'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

Bilabial Dental Alveolar Post Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t d k g ʔ
Nasal m n
Fricative s z ʃ ɣ h
Lateral Fricative ɬ
Approximant j
Lateral Approximant l
Affricate tɬ dɮ

Vowels

Front Back Diphthongs
Close i u uj
Close-Mid e ej
Open a aj

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.

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.

IPA Romanization
ʔ '
ɬ lh
tl
dl
j y

Other Orthographies

  • Tlatá Logography
  • Súdu Syllabary

Morphology

Verbs

Structure of the Verb

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

Pronominal Prefixes

Pronominal prefixes are required for all verbs that are not infinitives. First Person

Number Prefix 'Ináwah Example English
Singlular pe- pemu I walk.
Dual Inclusive peyé- peyému We both walk.
Dual Exclusive 'ipeyé- 'ipeyému We both walk, but not you.
Plural Inclusive té- mu We all walk.
Plural Exclusive 'ité- 'itému We all walk, but not you

Second Person

Number Prefix 'Ináwah Example English
Singular wa- wamu You walk.
Dual wayé- wayému You both walk.
Plural 'iwa- 'iwamu You all walk.

Third Person

Number Prefix 'Ináwah Example English
Singular ma- mamu He, she, it walks.
Dual mayé- mayému They both walk.
Plural 'ima- 'imamu They all walk.

Tense

Tense Suffix 'Ináwah Example English
Present n/a pemu I walk.
Imperfect -shú pemushú I was walking/I would walk (before).
Simple Past -she pemushe I walked/I had walked.
Progressive -weh pemuweh I am walking.
Near Future -hu pemuhu I am about to walk.
Future -tlí pemutlí I 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)

Case

'Ináwah noun case is designated solely by syntax. The prenominal prefix attached to the verb is often used as a way to help designate the subject and so there can be some flexibility in word order, but usually only in verse and poetry.

Pronouns

'Ináwah pronouns are formed by using pronominal prefixes attached to the noun "be" meaning "person" or "self". If the subject is a pronoun it is omitted since the prenominal prefix attached to the verb is required. In the case that the verb is reflexive, a pronoun will be used and will be understood as the object and not the subject of the sentence.


Number Prefix 'Ináwah Example English
Singlular pe- pebe I
Dual Inclusive peyé- peyébe We both
Dual Exclusive 'ipeyé- 'ipeyébe We both, but not you
Plural Inclusive té- be We all
Plural Exclusive 'ité- 'itébe We all, but not you

Second Person

Number Prefix 'Ináwah Example English
Singular wa- wabe You
Dual wayé- wayébe You both
Plural 'iwa- 'iwabe You all

Third Person

Number Prefix 'Ináwah Example English
Singular ma- mabe He, she, it
Dual mayé- mayébe They both
Plural 'ima- 'imabe They all

Postpositions

Postposition 'Ináwah Example English
sa'á shali sa'á in the dwelling
'uni shali 'uni outside the dwelling
shali of the dwelling
lhú wabe lhú with you
se shali se at the dwelling
'éwa with a hand, by means of a hand
la suné la as/like a cat
shali to the dwelling

Conjunctions

Interfixes

Syntax

Word Order

SOV

Noun Phrase

  • Noun + Postposition
  • Noun + Adjective Phrase

Verb Phrase

Sentence Phrase

Dependent Clauses

Sample Texts