Sinumese
Natively known as: morja /ˈmoɾʤɑ/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...a ta ta byman zoha anun a anjy san ta ryhjo anen menaku
Pronunciation: /ɑ tɑ tɑ ˈbɪmɑn ˈzohɑ ˈɑnʌn ɑ ˈɑnʤɪ sɑn tɑ ˈɾɪʤo ˈɑnɛn ˈmɛnɑkʌ/
Moryan word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d g h j k m n p s t w z ŋ ɾ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||
Stop | p b | t d | k g | ||
Fricative | s z | h | |||
Approximant | j | ||||
Tap | ɾ |
↓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
- hj → ʤ
- 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 |
---|---|
ŋ | ng |
ɾ | r |
̯ | |
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 |
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 (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary with a key the door opened.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?
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 aru /ˈɑɾʌ/ dog (doing the verb) |
Accusative | If starts with vowel: Prefix os- Else: Prefix osu- osaru /ˈosɑɾʌ/ (verb done to) dog |
Singular | No affix aru /ˈɑɾʌ/ dog |
Plural | Prefix u- uaru /ˈʌɑɾʌ/ dogs |
Articles
Definite | ky /kɪ/ the |
Indefinite | gyn /gɪn/ a, some |
- 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’
- 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
Nominative | Accusative | |
---|---|---|
1st singular | gu /gʌ/ I | ren /ɾɛn/ me |
2nd singular | pyn /pɪn/ you | o /o/ you |
3rd singular masc | ta /tɑ/ he, it | pu /pʌ/ him, it |
3rd singular fem | so /so/ she, it | ka /kɑ/ her, it |
1st plural | nun /nʌn/ we | pun /pʌn/ us |
2nd plural | ko /ko/ you all | en /ɛn/ you all |
3rd plural | ty /tɪ/ they | gon /gon/ them |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | gu /gʌ/ my |
2nd singular | pin /pɪn/ your |
3rd singular masc | ta /tɑ/ his |
3rd singular fem | so /so/ her |
1st plural | nun /nʌn/ our |
2nd plural | ko /ko/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | ti /tɪ/ their |
Verbs
Present | Past | |
---|---|---|
1st person | If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix pi- pysukju /ˈpɪsʌkʤʌ/ (I/we) learn | If starts with vowel: Prefix ag- Else: Prefix agi- agysukju /ˈɑgɪˌsʌkʤʌ/ (I/we) learned |
2nd person | If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix ka- kasukju /ˈkɑsʌkʤʌ/ (you/you all) learn | If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mo- mosukju /ˈmosʌkʤʌ/ (you/you all) learned |
3rd person | If starts with vowel: Prefix os- Else: Prefix osu- osusukju /ˈosʌˌsʌkʤʌ/ (he/she/it/they) learn | Prefix ku- kusukju /ˈkʌsʌkʤʌ/ (he/she/it/they) learned |
Future | Particle before the verb: man - man sukju /mɑn ˈsʌkʤʌ/ 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.Moryan uses the word for ‘already’ tu for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Moryan has a base-10 number system: 1 - su2 - my
3 - yn
4 - ma
5 - go
6 - he
7 - ry
8 - o
9 - gakjon
10 - bura
100 - medu
1000 - ran
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix p-Else: Prefix pu-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix di-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix tu-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix o-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix h-
Else: Prefix hi-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix du-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix umb-
Else: Prefix umba-
Tending to = Prefix a-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix se-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ibj-
Else: Prefix ibjo-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix u-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix o-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix umj-
Else: Prefix umja-
Augmentative = Prefix ja-