High Kickish

General Information
Standard High Kickish (natively Qaisik [ˈ!ˀʌɪsɪkʰ]) is a language spoken by the Cittus (natively Sītul [ˈsiːtʰɯl̥]), buglike sapients from the planet Cittus-V (natively Gçēr [ˈᶢǂe̞ːɹ]) and one of the founding species of the Allied Intelligences. SHK is the standard variety, taught in schools.

Gender and Number
Genders are three: This is the regular declension, though some nouns break this pattern.
 * 1) Feminine: used for female Cittus and some inanimate objects. Shows singular, dual, and plural number.
 * 2) Masculine: used for male Cittus and some inanimate objects. Shows singular and plural number.
 * 3) Juvenile: used for juvenile Cittus who have not yet differentiated into male and female, and some inanimate objects. Shows singular and plural number.

Pronouns
Pronouns are a very recently closed subclass of nouns, inflecting for all of the same categories as nouns and even matching some nouns in form (e. g. the word for little one, "srā" is the ordinary 3s.juv pronoun). They are however also marked suppletively for three levels of deference.

Article
There is no indefinite article. The definite article inflects for gender and is placed after a noun.
 * The masculine definite article y attaches to the noun as a /j/, and in speech lengthens the typical masculine ending -i. If the y is bordered by consonants on both sides for any reason, it merges with the feminine article, ye. ex.  ' ergi y "the brother",  ' ergil ye gqi "with the brothers"
 * The definite article contracts to y- before a postposition beginning in a vowel. ex. tatāri y-ū "from the soul"

Verbs
Verbs have three conjugation classes and are a closed class of about 120. They conjugate according to three tenses, two to three evidentialities, person and number of the subject, and deference to the listener(s). Grammatical voice and modality are shown periphrastically.

Conjugation classes
Verbs may be one of three conjugation classes:
 * 1) ūd verbs: the largest class.
 * 2) ħīd verbs: the verb stems can only end in a vowel or.
 * 3) īd verbs: the smallest class with the most irregular verbs.

Nonfinite forms
The citation form of verbs is the passive participle or gerund, which are identical. -ūd, -ħīd, -īd. There is also a supine used with auxiliary verbs and to mean "in order to verb". -utā, -ħetā, -etā

Present Direct tense
-ūd verbs -ħīd verbs -īd verbs

Example regular verbs
Gūd [ˈkɯːt]: to give Ceħīd [ˈtsɛħiːt]: to speak Qharīd [ˈ!ʰʌɹiːt]: to look (at/into), regard, check

Passive
The passive/impersonal construction

Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs together form a closed but rather large set of prefixes.

Syntax
Case is not marked, so word order is very strict. SVO is the norm.

Noun phrase

 * ex. Gçēr ū Sītul ya
 * Cittus.V-fem.sg ABL Cittus-pl DEF-juv
 * the Cittus of Cittus-V

Verb phrase
Serial verb constructions are not unheard of.
 * ex. xhiceħīdī
 * loud-speak-PASS-3.sg
 * It is spoken loudly.

Formality
There are three primary registers of speech.
 * 1) deferential: used to signify unfamiliarity and respect to the listeners.
 * 2) ordinary: the unmarked register, safe to use anytime.
 * 3) slang: used to signify familiarity to the listener, whether that be respect as friends or rudeness.

Vocabulary
Because of differences in anatomy and physiology, many categories of words are very different from their Earthly counterparts.

Numbers
The Cittus typically crawl on all six limbs, but they do use their first two pairs of limbs for manipulation. On each foot they have three clawlike fingers and a clawlike thumb. Their counting base is twelve, achieved by counting the fingers of their manipulative limbs. Numerals are masculine gender when used as nouns, and take the place of the definite article when applied to nouns. Some numbers change form when counting and the numbers 2, 3, and 4 have different forms for different genders.

Colors
The Cittus live around a star which spits out more light in the ultraviolet than our own. They have adapted to see a wider range of color than us, granting them not three dimensional color like us Humans, but four dimensional color.

Directions

 * Also considered cardinal directions are up (ħīri) and down ('artē'ħi).

Example text
Laigesel ye lalūdī līkerde ut 'akya gqi qharīd srāl a 'idigqal ut līkerdel. Srāl gūdī qaicisūd a 'ħūsel ut rajakasutā sī 'ergal ji te' ū hicel ye çhai.

intelligent-f.pl DEF-f give.birth-PASS-NDIR.PRES.3p freedom-f.sg and equality-juv.sg COM regard-GER 3p.juv GEN dignity-juv.pl and freedom-f.pl / 3p.juv give-PASS-NDIR.PRES.3p smart-think-GER GEN ability-f.pl and proper-act-SUP should-NDIR.PRES.3p sibling-juv.pl FORM one ABL other-f.pl DEF-f BENE /

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)