Duozynis

Duozynis is the oldest Shunfoh language recorded. There is little known about the people who spoke it, but current theories suggest that this language is actually the result of the combination of three or more cultures.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant inventory: /b d dz dʒ f g h j k m n r t tʃ z ɲ ŋ ɕ ɸ ɾ ʑ ʃ ʎ θ/

		Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop		b			t d				k g
Nasal		m			n			ɲ	ŋ
Affricative					dz	tʃ dʒ
Fricative		ɸ	f	θ	z	ʃ	ɕ ʑ			h
Approximant								j
Tap					ɾ
Trill					r
Lateral approximant								ʎ

Vowels

Vowel inventory: /a e i o u y ø ɯ ə/

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i y		ɯ u
Close-mid	e ø		o
Mid		ə
Open	a

Diphthongs: None

• It remains unclear if there were truly no dipthongs used in Duozynis, or if the knowledge of the diphthongs used has simply been lost.

Phonotactics

Syllable structure for is mostly (C)(C)(C)V(C) and stress pattern is not fixed.

• /t/ turns into /c/ before (front vowel)
• /o/ becomes null before /u/
• /z/ becomes /d/ after (vowel)
• (nasal consonant) become /h/ before (stop)
• /f/ turns into /w/ before (vowel)
• /w/ becomes null between two vowels or between (vowel) and (word boundary)
• /a/ becomes /ə/ before (consonant)/a/

Grammar

Word order is Subject-Verb-Object-Oblique, with adjectives placed before their nouns and suffixes used as adpositions.

• "Mary opened the red door with a key" = Mary opened the red door with a key

Nouns

Noun Morphology

	Singular		Plural
Nominative	child	(a)	children	Suffix: -(e)t /-(e)t/ (at)
Accusative	child	Suffix: -(a)t /-(a)t/ (at)	children	Suffix: -(i)d /-(i)d/ (ad)
Genitive	child's	Suffix: -(u)g /-(u)g/ (ag)	children's	Suffix: -u /-u/ (au)

Definite Article

Demonstrative word ('this' or 'that') used as marker of definiteness.

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Definite article can be omitted: 'I am going to jacuzzi'
• Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English's ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
• Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: English's ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’
• Used for personal names in the third person: 'The Maria has left for school'
• Used for languages: ‘The English’
• Used with place names: ‘The London’

Indefinite Article

Numeral for ‘one’ is used as indefinite article.

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

• Not used for non-specific uncountable nouns:
  • Non-specific = 'Would you like some (any) tea?'
  • Specific = 'Some tea (a specific amount) fell off the truck'

Personal Pronouns

	Nominative		Accusative		Genitive		Dative
1st. Singular	I	/ji/	me	/jøn/	mine	/ɸi ji/	to me	/ni jøn/
2nd. Singular	you	/ɯ/	you	/gu/	yours	/ɸi ɯ/	to you	/ni gu/
3rd. Singular	he/she/it	/də/	him/her/it	/daf/	his/hers/its	/ɸi də/	to him/her/it	/ni daf/
1st. Plural	we	/ar/	us	/ak/	ours	/fi ar/	to us	/ni ak/
2nd. Plural	you	/tɯ/	you	/dut/	yours	/fi tɯ/	to you	/ni dut/
3rd. Plural	they	/ɸaj/	them	/θəʎ/	theirs	/fi ɸaj/	to them	/ni θəʎ/

Verbs

Kukʉp verbs don't use indicative mood (past, present, or future tense). Instead, those details are determined through context.

• Perfect aspect -- uses the word 'reɾetʉ' before the main verb -- "have studied" or reɾetʉ betʉb
• Progressive aspect -- uses the word 'tib' before the main verb -- "am studying" or tib betʉb
• Imperative -- uses the word ' ni' ' before the main verb -- "study!" (as a command) or ni' betʉb
• Negation -- adds the suffix -(ʉ)ho /-(ʉ)hɒ/ to the verb -- "do not study" or betʉbʉho
  • Tense affixes come between the root verb and the progressive affix

Syntax

Interrogative

Questions are marked with the particle 'tu' at the beginning of the statement. If the answer is assumed to be yes, the particle 'tu' may be placed at the end of the statement.

Relative clause

Relative pronouns are not used. Instead, a relative clause is used, preceded by gapping and use of a possessive particle to link the relative clause to the head noun.

• "The man [that I saw yesterday] went home." = "The [I saw yesterday]'s man went home."

Vocabulary

Useful phrases

English	Duozynis
Welcome	/'nibu 'zuja/
Hello (General greeting)	/kak'nerig/
How are you?	/tu 'dugutʃ ɾigɯ/
Reply to "how are you?"	/ha'ʃɯfɯ/
What's your name?	/tu i'tatuz yɾe'tʉ mɯ/
My name is ...	*	/’evɒ/
Where are you from?	*	/’evɒ/
I'm from ...	*	/’evɒ/
Pleased to meet you	*	/’evɒ/
Good morning (Morning greeting)	*	/’evɒ/
Good afternoon (Afternoon greeting)	*	/’evɒ/
Good evening (Evening greeting)	*	/’evɒ/
Goodbye (Parting phrase	*	/’evɒ/
Good night	*	/’evɒ/
Good luck!	*	/’evɒ/
Cheers! (Toasts used when drinking)	*	/’evɒ/
Bon appetit/ Have a nice meal	*	/’evɒ/
I understand	*	/’evɒ/
I don't understand	*	/’evɒ/
Yes	Feto	/'ɸeto/
No	Yo	/jo/
Maybe	Kwi	/kwi/
I don't know	*	/’evɒ/
Please speak more slowly	*	/’evɒ/
Please write it down	*	/’evɒ/
Do you speak English?	*	/’evɒ/
Do you speak Kukʉp?	*	/’evɒ/
Yes, a little (reply to "Do you speak...?")	*	/’evɒ/
Speak to me in ***	*	/’evɒ/
How do you say ... in ***?	*	/’evɒ/
Excuse me	*	/’evɒ/
How much is this?	*	/’evɒ/
Sorry	*	/’evɒ/
Please	*	/’evɒ/
Thank you	*	/’evɒ/
Reply to thank you	*	/’evɒ/
Where's the toilet?	*	/’evɒ/
I love you	*	/’evɒ/
Get well soon	*	/’evɒ/
Help!	Za!	/ʑa/
Fire!	Kuto!	/’kuto/
Stop!	Jin!	/dʒin/
Christmas and New Year greetings	*	/’evɒ/
Easter greetings	*	/’evɒ/
Birthday greetings	*	/’evɒ/
One language is never enough	*	/’evɒ/
My hovercraft is full of eels	*	/’evɒ/

See also

• Vocabulary