# Salt-Yui language

Salt, or Yui, is a Trans–New Guinea language of Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea.

## Basics

The following are some basic examples of phrases and nouns in Salt-Yui:
Basic examples of Phrases :
| Salt-Yui | English translation or meaning |
| yahuno | Basic greeting |
| ere po | Basic farewell |
| na hana ___ | my name is ___ |
| na pimgi | i understand |
| ni han dalo | tell me your name |
| akio | don't touch this |
Basic examples of nouns :
| Salt-Yui | English translation or meaning |
| gànbá | ground |
| kuŕìá | magic |
| há | language |
| hóng | prayer |
| daang | slope |
| owó | yes |

## Pronunciation
### Vowels

The following is how you pronounce certain vowels in Salt-Yui:
* /a/ is pronounced as in father
* /e/ is pronounced as in peg
* /i/ is pronounced as in tin
* /o/ is pronounced as in more
* /u/ is pronounced as in put

### Consonants

Most consonants are similar to English, except for the following:
* r between vowels is flapped i.e. like 'd'. And if placed at the end of a word it is not voiced but trilled.
* l between vowels is flapped i.e. like 'd'. but if not, it has the same friction as the English 'l'.
* ng is normally pronounced as in 'sing', but if it is in the 2nd person it should be pronounced as a sequence of 'n+g'

## Pronouns
### Possessive Pronouns

Most nouns may show ownership this way:
Possessive Pronouns :
| | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person |
| Singular | -na | -ni | -ng |
| Plural | -na | -ni | -ng |
Example:
Singular Possessive Pronouns with noun 'wa' :
| Noun | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person |
| wa (son) | wana (my son) | wani (your son) | wang (his/her son) |
Plural Possessive Pronouns with noun 'wa' :
| Noun | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person |
| wa (son) | wana (our son) | wani (your son) | wang (their son) |

### Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are shown like this:
Personal Pronouns :
| | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person |
| Singular | na (I) | ni (You) | yali (He/She/It) |
| Plural | na (We) | ni (?) (You) | yali (?) (Them) |

## Verbs

The following is how to conjugate verbs with personal pronouns shown with an example:
Conjugation verb 'di' (To say) :
| | 1st Person (Alone) | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person |
| Singular | digi (I alone say) | dimgi (I say) | dingi (you say) | dungwi (he/her/it says) |
| Plural | X | dimgi (we say) | dingi (you all say) | dungwi (they say) |
Conjugation verb 'di' (To say) with modal verb :
| | 1st Person (Alone) | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person |
| Singular | diralgi (I alone shall say) | dinamgi (I shall say) | dinangi (you will say) | dinangwi (he/she/it will say) |
| Plural | X | dinamgi (we shall say) | dinangi (you all will say) | dinangwi (they will say) |
Conjugation verb 'di' (To say) with an auxiliary verb and a negative inflectional suffix :
| | 1st Person (Alone) | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person |
| Singular | dikigi (I alone didn't say) | dikimgi (I didn't say) | dikingi (you didn't say) | dikungw(i/o) (he/her/it didn't say) |
| Plural | X | dikimgi (we didn't say) | dikingi (you all didn't say) | dikungw(i/o) (they didn't say) |
Conjugation verb 'di' (To say) as Interrogative sentence with auxiliary verb :
| | 1st Person (Alone) | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person |
| Singular | dilo (Did i alone say?) | dimno (Did i say?) | dino (Did you say?) | dimo (Did he/she/it say?) |
| Plural | X | dimno (Did we say?) | dino (Did you all say?) | dimo (Did they say?) |
As seen above, Salt-Yui has a special form for verbs with 'I alone'; why this is is still unknown.
Other example verbs:
Example Verbs :
| Salt-Yui | English |
| di/du | to be (inanimate) |
| mol | to be (animate) |
| ol | to do |
| ke pai | to live |
| ne/no | to eat/to drink |
| te/to | to give |
All of these verbs can follow the previous conjugations for verbs.

## Adjectives

In Salt-Yui, adjectives usually follow the noun, here are some examples of adjectives in Salt-Yui:
Example Adjectives :
| Salt-Yui | English |
| migiga | small |
| obilga | small amount |
| miki | many |
| nol | red/pink |
| mori | blue/green |
| pege | white |

### Numerals

There are five cardinal numerals that have been written down, which are the following:
Cardinal Numbers :
| Salt-Yui | English |
| taniga | one |
| sutani | two |
| suitai dire | three |
| sui sui dire | four |
| ana holulu | five |

### Locatives

The following are examples of known locatives in Salt-Yui:
Locatives :
| Salt-Yui | English |
| yolbi | down |
| manala | under |
| mibi | above |
| ala | in |
| mala | near |
| bina | beside, edge |