| Attuvish Atteuvje'ng | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | |||
| Fusional | |||
| Alignment | |||
| Active-Stative | |||
| Head direction | |||
| right | |||
| Tonal | |||
| No | |||
| Declensions | |||
| Yes | |||
| Conjugations | |||
| Yes | |||
| Genders | |||
| No | |||
| Nouns decline according to... | |||
| Case | Number | ||
| Definiteness | Gender | ||
| Verbs conjugate according to... | |||
| Voice | Mood | ||
| Person | Number | ||
| Tense | Aspect | ||
General Information[]
Attuvish (Atteuvje'ng [ʔaːtːɤvdzeˀŋ]) is the most spoken Attuf language, spoken by the semi-nomadic Attuf people across the Horn of Hacounm on the planet Patrona.
Phonology[]
Consonants[]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Labiovelar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m ˀm | n ˀn | ŋ ˀŋ | ŋm ˀŋm | ||
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g | ʔ | kp gb | |
| Fricative | f v | s z | x ɣ | h | ||
| Affricate | ts dz | tʃ | ʔh | |||
| Approximant | l | j | w | |||
| Trill | r |
m, 'm, n, 'n, ng, 'ng, nm, 'nm, p, b, t, d, k, g, ', kp, gb, f, v, s, z, kh, gh, h, c, j, ch, 'h, l, y, w, r
- The trill /r/ only appears in a handful of non-borrowed words, usually onomatopoeia.
- Most consonants can be geminated between vowels.
Vowels[]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɯ u | |
| Mid | e | ɤ o | |
| Low | a |
i, u, ou, e, eu, o, a
Diphthongs (all are falling): ue /ɯe/, ueu /ɯɤ/, ouo /uo/, ey /ei/, eeu /eɤ/, euy /ɤi/, eue /ɤe/, ay /ai/, aeu /aɤ/
Phonotactics[]
CV(C)
- Geminate consonants are phonemically two consecutive identical consonants, and as such, they cannot border another consonant.
Stress[]
Any one of the first three syllables may be stressed, and the stressed vowel is lengthened. Stress is not usually marked, but it will be here, but not if it's on the first syllable. Stress stays on the same vowel in any inflectional form.
Nouns[]
| class | sg | pa | pl | transl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -C | may'n | mayneu | mayneuf | person |
| -V | nikpágba | nikpágbeu | nikpágbaf | storm |
| apophony I | jous | jis | arrow | |
| apophony II | 'houof | 'hueuf | spirit | |
| mass noun | poro'ngémi | math | ||
Verbs[]
Person circumfixes[]
Nonfuture tense[]
| sg | pa | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ex | ya-i | peu-ida | |
| 1in | - | in-ima | in-ida |
| 2 | me-i | me-ida | |
| 3 | a-a | ya-a | peu-a |
Future intentive tense[]
| sg | pa | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ex | 0-iya | 0-idapeu | |
| 1in | - | 0-imayn | 0-idayn |
| 2 | 0-ime | 0-idame | |
| 3 | 0-aeu | 0-aya | 0-apeu |
Future inferential tense[]
| sg | pa | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ex | ya-ukh | peu-ey | |
| 1in | - | in-ouo | in-ey |
| 2 | me-ukh | me-ey | |
| 3 | 0-zi | ya-zi | peu-zi |
Imperative[]
| sg | pa | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | u-0 | me-0 | |
Example[]
takp- "to poison" atikakpa, atumakpa
| sg | pa | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| perfect | |||
| 1ex | yatakpi | peutakpida | |
| 1in | intakpima | intakpida | |
| 2 | metakpi | metakpida | |
| 3 | atakpa | yatakpa | peutakpa |
| intentive | |||
| 1ex | takpiya | takpidapeu | |
| 1in | takpimayn | takpidayn | |
| 2 | takpime | takpidame | |
| 3 | takpaeu | takpaya | takpapeu |
| inferential | |||
| 1ex | yatakpukh | peutakpey | |
| 1in | intakpouo | intakpey | |
| 2 | metakpukh | metakpey | |
| 3 | takpzi | yatakpzi | peutakpzi |
| imperative | |||
| 2 | utakp | metakp | |
Tense/Aspect infixes[]
The tense/aspect infixes are placed after the first consonant of a root. They can only be used with the nonfuture tense.
Perfect (-0-), Present continuous (-ik-), Past (-um-)
ex. ceula "It has said", cikéula "It is saying", cuméula "It said"
Voice infixes[]
Passive -fou- is placed before the final consonant of the root. ex. Ceufoulaya. "They few will be told."
Non-finite circumfixes[]
0-0 infinitive
Syntax[]
SVO
Vocabulary[]
Numerals[]
Decimal system:
| # | name | 10+# | #*10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | hun | sippóu | |
| 1 | neung | sippóuneung | sippóu |
| 2 | heung | sippóuheung | heunsip |
| 3 | ha'm | sippóuha'm | ha'nsip |
| 4 | hi | sippóuhi | hissip |
| 5 | sa | sippóusa | sassip |
| 6 | saneu' | sippóusaneu' | sozip |
| 7 | saheu' | sippóusaheu' | chezip |
| 8 | saha' | may'n | pezip |
| 9 | gawsippou | sippóugaw | gawsip1 |
| 10 | sippóu | heunsip | aghudóuleu |
- ninety has a couple of translations: gawsip being the most common/informal, gawághudouleu being the most proper, or rarely pezipsippou.A peculiarity of Attuf languages is the fact that most have simple words for several unsimple numbers. The additional simplex numerals in Attuvish are for 25 (compound for 75), 18 (compounds for 36 and 54), 45, 200 (compound for 400), and a few others which have completely fallen out of use.
| # | name | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | may'n | person/man |
| 25 | daláwa | arch. quarter |
| 36 | heung-mayneu | two people |
| 45 | figba' | ? |
| 54 | ha'm-mayneu | three people |
| 75 | ha'm-daláweu | three quarters |
| 200 | vizya | silver |
| 400 | heung-vizyeu | two silvers |