Můian

Spoken in the Northern Latitudes of Elivera.

---

Grammar

Main word order: Subject Object Verb (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary the door opened with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: postpositions

Tones

Vowels have three tones that are attached to the particular type of vowel sound. ˨ is low tone, between A3 and C4. ˧ is middle tone, between D4 and G4. ˧˦ is high tone, A4 to C5. The notes are based off the chromatic acoustic scale.

Particles

Particles are placed after the noun (or between noun and adjective).

Nominative	é /ɜ˧/ cat (doing the verb)
Accusative	háró,/ɥa˦ɹɔ˨/ (verb done to) cat
Genitive	e̊w /ei̯˨w/ catʼs
Illative	xex /ɰe˧ɰ/ into/toward (the/a) cat
Inessive	ógr /ɔ˨ɠɹ/ inside (the/a) cat
Elative	srivh /sɹi˧ʋ/ out of (the/a) cat
Comitative	gurn /ɠu˨ɹŋ/ with (the/a) cat
Essive	tá /ʦa˦/ denotes period of time cat exists doing x
Locative	ka /ʛɑ˧/ near/at/by (the/a) cat
Ablative	dzern /ʣe˧ɹŋ/ away from (the/a) cat
Instrumental	li /li˧/ with/by (the/a) cat
Subessive	srul /sɹu˨l/ under (the/a) cat
Superessive	ke̊n /ʛei̯˨ŋ/ on (the/a) cat
Temporal	íkr /ɨ˦ʛɹ/ specifying a time when/at (the/a) cat

Pronouns

	Singular	Plural	Paucal
1st person	zán /za˦ŋ/ I, me, mine	åln /ɑi̯˧lŋ/ we, us, ours	hárr /ɥa˦ɹɹ/ few of us
2nd person	dé /ɗɜ˧/ you, yours	ég /ɜ˧ɠ/ you all, yours (pl)	vám /va˦ɱ/ few of you
3rd person	agn /ɑ˧ɠŋ/ he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its	rirn /ɹi˧ɹŋ/ they, them, theirs	whů /ɫɑu̯˨/ few of them

Writing System

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
ɑi̯˧	å
ɑu̯˨	ů
oi̯˦	o̊
ei̯˨	e̊
a˦	á
ɑ˧	a
e˧	e
ɜ˧	é
i˧	i
ɨ˦	í
o˦	o
ɔ˨	ó
u˨	u
ʣ	dz
ɗ	d
f	f
ɠ	g
ʛ	k
ʄ	j
l	l
ɫ	wh
ɱ	m
ŋ	n
ɹ	r
s	s
ʦ	t
ɥ	h
ɰ	x
v	v
ʋ	vh
w	w
ʍ	p
z	z

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant inventory: f l s v w z ŋ ɗ ɠ ɥ ɫ ɰ ɱ ɹ ʄ ʋ ʍ ʛ ʣ ʦ

↓Manner/Place→	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Nasal	ɱ			ŋ
Implosive		ɗ	ʄ	ɠ	ʛ
Affricate		ʦ ʣ
Fricative	f v	s z
Approximant	ʋ	ɹ		ɰ
Lateral approximant		l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-palatal	Labial-velar	Velarized alveolar
Approximant	ɥ	ʍ w
Lateral approximant			ɫ

Vowels

Vowel inventory: a˦ ei̯˨ e˧ i˧ oi̯˦ o˦ u˨ ɑi̯˧ ɑu̯˨ ɑ˧ ɔ˨ ɜ˧ ɨ˦
Diphthongs: ei̯˨ oi̯˦ ɑi̯˧ ɑu̯˨

	Front	Central	Back
High	i˧	ɨ˦	u˨
High-mid	e˧		o˦
Low-mid		ɜ˧	ɔ˨
Low	a˦		ɑ˧

The tone symbols are on the right of the vowel sound, and indicate the tonal range the vowel must be pronounced. ˨ is low tone, between A3 and C4. ˧ is middle tone, between D4 and G4. ˧˦ is high tone, A4 to C5. The notes are based off the chromatic acoustic scale.

Morphology

Derivational morphology

• Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ɑ˧ʋ
  
• Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -e˧ŋ
  
• Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Suffix -ɑi̯˧ʛɹ
  
• Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -zŋ
  Else: Suffix -ɔ˨zŋ
  
• Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -w
  Else: Suffix -ei̯˨w
  
• Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -lŋ
  Else: Suffix -ɨ˦lŋ
  
• Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ei̯˨
  
• Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -lɥɑi̯˧
  Else: Suffix -ei̯˨lɥɑi̯˧
  
• Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɠɹ
  Else: Suffix -i˧ɠɹ
  Tending to = Suffix -ɔ˨sɹ
  
• Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -zɹi˧
  Else: Suffix -o˦zɹi˧
  
• Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -o˦ʣ
  
• One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -ɑu̯˨ʄŋ
  
• Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʄɹ
  Else: Suffix -e˧ʄɹ
  
• Diminutive = Suffix -ɑi̯˧
  
• Augmentative = Suffix -a˦

Vocabulary

Numbers

Můian has a base-10 number system:
1 - o̊r
2 - fán
3 - pungå
4 - ign
5 - xógn
6 - whodz
7 - évr
8 - lehn
9 - mívh
10 - srelóng
Hundred - rín
Thousand - tum

Phonetics

Syllable structure: (C)V(C)(C)(V)
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable

Tenses

Verbs

Verbs are denoted by a particle after it. This particle signifies the tense and aspect of that verb.

	Perfective	Perfect	Habitual	Continuous	Generic	Stative	Inchoative	Ingressive	Cessative
Past	fe /fe˧/ event in whole (ate)	ne̊gr /ŋei̯˨ɠɹ/ (had eaten)	ůnk /ɑu̯˨ŋʛ/ repetitive actions temporarily (had been eating)	kívr /ʛɨ˦vɹ/ continuous action (was eating)	nårr /ŋɑi̯˧ɹɹ/ verb is a true statement	o̊m /oi̯˦ɱ/ ongoing situation but not evolving	zo /zo˦/ start of new static state	jé /ʄɜ˧/ start of dynamic state (started to eat)	fátá /ˈfa˦ʦa˦/ end of event (was done eating)
Present	hí /ɥɨ˦/ event in whole (eat)	jo̊ /ʄoi̯˦/ (have eaten)	dzůzn /ʣɑu̯˨zŋ/ repetitive actions temporarily (have been eating)	dzů /ʣɑu̯˨/ continuous action (am eating)	uvs /u˨vs/ verb is a true statement	whå /ɫɑi̯˧/ ongoing situation but not evolving	edz /e˧ʣ/ start of new static state	vhuw /ʋu˨w/ start of dynamic state (start to eat)	lren /lɹe˧ŋ/ end of event (done eating)
Future	févhr /fɜ˧ʋɹ/ event in whole (will eat)	ůzr /ɑu̯˨zɹ/ (will have eaten)	tidz /ʦi˧ʣ/ repetitive actions temporarily (will have been eating)	xét /ɰɜ˧ʦ/ continuous action (will be eating)	o̊ /oi̯˦/ verb is a true statement	hák /ɥa˦ʛ/ ongoing situation but not evolving	morr /ɱo˦ɹɹ/ start of new static state	zang /zɑ˧ŋɠ/ start of dynamic state (will start to eat)	óó /ˈɔ˨ɔ˨/ end of event (will be done eating)

Sentence Structure

Main word order: Subject Object Verb (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary the door opened with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: postpositions

Dictionary

4350 Words.

Spoken by

• Můian