Joral

LANGUAGE FAMILY: RUHANDIC
# SPEAKERS / WORLD RANKING: 80K / #69
SPOKEN IN: Jor - 80K
PERIOD OF USE:
SCRIPT USED:
PARENT LANGUAGE:

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"...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..."
Translation: shu heng eng zhadiuggo hgīgu ūgu shu eng bin hūngchūnuggo rēnguggo hû pōgu
Pronunciation: ʂu˧ xɤ˧ŋ ɤ˧ŋ ˌʈʂa˧ti˧ˈukko ˈhki˥ku ˈu˧˥ku ʂu˧ ɤ˧ŋ pi˧n ˌxu˧˥ŋʈʂʰu˥ˈnukko ʐə˥ˈŋukko xu˥˩ ˈpʰo˥ku

Joral word order: and he his hat holding stood and his wet face the wind to turned

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: /f h j k kʰ l m n p pʰ s t tʰ w x ŋ ɥ ʂ ʂʰ ʈ ʐ ʦ ʦʰ ʨ ʨʰ/

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n				ŋ
Stop	p pʰ		t tʰ	ʈ			k kʰ
Affricate			ʦ ʦʰ		ʨ ʨʰ
Fricative		f	s	ʂ ʂʰ ʐ			x	h
Approximant						j
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-palatal	Labial-velar
Approximant	ɥ	w

Vowel inventory: /a ai au ei i o ou u y ə ɛ ɤ ʊ/
Diphthongs: ai, au, ei, ou
Tones: ˧ ˥ ˧˥ ˨˩˦ ˥˩

	Front	Central	Back
High	i y		u
Near-high			ʊ
High-mid			ɤ o
Mid		ə
Low-mid	ɛ
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: f, fw, hk, j, k, kw, kʰ, kʰw, l, lj, lw, m, mj, n, nj, p, pj, pw, pʰ, pʰj, s, sw, t, tj, tw, tʰ, tʰj, tʰw, w, x, xj, xw, ɥ, ʂ, ʂw, ʈʂ, ʈʂw, ʈʂʰ, ʈʂʰw, ʐ, ʐw, ʦ, ʦw, ʦʰ, ʦʰw, ʨ, ʨj, ʨw, ʨʰ, ʨʰj, ʨʰw
Mid-word consonants: f, j, k, kw, kʰ, l, lj, lw, m, mj, n, nf, nj, nk, nkʰ, nl, nlj, nm, nn, nnj, np, npj, npʰ, ns, nt, ntw, ntʰ, nw, nx, nxj, nxw, nɥ, nʂ, nʈʂ, nʈʂʰ, nʐ, nʦ, nʦʰ, nʨ, nʨj, nʨʰ, nʨʰj, nʨʰw, p, pj, pʰ, s, t, tj, tw, tʰ, w, x, xj, xw, ŋ, ŋf, ŋj, ŋk, ŋkw, ŋkʰw, ŋl, ŋm, ŋmj, ŋn, ŋp, ŋs, ŋt, ŋtj, ŋtʰ, ŋw, ŋx, ŋxj, ŋxw, ŋɥ, ŋʂ, ŋʈʂ, ŋʈʂʰ, ŋʐ, ŋʦ, ŋʦw, ŋʦʰ, ŋʨ, ŋʨj, ŋʨʰ, ŋʨʰj, ɥ, ʂ, ʈʂ, ʈʂʰ, ʐ, ʐtʰ, ʐʦ, ʐʨʰj, ʦ, ʦw, ʦʰ, ʦʰw, ʨ, ʨj, ʨʰ, ʨʰj
Word final consonants: N/A
Phonological changes (in order of application):

• kʰ → x / #_
• um → ũ / _#
• w → ∅ / #_

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
w	u / C_
p	b / !_ʰ
k	g / !_ʰ
t	d / !_ʰ
ʨʰ	q
ʦʰ	c
ʈʂʰ	ch
ʈʂ	zh
ʦ	z
ʐ	r
ʰ	∅
ŋk	nk
ŋ	ng
x	h
ʂ	sh
ɤ	e
ə	e
ʊ	o
y	ü / C_
y	yu
j	y
ʨ	j
ɛ	a
˥˩	̂
˥	̄
˧˥	̌
˨˩˦	̀
˧

Grammar

Main word order: Subject Object (Prepositional phrase) Verb.
"Mary opened the door with a key" turns into Mary the door with a key opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions

Nouns

Nouns have five 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 recipeint of something: man gives ball to dog.
• Locative is the location of something: man goes to town.

Singular

	Masculine	Feminine
Ergative	Suffix -ɛ˧ neinguggoa /ˌnei˧ŋukˈkoɛ˧/ man (doing the verb to something)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -ou˥n lēaggan /lɤ˥ˈakkan/ woman (doing the verb to something)
Absolutive	No affix neinguggo /nei˧ˈŋukko/ man (doing the verb, but not to something)	No affix lēagga /lɤ˥ˈakka/ woman (doing the verb, but not to something)
Genitive	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʨ- Else: Prefix ʨɛ˧- janeinguggo /ˌʨɛ˧nei˧ˈŋukko/ manʼs	If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -ei˥˩n lēaggan /lɤ˥ˈakkan/ womanʼs
Dative	Prefix ɥi˥˩- ɥîneinguggo /ˌɥi˥˩nei˧ˈŋukko/ to (the/a) man	Prefix a˨˩˦- àlēagga /ˌa˨˩˦lɤ˥ˈakka/ to (the/a) woman
Locative	Suffix -ou˨˩˦ neinguggooù /ˌnei˧ŋukˈkoou˨˩˦/ near/at/by (the/a) man	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɥ- Else: Prefix ɥi˧- ɥilēagga /ˌɥi˧lɤ˥ˈakka/ near/at/by (the/a) woman

Plural

	Masculine	Feminine
Ergative	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʈʂ- Else: Prefix ʈʂi˥- zhīneinguggo /ˌʈʂi˥nei˧ˈŋukko/ men (doing the verb to something)	Suffix -o˧ŋ lēaggaong /ˌlɤ˥akˈkao˧ŋ/ women (doing the verb to something)
Absolutive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ Else: Suffix -a˥ŋ neinguggong /nei˧ˈŋukkoŋ/ men (doing the verb, but not to something)	Suffix -a˧ lēaggaa /ˌlɤ˥akˈkaa˧/ women (doing the verb, but not to something)
Genitive	Prefix o˨˩˦- òneinguggo /ˌo˨˩˦nei˧ˈŋukko/ menʼs	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ai˧k lēaggag /lɤ˥ˈakkak/ womenʼs
Dative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -kt Else: Suffix -ʊ˥kt neinguggogd /nei˧ˈŋukkokt/ to (the/some) men	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ Else: Suffix -a˧ʐ lēaggar /lɤ˥ˈakkaʐ/ to (the/some) women
Locative	Suffix -ɤ˧˥ neinguggoē /ˌnei˧ŋukˈkoɤ˧˥/ near/at/by (the/some) men	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ɤ˥˩k lēaggag /lɤ˥ˈakkak/ near/at/by (the/some) women

Articles

Definite	zhī /ʈʂi˧˥/ the
Indefinite	kaī /kʰai˧˥/ a, some

Pronouns

	Ergative	Absolutive	Genitive	Dative	Locative
1st singular	â /a˥˩/ I	rù /ʐu˨˩˦/ me, I	i /i˧/ mine	ēr /ɤ˥ʐ/ to me	ēn /ɤ˥n/ at me
2nd singular	gaūr /kau˧˥ʐ/ you	tôn /tʰʊ˥˩n/ you	ûng /u˥˩ŋ/ yours	zhā /ʈʂa˥/ to you	shê /ʂɤ˥˩/ at you
3rd singular masc	heng /xɤ˧ŋ/ he, it	wor /wʊ˧ʐ/ him, it	qǜng /ʨʰy˨˩˦ŋ/ his, its	nā /nɛ˥/ to him, at it	jā /ʨɛ˧˥/ at him, at it
3rd singular fem	ē /ə˧˥/ she, it	bǖg /py˥k/ her, it	dag /tɛ˧k/ hers, its	daūr /tau˥ʐ/ to her, at it	gâ /ka˥˩/ at her, at it
1st plural inclusive	e /ə˧/ we (including you)	zhīn /ʈʂi˥n/ us, we (including you)	fag /fa˧k/ ours (including you)	choun /ʈʂʰou˧n/ to us (including you)	a /a˧/ at us (including you)
1st plural exclusive	sē /sə˥/ we (excluding you)	pogd /pʰʊ˧kt/ us, we (excluding you)	baî /pai˥˩/ ours (excluding you)	koūng /kʰou˥ŋ/ to us (excluding you)	pôg /pʰo˥˩k/ at us (excluding you)
2nd plural	à /a˨˩˦/ you all	zha /ʈʂa˧/ you all	e /ɤ˧/ yours (pl)	ī /i˥/ to you all	tong /tʰʊ˧ŋ/ at you all
3rd plural masc	shē /ʂə˥/ they (masc)	sē /sə˧˥/ them (masc), they (masc)	kou /kʰou˧/ theirs (masc)	zhī /ʈʂi˧˥/ to them (masc)	he /xɤ˧/ at them (masc)
3rd plural fem	deī /tei˥/ they (fem)	ā /a˧˥/ them (fem), they (fem)	cu /ʦʰu˧/ theirs (fem)	da /tɛ˧/ to them (fem)	fīn /fi˥n/ at them (fem)

Possessive determiners

1st singular	daūng /tau˧˥ŋ/ my
2nd singular	hû /xu˥˩/ your
3rd singular masc	eng /ɤ˧ŋ/ his
3rd singular fem	ē /ə˥/ her
1st plural inclusive	ū /u˥/ our (including you)
1st plural exclusive	jaun /ʨau˧n/ our (excluding you)
2nd plural	lū /lu˥/ your (pl)
3rd plural masc	zhuyūgd /ʈʂwy˥kt/ their (masc)
3rd plural fem	e /ə˧/ their (fem)

Verbs

	Present	Past	Remote past	Future
1st singular	If ends with vowel: Suffix -kt Else: Suffix -i˧kt gagugd /ˈka˧kukt/ (I) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ Else: Suffix -i˧˥ŋ gagung /ˈka˧kuŋ/ (I) learned	Suffix -ɛ˧k gaguag /ka˧ˈkuɛ˧k/ (I) learned (long ago)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ai˥˩k gagug /ˈka˧kuk/ (I) will learn
2nd singular	Prefix fi˨˩˦- fìgagu /fi˨˩˦ˈka˧ku/ (you) learn	Suffix -ɤ˥ʐ gaguēr /ka˧ˈkuɤ˥ʐ/ (you) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ai˧k gagug /ˈka˧kuk/ (you) learned (long ago)	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʦʰ- Else: Prefix ʦʰu˧- cugagu /ʦʰu˧ˈka˧ku/ (you) will learn
3rd singular masc	Suffix -ə˥n gaguēn /ka˧ˈkuə˥n/ (he) learns	Prefix a˥- āgagu /a˥ˈka˧ku/ (he) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -y˧˥n gagun /ˈka˧kun/ (he) learned (long ago)	Suffix -u˥ŋ gaguūng /ka˧ˈkuu˥ŋ/ (he) will learn
3rd singular fem	Prefix tei˧- deigagu /tei˧ˈka˧ku/ (she) learns	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ Else: Suffix -ei˧ʐ gagur /ˈka˧kuʐ/ (she) learned	Prefix wei˥˩- weîgagu /wei˥˩ˈka˧ku/ (she) learned (long ago)	If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix pou˨˩˦- boùgagu /pou˨˩˦ˈka˧ku/ (she) will learn
1st plural inclusive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ Else: Suffix -ɤ˨˩˦ŋ gagung /ˈka˧kuŋ/ (we) learn (including you)	Suffix -ɤ˧ gague /ka˧ˈkuɤ˧/ (we) learned (including you)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ Else: Suffix -ai˧ŋ gagung /ˈka˧kuŋ/ (we) learned (including you) (long ago)	Prefix ʨʰy˨˩˦- qǜgagu /ʨʰy˨˩˦ˈka˧ku/ (we) will learn (including you)
1st plural exclusive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ Else: Suffix -u˧˥ʐ gagur /ˈka˧kuʐ/ (we) learn (excluding you)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ɤ˧k gagug /ˈka˧kuk/ (we) learned (excluding you)	Prefix a˧˥- āgagu /a˧˥ˈka˧ku/ (we) learned (excluding you) (long ago)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -kt Else: Suffix -ʊ˧kt gagugd /ˈka˧kukt/ (we) will learn (excluding you)
2nd plural	Prefix ʂə˧- shegagu /ʂə˧ˈka˧ku/ (you all) learn	Suffix -y˧˥ gaguyū /ka˧ˈkuy˧˥/ (you all) learned	Prefix i˧˥- īgagu /i˧˥ˈka˧ku/ (you all) learned (long ago)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ Else: Suffix -au˨˩˦ʐ gagur /ˈka˧kuʐ/ (you all) will learn
3rd plural masc	If starts with vowel: Prefix s- Else: Prefix sə˥˩- sêgagu /sə˥˩ˈka˧ku/ (they) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ Else: Suffix -ʊ˨˩˦ʐ gagur /ˈka˧kuʐ/ (they) learned	Prefix ɛ˧- agagu /ɛ˧ˈka˧ku/ (they) learned (long ago)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ai˥k gagug /ˈka˧kuk/ (they) will learn
3rd plural fem	Suffix -o˨˩˦ŋ gaguòng /ka˧ˈkuo˨˩˦ŋ/ (they) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ Else: Suffix -a˧˥ʐ gagur /ˈka˧kuʐ/ (they) learned	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʂ- Else: Prefix ʂɤ˧- shegagu /ʂɤ˧ˈka˧ku/ (they) learned (long ago)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ Else: Suffix -ʊ˧˥ʐ gagur /ˈka˧kuʐ/ (they) 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).
Joral uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:

Imperfective

Particle before the verb: hki˥˩ - hgî gagu /hki˥˩ ˈka˧ku/ learns/is learning

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.
Joral uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

Suffix -ɤ˧˥ gaguē /ka˧ˈkuɤ˧˥/ have learned

Numbers

Joral has a base-20 number system:
1 - wông
2 - yê
3 - weî
4 - dā
5 - wô
6 - he
7 - gē
8 - ɥâg
9 - zhì
10 - she
11 - zhànrō
12 - gè
13 - cûshē
14 - maîg
15 - shūr
16 - zhīn
17 - ponlyǖfèr
18 - bǜnuī
19 - hurtê
20 - jeī
21 - jeī shu wông “twenty and one”
400 - wông yegd “one fourhundred”
401 - wông yegd wông “one fourhundred one”
800 - yê yegd “two fourhundred”
8000 - wông rē “one eightthousand”

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ju
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix ya-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ Else: Suffix -ɤ˥ʐ
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -u˥˩
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix u˧-
Noun to verb = Prefix muk-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix ʦʰu˨˩˦-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix kau˨˩˦-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ Else: Suffix -au˥˩ŋ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -i˥
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix pu-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix mta-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʐ- Else: Prefix ʐu˥˩-
Augmentative = Prefix fa˥˩-

Dictionary

4479 Words.