Shirren
Natively known as: kzygt /kʒɪgð/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...thel ksu dvyt va ksu dǔt thel ksydǔ ksu zteg ksegt u dvon
Pronunciation: /θɛl ksʌ dvɪt vɑ ksʌ dit θɛl ksɪˈdi ksʌ ʒðɛg ksɛgð ʌ dvon/
Kzigti word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: c d g h j k l m n p r s t v x z↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ||||
Stop | p | t d | c | k g | ||
Fricative | v | s z | x | h | ||
Approximant | j | |||||
Trill | r | |||||
Lateral approximant | l |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i y | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Second — stress is on the second 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
- ss → s
- s → s
- th → θ
- t → ð / C_
- t → t
- u → ʌ
- v → v
- w → w
- x → ks
- y → i
- z → ʒ
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
y | ǔ |
c | q |
j | y |
x | kh |
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 |
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 | If starts with vowel: Prefix kz-
Else: Prefix kzo- kzosqhen /kʒosˈʧɛn/ dog |
Plural | No affix
sqhen /sʧɛn/ dogs |
Articles
Definite | Indefinite | |
---|---|---|
Singular | thǔl /θil/ the | khǔ /ksi/ a |
Plural | zo /ʒo/ the | sqhu /sʧʌ/ 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’
- Used with place names: ‘The London’
Pronouns
1st singular | ke /kɛ/ I, me, mine |
2nd singular | dǔ /di/ you, yours |
3rd singular masc | ksu /ksʌ/ he, him, his, it, its |
3rd singular fem | zu /ʒʌ/ she, her, hers, it, its |
1st plural | zta /ʒðɑ/ we, us, ours |
2nd plural | thugt /θʌgð/ you all, yours (pl) |
3rd plural | hun /hʌn/ they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | ke /kɛ/ my |
2nd singular | di /dɪ/ your |
3rd singular masc | ksu /ksʌ/ his |
3rd singular fem | ʒu /ʒʌ/ her |
1st plural | ʒða /ʒðɑ/ our |
2nd plural | thugð /θʌgð/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | hun /hʌn/ their |
Verbs
Present | Past | Remote past | Future | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st singular | If starts with vowel: Prefix th-
Else: Prefix thi- thyqysh /θɪˈkɪʃ/ (I) learn |
If starts with vowel: Prefix c-
Else: Prefix cy- qǔqysh /kiˈkɪʃ/ (I) learned |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ek-
Else: Prefix eku- ekuqysh /ɛˈkʌkɪʃ/ (I) learned (long ago) |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ik-
Else: Prefix iky- ykǔqysh /ɪˈkikɪʃ/ (I) will learn |
2nd singular | If starts with vowel: Prefix nt-
Else: Prefix nty- ntǔqysh /nðiˈkɪʃ/ (you) learn |
Prefix da-
daqysh /dɑˈkɪʃ/ (you) learned |
Prefix ge-
geqysh /gɛˈkɪʃ/ (you) learned (long ago) |
Prefix ci-
qyqysh /kɪˈkɪʃ/ (you) will learn |
3rd singular | Prefix e-
eqysh /ɛˈkɪʃ/ (he/she/it) learns |
Prefix o-
oqysh /oˈkɪʃ/ (he/she/it) learned |
Prefix ke-
keqysh /kɛˈkɪʃ/ (he/she/it) learned (long ago) |
Prefix cte-
qteqysh /kðɛˈkɪʃ/ (he/she/it) will learn |
1st plural | Prefix y-
ǔqysh /iˈkɪʃ/ (we) learn |
Prefix u-
uqysh /ʌˈkɪʃ/ (we) learned |
If starts with vowel: Prefix erk-
Else: Prefix erki- erkyqysh /ɛɹˈkɪkɪʃ/ (we) learned (long ago) |
If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix ni- nyqysh /nɪˈkɪʃ/ (we) will learn |
2nd plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix usk-
Else: Prefix uske- uskeqysh /ʌsˈkɛkɪʃ/ (you all) learn |
Prefix i-
yqysh /ɪˈkɪʃ/ (you all) learned |
If starts with vowel: Prefix av-
Else: Prefix avo- avoqysh /ɑˈvokɪʃ/ (you all) learned (long ago) |
Prefix xo-
khoqysh /ksoˈkɪʃ/ (you all) will learn |
3rd plural | Prefix a-
aqysh /ɑˈkɪʃ/ (they) learn |
Prefix ki-
kyqysh /kɪˈkɪʃ/ (they) learned |
If starts with vowel: Prefix h-
Else: Prefix ha- haqysh /hɑˈkɪʃ/ (they) learned (long ago) |
Prefix jo-
yoqysh /ʤoˈkɪʃ/ (they) will learn |
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.Kzigti uses a standalone particle word for progressive:
Progressive | Particle before the verb: za -
za qysh /ʒɑ kɪʃ/ 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).Kzigti uses an affix for habitual:
Habitual | Prefix o-
oqysh /oˈkɪʃ/ learns |
Numbers
Kzigti has a base-10 number system: 1 - ka2 - ztykt
3 - zto
4 - sqha
5 - go
6 - qa
7 - kzǔ
8 - dvun
9 - hyst
10 - ya
100 - dvǔkt
1000 - el
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix thy-Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix ja-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix esc-
Else: Prefix esci-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix he-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix o-
Noun to verb = Prefix i-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix ksu-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix imk-
Else: Prefix imky-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix e-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix o-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix g-
Else: Prefix go-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix uz-
Else: Prefix uzy-
Diminutive = Prefix a-
Augmentative = Prefix e-