Conlang


Cjư
Cjư
Type
Agglutinative
Alignment
Nominative–accusative
Head direction
Final
Tonal
No
Declensions
No
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case Number
Definiteness Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect



General information[]

Cjư (/t͡ɕɯ/) is a priori conlang. It is designed to sound bizarre, but not too difficult to learn and speak. 


Phonology

Consonants[]

Bilabial Alveolar Alveolo-palatal Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m〈m〉 n〈n〉 ɲ〈nj〉 ŋ〈g〉 ɴ
Plosive p〈p〉 k〈k〉 ʔ〈'〉
Fricative

s〈s〉

z〈z〉

ɕ〈sj〉

ʑ〈zj〉

x~χ〈h〉

ɣ~ʁ〈r〉

Affricate

t͡s〈c〉

d͡z〈x〉

t͡ɕ〈cj〉

d͡ʑ〈xj〉

Approximant

w〈w〉

ɥ〈wj〉

j〈y〉

ɥ〈wj〉

Click ǂ〈q〉
Lateral app. l〈l〉
  • /n/ and /ŋ/ are realized as [ɴ] before [χ] and [ʁ]
  • /n/ is realized as [ɲ] before [j], [ɥ], and [ǂ]
  • /w/ is realized as [ɥ] before [j]
  • /s/ and /t͡s/ become [ɕ] and [t͡ɕ], respectively, before [j] or [ɥ]

Vowels[]

Front Back
Close

i〈i〉

y〈ï〉

ɯ〈ư〉

u〈u〉

Close-mid

e〈e〉

ø〈ė〉

Open-mid

ʌ〈ơ〉

ɔ〈o〉

Open

a〈a〉

ɶ〈ȧ〉

Alphabet[]

Letter Name IPA
A la a
Ȧ ɶ
C ce t͡s
E le e
Ė ø
G ŋ
H hoh χ
I li i
Ï y
J aya
K ke k
L alư l
M m
N n
O mo ɔ
Ơ ʌ
P pe p
Q ǂ
R rah ʁ
S se s
U mu u
Ư ɯ
W uwa w
X xo d͡z
Y iya j
Z zo z
' qa'a ʔ
  • The dot ( · ) or, diaeresis ( ¨ ) in the case of Ï, indicates rounding of a vowel who is by default unrounded.
  • The horn ( ̛ ) indicates unrounding of a vowel who is by default rounded.
  • The letter J has no phonological value, but rather acts as an in-line diacritic for palatalization.

Phonotactics[]

Syllable stucture is defined as (C)(j)V(K) where:

  • C is the onset. It is any consonant*.
  • j is the medial. It is any semivowel.
  • V is the nucleus. It is any vowel.
  • and K is the coda. It cannot include any voiced fricative, voiced affricate, click, /ʔ/, or /ɥ/**.

Therefore, a syllable cannot end in the phonemes /ʔ, z, ʑ, ʁ, d͡z, d͡ʑ, ɥ**/, or /ǂ/.

  • First syllables of a word do not start with /ʔ/, but any following syllables of a word can.
  • Allophonically, /ɥ/ can end a syllable because /w/ can. /w/ is realized as [ɥ] before an onset [j].

Grammar[]

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

Nouns[]

Verbs[]

All verbs are regular in Cjư, so once conjugation is learned, any verb can be conjugated. This is done by changing the ending of a verb. There are two types of conjugation in Cjư. They are Post-vowel (VCo) and Post-coda (KCo) conjugations.

Post-Vowel[]

These conjugations apply to verbs whose infinitives end in a vowel followed by a consonant plus the vowel o. They feature suffixes.
VCo:
1st singular 1st plural 2nd singular 2nd plural 3rd singular 3rd plural
Present VCoc VCocum VCanja VCanjam VCơh VCơhum
Past VCocjas VCocjumsa VCanjas VCanjamsa VCơras VCơrumsa
Future VCoxawa VCoxumwa VCaqawa VCaqamwa VCơhawa VCơhamwa 
Oso - to be:
1st singular 1st plural 2nd singular 2nd plural 3rd singular 3rd plural
Present osoc osocum osanja osanjam osơh osơhum
Past osocjas osocjumsa osanjas osanjamsa osơras osơrumsa
Future osoxawa osoxumwa osaqawa osaqamwa osơhawa osơhamwa 

Post-Coda[]

Post-coda infinitives end in a coda by a consonant plus the vowel o. They feature suffixes and infixes.
KCo:
1st singular 1st plural 2nd singular 2nd plural 3rd singular 3rd plural
Present KocCo KocCom KanjaCa KanjaCam KơhCơ KơhCơm
Past KocjakCo KocjakCom KanjakCa KanjakCam KơrakCơ KơrakCơm
Future KoxawaCo KoxawaCom KaqawaCa KaqawaCam KơhawaCơ KơhawaCơm
Ơmipso - to see:
1st singular 1st plural 2nd singular 2nd plural 3rd singular 3rd plural
Present ơmipocso ơmipocsom ơmipanjasa ơmipanjasam ơmipơhsơ ơmipơhsơm
Past ơmipocjakso ơmipocjaksom ơmipanjaksa ơmipanjaksam ơmipơrakơ ơmipơrakơm
Future ơmipoxawaso ơmipoxawasom ơmipaqawasa ơmipaqawasam ơmipơhawasơ ơmipơhawasơm

Particles[]

Particle Case/Tense Example
la nominative

John la pucnalosơras.

John slept.

xe accusative

Hơ la pomya xe kalơrakko.

He hit the ball.

dative

Xjon la qam kė zjagwja'e xe kư'oxawa.

I will give you the money.

ga genitive

Nje la Sherry ga awcu xe osơh.

That is Sherry's car.

locative

Hơ'ưm la New York hȧ ȧlosơhum.

They are in New York.

mwje lative

Xjon la hơ xe mïlȧce mwje cagagoxawa.

I will bring it to the party.

xjư ablative

Rȧn la ponanjaksal xe hog imu xjư pwacơrakmơ.

The dog took the bone from its mother.

Syntax[]

Word order in Cjư is SOV

S O V
ipȧ la hog zjacmac xe mwayơras.
/ipɶ la χɔŋ ʑat͡smat͡s d͡ze mwajʌʁas/
father his wife kissed.
The father kissed his wife.

Vocabulary[]


No. English Cjư
1IXjon
2you (singular)Qam
3he
4weXjonưm
5you (plural)Qamưm
6theyHơ'ưm
7this
8thatNje
9hereCơ'ec
10thereNje'ec
11whoAnmơ
12what
13whereEcmơ
14whenOpmơ
15howRacmơ
16notLec
17allSưp
18manyȦk
19someCu
20fewXėc
21otherZjonhok
22oneÏg
23twoNah
24threeOg
25fourCji
26fivePak
27bigKaci
28longPos
29wideLacmag
30thickKalag
31heavyMėpkal
32smallLiplic
33shortLipci
34narrowXalkac
35thinMincėk
36womanMacan
37man (adult male)Palan
38man (human being)Hơlan
39childLipan
40wifeZjacmac
41husbandPalmac
42motherImu
43fatherIpȧ
44animalZazjư
45fishMi'ė
46birdQacơl
47dogRȧn
48louseRalpucim
49snakeSizjas
50wormHulimwa
51treeXi
52forestMoh
53stickGac
54fruitPwol
55seedXele
56leafLȧy
57rootMunïcwjơ
58barkGahka
59flowerOlmơ
60grassĖnhwȧ
61ropeIpsưl
62skinRalmac
63meatUpselap
64bloodGơ'ưgsac
65bonePonanjaksal
66fatSawri
67eggGïzas
68hornLưn
69tailHalcon
70featherSeymoc
71hairWjas
72headXjoc
73earEqem
74eyePima
75noseOlnėk
76mouthXug
77toothCjici
78tongueLơg
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name


Example text[]