Natively known as: vatash /ˈvataʃ/
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d f g k m̥ n p s t v z ŋ ʃ ʒ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Velar |
|---|
| Nasal | m̥ | | n | | ŋ |
| Stop | p b | | t d | | k g |
| Fricative | | f v | s z | ʃ ʒ | |
Vowel inventory: /a aː e eː i iː o oː u uː ɑ ɑː ɔ ɔː ɛ ɛː/
| Front | Back |
|---|
| High | i iː | u uː |
| High-mid | e eː | o oː |
| Low-mid | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː |
| Low | a aː | ɑ ɑː |
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Phonological changes (in order of application):
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|
| aː | ah |
| ɑː | àh |
| eː | eh |
| ɛː | èh |
| iː | ih |
| uː | uh |
| oː | oh |
| ɔː | òh |
| ʃ | sh |
| ʒ | j |
| a | a |
| ɑ | à |
| e | e |
| ɛ | è |
| i | i |
| u | u |
| o | o |
| ɔ | ò |
| ŋ | ng |
| m̥ | ∅ |
Grammar
Nouns
Noun Groups
Nouns have 4 groups:
- Hard for nouns starting in /p/ or /b/
- Soft for nouns starting in /f/ or /v/
- Volatile for nouns starting in /s/ or /z/.
- Ethereal for nouns starting in /ʃ/ or /ʒ/
Nouns have six cases:
- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
- Dative is the recipeint of something: man gives ball to dog.
- Locative is the location of something: man goes to town.
- Instrumental is the use of something: man writes with (using) pen.
- Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.
Nominal Inflections
Add/replace the last consonant in/to the prefixed reduplication of the root syllable with the given consonant.
| Singular | Plural | Collective | Dyadic dual |
|---|
| Nominative | -t
futfuh /ˈfutfuː/ | -ʃ
fushfuh /ˈfuʃfuː/ | ∅
fuh, /fuː,/ | -k
fukfuh /ˈfukfuː/ |
| Accusative | -n
funfuh /ˈfunfuː/ | -ŋ
fungfuh /ˈfuŋfuː/ | ∅
fuh, /fuː,/ | -k
fukfuh /ˈfukfuː/ |
| Dative | -g
fugfuh /ˈfugfuː/ | -ʒ
fujfuh /ˈfuʒfuː/ | -b
fubfuh /ˈfubfuː/ | -d
fudfuh /ˈfudfuː/ |
| Locative | -s
fusfuh /ˈfusfuː/ | -z
fuzfuh /ˈfuzfuː/ | -f
fuffuh /ˈfuffuː/ | -d
fudfuh /ˈfudfuː/ |
| Instrumental | -g
fugfuh /ˈfugfuː/ | -ʒ
fujfuh /ˈfuʒfuː/ | -b
fubfuh /ˈfubfuː/ | -k
fukfuh /ˈfukfuː/ |
| Genitive | -t
futfuh /ˈfutfuː/ | -ʃ
fushfuh /ˈfuʃfuː/ | -f
fuffuh /ˈfuffuː/ | -d
fudfuh /ˈfudfuː/ |
Pronouns
| 1st Sing- ular | 2nd S. | 3rd S | 1. Plu- ral | 2.P. | 3.P. | 1. Col- lec- tive | 2.C. | 3.C. | 1st Dyadic Dual | 2.D.D. | 3.D.D |
|---|
| Nominative | at /at/
| ot /ot/
| it /it/
| ash /aʃ/
| osh /oʃ/
| ish /iʃ/
| a /a/
| o /o/
| i /i/
| ak /ak/
| ok /ok/
| ik /ik/
|
| Accusative | an /an/
| on /on/
| in /in/
| ang /aŋ/
| ong /oŋ/
| ing /iŋ/
| a /a/
| o /o/
| i /i/
| ak /ak/
| ok /ok/
| ik /ik/
|
| Dative | ag /ag/
| og /og/
| ig /ig/
| aj /aʒ/
| oj /oʒ/
| ij /iʒ/
| ab /ab/
| ob /ob/
| ib /ib/
| ad /ad/
| od /od/
| id /id/
|
| Locative | as /as/
| os /os/
| is /is/
| az /az/
| oz /oz/
| iz /iz/
| af /af/
| of /of/
| if /if/
| ad /ad/
| od /od/
| id /id/
|
| Instrumental | ag /ag/
| og /og/
| ig /ig/
| aj /aʒ/
| oj /oʒ/
| ij /iʒ/
| ab /ab/
| ob /ob/
| ib /ib/
| ak /ak/
| ok /ok/
| ik /ik/
|
| Genitive | at /at/
| ot /ot/
| it /it/
| ash /aʃ/
| osh /oʃ/
| ish /iʃ/
| af /af/
| of /of/
| if /if/
| ad /ad/
| od /od/
| id /id/
|
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular | at /at/
my
|
| 2nd singular | ot /ot/
your
|
| 3rd singular | it /it/
his, her, its
|
| 1st plural | ash /ash/
our
|
| 2nd plural | osh /osh/
your (pl)
|
| 3rd plural | ish /ish/
their
|
Verbs
reduplicate root syllable and change first vowel based on the chart
| Present |
bàba /ˈbɑba/
eat
|
| Past |
bàba /ˈbɑba/
eat
|
| Future |
baba /ˈbaba/
eat
|
Numbers
Old Vatashian has a base-10 number system.
Writing System
Verb first then free word order
There are no adjectives, however nouns can work as adjectives when you add them as suffixes onto a noun, these suffixed nouns are never inflected. There is no limit to how many suffixes you can add to a noun. For example "she" /ʃe/ means air, and "fuh" /fuː/ water, so whatever root comes first in the compound noun indicates the primary element, "shefuh" means watery air, an air that has water-like qualities, that could be interpreted as humid air. On the other hand "fuhshe" could be any kind of water that is particularly airy, for example carbonated water.
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