Nuim

General Information
Nuim is spoken by the Mero, a race of merfolk living in the oceans of Ciel. It is isolating, head-final, and encodes the speaker's thoughts and feelings within every utterance.

Consonants

 * /p/, /t/, and /k/ are voiced [b], [d], and [g] between vowels.
 * /f/, /s/, and /ʃ/ are voiced [v], [z], and [ʒ] between vowels.
 * [ʃ], [ʒ], [ɹ], and [j] are romanized as "c", "x", "r", and "y."

Vowels

 * [ə] is romanized as "e."

Phonotactics
Nuim's syllable structure is (C)V(C). /h/, /j/, and /w/ are not permitted as codas.

Stress
Nuim places stress on either the first complex syllable or the second syllable, whichever comes first. Any syllable with a coda is complex.

Onsets
An onset is a set of words at the beginning of a sentence that describe the thoughts and feelings the speaker wishes to convey. An onsets consists of two parts, an emotive and an evidential.

Emotives
Emotives describe the feelings the speaker wishes to convey with the sentence. Onsets require an emotive.


 * is the default emotive. It often has a neutral connotation when not intensified.
 * is often used when making requests, similar to "please."
 * is often used when thanking someone, similar to "thank you."

Intensifiers
An emotive can be intensified by reduplicating it.

Derivations
An emotive can be derived into a bound verb with the suffix -si.

Evidentials
Evidentials describe the speaker's evidence for the sentence. Onsets require an evidential if the sentence is indicative and the speaker is not the agent.

Derivations
An evidential can be derived into a bound verb with the suffix -ha.

Nouns
Nuim nouns are not inflected for gender or definiteness. They are inflected for number and possession. Nouns are not inflected for case but do take case particles.

Number
Nuim has two numbers, paucal and plural. An un-reduplicated noun is paucal and refers to zero, one, or a small number of items. A reduplicated noun is plural and refers to a large number of items or the item in general.

Possession
Nuim recognizes two types of possession: alienable and inalienable. In the case of alienable possession, the noun being possessed should take the suffix -ro. In the case of inalienable possession, the noun being possessed should take the suffix -hi. In both cases the possessor should come before the possessed.

If the possessor is a pronoun, it should be incorporated into the possessed as one of the following prefixes.

A possessed noun with an incorporated possessor does not require a possession suffix. The inalienable suffix is omitted more frequently than the alienable suffix.

Cases
A noun's case is indicated by case particles. Case particles follow their noun.

Parts of a Noun
(relative.clause | possessor) (number classifier) (incorporation-) NOUN (-possession) (case)

Correlatives

 * A noun can't take a determiner without a classifier.

Verbs
Nuim verbs are not inflected for agreement, tense, or aspect. They are inflected for word order and intensification. Verbs are not inflected for negation, voice, or mood but do take particles for these things.

Word Order
Nuim does require the subject to come before the object or vice versa. Instead, Nuim orders nouns by their animacy, according to the following groups: merrow, animate things, 3-dimensional things, 2-dimensional things, and 1-dimensional things. If, as a result of this order, the object would precede the subject, the verb should take the suffix -a.

If the subject is a pronoun, it should be incorporated into the verb as one of the following prefixes.

A verb with an incorporated pronoun never requires the -a suffix.

Intensifiers
A verb can be intensified by reduplicating it.

Negation
A verb can be negated with the particle sis. Sis precedes its verb.

Comparison
Comparing two things in Nuim has two parts. First, one of the things being compared should be the subject and the other thing should be comparative. Second, the verb should take one of the following comparative particles. Comparative particles precede their verb.

Voices
A verb's voice is indicated by voice particles. Voice particles follow their verb.


 * When you indicate a verb as passive, turn its object into the subject. You can omit the old subject or follow it with.
 * When you indicate a verb as causative, turn the causer into the subject. You can omit the old subject or follow it with.
 * When you indicate a verb as applicative, turn the appropriate oblique into the object. You can omit the old object or follow it with.

Moods
A verb's mood is indicated by mood particles. Mood particles follow their verb.

Serial Verbs
Two verbs are serial if one verb follows the other and neither verb is subordinate. Serial verbs behave like a single verb and take particles and affixes appropriately. A serial verb generally expresses multiple actions, one occurring after the other.

Compound Verbs
Two verbs make a compound if one verb follows the other and the second verb is subordinate to the first. The second verb should take the prefix wo-. Compound verbs behave like a single verb and take particles and affixes (other than the compound prefix) appropriately. A compound verb generally expresses a single action.

Bound verbs can only appear in compounds and usually do not take the wo- prefix.

Derivations
A verb can be derived into a noun with the following suffixes.

Parts of a Verb
(negation) (comparison) (incorporation-) VERB (-word.order) (voice) (mood)

Numbers
Nuim numbers are octal (base-8) and can be formed into larger numbers with two subsystems: a multiplicative subsystem and a positional subsystem.

Classifiers
Counting a thing in Nuim requires both a number and a classifier. The number should come before the classifier, which should come before the thing being counted.

Derivations
A number can be derived into other parts of speech with the following suffixes.


 * Derived fractions are of the form "1/N." Fractions can be counted to specify their numerators.

Clauses
Nuim clauses require zero or more nouns and at least one verb. A main clause also requires an onset. In an indicative clause the subject should be omitted if it's the speaker. In a interrogative or imperative clause the subject should be omitted if it's the addressee.

Adverbial Clauses
A clause is adverbial if it is dependent on and modifies another clause. An adverbial clause comes before its main clause and takes one of the following adverbial particles. Adverbial particles follow their adverbial clause.

Relative Clauses
A clause is relative if it precedes and modifies a noun. The modified noun should be omitted from the relative clause unless its oblique, in which case it should be replaced with an appropriate pronoun.

Quotations
A clause can be quoted with the particle le. Le follows its clause. If the quotation is direct, don't change any part of the quoted clause. If the quotation is indirect remove the onset and adjust any references to fit the main clause.

Parts of a Clause
(onset) (adverbial.clause | quotation) {noun} verb

Questions
A clause is a question if its main verb is interrogative. As Nuim doesn't have words for "yes" or "no," questions are answered by echoing the main verb affirmatively or negatively and replacing any interrogative pronouns or pro-adverbs with their answers.

Conjunctions
Any two nouns, verbs, or clauses can be conjoined. Conjunctions come between their elements. In general, conjoined elements behave like a single element.

Fal behaves a bit differently than the other conjunctions. It sets the second element to the first, changing or creating a definition. Fal is most frequently used to provide extra detail about a word or create a temporary pronoun.