Heliar
Natively known as: nzahn /nzɑhn/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...ctykf hik mhzormz of hik bwothgru ctykf skma hik pwhngu plu fsshen phqak
Pronunciation: /ktikf hɪk mzoɹmz of hɪk ˈbwotgɹʌ ktikf skmɑ hɪk pwŋʌ plʌ fsɛn pkɑk/
Nzahn word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x z↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | |||||
Stop | p b | t d | c | k g | q | ||
Fricative | f v | s z | x | h | |||
Approximant | j | ||||||
Trill | r | ||||||
Lateral approximant | l |
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
---|---|
Approximant | w |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i y | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ? Sound changes (in order of application):
- a → ɑ
- b → b
- ch → ʧ
- c → k
- d → d
- e → ɛ
- f → f
- g → g
- h → ∅ / C_
- h → h
- i → ɪ
- j → ʤ
- kk → k
- k → k
- ll → l
- l → l
- m → m
- ng → ŋ
- nn → n
- n → n
- o → o
- ph → f
- p → p
- q → k
- r → ɹ
- sh → ʃ
- ss → s
- s → s
- th → θ
- t → t
- u → ʌ
- v → v
- w → w
- x → ks
- y → j / #_
- y → i
- zh → ʒ
- zz → z
- z → z
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
ɑ | a |
b | b |
ʧ | ch |
d | d |
ɛ | e |
f | f |
g | g |
h | h |
i | y |
ɪ | i |
ʤ | j |
k | k |
l | l |
m | m |
ŋ | ng |
n | n |
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 Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary opened the door with a key.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?
Nouns
Singular | Suffix -e
ree /ˈɹɛɛ/ dog |
Plural | No affix
re /ɹɛ/ dogs |
Articles
Definite | qwuc /kwʌk/ the |
Indefinite | krzy /kɹzi/ a, 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 mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.
- Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’
- 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
1st singular | mhzy /mzi/ I, me, mine |
2nd singular | muf /mʌf/ you, yours |
3rd singular masc | hykh /hɪk/ he, him, his, it, its |
3rd singular fem | plurmz /plʌɹmz/ she, her, hers, it, its |
1st plural | gu /gʌ/ we, us, ours |
2nd plural | plo /plo/ you all, yours (pl) |
3rd plural | u /ʌ/ they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | mzi /mzɪ/ my |
2nd singular | muf /mʌf/ your |
3rd singular masc | hik /hɪk/ his |
3rd singular fem | plurmz /plʌɹmz/ her |
1st plural | gu /gʌ/ our |
2nd plural | plo /plo/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | u /ʌ/ their |
Verbs
Present | No affix
am /ɑm/ learn |
Past | Suffix -e
ame /ˈɑmɛ/ learned |
Remote past | Suffix -yrq
amyrq /ˈɑmiɹk/ learned (long ago) |
Future | Particle before the verb: skmi -
skmy am /skmɪ ɑm/ will learn |
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).Nzahn uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
Imperfective | Particle before the verb: po -
po am /po ɑm/ 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.Nzahn uses the word for ‘already’ vylodyks for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Nzahn has a base-20 number system: 1 - ve2 - aq
3 - a
4 - qvsa
5 - mrrol
6 - na
7 - wgeg
8 - hygkse
9 - fvly
10 - myn
11 - shynygo
12 - kugghy
13 - mhu
14 - koksu
15 - fhne
16 - keweza
17 - sshke
18 - fsshu
19 - ny
20 - bwrkso
400 - leh
8000 - tyry
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -sElse: Suffix -ys
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -o
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -athk
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -u
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -urr
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ss
Else: Suffix -ass
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -awn
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -lth
Else: Suffix -alth
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -zz
Else: Suffix -uzz
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -sh
Else: Suffix -ash
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -lllll
Else: Suffix -illlll
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ox
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ch
Else: Suffix -ech
Augmentative = Suffix -a