Old Keuti

General information
Old Keuti is the predecessor of Middle Keuti and is derived from Proto Keutan-Dztan. Old Keuti did not change much due to its relative isolation in a group of runaway slaves from the homeland of Proto Keutan-Dztan. The masculine and feminine genders became more defined as a legacy of the subordinate culture. The native name of the language /kɯde̞nɒm/ is a nebulous term derived from the verb "to subjugate" meaning roughly "subjugance". Some theorize the culture linked subjugation with speech because of superiors ordering them what to do.

Vowels
No dipthongs occur in Old Keuti, and there are no long vowels. If a vowel cluster has identical vowels, a glottal stop is inserted to differentiate.

Allophones
The /m/ sound changes to the /ɱ/ sound only in consonant clusters with either /f/ or /v/ directly after it. The /f/ sound changes into the /ɸ/ sound when it is the initial, non clustered consonant. /k/, /t/, and /p/ are aspirated when in a consonant cluster.

Transcription
Apostrophes are placed in between vowel clusters.

Phonotactics
The syllable structure of Old Keuti is (C)V[C], where C is any consonant or consonant cluster and V is any short or long vowel. Consonant clusters can have up to three consonants. If there is no initial consonant, the syllable must be at the beginning of the word. The final consonant or consonant cluster is only used at the end of a word, but not necessarily for affixes and exception words. In a consonant cluster, consonants cannot occur more than once, plosives cannot occur after plosives, and taps cannot occur after nasals. The /ʔ/ sound cannot be clustered either. The /ɾ/ sound only occurs at the end of an initial consonant cluster. The /l/, /ɾ/, /j/, and /w/ sounds always have an /e̞/ sound attached after if they are the final consonant in a word, or in the middle or beginning of a tricluster. The syllables with voiced stop finals are unstressed, while the rest are stressed.

Noun Phrase
Noun phrases are formed in Old Keuti with determiners and case markers. The noun modifying the other noun goes first in the noun phrase.

Demonstratives and Articles
Pronouns can either stand alone or be linked to a noun phrase.

Interrogatives
There is an extensive system of interrogative pronouns in Old Keuti.

Quantifiers
Quantifiers are treated as pronouns and not affixes.

Numerals
The numeral system is base ten, with larger numbers formed by adding a number to a factor of ten, and repeating if necessary. Numbers act mostly as determiners attached to noun phrases.

Cases
Cases are marked by suffixes attached after the declined noun, and only form noun phrases if applicable.

Genitive Cases
There are several types of genitive cases in Old Keuti.

Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns inflect based on gender, person, and relation. Collective pronouns are formed by using the inclusive suffix /egle/ or the exclusive suffix /eufm/.

Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs are placed preceding the word they modify. The comparative suffix is /bozet/, and the superlative suffix is /tozego/. The order in which adjectives and adverbs must be attached to a head is this: An important qualifier is the polarity adverb /hewe/, which changes the modified verb's polarity to negative.
 * 1) Head
 * 2) Qualifier
 * 3) Number
 * 4) Quantifier
 * 5) Demonstrative/Interrogative

Verb Phrase
The main verb expresses modality and some voice by inflecting the final cluster at the end of the verb. The infinitive and supine consonant cluster is /z/. An auxiliary verb is attached to form a verb phrase.

Auxiliary Verbs
The auxiliary verb must always accompany a verb to express politeness, tense, and aspect. There are some alternate forms based on gender, with the feminine form on the left and the masculine on the right if applicable. The auxiliary verb is placed after the main verb in the clause. The passive voice auxiliary verb /kong/ is attached preceding the auxiliary verb or the main verb to turn a transitive verb into an intransitive verb.

Copula
The copula is a verb that links a subject with its complement, describing state. If the state is permanent the copula is /heuz/; if the state is temporary it is /tmez/.

Postpositions
The noun with the postposition is attached preceding a noun phrase or verb phrase to form a postpositional phrase.

Interjections
Interjections are placed preceding the clause when modifying them. Interjections are exceptions to the rules of phonotactics.

Conjunctions
Conjunctions are used to link words and clauses. Most of them are placed after the word or clause.

Sentence Structure
The canon word order is V2 for the main clause, and SOV in subordinate clauses. The most common V2 order is SVO. There are four kinds of subordinate clauses, relative, conditional, causative, and quotative which are marked by conjunctions preceding them when attached to an independent clause.

Relative
egonmeuso weuh ejowegesog kong tistkokwe zim heukwe zo kegog

def .child. erg   rel   .def .house. abs pas to-burn. ind pst. pfv cop. ind npst. pfv prox. abs

The child who burned the house is here.

The conjunction marks the subject of the subordinate clause.

Conditional
strojoso ngokmwe zoge strojiseut teuqegog nowe strojiso ejowegesog tistkokwe zim

1 . m. pro. erg to-eat. cond   m.npst. prog 3. m. pro. gen flesh. abs cnj 3. m. pro. erg def .house. abs to-burn. ind pst. pfv

I will be eating his flesh if he burned down the house.

The conjunction marks what will happen if the conditions in the subordinate clause are met.

Causative
egonmeuso pobe ejowegesog kong tistkokwe zim heukwe zo kegog

def .child. erg cau   .def .house. abs pas to-burn. ind pst. pfv cop. ind npst. pfv prox. abs

The child who caused the house to burn is here.

The conjunction marks the reason of the occurrence in the subordinate clause.

Quotative
strojisog got egonmeuso pobe ejowegesog kong tistkokwe zim heukwe zo kegog hemekwe zim

3 . m. pro. abs  quot def .child. erg cau   .def .house. abs pas to-burn. ind pst. pfv cop. ind npst. pfv prox. abs to-say. ind pst. pfv

He said, "The child who caused the house to burn is here."

The conjunction marks the speaker and changes the necessary verb "to say" into intransitive unless dictated otherwise.

Morphology
Some theorize the unattested tribal languages that the Old Keuti culture came in contact with imparted a derivational system not present in Proto Keutan-Dztan.

Concatenation/Compounding
Titles and geographic locations are placed undeclined preceding the modified noun. Compound words are formed with the modifier preceding the modified, unless it is a verb modifying a noun or adjective. If this is the case, the modifier is attached after the modified word.

Derivation
There are many derivational suffixes that change one word class to another. The verb suffix completely removes the final cluster, unless it is verb to action noun in which case it simply takes infinitive form.
 * adjective to noun -tem
 * adjective to verb -slez
 * noun to adjective -tren
 * noun to verb -kez
 * verb to adjective -hit
 * verb to agent noun -zeuh
 * verb to abstract noun -nam

Leipzig-Jakarta List
Used for comparison with offspring and precursor languages.

Example Text
strojosegle'o sehiskle zonoge manozeon ofg ekinetrenog sikik homklenefeut pihegog kong konmekwe zonoge "To fulfill life's Purpose, we must obey the Four Pillars of Prostration. Our great ancestors crafted the lapis seal in their desert wanderings, so we must submit to the seal as a daughter must submit to her mother. This is the first pillar. We must obey our elders and treat them with respect. This is the second pillar. We must bow tremblingly to our honorable masters and ultimately to the master of masters. This is the third pillar. We must honor the spirits of Mountain Bird and River Fish with trembling prostration. This is the fourth pillar. Once our Purpose is fulfilled, the Counter Master will look upon our hearts with favor, and allow our passage into the Realm of Nontorment."

Writing System
The culture that spoke Old Keuti used an alphabetic writing system with a fairly shallow orthographic depth. Words are separated by spaces, and sentences are separated by a larger space. The script is written from left to right.