Chîkise (IPA: /c͡çɪkise/)
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
men yaw yinoch ûĉh yaw kiʻnus men chach yaw pes sête wa epsayw
Pronunciation: /men jɔ jiˈnoʧ ʊc͡ç jɔ kiʔˈnus men ʧaʧ jɔ pes sɛˈte wa epˈsaɥ/
Ĉhîkise word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: c͡ç j k m n p s t w ɥ ʔ ʧ
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Stop | p | t | k | ʔ | ||
| Affricate | ʧ | c͡ç | ||||
| Fricative | s | |||||
| Approximant | j |
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-palatal | Labial-velar |
|---|---|---|
| Approximant | ɥ | w |
Vowel inventory: a e i o u ɔ ɛ ɪ ʊ
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| Near-high | ɪ | ʊ |
| High-mid | e | o |
| Low-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Low | a |
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| ɛ | ê |
| ɔ | aw |
| ʊ | û |
| ɪ | î |
| j | y |
| ʧ | ch |
| ɥ | yw |
| c͡ç | ĉh |
| ʔ | ʻ |
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 after the noun.
Adposition: prepositions
Nouns
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | No affix
tês /tɛs/ boy |
No affix
chûmpêĉhaw /ʧʊmpɛc͡çˈɔ/ girl |
| Plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ki- kitês /kiˈtɛs/ boys |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ew-
Else: Prefix ewɪ- ewîchûmpêĉhaw /ewɪˌʧʊmpɛc͡çˈɔ/ girls |
Articles
| Definite | kaw /kɔ/ the |
| Indefinite | teĉh /tec͡ç/ a, some |
Uses of definite article that differ from English:
-
Definite article can be omitted: 'I am going to market'Used with place names: ‘The London’
Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:
-
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 | yu /ju/ I | so /so/ me |
| 2nd singular | u /u/ you | ĉhû /c͡çʊ/ you |
| 3rd singular masc | yaw /jɔ/ he, it (masc) | tus /tus/ his, it (masc) |
| 3rd singular fem | set /set/ she, it (fem) | pek /pek/ her, it (fem) |
| 1st plural | pok /pok/ we | ku /ku/ us |
| 2nd plural | mu /mu/ you all | kaw /kɔ/ you all |
| 3rd plural masc | yas /jas/ they (masc) | ya /ja/ them (masc) |
| 3rd plural fem | sî /sɪ/ they (fem) | yum /jum/ them (fem) |
Possessive determiners
| Possessive | |
|---|---|
| 1st singular | yu /ju/ my |
| 2nd singular | u /u/ your |
| 3rd singular masc | yaw /jɔ/ his |
| 3rd singular fem | set /set/ her |
| 1st plural | pok /pok/ our |
| 2nd plural | mu /mu/ your (pl) |
| 3rd plural masc | yas /jas/ their (masc) |
| 3rd plural fem | sî /sɪ/ their (fem) |
Verbs
| Present | Past | Remote past | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pɪ- pîkoyw /pɪˈkoɥ/ (I/we) learn |
If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix je- yekoyw /jeˈkoɥ/ (I/we) learned |
If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix se- sekoyw /seˈkoɥ/ (I/we) learned (long ago) |
| 2nd person | If starts with vowel: Prefix ʧ-
Else: Prefix ʧɪ- chîkoyw /ʧɪˈkoɥ/ (you/you all) learn |
If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ke- kekoyw /keˈkoɥ/ (you/you all) learned |
If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pa- pakoyw /paˈkoɥ/ (you/you all) learned (long ago) |
| 3rd person | If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix so- sokoyw /soˈkoɥ/ (he/she/it/they) learn(s) |
Prefix ʊ-
ûkoyw /ʊˈkoɥ/ (he/she/it/they) learned |
Prefix jɛ-
yêkoyw /jɛˈkoɥ/ (he/she/it/they) learned (long ago) |
Ĉhîkise uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
| Future | Particle before the verb: wu -
wu koyw /wu koɥ/ will learn |
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.
Ĉhîkise uses an affix for progressive:
| Progressive | If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix sɪ- sîkoyw /sɪˈkoɥ/ 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).
Ĉhîkise uses a standalone particle word for habitual:
| Habitual | Particle before the verb: kɛ -
kê koyw /kɛ koɥ/ learns |
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.
Ĉhîkise uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect | If starts with vowel: Prefix am-
Else: Prefix amɪ- amîkoyw /amɪˈkoɥ/ have learned |
Numbers
Ĉhîkise has a base-10 number system:
1 - ĉhis
2 - kem
3 - wok
4 - tawĉh
5 - kê
6 - kenko
7 - ma
8 - yaww
9 - yenmayw
10 - chi
100 - tû
1000 - pêin
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = slow → slowly
If starts with vowel: Prefix ɪps-
Else: Prefix ɪpse-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = foreign → foreigner
If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix je-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = complicated → to complicate
If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix mi-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = friend → friendly
If starts with vowel: Prefix anj-
Else: Prefix anjo-
Noun → adjective relating to noun = sex → sexual
Prefix ja-
Noun to verb = a song → to sing
If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix mo-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = to break → broken
Prefix kɛ-
Tending to = garden → gardener
If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jɪ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = to die → death
Prefix tu-
Verb → noun that verb produces = to build → a building
If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix kɛ-
One who [verb]s = to dance → dancer
If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix so-
Place of = weapon → armory
Prefix ʊ-
Diminutive = cat → kitten
If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix mi-
Augmentative = pot → cauldron
Prefix c͡ça-
Negative= land → landless
If starts with vowel: Prefix at-
Else: Prefix a-
Dictionary
Although spoken all throughout the continent after the Astral Extinction, the language has evolved more significantly on the eastern side of the world. Technically speaking, all locutors could potentially understand and exchange with each others, much like South and North Korea speak the same korean, at the exception of certain words.
