Tinifian

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

qi sush fodz shåg̈ pi̊ duuw qi g̈uum tsi̊i̊g̈ fodz zhådnivå shu paan

Pronunciation: /qi suʃ fɔʣ ʃəɣ pɪ duːw qi ɣuːm ʦɪːɣ fɔʣ ˈʒədnivə ʃu paːn/

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

Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory: b d f k l m n p q s t v w x z ŋ ɢ ɣ ɬ ʁ ʃ ʒ ʣ ʦ χ

Click IPA symbols for audio Co-articulated phonemes Vowel inventory: a aː i iː u uː ɔ ɔː ə əː ɛ ɛː ɪ ɪː

Syllable structure: (C)V(C) ?

Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable ?

Word initial consonants: b d f n p q s t v w x z ɣ ʁ ʃ ʒ ʣ ʦ χ

Mid-word consonants: b bl bn bs bt bw bz bʁ bʃ bʒ d dl dm dn dt dʁ f fd fk fl fp fw fx fʁ fʃ k kl km kn kw l lb ld lm ln lp lq lt lɣ m mf mk ml mp ms mv mʃ mʒ n nb nn np nɬ nʃ p pk pl pm pt pʁ pʃ q qq s sb sm ss sv sw sz sχ t tb td tk tl tp tv tw tx tz tʃ v vl vm vn vv vχ w wb wd wl wm wp ws wt ww wx wz wʃ x xm xt xv xw xʦ z zn ŋ ŋb ŋf ŋk ŋs ŋw ŋz ɢ ɣ ɣn ɬ ʁ ʁb ʁd ʁf ʁm ʁn ʁs ʁv ʃ ʃb ʃk ʃl ʃn ʃv ʃɣ ʒ ʒb ʒm ʣ ʦ ʦk ʦl ʦn ʦs ʦt ʦw χ χk χt

Word final consonants: d f k l m n q s t v w x z ŋ ɢ ɣ ɬ ʁ ʃ ʒ ʣ ʦ χ

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:


 * Ergative is the doer of a verb, when the verb is done to something: dog bites man.
 * Absolutive is used in two scenarios: the doer of a verb when not done to something (dog bites), and 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.

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

Verbs
Imperfective aspect

The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am learning and habitual actions, such as I learn (something new every day).

Tinifian uses an affix for imperfective:

Numbers
Tinifian has a base-20 number system:

1 - pits

2 - ti̊i̊

3 - ii

4 - sho

5 - khoo

6 - rii

7 - g̈eeg̈a

8 - dzuu

9 - dzeznii

10 - wiisḧ

11 - ååghtii

12 - dzaakh

13 - uudz

14 - ghi̊n

15 - shimasḧ

16 - zheets

17 - iing

18 - ghom

19 - aar

20 - fikh

21 - fikhpits “twenty-one”

400 - zoor “fourhundred”

401 - zoor qi pits “fourhundred and one”

800 - ti̊i̊ zoor “two fourhundred”

8000 - tsi̊i̊gh “eightthousand”

Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -χ

Else: Suffix -ɪχ

Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -i

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

Else: Suffix -ɪːz

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

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

Noun to verb = Suffix -uː

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

Tending to = Suffix -iɬ

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

Else: Suffix -as

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

Else: Suffix -iɢ

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

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

Else: Suffix -əːɢ

Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -f

Else: Suffix -ɛf

Augmentative =