Kumâian
Kumâian is a very old language of the Iɉen peoples. In modern day it has mostly fallen out of use in favor of Närgon or other tribal mixes and dialects except among a few tribes in the extreme north of Koljorn such as the people of Helɉarva.
Kumâian is an unusual language in that it's vocabulary is unlike more modern languages that have developed in Koljorn. Kumâian includes a lot of vocabulary around agriculture, seasons, crops and vegetations that are impossible to grow in the region due to the cold climate. Some point to this as evidence that Koljorn was not always such a frigid place while other theories present the Iɉen peoples having migrated from southern areas where such things were common.
Natively known as: Kumâian
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...gr̀uv dyu chti tyinyu pyur wiwu gr̀uv kyani yi chti gur̀ trarfu plav
Pronunciation: /ɣɾuv dju ʧti tjiˈɲu pjur wiˈwu ɣɾuv kjaˈni ji ʧti ɣuɾ trarˈfu plav/
Kumâian word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b c d f h j k l m n p r t v w ɟ ɣ ɦ ɲ ɾ ʃ ʒ ʤ ʧ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||||
Stop | p b | t d | c ɟ | k | |||
Affricate | ʧ ʤ | ||||||
Fricative | f v | ʃ ʒ | ɣ | h ɦ | |||
Approximant | j | ||||||
Tap | ɾ | ||||||
Trill | r | ||||||
Lateral approximant | l |
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
---|---|
Approximant | w |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
c | chy |
ʧ | ch |
j | y |
ʤ | j |
ɣ | g |
ɦ | gh |
ɲ | ny |
ʃ | sh |
ʒ | z |
ɟ | j̀ |
ɾ | r̀ |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary with a key the door opened.Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
Nouns
Nouns have five cases:- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is 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 goes to town.
Nominative | No affix br̀ukr̀un /bɾuˈkɾun/ dog (doing the verb) |
Accusative | Prefix ɲji- nyibr̀ukr̀un /ɲibɾuˈkɾun/ (verb done to) dog |
Genitive | Prefix a- abr̀ukr̀un /abɾuˈkɾun/ dogʼs |
Dative | If starts with vowel: Prefix ɾ- Else: Prefix ɾa- r̀abr̀ukr̀un /ɾabɾuˈkɾun/ to (the/a) dog |
Locative | If starts with vowel: Prefix fr- Else: Prefix fra- frabr̀ukr̀un /frabɾuˈkɾun/ near/at/by (the/a) dog |
Singular | No affix br̀ukr̀un /bɾuˈkɾun/ dog |
Plural | Prefix mi- mibr̀ukr̀un /mibɾuˈkɾun/ dogs |
Articles
Definite | un /un/ the |
Indefinite | liw /liw/ a, some |
- Used for languages: ‘The English’
- Used with place names: ‘The London’
- Not used for non-specific countable nouns: non-specific means ‘I am looking for a (any) girl in a red dress’, whereas specific means ‘I am looking for a (particular) girl in a red dress’
Pronouns
Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Locative | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st singular | kmi /kmi/ I | tyu /tju/ me | ka /ka/ mine | hu /hu/ to me | lu /lu/ at me |
2nd singular | dna /dna/ you | ib /ib/ you | j̀am /ɟam/ yours | bri /bri/ to you | knu /knu/ at you |
3rd singular masc | dyu /dju/ he, it | fri /fri/ him, it | a /a/ his, its | nyuj /ɲuʤ/ to him, at it | nyyaj̀ /ɲjaɟ/ at him, at it |
3rd singular fem | wa /wa/ she, it | fruh /fruh/ her, it | kma /kma/ hers, its | kni /kni/ to her, at it | chlu /ʧlu/ at her, at it |
1st plural | aj̀ /aɟ/ we | chyi /ci/ us | ma /ma/ ours | daf /daf/ to us | pyuj̀ /pjuɟ/ at us |
2nd plural | gha /ɦa/ you all | kagh /kaɦ/ you all | fi /fi/ yours (pl) | nyip /ɲip/ to you all | nyu /ɲu/ at you all |
3rd plural | pyu /pju/ they | shpu /ʃpu/ them | tu /tu/ theirs | ku /ku/ to them | ti /ti/ at them |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | nim /nim/ my |
2nd singular | dyi /dji/ your |
3rd singular masc | chti /ʧti/ his |
3rd singular fem | vi /vi/ her |
1st plural | pya /pja/ our |
2nd plural | bru /bru/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | nyyi /ɲji/ their |
Verbs
Present | No affix jduf /ʤduf/ learn |
Past | Prefix a- ajduf /aʤˈduf/ learned |
Remote past | If starts with vowel: Prefix ɾ- Else: Prefix ɾi- r̀ijduf /ɾiʤˈduf/ learned (long ago) |
Future | Particle before the verb: mu - mu jduf /mu ʤduf/ 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).Kumâian uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
Imperfective | Particle before the verb: pja - pya jduf /pja ʤduf/ learns/is learning |
Numbers
Kumâian has a base-10 number system: 1 - un2 - di
3 - wi
4 - if
5 - mihli
6 - gr̀am
7 - da
8 - fr̀ichy
9 - ghah
10 - bra
Hundred - ghr̀ir̀
Thousand - char
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix fɾu-Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix u-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix kri-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix ci-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix bɾa-
Noun to verb = Prefix u-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix ʧlu-
Tending to = Prefix ʤda-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix vn-
Else: Prefix vni-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix ja-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ɾa-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix dru-
Diminutive = Prefix u-
Augmentative = Prefix u-
Sentence Structure
“Mary opened the door with a key” becomes "Mary the door with a key opened."
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