Grammar
Main word order: Subject Object (Prepositional phrase) Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into
Mary the door with a key opened.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
Nouns
Nouns have four 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.
| Ergative |
If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ku-
kuregbo /kuˈreg͡bo/
dog (doing the verb to something) |
| Absolutive |
No affix
regbo /ˈreg͡bo/
dog (doing the verb, but not to something) |
| Genitive |
Prefix mo-
moregbo /moˈreg͡bo/
dogʼs |
| Dative |
Prefix jo-
yoregbo /joˈreg͡bo/
to (the/a) dog |
| Singular |
No affix
regbo /ˈreg͡bo/
dog |
| Plural |
Prefix ri-
riregbo /riˈreg͡bo/
dogs |
Articles
| Definite |
gba /g͡ba/
the |
| Indefinite |
ro /ro/
a, some |
Uses of definite article that differ from English:
- Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
- Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
- Used with place names: ‘The London’
Pronouns
|
Ergative |
Absolutive |
Genitive |
Dative |
| 1st singular |
khet /kʰet/
I |
me /me/
me, I |
phag /pʰag/
mine |
trar /trar/
to me |
| 2nd singular |
sna /sna/
you |
yat /jat/
you |
hul /hul/
yours |
sa /sa/
to you |
| 3rd singular masc |
nyug /njug/
he, it |
whor /whor/
him, it |
yik /jik/
his, its |
lokp /lok͡p/
to him, at it |
| 3rd singular fem |
gba /g͡ba/
she, it |
myi /mji/
her, it |
ga /ga/
hers, its |
yag /jag/
to her, at it |
| 1st plural inclusive |
phu /pʰu/
we (including you) |
man /man/
us, we (including you) |
who /who/
ours (including you) |
pluk /pluk/
to us (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive |
pra /pra/
we (excluding you) |
maph /mapʰ/
us, we (excluding you) |
yo /jo/
ours (excluding you) |
yaph /japʰ/
to us (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural |
so /so/
you all |
la /la/
you all |
miy /mij/
yours (pl) |
khep /kʰep/
to you all |
| 3rd plural |
kpo /k͡po/
they |
phe /pʰe/
them, they |
tsek /tsek/
theirs |
mye /mje/
to them |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
dni /dni/
my |
| 2nd singular |
ma /ma/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
thyed /tʰjed/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
ku /ku/
her |
| 1st plural inclusive |
mya /mja/
our (including you) |
| 1st plural exclusive |
dla /dla/
our (excluding you) |
| 2nd plural |
niph /nipʰ/
your (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
meg /meg/
their |
Verbs
| 1st singular |
Prefix u-
ulap /ˈulap/
(I) learn/learned/will learn |
| 2nd singular |
Prefix je-
yelap /ˈjelap/
(you) learn/learned/will learn |
| 3rd singular |
Prefix tsu-
tsulap /ˈtsulap/
(he/she/it) learns/learned/will learn |
| 1st plural inclusive |
Prefix tʰjo-
thyolap /ˈtʰjolap/ |
| 1st plural exclusive |
If starts with vowel: Prefix kʰ-
Else: Prefix kʰe-
khelap /ˈkʰelap/ |
| 2nd plural |
Prefix dle-
dlelap /ˈdlelap/
(you all) learn/learned/will learn |
| 3rd plural |
Prefix ja-
yalap /ˈjalap/
(they) learn/learned/will learn |
Ryothnuian uses a standalone particle word for past tense:
| Past |
Particle before the verb: tsu -
tsu lap /tsu lap/
learned |
Ryothnuian uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
| Future |
Particle before the verb: g͡bu -
gbu lap /g͡bu lap/
will learn |
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.
Ryothnuian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect |
Prefix kʰa-
khalap /ˈkʰalap/
have learned |
Numbers
Ryothnuian has a base-10 number system:
1 -
kyud
2 -
ram
3 -
mi
4 -
slopuy
5 -
kho
6 -
slo
7 -
kim
8 -
nlok
9 -
syo
10 -
gba
11 -
gbakyud “ten-one”
100 -
kyud thye “one hundred”
101 -
kyud thye kyud “one hundred one”
200 -
ram thye
1000 -
kyud gu “one thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -i
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -an
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix sha-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -at
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -j
Else: Suffix -ij
Noun to verb = Suffix -u
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix o-
Tending to = Suffix -ik
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -e
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -eg͡b
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -uk͡p
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -e
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix le-
Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix ts-
Else: Prefix tsi-
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