Natively known as: gehen /ˈgehen/
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
zon u ronpo yu nugo bese zon yu giryun sonsun yo bunson kin[alt]
Pronunciation: /zon u ˈɾompo ju ˈmugo ˈbese zon ju ˈgiɾjun ˈsonsun jo ˈbunson kin/
Gehen 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: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
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 four 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.
| Nominative | No affix
yonun /ˈjonun/
dog (doing the verb)
|
| Accusative | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
yonunin /ˈjonunin/
(verb done to) dog
|
| Genitive | Suffix -e
yonune /ˈjonune/
dogʼs
|
| Dative | Suffix -on
yonunon /ˈjonunon/
to (the/a) dog
|
| Singular | No affix
yonun /ˈjonun/
dog
|
| Plural | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -en
yonunen /ˈjonunen/
dogs
|
Articles
| Definite | za /za/
the
|
| Indefinite | pe /pe/
a, some
|
Uses of definite article that differ from English:
- Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
- Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.
- Used for languages: ‘The English’
- Used with place names: ‘The London’
Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:
- Not used for non-specific countable nouns: non-specific means ‘I am looking for a (any) girl in a red dress’, whereas specific means ‘I am looking for a (particular) girl in a red dress’
Pronouns
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative |
|---|
| 1st singular | in /in/
I
| gen /gen/
me
| hin /hin/
mine
| pun /pun/
to me
|
| 2nd singular | he /he/
you
| ne /ne/
you
| ta /ta/
yours
| ya /ja/
to you
|
| 3rd singular masc | u /u/
he, it
| san /san/
him, it
| yu /ju/
his, its
| kon /kon/
to him, at it
|
| 3rd singular fem | wa /wa/
she, it
| kin /kin/
her, it
| a /a/
hers, its
| kan /kan/
to her, at it
|
| 1st plural | ka /ka/
we
| gu /gu/
us
| ro /ɾo/
ours
| o /o/
to us
|
| 2nd plural | bo /bo/
you all
| sa /sa/
you all
| i /i/
yours (pl)
| ga /ga/
to you all
|
| 3rd plural | zu /zu/
they
| e /e/
them
| ke /ke/
theirs
| ri /ɾi/
to them
|
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular | hin /hin/
my
|
| 2nd singular | ta /ta/
your
|
| 3rd singular masc | yu /ju/
his
|
| 3rd singular fem | a /a/
her
|
| 1st plural | ro /ɾo/
our
|
| 2nd plural | i /i/
your (pl)
|
| 3rd plural | ke /ke/
their
|
Verbs
| Present | Past | Remote past | Future |
|---|
| 1st singular | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -en
torunen /ˈtoɾunen/
(I) learn
| Suffix -o
toruno /ˈtoɾuno/
(I) learned
| Suffix -a
toruna /ˈtoɾuna/
(I) learned (long ago)
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -un
torunun /ˈtoɾunun/
(I) will learn
|
| 2nd singular | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -an
torunan /ˈtoɾunan/
(you) learn
| Suffix -an
torunan /ˈtoɾunan/
(you) learned
| Suffix -i
toruni /ˈtoɾuni/
(you) learned (long ago)
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
torunin /ˈtoɾunin/
(you) will learn
|
| 3rd singular | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -un
torunun /ˈtoɾunun/
(he/she/it) learns
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -on
torunon /ˈtoɾunon/
(he/she/it) learned
| Suffix -in
torunin /ˈtoɾunin/
(he/she/it) learned (long ago)
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -un
torunun /ˈtoɾunun/
(he/she/it) will learn
|
| 1st plural | Suffix -un
torunun /ˈtoɾunun/
(we) learn
| Suffix -e
torune /ˈtoɾune/
(we) learned
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -on
torunon /ˈtoɾunon/
(we) learned (long ago)
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -un
torunun /ˈtoɾunun/
(we) will learn
|
| 2nd plural | If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
torunin /ˈtoɾunin/
(you all) learn
| Suffix -en
torunen /ˈtoɾunen/
(you all) learned
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -un
torunun /ˈtoɾunun/
(you all) learned (long ago)
| Suffix -a
toruna /ˈtoɾuna/
(you all) will learn
|
| 3rd plural | Suffix -on
torunon /ˈtoɾunon/
(they) learn
| Suffix -u
torunu /ˈtoɾunu/
(they) learned
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -un
torunun /ˈtoɾunun/
(they) learned (long ago)
| Suffix -en
torunen /ˈtoɾunen/
(they) will learn
|
Numbers
Gehen has a base-10 number system:
1 -
gu
2 -
ru
3 -
yun
4 -
kan
5 -
o
6 -
biho
7 -
ya
8 -
sahin
9 -
ira
10 -
pin
11 -
pingu “ten-one”
100 -
pungunu “hundred”
101 -
pungunu gu “hundred one”
200 -
ru pungunu
1000 -
kingin “thousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -un
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -a
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -an
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -o
Tending to = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -on
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -an
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -in
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -u
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -en
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -n
Else: Suffix -en
Augmentative = Suffix -on
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