Khuvo's Languages • Shnitsuian • The Language of the Slave Class

Natively known as: shnitsu /ʃniˈʦu/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
snèm tyawt kni lyawnmu shu mninè snèm sètsha èt kni yumku amtsawwè kès
Pronunciation: /snɛm tjɔt kni ljɔnˈmu ʃu mniˈnɛ snɛm sɛtˈʃa ɛt kni jumˈku amˈʦɔwɛ kɛs/
Shnitsuian word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: h j k l m n p s t w ʃ ʦ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n
Stop	p	t			k
Affricate		ʦ
Fricative		s	ʃ			h
Approximant				j
Lateral approximant		l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: a e i o u ɔ ɛ

	Front	Back
High	i	u
High-mid	e	o
Low-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Second — stress is on the second syllable
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
ɔ	aw
ɛ	è
j	y
ʃ	sh
ʦ	ts

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Grammar

Main word order: Subject (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary with a key the door opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions

Nouns

Nouns have three cases:

• Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
• Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
• Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.

Nominative	No affix sèh /sɛh/ dog (doing the verb)
Accusative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -t Else: Suffix -et sèhet /sɛˈhet/ (verb done to) dog
Genitive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -slɛ Else: Suffix -aslɛ sèhaslè /sɛˈhaslɛ/ dogʼs

Singular	No affix sèh /sɛh/ dog
Plural	Suffix -o sèho /sɛˈho/ dogs

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	shlawp /ʃlɔp/ the	tyut /tjut/ a
Plural	ka /ka/ the	sham /ʃam/ some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
• Used with place names: ‘The London’

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

• Not used for non-specific countable nouns: non-specific means ‘I am looking for a (any) girl in a red dress’, whereas specific means ‘I am looking for a (particular) girl in a red dress’
• Not used for non-specific mass (uncountable) nouns: non-specific means ‘Would you like some (any) tea?’ whereas specific means ‘Some tea (a specific amount) fell off the truck’

Pronouns

	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive
1st singular	shlawm /ʃlɔm/ I	si /si/ me	lyè /ljɛ/ mine
2nd singular	ka /ka/ you	sle /sle/ you	su /su/ yours
3rd singular masc	tyawt /tjɔt/ he, it	a /a/ him, it	it /it/ his, its
3rd singular fem	son /son/ she, it	kyuk /kjuk/ her, it	o /o/ hers, its
1st plural	ne /ne/ we	kya /kja/ us	tyin /tjin/ ours
2nd plural	saw /sɔ/ you all	kap /kap/ you all	kot /kot/ yours (pl)
3rd plural	pèp /pɛp/ they	mnè /mnɛ/ them	khe /khe/ theirs

Possessive determiners

1st singular	lyè /ljɛ/ my
2nd singular	psèp /psɛp/ your
3rd singular masc	kni /kni/ his
3rd singular fem	o /o/ her
1st plural	tyin /tjin/ our
2nd plural	kot /kot/ your (pl)
3rd plural	khe /khe/ their

Verbs

Present	No affix tawp /tɔp/ learn
Past	If ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -el tawpel /tɔˈpel/ learned
Future	Suffix -it tawpit /tɔˈpit/ will learn

Imperfective aspect

The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am learning and habitual actions, such as I learn (something new every day).
Shnitsuian uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:

Imperfective

Particle before the verb: ji - yi tawp /ji tɔp/ learns/is learning

Perfect aspect

The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.
Shnitsuian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

Reduplicate whole word tawptawp /tɔpˈtɔp/ have learned

Numbers

Shnitsuian has a base-10 number system:
1 - sètsta
2 - kisholwaw
3 - tso
4 - mno
5 - shmèk
6 - pihwip
7 - knus
8 - hiysèt
9 - ne
10 - tawl
Hundred - et
Thousand - tsa

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -it
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -h
Else: Suffix -ɔh
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -e
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -u
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -a
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -s
Else: Suffix -os
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -jɛ
Else: Suffix -ɛjɛ
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -ɔm
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -h
Else: Suffix -ɛh
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -o
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -u
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -a
Diminutive = Suffix -ɔt
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -om

Dictionary

4352 Words.

Common Female Names

Tsèkun /ʦɛˈkun/ - Khuvo's Wife.
Kutshè /kutˈʃɛ/
Ksutswu /ksuˈʦwu/ - Khuvo's daughter

Common Unisex Names

Guchu Mochye is Khuvo's original name.
Mochye being his place in society, the same name given to his daughter and wife, so his daughter's full name is Ksutswu Mochye.