Nakhmuian

Tessellation    Language      Nakhmuian

Nakhmuian, natively nakhmu, is the language of the Revokh; a canid species from Khara, a planet in the Vime Star System.

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: c h j k l m p r s t w x ɲ ʔ ʧ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m			ɲ
Stop	p	t		c	k	ʔ
Affricate			ʧ
Fricative		s			x	h
Approximant				j
Trill		r
Lateral approximant		l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: a i o ɔ ɛ

	Front	Back
High	i
High-mid		o
Low-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined.
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable.
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
æ	e
ɑ	o
ɤ	u
ɔ	aw
ɯ	ü
y	i
ɽ	r
ʙ	b
ɳ	n
ɰ	g
x	kh

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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 tkop /tkop/ dog
Plural	Prefix xlo- khlotkop /xlotˈkop/ dogs

Articles

Definite	ma /ma/ the
Indefinite	hjiw /hjiw/ a, some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
• Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’
• Used with place names: ‘The London’

Pronouns

1st singular	som /som/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	ʧha /ʧha/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	aws /ɔs/ he, him, his, it (masc), its (masc)
3rd singular fem	sjɛ /sjɛ/ she, her, hers, it (fem), its (fem)
1st plural	ʧhɛ /ʧhɛ/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	ɛ /ɛ/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	i /i/ they, them, theirs

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	som /som/ my
2nd singular	ʧha /ʧha/ your
3rd singular masc	aws /ɔs/ his
3rd singular fem	sjɛ /sjɛ/ her
1st plural	ʧhɛ /ʧhɛ/ our
2nd plural	ɛ /ɛ/ your (pl)
3rd plural	i /i/ their

Verbs

Present	No affix kawm /kɔm/ learn
Past	If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix pi- pikawm /piˈkɔm/ learned
Future	If starts with vowel: Prefix ox- Else: Prefix oxɛ- okhɛkawm /oxɛˈkɔm/ 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).
Nakhmuian uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:

Imperfective

Particle before the verb: hji - hji kawm /hji kɔm/ 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.
Nakhmuian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

Reduplicate last part of last syllable kawmawm /kɔˈmɔm/ have learned

Numbers

Nakhmuian has a base-10 number system:
1 - siw
2 - ɛ
3 - saws
4 - sjam
5 - ɛw
6 - tkaws
7 - lokɛ
8 - si
9 - ɛskha
10 - khɛ
100 - hwɛl
1000 - mjo

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʙ-
Else: Prefix ʙɯ-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix vɔ-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ʙɑ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʙ-
Else: Prefix ʙæ-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ɳæ-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɳ-
Else: Prefix ɳɔ-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix ʙɤ-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʙ-
Else: Prefix ʙɔ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix x-
Else: Prefix xɯ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʙ-
Else: Prefix ʙɔ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix hɔ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix ɳy-
Diminutive = Prefix ɳy-
Augmentative = Prefix ʙæ-

Dictionary

3111 Words.

Common Phrases

Lol ʧha awɲcal mim jil.

May your clan run free.