou all walk.

Third Person

NumberPrefix'Ináwah ExampleEnglish
Singular ma-mamuHe, she, it walks.
Dual mayé-mayémuThey both walk.
Plural 'ima-'imamuThey all walk.

Tense

TenseSuffix'Ináwah ExampleEnglish
Presentn/apemuI walk.
Imperfect-shúpemushúI was walking/I would walk.
Simple Past-shepemusheI walked/I had walked.
Progressive-wehpemuwehI am walking.
Near Future-hupemuhuI am about to walk.
Future-tlípemutlíI will walk.

Negation

NegationPrefix'Ináwah ExampleEnglish
Simple Negationba-bakemuI don't walk.
Double Negation'úba-, ba'úba-, 'úba'úba-, …'úbakemu I don't not walk.
Intensified Negationba+ba-, …babakemu I definitely don't walk.

Mood and Mode

Mood/ModeSuffix'Ináwah ExampleEnglish
Indicativen/awamuYou walk.
Interrogative-suwamushesuDid you walk?
Imperative-'aléwamu'alé(You) walk.
Jussive-sú'é'imamusú'éThey should walk.
Potential-bupemubuI could walk.
Hypothetical-wiwamushewiYou could have walked. (it was possible)
Possibility-gawamugaYou might walk.
Opative-'ubáwamu'ubáYou want/wish to walk.

Nouns

Structure of the Noun

(nominal prefix) + [stem] + (derivational morpheme) + (case suffix)

Pronouns

'Ináwah pronouns are formed by using pronominal prefixes attached to the noun "be" meaning "person" or "self".

First Person

NumberPrefix'Ináwah ExampleEnglish
Singularpe-pebeI
Dual Inclusivepeyé-peyébeWe both
Dual Exclusive'ipeyé-'ipeyébeWe both, but not you
Plural Inclusiveté-beWe all
Plural Exclusive'ité-'itébeWe all, but not you

Second Person

NumberPrefix'Ináwah ExampleEnglish
Singular wa-wabeYou
Dual wayé-wayébeYou both
Plural 'iwa-'iwabeYou all

Third Person

NumberPrefix'Ináwah ExampleEnglish
Singular ma-mabeHe, she, it
Dual mayé-mayébeThey both
Plural 'ima-'imabeThey all

Postpositions

Conjunctions

Interfixes

Syntax

Word Order

SOV

Noun Phrase

  • Noun + Postposition
  • Noun + Adjective Phrase

Verb Phrase

Sentence Phrase

Dependent Clauses

Sample Texts