Selvadi

Natively known as: myztzul /miztˈzʌl/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
metluc i tuchi xicyl i nyctalic metluc hultehtil i nilmmumizq tamychachtl xamy cichcech
Pronunciation: /mɛtˈʔʌk ɪ tʌˈʧɪ ksɪˈkil ɪ niktɑˈlɪk mɛtˈʔʌk hʌltɛhˈtɪl ɪ nɪlmʌˈmɪzk tɑmiˈʧɑʧtʔ ksɑˈmi kɪʧˈkɛʧ/
Myztzulish word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: c h l m n p q r t x z

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m	n
Stop	p	t	c		q
Fricative		z		x		h
Trill		r
Lateral approximant		l

Vowel inventory: a e i o u y

	Front	Back
High	i y	u
High-mid	e	o
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable ?
Sound changes (in order of application):

• tl → tʔ
• hua → wɑ
• a → ɑ
• bb → b
• b → b
• ch → ʧ
• c → k
• d → d
• e → ɛ
• ff → f
• f → f
• gg → g
• g → g
• h → h
• i → ɪ
• j → ʤ
• kk → k
• k → k
• ll → l
• l → l
• mm → m
• m → m
• ng → ŋ
• nn → n
• n → n
• o → o
• p → p
• q → k
• rr → ʀ
• r → ɹ
• sh → ʃ
• ss → s
• s → s
• th → θ
• t → t
• u → ʌ
• v → v
• w → w
• x → ks
• y → i
• z → z

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
ɑ	a
b	b
ʧ	ch
d	d
ɛ	e
f	f
g	g
h	h
i	i
ɪ	i
ʤ	j
k	k
l	l
m	m
ŋ	ng
n	n
o	o
p	p
ɹ	r
ʃ	sh
s	s
θ	th
t	t
ʌ	u
v	v
w	w
x	x
z	z

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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.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?

Nouns

Singular	No affix emtah /ɛmˈtɑh/ dog
Plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -x Else: Suffix -i emtahi /ɛmtɑˈhɪ/ dogs

Articles

Definite	cocel /koˈkɛl/ the
Indefinite	hotlhumi /hotʔhʌˈmɪ/ a, some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
• Used with place names: ‘The London’

Pronouns

1st singular	cyn /kin/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	hi /hɪ/ you, yours
3rd singular	y /i/ he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural	cyl /kil/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	hoh /hoh/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	a /ɑ/ they, them, theirs

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	i /ɪ/ my
2nd singular	a /ɑ/ your
3rd singular	y /i/ his, her, its
1st plural	om /om/ our
2nd plural	cu /kʌ/ your (pl)
3rd plural	tah /tɑh/ their

Verbs

Myztzulish uses a standalone particle word for past tense:

Past	Particle before the verb: qulxachc - qulxachc mymilx /kʌlkˈsɑʧk miˈmɪlks/ learned

Myztzulish uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: aq - aq mymilx /ɑk miˈmɪlks/ will learn

Progressive aspect

The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.
Myztzulish uses an affix for progressive:

Progressive

If ends with vowel: Suffix -x Else: Suffix -i mymilxi /mimɪlkˈsɪ/ 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).
Myztzulish uses an affix for habitual:

Habitual

Prefix chi- chimymilx /ʧɪmiˈmɪlks/ 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.
Myztzulish uses the word for ‘finish’ chymatlux for the perfect aspect.

Numbers

Myztzulish has a base-10 number system:
1 - tlen
2 - toltzhoxha
3 - xuntlaxi
4 - tlyc
5 - cohxoch
6 - xylcach
7 - nelxulhmy
8 - xuxunte
9 - tocunqax
10 - xi
100 - atiqaq
1000 - tlucnuny

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ih
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -c
Else: Suffix -a
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -ac
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix tlo-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -a
Noun to verb = Suffix -ut
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -y
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -o
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix ti-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix xu-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -o
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -at
Diminutive = Suffix -oq
Augmentative = Prefix mi-

Dictionary

3105 Words.