kunguian (kuŋgu)
Natively known as: kungu /ˈkuŋgu/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...nu pun gun dekaku gisu konru nu reriki nu gun nuro senro gison
Pronunciation: /nu pun gun deˈkaku ˈgisu ˈkonɾu nu ɾeˈɾiki mu gun ˈnuɾo ˈsenɾo ˈgison/
Kunguian word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d g h j k m n p s t w z ŋ ɾ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||
Stop | p b | t d | k g | ||
Fricative | s z | h | |||
Approximant | j | ||||
Tap | ɾ |
↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
---|---|
Approximant | w |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
High-mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ? Spelling rules:
Pronunciation | Spelling |
---|---|
ŋ | n |
m | n |
j | y |
ɾ | r |
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 three 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.
Nominative | No affix
gikon /ˈgikon/ dog (doing the verb) |
Accusative | Prefix e-
egikon /eˈgikon/ (verb done to) dog |
Genitive | If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ko- kogikon /koˈgikon/ dogʼs |
Singular | No affix
gikon /ˈgikon/ dog |
Plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ku- kugikon /kuˈgikon/ dogs |
Articles
Kunguian has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.Pronouns
Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | |
---|---|---|---|
1st singular | kon /kon/ I | hin /hin/ me | bu /bu/ mine |
2nd singular | sa /sa/ you | na /na/ you | non /non/ yours |
3rd singular | pun /pun/ he, she, it | e /e/ him, her, it | ri /ɾi/ his, hers, its |
1st plural | ka /ka/ we | kun /kun/ us | zun /zun/ ours |
2nd plural | pi /pi/ you all | ro /ɾo/ you all | gu /gu/ yours (pl) |
3rd plural | nun /mun/ they | bi /bi/ them | wan /wan/ theirs |
Possessive determiners
1st singular | ka /ka/ my |
2nd singular | ku /ku/ your |
3rd singular | gun /gun/ his, her, its |
1st plural | an /an/ our |
2nd plural | te /te/ your (pl) |
3rd plural | sa /sa/ their |
Verbs
Present | Past | |
---|---|---|
1st singular | If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ku- kahyan /ˈkahjan/ (I) learn |
If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix to- tahyan /ˈtahjan/ (I) learned |
2nd singular | If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix po- pahyan /ˈpahjan/ (you) learn |
Prefix he-
heahyan /heˈahjan/ (you) learned |
3rd singular | Prefix na-
naahyan /naˈahjan/ (he/she/it) learns |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ɾ-
Else: Prefix ɾe- rahyan /ˈɾahjan/ (he/she/it) learned |
1st plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix w-
Else: Prefix wa- wahyan /ˈwahjan/ (we) learn |
If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ke- kahyan /ˈkahjan/ (we) learned |
2nd plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix ma- nahyan /ˈmahjan/ (you all) learn |
Prefix te-
teahyan /teˈahjan/ (you all) learned |
3rd plural | If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jo- yahyan /ˈjahjan/ (they) learn |
Prefix o-
oahyan /oˈahjan/ (they) learned |
Future | Particle before the verb: nan -
nan ahyan /nan ˈahjan/ will learn |
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.Kunguian uses a standalone particle word for progressive:
Progressive | Particle before the verb: ben -
ben ahyan /ben ˈahjan/ is learning |
Habitual aspect
The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (I learned something).Kunguian uses an affix for habitual:
Habitual | Prefix u-
uahyan /uˈahjan/ learns |
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.Kunguian uses the word for ‘already’ izo for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Kunguian has a base-20 number system: 1 - yon2 - nun
3 - bun
4 - ru
5 - henpeni
6 - ya
7 - pun
8 - ke
9 - de
10 - ahe
11 - nonpa
12 - zanson
13 - suryan
14 - banen
15 - nenyon
16 - nuripyan
17 - kura
18 - bungi
19 - yagu
20 - sogo
400 - non
8000 - hi
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix w-Else: Prefix wa-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix nu-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɾ-
Else: Prefix ɾi-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix ne-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -on
Noun to verb = Suffix -i
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -un
Tending to = Suffix -in
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -en
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -i
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -en
Diminutive = Prefix o-
Augmentative = Prefix ki-
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