Kaschachi

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...

nyi nyu oom ku shimju shig̀ nyi ku go nye bee et ko

Pronunciation: /ɲi ɲu oːm ku ʃimˈʤu ʃiɣ ɲi ku ɢo ɲe beː et ko/

Kaschachi word order: and he stood his hat holding and his wet face turned the wind to

Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f j k l m n p q r s t v w z ɢ ɣ ɲ ʁ ʂ ʃ ʐ ʒ ʤ ʧ χ

Click IPA symbols for audio Co-articulated phonemes Vowel inventory: a aː e eː i iː o oː u uː Syllable structure: (C)V(C) ?

Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable ?

Word initial consonants: b d f j k m n p s t v w z ɢ ɣ ɲ ʁ ʃ ʐ ʒ ʧ χ

Mid-word consonants: b bb bd bl bn br bt bv bz bʁ bʃ d dd df ds dv dw dʃ dʒ f fj fm fr fw fɣ fʂ j jf jl jr jt jz jɲ jʂ jʃ jʒ k kf kl km kt kv kz kɲ kʁ kʧ l lb ld lf ll lm lp lr ls lv lz lɣ lʤ lʧ m md mf mr ms mv mz mʃ mʤ mʧ n nk nl ns nt nw nɲ nʁ nʐ nʧ p pj pl pr pw pz pʃ q qd r rf rr rt rv rw rz rɣ rʃ rʤ s sf sk sm sn sr st sw sʧ t tk tl tm tt tw tɲ tʤ v vd vj vn vr vw vʁ w wb wd wp wq wz wʤ z zb zl zm zp zz ɢ ɣ ɣj ɣm ɣr ɣw ɲ ɲb ɲj ɲt ɲz ɲʧ ʁ ʁd ʁf ʁl ʁz ʁʒ ʂ ʂl ʂt ʃ ʃb ʃj ʃp ʃt ʃv ʃɣ ʐ ʒ ʒj ʒm ʤ ʤr ʧ ʧɲ χ χk

Word final consonants: b d f j k l m n p r t v w ɢ ɣ ɲ ʁ ʂ ʃ ʐ ʒ ʤ ʧ χ

Spelling rules:

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.

Articles
Uses of definite article that differ from English:


 * Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
 * Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.

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’

Numbers
Kaschachi has a base-10 number system:

1 - we

2 - me

3 - nuy

4 - pid

5 - koo

6 - dee

7 - chiig̀

8 - iig̀

9 - nyipii

10 - chaab

11 - chaabwe “ten-one”

100 - we shoo “one hundred”

101 - we shoo nyi we “one hundred and one”

200 - me shoo

1000 - we yo “one thousand”

Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɲ

Else: Suffix -aːɲ

Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix pa-

Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ɲi-

Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix bu-

Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -a

Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-

Else: Prefix da-

Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɲ-

Else: Prefix ɲuː-

Tending to = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ-

Else: Prefix ʃo-

Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix ze-

Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -aːb

One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃ-

Else: Prefix ʃiː-

Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -il

Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -l

Else: Suffix -oːl

Augmentative = If starts with vowel: Prefix d-