Orcish

Natively known as: Zarmunsch /zaːrmuns/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
snɛib fip fip xyθim lys dryzik snɛib xyħ ʔu fip blill spoːtloːzʔ ħux

Pronunciation: /snɛib fip fip ˈxyθim lys ˈdryzik snɛib xyħ ʔu fip blill ˈspoːtloːzʔ ħux/
Orcish word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned

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Phonology

Syllable structure: Variable
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Word initial consonants: b, bl, br, d, dr, dˤ, f, h, j, k, kl, kr, kʋ, l, m, n, p, pl, pr, q, r, s, sl, sn, sp, spr, st, sx, sxr, sˤ, t, tr, tʋ, tˤ, v, vl, vr, w, x, z, zʋ, ð, ħ, ɣ, ɣr, ɦ, ʃ, ʋ, ʔ, ʕ, ʤ, θ
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, bl, br, d, dd, dr, dˤ, f, fd, fm, fx, h, j, jj, k, kr, kt, kɦ, l, ld, lfd, lk, ll, lp, lt, lv, lɣ, lʋ, lʔ, m, mm, mp, mpj, mt, n, nd, nk, nl, nm, nr, ns, nst, nt, ntf, ntm, ntr, ntsn, ntʋ, ntˤ, nv, nz, nð, nɣ, nɦ, nʋ, p, pk, pl, pn, pt, px, q, qq, r, rb, rbr, rd, rdʋ, rk, rkt, rl, rm, rn, rr, rs, rst, rsx, rsxr, rt, rtn, rtr, rv, rz, rɣ, rɦ, s, sj, sl, spr, st, sx, sxr, sˤ, t, tf, tj, tk, tl, tr, ts, tst, tz, tʤ, tˤ, tˤtˤ, v, vr, w, ww, x, xt, xtx, z, ð, ðˤ, ħ, ŋ, ŋk, ŋr, ɣ, ɣr, ɦ, ʃ, ʋ, ʔ, ʕ, ʕl, ʕt, ʕtˤ, ʤ, θ
Word final consonants: N/A

Phonological changes (in order of application):

• u → o / _k
• m → f / _{n,ŋ}
• k → Ø / _#
• d → Ø / _#
• n → ŋ / _#
• s → h / #_

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Morphology

Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix tˤ- Else: Prefix tˤə-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix sx- Else: Prefix sxi-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix oːlɣ- Else: Prefix oːlɣøː-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix œy-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʕ- Else: Prefix ʕɛ-
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = Prefix eː-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix øːp- Else: Prefix øːpoː-
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Prefix ʃu-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix i-
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Prefix lɑ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix sprɪ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix i-
Diminutive = Prefix kʋʏ-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix θ- Else: Prefix θi-

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Prefixes

un- → not, lacking, opposite of = Prefix høː-

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Syntax

Main word order: Subject-Oblique-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:

• Ergative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
• Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.

Ergative	Prefix ɔ- ɔʔifl /ˈɔʔifl/ dog (doing the verb to something)
Absolutive	No affix ʔifl /ʔifl/ dog (doing the verb not to something)

Singular	No affix ʔifl /ʔifl/ dog
Plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix ətl- Else: Prefix ətloː- ətloːʔifl /ˈətloːʔifl/ dogs

Articles

Definite	zaːq /zaːq/ the
Indefinite	kləft /kləft/ a, some

Pronouns

	Ergative	Absolutive
1st singular	miw /miw/ I	nuŋ /nuŋ/ me, I
2nd singular	ʃurs /ʃurs/ you	mɛk /mɛk/ you
3rd singular masc	fip /fip/ he	slɑuw /slɑuw/ him, he
3rd singular fem	tən /tən/ she	brɛns /brɛns/ her, she
1st plural	wirxt /wirxt/ we	tˤoːq /tˤoːq/ us, we
2nd plural	wirt /wirt/ you (all)	ɣʏl /ɣʏl/ you (all)
3rd plural	ðɑup /ðɑup/ they	mum /mum/ them, they

Possessive determiners

1st singular	miw /miw/ my
2nd singular	ʃurs /ʃurs/ your
3rd singular masc	fip /fip/ his
3rd singular fem	tən /tən/ her
1st plural	wirxt /wirxt/ our
2nd plural	ʃurs /ʃurs/ your
3rd plural	ðɑup /ðɑup/ their

Verbs

	Singular	Plural
Present	Prefix dɛi- dɛiʔin /ˈdɛiʔin/ (I/you/he/she) studies	If starts with vowel: Prefix iʔ- Else: Prefix iʔɛ- iʔɛʔin /ˈiʔɛʔin/ (we/they) study
Past	If starts with vowel: Prefix ɛirr- Else: Prefix ɛirrɪ- ɛirrɪʔin /ˈɛirrɪʔin/ (I/you/he/she) studied	If starts with vowel: Prefix əsˤ- Else: Prefix əsˤu- əsˤuʔin /ˈəsˤuʔin/ (we/they) studied
Remote past	If starts with vowel: Prefix ind- Else: Prefix indɪ- indɪʔin /ˈindɪʔin/ (I/you/he/she) studied (long ago)	If starts with vowel: Prefix sn- Else: Prefix snɛi- snɛiʔin /ˈsnɛiʔin/ (we/they) studied (long ago)

Orcish uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

kʋʏl /kʋʏl/ will

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. Orcish uses the word for ‘finish’ oːlɣøːsɛ for the perfect aspect.

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Numbers

Orcish has a base-10 number system:
1 - vɪm 2 - dˤeːkt 3 - jɪs 4 - sˤaː 5 - ɣrəʕ 6 - sxi 7 - xɑm 8 - kʋʏl 9 - mils 10 - vɪŋkt 11 - vɪŋktvɪm “ten-one” 100 - saːp “hundred” 101 - saːp vɪm “hundred one” 200 - dˤeːkt saːp 1000 - ʃɛst “thousand”

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Phonetics

Consonant inventory: /b d dˤ f h j k l m n p q r s sˤ t tˤ v w x z ð ðˤ ħ ŋ ɣ ɦ ʃ ʋ ʔ ʕ ʤ θ/

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal	m			n			ŋ
Stop	p b			t tˤ d dˤ			k	q		ʔ
Affricate					ʤ
Fricative		f v	θ ð ðˤ	s sˤ z	ʃ		x ɣ		ħ	h ɦ
Approximant		ʋ				j			ʕ
Trill				r
Lateral approximant				l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labio-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: /aː eː i oː u y øː œy ɑ ɑu ɔ ə ɛ ɛi ɪ ʏ/
Diphthongs: œy, ɑu, ɛi ?

	Front	Central	Back
High	i y		u
Near-high	ɪ ʏ
High-mid	eː øː		oː
Mid		ə
Low-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Low	aː		ɑ

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Dictionary

4331 Words.

Spoken by

• Bludjok
• Meshprezu