Natively known as: D’usvâm /ˈɗʊsvəm/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
ji tō d’īɦ tō soɦ āk ji tō āszâ ɦâpnon jif b’ūkh næ
Pronunciation: /ʄɪ toː ɗiːɦ toː sɔɦ aːk ʄɪ toː ˈaːszəː ɦəpˈnɔn ʄɪf ɓuːx næ/
Yellow Dragonic word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: /b d f j k m n p s t v w x z ŋ ɓ ɗ ɣ ɦ ʄ ʔ/
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Nasal |
m |
|
n |
|
ŋ |
|
| Stop |
p b |
|
t d |
|
k |
ʔ |
| Implosive |
ɓ |
|
ɗ |
ʄ |
|
|
| Fricative |
|
f v |
s z |
|
x ɣ |
ɦ |
| Approximant |
|
|
|
j |
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labio-velar |
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: /aː e iː oː uː æ ɐ ɒ ɔ ə əː ɪ ʊ/
|
Front |
Central |
Back |
| High |
iː |
|
uː |
| Near-high |
ɪ |
|
ʊ |
| High-mid |
e |
|
oː |
| Mid |
|
əː ə |
|
| Low-mid |
|
|
ɔ |
| Near-low |
æ |
ɐ |
|
| Low |
aː |
|
ɒ |
Syllable structure: (C)V(C) ?
Stress pattern: No fixed stress ?
Word initial consonants: b, d, j, m, n, s, t, v, w, x, z, ɓ, ɗ, ɦ, ʄ
Mid-word consonants: b, bd, bm, bn, bv, bw, bz, d, db, dd, df, dj, dm, dn, dv, dw, f, fd, ff, fm, fx, j, jb, jd, jj, jm, jn, js, jt, jz, jʔ, k, kb, km, kn, kt, kv, m, mb, md, mj, mm, mɦ, n, nb, nj, nk, ns, nt, nw, nɦ, p, pj, pm, pn, pp, s, sb, sd, sk, sp, ss, st, sv, sz, t, tb, td, tf, ts, tt, tv, tx, tz, tʔ, v, vd, vn, vv, vw, w, wb, wk, wm, ws, wt, wx, wz, x, xj, xs, xv, z, zj, zm, zt, zv, zz, ŋ, ŋn, ŋp, ŋs, ŋt, ŋw, ŋx, ŋz, ŋɦ, ɓ, ɗ, ɣ, ɣm, ɣn, ɣw, ɦ, ʄ, ʔ, ʔm, ʔz
Word final consonants: b, d, f, k, m, n, p, s, v, w, x, z, ɓ, ɗ, ɣ, ɦ, ʄ
Phonological changes (in order of application): ?
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| ([aeiou])(?=ᴅ*ː) |
$1̄ |
| j |
y |
| x |
kh |
| ŋ |
ng |
| ɐ |
a |
| ɒ |
ô |
| ɓ |
b’ |
| ɔ |
o |
| ɗ |
d’ |
| ə |
â |
| ɣ |
g |
| ɪ |
i |
| ʄ |
j |
| ʊ |
u |
| ʔ |
ʻ |
| ː |
|
Grammar
Main word order: Subject-Object-Verb-Oblique. "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 two cases:
- Ergative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man. However, the ergative affix is only applied if there is an absolutive in the sentence.
- Absolutive is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
|
Ergative |
Absolutive |
| Singular |
Prefix ə-
âtofdu /əˈtɔfdʊ/
dog (doing the verb to something) |
No affix
tofdu /ˈtɔfdʊ/
dog (doing the verb not to something) |
| Plural |
Prefix vɒ-
vôtofdu /vɒtɔfˈdʊ/
dogs (doing the verb to something) |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -x
Else: Suffix -ex
tofdukh /ˈtɔfdʊx/
dogs (doing the verb not to something) |
Articles
| Definite |
ɦūb /ɦuːb/
the |
| Indefinite |
yæb’ /jæɓ/
a, some |
Pronouns
|
Ergative |
Absolutive |
| 1st singular |
d’ī /ɗiː/
I |
yôg /jɒɣ/
me, I |
| 2nd singular |
b’ūb /ɓuːb/
you |
ud /ʊd/
you |
| 3rd singular |
tō /toː/
he, she, it |
dod’ /dɔɗ/
him, her, it, he, she |
| 1st plural |
b’og /ɓɔɣ/
we |
yūf /juːf/
us, we |
| 2nd plural |
næ /næ/
you (all) |
tīd /tiːd/
you (all) |
| 3rd plural |
āv /aːv/
they |
sā /saː/
them, they |
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular |
d’ī /ɗiː/
my |
| 2nd singular |
b’ūb /ɓuːb/
your |
| 3rd singular |
tō /toː/
his, her, its |
| 1st plural |
b’og /ɓɔɣ/
our |
| 2nd plural |
b’ūb /ɓuːb/
your |
| 3rd plural |
āv /aːv/
their |
Verbs
|
Present |
Past |
Remote past |
Future |
| 1st singular |
No affix
khām /xaːm/
(I) study |
If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix taː-
tākhām /ˈtaːxaːm/
(I) studied |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -k
Else: Suffix -aːk
khāmāk /xaːˈmaːk/
(I) studied (long ago) |
Suffix -ʊ
khāmu /xaːˈmʊ/
(I) will study |
| 2nd singular |
No affix
khām /xaːm/
(you) study |
Suffix -ɔ
khāmo /xaːˈmɔ/
(you) studied |
Prefix æ-
ækhām /ˈæxaːm/
(you) studied (long ago) |
If starts with vowel: Prefix uːdf-
Else: Prefix uːdfɪ-
ūdfikhām /uːdˈfɪxaːm/
(you) will study |
| 3rd singular |
No affix
khām /xaːm/
(he/she/it) studies |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -b
Else: Suffix -ʊb
khāmub /ˈxaːmʊb/
(he/she/it) studied |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -s
Else: Suffix -ʊs
khāmus /ˈxaːmʊs/
(he/she/it) studied (long ago) |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʄ
Else: Suffix -əʄ
khāmâj /xaːˈməʄ/
(he/she/it) will study |
| 1st plural |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ddaː
Else: Suffix -ɪddaː
khāmiddā /xaːmɪdˈdaː/
(we) study |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ək-
Else: Prefix əkʊ-
âkukhām /əkʊˈxaːm/
(we) studied |
Suffix -iːz
khāmīz /ˈxaːmiːz/
(we) studied (long ago) |
If starts with vowel: Prefix ətʔ-
Else: Prefix ətʔuː-
âtʻūkhām /ətˈʔuːxaːm/
(we) will study |
| 2nd plural |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -baː
Else: Suffix -əbaː
khāmâbā /xaːˈməbaː/
(you all) study |
Prefix iː-
īkhām /ˈiːxaːm/
(you all) studied |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɣ
Else: Suffix -ɒɣ
khāmôg /xaːˈmɒɣ/
(you all) studied (long ago) |
Suffix -oːn
khāmōn /ˈxaːmoːn/
(you all) will study |
| 3rd plural |
No affix
khām /xaːm/
(they) study |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -d
Else: Suffix -aːd
khāmād /ˈxaːmaːd/
(they) studied |
Suffix -æx
khāmækh /xaːˈmæx/
(they) studied (long ago) |
If ends with vowel: Suffix -x
Else: Suffix -əːx
khāmâkh /ˈxaːməːx/
(they) will study |
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.
Yellow Dragonic uses the word for ‘finish’ nupæ for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Yellow Dragonic has a base-20 number system:
1 - wab
2 - ɦe
3 - dāj
4 - yi
5 - æ
6 - nu
7 - d’æ
8 - ɦūkhvus
9 - ā
10 - wâɦ
11 - uâ
12 - ɦâbzâ
13 - wânâɦ
14 - vôzzuz
15 - yôtæ
16 - temafdæ
17 - vâw
18 - b’esôngzæb
19 - yômbān
20 - wâddawsāk
21 - wâddawsākwab “twenty-one”
400 - khīɦ “fourhundred”
401 - khīɦ ji wab “fourhundred and one”
800 - ɦe khīɦ “two fourhundred”
8000 - wa “eightthousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix en-
Else: Prefix enə-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɪb-
Else: Prefix ɪbaː-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix æɓ-
Else: Prefix æɓɔ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix z-
Else: Prefix zɐ-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix diː-
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix b-
Else: Prefix baː-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix tʊ-
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Prefix ɓe-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix tʊ-
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = Prefix iː-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ə-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix uːŋn-
Else: Prefix uːŋnæ-
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix toː-
Augmentative = Prefix ɪ-
