Swuntsim

Sfətsiv/Lexicon

Sfətsiv/Swadesh list

Swuntsim
təSfətsiv
Pronunciation	[/təsfətsiv/]
Created by	IlL
Setting	Verse:Tricin
Language family	Tsimulh Swuntsim

Sfətsiv (natively təSfətsiv /təsfətsiv/) is a modern Tsimulh language. It is the vernacular language of the Sfətsiv people.

It's inspired by Lushootseed and Welsh.

Todo

pluralization - mess it up

• utcütsi (7) or cütsi (8, pl) = 'shell'
  • Scütsi (Class 4 - collectives and augmentatives) = personal name, meaning 'patient, enduring'

Diachronical sketch

• m n > v dh
• sn > zd
• b d > b d
• g > gh > compensatory lengthening

Getting the aesthetic

• q qʷ > ŋ ŋʷ > n m
• gʷ > w when not word initial.
• sb sd > zv zd
• xʷ > f
• ʔC > C: (geminate)
• /ʔb ʔd/ > /b d/
• Zəpətj ʔusansj ʔəsoməv tüdjonf = the living fish swims in water
• ʔəmam = mother; ʔəpap = father
• tüdjo = water
• tjvic = house
• üvC > uuC

Orthography

Sfətsiv is usually written in the Sfətsiv alphabet. It's occasionally transcribed into Windermere, Talmic or Clofabic scripts.

Phonology

Consonants

Like many Tsimulh languages, Sfətsiv has no liquids in native words. However, liquids occur in loaned vocabulary.

Swuntsim consonants

		Labial	Dental		Palatal	Velar		Laryngeal	Glottal
			central	lateral		plain	lab'zed
Nasal		m m	n n
Stop	tenuis	p p	t t			c k	cw kʷ		ʔ ʔ
	voiced	b b	d d			g g	gw gʷ
Fricative	voiceless	f f	s s	σ ɬ	sj ʃ	ch χ	chw χʷ		h h
	voiced	v v	dh ð z z		zj ʒ
Affricate	tenuis		ts ts	ξ tɬ	tj tʃ
	voiced				dj dʒ
Approximant			(r r)		y j		w w	(l ɴ̆)

gw, chw become g, ch before rounded vowels /y u o/.

r, l are used in loanwords.

Geminates are allowed and are rendered by doubling (for digraphs, doubling the first consonant)

Vowels

i ü u e ə o a /i ü u e ə o a/ + long vowels

Stress

???

Grammar

Modern Sfətsiv is SVO.

Modern Sfətsiv has lost the Proto-Tsimulh noun class system, which was still active in Sacred Sfətsiv. Pronouns and verbs only agree in animacy and number.

Nouns

The genitive is marked with -s or -əs: stsaσ 'a forest or similar collection' > stsaσəs 'of a forest'

-s- is often inserted between nouns in compounds.

Nouns with unmarked plurals and marked singulars are common. The singulative is marked with gü- in this case.

Expected noun class reflexes:

1. ʔə-, pl. tsə- = humans, spirits
2. bü-, pl. də- = animals and other things that move on their own
3. p-, pl. əpi- = plants and mushrooms; things that grow
4. s-, pl. yüsj-/yüs-/yü- = collections or large things
5. üt-, pl. pσə- = roughly round, compact objects
6. va-, pl. wə- = long objects; tools, instruments, devices
7. tj-, pl. abi- = places, locations, slots
8. gü-, pl. 0- or dh- = various... including fluids (powder, water, liquids, fire, light, waves, wind, ...)
9. σi-, pl. chwi- = time periods; events; things that are temporary (e.g. ice)
10. t-, ti- = abstractions, manner, way, infinitives, verbal nouns (Class 10+11)
11. bda- = -ness, -hood (Class 12)

Determiners

TODO: Separate forms for mass nouns

• every, all: tsəcwadh 'everyone, every (for animates)'; wəcwadh 'all things (for inanimates)'; cwadh 'everything; all (mass nouns)'
• many: tsəzab 'many people'; wəzab 'many things'; zab 'much (mass nouns)'
• few: tsənuu 'few people'; wənuu 'few things'; nuu 'few (mass nouns)'

Verbs

Concord

The animate subject affix is ʔə- in the singular and tsə- in the plural. Verbs with inanimate subjects do not have any subject affix.

Personal affixes:

• 1sg cə-
• 2sg fə-
• 1pl gwə-
• 2pl tsü-