Natively known as: Khaʻtuw /xaʕˈtuw/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
mā nāʻ a ʻuţ qū’ māb mā a yīl’a dābayy asī şuḩ īt
Pronunciation: /maː naːʕ a ʕutˤ quːʔ maːb maː a jiːlˈʔa daːˈbajj aˈsiː sˤuħ iːt/
Garhai word order: and he his hat holding stood and his wet face the wind to turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d dˤ f h j k l m n q r s sˤ t tˤ w x z ð ðˤ ħ ɣ ʃ ʔ ʕ ʤ θ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Dental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Uvular |
Pharyngeal |
Glottal |
| Nasal |
m |
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n |
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| Stop |
b |
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t tˤ d dˤ |
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k |
q |
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ʔ |
| Affricate |
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ʤ |
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| Fricative |
|
f |
θ ð ðˤ |
s sˤ z |
ʃ |
|
x ɣ |
|
ħ ʕ |
h |
| Approximant |
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j |
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| Trill |
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r |
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| Lateral approximant |
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l |
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Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labial-velar |
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: /a aː i iː u uː/
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
i iː |
u uː |
| Low |
a aː |
|
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Second — stress is on the second syllable
Word initial consonants: b, d, dˤ, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, q, r, s, sˤ, t, tˤ, w, x, z, ð, ħ, ɣ, ʃ, ʔ, ʕ, ʤ, θ
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, d, dd, dˤ, f, h, j, jj, k, kr, l, ll, lʔ, m, mm, n, nd, nt, ntˤ, nð, q, qq, r, rb, rr, s, sˤ, t, tl, tʤ, tˤ, tˤtˤ, w, ww, x, ð, ðˤ, ħ, ɣ, ʃ, ʔ, ʕ, ʕl, ʕt, ʕtˤ, ʤ, θ
Word final consonants: N/A
Phonological changes (in order of application):
- j → ʤ / _E
- t → ŋ / a_
- u → ь / j_
- f → v / #_
- s → h / V_V
How to read phonological rules
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| ʔ |
’ |
| θ |
th |
| ʤ |
j |
| x |
kh |
| ð |
dh |
| ʃ |
sh |
| sˤ |
ş |
| dˤ |
ḑ |
| tˤ |
ţ |
| ʕ |
ʻ |
| ɣ |
gh |
| ħ |
ḩ |
| aː |
ā |
| iː |
ī |
| uː |
ū |
| j |
y |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject Object (Prepositional phrase) Verb. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into
Mary the door with a key opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
Nouns
Nouns have five 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 recipeint of something: man gives ball to dog.
- Locative is the location of something: man goes to town.
| Ergative |
Suffix -i
āḩadi /aːˈħadi/
doɡ (doinɡ the verb to somethinɡ) |
| Absolutive |
No affix
āḩad /aːˈħad/
doɡ (doinɡ the verb, but not to somethinɡ) |
| Genitive |
Suffix -iː
āḩadī /aːˈħadiː/
doɡʼs |
| Dative |
Prefix iː-
īāḩad /iːˈaːħad/
to (the/a) doɡ |
| Locative |
If starts with vowel: Prefix sˤ-
Else: Prefix sˤu-
şāḩad /sˤaːˈħad/
near/at/by (the/a) doɡ |
| Singular |
No affix
āḩad /aːˈħad/
doɡ |
| Plural |
If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix luː-
lāḩad /laːˈħad/
doɡs |
Articles
Garhai has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
|
Ergative |
Absolutive |
Genitive |
Dative |
Locative |
| 1st singular |
ri /ri/
I |
şi /sˤi/
me, I |
māz’ /maːzʔ/
mine |
şuq /sˤuq/
to me |
dār /daːr/
at me |
| 2nd singular |
al /al/
you |
u /u/
you |
dhull /ðull/
yours |
afl /afl/
to you |
ghū /ɣuː/
at you |
| 3rd singular masc |
nāʻ /naːʕ/
he, it |
aw /aw/
him, it |
şuʻ /sˤuʕ/
his, its |
ma /ma/
to him, at it |
ḩib /ħib/
at him, at it |
| 3rd singular fem |
an /an/
she, it |
ad /ad/
her, it |
māt /maːt/
hers, its |
şu /sˤu/
to her, at it |
qī /qiː/
at her, at it |
| 1st plural inclusive |
ma’ /maʔ/
we (including you) |
a /a/
us, we (including you) |
a’ /aʔ/
ours (including you) |
lūfl /luːfl/
to us (including you) |
ūd /uːd/
at us (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive |
im /im/
we (excluding you) |
si /si/
us, we (excluding you) |
i /i/
ours (excluding you) |
kha /xa/
to us (excluding you) |
ā /aː/
at us (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural |
zi /zi/
you all |
tū /tuː/
you all |
ʻu /ʕu/
yours (pl) |
tūd /tuːd/
to you all |
shal /ʃal/
at you all |
| 3rd plural |
’i /ʔi/
they |
thu /θu/
them, they |
mi /mi/
theirs |
wū /wuː/
to them |
ḑūh /dˤuːh/
at them |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
yī /jiː/
my |
| 2nd singular |
’i /ʔi/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
a /a/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
ʻīr /ʕiːr/
her |
| 1st plural inclusive |
tū /tuː/
our (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive |
si /si/
our (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural |
fā /faː/
your (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
ghū /ɣuː/
their |
Verbs
Garhai uses a standalone particle word for past tense:
| Past |
Particle before the verb: aː -
ā dāk /aː daːk/
learned |
Garhai uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
| Future |
Particle before the verb: aː -
ā dāk /aː daːk/
will learn |
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.
Garhai uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ʤ-
Else: Prefix ʤuː-
yūdāk /ʤuːˈdaːk/
have learned |
Numbers
Garhai has a base-10 number system:
1 - nāk
2 - uʻ
3 - wū
4 - thun
5 - ba
6 - sha
7 - qūḩ
8 - kharḑ
9 - hu’
10 - mib
11 - mib mā nāk “ten and one”
100 - nāk wīkhīw “one hundred”
101 - nāk wīkhīw nāk “one hundred one”
200 - uʻ wīkhīw
1000 - nāk thī “one thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix a-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix naː-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix tiː-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jiː-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix uː-
Noun to verb = Prefix i-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix ʃa-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix ma-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ-
Else: Prefix ʃa-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix ʔi-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʕ-
Else: Prefix ʕu-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix sˤ-
Else: Prefix sˤu-
Diminutive = Prefix saː-
Augmentative = Prefix ʃa-
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