Natively known as: owpii /owˈpiː/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
in poyti pii dlu kii glandop in klablo kii piyniin glati wu pinte
Pronunciation: /ɪn pojˈtɪ piː dlʊ kiː glənˈdop ɪn kləˈblo kiː pɪjˈniːn gləˈtɪ wʊ pɪnˈte/
Owpii word order: and stood he holding hat his and turned his face wet to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d g j k l m n p t w/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
| Nasal |
m |
n |
|
|
| Stop |
p b |
t d |
|
k g |
| Approximant |
|
|
j |
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
l |
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labial-velar |
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: /aː e eː iː o oː uː ə ɪ ʊ/
|
Front |
Central |
Back |
| High |
iː |
|
uː |
| Near-high |
ɪ |
|
ʊ |
| High-mid |
e eː |
|
oː o |
| Mid |
|
ə |
|
| Low |
aː |
|
|
Syllable structure: (C)(C)V(C)
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable
Word initial consonants: b, bn, dl, dn, g, gl, j, k, kj, kl, kn, l, lj, m, ml, n, nl, p, pj, t, tj, tm, w
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, bj, bl, bn, d, dd, dm, dn, g, gd, gw, j, jb, jj, jk, jl, jm, jn, jt, k, kb, kd, kj, km, l, ll, lm, lp, lw, m, mb, md, mg, mk, ml, mm, mn, mp, n, nd, ng, nm, nn, nt, nw, p, pk, pl, pp, t, tb, tn, tp, tt, tw, w, wd, wk, wm, wp
Word final consonants: b, d, g, k, l, m, n, p, t
Phonological changes (in order of application):
- p → pʼ / _#
- V → [+long] / _#
- j → ɹ / V_V
- t → d / _V
- V → [+round] / _o
- w → v / #_
- b → v / _V
- j → g / _#
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| ɪ |
i |
| ə |
a |
| ʊ |
u |
| j |
y |
| V₁ː |
V₁V₁ |
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 six 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.
Nouns form plural with separate plural word:
| Plural |
Particle before the noun: dle -
dle ogdoog /dle ogˈdoːg/
dogs
|
| Nominative |
No affix
ogdoog /ogˈdoːg/
dog (doing the verb)
|
| Accusative |
Prefix wə-
waogdoog /wəogˈdoːg/
(verb done to) dog
|
| Genitive |
Suffix -oː
ogdoogoo /ogdoːˈgoː/
dogʼs
|
| Dative |
Prefix mlɪ-
mliogdoog /mlɪogˈdoːg/
to (the/a) dog
|
| Locative |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -b
Else: Suffix -ɪb
ogdoogib /ogdoːˈgɪb/
near/at/by (the/a) dog
|
| Ablative |
Suffix -e
ogdooge /ogdoːˈge/
from (the/a) dog
|
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
| Definite |
Suffix -əm
pooam /poːˈəm/ |
Suffix -em
knaagem /knaːˈgem/ |
| Indefinite |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -əm
poom /poːm/ |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -ət
knaagat /knaːˈgət/ |
Articles
Owpii encodes definite article ‘the’, and indefinite article ‘a’ in noun affixes. See Noun section.
Pronouns
|
Nominative |
Accusative |
Genitive |
Dative |
Locative |
Ablative |
| 1st singular |
mlii /mliː/
I
|
mli /mlɪ/
me
|
we /we/
mine
|
ot /ot/
to me
|
nu /nʊ/
at me
|
beb /beb/
from me
|
| 2nd singular |
pye /pje/
you (masc)
|
weeb /weːb/
you
|
beep /beːp/
yours
|
yuum /juːm/
to you
|
poob /poːb/
at you
|
goo /goː/
from you
|
| 3rd singular masc |
pii /piː/
he, it
|
be /be/
him, it
|
yuu /juː/
his, its
|
waa /waː/
to him, at it
|
pim /pɪm/
at him, at it
|
lii /liː/
from him, from it
|
| 3rd singular fem |
pyel /pjel/
she, it
|
boob /boːb/
her, it
|
oo /oː/
hers, its
|
poo /poː/
to her, at it
|
me /me/
at her, at it
|
el /el/
from her, from it
|
| 1st plural inclusive |
aa /aː/
we (including you)
|
tii /tiː/
us (including you)
|
go /go/
ours (including you)
|
mlin /mlɪn/
to us (including you)
|
pe /pe/
at us (including you)
|
nlel /nlel/
from us (including you)
|
| 1st plural exclusive |
lin /lɪn/
we (excluding you)
|
kluu /kluː/
us (excluding you)
|
mlil /mlɪl/
ours (excluding you)
|
ko /ko/
to us (excluding you)
|
ok /ok/
at us (excluding you)
|
it /ɪt/
from us (excluding you)
|
| 2nd plural |
ab /əb/
you all
|
taa /taː/
you all
|
u /ʊ/
yours (pl)
|
o /o/
to you all
|
tyo /tjo/
at you all
|
glu /glʊ/
from you all
|
| 3rd plural masc |
knaa /knaː/
they (masc)
|
wa /wə/
them (masc)
|
ya /jə/
theirs (masc)
|
e /e/
to them (masc)
|
bna /bnə/
at them (masc)
|
nle /nle/
from them (masc)
|
| 3rd plural fem |
yaa /jaː/
they (fem)
|
tyoo /tjoː/
them (fem)
|
klaa /klaː/
theirs (fem)
|
kii /kiː/
to them (fem)
|
uu /uː/
at them (fem)
|
pod /pod/
from them (fem)
|
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
dnob /dnob/
my
|
| 2nd singular |
lyoo /ljoː/
your
|
| 3rd singular masc |
kii /kiː/
his
|
| 3rd singular fem |
weeg /weːg/
her
|
| 1st plural inclusive |
wuug /wuːg/
our (including you)
|
| 1st plural exclusive |
im /ɪm/
our (excluding you)
|
| 2nd plural |
waa /waː/
your (pl)
|
| 3rd plural masc |
me /me/
their (masc)
|
| 3rd plural fem |
e /e/
their (fem)
|
Verbs
| Present |
No affix
gomnuu /gomˈnuː/
learn
|
| Past |
Suffix -ɪ
gomnuui /gomnuːˈɪ/
learned
|
Owpii uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
| Future |
Particle before the verb: nʊ -
nu gomnuu /nʊ gomˈnuː/
will learn
|
Progressive aspect
The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as
I am learning.
Owpii uses a standalone particle word for progressive:
| Progressive |
Particle before the verb: tɪm -
tim gomnuu /tɪm gomˈnuː/
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).
Owpii uses a standalone particle word for habitual:
| Habitual |
Particle before the verb: piː -
pii gomnuu /piː gomˈnuː/
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.
Owpii uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect |
Suffix -e
gomnuue /gomnuːˈe/
have learned
|
Numbers
Owpii has a base-10 number system:
1 -
uu
2 -
oo
3 -
neem
4 -
kiit
5 -
mlaa
6 -
tyo
7 -
pom
8 -
timnii
9 -
gluuyte
10 -
pe
11 -
uu in pe “one and ten”
100 -
uu lyop “one hundred”
101 -
uu lyop uu “one hundred one”
200 -
oo lyop
1000 -
uu boo “one thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -eː
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -p
Else: Suffix -əp
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -oː
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix w-
Else: Prefix wə-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -ol
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix lɪ-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -om
Tending to = Prefix pe-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix lj-
Else: Prefix ljo-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -g
Else: Suffix -eg
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -om
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -m
Else: Suffix -aːm
Diminutive = Prefix tiː-
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -g
Else: Suffix -oːg
Comments