Natively known as: lüskat /ˈlɯskat/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
am düms inpins ta thüts widn am ta khünwa dús winans isʻúlnú thú
Pronunciation: /am ɾɯms ˈinpins ta tʰɯts wiɾn am ta ˈkʰɯnwa ɾɨs wiˈnans isˈʔɨlnɨ tʰɨ/
Lüskati word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /h k kʰ l m n p pʰ s t tʰ w ɾ ʔ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Alveolar |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Nasal |
m |
n |
|
|
| Stop |
pʰ p |
tʰ t |
k kʰ |
ʔ |
| Fricative |
|
s |
|
h |
| Tap |
|
ɾ |
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
l |
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labial-velar |
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: /a i ə ɨ ɯ/
|
Front |
Central |
Back |
| High |
i |
ɨ |
ɯ |
| Mid |
|
ə |
|
| Low |
a |
|
|
Syllable structure: (C)V(C)(C)
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
Word initial consonants: h, k, kʰ, l, m, p, pʰ, s, t, tʰ, w, ɾ
Mid-word consonants: h, hm, hw, k, kh, kl, kʰ, kʰn, kʰw, l, ln, lt, lw, m, mh, mkʰ, mn, mp, ms, mɾ, mʔ, n, nkʰ, nm, np, npʰ, nw, nʔ, p, pk, pl, pn, ps, pt, pʰ, s, sh, sk, sl, spʰ, ss, st, sɾ, sʔ, t, th, tk, tn, tp, tʰ, tʰn, w, wk, wl, wt, ww, ɾ, ɾl, ɾm, ɾn, ɾw, ʔ, ʔɾ
Word final consonants: k, kʰ, l, lk, lt, m, ms, n, ns, nw, pʰ, s, t, ts, w, ɾ, ɾk, ɾn, ɾt
Phonological changes (in order of application):
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| ʔ |
ʻ |
| ə |
e |
| ɯ |
ü |
| ɨ |
ú |
| kʰ |
kh |
| pʰ |
ph |
| tʰ |
th |
| ɾ |
d |
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 seven 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 recipient of something: man gives ball to dog.
- Locative is the location of something: man goes to town.
- Ablative is movement away from something: man walks from town.
- Instrumental is the use of something: man writes with (using) pen.
|
Singular |
Plural |
| Nominative |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -ɨl
tahwitúl /ˈtahwitɨl/
dog (when doing the verb)
|
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ns
Else: Suffix -əns
tahwitens /ˈtahwitəns/
dogs (when doing the verb)
|
| Accusative |
Suffix -ɨ
tahwitú /taˈhwitɨ/
(verb done to) dog
|
Suffix -i
tahwiti /ˈtahwiti/
(verb done to) dogs
|
| Genitive |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾ
Else: Suffix -iɾ
tahwitid /ˈtahwitiɾ/
dogʼs
|
Suffix -ɯ
tahwitü /ˈtahwitɯ/
dogsʼ
|
| Dative |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -ik
tahwitik /taˈhwitik/
to (the/a) dog
|
Suffix -ə
tahwite /ˈtahwitə/
to (the/some) dogs
|
| Locative |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -am
tahwitam /ˈtahwitam/
near/at/by (the/a) dog
|
Suffix -am
tahwitam /ˈtahwitam/
near/at/by (the/some) dogs
|
| Ablative |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾn
Else: Suffix -iɾn
tahwitidn /taˈhwitiɾn/
from (the/a) dog
|
Suffix -ɯɾn
tahwitüdn /taˈhwitɯɾn/
from (the/some) dogs
|
| Instrumental |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾn
Else: Suffix -aɾn
tahwitadn /taˈhwitaɾn/
with/using (the/a) dog
|
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ms
Else: Suffix -əms
tahwitems /ˈtahwitəms/
with/using (the/some) dogs
|
Articles
| Definite |
mú /mɨ/
the
|
| Indefinite |
kiph /kipʰ/
a, some
|
Uses of definite article that differ from English:
- Used with place names: ‘The London’
Pronouns
|
1st singular |
2nd singular |
3rd singular masc |
3rd singular fem |
1st plural |
2nd plural |
3rd plural |
| Nominative |
pem /pəm/
I
|
wü /wɯ/
you (masc)
|
düms /ɾɯms/
he, it
|
hú /hɨ/
she, it
|
ilt /ilt/
we
|
khik /kʰik/
you all
|
kak /kak/
they
|
| Accusative |
hi /hi/
me
|
khi /kʰi/
you
|
se /sə/
him, it
|
le /lə/
her, it
|
i /i/
us
|
khü /kʰɯ/
you all
|
ma /ma/
them
|
| Genitive |
pe /pə/
mine
|
tüs /tɯs/
yours
|
ta /ta/
his, its
|
mi /mi/
hers, its
|
hü /hɯ/
ours
|
weph /wəpʰ/
yours (pl)
|
ets /əts/
theirs
|
| Dative |
ü /ɯ/
to me
|
dú /ɾɨ/
to you
|
hüm /hɯm/
to him, at it
|
tas /tas/
to her, at it
|
hül /hɯl/
to us
|
khim /kʰim/
to you all
|
pes /pəs/
to them
|
| Locative |
thú /tʰɨ/
at me
|
wa /wa/
at you
|
tel /təl/
at him, at it
|
thi /tʰi/
at her, at it
|
pa /pa/
at us
|
dúd /ɾɨɾ/
at you all
|
e /ə/
at them
|
| Ablative |
khúnw /kʰɨnw/
from me
|
khikh /kʰikʰ/
from you
|
düts /ɾɯts/
from him, from it
|
wi /wi/
from her, from it
|
pel /pəl/
from us
|
te /tə/
from you all
|
kams /kams/
from them
|
| Instrumental |
we /wə/
with/using me
|
wes /wəs/
with/using you
|
kha /kʰa/
with/using him/it
|
ki /ki/
with/using her/it
|
in /in/
with/using us
|
khak /kʰak/
with/using you all
|
phiph /pʰipʰ/
with/using them
|
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
pe /pə/
my
|
| 2nd singular |
tüs /tɯs/
your
|
| 3rd singular masc |
ta /ta/
his
|
| 3rd singular fem |
mi /mi/
her
|
| 1st plural |
hü /hɯ/
our
|
| 2nd plural |
weph /wəpʰ/
your (pl)
|
| 3rd plural |
ets /əts/
their
|
Verbs
|
Singular |
Plural |
| Present |
Suffix -ɨ
iwú /ˈiwɨ/
(I/you/he/she) learns
|
Suffix -iw
iwiw /ˈiwiw/
(we/they) learn
|
| Past |
Suffix -ɨnw
iwúnw /iˈwɨnw/
(I/you/he/she) learned
|
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾk
Else: Suffix -əɾk
iwedk /iˈwəɾk/
(we/they) learned
|
| Remote past |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
iwin /iˈwin/
(I/you/he/she) learned (long ago)
|
Suffix -aw
iwaw /iˈwaw/
(we/they) learned (long ago)
|
Lüskati uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
| Future |
Particle before the verb: akʰ -
akh iw /akʰ iw/
will learn
|
Numbers
Lüskati has a base-20 number system:
1 -
ems
2 -
húw
3 -
tesphúnút
4 -
phi
5 -
dü
6 -
thúd
7 -
ewims
8 -
lü
9 -
i
10 -
thúm
11 -
húpsúkadn
12 -
wiwúkh
13 -
thúwútkiw
14 -
tasʻid
15 -
dünwe
16 -
düssúpse
17 -
imkhak
18 -
taü
19 -
dükhim
20 -
phimi
21 -
phimi am ems “twenty and one”
400 -
húwúph “fourhundred”
401 -
húwúph am ems “fourhundred and one”
800 -
húw húwúph “two fourhundred”
8000 -
thün “eightthousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -lk
Else: Suffix -ɯlk
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ts
Else: Suffix -ɨts
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -w
Else: Suffix -iw
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -akʰ
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ik
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ms
Else: Suffix -əms
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾk
Else: Suffix -ɯɾk
Tending to = Suffix -im
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -kʰ
Else: Suffix -ɯkʰ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l
Else: Suffix -ɯl
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -a
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -pʰ
Else: Suffix -əpʰ
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɾ
Else: Suffix -aɾ
Augmentative = Suffix -aw
Comments