Tãvan

Natively known as: tãva /ˈtãʋa/

Consonant inventory: b c d g h j k m n p s t w z ɟ ɲ ʋ ʔ ʣ ʤ ʦ ʧ

Click IPA symbols for audio Co-articulated phonemes Vowel inventory: a aː ã e eː ẽ i iː ĩ o oː õ u uː ũ æ ɔ ɔː ɔ̃ ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɪ ɪː ɪ̃ ʊ ʊː ʊ̃

Syllable structure: (C)V ?

Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ?

Word initial consonants: b c d g m n p s t w z ɟ ɲ ʋ ʣ ʤ ʦ

Mid-word consonants: b c d g h j k m n p s t w z ɟ ɲ ʋ ʔ ʣ ʤ ʦ ʧ

Word final consonants:

Spelling rules:

Grammar
Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary opened the door with a key.

Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.

Adposition: prepositions ?

Articles
Uses of definite article that differ from English:


 * Definite article can be omitted: ‘I am going to supermarket’
 * Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
 * Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’
 * Used for languages: ‘The English’

Verbs
Tãvan uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Progressive aspect

The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.

Tãvan uses a standalone particle word for progressive: Habitual aspect

The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (I learned something).

Tãvan uses an affix for habitual:

Perfect aspect

The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.

Tãvan uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Numbers
Tãvan has a base-10 number system:

1 - pîî

2 - naw

3 - di

4 - wẽ

5 - mi

6 - bo

7 - wi

8 - dzûû

9 - poo

10 - waa

11 - waa o pîî “ten and one”

100 - suutse “hundred”

101 - suutse o pîî “hundred and one”

200 - naw suutse

1000 - ûdza “thousand”

Derivational morphology
Adjective → adverb = Prefix sɪ-

Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Prefix ge-

Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ɲʊ̃-

Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix tõ-

Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ceː-

Noun to verb = Prefix sũ-

Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix wɪ̃-

Tending to = Prefix mɛ̃-

Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix ce-

Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix ni-

One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix mũ-

Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix nɔ-

Diminutive = Prefix bi-

Augmentative = Prefix cẽ-