Natively known as: Gnommišh /nomˈmiʃh/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
tyy hiy hyy kyyly niio äːdau tyy konuo päy̯ hyy niittä fey pai
Pronunciation: /tyː hiy̯ hyː kyːˈly niːˈo æːˈdɑu̯ tyː koˈnuː pæy̯ hyː niːˈtːæ fey̯ pɑi̯/
Gnomish word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d f h j k kː l lː m mː n nː p pː r s sː t tː ŋ ɡ ʃ ʋ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Nasal |
mː m |
|
nː n |
|
|
ŋ |
|
| Stop |
b p pː |
|
t d tː |
|
|
ɡ k kː |
|
| Fricative |
|
f |
s sː |
ʃ |
|
|
h |
| Approximant |
|
ʋ |
|
|
j |
|
|
| Trill |
|
|
r |
|
|
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
lː l |
|
|
|
|
Vowel inventory: /a aː e ei̯ eu̯ ey̯ eː i ie̯ iu̯ iy̯ iː o oi̯ ou̯ oː u ui̯ uo̯ uː y yi̯ yø̯ yː æ æi̯ æy̯ æː ø øi̯ øy̯ øː ɑi̯ ɑu̯/
Diphthongs: ei̯, eu̯, ey̯, ie̯, iu̯, iy̯, oi̯, ou̯, ui̯, uo̯, yi̯, yø̯, æi̯, æy̯, øi̯, øy̯, ɑi̯, ɑu̯
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
i iː y yː |
uː u |
| High-mid |
e eː ø øː |
oː o |
| Near-low |
æ æː |
|
| Low |
a aː |
|
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, ɡ, ʃ, ʋ
Mid-word consonants: d, h, kː, l, lː, m, mː, n, nː, pː, sː, tː, ŋ
Word final consonants: N/A
Phonological changes (in order of application):
- ja → je / #_
- iu → ju / #_
- d → Ø / _#
- u → o / _Ca
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| a: |
aa |
| e: |
ee |
| ei̯ |
ei |
| eu̯ |
eu |
| ey̯ |
ey |
| i: |
ii |
| ie̯ |
ie |
| iu̯ |
iu |
| iy̯ |
iy |
| k: |
kk |
| l: |
ll |
| m: |
mm |
| m |
m|n |
| n: |
nn |
| o: |
oo |
| oi̯ |
oi|oe |
| ou̯ |
ou |
| p: |
pp |
| s: |
ss |
| t: |
tt |
| u: |
uu|uo |
| ui̯ |
ui |
| uo̯ |
uo |
| y: |
yy |
| yi̯ |
yi |
| yø̯ |
yö |
| æ |
ä |
| æi̯ |
äi |
| æy̯ |
äy |
| æː |
ää |
| ø: |
öö |
| ø |
ö |
| øi̯ |
öi |
| øy̯ |
öy |
| ŋ |
ng |
| ɑi̯ |
ai |
| ɑu̯ |
au |
| ʃ |
š |
| ʋ |
v |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject-Oblique-Object-Verb. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into
Mary with a key the door opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
Nouns
Nouns have two cases:
- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
Nouns form plural with separate plural word:
| Plural |
Particle before the noun: oː -
oo liedau /oː lie̯ˈdɑu̯/
doɡs |
| Nominative |
No affix
liedau /lie̯ˈdɑu̯/
doɡ (doinɡ the verb) |
| Accusative |
Suffix -pːæ
liedauppä /lie̯dɑu̯ˈpːæ/
(verb done to) doɡ |
| Definite |
Suffix -he
liedauhe /lie̯dɑu̯ˈhe/
the doɡ |
| Indefinite |
Prefix byː-
byyliedau /byːlie̯ˈdɑu̯/
a doɡ |
Articles
Gnomish encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.
Pronouns
|
Nominative |
Accusative |
| 1st singular |
šöː /ʃøː/
I |
päy̯ /pæy̯/
me |
| 2nd singular |
ɡuu /ɡuː/
you (masc) |
vie /ʋie̯/
you |
| 3rd singular masc |
hiy /hiy̯/
he, it |
nii /niː/
him, it |
| 3rd singular fem |
hoe /hoi̯/
she, it |
nä /mæ/
her, it |
| 1st plural |
ɡe /ɡe/
we |
jyö̯ /jyø̯/
us |
| 2nd plural |
jäː /jæː/
you all |
hiu /hiu̯/
you all |
| 3rd plural |
ɡöː /ɡøː/
they |
lai /lɑi̯/
them |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
leu /leu̯/
my |
| 2nd singular |
fyö̯ /fyø̯/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
hyy /hyː/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
oo /oː/
her |
| 1st plural |
ja /ja/
our |
| 2nd plural |
sä /sæ/
your (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
tey /tey̯/
their |
Verbs
|
Present |
Past |
Remote past |
| 1st person |
Suffix -di
iihidi /iːhiˈdi/
(I/we) learn |
Suffix -lːøː
iihillöː /iːhiˈlːøː/
(I/we) learned |
Prefix liy̯-
liyiihi /liy̯iːˈhi/
(I/we) learned (lonɡ aɡo) |
| 2nd person |
No affix
iihi /iːˈhi/
(you/you all) learn |
Suffix -mːui̯
iihimmui /iːhiˈmːui̯/
(you/you all) learned |
Prefix løi̯-
löi̯iihi /løi̯iːˈhi/
(you/you all) learned (lonɡ aɡo) |
| 3rd person |
No affix
iihi /iːˈhi/
(he/she/it/they) learn |
Suffix -hiu̯
iihihiu /iːhiˈhiu̯/
(he/she/it/they) learned |
Suffix -pːoː
iihippoo /iːhiˈpːoː/
(he/she/it/they) learned (lonɡ aɡo) |
Gnomish uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
| Future |
Particle before the verb: ʃiː -
šii iihi /ʃiː iːˈhi/
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).
Gnomish uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
| Imperfective |
Particle before the verb: æː -
äː iihi /æː iːˈhi/
learns/is learninɡ |
Numbers
Gnomish has a base-20 number system:
1 - ɡu
2 - hy
3 - bi
4 - ryinnäː
5 - ä
6 - ba
7 - ɡi
8 - see
9 - pyhee
10 - ɡe
11 - iingo
12 - nätti
13 - vyö̯lluo
14 - myö̯hau
15 - ɡänyy
16 - onouiu
17 - ɡiillä
18 - ɡähuo
19 - sännoo
20 - leyssäː
21 - leyssäː tyy ɡu “twenty and one”
400 - fau “fourhundred”
401 - fau ɡu “fourhundred one”
800 - hy fau “two fourhundred”
8000 - šoo “eightthousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -miy̯
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix ty-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -meu̯
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -di
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -he
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = Prefix buː-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -my
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Suffix -ha
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix beː-
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Suffix -muː
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -mːaː
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -huo̯
Diminutive = Suffix -he
Augmentative = Prefix hui̯-
Comments