Larosi
Natively known as: ruqqā /ˈruqqaː/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...zi khaʻ hū thularbi ’i lāfi zi hū ’iyy wad ubās fa qī
Pronunciation: /zi xaʕ huː θuˈlarbi ʔi ˈlaːfi zi huː ʔijj wad ˈubaːs fa qiː/
Larosi word order: and he hat his holding stood and his face wet the wind to turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d dˤ f h j k l m n q r s sˤ t tˤ w x z ð ðˤ ħ ɣ ʃ ʔ ʕ ʤ θ| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||
| Stop | b | t tˤ d dˤ | k | q | ʔ | |||||
| Affricate | ʤ | |||||||||
| Fricative | f | ð θ ðˤ | s sˤ z | ʃ | ɣ x | ʕ ħ | h | |||
| Approximant | j | |||||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
|---|---|
| Approximant | w |
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː |
| Low | a aː |
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ? Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| ʔ | ’ |
| θ | th |
| j | y |
| ʤ | j |
| x | kh |
| ð | dh |
| ʃ | sh |
| sˤ | ş |
| dˤ | ḑ |
| tˤ | ţ |
| ʕ | ʻ |
| ɣ | gh |
| ħ | ḩ |
| aː | ā |
| iː | ī |
| uː | ū |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject Object (Prepositional phrase) Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary the door with a key opened.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?
Nouns
Nouns have five cases:- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
- Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.
- Dative is the recipient of something: man gives ball to dog.
- Locative is the location of something: man is in town.
| Plural | Particle before the noun: ʕiː - ʻī thirḑ /ʕiː θirdˤ/ dogs |
| Nominative | No affix thirḑ /θirdˤ/ dog (doing the verb) |
| Accusative | Prefix u- uthirḑ /ˈuθirdˤ/ (verb done to) dog |
| Genitive | If starts with vowel: Prefix ilʔ- Else: Prefix ilʔuː- il’ūthirḑ /ilˈʔuːθirdˤ/ dogʼs |
| Dative | If starts with vowel: Prefix x- Else: Prefix xa- khathirḑ /ˈxaθirdˤ/ to dog |
| Locative | Prefix ʕa- ʻathirḑ /ˈʕaθirdˤ/ near/at/by dog |
Articles
Larosi has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.Pronouns
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Locative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | dhū /ðuː/ I | du /du/ me | wa /wa/ mine | sha /ʃa/ to me | tu /tu/ to me |
| 2nd singular | bū /buː/ you | qi /qi/ you | ghu /ɣu/ yours | mā /maː/ to you | fu /fu/ to you |
| 3rd singular masc | khaʻ /xaʕ/ he, it (masc) | hū /huː/ his, it (masc) | nat /nat/ his, its (masc) | şā /sˤaː/ to his, to it (masc) | ’i /ʔi/ to his, to it (masc) |
| 3rd singular fem | ghī /ɣiː/ she, it (fem) | uf /uf/ her, it (fem) | ma /ma/ hers, its (fem) | ’iyy /ʔijj/ to her, to it (fem) | khārḑ /xaːrdˤ/ to her, to it (fem) |
| 1st plural inclusive | şuq /sˤuq/ we (including you) | ’u /ʔu/ us (including you) | nāh /naːh/ ours (including you) | ū /uː/ to us (including you) | wā /waː/ to us (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive | hu /hu/ we (excluding you) | ghū /ɣuː/ us (excluding you) | bā /baː/ ours (excluding you) | thu /θu/ to us (excluding you) | ţā /tˤaː/ to us (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural | ā /aː/ you all | fiʻ /fiʕ/ you all | mi /mi/ yours (pl) | dī /diː/ to you all | sud /sud/ to you all |
| 3rd plural | khu /xu/ they | hām /haːm/ them | jūn /ʤuːn/ theirs | ţur /tˤur/ to them | tīʻ /tiːʕ/ to them |
Possessive determiners
| Possessive | |
|---|---|
| 1st singular | wa /wa/ my |
| 2nd singular | ghu /ɣu/ your |
| 3rd singular masc | hū /huː/ his |
| 3rd singular fem | ma /ma/ her |
| 1st plural inclusive | nāh /naːh/ our (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive | bā /baː/ our (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural | mi /mi/ your (pl) |
| 3rd plural | jūn /ʤuːn/ their |
Verbs
| Present | Past | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | If starts with vowel: Prefix b- Else: Prefix bu- bughaʻ /ˈbuɣaʕ/ (I) learn | Prefix i- ighaʻ /ˈiɣaʕ/ (I) learned | If starts with vowel: Prefix r- Else: Prefix ri- righaʻ /ˈriɣaʕ/ (I) will learn |
| 2nd singular | Prefix qi- qighaʻ /ˈqiɣaʕ/ (you) learn | If starts with vowel: Prefix uθ- Else: Prefix uθaː- uthāghaʻ /uˈθaːɣaʕ/ (you) learned | Prefix uː- ūghaʻ /ˈuːɣaʕ/ (you) will learn |
| 3rd singular | Prefix aː- āghaʻ /ˈaːɣaʕ/ (he/she/it) learns | If starts with vowel: Prefix q- Else: Prefix qu- qughaʻ /ˈquɣaʕ/ (he/she/it) learned | Prefix ʕaː- ʻāghaʻ /ˈʕaːɣaʕ/ (he/she/it) will learn |
| 1st plural inclusive | If starts with vowel: Prefix aːqq- Else: Prefix aːqqaː- āqqāghaʻ /aːqˈqaːɣaʕ/ (we (including you)) learn | If starts with vowel: Prefix dˤ- Else: Prefix dˤaː- ḑāghaʻ /ˈdˤaːɣaʕ/ (we (including you)) learned | If starts with vowel: Prefix b- Else: Prefix ba- baghaʻ /ˈbaɣaʕ/ (we (including you)) will learn |
| 1st plural exclusive | If starts with vowel: Prefix ʔ- Else: Prefix ʔi- ’ighaʻ /ˈʔiɣaʕ/ (we (excluding you)) learn | If starts with vowel: Prefix iːrr- Else: Prefix iːrraː- īrrāghaʻ /iːˈrraːɣaʕ/ (we (excluding you)) learned | If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mi- mighaʻ /ˈmiɣaʕ/ (we (excluding you)) will learn |
| 2nd plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix x- Else: Prefix xu- khughaʻ /ˈxuɣaʕ/ (you all) learn | Prefix u- ughaʻ /ˈuɣaʕ/ (you all) learned | If starts with vowel: Prefix w- Else: Prefix wi- wighaʻ /ˈwiɣaʕ/ (you all) will learn |
| 3rd plural | Prefix muː- mūghaʻ /ˈmuːɣaʕ/ (they) learn | Prefix a- aghaʻ /ˈaɣaʕ/ (they) learned | If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix mu- mughaʻ /ˈmuɣaʕ/ (they) will learn |
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.Larosi uses a standalone particle word for progressive:
| Progressive | Particle before the verb: ha - ha ghaʻ /ha ɣaʕ/ is learning |
Habitual aspect
The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (I learned something).Larosi uses an affix for habitual:
| Habitual | Prefix uː- ūghaʻ /ˈuːɣaʕ/ learns |
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.Larosi uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect | Reduplicate whole word ghaʻghaʻ /ˈɣaʕɣaʕ/ have learned |
Numbers
Larosi has a base-10 number system: 1 - hāb2 - tha
3 - kūk
4 - lā
5 - ’ūh
6 - shāwikhi
7 - ji
8 - za
9 - hi
10 - kha
100 - shū
1000 - ghīʻ
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix ʕaː-Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -uːr
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix wi-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -uːl
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -iːb
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ll
Else: Suffix -all
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -iː
Tending to = Prefix iː-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -dda
Else: Suffix -iːdda
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ħ
Else: Suffix -iħ
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -a
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -iː
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -b
Else: Suffix -iːb
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix dˤ-
Else: Prefix dˤi-
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