Urchin

Natively known as: imkúth /ˈimkyth/

  ...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
uk gus ba leb úttu dri uk leb lag rorchyh virg erg eb
Pronunciation: /uk gus ba leb ˈyttu dri uk leb lag rorch virg erg eb/
Imkúthi word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to  

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: b c d f g h j k l m n p r s t v w z  
↓Manner/Place→BilabialLabiodentalAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasal m n
Stop b p d t c g k
Fricative v f s z h
Approximant j
Trill r
Lateral approximant l
Co-articulated phonemes  
↓Manner/Place→Labial-velar
Approximant w
Vowel inventory: a e i o u y  
FrontBack
High i y u
High-mid e o
Low a
Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ?   Spelling rules:  
PronunciationSpelling
y
c chy
j y

Grammar

  Main word order: Subject Object Verb (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary the door opened with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?  

Nouns

  Nouns have six 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 is in town.
  • Ablative is movement away from something: man walks from town.
Nominative No affix
yulvúdru /julˈvydru/ dog (doing the verb)
Accusative Prefix e-
eyulvúdru /ˌejulˈvydru/ (verb done to) dog
Genitive If starts with vowel: Prefix r-
Else: Prefix ro-
royulvúdru /ˌrojulˈvydru/ dogʼs
Dative Prefix a-
ayulvúdru /ˌajulˈvydru/ to (the/a) dog
Locative If starts with vowel: Prefix g-
Else: Prefix gy-
gúyulvúdru /ˌgyjulˈvydru/ near/at/by (the/a) dog
Ablative If starts with vowel: Prefix kr-
Else: Prefix kro-
kroyulvúdru /ˌkrojulˈvydru/ from (the/a) dog
Singular No affix
yulvúdru /julˈvydru/ dog
Plural Prefix wu-
wuyulvúdru /ˌwujulˈvydru/ dogs

Articles

  Imkúthi has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
 

Pronouns

 
NominativeAccusativeGenitiveDativeLocativeAblative
1st singular lu /lu/ I dro /dro/ me erk /erk/ mine ghik /ghik/ to me rot /rot/ at me eb /eb/ from me
2nd singular la /la/ you arnk /arnk/ you girg /girg/ yours wa /wa/ to you yok /jok/ at you fank /fank/ from you
3rd singular masc gus /gus/ he, it bob /bob/ him, it o /o/ his, its drúrk /dryrk/ to him, at it virk /virk/ at him, at it lúnk /lynk/ from him, from it
3rd singular fem u /u/ she, it fli /fli/ her, it kra /kra/ hers, its /y/ to her, at it gi /gi/ at her, at it re /re/ from her, from it
1st plural flu /flu/ we vu /vu/ us ya /ja/ ours porchyh /porch/ to us ga /ga/ at us ri /ri/ from us
2nd plural vi /vi/ you all gab /gab/ you all fla /fla/ yours (pl) pash /pash/ to you all út /yt/ at you all perk /perk/ from you all
3rd plural bú /by/ they menk /menk/ them ni /ni/ theirs kle /kle/ to them nis /nis/ at them dre /dre/ from them

Possessive determiners

 
1st singular no /no/ my
2nd singular nek /nek/ your
3rd singular masc leb /leb/ his
3rd singular fem vush /vush/ her
1st plural /y/ our
2nd plural ri /ri/ your (pl)
3rd plural dro /dro/ their

Verbs

 
Present No affix
flez /flez/ learn
Past Prefix po-
poflez /ˈpoflez/ learned
Remote past If starts with vowel: Prefix b-
Else: Prefix bi-
biflez /ˈbiflez/ learned (long ago)
Imkúthi uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
Future Particle before the verb: bunk -
bunk flez /bunk flez/ will learn

Numbers

  Imkúthi has a base-10 number system:   1 - ma
2 - chyhúwg
3 - a
4 - ra
5 - les
6 - go
7 - fú
8 - asank
9 - dro
10 - úg
100 - vese
1000 - ron
 

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = Suffix -urch
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ish
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -as
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -ok
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -ak
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -wg
Else: Suffix -awg
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -kche
Else: Suffix -ukche
Tending to = Prefix jo-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -y
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix e-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -ak
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -i
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix le-
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -rg
Else: Suffix -org

Dictionary

3131 Words.
Common Female Names
Angbi, Non, Horbli, Omkú, Chyhadu, Roga
Common Male Names
Hoth, Goak, Klin, Ragtúrg, Hornk, Raknok