Rongian
Natively known as: rōngǎ /ˈʐo˥ŋɛ˧˥/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...tan you wōn o wōn zhongyì tan zhuû wōn zī nǒ zhuaî loû
Pronunciation: /tʰa˧n jou̯˧ wʊ˥n o˧ wʊ˥n ˈʈʂo˧ŋji˨˩˦ tʰa˧n ʈʂwu˥˩ wʊ˥n ʦi˥ no˧˥ ʈʂwai̯˥˩ lou̯˥˩/
Rōngian word order: and stood he holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: f j k kʰ l m n p pʰ s t tʰ w x ŋ ɥ ʂ ʂʰ ʈ ʐ ʦ ʦʰ ʨ ʨʰ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Alveolo-palatal | Palatal | Velar |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||||
Stop | p pʰ | t tʰ | ʈ | k kʰ | |||
Affricate | ʦ ʦʰ | ʨ ʨʰ | |||||
Fricative | f | s | ʂ ʂʰ ʐ | x | |||
Approximant | j | ||||||
Lateral approximant | l |
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-palatal | Labial-velar |
---|---|---|
Approximant | ɥ | w |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i y | u | |
Near-high | ʊ | ||
High-mid | ɤ o | ||
Mid | ə | ||
Low-mid | ɛ | ||
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ? Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
w | u / C_ |
p | b / !_ʰ |
k | g / !_ʰ |
t | d / !_ʰ |
ʨʰ | q |
ʦʰ | c |
ʈʂʰ | ch |
ʈʂ | zh |
ʦ | z |
ʐ | r |
ʰ | |
ŋk | nk |
ŋ | ng |
x | h |
ʂ | sh |
ɤ | e |
ə | e |
ʊ | o |
y | ü / C_ |
y | yu |
j | y |
ʨ | j |
ɛ | a |
˥˩ | ̂ |
˧˥ | ̌ |
˨˩˦ | ̀ |
˥ | ̄ |
˧ | |
̯ |
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 two cases:- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
Nominative | No affix
kîng /kʰi˥˩ŋ/ dog (doing the verb) |
Accusative | Prefix u˧-
ukîng /ˈu˧kʰi˥˩ŋ/ (verb done to) dog |
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Definite | No affix
kîng /kʰi˥˩ŋ/ the dog |
If starts with vowel: Prefix u˧˥nt-
Else: Prefix u˧˥ntu˧˥- ǔndǔkîng /u˧˥nˈtu˧˥kʰi˥˩ŋ/ the dogs |
Indefinite | If starts with vowel: Prefix x-
Else: Prefix xi˨˩˦- hìkîng /ˈxi˨˩˦kʰi˥˩ŋ/ a dog |
If starts with vowel: Prefix tʰ-
Else: Prefix tʰa˥- tākîng /ˈtʰa˥kʰi˥˩ŋ/ some dogs |
Articles
Rōngian encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.Pronouns
Nominative | Accusative | |
---|---|---|
1st singular | ā /ɛ˥/ I | zhǜ /ʈʂy˨˩˦/ me |
2nd singular | wir /wi˧ʐ/ you | chuyǔng /ʈʂʰwy˧˥ŋ/ you |
3rd singular masc | wōn /wʊ˥n/ he, it | ju /ʨu˧/ him, it |
3rd singular fem | dà /ta˨˩˦/ she, it | àr /a˨˩˦ʐ/ her, it |
1st plural | ûr /u˥˩ʐ/ we | zheî /ʈʂei̯˥˩/ us |
2nd plural | ì /i˨˩˦/ you all | zher /ʈʂə˧ʐ/ you all |
3rd plural | zhǐn /ʈʂi˧˥n/ they | zhě /ʈʂɤ˧˥/ them |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | ā /ɛ˥/ my |
2nd singular | wir /wi˧ʐ/ your |
3rd singular masc | wōn /wʊ˥n/ his |
3rd singular fem | dà /ta˨˩˦/ her |
1st plural | ûr /u˥˩ʐ/ our |
2nd plural | ì /i˨˩˦/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | zhǐn /ʈʂi˧˥n/ their |
Verbs
Present | Past | |
---|---|---|
1st singular | If starts with vowel: Prefix ai̯˨˩˦m-
Else: Prefix ai̯˨˩˦ma˨˩˦- aìmàta /ai̯˨˩˦ˈma˨˩˦tʰa˧/ (I) learn |
If starts with vowel: Prefix x-
Else: Prefix xɤ˧- heta /ˈxɤ˧tʰa˧/ (I) learned |
2nd singular | Prefix ɥu˥-
ɥūta /ˈɥu˥tʰa˧/ (you) learn |
Prefix pʰɛ˧˥-
pǎta /ˈpʰɛ˧˥tʰa˧/ (you) learned |
3rd singular | Prefix o˥-
ōta /ˈo˥tʰa˧/ (he/she/it) learns |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ʈʂ-
Else: Prefix ʈʂau̯˥˩- zhaûta /ˈʈʂau̯˥˩tʰa˧/ (he/she/it) learned |
1st plural | Prefix ɛ˧-
ata /ˈɛ˧tʰa˧/ (we) learn |
Prefix ki˨˩˦-
gìta /ˈki˨˩˦tʰa˧/ (we) learned |
2nd plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix ʊ˥ʂ-
Else: Prefix ʊ˥ʂi˨˩˦- ōshìta /ʊ˥ˈʂi˨˩˦tʰa˧/ (you all) learn |
Prefix ei̯˧˥-
eǐta /ˈei̯˧˥tʰa˧/ (you all) learned |
3rd plural | Prefix u˥˩-
ûta /ˈu˥˩tʰa˧/ (they) learn |
Prefix ʈʂwo˧˥-
zhuǒta /ˈʈʂwo˧˥tʰa˧/ (they) learned |
Future | Particle before the verb: wa˧˥ -
wǎ ta /wa˧˥ tʰa˧/ will learn |
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.Rōngian uses an affix for progressive:
Progressive | If starts with vowel: Prefix x-
Else: Prefix xi˧- hita /ˈxi˧tʰa˧/ 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).Rōngian uses a standalone particle word for habitual:
Habitual | Particle before the verb: ʦa˥˩ŋ -
zâng ta /ʦa˥˩ŋ tʰa˧/ learns |
Numbers
Rōngian has a base-10 number system: 1 - hôn2 - fong
3 - oū
4 - sing
5 - mī
6 - qěr
7 - qǎn
8 - mer
9 - ō
10 - ê
Hundred - faîn
Thousand - gaū
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐElse: Suffix -o˧˥ʐ
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ
Else: Suffix -ə˥˩ŋ
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -y˧ŋ
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -ai̯˧n
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix lei̯˧-
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ
Else: Suffix -ɛ˥˩ŋ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -i˨˩˦
Tending to = Suffix -au̯˥˩
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -ʊ˥n
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pai̯˥-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -ɤ˧˥n
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʈʂ-
Else: Prefix ʈʂa˧-
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ
Else: Suffix -i˥ŋ
Augmentative = Suffix -au̯˧ŋ