Bizheptian
Natively known as: runch /ɹʌnkh/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...mu siat siat chnaph chalmes chero mu seh so siat nuch shambet rucirte
Pronunciation: /mʌ ʃɑt ʃɑt khnɑf ˈkhɑlmɛs ˈkhɛɹo mʌ sɛh so ʃɑt nʌkh ˈʃɑmbɛt ɹʌˈkɪɹtɛ/
Runchi word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b c d f g h k l m n p q r s t v z↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | |||||
Stop | p b | t d | c | k g | q | ||
Fricative | f v | s z | h | ||||
Trill | r | ||||||
Lateral approximant | l |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i y | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ? Sound changes (in order of application):
- a → ɑ
- bb → b
- b → b
- ch → k
- c → k
- d → d
- e → ɛ
- ff → f
- f → f
- gg → g
- g → g
- h → h
- i → ɪ
- j → ʤ
- kk → k
- k → k
- ll → l
- l → l
- m → m
- ng → ŋ
- nn → n
- n → n
- o → o
- p → p
- q → k
- rr → ʀ
- r → ɹ
- sh → ʃ
- ss → s
- s → s
- th → θ
- t → t
- u → ʌ
- v → v
- w → w
- x → ks
- y → i
- z → z
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
f | ph |
v | f |
k | c |
ŋ | ng |
χ | ch |
θ | th |
r̥ | rh |
ɬ | ll |
ð | dd |
ɪu̯ | iw |
ɨu̯ | uw |
ʊɨ̯ | wy |
ɛu̯ | ew |
ɔi̯ | oi |
əu̯ | yw |
eɨ̯ | ey |
aː | a |
ɔ | o |
oː | o |
iː | i |
ɪ | i |
eː | e |
ɛ | e |
uː | w |
ʊ | w |
j | i |
ɨː | y |
ɨ | y |
ə | y |
ʃ | si |
n̥ | n |
̯ | |
ɑ | a |
b | b |
ʧ | ch |
d | d |
f | f |
g | g |
h | h |
ʤ | j |
k | k |
l | l |
m | m |
n | n |
o | o |
p | p |
ɹ | r |
s | s |
t | t |
ʌ | u |
v | v |
w | w |
z | z |
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 two cases:- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
Plural | Particle before the noun: hat -
hat myr /hɑt miɹ/ dogs |
Nominative | No affix
myr /miɹ/ dog (doing the verb) |
Accusative | If starts with vowel: Prefix sh-
Else: Prefix she- shemyr /ˈʃɛmiɹ/ (verb done to) dog |
Articles
Definite | hy /hi/ the |
Indefinite | cucht /kʌkht/ a, some |
- Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
- 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 | |
---|---|---|
1st singular | phyt /phit/ I | nu /nʌ/ me |
2nd singular | pun /pʌn/ you | heps /hɛps/ you |
3rd singular | shat /ʃɑt/ he, she, it | te /tɛ/ him, her, it |
1st plural | na /nɑ/ we | phos /phos/ us |
2nd plural | thys /θis/ you all | ry /ɹi/ you all |
3rd plural | sa /sɑ/ they | ma /mɑ/ them |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | phit /phɪt/ my |
2nd singular | pun /pʌn/ your |
3rd singular | siat /ʃɑt/ his, her, its |
1st plural | na /nɑ/ our |
2nd plural | this /θɪs/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | sa /sɑ/ their |
Verbs
Present | No affix
chanch /khɑnkh/ learn |
Past | Prefix u-
uchanch /ˈʌkhɑnkh/ learned |
Remote past | Prefix a-
achanch /ˈɑkhɑnkh/ learned (long ago) |
Future | Particle before the verb: py -
py chanch /pi khɑnkh/ will learn |
Numbers
Runchi has a base-10 number system: 1 - pna2 - nuns
3 - thun
4 - phich
5 - phe
6 - nacins
7 - ca
8 - chny
9 - se
10 - pe
100 - teco
1000 - shyt
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-Else: Prefix tu-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix py-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix pn-
Else: Prefix pna-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pe-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix sch-
Else: Prefix schu-
Noun to verb = Prefix thu-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix to-
Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix ink-
Else: Prefix inke-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix sh-
Else: Prefix sha-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix r-
Else: Prefix ri-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix o-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix su-
Diminutive = Prefix o-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix r-
Else: Prefix ry-