River Clans Tongue

Natively known as: glyby jyzɔ /ˈglyby jyˈzɔ/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
rað stɑ køi̯m kɾɔɾn fɔn ʎɔ køi̯s rað dyʒ nɔns blei̯ ʎɔ køi̯s hy køns
Pronunciation: /rað stɑ køi̯m kɾɔɾn fɔn ʎɔ køi̯s rað dyʒ nɔns blei̯ ʎɔ køi̯s hy køns/
River Clans word order: and stood he holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: b d f g gʷ h j k kʷ l m n p r s t v w x z ð ɣ ɲ ɹ ɾ ʃ ʎ ʒ Click IPA symbols for audio

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m			n		ɲ
Stop	b p			d t			g gʷ k kʷ
Fricative		f v	ð	s z	ʃ ʒ		x ɣ	h
Approximant				ɹ		j
Tap				ɾ
Trill				r
Lateral approximant				l		ʎ

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-velar
Approximant	w

Vowel inventory: a ai̯ e ei̯ i o u y ø œ ɑ ɔ ɛ
Diphthongs: ai̯ ei̯ ?

	Front	Back
High	i y	u
High-mid	e ø	o
Low-mid	ɛ œ	ɔ
Low	a	ɑ

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Grammar

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

Nouns

Inanimate objects are not inherently gendered. Their gender depends on its current use, what constitutes what traditionally depends on the tribe but recently it's become more relaxed, if for no other reason than to avoid arguments. Some are dropping this altogether. The genders are:

• Masc male - food, cooking, brewing
• Fem male - tools, gear, tents
• Neutral - nature, faith, the unknown
• Masc female - textile work, clothing, and materials
• Fem female - buildings and building equipment

	Masculine male	Feminine male	Neutral	Masculine female	Feminine female
Singular	Suffix -ɔr	Suffix -uːr	Suffix -yr	Suffix -uːs	Suffix -ɔs
Plural	Suffix -y	Suffix -y	Suffix -y	Suffix -y	Suffix -y
Dual	Prefix dɔsei̯-	Prefix dɔsei̯-	Prefix dɔsy-	Prefix dɔsɛ-	Prefix dɔsɛ-

Pronouns - Subject

1st person

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	møi̯m /møi̯m/ I (masc)	mɑm /mɑm/ I (fem)	meːm /meːm/ I (neut)
Plural	wøi̯m /wøi̯m/ we (masc)	wɑm /wɑm/ we (fem)	weːm /weːm/ we (neut)

2nd person

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	tøi̯m /tøi̯m/ you (masc)	tɑm /tɑm/ you (fem)	teːm /teːm/ you (neut)
Plural	vøi̯m /vøi̯m/ you (masc) all	vɑm /vɑm/ you (fem) all	veːm /veːm/ you (neut) all

3rd person

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	køi̯m /køi̯m/ he	kɑm /kɑm/ she	keːm /keːm/ it
Plural	gøi̯m /gøi̯m/ they (masc)	gɑm /gɑm/ they (fem)	geːm /geːm/ they (neut)

Pronouns - Object

1st person

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	møi̯s /møi̯s/ me (masc)	mɑs /mɑs/ me (fem)	meːs /meːs/ me (neut)
Plural	wøi̯s /wøi̯s/ us (masc)	wɑs /wɑs/ us (fem)	weːs /weːs/ us (neut)

2nd person

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	tøi̯s /tøi̯s/ you (masc)	tɑs /tɑs/ you (fem)	teːs /teːs/ you (neut)
Plural	vøi̯s /vøi̯s/ you (masc) all	vɑs /vɑs/ you (fem) all	veːs /veːs/ you (neut) all

3rd person

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	køi̯s /køi̯s/ him	kɑs /kɑs/ her	keːs /keːs/ them (neut)
Plural	gøi̯s /gøi̯s/ them (masc)	gɑs /gɑs/ them (fem)	geːs /geːs/ them (neut)

Pronouns - Possessive

1st person

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	møi̯g /møi̯g/ mine (masc)	mɑg /mɑg/ mine (fem)	meːg /meːg/ mine (neut)
Plural	wøi̯g /wøi̯g/ ours (masc)	wɑg /wɑg/ ours (fem)	weːg /weːg/ ours (neut)

2nd person

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	tøi̯g /tøi̯g/ yours (masc)	tɑg /tɑg/ yours (fem)	teːg /teːg/ yours (neut)
Plural	vøi̯g /vøi̯g/ your (masc)	vɑg /vɑg/ your (fem)	veːg /veːg/ your (neut)

3rd person

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	køi̯g /køi̯g/ his	kɑg /kɑg/ hers	keːg /keːg/ their (neut)
Plural	gøi̯g /gøi̯g/ theirs (masc)	gɑg /gɑg/ theirs (fem)	geːg /geːg/ theirs (neut)

Inflected Pronouns

1st person

	To for	Of from
Singular	am /am/ to me	am /am/ from me
Plural	ay /aˈy/ to us	øy /ˈøy/ from us

2nd person

	To for	Of from
Singular	at /at/ to you	at /at/ from you
Plural	av /av/ to you all	ɑv /ɑv/ from you all

3rd person

	To for	Of from
Singular	ak /ak/ to them	ak /ak/ from them
Plural	ag /ag/ to them all	ag /ag/ from them all

Articles

Definite	ʎyð /ʎyð/ the
Indefinite	tɔ /tɔ/ a, some

Verb Conjugations

Verbs translate to the act of doing the verb e.g. the act of being instead of to be. Allowing the verb to be a noun when in the infinitive form (what shows in the dictionary) and for nouns to become verbs by conjugation. Conjugations are regular and follow the tables below.

Indicative (facts, statements, or questions)- Present tense

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Singular	Suffix -an bɾønsan /ˈbɾønsan/	Suffix -ɛz bɾønsøʒ /ˈbɾønsøʒ/	No affix bɾøns /bɾøns/
Plural	Suffix -oːmp bɾønsump /ˈbɾønsump/	Suffix -it bɾønsit /ˈbɾønsit/	Suffix -ɔnt bɾønsɔnt /ˈbɾønsɔnt/

Indicative (facts, statements, or questions) - imperfect (started in the past but ongoing)

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Singular	Suffix -ɛn bɾønsøn /bɾønˈsøn/	Suffix -ɛs bɾønsøs /bɾønˈsøs/	Suffix -ɛ bɾønsø /bɾønˈsø/
Plural	Suffix -ɛmp bɾønsømp /ˈbɾønsømp/	Suffix -ɛx bɾønsøɣ /ˈbɾønsøɣ/	Suffix -ɛnt bɾønsønt /bɾønˈsønt/

Indicative (facts, statements or questions) - preterite (simple past)

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Singular	Suffix -ɪs bɾønsɛʒ /bɾønˈsɛʒ/	Suffix -ʒɤt bɾønsʒyt /ˈbɾønsʒyt/	Suffix -as bɾønsɑʒ /ˈbɾønsɑʒ/
Plural	Suffix -ʒɤmp bɾønsʒymp /bɾønsˈʒymp/	Suffix -ʒɤx bɾønsʒɤɣ /bɾønsˈʒɤɣ/	Suffix -ʒɤnt bɾønsʒynt /ˈbɾønsʒynt/

Indicative (facts, statements or questions) - pluperfect (something that happened earlier than preterite)

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Singular	Suffix -iːn bɾønsei̯n /ˈbɾønsei̯n/	Suffix -iː bɾønsei̯ /ˈbɾønsei̯/	Suffix -oː bɾønsu /bɾønˈsu/
Plural	Suffix -iːmp bɾønsei̯mp /ˈbɾønsei̯mp/	Suffix -oːt bɾønsut /ˈbɾønsut/	Suffix -iːnt bɾønsei̯nt /ˈbɾønsei̯nt/

Subjunctive (wish, emotion, judgement) - present

	2nd person	3rd person
Singular	Suffix -jɛs bɾønsjøs /ˈbɾønsjøs/	Suffix -jɛ bɾønsjø /bɾønˈsjø/
Plural	Suffix -jɛx bɾønsjøɣ /ˈbɾønsjøɣ/	Suffix -jɛnt bɾønsjønt /ˈbɾønsjønt/

Imperative

	2nd person	3rd person
Singular	Suffix -ɛˑt bɾønsøt /ˈbɾønsøt/	Suffix -ɛˑnt bɾønsønt /ˈbɾønsønt/
Plural	Suffix -iˑt bɾønsit /ˈbɾønsit/	Suffix -iˑnt bɾønsint /ˈbɾønsint/

Future tense

The future tense is created by using a particle followed by the subjunctive present for the verb to want to use.

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Singular	dɔvøn /ˈdɔvøn/	dɔvøʒ /ˈdɔvøʒ/	dɔvø /ˈdɔvø/
Plural	dovøn /doˈvøn/	dovøʒ /doˈvøʒ/	dovø /doˈvø/

Initial Consonant Mutation

	Soft	Spirant	Hard	Mixed
p	b	f	-	-
t	d	z	-	-
k	g	x	-	-
b	v	-	p	v
d	z	-	t	t
g	ɣ	-	k	x
ɡʷ	w	-	kʷ	w
m	v	-	ʰm	v

Soft mutations -

• After the following definite and indefinite articles:

1. Most feminine singular nouns
2. Masculine plural nouns denoting people

• After the following proclitics

1. Prepositions
2. The interrogative pronoun "what"
3. The numerals two
4. The conjunctions "when", "or", "while"
5. The adverb "too"

• After the following adjectives and nouns

1. Adjectives following feminine singular nouns
2. Adjectives following masculine plural nouns referring to people

Spirant mutation -

• The mutation occurs following:

1. Possessive pronouns
2. The numerals three, four, nine

• Defective mutations

1. The mutation of t and k occurs following the pronouns "me", "to my" and "in my"
2. Mutation of k occurs following "our"

Hard mutation -

• Possessive pronoun "your (plural)"
• Pronoun "you (singular)", "to your (sg.)", "in your (sg.)"

Mixed mutation -

• The conjunction "if"
• Verbal particle "to"

Numbers

River Clans has a base-20 number system:
1 - lyʊ̯ʒjoːn
2 - dɔs
3 - gɛː
4 - hyydyn
5 - pɑ
6 - styns
7 - dabnɔ
8 - dylɣ
9 - gliʒ
10 - dɾynt
11 - gɔgɾɔ
12 - dei̯
13 - kwyb
14 - kɒːɹ
15 - ɛː
16 - bɾyn
17 - il
18 - poːʒ
19 - ɑ
20 - ky
400 - lei̯n
8000 - hɛːn

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ɛl
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ɑk
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -uːɾ
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -ɪz
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ɑz
Noun to verb = No affix
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -ɛz
Tending to = Suffix -ɑʒ
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = No affix
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -ør
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -ɛz
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ta
Diminutive = Prefix mæn-
Augmentative = Prefix mer-
Opposite = Prefix æn-
Abstract = Suffix -ɛð
Repeat = Prefix das-
Mutual = Prefix kɛv-

Dictionary

4469 Words.

Spoken by

• Clans of the great river