Natively known as: Takpo /ˈtakpɔ/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
we ipa vote gba gbai i we puyo gba gbati moya pe fupi
Pronunciation: /wɛ ˈipa ˈvɔtɛ gba ˈgbai i wɛ ˈpʊjɔ gba ˈgbati ˈmɔja pɛ ˈfʊpi/
Takpoian word order: and stood holding his hat he and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /f gb j k kp m n p t v w/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
| Nasal |
m |
|
n |
|
|
| Stop |
p |
|
t |
|
k |
| Fricative |
|
f v |
|
|
|
| Approximant |
|
|
|
j |
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labio-velar |
Labial–velar |
| Stop |
|
kp gb |
| Approximant |
w |
|
Vowel inventory: /a i ɔ ɛ ʊ/
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
i |
|
| Near-high |
|
ʊ |
| Low-mid |
ɛ |
ɔ |
| Low |
a |
|
Syllable structure: (C)V ?
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ?
Word initial consonants: f, gb, kp, m, p, t, v, w
Mid-word consonants: f, gb, j, k, kp, m, n, p, t, v, w
Word final consonants: N/A
Phonological changes (in order of application): ?
- j → i / C_#
- j → ð / V_V
- ɛ → ɪ / _N
- a → e / _j#
- m → n / _#
- t → ʧ / _{i,ı̃}
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| j |
y |
| ɔ |
o |
| ɛ |
e |
| ʊ |
u |
Grammar
Main word order: Verb-Object-Oblique-Subject. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into
Opened the door with a key Mary.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?
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 recipeint of something: man gives ball to dog.
- Locative is the location of something: man goes to town.
| Nominative |
No affix
ima /ˈima/
dog (doing the verb) |
| Accusative |
Prefix wi-
wiima /wiˈima/
(verb done to) dog |
| Genitive |
Prefix vɛ-
veima /vɛˈima/
dogʼs |
| Dative |
Prefix va-
vaima /vaˈima/
to (the/a) dog |
| Locative |
Prefix wɛ-
weima /wɛˈima/
near/at/by (the/a) dog |
| Singular |
No affix
ima /ˈima/
dog |
| Plural |
Prefix gbi-
gbiima /gbiˈima/
dogs |
Articles
|
Definite |
Indefinite |
| Singular |
ma /ma/
the |
we /wɛ/
a |
| Plural |
mo /mɔ/
the |
ve /vɛ/
some |
Pronouns
|
Nominative |
Accusative |
Genitive |
Dative |
Locative |
| 1st singular |
ta /ta/
I |
va /va/
me |
e /ɛ/
mine |
gbe /gbɛ/
to me |
kpu /kpʊ/
at me |
| 2nd singular |
wi /wi/
you |
mo /mɔ/
you |
pe /pɛ/
yours |
pi /pi/
to you |
to /tɔ/
at you |
| 3rd singular masc |
i /i/
he |
ve /vɛ/
him |
vi /vi/
his |
fi /fi/
to him |
po /pɔ/
at him |
| 3rd singular fem |
gbu /gbʊ/
she |
o /ɔ/
her |
mu /mʊ/
hers |
fo /fɔ/
to her |
fa /fa/
at her |
| 1st plural |
tu /tʊ/
we |
a /a/
us |
vo /vɔ/
ours |
pu /pʊ/
to us |
gbo /gbɔ/
at us |
| 2nd plural |
we /wɛ/
you (all) |
ma /ma/
you (all) |
fu /fʊ/
yours |
gbi /gbi/
to you (all) |
vu /vʊ/
at you (all) |
| 3rd plural |
kpe /kpɛ/
they |
gba /gba/
them |
kpi /kpi/
theirs |
kpa /kpa/
to them |
wa /wa/
at them |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
i /i/
my |
| 2nd singular |
e /ɛ/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
gba /gba/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
mo /mɔ/
her |
| 1st plural |
pi /pi/
our |
| 2nd plural |
gbe /gbɛ/
your |
| 3rd plural |
wi /wi/
their |
Verbs
| Present |
No affix
kpeto /ˈkpɛtɔ/
study |
| Past |
Prefix wi-
wikpeto /wikpˈɛtɔ/
studied |
Takpoian uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
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.
Takpoian uses the word for ‘finish’ mave for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Takpoian has a base-10 number system:
1 - a
2 - po
3 - mo
4 - kpa
5 - wine
6 - vate
7 - mowe
8 - gbefe
9 - gbiki
10 - vefume
11 - a we vefume “one and ten”
100 - poa “hundred”
101 - poa we a “hundred and one”
200 - po poa
1000 - gbuwe “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix tʊ-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix tɔ-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix gbʊ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix mɛ-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix kpa-
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = Prefix gbi-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix pi-
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Prefix vi-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix gbʊ-
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Prefix pɔ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix wɛ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix gbɛ-
Diminutive = Prefix tʊ-
Augmentative = Prefix vɛ-
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