Umasz*

LANGUAGE FAMILY: KANNAI
PERIOD OF USE:
SCRIPT USED:
PARENT LANGUAGE:
DESCENDANT LANGUAGES:

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"...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..."
Translation: lank fi fot ˈmagag fi ˈspáta lank spá fi ˈprano wut ág fok
Pronunciation: lank fi fot ˈmagag fi ˈspáta lank spá fi ˈprano wut ág fok
Umasz word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face the wind to

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: /b c d f g h j k l m n p r s t v w z/

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n
Stop	p b		t d	c	k g
Fricative		f v	s z			h
Approximant				j
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: /a á e é i í o ó ö ő u ú ü ű y/

	Front	Back
High	i í y	u ú ü ű
High-mid	e é	o ö ó ő
Low	a á

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Word initial consonants: b, c, chw, cs, cz, d, dwr, f, h, j, k, ks, l, m, n, p, pr, prz, s, sp, str, sw, sz, t, v, w, z, zm
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, br, c, ch, cs, cz, d, dn, f, g, gn, gr, h, j, jb, k, kh, kk, kr, l, ld, lh, lj, ll, ls, lt, m, mj, mkn, mn, mt, n, nd, ndt, ng, nt, nv, p, pj, r, rl, rm, rn, rsz, rt, rz, s, sh, sm, sn, sr, ss, ssz, st, sz, szcz, szk, szn, szt, t, th, tl, tm, tn, tsz, tt, tth, tw, v, w, z, zz
Word final consonants: bb, g, j, k, l, lt, m, n, nk, nt, r, s, st, sz, t, tt, z, zt
Phonological changes (in order of application):

• j → ʧ / _V
• m → n / _f
• d → ɾ / V_V
• z → d / Vj_
• p → b / V_V

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
y	ù
j	y
c	chy

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: postpositions

Nouns

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	chyún /cún/ the	vibb /vibb/ a
Plural	pra /pra/ the	set /set/ some

Pronouns

1st singular	ka /ka/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	ot /ot/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	fi /fi/ he, him, his, it, its
3rd singular fem	zmüz /zmüz/ she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural	ok /ok/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	ha /ha/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural masc	zán /zán/ they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc)
3rd plural fem	chyzù /czy/ they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem)

Possessive determiners

1st singular	ka /ka/ my
2nd singular	ot /ot/ your
3rd singular masc	fi /fi/ his
3rd singular fem	zmüz /zmüz/ her
1st plural	ok /ok/ our
2nd plural	ha /ha/ your (pl)
3rd plural masc	zán /zán/ their (masc)
3rd plural fem	chyzù /czy/ their (fem)

Verbs

	Present	Past	Future
1st singular	Suffix -ezt ˈpizezt /ˈpizezt/ (I) learn	Suffix -aj ˈpizay /ˈpizaj/ (I) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -z Else: Suffix -yz ˈpizùz /ˈpizyz/ (I) will learn
2nd singular	If ends with vowel: Suffix -r Else: Suffix -er ˈpizer /ˈpizer/ (you) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ek ˈpizek /ˈpizek/ (you) learned	Suffix -a ˈpiza /ˈpiza/ (you) will learn
3rd singular masc	Suffix -o ˈpizo /ˈpizo/ (he) learns	Suffix -á ˈpizá /ˈpizá/ (he) learned	Suffix -ő ˈpiző /ˈpiző/ (he) will learn
3rd singular fem	Suffix -ánk ˈpizánk /ˈpizánk/ (she) learns	Suffix -ör ˈpizör /ˈpizör/ (she) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -s Else: Suffix -ös ˈpizös /ˈpizös/ (she) will learn
1st plural	Suffix -ézt ˈpizézt /ˈpizézt/ (we) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -él ˈpizél /ˈpizél/ (we) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -an ˈpizan /ˈpizan/ (we) will learn
2nd plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -g Else: Suffix -ig ˈpizig /ˈpizig/ (you all) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -z Else: Suffix -áz ˈpizáz /ˈpizáz/ (you all) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -z Else: Suffix -az ˈpizaz /ˈpizaz/ (you all) will learn
3rd plural masc	Suffix -in ˈpizin /ˈpizin/ (they) learn	Suffix -ez ˈpizez /ˈpizez/ (they) learned	Suffix -on ˈpizon /ˈpizon/ (they) will learn
3rd plural fem	Suffix -er ˈpizer /ˈpizer/ (they) learn	Suffix -oz ˈpizoz /ˈpizoz/ (they) learned	Suffix -og ˈpizog /ˈpizog/ (they) will learn

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.
Umasz uses the word for ‘already’ mat for the perfect aspect.

Numbers

Umasz has a base-10 number system:
1 - kebb
2 - vok
3 - nobb
4 - záz
5 - pil
6 - szo
7 - chya
8 - mal
9 - ak
10 - pált
11 - kebb lank pált “one and ten”
100 - chyór “hundred”
101 - chyór lank kebb “hundred and one”
200 - vok chyór
1000 - mak “thousand”

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ák
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ú
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -á
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -ez
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nk Else: Suffix -onk
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -s Else: Suffix -as
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -y
Tending to = Suffix -a
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -á
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -al
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -az
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -yk
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -an
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -r Else: Suffix -ar

Dictionary

4444 Words.