Awkaŋu

=General Information= Awkaŋu is a noun language, i.e. there are basically neither verbs nor adjectives. The sentence structure can be described as SOV (subject object verb) where the verb part is really just a noun. Only its position in the sentence indicates that the action of the word is meant e.g. the word "eating" in the verb position would be understood as the action of eating i.e. "to eat".

Awkaŋu is an isolating language without any exceptions. Once the basic rules of grammar are understood, the learner can start speaking immediately because everything is logical and thus sentences can be made up on the fly.

There is no word for "to be".

Also, in Awkaŋu all words that are obvious from the context can be omitted. This is especially true for an established topic or agent/client. By inferring many words the sentences can become quite short without losing their meaning. However, context is very important to make a conversation possible.

There are no prepositions but almost all particles are postpositions.

=The Alphabet=

Vowels

 * a = [a]
 * u = [u]
 * i = [i]
 * o = [ɔ]
 * e = [ɛ]
 * w = [w]

Diphthongs

 * ey = [ɛi]
 * ai = [aɪ̯]]
 * ou = [oʊ̯]]

Consonants

 * n = [n]
 * ŋ = [ŋ]
 * m = [m]
 * b = [b]
 * l = [l]
 * d = [d]
 * t = [t]
 * f = [f]
 * s = [s]
 * sh = [ʃ] / [ʒ] before [d]
 * g = [g]
 * k = [k]
 * h = [h]
 * r = [ɺ]

=The Cases=

There is a total of 23 cases in Awkaŋu. All cases are built by using particles that follow the respective part of the sentence.

The particle bu is only used, when an action takes place. If the agent does not "do" anything, then sa is used instead.

For examples of the use of each case particle look at the example sentences section.

=Mood=

Awkaŋu is based on subjectivism. Every sentence is seen as a subjective opinion or description of the environment. It is agreed upon that there are no objective truths apart from those that are defined in the believe system of the Awkaŋus. These things have an influence on the grammar.

The mood particles always come last in every sentence. Usually every sentence needs one mood particle.

The particle shiaiga for the objective mood is used to express universal truths.

Because a sentence is always expressing a personal opinion, formulations such as "I find" or "to like" are not used.

The m particle is used when expressing a basic neutral descriptive sentence. That means, the sentence is either a description of what a beings senses perceive or a description of something that happened in the past. For convenience it can be translated as "I perceive".

If the sentence expresses thoughts on possible events or phantasies in general, the particle m would not be used. In such a case the sentence can be left without any mood particle, though it is possible to use any of the others.

In exclamation sentences the m can be left out.

Pronunciation of m
The particle m is pronounced [m].

If the m comes right after a consonant, it is pronounced [am].

=Tense=

There are three tenses in Awkaŋu. The respective tense particles are always added at the end of the verb position, but always before the mood particle. Tense is only applied, if an actual (physical) action happens. In that respect, tenses work like the particle m in the way they are used. Thus, not every sentence comes with a tense.

Present Tense
For the present tense, there is no modification. No tense particle in the verb position means that the tense is present tense. The particle m is widely used with that tense, though.

Example:
 * Lou bu kula (m). (I eat)

Past Tense
The past tense particle is mi. Note, that mi usually replaces m in a past tense construction, even though they can appear simultaneously.

Example:
 * Lou bu kula mi (m). (I ate)

Future Tense
The future tense particle is lia.

Example:
 * Lou bu kula lia. (I will eat)

Note, that in this case, m cannot be used, due to the sentence being an assumption and no description of actual deed.

=Inversion=

In Awkaŋu, inversion is done by switching verb and object. As the verb is then no longer in the verb position, it has to get the verb particle ja attached to it to still be a verb.

Inversion is used, when the object is a more complex construction. Instead of the object, other parts can be inversed as well, though it is not usual to inverse with the subject.

=Questions=

Questions are made by adding the question particle no at the end of a sentence. By doing so, the sentence becomes a quesion. No further changes have to be made.

Example Note that there is no "?" in Awkaŋu. Instead, the no functions as that.
 * "Ley bu tam sa kula m." becomes "Ley bu tam sa kula no."

As for intonation, there should be no difference between a statement and a question, i.e. the voice stays low in either case.

=Inference=

As mentioned in the introduction, inference plays an important role in Awkaŋu. By inferring, so many words are omitted and so much time is saved. Inference shall be explained through a few example sentences.

Let's assume, John and Mary have an appointment. Mary is late, so when she arrives, John asks:

This means: "Where have you been?" As you may have noticed, there is no ley and no sa in that sentence. That is, because being entirely obvious from the context they are omitted. Without inference the sentence would be "Ley sa nui tai mi no.", which means exactly the same thing. Only the word for "you" is added.
 * "Nui tai mi no."

Another example: You call a friend and say "What are you doing?" Again the ley sa (you) is omitted, because everyone knows who you are referring to. In colloquial language the sa may be dopped as well as the no to produce the sentence "Nui ama" that still means "What are you doing?".
 * "Nui sa ama no."

Inference does not only work for questions though. You could say for instance: "Tam sa kula m." ("I eat bread.") Here, the lou bu(I) is inferred.

=Feature Words=

Feature words can be treated as adjectives.

A feature is constructed by combining any group 1 word with any group 2 word.

Examples:
 * "Tam sa maŋal gwola" means "The bread tastes good" or "The bread is of good taste".
 * "Maku sa ubà ikat!" means "The tree is very high!".

The group 3 words can be added arbitrarily at the beginning of any feature construction. They can also be used for any other word and even for nouns.

Examples: Kali sa bilà maŋal.
 * This is good enough.

Kali tesu sa kitsha àbu lum.
 * This house is too cold.

Ti bilà kula mi no.
 * Didn't you eat enough?

=Pronouns=

Apart from the personal pronouns, there are only four other pronouns in Awkaŋu. Two of them are demonstrative pronouns while the third is used to express uniqueness.

The pronoun kana is interesting. It can be used in two ways. The first way corresponds to the english use of it or that in a sentence like "He showed me the picture and I liked it". So instead of repeating the word picture the pronoun kana would be used. This works only, if it is clear from the context wheather the subject or the object is referred to as kana. In a case in which this is unclear, the respective word or part of the sentence is marked by nuru beforehand.

Examples: Nuru tou bu tam sa kula tsho kana bu lok.
 * He eats a bread and falls down.

Tou bu nuru tam sa tsho kana bu lok.
 * He eats a bread and it falls down.

Kana can also be used to refer to a whole sentence. Again, context is important.

=Relative Clauses=

Even though relative clauses are treated as a case in Awkaŋu, their use is not always easy. The relative particle is ye.

Some of these sentences are quite advanced. Don't bother understanding them completely before the other grammar points, because they make use of multiple grammar rules at once.

=Opposites with "mu"=

The particle mu can be used to turn any word into it's opposite. This applies to particles, too.

Mu comes right before the word that is "inverted".

There are no restrictions.

Examples: Nan tsho mu nan.
 * To give and take.

Shakai sa maku saw yabok tai m.
 * The cat is in the front of the tree.

Shakai sa maku saw mu yabok tai m.
 * The cat is behind the tree.

=Parallels with "Soo"=

Soo can be used to express "the more the better"-kind of formulations. This shall be explained here.

The formula is: soo soo.

The two (or more) parts followed by the soo exist in a conditional relation.

Example: Ley bu ubà badi hoana soo ley sa ubà maŋal soo.
 * The more you laugh, the more beautiful you are.

=Expressing Possession=

There are many basic kinds of possession. One is to own or to be responsible for something, the other is to have something at your disposal. Other uses include expressing affiliation or availability.

The particle saw
The particle saw is used to express both ownership and responsibility and affiliation.

Example: Kali sa lou saw ata.
 * This is my friend.

Lemba sa wen saw bate bu bosiwi dioama kaŋu ye lasham saw ìu.
 * She is responsible for that part of the garden.

Saying "I have"
To express availability of something, the sociative particle bulu is used. It corresponds to the english "I have", though literally it means "to be with something".

Example: Lou sa maŋal ka madada bulu.
 * I have a nice family. (I'm with a nice family.)

Lou sa bilà nal bulu.
 * I have enough money(gold). (I'm with enough money.)

=Example Sentences=

Vocabulary
Here is a vocabulary list with all the words that appear in the examples.

=Text=

Basawi ubeyo tsho nema bu ambana mi ja nui nuru sa ubà mulo. Midewa may bu ubà lum o bwi bulu dsha bawa mi we. Mesha bu mu ìa mi ja midewa may sawa o bwi sa samiku kaŋu asàl ye nuru sa ubà ulo. Tsho basawi ubeyo bu nay nam ulo ka kupìgwa mi ee ubà ulo ka kupìgwa mi soo midewa may bu o bwi sa ubà bambu ama soo. Tsho hitu we basawi ubeyo bu dshàlibu sa shwe mi. Tsho nema bu ubà lum ka ukiŋi ama mi tsho simaŋu etò midewa may bu o bwi sa samiku mi. Basawi obeyo bu dodshoma mi mo ja nema sa ubà ulo mi.

= Notes =

Awkaŋu is basically already complete, but I didn't want to explain every grammar detail here or give all the words that exist. If someone is interested, I will clarify anything that is not clear. Any questions are welcome!

--Seladwa 11:00, 16 March 2009 (UTC)Siah

--Seladwa 20:44, 22 March 2009 (UTC)Siah

--Seladwa 19:34, 25 March 2009 (UTC)Siah