Natively known as: Altär /Alˈtär/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
ma te qar win rä surroru ma yub rä miba wer wede mi
Pronunciation: /ma te qar win rä surroˈru ma jub rä ˈmiba mi wer ˈwede/
Nadunese word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b c d f h j k l m n q r s t w x ʤ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
|---|
| Nasal |
m |
|
n |
|
|
|
|
|
| Stop |
b |
|
t d |
|
c |
k |
q |
|
| Affricate |
|
|
|
ʤ |
|
|
|
|
| Fricative |
|
f |
s |
|
|
x |
|
h |
| Approximant |
|
|
|
|
j |
|
|
|
| Trill |
|
|
r |
|
|
|
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
l |
|
|
|
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
|---|
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: /a ä e i o u/
| Front | Back |
|---|
| High |
i |
u |
| High-mid |
e |
o |
| Low |
a ä |
|
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
Word initial consonants: b, c, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, q, r, s, t, w
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, d, dd, f, h, j, jj, k, kr, l, ll, m, mm, n, nd, nt, r, rb, rr, s, t, tl, w, ww, x, ʤ
Word final consonants: b, d, fl, h, jj, k, l, ll, m, n, q, r, s, t, w
Phonological changes (in order of application):
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|
| j |
y |
| c |
chy |
| ʤ |
j |
| x |
kh |
Nouns
| Singular | Plural |
|---|
| Definite |
Prefix a-
ayunti /aˈjunti/
the dog |
If starts with vowel: Prefix w-
Else: Prefix we-
weyunti /weˈjunti/
the dogs |
| Indefinite |
If starts with vowel: Prefix q-
Else: Prefix qä-
qäyunti /qäˈjunti/
a dog |
Prefix e-
eyunti /eˈjunti/
some dogs |
Articles
Nadunese encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.
Pronouns
| 1st singular |
ki /ki/
I, me, mine |
| 2nd singular |
chyo /co/
you, yours |
| 3rd singular masc |
te /te/
he, him, his, it, its |
| 3rd singular fem
3rd singular neu |
web /web/
she, her, hers, it, its
ha /ha/
they, them, theirs |
| 1st plural |
qo /qo/
we, us, ours |
| 2nd plural |
haw /haw/
you all, yours (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
bid /bid/
they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
wi /wi/
my |
| 2nd singular |
nä /nä/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
rä /rä/
his |
| 3rd singular fem
3rd singular neu |
le /le/
her
tan /tan/
their |
| 1st plural |
yuw /juw/
our |
| 2nd plural |
keq /keq/
your (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
su /su/
their |
Verbs
| Present |
No affix
chyäluw /ˈcäluw/
learn |
| Past |
Prefix ke-
kechyäluw /keˈcäluw/
learned |
| Remote past |
Prefix qä-
qächyäluw /ˈqäcäluw/
learned (long ago) |
Nadunese uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
| Future |
Particle before the verb: ket -
ket chyäluw /ket ˈcäluw/
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).
Nadunese uses an affix for imperfective:
| Imperfective |
If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix di-
dichyäluw /diˈcäluw/
learns/is learning |
Numbers
Nadunese has a base-10 number system:
- 1 - le
- 2 - qäq
- 3 - su
- 4 - meneb
- 5 - roll
- 6 - keyy
- 7 - wim
- 8 - qu
- 9 - milla
- 10 - aw
- 11 - awmale “ten and one”
- 99 - millamamilla
- 100 - lesou “one hundred”
- 101 - lesoumale “one hundred and one”
- 200 - qäqsou
- 1,000 - lemes “one thousand”
- 10,000 - awmes
- 100,000 - soumes
- 1,000,000 - mesmes
Comments