Sukika

Setting
Sukika, also called Tuggish, Tuggigga or Ravumi, is a language isolate, found in the mountainous regions of Drion's North continent. It is an agglutinant language, with some traces of polysynthesis.

It is spoken by small scattered communities concentrated in the Kerbahar mountains, but some groups are found in other regions of the Northern mountain chain as well.

There is a single written language, reflecting the stability and uniformity of the language: apart from differences in pronunciation (due mostly to the treatment of allophony), all varieties of the language share basically the same vocabulary, morphology and syntax.

Pronunciation
The Sukika have a particular manner of speaking, with a harsh voice which generally sounds like if the speaker has got a cold or has burnt the tongue. Stress has no active role in the language, as all syllables receive similar stress. Tone is not distinctive, although in some dialects it is used to express general states of mind (agreement, resignation &c.)

Vowels
Sukika has simple five vowels:
 * a ,
 * e ,
 * i ,
 * o ,
 * u ,

pronounced more or less like in Italian or Spanish. Each vowel corresponds to a syllable, even when they appear together. Double vowels (aa for example) are, actually, a sequence of two vowels, each in a separated syllable.

The pronunciations indicated for each vowel are in free variation. They are not phonologically significant.

Consonants
From a phonological point of view, Sukika has only ten consonants:
 * 1) p (allophones: bb  / mb  / f   - see below)
 * 2) t, (allophones: dd  / nd  / s   - see below)
 * 3) k (allophones: gg  / ng  / sh , ,  - see below)
 * 4) l, (allophones: ll ,  / r   - see below)
 * 5) m
 * 6) n
 * 7) h, ,
 * 8) y
 * 9) w
 * 1) w

The alternative pronunciations indicated for a single letter (h for instance) are all in free variation.

Allophony
Phonetically, one of the main characteristics of the language is the strong allophony involving the elementary stops p, t and k. In most dialects these stops occur only in the beginning of a syllable, but only when it is preceded by another consonant. At the end of a syllable these stops are realized as sibilants or fricatives (respectively f, s and sh), and between vowels they are realized as voiced doubled consonants (respectively bb, dd and gg). Together with a nasal (m or n) they are realized as mb, nd and ng. So, for instance, the number "three", which is originally yupkatuk, is, in most dialects, actually spoken as yufkaddush.

The sounds r and l are also allophonic variants.

So, considering "a" as a sample vowel, we get the following realizations for each of the archiphonemes: (click to listen)
 * P: pabbambaf
 * T: taddandas
 * K: kaggangash
 * L: lallar

Initial and final realizations may change according to the addition of prefixes or suffixes.

Phonotactics
Syllables in Sukika have the structure: (C)V(C), that is, an obligatory vowel that may be preceded and/or followed by one consonant. No more than two consonants can come together in the middle of a word.

Stress is not meaningful. All syllables receive a medium stress, while some syllables may receive more or less stress depending on rhythm or emphasis. Stressed syllables have the tendency to be spoken in a high pitch, although it is not obligatory and has no meaning other than conveying some kind of emphasis. Ex.:
 * Irtoy numorkeaubbor iweddalluin iwposhpunoahmuk "We have learned today how to turn the computer on."
 *  Irtoy numorkeaubbor iweddalluin iwposhpunoahmuk "Today was the day we have learned how to turn the computer on."
 * Irtoy numorkeaubbor iweddal luin iwposh punoahmuk "What we have learned today is how to turn the computer on."
 * Irtoy numor keaubbor iweddalluin iwposhpunoahmuk "Today we have indeed learned how to turn the computer on."

''(irtoy = today; numosh = learn; iweddar= turn on (n. or v.); iwposhpunoam = computer)''

Metathesis
The sound changes in Sukika go beyond simple allophony. Metathesis occurs as well, when one consonant of the mentioned group (p, t, k) comes together with a liquid (l), an aspirated (h) or with a nasal (m or n). In these cases, the liquid, aspirated or nasal must always come first, with l changing to r (semi-retroflex) and the nasals being realized as m with p and as n with the other two. The three consonants themselves are not changed with the liquid and the aspirated, but are realized as voiced consonants when joined to a nasal. So we get:
 * p + l or l + p -> rp
 * t + l or l + t -> rt
 * k + l or l + k -> rk
 * p + h or h + p -> hp
 * t + h or h + t -> ht
 * k + h or h + k -> hk
 * p + m or m + p -> mb
 * t + m or m + t -> nd
 * k + m or m + k -> ng
 * p + n or n + p -> mb
 * t + n or n + t -> nd
 * k + n or n + k -> ng

These changes occur always when a suffix or prefix is added to a word, or when two roots are joined to make a composite stem.

Nouns
Nouns have a very complex declension system, considering the various sound changes that happen when adding affixes to a stem. Number, case, possession and definiteness are indicated by means of suffixes.

Declension
The suffixes come in the following order: [stem] [number] [case] [definiteness/possession]

The suffixes of definiteness and possession are mutually excluding, that is, you can not use suffixes of both classes together.

Full Declension
Let's use the word iwenash "car" (base iwenak) to illustrate the use of nominal suffixes.

Derivation
There are still some other suffixes that, not having any grammatical function, are used to express differences or modifications in the original meaning of the root.
 * Diminutive: -nun- (equivalent to the use of the attributive adjective "small" or "little")
 * Augmentative: -to- (equivalent to the use of the attributive adjective "big", "large" or "great")
 * Pejorative: -len- (equivalent to the use of the attributive adjective "bad" or "evil")
 * Meliorative: -neh- (equivalent to the use of the attributive adjective "beautiful" or "good")
 * Degradative: -kel- (equivalent to the use of the attributive adjective "ancient" or "old")

These suffixes are added directly to the word root, before any other suffixes, thus forming a new word with the normal nominal flexion.

E.g.:
 * iwenangun "small car"
 * iwenashto "large car"
 * iwenarken "bad car"
 * iwenangeh "good car"
 * iwenagger "old car"
 * iwenangurnu "this small car"
 * iwenangehyu "my good car"
 * iwenaggellish "your old car"

Examples

 * ihellaggush "friend"
 * ihellagguk-neh-nu-yu-yu -> ihellaggungehnuyuyu "to my good friends"
 * iddeggay-nun-ku-um -> iddeggaynunguum "in their (small) house"
 * kubboddim-neh-it-tu-ik -> kubboddimnehidduish "with your (many) good ideas"

Adjectives
Adjectives have no form of agreement with nouns. Attributive adjectives come before nouns, and in some dialects they actually form compound words with nouns. Some elementary attributes (see above) are expressed by means of derivational suffixes.


 * iweddawuf yuddongushpa "native tongue", in some dialects realized as iweddawup-yuddongushpa
 * ihellabbuf nuddaggeor "true love", in some dialects realized as ihellabbum-buddaggeor

Comparison
Degrees of comparison in adjectives are formed by means of suffixes:
 * Comparative of superiority ("more ... "): -mey
 * Comparative of inferiority ("less ... "): -ihno
 * Comparative of equality ("as ... "): -luh
 * Superlative of superiority ("the most ..."): -lap
 * Superlative of inferiority ("the least ..."): -mol

Examples:
 * iyebbaw tukwan "a cheap (piece of) clothe"
 * iyebbawmey tukwan "a cheaper (piece of) clothe"
 * iyebbawihno tukwan "a not so cheap (piece of) clothe"
 * iyebbawluh tukwan (ish) "a (piece of) clothe as cheap (as)"
 * iyebbawlaf tukwan "the cheapest (piece of) clothe"
 * iyebbamwor tukwan "the least cheap (piece of) clothe"
 * iggellar iddewar "an expensive book"
 * iggellarmey iddewar "a more expensive book"
 * iggellallihno iddewar "a not so expensive book"
 * iggellalluh iddewar (ish) "a book as expensive (as)"
 * iggellallaf iddewar "the most expensive book"
 * iggellarmor iddewar "the lest expensive book"

Personal
The short forms are used with case endings and when there is no emphasis. The longer forms are used without case endings and carry an emphatic meaning. The special forms are a kind of honorific, used only in very polite or religious language and expressing a high degree of respect.

Possessive
Possession is indicated by means of declensional possessive suffixes (see above). The genitive of the short form of the personal pronouns may be used for emphasis:
 * (puhush) ihellaggukyu "my friend"
 * (yuhhush) ihellagguggish "thy friend"
 * (uhpush) ihellagguggin "his/her friend"
 * (tuhush) ihellagguhkur "our friend"
 * (wuhush) ihellaggukwuf "your friend"
 * (yuhmush) ihellagguggum "their friend"

Cardinal
You can listen to the numbers from 1 to 10, and from 11 to 20.

Counting
Numerals one, two and three are rarely used with nouns, as there are specific endings for expressing these numbers. Usually but not as a rule, the number "four" is expressed by the Paucal ending. Nonetheless, explicit numbers can always be used for emphasis or to avoid ambiguity. Generally, the paucal ending is used with numbers up to ten, while multitudinal is used with higher numbers, although there are not fixed boundaries for the use of these endings. E.g.: Click here to listen
 * iddewar "(one) book"
 * iddewallosh "two books"
 * iddewalyuf "three books"
 * iddewarnu "(four) books"
 * puggoni iddewarnu "four books"
 * iggerwi iddewarnu "five books"
 * puesh iddewarnu "six books"
 * purkarte iddewarnu "seven books"
 * iw´oyif iddewarnu "eight books"
 * iwmosh iddewarnu "nine books"
 * ineham iddewarnu "ten books"
 * ihenanigges iddewallis "eleven books"
 * ibbeggash iddewallis "twenty books"
 * pubbos iddewallis "fifty books"
 * tumbaddur iddewallis "a hundred books"

Ordinal
Ordinal numbers are created by adding the suffix -kan to the cardinal numbers:
 * 1st: ihenangan
 * 2nd: yuggoggan; ifkoggan
 * 3rd: yufkadduggan; iggeskiggan
 * 4th: puggoniggan
 * 5th: iggerwiggan &c.

Verbs
Verbs in Ravumi receive prefixes and suffixes indicating various grammatical categories as time, aspect, person, number and transitiveness.

Passive voice is obtained by using a transitive verb in intransitive form, i.e., without object affixes. Agent is put in ablative case. Compare:
 * Iykomiyleddenubba (iykomiy-le-ten-uf-a) "He has chosen (it)".
 * Iykomiyleddena (ubbish) (iykomiy-le-ten-a) "He has been chosen (by her)".

Aspect
Aspect is indicated by means of suffixes:
 * Stative: -ki-
 * Durative: -na-
 * Perfective: -le-
 * Aorist: -tut-
 * Frequentative: -hek-
 * Inchoative: -won-

Time
Time suffixes come after aspect suffixes:
 * Past: -ten-
 * Present: -a-
 * Future: -mu-

Object
Direct object is indicated by means of suffixes:
 * 1st person sing. -el-
 * 2nd person sing. -at-
 * 3rd person sing. -uf-
 * 1st person pl. -po-
 * 2nd person pl. -ten-
 * 3rd person pl. -um-

While indirect objects are indicated by means of the same forms, but used as prefixes:
 * 1st person sing. el-
 * 2nd person sing. at-
 * 3rd person sing. uf-
 * 1st person pl. po-
 * 2nd person pl. ten-
 * 3rd person pl. um-

These indirect object prefixes come before any other possible prefixes.

Subject
The subject suffixes are always the last element in a verb.
 * 1st person sing. -uh
 * 2nd person sing. -at
 * 3rd person sing. -a
 * 1st person pl. -ol
 * 2nd person pl. -ow
 * 3rd person pl. -to

Derivation
Some prefixes are added to change the base meaning of the root:
 * "again", "re-": to-
 * "many times": kel-
 * "for the first time": pon-
 * "unwillingly": lit-
 * "make" (causative): kot-
 * "can" (ability): map-
 * "try": yet-

Meaning of Aspects and Times
Here is an explanation about the meaning of each aspect+time combination of suffixes.
 * Present
 * Stative Present Tense (-kia-): "I am sitting", "She looks good"
 * Durative Present Tense (-naa-): "I am working", "She is waiting"
 * Perfective Present Tense (-lea-): "I just ate", "He is dead"
 * Aorist Present Tense (-tudda-): "I have already seen it once", "She has just called for her mom"
 * Frequentative Present Tense (-hegga-): "I always eat there", "She keeps calling you"
 * Inchoative Present Tense (-wona- ): "I get to work now", "It is starting to rain"
 * Past
 * Stative Past Tense (-kidden-): "I was sitting", "She looked good"
 * Durative Past Tense (-nadden-): "I was working", "She has been waiting"
 * Perfective Past Tense (-ledden-): "I had just eaten", "He had died dead"
 * Aorist Past Tense (-tudden-): "I had already seen it before", "She had called for her mom"
 * Frequentative Past Tense (-heshten-): "I used to eat there", "She kept calling you"
 * Inchoative Past Tense (-wonden- ): "I got to work then", "It was starting to rain"
 * Future
 * Stative Present Tense (-kimu-): "I will be sitting", "She is going to look good"
 * Durative Present Tense (-namu-): "I will be working", "She will wait for some time"
 * Perfective Present Tense (-lemu-): "I will already have eaten", "He is going to be dead"
 * Aorist Present Tense (-tundu-): "You will already have seen it once", "She will have put it somewhere"
 * Frequentative Present Tense (-hengu-): "I will always love you", "She is going to call you lots of times"
 * Inchoative Present Tense (-wonmu- ): "I will get to work in two hours", "It will start raining in a few minutes"

Sample Conjugation
An example of the use of direct object suffixes (these come before the subject suffixes):
 * nuddoynumbaaelluh "I am seeing myself"
 * nuddoynumbaaadduh "I am seeing you (sg.)"
 * nuddoynumbaaubbuh "I am seeing him/her/it"
 * nuddoynumbaabbouh "I am seeing us"
 * nuddoynumbaaddenuh "I am seeing you (pl.)"
 * nuddoynumbaaumuh "I am seeing them"

Other examples:
 * Verb root: nuddoynuf (base: nutoynup)
 * nutoynup-na-a-uh -> nuddoynumbaauh "I am seeing"
 * nutoynup-ki-a-uh -> nuddoynfkiauh "I see (I am a living being with the ability to see)"
 * nutoynup-le-a-uf-uh -> nuddoynurpeaubbuh "I have seen it" ("I have the experience of having seen it")
 * nutoynup-tut-mu-el-at -> nuddoynuftunduellas "you shall see me (once, definitely)"
 * at-kot-nutoynup-tut-mu-uf-uh -> askonduddoynuftunduubbuh "I will show it to you"
 * Verb root: nuddash (base: nuttak)
 * nuttak-ki-a-at-uh -> nuddaggiaadduh "I love you"
 * Verb root: pubbomir (base: pupomil)
 * to-pupomil-le-mu-uf-a -> tobbubbomillemuubba "he will bring it again"
 * Verb root: turnagguf (base: tunlakup)
 * map-tunlakup-na-a-ten-uh -> mafturnaggumbaaddenuh "I can help you now"
 * kel-tunlakup-hek-a-el-to -> kerturnagguhpeggaerto "they always help me"
 * lit-tunlakup-ki-a-at-a -> liddurnaggufkiaadda "he is helping you against his will"
 * Verb root: imboh (base: impoh)
 * impoh-le-a-uf-a -> imbohleaubba "he has broken it"

Sample Derivation

 * tonuddoynuf "see again"
 * kernuddoynuf "see many times"
 * ponnuddoynuf "see for the first time"
 * lisnuddoynuf "unwillingly see"
 * konduddoynuf "cause (someone) to see"
 * mambuddoynuf "can see"

Negation
Negation is done by means of the word luddo placed before or after the verb:
 * luddo impoh-tut-mu-uf-uh -> luddo imbohtunduubbuh "I won't break it."
 * luddo muggo-ki-a-uf-at -> luddo muggoggiaubbas "You don't know it."
 * nuddoynumbaaubbuh luddo "I am not seeing him/her/it."
 * mambunoggiynaaumow luddo "You cannot kill them."

Word Order
Sukika is basically a SVO language, but word order is somewhat flexible, due to the extensive use of suffixes establishing the relation of the words.

Pronoun suffixes
As a rule, subject and object pronouns must be used, even when subject and object are explicitly used. E.g., in Ihtobbiddin ubbimemadduddenubba nuemahu lumnadduhyuin, "The boy wrote a letter to his grandmother", we have the verb imemas "to write" in the Past Perfective form imemaddudden "wrote". It has the indirect object prefix uf- (referring to lumnadduhyuin "to his grandmother") as well as the direct object suffix -uf- (referring to nuemahu "a letter"), together with the subject suffix -a (referring to ihtobbiddin "the boy"). Anyway, in some dialects, the object affixes may be left out in spoken language, so it is also possible to say Ihtobbiddin imemadduddena nuemahu lumnadduhyuin with the same meaning.

Vocabulary
Sukika is known for its rich vocabulary. There are many cases in which a single English word can be translated by several Sukika words, according to slight nuances in meaning. Sometimes a word is used only in specific environments, while other words with basically the same meaning are used in others. It is related that, for some words, even native speakers themselves are unable to explain why they choose one word and not another one.

Here go some examples:
 * "star" may be:
 * pumobbus (used specificly in astronomy, meaning "a sun", "the nucleus of a solar system")
 * iyeddas (visible stars at night)
 * puhkaske (reserved for large bright stars)
 * nuhka (reserved for visibly blinking stars)
 * puey (mythical and figurative sense, like in "destiny star" or also "rock star")


 * "uncle" may be:
 * ibbeman, ibbemar "father's brother"
 * puggosh "mother's brother"
 * puyta (indefinite relationship, can be anything like "an older friend of the family", "an elder cousin")
 * imboyim "father's or mother's brother-in-law"


 * "fear" may be:
 * pueynih ("light fear")
 * pu´ownu ("terror", "horror")
 * in´ongu (undetermined specificity)
 * pumof (undetermined specificity)
 * puhka (undetermined specificity)


 * "document" may be:
 * illeddaw (personal documents)
 * mubboy (ownership documents for an object, e.g. a car)
 * mues (documentation for a company)
 * ´uyos (documentation for a process)
 * iddebban (undetermined specificity, may also be used instead of illeddaw)
 * muyoddir (generic, undefinite)


 * "medicine" may be:
 * pukya (natural medicine, e.g. leaves or oils)
 * yuwom´ur (pills)
 * yuyo (solution, e.g., a powder dissoluted in water)
 * puyohtu (creams, ointment, used on the skin)
 * yukyante (injection &c.)
 * yuef (undetermined specificity)

Trivia

 * The first name of this language was Ravumi. It was chosen long before the language was designed. But, as it was a "foreign" reference (from an Efhang source), it was kept as an alternate name.
 * The original name is Tukik or, with the suffix -a, Tukika. The form Sukika is an old dialect form.
 * The current native form of the name is either Tuggish or Tuggigga. The suffix -a is an old collective plural ending, not used anymore actively in the language. So, Tukik/Tuggish is the simple ethnic designation of the people, culture language &c., while the form Tukika/Tuggigga/Sukika originally meant "the Sukika people". There is no difference in the use of these forms in the current language.
 * From a phonological point of view, the language has only ten consonants (P, T, K, m, n, L, ´, h, y, w) and five vowels (a, e, i, o, u).
 * From a phonetical point of view, with the addition of the allophones for P, T, K and L, the number of consonants rises to twenty, and with the addition of vowel variants (open and closed e and o, nasality &c.), the quantity of vowels rises to twenty (,, , , , , , , , , both oral and nasal). However, these variants are completely free, so they are not relevant either lexically or grammatically.
 * In the first design of the language, it was meant to resemble Finnish, both in morphology and in grammar. Later on, some similarities with Eskimo-Aleut languages were added, like a degree of polysynthesis and the small number of phonemes.
 * The roots for Sukika words are relatively long, partly as a compensation for the low number of phonemes, partly as the initial design principle of mirroring Finnish features.