Meerguian (ˈmeːrguian)

Natively known as: meergu /ˈmeːrgu/

is the protolanguage of the halflings
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
o opso nab iikbuub nee o kor yiits roos nee yaak eer
Pronunciation: /o ˈopso nab ˈiːkbuːb neː o kor jiːʦ roːs neː jaːk eːr/
Meerguian word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet the wind to

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b d g j k l m n p r s t w x ɣ ʦ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	m	n
Stop	p b	t d		k g
Affricate		ʦ
Fricative		s		x ɣ
Approximant			j
Trill		r
Lateral approximant		l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: a aː e eː i iː o oː u uː

	Front	Back
High	i iː	u uː
High-mid	e eː	o oː
Low	a aː

Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ?
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
j	y
x	kh
ʦ	ts
ɣ	g̀
Vː	VV

---

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 after the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?

Noun affixes

Nominative	No affix bil /bil/ dog (doing the verb)
Accusative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -w Else: Suffix -ow bilow /ˈbilow/ (verb done to) dog
Vocative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -k Else: Suffix -ek bilek /ˈbilek/
Genitive	Suffix -ob bilob /ˈbilob/ dogʼs
Dative	Suffix -eː bilee /ˈbileː/ to (the/a) dog
Instrumental	If ends with vowel: Suffix -s Else: Suffix -us bilus /ˈbilus/ with/using (the/a) dog
Locative	Suffix -u bilu /ˈbilu/ near/at/by (the/a) dog

Verb affixes

Present	No affix mis /mis/ learn
Future	Suffix -ep misep /ˈmisep/ will learn
Perfect	Change all X* to __ mismis /ˈmismis/ have learned
Imperfective	Suffix -uː misuu /ˈmisuː/

Verb affixes

Indicative	No affix mis /mis/ learn
Subjunctive	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -uːm misuum /ˈmisuːm/ learn
Optative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɣ Else: Suffix -aːɣ misaag̀ /ˈmisaːɣ/
Imperative	If ends with vowel: Suffix -b Else: Suffix -eb miseb /ˈmiseb/ learn! (command)

Verb voice

Active	Suffix -a misa /ˈmisa/
Passive	Suffix -iː misii /ˈmisiː/

Verb affixes

	Singular	Plural
1st person	Suffix -uː misuu /ˈmisuː/ (I) learn/learned/will learn	Suffix -iː misii /ˈmisiː/ (we) learn/learned/will learn
2nd person	If ends with vowel: Suffix -b Else: Suffix -ob misob /ˈmisob/ (you) learn/learned/will learn	Suffix -iːb misiib /ˈmisiːb/ (you all) learn/learned/will learn
3rd person	If ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -il misil /ˈmisil/ (he/she/it) learns/learned/will learn	Suffix -iːr misiir /ˈmisiːr/ (they) learn/learned/will learn

Numbers

Meerguian has a base-20 number system:
1 - ep
2 - noo
3 - khii
4 - yuu
5 - ru
6 - naadlik
7 - yoog̀
8 - yu
9 - dak
10 - yoo
11 - meek
12 - been
13 - buup
14 - aal
15 - ker
16 - poo
17 - ba
18 - os
19 - min
20 - biwe
400 - dekya
8000 - kutu

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -kdiː
Else: Suffix -akdiː
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -dloː
Else: Suffix -idloː
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ba
Else: Suffix -iːba
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -iːs
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -oːl
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -w
Else: Suffix -oːw
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -oː
Tending to = Suffix -el
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -eːt
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -oː
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -up
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -un
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ksiː
Else: Suffix -aksiː
Augmentative = Suffix -iːp