Gaphin
Phonology
Consonants
| Manner/Place | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Velar | Glottal |
| Nasal | n, l | ||||||
| Stop | p, b | t, d | k, g | ||||
| Fricative | f | s, z | ʃ | h, ɦ | |||
| Approximate | ʋ | ||||||
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Click | ʘ | ǀ | ǃ |
Morphology
While gaphin was originally an SOV language, and still is in its most common usage, it's case system allows for a lot of free form and dropping, when deemed necessary. For instance, the usual sentence structure would turn "Mary opened the door with a key" into "Mary the door opened with a key." However, some tribes have restructured toward a SVO format, which would read as the original, "Marry opened the door with a key."
Gaphin is a drop friendly language, meaning that the subject is often dropped when understood. For instance, if you were already discussing what Mary had done, you might just say "The door opened with a key." Because the noun "door" will be in the ergative case, we know it is not the subject of the sentence.
Noun Morphology
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Absolutive | man | bakoe /ˈbɑkoɛ/ | men | Prefix: poi- /poi-/ poibakoe /ˈpoibɑkoɛ/ |
| Ergative | man | Prefix: pa- /pa-/ pabakoe /paˈbɑkoɛ/ |
men | Prefix: põ- /poo-/ põbakoe /ˈpoobɑkoɛ//td] |
| Genitive | man's | Prefix: ou- /oʉ-/ oubakoe /ˈoʉbɑkoɛ/ |
men's | Prefix: n(a)- /n(ɑ)-/ nabakoe /ˈnɑbɑkoɛ/ |
| Dative | to [the/a] man | Prefix: fõ- /foo-/ fõbakoe /fooˈbɑkoɛ/ |
to men | Prefix: us(oe)- /ʋs(oɛ)-/ usoebakoe /ˈʋsoɛbɑkoɛ/ |
| Locative | in/at/by [the/a] man | Prefix: e- /ɛ-/ ebakoe /ɛˈbɑkoɛ/ |
in/at/by [the/a] men | Prefix: k(o)- /k(o)-/ kobakoe /ˈkobɑkoɛ/ |
| Vocative | (Thank you,) man | Prefix: ak(o)- /ɑk(o)-/ akobakoe /ˈɑkobɑkoɛ/ |
(Thank you,) men | Prefix: ak(o)- /k(ʉ)-/ akubakoe /ˈɑkʉbɑkoɛ/ |
Verb Morphology
| Indicative Mood | ||||
| Perfective | Past | Present | Future | |
| 1st.sg | Prefix: p(u)- /p(ʉ)-/ punatoa /ˈpʉnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: i- /i-/ inatoa /iˈnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: koi- /koi-/ koinatoa /ˈkoinɑtoɑ/ |
|
| 2nd.sg | Prefix: ou- /oʉ-/ ounatoa /ˈoʉnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: e- /ɛ-/ enatoa /ˈɛnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: ki- /ki-/ kinatoa /ˈkinɑtoɑ/ |
|
| 3rd.sg | Prefix: i- /i-/ inatoa /ˈinɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: n(u)- /n(ʉ)-/ nunatoa /ˈnʉnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: f(e)- /f(ɛ)-/ fenatoa /fɛˈnɑtoɑ/ |
1st.pl | Prefix: f(i)- /f(i)-/ phinatoa /fiˈnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: g(e)- /g(ɛ)-/ genatoa /ˈgɛnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: oe- /oɛ-/ oenatoa /ˈoɛnɑtoɑ/ |
| 2nd.pl | Prefix: u- /ʉ-/ unatoa /ˈʉnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: e- /ɛ-/ enatoa /ɛˈnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: n(u)- /n(ʉ)-/ nunatoa /ˈnʉnɑtoɑ/ |
|
| 3rd.pl | Prefix: ba- /bɑ-/ banatoa /ˈbɑnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: p(oa)- /p(oɑ)-/ poanatoa /poɑˈnɑtoɑ/ |
Prefix: o- /o-/ onatoa /ˈonɑtoɑ/ |
Perfect aspect (‘have studied’): Uses the word for ‘finish’ before main verb.
Progressive aspect (‘am studying’): Uses the particle o /o/ before main verb.
Imperative (‘study!’; as a command): Uses the same conjugation as 2nd-person present-tense.
Negation: Prefix on verb: zi- /zi-/ (Tense affixes come between the root verb and the negative affix.)
Deriviational Morphology
Adjective → noun = prefix nou- /noʉ-/
Noun → adjective = If starts with vowel: prefix af- /ɑf-/ ; Else: prefix oiqõ- /oiʘoo-/
Noun → verb = If starts with vowel: prefix if- /if-/ ; Else: prefix eza- /ɛzɑ-/
Verb → noun = prefix ki- /ki-/
Verb → adjective = prefix ke- /kɛ-/
Adjective → adverb = prefix i- /i/
One who Xs (e.g. paint → painter) = prefix ou- /oʉ-/
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = prefix ɑ- /ɑ-/
Diminutive = If starts with vowel: prefix ob- /ob-/ ; Else: prefix okoi- /okoi-/
Augmentative = prefix oa- /oɑ-/
Personal Pronouns
| Absolutive | Ergative | Genitive | Dative | Vocative | ||||||
| 1st.sg | I | o /o/ |
me | or /or/ |
mine | pu o /pʉ o/ |
to me | koi o /koi o/ |
me! | oi /oi/ |
| 2nd.sg | you | an /ɑn/ |
you | ah /ɑh/ |
yours | pu an /pʉ ɑn/ |
to you | koi an /koi ɑn/ |
you! | ian /iɑn/ |
| 3rd.sg | them* | doi /doi/ |
them* | dip /dip/ |
theirs* | pu doi /pʉ doi/ |
them* | koi doi /koi doi/ |
them!* | idoi /idoi/ |
| 1st.pl | we | kin /kin/ |
us | kip /kip/ |
ours | pu kin /pʉ kin/ |
to us | koi kin /koi kin/ |
us! | ikin /ikin/ |
| 2nd.pl | you | oa /oɑ/ |
you | oa /oɑ/ |
yours | pu oa /pʉ oɑ/ |
to you | koi oa /koi oɑ/ |
you! | ioa /ioɑ/ |
| 3rd.pl | they | oin /oin/ |
them | oir /oir/ |
theirs | pu oin /pʉ oin/ |
to them | koi oin /koi oin/ |
them! | ioin /ioin/ |
*Third person pronouns are substituted here for the collective "He/she/it/them" of English as Gaphin does not differentiate genders in pronouns.
Consonant inventory:
/ b d db f g h k kp ks kt l̃ n nd nf ng nt p r s sp st sʋ t tk tɕ z ǀ ǃ ɦ ʃ ʋ ʋs ʘ/
Vowel inventory:
/i o oi oo oɑ oɛ oʉ ɑ ɛ ʉ/
Dipthongs:
/oi, oo, oɑ, oɛ, oʉ/
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