Yìlmuhi
the Iwati Language Family
...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the
wind...
ka geb tuh puhbu big zhùydi ka tùr big sap kù gep hìfab
Pronunciation: /kæ gɛb tʌ ˈpʌbu big ˈʒʊjdi
kæ tʊr big sæp kʊ gɛp ˈhɪfæb/
Yìlmuhi word order: and stood he holding
his hat and turned his wet face to the wind
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n
p r s t v w z ð ŋ ʃ ʒ θ
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Bilabial |
Labiodental |
Dental |
Alveolar |
Palato-alveolar |
Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Nasal |
m |
|
|
n |
|
|
ŋ |
|
| Stop |
b p |
|
|
d t |
|
|
g k |
|
| Fricative |
|
f v |
ð θ |
s z |
ʃ ʒ |
|
|
h |
| Approximant |
|
|
|
|
|
j |
|
|
| Trill |
|
|
|
r |
|
|
|
|
| Lateral approximant |
|
|
|
l |
|
|
|
|
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ |
Labial-velar |
| Approximant |
w |
Vowel inventory: i u æ ɑ ɛ ɪ ʊ ʌ
|
Front |
Back |
| High |
i |
u |
| Near-high |
ɪ |
ʊ |
| Low-mid |
ɛ |
ʌ |
| Near-low |
æ |
|
| Low |
|
ɑ |
Syllable structure: (C)V(C)
Stress pattern:
Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation |
Spelling |
| æ |
a |
| ɛ |
e |
| ɑ |
o |
| ʊ |
ù |
| ʌ |
uh |
| ɪ |
ì |
| θ |
th |
| ʒ |
zh |
| ð |
dh |
| j |
y |
| ʃ |
sh |
| ŋ |
ng |
Grammar
Main word order: Verb Subject Object
(Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns
into
Opened Mary the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are
positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions
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 is in town
-
Ablative is movement away from
something: man walks from town
| Ergative |
Prefix zi-
zibuhf /ˈziwʊ/ child (doing a
transitive verb)
|
| Absolutive |
No affix
wù /wʊ/ child (doing an intransitive
verb)
|
| Genitive |
Prefix ʊ-
ùwù /ˈʊwʊ/ child's |
| Dative |
If starts with vowel: Prefix æmj-
Else: Prefix
æmjɛ-
amyewù /æˈmjɛwʊ/ to child
|
| Locative |
Prefix i-
iwù /ˈiwʊ/ near/at/by child |
| Ablative |
If starts with vowel: Prefix j-
Else: Prefix jʌ-
yuhwù
/ˈjʌwʊ/ from child
|
|
Singular |
Plural |
Collective |
| Gùp |
No affix
wet /wɛt/ plant |
If starts with vowel: Prefix imh-
Else: Prefix
imhɛ-
imhewet /imˈhɛwɛt/ plants
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix m-
Else: Prefix mɛ-
mewet
/mˈɛwɛt/ plants (together)
|
| Buhpsumedh |
No affix
kuhltìthli /kʌlˈtɪθli/ tailor |
Prefix ʒʊ-
zhùkuhltìthli
/ˌʒʊkʌlˈtɪθli/ tailors
|
Prefix ʒɪ-
zhìkuhltìthli /ˌʒʊkʌlˈtɪθli/
tailors (together)
|
| Sidì |
No affix
gid /gid/ boat |
If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix si-
sigid
/ˈsigid/ boats
|
Prefix i-
igid /ˈigid/ boats (together) |
Articles
| Definite |
e /ɛ/ the |
| Indefinite |
gek /gɛk/ a, some |
Uses of definite article that differ from English:
- Used for languages: 'The English'
- Used with place names: 'The London'
Pronouns
|
Ergative |
Absolutive |
Genitive |
Dative |
Locative |
Ablative |
| 1st singular |
yù /jʊ/ I |
bo /bɑ/ me |
dhù /ðʊ/ mine |
zi /zi/ to me |
zhe /ʒɛ/ to me |
ku /ku/ from me |
| 2nd singular |
suh /sʌ/ you |
kosh /kɑʃ/ you |
ha /hæ/ yours |
ùb /ʊb/ to you |
lo /lɑ/ to you |
lu /lu/ from you |
| 3rd singular |
tuh /tʌ/ he, she, ey, they (sing) |
big /big/ his, her, em, them (sing) |
yi /ji/ his, her, eir, their (sing) |
duhs /dʌs/ to his, to her, to em, to them (sing),
to
|
dì /dɪ/ to his, to her, to em, to them (sing), to
|
dhìb /ðɪb/ from his, from her, from em, from them
(sing), from
|
| 1st plural |
bù /bʊ/ we |
shu /ʃu/ us |
zha /ʒæ/ ours |
zo /zɑ/ to us |
dif /dif/ to us |
bi /bi/ from us |
| 2nd plural |
gi /gi/ you (pl) |
lib /lib/ you (pl) |
zuhg /zʌg/ yours (pl) |
dù /dʊ/ to you (pl) |
sith /siθ/ to you (pl) |
hid /hid/ from you (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
dhun /ðun/ they |
lìsh /lɪʃ/ them |
lop /lɑp/ theirs |
shat /ʃæt/ to them |
buh /bʌ/ to them |
wa /wæ/ from them |
| 1st collective |
di /di/ we (all) |
bir /bir/ us (all) |
ì /ɪ/ ours (all) |
dhi /ði/ to us (all) |
e /ɛ/ to us (all) |
ko /kɑ/ from us (all) |
| 2nd collective |
she /ʃɛ/ you all |
zhuf /ʒuf/ you all |
dhu /ðu/ you all |
bu /bu/ to you all |
zad /zæd/ to you all |
kad /kæd/ from you all |
| 3rd collective |
he /hɛ/ they (all) |
luhng /lʌŋ/ them (all) |
suf /suf/ their (all), |
deg /dɛg/ to them (all), to |
to /tɑ/ to them (all), to |
shì /ʃɪ/ from them (all), from |
Possessive Determiners
|
Possessive |
| 1st singular |
dhù /ðʊ/ my |
| 2nd singular |
ha /hæ/ your |
| 3rd singular |
big /big/ his, hers, eirs, theirs (sing) |
| 1st plural |
zha /ʒæ/ our |
| 2nd plural |
zuhg /zʌg/ your (pl) |
| 3rd plural |
lop /lɑp/ theirs |
| 1st collective |
ì /ɪ/ ours (all) |
| 2nd collective |
dhu /ðu/ yours (all) |
| 3rd collective |
suf /suf/ theirs (all) |
Verbs
Gùp
|
1st singular |
2nd singular |
3rd singular |
1st plural |
2nd plural |
3rd plural |
1st collective |
2nd collective |
3rd collective |
| Present |
Prefix hʌ-
huhtuh /ˈhʌtʌ/ (I) learn |
If starts with vowel: Prefix b-
Else: Prefix bɛ-
betuh
/ˈbɛtʌ/ (you) learn
|
Prefix æ-
atuh /ˈætʌ/ (he, she, ey, they)
learns
|
Prefix di-
dituh /ˈditʌ/ (we) learn |
Prefix bɛ-
betuh /ˈbɛtʌ/ (you pl) learn |
Prefix ji-
yituh /ˈjitʌ/ (they pl) learn
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix z-
Else: Prefix zɛ-
zetuh
/ˈzɛtʌ/ (we all) learn
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix l-
Else: Prefix lɑ-
lotuh
/ˈlɑtʌ/ (you all) learn
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix d-
Else: Prefix di-
dituh
/ˈditʌ/ (they all) learn
|
| Past |
If starts with vowel: Prefix upm-
Else: Prefix
upmʌ-
upmuhtuh /upˈmʌtʌ/ (I) learned
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix ʊb-
Else: Prefix ʊbɑ-
ùbotuh
/ʊˈbɑtʌ/ (you) learned
|
Prefix pɪ-
pìtuh /ˈpɪtʌ/ (ey, they (sing))
learned
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix b-
Else: Prefix bi-
bituh
/ˈbitʌ/ (we) learned
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix kæ-
katuh
/ˈkætʌ/ (you pl) learned
|
Prefix wɪ-
wìtuh /ˈwɪtʌ/ (they pl) learned
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix ufk-
Else: Prefix
ufkɪ-
ufkìtuh /ufˈkɪtʌ/ (we all) learned
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix z-
Else: Prefix zæ-
zatuh
/ˈzætʌ/ (you all) learned
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix s-
Else: Prefix sæ-
satuh
/ˈsætʌ/ (they all) learned
|
| Future |
Prefix gʌ-
guhtuh /ˈgʌtʌ/ (I) will learn
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix z-
Else: Prefix zi-
zituh
/ˈzitʌ/ (you) will learn
|
Prefix jæ-
yatuh /ˈjætʌ/ (ey, they sing) will
learn
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix w-
Else: Prefix wu-
wutuh
/ˈwutʌ/ (we) will learn
|
Prefix lʊ-
lùtuh /ˈlʊtʌ/ (you pl) will learn
|
Prefix hʊ-
hùtuh /ˈhʊtʌ/ (they pl) will learn
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix ʒ-
Else: Prefix ʒi-
zhituh
/ˈʒitʌ/ (we all) will learn
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix ɑrh-
Else: Prefix
ɑrhi-
orhituh /ɑrˈhitʌ/ (you all) will learn
|
If starts with vowel: Prefix h-
Else: Prefix hɛ-
hetuh
/ˈhɛtʌ/ (they all) will learn
|
Buhpsumedh
Sidì