BUILD YOUR OWN WORLD Like what you see? Become the Master of your own Universe!

Iakali

LANGUAGE FAMILY: ERELIC   # SPEAKERS / WORLD RANKING: 2.7M / #19   SPOKEN IN: Arlos - 2.5M / Del - 200K   PERIOD OF USE:   SCRIPT USED:   PARENT LANGUAGE:  
  "...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..."   Translation: ge ni vulé cő jémöo vuölcsz ge cő nöntő öe vuurmá kie cszü   Pronunciation: gɛ ni vuˈleː ʦøː jeːˈmøo vuˈølʧ gɛ ʦøː nønˈtøː øˈe vuˈurmaː kiˈe ʧy     Iakali word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to  

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: /b d f g h j k l m n p r t v z ɟ ɲ ʃ ʦ ʧ/  
↓Manner/Place→BilabialLabiodentalAlveolarPalato-alveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalmnɲ
Stopp bt dɟk g
Affricateʦʧ
Fricativef vzʃh
Approximantj
Trillr
Lateral approximantl
  Vowel inventory: /aː eː i iː o oː u uː y yː ø øː ɒ ɛ/  
FrontBack
Highi iː y yːu uː
High-mideː ø øːo oː
Low-midɛ
Lowɒ
  Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Second — stress is on the second syllable
Word initial consonants: b, d, f, fr, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, pr, r, t, v, z, ɟ, ɲ, ʃ, ʦ, ʧ
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, bl, br, d, dv, f, g, gf, gh, gl, h, j, jt, k, kk, kʃ, l, ld, lg, lh, lj, lk, ll, lm, ln, lr, lt, ltʃ, lv, lʃ, m, mb, mʃ, n, nd, ndt, ng, ngz, nk, nl, nn, nt, nʃ, p, pv, pʃ, r, rd, rf, rg, rj, rk, rl, rm, rn, rr, rt, rtʃ, rv, rʃ, t, tk, tl, tm, tʃ, v, z, zd, zk, zl, zn, zt, zz, ɟ, ɟʃ, ɲ, ʃ, ʃk, ʃl, ʃt, ʃʃ, ʦ, ʧ
Word final consonants: N/A   Phonological changes (in order of application):  
  • h → ∅ / V_
  • t → ʧ / _[+front]
  • l → ɫ / V_V
  Spelling rules:  
PronunciationSpelling
ɒa
á
ʦc
ʧcs
ɛe
é
ɟgy
í
ɲny
ó
øːő
øö
ssz
ʒzs
ʃs
ú
ű
yü
 

Grammar

  Main word order: Subject Object Verb (Prepositional phrase).
"Mary opened the door with a key" turns into Mary the door opened with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions  

Nouns

  Nouns have four 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.
  • Dative is the recipeint of something: man gives ball to dog.
  Nouns form plural with separate plural word:
PluralParticle before the noun: fɛ - fe dötoo /fɛ døˈtoo/ dogs
 
MasculineFeminine
NominativeNo affix prúo /pruːˈo/ No affix nüoe /ɲoˈe/
AccusativeSuffix -ɒ prúoa /pruːˈoɒ/ Suffix -o nüoeo /ɲoˈeo/
GenitiveIf ends with vowel: Suffix -d Else: Suffix -yːd prúod /pruːˈod/ Suffix -or nüoeor /ɲoˈeor/
DativeSuffix -uː prúoú /pruːˈouː/ Suffix -ujt nüoeujt /ɲoˈeujt/
 

Articles

 
DefiniteIndefinite
Singularzéns /zeːnʃ/ the ti /ti/ a
Pluralke /kɛ/ the nüa /ɲɒ/ some
 

Pronouns

 
NominativeAccusativeGenitiveDative
1st singularbut /but/ I i /i/ me prú /pruː/ mine í /iː/ to me
2nd singularprí /priː/ you (masc) á /aː/ you ti /ti/ yours nüérd /ɲeːrd/ to you
3rd singular mascni /ni/ he, it e /ɛ/ him, it prűll /pryːll/ his, its /noː/ to him, at it
3rd singular femmall /mɒll/ she, it anc /ɒnʦ/ her, it güe /ɟɛ/ hers, its /laː/ to her, at it
1st pluralge /gɛ/ we o /o/ us höjt /højt/ ours cszó /ʧoː/ to us
2nd pluraltölgü /tølɟ/ you all /zaː/ you all ars /ɒrʃ/ yours (pl) /jaː/ to you all
3rd plural maschul /hul/ they (masc) léng /leːng/ them (masc) ujt /ujt/ theirs (masc) pe /pɛ/ to them (masc)
3rd plural femó /oː/ they (fem) műll /myːll/ them (fem) zi /zi/ theirs (fem) ka /kɒ/ to them (fem)
 

Possessive determiners

 
1st singularralt /rɒlt/ my
2nd singularpűll /pyːll/ your
3rd singular masc /ʦøː/ his
3rd singular femdi /di/ her
1st plural /leː/ our
2nd plurallélgü /leːlɟ/ your (pl)
3rd plural mascpűrd /pyːrd/ their (masc)
3rd plural femci /ʦi/ their (fem)
 

Verbs

 
PresentNo affix vuustal /vuˈuʃtɒl/ learn
PastIf ends with vowel: Suffix -tt Else: Suffix -ytt vuustalütt /vuˈuʃtɒˌlytt/ learned
Remote pastSuffix -uːrt vuustalúrt /vuˈuʃtɒˌluːrt/ learned (long ago)
FutureSuffix -oːɲ vuustalónü /vuˈuʃtɒˌloːɲ/ 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).   Iakali uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:  
ImperfectiveParticle before the verb: oː - ó vuustal /oː vuˈuʃtɒl/ 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.   Iakali uses an affix for the perfect aspect:  
PerfectIf ends with vowel: Suffix -rʦ Else: Suffix -orʦ vuustalorc /vuˈuʃtɒˌlorʦ/ have learned
 

Numbers

  Iakali has a base-20 number system:   1 - prúld
2 - zél
3 - ó
4 - cszüng
5 - ka
6 - a
7 - höbb
8 - ökkö
9 - o
10 - ga
11 - sált
12 - fürt
13 - nüoz
14 - manto
15 - dölcsz
16 - pűgfűzdo
17 - prűnlé
18 - hökó
19 - fers
20 - lézza
21 - lézzaprúld “twenty-one”
400 - prúld séb “one fourhundred”
401 - prúld séb ge prúld “one fourhundred and one”
800 - zél séb “two fourhundred”
8000 - prúld sot “one eightthousand”  

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = Suffix -poi
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -tyo
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix drub-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -ba
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ɒ
Noun to verb = Suffix -
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -jt Else: Suffix -ɛjt
Tending to = Suffix -ɒzt
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -o
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nʦ Else: Suffix -ɛnʦ
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -kyoi
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -sta
Diminutive = Suffix -a
Augmentative = Suffix -pa

Dictionary

4446 Words.

Comments

Please Login in order to comment!