Farothian
Natively known as: farothian /ˈfɑɹoˌʊθɪɑn/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...ruth murr furr murr kapath uwhu ruth murr ruro kura whoni riwha pa
Pronunciation: /ɹʌθ mʌɹɹ fʌɹɹ mʌɹɹ ˈkɑpɑθ ˈʌwhʌ ɹʌθ mʌɹɹ ˈɹʌɹo ˈkʌɹɑ ˈwhonɪ ˈɹɪwhɑ pɑ/
Farothian word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: f g h k m n p r t w↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | |||
Stop | p | t | k g | ||
Fricative | f | h | |||
Trill | r |
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
---|---|
Approximant | w |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ? Sound changes (in order of application):
- a → ɑ
- b → b
- ch → ʧ
- c → k
- d → d
- e → ɛ
- f → f
- g → g
- h → h
- i → ɪ
- j → ʤ
- kk → k
- k → k
- ll → l
- l → l
- m → m
- ng → ŋ
- nn → n
- n → n
- o → o
- p → p
- q → k
- r → ɹ
- sh → ʃ
- s → s
- th → θ
- t → t
- u → ʌ
- v → v
- w → w
- x → ks
- y → i
- z → z
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
ɲ | ny |
̯ | |
ɑ | a |
b | b |
ʧ | ch |
d | d |
ɛ | e |
f | f |
g | g |
h | h |
ɪ | i |
ʤ | j |
k | k |
l | l |
m | m |
ŋ | ng |
n | n |
oʊ | o |
o | o |
p | p |
ɹ | r |
ʃ | sh |
s | s |
θ | th |
t | t |
ʌ | u |
v | v |
w | w |
x | ks |
z | z |
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 two 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).
Ergative | If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pa- panaurr /ˈpɑnɑʌɹɹ/ dog (doing the verb to something) |
Absolutive | No affix
naurr /ˈnɑʌɹɹ/ dog (doing the verb, but not to something) |
Singular | No affix
naurr /ˈnɑʌɹɹ/ dog |
Plural | Prefix a-
anaurr /ˈɑnɑʌɹɹ/ dogs |
Articles
Definite | Indefinite | |
---|---|---|
Singular | ti /tɪ/ the | arr /ɑɹɹ/ a |
Plural | hoth /hoθ/ the | i /ɪ/ some |
- Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
- Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
- 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 | |
---|---|---|
1st singular | rarr /ɹɑɹɹ/ I | ku /kʌ/ me, I |
2nd singular | hi /hɪ/ you | pe /pɛ/ you |
3rd singular masc | murr /mʌɹɹ/ he, it | ru /ɹʌ/ him, it |
3rd singular fem | narr /nɑɹɹ/ she, it | ho /ho/ her, it |
1st plural | ha /hɑ/ we | tirr /tɪɹɹ/ us, we |
2nd plural | te /tɛ/ you all | teth /tɛθ/ you all |
3rd plural | horr /hoɹɹ/ they | ne /nɛ/ them, they |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | rarr /ɹɑɹɹ/ my |
2nd singular | hi /hɪ/ your |
3rd singular masc | murr /mʌɹɹ/ his |
3rd singular fem | narr /nɑɹɹ/ her |
1st plural | ha /hɑ/ our |
2nd plural | te /tɛ/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | horr /hoɹɹ/ their |
Verbs
Present | No affix
fonath /ˈfonɑθ/ learn |
Past | If starts with vowel: Prefix un-
Else: Prefix uni- unifonath /ˈʌnɪˌfonɑθ/ learned |
Future | Particle before the verb: firr -
firr fonath /fɪɹɹ ˈfonɑθ/ will learn |
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.Farothian uses the word for ‘finish’ hapuwirr for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Farothian has a base-20 number system: 1 - rurr2 - ho
3 - narr
4 - porr
5 - nuth
6 - whith
7 - mirerr
8 - fath
9 - wi
10 - whi
11 - hoth
12 - rorr
13 - ti
14 - kana
15 - turr
16 - ruru
17 - wa
18 - peta
19 - kirr
20 - whuno
400 - ro
8000 - kutirr
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix fa-Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix tu-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix h-
Else: Prefix ha-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix ka-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ne-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix f-
Else: Prefix fi-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ke-
Tending to = Prefix wa-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix uk-
Else: Prefix uku-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix a-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix to-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix wa-
Diminutive = Prefix ka-
Augmentative = Prefix ku-