Churra

Progress 78%
	Stats Nouns 100% Verbs 93% Adjectives 67% Syntax 63% Words 660 of 1500

Churra cula
Type
Isolating
Alignment
Nominative-Accusative
Head direction
Mixed
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

Churra is a mostly isolating language with some fusional elements, and a heavy dependence on word order to illustrate many grammatical concepts, including tense. It has an exceptionally large consonant inventory, with many fricatives, but very few vowels. It is spoken in a small coastal region of the planet Ysla, by the Chasrae, an alien species of "crab-taurs" (crustaceans with an upper torso similar to a human) with a tri-sexual reproductive system.

It is peculiar in its large phonemic consonant inventory (68) including some sounds not possible for humans to produce.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Ventral*	m [~m]		n [~n]				g [~ŋ]
Plosive	b [b]			t [t]			k [k]	q [q]
Fricative	f [ɸ]	v [v]	d [ð]	s [s]	z [ʒ]	j [ɕ~hʲ]	x [x], r [ɣ~ʁ]		h [h]
Long Fric.				ŝ [s:]	ĵ [ʃ:~ɕ:]		ĥ [x:~h:]
Affricate	p [pɸ~pf]					c [tʃ]
Approximant	w [w]					y [j]
Tap or flap				l [ɾ~l]
Lateral

• 'Ventral' sounds are non-pulmonic consonants, formed by the articulation of a stop and the channeling of air through a disparate voice organ that is not available to humans - a secondary, ventral windpipe or 'wind chamber' that is a vestigial remnant of the specie's once-present gills. It gives a rasping, whistling quality to the affected sounds, and can be approximated in human speakers by use of nasals, ejectives, implosives, or clicks at the corresponding point of articulation, which are not available to the species, who have no nasal passage.

Palatalization and Labialization

Any consonant can be modified from C to Cʲ or Cʷ (with the exception that /w/ cannot be labialized, and /y/ cannot be palatalized, for obvious reasons; however either can undergo the opposite process). These are phonemic distinctions, effectively tripling Churra's consonant inventory. This is written in the romanized orthography as Ce and Co.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Short High	i [i]		u [u]
Long High	î [i:]		û [u:]
Short Low		a [a]
Long Low		â [a:]

Alphabet

Churra is written in ideographs and sometimes in a syllabry. Both are under development. The romanized alphabet used is included in the phonemic inventories chart.

Note that in some instances long sounds may simply be written doubled, e.g. ĥ = hh, î = ii. This is not the preferred method since the syllabic consonants can be interspersed with their non-syllabic counterparts, as can be seen in the word xŝsŝ, 'snake,' which with the doubled-character system would need to be transcribed xsssss. Despite what a reader's intuitions may be, the sequence in 'snake' should be composed of two audibly separate syllables, [xs:.ss:] not merely a very long-held s sound [xs:::].

Phonotactics

Stress structure

Churra, unlike human languages, has a trisyllabic stress pattern with foot-initial stress, leading to the grouping of its syllables into triplet feet; kè-ke-ke-ké-ke-ke. (A tri-trochee?) However, since a large percentage of Churric words are only one or two syllables long (degenerate feet are obviously permitted), the pattern often appears to simply be word-initial stress.

The word-head is final, feet count from left to right, feet are iterative, extrametricality is not permitted, and it is quantity-sensitive; syllables with a long vowel or a vowel followed by a glide are considered heavy.

Syllable structure

The basic syllable structure in Churra is CV. However, word-initial vowels and word-final consonants are allowed; this makes it possible to occasionally know word boundaries, where consonant clusters not permitted at the word level occur.

Hiatus is never permitted; if an affix would create hiatus, the first vowel assimilates to the second, resulting in one long vowel; if either vowel is already long, the hiatus will be interrupted by an appropriate glide.

• when the initial vowel is /a:/ :
  • a:V: → a:V:
    • e.g. â+ûla → âwula
  • a:V → a:G#, GV elsewhere
    • e.g. tâ+u → tâw ; â+iva →yiva
  • aV: → GV:
    • e.g. na+ûdik → noûdik
• elsewhere
  • VːVː → VGVː | VːV → VGV | VVː → GVː

Most consonant clusters are not permitted, save some exceptions; C+glide (G; phonemicized as labalialized or palatalized Cs), phonemic affricates (/c/ and /p/), and the long fricatives (F:). The long fricatives may function as either a long consonant or a voiceless vowel. In the available syllable structure, any phonemic consonant (except F:) or any short vowel counts as one mora, while long fricatives and vowels count as two. Each syllable may contain a maximum of three mora, although this rule is ignored by word-final consonants. All legal syllables in Churra can therefore be accounted for in the following:

• (C)V(:)
  • e.g. ku, kû, u, û
• F:V
  • e.g. ssa
• (C/V)F:
  • e.g. kss, iss, ss
• (C)V(:)C#
  • e.g. bat, bât, at, ât

When a structure such as CF:V is attempted, the syllable is broken into two, which results in a short syllabic fricative; *[.kssa] is blocked, but [ks.sa] is permitted.

Regular sound changes

• /hʷ/ = [ɸ]
• /l/ = [l] /_#
• /l/ = [ɾ] /elsewhere
• /p/ = [pɸ] OR [pf] (free var.)

Conditioned sound changes (IPA)

• i > e /j_ , Cʲ_
• i: > eɪ /j_ , Cʲ_
• u > o /w_ , Cʷ_
• u: > oʊ /w_ , Cʷ_
• u, u: > ʉ, ʉ: /palatal_
• a, a: > ɑ, ɑ: /_uvular_ , _h_
• C > C [+voice] /V_V
• C > C [-voice] /_#
• ð > θ /F:_
• h > x /_i
• h: = x: /_i, _palatal

Grammar

	Gender	Cases	Numbers	Tenses	Persons	Moods	Voices	Aspects
Verb	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nouns	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Adjectives	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Numbers	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Participles	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Adverb	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Pronouns	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Adpositions	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Article	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Particle	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Pronouns & Grammatical Number

The pronouns which serve as the verbal arguments in Churra have three distinctions - class, person, and number. The only aspect of Churric nominal declension that the pronouns do not exhibit is gender (animacy).

The pronouns use a two-way class system (subject/object), encode three persons (first, second, and third), and capture the language's five-way number system.

Subject Pronouns

	1	2	3
Zero/Neg	ix	cix	xu
Singular	lu	cu	vu
Paucal	idi	iyi	iwi
Plural	di	yi	wa
Mass/Coll	tu	tiju	toa

Object Pronouns

	1	2	3
Zero/Neg	xeu	ju	xa
Singular	ilu	zu
Paucal	isoa	iya	îboa
Plural	isi	yi	bea
Mass/Coll	tilu	tiyi	ta

Despite the fact that all other relevant case-marking elements of Churra make a three-way distinction for Subject, Direct Object, and Indirect Object, the pronouns only have S and O forms. Pronoun order is relied on to convey case: the order is IO-S-DO.

• taras lu zu
  • kill.TR 1SS 2SO
  • 'I killed you'
• *taras zu lu
  • kill.TR 2SO 1SS
  • '*I killed to you'
• *taras lu cu
  • kill.TR 1SS 2SS
  • '*I you killed'
• *taras cu lu
  • kill.TR 2SS 1SS
  • '*You killed I'
• taras cu ilu
  • kill.TR 2SS 1SO
  • 'You killed me'
• *taras ilu cu
  • kill.TR 1SO 2SS
  • '*You killed to me'

Grammatical Number

While the meaning behind the number distinctions are more transparent when applied to nouns (see 'the noun,' which also includes the nominal declensions for number), the five-way system allows for a variety of ideas to be communicated.

Zero/Negative

The use of Zero/Negative (Z) pronouns in a sentence can convey a similar message as the negative in other languages.

• ba ix
  • go.IT 1Z.SUBJ
  • 'I/we didn't go'
  • 'None of us went'

Note that in realworld terms, there is no observable difference between 'We didn't go' and 'None of us went' ; neither allows that any of the 'we' group went, and neither precludes that nobody else (none of you/them) went. In general, however, there is also a negative particle which allows for the exact number of non-goers to be stated: ixa.

• ba ixa lu
  • go.IT NEG 1SG.SUBJ
  • 'I didn't go'

Singular and Plural

The singular (SG or just S) and plural (PL or just P) numbers behave nearly identically in Churra as they do in English; they captures the concept of 'one' and 'more than one' (roughly: see 'paucal' below). Therefore, the first person singular subject pronoun lu can be thought of as equivalent to English 'I,' and the plural counterpart is the same as English 'we.'

• ba lu
  • go.IT 1SG.SUBJ
  • 'I went'
• ba di
  • go.IT 1PL.SUBJ
  • 'we went'

When used to refer to a mass noun, the singular acts as a singulative.

• yuf la gumssa. yulssu vu.
  • COP PART.SJ grain. fall.IT 3SG.SJ
  • there is some grain. one grain fell.

Paucal

The main difference between plural in English and plural in Churra is that the Churric form conveys, specifically, 'many,' or at least 'more than a few.' This is because it is the paucal (PC)'s job to encode 'a few.'

• ba idi
  • go.IT 1PC.SUBJ
  • 'a few of us went'

When used in conjunction with mass nouns, the paucal means roughly 'a small percentage':

• yuf la gumssa. yulssu iwi.
  • COP PART.SJ grain. fall.IT 3PC.SJ
  • there is some grain. some of it fell.

Mass/Collective

Mass/collective (C) number is similar to 'noncount' nouns in English; it is used mostly with fluids (e.g. water, air), and large collections of miniscule objects (e.g. grain, rice, sand). However it can also apply to large groups of anything which are then considered a collective (similar to 'a herd of deer' vs 'several deer').

It is worth noting here that the C marker for nouns (see 'the noun') will not always appear on nouns which behave collectively, such as 'water,' but these are nevertheless referred to with collective pronouns.

• ba tilu
  • go.IT 1C.SUBJ
  • 'all of us went'

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexives

1	2	3
fss	fij	pa

Since reflexives must be used in conjunction with another pronoun, it is unimportant to know number on a reflexive - these follow their subject.

• unut lu
  • hit.TR 1SG.SUBJ
  • 'I hit it'
• unut lu fss
  • hit.TR 1SG.SUBJ 1RFX
  • 'I hit myself'
• unut di fss
  • hit.TR 1PL.SUBJ 1RFX
  • 'We hit ourselves'
• unut ix fss
  • hit.TR 1Z.SUBJ 1RFX
  • 'I/we didn't hit myself/ourselves'

The Verb

Verbs must show transitivity and tense, and can have modal, aspectual, and further valency information added by means of particles.

Transitivity, Valency & Voicing

Each verb has an inherent transitivity feature, and come in series of related verbs to allow for different transitive forms. There are five different types of verb; transitive, intransitive, ditransitive, 'dative,' and 'passive.'

Verb Transitivity

	# Args	Subject	Dir.Obj	Ind.Obj	Endings
IT	1	Yes	No	No	Vowel
TR	2	Yes	Yes	No	Alveolar, Dental
DT	3	Yes	Yes	Yes	Uvular, Glottal
DA	2	Yes	No	Yes	Labial, L-dental
PA	1	No	Yes	No	Palatal, Velar

The 'endings' are often violated by exceptions. The transitivity feature was once an inflection on the verb, but for most verbs it has become fossilized and non-decompositional.

Inherent transitivity allows third-person-singular pronouns to be optional. If the verb is IT and has no visible subject, that subject is a third person; if the verb is DT with no pronouns attached, then all three persons are third persons.

Example 1: mus_ 'he finished'

form	example	translation
IT	musea	he finished
TR	mus	he finished it
DT	musuq	he finished it for her
DA	musuv	he finished for her
PA	museax	he was finished

Example 2: mus_ lu 'I finished'

form	example	translation
IT	musea lu	I finished
TR	mus lu	I finished it
DT	musuq zu lu	I finished it for you
DA	musuv zu lu	I finished for you
PA	museax ilu	I was finished

Other distinctions and combinations of persons may be made with valency-modifying prefixes (also known as voice markers):

• sa- indicates passivization of the subject pronoun on TR or DT verbs.
  • sataras ilu
  • kill.TR 1SG.OBJ
  • 'he is killed by me'
• fe(a)- indicates causation on DT verbs; with fe-, the IO causes the S to act on the DO.
  • featarĥ ilu cu
  • kill.DT 1SG.OBJ 2SG.SUBJ
  • 'he made you kill me'
• ju- is the counterpart to fe-: the DO causes S to act on IO.
  • jubalir ilu cu
  • speak.DT 1SG.OBJ 2SG.SUBJ
  • 'he made me speak to you'
• ci- indicates 'dipassive,' or a verb with both a DO and IO.
  • cigufiz ki muzaqoi i mŝa
  • DP.pull.PA the.IO ground the.DO flower
  • 'the flower was pulled from the ground'

Tense

Churra has a two-tense system, future and non-future (which will be referred to as 'past' at times for sake of simplicity, despite inaccuracy). There is no morpheme, auxiliary verb, or verb form that indicates tense; instead this is achieved through word order.

In future-tense phrases, the arguments will appear before the verb; in the non-future, the arguments appear after the verb. This is true regardless of the argument form (pronoun vs noun), unless it is an entire embedded clause in a future-tense sentence, in which case the impersonal sub-clause pronouns appears before the verb, and the longer, imbedded clause appears afterwards.

Since the third-person pronouns are optional, many phrases will have no visible arguments or other methods of indicating tense-aspect or temporal information. In this case it is generally assumed that the phrase is in non-future tense, except in certain narrative conditions (e.g. following a future-tense phrase).

• mouga (run.IT) 'he runs/ran'
• vu mouga (3SG.SUBJ) 'he will run'
• mouga lu (1SG.SUBJ) 'I run/ran'
• yaj lu mouga ss... (3SG.IO) 'I will run to...'

While the non-future corresponds to English past and/or present for the most part, there are some instances where a phrase that would be present in English is future in Churra. This is especially true of phrases with an irrealis mood, or when a verb has consequences that may extend into the future.

Aspect

Another important set of distinctions of the Churric verb are its aspects. These always appear directly before the verb (except for voice markers).

Aspects

	Future	Non-Future
Remote-Perfect/Simple	li	su
Progressive	mi	bu
Anterior-Progressive	xi	ku
Gnomic	sa
Stative	na

The first six aspects must, in a way, agree with the phrasal tense. Adding su to a future phrase, for instance, would cause an ungrammatical and infelicitous utterance.

The remote-perfect/simple aspect, frequently shortened to 'remote,' indicates that an event occurred a long time in the past or will occur far in the future. This is therefore one of the few ways to know for sure that a non-future phrase is past, and not present. It has been partially co-opted to merely indicate past tense for this reason.

The anterior-progressive is generally just called 'anterior.'

Gnomic aspect is used to state that an event (or state) is always true, or that a statement is a general (usually well-known) truth, e.g. sa juma tîla 'birds fly.' It is sometimes used as a means of trying to make a sentence seem more truthful and honest.

The stative is used to describe a situation which is ongoing but unchanging.

The semantic difference between the future and non-future of the stative and gnomic is minor at best, which is probably why there is only one form for each.

• wira lu 'I run/ran'
• su wira lu 'I ran a long time ago'
• *li wira lu 'I ran a long time from now'
• lu li wira 'I will run a long time from now'
• bu wira lu 'I am/was running'
• lu mi wira 'I will be running'
• ku wira lu 'I had been running'
• lu xi wira 'I will have been running'
• sa wira lu 'It is true that I run'
• lu sa wira 'It is true that I will run'
• na wira lu 'I (have) always run'
• lu na wira 'I will always run'

Aspects are only allowed to stack if one has future/non-future distinction and the other does not; in this case, the gnomic or stative particle appears before the other. In this method the stative and progressive may be combined to create the pluperfect.

• sa bu sirif zu lu
• ST PR.P wait.DA 2SG.OBJ 1SG.SUBJ
• 'I have been waiting for you'

Mood

mood	form	example	translation
imperative	mĵ	mĵ zu gara	look up!
optative	leu	ara leu ka	may the water stay still
hortative	tala	di tala beu	let's go!
debitive	uqu	cu uqu bala	you must/should speak
capability	noas	noas sa bala lu	I can speak

Most modal sentences, especially ones that use irrealis moods, that would take the present in English are in future tense in Churra.

Determiners & Case

There are three types of determiners in Churra: articles, demonstratives, and possessives. Articles communicate case and definiteness, while demonstratives encode spacial relation to the speaker or subject. It is possible to use both partitive and/or tool articles and demonstratives together.

Articles

	definite	indefinite	partitive	Prop. Noun
subject	a, at		la, lat	ma
dir.obj	i, ŝ	us	koa, ku	koun
ind.obj	ki, kij	ĵ	keu, kea	in
tool	tin	ti	tul

The 'proper noun' articles are only required when the sentence's structure leaves case ambiguous.

• a mŝa 'the flower (sj)'
• at alois 'the sun (sj)'
• mŝa 'a flower (sj)'
• lat ara 'some still water (sj)'
• i alois 'the sun (oj)'
• ki alois 'to/at/etc the sun'
• tin alois 'with the sun'
• vujaw utuga icibirilĥk ma Tum
  • laugh.DA monkey PAUC-trick-PSS.IO the.SUBJ Tom
  • 'Tom laughed at the monkey's tricks'

Demonstratives

There are 36 demonstratives in Churra, which encode three axes of information: case, proximity, and vertical direction.

	Subject			Dir.obj			Ind.obj
	^	=	v	^	=	v	^	=	v
prox	ik	aq	uq	is	as	u	ili	ala	ulu
med	nin	nan	nug	nisit	nas	nus	yin	yan	yun
dist	mi	ma	mou	misit	mas	mu	mif	mafa	muf
surr	tid	tad	tudu	tig	tag	tug	tili	tal	tul

What is immediately apparently is that there is a sound-meaning correspondence between the vowels and the height distinctions (above, equal/eye-level, below). This sound symbolism is present in other parts of the language as well.

The four levels of proximity are proximal, medial, distal, and surrounding, which correspond roughly to English this X, that X, yonder X (cf. Sp. aquell@), and the surrounding X.

• lu nisit mŝa qapul
  • 1SG.SUBJ DEM flower want.TR
  • 'I want that flower up there'
• bu wudiwi tal ara lu
  • PR.NF swim.DA DEM still.water 1SG.SUBJ
  • 'I am swimming in still water'

Possessive Case

There are two ways to form the possessive in Churra - by using a possessive pronoun (like English my, your, her) or by using the possessive declension. (When using possessive pronouns, but the pronoun and the case marker must be used.) This is the only form of declined case in Churra.

Possessive Endings

Subject	Dir.Obj	Ind.Obj
-im	-ssd	-hhk

Unlike in English, these endings are not applied to the possessor (Mary's kitten) but to the possessed. The possessor is left without any article.

• Mali nanîm 'Mary's kitten (sj)'
• wazat a kavoa Mali naniŝd
  • chase.TR the.SUBJ dog Mary kitten-PSS.DO
  • 'the dog chased Mary's kitten'

Possessive Pronouns

	1	2	3
Sg	lum	coam	vim
Pl	dim	joam	bim

• wazat a kavoa vim naniŝd
  • chase.TR the.SUBJ dog 3SG.PSS kitten-PSS.DO
  • 'the dog chased her kitten'

Adpositions

These fall under the category of determiners in Churra since they may replace articles and demonstratives in the phrase, standing in place of case or directional marking. They are generally found before the noun they modify.

meaning	form	example	translation
from	ŝki	a diku ŝki banuku	the man from the village
for (purp)	cuy	dutan cu mougâ	stick for walking (walking stick)
for (dur)	asa	seira di asa boamutatuk	we waited for several hours
on/in	yal	siqĥyum yal ki banuku lu	I live in the village
(made) of	imŝ	misil imŝ qugea	door of wood (wooden door)
between	ŝkim	ŝkim ki irigiqoi us waneut	the valley between the mountains

The Noun

The noun in Churra has little morphology. However, it does show number, and something akin to animacy.

Number

Churra has a five-way number distinction.

number	form	example	translation
zero/neg	fe(i)-	feimŝa	no flowers
singular	ø	mŝa	one flower
paucal	i-	imŝa	a few flowers
plural	bo(a)-	boamŝa	several flowers
mass/coll	ta-	tamŝa	all the flowers, a bouquet

The behaviour of these numbers is not entirely predictable to an English speaker (see also 'pronouns and grammatical number,' above).

The 'zero' number behaves almost identically to a negation particle:

• yuf feimŝa
  • 'COP Z-flower
  • 'there are/is no flower(s)'

Zero nouns act as non-definite nouns, taking no article. One may specify that the X did Y by using another grammatical number, an article, and the negation marker ixa.

• yuf ixa boamŝa
  • 'COP NEG PL-flower
  • 'there are no flowers'

Singular and plural are nearly-identical to English. The distinction between paucal and plural is best summed up as 'a few' vs 'many/ more than few,' ; the exact number being described depends on context, what the object is, etc. However, the number range for paucal is generally anything between or including two and six.

Many nouns considered collective (AKA 'mass' or 'noncount') in English will be unmarked, and therefore, apparently singular (e.g. ara, 'still water'). However, they still behave collectively (taking collective pronouns and partitive articles).

• wudiwi keu ara lu. yuf uqura vu.
  • 'swim.DA PART.IO still.water 1SS. COP coldly 3SS.
  • I swam in still water. It was cold.
    • Note that the 3SS pronoun is usually omitted, it is only shown here to illustrate that it is singular.

Nouns that appear with the ta- prefix are usually count nouns that have been made into a group, and now act as one entity.

• alisaj lu taras la takavoa koa tîla
  • 'see.TR-subc 1SS kill.TR PART.S C-dog PART.DO C-bird
  • I saw (that) a pack of dogs kill(ed) a flock of birds

Animacy/ Word Class

There are 19 common Churric noun endings. These are fossilized remnants from a once-productive animacy system, with five major classes of animacy; this was once decompositionable, but it is no more. While the animacy of the noun itself is no longer particularly important grammatically in Churra, there is a correspondence between semi-productive adjective animacy and the nominal form.

Animacy Endings

animacy	class	form	example	gloss
person	prs1	-ku	daku	'person'
	prs2	-hax	dahax	'child'
	prs3	-aj	yidâj	'adult'
	prs4	-u	tilû	'king'
animal	an1	-(i)moa	dalimoa	'ostritch'
	an2	-a	ila	'bird'
	an3	-voa	kavoa	'dog'
	an4	-fu	radafu	'water beetle'
plant	pla1	-tan	yutan	'dandelion'
	pla2	-sa	mŝa	'flower'
	pla3	-tea	katea	'tall, thin tree'
fluid	fl1	-j	kij	'fire'
	fl2	-soa	fŝoa	'turbulent water'
	fl3	-ra	ixeira	'air'
	fl4	-is	alois	'sun'
inanimate	in1	-ut	kamût	'stone'
	in2	-qoi	naqoi	'ground'
	in3	-ag	narag	'water (substance)'
	in4	-il	valil	'place'

Note that adjectives must agree with the animacy of their noun, and not the specific noun class. The specific classes are now completely defunct.

Animacy distinctions might not be completely intuitive to English speakers; for instance both ara 'still water' and fŝoa 'turbulent water' have fluid animacy, while narag 'the substance of water' is inanimate.

Modifiers

Churric adjectives are fairly simple, agreeing with their noun's animacy and having no other morphology. The adverbs are slightly more complex, dividing into temporal adverbs (which must agree with tense) and non-temporal adverbs, which behave identically to adjectives.

Adjectives and Non-Temporal adverbs

Distribution and morphology

These two word classes are only differentiated by their distribution; they are therefore considered the same word class in Churra, and will be referred to as adjectives henceforth for the sake of simplicity.

Churric adjectives follow the noun or verb they modify, and must agree with what they modify, on a six-tier system: verb (adverbs), and the five animacy sets. Therefore, any one English adjective has up to six corresponding words in Churra (and if a form doesn't exist, it can be invented.)

• sujira 'clear (fl)' ; e.g. jiqoris sujira 'cloudless sky'
• sujiqoi 'clear (in)' ; e.g. leit sujiqoi 'cloudless day'
• sujir 'clearly/safely' ; e.g. ixa sujir lu 'I slept soundly'

There are a few exceptions to the N-A order. For one, when a N+A construct is a compound (considered one noun), the order is reversed:

• kamût hanut 'large rock'
• hanut kamût 'boulder'

The other exception is colour adjectives, which always precede their noun, and which have only one form, regardless of animacy.

• zumal kamût 'blue rock'
• *kamût zumal '*rock blue'

Adjectival Meaning

While adjective agreement is mostly just that - agreement - the fact that the classes are differentiated semantically allows different modes of the same adjective to pick out slightly different nuances of meaning, which do not correspond 100% to the English meaning.

fu : 'rotten'

Class	Form	Possible glosses
Person	fuqax	~, infected
Animal	fu	~, not edible, infected
Plant	futa	~, not edible
Fluid	fuj	~, unsafe, poison, spoiled
Inanimate	fug	toxic, decrepit
Adverbial	fuwa	similarly to rot or decay

Temporal adverbs

Temporal adverbs are inflected as either future or non-future and must also take specific places in the phrase depending on their agreement. In this way they can be considered somewhat similar to aspect or tense markers, since they are time-anchoring agents.

Tense	Form	Example	Translation
future	y-	yaqalei lu beu	'I will go tomorrow'
non-future	te-	beu lu teaqalei	'I went yesterday'
(base form)		aqalei	'next/previous day'

The root forms of all temporal adverbs must begin with a vowel to allow for this process.

Some temporal adverbs may also function as adjectives (including non-temporal adverbs) but in this case they usually convey spatial information.

• yimîn 'soon'
• teimîn 'just now/ recently'
• imîn 'near'

Vocabulary

Swadesh list entries are based on best available semantic counterparts; for example, the animal referred to by kavoa 'dog' is not actually the mammal we know on Earth, but simply a domesticated carnivorous pack animal kept for hunting purposes (which also happens to be an amphibious crustacean).

No.	English	Churra
1	I	lu (s), ilu (o)
2	you (singular)	cu (s), zu (o)
3	he	vu (s)
4	we	di (s), isi (o)
5	you (plural)	ji (s), yi (o)
6	they	wa (s), bea (ob)
7	this	see 'demonstratives'
8	that	see 'demonstratives'
9	here	iqei
10	there	aqalei
11	who	muku
12	what	mût
13	where	uza
14	when	uza
15	how	nâ
16	not	ixa
17	all	ta- (PL marker)
18	many	bo(a)- (PL marker)
19	some	i- (PL marker)
20	few	i- (PL marker)
21	other	moilssm (adj)
22	one	wun
23	two	wat
24	three	ris
25	four	it
26	five	anss
27	big	hagu (prs), hamoa (an), hanea (pla), hanssoa (fl), hanut (in)
28	long	daliku (prs), dalivoa (an), dalisa (pla), dalisoa (fl), daleut (in)
29	wide	kuf weilout (in)
30	thick	cuku (prs), cukimoa (an), cukisa (pla), cukaj (fl), cukag (in)
31	heavy	umssu (prs), umssa (an), umsstea (pla), umssoa (fl), umssqoi (in)
32	small	bix (prs), biwa (an), bssa (pla), biis (fl), beut (in)
33	short	vuyaj (prs), vuvoa (an), vuyatan (pla), vuyaj (fl), vuyag (in)
34	narrow	wij weilout (in)
35	thin	isuhax (prs), isufu (an), isusa (pla), isura (fl), isoil (in)
36	woman	tadix (prs)
37	man (adult male)	diku (prs)
38	man (human being)	—
39	child	dahax (prs)
40	wife	pilu (prs)
41	husband	idilu (prs)
42	mother	quhax (prs)
43	father	quku (prs)
44	animal	yumoa (an)
45	fish	imik (an)
46	bird	ila (an)
47	dog	kavoa (an)
48	louse	igafu (an)
49	snake	xŝsŝ (an)
50	worm	umoa (an)
51	tree	katea, katutan, katisa (pl)
52	forest	sirsstan (pl)
53	stick	dutan (pl)
54	fruit	wivi (pl)
55	seed	qhhtea (pl)
56	leaf	gutea (pl)
57	root	satan (pl)
58	bark	kurusa (pl)
59	flower	mssa (pl)
60	grass	gumisa (pl)
61	rope	hihil (in)
62	skin	kuruj (prs), kuruvoa (an)
63	meat	cirifu (an)
64	blood	anax (prs), ana (an)
65	bone	nuku (prs), nuvoa (an)
66	fat	—
67	egg	qhhku (prs), qhhfu (an)
68	horn	haliku (prs), halea (an)
69	tail	ihax (prs), ifu (an)
70	feather	ilavoa (an)
71	hair	N/A
72	head	leijax (prs), leija (an)
73	ear	iliku (prs), ilivoa (an)
74	eye	mjjiinu (prs), mjjiina (an)
75	nose	buku (prs), buboa (an)
76	mouth	aru (prs), arifu (an)
77	tooth	bjjul (in)
78	tongue	dudu (prs), dudivoi (an)
79	fingernail	N/A
80	foot	qusstax (prs), qusimoa (an)
81	leg	lalei (prs), ladan (an)
82	knee	kuvil (in)
83	hand	mikaj (prs), mivoa (an)
84	wing	adei (an)
85	belly	tuusu (prs), tuusa (an)
86	guts	jilaaku (prs), jilaa (an)
87	neck	duitax (prs), duita (an)
88	back	urou (prs), urufu (an)
89	breast	magaku (prs), magamoa (an)
90	heart	um (prs), umoa (an)
91	liver	loisil (in)
92	drink	amoud (fl)
93	eat	kusa (IT), kusiit (TR), kusay (PA)
94	bite	dukat (TR), dukag (PA)
95	suck	moiji (IT), moijss (TR), moij (PA)
96	spit	teisdu (IT), teisd (TR), teisduh (DT), teisduv (DA), teisduy (PA)
97	vomit	wuxu (IT), wuxuz (TR), wuhur (DT), wuxum (DA)
98	blow	vufi (IT), vuf (DA)
99	breathe	hila (IT), hilis (TR), hilif (DA)
100	laugh	vuja (IT), vujaw (DA)
101	see	alis (TR)
102	hear	hizis (TR)
103	know	wadira (IT)
104	think	hamija (IT), hamizut (TR)
105	smell	ulhht (TR)
106	fear	hiqis (TR)
107	sleep	ixu (IT), ixub (DA)
108	live	siqhhyu (IT), siqhhyum (DA)
109	die	alusa (IT), alusaf (IT)
110	kill	taras (TR), tarhh (DT), tarik (PA)
111	fight	zimas (TR), zimisiq (DT)
112	hunt	sisa (IT), sisat (TR), sisah (DT), sissk (PA)
113	hit	unut (TR), unaci (PA)
114	cut	anut (TR), anutaq (DT), anutay (PA)
115	split	wat (TR), watari (DT), wataj (PA)
116	stab	fssqan (TR), fssq (DT), fssk (PA)
117	scratch	cazad (TR), cazag (DA)
118	dig	koina (IT), koin (TR), koinaq (DT), koim (DA)
119	swim	wudea (IT), wudiwi (DA)
120	fly	—
121	walk	mouga (IT), mougum (DA)
122	come	za (IT), zam (DA)
123	lie	idirssa (IT)
124	sit	idssu (IT), idssuf (DA)
125	stand	kixi (IT), kixiv (DA)
126	turn	muloa (IT)
127	fall	yulssu (IT), yulssiv (DA)
128	give	hhtanjj (DT), hoatam (DA)
129	hold	aliseas (TR), alisiy (PA)
130	squeeze	soisoi (TR), soisuyi (PA)
131	rub	bura (IT), bural (TR), bur (DT), buracss (PA)
132	wash	nara (IT), narît (TR), nar (DT), narax (PA)
133	wipe	tid (TR)
134	pull	gufid (TR), gufiz (PA)
135	push	uqhhat (TR), uqhh (DT), uqhhav (DA), uqjj (PA)
136	throw	quma (IT), qumit (TR), qumar (DT), qumuq (PA)
137	tie	wilil (TR), wilih (DT), wiliw (DA), wilix (PA)
138	sew	ahadu (IT), ahad (TR), ahaduh (DT), ahadaw (DA), ahadux (PA)
139	count	cumea (IT), cumeas (TR), cumeaq (PA)
140	say	bala (IT), balir (DT), balum (DA)
141	sing	heaza (IT), hizis (TR), hazar (DT), hizum (DA)
142	play	xisa (IT), xiseu (DA)
143	float	yulssi (IT), yulssiv (DA)
144	flow	si (IT), siv (DA)
145	freeze	hiifii (IT), hiifss (TR), hiifhh (DT), hiif (DA), hiifjj (PA)
146	swell	gana (IT)
147	sun	alois (fl)
148	moon	N/A
149	star	iliboil (in)
150	water	narag (in), fssoa (fl), ara (fl), amoud (fl)
151	rain	tadis (fl)
152	river	lisu (fl)
153	lake	akut (in)
154	sea	iyaas (fl)
155	salt	qin (in)
156	stone	kamuut (in)
157	sand	kusŝ (fl)
158	dust	healak (in)
159	earth	cubil (in)
160	cloud	wusip (fl)
161	fog	wusup (fl)
162	sky	jiquris (fl)
163	wind	ixeiri (fl)
164	snow	kuleaqoi (in)
165	ice	sstileut (in)
166	smoke	wax (fl)
167	fire	jujoa (fl)
168	ash	—
169	burn	ziha (IT), zihas (TR), zihaf (DA), zihaj (PA)
170	road	irinag (in)
171	mountain	rigiqoi (in)
172	red	kuja
173	green	wiisul
174	yellow	jimit
175	white	jir
176	black	ruta
177	night	ysst (in)
178	day	leit (in)
179	year	aluq (in)
180	warm	hidix (prs), hidi (an), hidea (pla), hidij (fl), hidoit (in), hida (adv)
181	cold	uquj (prs), uqa (an), uqitan (pla), uquj (fl), uqut (in), uqura (adv)
182	full	umigu (prs), umimu (an), umina (pla), uminoa (fl), umig (in), umiga (adv)
183	new	zibu (prs), zivoa (an), zitan (pla), zitara (fl), zeut (in), zibea (adv)
184	old	uveaj (prs), uvidi (an), uvitea (pla), uvituj (fl), uviit (in), uva (adv)
185	good	wu (prs), voa (an), wssa (pla), wura (fl), wumut (in), wumoi (adv)
186	bad	tiku (prs), tifu (an), titan (pla), tiis (fl), tiil (in), tea (adv)
187	rotten	fuqax (prs), fu (an), futa (pla), fuj (fl), fag (in)
188	dirty	atoix (prs), atou (an), atoitan (pla), atouj (fl), atoil (in), atoa (adv)
189	straight	aamidea (pla), aamik (in), aamea (adv)
190	round	timoa (an), titan (pla), tisoa (fl), teuut (in)
191	sharp	kasa (pla), kadag (in), keadssa (adv)
192	dull	marusa (pla), maruqoi (in), marutss (adv)
193	smooth	leiluku (prs), leilufu (an), leilutea (pla), leiluj (fl), leiluut (in), leilu (adv)
194	wet	amar (prs), amara (an), amasa (pla), amara (fl), amaru (in), amat (adv)
195	dry	pisu (prs), pea (an), pisa (pla), pij (fl), peuut (in), peaa (adv)
196	correct	macou
197	near	imiin
198	far	aloin
199	right	ikoi
200	left	win
201	at	N/A
202	in	yal
203	with	tin, ti, tul (case-marking article)
204	and	uw
205	if	N/A
206	because	V-aj ... na yuf, tana
207	name	—