Sphinx

Natively known as: tagys /ˈtɑgɪs/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
kron dynt wakas us naspyauth gamynkhyn kron us melah hantan pukas pys dehyn
Pronunciation: /kɹon dɪnt ˈwɑkɑs ʌs ˈnɑspiˌɑʌθ ˈgɑmɪnkhɪn kɹon ʌs ˈmɛlɑh ˈhɑntɑn ˈpʌkɑs pɪs ˈdɛhɪn/
Tagysian word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b c d f g h j k l m n p r s t v w x

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n
Stop	p b		t d	c	k g
Fricative		f v	s		x	h
Approximant				j
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

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: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ?
Sound changes (in order of application):

• a → ɑ
• b → b
• ch → ʧ
• c → k
• d → d
• e → ɛ
• f → f
• g → g
• h → h
• i → ɪ
• j → ʤ
• kk → k
• k → k
• ll → l
• l → l
• m → m
• ng → ŋ
• nn → n
• n → n
• o → o
• p → p
• q → k
• rr → ʀ
• r → ɹ
• sh → ʃ
• 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	y
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
ks	x
z	z

---

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 before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?

Nouns

Nouns have seven 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.
• Locative is the location of something: man is in town.
• Ablative is movement away from something: man walks from town.
• Instrumental is the use of something: man writes with (using) pen.

Ergative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -kr Else: Suffix -e kanesokr /ˈkɑnɛsokɹ/ dog (doing a transitive verb)
Absolutive	No affix kaneso /ˈkɑnɛso/ dog (doing an intransitive verb)
Genitive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -w Else: Suffix -i kanesow /ˈkɑnɛsow/ dogʼs
Dative	Prefix ma- makaneso /ˈmɑkɑˌnɛso/ to dog
Locative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -a kanesok /ˈkɑnɛsok/ near/at/by dog
Ablative	Prefix wa- wakaneso /ˈwɑkɑˌnɛso/ from dog
Instrumental	Suffix -ar kanesoar /ˈkɑnɛˌsoɑɹ/ with/using dog

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	No affix ty /tɪ/ boy	No affix dhabys /ˈdhɑbɪs/ girl
Plural	Suffix -ub tyub /ˈtɪʌb/ boys	If ends with vowel: Suffix -th Else: Suffix -i dhabysy /ˈdhɑbɪsɪ/ girls

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	ag /ɑg/ the	the /θɛ/ a
Plural	e /ɛ/ the	su /sʌ/ some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
• Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.
• Used with place names: ‘The London’

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

• 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	Locative	Ablative	Instrumental
1st singular	kha /khɑ/ I	tonap /ˈtonɑp/ me	udkyh /ˈʌdkɪh/ mine	ap /ɑp/ to me	ak /ɑk/ to me	dyta /ˈditɑ/ from me	ca /kɑ/ with/using me
2nd singular	maar /ˈmɑɑɹ/ you	bra /bɹɑ/ you	se /sɛ/ yours	khuam /ˈkhʌɑm/ to you	ma /mɑ/ to you	urmy /ˈʌɹmɪ/ from you	eph /ɛph/ with/using you
3rd singular masc	dynt /dint/ he, it (masc)	us /ʌs/ his, it (masc)	erwan /ˈɛɹwɑn/ his, its (masc)	wan /wɑn/ to his, to it (masc)	baphynt /ˈbɑphɪnt/ to his, to it (masc)	ekam /ˈɛkɑm/ from his, from it (masc)	wosah /ˈwosɑh/ with/using his, with/using it (masc)
3rd singular fem	wys /wɪs/ she, it (fem)	pra /pɹɑ/ her, it (fem)	ar /ɑɹ/ hers, its (fem)	uth /ʌθ/ to her, to it (fem)	ny /nɪ/ to her, to it (fem)	apphas /ˈɑpphɑs/ from her, from it (fem)	muntme /ˈmʌntmɛ/ with/using her, with/using it (fem)
1st plural	yp /ip/ we	pa /pɑ/ us	abrbos /ˈɑbɹbos/ ours	tha /θɑ/ to us	vukran /ˈvʌkɹɑn/ to us	eh /ɛh/ from us	as /ɑs/ with/using us
2nd plural	tansah /ˈtɑnsɑh/ you all	cawas /ˈkɑwɑs/ you all	mys /mis/ yours (pl)	pho /pho/ to you all	want /wɑnt/ to you all	ur /ʌɹ/ from you all	watmya /ˈwɑtmiɑ/ with/using you all
3rd plural masc	asar /ˈɑsɑɹ/ they (masc)	tal /tɑl/ them (masc)	popuw /ˈpopʌw/ theirs (masc)	pan /pɑn/ to them (masc)	ekdy /ˈɛkdi/ to them (masc)	kat /kɑt/ from them (masc)	na /nɑ/ with/using them (masc)
3rd plural fem	yb /ɪb/ they (fem)	tan /tɑn/ them (fem)	ogpa /ˈogpɑ/ theirs (fem)	hatakr /ˈhɑtɑkɹ/ to them (fem)	ka /kɑ/ to them (fem)	abmut /ˈɑbmʌt/ from them (fem)	ym /ɪm/ with/using them (fem)

Possessive determiners

	Possessive
1st singular	udkih /ˈʌdkɪh/ my
2nd singular	se /sɛ/ your
3rd singular masc	us /ʌs/ his
3rd singular fem	ar /ɑɹ/ her
1st plural	abrbos /ˈɑbɹbos/ our
2nd plural	mis /mɪs/ your (pl)
3rd plural masc	popuw /ˈpopʌw/ their (masc)
3rd plural fem	ogpa /ˈogpɑ/ their (fem)

Verbs

Masculine

	1st singular	2nd singular	3rd singular masc	3rd singular fem	1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural masc	3rd plural fem
Present	Suffix -aj denthanyaj /ˈdɛnθɑˌniɑʤ/ (I (masc)) learn	Suffix -em denthanyem /ˈdɛnθɑˌniɛm/ (you (masc)) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -kh Else: Suffix -e denthanykh /ˈdɛnθɑnikh/ (he/it (masc)) learns	Prefix tha- thadenthany /ˈθɑdɛnˌθɑni/ (it (masc)) learns	Suffix -it denthanyyt /ˈdɛnθɑˌniɪt/ (we (masc)) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -a denthanyk /ˈdɛnθɑnik/ (you (masc) all) learn	Suffix -adh denthanyadh /ˈdɛnθɑˌniɑdh/ (they (masc)) learn	Suffix -av denthanyav /ˈdɛnθɑˌniɑv/ (they (masc)) learn
Past	Suffix -et denthanyet /ˈdɛnθɑˌniɛt/ (I (masc)) learned	Prefix wa- wadenthany /ˈwɑdɛnˌθɑni/ (you (masc)) learned	Suffix -or denthanyor /ˈdɛnθɑˌnioɹ/ (he/it (masc)) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -b Else: Suffix -i denthanyb /ˈdɛnθɑnib/ (it (masc)) learned	Prefix kra- kradenthany /ˈkɹɑdɛnˌθɑni/ (we (masc)) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -w Else: Suffix -a denthanyw /ˈdɛnθɑniw/ (you (masc) all) learned	Suffix -eg denthanyeg /ˈdɛnθɑˌniɛg/ (they (masc)) learned	Prefix pre- predenthany /ˈpɹɛdɛnˌθɑni/ (they (masc)) learned

Feminine

	1st singular	2nd singular	3rd singular masc	3rd singular fem	1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural masc	3rd plural fem
Present	Suffix -om denthanyom /ˈdɛnθɑˌniom/ (I (fem)) learn	Prefix ne- nedenthany /ˈnɛdɛnˌθɑni/ (you (fem)) learn	Prefix tha- thadenthany /ˈθɑdɛnˌθɑni/ (it (masc)) learns	Prefix na- nadenthany /ˈnɑdɛnˌθɑni/ (she/it (fem)) learns	Prefix sa- sadenthany /ˈsɑdɛnˌθɑni/ (we (fem)) learn	Suffix -ipr denthanyypr /ˈdɛnθɑˌniɪpɹ/ (you (fem) all) learn	Suffix -av denthanyav /ˈdɛnθɑˌniɑv/ (they (masc)) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -r Else: Suffix -i denthanyr /ˈdɛnθɑniɹ/ (they (fem)) learn
Past	Prefix phi- phydenthany /ˈphɪdɛnˌθɑni/ (I (fem)) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -br Else: Suffix -i denthanybr /ˈdɛnθɑnibɹ/ (you (fem)) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -b Else: Suffix -i denthanyb /ˈdɛnθɑnib/ (it (masc)) learned	Prefix dha- dhadenthany /ˈdhɑdɛnˌθɑni/ (she/it (fem)) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -p Else: Suffix -i denthanyp /ˈdɛnθɑnip/ (we (fem)) learned	Prefix da- dadenthany /ˈdɑdɛnˌθɑni/ (you (fem) all) learned	Prefix pre- predenthany /ˈpɹɛdɛnˌθɑni/ (they (masc)) learned	Prefix phu- phudenthany /ˈphʌdɛnˌθɑni/ (they (fem)) learned

Tagysian uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: da - da denthany /dɑ ˈdɛnθɑni/ 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).
Tagysian uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:

Imperfective

Particle before the verb: rinthysa - rynthysa denthany /ˈɹɪnθisɑ ˈdɛnθɑni/ 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.
Tagysian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

If ends with vowel: Suffix -kr Else: Suffix -i denthanykr /ˈdɛnθɑnikɹ/ have learned

Numbers

Tagysian has a base-10 number system:
1 - ty
2 - sasgatsas
3 - dokuna
4 - sa
5 - etuwoc
6 - durasa
7 - amatta
8 - vyanasa
9 - wulus
10 - bannan
100 - dajralu
1000 - masakdy

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -am
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ij
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix mo-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -aj
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ku-
Noun to verb = Suffix -ad
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -b
Else: Suffix -a
Tending to = Prefix ko-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -ur
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix pa-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix va-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix dhu-
Diminutive = Suffix -ad
Augmentative = Suffix -an

Dictionary

3085 Words.