Yemsemhid
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: f h j k m n p s t w ŋ ɾ ʃ ʧ| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||||
| Stop | p | t | k | ||||
| Affricate | ʧ | ||||||
| Fricative | f | s | ʃ | h | |||
| Approximant | j | ||||||
| Tap | ɾ |
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
|---|---|
| Approximant | w |
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| High-mid | e | o |
| Low | a |
Syllable structure: (C)V(C)
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Word initial consonants: f h j k m n p s t ɾ ʃ ʧ
Mid-word consonants: f fh fk ft fʃ h hk hm ht hw j jf jk jʃ k kj km kn ks kw kɾ kʧ m mh mk mm ms mt mɾ mʧ n nh nj nk nm nw nʃ nʧ p pj ps pt pw pɾ pʧ s sh sk sn ss st sw sɾ t tf tk tm tn ts tt tɾ w wɾ ŋ ŋh ŋj ŋn ŋp ɾ ɾj ɾm ɾp ɾs ɾt ɾw ɾʃ ʃ ʃj ʃm ʃs ʃt ʃʧ ʧ ʧf ʧm
Word final consonants: h k m n p s t w ŋ ɾ ʧ
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| j | [I]y |
| ŋ | ng |
| ɾ | d |
| ʃ | sh |
| ʧ | ch |
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 mung /muŋ/ dog (doing the verb) |
| Accusative |
If starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix ka- kamung /ˈkamuŋ/ (verb done to) dog |
| Genitive |
If starts with vowel: Prefix j- Else: Prefix ja- yamung /ˈjamuŋ/ dogʼs |
| Dative |
Prefix pa- pamung /ˈpamuŋ/ to (the/a) dog |
| Locative |
If starts with vowel: Prefix h- Else: Prefix ha- hamung /ˈhamuŋ/ near/at/by (the/a) dog |
| Singular |
If starts with vowel: Prefix s- Else: Prefix so- somung /ˈsomuŋ/ dog |
| Plural |
No affix mung /muŋ/ dogs |
Articles
| Definite |
da /ɾa/ the |
| Indefinite |
as /as/ a, some |
- 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 for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’
- 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’
- 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
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Locative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | me /me/ I |
shem /ʃem/ me |
hut /hut/ mine |
fok /fok/ to me |
do /ɾo/ at me |
| 2nd singular | te /te/ you |
da /ɾa/ you |
yi /ji/ yours |
ne /ne/ to you |
shi /ʃi/ at you |
| 3rd singular masc | she /ʃe/ he, it |
uch /uʧ/ him, it |
shot /ʃot/ his, its |
fong /foŋ/ to him, at it |
muk /muk/ at him, at it |
| 3rd singular fem | dip /ɾip/ she, it |
i /i/ her, it |
seh /seh/ hers, its |
yam /jam/ to her, at it |
fa /fa/ at her, at it |
| 1st plural | ken /ken/ we |
pu /pu/ us |
po /po/ ours |
ta /ta/ to us |
su /su/ at us |
| 2nd plural | hu /hu/ you all |
at /at/ you all |
sha /ʃa/ yours (pl) |
ma /ma/ to you all |
mu /mu/ at you all |
| 3rd plural | moh /moh/ they |
yu /ju/ them |
mung /muŋ/ theirs |
de /ɾe/ to them |
tap /tap/ at them |
Possessive Determiners
| 1st singular | huh /huh/ my |
| 2nd singular | da /ɾa/ your |
| 3rd singular masc | no /no/ his |
| 3rd singular fem | fe /fe/ her |
| 1st plural | shu /ʃu/ our |
| 2nd plural | ye /je/ your (pl) |
| 3rd plural | nem /nem/ their |
Verbs
| Present | No affix mini /ˈmini/ learn |
| Past | If starts with vowel: Prefix f- Else: Prefix fi- fimini /ˈfimini/ learned |
| Remote past | If starts with vowel: Prefix ʧ- Else: Prefix ʧi- chimini /ˈʧimini/ learned (long ago) |
| Future | Particle before the verb: sa - sa mini /sa ˈmini/ will learn |
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning. Yemsemhid uses an affix for progressive:| Progressive | If starts with vowel: Prefix j- Else: Prefix je- yemini /ˈjemini/ 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). Yemsemhid uses a standalone particle word for habitual:| Habitual | Particle before the verb: ne - ne mini /ne ˈmini/ learns |
Numbers
Yemsemhid has a base-10 number system:1 - fa
2 - di
3 - ha
4 - peski
5 - sew
6 - hus
7 - yet
8 - chu
9 - kudmut
10 - shek
11 - fa muk shek “one and ten”
100 - mum “hundred”
101 - mum muk fa “hundred and one”
200 - di mum
1000 - hik “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -um
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -an
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix a-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix e-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -it
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -h
Else: Suffix -ih
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -uh
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -p
Else: Suffix -ap
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix pa-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -w
Else: Suffix -uw
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -e
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾ
Else: Suffix -oɾ
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -at
Augmentative = Suffix -uɾ
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