The Language of Soi̯ngan
Natively known as: soi̯nga /ˈsɔɪ̯ŋɑ/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...ca doi gacur feeshou doi thoiree ca loipur doi eethou yoidee thoi naipor
Pronunciation: /kɑ dɔˈɪ gæˈkɜː fiːˈʃaʊ ˈdɔɪ θɔɪˈɹiː kɑ ˈlɔɪpɜː ˈdɔɪ iːˈθaʊ jɔɪˈdiː ˈθɔɪ ˈnaɪpɔː/
Soi̯ngan word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p s t v w z ð ŋ ɹ ʃ ʒ ʤ ʧ θ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||
Stop | p b | t d | k g | |||||
Affricate | ʧ ʤ | |||||||
Fricative | f v | θ ð | s z | ʃ ʒ | h | |||
Approximant | ɹ | j | ||||||
Lateral approximant | l |
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
---|---|
Approximant | w |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | iː | uː | |
Near-high | ɪ | ʊ | |
Low-mid | ɛ | ɜː | ʌ ɔː |
Near-low | æ | ||
Low | ɑ |
Stress pattern: No fixed stress ? Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
kw | qu |
kt# | cked |
k | c / !_{ɪ,i,ɛ,e,s} |
ð | th |
θ | th |
ʍ | wh |
ŋɡ | ng |
ŋk | nk |
ɡ | g |
ŋ | ng |
ʧ | ch |
ʃ | sh |
ɹ | r |
z# | s |
cc | ck |
c# | k |
aʊ# | ow |
aʊ | ou |
ɔɪ | oi |
ɪə | ear |
ɪ# | y |
eɪ | ei̯ |
ɪ | i |
ji | yi |
j | y |
iː# | y |
yy# | yi |
#y# | i |
ʌ | u |
iː | ee |
oʊ | o |
ʊ | oo |
ɛ | e |
ɑː? | a |
æ | a |
#ʤ | j |
ʤ# | ge |
ʤ | dg |
ɜː | ur |
ɔː | or |
uː | u |
quur | quir |
eə | ere |
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 before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?
Nouns
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Masculine | Suffix -giː soigy /ˈsɔɪgiː/ man | Suffix -piː soipy /ˈsɔɪpiː/ men |
Feminine | Prefix wɔː- worwur /ˈwɔːwɜː/ woman | Prefix huː- huwur /huːˈwɜː/ women |
Neuter | Suffix -mɑ cahurma /ˈkæhɜːmɑ/ dog | Prefix hʌ- hucahur /ˈhʌkæhɜː/ dogs |
Articles
Soi̯ngan has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.Pronouns
1st singular | gy /giː/ I, me, mine |
2nd singular | cur /kɜː/ you, yours |
3rd singular masc | doi̯ /dɔɪ̯/ he, him, his |
3rd singular fem | wy /wiː/ she, her, hers |
3rd singular neut | fur /fɜː/ it, its |
1st plural | yu /juː/ we, us, ours |
2nd plural | a /ɑ/ you all, yours (pl) |
3rd plural masc | ga /gɑ/ they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc) |
3rd plural fem | jor /ʤɔː/ they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem) |
3rd plural neut | hu /huː/ they (neut), them (neut), theirs (neut) |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | gy /giː/ my |
2nd singular | cur /kɜː/ your |
3rd singular masc | doi /dɔˈɪ/ his |
3rd singular fem | wy /wiː/ her |
3rd singular neut | fur /fɜː/ its |
1st plural | yu /juː/ our |
2nd plural | a /ɑ/ your (pl) |
3rd plural masc | ga /gɑ/ their (masc) |
3rd plural fem | jor /ʤɔː/ their (fem) |
3rd plural neut | hu /huː/ their (neut) |
Verbs
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Suffix -zɜː moisazur /mɔˌɪsɑˈzɜː/ | Suffix -kuː moisacu /ˌmɔɪˈsɑkuː/ | Prefix zæ- zamoisa /ˌzæmɔˈɪsɑ/ |
Feminine | Suffix -wiː moisawy /ˌmɔɪˈsɑwiː/ | Prefix ʧɔː- chormoisa /ʧɔːˌmɔɪˈsɑ/ | Suffix -vɔː moisavor /ˌmɔɪˈsɑvɔː/ |
Neuter | Prefix vɔː- vormoisa /vɔːˌmɔɪˈsɑ/ | Prefix kɑ- camoisa /kɑˌmɔɪˈsɑ/ | Suffix -pɑ moisapa /ˌmɔɪˈsɑpɑ/ |
Past | Particle before the verb: ɔː - or moisa /ɔː ˈmɔɪsɑ/ learned |
Future | Particle before the verb: ðaʊ̯ - thou̯ moisa /ðaʊ̯ mɔˈɪsɑ/ will learn |
Numbers
Soi̯ngan has a base-20 number system:1 - ga
2 - a
3 - gy
4 - coi
5 - ga
6 - mow
7 - now
8 - zur
9 - a
10 - ju
11 - worby
12 - ʒalow
13 - yoily
14 - thoimoda
15 - ornu
16 - thoihy
17 - loithy
18 - doichobay
19 - naizy
20 - fursor
21 - ga ca fursor “one and twenty”
400 - ga peewoicur “one fourhundred”
401 - ga peewoicur ca ga “one fourhundred and one”
800 - a peewoicur “two fourhundred”
8000 - ga ʒahu “one eightthousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ðoʊ̯Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -tiː
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix gɔː-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -piː
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix piː-
Noun to verb = Prefix wiː-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix gɔː-
Tending to = Suffix -tiː
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix giː-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix ʒæ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -baɪ̯
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix dɑ-
Diminutive = Prefix ʒɛ-
Augmentative = Prefix zæ-
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