...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
e naw sega c͡haw na mobode e mawmu na ap͡si gana bap͡se pa[alt]
Pronunciation: /e nɔ ˈsegɑ c͡hɔ nɑ moˈbode e ˈmɔmu nɑ ˈɑp͡si ˈgɑnɑ ˈbɑp͡se pɑ/
Nazakh word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face the wind to[/alt]
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b c͡h d g k l m n p p͡h p͡s r͡h s t t͡h x z
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Alveolar |
Velar |
| Nasal |
m |
n |
|
| Stop |
p b |
t d |
k g |
| Fricative |
|
s z |
x |
| Lateral approximant |
|
l |
|
Vowel inventory: e i o u ɑ ɔ ɛ
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
i |
u |
| High-mid |
e |
o |
| Low-mid |
ɛ |
ɔ |
| Low |
|
ɑ |
Syllable structure: (C)V
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: b c͡h g k l m n p p͡h p͡s r͡h s t t͡h x
Mid-word consonants: b c͡h d g k l m n p p͡h p͡s r͡h s t t͡h x z
Word final consonants:
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| ɑ |
a |
| ɔ |
aw |
| ɛ |
ë |
| x |
kh |
Grammar
Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into
Mary opened the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions
Nouns
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
| Singular |
No affix
taw /tɔ/
man |
No affix
gugawso /guˈgɔso/
woman |
| Plural |
Prefix gi-
gitaw /ˈgitɔ/
men |
Prefix xi-
khigugawso /ˌxiguˈgɔso/
women |
Articles
| Definite |
mi /mi/
the |
| Indefinite |
lo /lo/
a, some |
Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:
- Not used for non-specific mass (uncountable) nouns: non-specific means ‘Would you like some (any) tea?’ whereas specific means ‘Some tea (a specific amount) fell off the truck’
Pronouns
| 1st singular |
bë /bɛ/
I, me, mine |
| 2nd singular |
c͡he /c͡he/
you, yours |
| 3rd singular masc |
naw /nɔ/
he, him, his, it, its |
| 3rd singular fem |
khi /xi/
she, her, hers, it, its |
| 1st plural |
ni /ni/
we, us, ours |
| 2nd plural |
më /mɛ/
you all, yours (pl) |
| 3rd plural masc |
law /lɔ/
they (masc), them (masc), theirs (masc) |
| 3rd plural fem |
be /be/
they (fem), them (fem), theirs (fem) |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
li /li/
my |
| 2nd singular |
p͡saw /p͡sɔ/
your |
| 3rd singular masc |
na /nɑ/
his |
| 3rd singular fem |
t͡ha /t͡hɑ/
her |
| 1st plural |
me /me/
our |
| 2nd plural |
mi /mi/
your (pl) |
| 3rd plural masc |
e /e/
their (masc) |
| 3rd plural fem |
bi /bi/
their (fem) |
Verbs
| Present |
No affix
p͡hise /ˈp͡hise/
learn |
| Past |
Prefix se-
sep͡hise /sep͡hˈise/
learned |
| Future |
Prefix xe-
khep͡hise /xep͡hˈise/
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.
Gawmiti uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect |
Prefix bɛ-
bëp͡hise /bɛp͡hˈise/
have learned |
Numbers
Gawmiti has a base-10 number system:
1 -
kha
2 -
r͡ho
3 -
gasaw
4 -
p͡si
5 -
i
6 -
t͡hesa
7 -
ba
8 -
khase
9 -
ko
10 -
mu
11 -
kha e mu “one and ten”
100 -
khu “hundred”
101 -
khu kha “hundred one”
200 -
r͡ho khu
1000 -
sënu “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -ne
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -zɛ
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -sɑ
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -kɔ
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix xe-
Noun to verb = Prefix t͡hɛ-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -bɑ
Tending to = Suffix -do
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -t͡hɑ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -r͡hɑ
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -zɛ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix mɑ-
Diminutive = Prefix mɑ-
Augmentative = Suffix -de
