Ancient Zaeni
Known in common as: Ancient Time /Ancient Time/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...bing u manf mid pran psi bing svobûle spa manf worku ya yû
Pronunciation: /bing u manf mid pɹan psi bing svoˈbyle spa manf ˈwoɹku ja jy/
Time word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p s t v w z ŋ ɹ| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Stop | b p | t d | k g | |||
| Fricative | f v | s z | h | |||
| Approximant | ɹ | j | ||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
|---|---|
| Approximant | w |
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i y | u |
| High-mid | e | o |
| Low | a |
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ? Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| y | û |
| ɹ | r |
| j | y |
| ŋ | ng |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary with a key the door opened.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?
Nouns
Nouns have seven cases:- Ergative is the doer of a verb, when the verb is done to something: dog bites man.
- Absolutive is used in two scenarios: the doer of a verb when not done to something (dog bites), and the done-to of a verb (man bites dog).
- Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.
- Dative is the recipient of something: man gives ball to dog.
- Locative is the location of something: man is in town.
- Ablative is movement away from something: man walks from town.
- Instrumental is the use of something: man writes with (using) pen.
| Ergative | If starts with vowel: Prefix itb- Else: Prefix itby- itbûftuso /ˌitbyfˈtuso/ dog (doing a transitive verb) |
| Absolutive | No affix ftuso /ˈftuso/ dog (doing an intransitive verb) |
| Genitive | Prefix dve- dveftuso /dvefˈtuso/ dogʼs |
| Dative | If starts with vowel: Prefix fl- Else: Prefix fli- fliftuso /flifˈtuso/ to dog |
| Locative | If starts with vowel: Prefix kv- Else: Prefix kvu- kvuftuso /kvufˈtuso/ near/at/by dog |
| Ablative | If starts with vowel: Prefix ykl- Else: Prefix ykla- ûklaftuso /ˌyklafˈtuso/ from dog |
| Instrumental | Prefix e- eftuso /efˈtuso/ with/using dog |
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Definite | No affix ftuso /ˈftuso/ the dog | If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix ka- kaftuso /kafˈtuso/ the dogs |
| Indefinite | Prefix u- uftuso /ufˈtuso/ a dog | If starts with vowel: Prefix f- Else: Prefix fy- fûftuso /fyfˈtuso/ some dogs |
Articles
Time encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.Pronouns
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular masc | 3rd singular fem | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ergative | marn /maɹn/ I | su /su/ you | u /u/ he, it (masc) | tyi /tji/ she, it (fem) | i /i/ we | kmu /kmu/ you all | tyank /tjank/ they |
| Absolutive | bi /bi/ me | klem /klem/ you | pris /pɹis/ his, it (masc) | tû /ty/ her, it (fem) | onf /onf/ us | sa /sa/ you all | pyi /pji/ them |
| Genitive | wo /wo/ mine | vdo /vdo/ yours | znung /znung/ his, its (masc) | zbi /zbi/ hers, its (fem) | myu /mju/ ours | kme /kme/ yours (pl) | fyang /fjang/ theirs |
| Dative | ftipf /ftipf/ to me | psid /psid/ to you | bu /bu/ to his, to it (masc) | byegs /bjegs/ to her, to it (fem) | brû /bɹy/ to us | wild /wild/ to you all | wap /wap/ to them |
| Locative | kvaps /kvaps/ to me | eng /eng/ to you | pyun /pjun/ to his, to it (masc) | fu /fu/ to her, to it (fem) | frûng /fɹyng/ to us | gint /gint/ to you all | dvi /dvi/ to them |
| Ablative | spangg /spaŋg/ from me | vyoz /vjoz/ from you | prûw /pɹyw/ from his, from it (masc) | mu /mu/ from her, from it (fem) | klun /klun/ from us | ye /je/ from you all | kva /kva/ from them |
| Instrumental | fuw /fuw/ with/using me | dlatt /dlatt/ with/using you | vu /vu/ with/using his, with/using it (masc) | pra /pɹa/ with/using her, with/using it (fem) | volv /volv/ with/using us | frû /fɹy/ with/using you all | wukk /wukk/ with/using them |
Possessive determiners
| Possessive | |
|---|---|
| 1st singular | tûm /tym/ my |
| 2nd singular | wa /wa/ your |
| 3rd singular masc | manf /manf/ his |
| 3rd singular fem | kips /kips/ her |
| 1st plural | kind /kind/ our |
| 2nd plural | ftu /ftu/ your (pl) |
| 3rd plural | fsaks /fsaks/ their |
Verbs
| Future | Prefix u- uhorn /ˈuhoɹn/ will learn |
| Past | Particle before the verb: flav - flav horn /flav hoɹn/ learned |
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.Time uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect | Change all #(C)*V to __ hohorn /ˈhohoɹn/ have learned |
Numbers
Time has a base-10 number system: 1 - spi2 - û
3 - dfû
4 - tyu
5 - hayy
6 - tyinz
7 - bre
8 - kmarn
9 - kva
10 - egs
100 - kso
1000 - ugg
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -uAdjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -o
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -is
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -jt
Else: Suffix -ajt
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -b
Else: Suffix -yb
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix onv-
Else: Prefix onvo-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -zo
Else: Suffix -azo
Tending to = Suffix -o
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix na-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹz
Else: Suffix -aɹz
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix zny-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -y
Diminutive = Suffix -alz
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɹd
Else: Suffix -oɹd
Pl = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ps
Else: Suffix -ops
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