What little we know of Pokiti comes from ruins discoverd in Sindar and relics found within the ruins. There are other languages doubtlessly older, but it is one of the oldest languages known that doesn't have any current speakers. What follows is a fair amount of supposition.
What is known with at least a fair degree of certainty is that there was once a thriving civilization where Sindar lies today. The speakers were most likely some form of humanoid, though with what has been recovered so far, it is impossible to know for sure. Looking at the iconography and bits of writing recovered, it seems that Sindar may not have always been as inhospitable as it is today. The region was most likely an agricultural one with herd animals and tracts of farmland in abundance.
From what we know of Pokiti, it seems to be a decendent of the Avarent language said to be spoken by the gods and first settlers of the land. It is very puzzling that so little remains of a language that appears to have been as prominent at one time. Perhaps some cataclysm befell it's speakers, or perhaps they left and never returned, or maybe they simply stopped using the language, though it seems very unlikely that any society would cease speaking their native tongue altogether.
One of the difficulties in learning more about the language is that many of the relics are so eroded by time and the elements that it is impossible to see what was once written down. What language has been recovered has come from bits of carved stone such as signposts and pillars as no books have yet been found.
Recently an entrance to deeper below one of the runes has been discovered, and there some hope that more will be learned from exploring deeper in the ruins where everything should be more sheltered from the elements and so less susceptible to erosion.
Natively known as: pokiti /poˈkiti/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
me po yo temo puho yishu me shafo yo yo shame yachi yowuwo[alt]
Pronunciation: /me po jo teˈmo puˈho jiˈʃu me ʃaˈfo jo jo ʃaˈme jaˈʧi joˈwuwo/
Pokiti word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned[/alt]
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: f h j k l m n p t w ʃ ʧ
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Nasal |
m |
|
n |
|
|
|
|
| Stop |
p |
|
t |
|
|
k |
|
| Affricate |
|
|
|
ʧ |
|
|
|
| Fricative |
|
f |
|
ʃ |
|
|
h |
| Approximant |
|
|
|
|
j |
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
l |
|
|
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labial-velar |
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: a e i o u
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
i |
u |
| High-mid |
e |
o |
| Low |
a |
|
Syllable structure: (C)V
Stress pattern: Second — stress is on the second syllable
Word initial consonants: f h j l m p t w ʃ ʧ
Mid-word consonants: f h j k l m n p t w ʃ ʧ
Word final consonants:
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| j |
y |
| ʃ |
sh |
| ʧ |
ch |
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 seven cases:
- Ergative is the doer of a verb, when the verb is done to something: dog bites man.
- Absolutive is used in two scenarios: the doer of a verb when not done to something (dog bites), and 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 goes to town.
- Ablative is movement away from something: man walks from town.
- Instrumental is the use of something: man writes with (using) pen.
| Ergative |
Prefix ta-
tapika /taˈpika/
dog (doing the verb to something) |
| Absolutive |
No affix
pika /piˈka/
dog (doing the verb, but not to something) |
| Genitive |
Prefix ʃu-
shupika /ʃuˈpika/
dogʼs |
| Dative |
Prefix ja-
yapika /jaˈpika/
to (the/a) dog |
| Locative |
Prefix hi-
hipika /hiˈpika/
near/at/by (the/a) dog |
| Ablative |
Prefix po-
popika /poˈpika/
from (the/a) dog |
| Instrumental |
Prefix pa-
papika /paˈpika/
with/using (the/a) dog |
| Singular |
Prefix fa-
fapika /faˈpika/
dog |
| Plural |
No affix
pika /piˈka/
dogs |
Articles
Pokiti has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
|
1st singular |
2nd singular |
3rd singular masc |
3rd singular fem |
1st plural |
2nd plural |
3rd plural |
| Ergative |
me /me/
I |
le /le/
you |
po /po/
he, it |
to /to/
she, it |
tu /tu/
we |
wo /wo/
you all |
she /ʃe/
they |
| Absolutive |
ta /ta/
me, I |
i /i/
you |
ti /ti/
him, it |
te /te/
her, it |
wi /wi/
us, we |
e /e/
you all |
la /la/
them, they |
| Genitive |
pu /pu/
mine |
he /he/
yours |
yo /jo/
his, its |
o /o/
hers, its |
yi /ji/
ours |
fu /fu/
yours (pl) |
fi /fi/
theirs |
| Dative |
mi /mi/
to me |
ma /ma/
to you |
fo /fo/
to him, at it |
hi /hi/
to her, at it |
shi /ʃi/
to us |
ha /ha/
to you all |
sha /ʃa/
to them |
| Locative |
lo /lo/
at me |
fa /fa/
at you |
we /we/
at him, at it |
pe /pe/
at her, at it |
ho /ho/
at us |
ya /ja/
at you all |
yu /ju/
at them |
| Ablative |
pi /pi/
from me |
mo /mo/
from you |
mu /mu/
from him, from it |
che /ʧe/
from her, from it |
wa /wa/
from us |
li /li/
from you all |
cha /ʧa/
from them |
| Instrumental |
pa /pa/
with/using me |
hu /hu/
with/using you |
cho /ʧo/
with/using him/it |
chi /ʧi/
with/using her/it |
wu /wu/
with/using us |
a /a/
with/using you all |
lu /lu/
with/using them |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
pu /pu/
my |
| 2nd singular |
he /he/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
yo /jo/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
o /o/
her |
| 1st plural |
yi /ji/
our |
| 2nd plural |
fu /fu/
your (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
fi /fi/
their |
Verbs
|
Singular |
Plural |
| Present |
No affix
tupa /tuˈpa/
(I/you/he/she/it) learn |
Prefix ʃi-
shitupa /ʃiˈtupa/
(we/they) learn |
| Past |
Prefix ʃo-
shotupa /ʃoˈtupa/
(I/you/he/she/it) learned |
Prefix ja-
yatupa /jaˈtupa/
(we/they) learned |
| Remote past |
Prefix lu-
lutupa /luˈtupa/
(I/you/he/she/it) learned (long ago) |
Prefix pi-
pitupa /piˈtupa/
(we/they) learned (long ago) |
| Future |
Prefix pu-
putupa /puˈtupa/
(I/you/he/she/it) will learn |
Prefix fo-
fotupa /foˈtupa/
(we/they) will learn |
Imperfective aspect
The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as
I am learning and habitual actions, such as
I learn (something new every day).
Pokiti uses an affix for imperfective:
| Imperfective |
Prefix wu-
wutupa /wuˈtupa/
learns/is learning |
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.
Pokiti uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect |
Prefix pe-
petupa /peˈtupa/
have learned |
Numbers
Pokiti has a base-10 number system:
1 -
wa
2 -
wi
3 -
li
4 -
ye
5 -
fu
6 -
pe
7 -
mi
8 -
hawu
9 -
masho
10 -
she
11 -
wa me she “one and ten”
100 -
wa pami “one hundred”
101 -
wa pami wa “one hundred one”
200 -
wi pami
1000 -
wa fika “one thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ʧo
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -mo
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix mi-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -li
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -po
Noun to verb = Prefix hi-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -wo
Tending to = Suffix -he
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix fo-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix fi-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix wi-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ʃa
Diminutive = Suffix -ʧu
Augmentative = Prefix ʧi-
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