Gęčokaxʔa

Gęčokaxʔa, literally "our language", is a polysynthetic language.

Consonants
Consonants are romanised as in IPA unless stated otherwise.

/ɧ/ may be labialised.

/ɬ/ is voiced to /l/ when next to a voiced consonant.

Vowels
Ogoneks indicate nasal vowels.

Diphthongs consist of any vowel+i or u. /ii/ and /uu/ are however not possible.

Phonotactics
The general syllable structure is CV(C), without any restrictions on what consonants can appear as onset or coda. Geminated consonants are however impossible; wherever any would occur due to affixation, it becomes a single consonant. Furthermore, adjacent plosives have to agree in voicing, just like nasals have to agree in POA with adjacent consonants.

Stress and pitch
The primary stress always falls on the first syllable of the main root (usually that's the verb root, but in nouns it's the first noun root). Secondary stress falls on incorporated noun roots, pronominal suffixes, and negative and interrogative suffixes. Primary stress is realised as an increase in both volume and pitch, while secondary stress is realised as an increase in pitch only.

Aspect
An oddity of Gęčokaxʔa morphology is that there are two types of aspect markers: a prefix indicating inceptive/cessative aspect and a suffix indicating perfect/imperfect. These can be left out and combined to form a total of nine aspects. The aspect markers are:
 * męk- (inceptive)
 * ča- (cessative)
 * -ʔin (perfect)
 * -mi (imperfect)

Pronominal suffixes
There is also an indefinite suffix -ʔąʔ, which is used as a dummy subject when the actual subject is unknown or irrelevant. When the object is unknown, it is simply left out.

These suffixes can be attached to nouns as well, which in English would mean "X is a Y". However, if the pronominal suffix is followed by the possessive suffix -ʔa, it means "X's Y".

Pronominal suffixes are optional when a non-incorporated noun is present.

Noun incorporation
Nouns can be incorporated into the verb. Depending on their placement, incorporated nouns can serve as either a subject or an object. Incorporated subjects follow the verb root; objects precede it.

Negatives and questions
Negatives and questions are made with the suffixes -ki and -loh respectively.

Causative
Causatives are made by prefixing þį-. The causative prefix can come either before or after the inceptive/cessative prefix, with a minor difference in meaning, as the causative can refer to either the aspect prefix or the root. Compare these two sentences:

Þįčakaʔhehe.

þį-ča-kaʔ-he-he

CAUS-CESS-know-3SG-3SG

He causes him to stop knowing.

Čaþįkaʔhehe.

ča-þį-kaʔ-he-he

CESS-CAUS-know-3SG-3SG

He stopped causing him to know.

Modality
There are six moods in Gęčokaxʔa: indicative (-Ø), potential (-lǫb), optative (-nei), jussive (-ʔįte), conditional (-kąix) and hortative (-bud).

Subordination
A verb can be subordinated by adding the prefix čiuhę-. A subordinated verb can be attached to a noun to form a relative clause. Subordinated verbs can never be incorporated into verbs.

Locatives
There are two locative suffixes: the internal locative -mai and the external -ʔąk. As the names imply, the internal locative indicates that something is located inside something else whereas the external indicates that it is located outside it. As with all affixes, these can be added to both nouns and verbs.

gočmai goč-mai house-INT.LOC in the house

mękluiʔinheʔąk męk-lui-ʔin-he-ʔak INCEP-live-PERF-3SG-EXT.LOC near the place where he was born

Numerals and quantifiers
These behave like prefixes, thus one can say ląikmot for "one fish" and kiląifat for "four bears". Verbs can also be prefixed with numerals; this indicates how often something is done.

Kǫʔaluinom. kǫʔal-lui-nom seven-live-cat Cats live seven times.

Fųheuhe noxpat. fų-heu-he noxpat all-drink-3SG beer He always drinks beer.

Examples
Čakaʔinþųloh?

ča-kaʔ-ʔin-þų-loh

stop-know-PERF-1SG-Q

Have I forgotten anything?

Hupotʔalęxčočʔinaupotʔaki.

hu-pot-ʔa-lęxčoč-ʔin-nau-pot-ʔa-ki

brother-2SG-POSS-eat-PERF-father-2SG-POSS-NEG

Your father hasn't eaten your brother.

Čuičiuhęnauþųʔahe kaʔhe čiuhęgęčokaxʔamękaʔimpot.

čui-čiuhę-nau-þų-ʔa-he kaʔ-he čiuhę-gęčo-kax-ʔa-męk-kaʔ-ʔin-pot

man-SUBORD-father-1SG-POSS-3SG know-3SG SUBORD-language-1PL-POSS-start-know-PERF-2SG

The man who is my father knows that you've learnt our language.

Lexicon
bek v to be sad bįnol n king, leader, chief bǫj n water čakaʔ v to forget čalui v to die čaluigaimai n west čaþaþ v to disappear čui n man, human dąuku v to be blue dųš n day fat n bear fiki n fool, idiot gai n sun gaidųšʔamai n south gęčo n language goč n house hąči v to love heu v to drink hu n brother hųlų n food jeiš n sea joč v to be old kaʔ v to know kal n boy kiþu v to be big kuča n dog laj n mother laišpǫ n moon latal n change, difference lętai n district, region, province lęxčoč v to eat loutoi n mountain lui v to live, to be alive mąki v to greet matoi adv now mękaʔ v to learn mękhąči v to fall in love męklui v to be born mękluigaimai n east mękpǫku v to fall asleep mękþaþ v to appear mot n fish nau n father nęikal v to speak, to talk Nęląd n the Netherlands nom n cat noxpat n beer, wine ŋą n that ŋox v to see ŋumbǫjʔa n island ŋun n land, country pątu v to be young, to be new pęŋa n river pǫku v to sleep pųt n story, text Seuda n Sweden sįč v to be white soh v to be good šąla v to be happy šog n this šouš n god, spirit, deity ta v to be clever tą n night tąkau v to be strange tęu n village toþ n child xaʔ v to be yellow þaþ v to exist þaþgaikimai n north þįbek v to sadden þįčalui v to kill þįkaʔ v to teach þįlęxčoč v to feed þįlui v to give birth þįþaþ v to create þǫbąš n stone ʔalkoʔol n alcohol ʔamelka n America ʔęląd n England ʔelopa n Europe ʔeþ n sister ʔuiki n wiki

External link

 * Gęčokaxʔa Wiki