| Genaizuawin Gewnayzuawwin Yensi | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | |||
| Agglutinative | |||
| Alignment | |||
| Head direction | |||
| left | |||
| Tonal | |||
| No | |||
| Declensions | |||
| No | |||
| Conjugations | |||
| No | |||
| Genders | |||
| No | |||
| Nouns decline according to... | |||
| Case | Number | ||
| Definiteness | Gender | ||
| Verbs conjugate according to... | |||
| Voice | Mood | ||
| Person | Number | ||
| Tense | Aspect | ||
General Information[]
Genaizuawin (/gɛˌnaɪzuːˈawɪn/; natively Gewnayzuawwin Yensi) is the language spoken by the Asoewnte tribe in the Eastern desert, part of the planet Aethos' one continent's Great Desert. The Easternmost part of the desert, where the Asoewnte live, is bordered by hills and mountains to the east, the rest of the Eastern Desert to the west, and to the great Eastern Plateau chain to the south.
The Asoewnte people live around the Asoewnte Oasis, which is more like a fresh water mini-sea or great lake. Due to their proximity to water, many people visit them, most notably religious missions from various sects which have set up shop around the Oasis. The Asoewnte have embraced the tourism, religious journeys, and missions to become the most advanced tribe in the Eastern desert.
Classification and Dialects[]
Genaizuawin is part of the Eastern Desert dialect chain. It is mutually intelligible with its neighbors, but gets less mutually intelligible with distance.
Phonology[]
Consonants[]
| Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Dorsal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | n | ||
| Plosive | t d | k g | |
| Fricative | s z | ʃ ʒ | x |
| Approximant | ɹ | ɭ | j ɰ |
- All consonants but /j/ and /w/ can be geminated. When /ɹ/ is geminated, it becomes /rː/.
Vowels[]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɯ | |
| Mid | e̞ | ɤ̞ | |
| Low | a |
- Diphthongs are /eɯ̯/, /ɤi̯/, /aɯ̯/, and /ai̯/
Phonotactics[]
(C)V(n)
- min: /ɯ/ in u "to"
- max: /gːaɯ̯n/ in higgawn "night"
- Geminate consonants may not start words (they can in most neighboring dialects, however).
Orthography[]
| Letter | a | c | d | e | g | h | i | j | k | l |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | /a/ | /ʃ/ | /d/ | /e/ | /g/ | /x/ | /i/ | /ʒ/ | /k/ | /ɭ/ |
| Letter | n | o | r | s | t | u | w | y | z | - |
| Sound | /n/ | /ɤ/ | /ɹ/ | /s/ | /t/ | /ɯ/ | /ɰ/ | /j/ | /z/ | - |
- Diphthongs are written with w and y.
Nouns[]
Declension[]
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| def | -0 | -nna |
| ndef | -oy | -inna |
- Nouns ending in -n change to -nd- in the indefinite.
- Nouns ending in -si/zi/wi change to -c/j/y- in the indefinite.
- Nouns with ew/oy/aw/ai in their final syllable change it to u/i/a/a immediately before the plural -nna.
- Nouns with o/oy in their final syllable change it to e before the indefinite singular -oy.
- Nouns ending in -a/o have an epenthetic -y- inserted between them and the indefinite plural -inna.
Examples
Ijallu "sand dune"
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| def | ijallu | ijallunna |
| ndef | ijalluoy | ijalluinna |
Higgawn "night"
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| def | higgawn | higganna |
| ndef | higgawndoy | higgawndinna |
Yensi "language"
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| def | yensi | yensinna |
| ndef | yencoy | yencinna |
Anna "mother"
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| def | anna | annanna |
| ndef | annaoy | annayinna |
Derivational prefixes[]
Quite a few nouns are prefixed with i-, u-, o, or a-. The o- prefix becomes e- before a w or before an o in the next syllable. These prefixes have different meanings depending on the semantic class of the noun. Some nouns don't fall in one of the classes and can't take the prefixes. The prefixes are mandatory in most nouns that have them. What follows are the semantic classes and the meaning of the prefixes in each of them.
Family members[]
- i- same generation
- u- younger generations
- o- some dyadic kin terms
- a- older generations
Round or Irregular things[]
- i- small
- u- large & round
- o- large & irregular
- a- of varying sizes
Places[]
- i- open space
- u- enclosed
- a- inhabited
Animals[]
- i- wild & small
- u- tame & large
- o- wild & large
- a- tame & small
Foodstuffs[]
- i- poisonous, medical, or used in ritual
- u- sweet or fatty
- o- sour or bitter
Verbs[]
Infinitive articles[]
Syntax[]
SOV
Vocabulary[]
Numbers[]
In common with all Eastern Desert languages, Genaizuawin has an emphasis on sound devices such as alliteration, assonance, and rhyme in its numbers, to make counting easier.
| # | 8+# | #*8 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | oy | awn-oy | awn |
| 2 | yoyni | awn-yoyni | yoyniawn |
| 3 | yoden | awn-yoden | yoden'awn |
| 4 | yotti | awn-yotti | yottiawn |
| 5 | yonku | awn-yonku | yonkuawn |
| 6 | zosan | awn-zosan | zosan'awn |
| 7 | gocan | awn-gocan | gocan'awn |
| 8 | awn | yoyniawn | ejjiddi |
Family members[]
Genaizuawin has an above-average number of kinship terms for an Aethos language due to distinguishing relative age and the use of dyadic kin terms. Terms for kin are typically limited on the planet because, as a species, the Aethos don't pair bond and have no set gender. Any particular Aethos is very unlikely to know who their father is, thus cutting the number of family members. All kinship terms are expressed as feminine terms in English due to the Aethos' lack of set gender.
For all kin terms, removing the initial vowel creates a diminutive. ex. ikun "my older sister", kun "sis"
- family: getonna
- relative/family member: geto
- older sister: ikun
- niece/older sister's child: ukun
- younger sister: ija
- niece/younger sister's child: uja
- mother: anna
- aunt/mother's older sibling: asikun
- aunt/mother's younger sibling: asija
- cousin/older mother's sibling's child: irrudu
- cousin/younger mother's sibling's child: irrada
- grandmother: akkala
- grandaunt/grandmother's older sibling: akkalakun
- grandaunt/grandmother's younger sibling: akkalaja
- great-grandmother: adankkala
- child: ucilu
- grandchild: udancilu
- great-grandchild: udandancilu