Dongbuzenytihach is the language spoken in the Dongbuzenytihav, an ocean located on the planet Baltus. The primary speakers are Encephalopods, inhabitants of the planet.
| Dongbuzenytihach Dongbuzenytihach | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| non-sibilant | f | θ̠ | x | |||
| voiced | v | z | ʑ | |||
| Approximant | w | ɹ | ʟ | |||
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 | |||
Sound history
| 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/ŋ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | b | c | d | dz[1] | dj | ä | e | f | g | i | j [1] | k | l | m | n | ng |
| ɔ | p | ɹ | s | t | t͡s | t͡ɕ | u | ɤ | v | w | x | x͡ɕ | y | z | ʑ | θ̠ |
| o | p | r | s | t | ts[1] | tc | u | ô | v | w | h | ç | y | z | j | th |
Glyphs
To transcribe loanwords with /ts/ and /dz/, one takes the glyphs for /t͡ɕ/ and /d͡ʑ/ respectively, and adds a vertical stroke in the middle of the glyph.
Phonotactics
Thanks to the null glyphs, the phonotactics are slightly more variable than the script could suggest. Some of the most common formations include CV and V.
Sound Changes
- /ɤ/ becomes [o] after /w/.
- /k/, /g/, /x/, /ŋ/ shift to [c], [ɟ], [ç], [ɲ] respectively before /i/, /y/.
- /ɹ/, /ʟ/ become [j], [ʎ] respectively before /i/, /y/.
- /i/, /y/ shift to [ɨ], [ʉ] after /w/.
- /i/,/y/ also shift to [ɪ], [ʏ] after /s/, /z/.
- In many positions, /ʟ/ is realized as [ɫ].
Grammar
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 be negated by adding the prefix tce- if the verbs starts with a consonant, and tced- if the verb starts with a vowel.
The short verb oti (to be) has an own conjugation, although it mostly follows the conjugation pattern of -oti verbs. Oti has an archaic form that is ogoti, which reflects most changes in the conjugation.
-oti verbs
| Inf = recoti | Indicative | Imperative | Subjunctive | Optative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Past | Future | Present | Present | Past | Future | Future | |||
| Perfective | Imperfective | Perfective | Imperfective | |||||||
| se | reco | recemo | recemiro | recetho | recethiro | / | receo | recomo | recotho | recethopo |
| tca | recu | recemu | recemiru | recethelu | recetheliru | rece | receu | recomu | recothu | recethelopu |
| do | rece | receme | recemire | recethe | recethire | rece | recey | recome | recothe | recethope |
| ku | recuto | recemuto | recemito | recethuso | recethiso | recuto | recuto | recomuto | recothuso | recethoputo |
| sô | recoto | recemoto | recemito | recethoso | recethiso | / | recoto | recomoto | recothoso | recethopoto |
| bu | recoze | recemoze | recemozi | recethoze | recethozi | recoze | recoze | recomoze | recothoze | recethopoze |
| vä | recake | recemake | recemaki | recethake | recethaki | recake | recako | recomake | recothake | recethopake |
-iti verbs
| Inf = katciti | Indicative | Imperative | Subjunctive | Optative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Past | Future | Present | Past | Future | Future | ||||
| Perfective | Imperfective | Perfective | Imperfective | |||||||
| se | katci | katcimo | katcimiro | katcytho | katcithilori | / | katcyi | katcymo | katcytho | katcythipo |
| tca | katcu | katcimu | katcimiru | katcythu | katcithiru | katcy | katcypze | katcymu | katcythu | katcythipu |
| do | katcy | katcimi | katcimiri | katcythi | katcithiri | katcy | katcye | katcymi | katcythi | katcythipe |
| ku | katcuto | katcymuto | katcymito | katcithuso | katcithiso | katcuto | katcuto | katcymuto | katcythuso | katcythiputo |
| sô | katcoto | katcymito | katcymito | katcythoso | katcythiso | / | katcoto | katcymoto | katcythoso | katcythipoto |
| bu | katcozy | katcimozy | katcimozi | katcithozy | katcithozi | katcozy | katcozy | katcymoze | katcythozy | katcythipozy |
| vä | katcoky | katcimake | katcimaki | katcithake | katcithaki | katcaky | katcaky | katcymoka | katcythia | katcythipaky |
Nouns
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 four historical cases cases, although three of them are merged into "Oblique" - Accusative; Genitive and Dative.
| Declension | Example word root | Singular suffix | Plural suffix | Singular | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Oblique | Nominative | Oblique | Nominative | Oblique | Nominative | Oblique | ||
| 1st declension | fôr- (a unit of capacity) | -a | -o | -ä | -ô | fôra | fôro | fôrä | fôrô |
| 2nd declension | goh- (tentacle) | -o | -e | -u | -e | goho | gohe | gohu | gohe |
| 3rd declension | däjiv- (an animal) | -e | -i | -u | -e | däjive | däjivi | dajivu | dajive |
| Exception | seth- (religion) | -∅ | -∅ | -ä | -ô | seth | seth | sethä | sethô |
Adjectives
Adjectives form the same declension pattern as their respective nouns. The following table declines the root "wicos-", "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.
| Declination | Singular suffix | Plural suffix | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st declination | -a | -ä | wicosa | wicosä |
| 2nd declination | -o | -u | wicoso | wicosu |
| 3rd declination | -e | -ô | wicose | wicosu |
Articles
There are no indeterminative articles. Determinative articles have 6 forms, depending on the noun referred to, and come before the referred-to noun.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ra | rä |
| 2nd | ro | ru |
| 3rd | re | ru |
Adpositions
Adpositions in Dongbuzenytihach are prepositions, since the language is majorly head-initial. They are inflected and agree with the head as if it were nominative-accusative, however the head is usually genitive-dative when used after a preposition.. Some prepositions include: tco (to), nge (from), ze (of), tha (because of) and po (by, using).
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 "tce", which assumes the value of "no", or negation.
Another particle is a, which is used after information-seeking questions.
Lexicon
See Dongbuzenytihach/Vocabulary.