Paytàian

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...

r̂èp yèṭʼ nu tʼàd bin ṇi r̂èp gbu wà nu r̂ong kpèm pʼi̜swɨ̜

Pronunciation: /ɻɛp jɛʈʼ nu tʼəd bin ɳi ɻɛp g͡bu wə nu ɻɔŋ k͡pɛm pʼi̜ˈswɨ̜/

Paytàian word order: and he his hat holding stood and the wind to his wet face turned

Consonant inventory: b d f g g͡b j k kʼ k͡p l m n p pʼ r s t tʼ w ŋ ɖ ɲ ɳ ɻ ɽ ʈ ʈʼ

Click IPA symbols for audio Co-articulated phonemes Vowel inventory: a e i i̜ u u̜ æ ɔ ə ɛ ɨ̜ Syllable structure: (C)V(C) ?

Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable ?

Word initial consonants: b d f g͡b j kʼ k͡p n p pʼ r t tʼ w ŋ ɖ ɲ ɳ ɻ ɽ ʈ ʈʼ

Mid-word consonants: b bb bn bt bw d dj dn dw f fd fk fl fn fr g gd gj gk gl gw g͡b j jb jd jg jj jk jn jr jt k kb kd kf kr ks kw kʼ k͡p l lb lf lj lk ll ln lr lt m mf mg mj mk mn mp mr mt mɲ n nj nm ns nt p pf pn pp pr pt pw pʼ r rj rl rn rs s sb sg sk sl sm sn sp ss sw sɲ sʈ t tg tp tr ts tt tw tʼ w wb wd wg wp ŋ ŋb ŋf ŋm ŋs ŋt ŋw ɖ ɲ ɲɲ ɳ ɻ ɻk ɻn ɽ ʈ ʈʈ ʈʼ

Word final consonants: b d g͡b k kʼ k͡p l m n p pʼ r s tʼ ŋ ɖ ɳ ɽ ʈ ʈʼ

Spelling rules:

Grammar
Main word order: Subject (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary with a key the door opened.

Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.

Adposition: postpositions ?

Nouns
Nouns have five cases:


 * Nominative is the doer of a verb: dog bites man.
 * Accusative is the done-to of a verb: man bites dog.
 * Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.
 * Dative is the recipient of something: man gives ball to dog.
 * Locative is the location of something: man goes to town.

Nouns form plural with separate plural word:

Articles
Paytàian has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.

Verbs
Perfect aspect

The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.

Paytàian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Numbers
Paytàian has a base-10 number system:

1 - pʼus

2 - ɨ̜

3 - è

4 - ngo

5 - to

6 - ngès

7 - an

8 - ṛefa

9 - kʼi̜n

10 - tè

11 - tèpʼus “ten-one”

100 - ngangɨ̜ “hundred”

101 - ngangɨ̜ pʼus “hundred one”

200 - ɨ̜ ngangɨ̜

1000 - bɨ̜ “thousand”

Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Suffix -i̜

Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -r

Else: Suffix -ɨ̜r

Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʈʼ

Else: Suffix -iʈʼ

Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Suffix -iɽ

Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Suffix -u

Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -kʼ

Else: Suffix -ukʼ

Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -i̜

Tending to = Suffix -ɛk͡p

Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -r

Else: Suffix -ɛr

Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -kʼ

Else: Suffix -ɛkʼ

One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -iɳ

Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -k

Else: Suffix -ak

Diminutive = Suffix -ə

Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ɽ