Dongbuzenytihach

Dongbuzenytihach is the language spoken in the Dongbuzenytihav, an ocean located on the planet Baltus (known natively as Bältuse). The primary speakers are Encephalopods, inhabitants of the planet.

Dongbuzenytihach Dońbuzenytihać
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Nominative-Accusative
Head direction
Mostly Head-Initial
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

Phonology

Consonants

			Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal			m	n	ɲ~ŋ
Occlusive	unvoiced		p	t	t͡ɕ	k
	voiced		b	d	d͡ʑ	g
Fricative	voiceless	sibilant		s	ɕ	x͡ɕ
		plain	f	θ̠		x
	voiced		v	z	ʑ
Approximant			w	ɹ		ɫ

There is an undefined sound that is most similar to the "sj-sound" and is commonly considered a co-articulated [x] and [ɕ]. It is a relatively rare sound in the language.

/j/, /t͡s/ and /d͡z/ are only seen in loanwords from nearby languages which have these sounds.

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i	y		u
Close-mid			ɘ	ɤ
Open-mid	ɛ			ɔ
Open			a

/ɤ/ is silent when in unstressed position and not in the first syllable of a word.

/ø/ appears in loanwords and interjections.

Historical sound changes

Dongbuzenytihach's phonological inventory used to have a single palatal consonant, /j/, and had many more hiati than it does today. Unusually, the /θ̠/ sound was present in the language from the beginning.

a	e	ə	i	o	u	ɯ	y	b	d	ɸ	g		j	k
a	ɛ	ɘ	i	ɔ	u	ɯ	y	b	d	f	g	ɟ	ʝ	k	c
a	ɛ	ɘ	i	ɔ	u	ɤ	y	b	d	f	g	d͡ʑ	ʑ	k	t͡ɕ
ʟ	m	n	ŋ	p	ɹ	s	t	x			z	β	β̞ʷ	θ̠
ʟ	m	n	ŋ	p	ɹ	s	t	x	ç		z	v	w	θ̠
ɫ	m	n	ɲ	p	ɹ	s	t	x	ɕ	x͡ɕ	z	v	w	θ̠

Writing system

Dongbuzenytihach, like many other Encephalopod languages, use a sophisticated combining script, referred outside of the planet as "Encephalopod script", but called in the language "Lapore Kapurafete".

Transcription

a	b	ɕ	d	d͡z	d͡ʑ	ɛ	ɘ	f	g	i	j	k	ʟ	m	n	ɲ	ɔ
a	b	ś	d	ʣ	đ	ä	e	f	g	i	j	k	l	m	n	ń	o
ø	p	ɹ	s	t	t͡s	t͡ɕ	u	ɤ	ɤ̥	v	w	x	x͡ɕ	y	z	ʑ	θ̠
ö	p	r	s	t	c	ć	u	ë	∅	v	w	h	hś	y	z	ź	þ

ISO Basic Latin friendly

a	b	ɕ	d	d͡z	d͡ʑ	ɛ	ɘ	f	g	i	j	k	ʟ	m	n	ɲ/ŋ	ɔ
a	b	sj	d	dz	dj	ax	e	f	g	i	j	k	l	m	n	nj	o
ø	p	ɹ	s	t	t͡s	t͡ɕ	u	ɤ	ɤ̥	v	w	x	x͡ɕ	y	z	ʑ	θ̠
ox	p	r	s	t	c	cj	u	ex	∅	v	w	h	hj	y	z	zj	th

Glyphs

Words with more complex consonant clusters than CV, usually CVN or CVL, are written with the ë glyph following the sonorant.

Phonotactics

Thanks to the null glyph and ë, the phonotactics are slightly more variable than the script could suggest. Some of the most common formations include CV and V.

Sound Changes and Allophony

• /ɤ/ becomes [o] when stressed and after /w/.
• /k/, /g/, /x/ shift to [c], [ɟ], [ç] respectively before /i/, /y/.
• /ɹ/, /ɫ/ become [j], [ʎ] respectively before /i/, /y/.
• /i/, /y/ shift to [ɨ], [ʉ] after /w/, /s/, /z/.
• /a/ becomes /ɛ/ before a sonorant followed by a front vowel, which is reflected in the orthography.

Morphology

Dongbuzenytihach grammar is relatively complex, as the language is fusional.

Verbs

Verbs conjugate according to mood, tense, person, number and aspect. Each verb can have one of two endings, -oti and -iti. The vowels in the conjugation depend on the infinitive form's suffix and ending. <o> is often substituted by <e>, while <i> is replaced by <y> in the same positions. Verbs have an indicative mood with present, past and future tense, the latter two of which can have a perfective and an imperfective form, an interrogative mood, an imperative mood and a subjunctive mood with present, past and future tense. Verbs can also assume a negative mood by adding the prefix će- if the verbs starts with a consonant, and ćed- if the verb starts with a vowel. When combined with the optative mood, the verb assumes the meaning of "may not". In -iti verbs whose roots end in -ar-, -al- or -aw-, a turns into ä if a front vowel follows the approximant, as such vubäliti => vubalu. All verbs are accented on the vowel following the root.

-oti verbs

Inf = fenoti	Indicative					Imperative	Subjunctive			Optative
	Present	Past		Future		Present	Present	Past	Future	Future
		Perfective	Imperfective	Perfective	Imperfective
se	feno	fenemo	fenemiro	feneþo	feneþiro	/	feneo	fenomo	fenoþo	feneþopo
đa	fenu	fenemu	fenemiru	feneþelu	feneþeliru	fene	feneu	fenomu	fenoþu	feneþelopu
do	fene	feneme	fenemire	feneþe	feneþire	fene	feney	fenome	fenoþe	feneþope
ku	fenuto	fenemuto	fenemito	feneþuso	feneþiso	fenuto	fenuto	fenomuto	fenoþuso	feneþoputo
së	fenoto	fenemoto	fenemito	feneþoso	feneþiso	/	fenoto	fenomoto	fenoþoso	feneþopoto
đä	fenoze	fenemoze	fenemozi	feneþoze	feneþozi	fenoze	fenoze	fenomoze	fenoþoze	feneþopoze
du	fenake	fenemake	fenemaki	feneþake	feneþaki	fenake	fenako	fenomake	fenoþake	feneþopake
Converbs	fenerä (while), fenä (after)

-iti verbs

Inf = kaćiti	Indicative					Imperative	Subjunctive			Optative
	Present	Past		Future			Present	Past	Future	Future
		Perfective	Imperfective	Perfective	Imperfective
se	kaći	kaćimo	kaćimiro	kaćyþo	kaćiþilori	/	kaćyi	kaćymo	kaćyþo	kaćyþipo
đa	kaću	kaćimu	kaćimiru	kaćyþu	kaćiþiru	kaćy	kaćypze	kaćymu	kaćyþu	kaćyþipu
do	kaćy	kaćimi	kaćimiri	kaćyþi	kaćiþiri	kaćy	kaćye	kaćymi	kaćyþi	kaćyþipe
ku	kaćuto	kaćymuto	kaćymito	kaćiþuso	kaćiþiso	kaćuto	kaćuto	kaćymuto	kaćyþuso	kaćyþiputo
së	kaćoto	kaćymito	kaćymito	kaćyþoso	kaćyþiso	/	kaćoto	kaćymoto	kaćyþoso	kaćyþipoto
đä	kaćozy	kaćimozy	kaćimozi	kaćiþozy	kaćiþozi	kaćozy	kaćozy	kaćymoze	kaćyþozy	kaćyþipozy
du	kaćaky	kaćimake	kaćimaki	kaćiþake	kaćiþaki	kaćaky	kaćaky	kaćymoka	kaćyþia	kaćyþipaky
Converbs	kaćirä (while), kaćä (after)

Nouns

In nominative singular, nouns can have three suffixes: -a, -e, and -o. To create a possessive noun, one replaces the final suffix with itself preceeded by -äh-. These can be interpreted as adjectives. There are two cases, Nominative, describing the subject which performs the action, and Oblique, which describes the object which takes the action done by the subject.

Declension	Example word root	Singular suffix		Plural suffix		Singular		Plural
		Nominative	Oblique	Nominative	Oblique	Nominative	Oblique	Nominative	Oblique
1st declension	fër- (a unit of capacity)	-a	-o	-ä	-ë	fëra	fëro	fërä	fërë
2nd declension	goh- (tentacle)	-o	-e	-u	-e	goho	gohe	gohu	gohe
3rd declension	däźiv- (an animal)	-e	-i	-u	-e	däźive	däźivi	däźivu	däźive
Exception	seþ- (religion)	-ë	-ë	-ä	-ä	seþë	seþë	seþä	seþä

Adjectives

Adjectives form the same declension pattern as their respective nouns. The following table declines the root "wiśos-", "slimy". Adjectives are post-nominal, meaning that they come after the noun they are referring to. Possessives are treated as adjectives as well, as such they are declined identically to the adjective in the table.

Declension	Singular suffix		Plural suffix		Singular		Plural
	Nominative	Oblique	Nominative	Oblique	Nominative	Oblique	Nominative	Oblique
1st declension	-a	-o	-ä	-ë	wiśosa	wiśoso	wiśosä	wiśosë
2nd declension	-o	-e	-u	-e	wiśoso	wiśose	wiśosu	wiśosa
3rd declension	-e	-i	-u	-e	wiśose	wiśosi	wiśosu	wiśosa

Articles

There are no indeterminative articles. Determinative articles have 6 forms, depending on the noun referred to, and come after the referred-to noun.

	Singular	Plural
1st	ra	rä
2nd	ro	ru
3rd	re	ru

Adpositions

Adpositions in Dongbuzenytihach are postpositions. They are inflected and agree with the head.

Pronouns

Pronoun	Nominative	Oblique	Reflexive
1SG	se	su	pyćisu
2SG	đa	đo	pyćiđo
3SG	do	de	pyćide
1PL INCL	ku	ku	pyćiku
1PL EXCL	së	se	pyćise
2PL	đä	đë	pyćiđë
3PL	du	de	pyćide

Syntax

Word order

The word order is commonly SVO.

Interrogative particles

Dongbuzenytihach uses interrogative particles to denote quesitons. One such particle is ki, which is used to confirm a statement. If the statement is agreed upon, the listener responds "ki" as well, while in the opposite case, the listener responds "će", which assumes the value of "no", or negation.

Another particle is a, which is used after information-seeking questions. In case the answerer is not aware of the answer, they respond "ćewäri", which roughly translates as "I don't know".

Lexicon

See Dongbuzenytihach/Vocabulary.

Numerals

Dongbuzenytihach uses a base-4 number system. Each number is a monosyllabic word. The quantity of groups of numbers is always indicated, as such 4 would be "one four" (1x4), the closest equivalent in English being "one hundred`one thousand". This allows for the order of numbers to be free, however it is never used in formal speech and might even be seen as a sign of a chaotic personality.

Example text

The North Wind and the Sun

Ruźo-ro tońo zo sa fëna-ra fäimake wigođi-ki oźeme kari-re rypi ćambi. Du fäimaki lehone athëhe giwe zoćesa hi vubälyme kaćimi sa do oźemire gelđa rodë će sa himiri këlokë. Fëna-ra atuvimi eńa kare-re rype ćambe oźe kare-re eńa dëly këlokë-rë vubälymi-re zi. Ruźo-ro tońo zo atuvimi eńa do oźe däźa sa do somuneme hi ruźe athëhe sa omazege vubälymi-re ći. Iśeti ruźo-ro hin hueme thefu-ru këlokë zë rësavake zuvydo ćo vubälymähi-re. Iço do luheme de gelđa sa iśeti ruźo-ro huemire ćambelemi giwi do luhemire ćambelemi giwi. Ruźo-ro tońo zo hueme sa hueme iço uru ćoźe däźo. Zoćesa fena-ra feseśeme. Lehono däho oźemaki zäba iśeti hin di sa vubälyme-re dëlimi oći këlokähë-rë feseśygemi-re çalamäti di zoće omazegemi-re ruźähe ze tońo zo. Zoćesa lehono-ro fena-ra za durneme feseśygo. Ćëfulo-ro dëlimi capë sa gywe këlokë ńë. Thefe-re de do feseśimi sa dëlimi këlokë-rë däho sa kaćimi cire arëborähe će kaćirä lenohe-re fenäha-ra ńe.

Translation to English

The North Wind and the Sun had a quarrel about which of them was the stronger. While they were disputing with much heat and bluster, a Traveler passed along the road wrapped in a cloak. "Let us agree," said the Sun, "that he is the stronger who can strip that Traveler of his cloak." "Very well," growled the North Wind, and at once sent a cold, howling blast against the Traveler. With the first gust of wind the ends of the cloak whipped about the Traveler's body. But he immediately wrapped it closely around him, and the harder the Wind blew, the tighter he held it to him. The North Wind tore angrily at the cloak, but all his efforts were in vain. Then the Sun began to shine. At first his beams were gentle, and in the pleasant warmth after the bitter cold of the North Wind, the Traveler unfastened his cloak and let it hang loosely from his shoulders. The Sun's rays grew warmer and warmer. The man took off his cap and mopped his brow. At last he became so heated that he pulled off his cloak, and, to escape the blazing sunshine, threw himself down in the welcome shade of a tree by the roadside.

Dialects

Subarctic Dongbuzenytihach

This variant of Dongbuzenytihach is spoken in northern colonies of the Dongbuzenytihav. It is characterized by lowering of central vowels, somewhat conservative liquids and nasals, post/alveolarization of alveolar fricatives and a v/w merger into ʋ.

Kifekutulan Dongbuzenytihach

Heavily influenced by neighbouring languages, Kifekutulan Dongbuzenytihach is most notable for its removal of unstressed high vowels in unstressed positions after sonorants. It also demonstrates partial de-palatalization of palatal consonants and voiced stop lenition intervocalicaly.

Comparison

Standard Dongbuzenytihach	Subarctic Dongbuzenytihach	Kifekutulan Dongbuzenytihach
a	ä	a if next vowel is {ɛ,i,y} ɑ elsewhere
ɛ	æ	ɛ
ɘ	ɘ~ɵ	ə
i	i	ʲ after sonorants when unstressed i elsewhere
ɔ	ɒ	ɔ
u	u	ʷ after sonorants when unstressed u elsewhere
silent after sonorants when unstressed ɤ elsewhere	silent when unstressed ʌ elsewhere	silent when unstressed ɯ elsewhere
y	y	ʲʷ after sonorants when unstressed y elsewhere
b	b	b at the beginning of a word β between vowels
d	d̲	d at the beginning of a word ð̲ between vowels
f	f	xʷ~ɸ
g	g	g at the beginning of a word ɣ between vowels
d͡ʑ	d͡ʑ	d͡zʲ
ʑ	ʑ	zʲ
k	k	k
t͡ɕ	t͡ɕ	t͡sʲ
ɫ	ʟ~ɫ	ɫ
m	m	m
n	n	n
ɲ	ŋ	nʲ
p	p	p
ɹ	ɹʷ	j after {i, y} ɹ elsewhere
s	ʃ	s
t	t̲	t
x	x	x
ɕ	ɕ	sʲ
x͡ɕ	x͡ɕ	x͡sʲ
z	ʒ	z
v	ʋ	β
w	ʋ	β̞ʷ
θ̲	θ̲	θ̲