Elvish
Natively known as: Suleyna /ˈsuleɨna/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
boll mo sug mec pumybi fu mo boll ig weybe mwymo fu mo ca wwydde
Pronunciation: /boːɬ mɔ sug mɛk ˈpumɨːbi vu mɔ boːɬ ig ˈweɨbɛ ˈmʊɨmɔ vu mɔ ka ˈwʊɨðɛ/
Suleynan word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d g h j k l m n n̥ p r r̥ s t v w ð ŋ ɬ ʃ θ χ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labio-velar | Uvular | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n n̥ | ŋ | |||||||
| Stop | p b | t d | k g | |||||||
| Fricative | v | θ ð | s | ʃ | χ | h | ||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||||||
| Trill | r r̥ | |||||||||
| Lateral fricative | ɬ | |||||||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
Vowel inventory: /a ai au aɨ aː ei eɨ eː i iː oː u uː ɔ ɔi ɔɨ ə əu ɛ ɛu ɨ ɨu ɨː ɪ ɪu ʊ ʊɨ/
Diphthongs: ai, au, aɨ, ei, eɨ, ɔi, ɔɨ, əu, ɛu, ɨu, ɪu, ʊɨ
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | ɨ ɨː | u uː |
| Near-high | ɪ | ʊ | |
| High-mid | eː | oː | |
| Mid | ə | ||
| Low-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Low | a aː |
Stress pattern: advanced
Word initial consonants: b, bl, d, dr, dw, g, gw, gwl, gwn, gwr, h, j, k, kl, l, m, n, nt, n̥, p, pl, pr, r, rn, r̥, s, sd, sn, t, tr, v, w, ð, ɬ, ʃ, θ, θj, χ
Mid-word consonants: b, d, dl, dr, g, gl, gw, h, l, m, ml, mr, ms, n, nr̥, nt, nw, r, rb, rd, rv, rw, rɬ, sg, tbl, v, vj, vl, vn, ð, ðj, ŋ, ɬ, θ, χ, χr
Word final consonants: N/A
Phonological changes (in order of application):
- wa → o / #_
- {k,g} → [+palatal] / _E
- l → ɬ / _t
- P → p / l_
- n → Ø / _s
- t → j / #_i
- l → ɾ / V_V
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| aː | a |
| eɨ | ey |
| eː | e |
| f | ph |
| iː | i |
| j | i |
| k | c |
| n̥ | n |
| oː | o |
| r̥ | rh |
| uː | w |
| v | f |
| ð | dd |
| ŋ | ng |
| ɔ | o |
| ɔi | oi |
| ə | y |
| əu | yw |
| ɛ | e |
| ɛu | ew |
| ɨ | y |
| ɨu | uw |
| ɨː | y |
| ɪu | iw |
| ɬ | ll |
| ʃ | si |
| ʊɨ | wy |
| θ | th |
| χ | ch |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject-Verb-Object-Oblique. "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
Noun
| Singular | No affix
pofan /ˈpɔvan/ |
| Plural | If ends with vowel: Suffix -vɛu
Else: Suffix -auvɛu pofanaufew /ˈpɔvaˌnauvɛu/ |
Articles
Suleynan has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
| 1st singular | ia /ja/
I, me |
| 2nd singular | iy /jɨ/
you |
| 3rd singular | mo /mɔ/
he, him, she, her, it |
| 1st plural | bo /boː/
we, us |
| 2nd plural | cu /ku/
you (all) |
| 3rd plural | ci /kiː/
they, them |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular | sia /ʃa/
my |
| 2nd singular | pon /pɔn/
your |
| 3rd singular | mi /mi/ |
| 1st plural | ca /kaː/
our |
| 2nd plural | i /i/
your |
| 3rd plural | po /pɔ/
their |
Verbs
Past tense may be indicated with the word:
| Past particle | se /sɛ/
past tense particle |
| Future | If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -ul gwol /gwoːl/ |
Imperfective aspect
The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am studying, and habitual actions, such as I study (every night).
It is indicated with the affix:
| Imperfect | Prefix ɨ-
ygwo /ˈɨgwoː/ |
Perfect aspect
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.
In Suleynan, the perfect is constructed with an affix
| Perfect | Prefix ma-
magwo /ˈmagwoː/ |
Numbers
Suleynan has a base-10 number system:
1 - my
2 - mud
3 - ni
4 - mund
5 - gina
6 - rhw
7 - pu
8 - myna
9 - hi
10 - siadi
11 - siadimy “ten-one”
100 - ac “hundred”
101 - ac my “hundred one”
200 - mud ac
1000 - cet “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nt
Else: Suffix -ənt
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -eːm
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -g
Else: Suffix -uːg
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -ɛl
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -im
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = Suffix -ɔ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix mau-
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Suffix -as
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -i
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Prefix ɨː-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -mi
Else: Suffix -imi
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -msoː
Else: Suffix -imsoː
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix na-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix uːg-
Else: Prefix uːgi-
Comments