...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
bú u haʻu utúsi shú dædu bú yúbu shú mato kesúnu kpapa gbi
Pronunciation: /by u ˈhaʔu uˈtysi ʃy ˈdædu by ˈjybu ʃy ˈmato keˈsynu ˈkpapa gbi/
Dosogbuian word order: and he stood holding hat his and turned his face wet the wind to
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d f g gb h j k kp m n p s t w ʃ ʔ/
↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
Nasal |
m |
|
n |
|
|
|
|
Stop |
p b |
|
t d |
|
|
k g |
ʔ |
Fricative |
|
f |
s |
ʃ |
|
|
h |
Approximant |
|
|
|
|
j |
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
↓Manner/Place→ |
Labio-velar |
Labial–velar |
Stop |
|
kp gb |
Approximant |
w |
|
Vowel inventory: /a e i o u y æ/
|
Front |
Back |
High |
i y |
u |
High-mid |
e |
o |
Near-low |
æ |
|
Low |
a |
|
Syllable structure: (C)V
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, d, g, gb, h, j, k, kp, m, s, t, ʃ
Mid-word consonants: b, d, f, g, gb, h, j, k, kp, m, n, p, s, t, w, ʃ, ʔ
Word final consonants: N/A
Phonological changes (in order of application):
- {k,g} → [+palato-alveolar] / _E
- N → ŋk / _V
- k → g / _ʔ
- k → Ø / _#
- u → w / _a
Spelling rules:
Pronunciation |
Spelling |
j |
y |
y |
ú |
ʃ |
sh |
ʔ |
ʻ |
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 after the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
Nouns
Singular
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Definite |
Suffix -mu
gbebamu /gbeˈbamu/
the man |
Suffix -bæ
hahebæ /haˈhebæ/
the woman |
Indefinite |
Suffix -gæ
gbebagæ /gbeˈbagæ/
a man |
Suffix -wa
hahewa /haˈhewa/
a woman |
Plural
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Definite |
Suffix -fe
gbebafe /gbeˈbafe/
the men |
Suffix -pe
hahepe /haˈhepe/
the women |
Indefinite |
Suffix -bo
gbebabo /gbeˈbabo/
some men |
Suffix -ju
haheyu /haˈheju/
some women |
Articles
Dosogbuian encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.
Pronouns
1st singular |
sú /sy/
I, me, mine |
2nd singular |
do /do/
you, yours |
3rd singular masc |
u /u/
he, him, his |
3rd singular fem |
mu /mu/
she, her, hers |
1st plural |
gbu /gbu/
we, us, ours |
2nd plural |
dæ /dæ/
you (all), yours |
3rd plural masc |
shæ /ʃæ/
they, them, theirs |
3rd plural fem |
yú /jy/
they, them, theirs |
Possessive determiners
1st singular |
ba /ba/
my |
2nd singular |
i /i/
your |
3rd singular masc |
shú /ʃy/
his |
3rd singular fem |
u /u/
her |
1st plural |
kpe /kpe/
our |
2nd plural |
bo /bo/
your |
3rd plural masc |
e /e/
their |
3rd plural fem |
kpa /kpa/
their |
Verbs
Present |
No affix
ufúpe /uˈfype/
study |
Past |
Suffix -su
ufúpesu /ˌufyˈpesu/
studied |
Remote past |
Suffix -gbo
ufúpegbo /ˌufyˈpegbo/
studied (long ago) |
Future |
Suffix -wa
ufúpewa /ˌufyˈpewa/
will study |
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.
Dosogbuian uses the word for ‘already’ gbuyu for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Dosogbuian has a base-10 number system:
1 - mu
2 - tu
3 - du
4 - yo
5 - súdu
6 - tuwæ
7 - súfe
8 - kekpæ
9 - túno
10 - shænu
11 - shænumu “ten-one”
100 - mu suso “one hundred”
101 - mu suso bú mu “one hundred and one”
200 - tu suso
1000 - mu gegbæ “one thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -su
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -na
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -su
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -kpy
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ti
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = Suffix -su
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -ti
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Suffix -ti
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -kpu
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Suffix -gæ
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -hæ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ke
Diminutive = Suffix -ho
Augmentative = Suffix -ʃæ
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