Sūkan Drātu

Sukanian, (natively known as Sukan Drātu [sukan ˈdɾaːtu] in the Miton dialect and Sukan Datu [sugan dʰadu] in the Tapu dialect), is an isolation language natively spoken by a large majority of Sukan, excluding the Nama region in the south. Sukanian is pretty widely spoken along the southeastern gulf and is an official language in the bordering nations Quisoria and Vintiago.

Classification and Dialect
Sukanian is a Dariti language. This is shared with Quisorian, Vintiagan, Lasivian, Sorelian, and Ovilican. There are two main dialects of Sukanian. The Tapu dialect, spoken in the northern mountains of Sukan has major pronunciation changes and has different morphology rules. The Miton dialect, spoken in southern and western plains Sukan differs from Tapu Sukan in the same way. However, The Miton dialect is considered the "correct" Sukan language, as over 70% of the native speakers use Miton Sukan. Because of this, I will focus on the Miton dialect for the article. I could make the Tapu dialect if enough people want me to.

Phonotactics
Sukanian's phonotactics are relatively simple, though they change with dialect. I will use Miton Sukan's phonotactics for now. The maximum syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C). The first (C) stands for all* consonants, the (G) stands for the glides** /w, l, ɾ, j/. The V includes all vowels, and the second (C) stands for every consonant.

* The letter /ŋ/ is not allowed to start a syllable. It is exclusively syllable final.

** /ɾ/ can only happen after stops. (p, b, t, d, k, g)

Long Vowels
Sukanian has long variants of the five vowels. Long vowels are represented by a macron (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū), and they are always stressed. Also, a long vowel can only happen once every six syllables, meaning that a word needs to be greater than six syllables to have more than one long vowel. If there isn't a long vowel in a word, the stress is penultimate (falls on the second-to-last syllable). Ex. sina (dog) vs. sinā (to kill). That's why it is important to use stress correctly so that you don't say something you didn't mean to say.

Grammar
Sukanian's grammar is relatively simple. It has a head-initial head order. However, its morphology is pretty complex. Sukanian is an isolation language, meaning that separate morphemes are used to show qualities.

Syntax
In order to test our syntax, we need some very basic words to start. Here is a chart of basic pronouns, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, and others I made.
 * Ordering - SVO (Subject-Verb-Object). This means that the subject comes first, the verb comes second, and the object comes third. This is similar to the basic sentence system in the English language. Ex. Dār lashivan tsānir. --> "I drink water."
 * Adjective Relationship - Noun-Adjective. The noun always precedes the adjective. This is found in languages like Spanish and Latin. An example includes Tyara khetonang lir pōkan erajōr. --> "She reads the red book."
 * Adverb Relationship - Verb-Adverb. Adverbs are treated the same way adjectives are. This means that verb precedes the adverb, just like adjective precedes the noun. Ex. Dār kromvech lashivan. --> "I drink quickly."
 * Adpositions - Prepositions. Whenever an adposition like kos (on) is used, it always precedes the noun. Also, adpositions are always attached to the object. Ex. Niro yatu kos lir jūkot. --> "He sits on the chair."
 * Possession - Possessee - Possessor. The possessee (the object that is being possessed) always comes before the possessor (the thing that is possessing the object). The word gyer is used as a marking for possession. Ex. Lir pōkan alir gyer --> "The man's book."
 * Particles - Noun/Verb/Adjective - Particle. Because Sukanian is an isolation language, particles are used instead of morphology. Particles are treated like adjectives, so that means that the particle will follow the part of speech (it can be anything). Sometimes, a particle can be used to show the quality of another particle. In that case, the base particle precedes the other particle.

Morphology
Like many Dariti languages, Sukanian is an isolation language. This means that there isn't really a morphology. Instead of a morphology, there are separate morphemes to show the quality of an object or verb.

Articles
Sukanian has 2 articles. The unlimited article is not marked, but the limited article is. There is no indication on whether the articles are singular or plural but are marked using plurality particles.

Status and Action Markers
In Sukanian, there is a seperate morpheme that shows the status of an object. In simpler words, it basically shows that an object is "being" something (ex. "Lir hesakfi kirōr dārkiti" means "The apple is red," but it really means "The apple is being red".) Status is represented by the word kirōr (to be). The status particle connects to the noun that has the status. The action marker shows that a noun is doing something. The action marker is represented by the particle rios (am/is/are). It follows the noun that is executing the action. Ex. Dār rios keiletro bartus. (I am eating a burger.)

Plurality
Sukanian has three plurality cases. There is singular, paucal, and plural. Singular is when there is only one noun, paucal is when there are a few of a noun (approx. 2 to 8 of a noun), and plural is when there are many of a noun (8+). The particle attaches to the noun/object that it's pluralizing.

Negative and Interrogative Phrases
In Sukanian, negation is where a phrase is turned negative. Ex. "I like apples." vs "I don't like apples.". Negation is represented by the particle "khyur", which means "no". The negative particle attaches to the noun/pronoun. The interrogative particle is when someone, except they are asking about something. Interrogation is represented by the particle "tāsh.", and it means the word "what". the interrogation particle attaches to the verb.

Tense
There are three tense cases in Sukanian. Simple is the basic form of the action, progressive is where the action is being executed but has no definite ending, and perfect is where the action has been completed. The tense particles attach to the verb.

Pronouns
In Sukanian, there are six pronouns with two cases. The nominative case isn't represented, as it is the default pronoun case. The accusative case is represented by the particle chis.

Lexicon
Let's begin Sukanian's lexicon/dictionary!