Nutingka

Background Information
Nutingka (/'nʊtɪŋka/) is the sole surviving descendant of Proto-Nutingka, a hypothetical branch of Proto-Indo-European. In an alternate universe, instead of Proto-Italic, there was Proto-Nutingka, and thus the ancient settlers of near and in Italian peninsula spoke this. Years passed and all dialects of Proto-Nutingka but Nutingka died out, most likely because they were not recorded in words while people gradually forgot their vocabularies. In search for a method to document their history and preserve their last hope of a language, in ways not relying on mere speech and memory, the settlers borrowed the alphabet of their more sophisticated neighbours, the Greeks. However, they altered the alphabet to better suit their phonology. Though the Nutingkan word 'alfubit' was derived from Greek 'alphabetos', instead of naming their rendition so after the first two letters, the settlers named it after their first vowel and consonant.

As the settlers became more technologically advanced and conquered the Mediterranean, they, who would later be referred to as the 'Nutingkans', acquired so many loanwords from their expanded territory, that in response to the radical changes to their native language, they called their language a 'new tongue', which is what 'Nutingka' means (compare with PIE 'newos' + 'dngwehs').

As you can see, that name stuck, and Nutingka is still referred to as 'Nutingka' to this day.

Glides
/j/ - palatal approximant (when the letter It is followed by another vowel, and to distinguish between /jɪ/ and /i:/, /jɪ/ is written as two Its and a macron is placed over a single It for /i:/)

/w/ - labiodental approximant (similar situation as above, but with the letter Un)

Phonotactics
Syllables are in the structure (C)(C)(C)(V)V(V)(C)(C)(C), meaning that the simplest of syllables is a vowel, and the most complex of syllables allows three consonants for the onset, a triphthong for the nucleus and three consonants for the coda.

In order to not divide a syllable further, the first vowel in a triphthong is read like a glide.

Letter Origins
In an alternate universe, the letters the Nutingkans needed were invented by them. But here, in this world, I, Popilo, was inspired by several writing scripts. * technically from Latin Q that is repurposed to read /tʃ/, but Q itself descends from Qoppa

Orthography
* only Romanisation available currently, the alphabet of Nutingka does not have a keyboard

** originated as a digraph of Del and Zhel, but it's too cumbersome to write 'dzh' for /dʒ/

*** similar case as above, but as a diphthong of Euthenu and Un, 'y' preferred over 'eu-u'

Nouns
Grammatical Case Table The first ending in each cell is a first declension ending and the second ending in each cell is a second declension ending. A singular nominative first declension noun ends with a vowel (hence the added consonant in endings for ease of pronunciation) and a second declension one ends with a consonant.

To match the nouns, adjectives have the same endings as the nouns they describe, except for most occasions in the genitive case. This is to elucidate, for example, that a phrase is intending to say 'of the green apple', and not 'of green of apple' nor 'green of apple', as an adjective always precedes a noun. 'Apple', in this case, would either be nominative, accusative or dative in a sentence, depending on how direct it is and whether it's a subject or an object. A similar rule applies to nouns with more than one separate part; only the first part gets the genitive ending. Unlike adjectives, particles do not decline, as they occur too frequently.

 'of the green apple'- 'uirid malus'

 

 'Isaac Newton's'- 'Isaak Nyutons'

 

Also, since the accusative and ablative are such prominent cases, here is a table judging which directional indicators or prepositions take which case.

Pronouns
Here are some tables of pronouns. The locative case is omitted for obvious reasons. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Pronouns are made reflexive with the prefix 'sui-'/'suit-', meaning 'self',

First person ('I' and 'we'- treat 'we' as separate from 'I', but still plural): Second person ('you'): Third person ('they'- 'he' or 'she' only derived from context):

Verbs
Tenses 'Isari' ('to be', where '-ari/-ri' is an infinitive suffix) is the infinitive form of 'is' ('is'). 'Isarid', being the past form of 'isari', means 'been'. Only third person singulars use 'is' and simple present verbs that end with 's'. Only first person singulars may use 'em'. 'Vas' is only shared among the first and third persons.

To make a verb an imperative, simply add '-di/-i' when addressing one person, or '-dite/-ite' to many.

When describing a verb with an adverb, add '-li' to an adjective.

Add '-ing' to make a verb a gerund, but one will rarely have to do this.

'' 'Hapi!', thi dicid, in e konteruelhoning uiama, ueitis.- 'Begone! (lit. preposition 'from', but as an imperative)', he said, in an unwelcoming way, to us.''

Syntax
Sentences follow the structure S-V-O.

Lexicon
Basic vocabulary (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_vocabulary for comparison):

Family:
Mother- modar

Father- podar

Brother- bredar

Sister- sisdar

Daughter- dedar

Son- sun

Nephew- nifat

Brother in law- defar

Daughter in law- snuar

Mother in law- suagar

People:
Person- gemon

Man- hanar, bir

Woman- guin

Pronouns, particles:
I- Ig

Me (accusative)- Iga

Me (dative)- Igiti

Mine, my- man, Igek

You (nom. sing.)- thu

We, us- uei, nus

You (nom. and acc. plu.)- ia, iamas

Oneself- sui

What- kat

Who- kiu

And, any- et, ka

Not, no- non

Numbers:
Same- hom

One- on

Two- do

Three- trei

Four- ket

Five- pangk

Six- sez

Seven- seb

Eight- ekht

Nine- nin

Ten- den

Twenty- bingkti

Hundred- kint

Anatomy:
Tear- tiar

Tongue- tingka

Blood- aim

Chin- kin

Knee- keni

Tooth- don

Bone- oz

Ear- aus

Ear- oko

Heart- kor

Nose- noz

Foot- fod

Liver- yepar

Animals:
Horse- eku

Cow- bou

Sheep- ouo

Bear- uk

Dog- kien

Mouse- mou

Pig- su

Wolf- lup

Goose- gu

Duck- anit

Agriculture:
Grain- gran

Field- akar

Plow- arkha

Milk (verb or noun)- melk

Grind- mil

Honey- mel

Mead- med

Salt- sel

To sow, seed- soua, sem

Yoke- yug

Bodily Functions:
Breathe- anim

Sleep- suem

Sweat- sued

Eat- eta

Drink- biba

Produce- kigna

Grow- ogna

Live- uika

Die- mora

States:
Hear- klua

See- uida

Know- ueda

Recognize, know- konana, kona

Be ignorant of- nonkona

Think- menta

Declare, say- seka, weka

Ask- preka

Name- nam

Natural Features:
Star- astar

Day- dier

God- deuar

Sun- sol

Moon- mon

Earth- umer

Water- uatar

Tree- trei

Wind- uentar

Snow- snekar

Fire- fir

Warm- uarma

Light- luk

Adjectives:
Mid- medi

Big- makhr

Heavy- grau

Light- lehit

Red- rubi

Other- ali

New- nu

Young- iuben

Old- sen

Naked- nakan

Construction:
Door- dur

House- dom

Wheel- sikle

Sew- sou

Construct- teksa

Weave- uiba

Work- urga

Clothe- uaera

Motion:
Is- is

Become- isarihon

Sit- sida

Lie down- laekha

Bed- keit

Stand- standa

Go- goa

Come- hona

Follow- sekua

Carry- ber

Convey- behia

Drive- aga

Place- deha

Give- dona

Grab- kafa

Take- khaba

Kill- bania

Abandon- leiga

Time:
Yesterday- iisterdier

Night- nakht

Dawn- ausra

Winter- khiem

Spring- bar

Experienced, last year- ueti, ultueti

Year- ier

Example text
Ig donad igek iubenboum Jonti.- I gave my young cow (=calf) to John.

Ig vell dona igek anitam iati.- I will give my duck to you.

Ig vell goa had Hellēnesa.- I will go to Greece.

In di trensparonot, Deuar kondehad di keilomas et di umera.- In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.