Asuma

Ancient Asumanese Âsumâ
Type	Fusional
Alignment	Nominative-Accusative
Head direction	mixture
Tonal	No
Declensions	Yes
Conjugations	Yes
Genders	3
Nouns decline according to...
Case	Number
Definiteness	Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect
Meta-information
Progress	57%
Statistics Nouns 75% Verbs 75% Adjectives 25% Syntax 67% Words of 1500
Creator	carroteater

Classification and Dialects

This language was once an agglutinative language. It has gradually turned into a fusional one. It was spoken and written by an ancient humanoid civilization on an exoplanet circa 4000 BC - 1000 BC, or from -1500 to +2500 using their calendar.

They live in a twin stellar system. The second star is a red dwarf (35 AU away) going around a central yellow star little cooler than our Sun. At nights Asumanese people may admire the shiny dwarf with naked eyes. In daytime, however it is outshone by the main sun. Their home planet is about the size of Earth (95%) but is even more dominated by water - with a ratio 9 to 1 - and orbits at a smaller distance than Earth does (0.85 AU). This makes their years shorter than ours (324.5 d). Number of moons: 1 (0.9% of planet's mass). Average temperature +13 °C on surface. Deepest point -14,617 km. Highest point +5,528 km.

Early writings were written on a type of dried algae with inky substance derived from marine creatures best described as squids by our standards.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Nasal	m		n
Plosive	p b		t d			k g
Fricative		f v	s z	ʃ ʒ			χ ʁ
Affricate
Approximant					j	w

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
High	i				u
High-mid	e				o
Low-mid	ɛ				ɔ
Low	a				ɑ

Phonotactics

Syllable structure: A nucleus consisting in a vowel is always mandatory. 

V = vowel, W = approximant, N = nasal consonant, C = any other consonant than W or N 

V, WV, CV, NV, CWV, NWV

The Asumanese language has a front/back vowel harmony.

Lexical stress: no.

Prosodic stress: yes, on penult.

Writing System

Latinization

Letter	a	â	e	ê	y	i	w	u	o	ô	m	n
Sound	a	ɑ	e	ɛ	j	i	w	u	ɔ	o	m	n
Letter	p	b	t	d	k	g	f	v	s	z	x	j
Sound	p	b	t	d	k	g	f	v	s	z	ʃ	ʒ
Letter	h	r
Sound	χ	ʁ

Grammar

Nouns

Nouns decline in number, gender and case. They are either in singular or plural. They come in three different genders: neuter or mixed, feminine and masculine.

Inflection pattern: stem-number-gender-case

Number

For plural /u/ or /i/ is suffixed to nouns depending on vowel harmony contraints. Before a vowel the markers are reduced to /w/ and /j/. That is the usual case.

Gender

	Markers
N	-, -e, -o
F	-i, -ê, -â
M	-a, -ô, -u

Case

	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Locative
N	-, -e, -o	-sa/-sâ, -esa, -osâ	-ga/-gâ, -ega, -ogâ	-na/-nâ, -ena, -onâ
F	-i, -ê, -â	-isa, -êsa, -âsâ	-iga, -êga, -âgâ	-ina -êna, -ânâ
M	-a, -ô, -u	-asa, -ôsâ, -usâ	-aga, -ôgâ, -ugâ	-ana, -ônâ, -unâ

The nominative serves as a case of presentation and entry in dictionaries. It shows the subject in a sentence. The accusative is mainly a case for objects. In addition, some prepositive phrases require this case. The genitive is used to show dependencies between entities, such as possession. In Asumanese, you indicate place and time with the locative case.

Pronouns

Their declension differs somewhat from noun declension. Pronouns feature a clitic that can either be used to put an emphasis on the purport of nominative subjects or possessive adjectives. In the first situation, the clitic comes immediately after the verb. And in the second, it succeeds the element qualified by the adjective. You may also use them without a nominative subject or possessive adjective. Since they lack case endings, their role is open to interpretation. The clitics are not (yet) under the vowel harmony's influence.

Personal pronouns

Neuter

	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Loc.	Clitic
1SG	mene	mesa	mega	mena	me
2SG	tene	tesa	tega	tena	te
3SG	sene	sesa	sega	sena	se
1PL	nene	nesa	nega	nena	ne
2PL	vene	vesa	vega	vena	ve
3PL	xene	xesa	xega	xena	xe

Feminine

	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Loc.	Clitic
1SG	mânô	mâsâ	mâgâ	mânâ	mâ
2SG	tânô	tâsô	tâgâ	tânâ	tâ
3SG	sânô	sâsâ	sâgâ	sânâ	sâ
1PL	nânô	nâsâ	nâgâ	nânâ	nâ
2PL	vânô	vâsâ	vâgâ	vânâ	vâ
3PL	xânô	xâsâ	xâgâ	xânâ	xâ

Masculine

	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Loc.	Clitic
1SG	mônô	môsâ	môgâ	mônâ	mô
2SG	tônô	tôsô	tôgâ	tônâ	tô
3SG	sônô	sôsâ	sôgâ	sônâ	sô
1PL	nônô	nôsâ	nôgâ	nônâ	nô
2PL	vônô	vôsâ	vôgâ	vônâ	vô
3PL	xônô	xôsâ	xôgâ	xônâ	xô

Demonstrative pronouns

	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Loc.	Clitic
	SG, PL	SG, PL	SG, PL	SG, PL	SG, PL
N	hene, hyine	hase, hyisa	haga, hyige	hana, hyine	he, hyi
F	hêne, hyêne	hisa, hyêsa	hêga, hyêga	hênâ, hyêna	hê, hyê
M	hane, hyane	hasa, hyasa	haga, hyaga	hana, hyana	ha, hya

Relative and interrogative pronouns

	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Loc.	Clitic
	SG, PL	SG, PL	SG, PL	SG, PL	SG, PL
N	kono, kwuno	kâso, kwuso	kâgo, kwugo	kâno, kwuno	ko, kwu
F	kâno, kwâno	kâsâ, kwâsâ	kâgâ, kwâgâ	kânâ, kwânâ	kâ, kwâ
M	kôno, kwôno	kôsâ, kwôsâ	kôgâ, kwôgâ	kônâ, kwônâ	kô, kwô

Verbs

Moods

Indicative, conditional, potential, subjuntive, imperative and infinitive.

Infinitive is considered as one of the moods and come in a short form and a long form. Both may be preceeded by the abstractive preposition "xe" or "xo" according to the long infinitive ending "-re" or "-ro". All long forms follow the rule:

(xe) [stem]-re | (xo) [stem]-ro

Tenses

Simple tenses

Asumanese has three basic verb tenses present, past and future.

Simple present: current event, "something is getting done here and now"

Simple past: memory of an event, "something got done before this"

Simple future: projection for an event, "something will get done after this"

Complex tenses

Also a variety of compound tenses allow for further nuance. In principle, strings of multiple constituants are possible. However, their number rarely exceeds three. The longer the string the smaller the frequency.

The auxilary verbs used with present pariciples are movement verbs, think of enter, stay and leave.

Simple present + present participle: current habit or condition

Simple past + present participle: memory of a habit or condition

Simple future + present participle: projection for a habit or condition

The auxilary verbs used with past pariciples are possession verbs, think of take, keep and give.

Simple present + past participle: current result of a past event

Simple past + past participle: memory of a result of a past event

Simple future + past participle: projection for a result of a current event

First conjugation

xo kuro (to run)

	present	past	future
infinitive 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	kuro kuromo kuroto kuroho kuronu kurovu kurohu	kuru kurumo kuruto kuruho kuronu kuruvu kurohu	kurâ kurâmo kurâto kurâho kurânu kurâvu kurâhu
indicative 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	kuô kuômo kuôto kuôho kuônu kuôvu kuôhu	kuôu kuôumo kuôuto kuôuho kuôunu kuôuvu kuôuhu	kuôâ kuôâmo kuôâto kuôâho kuôânu kuôâvu kuôâhu
conditional 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	kuno kunomo kunoto kunoho kunonu kunovu kunohu	kunu kunumo kunuto kunuho kununu kunuvu kunuvu	kunâ kunâmo kunâto kunâho kunânu kunâvu kunâhu
potential 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	kumo kumomo kumoto kumoho kumonu kumovu kumohu	kumu kumumo kumuto kumuho kumunu kumuvu kumuhu	kumâ kumâmo kumâto kumâho kumânu kumâvu kumâhu
subjunctive 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	kupo kupomo kupoto kupoho kuponu kuopovu kupohu	kupu kupumo kuputo kupuho kupunu kupuvu kupuhu	kupâ kupâmo kuopâto kupâho kupânu kupâvu kupâhu
imperative 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	ku! kumo! kuto! kuho! kunu! kuvu! kuhu!	kuu! kuumo! kuuto! kuuho! kuunu! kuuvu! kuuhu!	kuâ! kuâmo! kuâto! kuâho! kuânu! kuâvu! kuâhu!

Second conjugation

xe bire (to drink)

	present	past	future
infinitive 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	bire bireme birete birehe bireni birevi birehi	biri birime birite birihe birini bivini bihini	bira birame birate birahe birani biravi birahi
indicative 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	biê biême biête biêhe biêni biêvi biêhi	biêi biêime biêite biêihe biêivi biêini biêihi	biêa biêame biêate biêahe biêani biêavi biêahi
conditional 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	binê binême binête binêhe binêni binêvi binêhi	bini binime binite binihe binini binivi binihi	bina biname binate binahe binani binavi binahi
potential 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	bimê bimême bimête bimêhe bimêni bimêvi bimêhi	bimi bimime bimite bimihe bimini bimivi bimhi	bima bimame bimate bimahe bimani bimavi bimahi
subjunctive 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	bipê pipême bipête bipêhe bipêni bipêvi bipêhi	bipi bipime bipite bipihe bipini bipivi bipihi	bipa bipame bipate bipahe bipani bipavi bipahi
imperative 1sg 2sg 3sg 1pl 2pl 3pl	bi! bime! bite! bihe! bini! bivi! bihi!	bii! biime! biite! biihe! biini! biivi! biihi!	bia! biame! biate! biahe! biani! biavi! biahi!

Gerund

Formed with an infinitive inflected in the locative case.

Examples:

kuronâ, meaning "in running", "by running" or "while running"

birena, meaning "in drinking", "by drinking" or "while drinking"

Voice

The auxiliary verbs used to make the passive voice are: xe gire (to enter), xe êre (to stay) & xo fâro (to leave).

With the past participle and an optional agent which is introduced by the preposition pira/purâ, according again to the vowel harmony.

Copulae

There are no copulae as such. Neither is there direct equivalents of English "there is". In order to assert something exists, one would only use the plain referent ("A dog" instead of "There's a dog"). Having the prepositions "xe" and "xo" render better an English noun phrase in isolation.

Negation

The basic negation word is "ni" or "nu", depending on the vowel harmony.

Adjectives

Agree with the head in number, gender and case.

Usually placed after nouns or pronouns.

Determinants

Demonstrative

	sg	pl
N	he / ho	hi / hu
F	hê / hâ	hi
M	hô / ha	hu

Interrogative

	sg	pl
N	ko / ke	ku / ki
F	kâ / ki	ki
M	kô / ku	ku

Definite article

	sg	pl
N	re / ro	ri / ru
F	rê / râ	ri
M	rô / ra	ru

Possessive

Use genitive or clitic pronoun. Agree with the possessed.

Participles

Past

neuter: -de, -do

feminine: dê, -dâ

masculine: -da, -dô

Present

neuter: -be, -bo

feminine: -bê, -bâ

masculine: -ba, -bô

Numbers 

Hexadecimal system. Nouns derived from neuter.

Cardinal numbers

	ns	np	fs	fp	ms	mp
0	no	ne	nô	N/A	nâ	N/A
1/8	se	si	sê	N/A	sa	N/A
1/4	ke	ki	kê	N/A	ke	N/A
1/2	me	mi	mê	N/A	ma	N/A
1	e	u	â	wâ	ô	wô
2	o	i	N/A	yê	N/A	ya
3	so	su	N/A	sâ	N/A	sô
4	ko	ku	N/A	pâ	N/A	kô
5	mo	mu	N/A	mâ	N/A	mô
6	âku	eki	N/A	eki	N/A	âku
7	ôfu	afi	N/A	afi	N/A	ôfu
8	be	bi	N/A	bâ	N/A	bô
9	be-e	be-u		be-wâ		be-wô
10	be-o	be-i		be-yê		be-ya
16	dêca	dêci		docâ		docô
24	o be	i bi		wâ bâ		wô bô
25	o be-e	i be-u		wâ be-wâ		wô be-wô
64	suto	sutu		sutâ		sutô
512	mile	mili		milê		mila

Ordinal numbers

1st	ezi	ezyi	ezê	ezyê	eza	ezya
2nd	mezi	mezyi	mezê	mezyê	meza	mezya
4th	kezi	kezyi	kezê	kezyê	keza	kezya
8th	sezi	sezyi	sezê	sezyê	seza	sezya
else	stem-zi/zu	stem-zyi/zwu	stem-zê/zâ	stem-zyê/zwâ	stem-za/zô	stem-zya/zwô
eg. 3rd	sozu	sozwu	sozâ	sozwâ	sozô	sozwâ

Adverbs

Agree with subjects in number and gender.

Usually placed right before verbs or adjectives.

-mi, -mu

Prepositions

& Conjunctions

Both are used indifferently. Sentences are seen as neuter when they undergo inflexion .

	Required case	English equivalents	Example
xe, xo	nominative	to, -ing, an idea of
de, do	locative	from, out of, of, off
pe, po	locative	at, to, on, upon, about
se, so	locative	in, into
puro, peri	locative	for, to, in favor (of)
kâto, kati	locative	against, in front (of), opposed (to)
sipe, supo	locative	on, up, above, over, about
upu, opo	locative	under, down, below, beneath
je, jo	accusative	because
gujo, gije	accusative	due to positive, because of, thanks to
bâjo, baje	accusative	due to negative, because of
pira, purâ	locative	by, with, beside, next to

Derivation

	Class	N	F	M	English equivalents
General	verb	-re, -ro
Present participle	adjective	-be, -bo	-bê, -bâ	-ba, -bô	-ing, -or, -er, -ive
Past participle	adjective	-de, -do	-dê, -dâ	-da, -dô	-ed, -en, -ly, -y
Ability	adjective	-epe, -opo	-âpâ, -ipi	-ôpô, -upu	-able, -ible, -ive
Positional	adjective	-zu, -zwu	-zâ, -zwâ	-zô, -zwô	-th, -ic, -al, ical
Activity	noun		-ti, -tâ		-ty, -ment, -tion, -ing
Cause / Origin	adjective	-ne, -no	-ni, -nâ	-nu, -nô	-an, -ese, -ist
Reverse	any	ani-, ânu-	ani-, ânu-	ani-, ânu-	dis-, un-

Syntax

Due to the case system the word order may vary for focal or stylistic reasons. However, the unmarked arrangement is: SVO

On the other hand, the use of pronoun clitics make things a little more complex. They can act as the subject.

Lexicon

English-Asuma

no: ni, nu

yes: si, su

hello: âlu

thank you, general: gaje

thank you, singular informal: gaje pe tena

thank you, plural and formal: gaje pe vena

Asuma-English

gire: i to enter, get in; t to put in, aux to be about (to do)

êre: i to stay, remain; t to keep in, aux to be (doing)

fâro: i to leave, get out; t to take out, aux to have been (doing)

tare: i to take, remove; aux to be going (to do)

uro: i to keep, retain; aux to have (done)

sôre: i to give, let; aux to have just (done)

voro: i & t to speak; to talk, discuss

Example text

Tônô uôto votô. You (the man) have spoken.

Nânô tavi votâ. We (women) are going to speak.

Xo voro ve. You talking.

Nu voro ve. It's not your speech.

Vobumu. Talkatively (of a male)