Flosuian
Natively known as: flosu /floˈsu/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...bres tre be la cañu sor bres ne la suris ra clel rejtrol
Pronunciation: /bɾes tɾe be la kaˈɲu soɾ bɾes ne la suˈris ra klel rexˈtɾol /
Flosuian word order: and stood holding his hat he and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g k l m n p r s t w x ɲ ɾ ʎ ʧ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||
Stop | p b | d t | k g | |||
Affricate | ʧ | |||||
Fricative | f | s | x | |||
Tap | ɾ | |||||
Trill | r | |||||
Lateral approximant | l | ʎ |
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
---|---|
Approximant | w |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable ? Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
ɾ | r |
ʎ | y / #_ |
ʎ | ll |
kw | cu |
k | c |
ʧ | ch |
ɲ | ñ |
x | g / _{e,i} |
x | j |
Grammar
Main word order: Verb Object (Prepositional phrase) Subject. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Opened the door with a key mary.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?
Nouns
Nouns have four cases:- Ergative is the doer of a verb, when the verb is done to something: dog bites man.
- Absolutive is used in two scenarios: the doer of a verb when not done to something (dog bites), and 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.
Plural | Particle before the noun: ma -
ma dil /ma dil/ dogs |
Ergative | Prefix o-
odil /oˈdil/ dog (doing a transitive verb) |
Absolutive | No affix
dil /dil/ dog (doing an intransitive verb) |
Genitive | Prefix e-
edil /eˈdil/ dogʼs |
Dative | If starts with vowel: Prefix okɾ-
Else: Prefix okɾu- ocrudil /okɾuˈdil/ to dog |
Articles
Definite | Indefinite | |
---|---|---|
Singular | gres /gɾes/ the | ed /ed/ a |
Plural | te /te/ the | chor /ʧoɾ/ some |
- Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.
- 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
Ergative | Absolutive | Genitive | Dative | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st singular | lu /lu/ I | yen /ʎen/ me | no /no/ mine | se /se/ to me |
2nd singular | so /so/ you | mer /meɾ/ you | tra /tɾa/ yours | ud /ud/ to you |
3rd singular | sor /soɾ/ he, she, it | sul /sul/ his, her, it | rur /ruɾ/ his, hers, its | sa /sa/ to his, to her, to it |
1st plural | ror /roɾ/ we | sre /sɾe/ us | mor /moɾ/ ours | bru /bɾu/ to us |
2nd plural | bren /bɾen/ you all | rar /raɾ/ you all | cren /kɾen/ yours (pl) | co /ko/ to you all |
3rd plural | gres /gɾes/ they | a /a/ them | pre /pɾe/ theirs | cre /kɾe/ to them |
Possessive determiners
Possessive | |
---|---|
1st singular | mad /mad/ my |
2nd singular | ra /ra/ your |
3rd singular | la /la/ his, her, its |
1st plural | no /no/ our |
2nd plural | pid /pid/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | rol /rol/ their |
Verbs
Present | Prefix de-
deenglo /deenˈglo/ learn |
Past | No affix
englo /enˈglo/ learned |
Future | Prefix pi-
pienglo /pienˈglo/ 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).Flosuian uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
Imperfective | Particle before the verb: tod -
tod englo /tod enˈglo/ 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.Flosuian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
Perfect | If starts with vowel: Prefix f-
Else: Prefix fu- fenglo /fenˈglo/ have learned |
Numbers
Flosuian has a base-10 number system: 1 - yi2 - led
3 - mos
4 - do
5 - ta
6 - ga
7 - ro
8 - egle
9 - der
10 - bir
100 - tos
1000 - fres
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix bɾo-Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix gɾ-
Else: Prefix gɾu-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix onb-
Else: Prefix onbo-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix o-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix uk-
Else: Prefix uki-
Noun to verb = Prefix ni-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix bɾ-
Else: Prefix bɾo-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix at-
Else: Prefix ate-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix te-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix e-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix no-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix gɾ-
Else: Prefix gɾi-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix pɾ-
Else: Prefix pɾa-
Augmentative = Prefix u-
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