Duozynis

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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.

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 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)
Genative child's Suffix: -(u)g /-(u)g/ (ag) children's Suffix: -u /-u/ (au)

Definite Article

Singular Plural
Nominative the [child] the [children]
Accusative the [child] the [children]
Genitive the [child] the [children]

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