Víhaenan

Natively known as: víhaená /ⱱɨˈʡæŋɑ/

Spoken in Northern Sefutji. The dialects that drop the adjective affixes are to the south and the south-west. The northern dialects have a few loanwords from various Ratomae languages, and tend to keep the adjective affixes.

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Grammar

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

NOUN AFFIXES

This language uses up to 14 noun classes. Some dialects drop certain noun classes, while others adhere strictly to the fourteen. Noun class affixes are often preferred over a word signifying a preposition.

	Singular	Plural	Paucal
Nominative	No affix paemö /ˈpæmɤː/ cat (when doing the verb)	Prefix kɘ- képaemö /kɘˈpæmɤː/ cats (when doing the verb)	Suffix -eg paemöeg /pæˈmɤːeg/ a few cats (when doing the verb)
Accusative	Prefix ʘe- b̮epaemö /ʘeˈpæmɤː/ (verb done to) cat	Prefix tɯː- tüpaemö /tɯːˈpæmɤː/ (verb done to) cats	Suffix -eːg paemöëg /pæˈmɤːeːg/ (verb done to) a few cats
Genitive	Suffix -iːʥ paemöïdh /pæˈmɤːiːʥ/ catʼs	Prefix ⱱiː- vïpaemö /ⱱiːˈpæmɤː/ catsʼ	Prefix ʡeː- hëpaemö /ʡeːˈpæmɤː/ a few cats'
Illative	Suffix -ʨɑː paemöthä /pæˈmɤːʨɑː/ into (the/a) cat	Suffix -ʥɑː paemödhä /pæˈmɤːʥɑː/ into (the/some) cats	Suffix -ɯːk paemöük /pæˈmɤːɯːk/ into (the/few) cats
Inessive	Prefix pɯː- püpaemö /pɯːˈpæmɤː/ inside (the/a) cat	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -ɤ paemöm /ˈpæmɤːm/ inside (the/some) cats	Suffix -ɯm paemöum /pæˈmɤːɯm/ inside (the/few) cats
Elative	Suffix -iːǃ paemöïf̃ /pæˈmɤːiːǃ/ out of (the/a) cat	Suffix -eq paemöeq /pæˈmɤːeq/ out of (the/some) cats	Prefix ki- kipaemö /kiˈpæmɤː/ out of (the/few) cats
Comitative	Suffix -iʘ paemöib̮ /pæˈmɤːiʘ/ with (the/a) cat	Prefix ʡɑː- häpaemö /ʡɑːˈpæmɤː/ with (the/some) cats	Prefix ʘɑː- b̮äpaemö /ʘɑːˈpæmɤː/ with (the/few) cats
Essive	Suffix -ʣɑː paemödzä /pæˈmɤːʣɑː/ period of time existing as (the/a) cat	Prefix ɱi- m̃ipaemö /ɱiˈpæmɤː/ time existing as (the/some) cats	Prefix ʘa- b̮apaemö /ʘaˈpæmɤː/ time existing as (the/few) cats
Locative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʥ Else: Suffix -i paemödh /ˈpæmɤːʥ/ near/at/by (the/a) cat	Suffix -iːp paemöïp /pæˈmɤːiːp/ near/at/by (the/some) cats	Suffix -iːk paemöïk /pæˈmɤːiːk/ near/at/by (the/few) cats
Ablative	Prefix ʦɯ- tsupaemö /ʦɯˈpæmɤː/ away from (the/a) cat	Prefix ʨi- thipaemö /ʨiˈpæmɤː/ from (the/some) cats	Suffix -çeː paemöcë /pæˈmɤːçeː/ from (the/few) cats
Instrumental	Suffix -ʨeː paemöthë /pæˈmɤːʨeː/ with/by (the/a) cat	Prefix ŋe- nepaemö /ŋeˈpæmɤː/ with/by (the/some) cats	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -ɯ paemöm /ˈpæmɤːm/ with/by (the/few) cats
Subessive	Suffix -ɨʝ paemöíj /pæˈmɤːɨʝ/ under (the/a) cat	Prefix ɾe- repaemö /ɾeˈpæmɤː/ under (the/some) cats	Prefix pa- papaemö /paˈpæmɤː/ under (the/few) cats
Superessive	Prefix ʣɯː- dzüpaemö /ʣɯːˈpæmɤː/ on (the/a) cat	Suffix -dɯː paemödü /pæˈmɤːdɯː/ on (the/some) cats	Prefix ⱱɯː- vüpaemö /ⱱɯːˈpæmɤː/ on (the/few) cats
Temporal	Prefix ʣɨ- dzípaemö /ʣɨˈpæmɤː/ when/at (the/a) cat	Prefix kɯː- küpaemö /kɯːˈpæmɤː/ when/at (the/some) cats	Prefix ʡi- hipaemö /ʡiˈpæmɤː/ when/at (the/few) cats

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Pronouns

	Singular	Plural	Paucal
1st person	ën /eːŋ/ I, me, mine	m̃ë /ɱeː/ we, us, ours	dho /ʥɤ/
2nd person	dzä /ʣɑː/ you, yours	ädz /ɑːʣ/ you all, yours (pl)	üö /ˈɯːɤː/
3rd person	ép /ɘp/ he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its	rö /ɾɤː/ they, them, theirs	ki /ki/

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Numbers

Víhaenan has a base-10 number system:

• 1 - ethëän
  
• 2 - ïräñ
• 3 - äb̮ümöm̃
  
• 4 - ëhuh
• 5 - önhe
  
• 6 - gäöv
• 7 - ähníëm
  
• 8 - vë
• 9 - aemöthm̃á
  
• 10 - päb̮ï
• Hundred - tí
  
• Thousand - göb̮epä

Writing System

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
ç	c
d	d
ʣ	dz
ʥ	dh
ɑː	ä
eː	ë
ɤː	ö
iː	ï
ɯː	ü
a	a
æ	ae
g	g
ʝ	j
k	k
ɑ	á
e	e
ɤ	o
i	i
ɯ	u
ɨ	í
ɘ	é
m	m
ɱ	m̃
ɴ	ñ
ŋ	n
p	p
q	q
ɾ	r
t	t
ʨ	th
ʦ	ts
ⱱ	v
ʡ	h
ǃ	f̃
ʘ	b̮

Geographical Distribution

Northern Sefutji and the isthmus between Sefutji and Ratomae.

Phonology

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: d g k m p q t ç ŋ ǃ ɱ ɴ ɾ ʘ ʝ ʡ ʣ ʥ ʦ ʨ ⱱ .

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal
Nasal	m	ɱ				ŋ	ɴ
Stop	p		t d			k g	q	ʡ
Affricate			ʦ ʣ	ʨ ʥ
Fricative					ç ʝ
Tap		ⱱ	ɾ
Click	ʘ		ǃ

. . Vowel inventory: a e eː i iː æ ɑ ɑː ɘ ɤ ɤː ɨ ɯ ɯː .
Tones: high, low, rising, falling. The pitch system has specific rules that depend on the location of vowels in the word. .

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː	ɨ	ɯ ɯː
High-mid	e eː	ɘ	ɤ ɤː
Near-low	æ
Low	a		ɑ ɑː

Morphology

Derivational morphology

• Adjective → adverb = Prefix ʝiː-
• Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Prefix ʨa-
• Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix çe-
• Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix kɑː-
• Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix ʘi-
• Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ɑːʣ
• Noun to verb = Suffix -ɯːq
• Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -ik
• Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɱ
  Else: Suffix -ɯ
• Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -ag
• Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = Prefix ɾiː-
• Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -eːǃ
• One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix gɑː-
• Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix ŋe-
• Diminutive = Prefix ɾi-
• Augmentative = Suffix -æp

Syntax

Subject Verb Object Order for sentences.
Example sentence: ïë otüöm̃ , övonmäth ëtsaehqüïdh närï b̮ägä üvaenü éb̮qüob̮ ïb̮cátsoïdh gïdaeoj ïcpüïtthä.
Pronunciation: /ˈiːeː ɤˈtɯːɤːɱ , ɤːˈⱱɤŋmɑːʨ ˌeːʦæʡˈqɯːiːʥ ˈŋɑːɾiː ˈʘɑːgɑː ɯːˈⱱæŋɯː ɘʘˈqɯːɤʘ ˌiːʘçɑˈʦɤiːʥ giːˈdæɤʝ ˌiːçpɯːˈiːtʨɑː/
Gloss: ïë | otüöm̃ , | övonmäth | ëtsaehqüïdh |närï | b̮ägä | üvaenü | éb̮qüob̮ | ïb̮cátsoïdh | gïdaeoj | ïcpüïtthä.
he | stand-IND:V-STATIVE.PRS:VERB , | hold-IND:V-CONT.PRS:VERB | hat-SG.GEN:N | brown | wide | and | turn-IND:V-ING.PRS:VERB | face-SG.GEN:N | wet | wind-SG.ILL:N.
where IND = Indicative mood, GEN = genitive class, ILL = illative class, CONT = continuous aspect, PRS = present tense
Meaning: he stands holding his brown wide hat and turns his wet face into the wind.

Phonetics

Syllable structure: Custom defined / see below
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Phoneme classes:

• C = ʘ p q k ʦ ʨ ʣ ʥ ç ʝ g ŋ ɴ ʡ ⱱ ɾ ǃ m ɱ t d
• L = ŋ ɴ ʡ ⱱ ɾ ǃ ʘ p t k ʡ
• N = m ɱ k ʦ ʨ ʣ ʥ ç ʝ g ŋ ɴ t d
• V = i e æ ɨ ɘ ɯ ɤ a ɑ ɑː eː iː ɯː ɤː
• W = ɑː eː iː ɯː ɤː
• S = CV VL VN NV LV
• T = WL WN WC CW
• X = CVLW VLW VLN WLN VLCW

Word Patterns

• S
• T
• X
• SS
• ST
• TS
• TT
• XS
• SX
• TX
• SST
• STS
• TSS
• TTS
• TTT
• SSS
• pronoun = VW or S or T
• determiner = V or T
• particle = WV or SW

Affix patterns

• -VC
• CV-
• NV-
• -VN
• LV-
• LW-
• -WC
• -NWIF V# THEN -N ELSE -V

Tenses

Verb Affixes

This table is the conjugation affix placed at the end of a verb. The mood affix is always a prefix.

	Perfective	Perfect	Habitual	Continuous	Stative	Inchoative	Ingressive	Cessative
Past	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɴ Else: Suffix -iː äpïtm̃ï /ɑːˈpiːtɱiː/ event in whole (ate)	Suffix -ɱɤː äpïtm̃m̃ö /ɑːˈpiːtɱɱɤː/ (had eaten)	Suffix -id äpïtm̃id /ɑːˈpiːtɱid/ repetitive actions temporarily (had been eating)	Suffix -ɤːʘ äpïtm̃öb̮ /ɑːˈpiːtɱɤːʘ/ continuous action (was eating)	Suffix -ɑːg äpïtm̃äg /ɑːˈpiːtɱɑːg/ ongoing situation but not evolving	Suffix -ʥɑː äpïtm̃dhä /ɑːˈpiːtɱʥɑː/ start of new static state	Suffix -ɤɴ äpïtm̃oñ /ɑːˈpiːtɱɤɴ/ start of dynamic state (started to eat)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -g Else: Suffix -ɑ äpïtm̃á /ɑːˈpiːtɱɑ/ end of event (was done eating)
Present	Suffix -ek äpïtm̃ek /ɑːˈpiːtɱek/ event in whole (eat)	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ɨ äpïtm̃í /ɑːˈpiːtɱɨ/ (have eaten)	Suffix -eːŋ äpïtm̃ën /ɑːˈpiːtɱeːŋ/ repetitive actions temporarily (have been eating)	Suffix -ɑːʨ äpïtm̃äth /ɑːˈpiːtɱɑːʨ/ continuous action (am eating)	Suffix -ɤːɱ äpïtm̃öm̃ /ɑːˈpiːtɱɤːɱ/ ongoing situation but not evolving	Suffix -eɱ äpïtm̃em̃ /ɑːˈpiːtɱeɱ/ start of new static state	Suffix -ɤʘ äpïtm̃ob̮ /ɑːˈpiːtɱɤʘ/ start of dynamic state (start to eat)	Suffix -iɴ äpïtm̃iñ /ɑːˈpiːtɱiɴ/ end of event (done eating)
Future	Suffix -iːʝ äpïtm̃ïj /ɑːˈpiːtɱiːʝ/ event in whole (will eat)	Suffix -ŋɑː äpïtm̃nä /ɑːˈpiːtɱŋɑː/ (will have eaten)	Suffix -eʘ äpïtm̃eb̮ /ɑːˈpiːtɱeʘ/ repetitive actions temporarily (will have been eating)	Suffix -iːʣ äpïtm̃ïdz /ɑːˈpiːtɱiːʣ/ continuous action (will be eating)	Suffix -ɱeː äpïtm̃m̃ë /ɑːˈpiːtɱɱeː/ ongoing situation but not evolving	Suffix -ɑːⱱ äpïtm̃äv /ɑːˈpiːtɱɑːⱱ/ start of new static state	Suffix -ŋiː äpïtm̃nï /ɑːˈpiːtɱŋiː/ start of dynamic state (will start to eat)	Suffix -ʥeː äpïtm̃dhë /ɑːˈpiːtɱʥeː/ end of event (will be done eating)

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Verb mood

Indicative	No affix naetsüëdh /ŋæˈʦɯːeːʥ/ learn (as in witnessed it, factual)
Conditional	Prefix pɨ- pínaetsüëdh /ˌpɨŋæˈʦɯːeːʥ/ would learn
Subjunctive	Prefix ɴɘ- ñénaetsüëdh /ˌɴɘŋæˈʦɯːeːʥ/ learn (hypothetical situation or expressing opinion)
Subjunctivei	Prefix ɴɑː- ñänaetsüëdh /ˌɴɑːŋæˈʦɯːeːʥ/ learn (expressing emotions related to verb)
Imperative	Prefix kɑː- känaetsüëdh /ˌkɑːŋæˈʦɯːeːʥ/ learn! (command)
Interrogative	Prefix ŋeː- nënaetsüëdh /ˌŋeːŋæˈʦɯːeːʥ/ learnʔ

Adjective Order

Always placed AFTER the noun. The order of adjectives are: color - size - state - sense - animate - inanimate - miscellaneous .

Adjective affixes

Some dialects drop adjective affixes, and others adhere strictly to them. The example ltable uses the word "big" to show how affixes are applied.

	Singular	Plural	Paucal
Nominative	No affix ïvqë /ˈiːⱱqeː/	Prefix ʝæ- jaeïvqë /ʝæˈiːⱱqeː/	Suffix -dɤː ïvqëdö /iːⱱˈqeːdɤː/
Accusative	Suffix -iʨ ïvqëith /iːⱱˈqeːiʨ/	Suffix -iːɾ ïvqëïr /iːⱱˈqeːiːɾ/	Suffix -kɤː ïvqëkö /iːⱱˈqeːkɤː/
Genitive	Suffix -ɯːʦ ïvqëüts /iːⱱˈqeːɯːʦ/	Suffix -iːp ïvqëïp /iːⱱˈqeːiːp/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɱ Else: Suffix -ɨ ïvqëm̃ /ˈiːⱱqeːɱ/
Illative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -g Else: Suffix -iː ïvqëg /ˈiːⱱqeːg/	Suffix -eːʘ ïvqëëb̮ /iːⱱˈqeːeːʘ/	Prefix ɱɨ- m̃íïvqë /ɱɨˈiːⱱqeː/
Inessive	Prefix ŋa- naïvqë /ŋaˈiːⱱqeː/	Prefix ⱱeː- vëïvqë /ⱱeːˈiːⱱqeː/	Prefix ʘi- b̮iïvqë /ʘiˈiːⱱqeː/
Elative	Suffix -ʨɑː ïvqëthä /iːⱱˈqeːʨɑː/	Prefix tɯ- tuïvqë /tɯˈiːⱱqeː/	Suffix -ɱɑː ïvqëm̃ä /iːⱱˈqeːɱɑː/
Comitative	Suffix -ɤm ïvqëom /iːⱱˈqeːɤm/	Suffix -ek ïvqëek /iːⱱˈqeːek/	Prefix ʦe- tseïvqë /ʦeˈiːⱱqeː/
Essive	Suffix -eːq ïvqëëq /iːⱱˈqeːeːq/	Suffix -ɯm ïvqëum /iːⱱˈqeːɯm/	Prefix ŋɑː- näïvqë /ŋɑːˈiːⱱqeː/
Locative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ Else: Suffix -ɯ ïvqën /ˈiːⱱqeːŋ/	Prefix ɴɯː- ñüïvqë /ɴɯːˈiːⱱqeː/	Suffix -iːʝ ïvqëïj /iːⱱˈqeːiːʝ/
Ablative	Suffix -eːp ïvqëëp /iːⱱˈqeːeːp/	Suffix -kɯː ïvqëkü /iːⱱˈqeːkɯː/	Suffix -ɑːq ïvqëäq /iːⱱˈqeːɑːq/
Instrumental	Prefix keː- këïvqë /keːˈiːⱱqeː/	Suffix -ɑd ïvqëád /iːⱱˈqeːɑd/	Prefix tɘ- téïvqë /tɘˈiːⱱqeː/
Subessive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʦ Else: Suffix -e ïvqëts /ˈiːⱱqeːʦ/	Suffix -meː ïvqëmë /iːⱱˈqeːmeː/	Suffix -eːʦ ïvqëëts /iːⱱˈqeːeːʦ/
Superessive	Prefix ʦɯ- tsuïvqë /ʦɯˈiːⱱqeː/	Prefix ʘiː- b̮ïïvqë /ʘiːˈiːⱱqeː/	Prefix ⱱɤː- vöïvqë /ⱱɤːˈiːⱱqeː/
Temporal	Prefix ʥɤː- dhöïvqë /ʥɤːˈiːⱱqeː/	Prefix ǃi- f̃iïvqë /ǃiˈiːⱱqeː/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʦ Else: Suffix -ɘ ïvqëts /ˈiːⱱqeːʦ/

Dictionary

4269 Words.

Common Phrases

ñäéñödá ütsön äpño

climbed too high as in outdid

äf̃ëvm̃ädz ödzehä hääb̮aeñë

whiter than snow as in too pale fearful

derïädz ödzehä häítdz

darker than rock as in blushing embarrassed

ñéïñötsën a dzíevïmthaeag

smell a thought as in sensed something move cautiously

Common Unisex Names

• Ïb̮ékdä /iːˈʘɘkdɑː/
• Nürém̃i /ŋɯːˈɾɘɱi/ 
• Jipíäk /ʝiˈpɨɑːk/ 
• Aeñdzö /ˈæɴʣɤː/ 
• Këf̃ähü /keːˈǃɑːʡɯː/ 
• Atöth /ˈatɤːʨ/ 
• Ühnaéh /ɯːʡˈŋaɘʡ/ 
• Hëpopi /ʡeːˈpɤpi/