Natively known as: pegdaa /ˈpɛgdaː/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
fi vu rââ eʻâp ul yiij fi ublââ ke rââ vuurbil rââd solfag
Pronunciation: /fi vu rəː ɛˈʔəp ul jiːʤ fi uˈbləː kɛ rəː ˈvuːrbil rəːd ˈsɔlfag/
Pegdaan word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d f g h j k l p r s t v w z ʔ ʤ ʧ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Stop |
p b |
|
t d |
|
|
k g |
ʔ |
| Affricate |
|
|
|
ʧ ʤ |
|
|
|
| Fricative |
|
f v |
s z |
|
|
|
h |
| Approximant |
|
|
|
|
j |
|
|
| Trill |
|
|
r |
|
|
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
l |
|
|
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labial-velar |
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: /a aː i iː u uː ɔ ɔː ə əː ɛ ɛː/
|
Front |
Central |
Back |
| High |
i iː |
|
u uː |
| Mid |
|
əː ə |
|
| Low-mid |
ɛ ɛː |
|
ɔ ɔː |
| Low |
a aː |
|
|
Syllable structure: (C)V(C)
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
Word initial consonants: b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, p, r, s, v, w, z, ʧ
Mid-word consonants: b, bb, bj, bl, br, bs, bz, d, dl, ds, dv, dw, f, fh, fj, fk, fl, fp, fr, ft, fw, g, gd, gl, gs, gw, gʧ, h, hd, j, jf, jj, jr, js, jz, k, kb, kh, kr, ks, kv, l, ld, lf, lg, ll, ls, lt, lv, lw, lz, lʔ, lʤ, p, pk, pp, ps, pʧ, r, rb, rg, rj, rk, rp, rr, rv, rʤ, s, sb, sg, sj, sk, sl, sp, sr, ss, sv, sw, sz, sʔ, t, tg, tj, tl, tp, tʤ, tʧ, v, vb, vg, vj, vv, vw, w, wb, wl, ws, wz, z, zb, zh, zk, zl, zp, ʔ, ʔd, ʔz, ʤ, ʤl, ʤr, ʧ, ʧg, ʧk, ʧl
Word final consonants: d, g, k, l, p, r, t, w, z, ʤ
Phonological changes (in order of application):
- u → ∅ / _a
- s → ɟ / #_
- p → f / V_
- v → p / _s
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| ʔ |
ʻ |
| ɛ |
e |
| ɔ |
o |
| ə |
â |
| j |
y |
| ʧ |
ch |
| ʤ |
j |
| V₁ː |
V₁V₁ |
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:
- Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
- Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
|
Nominative |
Accusative |
| Singular |
No affix
ketag /kɛˈtag/
dog (when doing the verb)
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix si-
siketag /siˈkɛtag/
(verb done to) dog
|
| Plural |
If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jɛ-
yeketag /jɛkɛˈtag/
dogs (when doing the verb)
|
Suffix -aːg
ketagaag /kɛˈtagaːg/
(verb done to) dogs
|
Articles
|
Definite |
Indefinite |
| Singular |
suuw /suːw/
the
|
be /bɛ/
a
|
| Plural |
wâ /wə/
the
|
laa /laː/
some
|
Uses of definite article that differ from English:
- Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:
- Not used for non-specific mass (uncountable) nouns: non-specific means ‘Would you like some (any) tea?’ whereas specific means ‘Some tea (a specific amount) fell off the truck’
Pronouns
|
Nominative |
Accusative |
| 1st singular |
lod /lɔd/
I
|
daar /daːr/
me
|
| 2nd singular |
yuj /juʤ/
you (masc)
|
chog /ʧɔg/
you
|
| 3rd singular masc |
vu /vu/
he, it
|
bâ /bə/
him, it
|
| 3rd singular fem |
kââg /kəːg/
she, it
|
ru /ru/
her, it
|
| 1st plural |
kâ /kə/
we
|
pe /pɛ/
us
|
| 2nd plural |
lee /lɛː/
you all
|
ug /ug/
you all
|
| 3rd plural |
zuuk /zuːk/
they
|
pââ /pəː/
them
|
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
sâ /sə/
my
|
| 2nd singular |
ââ /əː/
your
|
| 3rd singular masc |
rââ /rəː/
his
|
| 3rd singular fem |
lee /lɛː/
her
|
| 1st plural |
fuz /fuz/
our
|
| 2nd plural |
pa /pa/
your (pl)
|
| 3rd plural |
fi /fi/
their
|
Verbs
| Present |
No affix
kiw /kiw/
learn
|
| Past |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ʧ-
Else: Prefix ʧaː-
chaakiw /ˈʧaːkiw/
learned
|
| Remote past |
Suffix -iːʤ
kiwiij /ˈkiwiːʤ/
learned (long ago)
|
| Future |
Suffix -əːl
kiwââl /ˈkiwəːl/
will learn
|
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).
Pegdaan uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
| Imperfective |
Particle before the verb: zɛː -
zee kiw /zɛː kiw/
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.
Pegdaan uses the word for ‘already’
zee for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Pegdaan has a base-10 number system:
1 -
loo
2 -
laa
3 -
daar
4 -
duur
5 -
huuzpuudlee
6 -
si
7 -
ho
8 -
chaa
9 -
ip
10 -
biirvij
11 -
biirvij fi loo “ten and one”
100 -
loo vuvvej “one hundred”
101 -
loo vuvvej loo “one hundred one”
200 -
laa vuvvej
1000 -
loo bâl “one thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix zuː-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -g
Else: Suffix -ɛg
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -ap
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -at
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -d
Else: Suffix -ɛːd
Noun to verb = Prefix ɛː-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pu-
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -w
Else: Suffix -ɔw
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -ak
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -t
Else: Suffix -ut
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix lɔ-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -w
Else: Suffix -ɛːw
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ki-
Augmentative = Suffix -i
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