Naalean (Bliyj)

The Language of Naalean
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
i ṭe ḍaʻu so ṇese d’aʻi i so puṣe ṭiya nyika j’acha b’i
Pronunciation: /i ʈɛ ˈɖaʔu sɔ ˈɳɛsɛ ˈɗaʔi i sɔ ˈpuʂɛ ˈʈija ˈɲika ˈʄaʧa ɓi/
Naalean word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b c d g h j k l m n p r s t w x ɓ ɖ ɗ ɟ ɲ ɳ ɻ ʂ ʃ ʄ ʈ ʔ ʧ
Click IPA symbols for audio 
↓Manner/Place→
Bilabial
Alveolar
Palato-alveolar
Retroflex
Palatal
Velar
Glottal
Nasal
m
n
ɳ
ɲ
Stop
p b
t d
ʈ ɖ
c ɟ
k g
ʔ
Implosive
ɓ
ɗ
ʄ
Affricate
ʧ
Fricative
s
ʃ
ʂ
x
h
Approximant
ɻ
j
Trill
r
Lateral approximant
l
Co-articulated phonemes
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Labial-velar
Approximant
w
Vowel inventory: a i u ɔ ɛ
Front
Back
High
i
u
Low-mid
ɛ
ɔ
Low
a
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
j’eyi /ˈʄɛji/
dog (doing the verb)
Accusative
Suffix -ha
j’eyiha /ˈʄɛjiha/
(verb done to) dog
Genitive
Suffix -pɛ
j’eyipe /ˈʄɛjipɛ/
dogʼs
Dative
Suffix -sɔ
j’eyiso /ˈʄɛjisɔ/
to (the/a) dog
Singular
No affix
j’eyi /ˈʄɛji/
dog
Plural
Suffix -ʔɛ
j’eyiʻe /ˈʄɛjiʔɛ/
dogs
Articles
Naalean has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns
Nominative
Accusative
Genitive
Dative
1st singular
nyi /ɲi/
I
ko /kɔ/
me
b’a /ɓa/
mine
ṇa /ɳa/
to me
2nd singular
lo /lɔ/
you
ro /rɔ/
you
no /nɔ/
yours
bi /bi/
to you
3rd singular masc
ṭe /ʈɛ/
he, it
ya /ja/
him, it
we /wɛ/
his, its
ṣo /ʂɔ/
to him, at it
3rd singular fem
bo /bɔ/
she, it
cho /ʧɔ/
her, it
khi /xi/
hers, its
pa /pa/
to her, at it
1st plural
ba /ba/
we
j’e /ʄɛ/
us
hi /hi/
ours
re /rɛ/
to us
2nd plural
she /ʃɛ/
you all
pi /pi/
you all
chi /ʧi/
yours (pl)
kho /xɔ/
to you all
3rd plural
ha /ha/
they
ki /ki/
them
u /u/
theirs
ge /gɛ/
Possessive determiners
1st singular
se /sɛ/
my
2nd singular
we /wɛ/
your
3rd singular masc
so /sɔ/
his
3rd singular fem
kha /xa/
her
1st plural
d’a /ɗa/
our
2nd plural
ḍi /ɖi/
your (pl)
3rd plural
chyi /ci/
their
Verbs
Present
No affix
yepa /ˈjɛpa/
learn
Past
Suffix -pi
yepapi /ˈjɛpapi/
learned
Naalean uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
Future
Particle before the verb: ʄi -
j’i yepa /ʄi ˈjɛpa/
will learn
Imperfective aspect
The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am learning and habitual actions, such as I learn (something new every day).
Boṭuj’uian uses a standalone particle word for imperfective:
Imperfective
Particle before the verb: xu -
khu yepa /xu ˈjɛpa/
learns/is learning
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.
Boṭuj’uian uses the word for ‘already’ ṣej’a for the perfect aspect.
Numbers
Boṭuj’uian has a base-20 number system:
1 - aku
2 - ŕi
3 - d’a
4 - khonu
5 - khiyo
6 - d’ukhi
7 - woṣoshu
8 - shu
9 - nime
10 - hesu
11 - ua
12 - daŕa
13 - yima
14 - dayu
15 - gosi
16 - ṣiṣi
17 - saha
18 - woshi
19 - nuʻi
20 - khikhu
21 - khikhu i aku “twenty and one”
400 - aku khae “one fourhundred”
401 - aku khae aku “one fourhundred one”
800 - ŕi khae “two fourhundred”
8000 - aku nad’e “one eightthousand”
Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -gu
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -xɔ
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Suffix -ʂɛ
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -nu
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -di
Noun to verb = Suffix -ɳɔ
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -xa
Tending to = Suffix -ɟu
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Suffix -sɛ
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -ɓi
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -mu
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -ki
Diminutive = Suffix -wi
Augmentative = Suffix -ɖi