Primordial
Natively known as: primordial /ˌprimorˈdial/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...kvo dvushbe dvey hom moh gudeyfe kvo bnamtza moh kma khuk 'u stut
Pronunciation: /kvo ˈdvuʃbe dvej hom moh guˈdejfe kvo ˈbnamʦa moh kma χuk ʔu stut/
Primordial word order: and stood he holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p s t v x z ʁ ʃ ʔ ʕ ʦ χ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | |||||||
Stop | p b | t d | k g | ʔ | |||||
Affricate | ʦ | ||||||||
Fricative | f v | s z | ʃ | x | χ ʁ | ʕ | h | ||
Approximant | j | ||||||||
Lateral approximant | l |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ? Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
j | y |
χ | kh |
ʦ | tz |
ʁ | r |
ʃ | sh |
ʔ | ' |
Grammar
Main word order: Verb Subject Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Opened Mary the door with a key.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?
Nouns
Nouns have four 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.
- Dative is the recipient of something: man gives ball to dog.
Nominative | No affix kot /kot/ dog (doing the verb) |
Accusative | Suffix -es kotes /ˈkotes/ (verb done to) dog |
Genitive | Suffix -a kota /ˈkota/ dogʼs |
Dative | Suffix -ul kotul /ˈkotul/ to dog |
Masculine | Feminine | |
---|---|---|
Singular | No affix lev /lev/ boy | No affix kvi /kvi/ girl |
Plural | Suffix -i levi /ˈlevi/ boys | If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -im kvim /kvim/ girls |
Articles
Definite | mi /mi/ the |
Indefinite | ku /ku/ a, some |
- Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
- Used for languages: ‘The 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’
Pronouns
Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st singular | kli /kli/ I | 'on /ʔon/ me | kut /kut/ mine | bu /bu/ to me |
2nd singular | tu /tu/ you | lutz /luʦ/ you | dekh /deχ/ yours | ka /ka/ to you |
3rd singular masc | dvey /dvej/ he, it (masc) | moh /moh/ his, it (masc) | gar /gaʁ/ his, its (masc) | 'ish /ʔiʃ/ to his, to it (masc) |
3rd singular fem | e /e/ she, it (fem) | khe /χe/ her, it (fem) | 'a /ʔa/ hers, its (fem) | kve /kve/ to her, to it (fem) |
1st plural | mo /mo/ we | kman /kman/ us | bis /bis/ ours | kmu /kmu/ to us |
2nd plural | dun /dun/ you all | bey /bej/ you all | ber /beʁ/ yours (pl) | khu /χu/ to you all |
3rd plural masc | sin /sin/ they (masc) | ho /ho/ them (masc) | kel /kel/ theirs (masc) | daf /daf/ to them (masc) |
3rd plural fem | ye /je/ they (fem) | tzod /ʦod/ them (fem) | ba /ba/ theirs (fem) | yatz /jaʦ/ to them (fem) |
Possessive determiners
Possessive | |
---|---|
1st singular | kut /kut/ my |
2nd singular | dekh /deχ/ your |
3rd singular masc | moh /moh/ his |
3rd singular fem | 'a /ʔa/ her |
1st plural | bis /bis/ our |
2nd plural | ber /beʁ/ your (pl) |
3rd plural masc | kel /kel/ their (masc) |
3rd plural fem | ba /ba/ their (fem) |
Verbs
Future | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -an lashan /ˈlaʃan/ will learn |
Past | Particle before the verb: le - le lash /le laʃ/ learned |
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).Primordial uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
Imperfective | Particle before the verb: ʔu - 'u lash /ʔu laʃ/ 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.Primordial uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
Perfect | Reduplicate first part of first syllable lalash /ˈlalaʃ/ have learned |
Numbers
Primordial has a base-10 number system: 1 - zmes2 - kha
3 - ki
4 - o
5 - mo
6 - hu
7 - kheshe'
8 - li
9 - ret
10 - i
100 - khi
1000 - ma
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -vElse: Suffix -iv
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -im
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -a
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ba
Else: Suffix -oba
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -iʔ
Noun to verb = Suffix -iʁ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -i
Tending to = Suffix -a
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -un
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -v
Else: Suffix -av
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -i
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -u
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʦ
Else: Suffix -uʦ
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -g
Else: Suffix -ug