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Vithari

LANGUAGE FAMILY: ERELIC   # SPEAKERS / WORLD RANKING: 1.4M / #28   SPOKEN IN: Beurin - 1M / Bim - 400K   PERIOD OF USE:   SCRIPT USED:   PARENT LANGUAGE:  
  "...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind..."   Translation: mkha˩ sa˩ sa˩ nhli˩y msa˩bɾa˩ i˩y mkha˩ ka˩y mza˩ sa˩ ka˩gh ca˩ck tsu˩bsa˩st   Pronunciation: mkʰɒ˩ sɒ˩ sɒ˩ nɬi˩j ˈmsɒ˩bɾɒ˩ i˩j mkʰɒ˩ kɒ˩j mzɒ˩ sɒ˩ kɒ˩gh ǀɒ˩ǀk ˈʦʼu˩bsɒ˩st     Vithari word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned  

Spelling & Phonology

  Consonant inventory: /b bʼ d f g h j k kʰ l m n p pʰ r s t tʰ v w x z ŋ ǀ ǀʰ ǂ ǂʰ ǃ ǃʰ ɦ ɬ ɮ ɲ ɾ ʃ ʎ ʤ ʦʼ ʧ ʧʼ ᵑǀ ᵑǃʼ ᶢǀʼ/  
↓Manner/Place→BilabialLabiodentalDentalAlveolarPalato-alveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalmnɲŋ
Stoppʰ p b bʼtʰ t dk kʰ g
Affricateʦʼʧʼ ʧ ʤ
Fricativef vs zʃxh ɦ
Approximantj
Tapɾ
Trillr
Lateral fricativeɬ ɮ
Lateral approximantlʎ
Clickǀ ᵑǀ ǀʰ ᶢǀʼǃʰ ǃ ᵑǃʼǂ ǂʰ
  Co-articulated phonemes  
↓Manner/Place→Labial-velar
Approximantw
  Vowel inventory: /i u ɒ ɔ ɛ/   Tones: ˩  
FrontBack
Highiu
Low-midɛɔ
Lowɒ
  Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, bj, bʼ, d, f, g, h, j, k, kw, kʰ, kʰw, l, lw, m, mb, mf, mkʰ, ml, mn, mp, ms, mz, mɬ, mɮ, mɲ, n, nd, ng, nt, nz, nǂ, nɬ, nɮ, p, pl, pʰ, s, t, tʰ, v, w, z, zw, ŋk, ǀ, ǀʰ, ǂ, ǂʰ, ǃ, ǃʰ, ǃʰw, ɦ, ɬ, ɲ, ɲʤ, ʃ, ʤ, ʦʼ, ʧʼ, ᵑǀ, ᵑǀw, ᵑǃʼ, ᶢǀʼw
Mid-word consonants: b, bl, bs, bx, bɾ, d, dɾ, f, g, gl, gn, gɾ, k, ks, kt, kw, kɾ, l, lb, ld, ldɾ, lg, lk, lm, lp, ls, lt, lɾ, m, mb, mbɾ, mp, mpl, mpɾ, n, nb, nd, ndɾ, nf, ng, ngl, ngɾ, nk, nkl, nkɾ, nm, ns, nstɾ, nt, ntɾ, p, ps, pt, pɾ, r, s, sd, sg, sgɾ, sk, skɾ, sl, sm, sp, st, stɾ, t, tɾ, x, xp, xpl, xs, xtɾ, ɲ, ɾ, ɾb, ɾd, ɾf, ɾg, ɾk, ɾl, ɾm, ɾn, ɾp, ɾpɾ, ɾs, ɾt, ɾx, ɾʧ, ʎ, ʧ
Word final consonants: f, ff, gh, j, l, ll, n, ng, nt, p, r, ss, st, t, wn, ǀ, ǀk   Phonological changes (in order of application):  
  • p → b / m_
  • j → d / #_
  • w → b / #_
  • p → b / V_V
  Spelling rules:  
PronunciationSpelling
bh
ᵑǀʱngc
ᵑǃʱngq
ᵑǂʱngx
ɲʧʼntsh
ʧʼtsh
ᶢǃʱgq
ᶢǂʱgx
ᶢǀʱgc
ᵑǂnx
ǂʰxh
ᵑǃnq
kh
ǃʰqh
ǃq
ǂx
ŋknk
ᵑǀnc
ǀʰch
ǀc
ɮdl
jy
ɲʤnj
ʤj
ɲny
ɦhh
ɬhl
ph
ʃsh
th
ʦʼts
ɒa
ɛe
ɔo
 

Grammar

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

Nouns

  Nouns have two cases:
  • Ergative is the doer of a verb, when the verb is done to something: dog bites man.
  • Absolutive is used in two scenarios: the doer of a verb when not done to something (dog bites), and the done-to of a verb (man bites dog).
  Nouns form plural with separate plural word:
PluralParticle before the noun: kɒ˩ - ka˩ be˩p /kɒ˩ bɛ˩p/ dogs
   
ErgativeIf starts with vowel: Prefix k- Else: Prefix kɒ˩- ka˩be˩p /ˈkɒ˩bɛ˩p/ dog (doing the verb to something)
AbsolutiveNo affix be˩p /bɛ˩p/ dog (doing the verb, but not to something)
   
AnimateInanimate
DefiniteIf starts with vowel: Prefix mkʰ- Else: Prefix mkʰɒ˩- mkha˩she˩ss /ˈmkʰɒ˩ʃɛ˩ss/ Prefix ɒ˩- a˩bu˩ss /ˈɒ˩bu˩ss/
IndefiniteIf starts with vowel: Prefix mɮ- Else: Prefix mɮɒ˩- mdla˩she˩ss /ˈmɮɒ˩ʃɛ˩ss/ If ends with vowel: Suffix -j Else: Suffix -ɒ˩j bu˩ssa˩y /ˈbu˩ssɒ˩j/
 

Articles

  Vithari encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.  

Pronouns

 
ErgativeAbsolutive
1st singularkhu˩ /kʰu˩/ I tsu˩l /ʦʼu˩l/ me, I
2nd singularmla˩ /mlɒ˩/ you ntu˩st /ntu˩st/ you
3rd singular mascsa˩ /sɒ˩/ he, it mdla˩ /mɮɒ˩/ him, it
3rd singular femkwe˩ck /kwɛ˩ǀk/ she, it si˩ /si˩/ her, it
1st plural inclusivega˩ /gɒ˩/ we (including you) ze˩ll /zɛ˩ll/ us, we (including you)
1st plural exclusivemza˩ /mzɒ˩/ we (excluding you) na˩ /nɒ˩/ us, we (excluding you)
2nd plural /ɒ˩/ you all do˩ff /dɔ˩ff/ you all
3rd pluralka˩ng /kɒ˩ng/ they mkha˩ /mkʰɒ˩/ them, they
 

Possessive determiners

 
1st singularkhu˩ /kʰu˩/ my
2nd singularmla˩ /mlɒ˩/ your
3rd singular mascsa˩ /sɒ˩/ his
3rd singular femkwe˩ck /kwɛ˩ǀk/ her
1st plural inclusivega˩ /gɒ˩/ our (including you)
1st plural exclusivemza˩ /mzɒ˩/ our (excluding you)
2nd plural /ɒ˩/ your (pl)
3rd pluralka˩ng /kɒ˩ng/ their
 

Verbs

 
AnimateInanimate
PresentSuffix -ɛ˩l mfo˩ghe˩l /ˈmfɔ˩ghɛ˩l/ Prefix ɒ˩- a˩mfo˩gh /ˈɒ˩mfɔ˩gh/
PastSuffix -ɛ˩ mfo˩ghe˩ /ˈmfɔ˩ghɛ˩/ If ends with vowel: Suffix -gh Else: Suffix -u˩gh mfo˩ghu˩gh /ˈmfɔ˩ghu˩gh/
FutureIf ends with vowel: Suffix -f Else: Suffix -ɒ˩f mfo˩gha˩f /ˈmfɔ˩ghɒ˩f/ Prefix ɔ˩- o˩mfo˩gh /ˈɔ˩mfɔ˩gh/
  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).   Vithari uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:  
ImperfectiveParticle before the verb: mi˩ǀk - mi˩ck mfo˩gh /mi˩ǀk mfɔ˩gh/ 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.   Vithari uses an affix for the perfect aspect:  
PerfectSuffix -ɔ˩ mfo˩gho˩ /ˈmfɔ˩ghɔ˩/ have learned
 

Numbers

  Vithari has a base-10 number system:   1 - qhwu˩
2 - vi˩
3 - nhli˩f
4 - pli˩nt
5 - be˩
6 - ya˩f
7 - msa˩ga˩
8 - ndi˩
9 - mfo˩
10 - i˩
11 - i˩ mkha˩ qhwu˩ “ten and one”
100 - qhwu˩ mhlo˩ “one hundred”
101 - qhwu˩ mhlo˩ qhwu˩ “one hundred one”
200 - vi˩ mhlo˩
1000 - qhwu˩ mi˩y “one thousand”  

Derivational morphology

  Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t Else: Suffix -ɒ˩t
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -ɒ˩n
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -u˩ss
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix ɒ˩-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ɒ˩-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix mɮ- Else: Prefix mɮɒ˩-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix ɒ˩-
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nt Else: Suffix -ɔ˩nt
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -ɛ˩
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n Else: Suffix -ɒ˩n
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ɒ˩-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ng Else: Suffix -i˩ng
Diminutive = Prefix ɛ˩-
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -p Else: Suffix -i˩p

Dictionary

4457 Words.

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