Goblin
Natively known as: vunsi /ˈvunsi/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...ra pro ma quistu cioderi spi ra disu fuo ma boa tre cio
Pronunciation: /ra pro ma ˈkwistu ˈʧɔderi spi ra ˈdizu fwo ma ˈbɔa tre ʧo/
Vunsi word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g j k l m n p r s t v w z ɲ ʃ ʎ ʣ ʤ ʦ ʧ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||
Stop | p b | t d | k g | |||
Affricate | ʦ ʣ | ʧ ʤ | ||||
Fricative | f v | s z | ʃ | |||
Approximant | j | |||||
Trill | r | |||||
Lateral approximant | l | ʎ |
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
---|---|
Approximant | w |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
kw | qu |
w | u |
z | s |
ʃ | sc |
tʦ | zz |
ʦ | z |
k | c / !_{i,e,ɛ} |
ʧ | ci / !_{i,e,ɛ} |
ʧ | c |
ʤ | gi / !_{i,e,ɛ} |
ʤ | g |
k | ch |
ʎʎ | gli |
ɲ | gn |
ɛ | e |
ɔ | o |
j | i |
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 six cases:- Ergative is the doer of a verb, when the verb is done to something: dog bites man.
- Absolutive is used in two scenarios: the doer of a verb when not done to something (dog bites), and 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.
- Locative is the location of something: man goes to town.
- Ablative is movement away from something: man walks from town.
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Ergative | Suffix -dra
dermadra /ˈdɛrmadra/ dog (doing the verb to something) |
Suffix -nti
dermanti /ˈdɛrmanti/ dogs (doing the verb to something) |
Absolutive | No affix
derma /ˈdɛrma/ dog (doing the verb, but not to something) |
Suffix -mu
dermamu /ˈdɛrmamu/ dogs (doing the verb, but not to something) |
Genitive | Suffix -rtʃo
dermartsco /ˈdɛrmartʃo/ dogʼs |
Suffix -ɲo
dermagno /ˈdɛrmaɲo/ dogsʼ |
Dative | Suffix -ppɔ
dermappo /ˈdɛrmappɔ/ to (the/a) dog |
Suffix -dʤa
dermadgia /ˈdɛrmadʤa/ to (the/some) dogs |
Locative | Suffix -ra
dermara /ˈdɛrmara/ near/at/by (the/a) dog |
Suffix -ltru
dermaltru /ˈdɛrmaltru/ near/at/by (the/some) dogs |
Ablative | Suffix -stro
dermastro /ˈdɛrmastro/ from (the/a) dog |
Suffix -rɔ
dermaro /ˈdɛrmarɔ/ from (the/some) dogs |
Articles
Definite | Indefinite | |
---|---|---|
Singular | va /va/ the | zu /ʦu/ a |
Plural | a /a/ the | so /so/ some |
- Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
- Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’
- Used for languages: ‘The English’
- 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
Ergative | Absolutive | Genitive | Dative | Locative | Ablative | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st singular | fu /fu/ I | cre /kre/ me, I | cri /kri/ mine | stri /stri/ to me | schi /ski/ at me | gua /gwa/ from me |
2nd singular | o /o/ you | cio /ʧɔ/ you | gru /gru/ yours | cia /kja/ to you | nia /nja/ at you | que /kwe/ from you |
3rd singular masc | pro /pro/ he, it | to /tɔ/ him, it | u /u/ his, its | co /ko/ to him, at it | be /be/ at him, at it | fue /fwe/ from him, from it |
3rd singular fem | le /le/ she, it | squo /skwo/ her, it | pio /pjo/ hers, its | du /du/ to her, at it | a /a/ at her, at it | gi /ʤi/ from her, from it |
1st plural inclusive | so /sɔ/ we (including you) | ve /ve/ us, we (including you) | ro /rɔ/ ours (including you) | la /la/ to us (including you) | ca /ka/ at us (including you) | ua /wa/ from us (including you) |
1st plural exclusive | pe /pe/ we (excluding you) | ui /wi/ us, we (excluding you) | zu /ʦu/ ours (excluding you) | sta /sta/ to us (excluding you) | vu /vu/ at us (excluding you) | pri /pri/ from us (excluding you) |
2nd plural | gio /ʤɔ/ you all | va /va/ you all | ge /ge/ yours (pl) | tra /tra/ to you all | fo /fo/ at you all | lo /lo/ from you all |
3rd plural | pre /pre/ they | o /ɔ/ them, they | nue /nwe/ theirs | pro /prɔ/ to them | pa /pa/ at them | vo /vo/ from them |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | sca /ska/ my |
2nd singular | stro /strɔ/ your |
3rd singular masc | ma /ma/ his |
3rd singular fem | u /u/ her |
1st plural inclusive | zo /ʦɔ/ our (including you) |
1st plural exclusive | ti /ti/ our (excluding you) |
2nd plural | te /te/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | ve /ve/ their |
Verbs
Present | No affix
casi /ˈkazi/ learn |
Past | Suffix -mi
casimi /ˈkazimi/ learned |
Future | Particle before the verb: ri -
ri casi /ri ˈkazi/ will learn |
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.Vunsi uses an affix for progressive:
Progressive | Suffix -nʦu
casinzu /ˈkazinʦu/ is learning |
Habitual aspect
The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (I learned something).Vunsi uses a standalone particle word for habitual:
Habitual | Particle before the verb: fwɔ -
fuo casi /fwɔ ˈkazi/ learns |
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.Vunsi uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
Perfect | Suffix -ffi
casiffi /ˈkaziffi/ have learned |
Numbers
Vunsi has a base-10 number system: 1 - te2 - me
3 - lolta
4 - su
5 - fre
6 - bo
7 - bi
8 - o
9 - tu
10 - pia
11 - te ra pia “one and ten”
100 - gru “hundred”
101 - gru ra te “hundred and one”
200 - me gru
1000 - schi “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -staAdjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ne
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -da
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -ro
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -rru
Noun to verb = Suffix -ma
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -tʦu
Tending to = Suffix -nne
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -tto
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -rde
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -rna
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ngwe
Diminutive = Suffix -ʃʃu
Augmentative = Suffix -tɔ