Natively known as: Tuʻmir̋ /tuʔˈmiɾ/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
hong kam jor̋ pa jin inke hong pa laʻe ie er̋ve jungzukne a
Pronunciation: /hoŋ kam ʤoɾ pa ʤin inˈke hoŋ pa laˈʔe iˈe eɾˈve ʤuŋzukˈne a/
Tuʻmir̋ian word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /h k l m n p t v z ŋ ɾ ʔ ʤ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Nasal |
m |
|
n |
|
ŋ |
|
| Stop |
p |
|
t |
|
k |
ʔ |
| Affricate |
|
|
|
ʤ |
|
|
| Fricative |
|
v |
z |
|
|
h |
| Tap |
|
|
ɾ |
|
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
l |
|
|
|
Vowel inventory: /a e i o u/
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
i |
u |
| High-mid |
e |
o |
| Low |
a |
|
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable
Word initial consonants: h, k, l, m, p, t, ɾ, ʤ
Mid-word consonants: h, hk, hm, hv, k, kk, km, kn, l, ll, m, mt, mz, mɾ, mʔ, n, nh, nk, nm, nn, np, nv, nz, nʤ, p, pp, pz, t, tk, tt, tv, tz, tɾ, tʔ, v, vn, vv, vɾ, z, zk, zl, zp, ŋ, ŋp, ŋz, ɾ, ɾk, ɾl, ɾt, ɾv, ɾʔ, ʔ, ʔm, ʔn, ʤ, ʤl, ʤm, ʤt
Word final consonants: k, m, n, v, ŋ, ɾ, ʤ
Phonological changes (in order of application):
How to read phonological rules
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| ʔ |
ʻ |
| ɾ |
r̋ |
| ŋ |
ng |
| ʤ |
j |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject Object Verb (Prepositional phrase). "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into
Mary the door opened with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
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 recipeint of something: man gives ball to dog.
| Nominative |
No affix
lula /luˈla/
doɡ (doinɡ the verb) |
| Accusative |
Suffix -iŋ
lulaing /lulaˈiŋ/
(verb done to) doɡ |
| Genitive |
Suffix -o
lulao /lulaˈo/
doɡʼs |
| Dative |
Suffix -u
lulau /lulaˈu/
to (the/a) doɡ |
|
Singular |
Plural |
| Definite |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -on
lulan /luˈlan/
the doɡ |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -v
Else: Suffix -uv
lulav /luˈlav/
the doɡs |
| Indefinite |
No affix
lula /luˈla/
a doɡ |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -ek
lulak /luˈlak/
some doɡs |
Articles
Tuʻmir̋ian encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.
Pronouns
|
Nominative |
Accusative |
Genitive |
Dative |
| 1st singular |
la /la/
I |
ma /ma/
me |
ka /ka/
mine |
r̋in /ɾin/
to me |
| 2nd singular |
pe /pe/
you (masc) |
tor̋ /toɾ/
you |
e /e/
yours |
hi /hi/
to you |
| 3rd singular masc |
kam /kam/
he, it |
mim /mim/
him, it |
a /a/
his, its |
mi /mi/
to him, at it |
| 3rd singular fem |
mo /mo/
she, it |
me /me/
her, it |
lu /lu/
hers, its |
r̋i /ɾi/
to her, at it |
| 1st plural inclusive |
ev /ev/
we (including you) |
tu /tu/
us (including you) |
juk /ʤuk/
ours (including you) |
mav /mav/
to us (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive |
ke /ke/
we (excluding you) |
kak /kak/
us (excluding you) |
r̋a /ɾa/
ours (excluding you) |
le /le/
to us (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural |
r̋e /ɾe/
you all |
lej /leʤ/
you all |
ju /ʤu/
yours (pl) |
jong /ʤoŋ/
to you all |
| 3rd plural |
ho /ho/
they |
hu /hu/
them |
ko /ko/
theirs |
mer̋ /meɾ/
to them |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
jum /ʤum/
my |
| 2nd singular |
ka /ka/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
pa /pa/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
tu /tu/
her |
| 1st plural inclusive |
a /a/
our (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive |
me /me/
our (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural |
hu /hu/
your (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
am /am/
their |
Verbs
| Future |
Suffix -en
maken /maˈken/
will learn |
Tuʻmir̋ian uses a standalone particle word for past tense:
| Past |
Particle before the verb: tu -
tu mak /tu mak/
learned |
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.
Tuʻmir̋ian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect |
Suffix -o
mako /maˈko/
have learned |
Numbers
Tuʻmir̋ian has a base-20 number system:
1 - pa
2 - ke
3 - kij
4 - hiv
5 - kim
6 - luv
7 - hitr̋i
8 - laj
9 - mij
10 - o
11 - ker̋utr̋a
12 - joʻnuppu
13 - kehki
14 - muko
15 - lur̋e
16 - ketʻin
17 - inkunja
18 - pimim
19 - anvir̋
20 - kar̋e
21 - kar̋epa “twenty-one”
400 - pa jonpim “one fourhundred”
401 - pa jonpim hong pa “one fourhundred and one”
800 - ke jonpim “two fourhundred”
8000 - pa komtunge “one eightthousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾ
Else: Suffix -uɾ
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -a
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -ek
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -e
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -u
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾ
Else: Suffix -aɾ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -im
Tending to = Suffix -ek
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -a
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -im
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -em
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ
Else: Suffix -iŋ
Diminutive = Suffix -ak
Augmentative = Suffix -av
