Nerratiin is the language of a long lost people who lived in the Emerald Cove Jungle, in particular among the Ironwood forest section of the jungle. They were a unique variation on dwarven culture that lived among the forests rather than in caves or underground. The Nerratiin built many great structures out of both wood and stone that still persist in the jungle which are the only sources of the language that remain which were carved into the stone.
Natively known as: ˈngentu /ˈŋentu/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
tse mo ˈnarti ruch mog tso tse bu ˈtigke mo chur buy ˈimdi[alt]
Pronunciation: /ʦe mo ˈnarti ruʧ mog ʦo ʦe bu ˈtigke mo ʧur buj ˈimdi/
Nerratin word order: and hat his holding stood he and to the wind his face wet turned [/alt]
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p r s t w ŋ ɸ ʃ ʦ ʧ
↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
---|
Nasal | m | | n | | | ŋ | |
Stop | p b | | t d | | | k g | |
Affricate | | | ʦ | ʧ | | | |
Fricative | ɸ | f | s | ʃ | | | h |
Approximant | | | | | j | | |
Trill | | | r | | | | |
Lateral approximant | | | l | | | | |
Co-articulated phonemes
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
---|
Approximant | w |
Vowel inventory: a e i o u
| Front | Back |
---|
High | i | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a | |
Syllable structure: (C)V(C)
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: b f g l m n p r t ŋ ʃ ʦ ʧ
Mid-word consonants: b bb bj bm br bt bw d db dd dg dj dl dm ds f fd fk fm fn fr fw g gf gg gk gl gm gr gs gt gw gʃ gʧ h hb hd ht hw j jb jd jj jm jʃ k kd kf kh kk kl km kn ks kʃ kʦ l lf lh lj lk ln ls lʧ m mb md mf mj mk ml mm mn mp ms mt mʃ mʦ mʧ n ng nj nm nn nr ns nt nw p pk pl pm pp pt pw r rb rf rk rm rn rt rʦ s sf sg sn sp ss t tf tj tn tr w wg wk wp ww wʃ ŋ ŋf ŋg ŋk ŋm ŋn ŋr ŋs ŋʦ ɸ ʃ ʃb ʃj ʃl ʃt ʦ ʦs ʦw ʧ ʧl
Word final consonants: b d g j l m r s t w ŋ ɸ ʃ ʧ
Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|
j | y |
ŋ | ng |
ɸ | ph |
ʃ | sh |
ʦ | ts |
ʧ | ch |
Grammar
Main word order: (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb Subject. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into
With a key the door opened Mary.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: prepositions
Nouns
Singular | No affix
chey /ʧej/
dog
|
Plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix ʧ-
Else: Prefix ʧi-
ˈchichey /ˈʧiʧej/
dogs
|
Articles
Nerratin has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
| Nominative | Accusative |
---|
1st singular | tsi /ʦi/
I
| u /u/
me
|
2nd singular | tu /tu/
you
| mu /mu/
you
|
3rd singular masc | tso /ʦo/
he, it
| ngo /ŋo/
him, it
|
3rd singular fem | li /li/
she, it
| chu /ʧu/
her, it
|
1st plural | ri /ri/
we
| fu /fu/
us
|
2nd plural | nge /ŋe/
you all
| ngi /ŋi/
you all
|
3rd plural | ni /ni/
they
| pe /pe/
them
|
Possessive determiners
1st singular | pi /pi/
my
|
2nd singular | pim /pim/
your
|
3rd singular masc | mo /mo/
his
|
3rd singular fem | ping /piŋ/
her
|
1st plural | ru /ru/
our
|
2nd plural | ta /ta/
your (pl)
|
3rd plural | ot /ot/
their
|
Verbs
| Present | Past | Future |
---|
1st singular | Prefix u-
uˈtsangis /uˈʦangis/
(I) learn
| If starts with vowel: Prefix r-
Else: Prefix ra-
raˈtsangis /raˈʦangis/
(I) learned
| Prefix ni-
niˈtsangis /niˈʦangis/
(I) will learn
|
2nd singular | If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix le-
leˈtsangis /leˈʦangis/
(you) learn
| If starts with vowel: Prefix ʦ-
Else: Prefix ʦe-
tseˈtsangis /ʦeˈʦangis/
(you) learned
| If starts with vowel: Prefix ŋ-
Else: Prefix ŋo-
ngoˈtsangis /ŋoˈʦangis/
(you) will learn
|
3rd singular | Prefix e-
eˈtsangis /eˈʦangis/
(he/she/it) learns
| If starts with vowel: Prefix g-
Else: Prefix go-
goˈtsangis /goˈʦangis/
(he/she/it) learned
| If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pu-
puˈtsangis /puˈʦangis/
(he/she/it) will learn
|
1st plural | Prefix o-
oˈtsangis /oˈʦangis/
(we) learn
| If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix mo-
moˈtsangis /moˈʦangis/
(we) learned
| If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix nu-
nuˈtsangis /nuˈʦangis/
(we) will learn
|
2nd plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix na-
naˈtsangis /naˈʦangis/
(you all) learn
| If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix to-
toˈtsangis /toˈʦangis/
(you all) learned
| If starts with vowel: Prefix g-
Else: Prefix gu-
guˈtsangis /guˈʦangis/
(you all) will learn
|
3rd plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix li-
liˈtsangis /liˈʦangis/
(they) learn
| Prefix a-
aˈtsangis /aˈʦangis/
(they) learned
| Prefix mu-
muˈtsangis /muˈʦangis/
(they) 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).
Nerratin uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
Imperfective | Particle before the verb: po -
po ˈtsangis /po ˈʦangis/
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.
Nerratin uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
Perfect | If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix mi-
miˈtsangis /miˈʦangis/
have learned
|
Numbers
Nerratin has a base-10 number system:
1 -
tu
2 -
ˈchentiph
3 -
im
4 -
ˈtempu
5 -
lat
6 -
shu
7 -
ˈngunse
8 -
ˈlofwa
9 -
ta
10 -
ˈmiso
11 -
tu tse ˈmiso “one and ten”
100 -
mut “hundred”
101 -
mut tu “hundred one”
200 -
ˈchentiph mut
1000 -
ˈpidyi “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix na-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix ma-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix o-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ-
Else: Prefix ʃu-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix mu-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʧ-
Else: Prefix ʧe-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix i-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix lo-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ŋ-
Else: Prefix ŋu-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ-
Else: Prefix ʃa-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ro-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix a-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix ŋ-
Else: Prefix ŋi-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix r-
Else: Prefix ru-
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