Nebadiʒ

Nebadiʒ is a language spoken by aquatic dragons who live in various lakes on the Tunisan Peninsula.

Consonants
Nebadiʒ has a class of consonants called squishes, which are unpronounceable to humans. They are made by drawing water into a special pouch beneath the lake dragons' tongues and rapidly squishing it out while speaking. The most comparable sound for humans are the clicks of the Khoisan languages. The second-most comparable would be aspirated versions of voiceless stops.

Writing System
Bebadzet is not a written language in its own universe, but its romanization is here for convenience.

Nouns
Nouns do not inflect. Their role in the sentence is clarified by prepositions and word order.

Affixes

Prefixes:

ne- - genetive marker. This is a new innovation in Nebadiʒ that's not found in its parent or cousins. It sometimes carries a notion of definiteness with it, such as when talking about certain social positions.

Infixes:

-bpap- - transforms nouns into adjectives. (Answers the question What type of x? A y-ly x.) This infix is in the middle of specializing its usage to an indefinite sense: it's traditional use overlaps heavily with ne- territory, but it doesn't carry the same definiteness that ne- does. It is also usually used when a noun that the ne- would attach to already starts with ne.

Verbs
There are three main types of verbs: active verbs, passive verbs, and beneficiary verbs. These determine which argument is put in the subject position.

Generally speaking, active verbs start with bpi, passive verbs start with we, and beneficiary verbs end with de.

Additionally, there are many modal verbs.

Nebadiʒ has many tenses, expressed through infixing.

No infix - present tense

-ji- - past tense

-ragk- - future tense

-giʒ- - some sort of future tense with an aspect attached. I need to decode my own handwriting.

Syntax
Nebadzet relies on many infixes. All content words are actually two-part morphemes with a set place to insert infixes.

Structure of a genetive construction: (ne- + noun) (base noun or unit) Example: three of raja -> neraja egk.

SVO-V Final

The copula does not move to the final position.

When there is only one verb in the main clause, the verb often splits at its morpheme boundary. Only the latter part of the verb moves back.

Adverbs go at the end of the sentence - past the last of the verb phrase.

Noun, then adjective, then quantifier.

Clause markers go at the very front of the sentence.

The phrase jeri jedi (the probability is....) is always abbreviated to jeri.

Lexicon
Be/ba (noun) - a lake.

Bi/bpa (noun) - a treaty.

Bi/lar (noun) - a female/a queen/any female noble (usually used to refer to the neba queen).

Bp (conjunction) - and.

Bpeg/kide - to receive/to get (beneficiary).

Bpi/dtig (verb) - to make/to create (active).

Bpiv/raʒet (noun) - transformation.

Bpiwi/de (verb) - to develop (beneficial).

De (noun) - a Twan (a member of the [human] Twanic tribes).

De/la (modal verb) - to wish that (something would happen).

Dinisa (noun) - Tunisa, the name of a country in the nebas' universe.

Dti/gka (noun) - the best/the favorite (especially the neba queen's favorite).

Dti/nai (noun) - a pond.

Dtil/wab (noun) - a human.

Dtiv/de (verb) - to translate (beneficiary verb).

Egk (number) - three.

Ejazi (adjective) - equal or neutral (usually used as a comment on probability).

Fane/ben (noun) - any human who was originally some other species, but transformed through magical means.

Gil/wif (noun) - a forest dragon.

Idis (adverb) - too/also/as well.

Iʒ (clause marker) - marks a hypothetical clause? I'll need to find the rest of my notes. Anyway, it's often used to talk about probability, and when it does, its clause is the first clause.

Ja (pronoun) - first person.

Je/di - copula.

Jera/de (verb) - to be pleasing or acceptable to (sometimes used to talk about someone agreeing to something).

Je/ri - the probability.

Je/ragk - a mountain dragon.

/Lar (modal verb) - serves as a perfect aspect of a verb. Unusual in that it forces infixes to become prefixes. ex: -ji- + lar = jilar.

Le (number) - one

Liv/lave (noun) - a whale.

-na- (intensifier) - puts extra emphasis on the word it's inserted in.

Ne/ba (noun) - the type of lake dragon that speaks Nebadiʒ.

Nebe/de (verb) - to shelter (beneficiary).

Nebi/lar (noun) - female/any female royal or noble except for the neba queen (slang).

Nedegk/dta (noun) - us (in a cultural sense). Specifically, neba.

Nedinisa (noun) - a Tunisan.

Ne/le (adjective) - good/nice.

Neri (noun) - size/volume. (Not used as a unit of measurement, but often used in comparing sizes between objects.)

Neʒa/wi (noun) - a "close culture." The word refers to cultures that A) have good relations with the neba, B) are similar to their own, and C) belong to species that share a mythological evolutionary ancestor with the neba. The word usually refers to sea dragons, but it can also refer to river dragons that have maintained their oldest known cultural identity.

Nildtig (noun) - a potion.

Ra/ja (noun) - a measurement of dimensions (primarily used as a unit of measurement). Normally, it appears as neraja as a unit of measurement, but with just one unit, it doesn't take a numeral so remains raja.

Rejavirlid (adverb) - until then.

Rig (pronoun) - the non-first-person pronoun

Ve/xi (modal verb) - used to quote people or things (including gossip, thoughts, and emotions). When there is no infix, the word is often shortened to vex.

Wa/wa (verb) - to marry (passive verb).

We/ji (verb) - to choose (passive verb).

We/lax (noun) - the proximity.

Wel/dax (noun) - a country. (This is still a rather foreign concept to many neba - at least in the sense of legal ownership of territory.)

We/zar (verb) - to conquer (passive verb).

Wi (preposition) - marks the object of a sentence.

Wi/lax (adjective) - new.

Xe (quantifier) - many

Xi/ba (noun) - the sea

Xi/ʒe (noun) - a male/a prince/any male noble.

ʒa (preposition) - marks the beneficiary of a sentence.

ʒi/ziz (noun) - a river.

Idioms
ʒa X dtivda Y wi bibpa - Y proposes a treaty to X (lit. Y translates a treaty for X) 

Example text
Nedegkdta jedi neba. We are lake dragons.

Nedegkdta jedi neraja egk. We are (about) three raja (long).

ʒa neʒawi nebe xiba de. Our cousins live in the sea.

Rig jedi nelivlave neri. They are the size of whales.

ʒa neʒawi nebe ʒiziz de idis. Our cousins live in rivers too.

Rig jedi raja. They are (about) (one) raja (long).

ʒa dtilwab xe nebe nebaba welax de. Or ʒa dtilwab xe nebe welax bepabba de. Many humans live near our lakes.

Rig jedi de vex. (They) say they are Twans.

Rig bpidtig wi weldax jilar bp rig jedi dinisa vex. They have made a country and they call it Tunisa.

Wi gilwif wezar nedinisa jilar. The Tunisans have conquered the forest dragons.

Iʒ wi yeragk wezar rig jilar idis, jeri ejazi. Maybe (soon), they will have conquered the mountain dragons too.

ʒa nedegkdta dtivda rig wi bibpa jilar bp ʒa bilar jerade jilar. They have proposed a treaty to us, and the queen has agreed.

Wi dtigka wagiʒ dtilwib xibpabʒe wa. Her favorite dragon is to marry a human nobleman.

ʒa bpivraʒedt fanebpabben bpiwidtigda nedinisa wi nildtig vex. (They) say that the Tunisans are developing a potion to turn (nebas) into humans.

ʒa nebilar wilax bpegiʒ wi nedtinai kide rejavirlid. Until then, the new noblewoman is gonna get her very own pond.

Nenale vex! How nice!

Wi ja weji bilar degiʒla. I wish the queen would choose me.