Natively known as: bonsu /ˈbonsu/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
kin ta te pen kuhin tanpu kin pen tanyun tensan nen reki hi[alt]
Pronunciation: /kin ta te pen ˈkuhin ˈtampu kin pen ˈtamjun ˈtensan men ˈɾeki hi/
Bonsuian word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to[/alt]
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d g h j k m n p s t w z ŋ ɾ
[font]Click IPA symbols for audio [img]
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|
| Nasal | m | n | | ŋ | |
| Stop | p b | t d | | k g | |
| Fricative | | s z | | | h |
| Approximant | | | j | | |
| Tap | | ɾ | | | |
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
|---|
| Approximant | w |
Vowel inventory: a e i o u
| Front | Back |
|---|
| High | i | u |
| High-mid | e | o |
| Low | a | |
Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: No fixed stress
Word initial consonants: b d g h j k m n p s t w z ɾ
Mid-word consonants: b bj d g gj h hj j k kj m mb mj mp n nj ns nt nw nɾ p pj s t w z ŋg ɾ ɾj
Word final consonants: n
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|
| ŋ | n |
| m | n |
| j | y |
| ɾ | r |
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 six 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).
- 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.
| Ergative | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
dosan /ˈdosan/
dog (doing the verb to something)
|
| Absolutive | No affix
dosa /ˈdosa/
dog (doing the verb, but not to something)
|
| Genitive | Suffix -i
dosai /doˈsai/
dogʼs
|
| Dative | Suffix -in
dosain /doˈsain/
to (the/a) dog
|
| Locative | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -an
dosan /doˈsan/
near/at/by (the/a) dog
|
| Ablative | Suffix -un
dosaun /ˈdosaun/
from (the/a) dog
|
| Singular | No affix
dosa /ˈdosa/
dog
|
| Plural | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -an
dosan /ˈdosan/
dogs
|
Articles
Bonsuian has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural |
|---|
| Ergative | a /a/
I
| u /u/
you
| ta /ta/
he, she, it
| bun /bun/
we
| ki /ki/
you all
| sa /sa/
they
|
| Absolutive | kun /kun/
me, I
| son /son/
you
| nin /nin/
him, her, it, he, she
| gi /gi/
us, we
| san /san/
you all
| ben /ben/
them, they
|
| Genitive | tan /tan/
mine
| un /un/
yours
| pi /pi/
his, hers, its
| non /mon/
ours
| nun /nun/
yours (pl)
| da /da/
theirs
|
| Dative | i /i/
to me
| kin /kin/
to you
| kon /kon/
to him, her, it
| ze /ze/
to us
| dan /dan/
to you all
| ka /ka/
to them
|
| Locative | run /ɾun/
at me
| on /on/
at you
| he /he/
at him, her, it
| ga /ga/
at us
| zen /zen/
at you all
| nin /min/
at them
|
| Ablative | ku /ku/
from me
| ken /ken/
from you
| ne /me/
from him, her, it
| yun /jun/
from us
| ri /ɾi/
from you all
| ko /ko/
from them
|
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular | ra /ɾa/
my
|
| 2nd singular | hen /hen/
your
|
| 3rd singular | pen /pen/
his, her, its
|
| 1st plural | zu /zu/
our
|
| 2nd plural | ku /ku/
your (pl)
|
| 3rd plural | sun /sun/
their
|
Verbs
| Present | Past |
|---|
| 1st person | Suffix -an
sakian /saˈkian/
(I/we) learn
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -an
sakin /ˈsakin/
(I/we) learned
|
| 2nd person | No affix
saki /ˈsaki/
(you/you all) learn
| Suffix -u
sakiu /ˈsakiu/
(you/you all) learned
|
| 3rd person | No affix
saki /ˈsaki/
(he/she/it/they) learn
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -un
sakin /saˈkin/
(he/she/it/they) learned
|
Bonsuian uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
| Future | Particle before the verb: nan -
nan saki /nan saˈki/
will learn
|
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.
Bonsuian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect | Suffix -u
sakiu /ˈsakiu/
have learned
|
Numbers
Bonsuian has a base-10 number system:
1 -
e
2 -
ra
3 -
pen
4 -
nan
5 -
binta
6 -
re
7 -
wan
8 -
ken
9 -
un
10 -
ri
11 -
e kin ri “one and ten”
100 -
giyu “hundred”
101 -
giyu kin e “hundred and one”
200 -
ra giyu
1000 -
nonba “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -en
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -in
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -en
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -i
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -o
Noun to verb = Suffix -i
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -an
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -an
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -a
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -un
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -on
Diminutive = Suffix -on
Augmentative = Suffix -a
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