Anbirese
Tumacan (Tȯmacav) is a minority language in the Tigolic subbranch of the Talmic languages. It is notable for its relatively conservative verb system.
Phonology
Consonants
fortis resonants mm, nn, ńń, ŋŋ, ll, rr lenite to lenis resonants m, n, ń, ŋ, l, r
m "re-fortited": mh > m > mm
lenis nasals are denasalized
reanalysis of words beginning with f- as lenited forms of words beginning with p-
| Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Medial | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | mm /m/ | nn /n/ | nny /ɲ/ | ŋŋ /ŋ/ | ||
| Stop | voiced | m, v /b/ | n /d/ | ng /g/ | ||
| tenuis | b /p/ | d /t/ | g /k/ | |||
| asp. | p /pʰ/ | t /tʰ/ | k /kʰ/ | |||
| Affricate | voiced | ny /dʒ/ | ||||
| tenuis | j /ts/ | jh /tʃ/ | ||||
| asp. | c /tsʰ/ | ch /tʃʰ/ | ||||
| Fricative | unvoiced | f /f/ | s /s/ | sh /ʃ/ | x /x/ | h /h/ |
| voiced | z /z/ | zh /ʒ/ | γ /ɣ/ | |||
| Liquid | r /ɾ/, rr /r/ | |||||
| Approximant | w /w/ | l /l/ | j /j/ | |||
Vowels
Something weird and asymmetrical
Morphology
Nouns
Nouns are relatively simple (comparable to my old Tíogall).
Two states: absolute and construct.
Verbs
Tumacan verbs have two tenses (nonpast and past) and two aspects (imperfective and perfective). The imperfective-perfective distinction is characterized by allomorphy inherited from Old Eevo. As in Slavic languages, the perfective form is often derived by adding a prefix, which causes the verb to take the conjunct form. Most Tumacan verbs thus have two principal parts: imperfective and perfective.
The old subject/TAM suffixes have been lost and tense is marked by prefixes.