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Pewanai

LANGUAGE FAMILY: SINNUTIAN   # SPEAKERS / WORLD RANKING: 90K / #67   SPOKEN IN: Jolim - 90K   PERIOD OF USE:   SCRIPT USED:   PARENT LANGUAGE:  
  "...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..."   Translation: quim u il mi meupriaʔ min quim mi uegem oma breh uoco ol   Pronunciation: kim u il mi ˈmœprjaʔ mɛ̃ kim mi weʒm ˈoma bʁeh ˈwoko ol     Pewanai 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 q r s t v w x z ɣ ɥ ɲ ʁ ʃ ʎ ʒ ʔ ʣ ʤ ʦ ʧ/  
↓Manner/Place→BilabialLabiodentalAlveolarPalato-alveolarPalatalVelarUvularGlottal
Nasalmnɲ
Stopp bt dk gqʔ
Affricateʦ ʣʧ ʤ
Fricativef vs zʃ ʒx ɣʁh
Approximantj
Trillr
Lateral approximantlʎ
  Co-articulated phonemes  
↓Manner/Place→Labial-palatalLabial-velar
Approximantɥw
  Vowel inventory: /a e i o u y ø œ ɑ̃ ɔ ɔ̃ ɛ ɛ̃/  
FrontBack
Highi yu
High-mide øo
Low-midɛ ɛ̃ œɔ ɔ̃
Lowaɑ̃
  Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, bj, bl, bw, bʁ, d, dw, dʁw, f, fl, fw, fʁ, fʁɥ, g, gl, gʁ, j, k, kl, kw, kɥ, kʁ, kʁw, l, lj, lw, lɥ, m, mj, mw, n, nw, nɥ, p, pj, pl, pw, pɥ, pʁ, s, sp, st, stʁ, sw, sɥ, t, tj, tʁ, tʁw, v, vj, vw, vʁ, w, z, ɥ, ʁ, ʁj, ʁw, ʃ, ʃw, ʒ, ʒw, ʒɥ
Mid-word consonants: b, br, d, dd, dj, dr, dʣ, dʤ, f, ff, g, j, k, kk, kkj, kkw, l, lk, ll, lm, lp, lt, ltr, lv, m, mb, mbj, mp, n, nd, ng, ngl, ngw, nj, nk, nkw, nn, ns, nsj, nt, ntr, nʤ, nʦ, nʦj, p, pp, pr, prj, r, rd, rj, rk, rm, rn, rr, rs, rt, rtʃ, rv, rʦ, s, sp, ss, st, str, t, tr, tt, ttr, tʃ, tʦ, tʦj, tʧ, v, vv, z, ɲ, ʃ, ʃʃ, ʎʎ, ʤ, ʧ
Word final consonants: b, d, f, g, gr, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z, ɣ, ʃ, ʒ, ʒl, ʒm, ʔ, ʤ, ʧ   Phonological changes (in order of application):  
  • {ɣ,ʁ} → [+stop] / #_
  • t → k / _j
  • wa → u / #_
  • k → ç / _#
  • l → ʎ / _{i,j}
  • r → d / #_
  Spelling rules:  
PronunciationSpelling
ee*4 | er / _#
ksjcti
ksxe / _#
ksx
kque / _#
ktct
skskw
kc / !_{i,e,ɛ}
kqu
dde / _#
t#te
wioui
wɛ̃oin
jɛ̃ien
ɛ̃in
wɑ{a,ɑ}oi
ʒg / _{i,e,ɛ}
ʒmgem
ɥu
yu
ji
ʒge / _#
ʒj
ʃche / _#
ɲgn
e / CC_#
vve / _#
ʃch
ʁr | rd | rt / _#
ʁr
ɔ̃on | om / _#
ɔ̃on
ɔo
ɑ̃an
ɛe
øeu
œeu
wu
 

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 two cases:
  • Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
  • Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
NominativeNo affix biocu /ˈbjɔku/ dog (doing the verb)
AccusativePrefix tu- tubiocu /tuˈbjɔku/ (verb done to) dog
   
MasculineFeminine
SingularNo affix po /po/ man No affix ues /wes/ woman
PluralIf ends with vowel: Suffix -r Else: Suffix -or por /por/ men If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʧ Else: Suffix -aʧ uesaʧ /ˈwesaʧ/ women
 

Articles

 
Definitequi /ki/ the
Indefiniteme /mɛ/ a, some
 

Pronouns

 
NominativeAccusative
1st singularfi /fi/ I mi /mi/ me
2nd singularni /ni/ you (masc) deuz /dœz/ you
3rd singular mascu /u/ he, it uer /we/ him, it
3rd singular femca /ka/ she, it qui /ki/ her, it
1st pluralin /ɛ̃/ we mas /mas/ us
2nd pluralmu /mu/ you all u /y/ you all
3rd plural mascleq /lɛq/ they (masc) uen /wɛn/ them (masc)
3rd plural femsap /sap/ they (fem) mive /miv/ them (fem)
 

Possessive determiners

 
1st singularcu /ku/ my
2nd singularpove /pov/ your
3rd singular mascmi /mi/ his
3rd singular femle /lɛ/ her
1st pluralpab /pab/ our
2nd pluralmop /mop/ your (pl)
3rd plural mascmu /mu/ their (masc)
3rd plural femgeuve /gøv/ their (fem)
 

Verbs

 
Future
SingularIf ends with vowel: Suffix -l Else: Suffix -ɔl lomodol /lɔˈmodɔl/ (I/you/he/she) will learn
PluralIf ends with vowel: Suffix -j Else: Suffix -yj lomodui /lɔˈmodyj/ (we/they) will learn
  Pewanai uses a standalone particle word for past tense:
PastParticle before the verb: ljɛ̃ - lien lomode /ljɛ̃ ˈlɔmod/ learned
  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.   Pewanai uses the word for ‘already’ mes for the perfect aspect.  

Numbers

  Pewanai has a base-20 number system:   1 - in
2 - viem
3 - u
4 - i
5 - ieumil
6 - itin
7 - ite
8 - le
9 - lien
10 - tame
11 - rannep
12 - cantoncuque
13 - oquin
14 - geus
15 - nuf
16 - capo
17 - boquin
18 - bocaq
19 - iba
20 - bodache
21 - bodache quim in “twenty and one”
400 - in ui “one fourhundred”
401 - in ui quim in “one fourhundred and one”
800 - viem ui “two fourhundred”
8000 - in vam “one eightthousand”  

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -s Else: Suffix -is
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix i-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -p Else: Suffix -ep
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix j- Else: Prefix jɛ̃-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix wɛ̃-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix n- Else: Prefix nɑ̃-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -s Else: Suffix -is
Tending to = Prefix u-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix w- Else: Prefix wɛ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -g Else: Suffix -ig
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -p Else: Suffix -up
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix ki-
Diminutive = Prefix i-
Augmentative = Prefix u-

Dictionary

4426 Words.

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