Spelling & Phonology[]
Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p q s t w ŋ ɢ ɸ ɾ ʃ β χ
Click IPA symbols for audio
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||
| Stop | p b | t d | k g | q ɢ | ||||
| Fricative | ɸ β | f | s | ʃ | χ | h | ||
| Approximant | j | |||||||
| Tap | ɾ | |||||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
|---|---|
| Approximant | w |
Vowel inventory: a e i o u ɔ ɛ ɞ ɯ ɵ
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɯ u | |
| High-mid | e | ɵ | o |
| Low-mid | ɛ | ɞ | ɔ |
| Low | a |
Syllable structure: (C)(C)V(C) ?
Stress pattern: Penultimate — stress is on the second last syllable ?
Word initial consonants: b bl bɾ d df dj f fj fl gl gɾ h hj kh kɾ l lj m mj mp mɾ n nd ng nj nl p pf q s sl st t tɾ tʃ w wh ŋk ɢ ɾ ʃ ʃk ʃp ʃt β χ
Mid-word consonants: b bb bd bj bl bm bs bt bw d dg dj dm ds dɾ dʃ f fg fj fk fp ft fw g gd gj gl gɾ h hk hm ht hw hɾ j jj jl jm js jt jʃ k kj kk kn kw kʃ l lb lf lg lh lj lm ln lp lq ls lʃ m mb mf mh mm mn ms mw n nd ng nh nk nl nm ns nt p pf pk pm pn ps pʃ q s sb sd sg sl sm sn sp st sɾ t tg tj tl tm tn tp ts tt tw tɾ tʃ w wb wd wk wq wt wɾ wʃ wβ ŋ ŋd ŋf ŋh ŋk ŋn ŋp ŋt ŋw ɢ ɸ ɾ ɾb ɾh ɾj ɾk ɾl ɾm ɾn ɾp ɾs ɾw ɾʃ ɾβ ʃ ʃj ʃl ʃn ʃs ʃt β βɾ χ χm χn
Word final consonants: b d f k l n p q s t ɢ ɸ ɾ ʃ β χ
Spelling rules:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|---|
| ɔ | aw |
| ɛ | ě |
| ɵ | ǐ |
| ɞ | ǒ |
| ɯ | ǔ |
| j | y |
| ŋ | ng |
| ɸ | ph |
| β | v |
| ɾ | r |
| ʃ | sh |
| χ | kh |
| ɢ | ĝ |
Grammar[]
Main word order: Subject Object Verb (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary the door opened with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions ?
Nouns[]
Nouns have three cases:
- Ergative is the doer of a verb, when the verb is done to something: dog bites man.
- Absolutive is used in two scenarios: the doer of a verb when not done to something (dog bites), and the done-to of a verb (man bites dog).
- Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.
Nouns form plural with separate plural word:
| Plural | Particle before the noun: to -
to bro /to bɾo/ dogs |
| Ergative | If starts with vowel: Prefix ɾ-
Else: Prefix ɾɛ- rěbro /ˈɾɛbɾo/ dog (doing the verb to something) |
| Absolutive | No affix
bro /bɾo/ dog (doing the verb, but not to something) |
| Genitive | If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix nɵ- nǐbro /ˈnɵbɾo/ dogʼs |
Articles[]
Duwarlǐqian has no definite article ‘the’, or indefinite article ‘a’.
Pronouns[]
| Ergative | Absolutive | Genitive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | ngěl /ngɛl/
I |
kro /kɾo/
me, I |
dya /dja/
mine |
| 2nd singular | ĝit /ɢit/
you |
ĝě /ɢɛ/
you |
whawf /whɔf/
yours |
| 3rd singular | ngkik /ŋkik/
he, she, it |
qě /qɛ/
him, her, it, he, she |
ngkok /ŋkok/
his, hers, its |
| 1st plural | ran /ɾan/
we |
pek /pek/
us, we |
ngku /ŋku/
ours |
| 2nd plural | mawk /mɔk/
you all |
ǔk /ɯk/
you all |
mye /mje/
yours (pl) |
| 3rd plural | fla /fla/
they |
kreĝ /kɾeɢ/
them, they |
slě /slɛ/
theirs |
Possessive determiners[]
| 1st singular | ě /ɛ/
my |
| 2nd singular | věph /βɛɸ/
your |
| 3rd singular | hǐĝ /hɵɢ/
his, her, its |
| 1st plural | le /le/
our |
| 2nd plural | ndǔ /ndɯ/
your (pl) |
| 3rd plural | ndoq /ndoq/
their |
Verbs[]
| Present | No affix
ro /ɾo/ learn |
| Past | Prefix o-
oro /ˈoɾo/ learned |
| Future | Prefix qe-
qero /ˈqeɾo/ will learn |
Perfect aspect
The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.
Duwarlǐqian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect | If starts with vowel: Prefix nd-
Else: Prefix nde- ndero /ˈndeɾo/ have learned |
Numbers[]
Duwarlǐqian has a base-10 number system:
1 - shtil
2 - tar
3 - khǐkh
4 - gru
5 - haw
6 - mǔb
7 - wǒ
8 - bas
9 - nyut
10 - mri
11 - mri khǔr shtil “ten and one”
100 - shtil ndoi “one hundred”
101 - shtil ndoi khǔr shtil “one hundred and one”
200 - tar ndoi
1000 - shtil hǔph “one thousand”
Derivational morphology[]
Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ng-
Else: Prefix ngu-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix nd-
Else: Prefix ndɔ-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix β-
Else: Prefix βɵ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix no-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If starts with vowel: Prefix p-
Else: Prefix pɵ-
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɾ-
Else: Prefix ɾu-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʃk-
Else: Prefix ʃka-
Tending to = Prefix tʃa-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix ʃpa-
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ɢ-
Else: Prefix ɢɔ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix gli-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix nl-
Else: Prefix nle-
Diminutive = Prefix ɔ-
Augmentative =