Old Keuti

General information
Old Keuti is the predecessor of Middle Keuti and is derived from Proto Keutan-Dztan. Old Keuti did not change much due to its relative isolation in a group of runaway slaves from the homeland of Proto Keutan-Dztan.

Vowels
No dipthongs or vowel clusters occur in Old Keuti, and there are no long vowels.

Allophones
The /m/ sound changes to the /ɱ/ sound only in consonant clusters with either /f/ or /v/ directly after it. The /f/ sound changes into the /ɸ/ sound when it is the initial, non clustered consonant. /k/, /t/, and /p/ are aspirated when in a consonant cluster.

Phonotactics
The syllable structure of Old Keuti is (C)V[C], where C is any consonant or consonant cluster and V is any short or long vowel. Consonant clusters can have up to three consonants. If there is no initial consonant, the syllable must be at the beginning of the word. The final consonant or consonant cluster is only used at the end of a word, but not necessarily for affixes and exception words. In a consonant cluster, consonants cannot occur more than once, plosives cannot occur after plosives, and taps cannot occur after nasals. The /ʔ/ sound cannot be clustered either. The /ɾ/ sound only occurs at the end of an initial consonant cluster. The /l/, /ɾ/, /j/, and /w/ sounds always have an /e̞/ sound attached after if they are the final consonant in a word, or in the middle or beginning of a tricluster. The syllables with voiced stop finals are unstressed, while the rest are stressed.

Noun Phrase
Noun phrases are formed in Old Keuti with determiners and case markers. The noun modifying the other noun goes first in the noun phrase.

Demonstratives and Articles
Pronouns can either stand alone or be linked to a noun phrase.

Interrogatives
There is an extensive system of interrogative pronouns in Old Keuti.

Quantifiers
Quantifiers are treated as pronouns and not affixes.

Numerals
The numeral system is base ten, with larger numbers formed by adding a number to a factor of ten, and repeating if necessary. Numbers act mostly as determiners attached to noun phrases.

Cases
Cases are marked by suffixes attached after the declined noun, and only form noun phrases if applicable.

Genitive Cases
There are several types of genitive cases in Old Keuti.

Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns inflect based on gender, person, and relation. Collective pronouns are formed by using the inclusive suffix /igl/ or the exclusive suffix /eufm/.

Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs are placed preceding the word they modify. The comparative suffix is /bozit/, and the superlative suffix is /toziko/. The prevailing theory of the order in which adjectives and adverbs must be attached to a head is this: The other theory of order is this: An important qualifier is the polarity adverb /siv/, which changes the modified verb's polarity to negative.
 * 1) Head
 * 2) Qualifier
 * 3) Number
 * 4) Quantifier
 * 5) Demonstrative/Interrogative
 * 1) Head
 * 2) Demonstrative/Interrogative
 * 3) Quantifier
 * 4) Number
 * 5) Qualifier

Verb Phrase
The main verb expresses modality and some voice by inflecting the consonant cluster at the end of the verb. The infinitive consonant cluster is /zs/, which is also used for supine, gerund, and participle form. An auxiliary verb is attached to form a verb phrase.

Auxiliary Verbs
The auxiliary verb must always accompany a verb to express politeness, tense, and aspect. There are several interchangeable alternate forms. The auxiliary verb is placed after the main verb in the clause. The passive voice auxiliary verb /kong/ is attached preceding the auxiliary verb or the main verb to turn a transitive verb into an intransitive verb.

Copula
The copula is a verb that links a subject with its complement, describing state. If the state is permanent the copula is /seuzs/; if the state is temporary it is /tmizs/.

Postpositions
The noun with the postposition is attached preceding a noun phrase or verb phrase to form a postpositional phrase.

Interjections
Little is agreed upon regarding the reconstruction of interjections, but it is generally said that interjections are placed preceding the clause when modifying them. Interjections are exceptions to the rules of phonotactics.

Conjunctions
Conjunctions are used to link words and clauses. Most of them are placed after the word or clause.

Sentence Structure
The canon word order is V2 for the main clause, and SOV in subordinate clauses. The most common V2 order is SVO. There are four kinds of subordinate clauses, relative, conditional, causative, and quotative which are marked by conjunctions preceding them when attached to an independent clause.

Relative
ikonmeuso veuf ijowikisog kong tystkokv zym seukv do kigog

def .child. erg   rel   .def .house. abs pas to-burn. ind pst. pfv cop. ind npst. pfv prox. abs

The child who burned the house is here.

The conjunction marks the subject of the subordinate clause.

Conditional
strojoso ngokmv doki strojyseut teuqikog nov strojyso ijowikisog tystkokv zym

1 . m. pro. erg to-eat. cond npst. prog 3. m. pro. gen flesh. abs cnj 3. m. pro. erg def .house. abs to-burn. ind pst. pfv

I will be eating his flesh if he burned down the house.

The conjunction marks what will happen if the conditions in the subordinate clause are met.

Causative
ikonmeuso pobi ijowikisog kong tystkokv zym seukv do kigog

def .child. erg cau   .def .house. abs pas to-burn. ind pst. pfv cop. ind npst. pfv prox. abs

The child who caused the house to burn is here.

The conjunction marks the reason of the occurrence in the subordinate clause.

Quotative
strojysog got ikonmeuso pobi ijowikisog kong tystkokv zym seukv do kigog simikv zym

3 . m. pro. abs  quot def .child. erg cau   .def .house. abs pas to-burn. ind pst. pfv cop. ind npst. pfv prox. abs to-say. ind pst. pfv

He said, "The child who caused the house to burn is here."

The conjunction marks the speaker and changes the necessary verb "to say" into intransitive unless dictated otherwise.

Leipzig-Jakarta List
Used for comparison with offspring languages.