...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
dzaw vda ĩngkë ndit ëp mladdzo dzaw bĩgyov ëp fkẽttsã wĩf bĩd kũddzë
Pronunciation: /ʣɔ vda ˈĩŋkɛ ndit ɛp ˈmladʣo ʣɔ ˈbĩgjov ɛp ˈfkẽtʦã wĩf bĩd ˈkũdʣɛ/
Bwĩgiti word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d f g j k l m n p r t v w ŋ ʣ ʦ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
| Nasal |
m |
|
n |
|
ŋ |
| Stop |
p b |
|
t d |
|
k g |
| Affricate |
|
|
ʦ ʣ |
|
|
| Fricative |
|
f v |
|
|
|
| Approximant |
|
|
|
j |
|
| Trill |
|
|
r |
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
l |
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labio-velar |
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: /a ã e ẽ i ĩ o õ u ũ ɔ ɛ/
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
i ĩ |
u ũ |
| High-mid |
e ẽ |
o õ |
| Low-mid |
ɛ |
ɔ |
| Low |
a ã |
|
Syllable structure: (C)(C)V(C)
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, bj, bl, bw, d, dr, dw, f, fj, fk, fl, fp, fr, g, gw, j, k, kj, kl, lj, lw, m, md, ml, mw, nd, nl, p, pw, r, rj, tj, v, vd, vl, vw, w, ŋk, ŋw, ʣ, ʦv
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, bm, bw, d, dd, dg, dl, dm, dʣ, f, fg, fk, fp, fr, g, gb, gj, gk, gl, gt, gw, j, jd, jg, jl, jv, k, kd, kf, kl, km, kr, kv, kʦ, l, lf, lg, lj, ll, lm, lp, lt, lw, m, mb, mg, mn, mt, mv, mw, n, nb, nm, np, nt, nʦ, p, pf, pj, pk, pm, pp, pt, pv, pw, r, rf, rk, rm, rr, rv, t, tf, tk, tl, tm, tn, tr, tv, tʦ, v, vd, vj, vm, vn, vw, w, wb, wd, wl, wm, wp, wv, ŋ, ŋb, ŋd, ŋf, ŋg, ŋk, ŋm, ŋt, ŋʦ, ʣ, ʦ, ʦl, ʦr, ʦw
Word final consonants: d, f, g, k, m, p, r, t, v, ʣ
Phonological changes (in order of application):
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| j |
y |
| ŋ |
ng |
| ɔ |
aw |
| ɛ |
ë |
| ʣ |
dz |
| ʦ |
ts |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject-Verb-Object-Oblique. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into
Mary opened the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions
Nouns
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
| Singular |
No affix
mãr /mãr/
man |
No affix
ip /ip/
woman |
| Plural |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ʣ-
Else: Prefix ʣɔ-
dzawmãr /ˈʣɔmãr/
men |
Prefix mde-
mdeip /ˈmdeip/
women |
Articles
| Definite |
o /o/
the |
| Indefinite |
kyam /kjam/
a, some |
Pronouns
| 1st singular |
mla /mla/
I, me, mine |
| 2nd singular |
õ /õ/
you, yours |
| 3rd singular masc |
vda /vda/
he, him, his |
| 3rd singular fem |
dzaw /ʣɔ/
she, her, hers |
| 1st plural |
dru /dru/
we, us, ours |
| 2nd plural |
ndawm /ndɔm/
you (all), yours |
| 3rd plural masc |
ũ /ũ/
they, them, theirs |
| 3rd plural fem |
gë /gɛ/
they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
ug /ug/
my |
| 2nd singular |
dzõ /ʣõ/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
ëp /ɛp/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
vlũp /vlũp/
her |
| 1st plural |
bli /bli/
our |
| 2nd plural |
vdëd /vdɛd/
your |
| 3rd plural masc |
õ /õ/
their |
| 3rd plural fem |
pũ /pũ/
their |
Verbs
| Present |
Prefix a-
awĩgawnaw /ˌawĩˈgɔnɔ/
study |
| Past |
No affix
wĩgawnaw /wĩˈgɔnɔ/
studied |
| Future |
Prefix ĩ-
ĩwĩgawnaw /ˌĩwĩˈgɔnɔ/
will study |
Numbers
Bwĩgiti has a base-10 number system:
1 - ngwã
2 - dëf
3 - kyë
4 - fkẽg
5 - ndig
6 - u
7 - ndi
8 - wĩg
9 - mwu
10 - tyod
11 - ngwã dzaw tyod “one and ten”
100 - am “hundred”
101 - am ngwã “hundred one”
200 - dëf am
1000 - flufa “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix egt-
Else: Prefix egtɔ-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ult-
Else: Prefix ultɛ-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ũ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix iŋt-
Else: Prefix iŋta-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ã-
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix bj-
Else: Prefix bjõ-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix fe-
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ũk-
Else: Prefix ũku-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ẽpp-
Else: Prefix ẽppɛ-
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Prefix fki-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ũ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix ʦvã-
Diminutive = Prefix fkẽ-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix ult-
Else: Prefix ultɛ-
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