Nuim

Consonants

 * /p/, /t/, and /k/ are voiced [b], [d], and [g] between vowels.
 * 1) /s/ and /ʃ/ are voiced [z] and [ʒ] between vowels.
 * [ʃ], [ʒ], [ɹ], and [j] are romanized "sh", "zh", "r", and "y".

Vowels

 * [ɯ], [ə], and [ɑ] are romanized "u", "e", and "a".

Phonotactics
Nuim's syllable structure is (C)V(C). /s/, /ʃ/, /h/, /j/, and /w/ are not permitted as codas.

Stress
Nuim places stress on either the first complex syllable or the second syllable, whichever comes first.

Grammar
For ease of understanding, affixes written with "-" around them are unvoiced. Affixes without "-" around them are voiced according to their surroundings.

Some suffixes are written as -CV/-C. When the syllable before these suffixes has a coda, these suffixes are realized as -CV. Otherwise, these suffixes are realized as -C.

Nouns
Nuim does not have grammatical gender, number, or articles, and Nuim nouns do not inflect for them. For example mere "person" could mean "person," "people," "a person," "the person," and so on. Nuim nouns do inflect in two ways: as part of the honorific system and for possession.

Honorifics
There are two types of honorific in Nuim: the prefix wun-, which is polite, and the prefix ku-, which is respectful. Typically, these prefixes are only applied to people, the possessions of people, and the parts of people. The following table has some examples.

Possession
While possession in Nuim is typically handled by the particle ku, "my," "our," and "your" are marked with the prefixes ri-, wa-, and le-. If a noun would be marked by both a possession prefix and an honorific prefix, the possession prefix comes first. The following table has some examples.

Noun Particles
Noun phrases in Nuim are often followed by enclitics, called particles. These particles perform various functions, much as prepositions do in English.

Nouns All Together
The parts of a Nuim noun phrase occur in the following order: possessive.phrase relative.clause classifier.phrase possessive-stem particle. If the relative clause takes arguments and is not simply adjectival, it should come before any possessive phrases. A single noun cannot be modified by both a possessive phrase and a possessive prefix.

Pronouns
As with nouns, Nuim pronouns can take honorific prefixes. The pronouns waat and peda can also take possessive prefixes.

Correlatives
Determiners and quantifiers come before the nouns they determine/quantify as part of the classifier phrase.

Numbers
Nuim uses a quinary (base-5) numeral system. Numerals, as a type of quantifier, come before the nouns they quantify as part of the classifier phrase.

Complex Numbers
Complex numbers are composed of multiple simple numbers via multiplication and addition. Elements are combined from largest to smallest.

Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal numbers are formed by adding the bound verb sagi after a number.

Frequency Numbers
Frequency numbers (once, twice, etc.) are formed by adding the bound adverb tege after a number. Frequency numbers often come directly before the verb.

Classifiers
In Nuim classifiers are used alongside determiners and quantifiers to determine, quantify, or count nouns.

A classifier phrase can consist of a determiner, a quantifier, or both a determiner and a quantifier followed by a classifier. The entire classifier phrase comes directly before the noun.

Verbs
Nuim verbs do not inflect for gender, tense, or aspect. Nuim verbs do inflect for person and number using the Speaker-Addressee paradigm used by Nuim pronouns.

Agreement
Nuim verbs agree with the subject in person and number. If the subject has an honorific prefix, the verb must also agree in honorific.

Voice
Nuim has many voices: an unmarked active voice, a marked passive voice, a marked causative voice, and several marked applicative voices.

The passive voiced is marked with the suffix -su/-s. In the passive voice the object becomes the subject and the old subject, if any, becomes an oblique object marked with the particle la.

The causative voice is marked with the suffix -al. In the causative voice the causer of the event becomes the subject and the old subject, if any, becomes an oblique object marked with the particle pik.

The locative applicative voice is marked with the suffix -en. In the locative applicative voice the location, normally marked with the particle lu, becomes the object and the old object, if any, becomes an oblique object marked with the particle lu.

The allative applicative voice is marked with the suffix -yu. In the allative applicative voice the target, normally marked with the particle pik, becomes the object and the old object, if any, becomes an oblique object marked with the particle lu.

The ablative applicative voice is marked with the suffix -mi. In the ablative applicative voice the source, normally marked with the particle la, becomes the object and the old object, if any, becomes an oblique object marked with the particle lu.

Honorifics
In addition to any honorific prefixes that may be present due to agreement, Nuim verbs can be marked with honorific suffixes to show politeness or respect to the addressee. There are two honorific suffixes: -kil, which is polite, and -pi, which is respectful. A verb without an honorific suffix is casual.

Negation
Nuim marks negation with the negative mood suffix -sha.

Serial Verbs
Multiple verbs can be strung together in a serial verb construction. Each of the verbs in a serial verb construction is known as a serial verb, and must obey the following restrictions: serial verbs must share the same subject, serial verbs must be in the same voice, serial verbs must use the same honorific, and serial verbs must agree in negation.

Every serial verb shares arguments and affixes. The first serial verb in the construction is marked for agreement and the last serial verb in the construction is marked for voice, honorific, and negation.

The events described by a serial verb construction either occur sequentially or together as part of a larger event. Some examples are as follows.

Compound Verbs
Compound verbs and their associated compound verb constructions are structurally very similar to serial verbs and serial verb constructions. Compound verb constructions are formed the same way as serial verb constructions and compound verbs follow the same restrictions as serial verbs.

However, unlike serial verb constructions, compound verb constructions do not describe sequential or complex events. Instead, the first compound verb describes an event and the following compound verbs add extra information to that event. Some examples are as follows.

A serial verb construction can serve as a compound verb in a compound verb construction. A compound verb construction cannot serve as a serial verb in a serial verb construction. In any serial/compound verb construction the compound verbs must come after the serial verbs.

Derivations
Nuim verbs can be formed into nouns with the suffix -me/-m and into purpose adverbs with the suffix -ka/-k.

Verbs All Together
The parts of a Nuim verb occur in the following order: agreement-stem-voice-honorific-negation-derivation. Serial and compound verbs come after the main verb. Some examples are as follows.

Copula
The Nuim copula un behaves just like any other Nuim verb. Unlike in English, un is not used with adjectives. Some examples are as follows.

Adjectives
Nuim does not have true adjectives. Instead it has a set of stative verbs, all of which mean roughly "to be ." Some examples are as follows.

Comparatives
To show that one thing is more than another thing, mark the other thing with the noun particle lun. Some examples are as follows.

Superlatives
Nuim adjectives do not have a superlative form. Instead, adverbs such as karya "most" and tanu "least" are used.

Sentences
Nuim is a Subject-Verb-Object language. Time phrases, such as those formed with the particles lu or her, tend to come before the subject/object while other oblique phrases tend to come between the subject/object and the verb.

Relative Clauses
Nuim relative clauses are structurally identical to normal Nuim sentences and come before the nouns they modify. If the noun being modified is the subject or object of the relative clause, it must be omitted in the relative clause. If the noun being modified is an oblique argument of the relative clause, it must be replaced by a dummy object such as waat or peda in the relative clause.

Subordinate Clauses
Nuim subordinate clauses are likewise structurally identical to normal Nuim sentences and come before the main clause. All subordinate clauses must be marked by a clause particle which indicates the function the subordinate clause plays in the main clause.

Questions
Questions are formed by adding a question particle to a sentence.

A sentence with a question particle but no interrogative pronouns is a yes-no question. Yes-no questions can be made particularly emphatic by repeating the main verb and negating it. Yes-no questions are answered by repeating the main verb of the question. If it's positive, the response is "yes." If it's negative, the response is "no."

A sentence with a question particle and at least one interrogative pronoun is a wh-question. As the answer to a wh-question isn't a simple "yes" or "no", wh-questions cannot take the particles shu and kem. Wh-questions are answered by providing the looked-for information.

Quotations
Quoted speech is formed by adding the quotation particle rel to a sentence. Quoted speech typically comes at the very front of a sentence and any other arguments, such as the speaker, comes later. Nuim does not treat direct speech any differently from indirect speech.

Conjunctions
In Nuim any two noun phrases, verb phrases, or clauses can be conjoined. If the items being conjoined would be marked with particles, only the last item is marked with the particle. The other item(s) are marked with conjunction particles instead.