Duozynis

From Linguifex
Revision as of 13:34, 14 October 2017 by Z2a (talk | contribs) (→‎Consonants)
Jump to navigation Jump to search


Duozynis is the oldest form of Shunfoh language recorded. Much of the pronunciations have be reconstructed by studying Ongo and it's various dialects, there is still much unknown about the people who spoke it.

Etymology

Origins

History

Sociolinguistics

Orthography

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 i o u y ɔ ə ɛ/

Front Central Back
Close i y u
Close-mid o
Mid ə
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Diphthongs: None

Phonotactics

Syllable structure for is mostly (C)(C)V(C)(C) and stress pattern is not fixed, but exceptions to these rules appear common.

  • bilabial consonants turn into /p/ after /l/
  • /f/ turns into /w/ before (vowel)
  • /z/ turns into /ts/ after (vowel)/j/
  • /w/ becomes null between two vowels or between (vowel) and (word boundary)
  • /ɾ/ turns into /s/ before /s/
  • /u/ becomes null before /o/
  • /u/ becomes /a/ after /a/
  • /ɛ/ becomes /ə/ before (nasal consonant)
  • /a/ becomes /ə/ before (consonant)/a/

Grammar

Word order is Subject-Verb-Object-Oblique, with adjectives placed after their nouns and suffixes used when adpositions are necessary.

  • "Mary opened the red door with a key" = Mary with a key the red door opened. (or "Marya kep evo nihue lil a'o inu kutet.")

Nouns

Kukʉp uses gender (Person, Land, Sea, Sky) to indicate the source of nouns. While nouns will be assumed to have a particular gender (ee means wood and is normally Land gendered), gender can be changed to show that a specific noun came from a different source (Sea gendered wood might indicate drift wood, while Person gendered wood would imply that someone shaped or carved the wood in question).

Noun Morphology

Kukʉp is an ergative-absolutive language, meaning the object of a transitive verb and the single core argument of an intransitive verb are treated the same (absolutive), while the agent of a transitive verb is treated differently (ergative). In English, this would read as follows:

  • He (agent) found me (object).
  • Him (argument) traveled.
Singular Plural
Absolutive Person child nevo /’nevɒ/ children Suffix: -(e)v /-(ɛ)v/
nevov /’nevɒv/
Land tree erku /’ɛɾku/ trees Suffix: -a /-a/
erkua /ɛɾ’kua/
Sea fish kure /’kuɾɛ/ fishes Suffix: -i /-i/
kurei /’kuɾɛi/
Sky bird roi /’ɾoi/ birds Suffix: /-ʉ/
roiʉ /ɾo’iʉ/
Ergative Person child Suffix: -(o)t /-(ɒ)t/
nevot /'nevɒt/
children Suffix: -(e)' /-(e)ʔ/
nevo' /'nevɒʔ/
Land tree Suffix: -(e)v /-(e)v/
erkuv /'ɛɾkuv/
trees Suffix: -(u)wi /-(u)wi/
erkuwi /ɛɾ’kuwi/
Sea fish Suffix: -(o)t /-(o)t/
kuret /’kuɾɛt/
fishes Suffix: -(o)'o /-(o)ʔo/
kure’o /ku'ɾɛʔo/
Sky bird Suffix: -(u)p /-(u)p/
roip /'ɾoip/
birds Suffix: -(ɒ)v /-(ɒ)v/
roiv /’ɾoiv/

Definite Article

Singular Plural
Absolutive Person the [child] kit /kit/ the [children] kit /kit/
Land the [tree] men /men/ the [trees] men /men/
Sea the [fish] ket /kɛt/ the [fishes] ket /kɛt/
Sky the [bird] ting /tiŋ/ the [birds] ting /tiŋ/
Ergative Person the [child] wit /wit/ the [children] vin /win/
Land the [tree] man /man/ the [trees] wen /wen/
Sea the [fish] kow /kow/ the [fishes] 'ak /ʔat/
Sky the [bird] tin /tin/ the [birds] no' /noʔ/

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

  • 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 languages: ‘The English’
  • Used with place names: ‘The London’

Indefinite Article

The numeral for ‘one’, evo, is used as the indefinite article.

Personal Pronouns

Absolutive Ergative Genitive Dative
1st. Singular I lo /lɒ/ me le /lɛ/ mine li /li/ to me lo li /lɒ li/
2nd. Singular you po /po/ you pem /pem/ yours pep /pɛp/ to you po li /po li/
3rd. Singular he/she/it vit /wit/ him/her/it ven /wɛn/ his/hers/its vem /wem/ to him/her/it vit li /wit li/
1st. Plural we he /hɛ/ us hup /hup/ ours hu /hu/ to us he li /hɛ li/
2nd. Plural you rok /ɾot/ you rov /ɾov/ yours ro' /ɾoʔ/ to you rok li /ɾot li/
3rd. Plural they i /i/ them in /in/ theirs 'in /ʔin/ to them i li /i li/

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

Vocabulary

Useful phrases

English Duozynis IPA
Welcome * /’evɒ/
Hello (General greeting) * /’evɒ/
How are you? * /’evɒ/
Reply to "how are you?" * ("Still alive") /’evɒ/
What's your name? * /’evɒ/
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! Good health! (Toasts used when drinking) * /’evɒ/
Bon appetit/ Have a nice meal * /’evɒ/
I understand * /’evɒ/
I don't understand * /’evɒ/
Yes * /’evɒ/
No * /’evɒ/
Maybe * /’evɒ/
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! * /’evɒ/
Fire! * /’evɒ/
Stop! * /’evɒ/
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