Hamusu

Hamusu is the language of the Niechela, the plains-dwelling semi-nomadic people of The Unknown. It is the sole surviving dialect of the entire Kvushpi language, gifted to the Kvut by their ancient gods.

Natively known as: Hamusu, pronounced hah-MOO-soo, with the emphasis on the second syllable, and the first syllable being little more than a forceful exhale. In the language itself the name translates to "Our Mouth" or "Our Language" which has interesting social and historical connotations for the Niechela.

Writing System

There are thirty-eight symbols in the Hamusu writing system. Each consonant, vowel, and dipthong have their own unique symbol. The symbols now used by the Niechela are taught using onomatopias based on animals and plants found in their plains home.

The ancient writing of Kvushpi has long been abandoned, and as the sounds came from various dialects and were often represented by the same letter as another, the ancient symbols were abandoned. The words were used without concern as to where they came from and using the same letter for multiple sounds leads to confusion, so Eis led the council to invent entirely new symbols and use them based on the animals and plants encountered in their new land.

Phonology

Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p s t v w z ð ɹ ʃ ʒ ʤ ʧ θ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m			n
Stop	p b			t d			k g
Affricate					ʧ ʤ
Fricative		f v	θ ð	s z	ʃ ʒ			h
Approximant				ɹ		j
Lateral approximant				l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: aɪ̯ aʊ̯ eɪ̯ iː oʊ̯ uː æ ɑ ɔɪ̯ ɔː ɛ ɜː ɪ ʊ ʌ Diphthongs: aɪ̯ aʊ̯ eɪ̯ oʊ̯ ɔɪ̯

	Front	Central	Back
High	iː		uː
Near-high	ɪ		ʊ
Low-mid	ɛ	ɜː	ʌ ɔː
Near-low	æ
Low			ɑ

Syllable structure: (C)(C)V(C)
Stress pattern: Second — stress is on the second syllable Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
aɪ̯	ie
aʊ̯	ou
eɪ̯	ay
iː	i
uː	u
æ	a
ɛ	e
ɔː	o
ɔɪ̯	oi
ɪ	i̊
ʊ	ů
ɜː	å
ʌ	û
ɑ	â
j	y
θ	th
ð	dh
ɹ	r
ʃ	sh
ʒ	zh
ʤ	j
ʧ	ch
Vː	VV
◌̯

Morphology

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -oʊ̯
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ɑʤ
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -w
Else: Suffix -aʊ̯w
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -ɛn
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ɪz
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -æt
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -p
Else: Suffix -ʊp
Tending to = Suffix -ɪb
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -eɪ̯
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -ɜː
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -ɑ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -ɑm
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -aɪ̯n
Augmentative = Suffix -ʊt

Syntax

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.

Vocabulary

Articles

Hamusu encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.

Nouns

Singular

	Masculine	Feminine
Definite	No affix thi̊chkû /thɪʧˈkʌ/ the man	No affix kâ /kɑ/ the woman
Indefinite	Suffix -iː thi̊chkûi /thɪʧˈkʌiː/ a man	Suffix -eɪ̯n kâayn /kɑˈeɪ̯n/ a woman

Plural

	Masculine	Feminine
Definite	If ends with vowel: Suffix -t Else: Suffix -ɔɪ̯t thi̊chkût /thɪʧˈkʌt/ the men	Suffix -ɪn kâi̊n /kɑˈɪn/ the women
Indefinite	Suffix -eɪ̯ thi̊chkûay /thɪʧˈkʌeɪ̯/ some men	If ends with vowel: Suffix -tsʊ Else: Suffix -ɑtsʊ kâtsů /kɑtˈsʊ/ some women

Pronouns

1st singular	chůj /ʧʊʤ/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	slâw /slɑw/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	kli̊ /klɪ/ he, him, his, it, its
3rd singular fem	siw /siːw/ she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural	zhoů /ʒoʊ̯/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	slou /slaʊ̯/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural masc	voů /voʊ̯/ they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc)
3rd plural fem	brech /bɹɛʧ/ they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem)

Possessive determiners

1st singular	breb /bɹɛb/ my
2nd singular	you /jaʊ̯/ your
3rd singular masc	slou /slaʊ̯/ his
3rd singular fem	nů /nʊ/ her
1st plural	hâ /hɑ/ our
2nd plural	spåp /spɜːp/ your (pl)
3rd plural masc	sâ /sɑ/ their (masc)
3rd plural fem	brâ /bɹɑ/ their (fem)

Tenses

Verbs

	Present	Past
1st singular	Suffix -oʊ̯ zdâtoů /zdɑˈtoʊ̯/ (I) learn	Suffix -ɛ zdâte /zdɑˈtɛ/ (I) learned
2nd singular	If ends with vowel: Suffix -t Else: Suffix -æt zdâtat /zdɑˈtæt/ (you) learn	Suffix -aɪ̯ð zdâtiedh /zdɑˈtaɪ̯ð/ (you) learned
3rd singular masc	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -ɔɪ̯m zdâtoim /zdɑˈtɔɪ̯m/ (he) learns	Suffix -ɛz zdâtez /zdɑˈtɛz/ (he) learned
3rd singular fem	Suffix -ɪn zdâti̊n /zdɑˈtɪn/ (she) learns	If ends with vowel: Suffix -t Else: Suffix -ɔːt zdâtot /zdɑˈtɔːt/ (she) learned
1st plural	Suffix -iːð zdâtidh /zdɑˈtiːð/ (we) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ð Else: Suffix -ɪð zdâti̊dh /zdɑˈtɪð/ (we) learned
2nd plural	Suffix -æ zdâta /zdɑˈtæ/ (you all) learn	Suffix -ɪ zdâti̊ /zdɑˈtɪ/ (you all) learned
3rd plural masc	Suffix -ʊf zdâtůf /zdɑˈtʊf/ (they) learn	Suffix -ɔːv zdâtov /zdɑˈtɔːv/ (they) learned
3rd plural fem	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -ɑm zdâtâm /zdɑˈtɑm/ (they) learn	Suffix -eɪ̯ zdâtay /zdɑˈteɪ̯/ (they) learned

Hamusu uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: giːz - giz zdât /giːz zdɑt/ 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.

Hamusu uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

Suffix -ɪ zdâti̊ /zdɑˈtɪ/ have learned

Sentence Structure

A Sample

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
may kli̊ vås pelche slou bâj may gay slou pyietvi̊ pâpâska shpân kla
Pronunciation: /meɪ̯ klɪ vɜːs pɛlˈʧɛ slaʊ̯ bɑʤ meɪ̯ geɪ̯ slaʊ̯ pjaɪ̯tˈvɪ pɑˈpɑskæ ʃpɑn klæ/
Hamusun word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind

Adjective Order

Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.

Adposition: prepositions

Dictionary

3022 Words.

Root Languages

• Kvushpi

Spoken by

• Niechela

Numbers

Hamusu has a base-10 number system:

1 - ko
2 - måd
3 - no
4 - fyâ
5 - shay
6 - trů
7 - dhaw
8 - smi̊m
9 - si̊
10 - koů
Hundred - kâwâj
Thousand - klayso