Yacavestu

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Yacavestub/Lexicon

Yacavestub is a head-final ("Altaic") agglutinative language spoken in Eastern Talma and Northern Etalocin, and is an official language of Quelocin (!werotunu in Yacavestub, from the !Zoom name tkwe) alongside Clofabosin. It's inspired aesthetically by drug names (cf. Clofabosin), Zulu, Welsh, and Estonian. It has clicks from !Zoom. It is an isolate, though some believe it is related to Idavic.

Yal eŋcuvil g!ifam herazu vestamad. = Methavir nalaminyl mekerylide ester axoram.

Todo

  • reduplication
  • -mad (e.g. ololirmad)
  • -vab
  • -mob
  • -al
  • -am
  • -xab
  • -mob
  • -zob?
  • -ub
  • -ode
  • rotunu = 'world'
  • elir = 'one'
  • pelog (after pegol)

Phonology

Consonants

m n ŋ p t ʈ k b d g f s h v z l ɬ r r(voiceless) j m n ŋ p t th c b d g f s h v z l hl r hr y

clicks: @ g@ ! g! | g| || g||

(/ks/ is written x.)

Word final l may be retroflexed to /ɭ/ or even lenited to /ɻ/. The lateral fricative /ɬ/ may be a palatal lateral fricative or even a palatal central fricative /ç/ depending on dialect. In those dialects the lateral click is also realized as a palatal click.

/d/ is often retroflex.

Vowels

Yacavestu vowels
Front Central Back
Close i, y /i/ u /u/
Mid e /e/ o /o/
Open a /a/

Morphology

Nouns

Case suffixes

  • -b: (definite)
  • -vab: definite accusative suffix
  • -am: genitive
  • -zod: at, in
  • -ax: to
  • -vil: from

Suffixaufnahme

Definiteness and possession

Nouns take a suffix for definiteness. Possessive suffixes are added directly to the noun for inalienable possession, and to the classifier for alienable possession.

vestu - 'language'
Number→
State↓
Singular Plural
Indefinite vestu vestəl
Definite vestub vestələb
1sg possessor vestel vestəlel
2sg possessor vestud vestəlud
3sg possessor vestun vestəlun
1pl possessor vestelax vestəlelax
2pl possessor vestudax vestəludax
3pl possessor vestunax vestəlunax

Verbs

Present tense: -mad