Nengun (ˈnɵŋun)

Tessellation    Language      Nengun

Nengun, natively nɵŋun, is the language of the Izu; a collection of reptilian species from Anjagh, a planet in the Arzha-R̀un Star System.

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: d g h j k l n r s t x z ħ ŋ ɣ ʃ ʋ ʒ ʔ ʕ ʤ θ

↓Manner/Place→	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal			n			ŋ
Stop			t d			k g		ʔ
Affricate				ʤ
Fricative		θ	s z	ʃ ʒ		ɣ x	ʕ ħ	h
Approximant	ʋ				j
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

Vowel inventory: a i u ɵ

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
High-mid		ɵ
Low	a

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

Pronunciation	Spelling
ɵ	e
θ	th
ʒ	zh
j	y
ʃ	sh
ŋ	ng
ʤ	j
ħ	ḫ
ʋ	w
x	kh
ɣ	gh
ʔ	ʻ
ʕ	r̀

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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 tiz /tiz/ dog
Plural	Change all V(C)*# to __ tiziz /ˈtiziz/ dogs

Articles

Definite	dukh /dux/ the
Indefinite	rin /rin/ a, some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

• Not used for non-specific mass (uncountable) nouns: non-specific means ‘Would you like some (any) tea?’ whereas specific means ‘Some tea (a specific amount) fell off the truck’

Pronouns

1st singular	uj /uʤ/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	leḫ /lɵħ/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	wu /ʋu/ he, him, his, it (masc), its (masc)
3rd singular fem	dezh /dɵʒ/ she, her, hers, it (fem), its (fem)
1st plural	se /sɵ/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	shir̀ /ʃiʕ/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	yi /ji/ they, them, theirs

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	uj /uʤ/ my
2nd singular	leḫ /lɵħ/ your
3rd singular masc	wu /ʋu/ his
3rd singular fem	dezh /dɵʒ/ her
1st plural	se /sɵ/ our
2nd plural	shir̀ /ʃiʕ/ your (pl)
3rd plural	yi /ji/ their

Verbs

	Present	Past	Remote past
1st singular	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʤ- Else: Prefix ʤa- jalir̀ /ˈʤaliʕ/ (I) learn	Prefix i- ilir̀ /ˈiliʕ/ (I) learned	Prefix ɣi- ghilir̀ /ˈɣiliʕ/ (I) learn (long ago)
2nd singular	Prefix a- alir̀ /ˈaliʕ/ (you) learn	Prefix ɵ- elir̀ /ˈɵliʕ/ (you) learned	If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix ki- kilir̀ /ˈkiliʕ/ (you) learn (long ago)
3rd singular	If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix ku- kulir̀ /ˈkuliʕ/ (he/she/it) learns	Prefix nu- nulir̀ /ˈnuliʕ/ (he/she/it) learned	If starts with vowel: Prefix ihk- Else: Prefix ihkɵ- ihkelir̀ /ihˈkɵliʕ/ (he/she/it) learns (long ago)
1st plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʋ- Else: Prefix ʋa- walir̀ /ˈʋaliʕ/ (we) learn	Prefix u- ulir̀ /ˈuliʕ/ (we) learned	If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix kɵ- kelir̀ /ˈkɵliʕ/ (we) learn (long ago)
2nd plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix n- Else: Prefix ni- nilir̀ /ˈniliʕ/ (you all) learn	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɵts- Else: Prefix ɵtsi- etsilir̀ /ɵtˈsiliʕ/ (you all) learned	Prefix lɵ- lelir̀ /ˈlɵliʕ/ (you all) learn (long ago)
3rd plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix iɣ- Else: Prefix iɣɵ- ighelir̀ /iˈɣɵliʕ/ (they) learn	If starts with vowel: Prefix θ- Else: Prefix θi- thilir̀ /ˈθiliʕ/ (they) learned	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ- Else: Prefix ʃi- shilir̀ /ˈʃiliʕ/ (they) learn (long ago)

Nengun uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: tɵ - te lir̀ /tɵ liʕ/ 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.
Nengun uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

If starts with vowel: Prefix ʤ- Else: Prefix ʤi- jilir̀ /ˈʤiliʕ/ have learned

Numbers

Nengun has a base-10 number system:
1 - te
2 - ki
3 - yu
4 - zha
5 - ngi
6 - wud
7 - ke
8 - tij
9 - ken
10 - jew
100 - zigh
1000 - zhagh

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɵng-
Else: Prefix ɵngɵ-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix r-
Else: Prefix rɵ-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix udn-
Else: Prefix udnɵ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɣ-
Else: Prefix ɣu-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix g-
Else: Prefix gi-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix uɣ-
Else: Prefix uɣɵ-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix dɵ-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix di-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix ɵ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix ɣɵ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ʤa-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix ʒɵ-
Diminutive = Prefix ti-
Augmentative = Prefix ga-

Dictionary

3047 Words.

Common Phrases

Tekhi dukh yis dud leḫ engetashung.

May the wind carry you swiftly.