Shichulcan

LANGUAGE FAMILY: QILDABIC
# SPEAKERS / WORLD RANKING: 750K / #37
SPOKEN IN: Sassam - 500K / Ilwe - 250K
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: di mi ik xa ci niˈpe di ciˈchond ci möp sal ga dox
Pronunciation: ti mi ik xa ʦi niˈpe ti ʦiˈʧɔnt ʦi mɵp saɮʲ ga tɔxʲ

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

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: /b c f g h j k kʰ kʷ l m n nʲ ñ p q r s t tʰ t͡s t͡ʃ w wʲ x xʲ z ð ɬ ɮ ɮʲ ɹ ʃ ʔ ʦ ʦʰ ʧ ʧʰ/

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m			n nʲ ñ
Stop	p b			t tʰ		c	kʰ k kʷ g	q	ʔ
Affricate				ʦ ʦʰ	ʧ ʧʰ
Fricative		f	ð	s z	ʃ		x xʲ		h
Approximant				ɹ		j
Trill				r
Lateral fricative				ɬ ɮ ɮʲ
Lateral approximant				l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w wʲ

Vowel inventory: /a e i u ɔ ɵ ʊ/

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Near-high			ʊ
High-mid	e	ɵ
Low-mid			ɔ
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, bɮ, cz, f, g, h, ht, j, kʰ, kʰtʰ, m, n, nt, ntʰ, nʲ, ql, r, s, t, tl, tʰ, w, x, ʃ, ʦ, ʦʰ, ʧ, ʧʰ
Mid-word consonants: c, ch, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, p, r, s, sh, t, tc, th, t͡s, t͡ʃ, w, x, ð, ɹ, ʃ, ʦ, ʧ
Word final consonants: ch, cz, h, hl, ht, j, k, kw, kʷ, l, m, mp, mʧ, n, nt, ntz, p, ql, rtʰ, s, t, tl, ts, tz, tɬ, tʃ, w, wʲ, xʲ, ztl, ɮ, ɮtʰ, ɮʲ, ʃ, ʔ
Phonological changes (in order of application):

• e → o / w_
• ʦ → s / _(h)r
• j → ∅ / #_u
• e → æ / _[+labial]
• [+nasal] → n / _#
• {m,p} → [+velar] / _w
• ʔ → ∅ / _C

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
w	b
t	d / !_ʰ
tʰ	t
ʧʰ	ch
ʧ	ch
ʦʰ	c
ʦ	c
kʰ	k
ɮ	l
ʃ	sh
ɔ	o
ɵ	ö
pʰ	p
u	ü
ʊ	u
j	y
ʲ	∅

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

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	No affix sühl /suhl/ man	No affix fex /fexʲ/ woman
Plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɮʲ Else: Suffix -uɮʲ süˈhlül /suˈhluɮʲ/ men	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ntz Else: Suffix -intz feˈxindz /feˈxʲintz/ women

Articles

Definite	yandz /jantz/ the
Indefinite	nu /nʊ/ a, some

Pronouns

1st singular	ci /ʦi/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	cüm /ʦʰum/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	mi /mi/ he, him, his, it, its
3rd singular fem	i /i/ she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural	yix /jixʲ/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	yu /jʊ/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural masc	nidz /nitz/ they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc)
3rd plural fem	ma /ma/ they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem)

Possessive determiners

1st singular	ye /je/ my
2nd singular	yu /jʊ/ your
3rd singular masc	ci /ʦi/ his
3rd singular fem	fe /fe/ her
1st plural	dort /tɔrtʰ/ our
2nd plural	nu /nʊ/ your (pl)
3rd plural masc	yül /juɮʲ/ their (masc)
3rd plural fem	du /tʊ/ their (fem)

Verbs

Present	No affix gaˈrids /gaˈrits/ learn
Past	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -uk garidˈsük /garitˈsuk/ learned

Shiculcan uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: ju - yü gaˈrids /ju gaˈrits/ 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).
Shiculcan uses an affix for imperfective:

Imperfective

If starts with vowel: Prefix b- Else: Prefix bi- bigaˈrids /bigaˈrits/ 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.
Shiculcan uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

If starts with vowel: Prefix f- Else: Prefix fu- fügaˈrids /fugaˈrits/ have learned

Numbers

Shiculcan has a base-20 number system:
1 - mi
2 - ci
3 - nte
4 - mamch
5 - rikb
6 - ich
7 - rik
8 - ba
9 - müˈsil
10 - sel
11 - yeb
12 - yüˈbimch
13 - imuˈbö
14 - seˈyil
15 - nöˈmül
16 - cümöˈmich
17 - sashuˈgo
18 - riˈsül
19 - iˈbehd
20 - choˈküm
21 - choˈküm di mi “twenty and one”
400 - mi mub “one fourhundred”
401 - mi mub mi “one fourhundred one”
800 - ci mub “two fourhundred”
8000 - mi hdö “one eightthousand”

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nt Else: Suffix -int
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -imʧ
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -xʲ Else: Suffix -ixʲ
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix fe-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -aɮ
Noun to verb = Suffix -a
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -kʷ Else: Suffix -ekʷ
Tending to = Prefix ʧʊ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -tɬ Else: Suffix -ɔtɬ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -tz Else: Suffix -itz
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɮtʰ Else: Suffix -iɮtʰ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɮ Else: Suffix -ɔɮ
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ztl Else: Suffix -eztl
Augmentative = Suffix -a

Dictionary

4426 Words.