Orcish
Natively known as: ʊɹʊk /ˈʊɹʊk/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...u 'e izim gotz kve sus u kli kve bo gum may shevu
Pronunciation: /u ʔe ˈizim goʦ kve sus u kli kve bo gum maj ˈʃevu/
Uruk word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p s t v x z ʁ ʃ ʔ ʕ ʦ χ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | |||||||
Stop | b p | t d | k g | ʔ | |||||
Affricate | ʦ | ||||||||
Fricative | v f | s z | ʃ | x | χ ʁ | ʕ | h | ||
Approximant | j | ||||||||
Lateral approximant | l |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ? Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
j | y |
χ | kh |
ʦ | tz |
ʁ | r |
ʃ | sh |
ʔ | ' |
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
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Masculine | No affix hunkhret /ˈhunχʁet/ boy | If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix ki- kihunkhret /ˈkihunχʁet/ boys |
Feminine | No affix tar /taʁ/ girl | Prefix a- atar /ˈataʁ/ girls |
Neuter | No affix tmam /tmam/ dog | If starts with vowel: Prefix oʦ- Else: Prefix oʦa- otzatmam /ˈoʦatmam/ dogs |
Articles
Uruk has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.Pronouns
1st singular | rey /ʁej/ I, me, mine |
2nd singular | stod /stod/ you, yours |
3rd singular masc | 'e /ʔe/ he, him, his, |
3rd singular fem | zmel /zmel/ she, her, hers, |
3rd singular neuter | bnitz /bniʦ/ it (neut), its (neut) |
1st plural inclusive | lud /lud/ we (including you), us (including you), ours (including you) |
1st plural exclusive | zo /zo/ we (excluding you), us (excluding you), ours (excluding you) |
2nd plural | zme /zme/ you all, yours (pl) |
3rd plural masc | dvud /dvud/ they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc) |
3rd plural fem | do /do/ they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem) |
3rd plural neuter | yad /jad/ they (neut), them (neut), theirs (neut) |
Possessive determiners
Possessive | |
---|---|
1st singular | gon /gon/ my |
2nd singular | 'as /ʔas/ your |
3rd singular masc | kve /kve/ his |
3rd singular fem | ra /ʁa/ her |
3rd singular neuter | klak /klak/ his, her, its (neut) |
1st plural inclusive | kvu /kvu/ our (including you) |
1st plural exclusive | kle /kle/ our (excluding you) |
2nd plural | kma /kma/ your (pl) |
3rd plural masc | kul /kul/ their (masc) |
3rd plural fem | se /se/ their (fem) |
3rd plural neuter | pel /pel/ their (neut) |
Verbs
Present | No affix 'uk /ʔuk/ learn |
Past | Prefix a- a'uk /ˈaʔuk/ learned |
Future | If starts with vowel: Prefix oʃm- Else: Prefix oʃme- oshme'uk /ˈoʃmeʔuk/ will learn |
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.Uruk uses an affix for progressive:
Progressive | If starts with vowel: Prefix am- Else: Prefix amo- amo'uk /ˈamoʔuk/ 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).Uruk uses a standalone particle word for habitual:
Habitual | Particle before the verb: om - om 'uk /om ʔuk/ 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.Uruk uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
Perfect | Reduplicate first part of first syllable 'u'uk /ˈʔuʔuk/ have learned |
Numbers
Uruk has a base-20 number system: 1 - bog2 - nav
3 - get
4 - zir
5 - khush
6 - befshi
7 - el
8 - kha
9 - muvkhitz
10 - ne
11 - shi
12 - zmav
13 - tmi
14 - nun
15 - tza
16 - zmo
17 - lah
18 - o
19 - sit
20 - ka'
400 - khul
8000 - kmaf
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -iAdjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -an
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -e
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -i
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ot
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -χni
Else: Suffix -iχni
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ma
Else: Suffix -ama
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -χ
Else: Suffix -iχ
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix a-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -im
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix iz-
Else: Prefix iza-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -oʦ
Diminutive = Suffix -a
Augmentative = Suffix -u