Nillu
LANGUAGE FAMILY: TYRILAN
# SPEAKERS / WORLD RANKING: 2M / #22
SPOKEN IN: Loy - 2M
PERIOD OF USE:
SCRIPT USED:
PARENT LANGUAGE:
"...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..." Translation: zai mer sefhu mool mer nang zai ress mer reck kschehn a lebendt Pronunciation: ʦaɪ meʁ ˈzəfhʊ moːl meʁ naːŋ ʦaɪ rɛs meʁ rɛk kʃeːn a ˈləbənt Nillu word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Vowel inventory: /a aɪ aʊ aː e eː i iː o oː u uː y yː øː œ ɐ ɔ ɔʏ ə ɛ ɛː ɪ ʊ ʏ/
Diphthongs: aɪ, aʊ, ɔʏ
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, bb, bl, br, d, dv, f, g, gf, gh, gl, h, j, jt, k, kk, kʃ, l, ld, lg, lh, lj, lk, ll, lm, ln, lr, lt, ltʃ, lv, lʃ, m, mb, mʃ, n, nd, ndt, ng, ngz, nk, nl, nn, nt, nʃ, p, pv, pʃ, r, rd, rf, rg, rj, rk, rl, rm, rn, rr, rt, rtʃ, rv, rʃ, t, tk, tl, tm, tʃ, v, z, zd, zk, zl, zn, zt, zz, ɟ, ɟʃ, ɲ, ʃ, ʃk, ʃl, ʃt, ʃʃ, ʦ, ʧ
Mid-word consonants: b, bɮ, f, fh, g, j, kʰ, kʰtʰ, m, n, ntʰ, nʲ, pt, r, s, t, tʰ, x, ʃ, ʦ, ʦʰ, ʧ, ʧʰ
Word final consonants: f, ft, gŋ, k, ks, kt, l, lk, lp, lpst, ls, lt, lʃ, m, mpf, n, nf, nft, ns, nst, nt, nts, nʃ, p, pf, pt, pʃ, s, st, t, tl, ts, tst, x, xt, ç, çt, çts, ŋ, ŋk, ŋks, ŋkt, ŋst, ʁ, ʁf, ʁk, ʁl, ʁn, ʁnst, ʁt, ʁts, ʁç, ʁʃ, ʃ, ʧ Phonological changes (in order of application):
"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
Nillu uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.
Nillu uses a standalone particle word for progressive:
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).
Nillu uses a standalone particle word for habitual:
2 - luh
3 - lech
4 - eindt
5 - noübann
6 - ghaudt
7 - dafhi
8 - rai
9 - tann
10 - se
11 - senlänn “ten-one”
100 - wie “hundred”
101 - wie zai nlenn “hundred and one”
200 - luh wie
1000 - leber “thousand”
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix gf- Else: Prefix gfaʊ-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nt Else: Suffix -ɪnt
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -ə
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix toː-
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -ʊm
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix z- Else: Prefix zə-
Tending to = Suffix -ʏ
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -ən
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix zə-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ə-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix d- Else: Prefix dɐ-
Diminutive = Suffix -aɪ
Augmentative = Prefix ə-
"...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..." Translation: zai mer sefhu mool mer nang zai ress mer reck kschehn a lebendt Pronunciation: ʦaɪ meʁ ˈzəfhʊ moːl meʁ naːŋ ʦaɪ rɛs meʁ rɛk kʃeːn a ˈləbənt Nillu 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 kʰ l m n nʲ p r s t tʰ v x z ç ŋ ɟ ɮ ɲ ʁ ʃ ʦ ʦʰ ʧ ʧʰ/↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n nʲ | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
Stop | p b | t tʰ d | ɟ | k kʰ g | ||||
Affricate | ʦ ʦʰ | ʧ ʧʰ | ||||||
Fricative | f v | s z | ʃ | ç | x | ʁ | h | |
Approximant | j | |||||||
Trill | r | |||||||
Lateral fricative | ɮ | |||||||
Lateral approximant | l |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | iː i yː y | uː u | |
Near-high | ɪ ʏ | ʊ | |
High-mid | eː e øː | oː o | |
Mid | ə | ||
Low-mid | ɛ ɛː œ | ɔ | |
Near-low | ɐ | ||
Low | a aː |
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, bb, bl, br, d, dv, f, g, gf, gh, gl, h, j, jt, k, kk, kʃ, l, ld, lg, lh, lj, lk, ll, lm, ln, lr, lt, ltʃ, lv, lʃ, m, mb, mʃ, n, nd, ndt, ng, ngz, nk, nl, nn, nt, nʃ, p, pv, pʃ, r, rd, rf, rg, rj, rk, rl, rm, rn, rr, rt, rtʃ, rv, rʃ, t, tk, tl, tm, tʃ, v, z, zd, zk, zl, zn, zt, zz, ɟ, ɟʃ, ɲ, ʃ, ʃk, ʃl, ʃt, ʃʃ, ʦ, ʧ
Mid-word consonants: b, bɮ, f, fh, g, j, kʰ, kʰtʰ, m, n, ntʰ, nʲ, pt, r, s, t, tʰ, x, ʃ, ʦ, ʦʰ, ʧ, ʧʰ
Word final consonants: f, ft, gŋ, k, ks, kt, l, lk, lp, lpst, ls, lt, lʃ, m, mpf, n, nf, nft, ns, nst, nt, nts, nʃ, p, pf, pt, pʃ, s, st, t, tl, ts, tst, x, xt, ç, çt, çts, ŋ, ŋk, ŋks, ŋkt, ŋst, ʁ, ʁf, ʁk, ʁl, ʁn, ʁnst, ʁt, ʁts, ʁç, ʁʃ, ʃ, ʧ Phonological changes (in order of application):
- t → ʔ / _#
- k → g / n_
- p → v / Vn_
- h → ∅ / V_C
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
v | w |
p | b / _# |
t | dt / _# |
ks | chs |
x | ch |
ç | ch |
ʃ | sch |
ʁ | r |
z | s |
ʦ | z |
k | ck / {a,e,i,o,u,œ,ɐ,ɔ,ɛ,ɪ,ʊ,ʏ}_ |
{m,b,l,t,n,p,s} | @@ / {a,e,i,o,u,œ,ɐ,ɔ,ɛ,ɪ,ʊ,ʏ}_ |
ŋk | nk |
ŋ | ng |
ʦj | ti |
ʦ | zt / _# |
ʦ | z |
iː | ie |
ɛː | ä |
ɛ | ä | e |
œ | ö |
aʊ | au |
oː | o | oh | oo |
ɔ | o |
ɔʏ | eu |
aɪ | ei | ai |
yː | ü |
ʏ | ü |
uː | u | uh |
ʊ | u |
aː | a |
ɐ | er / !_r |
ɐ | e |
ɪ | i |
øː | ö |
ø | ö |
eː | ä | äh | e | eh | ee |
ə | e |
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 before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions
Nouns
Singular | No affix idt /ɪt/ dog |
Plural | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ Else: Suffix -ɐŋ itterng /ˈɪtɐŋ/ dogs |
Articles
Definite | kemm /kɛm/ the |
Indefinite | loo /loː/ a, some |
Pronouns
1st singular | schschi /ʃʃɪ/ I, me, mine |
2nd singular | ri /rɪ/ you, yours |
3rd singular masc | mer /meʁ/ he, him, his, it, its |
3rd singular fem | ga /ga/ she, her, hers, it, its |
1st plural | lai /laɪ/ we, us, ours |
2nd plural | ta /ta/ you all, yours (pl) |
3rd plural | a /a/ they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | schschi /ʃʃɪ/ my |
2nd singular | ri /rɪ/ your |
3rd singular masc | mer /meʁ/ his |
3rd singular fem | ga /ga/ her |
1st plural | lai /laɪ/ our |
2nd plural | ta /ta/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | a /a/ their |
Verbs
Nillu uses a standalone particle word for past tense:Past | Particle before the verb: rɐ - rer schti /rɐ ʃtɪ/ learned |
Future | Particle before the verb: raɪ - rei schti /raɪ ʃtɪ/ will learn |
Progressive | Particle before the verb: aɪ - ei schti /aɪ ʃtɪ/ is learning |
Habitual | Particle before the verb: pə - pe schti /pə ʃtɪ/ learns |
Numbers
Nillu has a base-10 number system: 1 - nlänn2 - luh
3 - lech
4 - eindt
5 - noübann
6 - ghaudt
7 - dafhi
8 - rai
9 - tann
10 - se
11 - senlänn “ten-one”
100 - wie “hundred”
101 - wie zai nlenn “hundred and one”
200 - luh wie
1000 - leber “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix ə-Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix gf- Else: Prefix gfaʊ-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nt Else: Suffix -ɪnt
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -ə
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix toː-
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -ʊm
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix z- Else: Prefix zə-
Tending to = Suffix -ʏ
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -ən
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix zə-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ə-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix d- Else: Prefix dɐ-
Diminutive = Suffix -aɪ
Augmentative = Prefix ə-
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