SHU

LANGUAGE FAMILY: SHU
# SPEAKERS / WORLD RANKING: 100K / #63
SPOKEN IN: Dokeen - 100K
PERIOD OF USE:
SCRIPT USED:
PARENT LANGUAGE:

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"...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..."
Translation: nü mʌyø̃büü døi ügbüü døi cʰüllyb nü pɛ̈büü døi kokt güe te ʔɛ̈b
Pronunciation: /nu ˈmʌjø̃ˌbuu ˈtøi ˈugbuu ˈtøi ˈcʰuɮɮyb nu ˈpɛ̈buu ˈtøi kokʰtʰ ˈgue tʰe ʔɛ̈w

Shu word order: and stood he holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: /b c cʰ f g h j k kʰ l l̥ m n p pʰ r s sʰ t tʰ w wʲ x xʲ ɕ ɕʰ ɟ ɥ ɮ ɮʲ ɲ ɹ ɹ̥ ʂ ʂʰ ʃ ʈ ʈʰ ʎ ʔ ʦ ʦʰ ʧ ʧʰ/

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Retroflex	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n				ɲ
Stop	pʰ p b		tʰ t		ʈʰ ʈ		cʰ c ɟ	kʰ k g	ʔ
Affricate			ʦ ʦʰ	ʧ ʧʰ
Fricative		f	sʰ s	ʃ	ʂʰ ʂ	ɕʰ ɕ		x xʲ	h
Approximant			ɹ̥ ɹ				j
Trill			r
Lateral fricative			ɮ ɮʲ
Lateral approximant			l̥ l				ʎ

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-palatal	Labial-velar
Approximant	ɥ	w wʲ

Vowel inventory: /e ẽ ĩ o u y ỹ øi ø̃ ɑ ɛ ɛ̈ ʌ/
Diphthongs: øi

	Front	Back
High	ĩ y ỹ	u
High-mid	e ẽ ø̃	o
Low-mid	ɛ̈ ɛ	ʌ
Low		ɑ

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Word initial consonants: c, cʰ, g, h, j, k, kʰ, l, l̥, m, n, p, pʰ, s, t, ts, tsʰ, tɕ, tɕʰ, tʰ, w, ɕ, ɟ, ɥ, ɲ, ɹ, ɹ̥, ʂ, ʈ, ʈʂ, ʈʂʰ, ʈʰ, ʎ, ʔ
Mid-word consonants: ff, g, gs, gt, gts, gtʰ, gɮ, gʃ, gʧ, j, m, mg, mn, ms, mt, mʧ, mʧɮ, n, ng, ns, nt, nts, nx, nʦʰ, r, rg, rs, rsg, rt, rtɮ, rtʰ, rw, rx, rɮ, rʃ, rʦʰ, rʧʰ, s, sg, sn, sr, ss, stʰ, sɮ, t, tg, tn, tr, tw, tɮ, tʰ, tʰg, tʰɮ, w, ws, wtʰ, wx, wɮ, wʃ, wʦʰ, wʧʰɮ, x, xg, xn, xt, xɮ, ɮ, ɮb, ɮg, ɮs, ɮt, ɮtw, ɮtʰ, ɮtʰg, ɮtʰtʰ, ɮx, ɮɮ, ɮʦʰ, ɮʧ, ɮʧʰɮ, ʃ, ʦ, ʦr, ʦʰ, ʦʰs, ʧ, ʧʰ, ʧʰs
Word final consonants: N/A
Phonological changes (in order of application):

• p → k / u_#
• l → ɫ / V_V
• p → b / m_
• h → ʔ / #_

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
w	b
t	d / !_ʰ
tʰ	t
ʧʰ	ch
ʧ	ch
ʦʰ	c
ʦ	c
kʰ	k
ɮ	l
ʃ	sh
ɔ	o
ɵ	ö
pʰ	p
u	ü
ʊ	u
j	y
ʲ	∅

Grammar

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

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.

Nominative	No affix dyr /tyr/ dog (doing the verb)
Accusative	If starts with vowel: Prefix g- Else: Prefix gu- güdyr /ˈgutyr/ (verb done to) dog

	Animate	Inanimate
Singular	If ends with vowel: Suffix -mʧ Else: Suffix -ɛ̈mʧ nümchøimɛ̈mch /ˈnumʧøˌimɛ̈mʧ/	If ends with vowel: Suffix -g Else: Suffix -øig øinbüüg /ˈøinˌbuug/
Plural	Suffix -em nümchøimem /ˈnumʧøˌimem/	Suffix -e øinbüüe /ˈøinˌbuue/

Articles

Definite	pøis /pʰøis/ the
Indefinite	ʂø̃ /ʂø̃/ a, some

Pronouns

	Nominative	Accusative
1st singular	te /tʰe/ I	mĩ /mĩ/ me
2nd singular	møi /møi/ you (masc)	møich /møiʧ/ you
3rd singular masc	døi /tøi/ he, it	dse /tse/ him, it
3rd singular fem	üm /um/ she, it	me /me/ her, it
1st plural	lɑb /lɑw/ we	ẽd /ẽt/ us
2nd plural	müg /mug/ you all	døid /tøit/ you all
3rd plural	dɕɛ̈ /tɕɛ̈/ they	ɲỹ /ɲỹ/ them

Possessive determiners

1st singular	te /tʰe/ my
2nd singular	møich /ˈmøiʧ/ your
3rd singular masc	døi /ˈtøi/ his
3rd singular fem	üm /um/ her
1st plural	lɑb /lɑw/ our
2nd plural	døid /ˈtøit/ your (pl)
3rd plural	dɕɛ̈ /tɕɛ̈/ their

Verbs

	Present	Past	Remote past
1st singular	Prefix e- epymbüü /ˈepʰymˌbuu/ (I) learn	Prefix øi- øipymbüü /ˈøipʰymˌbuu/ (I) learned	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʂ- Else: Prefix ʂẽ- ʂẽpymbüü /ˈʂẽpʰymˌbuu/ (I) learned (long ago)
2nd singular	Suffix -øi pymbüüøi /ˈpʰymbuˌuøi/ (you) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -w Else: Suffix -ĩw pymbüüb /ˈpʰymbuuw/ (you) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -um pymbüüm /ˈpʰymbuum/ (you) learned (long ago)
3rd singular	Suffix -ẽx pymbüüẽx /ˈpʰymbuˌuẽx/ (he/she/it) learns	If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix pø̃- pø̃pymbüü /ˈpø̃pʰymˌbuu/ (he/she/it) learned	Suffix -o pymbüüo /ˈpʰymbuˌuo/ (he/she/it) learned (long ago)
1st plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -ĩm pymbüüm /ˈpʰymbuum/ (we) learn	If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -ø̃n pymbüün /ˈpʰymbuun/ (we) learned	If ends with vowel: Suffix -kʰ Else: Suffix -ekʰ pymbüük /ˈpʰymbuukʰ/ (we) learned (long ago)
2nd plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʦʰ Else: Suffix -øiʦʰ pymbüüc /ˈpʰymbuuʦʰ/ (you all) learn	If starts with vowel: Prefix p- Else: Prefix pɛ- pɛpymbüü /ˈpɛpʰymˌbuu/ (you all) learned	Suffix -ur pymbüüür /ˈpʰymbuˌuur/ (you all) learned (long ago)
3rd plural	If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -em pymbüüm /ˈpʰymbuum/ (they) learn	Suffix -øib pymbüüøib /ˈpʰymbuˌuøib/ (they) learned	Suffix -ĩm pymbüüĩm /ˈpʰymbuˌuĩm/ (they) learned (long ago)

Shu uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: øi - øi pymbüü /øi ˈpʰymbuu/ will learn

Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.
Shu uses a standalone particle word for progressive:

Progressive

Particle before the verb: ɲe - ɲe pymbüü /ɲe ˈpʰymbuu/ 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).
Shu uses an affix for habitual:

Habitual

If ends with vowel: Suffix -s Else: Suffix -ys pymbüüs /ˈpʰymbuus/ 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.
Shu uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -ẽm pymbüüm /ˈpʰymbuum/ have learned

Numbers

Shu has a base-20 number system:
1 - bo
2 - püm
3 - o
4 - nẽl
5 - mem
6 - mɛn
7 - pø̃m
8 - e
9 - yx
10 - y
11 - telgy
12 - lɑbøi
13 - sẽle
14 - memĩ
15 - kĩc 16 - kẽdøi
17 - ɹɛgch
18 - ʎʌbɛ̈sh
19 - negch
20 - mümøib
21 - mümøib nü bo “twenty and one”
400 - tec “fourhundred”
401 - tec bo “fourhundred one”
800 - püm tec “two fourhundred”
8000 - eb “eightthousand”

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m Else: Suffix -ʌm
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɮʲ Else: Suffix -uɮʲ
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -e
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ts- Else: Prefix tse-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -xʲ Else: Suffix -ĩxʲ
Noun to verb = Prefix pʰøi-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -u
Tending to = Suffix -e
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix kʰẽ-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -en
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix o-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -gʃ Else: Suffix -ɑgʃ
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -s Else: Suffix -ĩs
Augmentative = Prefix e-

Dictionary

4438 Words.